Page:Constitutional Charter of the Kingdom of Poland, In the Year 1815.pdf/44



The tithes, which formed an essential part of the property of the Polish clergy, were, by a new regulation as to the method of collecting them, exceedingly diminished, and many of the rectors reduced to indigence; the more so as the taxes upon the revenues of the clergy were levied upon the old list. In consequence of these exactions the clergy is ruined, its moral condition is deteriorated, and that of the lower classes suffering in consequence, an alarming increase of crime has been occasioned. It has been thought by some, that these measures formed part of a scheme for weakening the Roman Catholic faith in the minds of the people, and thus preparing the way for the establishment of the Greek church, which is the religion of the Russian empire. This arbitrary encroachment upon the property of one class, was only a prelude to encroachments upon the nation at large, and under the emperor Nicholas, a decree was issued for the sale of the national estates.

The liberty of the press, so distinctly guaranteed by the constitutional charter, was superseded by a rigorous censorship, introduced by a royal decree. It extended to every species of publication which was printed throughout the kingdom, and its strictness surpassed even that of St. Petersburgh; so that what was published at Petersburgh was forbidden at Warsaw. This censorship was more especially exerted upon every thing that was foreign. The director of Public education was at the head of the censorship, and might be said to determine the precise quantum of information and wisdom which the Poles were to be allowed to imbibe from foreign publications. This state of things had a most disastrous effect, inasmuch as it precluded the discussion of public affairs, and the exercise of a salutary superintendence over the actions of government, and the conduct of public officers, who, freed from this restraint, and consulting, for the most part, nothing but their interest, blindly obeyed the masters who rewarded their devotion with the treasures of the nation.