[Illustration: KOSCIUSZKO.
_Born in Poland A.D. 1756. Died the 15th. October 1817 near Solothurn
in Switzerland. He and G'al. Lafayette were the only two Europeans who
wore the Cross of the Order of Cincinnatus._
_Dedicated to the American people._
_Entered according to Act Congress by Paulin Miedzielsky, N.-York,
1833._]
HISTORY
OF THE
LATE POLISH REVOLUTION,
AND THE
EVENTS OF THE CAMPAIGN.
BY JOSEPH HORDYNSKI,
MAJOR OF THE LATE TENTH REGIMENT OF LITHUANIAN LANCERS.
Fourth Edition.
BOSTON:
PRINTED FOR SUBSCRIBERS.
1833.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1833,
By Joseph Hordynski,
In the Clerk's Office of the District of Massachusetts.
TO
THE GREAT AND FREE NATION
OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Liberated from prison, and from the prospect of a more gloomy future,
by some of your fellow citizens, I have been so fortunate as to reach
these happy shores. Providence has granted me to behold that fair
country, and that nation, which every lover of freedom desires to see
with his own eyes, and every freeman of Poland is wont to think of with
love and esteem. Your land, long since the asylum of the persecuted,
has welcomed me with hearty benevolence. From the first moment of my
arrival to the present time, I have received daily proofs of your
sympathy. Full of gratitude, and in the hope of doing you an acceptable
service, I cannot better employ the moments allowed me during my stay
among you, than by giving you a faithful account of our revolution, and
of its true causes and motives, as well as of the events of the war by
which it was followed. By a brief statement of the circumstances which
brought about that revolution, I wish to inform you of the injustice
and outrages, which my nation was compelled to endure, during fourteen
years, in which both its natural rights, and the constitution solemnly
guarantied to it, were trampled under foot. By a true account of the
events of the ensuing war, you will be enabled to convince yourselves
of the means by which small forces became victorious over a colossal
power, as well as of the causes of the final catastrophe to which
Poland has been doomed.
I am convinced that in many respects my narrative will be entirely
opposed to the representations given in the public papers; for our
land, like most countries struggling for liberty, was surrounded by
enemies rather than friends. The sources from which these accounts have
been drawn, are, first, my own recollections of events of which I was
an eye-witness; secondly, the reports of my friends and comrades who
were present; and lastly, (particularly as to the operations of the
detached corps) the official reports of the army, which have not yet
escaped my memory. The same course I have followed in the design of
the plans, which have been traced partly from my own recollections of
positions and scenes at which I was present, partly from the accurate
reports of friends, and partly from public reports, assisted by my
personal knowledge of localities.
Americans! I am neither an author nor a scholar by profession, but a
simple republican and soldier. In such a one you will forgive faults in
the form and style of writing. Do not then judge me as a writer, but
see in me an unhappy Pole, who presents to your sympathies the picture
of the fatal disasters of his unfortunate country, and of the manner
in which it strove to regain its liberty, that first and greatest of
national blessings. In this hope of your indulgence, I beg you to
accept this work as a token of my gratitude and as a memorial of my
short stay among you, as well as an expression of the great esteem,
with which I shall always remain,
Americans, your devoted servant,
JOSEPH HORDYNSKI.
To the gentlemen who have aided me, by the translation, the execution
of the plates, and the publication of the work, I offer the only
recompense which they will permit me to make--my heartfelt thanks; and
I assure them that in the feelings which prompt this acknowledgment,
all my comrades will participate.
J.H.
PRONUNCIATION.--_To the Reader._ There are difficulties in the way
of accurate rules for the pronunciation of Polish words arising from
the circumstance that some letters have varieties of sound which
are indicated by signs in the Polish alphabet, and which cannot be
represented in the English. Thus, the letter _Z_ has, in addition
to that of the English _Z_ the sounds of _jet_ and _zet_; the first
indicated by a short line and the second by a dot placed over the
letter. It has therefore been thought more for the convenience of
readers, who may wish to know the English pronunciation of the names
which occur in this work, to subjoin an alphabetical list of them and
their pronunciation, than to give rules which must necessarily be
imperfect. This list will be found at the end of the Volume.
[Illustration: CASIMIR PULASKI,
_the undaunted Chief of the Poles during the Confederacy of Bar from
1768 to 1772. Born in 1746 & killed before Savannah in 1779 while
fighting for the Liberty & Independence of these U.S._
_Dedicated to the American people._
_Entered according to Act of Congress by Paulin Miedzielsky, N.-York,
1833._]
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Geographical extent, population, and political importance of Poland,
as anciently constituted.--Conduct of Napoleon in 1812.--Congress
of Vienna.--Grand-duchy of Warsaw erected into a kingdom.--Dispositions
of Alexander.--Zajaczek appointed Viceroy,
and Constantine commander of the army.--Constantine encroaches
upon the civil administration.--Acts of tyranny.--Meeting
of the Diet.--Public debates suppressed.--The Polish Conspiracy
of 1821.--The Russian Conspiracy of 1824.--Union of the
Patriotic Associations.--Death of Alexander.--The Revolt at St
Petersburgh.--Punishment of the Patriots.--Coronation of
Nicholas.--Constantine appointed Viceroy of Poland.--Oppressions
of the Government.--Patriotic Club.--Influence of the French
and Belgic Revolutions.--The Quartering-tax.--Excitement in
Warsaw.--Arrest of the students at Praga.--Day of the Revolution
fixed upon. Page 5
CHAPTER II.
Principles of the Revolution.--THE FIRST NIGHT.--Attack on the
Barracks of the Russian Cavalry.--Their Dispersion.--Attempt
to secure the person of the Grand Duke.--Capture of Russian
general officers and spies.--Actions with detached bodies of Russian
cavalry.--Two companies of Polish light-infantry join the
patriots.--Death of Potocki and Trembicki.--The Russian infantry
attacked and dispersed.--Armament and assembling of
the people.--Detachments sent to Praga. 30
CHAPTER III.
THE FIRST DAY.--Expulsion of the Russians from Warsaw.--Choice
of Chlopicki as Commander in Chief.--Provisional Government,
under the Presidency of prince Adam Czartoryski.--Deputation
sent to the Grand Duke.--Propositions and answer.--Abolition
of the Bureau of Police.--Establishment of the National
Guard.--Proclamations addressed to the inhabitants of the provinces
and the distant troops.--Provision for the Russian prisoners.--The
Academical Legions formed.--Arrival of detachments from the
provinces.--The Grand Duke consents to leave the kingdom, and
addresses a proclamation to the Poles. 47
CHAPTER IV.
The Patriotic Club commences its sessions.--Character of that
association.--The Grand Duke departs for the frontier.--Particulars
of his march.--The Polish regiments which had remained
with him return to Warsaw.--Their reception.--Krasynski and
Kornatowski.--Deputation to St Petersburgh.--Demands to be
laid before the Emperor.--Sierawski made Governor of Warsaw,
and Wasowiez chief of the staff.--Order respecting the army.--Arrival
of volunteers from the interior.--Opening of the theatre.--Religious
solemnities at Praga.--Chlopicki nominated and proclaimed
Dictator. Page 59
CHAPTER V.
The Dictator enters upon his duties.--Plans for the enrollment of
new forces.--System of officering them.--Want of energy in the
execution of his plans.--Fortifications neglected.--The people
supply the deficiencies of the administration.--Discovery of the
correspondence between the ministers Grabowski and Lubecki.--The
march of the army delayed.--Answer of the Emperor
Nicholas to the deputies.--His proclamation.--Its effect on the
nation.--The Diet demand of the Dictator an account of his trust.--The
result of their investigations.--Chlopicki deprived of the
Dictatorial power.--The civil administration entrusted to Prince
Adam Czartoryski, and the command of the army to Prince
Michael Radziwil, each subordinate to the Diet. 71
CHAPTER VI.
Remarks on the policy of the late Dictator.--System of operations
adopted.--The army leaves Warsaw.--Statement of the
existing forces.--Of the forces proposed to be raised.--Unfortunate
consequences of the delay in the preparation of the forces.--Statement
of the force with which the war was actually commenced. 87
CHAPTER VII.
Entrance of the Russian forces into the Kingdom.--Proclamations
of Marshal Diebitsch.--Their effect.--Disposition of the Russian
and Polish forces.--Plan of operations of the Poles. 98
CHAPTER VIII.
The opening fire.--Affairs of the 10th and 11th February.--Combat
of Stoczek.--Disposition in consequence of that battle.--Battle of
Boimie.--Retrograde movement to Dobre.--Combat of Makowiec.--Passage
of the Orsyca.--Combat of Dobre.--Attack on
the right wing at Minsk. 109
CHAPTER IX.
Retrograde movement of the 18th of February.--Details of this
movement, and of the actions which took place.--The army
reaches the field of Praga.--Its reception at Warsaw.--Position
of the army.--Battle of Wawr and Bialolenka.--Operations of
general Dwernicki against the corps of Prince Wirtemberg.--Defeat
of that corps by general Dwernicki at Swierza.--Renewal
of the enemy's attack on the main army on the 20th.--Its
successful resistance.--Review of the events of the preceding
days.--Examination of the plan of operations of the Polish
army. Page 126
CHAPTER X.
Proceedings of the National Government.--Marshal Diebitsch continues
in a state of inactivity.--Negotiations are opened by him.--His
propositions are declined.--Position of the army on the
24th, and battle of Bialolenka.--Position on the 25th.--Great
battle of Grochow.--Details.--State of the Russian army after
its defeat.--Examination of the plan of the battle of Grochow.--Remarks
upon the course adopted by prince Radziwil after that
victory.--The Polish army crosses the Vistula to Warsaw.--Its
reception by the national government and the citizens.--Resignation
of prince Radziwil. 148
CHAPTER XI.
Passage of the Vistula to Warsaw.--Disposition of the Polish forces
on its left bank.--Appointment of general John Skrzynecki to
the chief command.--Proclamation.--Prompt attention is given
to the re-organization of the army, the arsenals and manufactories
of arms, the fortifications, &c.--Deportment of the commander
in chief towards the army.--General enthusiasm of the nation.--The
Patriotic offers of the Polish women.--New regulations established
for conferring orders of merit.--Disorderly state of the
Russian army.--Attempt of Diebitsch to bribe the Polish soldiery.
--General view of the encouraging circumstances of this epoch.--The
insurrection in Russia under Yermolow.--View of the
state of the Polish forces when general Skrzynecki took the chief
command.--He presses the organization of the new forces.--Their
distribution and that of the general forces.--Positions of
the Polish army and the detached corps.--Russian position. 175
CHAPTER XII.
Operations of the corps of general Dwernicki against the Russian
corps under the prince of Wirtemberg, in the Palatinate of Lublin.
--Battle of Pulawy, and defeat of Wirtemberg.--Atrocities of that
prince at Pulawy.--Pursuit of the enemy.--Battle of Kurow,
and annihilation of Wirtemberg's corps.--Operations of colonel
Valentin, between Modlin and Pultusk.--A detachment of the
enemy is surprised at Nasielsk.--Transports of provisions for the
enemy from Prussia taken.--Successful skirmishes.--Marshal
Diebitsch demands the capitulation of the fortress of Modlin.
Reply of colonel Leduchowski.--A detachment from the garrison
of Modlin attacks and defeats a Russian force at Serock.--General
Skrzynecki makes an offer of pacification on the basis of
the concessions originally demanded by the Poles.--This proposition
is rejected and hostilities are recommenced.--Reconnoissance
upon the right bank of the Vistula under Jankowski and
Gielgud.--A Russian corps under general Witt is sent against
Dwernicki.--General Uminski is sent against the Russian guard.--First
encounter.--The Russian guard is compelled to leave
their position for Ostrolenka.--The guard evacuates Ostrolenka to
join the grand army. 195
CHAPTER XIII.
Plan of general Skrzynecki to act upon the isolated corps of Rosen
and Gaismer.--Battle of Wawr.--Various detachments of the enemy
are taken after that battle, and a great number of prisoners.--Battle
of Dembe-Wielkie.--Destructive pursuit of the enemy
by our cavalry.--View of the Russian losses in the preceding
days.--Marshal Diebitsch abandons his plan of crossing the Vistula,
and marches to the rescue of the remains of the corps of Rosen
and Gaismer, and the Imperial Guard.--View of the position of
the two armies, after the second repulse of the enemy from
before Warsaw.--Operations of general Dwernicki.--Successes
of a reconnoissance under colonel Russyian at Uscilog.--Effect
of Dwernicki's victories on the inhabitants of the
provinces.--Acknowledgment of general Dwernicki's services by the
National Government.--The instructions for his future operations. 213
CHAPTER XIV.
The insurrection in Lithuania.--Dispositions of the Lithuanians at
the breaking out of our revolution.--Their offers of co-operation
were rejected by the dictator.--View of the condition of Lithuania
under the Russian sway.--Scheme of the Russian government
to destroy all Polish national feeling in that province.--The
insurrection is brought about by the massacre of the patriots
at Osmiany.--Capture of numerous towns by the insurgents,
and dispersion of their garrisons.--Storm of Wilno, and delivery
of prisoners.--Several partizan corps are formed.--Their destination
and successes. 229
CHAPTER XV.
Plan of operation against the two corps of Rosen and Kreutz.--Battle
of Iganie.--Reflections on the state of the Polish cause after
the victory of Iganie.--Review of the course of the campaign.--Condition
of the Russian army.--Discontents in Russia.--Representations
of the Senate at St Petersburgh to the Emperor.--Comparative
view of the forces of the two armies at the
present stage of the conflict. 238
CHAPTER XVI.
Position of the two armies after the battle of Iganie.--Plan of a
simultaneous attack upon the Russian forces upon opposite
sides.--Instructions to the different corps.--Operations on the
enemy's front.--Unfortunate operations of general Sierawski, and the
_first defeat_.--Details of those operations.--Operations of general
Dwernicki.--He defeats Rudiger; but by a false operation exposes
himself to be attacked disadvantageously by two Russian
corps.--In the course of the action the Austrian frontier is passed
by the combatants.--An Austrian force interposes, and general
Dwernicki consents to go into camp.--His arms and prisoners
are taken from him, while the enemy is permitted to leave the
territory freely.--Reflections on the conduct of Austria.--Consequences
of the loss of Dwernicki's corps.--The cholera makes
its appearance in the two armies. 254
CHAPTER XVII.
The Russian commander resumes offensive operations.--Object of
the attack of the 25th of April.--Combat of Kuflew.--General
Dembinski evacuates the position of Kuflew and awaits the enemy
at Bady.--Battle of Minsk.--The enemy suddenly evacuates
his position.--Reflections on this stage of the conflict.--Positions
of the two armies. 271
CHAPTER XVIII.
General Skrzynecki resumes the offensive.--He decides to adopt an
enlarged plan of operations, and to make the revolutionized provinces
supply the place of a corps d'armee.--The corps of Chrzanowski
is sent to occupy the Russian corps of Witt and Kreutz.--Admirable
execution of this enterprise.--Attack on Kock.--Attack
of Rudiger's camp.--Plan of operations by the main army
against the Russian guard.--Forced march from Kaluszyn by
Praga to Serock.--Advanced post of the guard attacked and defeated.--The
corps of Saken is cut off.--The 2d division under
Gielgud sent into Lithuania.--The imperial guard are driven
with great loss beyond the frontier.--Retrograde movement. 283
CHAPTER XIX.
The Lithuanians compel two Russian corps to evacuate
Samogitia.--Operations of general Chlapowski in the department of
Bialystok.--Capture of Bielsk.--Defeat of a Russian force at Narewka
and expulsion of the enemy from the department.--Recapitulation
of the forces which had been sent into Lithuania.--Operations of
the main army.--Attempt of marshal Diebitsch to intercept Skrzynecki
on his retrograde march, by a diversion to Ostrolenka.--General
Lubinski surprises the Russian advanced guard at Czyzew.--Marshal
Diebitsch attacks the Polish rear-guard at Kleczkowo.--The
rear-guard quits its position at night, and joins the
main army at Ostrolenka.--Battle of Ostrolenka. 298
CHAPTER XX.
Operations of the Lithuanian corps.--Battle of Raygrod and defeat
of the Russian corps of Saken.--Importance of this first success
in Lithuania.--General Gielgud neglects to follow up his advantages.--He
loses time by passing the Niemen at Gielgudyszki,
and enables the enemy to concentrate his forces in Wilno.--Entrance
into Lithuania and reception by the inhabitants.--Position
of the two main armies.--The Russian forces remain inactive and
receive supplies from Prussia.--Death of marshal Diebitsch. 313
CHAPTER XXI.
General Gielgud advances into Lithuania.--Allows a Russian corps
to pass within a league of him unperceived.--Operations on
Wilno.--Enumeration of our present force.--Plan of a simultaneous
attack upon Wilno on opposite sides by the corps in two
divisions.--General Dembinski engages the enemy with the
smaller part of the corps.--Being unsupported by Gielgud, is
forced to retreat.--General Gielgud attacks Wilno.--Battle of
Wilno.--A retreat is commenced.--Prodigious efforts of the Polish
cavalry in protecting this retreat.--Consequences of the repulse
from Wilno.--The removal of general Gielgud is called for.--General
Chlapowski consents to take the virtual command of
the corps, in the post of chef d'etat major.--Consideration on
the state of things consequent to the battle of Wilno.--Details
of the admirable plan of operations proposed by colonel Valentin. 328
CHAPTER XXII.
Operations of the main army.--Expedition under Jankowski.--General
Chrzanowski having driven Rudiger from his position, crosses
the Vistula, but returns to act in concert with general Jankowski
against the enemy near Kock.--Details of general Jankowski's
movement.--He remains inactive within sight of the fire of the
corps with which he was to co-operate.--Other evidences of
treason.--Generals Jankowski and Bukowski are arrested and
ordered for trial.--View of the advantages that were sacrificed
by this misconduct.--Discovery of a plot to liberate and arm the
Russian prisoners at Warsaw, and to deliver the city to the enemy.
--State of the public mind induced by these events. 342
CHAPTER XXIII.
General Chlapowski arrives at Keydany, having ordered general
Dembinski to withdraw to Wilkomierz.--The position of the two
forces and their line of operations.--Examination of these
arrangements.--Neglect of the important position of Kowno.--General
Chlapowski, at Keydany, proposes to form a provisional government,
and obtain a levy of troops.--Dispositions of the Lithuanians,
as effected by the mismanagement of our leaders.--Advantages
offered to the enemy by the delay at Keydany.--Brave
defence of Kowno, by the small force left there.--Skirmish at
Wilkomierz.--The opportunity of concentrating all the forces at
Keydany, and repassing the Niemen, is neglected.--The enemy
presses his pursuit.--Battle of Rosseyny.--Attack on Szawla.--Loss
of the ammunition and baggage of the corps.--The corps
retreats in order to Kurzany, protected by a rear guard of cavalry
and light artillery.--At Kurzany the corps is subdivided into
three parts.--Destination and strength of each.--Examination of
this plan. 350
CHAPTER XXIV.
The three subdivisions of the Lithuanian corps take their respective
destinations.--Details of the operations of that of general Rohland.--He
meets alone the attack of the whole Russian force.--Battle
of Powenduny and Worna.--General Rohland, on his way
to Polonga, learns that general Chlapowski had marched towards
the Prussian frontier.--He presses his march to overtake and form
a junction with him.--The greater part of the corps of Gielgud
and Chlapowski were found to have passed the frontier, when
that of Rohland came in sight.--Indignation of the soldiery.--Death
of general Gielgud.--General Rohland, joined by a portion
of the corps of Gielgud which had not yet passed the frontier,
continues his march to Nowe-Miasto.--He declines a proposition
from general Kreutz, to surrender.--Successful skirmish
with the enemy's cavalry.--General Rohland takes a position at
Nowe-Miasto, and awaits the enemy.--The Russian forces, however,
do not continue their pursuit, but go into camp.--Propositions
to pass the frontier are sent to general Rohland by the Prussian
authorities.--They are submitted to the corps and accepted. 367
CHAPTER XXV.
Effect of the news of the Lithuanian disasters on the minds of the
people.--Distrust of the National Government.--The Russian
army resumes the offensive under general Paszkiewicz.--He decides
to pass the Vistula.--Examination of the merits of this plan.--Plan
of general Skrzynecki to act on the different detached
corps of the enemy.--Advantages of general Chrzanowski over
the corps of Rudiger.--The Russian forces execute the passage
of the Vistula.--General Skrzynecki crosses the Vistula at Warsaw
to operate against the enemy on the left bank.--An inquiry
into the conduct of general Skrzynecki, and the appointment of
a Council of War is demanded by the nation.--Arrival of the
corps of general Dembinski at Warsaw. 384
CHAPTER XXVI.
Operation of general Dembinski's corps.--He traverses the country
between Szawla and the Niemen without being observed by the
enemy.--Attacks and disperses a brigade of Russian infantry.--Passes
the Niemen and throws himself into the forest of Bialystok.--After
leaving that forest, is joined by the corps of general
Rozycki.--Reaches Warsaw.--His reception at Warsaw.--View
of the exposed situation of Paszkiewicz after his passage of the
Vistula.--Examination of the plan of operations of the Polish
commander.--Morbid state of the public mind at Warsaw.--Skrzynecki
and Czartoriski deprived of their trust.--Capture of
the city.--Documents showing the influence exercised by the
cabinets in discouraging active operations.--Conclusion. 394
APPENDIX. 409
POLISH REVOLUTION.
CHAPTER I.
Geographical extent, population, and political importance of Poland,
as anciently constituted.--Conduct of Napoleon in 1812.--Congress of
Vienna.--Grand-duchy of Warsaw erected into a Kingdom.--Dispositions
of Alexander.--Zajaczek appointed Viceroy, and Constantine
Commander of the Army.--Constantine encroaches upon the civil
administration.--Acts of tyranny.--Meeting of the Diet.--Public
debates suppressed.--The Polish Conspiracy of 1821.--The Russian
Conspiracy of 1824.--Union of the Patriotic Associations.--Death
of Alexander.--The Revolt at St Petersburgh.--Punishment of the
Patriots.--Coronation of Nicholas.--Constantine appointed Viceroy of
Poland.--Oppressions of the Government.--Patriotic Club.--Influence of
the French and Belgic Revolutions.--The Quartering-tax.--Excitement in
Warsaw.--Arrest of the Students at Praga.--Day of the Revolution fixed
upon.
In the early part of July, 1812, when the victorious armies of Napoleon
had occupied Wilna, and threatened to annihilate the throne of the
Czars, the Polish nation cherished the hope of recovering its former
grandeur. The destiny of Poland was then in the hands of Napoleon, and
it may be said with truth that on the destiny of Poland depended the
security and peace of Europe.
Poland, as is well known to the reader, viewed in regard to its
geographical situation and extent, as formerly constituted, forms a
strong outwork against the Russian Colossus. Its territories extend to
the eastward as far as the Dneiper, and westward as far as the Oder.
Toward the north, they reach the Baltic and the government of Skoff,
and their southern frontiers are the Carpathian Mountains and the Black
Sea. This vast region, composed of the present Kingdom of Poland,
the Grand-duchy of Posen, of Samogitia, Lithuania, Livonia, White
Russia and Black Russia, Volhynia, Podolia, Ukraine, and Gallicia, is
inhabited by twenty-two millions of Poles of the same descent, the same
manners and customs, and the same language and religion. According to
its ancient limits, the kingdom of Poland is among the first in Europe
with regard to population and geographical extent.
The deputies, who, at the period above named, were sent from Warsaw to
the Emperor Napoleon, laid before him the most earnest solicitations
for the restoration of this state, and endeavoured to direct his
views to the future, in order to convince him of its necessity. They
concluded with the following words;--'Dites, Sire, que le royaume de
Pologne existe, et ce décret sera pour le monde l'equivalent de la
réalité.' To this he answered;--'Dans ma situation, j'ai beaucoup
d'interêts à concilier, beaucoup de devoirs à remplir. Si j'avais
regné pendant le premier, le second, ou le troisiême partage de la
Pologne, j'aurais armé mes peuples pour la defendre. J'aime votre
nation, j'autorise les efforts que vous voulez faire. C'est entièrment
dans l'unanimité de sa population, que vous pourez trouver l'éspoir
de succes. Je dois ajouter que j'ai guaranti a l'empereur d'Autriche
l'intégrité de ses domaines.'[1]
Such a reply from Napoleon, the Poles could never have expected. For,
who accompanied him so faithfully in all his expeditions as the sons
of Poland? Thousands of Poles lie buried in Italy, Egypt, St Domingo,
Spain, and Russia, who had fought for the integrity of the French
Republic and for the aggrandizement of Napoleon. His cold reception
of the deputies of Poland filled all patriots with sadness. They were
now convinced, that the good wishes of Napoleon for Poland were not
sincere, and that, through his marriage with Maria Louisa, he had come
under Austrian influence. Thus the hope of territorial enlargement and
national existence vanished away, and Napoleon, by his indifference
to the interests of Poland, accelerated his own fall. The burning of
Moscow, which was a chance that did not enter into his calculations,
became the turning point of his fate. The Poles, who had contributed
to his greatness, did not desert him in his distress; they were his
companions to the very last. Half a squadron of them followed him to
Elba, at his own request. The disasters of France decided the fate of
Poland. By the Congress of Vienna, the Grand-duchy of Warsaw was made
into a kingdom, and subjected to the iron sceptre of Russia.
At the first moment of entering upon the government of the kingdom,
the Emperor Alexander seemed disposed to load Poland with benefits.
On his return from Paris he was received by the inhabitants of Warsaw
with the most unfeigned good will, and his stay in that city was
marked by acts of beneficence. The words with which he then addressed
the representatives of the nation, are still in the memory of every
Pole.--'Gentlemen, I respect and love your nation. To these feelings
on my part, in which all Europe partakes, you are entitled by your
continual and disinterested sacrifices for the prosperity of other
nations. I swear to maintain your constitution with all the privileges
guarantied by it; and this same constitution I promise to grant to
your brethren in the provinces, which are to be united with you in one
kingdom.' The nation believed in these promises the more readily as the
affectionate deportment of the monarch seemed to confirm them. During
his stay in Warsaw, he paid visits to several of the most popular and
patriotic families and individuals, and every where expressed himself
in terms of the highest esteem for the Polish nation.
This show of benevolence, and the dreams of happiness with which it
inspired the people, were not, however of long duration. Before his
departure from Warsaw, the Emperor named as viceroy of Poland, the
old general Zajaczek,[2] raising him to the dignity of a prince, and
his own brother, the Grand Duke Constantine, as commander in chief of
the Polish army. The appointment of these persons to the supreme power
was already in direct opposition to all the promises he had made. For
Zajaczek, through the infirmities of his advanced age, was unfit for
the post of viceroy, and could be but an instrument in Russian hands;
while in Constantine, the commander in chief of their army, the Poles
received a tyrant.
Not long after the departure of Alexander, the encroachments of the
Russian cabinet began to be felt. Removals of officers took place
in all the branches of government, in particular of those known as
patriots, who were supplanted by minions of Russia, men full of
ambition and intrigue. In the first year of the Russian government,
the bureau of Police was enlarged, and filled with persons whom the
nation despised. The Polish army, which had gathered laurels in so
many countries of the three continents, and which was held in such
high estimation by the first monarch and general in Europe, was
exposed, on the very first days of the new government, to the insults
of Constantine. There was not an officer, but was grossly offended by
the Grand Duke, and more than all, those who wore military decorations
for their merits. No past services were valued; they only exposed those
who were distinguished by them to greater persecution. In the first six
months, many officers, among whom was the renowned general Sokolnicki,
committed suicide; and nearly one half the officers and generals asked
their dismission, among whom was General, the late Dictator, Chlopicki,
who preferred poverty and want to such an ignominious service. The
Polish army, those soldiers animated by feelings of honor and the love
of distinction, were to be transformed into the machines of despotism.
They who had faced death in so many battles, who were covered with
wounds, and who had been called 'brethren' by the greatest leader of
his age, were now to be beaten with the Russian knout. In the first
year, few days passed in which some of the soldiers did not commit
suicide.
This prince, who appeared not to find victims enough for his cruelty
in the army, began to meddle with all the branches of administration,
and to control them. Soon the liberty of the press was prohibited,
freemasonry was interdicted, and a bureau of spies was established. The
chief in this bureau of spies were Rozniecki, the vice-president of the
city of Warsaw, Lubowidzki, a man of the name of Macrot, and Schlee.
From the documents found upon Schlee and Macrot, it was ascertained
that there were in Warsaw alone 900 spies. In the provinces their
number amounted to 2000. The expenses and salaries of these spies,
according to accounts found among their papers, drew from the public
treasury $1,000,000, or 6,000,000 Polish gilders. Thus, our poor
country, instead of employing her resources for the happiness of her
children, was forced to pay the mercenaries hired to distress them.
Soon Warsaw and the whole kingdom became one vast prison. These spies
endeavoured to steal into every company, and were present in all
public places. They tried to catch every conversation, and distorted
every word spoken, with however innocent an intention, in regard to
the policy and administration of the country. In order to extort
money, they accused some of the most respected and honest persons, who
were thrown into prison, and many of whom were never again seen by
their families, from the midst of whom they had been dragged in the
night-time, in order to conceal the crime from the eyes of the world.
Persons who did not take off their hats in the streets before the Grand
Duke, were compelled to draw barrows of mud upon the public places.
There passed hardly a month in which some students were not arrested,
and, without any trial, at the mere denunciation of a hireling spy,
thrown into prison, where they lingered for years. Thus faded away in
dungeons many fair and hopeful youths, the flower of our nation. In
Warsaw, besides the public gaols, there were, beneath almost all of
the barracks, prisons, where the victims of tyranny were tortured. The
very orangery of the Grand Duke was transformed into a prison, from
which some persons were liberated during the revolution, who had been
confined there for years. It was in this prison that Lukasinski had
been kept for a long time, though subsequently bound to a cannon and
carried into Russia. In the gaols below the barracks of the artillery
many dead bodies were found.
At the first meeting of the Diet, when the Grand Duke Constantine was
among the deputies from the city of Praga, and debates commenced on
various subjects which concerned the welfare of the country,--such as,
the liberty of the press, the abolition of the central police and the
spies, and the deposition of several of the higher officers, for which
petitions had been sent to the monarch,--a decision was promulgated
that the Diet should act in subordination to the will of the Grand
Duke, and, in order to add force to this decision, the palace and its
galleries were surrounded and filled by guards. All public debates
during the session were prohibited, and a ticket from the police was
required for admission. These tickets were distributed among Russian
generals, officers of government and their families, and creatures of
the court. Before such an auditory, discussions of the most sacred
interest to the nation were to take place. No patriot could behold,
without tears, the senators and fathers of the nations, descendants of
Tarnowski, Zamoiski, Chodkiewicz, and Kosciusko, sitting with sad and
drooping countenances, exposed to the scoffing and laughter of those
minions of the court. The sacred halls were transformed into a theatre
for Russian spectators.
In all the different bureaus, spies held important offices, and
thus those bureaus became scenes of the most detestable intrigues.
Law and right were trampled under foot, and the constitution itself
was derided. They used to express themselves in the following and
similar terms:--'What is the constitution? It is an impediment to the
administration of the government, and the course of justice. The Grand
Duke is the best constitution.'
A few years had passed away in this wretched state of the nation, when,
towards 1821, our noble patriots, Krzyzanowski, Jablonowski, Plichta,
Debek, and Soltyk, conceived the idea of emancipating their country by
a revolution. Whilst occupied with their noble scheme, they were most
agreeably surprised by receiving information, in 1824, of a similar
patriotic union in Russia for throwing off the yoke of despotism. Their
joy was increased when they received a summons from this patriotic
union in Russia, at the head of which were Pestel, Releiew, Bestuzew,
Kichelbeker, Murawiew, and Kachowski, to join hands with them. This
junction was effected in Kiow, on the day of the great fair, when
Prince Jablonowski became acquainted with some of their members, and
was initiated into their plans. The invitation was received by the
Poles with delight. Accustomed to combat for liberty, they offered with
their whole hearts their aid in the redemption of the Sarmatic nation
from the chains by which they had been so long bound down.
Soon after this, it was agreed to meet in the town of Orla, in the
province of Little Russia, where solemn oaths were sworn to sacrifice
life and property in the cause. Resolutions were taken, and the means
of their execution were devised. The Russians promised to the Poles,
in case of success, the surrender of all the provinces as far as the
frontiers which Boleslaw-Chrobry had established. This promise, as
well as that of eternal friendship between the two brother-nations,
was sanctioned by the solemnity of oaths. The day fixed upon for
the breaking out of the revolution, was the 25th anniversary of the
accession of Alexander, in the month of May, 1826; and Biala-Cerkiew
in Volhynia was the place selected for the first blow. The reason
for choosing this place, was, that the whole imperial family and the
greater part of the army were to assemble there, on the great plain
of the Dneiper, to celebrate the anniversary of the coronation. This
occasion was to be improved, to gain over all the well-disposed
generals, and at the same time to secure the imperial family. In the
meeting at Orla, it was required of the Poles, that, at the moment
of the breaking out of the revolution, they should take the life of
the Grand Duke Constantine. To this proposition, however, Prince
Jablonowski answered in these well known words: 'Russians, brother
Sarmatians, you have summoned us to co-operate in the holy work of
breaking the bonds of slavery under which our Sarmatic race has so long
pined. We come to you with sincere hearts, willing to sacrifice our
fortunes and lives. Rely, my dear friends, on this our promise. The
many struggles in which we have already fought for the sake of liberty,
may warrant our assertions. Brethren, you demand of us to murder the
Grand Duke. This we can never do. The Poles have never stained their
hands with the blood of their princes. We promise you to secure his
person in the moment of the revolution, and, as he belongs to you, we
shall deliver him into your hands.'
The patriotic associations on both sides endeavored to increase
their party, by the initiation of many brave men in the army and in
civil life. In Lithuania, the respectable president of the nobles,
Downarowicz, and the noble Rukiewicz of the Lithuanian corps, with many
other officers, were admitted into the conspiracy, and among others
Jgelstrom, Wigielin, Hoffman, and Wielkaniec. All the plans for the
approaching revolution were arranged with the utmost circumspection,
and every circumstance seemed to promise success, when the sudden death
of the Emperor Alexander, at Taganrog, in the early part of December,
1825, darkened our bright hopes.
The news of his death had, at first, a stunning effect upon the
patriotic club in Petersburgh. Nevertheless, they resolved to act. They
hoped to profit by the troubles between Constantine and Nicholas, about
the succession. On the 18th of December of the same year, the signal
for revolt was given in Petersburgh. Some regiments of the guard were
on the side of the patriots, and with them assembled great numbers of
the people ready to fight for liberty. Yet all this was done without
sufficient energy, and without good leaders. It was unfortunate,
that at the time, Colonel Pestel, acknowledged by all to be a man of
great talents and energy, happened to be absent in Moscow. The people
assembled in their holy cause, but, being without leaders, began to
fall into disorder, and a few discharges of cannon were sufficient to
disperse them.
As the Grand Duke Constantine, on account of his marriage with a noble
Polish lady, Grudzinska, in 1825, was obliged to renounce the throne
of Russia, the imperial power was, by a written document, given to the
Grand Duke Nicholas, as the eldest in succession after him.
Some days after the proclamation of Nicholas, all the prisons of the
realm were prepared to receive their new inmates. Petersburgh, Moscow,
Wilna, Kiow, Bialystok, and Warsaw, were appointed for the places
of trial. Over the whole of Poland and Russia the sword of cruel
revenge was suspended. In Petersburgh, the martyrs of liberty, Pestel,
Muraview, Releiew, Bestuzew, Kachowski, were hung on the gallows, and
more than two hundred persons of the noblest families were sent to
Siberia. In Wilna, Kiow, and Moscow, an immense number were thrown into
prison, or transported to Siberia. In Bialystok the Russian general,
Wiliaminow, was appointed an inquisitor. This infamous character
treated the wretched prisoners with the utmost cruelty. Rukiewicz,[3]
Jgelstrom, and Wigelin, were exiled to Siberia for life.
In Warsaw, the Grand Duke himself undertook the business of
establishing an inquisition over the unhappy prisoners. This court
was composed of persons in the Russian interest, a circumstance,
the melancholy consequences of which soon became manifest. Senator
Soltyk, an old man seventy years of age, was flogged with the knout.
Krzyzanowski, unable to endure the tortures inflicted upon him,
committed suicide. General Procurator Wyezechowski, that unworthy
son of Poland, sentenced all who were condemned to death, to be hung
on a gallows, and their bodies to be exposed upon the wheel. This
horrid sentence, however, was, notwithstanding all the Grand Duke's
influence, mitigated by the supreme court of the senate, which still
contained many worthy men under the presidency of the venerable
woyewode, Bilinski. The infamous Wyezechowski was unable to oppose this
virtuous old man, whose powerful eloquence was a mirror of his noble
heart. President Bilinski, fearless of the threats of the Russians,
whose briberies he was accustomed to treat with disdain, guided by the
articles of the criminal code, altered the sentence of death to a few
years imprisonment. This mitigation of the sentence was signed by all
the senators, with one exception.[4]
After Nicholas had ascended the throne over steps of blood, he was
crowned, in 1826, Emperor of Russia. Two years after this, in 1828,
he was again crowned in Warsaw as King of Poland. This monarch at
first intended not to go through with the ceremony of the coronation
in Warsaw, in order to avoid the oath of the constitution. Yet, from
fear of revolutionary scenes, he suffered himself to be persuaded to do
it, and took the oath, like his predecessor and brother, Alexander, to
maintain the constitution and the privileges guarantied by it.
Poland may have suffered under Alexander; yet he loved the nation
like a friend, as every one of my countrymen will allow. When he was
mistaken in his measures, it was, that, surrounded by bad men and
enemies of our nation, he was prevented from knowing the truth. He was
himself too much engrossed in pleasures, to visit the hut of the poor
in order to obtain information of his condition. Poland forgave him
all his faults, in the grateful recollection that he had restored her
to a separate existence, and respected the constitution. Far different
in our eyes appeared the present emperor, Nicholas. Partaking of the
errors of his predecessor, he exhibited none of his virtues. Alexander,
with a benignant countenance, permitted every one to approach him
freely, and his features were never distorted by passion. Nicholas,
on the contrary, seemed to terrify by his very look. His lowering
and overbearing eye was the true mirror of Asiatic despotism. Every
movement was that of command; and his imperious air was in true
harmony with the ruling passion of his mind. Such a sovereign, acting
through the instrumentality of a brother like himself, the Grand
Duke Constantine, must needs bring distress upon our country. Whole
volumes might be filled with the relation of the atrocities of this
government. The daily increasing host of spies in its employ, among
whom even females were found, regarded nothing as sacred, and mocked at
the most holy institutions. They lavished away millions of the public
funds. Everything was permitted to them. In short, the intention of
this government seemed to be to plunge our country into the deepest
distress, in order to force us to the abandonment of every national
feeling, and to make us slaves of the Russians. Yet in this hope they
were deceived. The more the nation was oppressed,[5] the more its
energy of character was steeled, and the more the love of country
developed itself.
Two worthy sons of Poland, Wysocki and Schlegel, mourning over
the martyrdom of Krzyzanowoski, Soltyk, Dembek, and Plichta, and
meditating on the distresses of their country, resolved to attempt
its deliverance. By these two young champions of Poland, the first
idea of the revolution was conceived. They communicated their hopes
to several other patriots, and thus was formed the Patriotic Club.
This association, nourishing in their secret breasts the holy spark
of liberty, increased it soon to a flaming light, by which the whole
nation was led to honor and glory. These heroic men fearlessly
persevered in their endeavors, during five years, exposed to the
greatest dangers and amidst thousands of spies. Witnesses of the
continually aggravated oppression of their country, they became more
and more animated to risk every thing for their holy object.
While this tyrannical government was exulting in the success of its
measures, and the honor and morals of our country were fast declining,
the revolution of France occurred, and it instantly roused every mind
to a comparison of our state with that of the French, who had thrown
off the yoke of a Machiavelian dynasty. The three days of July were
days of joy, not only to every brave son of France, but to every
patriotic heart in Poland. How much were they enraptured, who hitherto
in secret had been labouring for the redemption of their country! The
happy result of those glorious days was a peal of terror to the Grand
Duke Constantine, and to the whole swarm of agents in his tyrannical
sway. It gave them a presage of their approaching retribution. Yet,
instead of adopting milder measures, and endeavouring to propitiate the
nation, their cruelties went on as before. The government had, indeed,
advanced too far in its barbarous system to draw back. The activity of
the spies was redoubled. From the first reception of the news of the
French revolution, there did not pass a day on which some persons were
not imprisoned in Warsaw or the provinces. On the night of the 7th of
September, forty students were seized in their beds and carried to
prison.
Again, the new revolutionary eruption of Belgium cheered and encouraged
the heart of every patriotic Pole. The hour for throwing off the
yoke of tyranny was fast approaching. The leaders of the revolution
succeeded in communicating their sentiments to continually increasing
numbers. Many officers of the 4th regiment of the line and of the
sappers were initiated. Yet at this very time, when the revolution was
every moment expected to break out, the Russian despot, in concert
with Prussia and Austria, commenced his preparations for a war against
France and Belgium. The Polish army was destined to serve as the
vanguard of this expedition, and Modlin and Warsaw were stored with
large quantities of arms and ammunition from Russia. All the regiments
were completed, and the order for marching was momentarily expected.
These circumstances attracted the notice of our patriots, and they
decided to accelerate the revolution, in order to anticipate the march
of the army. The eruption was hastened by the following event. The
citizens of Warsaw were obliged to furnish quarters for the officers of
the army. To lighten this burden, and to avoid various inconveniences,
as well as to accommodate the officers,--by an understanding with the
inhabitants, it was determined, that instead of furnishing quarters, a
quartering tax should be paid. It was intended in this regulation to
proportion the tax to the size of the houses, and consequently to the
profit which the proprietors would derive from letting them. The tax
would in this way be equalized, because, wherever levied, it would be
attended by a proportionate compensation, and it was satisfactory to
the inhabitants. This regulation, however, was executed in an entirely
different manner. In many cases the heavier taxes were paid by the
poorer inhabitants, and indeed they had sometimes to provide quarters
in addition to the payment of the tax. All the persons employed by the
police as spies, and who had by vile means acquired immense fortunes
and kept the finest houses in Warsaw, were exempt both from the tax
and the providing of quarters. The money collected for the tax was
purloined by the commissioners for quartering, who thus amassed
millions of gilders.[7]
A short time before the revolution, the gross impositions of this
commission were discovered. The inhabitants of Warsaw began to murmur
against it, and addressed the government for the removal of the persons
employed, and the substitution of others in their places, who should
be deserving of the confidence of the citizens. Among others, the
deposition of the president of the city, Woyda, was demanded; and when
the government refused to comply with the request, he was publicly
insulted and flogged in the streets. The discontent of the citizens, in
particular of the poorer classes, continued to increase, and of this
discontent the patriots made use in endeavouring to propagate their
views of the necessity of a revolution. Public opinion was from day
to day expressed more boldly. Papers were pasted up in the streets,
with inscriptions such as these:--'The dwelling of the Grand Duke
will be let from next new year's day.'--'Away with the tyrants! Away
with the barbarians to Asia!' A great concourse of citizens assembled
one evening before the city hall, and demanded the punishment of the
quartering commissioner, Czarnecki, who, in his desperation, committed
suicide.
The holy moment was now fast approaching, and Warsaw was in anxious
expectation. Fear and terror was painted in the faces of the spies,
while, on the other hand, all true patriots were in raptures of joy,
and waited impatiently for the moment to strike the blow. For several
nights the whole garrison of the city had been under arms, by the
orders of the Grand Duke, who, tortured with the consciousness of so
many crimes, had no rest, and surrounded himself with large bodies
of guards. A hundred gens d'armes were on horseback for many nights,
constantly bringing in their victims. Strong patroles of Russian
soldiers traversed the streets. All was in vain. His mercenaries could
not protect the tyrant. The word was given, the oath was sworn, to
fight for our sacred rights and the freedom of our country.
An event which served to irritate all minds, and hasten the revolution,
was the arrest and imprisonment of eighty students. These brave young
men were assembled in a private house, in order to pray to God in
secret for the souls of their murdered ancestors, on the anniversary
of the storming of Praga, by the bloody Suwarrow, in 1796, when none
were spared, and Praga swam with blood, and was strewed with the
corpses of 30,000 of its inhabitants. Neither old men, women, children,
nor pregnant mothers, were spared by the barbarous Russian soldiers.
In memory of this event, the patriots had every year met for secret
prayer, since public devotions on the occasion had been forbidden
by the Grand Duke. The abovementioned students, with some priests,
were in the act of worship, praying to the Almighty, and honoring the
memory of their forefathers, when the doors were broken open with
great violence, and a number of gens d'armes, under their captain,
Jurgaszko, with a company of Russian soldiers behind them, entered
the apartment. Our brave youths continued their prayers upon their
knees about the altar, and in that position suffered themselves to be
bound, and dragged away to prison. But this was the last act of cruelty
the Russian government was permitted to perpetrate, for it exhausted
the patience of the nation. The measure was full, and the hour of
retribution was at hand. The news of this outrage was spread through
Warsaw with the quickness of lightning, and it thrilled every heart.
This was the occasion for fixing upon the 29th of November, as the day
for commencing the revolution, on which day the 4th Polish regiment,
many of the officers of which were among the initiated, were to mount
guard in Warsaw.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: 'Say, Sire, that the kingdom of Poland exists, and that
declaration will be, in the eyes of the world, the equivalent of the
reality.' To this he answered;--'In my situation, I have many interests
to conciliate, many duties to fulfil. If I had reigned during the
first, the second, or the third partition of Poland, I would have armed
my people to defend her. I love your nation; I authorize the efforts
which you wish to make. It is alone in the unanimity of your population
that you will find the hope of success. I ought to add that I have
guarantied to the Emperor of Austria the integrity of his dominions.']
[Footnote 2: Zajaczek commenced his military career in the time of
Kosciusko, continued it among the Polish legions, and accompanied
Napoleon to Egypt, where he served with distinction. He was present in
all the later campaigns of Napoleon, till 1809, when he returned, on
account of his advanced age and the loss of one of his legs.]
[Footnote 3: This nobleman (Rukiewicz) had two beautiful sisters,
Cornelia and Theresa, whose heroic behavior deserves to be recorded.
He was secretary of the Patriotic Club in Lithuania, and kept the
records and papers of the society in the village where he lived, near
Bialystok; and in order to do this business without disturbance, he
had prepared a little summer-house in the garden near his mansion.
He happened to be from home when arrested, and immediately after his
arrest, the police sent a Russian officer with gens d'armes to his
village, in order to take possession of his papers. His sisters, who
were ignorant of the event, were quietly at home when they beheld the
officer with his suite riding into the court-yard. A presaging fear
of the truth seized them, but gave place immediately to an heroic
resolution. The younger remained in the room in order to receive and
detain these agents of tyranny, whilst the elder, Cornelia, carried
in haste some combustibles to the summer-house, which was soon on
fire, and more than two hundred persons, whose names were contained in
the register, were thus saved by the presence of mind of that heroic
lady. She returned to the parlor with the noblest and most delighted
mien, and, on the officer's enquiring as to the cause of the fire,
she answered with a smile, 'Gentlemen, I only wanted to save you the
trouble of some farther brutalities. I have burnt the papers and
documents of my brother. You may be sure not to find anything left;
and now I am your prisoner. Drag me along with you, to increase the
number of your victims.' Both the ladies were carried to prison, and
treated in the most unworthy manner during three years. When these
noble sisters were dismissed from prison, they found themselves bereft
of every consolation. They had no parents left. Their only brother,
who had been both parent and brother to them, was now gone. They
could not endure the thought of leaving him to pine away so far from
them in chains, and they resolved to partake and thus to relieve his
sufferings. Regardless of the remonstrances of their friends, they left
everything, and, travelling in the humblest manner, mostly on foot
or upon the wagons of the peasantry, they undertook the journey to
Siberia. It is not known whether Providence granted them to reach their
beloved brother or not.]
[Footnote 4: To this court, which was called the Supreme Court of the
Diet, and which was established in order to try these prisoners of
state, was appointed general Count Vincenti Krasinski, a man of great
merit, a brave soldier as well as a good citizen, and on this account
very much beloved by the nation. The soldiers, indeed, regarded him
as a father. Yet this man could so far forget himself as to take up
the bloody pen to sign the death of his fellow citizens--the only one
of his nation. It is with painful feelings that I name him in this
narrative as the enemy of his country, after having been faithful to it
for fifty years, and after having made for it the greatest sacrifices.
Vincenti Krasinski, whom his country has erased, as a lost son, from
the register of her children, is a strong example of the great power of
Russian seduction.]
[Footnote 5: As already remarked, it would be impossible to describe
the various kinds of cruelty exercised by the Russian government. Yet,
in order to make the reader acquainted with some of them, I shall
here state a few facts.--In our country, the distilling and brewing
of spirituous liquors, and the planting of tobacco, as well as the
sale of these articles, was a privilege of the landed proprietors.
Warsaw, as the capital and the most populous city, was the best
market for these productions, and all the noblemen endeavoured to
bring their produce to Warsaw for sale. In this manner they supplied
themselves with money and enhanced the value of their grain, while
their liquors, as well as tobacco, could be sold at very low prices,
to the pecuniary benefit of all the laboring classes and the soldiery.
These advantages, however, soon became an object of attention to the
government agents. One of their number, the Jew, Nowachowiez, who, by
the greatest impositions, had acquired an immense fortune, devised a
plan for monopolizing the production and sale of every kind of liquor
and of tobacco. He obtained the exclusive right of selling them, and
all the noblemen were forbidden to dispose of these articles without
his permission, for which a duty was to be paid. For this monopoly
he paid to the government 2,000,000 of Polish gilders ($333,333 1/3)
for which he more than doubly indemnified himself by the enormous
taxes levied upon the consumers of these articles. This innovation,
so oppressive to the poorer classes, and invented merely to enrich
this Jew and his partners, irritated all the land proprietors, and
still more the laboring classes, who were suffering by it. For two
years in succession petitions were made for the reformation of these
abuses, but the government only insisted upon the prohibition with
the greater severity. Nowachowiez, indeed, employed a guard, who wore
uniforms. All the environs of Warsaw were filled with these guards,
and the greatest excesses were committed by them. A poor day-laborer,
after having purchased at some distance from the city, some brandy and
tobacco, carried these articles at evening to Warsaw. On his way he was
stopped by these men. They took all from him, and demanded a heavier
fine than the articles were worth. As the poor man was unable to pay
the fine, they abused him, and were about to carry him to prison.
He succeeded, however, in making his escape, and, as it was in the
vicinity of the residence of a nobleman by the name of Biernacki, he
sought shelter on his estate. The guards in pursuit entered the mansion
of this nobleman. Biernacki heard the tumult of the guard seizing and
roughly handling the poor man, and, ascertaining the cause of the
disturbance, he censured them for their inhumanity about such a trifle.
In order, however, to save the man from farther insults, he retained
him, with the intention of sending him the next day with a note to
Nowachowiez for his exculpation. The very moment that Biernacki was
occupied in writing the letter, an officer of the gens d'armes, with
four privates, stepped in. Biernacki inquired the cause of this visit,
and was told in answer, that he was arrested for having protected a
defrauder. Thus, surrounded by four soldiers, this man was publicly
carried through Warsaw to the prison of the Carmelites. Not satisfied
with this, Nowachowiez succeeded in obtaining from the Grand Duke, who
hated Biernacki as a patriotic Pole, a squadron of Russian Hulans,
consisting of 200 horse, to quarter for a whole week on his estate,
_in execution_, as it is termed. The Russian soldiers took possession
of all the buildings on the estate. In the apartments which they used
for barracks, they broke all the furniture, lustres, pianos, &c, and
carried in their straw for sleeping. In the court-yard they made a
fire, for which they used the pieces of furniture for fuel. They took
the wheat from the barns to feed their horses, and butchered the
cattle. In short, the most shameful depredations and excesses were
committed by officers and soldiers, regardless of the situation of
the lady of this nobleman, who was confined in childbed, and who for
a whole year was in danger of her life from the consequences of her
terror. This barbarous order of the Grand Duke ruined the fortune of
that unhappy man, and the amount of his property destroyed may be
estimated at least at from 70,000 to 80,000 gilders. Biernacki was
imprisoned for a whole year, after which he was dismissed to weep over
the sufferings of his wife, and his ruined fortune. The poor offender
was punished with 800 blows of the knout, of which he died in a few
days.
The second story perhaps surpasses the former in cruelty, and would
suit the times of Nero. General Rozniecki, and the vice president
of the City of Warsaw, Lubowiecki, had their agents, who travelled
through the country in order to superintend the services of the secret
police. Among them was a Jew, named Birnbaum, whose crimes surpass
conception. He travelled through the whole country, and every where
found pretexts for accusations against the noblemen, who had to pay
him fines to secure themselves from prison. He took up vast sums,
that were never accounted for to his superiors. They were divided
with Rozniecki, Lubowiecki, Macrot, and Schlee, with some Russian
generals, and the servants of the Grand Duke, Kochanowski and Trize,
all of whom, like this Jew, made immense fortunes, some of them to
the amount of hundreds of thousands. When, in order to encourage the
manufactures of the country, the importation of all broadcloths, cotton
and linen goods were forbidden, Birnbaum, in secret understanding with
his superiors, found out the way of drawing to himself the greatest
advantages from this decree. He persuaded two other Jews, by the
promise of a part of the gain, and of his protection, to smuggle these
articles and to sell them among the gentry of the country. A place
on the frontiers was selected for a depot of these contraband wares,
which the country noblemen purchased in ignorance of their unlawful
importation, and induced by their low prices. On a sudden, Birnbaum
visited these districts, examined the warehouses of the noblemen, found
the contraband goods, and forced them to the alternative of either
paying him a large sum of money or going to prison. Many, for the sake
of peace, paid the fines imposed; others, who refused, were imprisoned.
By such means, this Jew, as was found afterwards by the records and
documents of the police, brought to prison more than a hundred persons,
who were treated in the most barbarous manner. They had no food given
them but herrings without water, and many of these unfortunate persons
died in consequence. At last Birnbaum fell out with his accomplices, on
occasion of the division of profits. He had them, likewise, thrown into
prison to perish there. Their families, however, accused him at their
Kahal,[6] or Council of the Jews, and by means of money contrived to
have him arrested. He was poisoned in his prison, as many persons of
consequence were found to be implicated in his impositions.]
[Footnote 6: Kahal is a Jewish court of administration, composed of the
elders, who are responsible to the government for their nation, and are
of great authority.]
[Footnote 7: One man of the name of Czarnecki, a commissioner of the
quartering bureau, in a short time made by these means two millions of
gilders; and this robber of the poor carried his luxury so far as to
make use of bathing tubs lined with silver.]