ENGLAND AND RUSSIA

Southland Times, Volume 3, Issue 101, 14 October 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

ENGLAND AND RUSSIA

The following is the dispatch from Lord Russel to the Ambassador of Great Britain in St. Petersburg, respecting the insurrection in Poland : — " Earl llussell to 'Lokd Napier: l r oreign -office, June 17, 18G3. " My Lord, — Her Majesty's Government have considered with the deepest attention the despatch of Prince Gorlschakoff of the 26th of April, which was • placed in my bands by Baron Brunnow on the 2nd of May. "Her Majesty's Government are not> desirous, any more than Priuce Gertseba- , koff, of continuing- a buiren discussioa. I will, therefore, pass over all the controversy regarding my previous despatch. 1 will not endeavour in the present communication to fix the precise meaning of the article regarding the Treaty of Vienna, nor will ] argue, as Prince Gortschakoil" seems to expect 1 should do, that there |is only oue form voder which good government can be established. Still less will I calJ. in question the benevolent in tentions of the enlightened Emperor who has already in a short time effected such marvellous changes in the legal condition of his Prussian subjects. " H</r Majesty's Government are willing w;ith the Emperor of Russia to seek a practical solution of a difficult and most important problem. " JJaron Brunnow, in presenting to me Prince Gortschakoff' s despatch, said, ' The Imperial Cabinet is ready to enter upon an exchange of ideas upon the ground and within the lia.i s of the Treaties of 1815.' " Her Majesty's Government are thus mvi.ted by the Government of Russia to an exchange of ideas upon the basis of tluj Treaty of 1815, with a view to the pa cification and permanent tranquillity of Poland. " Before making any definite proposals i'; is essential to point out that there are ( wo leading principles upon whick, as it tppearsto her Majesty'sGoverumenf, any future Government of Poland ought to ■rest. The fir^t of these is the establishment of confidence in the Government on the part of the governed. " The original views of the Emperor Alexander I. are stated b} r Lord Castle rcagh, 'who had heard horn the Emperor's own lips, in a long conversation, the plan he contemplated. " The plan of the Emperor is thus dei scribed b)'Lord Castlereagh: — 'To retain the whole of the Duchy of Warsaw, with the exception of the small portion to the 1 Arestward of Kilisch, which he meant to assign to Prussia, erecting the remainder, I together with the Polish provinces 1 formerly dismembered, into a kingdom 1 under the dominion of Russia, with a national administration congenial to the sentiments of the. people.' " The whole force of this plan consists , in the latter words. " Whether power is Tetained in the hands of one, as in the old monarchy of France, or divided among a select body of the aristocracy, as in the Republic of Venice, or distributed among a Sovereign, a House of Peers, and a Representative Assembly, as in England — its virtues and strength must consist in its being a national Administration congenial to the sentiments of the .people. " The Emperor Alexander 11. speaking of the institution lie has given, says, as to the future, it necessarily depends on the confidence with "which these institutions will be received on the part of the kingdom. -"Such an Administration as Alexander I. intended, such confidence as Alexander 11. looked for, unhappily do not exist in Poland, " The next principle of order and stability must be found in the supremacy of law over arbitrary will. Where such supremacy exists, the subject or citizen may enjoy his property or exercise his industry in peace, and the security he feels as an individual will be felt in its turn by the Government under which he dives. " Partial tumults, secret conspiracies, and the interference of cosmopolite strangers, will not shake the firm edifice of such a Government " This element of stability is likewise wanting in Poland. The religious libertj guaranteed by the solemn declarations of the Empress Catherine, the political freedom granted by the deliberate Charter of the Emperor Alexander 1., have alike been abrogated by succeeding Governments, and have been only partially revived by the present Emperor. " It is no easy task to restore the confidence which has been lost, and to regain the peace which is now everywhere broken. HerMajesty'sGovernmcnt would deem themselves guilty of great presumption if they were to express an assurance that vague declarations of good intentions, or even the enactment of some Aviso laws, would make such an impression on the minds of the Polish people as to obtain peace and restore obedience. " In presontcircumstanccs itappears to Her Majesty's Government that nothing less than the followingoutlincof measures should bo adopted as the basis of pacification ':—

" 1. Complete and general amnesty. "2. National, > representation, with powers similar to those which are fixed* -by charter of the 15-27 th November, '1815.' ; \ " 3. Poles tobe'named to public offices in .such, a manner as to form a distinct national Administration, having the confidence of the 'country. "4. Full and entire liberty of conscience ; repeal of the'restrictions imposed on Catholic worship. j j "5 Th"c Polish language recognized i i j the kingdom, as the official language,! and i used as such in the administration of the i -law and in education. ! " 6 The establishment of a regular and legal system of recruiting. " These six points might serve, as the indications of measures to be adopted, after calm and full deliberation. " But it is difficult, nay, almost impossible, to create the I'equisite confidence and calm while the passions ofmen are becoming daily more excited, their hatreds more deadly, their determination to succeed or perish more fixed and immovable. '• Your lordship has sent me an extract from the St Petersburg Gazette of the 7th (19th) of.May. I could send your lordship, in return, extracts from London ! newspapers, giving accounts of atrocities, equally horrible, committed by men acting on behalf of Russian authority. "It is not for Her Majesty's Government to discriminate between the real facts and the exaggeration of hostile parties. ." Many of the allegations of each are probabl)' unfounded, but somemust in all i probability be true. How, then, are we to hope to conduct to any good end a negotiation carried on between parties thus exasperated? "In an ordinary war, the success of fleets and armies who fight with courage, but without hatred, may be balanced in a negotiation carried on in the midst (^hostilities. An island more or less to be transferred, a boundary more or less to be extended, might express the value of the lasl victory orconquest. JButwhere theobjeet is to attain civil peace, and to induce men to live under those against whom they have fought with rancour and desperation, the case is different. The fi «' thing to b^ done, therefore, in the opinion of her Majesty's Government, is to establish a suspension of hostilities. This might be done in the name of humanity by& proclamation of the Emperor of Russia, without any derogation ofhisdignity. The Poles, of course, would not. be entitled to the benefit of such an act unless they themselves refrained from hostilities of every kind during the suspension. ■" Tranquillity thus for the moment restored, the next thing is to consult the Powers who signed the Treaty of Vienna, Prussia, Spain, Sweden, and Portugal must be asked to give their opinion as te the best mode of giving effect to a treaty to which they were contracting parties. " What her Majesty's Government propose, therefore, consists in these three propositions : — . " ht • The adoption of the six points enumerated as bases of negotatiort. " 2nd. A provisional suspension of arms to be proclaimed by the Emperor of Russia. '■3rd. Aeonfercnceof the eight Powers who signed the Treatj r of Vienna. " Your Exc jlloncy will read and give a copy of this despatch to Prince Gortsj chakoff. ! "I am, &c, " ItU3SIi!LL."