assertion of atrocities having been committed by the insurgents; and to urge the impolicy of creating a spirit of bitterness amongst the Polish inhabitants of the province by bringing forward such assertions in the garb of official accusations.

Earl Russell.

I have, &c.

ANDREW BUCHANAN

(Inclosure 1.)-Proclamation to the Inhabitants of the Province of Posen.

(Translation.)

Posen, February 1, 1863. THE armed insurrection which has broken out in the Kingdom of Poland against the lawful authority of the Government has changed our immediate neighbourhood into a theatre of bloody events; but whilst the cruelties perpetrated by the insurgents inspire the greatest horror, they at the same time afford the certainty that this criminal undertaking will bring about the destruction of those whose fanaticism has made them partakers in it.

Inhabitants of the province of Posen! We can indulge in the confident hope that the public peace will not be broken in any portion of the province. Our guarantees for this are the sense for order which animates the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants; the watchfulness of the public organs, which are called upon to be beforehand with any intended breach of the peace; and lastly, the power given to us by His Majesty, and which, should the event require it, we will use to the very utmost in the maintenance of quiet and order.

We cannot, however, but entertain the fear that attempts will be made to seduce individual inhabitants of the province to a participation in the insurrectionary movement of the neighbouring country; a participation which, if even only an indirect one, but substantiated by any public manifestation, or by any act of support or assistance of whatever kind, would have to be regarded (considering the notorious tendencies of the insurrection), as an undertaking against the laws of this country (i.e., Prussia), and might therefore involve the heavy penalties of treason.

We hold it, therefore, to be our duty to warn all inhabitants against taking any part in the insurrection, &c.

COUNT WALDERSEE, General in command of 5th Army Corps.

HORN, President of the Province of Posen.

(Inclosure 2.)-Interpellation of MM. Kantak and Chlapowski, supported by several Members of the Party of Progress. (Translation.) Berlin, February 7, 1863. THE following proclamation has been issued in connexion with

the late events in the Kingdom of Poland by the President of the Grand Duchy of Posen, conjointly with the Military Governor (here follows the proclamations: see Inclosure I, page 781.) I

Every one is of course free to pass what judgment he pleases on passing events, on their causes, their objects, and their character; still less can the right be disputed on the part of the Administration to warn the inhabitants of the country of the consequences resulting from illegal acts.

On the present occasion, however, it is pre-eminently the unusual form (that, namely, of the civil head of the Administration calling upon the chief military functionary to countersign his proclamation) which excites apprehension, as if the Grand Duchy of Posen already found itself in an exceptional state, with a prospect of further exceptional measures. This apprehension is confirmed and intensified in the first place by the above-named authorities, in a threatening manner, invoking "the power in their hands" rather than the laws, and in the next place by the declaration, repugnant to the Criminal Code of Prussia, that every participation in the events taking place in the neighbouring country, even "of an indirect kind," is to be considered as an undertaking against the laws of the country, and therefore capable of drawing down on the offender the heavy penalties of high treason.

Nor can the warning expressed in this proclamation be considered from its general tone as a well-meaning one. For when the President and the Military Governor of the Grand Duchy speak in one and the same Proclamation of the "notorious tendency" of the insurrection, and describe the same, in spite of the first accounts having been either contradicted or not confirmed, as "inspiring horror by the atrocities that have been committed," it cannot have escaped them that, regard being had to the deep sympathy which those events necessarily excite amongst the entire Polish population, an official accusation of this kind thoughtlessly brought forward, and misrepresenting the character of the movement, is adapted to embitter and wound a portion of the population of the Grand Duchy, and to disquiet the other.

Moved by these considerations, the Undersigned ask the following questions of the Government:

1. Whether, and since when, the Grand Duchy of Posen has been subjected to the exceptional state of a combined civil and military administration?

2. Whether the Government approves of the form and contents of the Proclamation of the 1st of February?

KANTAK.

VON CHAPLOWSKI.

No. 37.-Colonel Stanton to Earl Russell.—(Received February 21.) MY LORD, Warsaw, February 17, 1863. I HAVE the honour to forward herewith to your Lordship a translation of an order of His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Constantine addressed to the troops in this Kingdom, which appeared in the official "Gazette" of last evening, and which it is to be hoped may put a stop to the excesses of which the troops are accused.

I beg also to forward to your Lordship a translation of an order from the Military Chief of the Warsaw Department, which appeared in the same 66 Gazette." I have, &c.

Earl Russell.

EDWD. STANTON.

(Inclosure.)-Extract from the Warsaw "Gazette" of February

16, 1863.

Order of His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Constantine. (Translation.) Warsaw, February, 1863. Hrs Imperial Highness the Grand Duke, Namiestnik of the Kingdom, has been pleased to issue the following order to the troops quartered in the Kingdom of Poland, under date of the 2nd instant:

14th

"I desire all the Chiefs of military detachments to preserve the strictest discipline in the ranks, and to be careful of their conduct. Soldiers guilty of pillaging or of committing acts of violence towards peaceable inhabitants, who have not participated in the rebellion, shall be punished with the utmost severity of the military criminal laws."

Order of the Military Chief of the Warsaw Department.

With a view to secure the tranquillity of Warsaw and to give protection against the machinations of the evil-disposed who spread alarm, His Imperial Highness the Namiestnik has been pleased to authorize the following rules:--

1. A renewal of the prohibition of having any kind of arms or powder in the possession of persons not having permissions to that effect all persons who have delayed conforming to this rule may avoid responsibility by delivering them to the proper police authorities within 48 hours, i.e., before the 19th instant, after which date persons having any arms, warlike instruments, or powder in their possession are punishable by martial law, according to Articles 261 and 262 of the Code, as guilty of acts of rebellion.

2. Holders or distributors of seditious placards or printed matter will likewise be punished by courts-martial as rebels.

3. It is prohibited to all persons, without special permission, to be in the streets after 10 o'clock at night, or to appear in the streets

without a lantern after 7 P. M. Offenders against this or other military rules will be apprehended and punished.

4. In cases of alarm in town all persons are to retire from the streets, the doors and gates of the houses are to be properly closed, and persons remaining in the streets are exposed to the dangers attending military operations.

5. In cases where a house may be occupied by insurgents, or shots fired from its windows, that house will be forthwith destroyed by artillery.

In bringing the above rules to the knowledge of the public, I invite all peaceable inhabitants not to allow themselves to be alarmed by false rumours, as energetic measures have been adopted to stop any attempt at disorder or insurrection. The troops under my command, whilst ready to act against the disturbers of the peace, will understand how to perform their duty, and at the same time to protect the lives and property of the peaceable inhabitants. General Aide-de-camp,

BARON KORFF.

No. 38.-Earl Cowley to Earl Russell.— (Received February 21.) MY LORD, Paris, February 20, 1863.

BEFORE this despatch can reach your Lordship, Baron Gros will, no doubt, have communicated to you one addressed yesterday by M. Drouyn de Lhuys to himself on the present state of affairs in Poland. In this despatch, which the French Minister has just been good enough to read to me, his Excellency gives an account of the communications which have been made to him by the Representatives of Russia, Prussia, and Austria, from the two first, with reference to the Convention lately signed at St. Petersburgh; from the last, explaining the attitude taken by the Austrian Government.

It would be needless, even if I had the time before the departure of the messenger, to go into the details of this despatch, since it will be communicated to your Lordship. I will merely state, that while the position of the Russian Government in a part of whose dominions the insurrection which has led to the Convention exists, induces M. Drouyn de Lhuys to abstain from expressing any opinion upon that document, his Excellency reminds the Russian Government of the engagements under which the partition of Poland was reluctantly consented to by the other Powers, parties to the Treaty of Vienna: he calls attention to the sympathy which the cause of Poland has ever excited in France, and he expresses the hope that the Russian Government may be enabled, by prudent and conciliatory measures, to allay the agitation before it gains proportions that may become alarming to Russia herself, to France, and to Europe.

From the Prussian Government, M. Drouyn de Lhuys does not conceal the opinion that the signature of the St. Petersburgh Convention is, on the part of Prussia, a grave political fault. She has thereby assumed that local disturbances in that part of Poland which belongs to Russia involves the whole Polish question-for, according to the accounts received by the French Government, the Duchy of Posen is in the enjoyment of complete tranquillity-and she thus makes herself responsible for the acts of the Russian Government.

M. Drouyn de Lhuys contrasts the conduct of Austria with that of Prussia in a favourable light to the former, founding his opinion on the communications made to him by Prince Metternich.

His Excellency then observes that he has reason to know that the same communications from the 3 Governments have been made to your Lordship, and that he believes that the conduct of Prussia has called forth your remonstrances. He ends by expressing the wish to know the sentiments and opinions of Her Majesty's GovernI have, &c.

ment.

Earl Russell.

COWLEY.

MY LORD,

No. 39.-Earl Russell to Earl Cowley.

Foreign Office, February 21, 1863. THE French Ambassador has just called upon me to say that the Government of the Emperor, although not in possession of the text of the Convention between Russia and Prussia, know enough of its purport to form an opinion unfavourable to the prudence and opportuneness of that Convention.

The French Government consider that the Government of the King of Prussia have by their conduct revived the Polish question. They consider this measure all the more imprudent inasmuch as the Polish Provinces of Prussia are represented as perfectly tranquil.

The French Government consider also that the Government of Russia should be advised to appease irritation, and calm the discontent prevailing by measures of conciliation and mildness.

The French Ambassador has no orders to propose any concert with the British Government, but he is instructed to ask whether the views which he had explained were conformable to those entertained by Her Majesty's Government.

I informed him that Her Majesty's Government entertained precisely the views which he had explained on the part of his Government.

Earl Cowley.

I am, &c.

RUSSELL.