clergy were rendered rich and oppressive; the inferior orders were reduced to poverty and indolence; and instruction, moral and religious, was withheld from the people. Official spies, styled inspectors, were introduced to the lectures in the universities and high schools, to note the opinions of the teachers and students; and able professors were, in consequence, removed, to make way for the tools of government. Amongst the students, abilities, application, and good conduct, did but mark them for ruin and persecution; and, horresco referens, licensed dissipation was even held out to them as a reward. If the youths passed unharmed through these infernal snares, they owed it to their jacobinism; that is to say, to their innate hatred of Muscovite dominion.

Conscious of his guilt, but defying public opinion, Constantine established the most perfect system of secret police that ever existed, for denouncing not only every spoken word, but even unuttered thoughts and feelings. The Belvedere Palace, fitted for his residence at the expense of the citizens, was the head quarters of this police, from whence it extended throughout, and even beyond, the kingdom. It was divided into two branches, exterior and interior. The first of these consisted again of two departments; one of which, directed by the Polish general Rozniecki, took cognizance of the countries immediately adjacent to the kingdom; and the reports forwardedto Warsaw by his agents in Prussia, contained details as accu

rate, of the military stations, fortresses, garrisons, &c., and other resources of each of its provinces, as if that country had belonged to Russia. Amongst the papers afterwards found in the Belvedere, was the plan for an invasion of Galicia and Hungary. The other department, under the control of Colonel Fenshawe, an Englishman by birth, extended to Germany, Italy, France, and England. The reports transmitted from those countries, contained curious illustrations of their respective governments, their public characters, the hopes and wishes of their subjects, and, in many instances, of their military force and resources. Let not this warning be disregarded at the present moment, when Russian writers and Russian spies, both male and female, are carrying on their intrigues in all the capitals of Europe.

The police of the interior was under the special direction of Constantine himself, aided by the municipality of Warsaw and the post-office. To penetrate the privacy of domestic life, all families were compelled to hire their servants at an office established for the purpose at the municipality. In this seminary of spies, even old and faithful servants were bribed or terrified into betraying their employers, and thus all social confidence and comfort were destroyed. Conversation was carried on in foreign languages, to diminish the risk of denunciation by menials; and to avoid suspicion when an entertainment was given, it became customary to

invite a commissioner of the police to join the party. Not only were public assemblies, public walks, the theatres, and private conversations, watched by police agents, but the very looks and gestures of individuals. Cemeteries, the tombs of patriots, state prisons, became so many tests for loyalty; and the mournful look, or unbidden tear of the passers by, was construed into high treason, and punished accordingly. Every honest man was marked; the esteem of his fellow citizens being an influence dangerous to government. Some, for speaking in public were denounced as agitators; others, for remaining silent, as secret plotters of mischief. In thousands of instances, the only alternative was to serve the tyrant's hateful ends, or to trust only in Providence. To such a degree did Constantine carry persecution, that even birds, taught to sing the national melodies, were taken from their owners and killed.

Individuals often disappeared, no one knew how ; and the whispered lamentations of a mother or a wife alone bore witness to her loss. Many such victims lingered for years in prison, without being told the cause of their captivity; and, if at length set free, it was usually under an extorted oath, never to divulge the secrets of the dungeon. The cries of persons under torture were heard by night in the Belvedere ; and it was rumoured that Constantine himself was the torturer; a statement confirmed by the deathbed confession of the late Warsaw executioner, as to

the nocturnal executions which he had been compelled to inflict. The food usually administered to the prisoners, was salted herrings, without drink of any kind; but even this exquisite torment was, in one instance at least, surpassed. A Pole, named Adam Cichowski, disappeared from his home under circumstances of more than usual mystery, and was supposed to have been drowned in the Vistula, on the banks of which his clothes had been found. Seven years afterwards, on the outbreak of the insurrection of 1830, he was discovered in prison. He related subsequently, that two Cossacks had been employed to stare alternately at him, without intermission, until the diabolical invention sickened him to madness. For months after his return to his family, he was unable to recognize either wife or children, making no other reply to their questions, than, "Let me be at peace! I know nothing!"

No distinction of classes was observed, nor any difference made, between foreigners and natives; Constantine acknowledged only that of master and slaves. On arriving at Warsaw, foreigners were forced either to enter the army, as was the case with several Germans, and even some Russians, or were immediately sent away. By some papers, since found in the Belvedere, it was ascertained that several foreigners were condemned to be branded with marks of infamy whether the punishment was really inflicted remains unknown. Constantine persecuted even abroad those who had opportunities of acquir

ing information in Poland. A German*, who had served in the Russian army at Warsaw, and afterwards wrote on Russia, disappeared from Dresden, leaving no trace behind; a circumstance the more remarkable, as the Saxons boasted that their police was so vigilant, that not even a nightcap could be stolen without detection.

The following anecdote may be useful to editors of public journals. The French Constitutionnel reported, that on the day of the coronation of Nicholas, Constantine had mingled with the populace of Warsaw like a policeman. Greatly incensed, he despatched Fenshawe, his chamberlain, to bring the bold editor to Warsaw; but, on reaching Berlin, Fenshawe found the object of his mission stated in the Constitutionnel itself, and he consequently returned disappointed of his victim. But volumes would scarcely suffice to relate all the singularities of this remarkable tyrant. He had, besides, in the Belvedere, a cabinet noir, or perlustration office, as it was called, for the examination of all letters, both native and foreign, and copies of the more important amongst them were usually deposited in the palace. Not even the correspondence of ministers with the court of St. Petersburgh, nor that of the Prussian and Austrian consuls at Warsaw, was exempted from

* Lieutenant Märtens of Hanover, who published a work under the fictitious name, "Russland in der neusten Zeit von E. Pabel."-1829.