Excerpt from Confidential Correspondence of the British Government Respecting the Insurrection in Poland 1863 All hitherto published accounts of the diplomatic events connected with the Polish rising are drawn from sources which for historical purposes were incomplete. Con sequently, although some of the descriptions represent accurately the external side of events, they do not give insight into the internal political considerations which influenced diplo matic machinery. The Confidential Book reveals many springs and motives which up to this day remained hidden, inexplicable, or doubtful. It forms a veritable mine of infor mation concerning the attitude not only of Great Britain, but also of France, Austria, and Prussia towards the Polish question in 1863, and the attitude of these Powers to wards each other. The Confidential Book shows clearer than any documents published hitherto what were the real chances of an armed intervention of the Powers in the russo-polish con flict of 1863. It shows also the potential tendencies of certain Continental states, which, had they chosen actively to interfere, would not have neglected to promote the re-arran gement of some frontiers of Europe, much less in the interests of Poland than in their own. Some documents dissipate the legend of the French Government's disinterestedness in its desire to bring about concerted action in favour of the Poles. Others again show the wonderful efficiency of British diplomatists in availing themselves of the Polish re volt to effect the rupture of the nascent friendship between France and Russia, without however permitting the Emperor Napoleon to take any step likely to prejudice the inte rests of Russia or Prussia. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.