“POLES,--The hour has sounded when the sacred dream of your fathers and your grandfathers may be realised. A century and a half has passed since the living body of Poland was torn in pieces, but the soul of the country is not dead. It continues to live, inspired by the hope that there will come for the Polish people an hour of resurrection, and of fraternal reconciliation with Great Russia. The Russian Army brings you the solemn news of this reconciliation which obliterates the frontiers dividing the Polish peoples, which it unites conjointly under the sceptre of the Russian Tzar. Under this sceptre Poland will be born again, free in her religion and her language. Russian autonomy only expects from you the same respect for the rights of those nationalities to which history has bound you. With open heart and brotherly hand Great Russia advances to meet you. She believes that the sword, with which she struck down her enemies at Grünwald, is not yet rusted. From the shores of the Pacific to the North Sea the Russian armies are marching. The dawn of a new life is beginning for you, and in this glorious dawn is seen the sign of the Cross, the symbol of suffering and of the resurrection of peoples.” This master stroke of policy was one of the most significant and important events in the whole war. It has revolutionised the whole outlook in Eastern Europe. This pledge to restore to dismembered Poland her lands, her liberties, her religion and her national tongue is the most momentous act of any Tzar since the days when Alexander II. abolished the serfdom. With dramatic suddenness it brings to a close one of the most terrible chapters in the history of Europe. For generations Russia has been engaged in a ruthless and vain attempt to force her Polish subjects to become, at least to all outward appearance, Russians. The Poles have been subjected to the fiercest persecution, their religion and language have been denied them, their history has been a stream of blood. Poland has been the greatest tragedy in Europe. Now at a stroke all is changed. The spoliation of Poland has been a bond between Russia, Austria and Prussia for a century and a half. The three nations combined to carry out the crime, and as a consequence they have ever since remained more or less united over the results of the crime. They have regarded the Polish question as their own particular concern, and have brooked no interference from the rest of Europe. They have vied with each other in their efforts to crush the Polish spirit. They have made every move in unison.