Action in Poland has, perhaps, been precipitated by recent events
in St. Petersburg. The authorities there, it appears, thought the Uni- versity Professors too liberal, and the Minister of Instruction, Admiral Putiatine, ordered them to alter their tone. He also required them to vote for an increase in fees, and to establish a system of entrance cards. They could not comply, and on the 7th of October the Uni- versity was closed. The students remonstrated, but the remonstrance only led to a number of arrests. On the 9th, the students assembled in the court-yard of the University, and a regiment of the Guards was ordered to clear the ground. The students did not yield, but for- tunately the General recollected himself in time to prevent the outrage which for the moment seemed inevitable. The troops were withdrawn, but the University still remains closed. The Emperor all this while is in the Crimea, and the students expect that on his arrival he will do them justice ; but there is reason to fear that Alex- ander will follow the example of his namesake, and, after a brief show of liberal feeling, fall back on force. The public must not attach too great an importance to the incident as a sign of liberal feeling extending even to Russia. Even in France, the Executive, when allied with the peasantry, is too strong for the educated class, and that is the normal condition of modern Russia. The Emperor can rely implicitly on the masses, and the moment he ceases to favour intellectual liberalism it will cease to be. The only hope is in his character, and it must in justice be remembered that while the serf question is still in movement, he dare not consent to any apparent weakening of the executive power.
