ltlaala.—The kingdom of Poland was on the 14th instant placed
in a state of siege. The reason for this sudden measure has not beenpublished, but it is said that letters received here from Warsaw, of a date antecedent to the proclamation of the state of siege, state that the Polish nobility gave a grand parting banquet in the Hotel de l'Europe to the peasants who had come to attend the funeral of the Archbishop of Warsaw. The princes and counts joined with the peasants in drinking the toast of "The Fatherland." The noblemen then rode with the peasants in omnibuses and cabs to the railway station, in the garden opposite to which the noblemen finally regaled their guests previous to their departure. More than ten thousand persons were present. The peasants were conveyed home by a special train. Before their departure spirited national songs were sung. The "party of action" also, it is said, grow stronger, and the French pamphlet, le Rhin et la Tristule, may have exercised some influence. In spite of the proclamation, however, the " de- monstration" on the Kosciusko anniversary took place. The people closed their shops, and the churches, which were thronged, were surrounded by the military. No lives were lost, though one crowd was dispersed by a cavalry charge. The troops are encamped in the squares.
There has been a student demonstration in St. Petersburg. The authorities, it appears, considered that the University, which was at- tended by men of all ranks, was becoming too liberal. Accordingly, they raised the entrance fee to 50 roubles a year, and ordered students to produce cards of admission. The Minister of Instruc- tion, Admiral Count Putiatin, moreover, warned the professors of the tendency of their teaching, and not receiving any reply, on the 6th of October, closed the University. The students, next day, arrived in a body, and sent a deputation 400 strong to the Curator, General Philipson. He consented to proceed with them to the University, and informed the whole body that the order of suspension would cease on the 14th. Seven students and three officers were immedi- ately afterwards arrested. At six o'clock in the evening. (7th Oct.), nowever, the General met the Council of the University, and asked them. to issue cards of matriculation, but they declined, and the suspension was made indefinite. On the 9th instant, the students met in the University court-yard to procure the liberation of three of their number, who, though deputies to General Philipson, had been arrested. This meeting caused some alarm, and General Patkul rode up and down the quay, prepared to use military force. General Bustrom, also, commanding the Finland regiment of the Guard, harangued them in the followingfashion : " My children," he sang out, you will have to-day to bring some disorderly young men to reason. These students, who are so unruly now, will, when they are a little older, become functionaries, and you know how the functionaries rob you and every one they come in con- tact with. We must chastise them, and, perhaps, when they rise to be clerks they will not plunder you so much." The soldiers did not respond, but on. an effort being made to rescue a student who was arrested, the word was given to the regiment to advance. The students remained firm, and in another moment a massacre would have occurred, when General Bustrom himself interfered, The students were allowed to send a deputation to General Patkul, but they obtained nothing except a promise that they should not be arrested by the secret police. All this while a military council was sitting in the Winter Palace, with the Grand-Duke Michael at its head, to pat down the revolt. The students will, it is believed, appeal to the Emperor, who is expected about the 20th instant.
Previous page
