§ MR. BAILLIE COCHRANE, in rising to call the attention of the House to the affairs of Poland said, that though the noble Lord had already declined to produce papers on the subject for motives which he could appreciate, he would probably not object to an opportunity of expressing his opinion on matters of such extreme European importance, and the more so as he could not entirely separate himself from these melancholy events. It was after the publication of the noble Lord's famous despatch to Sir James Hudson in October last, in which he laid it down that a people might at any time judge for themselves by whom they would be governed, and might throw off their allegiance whenever the majority thought fit, that these events took place. That appeal to nationalities and to the revolutionary instincts of Europe had led to most lamentable results on the Continent. It had led to the movement in Hungary, and would lead to movements in Greece. The last accounts he had received from that kingdom stated that it was not expected the King would be on his throne for two months. It had led to these melancholy events at Warsaw; and if there was a movement in the Ionian Islands, the noble Lord would only have himself to thank for it as it would be owing to his unfortunate despatch. He wished to refer to the conflict between the troops and the people at Warsaw, the result of which was the destruction of several persons. He believed that Prince Gortschak off the viceroy had expressed his deep regret that such events should have broken out, and that those distressing circumstances should have occurred which for some filled the columns of the journals on the Continent. There were, however, great discrepancies in the accounts which had appeared in the public journals, and it was for that reason that he wished to ask the noble Lord for some explanation. Some of the accounts represented that 400 persons had lost their lives, and others stated the number to be 40 or 50. He should wish to hear these discrepancies cleared up; but, whatever might have been the number of those who fell, this, at least, was certain that a most 1531 distressing state of things had occurred, and that the city was in a state of mourning. At the present moment there was a lull, and, as the noble Lord the Foreign Secretary was so fond of interfering in the affairs of other countries, and giving the opinion of the English Government upon all the recent events on the Continent, he thought that lull was an occasion when he might fairly endeavour to bring the disputing parties to terms. On the part of the Poles there did not seem to be any demand for a separate kingdom. All they asked was that the Treaty of Vienna should he distinctly recognized and practically fulfilled. That treaty gave them a constitutional Government, and almost all the advantages of an independent existence. The noble Lord must have seen it stated that those disturbances had been brought about at the instigation of the French Government; and, undoubtedly, knowing as we did that every newspaper in France was under Ministerial control, it was difficult to resist the conclusion that the French Government had been cognizant of the events at Warsaw, and to some extent had incited them. He found in one of the French papers—the Journal des Dé bats —these comments—
Those Treaties of 1815, which are invoked every day against the people, why should not the people invoke them also? As Austria invokes them, why should we not ask Austria what she has done with Cracow? As Russia invokes them, why should we not call Russia to account for the violation of rights guaranteed to Poland by those treaties. Is it, or is it not true that by the Treaties of 1815 Poland ought to form a separate kingdom, with a separate Constitution; a separate Government, a national representation and institutions, forming a distinct kingdom, although under the sceptre of the Emperor of Russia? Is it or is it not true that those engagements were guaranteed by all Europe? When, in 1831, the Emperor Alexander suppressed the Polish nationality, France and England were occupied, the one with her revolution, the other with her Reform Bill, and only protested. Well, then (it continued), she shall not die. She lives, she hopes, she believes; her generous blood shall follow; its incense shall mount to Heaven, while it fertilizes that land of soldiers of poets, of heroes, of martyrs.When they found remarks such as those in the Dé bats, they might fairly suppose that the French Government, had to a certain extent, excited these occurrences in Poland. There were persons on the other hand who attributed these movements to the instigations of Russia, alleging that the object of that Power was to place an iron hand upon Poland, but he saw nothing in the correspondence on the subject that 1532 could lead him to such a conclusion; on the contrary, it appeared to him that the Poles who took part in those occurrences were acting upon what they considered to be a moral principle. Many of them took the sacrament on the morning of the day on which those disturbances took place, and they seemed to have been perfectly aware of what would occur. What would be the result of what had taken place? If they were to judge by some documents that had appeared, Poland would he thrown more than ever upon Russia. The Marquis Wieloysolski who was gone to St. Petersburg to negotiate, and who was sent to London on a special mission from the National party in 1831, published a letter from a Polish gentleman to Prince Metternich after the sad events in Galicia in 1846. In that letter he strongly counselled a union with Russia. Would such a union be desirable for the interests of Europe? In a debate which took place in the Russian Chamber of Representatives, on the 22nd instant, M. Niegolewski, a Pole, in the name of the Polish members, brought forward a motion to the following effect:—Considering that the contracting Powers at the Congress of Vienna could not come to an agreement respecting the re-establishment of Poland, which they had at first projected, but were nevertheless agreed upon this point, that the peace and tranquillity of Europe imperiously demanded that Poland should at least retain her existence as a separate member in the family of the peoples of Europe, and that the different parts of ancient Poland, despite their partition under three sceptres, should be recognised as forming one homogeneous whole, with the guarantee of their nationality, the author of the Motion proposes that it may please the Chamber of Representatives to decide that finally the territorial unity of the ancient Polish State of 1772, guaranteed by the formal right of peoples, as well as the national and political rights appertaining to the Poles within those limits, may at least hold good and be carried out, and that those rights may not henceforth be arbitrarily restricted by the signing Powers to whom, in virtue of the Treaties of Vienna, parts of Poland have been conceded under conditions previously stipulated.The Dé bats contained the following observations:—In the midst of all these troubles we still hear of negotiations. The Government has made proposals to the men who possess the confidence of the country, and who were members of the Agricultural Society, so unfortunately dissolved. These gentlemen demand the independence of the country; the creation of a Council of State, the members of which should be chosen by the Government from a list of twice their number; the organization of the National Guard; and, lastly, the return of the Russian troops to the fortresses. Thi state of things would still he far inferior to 1533 that promised us in the Treaties of Vienna, which even guaranteed a Polish army and Parliamentary institutions; and those Treaties are, after all, the legal bases of our connection with Russia.The present moment seemed a favourable opportunity for Her Majesty's Government to make use of their influence to bring those miseries to an end, for the Journal de St. Petersbourg, in a note published by way of answer to the accusations brought forward against the Russian authorities on the occasion of the events at Warsaw, contained this statement—We may mention that the painful impression produced by the first events of Warsaw have not in any way arrested the kind intentions of the Sovereign towards the kingdom of Poland. The Imperial Government will carefully watch that the institutions which have been granted are conscientiously carried out. All regular progress accomplished in that manner will be anxiously encouraged and aided. But, at the same time, any attempt at disturbance, under whatever pretext it may be concealed, will be repressed with inflexible firmness. If the kind intentions of the Sovereign are paralyzed, the responsibility of that circumstance can only fall on those who shall have rendered their realization impossible by resorting to violence when the Imperial Government only appealed to conciliation and to the intelligence and serious interests of the country.The noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs had admitted the right of one country to invade another in alliance with it for the purpose of imposing on the people a Foreign Sovereign, upon the ground of nationality; and therefore the people of Poland had a fair right to demand the noble Lord's opinion and advice. He was quite aware that it was one thing to deal with the King of Naples and another thing to deal with the Emperor of Russia, and he had observed that the noble Lord was inclined to reverse the maxim, and to make it read Parcere superbis, et debellare subjectos. Still he would ask the noble Lord whether he could give them certain despatches which he presumed must have been received from that able and excellent man our Consul General at Warsaw?
§ MR. MACEVOYsaid, he rose to ask the Secretary of Stale for Foreign Affairs, whether he had made any representations, and if any, what representations, to the Russian Government, relative to the recent destruction by the Imperial troops of unarmed people in Warsaw and other parts of Poland? It appeared to him that the hon. Gentleman who had just spoken entirely misconceived the subject, for there were hardly any two things between which the 1534 divergence was more complete than between the Italian and Polish question. He (Mr. MacEvoy) deemed it the duty of this country and France to support the treaties upon which the nationality of Poland rested, and he believed that a combined protest by these two Powers against the existing state of things in Poland would be attended with beneficial results. There was no country in the world which deserved so much sympathy, admiration, and respect as the noble country of Poland. Since its first partition, now eighty-nine years ago, its history had been one long martyrdom, and the sufferings and patience of the people must have endeared them to all who were capable of generous feelings. The noble Lord at the head of the Government had expressed his strong disapprobation of those criminal Governments—Austria, Russia, and Prussia—who confederated together to destroy Poland, and he hoped to hear from the noble Lord a condemnation of the present proceedings of Russia in language as plain and as forcible. Poland had been much in the same state as that of a place in a state of siege ever since the repression of the insurrection in 1831 by the late Emperor of Russia. The people were ground down and oppressed. Neither life nor property was secure, and the inhabitants were subjected to a detestable system of espionage. The Russian Government wielded an unlimited power of taxation, and thought they had stamped out of the minds of the Poles all hopes of independence and nationality. An agricultural society was formed; but the Government, seeing the direction which the influence which it had obtained was taking, soon determined on its suppression. A number of the people collected together after the dissolution of the society to celebrate the anniversary of the insurrection of 1830, but the affair passed off quietly. On the 25th of February another celebration was determined on, and there was a collision with the authorities. On the 27th the Cossacks attacked a funeral procession, and trampled on the cross which was being carried in procession. This naturally caused great indignation; but Count Sa-moiski offered to calm the people if the Government would make some concessions. The Government pretended to listen to this advice, but they secretly collected a large body of troops in Warsaw. They tried also to divide the people by offering to coerce the nobles into giving up to the peasants the homesteads which they occupied; 1535 but he believed that that insidious attempt bad failed; and that the Minister of the Interior had been everywhere received with marks of disgust on account of his proposal. But from information published in The Times, it appeared that on the 8th of April the troops, without any provocation, fired upon the unarmed people, and that all subsequent testimony went to show that the massacre was prearranged. Some of the military officers, however, raised their voices against such a fell deed of blood. A correspondent of The Times wrote—
It is said that General Liprandi, General-in-Chief of the corps d'armé e at present stationed in Poland, was strongly opposed to it, as also the military governor of the town, General Paniutine. The colonel of a regiment stationed in the Castle, when informed by the Prince on the Monday morning what would be required of him in the evening, refused to obey, and on retiring to his own quarters within the precincts of the Castle shot himself.Whatever credit the Emperor of Russia had gained for his emancipation of the serfs had been forfeited by the countenance and approval which he had given to the massacre at Warsaw. The evidence which they possessed on this subject was ample and trustworthy, and he hoped that the noble Lord the Foreign Secretary would not fail to express the strongest condemnation of the conduct of the Russian Government.