who still have hearts, prefer suicide to the
execution of orders which degrade both the
Kussian army and its leaders.

When the emperor's brother arrived in
Warsaw, patriots feared that the population,
worn out by long suffering and seduced by
brilliant promises, might be persuaded to give up
the silent protest which they had hitherto so
firmly persevered in. If they were to believe the
flattering rumours wafted from St. Petersburg, a
new era was about to commence for the wretched
people, and the prince was come to inaugurate
a new and national policy. But the Russian
court, although alarmed at the attitude of all
parties in ancient Poland, and the sympathy which
it excited in Western Europe, merely wanted to
deceive France and England by apparent
concession, and to cheat the Poles of their independence
while holding out magnificent promises.
The Grand-Duke Constantine and the Marquis
Wielopolski did their best to effect what, in
private lite, would be called a swindling transaction.

The grand-duke issued patriotic proclamations;
he addressed gracious words to the
shoemaker Hiszpanski; he warmly appealed to Count
André Zamoyski to make friendly advances to
the Marquis Wielopolski; he gave the name of
Waclaw to his new-born son, and confided him to
a Polish nurse: all which were pilot-balloons
and baits, to entice consistent patriots and
eminent citizens into the meshes of the great
Muscovite net. The Poles were to abandon
their future chances of independence; in return,
no offer was made either of the constitution of
1815, or of a national army, or of the Polish
flag, or individual liberty, or of the freedom of
the press, or of the reunion of the ancient
provinces to the kingdom of Poland. All these
were claimed by the Poles; nothing was given.

One instance will illustrate the animus of
Russia towards Poland. The mother of an
insurgent who had been taken prisoner, lately
implored the grand- duke's clemency. The
prince, perhaps touched with pity, perhaps
conscious that tyranny must have its limits,
referred the case to General Rozimoff, and
inquired whether he might be allowed to do
anything for the prisoner. The general replied that
the man belonged to the very worst class of
offenders, and that he had killed three Russians
in a skirmish. The mother rejoined that it was
false; for the Dziennik Pouwszeckny (the
official journal) had stated that no Russian had
perished in that encounter.

The mask has fallen, and Russia once more
shows herself the same as she was under
Catherine, Suvarrow, and Nicholas. Count
André Zamoyski, torn from his dying wife,
was transported to St. Petersburg and sent into
exile. Count Roniker, marshal of the nobility
of Podolia, and all the marshals of the districts
of that province, were arrested and imprisoned.
But the ukase concerning discretional recruiting
in Poland (the discretion being exercised by the
Russian authorities) is what has made the yoke
unbearable, as a very little explanation will show.

By an imperial order of the year 1834, the
inhabitants of Poland were assimilated to those
of the Russian empire, as far as regards military
service. Consequently, since that date, the
kingdom of Poland has been included in the
general military system, and has been obliged
to conform to the measures generally taken
throughout the empire in furnishing its
contingent number of men. So far, there appears
no great oppression or injustice towards a
conquered, or rather a violently annexed, population.

In the empire, the eastern and the western
regions have alternately supplied, every other
year, the required number of recruits; but the
kingdom of Poland, which, in virtue of an
ukase of 1834, ought to furnish an annual
contingent, had still only to furnish half the
proportional number of men required every two
years from each half of the empire. This
regulation lasted until 1855, the year in which
the last recruitment took place. On the 26th
of August, 1856, shortly after the end of the
Crimean war, the general recruitment was
suspended for three years, and then again for
three years more.

At present, with the intention of preventing,
as far as possible, any increase of the contingent,
by the formation of a strong reserve (and also
to fill up the vacancies in the army and navy),
his majesty ordained, by his ukase of the 1st
of September last, a general levy, for the year
1863, in both the eastern and the western
regions, and consequently, as a matter of course,
in the kingdom of Poland also. So far, the
emperor's treatment of his subjects is impartial
and equal. But the tyrant's unfair and oppressive
blow is now about to fall heavily.

By a letter of the 17th of September last, the
Russian Minister of War informed his imperial
highness, the grand-duke lieutenant, that,
"as far as concerns the recruiting to take place
in the kingdom of Poland, his majesty,
considering the introduction of the robot (free
labour instead of compulsory labour) at this
moment;— and considering besides that in the
exceptional condition which the country is
placed, the mode of recruiting by drawing lots
(the legal mode) MIGHT BE INCONVENIENT:

"His majesty has deigned to ordain, in
conformity with the proposal of his imperial
highness, that the first general recruitment for the
kingdom of Poland shall be adjourned, and a
partial recruitment only shall be made at present.
Drawing lots shall, this time, be replaced by the
designation of individuals fit for the service, as
had hitherto been practised. This designation
shall be made by special authorities, to be
appointed by the council of administration.

"From this first recruitment are exempted
large landed proprietors, peasants, and all
individuals exclusively employed in agricultural
business. The other inhabitants of villages,
small landowners, farmers, as well as the
population of all towns in the kingdom, without
distinction of religion, will have to supply a
contingent whose number shall be fixed at a later
date. The council of administration is
authorised to modify, transitorily, with a view to