the night of the 23d of March, where Wodzicki, with a body of 400 men, was ready to receive him, and on the following day was proclaimed generalissimo. The garrison and all the troops at Cracow took the oath of allegiance to Kosciusko, and a deed of insurrection was drawn up, by which this great man was appointed dictator, in imitation of the Roman custom, in great emergencies. His power was absolute; he had the command of the armies, and the regulation of all affairs political and civil. He was commissioned however to appoint a national council, the choice being left to his own will. He was also empowered to nominate a successor, but he was to be subordinate to the national council.

Never before was confidence so fully and so unscrupulously reposed by a nation in a single individual; and never were expectations better grounded than in the present instance. Thadeus Kosciusko* was born of a noble, but not very illustrious, Lithuanian family, and was early initiated in the science of war at the military school of Warsaw. In his youth his affections were firmly engaged to a young lady, the daughter of the Marshal of Lithuania, but it was his fate to see his love crossed, and his inamorata married to another, Prince Lubomirski. He then went to France, and on his return applied to Stanislas for a military appointment, but was refused because he was a favourite of Adam Czartoryski, whom Sta

* He was born on the 12th of February 1746, at the chateau of Sienniewicze, near Brzesc-Litewski.

nislas hated. Kosciusko sought to appointment in the labours of war.

dispel his dis

The British co

lonies of America were then throwing off the yoke of their unnatural mother-country-their cause was that of justice and liberty, and one dear to the heart of a young proud-spirited Pole. Our young hero served in the patriotic ranks of Gates and Washington, and was appointed aide-de-camp to the latter great general. When the glorious struggle in the new world was crowned with success, he returned to his own country, where he found an equally glorious field for his exertions. He held the rank of major-general under Joseph Poniatowski in the campaign of 1792, to which office he had been raised by the diet, and we have already seen what a glorious earnest he then gave of what was to be expected from him, had not his ardour been checked by the king's timidity and irresolution.

The first acts of the dictator were to issue summonses to all the nobles and citizens; to impose a property-tax, and make all the requisite arrangements which prudence dictated with regard to the commissariat of his little army. On the 1st of April he left Cracow, at the head of about 4000 men, most of whom were armed with scythes; and marched in the direction of Warsaw, to encounter a body of Russians more than thrice their own number, which he understood were ordered against them by Igel

strom.

The patriots encountered the enemy on the 4th of

1

April, near Raclawicé, a village about six or seven Polish miles to the north-east of Cracow. The battle lasted nearly five hours, but victory declared in favour of the Poles; 3000 Russians being killed, and many prisoners; eleven cannon, and a standard taken. This success confirmed the wavering patriots, and accelerated the development of the insurrection throughout the kingdom. In vain did the king issue a proclamation, by order of Igelstrom, denouncing the patriots as the enemies of the country, and directing the permanent council to commence legal proceedings against them; the tame submission of these dependants of Igelstrom only served to increase the irritation of the patriots. The state of Poland is thus described by the Russian minister himself, in a letter of the 16th of April, addressed to the secretary at war at Petersburg, and intercepted by the Poles:

"The whole Polish army, which musters about 18,000 strong, is in complete rebellion, excepting 4000, who compose the garrison of Warsaw.

The insurrection strengthens every moment, its progress is very rapid, and its success terrifying. I am myself in expectation of seeing the confederation of Lublin advance, and I have no hope but in God and the good cause of my sovereign. Lithuania will not fail, certainly, to follow the example, &c."

On the same day Igelstrom ordered the permanent

* A Polish or German mile is nearly equal to two French leagues, of twenty-five to a degree.

council to arrest above twenty of the most distinguished persons, whom he named. He also issued his orders to the grand general to disarm the Polish garrison of Warsaw. The 18th of April was the appointed day, as the most favourable to the design, since it was a festival, Easter eve, and most of the population would be at mass. Strong guards were to be stationed at the church-doors; the Russian troops were to seize the powder magazines and arsenal, and the garrison were then to be immediately disarmed. In case of resistance, the Cossacks received the villanous orders to set fire to the city in several places and carry off the king. The design, however, fortunately transpired on the very same day that it was formed. Kilinski, a citizen of Warsaw, discovered the plan, and informed the patriots that Russians, in Polish uniforms, were to form the guards which, on the festivals, are stationed at the churches. In confirmation of his account he assured them that one of his neighbours, a tailor, was at work on the disguises*. A private meeting of the patriots immediately took place, in which it was determined to anticipate it, by unfurling the standard of insurrection on the 17th. The precipitancy of the plot did not admit of much organization, the only concerted step was to seize the arsenal, which was to be the signal for the insurrection.

At four in the morning a detachment of Polish * Histoire de la Revolution en 1794, par un Témoin Oculaire.