446 The new kingdom of Poland [1815-6

Warsaw ; but now he expressly reserved to himself in the treaties and in the Final Act the right of making such additions to the Polish State as he might think fit. This reservation had in view the eventual annexation to the kingdom of Poland of at least a part of Lithuania. Taken in conjunction with the recent precedent of the annexation of old Finland to the grand duchy of Finland (1811), it was of great value in conciliating public opinion in the kingdom; later, the disappointment of these hopes assisted to bring about the revolution of November. It was likewise stipulated at Vienna that the Polish territories handed over to Austria and Prussia should receive national representation and autonomous institutions of their own. Furthermore, guarantees were given that over the whole area of the former Republic, within the limits existing in 1772, there should be full freedom of navigation and trading, as well as unrestricted communication across the frontier. In these various clauses there was to be found undoubtedly an attempt to provide a new settlement of the Polish question; but the cardinal blunder, that of dividing the Polish lands and the Polish people, was retained. The kingdom, thus weakened by reduction of territory, was deprived of all chance of permanently maintaining its constitutional independence as against the vast and autocratic Russian Empire. This aspect of Castlereagh's policy was clearly set forth in the English Parliament during the early debates on the Congress of Vienna (January 6, 1816) by George Ponsonby, whose forecast of the future proved singularly just.

In November, 1815, Alexander I made his state entry into Warsaw — the first state entry of a Russian monarch into the capital of Poland. His first task was to grant a Constitution. Out of the various schemes submitted to him, Alexander finally selected that drafted by Prince Adam Czartoryski. Considerable modifications, calculated to limit the independence of the kingdom, were, however, made in the draft by the hand of the Tsar himself, and others at the suggestion of Novosiltsoff, a Russian Senator, formerly a friend of Czartoryski, afterwards the most virulent and most dangerous enemy of the Poles and Poland. Alexander signed the final text of the Constitution on November 27, 1815.

The constitutional charter for the kingdom of Poland comprised 7 titles and 165 articles. In contradiction to the old Constitution of the grand duchy of Warsaw, the Roman Catholic religion was not recognised as the national religion, but placed on an equal footing with all other religions, save only that it enjoyed the special protection of the Government. The Crown of the kingdom was to be for ever hereditary in the Russian Imperial Family; the person of the monarch was declared sacred and inviolable, and the government was vested in him; to him belonged the right of confirming or rejecting the enactments of the Diet, as well as the right of convoking, dissolving, and adjourning it. A Viceroy, acting together with a Council of State, was to represent the sovereign in the Government. A Diet of two Chambers, to be convoked

1815] The Constitution of Poland 447

every two years for a session of thirty days, was the legislative authority. The members of the Senate, to the number of not more than half of the members of the Lower Chamber, were to be appointed for life by the Crown. The Chamber of Deputies, composed of 77 members of the nobility and 51 deputies, was to be chosen for a term of six years by direct election under a restricted franchise. All noble landowners, registered as such in any provincial district, had a vote for the firstmentioned class of representatives; the other deputies were to be elected by the suffrages of (1) all owners of land paying taxes, (2) master workmen, manufacturers, and merchants, holding property of a certain rateable value, (3) parish priests and vicars, teachers, artists, and other members of the professional classes. The sittings of the Diet in both Chambers were to be public, the voting was to be open, and a simple majority was to be decisive; the actions of the Government were to be subject to the supervision of three Revising Committees of the Diet, formed for civil and criminal law, for administrative and constitutional law, and for finance.

The executive authority was vested in the Administrative Council, composed of the five Ministers of Finance, War, Education and Public Worship, Justice, Home Affairs and Police, and presided over, like the Council of State, by the Viceroy. The direction of foreign policy was to devolve upon the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs in St Petersburg. However, a permanent diplomatic department, carrying on its own correspondence with the Russian embassies abroad, was attached to Grand Duke Constantine at Warsaw. A Secretary of State for the kingdom, attached to the sovereign in St Petersburg, was to act as intermediary between the Government of the kingdom and the Crown. The arms of the kingdom (in place of the plain white eagle adopted in the time of the duchy of Warsaw) were to be a white eagle on the breast of the Russian two-headed black eagle. The Polish army, established on a peace footing of about 30,000 men, was to retain its distinctive insignia and its national uniform. Only citizens of the kingdom were to be admitted to civil and military posts; the Polish language was to be exclusively employed in the administration, the law-courts, and the army. Personal liberty, freedom of religious belief, and freedom of the Press were guaranteed. Jews were, however, barred from the exercise of all civil functions, and were not allowed either to hold public posts or to take part in elections.

The Polish Constitution of 1815 thus became, in some respects, the most progressive and Liberal constitution in Europe. The electoral system, based on a uniform principle, with electoral districts of equal extent, and with a restricted register of voters, was far superior to the English electoral system before the Reform Bill. It was also more Liberal than that of the French Charte of 1814, which had a far higher voting qualification, both as regards property and age. The number of

448 Grand Duke Constantine.—Novosiltsoff [1815-30

voters in France, after the Restoration, was somewhat less than that in Poland about 1820; while the Polish population, excluding the Jews, was little more than one-tenth of the French. More important still, the Constitution of 1815 tended to perpetuate the Polish nationality, making, as it did, the Polish language the sole means of public communication, and confining to Polish citizens the exercise of public rights. But, in the final text of the Constitution, a series of vague and ambiguous phrases were purposely introduced, the sources of subsequent infraction of the rights conferred. Thus, instead of the old Polish formula " neminem captivabimus nisi jure victum" was inserted " neminem captivari permittemus.'' This left the power of illegal imprisonment and long detention in prison without trial as a prerogative of the sovereign and his Viceroy. Again, the " first budget" was left at the disposition of the sovereign, without a clear indication whether it was meant to be the budget for the first year only, or also for the following years; and thus, during the whole fifteen years' existence of the kingdom, not a single budget was submitted to the Diet for ratification. The Diets were to meet every two years; but the King had the right of adjourning them, and consequently, in place of seven Diets during the whole period of fifteen years, only four were held.

Moreover, the choice of persons to fill several most important posts was unfortunate. The post of Commander-in-Chief was given to the Grand Duke Constantine. Though a tyrant by nature and of violent character, his marriage with Princess Lovicz and his long residence in Poland somewhat softened him, and even made him, to some extent, conscious of his obligations towards the kingdom; yet withal, during the whole time of his rule, his influence tended to embitter relations. The Viceroy was General Zayonch, an old legionist and soldier of Napoleon, a man of great personal courage, but without character, and thoroughly servile to the Grand Duke. Czartoryski, whom public opinion had destined for the viceroyship, had incurred the private displeasure of Alexander, and was excluded from the Government proper. Large and undefined powers, including a seat in the Administrative Council, were bestowed upon Nicholas Novosiltsoff, the "evil spirit" of the kingdom of Poland. Novosiltsoff interfered in all affairs, and sent to St Petersburg, first to Alexander and afterwards to Nicholas, secret weekly reports, which were coloured by profound animosity not only towards Poland, but, speaking generally, towards every sentiment of nationality, progress, and freedom. The worst misfortunes which fell upon the country at this period, and on its best men, were all due to the intervention, and many of them to the initiative, of Novosiltsoff, whose name, branded by the national poet Mickievicz (one of his numerous victims), is fixed in the memory of the Polish people as the embodiment of the most insidious Russian bureaucratic oppression.

The kingdom of Poland was ultimately established within the

1815-30] Religion.—Education.—Administration 449

boundaries which it has retained to the present day. These included an area of about 127,000 square kilometres, barely one-sixth of the former Polish Republic. The population, which had greatly diminished in consequence of the recent wars, amounted, in 1815, to only 3,200,000, but afterwards rapidly increased, so that, in 1830, it amounted to 4,200,000. The kingdom was divided into eight provinces, viz. Masovia, Kalisz, Plock, Podlasia, Augustov, Lublin, Sandomir, and Cracow (the last name was retained to convey hopes of the recovery of that city), and into a like number of Roman Catholic dioceses, with an archbishopric at Warsaw, and one Greek-United diocese — that of Chelm. The Archbishop of Warsaw, by virtue of the Concordat of Alexander with Pius VII, signed in Rome on January 28,1818, and the Papal Bulls of March and June, 1818, received the title of Primate of the kingdom of Poland. After the death of Archbishop Voronicz in 1829, the Russian Government, for several decades, left the archbishopric vacant, and, even down to the present day, has refused the title of Primate to the Archbishops.

Great activity was displayed in the sphere of public education. In 1816, a University was founded in Warsaw; it was gradually enlarged until it possessed faculties of theology, law, medicine, philosophy, science, and art. The students attending it soon reached the number of 800. In place of the Zaluski Library, removed to St Petersburg, a new and important library, with a large collection of engravings, was quickly formed; and special equipment, such as laboratories, was added. The following higher schools were established : schools for applied military science and forestry and a polytechnic in Warsaw, a school of mining in Kielce, a school of cadets in Kalisz, an institute for training elementary teachers in Lovicz, an ecclesiastical seminary for Evangelicals, and a Rabbi's school for Jews. Secondary education was further provided for in ten provincial and sixteen departmental schools, while the number of elementary town and country schools was increased to nearly 900.

Much was done, too, by the Home Department of the Government under the capable and resolute Minister Mostovski. An effort was made to promote various industries; and support was given, in particular, to the weaving industry, which henceforth became one of the principal factors in the prosperity of the kingdom. The direction of the mines was under the care of the famous patriot and writer Staszic, and steps were taken to develop the Olkusz mines. At a cost of several millions of florinsl the city of Warsaw was embellished and enlarged; the old ramparts of Praga were removed; and a row of large public buildings was erected, which are occupied to this day as Government offices. Much was done for the making and repairing of the roads; and the improvement of the navigation of the rivers Vistula, Pilica, Nida, and Przemsza was taken in hand. The postal administration, which 1 The Polish florin or gulden was worth at this time about Is. 2d.

C. M. H. x. 20

450 Finance. — The first Diet [1815-9

had hitherto been working at a loss, was put in proper order, and afterwards produced a considerable revenue. A subsidy was granted to the National Theatre ; and an academy of music and elocution was founded. With the object of bringing the different classes of society more closely together, a decree was issued in 1817, facilitating the obtaining of patents of nobility. From this time forward, grants of nobility were constantly being announced in the Gazette, with the ultimate effect of eradicating the feeling that the nobility formed an exclusive class.

A danger to the kingdom, in this first period of its existence, was the deplorable state of its finances, resulting principally from the expenditure on the army. This expenditure, during the first two years (1815-7), was met by the Russian Treasury; but thereafter it fell on the finances of the kingdom. The cost of the army reached about 30 millions of florins annually, that is to say, about half of the entire budget; and in 1819 there was a deficit in the budget amounting to 19 millions. There was thus a danger that, under the pretext of the inability of the country to bear its expensive legislative institutions, Novosiltsoff would tempt Alexander to abolish the autonomous Constitution of the kingdom, so as to embrace Poland within the scheme, brought forward about this time, for granting a constitution to the whole Empire.

In the spring of 1818, Alexander entered Warsaw to open the first Diet of the kingdom. The ceremony took place on March 27 with great pomp. Alexander, having ascended the throne, read an eloquent speech in French, full of promises. "Your hopes and my wishes," he said, "are being realised. You have given me the opportunity of disclosing to my own country that which I have long been preparing for it, and which it will obtain, so soon as this important work can reach maturity. You have proved yourselves equal to your task. The results of your labours will teach me whether, true to my undertakings, I shall be able further to extend what I have already done for you." These solemn words made a powerful impression on those present, and were echoed throughout the kingdom, over the whole of Russia, and through Europe. They were taken to indicate the assurance of a constitution for Russia and of the annexation of Lithuania to the kingdom. We may regard this speech from the throne of 1818 as the culminating point of Alexander's Liberalism; henceforth reactionary tendencies were to prevail.

The deliberations of the Diet, animated by such a promising introduction, were at once important and favourable to the country's interest. A law was passed for making more summary the procedure in fixing the boundaries of private lands — a measure which was alike indispensable for keeping intact the national lands, and for enabling hypothecations to be satisfactorily made. A new and important law of mortgage was passed, which is in force to this day, and is a considerable improvement, both on the rules of the Code Napoleon and on the mortgage