230 KONGRESOWKA
organization, the predecessor of several others of the same name, spawned a
network of local cells across the Polish lands. It was devoted to the goal of
full national independence, and continued to exercise an influence long after its
separate cells ceased to respond to the centre. Lukasinski's arrest and incarcer-
ation in 1822 marked the start of growing conflict with the authorities.^6 In stu-
dent circles, a rash of amateur revolutionary clubs appeared, each with its own
heroes, philosophy, and newspaper. The Varsovian Panto. Koina (All Together)
of 1817 had contacts both in Germany and in Russia. It was broken up by the
flurry of international police enquiries inspired by the murder at Jena in
Germany of the Tsar's resident Minister. The Zwiqzek Wolnych Polakow
(League of Free Poles) of 1819 put out feelers to Wilno and Cracow; but it, too,
was broken up by the police. In the army, firm connections were established
with fellow-conspirators in Russia. The Towarzystwo Zjednoczonych Siowian
(Society of United Slavs) kept in contact with the Russian 'Northern' and
'Southern' Societies, and with an 'Association of Military Friends', which oper-
ated among the officers of the Lithuanian Corps stationed at Belostok. Although
one cannot doubt the integrity of men who undertook conspiratorial adventures
against the Tsar, it is hard to believe that they presented any serious danger to
the forces of law and order.^7
The main troubles at this stage occurred not in Warsaw but in Wilno. The
relatively benevolent regime in the Kingdom bore no resemblance to the
repressive establishment across the frontier in Lithuania. When Czartoryski
retired from his post in Wilno in 1814, his successors did all in their power to
reverse his pro-Polish policies. The University of Wilno, which for a brief
period had flourished as the premier centre of Polish literature and learning,
came under direct assault from a company of ardent Russifiers. The
Towarzystwo Filomatow (Philomatic Society), founded in 1817 by Adam
Mickiewicz and Tomasz Zan (1796—1855) as a focus for their literary activities,
was soon driven to adopt distinctly political overtones. It co-opted the support
of faculty members, notably of Joachim Lelewel, the Professor of History. In
1821, two new organizations were formed. One, the Towarzystwo
Filodelfistow (Philodelphist Society), was openly devoted to the idea of reunit-
ing the two parts of the old Republic of Poland-Lithuania. The other, the
Zwiqzek Zielony (Green League), was a precocious example of Populism,
which took to the countryside to woo the peasantry. Ominously, the spread of
these enterprises caught the attention of Novosiltsov, who travelled to Wilno
to conduct investigations in person. In November 1823, the police struck.
Mickiewicz and Zan, and eight of their colleagues were summarily exiled to
the central Russian provinces. Lelewel was dismissed. The entire conspiracy,
such as it was, was dispersed. The lesson for the people in Warsaw was clear.
The mask of liberalism sported by the Tsarist authorities in the Kingdom was
little more than skin-deep.^8
With the accession of Nicholas I in 1825, the mask was cast aside. Shaken to
the marrow by the Decembrist Revolt in the Russian Army, the new Tsar