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ashesoftheircommander,PrinceJózefPoniatowski.Onthe9thday
ofMay1815,theMonarch,inaletterwritteninhisownhand,
notifiedCountTomaszOstrowski,theVoivodeandChairmanof
theSenate,thattheexistenceofourcountrywouldbeassuredand
theKingdomofPolandwouldberestored.Byhisorderthearmy
begantobereorganized,andthegovernmentaldecreethenissued,
andtheorganicstatuteswhichfollowedsoonafterbestowedonour
governmentanewform,similartotheonewhichhasexistedinthe
DuchyofWarsaw,butfreerbyfarandmorefavourableforprogress
anddevelopmentofeducation,industry,andagriculture.13
AlsothegeneraloutlineoftheKingdom’sborderswassimilar
tothatoftheDuchyofWarsaw,althoughtheformerwasfarsmaller.
Inhismagnanimity,thetsardeemeditrightto‘cede’theregionknown
asGreaterPoland[Wielkopolska]toPrussia.Krakówwasalsooutside
itsborders.JulianUrsynNiemcewiczwrote:KIgrieveoverKrakówand
Gniezno:wehavelostthecradleandthegravesofthePolishmonar-
chy”.14Yet,atthesametime,hewasoftheopinionthatKtheonlyhope
wehaveisinAlexander,ourKing”.Anotherhope,whichsoonturned
sour,wasthattheRussianempire’swesternprovinceslandswhichused
tobelongtoPolandwouldbeincorporatedintotheKingdom;Alex-
anderhadindicatedthiswashisdesire.AlthoughAlexandermayindeed
havewantedtoKrestore”Polandin1815,heabandonedtheplanafter
meetingwithstrongcriticismfromhisministersandthemajorityof
thearistocracy.15TeCongressKingdomencompassedonlyone-sixthof
Poland’slandsfrombefore1772,eventhoughitssize(128,000square
kilometres)andpopulation(closeto3million;4.3millionby1830)still
placeditamongaverage-sizedEuropeanstates.16Itwasindeedparadoxi-
calthatthetsarofautocraticallygovernedRussiagrantedtheCongress
Kingdomoneofthemostmodernconstitutionsofthetime,whichhe
signedon27November1815.17Atthattime,however,manyPolesal-
readydoubtedthetsar’sgoodintentionsanddespairedoftheCongress
Kingdom’scontinuedexistence.Tewell-knownpanegyristofcountry
life,KajetanKoźmian,wroteinhisPamiętniki[Memoirs]:KManymen
ofestateinPolandregardeditasanachronisticthattheKingdomofPo-
landwithitsliberalconstitutionshouldbejoinedwithdespoticRussia,
anachronisticparticularlyinviewofthefreedomswhichwerebyitswrit
grantedbyGrandDukeConstantine,sothatTsarAlexander’ssincerity
seemedtothemsuspectandtheybegantodoubtit”.18Tefearsofthose
doubtingKmenofestate”turnedouttobe,atleastinpart,well-ground-
ed.Intheearly1830samerefiveyearsafterhavingbeengrantedthe
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