THE CONGRESS KINGDOM 2-39As a result of the Rising, attitudes hardened on all sides. In Russia, where noth-
ing was known of Polish attempts at conciliation, the Poles were cursed by reac-
tionaries and dissidents alike. From his official position in the Russian Legation
at Munich, Feodor Tyutchev wrote a celebratory ode:
Indignation was general. The feelings of loyal Russian subjects were no less
aggrieved than those of the intellectuals, who considered that the Poles had
given Nicholas a perfect pretext for crushing all Reform in Russia. Everyone
was incensed by the torrent of criticism unleashed in Western Europe.
Alexander Pushkin composed a violent retort To the Slanderers of Russia:* As Agamemnon brought his own daughter to the sacrificial altar, imploring the angry heav-
ens to grant a breath of favourable breezes, so we have struck a blow on sorrowing Warsaw.
Indeed, it is the integrity and peace of Russia that we buy at this bloody price...
Our valiant nation is led by a higher conscience, and boldly takes the path of divine jus-
tice. It senses a star above its head in the invisible reaches of the sky, and follows that star
to its mysterious goal.
And you, who have been pierced by the arrows of brothers are fulfilling a prophecy of
Fate. You have fallen, like a pure-blooded eagle on the cleansing pyre. Trust in the word of
the Russian people. We shall gather your ashes with reverence. In them, like a phoenix, our
general freedom will be reborn.