AT    GRIPS    WITH    MOSCOW
Warsaw the Russian hangmen were busy again
and a whole legion of Poles was sent to the lead
mines of Siberia, driven all along the awful journey
by the Cossacks, soulless instruments of Russia,
with their 'kantchuks*. The rising of 1846 made
an end of the Cracow Republic. In 1848 the Poles
fought not only at home, but also in Sicily,
Northern Italy and Hungary, always with the
ultimate end in view that their sacrifices might
help to liberate their own country. At this time the
political developments were decisively influenced
by Polish poets and writers. Adam Mickiewicz,
the great poet, was only one of the intellectual
exponents of the Polish ideal of freedom, which
never ceased to burn in the hearts of the Polish
people.
By the year 1861 Russian oppression had reached
an intolerable peak of savagery. The majority of
the Polish poets and writers were exiled, the
exponents of Polish culture and education perse-
cuted and tortured, and even the wearing of Polish
national costumes was forbidden. People attending
the funeral of a known patriot, even if they them-
selves were not revolutionaries, were arrested.
At the celebration of a Kosciuszko anniversary
3,000 Poles were arrested.
The year 1863 saw another Polish rising. It was
inevitable. Since 1861 the Poles had been deprived
of freedom of assembly in any form, as well as of
freedom of speech, in addition to all the other
forms of persecution. Warsaw demonstrated by
silence* It was a dead city, with the women in
61