RUSSIA. 



637 



Before narrating the circumstances of the 

 insurrection, it may be necessary to give a brief 

 account of the Agronomic Society which has 

 been to such an extent identified with it. The 

 Count Andre Zamoiski, or Monsieur Andr6, as 

 the Poles call him, was a Polish patriot of noble 

 and ancient family, who had taken part in the 

 revolution of 1830, but after the taking of War- 

 saw in 1831, has been permitted to return to 

 Poland. Unable to be of service otherwise to 

 his country, he endeavored to promote its ma- 

 terial progress ; he established lines of steam- 

 boats upon the Vistula, and erected warehouses 

 in "Warsaw, but the improvement of agriculture 

 was the subject to which he devoted most atten- 

 tion. Its processes, implements, and science 

 were matter to which he directed his thoughts 

 and efforts. In 1850, he obtained permission 

 to publish a monthly agricultural journal at 

 Warsaw, and in 1857 secured the sanction of 

 the young emperor to the founding of the 

 Agronomic Society. In 1859, he sought and 

 received permission for the Society to hold an 

 anniversary and public sittings for the discussion 

 of agricultural topics. He had also been instru- 

 mental in the foundation of similar associations 

 at Cracow and Leopol (in Galicia) in Austrian 

 Poland, and at Posen in Prussian Poland, and 

 maintained a constant communication with 

 them. Those who have never lived under a 

 despotic government can hardly realize with 

 what almost childish eagerness the educated 

 Poles joined these agricultural associations. In 

 their discussions of agricultural topics they were 

 measurably free, and if, occasionally, under the 

 garb of a politico-economical doctrine, some 

 great principle of liberty was enunciated, who 

 could blame them ? The Agronomic Society of 

 Warsaw, in the third year of its existence, num- 

 bered 4,600 members, and its sessions were at- 

 tended by hundreds of ladies of the highest rank 

 and social position. The others, though younger, 

 had a proportionally numerous membership. 

 On the 25th of November, 1860, the anniver- 

 sary of the revolution of 1830 had been cele- 

 brated in Warsaw, by funeral services in mem- 

 ory of the patriots, and by the chanting of na- 

 tional martial hyms. In January, 1861, masses 

 were said for the dead poets, Mickiewicz, 

 Krasinski. and Slowacti. The government tol- 

 erated these manifestations, and even permitted 

 those who took part in them to wear the Polish 

 national costume. On the 25th of February, a 

 great crowd gathered around the old market at 

 Warsaw, and the streets adjacent, to do honor 

 to the memory of the Poles who fell at the bat- 

 tle of Grochow in 1831, and a procession passed 

 through one of the streets, bearing flags with a 

 white eagle on a red ground. The chief of Po- 

 lice, Colonel Trepoff, ordered them to disperse, 

 but the order was received with shouts of de- 

 risive laughter, and the mounted police, irritated 

 at their refusal, rode upon the procession with 

 drawn sabres, and wounded a considerable 

 number. 



On the 27th of February, a funeral service 



was held in the church of the Carmelites in 

 honor of Zawiska, a Polish patriot who was 

 hung in 1833. From that church a portion of 

 the crowd went to the hall of the Agronomic 

 Society then holding its annual session, and 

 attempted to draw it into the insurrectionary 

 movement, but by the adroit management of 

 its President, were prevented from doing so. 

 Another portion were by accident thrown into 

 confusion before the great gate of the church 

 of the Bernardines, and the Russian general 

 Zabolotskoi ordered the military force to fire 

 upon them, unarmed as they were, and the 

 Cossack guard to charge upon them ; and, as a 

 result, a number were killed and many wounded. 



The people, though overwhelmed with grief, 

 were now thoroughly indignant. On the eve- 

 ning of the day of this last massacre, the Polish 

 committee addressed to the Emperor a remon- 

 strance, closing with these words : " Cut off 

 from every legal means of bringing before yonr 

 throne her grievances, and the demonstration 

 of her necessities, Poland is compelled to make 

 her voice heard only by the cry to heaven of 

 the martyrs, whom each day she offers as a 

 holocaust." The Government apparently felt 

 that it had gone too far, and conciliatory meas- 

 ures were adopted, unpopular officers were 

 removed, and reforms promised. The funeral 

 of the victims of the 27th of February passed 

 off on the 2d of March without disturbance, the 

 prudence of Count Zamoiski having secured the 

 adjournment of the Agronomic Society, without 

 any participation in the exciting scenes and 

 topics of the day, having first passed a resolu- 

 tion in favor of giving the right of property to 

 the serfs, a measure which the Emperor was 

 known to have greatly at heart. 



The danger seemed to have passed, when sud- 

 denly, on the 7th of April, an imperial decree 

 was published suppressing the Agronomic Soci- 

 ety. This new grievance roused all the former 

 bitterness ; again the crowds assembled in War- 

 saw, and gathered around the hall of the Society ; 

 and, on the 8th, the order was given to disperse 

 them by armed force, and the charges of cavalry, 

 and the deadly fire of the infantry again caused 

 the death and wounding of more than a thousand 

 citizens. The excitement spread throughout Po- 

 land, and even into some of the Russian govern- 

 ments, especially the Ukraine, where strong 

 sympathy was expressed for the Poles. The Rus- 

 sian Government meanwhile adopted the most 

 stringent and cruel measures. Soldiers were 

 encamped in the principal streets, and cannon 

 were placed in position to shell the city. The 

 soldiers committed numberless outrages ; the 

 Circle of " The Resource," a favorite place of 

 assembly for the principal citizens, was closed ; 

 the inhabitants were forbidden to wear, and the 

 merchants to sell mourning goods ; the Poles 

 who resigned government offices were subjected 

 to the severest penalties ; great numbers were 

 arrested, and especially all clergymen who man- 

 ifested, as most of them did, their patriotic sym- 

 pathies. 



