nearly concerned in the affair. The awkward situation of her territory, and the apprehension of revolutionary movements in the Rhenish provinces, and in the Grand Duchy of Posen, caused her no small degree of perplexity. In a ministerial council immediately called at Berlin, General Grollman advised the king to march his troops into Poland, to suppress the rebellion, and at the same time to insist on Russia redressing the grievances which had excited it. The old monarch, however, did not relish the bold proposal, and being father-inlaw to Nicholas, was easily persuaded to become his active ally. The Berlin Official Gazette, from which the press of other countries derived its intelligence, misrepresented and vilified the Poles and their cause. The Prussian Consul was recalled from Warsaw, and money sent to Poland was seized by the Prussian authorities. Not only were the natives returning home from France, England, and Italy imprisoned in Prussia, but even foreigners proceeding to Poland were sent back by the government. These acts of hostility were crowned by a cabinet order from the king himself, on the 6th of February, forbidding all Poles of the Grand Duchy to enter Poland on pain of forfeiting their property; but, notwithstanding this prohibition, many individuals, of both sexes, repaired to Warsaw. Colonel Szyrma, the ex-commander of the academical legion, sent by the government to England with the manifesto, was arrested and imprisoned for several weeks at Breslau; and, on the false report that the.

222 FRIENDLY DISPOSITION OF AUSTRIA.

Russians had taken Warsaw, he was escorted by Prussian gens-d'armes to the Polish frontier, to be delivered to the Cossacks, and this breach of the law of nations was yet further aggravated by his being compelled to sign a declaration that he would never again enter the Prussian territory*.

Austria did not partake the anxiety of Prussia. Always apprehensive of Russia, by whose dominions she is daily becoming more encircled, she left her frontiers open to the Poles during a full month, and would probably have continued to do so, but for some revolutionary symptoms in Italy, which she dreads even more than Russian power. Influenced by Prince Constantine Czartoryski, the brother of Prince Adam, the Imperial family manifested friendly dispositions towards Poland; and all the antagonists of Prince Metternich who was in the Russian interest, seized this opportunity to endeavour to force him out of office. Many Hungarian and Bohemian noblemen protected the Poles; but, on the other hand, every Pole denounced by the agents of the Russian ambassador, Tatiszczeff, was immediately sent out of Vienna by Metternich's order, or forbidden to enter. Prince Constantine still laboured to overcome Metternich's antipathy, cherishing the hope that a victory gained by the Poles would

* The Prussian gens-d'armes were enjoined, on delivering the colonel to the Cossacks, to take a receipt for him, as for a bale of goods; thus anticipating what has been since done by the order of the king with regard to the Polish soldiers delivered up to Russia.

induce the old emperor to give them some decided mark of friendship.

But a more effective support than that of Austria was expected from France, between whom and Poland the most friendly relations had always existed. The elder branch of the Bourbons were ever friendly to the Poles, and, since the July revolution, the younger had been considered by them as their yet more natural ally. At the very commencement of the insurrection, Monsieur Wolicki had been sent to Paris as Polish envoy. He found the ministry of Lafitte in much perplexity, harassed on one side by the republicans and legitimists, together with the affairs of Belgium; and, on the other, compelled by Russian insult, to augment the military force, which the exiled branch had left in very ill condition. Wolicki therefore was well received by Sebastiani, to whom the insurrection was a welcome occurrence; and who, having once commanded a corps in the Polish army, felt confident that some months must elapse before the Russians could restore tranquillity. The cabinet of St. Petersburgh, however, always on its guard, took care to cool the nascent sympathy, by recognising the sovereignty of Louis Philippe, which it had, till then, deferred doing, under various pretences. This important point gained, Sebastiani intimated to Wolicki, that a deputation having been sent to St. Petersburgh, it might be hoped that the Poles would come to a friendly arrangement with Russia, and, consequently,

224 FRENCH MISSION TO ST. PETERSBURGH.

the interference of a foreign power in their behalf would only prejudice their cause. The envoy explained that the deputation was merely intended to convince Europe that the Poles did not object to negociations for peace; but that, considering the aversion of Russia to make concessions, it was but too certain that the sword alone must decide the question. On the 15th of January, Lafayette brought forward the Polish cause in the Chamber of Deputies, and energetically called upon the government not to abandon the nation. The ministry having so modified the principle of non-intervention, that it now excluded only armed interference, complied, in some degree, with the popular wish; and the Duke of Montemart was sent to St. Petersburgh, with instructions to keep within the limits of the treaty of Vienna. On his way he met near Berlin a Polish agent, sent expressly to him from Warsaw. On learning from this man, that the deposition of Nicholas was in contemplation, he requested him to hurry back to Warsaw to stop the measure. On his arrival, however, the deposition was already proclaimed, and thus the duke's mission ended before he reached St. Petersburgh. National sympathy now displayed itself more powerfully in France. The speeches of Lafayette, Bignon, and General Lamarque, awakened great interest in the Polish cause, and much contributed towards forming a committee, under the presidency of the former, for supplying the Poles with arms and money. The

Committee also published an address from the French nation to the Poles, and the omnipotent voice of the press was now heard in a louder tone. From these circumstances the hope rose high in Poland, that France would not desert her sister in the hour of need.

The Marquis Wielopolski had still less success in London. As the Whigs had just taken their magnanimous resolution of preserving peace at any price, the Grey administration, once so zealous for the independence of Poland, now refused even to join France in insisting upon the observance of the treaty of Vienna. On the publication of the manifesto, the English press, however, warmly advocated the rights of the Poles; and The Times' especially thundered against "the blasphemous, hypocritical, and barba"rous manifestoes of the Russian autocrat.'

The mission to Sweden was a total failure. The king, whose legitimacy was endangered by the protection afforded by Austria to Prince Vasa, was entirely under Russian influence, particularly since the visit of the Prince Royal Oscar to St. Petersburgh; and the Polish envoy, Count Roman Zaluski, was not even allowed to land in the Swedish territory. Thus, after two months of harassing expectation, the Poles found themselves with no other allies than those they possessed at the commencement of the insurrection-confidence in their own valour, and trust in the Almighty protector of right.

Q