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 THE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OP 
 
 COUNTESS EMILY PLATER, 
 
 1\ 
 
 CBuA I^^V" ^tf^A^^^NAJNCzTi 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 J. K. SALOMONSKI. 
 
 A POLISH EXILE. 
 
 NEW- YORK: 
 
 JAMES LINEN, 174 FULTON STREET. 
 1843. 
 
 i
 
 Copy-right secured according to law. 
 
 Jas. p. Wkic:it, I'riiitcr, 
 122 Fulton St., N. Y.
 
 PATRONS TO THIS WORK 
 
 JOHN TYLER, President of I he United Slates. 
 MARTIN VAN BUREN, Ex- President. 
 Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER, Secretary of Stale. 
 
 HENRY CLAY, 
 
 N. P. TALLMADGE, 
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN, 
 
 THOMAS EWING, 
 
 JOHN BELL, 
 
 GEORGE E. BADGER, 
 
 FRANCIS GRANGER, 
 
 M. AD. DE BACOURT, Envoy Extraordinary and 
 Minister Plenipotentiary of France. 
 
 Hon. M. ST. C. CLARKE, 
 
 " R. N. JOHNSTON, 
 " BEN J. B.FRENCH, 
 " JOHN S. MEEHAN, 
 " JOHN B. AYCRIGG, 
 " ROBT McCLELLAN, 
 " CHAS. J. INGERSOLL, 
 '■■ AARON WARD, 
 RICHARD D. DAVIS, 
 
 Col. A. S. PLEASONTON, 
 " C. C BIDDLE, 
 " E. S. BURD, 
 " J. WATSON WEBB, 
 Major DANIEL KEIM, 
 Capt. M. BOLHEN, 
 Hon. H. BENNEY, 
 G W. BARTON, Esq , 
 N. BIDDLE, Esq., 
 WM COST JOHNSON. CHARLES PICOT, Consul, 
 " ALBERT GALLATIN, ICHARLES KING, Esq 
 " ROBERT H. MORRIS, iO. F. JOHNSON, E^q , 
 
 Dr. A. JORDAN, 
 
 D.'. J. P. BEEKMAN. 
 iDr. R. G FRARY. 
 iDr. M. DONNOVAN, 
 
 C. B. ZABRIESKIE, 
 PETER FORCE, 
 W. W. SEATON, 
 J. R. INGERSOLL 
 
 " JUSTUS McKIN^STRY.NlCH'S SNIDER, Esq., 
 Gen. JAMES FLEMING, Rev. WARD STAFFORD. 
 
 JOHN P VAN NESS, 
 " R. PATTERSON, 
 Com. JAMES BIDDLE, 
 
 WM. MATTHEWS, 
 H MYERSf 
 ISAAC LEESER. 
 
 *
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Page 
 
 Reflections.— Origin of the Plater family.— Birth of 
 Emily 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Madame Lieberg. — Residence of Emily at Lixna. — 
 Her character 21 
 
 CHAPTERIII. 
 
 Association of the students of Wilna, — Their object. 
 — Persecution of the Lithuanian youth. — Nowo- 
 siltzoff and PeUkan. — Condemnation 41 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Projects of marriage. — The Russian General K****. 
 —Capt. Baron D**** 57 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Travels of Emily in Poland ........ 70 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Death of the mother of Emily. — Her filial piety. — 
 She seeks a reconciliation with her father. — Her 
 character, as delineated by her cousin, Mademoi- 
 selle D**** 97 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Summary of Polish events.— Revolution of the 29th 
 of ]\o\-ember Ill
 
 8 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII I. 
 
 Page 
 Impression produced in Lithuania by the news of 
 the revolution of Warsaw. — Fears of the Russian 
 government. — The managing committee .. . 137 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Relations of Emily Plater with the young Russians 
 of the military school of Diinabourg. — She raises 
 the people and marches upon that city. — Her first 
 victory 161 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Battle near Diinabourg. — Emily joins the corps of 
 Charles Zaluski. — She enrols herself among the 
 free chasseurs of Wilcomir. — Affair of Przys- 
 towiany 178 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Return of the insurgents to Wilcomir.— Mary Ra- 
 szanowicz and Emily Plater. — They pass to tJie 
 corps of Conetantine Parczevvski. — Sad position 
 of the insurgents 195 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Polish troops enter Lithuania. — Chlapowski 
 and Gielgud. — Emily Plater appointed Captain 
 in the twenty-fifth of the line. — 13attle of Kowno 206 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Battle of Srhawle and Schawlany. — The Polish 
 army is divided into three corps. — Emily joins that 
 of Gen. Chlapowski, and leaves it on its entering 
 Prussia. — She wishes to pass into Poland . . 233 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Emily is overcome by fatigue in the midst of her 
 march. — She is taken sick. — Her suOerings.— Her 
 death.— Iler character.- Conclusion .... 249
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE, 
 
 Among the many instances of devotedness anil 
 patriotism which the late Polish revolution has af- 
 forded us, that of Emily Plater occupies the first 
 rank. Her name excites a thrill of emotion in 
 every heart which is not insensible to feelings of 
 honor and patriotism. Every one has heard of 
 Emily Plater's serving as a soldier in the national 
 cause, and of her dying, while yet in the prime of 
 life, in the service of her country. 
 
 But the particulars of a life so beautiful and so 
 romantic have as yet been w'anting to us. Con- 
 nected with the Countess Plater by old family ties, 
 proprietor of an estate in the neighborhood of her
 
 10 author's preface. 
 
 own, and her companion in arms on the plains of 
 Lithuania, t have followed the heroine through her 
 whole career, have been made the confident of her 
 thoughts, and have shared in her dangers. Her 
 whole life is well known to me. I have seen Emily, 
 in her earliest youth, fondly muse upon the glory 
 of Poland as others would upon a lover ; and cher- 
 ish the remembrances connected with our ancient 
 nationality until they became almost the objects of 
 her idolatry. I have seen the young girl grow up, 
 and with her these noble recollections. It was no 
 difficult thing to foresee that, when the clarion of 
 battle should sound, Emily would join the ranks as 
 a soldier, and wield the lance. 
 
 Her military companions were mine, and I have 
 been present at the same dangers. Later, when 
 proscribed and cast on the Prussian soil, I was com- 
 pelled to seek an asylum in France, I lost sight of 
 her. Then, overcome by her long continued fa- 
 tigues, she was approaching her end. At the early 
 age of twenty-six she paid the forfeit to which the
 
 author's preface. 11 
 
 dreams of her ardent and almost supernatural en- 
 thusiasm had exposed her. But the particulars of 
 her death have reached me. I have received letters 
 dated from her sick chamber, and I have personally 
 questioned those who closed her eyes. 
 
 I am thus in possession of all the materials re- 
 quisite for the biographical sketch of the heroine, 
 which I propose as an offering to her admirers, in 
 order that she may be the more beloved as she be- 
 comes more extensively known. Besides, it is quite 
 time that a correct version should supersede and 
 rectify the multitude of fabulous accounts, which, 
 until this time, have fed European credulity. 
 
 My first intention was to insert these remarks in 
 my work entitled, " The Polish men and women of 
 the revolution of 29th November, 1830, &c.," but, 
 already overwhelmed with materials, I deemed it best 
 to publish this biography separately. 
 
 The article under the title of The Countess Pla- 
 ter, in my biographical work, will be a summary of
 
 12 author's preface. 
 
 the present biography which I am now about to 
 offer to the public ; for this volume will contain all, 
 even the most minute details, of her short, but glo- 
 rious life. 
 
 May my ability prove adequate to the task 
 which I have assumed, as a faithful narrator of all 
 that is noble and generous in the valiant heart of 
 woman.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Reflections. — Origin of the Plater family. — Birth of 
 
 Emily. 
 
 " CiRcuxMSTANCES do iiot make men," 
 says a celebrated writer, " but serve to 
 develop them." With man is born the 
 seed of his future being — of his virtues and 
 of his vices, of his greatness and of his 
 crimes. If propensities to evil are born 
 with him, his life will develop and bring 
 into activity that germ of evil which lay 
 dormant in the recesses of his heart. If, 
 on the other hand, dispositions to the good 
 and to the sublime in action are innate 
 with him, his life will be great and good. 
 Still his future will always owe much to 
 events, and these alone will prove what he 
 is, or, at least, what he appears to be. 
 Every political crisis, every political com- 
 motion, has been the means of producing 
 
 2
 
 14 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 someof these vigorous minds, who, thirsting 
 for fame, wai tonly for the signal, an oppor- 
 tunity to rush forward, seize the command 
 and direction of popular movements, and 
 become the head and soul, the tyrant or 
 the protector, the destroyer or the bene- 
 factor. 
 
 Such men are not the real causes of 
 the events which bring them forward into 
 notice. These events are sometimes the 
 effects of pure chance, but much oftener of 
 necessity. They are inevitable, because 
 consequent on the progress of the society 
 in which they shine forth. It is at such 
 times the passions ferment, — ambition, the 
 desire of advancement, occupies the soul, 
 and he who is inspired with lofty senti- 
 ments, and with ideas at once noble and 
 useful, and which respond to the wants of 
 the epoch, is soon borne onward to his pro- 
 per place, the head of the multitude. 
 
 How pleasing to follow, step by step, the 
 career of such beings ; to trace their noble 
 and devoted lives, and to propose them as
 
 EMILY PLATER. 15 
 
 models for the rising generations of op- 
 pressed nations ! 
 
 Generally obscure in their origin, and 
 coming forth from the bosom of the people 
 — a suffering people, and one which is 
 awakened to the anticipation of a happier 
 future, the progress of such men is gradual. 
 They elevate themselves by degrees above 
 the multitude with which, for a time, they 
 are confounded, and of which they finally 
 become the leaders. They are thought 
 embodied, the exponent of the movement; 
 they defend a nation's rights, vindicate and 
 secure its future peace. Apostles of liberty, 
 they preach by speech or by the sword, 
 and nations gather around them, listen to 
 them with respect, and follow them as 
 priests and kings. Sometimes, too, they 
 fall in their dangerous career. Betrayed by 
 circumstances, they leave in a state of in- 
 completeness, or of entire ruin, the work 
 which they have undertaken. They moist- 
 en with their blood the land which they 
 would deliver, and while cursed by the con-
 
 16 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 queror, who brands them with the names 
 of robber and rebel, they are invoked as 
 martyrs by the oppressed. Martyrs in the 
 cause of liberty, they merit, too, palms and 
 crowns ; for it should not be imputed to 
 them as a fault that victory has not crown- 
 ed their efforts — fortune, not courage, has 
 failed them. The remembrance of these 
 glorious men, and the recital of their ex- 
 ploits, are long the consolation of the van- 
 quished. Under the tent, and around the 
 fireside, their history is again and again 
 recounted, and their heroic actions, deeply 
 cherished, will, at some future day, give 
 birth to new heroes, who will follow in 
 their footsteps, and under the guidance of 
 a more propitious fortune, will perhaps 
 accomplish the great work in whose cause 
 their predecessors sacrificed their lives. 
 
 What nation has suffered more than the 
 Poles, in the effort to maintain their rights 
 and independence? What nation, within 
 the space of half a century, has made fiercer 
 struggles or shed more blood upon their
 
 EMILY PLATER. 17 
 
 native soil 1 There is not a city, nor a 
 hamlet in the land, ■which has not wit- 
 nessed great deeds, and there is not a fur- 
 row which has not been fertilized by the 
 blood of illustrious victims. 
 
 It is for history to record the names of 
 these champions of the freedom of a great 
 people — religiously to preserve the mem- 
 ory of their deeds, and to transmit them to 
 an inquisitive and admiring posterity, of all 
 that is great and generous inhuman action. 
 
 We propose to trace the life of one of 
 the thousand heroes that Poland has pro- 
 duced, in her struggles against slavery and 
 cruelty. It is the life of a woman that we 
 propose to recount, but of a woman who, 
 in courage and patriotism, has never been 
 surpassed, even by man. This woman is 
 Emily Plater- — a heroine, if ever a woman 
 existed worthy of the name. Who has 
 not heard of this glorious name? What 
 heart has not glowed with admiration at 
 the recital of the exploits of this young 
 Polish female? 
 
 2*
 
 18 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 The family of Emily Plater, one of the 
 most extensive and well known in Poland, 
 derives its origin from Westphalia, in Ger- 
 many. At the commencement of the 
 thirteenth century, when the Christian 
 world was engaged in spreading far and 
 wide the religion of Jesus Christ, one of 
 the family of the Platers passed over into 
 Livonia, as knight of the order of sword- 
 bearerSj in order to convert to Christianity 
 the idolatrous inhabitants. From that time 
 the name of Plater frequently occurs in the 
 annals of that country, and they have en- 
 joyed that influence in it which the two- 
 fold advantage of immense wealth, and a 
 nobility whose origin mounts up to a re- 
 mote antiquity, can confer. The order of 
 sword-bearers, — sometimes the ally, at 
 others the enemv of Poland, — at last claim- 
 ed the protection of this country against 
 the cruel Ivan Vassilievitsch, tzar of Mos- 
 cow, who was ravaging Livonia. In 1561, 
 Gothard Kettler, the grand master of the 
 order, did homage and swore allegiance to
 
 EMILY PLATER. 19 
 
 Sigismond Augustus, king of Poland, and 
 Livonia became a Polish province. In 
 succeeding times the Platers proved, by 
 their patriotism, that they were worthy of 
 bearing the name of Poles. One of the 
 family, Sigismond, covered his name with 
 glory by a heroic death, in defence of the 
 city of Diinabourg, against the Muscovites. 
 As a reward for his bravery the Republic 
 gave to his family the Staroste* of Diina- 
 bourg, which remained in the possession of 
 the Counts Plater until 1820, when they 
 were arbitrarily deprived of it by the Rus- 
 sian government. And finally, in our last 
 struggle against despotism, many members 
 of this family distinguished themselves by 
 their devotedness to the Polish cause, sac- 
 rificing every thing to the freedom and 
 happiness of their country. If they were 
 not successful, they at least have nothing 
 to reproach themselves with. 
 
 But the person who has shed upon this 
 
 * To be named Staroste, was to receive for life, or in 
 perpetuity, a fief of the crown.
 
 20 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 family the brightest ray of glory, is, with- 
 out question, Emily Plater, whose history 
 we are now about to commence. 
 
 She was born at Wilna, on the 13th 
 Nov. 1806. Her father, Count Xavier 
 Plater, married in 18 — , the Countess 
 Anna de Mohl, a young heiress, possess- 
 ing, in an eminent degree, all that can 
 render a woman distinguished in society or 
 in the domestic circle. Gentle, well edu- 
 cated, virtuous and affectionate, she sought 
 nothing but the happiness and the affection 
 of those who surrounded her. Unfortu- 
 nately, she did not meet, in her husband, 
 with that peace and felicity to which she 
 was so justly entitled. She was obliged 
 to separate from him, and retire, in 1815, 
 into Livonia, to the residence of a distant 
 relative, taking with her her daughter, 
 who from that epoch became her sole 
 source of consolation, and to the education 
 of whom she devoted her whole time.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 21 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Madame Lieberg — Residence of Emily at Lixua — Her 
 
 character. 
 
 Madame Lieberg (for this was the name 
 of the relative to whom Emily's mother 
 retired) was the widow of a late cham- 
 berlain of Livonia. She was already ad- 
 vanced in age, without children, and in 
 possession of a very ample fortune, which 
 she employed chiefly in doing good. The 
 poor never left her door without succor, 
 and never did a friend in need seek her aid 
 in vain. Respected by her family, of 
 whom she was almost the head, the oracle 
 of her neighbors, who cherished in her the 
 benefactress of the district, a mother to her 
 tenantry, whose children she educated, she 
 enjoyed universal esteem. 
 
 The mother of Emily was received by 
 her kinswoman with that lively interest
 
 22 LIFE OP THE COUNTESS 
 
 with which the sight of unmerited misfor- 
 tune always inspires a benevolent heart. 
 Possessing in a high degree all that is 
 pleasing in a child — simplicity, candor, a 
 sweet and affable temper and an ingenu- 
 ous mind — the young Emily soon gained 
 the heart of her old relative, who loved 
 her as her own child. The domain of 
 Madame Lieberg is situated in the Polish 
 Livonia, which, since the invasion of Po- 
 land by the Tzarina Catharine, has con- 
 stituted a part of the government of 
 Witebsk. The residence of a wealthy in- 
 dividual, Lixna, with all its rural edifices 
 anddependencies,'presents the appearance 
 of a great castle. It is situated upon a hill, 
 near the bank of a small stream flowing 
 into the Dzwina, whose majestic course 
 may be descried at a great distance. The 
 situation itself is one of the most beautiful 
 that can be imagined. In the immediate 
 vicinity every thing is gay, lively and 
 smiling, and the eye is deeply gratilied. But 
 on the right, there extends a vast forest of
 
 EMILY PLATER. 23 
 
 black fir, whose sombre shade, brought 
 into immediate contrast with the scene 
 just described, serves as a sort of finish to 
 the beauty of the landscape. 
 
 The interior of this stately mansion, the 
 residence of its proprietor, involuntarily 
 transports us to former times. Every thing 
 in it bears the impress of a simple and se- 
 vere, but foreign and antique taste. There 
 you will find, still existing, the eighteenth 
 century with its pretensions, its odd deco- 
 rations, and 'its artificial character. The 
 principal edifice is built in a style which 
 defies description. It is not surrounded 
 with deep trenches, neither is the access to 
 it through a heavy and unwieldy draw- 
 bridge ; but it is, even to this day, inclosed 
 by a long and massive wall; and turrets, 
 inoflfensive indeed, occupy each of its cor- 
 ners. It is no longer a feudal castle, and 
 it is as far from being a modern palace. It 
 is the architecture of our own times inter- 
 mingled with that of the middle ages — the 
 eighteenth century wedded to the fifteenth.
 
 24 
 
 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 It is surrounded by a vast garden, or rather 
 immense park, where gracefulness and the 
 pleasing simplicity of nature are sought 
 for in vain. In it almost every thing is 
 spoiled by art; it is, in fine, the old French 
 garden, w"ith its symmetrical espaliers, its 
 vralks and plots geometrically laid out, 
 and trees fantastically trimmed in confor- 
 mity with every possible shape but that of 
 nature. At one of the extremities is a 
 labyrinth — rather a frigid imitation of an 
 English park — whose paths are carefully 
 laid out, which, crossing each other, di- 
 verging and shooting in a thousand differ- 
 ent ways in the most perplexing manner, 
 serve to lead astray whoever may venture 
 into them. In one word, gardens, build- 
 ings, and all that belongs to this domain, 
 even to the servants grown old in the ser- 
 vice of their masters, bear in their anti- 
 quity a venerable though mournful aspect. 
 The lady of the manor, who has taken 
 care to preserve ancient customs, has not 
 forgotten the frank and cordial hospitality
 
 EMILY PLATER. 25 
 
 of the old Polish nobility, and that polite- 
 ness of theirs which was less prodigal of 
 words than of deeds. 
 
 In this abode, Emily Plater passed the 
 greater part of her brief existence. Here 
 she received from her kinswoman and 
 mother examples of private virtues the 
 most exalted. 
 
 The quiet and monotonous life of the 
 castle increased her natural propensity to 
 melancholy ; and the antique aspect of all 
 that surrounded her, stamped her charac- 
 ter with that masculine energy which 
 she displayed at the time of the insurrec- 
 tion. It w^as here likewise that she receiv- 
 ed her education. 
 
 Emily, from her earliest years, evinced 
 tastes of a very different character from 
 those generally displayed by young per- 
 sons of her age and sex. The doll and the 
 other playthings of children never afford- 
 ed her any pleasure, and the dance for her 
 had no attractions ; she could not conceive, 
 even, how it could be a source of pleasure 
 
 3
 
 26 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 to others. The soft and eflfeminate music 
 of the saloon made but slight impression 
 upon a soul which required emotions of 
 greater strength and passion. Drawing 
 was more to her taste ; but it was in nature 
 that she sought her models, and not in pic- 
 tures themselves, the copies of other cop- 
 ies. It was in solitude, under the open 
 sky and in the depths of the forest, that 
 she sought her inspirations. 
 
 Her education then was quite unlike 
 that generally received by persons of her 
 sex. She required that which would nour- 
 ish the affections of the heart — things of 
 a serious character, and not senseless tri- 
 fles. As soon as she arrived at an age in 
 which she was at liberty to direct her own 
 studies, she entirely threw aside every 
 thing which belongs to a young girl, and 
 sought occupations more befitting her cha- 
 racter. 
 
 The study, which possessed the greatest 
 attractions for her, was history. She loved 
 to see the ages, which are passed, move in
 
 EMILY PLATER. 27 
 
 long array, with their attendant virtues 
 and crimes, before her. She seemed to 
 herself actually to take part in the great 
 drama of the human race, so abundant 
 in intrigues and schemes for self-aggran- 
 dizement. She pursued the progressive 
 march of opinions, and studied men as 
 well as nations. Her heart kindled with 
 admiration for all that was great and no- 
 ble. And to these qualities, what nation 
 in the world could, for her, possess strong- 
 er claims than Poland, her country, the 
 free, the faithful, the generous Poland ; 
 that Poland so proud of its freedom, and 
 which was already civilized when the rest 
 of Europe was scarcely removed from a 
 state of barbarism ; which was free when 
 all other nations were enslaved ; the firm i 
 barrier against the encroachments of Islam-"^ 
 ism, and which was always brave, and 
 prepared to succor the oppressed, even 
 without hope of reward ; a country which 
 fell, at last, a victim to the ingratitude of 
 its neighbors, of which the one owed to her 
 
 VV' i'-^^^
 
 28 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 its existence, and the other its preserva- 
 tion ; a country, in fine, which, even in its 
 fall, has forced from the rest of the world 
 the mingled feelings of admiration and re- 
 gret. 
 
 Emily Plater read the annals of this 
 heroic nation, whose pages are replete 
 with those precepts of devotedness and ex- 
 amples of sacrifices, which the country ex- 
 pects from her children in thues of danger. 
 These, with the hloody record of the mas- 
 sacres of Praga, produced in her heart a 
 just hatred against her country's oppres- 
 sors, whose iniquitous government was by 
 no means calculated to conciliate the good 
 will of a people conquered and kept in 
 submission by force of arms. 
 
 In Poland, female education is deemed 
 of more serious importance than in other 
 countries. Females learn that they are 
 children of Poland before they learn that 
 they are women. Their education is emi- 
 nently patriotic, and perhaps more national 
 than that bestowed upon the men. Thei
 
 EMILY PLATER. 29 
 
 understandings are formed with a view to 
 future usefulness to their country. 
 
 If we trace back our history to its 
 source, we shall find a Wanda sacrificing 
 her life for the country. Although perhaps a 
 fabulous personage, yet she has been to our 
 Polish heroines the model of their adoption, 
 and they scrupulously follow her example. 
 
 We learn, from our old traditions, that 
 no woman could aspire to matrimony un- 
 til she had imbrued her hand in the blood 
 of her nation's foreign oppressors. Evi- 
 dence of this is transmitted to us by our 
 writers. The learned author of " Women, 
 their condition and their social influence 
 amonff different nations both ancient and 
 modern," says : " The Sarmatian women 
 ride on horseback, and accompany their 
 husbands in the chase and in their expedi- 
 tions ; on which occasions they wear the 
 same dress. As. to matrimony, no one can 
 aspire to it before she can prove that 
 she has killed an enemy with her 
 own hand. It often happens that 
 
 3*
 
 30 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 they attain to an advanced age before they 
 are married." The love of country, and 
 the hatred of foreign domination, have al- 
 ways been the predominant qualities of the 
 ancient Sarmatian vromen. 
 
 The young and beautiful Hedwige 
 (1384—1399), who was wholly devoted to 
 the happiness of Poland, impatient of the 
 Hungarian yoke, and exasperated by the 
 depredations they were committing in the 
 Russian territories, placed herself at the 
 head of an army and drove them away. 
 She regained possession, by storm or cap- 
 itulation, of Przemysl, Jaroslaw, Grodck, 
 Halicz, Trembowla and Leopol ; and while 
 wuth one hand she wielded the sword, with 
 the other she protected the arts and sci- 
 ences, and to her is the University of Cra- 
 cow indebted for its greatness and its 
 celebrity. 
 
 Among the females who have swayed 
 the sceptre of Poland, the names of Hed- 
 wige, of Elizabeth, and of Helena, will 
 forever live in the memory of man.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 31 
 
 When the immortal Stephen Czarniecki, 
 the saviour of Poland, under John Casi- 
 mir (1556), left his peaceful home to g( 
 against the Swedes, his daughter, Alexau 
 dra Catharina Czarniecka, bitterly wep 
 that her tender age would not allow he 
 to tight by the side of her father, whose 
 glory and danger she was so very anxious 
 to share. 
 
 The mother of Henry II. duke of Bres- 
 law, in putting into the hands of her son 
 the Polish sabre, which he was to use 
 against the Tartars, spoke these memor- 
 able words : " My son, if you wish that I 
 should not disown you, run to the defence 
 of our dear country." 
 
 The virtuous Sobieska, greeting her 
 sons on their return from foreign countries, 
 pronounced these W'ords : " It is with un- 
 speakable joy I see you again, but I would 
 disown you as my children, were you to 
 imitate the base cowardice of those who 
 deserted the field of battle near Pilaw^ce." 
 
 And with what admiration have we not
 
 32 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 contemplated the resolute Chrianowska, 
 whose courage saved Trembowla(1674), 
 which her unworthy husband wished to 
 surrender to the Turks, by whom it was 
 besieged ! 
 
 The princess Radziwill (1764) was al- 
 ways found by the side of her brother, the 
 prince Charles, in the midst of the most 
 bloody contests, and fought as bravely as 
 the bravest soldier ; and she finally select- 
 ed for her husband, him who had been 
 the most distinguished in battle. 
 
 When, in the year 1792, the infamous 
 treason of Targowicahad rendered nuga- 
 tory all that had been done by the Polish 
 patriots, his chief, Stanislas Felix Potocki, 
 who had sold himself to the Muscovites, 
 had the audacity to write a congratulatory 
 letter to his aunt, the Countess of Kamie- 
 niec, on the advent of a new year, the 
 sublime answer she made him is such as no 
 Polish woman will ever forget. 
 
 " Oh thou, whoever thou art (for I deny 
 thy right to the title thou hast assumed),
 
 EMILY PLATER. 33 
 
 thou who hast had the 'audacity to raise 
 thy impious arm against thy country — 
 thou, who through an unworthy ambition 
 of showing what thou wast capable of, 
 hast not blushed to seek, through means so 
 iniquitous and shameful, the oppression of 
 thy fellow citizens, tremble I * * * * * 
 thou art the sole author of thy own misery, 
 thou hast brought upon thyself thy own 
 ruin — the ignominy and shame which will 
 overwhelm thee — thou hast wrought thy 
 own destruction. Those shots which thou 
 hast caused to be cast in thy own furnace, 
 shall be turned against thee. That steel, 
 which thy parricidal hand hast sharpened 
 against thy country, shall be plunged to 
 the hilt into thy own bosom. Thou hast 
 sought thy own sordid interest, and that 
 of thy infamous accomplice, by betraying 
 an innocent people to oppression. But lis- 
 ten to what Divine Wisdom has in store 
 for thee. I shall confound thy counsels, I 
 shall defeat thy sacrilegious projects ; I 
 shall cause all thy plans to miscarry ; thou
 
 34 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 shalt be an object of derision and of pop- 
 ular indignation — thou shalt lead a life of 
 wo, forsaken by the foreigner, and ex- 
 posed to the dreadful and inevitable ven- 
 geance of thy own country." 
 
 And the accomplishment of this dread- 
 ful denunciation is now matter of history.* 
 
 The dutchess of Wiirtemberg, princess 
 Czartoryska by birth, separated herself 
 from her husband, 1792, because he served 
 in the army of the enemies of Poland, and 
 some time afterwards disowned her own 
 son for the same cause. 
 
 What devotedness did not those admi- 
 rable women display in the war for na- 
 tional independence in 1794, under Kos- 
 ciuszko ! When the news of the Hero of 
 Poland having been made prisoner on the 
 field of battle, at Macieiowice, reached 
 Warsaw, it caused more than forty mis- 
 carriages ; the acuteness of this national 
 
 * We have extracted tliis letter from the precious col- 
 lection of fragments of the cotemporary history of 
 Poland by Leonard Chodzko.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 35 
 
 calamity was more than so frail an organ- 
 ization could sustain. 
 
 It would be wandering from the intend- 
 ed limits of our subject were we to speak 
 here of the patriotism of the Polish wo- 
 men in 1806, 9, 12 and 13, as well as that 
 previous to the late revolution and during 
 its continuance. The records of such 
 facts may be found in almost every page of 
 Poland's history, which will transmit to 
 posterity the names of those remarkable 
 women, as it will also that of Emily 
 Plater, and many other heroines, who 
 distinguished themselves in the late strug- 
 gle of Poland against her oppressors. 
 Who has not heard of the patriotic benev- 
 olence of Emily Szczaniecka, of Cune- 
 gonde Oginska, of Claudine Potocka, and 
 so many other Polish, Lithuanian and Rus- 
 sian women 1 In Poland, courage is the 
 delight of women, and devotedness to the 
 state is as common among them as it is 
 rare among other nations. 
 
 Towards the end of 1820, a great com-
 
 36 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 motion took place among the enslaved na- 
 tions. Many made an attempt to regain 
 those rights of which they had been de- 
 prived, and vindicate that liberty whose 
 inestimable price then began to be felt. A 
 shout of independence was heard from 
 the shores of the Eurotes to the banks of 
 the Orinoco — on the Olympus and on the 
 Cordilleras. Sublime and electric shock ! 
 which roused from their lethargy, nations 
 who had been so long languishing in sla- 
 very ! In many countries this burst of 
 enthusiasm for independence, w^as sup- 
 pressed, and whole nations relapsed into 
 those fetters they had endeavored to 
 break. On tlie other hand, some were 
 more fortunate, and with more persever- 
 ance and courage, because their sufferings 
 were perhaps more intolerant, left the field 
 as conquerors, and after great sacrifices, as 
 the price of their long struggles, restored 
 freedom to their country. At the head of 
 these is the ancient nation of the Hellenes, 
 who shook off the heavy yoke of the
 
 EMILY PLATER. 37 
 
 Turks and regained their nationality. — 
 Emily Plater, whose greatest delight was 
 to hear the shout of freedom, ardently es- 
 poused the Greek cause. She shared the 
 general enthusiasm of Europe in favor of 
 this heroic nation. She anxiously follow- 
 ed the progress of their insurrection, and 
 envied the destiny of the heroine of Mis- 
 solonghi. "Men," said she, " in the course 
 of their duty, can but challenge death. 
 Bobelina goes beyond — she braves public 
 opinion besides."- 
 
 But it was Joan of Arc who was the 
 principal idol of her enthusiasm. Joan of 
 Arc, that inspired virgin, that extraordi- 
 nary woman who rescued France from the 
 grasp of its enemies, whose invasion had 
 been permitted by its indolent and feeble 
 monarch. She made the life of this wo- 
 man her favorite study. She sought all 
 the works of those days which had any re- 
 ference to this event, and read them often. 
 She found a great analogy between France 
 under English oppression, and Poland 
 
 4
 
 38 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 groaning under the Russian yoke. Her 
 closet was filled with engravings repre- 
 senting that heroine in the different pha- 
 ses of her life ; she became the object of her 
 veneration as well as the subject of her 
 dreams. Envious of her fame, her most 
 ardent wish w^as to rival her, and do for 
 Poland, at some future day, that which 
 Joan had formerly accomplished for 
 France. This was her whole ambition. 
 She often spoke of it ; and men, in their 
 wisdom, turned into ridicule what they 
 were pleased to term her foolish extrava- 
 gance ; because they could not understand, 
 nor would they ever have understood her, 
 had not the events of 1830 kindled the fire 
 of patriotism in every Polish bosom. 
 
 Emily was not satisfied wdth the ex- 
 pression of vain wishes only, but she took 
 the necessary measures to put them in ex- 
 ecution at some future time. Her favo -ite 
 amusements and ordinary exercises now 
 consisted in riding on horseback, shooting 
 at a mark, and inuring herself to the rigors
 
 EMILY PLATER, 39 
 
 of the seasons and to every temperature. 
 The countess, fearing for the health of her 
 daughter, ;i ttempted at first to put a stop 
 to this kind of exercise ; but Emily, by 
 her fond caresses, overcame her mother's 
 fears, and finally obtained from her that 
 consent she had so earnestly solicited. 
 From that time, this young amazon would 
 be seen to spring into the saddle, leap over 
 ditches, dart through the fields, and even 
 penetrate the forest. She seemed to be in- 
 defatigable, and nothing could stop her. 
 In the saloon she was apparently sad. 
 pensive, and even melancholy ; the eti- 
 quette and cold formalities of society 
 were irksome to her, and seemed to send a 
 chill into her ardent soul. But mounted 
 on her favorite courser, she would boldly 
 wander over the fields — practise at shoot- 
 ing, brave the severity of the elements, 
 snow, or rain, or the burning heat of the 
 sun ; and when in her rides it became 
 necessary to face danger, then would she 
 display the whole energy of her charac- 
 ter.
 
 40 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 It was thus that she inured and pre- 
 pared herself for the great day of battles, 
 — that day, when, in answer to the shout 
 of Warsaw for independence, all would 
 rush to arms — that day she so ardently de- 
 sired, and which she apparently foresaw, 
 although nothing had as yet taken place 
 even to excite a suspicion that such an 
 event was so near- at hand.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 41 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Association of the students of Wilna.— Their object- 
 Persecution of the [Lithuanian youth. — Nowosiltzoff 
 and Pelikan. — Condemnation. 
 
 In the mean time the persecution of 
 the Russian government reached a mem- 
 ber of the family of our heroine. Her 
 first cousin, Michael Plater, was con- 
 demned to serve in the Russian army in 
 the quality of a private soldier. In order 
 to explain the motives of this outrageous 
 sentence, it is necessary to say a few 
 words on the subject of the hostility 
 of the pretended conqueror of Napoleon 
 against the Lithuanian youth, and which 
 he carried on in so secret a manner as to 
 escape the bservation of the historians of 
 the reign of the Emperor Alexander, al- 
 though it has caused the misery and ruin 
 
 of a whole nation. 
 
 4*
 
 42 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 Alexander, the pupil of Laharp, was 
 both a despot and a philanthropist ; of an 
 irresolute character, he, for a considerable 
 time, wavered between the principles of 
 his tutor and that policy which has con- 
 stantly governed the princes of his dy- 
 nasty. 
 
 One hand he extended to the protec- 
 tion of literature, while he employed the 
 other ill crushing civilization. Besides, he 
 reigned at a time when the crowned heads 
 of Europe, under pretence of liberal 
 principles, were doing all in their power to 
 arrest the progress of liberty, as well as ^ 
 
 the career of Napoleon, whose ostensible ^j'H'"' 
 cause for carrying on war against them 
 was the affranchisement of nations. It was 
 then the king of Prussia promised his sub- 
 jects a constitutional government ; and 
 even Metternich himself ceased to get in 
 a passion at the mere mention or name 
 of liberty, and even went so far as to ex- 
 tend his protection to secret associations. 
 
 In 1815, the kings, who no longer had
 
 EMILY PLATER. 43 
 
 any thing to fear from their great foe, cast 
 off their masks and formed, what they were 
 pleased to call, their Holy Alliance against 
 the Jacobins and demagogues whom they 
 had so well succeeded in cajoling. It was 
 then that Alexander, the chief of this 
 league, came to a final decision ; the lust 
 of despotism prevailed over his philan- 
 thropy ; he even regretted the little good 
 he had done before, and from this moment 
 began the demolition of his own work. 
 
 The events of 1812 clearly proved 
 that the Polish provinces of his empire, 
 conquered but not subdued, could not be 
 retained in subjection, except by main 
 force, and that the desire of regaining 
 their former independence pervaded every 
 heart. In order to eradicate this nation- 
 ality, which was imcompatible with liis 
 own views, he trampled under foot all his 
 solemn engagements — violated the laws of 
 the country — proscribed the Polish lan- 
 guage, and established in all the tribunals 
 the Russian practice — an object of gene-
 
 44 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 ral detestation. A few learned publicists 
 and profound historians have already pass- 
 ed their judgments upon this glaring vio- 
 lation of a charter solemnly granted, and 
 of institutions whose maintenance had 
 been sworn to before the whole world. 
 The author of such deeds has covered him- 
 self with infamy ; the tyrant and the per- 
 fidious can never escape general contempt 
 and hatred. Such a triumph as his, is 
 worse than a glorious defeat. 
 
 Nevertheless, the mighty will of this 
 despot has been baffled by the firmness of 
 the national spirit; his ukases were power- 
 less, and generally evaded. Prince Czar- 
 toryski, chief of public instruction in these 
 provinces, did all in his power to circum-GL'-^^^-^^^^^^^^ 
 vent and defeat all his obnoxious designs, 
 and to preserve the Polish nationality. 
 Even his enemy, Nowosiltzoff, has been 
 known to say that one year of the prince's 
 administration was sufficient to neutralize 
 the efforts of ten years on the part of the 
 Autocrat and his spies against liberty,
 
 EMILY PLATER. 45 
 
 The University of Wilna was a nur- 
 sery which the Polish youth never quit- 
 ted without being wholly devoted to their 
 country, heart and soul. Lelewell was 
 professor of history there ; his extensive 
 knowledge, and profound researches en- 
 abled him to fill that chair with superior 
 credit. His fame and eloquence drew a 
 crowd of auditors to his lectures, to which 
 he knew how to impart that liberal and 
 patriotic spirit which pervades all his wri- 
 tings, and which influenced all the actions 
 of his life. He always ended by making 
 these young men, ardently desirous of 
 knowledge and fame, warm patriots, and 
 devoted friends of knowledge and indepen- 
 dence. Thomas Zan, Adam Mickiewicz, 
 Leonard Chodzko, Michael Wollowicz, 
 and some other distinguished Polish youth 
 were among his pupils. 
 
 Although the spirit of opposition per- 
 vaded the whole nation, yet concert of ac- 
 tion was needed, and in order to oppose 
 the scheme of government with some hope
 
 46 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 of success, it became necessary to organ- 
 ize a corps, or association, whose members 
 could obtain the confidence and direction of 
 public opinion. Thomas Zan caught hold 
 of this idea, and immediately put it in exe- 
 cution by organizing a club called the Rad- 
 iants^ whose objects were to propagate 
 knowledge, maintain the use of their ver- 
 nacular tongue, at any risk, and defend 
 their nationality against violence. This 
 association, which was joined by most of 
 the students of the university, gave um- 
 brage to the government, who began their 
 persecution in 1821 by the issue of an 
 ukase for its dissolution. 
 
 Zan and his associates, far from being 
 discouraged by these proceedings, reunited 
 a second time under the name of Philaret/i- 
 ians, and a second time they were dispers- 
 ed. They again rallied, but in a smaller 
 number, and under the name of Philoma- 
 tians. The animosity displayed by the 
 Russian government in this instance, suffi- 
 ciently proved the utility of their society
 
 EMILY PLATER. 47 
 
 in teaching them perseverance ; and con- 
 sequently they reorgmized their society 
 upon a much larger plan, but kept their 
 meetings more secret. To cultivate litera- 
 ture and the sciences, to dissipate opinions 
 prejud cial to the welfare of their coun- 
 try, to imbue every heart with patriotism 
 and love of freedom — such were the noble 
 objects this association proposed to itself. 
 This association, composed, as it was, of 
 the greatest part of the most intelligent 
 young men in Poland, under the direction of 
 Thomas Zan,a man of the most energetic 
 character and daring mind, was perfectly 
 adequate to the performance of the duties 
 its members had imposed upon themselves. 
 Lithuania already began to feel the benefit 
 of these noble operations ; a typographical 
 association was formed for the cheap pub- 
 lication of Polish works ; these were fol- 
 lowed by the organization of a society 
 which had for itsobject the affording to in- 
 digent, but industrious young men, the 
 means of pursuing their studies ; a third
 
 48 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 one undertook to prepare a correct and 
 minute digest of the statistics of the Po- 
 lish provinces, whose inhabitants, till that 
 time plunged in apathy, were soon lost in 
 amazement at the immense advantage 
 they derived from these labors — a result 
 which any single individual would have 
 sought to effect in vain. This association 
 succeeded, through their unremitting ef- 
 forts, in remodelling the national charac- 
 ter, and dissipating existing prejudices— 
 the value of labor began to be appreciated, 
 and industry was no longer deemed de- 
 grading. Such was their mode of conduct- 
 ting their secret operations against des- 
 potism. Zan was well aware of the 
 physical impossibility of success in a 
 premature struggle with the giant of the 
 north, and that such a movement, far from 
 being of any service to the country, would 
 only ensure the subversion of all his plans. 
 He therefore limited his efforts to strength- 
 ening his countrymen in their moral cour- 
 age, so that on the advent of that day,
 
 EMILY PLATER. 49 
 
 when Poland slionld have to call on her 
 sons for aid, no Lithuanian should be deaf 
 to her voice. Has she succeeded 1 Let the 
 insurrection of 1831 answer the question. 
 
 The Russian government beheld the 
 existence of this society with a jealous 
 eye, but the mystery, which shrouded its 
 members, baffled all the ministerial efforts 
 which were made to discover the names of 
 those whom they chose to call conspira- 
 tors. They wanted a pretext to have 
 them arrested, but as the society had be- 
 haved with the greatest prudence and cir- 
 cumspection, the government dared not 
 as yet make private opinion a matter of 
 high treason. At last an incident took 
 place which, trivial as it was, afforded a 
 pretext for commencing that system of 
 persecutions which, for two consecutive 
 years, plunged in mourning almost every 
 family in Lithuania. 
 
 On the 3d May, 1823, the anniversary 
 of Poland's adoption of the constitution 
 of 1791, the students of the fifth class of 
 
 5
 
 50 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 the preparatory school of the university, 
 being assembled, as usual, in their school 
 room, one of them, Michael Plater, seized a 
 piece of chalk and wrote on one of the 
 boards : Huzza for the const ilutioji of the 
 3d May ! Great God ! who icill restore it 
 to us 7 The professor of the Russian lan- 
 guage, who was present, denounced at 
 once this dreadful crime to General Kor- 
 sakow, then governor of Wilna, who in- 
 stantly despatched a special messenger to 
 the grand-duke Constantine with the in- 
 telligence that a revolt had broken out, 
 but that, through the sagacious measures 
 of the government, it had been fortunately 
 nipped in the bud, and Count Plater, the 
 chief of the rebels, had been arrested. The 
 grand-duke, ever trembling with fear at the 
 mere idea of a revolt, immediately sent Sen- 
 ator Nowosiltzoflf to inquire into the matter. 
 This man seized, with avidity, an op- 
 portunity wliich placed in his power tlie 
 means not only of materially injuring his 
 paternal enemy, prince Czartoryski, but
 
 EMILY PLATER. 51 
 
 also of superseding him in the presidency 
 of Wihia ; an office so richly endowed as 
 to be an object worthy of that rapacious 
 cupidity, which, together with inordinate 
 ambition and lust of power, stimulated the 
 contemptible character of this man, who 
 saw in the possession of it nothing but the 
 means of satisfying his sordid avarice and 
 other evil propensities. 
 
 On his arrival at Wilna, in the full de- 
 termination to find guilt in innocence, this 
 man caused to be brought before his tribu- 
 nal those who were accused of treason, 
 when five children, the oldest of whom 
 was hardly thirteen years of age, were 
 brought before him. The ridicule which 
 he was about to bring upon his sovereign 
 by treating so seriously a mere boyish 
 prank, did not deter him from his ear- 
 nest and zealous efforts to unravel a con- 
 spiracy which never existed but in his 
 own imagination. This course was the 
 dictation as much of personal interest as pri- 
 vate views. Besides, of what consequence
 
 52 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 the sacrifice of five victims, or a mother's 
 malediction, so long as he obtained a smile 
 of approbation from his gracious master ! 
 NowosiltzofT found an associate wor- 
 thy of himself in the person of the pro- 
 fessor of surgery, at the same university, 
 named Venceslas Pelikan, ^vho, through 
 motives of interest, had abjured the faith 
 of his fathers and joined the Greek Church, 
 and who never suffered honor or reputa- 
 tion to stand in the way of his vile ambi- 
 tion. These two men persecuted the Lithu- 
 anian youth with deadly hatred. Zan was 
 incarcerated. Detachments of dragoons 
 overran the country in pursuit of those 
 who were accused. The convents of Wil- 
 na were overflowing with prisoners thus 
 daily brought in; and banishment to Sibe- 
 ria was the common topic of conversa- 
 tion. The police agents, as well as the mis- 
 erable tools of Nowosiltzoff, busied them- 
 selves in spreading rumors of horrible plots 
 for the overthrow, not only of the throne, 
 but also of the religion — plots newly dis-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 53 
 
 covered through the senator's unremitting 
 exertions and acute patriotism. Notwith- 
 standing all these, they were unable to 
 adduce the least shadow of proof that 
 could justify their persecutions. 
 
 In order to extort a confession of guilt 
 which existed nowhere but in their own 
 imaginations, Nowosiltzoffand Pelikan re- 
 sorted to a course of most inhuman means, 
 which the refinements of their cruelty 
 substituted in place of the rack of the 
 dark ages ; such as the scourge while 
 under examination, the privation of food 
 and rest for several days, and then forcing 
 them to feed on salt herrings, and withhold- 
 ing from them the means of allaying the 
 intolerable thirst this kind of diet was in- 
 tended to create. But none of these tor- 
 tures, exquisite as they were, could extort 
 from them the avowal of a crime they had 
 not committed, or the utterance of a single 
 expression which could, in the least, im- 
 plicate any of their friends. Furious at 
 the failure of their scheme, they at last 
 
 5*
 
 54 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 had recourse to compelling a few of their 
 captives to sign a set of interrogatories, 
 prepared for the occasion, and in this way 
 succeeded in establishing something like 
 the existence of a conspiracy, the discov- 
 ery of which was to lay the foundation of 
 their own preferment. 
 
 It was high time to put an end to this 
 cruel farce, which had been acting now 
 for two years. As they had totally failed 
 in finding against the Lithuanian youth 
 any thing which could be made amenable 
 to the ordinary tribunals, they had re- 
 course to a plan as novel as it was out- 
 rageous. — They established a new crime 
 or misdemeanor which they called derai- 
 son* and made this crime to consist in 
 these young men's atttachment to, and 
 reverence for, the usages and customs of 
 their country, and, to this pretended crime, 
 they awarded different degrees of punish- 
 ment. Zan was sent to the fortress of 
 
 * Deraison. Such was the exact term used in the 
 ukase of September, 1824. It means opposite to reason.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 55 
 
 Orenbourg. Mickiewicz, and seven other 
 Philomatians, with seven Philorathians, 
 were dispersed in different provinces of 
 Russia, but under the strict superinten- 
 dence of the police. Michael Plater, and 
 his classmates, who were considered his 
 accomplices, were condemned to serve in 
 the ranks of the Russian army. To those 
 who are in the habit of regarding the mil- 
 itary service as an honorable profession, 
 this last sentence must seem strange, but 
 in Russia it is regarded as the most infa- 
 mous punishment to which the most infa- 
 mous malefactor can be condemned ; and 
 we must also add, that the condition of a 
 Russian soldier is worse than that of a 
 galley slave. 
 
 The iniquitous sacrifice of so many 
 victims, which had caused a flood of inno- 
 cent tears to flow, finally crowned with 
 success the wicked wishes of Nowosiltzoff 
 and Pelikan. The first was made Curator 
 and the other Regent of the university. 
 They immediately adopted a new plan of
 
 56 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 public instruction ; and one can easily im- 
 agine what sort of a plan this must have 
 been, when he is informed that Nowosilt- 
 zofT compiled it himself, and intrusted the 
 execution of it toPelikan.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 57 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Projects of marriage. — The Russian General K*****. — 
 Capt. Baron D*****. 
 
 The persecutions mentioned in the last 
 chapter exasperated the public mind, and 
 greatly increased their hatred for despot- 
 ism, and schemes of vengeance were se- 
 cretly planned. The Russians were de- 
 tested to that degree that their individual 
 presence cou d hardly be tolerated in pri- 
 vate society. They were received in the 
 palaces of the nobility with that distant and 
 cold formality which could not but make 
 them feel that, if their visits were tolerated 
 they were not welcomed. Every thing 
 portended a revolution which, if remote, 
 was not the less inevitable. The inhabit- 
 ants of Livonia, although personally ex- 
 empt from these persecutions, yet keenly 
 felt for the unhappy fate of their compatri-
 
 58 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 ots of Lithuania, and were consequently 
 actuated by the same spirit of animosity. 
 The cruel blow the Plater family had 
 sustained in the arbitrary sentence which 
 had tloomed one of its members to an ig- 
 nominious punishment, had greatly increas- 
 ed the general gloom and public sentiment. 
 Madame Lieberg wept over the fate of her 
 native country, once free and independent, 
 while the young Emily, indignant at 
 Nowosiltzoff's heinous conduct, expressed 
 her abhorrence of the government with all 
 the energetic frankness of a bold and noble 
 heart, which flagrant injustice had deeply 
 wounded. 
 
 In the mean time, the unhappy state of 
 the country, combined with other circum- 
 stances, often brought the nobility in con- 
 tact with the Russians. Lixna was situ- 
 ated in the vicinity of Diinabourg, and its 
 domains, being contiguous to the grounds 
 of the citadel, proved a source of many 
 contentions, which compelled Madame 
 Lieberg to have frequent intercourse with
 
 EMILY PLATER. 59 
 
 the commanding officer, and to treat him, 
 as well as the other officers of the garri- 
 son, with some civility ; and, as they were 
 very glad to find a place of resort to dissi- 
 pate the dulness and the monotony of a 
 garrison life, they made themselves per- 
 fectly at home in their visits, which be- 
 came much more frequent than was de- 
 sired at Lixna. 
 
 The commanding officer of the Engi- 
 neer corps, General K., was very assiduous 
 in paying his respects to Madame Lieberg. 
 He was a soldier and a Russian, in the full 
 sense of the word. He had the reputation 
 of being very clever in his profession, but 
 extremely awkward in his manners, and 
 so severe a disciplinarian, that he would 
 have put himself under arrest had he ac- 
 cidentally discovered that he had present- 
 ed himself with a button more or less on 
 his coat than the rules and regulations 
 prescribed. 
 
 In his visits to Lixna, General K. took 
 particular notice of Emily, and finally re-
 
 60 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 solved to marry her ; the most difficult 
 part for him, however, was how to ijo to 
 work to gain the heart of the young Lith- 
 uanian, and it was no easy matter for such 
 a lover. The heart of a young girl is not 
 to be stormed like a fortification, and, 
 whatever may be the skill of a soldier in 
 the besieging of a fortress, he may find 
 himself entirely at fault when sweet words 
 and tender looks are the only weapons to 
 be used ; and of all others General K. was 
 the least calculated to succeed in a love 
 affair. He knew well how to speak to his 
 troops of marches and battles, but with 
 young ladies it was quite otherwise. When- 
 ever he found himself with Emily, he 
 was entirely at a loss how to behave ; he 
 was awkward and almost dumb, and if he 
 spoke at all, it was not to the purpose ; he 
 wanted words to express himself and could 
 hardly say anything, even on the common 
 topic of the weather. But at last, he suc- 
 ceeded in gaining confidence, and resolved 
 to make, at once, a final attempt to gain his
 
 EMILY PLATER. 61 
 
 point — if not an avowal of love, at least 
 the permission to sue for her hand, and 
 hope for the future. He thought that no 
 one could dare to say no to one who wore 
 the epaulettes of a General and the cordon 
 of St. Anne. 
 
 One day he found himself alone with 
 Emily, and he resolved to avail himself of 
 the opportunity. Having matured his plan 
 and carefully selected the language he in- 
 tended to use, he commenced his attack ; 
 but at the critical moment his treacherous 
 memory failed him ; yet his courage did 
 not forsake him, and with a firm step he 
 approached her, as if he intended to throw 
 himself at her feet ; — " Mademoiselle," 
 said he, " I come to offer you my hand." 
 The shell was fired, the detonation made, 
 and the General, proud of his exploit, cast 
 his eyes down and was waiting for an an- 
 swer ; but seeing that none was made he 
 resumed : 
 
 " Mademoiselle, I come to offer you my 
 hand." 
 
 6
 
 62 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 '' Sir, I refuse it," dryly answered 
 Emily. 
 
 He was far from expecting such an an- 
 swer, and felt somewhat abashed. He did 
 not, however, give up, but returning to the 
 subject he continued : 
 
 " But think of my rank. Countess, and 
 the favor which I enjoy with the Em- 
 peror." 
 
 " I am fully aware of the honor you 
 condescend to bestow upon me by your 
 choice, but — " 
 
 " Well— but— " 
 
 " The thing is impossible." 
 
 " Impossible !" muttered the disap- 
 pointed General. '' Am I so unfortunate 
 as to liave incurred your aversion ?" 
 
 " I do not hate you personally." 
 
 "Is the disproportion in our ages an 
 objection ?" 
 
 " The husband should always be older 
 than the wife." 
 
 "It is exactly what I think myself. 
 Perhaps your heart — "
 
 EMILY PLATER. 6 
 
 o 
 
 " Is perfectly free." 
 
 '' You can never find a better choice." 
 
 " I do not deny it." 
 
 " Tlien nothing is in the way — " 
 
 " I am a daughter of Poland^ 
 
 This last answer crushed his hopes. It 
 was given with so much dignity, and in a 
 tone so noble and imposing, that the Gen- 
 eral did not know what to say ; he remain- 
 ed silent for a short time, and then left her. 
 Having failed with the young lady, he had 
 recourse to Madame Lieberg, whom he 
 sought to conciliate to his views, but here 
 he also failed. This lady assured him, that 
 having left Emily entirely free in her 
 choice, she should decline exercising any 
 influence over her, and wouldj therefore, 
 have nothing to do in the matter. 
 
 Thus rejected, the General left l^ixna 
 in a rage, resolving never to visit it again ; 
 I and, on his return to the garrison, found 
 fault with every thing and every body, and 
 placed several officers under arrest. He 
 could not yet realize that it was possible
 
 64 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 for any one to dare to refuse his hand — 
 the hand of such a man as the command- 
 ing officer of the Engineer Corps. " I will 
 show them," said he, in the paroxysm of 
 his passion, " that a Russian General can 
 marry." He did, indeed, marry, but not a 
 Polish wife. 
 
 Among the officers who visited Lixna, 
 Emily had for some time past noticed the 
 Baron D., a Saxon by birth, and Captain of 
 Engineers in the Russian service. He was 
 a mild and learned man, and as much be- 
 loved by his brother officers, as he was es- 
 teemed by all that was respectable in socie- 
 ty. She was pleased with his company ; his 
 conversation, as agreeable as it was in- 
 structive, had nothing of that pedantic af- 
 fectation which is so often displayed by the 
 learned. The Baron D., although in the vig- 
 or of his age, was nevertheless too old for 
 Emily, who was then just entering the age 
 of womanhood ; and having seen her grow 
 up, as it were, under his eyes, he was .still 
 in the habit of considering her as a child.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 65 
 
 and freely gave himself up to the enjoy- 
 ment of a sweet friendship as pure as a vir- 
 gin's mind, without even suspecting that, 
 at some future time, she could be the ob- 
 ject of any other sentiment. 
 
 Emily having manifested a wish to 
 study mathematics, a science little suited 
 to the female mind, but for which she had 
 exhibited a decided aptitude, even from 
 childhood, the Baron offered himself as her 
 professor ; w hich offer being accepted, the 
 lessons commenced. 
 
 Emily, without being perfect in beau- 
 ty, w^as nevertheless well calculated to 
 inspire sentiments of deep attachment ; 
 especially in a man who can value the 
 qualities of the soul and mind, more than 
 those of the body. She was of middle 
 size, well shaped, of a rather pale com- 
 plexion ; her face was round, with a small 
 mouth now and then adorned with a sweet 
 smile ; she possessed a clear, sweet voice, 
 which reached to the heart ; and large 
 blue eyes, whose brightness was softened 
 
 6*
 
 66 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 by a melancholy expression. There was 
 nothing very striking in her person at first 
 sight, but, on acquaintance, one would dis- 
 cover new charms in her almost every day. 
 
 The Baron, who, in the quality of tutor, 
 was necessarily obliged to be with her very 
 often, could justly appreciate her worth ; 
 and one day he was astonished at the im- 
 pression she had imperceptibly made upon 
 his heart. This discovery deeply afflicted 
 him, and so much the more as he was well 
 aware of the inveterate aversion Emily en- 
 tertained for all that was Russian, and that 
 he could not, therefore, dare to hope ever to 
 succeed in obtaining her consent to the 
 consummation of his happiness. He had 
 the delicacy even, to abstain, most scrupu- 
 lously, from any expression which could 
 expose the state of his heart, and confining 
 himself to the friendship of his pupil, he 
 left the rest to time. 
 
 The heart of woman, however, instinc- 
 tively becomes conscious of whatever im- 
 pression her charms may have made, and
 
 EMILY PLATER, 67 
 
 it was not long before Emily perceived the 
 feelings of her professor towards her. 
 
 It grieved her much, as she could not 
 return the affections of the man wiiom she 
 esteemed the most in the world ! Love 
 was unknown to her, and differing much 
 in this respect from most women, she never 
 dreamed of marriage. Poland, with w^hom 
 she had identified herself, was the sole ob- 
 ject of her thoughts. Her only ambition 
 w^as to devote herself to the service of her 
 unhappy and oppressed country. She 
 w ould never have consented to destroy, by 
 her marriage, this splendid image of her 
 imagination ; in fact, she felt that the quiet 
 felicity of domestic life could never be her 
 lot, and could never satisfy the ardor of 
 her soul. But entertaining the greatest 
 respect for the Captain's feelings, as w^ell 
 as for his delicacy towards her, she sought 
 to alleviate his anguish by the sincerity of 
 her friendship. 
 
 The Baron continued his lessons, and 
 once in a while some tender expression
 
 68 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 would escape him, which, however inno- 
 cent in itself, would reveal the state of his 
 heart. To such expressions Emily never 
 replied, and seemed not to understand them. 
 Sometimes books and figures were laid 
 aside for a few moments of social conversa- 
 tion, free, however, from any thing like sen- 
 timent. 
 
 But the jealousy of General K. towards 
 one wlio, though a mere admirer, had 
 not, like him, as yet met with the mortifi- 
 cation of a dismissal, could not allow them 
 to enjoy this calm felicity undisturbed ; 
 for a simple Captain to dare to rival him, 
 was, as it appeared to him, an act of actual 
 insubordination. He saw nothing but an 
 infraction of the established order of mil- 
 itary rank, and, in order to arrest the evil, 
 he had recourse to his military power, by 
 means of which he was able to impose so 
 much duty on the Baron, as to leave him 
 but very little time to visit Lixna. His 
 visits became less frequent and his lessons 
 were interrupted. At last, disgusted with
 
 EMILY PLATER. 69 
 
 these malicious persecutions, and full of in- 
 dignation at such flagrant injustice, and per- 
 haps too, in the hope of finding in absence 
 a remedy for his unhappy attachment, the 
 Baron asked for, and obtained a transfer 
 to the fortress of Bobruysk, where, we sin- 
 cerely hope, he has found that tranquillity 
 and peace of mind he so much required. 
 
 If ever this work should reach beyond 
 the barrier which Russian despotism has 
 erected against the introduction of any 
 books in which even the name of Poland is 
 mentioned ; if ever it should happen to fall 
 into the hands of the Baron D., he may 
 possibly take pleasure in perusing these 
 few pages, which, although without the 
 honor of his personal acquaintance, we 
 have written from Emily's recollection, 
 who always entertained for him a sincere 
 regard.
 
 70 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Travels of Emily in Poland. 
 
 The love of activity, the energy of soul, 
 the thirst for knowledge, and the active im- 
 agination which were so glowingly por- 
 trayed in the character of our heroine, 
 all served to inspire her with an ardent de- 
 sire for travel. It was not, however, the 
 romantic charms of foreign countries which 
 captivated her imagination, neither had 
 the enchanting amusements of Paris and 
 London any attraction for her. "Let me," 
 she often said, " let me travel in foreign 
 countries, to reap the fruits of a more ad- 
 vanced civilization than ours, to improve 
 in sciences and industry, and return to this 
 country with a store of useful knowledge ; 
 but, as for me, a weak and ignorant wo- 
 man, all I desire is to know my own coun- 
 try, in order to love her still more ar- 
 dently."
 
 EMILY PLATER. 71 
 
 Accordingly, in the year 1829, the 
 Countess Anna Plater having resolved to 
 visit Cracow, thought she could not con- 
 fer a greater pleasure on her daughter than 
 to take her along with her. Cracow is the 
 classic ground of Poland; every thing there 
 is purely national — the place is resplen- 
 dent with the glory of our ancestors, and 
 every spot proclaims our former power. 
 Let us follow this young woman, and care- 
 fully note her observations. Let us ob- 
 serve the impression made by so many 
 memorials on her noble and patriotic mind. 
 Should we exceed our prescribed limits, 
 and, yielding to the charms of memory, 
 unconsciously become tedious in our nar- 
 rations, we sincerely hope our readers will 
 extend their indulgence to an unfortunate 
 exile from his beloved country, and forgive 
 him, if, in a foreign land, that unhappy 
 country has become the sole subject of all 
 his dreams ; — the reminiscences of home 
 are sweet, and replete with charms for an 
 unhappy exile.
 
 72 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 When Emily had passed the bounda- 
 ries of the Lithuanian territory, when the 
 last Cossack sentinel had been left behind, 
 she felt her heart relieved, as it were, from 
 an enormous w^eight. It seemed to her that 
 she breathed a purer air, and the heavens 
 seemed to glow with brighter hues. She 
 found herself in her cherished, though 
 wretched kingdom. But cannot that king- 
 dom again recover its former splendor, and 
 reconquer its lost provinces ? — Then the 
 Russian language ceased to shock her ears, 
 and the abhorred uniform to offend her 
 eyes. Here all was national, and the lively 
 peasant spoke a language she understood 
 and loved to hear ; — a great degree of 
 happiness seemed to reign about her. 
 
 Emily had always entertained a great 
 regard for that poor and oppressed class of 
 people, which misery and oppression had 
 overwhelmed; and yet this class is far 
 more attached to its ungrateful country 
 than those masters of theirs whom that 
 same country has loaded witli wealth and
 
 EMILY PLATER. 73 
 
 privileges. The Polish peasant cultivated 
 the soil during peace, but when an enemy 
 threatened his country, he mounted his 
 swift konic,* and flew to its defence. We 
 have seen, says one of our poets, the pea- 
 sant share the dangers and the glory of 
 the country with the nobles, but never par- 
 ticipate in their games or crimes. Proud 
 of the performance of his duty, caring lit- 
 tle for fame or reward, as soon as the war 
 is over he returns to his humble cottage and 
 resumes his ordinary occupations, rich only 
 in the recollections which constitute the 
 attractions and charms of his home during 
 the long winter evenings ; and w hile the 
 cringing and contemptible noble bows in 
 humble submission to the power which 
 oppresses him, and kisses the hand that 
 scourges him ; while he eagerly seeks all 
 
 * Konic, a small horse or pony of extreme vigor, and 
 of an almost incredible swiftness. During the campaign 
 of 1812, these horses, which they call konias, were ir 
 great demand among the French. They are common ii 
 Poland, but much more so in Lithuania. 
 
 7
 
 74 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 that is foreign, and denies his own cou try, 
 the peasant religiously adheres to the man- 
 ners and customs of his ancestors, and to 
 their hatred for the enemies of Poland. 
 What a vast number of precious traditions of 
 our great men, and which would be sought 
 for in vain elsewhere, are still in existence 
 in almost every cottage. There the illus- 
 trious names of Pulaski, Kosciuszko, and 
 Joseph Poniatowski still live in all their 
 pimitive splendor. The Polish language, as 
 spoken by the peasants, possesses nothing 
 of that sweetness and softness which is to 
 be found in palaces and saloons. Among 
 them, it has retained its primitive, bold, 
 masculine roughness. In hearing it, one 
 feels that it is the language of a people 
 eminently warlike — one which values its 
 independence and military valor more than 
 any thing else. 
 
 In Lithuania, where thepeasant, weigh- 
 ed down by servitude, distrusts his master 
 and avoids his presence ; in Lithuania, 
 where the jargon of the peasantry differs
 
 EMILY PLATER. 75 
 
 SO much from the language of the nobility, 
 Emily altogether failed in her attempts to 
 acquire a thorough knowledge of the genu- 
 ine Polish character. In Poland, however, 
 it was quite otherwise. On her arrival 
 in the Palatinate of Lublin, she found the 
 genuine Pole the true type of the ancient 
 Sarmatian. The peasant of this prov- 
 ince is lively, industrious and frank ; he is 
 always ready to fly to the assistance of his 
 brethren, and possesses all those character- 
 istics which constitute a distinct and highly 
 interesting people. It was impossible for 
 Emily to live among such a people and not 
 conceive for them a high degree of esteem. 
 She loved to converse with these people, 
 whose singleness of heart she admired, 
 and whose mind reflected that pure and 
 disinterested patriotism which constituted 
 the real strength of Poland, ^ 
 
 She would attentively listen to, and 
 carefully store in her memory those old 
 traditions (to her, as the memorials of our 
 victories and formerpower, full of charms,)
 
 76 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 which were the usual topics of conversa- 
 tion around the hearth of the cottage. 
 Let us add, that it was among that class of 
 people her sweet and compassionate dispo- 
 sitions sought out the unfortunate to con- 
 sole, and the needy to relieve ; endeavor- 
 ing to assuage, by her kindness, those sor- 
 rows which injustice and cruel prejudices 
 had heaped upon them. She persuaded 
 herself that to relieve the imfortunate and 
 the destitute was, really, to serve her 
 country. 
 
 When, on the confines of Sandomir, 
 she asked a tall peasant, of a hold demea- 
 nor, what country he was from, he proudly 
 answered from the free territory of Cra- 
 cow. 
 
 The word free seemed to impart to 
 him a feeling of superiority over all that 
 surrounded him ; and yet, in what does this 
 liberty consist, of which he seemed so 
 proud 7 In his having three instead of 
 one master. But how often do we see the 
 shadow taken for the substance, and in fact
 
 EMILY PLATER. 77 
 
 elevated to an equality with it in the eyes 
 of the multitude ! 
 
 At last she came within sight of Cra- 
 cow. No pilgrim to the holy sepulchre ever 
 hailed, with greater joy and respect the 
 object of his veneration, than Emily did 
 the ancient capital of her country. Cracow 
 is the Rome of Poland, because, like Rome, 
 it is the city of a people once free and 
 powerful ; and even now, when all around 
 her is rotting in slavery, she seems to glory 
 in the name o^ free city^ which is all that 
 remains to her of her ancient glory, and of 
 which she seems as proud as o( a shot-rid- 
 dled standard just from the field of battle. 
 One can hardly enter this city without a 
 feeling of oppression, and in imagination, 
 to hear the voice of the past. 
 
 Here the sacred soil contains the re- 
 mains and the tomb of Krakus, the founder 
 of the city, also the ashes of Kosciuszko, 
 together with the monument which nation- 
 al enthusiasm and national gratitude have 
 erected to the memory of this last hero of
 
 78 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 free Poland. Cracow is, as it were, the 
 cradle and the grave of the nation. Em- 
 ily felt all the emotions which the sanctity 
 of these ruins, and the noblest recollec- 
 tions can awake in a truly patriotic heart. 
 She seemed like the guardian angel of 
 Greece, visiting the ruins of Ithaca and of 
 Laconia at the moment when this free and 
 powerful republic was about to reassume 
 its rank among nations. Alas ! this North- 
 ern Greece has not been as fortunate as the 
 country of the Hellenes. She has been 
 obliged to resume her servitude, even as 
 the primitive Christians were obliged by 
 Nero to clothe themselves in tarred vest- 
 ments, in order to illuminate his festivals. 
 Emily visited the palace which not 
 long since was the scene of so much masr- 
 nificence, and which, notwithstanding all 
 the devastations occasioned by so many 
 ■wars and incendiary attempts to destroy, 
 still retains a few traces of its former splen- 
 dor. The Vandalism of its conquerors, 
 rather than time itself, has contributed to -
 
 EMILY PLATER. 79 
 
 its destruction ; the sacrilegious hand of 
 Austria having dared even to convert 
 the palace of our kings into common bar- 
 racks. In vain did Emily look for that hall 
 in which Jagellon once astonished all 
 Europe by the pomp and splendor of his 
 court. The senate chamber, like the com- 
 monwealth it represented, no longer exist- 
 ed ; all that here and there offered itself 
 to her view, were a few sepulchral frag- 
 ments, and some remains of paintings in 
 the Gothic windows, standing as if in as- 
 tonishment at their survival of all that 
 formerly surrounded them, and the mean- 
 ing of which the mind labored in vain to 
 explain. 
 
 Broken hearted at the aspect of these 
 sad ruins, Emily sought refuge in the vaults 
 of the cathedral, where the sacred ashes 
 of our kings and of our illustrious men are 
 reposing. When alone, in the midst of 
 ages passed, she evoked, from their tombs, 
 the shades of the Batorys and the Sobies- 
 kis ; passed centuries rose before her, and
 
 80 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 ill her ardent imagination, every thing be- 
 fore her in the mansion of the dead, as- 
 sumed a new life. It was there the Tzar 
 of Moscow sought the protection of the 
 holy Father against the sword of Batory, 
 — it was there the Austrian ambassador 
 threw himself at the feet of Sobieski, ex- 
 claiming : " Oh ! Sire, save Christianity." 
 All these recollections nearly overpowered 
 the feelings of our heroine ; and here she 
 would have remained all her life, or, rather 
 until the shout of independence should 
 ring from the Niemen to the Vistula, call- 
 ing for men and arms to expel the com- 
 mon oppressor. 
 
 On her return thence, Emily met the 
 Austrian Commissary, who then resided in 
 the vicinity of Cracow. He seemed to 
 her the spectre of slavery itself, who, on 
 her awakening from her dreams of liberty, 
 had come to seize her. At the sight of 
 him, she felt a great oppression at the lieart, 
 and she turned from him with horror. 
 
 Cracow is one of the handsomest, as
 
 EMILY PLATER. 81 
 
 well as one of the largest cities in Poland, 
 and its environs are delightful. Seldom 
 does any thing finer or more picturesque 
 meet the eye. — Here you meet with opu- 
 lent boroughs and comfortable villages, the 
 habitations of cheerful and happy country 
 people; and there, one is delighted with 
 the smiling prospects of rich valleys, com- 
 manded by beautiful knolls, the site of 
 elegant mansions, once the abode of abun- 
 dance, felicity and hilarity ; but now, of 
 WTetchedness, solitude and degradation. 
 The Carpathian mountains, with their 
 hoary summits, seem to form, in their re- 
 moteness, a suitable back-ground to this 
 grand picture, forming, as a whole, a spec- 
 tacle ever to be admired. Emily also vis- 
 ited the charming valley of Prondnik, and 
 obtained a stalactite from the cave called 
 to this day the Royal Grotto, because in 
 former times, Ladislas (le-bref) occupied it 
 as the only retreat he could find against 
 the close pursuit of his enemies. 
 
 In her visits to the spacious halls of
 
 82 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 the Piaskowa Skala, a painting represent- 
 ing a beautiful black-eyed young nun, with 
 a sword in her hand, attracted her partic- 
 ular attention, and, excited by curiosity, 
 she sought for an explanation, which the 
 keeper of the castle afforded. He said it 
 was the portrait of a lady of the Wielo- 
 polski family, who lived a great many 
 years since, and who, imbued from infancy 
 with the spirit of chivalry, disguised her- 
 self in man's attire and joined the army 
 against the foes of her country. She be- 
 came celebrated for her bravery and heroic 
 achievements, but no one ever suspected 
 that the valiant arm, which so skilfully 
 wielded the sword, was, by nature, destin- 
 ed to handle only the distaff. Mere chance 
 did unravel the mystery. The heroine 
 cast off her military trappings, and anx- 
 ious of shunning a w^orld which could not 
 forgive her so glaring a departure from its 
 received customs, sought the seclusion of 
 a cloister. But habituated as she was to 
 the fatigues of the camp, she could not
 
 EMILY PLATER. 83 
 
 endure the monotonous tranquillity of a 
 contemplative life, and she soon after died. 
 But, as a memorial of her bold adventure, 
 she was buried with her arms, and with 
 them also did the painter represent her. 
 These incidents threw Emily into a deep 
 meditation, and we may well say that the 
 keeper's narrative had a decided influence 
 on her subsequent life ; and under the tent 
 as well as on the field of battle the image 
 of the nun of Piaskowa Skala was ever 
 present to her mind. She often made it 
 the subject of her conversation, and that 
 painting remained indelibly impressed on 
 her memory. Much to her regret, she 
 could not learn from the keeper either the 
 name of the war in which she served, or 
 the time of her death. 
 
 From Cracow she repaired to the cap- 
 ital of the kingdom. On her route she 
 visited the famous field of Raszyn, where 
 Prince Joseph Poniatowski, with eight 
 thousand Polish recruits, fought in 1809, 
 against forty thousand Austrians. But
 
 84 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 Warsaw, with all its pomp, its palaces and 
 theatres, could not satisfy a soul in which 
 strong emotions had become a passion. 
 She seemed actually wrapt in the past, 
 and in it she thought to descry a pledge 
 for the future. All the amusements of the 
 capital, on the grave as it were of her 
 country's freedom, she regarded as actually 
 criminal, and, if at any time she was 
 allured by the hilarity and pleasures of 
 the day, a Russian presence would soon 
 dissipate the delusion, and she would at 
 once relapse into her habitual melancholy. 
 The Tzarevitsch — a tiger in human shape, 
 had selected this city for his lair, and the 
 pestiferous breath of the police, contam- 
 inated its atmosphere. The sight of her 
 young countrymen, who, under a Russian 
 commander, were daily drilled in the 
 public square, filled Emily's heart with 
 anguish. 
 
 She reflected that in these young war- 
 riors consisted all the strength of her 
 country, and fain would she see the day 
 
 -«->-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 85 
 
 when they would use their talents, and 
 turn their arms against their country's op- 
 pressors. One year after, they did most 
 worthily realize the most sanguine wishes 
 of this patriotic young maiden ; and this lit- 
 tle army surpassed even the hope the Poles 
 had placed in their forces. 
 
 Meanwhile, if Warsaw, this second 
 capital of the ancient republic, does not 
 possess' the importance of Cracow, yet 
 there are many glorious recollections con- 
 nected with her which must cause emo- 
 tions in a Polish heart, and which did not 
 fail to exercise great influence on our 
 young traveller's mind and imagination. 
 
 It was Sigismond III. who transferred 
 the seat of government from Cracow to 
 Warsaw ; and the last king, Stanislas 
 Augustus, even obtained permission from 
 the States in Session, to be crowned in 
 this city. The first object which attract- 
 ed Emily's attention, was the royal pal- 
 ace, situated on a lofty elevation, which 
 commands a fine view of the Vistula and 
 
 8
 
 86 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 its opposite bank ; she admired its two 
 Halls of Assembly. There she recalled 
 to her mind the assembly of 1773, as 
 much disgraced by the ignominious con- 
 duct of Poninski, as it Avas rendered il- 
 lustrious by the patriotism of Key ten. She 
 paused with respect, on the tiireshold 
 which had served as a pillow to this emi- 
 nent citizen, when he protested against the 
 most revolting of tyrannies. If was in 
 this hall the voice of our fathers resounded 
 on the memorable third of May, 1791, and 
 also the 28th June, 1812, when the General 
 Confederation of Poland was organizing. 
 She, after this, traversed the great hall 
 composed of marble, and ornamented with 
 all that architecture and gilt bronze can 
 offer in richness and elegance. She also 
 visited the hall of reception, decora- 
 ted with six large paintings, by Bacci- 
 arelli, representing the most remarkable 
 epochs in Polish history, and also with 
 twenty-two^ busts, in black marble, of il- 
 lustrious characters of the country.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 87 
 
 From the palace, she entered the cath- 
 edral, knelt at the foot of the altar, and 
 rehearsed in her soul the many Te Deums 
 and other songs of joy and thanksgiving 
 which had resounded under its vaults, 
 in the celebration of the victories of our 
 ancestors. It was there the victory 
 of Kluzyn, won by Zolkiewski, that of Kir- 
 cholm, by Chodkiewicz, as well as those 
 of Chocim and of Vienna, by Sobieski, 
 were celebrated. But the object which 
 she was most anxious to visit, w^as the 
 ruin of the JMoscovite chapel. Under its 
 vaults were reposing the ashes of those 
 Tzars of Moscow, whom the illustrious 
 Zolkiewski had brought thither in 1611 
 as prisoners of war, and having died at 
 Gostynin, their remains were there depos- 
 ited. In the year 1634, king Vladislas IV. 
 having concluded a treaty of peace with 
 Moscow, in consequence of a request on 
 the part of the Tzars, gave up the ashes 
 of Tchouisky. Under the reign of Stan- 
 islas Augustus, Catharine II. having sue-
 
 88 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 ceeded to the throne of the Tzars, after 
 having placed on the throne of Poland an 
 old favorite of hers, gave positive orders 
 to her ambassador, Repnine, to cause the 
 marble tablets, which bore the records of 
 their former disaster, to be broken in 
 pieces. And yet, what remained of these 
 ancient monuments were too offensive to 
 the Russian government. Alexander and 
 Catharine hastened to demolish the last 
 remaining monuments of our power, as 
 vrell as of their ancestor's weakness ; as 
 if this act of Vandalism could obliterate 
 the memory of these events, or tear a glo- 
 rious page from our history. What a mel- 
 ancholy contrast in this very capital, 
 where two centuries ago the sovereigns of 
 Moscow were chained to the triumphal 
 cars of our brave Zolkiewski, and where 
 now, in this same capital, a Russian po- 
 tentate wields the supreme power ! This 
 barbarous nation now treats Poland as a 
 conquered country. The time has gone 
 by when she thought herself but too happy
 
 EMILY PLATER. 89 
 
 to be able to obtain, for her sovereign, a 
 son of the king of Poland. 
 
 She afterwards visited the historical 
 plains of Wola Powonzki the Perc-la- 
 chaise of Poland. She also visited the 
 places which were the scene of the seiz- 
 ure and carrying off of Stanislas Augus- 
 tus. Her soul was filled with indignation. 
 She could not forgive to Kuzma the pre- 
 servation of Catharine's vile instrument, — 
 the author or the witness of the dismem- 
 berment and overthrow of our ancient re- 
 public. 
 
 Praga also received the tribute of Em- 
 ily's tears. Praga, the suburb of War- 
 saw, is one of the most hallowed places 
 in Poland, and it is one which Sowarow 
 inundated with blood ; on the scene of 
 this bloody tragedy did she offer her hum- 
 ble prayers to the Supreme Judge of the 
 universe for the eternal peace of Jazinski 
 and his brave companions ; and at the 
 same time, she implored a just and retri- 
 butive vengeance upon their murderers. 
 
 8*
 
 90 LIFE OF THE COUKTESS 
 
 Emily did not sojourn long in Warsaw. 
 No one ever passed through Poland with- 
 out visiting Pulaway — a most delightful 
 location and magnificently emhellished by 
 art. The treasures of science were amass- 
 ed in profusion in this truly great and royal 
 place. All was charming, all was at- 
 tractive to the curious, travelling for in- 
 struction as well as amusement. And what 
 is it now ? Nothing but a heap of ruins. 
 A civilized foe would, at least, have spar- 
 ed a place hallowed by so many recollec- 
 tions; but all this was an additional in- 
 centive to destroy and to overwhelm with 
 horrors. It was even a grand-son who 
 gave the order to fire on the palace of his 
 ancestor ; — it was the Duke of Wiirtem- 
 berg who ravaged the dominions of the 
 princess Czartoryska. 
 
 Besides the beauties of nature and of 
 art which invited the traveller to visit Pul- 
 away, this place possessed a further at- 
 traction, which, for a Pole, was a purely 
 national one. In this place, the cnlight-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 
 
 91 
 
 ened patriotism of its owners had care- 
 fully collected the several historical frag- 
 ments, and all the traditions of our ancient 
 Poland ; and had preserved in this Temple 
 of the Sybil, the precious remains of our 
 ancestors. In that Polish Westminster 
 reposed, side by side, the protective arm 
 of the warrior and the enlightened head 
 of the scholar. There, one might see the 
 bones of Boleslas the Great, and the ashes 
 of Kopernik; the sword of Ladislas-le- 
 Bref, who by extraordinary firmness in 
 misfortunes, his intrepidity in battle, and 
 his clemency on the throne, saved Poland, 
 and made her formidable to her enemies. 
 The plain writing table of his son and 
 successor, whose greatest ambition it was 
 to deserve the title of king to his people, 
 and on whom a grateful posterity conferred 
 the name of Casimir the Great; the stand 
 of colors, the embroidery of which was 
 the work of Hedwige's own hands, and per- 
 haps the very one under which she rallied 
 the warriors of Poland and led them on
 
 92 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 to victory ; some monuments of Sigismond 
 I., a contemporary and the equal of 
 Charles V. ; his son's portfolio, containing 
 the portraits of his beloved sister Isabella 
 of Hungary, and of his adored wife ; that 
 of the young and interesting Barbara 
 Radziwill, who found inher exalted rank 
 nothing but misfortune, and, at last, a pre- 
 mature death ; the sword of Batory, alas ! 
 too soon lost to Poland ; relics of the 
 great Zamoyski ; the baton of com- 
 mand of the valiant Czarnecki, the tro- 
 phies won from the infidels by Sobieski, 
 w ho, although a great w^arrior, was never- 
 theless a bad king ; who covered Poland 
 with immortal honor, yet hastened its ruin ; 
 all these were collected at Pulaway and 
 arranged in the greatest order — offering 
 to Poland's children living testimonies of 
 what their ancestors once had been. They 
 spoke the language of the soul, and no one, 
 unless destitute of patriotism and gener- 
 ous sentiments, could look at them with- 
 out emotion. Then came another series
 
 EMILY PLATER. 
 
 93 
 
 of relics of more modern, but no less glo- 
 rious times — the relics of suffering Poland, 
 which has been fighting for more than 
 fifty years, in order to regain her indepen- 
 dence. 
 
 The constitution of the 3d of May, the 
 confederation of Bar, and the wars of Bo- 
 naparte, had furnished the Temple of the 
 Sybil with a great many new objects 
 which the Poles held in great veneration, 
 and which they sometimes wept over. All 
 these great events w^ere there typified and 
 recalled to the memory by sacred relics. 
 
 There, also, might be seen the ivory 
 and ebony vases, the construction of which 
 beguiled the tediousness of Kosciuszko's 
 long captivity, and more than one lance 
 had found admission into this sacred de- 
 pository for having sustained the splendor 
 of the Polish name, even at a time when 
 Poland might have been sought for in vain 
 on the map of the world. 
 
 The Temple of the Sybil, although a 
 large and spacious building, was never-
 
 94 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 tlieless found too small to contain all the 
 trophies of our ancient power, and display 
 at the same time those of a more recent 
 date. The owner of Pulaw^aywas oblig- 
 ed to add to it a Gothic building, w^hich 
 recalled to mind many recollections of 
 other nations, besides those of Poland. 
 Who can read the inscription, which stood 
 above the portico, without a hearty res- 
 ponse to the w^ish expressed by it 1 Where 
 is the Pole, wdio has not oftentimes, from 
 the bottom of his heart and with solemnity, 
 repeated these words : -'' ^'^ay, f^ne day^ 
 our victories obliterate even tlie remembrhncc 
 of our misfortunes P^ 
 
 Those wdiom our reverses had discour- 
 aged, and even induced to despair of their 
 country's cause, would come to Pulaway 
 to restore their sinking courage. 
 
 Those even who, inured to servitude, 
 had unhappily forgotten their country's 
 rights, would return from this holy pil- 
 grimage ready to sacrifice, not only tlie 
 peace of their home, but life itself, for the
 
 EMILY PLATER. 95 
 
 salvation of Poland. We can hardly tell 
 what impression all these produced upon 
 the mind of Emily, whose wishes and de- 
 signs all concentred in the recovery of Po- 
 land's liberty and former glory. 
 
 Emily returned to Lithuania more of a 
 Pole than ever. Her character assumed 
 a stronger cast, less subject to fears, 
 and more masculine ; but, at the same 
 time, a melancholy sadness took posses- 
 sion of her mind, and developed in her that 
 pensive, yet seductive grace, which never 
 afterwards deserted her ; the religious 
 principle, which had been early instilled 
 into her, took still stronger root in her 
 mind. Before her journey, she would, 
 sometimes, mingle with her companions in 
 their several amusements ; but now, she 
 avoided the joyous dance, and shunned 
 every kind of society which was not in 
 sympathy with her own feelings. She 
 often passed whole days in solitude, with 
 no other company than what her own 
 thoughts and reveries afforded her. And
 
 96 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 what pleasures could the present offer 
 to one who lived only with the past 1 
 How could she descend to the level of men 
 W'ho patiently and quietly submitted to the 
 yoke ; she, who w^as yet full of the recol- 
 lections gathered in Poland, and of new 
 hopes which were budding in her soul ?
 
 EMILY PLATER. 97 
 
 CHAPTER. VI. 
 
 Death of the mother of Emily. — Her fihal piety. — She 
 seeks a reconcihation with her father. — Her character, 
 as dehneated by her cousin, Mademoiselle D * * *, 
 
 The year 1830 brought with it, to the 
 tender and affectionate Emily, a heavy af- 
 fliction, in the loss of the deeply cherished 
 object of all her earthly affections. Over- 
 come by misfortune, rather than age, her 
 mother was taken dangerously ill. Coun- 
 try, ambition, and dreamsof glory were all 
 forgotten, by Emily, as soon as she per- 
 ceived her mother's life to be in danger. 
 During her whole illness, Emily never left 
 her mother's sick bed for an instant. Day 
 and night, seated at the head of her bed, 
 she watched the slightest of her move- 
 ments, and endeavored to anticipate the 
 least of her wishes, and would not, during 
 the whole time, allow herself any rest. 
 
 9
 
 98 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 The poignancy of her grief increased as 
 the symptoms became less favorable ; but 
 she endeavored to suppress her sobs so as 
 not to alarm her dying mother. In vain 
 did several of the family, apprehensive of 
 losing the daughter as well as the mother, 
 endeavor to prevail upon her to take some 
 rest: — '*' Who, better than a daughter, can 
 attend a sick mother 7" would be her reply, 
 absolutely declining, at the same time, 
 their kind offices. And when, almost 
 dragged away by force, she left her post 
 for a few minutes, her mother was pictur- 
 ed to her, in imagination, in the grasp of 
 death for want of necessary attention ; 
 shfe immediately returned in haste to the 
 chamber, to calm her fears at the bed of 
 sorrow, from which nothing could after- 
 wards induce her to absent herself, even 
 for an instant. 
 
 Notwithstanding the unremitting care 
 of her daughter, Madame Plater, at length, 
 sunk under her protracted ilhiess. She 
 was highly respected for her nobleness of
 
 EMILY PLATER. 
 
 99 
 
 character, and her many virtues. The 
 sport of fortune, from her infancy, she had 
 little desire to remain in a world, which 
 had afforded her so few happy days. Her 
 only regret, in quitting it, was to leave her 
 daughter's happiness in such a state of 
 uncertainty. With her dying breath, she 
 consigned her poor orphan to the mater- 
 nal care of Madame Lieberg. She con- 
 jured her to watch over Emily as her 
 own daughter. She then blessed her, and 
 gave up her pure spirit, while yet in the 
 act of invoking the Supreme Father of 
 the orphan in behalf of her daughter. 
 
 Weak minds alone sink under the 
 weight of their grief, and seek relief in 
 tears ; while a strong mind will repress it, 
 without subjecting itself even to the sus- 
 picion of insensibility; such grief is the 
 more consuming as it is altogether inter- 
 nal. Emily manifested but few signs of 
 grief at the death of her mother, but a 
 deep sorrow was undermining her health. 
 But religion came to her aid in this emer-
 
 100 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 gency. In confronting death, nothing can 
 be more comforting, or have a more povv- ' 
 erful effect, than the sentiment which di- 
 rects our thoughts to a better life, beyond 
 the grave. Perfectly resigned, and repress- 
 ing every mark of sorrow, she in person 
 superintended the funeral obsequies, deter- 
 mined that nothing should be wanting in 
 these august solemnities ; and shortly after 
 caused a modest monument to be erected 
 over thatgrave which contained her earthly 
 treasure. To this spot would she every 
 day repair, to sprinkle it with fresh flow- 
 ers, and address her humble prayer to hea- 
 ven for the eternal peace of her mother. 
 This sad event entirely crushed her 
 spirit, and the wound which it inflicted 
 was never completely healed, but bled 
 afresh at the slightest recollection of it. 
 Several months afterwards, Emily, in the 
 midst of the din of the camp, entirely de- 
 voted to her country, seemed to live but 
 for Poland. But when her mind recurred 
 to her mother, she would seek to meditate
 
 EMILY PLATER. 101 
 
 in solitude, if possible, for the rest of the 
 day. 
 
 From the moment of her mother's death, 
 Emily felt that her heart was nothing but a 
 vast desert. Possessed of an affectionate 
 disposition, she felt the need of some object 
 upon which she might fix her affections. 
 She addressed herself to her father, 
 whom she scarcely knew, and who had 
 been separated from her mother in early 
 life, and had lived faraway from his family, 
 without cultivating with them the slight- 
 est intercourse. 
 
 She, for some time previous, had devo- 
 ted to his own use all the small savings 
 her means and position in society w^ould 
 permit her to lay up. Now, that she had 
 the sole control of her destiny, she wished 
 to be near him. She, at times, fancied 
 him sufferinsr on a bed of sickness, with- 
 out any one to console him, and entirely 
 abandoned to the precarious attendance 
 of strangers. She would have looked up- 
 on herself as criminal, had she hesitated 
 
 9*
 
 102 LIFE OF THE COtNTESS 
 
 longer ; she therefore left Lixna for Lith- 
 uania. She used her best endeavor to ob- 
 tain an interview, but without the least 
 success. She had the aiHiction of seeing 
 all her advances repelled. She ought 
 certainly to have renounced, at once, 
 her favorite hope of devoting her days, as 
 well as her fortune, to the welfare of her 
 father, but no ; — she interested in her fa- 
 vorite plan several friends of the family, 
 and retired to the residence of one of her 
 aunts, at Antuzow, to await the result of 
 her efforts. 
 
 It was at this place the news of the 
 insurrection of 1830 reached her, to invite 
 her to more glorious undertakings. 
 
 Her moral sufferings had impaired her 
 health. Sea-bathing was prescribed, and 
 she repaired to Libau. The city of Libau 
 (Lipawa) is situated on the coast of the 
 Baltic, in Courland, and is much frequent- 
 ed by the Lithuanians, the Samogitians, 
 and the Livonians. During the fine season, 
 sea-bathing is productive of excellent ef-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 103 
 
 fects OH the health of its visitors. On one 
 of those beautiful days, common to that 
 climate, the visitors at Libau formed a 
 party for a sea excursion. Among many 
 other officers of the Russian army, was 
 Gen. K., a native of Courland. The free- 
 dom and mutual confidence which gener- 
 ally prevailed on su.ch occasions, led him 
 to allude to, or rather indiscreetly reveal, 
 a piece of information which, till that time, 
 he had kept a profound secret. He pro- 
 duced French letters and French jour- 
 nals, which furnished a minute account 
 of the memorable scenes of July. Emily 
 Plater felt the importance of them, and 
 thought she foresaw, in this event, the fu- 
 ture liberation of her country. This news 
 remained engraved upon her mind and 
 heart, and knowing the proofs of courage 
 displayed by the Parisians, they received 
 her full admiration. From this moment, 
 she eagerly embraced politics. All that 
 she could learn in respect to the Belgian 
 revolution, as well as the popular move-
 
 104 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 ments in other countries of F.urope, raised 
 her spirits to the highest pitch. On the 
 future destiny of Poland, concentrated all 
 her ideas ; and the energies of her mind 
 full well informed her, that she could not 
 remain indifferent to the new destiny of 
 her glorious country. 
 
 Here ends the private life of Emily 
 Plater ; and as such it is the life of a wo- 
 man scarcely known, passed in peace and 
 retirement, and leaving no remembrance 
 but in the hearts of a few friends, and the 
 casual recollections of her neighbors. But 
 from this time she belongs to history, 
 which will bear an impartial record of her 
 Sflorious deeds during our late revolution. 
 But, before entering upon this second epoch 
 of her life, which is by far the most bril- 
 liant, and which is the particular object of 
 our labors, I feel that I ought to furnish 
 a faithful portrait of her, simply as a wo- 
 man ; and I cannot do this better than by 
 permitting her cousin, and earliest friend, 
 to present her views of Emily's character
 
 EMILY PLATER. 105 
 
 in her own language. The following is a 
 letter sent to me by Mademoiselle D * * *, 
 in answer to one of my own addressed to 
 her, requesting some particulars respect- 
 ing Emily's early life and character. 
 
 " She would never act like other young 
 persons of her own sex, their games and 
 amusements havinsr no attractions for her. 
 She detested balls and fine dress. She 
 always selected for the color of her dress, 
 when the choice was left to her, a dark 
 color and generally black. Emily was nat- 
 urally timid, but she knew how to conquer 
 this timidity. When engaged in riding, 
 she took pride in her falls, and would re- 
 mount her steed to brave new dangers, and 
 afterwards spoke of such incidents with 
 great satisfaction. Her favorite amuse- 
 ments were to wander in a sledge in the 
 woods or over the ice of the Dzwina, in 
 quest of imaginary dangers, and to shoot 
 at a mark. Her writing table was not 
 covered with the elegant trifles which 
 usually surround young persons, but with
 
 106 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 mathematical books and instruments. 
 She also had several works on celebrated 
 women of all ages, which she perused and 
 reperused with the greatest enthusiasm. 
 
 •" Her closet was adorned with the por- 
 traits of Joan d'Arc,ofPoniatowski,ofKos- 
 ciuszko, and Bobelina. Notwithstanding 
 her ardent admiration of all that is great 
 and glorious, she possessed an excessive 
 sensibility, the expression of which she 
 always avoided, lest it should detract from 
 her love of glory. 
 
 " She must have been well aware that 
 her father had never appreciated the mer- 
 its of her mother ; nevertheless she loved 
 him, and transmitted to him her small in- 
 come, although she never had received 
 from him the slightest mark of attachment. 
 She was the joy and solace of her moth- 
 er, whom she loved with the fullest affec- 
 tion. For children, as well as the poor, 
 she always felt a deep interest. 
 
 " Although she repressed every exhi- 
 bition of tenderness of feeling, and would
 
 EMILY PLATER, 107 
 
 have preferred the appearance of insensi- 
 bility to that of weakness, yet she was 
 compassionate, and no one more sincerely 
 sympathized with the afflictions or the 
 prosperity of those who possessed her af- 
 fections. Free from selfishness, her heart 
 was suspicious to such a degree, that her 
 distrust surpassed, if possible, the decep- 
 tion of the generality of mankind ; at the 
 same time, her open frankness could not 
 have been surpassed : never has the least 
 dissimulation tarnished her character. 
 She was so lofty in her thoughts that her 
 ideas were, sometimes, mistaken for ego- 
 tism. Often has her candor brought upon 
 her the ill will of many, for she was brief 
 and even rude, to those who were disagree- 
 able to her. Although aware of this feel- 
 ing, if it may be so called, she either could 
 not, or would not conquer it. 
 
 " Having very little taste for the society 
 of those of her own age, she formed an in- 
 timate acquaintance with one of her neigh- 
 bors who was her senior. She would pa-
 
 108 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 tiently listen to advice dictated by experi- 
 ence, not however to follow it implicitly, 
 but in order to be able the better to dis- 
 cuss the difference of opinions. Not only 
 would she never be offended when told of 
 her faults, but would insist on being in- 
 formed of such as might be discovered in 
 her conduct. If she ever excused any fault 
 in herself, it w as only to prove that it had 
 been committed unintentionally. 
 
 Her temper was naturally variable ; 
 she might, therefore, have been inclined to 
 gayety. But she w^ould have subdued this 
 propensity, even if she had possessed it, 
 asunw^orthy that gravity which she thought 
 more suitable to that vague futurity, which 
 was the subject of her reveries, without 
 offering any definite object to her wishes. 
 
 " Although she believed her heart in- 
 capable of love, yet her conduct was influ- 
 enced by an instinctive prudence, which 
 would never allow her to forget her duty. 
 Had she ever married, no view to ambi- 
 tion, neither birth nor fortune, w ould have
 
 #k EMILY PLATER. 109 
 
 in the least, determined her choice. The 
 disinterested inclination of her own heart 
 would have been her only guide, and she 
 would have loved with the deepest pas- 
 sion. 
 
 " The attention of young people is 
 generally directed to objects of luxury, 
 dress and fashion ; but with Emily it was 
 not so. Scarcely any thing but arms ever 
 engaged her serious attention. Her pis- 
 tols always lay upon her writing-table, 
 and she took care of her own horse. Al- 
 though of delicate constitution naturally, 
 she never spared it, being in the hope of 
 inuring it to toil and labor. 
 
 " Although possessing all the sensibili- 
 ty of her sex, with an unbounded devoted- 
 ness to the few individuals for whom she 
 felt any attachment, she was never subject 
 to the capricious fancy of her sex. She 
 was ever ready to give proof of her attach- 
 ment, even at the risk of incurring the 
 censure of public opinion, which, by the 
 way, she little cared for, as the only guide 
 
 10
 
 110 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 she ever followed was her conscience. 
 The most glorious event of our time has 
 developed all the energy of a character 
 which no domestic felicity could ever have 
 satisfied. 
 
 " She possessed great knowledge of hu- 
 man nature, which she was fond of study- 
 ing and thoroughly examining. She took 
 particular delight in unvailing, as it were, 
 the mysteries of the soul, and analyzing 
 man, and ascertaining the 25rM?2imi mobile 
 of his actions. She wished to raise that 
 vail, behind which egotism and meanness 
 are wont to screen tliemselves ; and she 
 was astonished to find how small the num- 
 ber who could stand such a test without 
 losing much in her estimation." •
 
 EMILY PLATER. Ill 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Summary of Polish events.— Revolution of the 29th of 
 
 November. 
 
 A REVOLUTION was about to break out 
 in Poland. The indefatigable labors of 
 the Patriotic Association, as well as the 
 inveterate hatred the Poles have always 
 fostered for their oppressors, rendered this 
 revolution unavoidable, and the French 
 revolution of July accelerated the event. 
 
 On the fall of Napoleon, the Dutchy of 
 Warsaw, like an apple of discord, was, as 
 it were, thrown amongst the kings who 
 were all anxious to share the spoils of the 
 great conqueror. Prussia and Austria as- 
 serted the priority of their claims — claims 
 having only rapine and violence for their 
 foundation. 
 
 Russia, whose favorite plan it is to en- 
 large her European possessions, availed
 
 112 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 herself of the advantage of actual occupa- 
 tion, and appeared, by no means, willing 
 to relinquish her prey. Diplomatic agen- 
 cy was in full activity, and unable to con- 
 ciliate so many chishing claims, adopted a 
 middle course, and yielded to the demands 
 of the cabinet of St. Petersburg. But in 
 this very concession were the germs of fu- 
 ture difficulties, which were to obstruct 
 the course of her ambition, and place her 
 in a position absolutely false. The Con- 
 gress of Vienna, in the plenitude of its wis- 
 dom, decreed that Poland should be erect- 
 ed into a kingdom, whose crown was to 
 adorn the head of the Emperor of Russia, 
 and should have a constitutional form of 
 government, under a sovereign who never 
 knew any other law, all over his vast em- 
 pire, but his own will, and who, in the title 
 of king of Poland, saw merely a single ad- 
 dition to the long list of his numerous sove- 
 reignties. This is the same kingdom 
 which the mean policy of the European 
 cabinets recognize, at this day, as a legal
 
 EMILY PLATER. 113 
 
 one, and in behalf of which they have ven- 
 tured to submit a few feeble and humble 
 remonstrances ; as if a congress of all the 
 kings of Europe had the right to sanction 
 an act which the people, not only would not 
 saction, but also would reject with indig- 
 nation. 
 
 The Poles, conquered with Napoleon, 
 in submitting to the decision of the con- 
 querors, earnestly protested against this 
 iniquitous act of the Holy Alliance. They 
 had not made, since 1795, so many sacri- 
 fices, they had not lavished, for a period of 
 twenty years, so much blood and treasure, 
 and all for the mere shadow of a country 
 destitute of political existence, a real slav- 
 ery under the specious vail of liberty — a 
 liberty as precarious as illusory, and whol- 
 ly subject to the caprices of a despot. Pa- 
 triotic associations were everywhere or- 
 ganized, and preparations made to resist 
 this persecution; it was these associations 
 which, at a later period, brought about the 
 revolution of the 29th of November. The 
 
 10*
 
 114 LIFE OP THE COUNTESS 
 
 first idea of these associations is due to 
 Dombrowski. This veteran of our liberty, 
 who had brought off the remains of the 
 white eagle, and thus prolonged the exist- 
 ence of the Polish nation, under the tents 
 of the fraternal French, groaned at the 
 condition of a country which he had ima- 
 gined free, powerful and glorious. He saw 
 with grief that it was in vain to reckon 
 upon the help of other people, or to intrust 
 the safety of the country to the selfish 
 policy of foreigners. — Napoleon, who set 
 up as many kingdoms as he had brothers, 
 what had he done for Poland, in return 
 for the blood of two hundred thousand 
 Poles, who had perished in the service of 
 France 1 And, as to the kingdom which 
 he had erected, where was the guarantee 
 for the permanence of its existence and in- 
 stitutions? Who could assure us from 
 day to day that the capricious will of this 
 master would not violate, or abolish, even 
 that constitution which he deigned to be- 
 stow upon us, the better to entrap and de-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 115 
 
 stroy US? Having nothing, therefore, 
 either to hope or to fear from others, it was 
 necessary to turn to the advantage of the 
 nation that valor which had contributed, 
 for so long a time, to the glory and power 
 of foreigners. The ancient energies of 
 Poland must be aroused, which, in order to 
 be strong and powerful, needed but to 
 have confidence in its own strength. The 
 dying flame of patriotism must be revived 
 in all hearts, in order that Poland may, 
 one day, recover for itself its lost power. 
 
 Such were the patriotic sentiments of 
 the good and virtuous Dombrowski in 1818. 
 Intrusted to a few^ patriotic friends, they 
 did not fall into a barren soil, and soon the 
 national freemasonry hastened to carry 
 into effect these ideas, and it brought a 
 strong hand to the work. 
 
 The association was organized upon a 
 vast and powerful plan, secretly pervading 
 the whole country, and numbering, among 
 its members, all that was noble and patri- 
 otic in the land ; its ramifications, in the
 
 116 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 invaded provinces, w^ere numerous, and it 
 had at its disposal, not only the moral and 
 physical strength of the whole people, but 
 also a vast capital, which the devotedness 
 of the members of this association had 
 taken care to provide. The nobility over- 
 coming ancient prejudices, and trampling, 
 as it were, upon its own privileges, entered 
 commerce, and thus prepared the way for 
 that desirable state of equality between 
 the two great classes of the community, 
 the nobles and the plebeians, which, not- 
 withstanding, are still kept asunder in Po- 
 land by a strong line of demarcation. The 
 national spirit was roused, the fire of pat- 
 riotism was enkindled in all hearts, and 
 the country, undermined in every direc- 
 tion, was insensibly preparing itself for the 
 great work of its political regeneration. 
 Arms were prepared; at the appointed 
 hour, every one was to be at liis post, and 
 Poland was to regain its freedom. 
 
 On the other hand the Emperor Alex- 
 ander, but too soon realizing the fears of
 
 EMILY PLATER. 
 
 117 
 
 the brave Dombrowski, hastened to de- 
 clare open war against free institutions, 
 and commenced by violating the constitu- 
 tion of the kingdom. The destruction of 
 the freedom of the press, the establishment 
 of the censorship, arbitrary banishment, 
 the erecting of special tribunals for the 
 trial of all cases between citizens and the 
 government, taxes laid upon the nation by 
 simple ordinances, all signalized the march 
 of absolutism. The diet of 1820 energet- 
 ically protested against these flagrant vio- 
 lations of the charter, and strongly and 
 vigorously opposed these new outrages of 
 a perjured government. But Alexander 
 knew how to rid himself of an obstinate 
 and intractable chamber, and this legal op- 
 position served but to irritate the Autocrat, 
 who had been accustomed to a blind obe- 
 dience on the part of his Russian subjects. 
 He even thought, atone time, of annihila- 
 ting the constitutional kingdom, which was 
 a great obstacle to him in the exercise of 
 his power ; and, in order to sound the peo-
 
 118 LIFE OP THE COUNTESS 
 
 pie, he caused to be published, in 1821, a 
 rescript, in which, after having made an 
 expose of the bad state of the Polish finan- 
 ces, he proceeded to say : That the time 
 had at last arrived, when it must be de- 
 cided whether the kingdom could support 
 itself by its own resources, or whether it 
 ought not, after having come to a con- 
 sciousness of its lack of means in this re- 
 spect, to submit to an established order of 
 things better conformed to its limited re- 
 sources. A general cry of indignation 
 Convinced him that his project would have 
 met with a very powerful resistance, and 
 that the time for striking a decided blow 
 had not yet arrived. 
 
 Besides, Alexander as a crafty and ex- 
 pert politician, knew precisely when to 
 stop, and in battering down the liberties of 
 Poland, he would carefully avoid any act, 
 which could possibly alarm the nation 
 and reduce her to a state of despair. Dur- 
 ing his life, therefore, the patriotic associa- 
 tions merely took measures to repel, open-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 119 
 
 ly, the attacks of despotism, but were ever 
 on the watch for more favorable circum- 
 stances to unfurl the standard of freedom ; 
 and this policy was the more necessary, as, 
 on account of the peace generally prevail- 
 ing throughout the earth during the latter 
 part of the reign of this monarch, he would 
 have been enabled to bring the whole 
 weight of his power upon Poland, and 
 thereby crush her by an overwhelming 
 force. Moreover, the Polish patriotic so- ' 
 ciety thought it best to await the result of 
 the operations of the patriotic society of 
 slaves in the interior of Russia, with which 
 society they considered their own connect- 
 ed by the ties of a common interest. For 
 even in the interior of Russia, ardent 
 minds, inimical to despotism, were en- 
 gaged in secret movements; there, even, 
 conspiracies were for^ling, and even in the 
 bosom of the most hideous slavery, the 
 most shameful barbarity, plots were weav- 
 ing in favor of the liberty of the people and 
 the well-being of the nation.
 
 120 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 The excursion made by the Russians 
 into France, on the downfall of Napoleon, 
 and their long sojourn there, were not 
 without benefit to them. Seeing, in this 
 country, the people happy and free, in the 
 enjoyment of their rights, and governed by 
 laws which were humane, wise and rea- 
 sonable, they envied these blessings of civil- 
 ization, and wished to transfer them into 
 their own country, where the state of slav- 
 ery and misery were truly revolting to 
 them, when compared with the state of 
 prosperity enjoyed by other nations. In 
 the first place, they united their eflbrts for 
 the melioration of the agricultural and in- 
 dustrial classes ; this is evident from the 
 title of the society which bore the name of 
 the Benevolent Society^ or that of the 
 Green Book. But a more profound know- 
 ledge of their count^-y, and of the obstacles 
 which were opposed to them, soon con- 
 vinced them that the root of the evil was 
 in the vicious constitution of the monarchy 
 itself; and that, without that liberty which
 
 EMILY PLATER. 121 
 
 was the vital principle of a people, no 
 scheme of amelioration would be practi- 
 cable. They, therefore, extended their 
 views, and resolved to break the rusty 
 sceptre of absolutism, and bestow upon 
 Russia a constitution, formed upon the 
 model of the fullest natural and individual 
 liberty. 
 
 The principal strength of the reigning 
 family lay in the army, which was reduc- 
 ed to a state of blind subordination, and 
 the chief officers of which,^for the most part 
 foreigners and without country, w^ere influ- 
 enced by no higher motive than that of 
 serving him who paid them best. The lib- 
 erals of Russia then sought, by every pos- 
 sible means, to utterly destroy, or at least 
 to render useless, the chief support of the 
 reigning family ; and for this purpose, as 
 the surest and most effectual means, they 
 undertook to form a strong body of parti- 
 sans, in the very bosom of the army, and 
 in this they succeeded. Soon there exist- 
 ed two great associations, which were or- 
 
 U
 
 122 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 ganized, one in the southern, the other in 
 the northern, part of the empire ; both 
 were bound by the same oath and had in 
 view the same end. 
 
 Col. Pestel, chief of the southern soci- 
 ety, found himself, by his position, brought 
 into close contact with the former Polish 
 provinces, and was not slow in effecting 
 communication with the patriots of the 
 country. Acknowledging the flagrant in- 
 justice done to Poland, he promised to re- 
 store to it all the provinces which were not 
 yet Russified ;* and the Poles, on their 
 part, agreed to act in concert with him, 
 and to aid the Russian liberals, at the 
 proper moment, in the great work of the 
 regeneration of the immense empire of the • 
 Czars. The revolution, embracing a vast 
 plan, was in one day to embrace all Rus- 
 sia, and to render her free, almost in spite 
 of herself. 
 
 A traitor, unfortunately, insinuated 
 himself into their ranks. He denounced 
 * Pestel's own expression.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 123 
 
 to the Emperor the secret designs of the 
 society, and gave him a complete list of 
 the conspirators. Amazed at the gigantic 
 strides of liberal opinions, and at the great 
 projects in agitation, together with the 
 powerful means possessed for carrying 
 them into effect, the Czar did not dare, 
 at first, to make an open and direct attack 
 upon the conspiracy, which extended its 
 ramifications into the most distant provin- 
 ces of his vast empire. His timid and 
 wavering disposition would not admit of 
 bold decision ; a powerful blow was with 
 him impossible. He was not the man to 
 conquer the enemy by prompt action and 
 at a single blow. Relying, then, on the 
 craftiness of his policy, he limited himself 
 to neutralizing the influence of the accus- 
 ed, a list of which he carefully kept in his 
 port-folio ; to this end lie, under various 
 pretexts, deprived them of the command 
 of the troops, and confided it to the hands 
 of his trusty friends, on whom he was per- 
 fectly sure he could rely.
 
 124 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 Alexander died. Nicholas was about 
 to take possession of the power wliich 
 Constantino had relinquished, some years 
 before, for the purpose of effecting a mar- 
 riasre with Jean Grudzinska. This was 
 the favorable moment for action. The 
 new emperor must be hurled from the 
 throne, before firmly seated upon it ; or 
 rather he must not be permitted to mount 
 it at all. So favorable an occasion would 
 not, for a long time, again present itself, 
 and it was resolved to profit by it. The 
 liberals of St. Petersburg commenced the 
 attack, and thus gave the signal for the 
 rest. But, unhappily, they placed, by far, 
 too great reliance upon the mass of the 
 people, who were not yet sufficiently ad- 
 vanced in civilization to feel the need or 
 the value of liberty. Rileieff was also 
 guilty of an unpardonable fault, in hasten- 
 ing the explosion without previously giving 
 the chief of the southern society informa- 
 tion of it. Consequently the revolution, in- 
 stead of being general, was only in part,
 
 EMILY PLATER. 125 
 
 and thus furnished the Emperor Nicholas 
 the means of suppressing it in detail. 
 
 The emeute, the rebellion, for so an un- 
 successful revolution is termed, the emeute 
 of St. Petersburg having thus miscarried, 
 the arrest of all the liberals became an 
 easy matter, and they were prosecuted 
 with the utmost rigor, under the firm reso- 
 lution of not permitting a single one to es- 
 cape. It was a pestilence of which the 
 soil of the empire must be thoroughly purg- 
 ed, inasmuch as it was of a contagious cha- 
 racter. The judicial investigations proved 
 that they were connected with the Polish 
 patriots, and the order was issued to pursue 
 the patriotic society. In the execution of 
 this order, more than two hundred persons 
 were arrested in Poland. A special com- 
 mission, composed of Russians and Poles, 
 commenced their inquiries. But whether 
 the secret had been religiously kept by the 
 accused, or that the connections of the 
 Russian liberals did not extend to the 
 kingdom of Poland, but were limited to the 
 
 11*
 
 126 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 invaded provinces; true it is the commis- 
 sion found no trace of a plot, and in its re- 
 port to the Emperor, contented itself with 
 denouncing, in vague terms, the existence 
 of a secret society, organized without the 
 consent or knowledge of the police. This 
 report incensed Nicholas, who really wish- 
 ed to seize upon the guilty, for the mere 
 gratification of punishing them. He blam- 
 ed the commission, and sent eight of the 
 principal ones accused to the tribunal of 
 the Diet, the only court having jurisdiction 
 over crimes of state. 
 
 Nicholas, however, deceived himself, 
 in his expectation of finding in the supreme 
 court of the kingdom, men base enough to 
 become the tools of his vengeance, or weak 
 enough to be intimidated by his power. 
 Notwithstanding the organization of this 
 tribunal, and the mode of its proceedings, 
 were 1 he work of his arbitrary power ; not- 
 withstanding, too, the censure cast upon 
 the preceding commission, and intimations, 
 by other means, clearly showed what was
 
 EMILY PLATER. 127 
 
 the wish of the Emperor, out of forty mem- 
 bers composing the tribunal, only one 
 proved himself unworthy of the name he 
 disgraced. All the others, including their 
 venerable president Bielinski, declared the 
 accused not guilty. Constantine, highly 
 incensed, arrested the publication of the 
 judgment; and it was not until after a de- 
 lay of six months that Nicholas ordered it 
 to be put in execution, accompanying his 
 order with the expression of his severe dis- 
 approbation of the conduct of the highest 
 national court, excepting from his censure, 
 only one — the base and infamous traitor, 
 Krasinski, who alone had pronounced the 
 accused guilty. 
 
 The deplorable end of the Russian lib- 
 erals, and the persecutions which for three 
 years threatened the members of the pat- 
 riotic society in Poland, disorganized their 
 plans, and occasioned a delay of the revo- 
 lution. 
 
 Notwithstanding, far from being cast 
 down by these persecutions, the associates
 
 128 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 again united, and applied themselves with 
 still greater zeal for the accomplishment 
 of the grand work; they, howev^er, endea- 
 vored to be more on their guard, and to 
 enshroud tlieir movements in still greater 
 secrecy. In the mean time, nothing ap- 
 peared to favor their efforts in the politi- 
 cal world ; and Europe, involved in lethar- 
 gy, seemed to offer them no point of sup- 
 port. There was no star, in their horizon, 
 which could serve them as a guide in their 
 march to independence, and all the forces 
 the nation could possibly muster, were 
 insufficient to act against the innumerable 
 masses of all the Russias. 
 
 Austria and Prussia, as parties to the 
 dismemberment of Poland, were too much 
 interested in the utter annihilation of its 
 nationality, ever to consent to favor the 
 operations of the patriots. England, ex- 
 hausted by her long wars against Napo- 
 leon, was taking her rest, after a victorv 
 which had loaded her with opprobrium 
 and enormous debts. France, weary of
 
 EMILY PLATER. 129 
 
 glory, was also reposing after her long and 
 terrible convulsions, her numerous battles 
 and her brilliant victories ; and under the 
 shade of a new throne. Since 1815, she 
 had exhibited but one single sign of life, 
 and that was to crush, in Spain, the liber- 
 ty which had once more raised its head 
 there ; and, moreover, France is too dis- 
 tant. 
 
 The popular associations, repressed as 
 they had been by the blighting influence 
 of despotism, with the exception of those 
 who were fortunate enough to escape the 
 vigilance of this Holy Alliance of kings, 
 were nearly all destroyed. They moved 
 only in the night, in secret whispers, and 
 far from the observation of the police, or 
 of traitors. All Europe trembled in pres- 
 ence of the Autocrat of the North. The 
 Polish patriots, therefore, had to rely en- 
 tirely on their own resources, and far from 
 recoiling at dangers so apparent, they did 
 not despair of overcoming all these obsta- 
 cles, and of recovering their independence,
 
 130 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 which had been so violently wrested from 
 them. 
 
 But some important events supervened, 
 and a few months of political storms and 
 glorious movements almost entirely chang- 
 ed the face of Europe. 
 
 The cholera and the Turkish war had 
 decimated that formidable army, the enor- 
 mous mass of which had caused the scale 
 to incline in favor of Russia. The French 
 people had risen, as great, as brave, and 
 as victorious as in former times. The 
 hydra of the holy alliance had been made 
 to tremble, and the people, raising a length- 
 ened cry of joy, had proved to the world 
 that they were conscious of their own 
 strength, and that they could still perform 
 great deeds. Tlie three great days of 
 France were the torch thrown into the 
 midst of Europe, which was waiting in 
 silence the signal. The French is the 
 eldest of all the nations; it guides the 
 march of humanity in these modern times; 
 it has only to impart the impulse, and the
 
 EMILY PLATER. 131 
 
 others follow their example. The signal, 
 so long, and so impatiently expected, was 
 given — the list was open and waiting for 
 the parties — champions were by no means 
 wanting. This same people, who had first 
 raised the standard of liberty and called 
 on other nations to rally around it, relaps- 
 ed into its former apathy, and stopped short 
 in the midst of its triumph. But who could 
 have foreseen such a thing 7 All was fire 
 and enthusiasm, and loud in the cry for 
 liberty; and the cry resounded through 
 Europe, which, undermined as it were in 
 her foundations, experienced, to her very 
 centre, the most terrible convulsions. 
 Thrones tottered at their bases, and kings 
 were struck pale with terror. Belgium 
 was the first to respond to the cry of 
 France, and she was free. 
 
 Liberal associations were reorganized 
 on all sides and in every country, and 
 strong endeavors were made to accelerate 
 a universal movement. Germany, Italy 
 and Spain were waiting but for the signal,
 
 132 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 and Poland, that ancient land of liberty, 
 could not be left behind. It was in her 
 very heart, too, that a revolution was to 
 break forth ; this was as necessary as una- 
 voidable, for who had suffered more for 
 independence, and who more ardently de- 
 sired it ? Placed between barbarism and 
 civilization, her duty it was to elevate her- 
 self upon civilization, and exert a firm re- 
 sistance against the barbarity which re- 
 tained her captive. She performed her 
 duty, but unfortunately was not seconded. 
 Little satisfied with the general conduct 
 of the patriotic society, and impatient to 
 shake off the ignominious yoke which 
 bowed them down, several Poles, towards 
 the month of October, formed two new 
 secret societies, the one civil, the other mil- 
 itary. The school of the ensign bearers 
 was the focus of the last. There was con- 
 gregated a set of young men, who were 
 actually boiling over with enthusiasm and 
 courage, but with that patriotism and cour- 
 age which never reasons with duty, which
 
 EMILY PLATER. 133 
 
 knows not how to calculate the chances 
 of success, and which never calculates, in- 
 deed, at all. Intrusted with these young 
 hearts, these ardent and generous souls, the 
 revolution does not linger on its way, but 
 flies. Utopian plans and projects are laid 
 aside ; action is loudly called for ; the cry 
 is liberty or death. 
 
 In the mean time, the Russian army be- 
 gins to move, and the ambitious Nicholas 
 orders it to chasten these French rebels, 
 and stifle their new born liberty. The 
 Tzars have set themselves up as apostles 
 and champions of barbarity and absolutism. 
 Wherever liberty raises its head, thither 
 they order their herds of serfs to march. 
 They have charge of the high police of all 
 public places. Their interest requires that 
 all should remain buried in the deepest 
 ignorance, as well as the most brutish sla- 
 very. The disarming of the Polish troops 
 was also seriously talked of, because they 
 were suspected of entertaining some lurk- 
 
 12
 
 134 LIFE OP THE COUNTESS 
 
 ing desires for liberty ; they were also sus- 
 pected of plotting against the Tzar and his 
 power. The actual condition of the Poles 
 was, indeed, a critical one. Must they re- 
 nounce that future, which for so long a 
 time, had been the subject of their dreams ? 
 Shall they basely bow their heads under 
 the sword of the autocrat, and give passage 
 to the armies which were going to fight 
 against the sovereignty of the people, a 
 people too who were their friends, their 
 brothers 1 Or should they not rather rouse 
 themselves, run to arms, break their chains, 
 and proclaim the resurrection of Poland? 
 The Pole never hesitates between glory 
 and dishonor ; and since, by his position, he 
 found himself the van-guard of the camp of 
 liberty, to him belonged the duty of encoun- 
 tering the first shock of the huge mass of 
 iron which was advancing, with brutish 
 and savage barbarity, against the inde- 
 pendence and civilization of nations. To 
 him it belonged to break up, or, at least,
 
 EMILY PLATER. 135 
 
 arrest the destructive progress of this in- 
 vading swarm ; to him it belonged, even if 
 he perished in the attempt. 
 
 The most alarming symptoms, for the 
 Russian government, were manifesting 
 themselves all over the kingdom. The 
 grand-duke now trembles, now threatens ; 
 the police is on the alert, spreads its nets, 
 lets loose its spies and sends out its agents, 
 succeeds even in catching hold of some- 
 thing like a clue to a conspiracy ; they are 
 on its track, reports are made, arrests en- 
 sue, and the convent of the Carmelites is 
 crowded with prisoners. Not a moment is 
 to be lost. " The hour of vengeance has 
 sounded," exclaims Wysocki; " there is no 
 longer time for delay — the die is cast — we 
 must fight — to arms!" At his voice the 
 doors of the military school are broken 
 open, and fall with a terrible crash. A 
 handful of brave men rush thence into the 
 city, calling the people to arms, and pro- 
 claiming independence ;— full of confidence 
 in the justice of their noble cause, and their
 
 136 LIFE OF THE COUMTESS 
 
 own courage, with a firm and steady step 
 they go forward ; they do not allow them- 
 selves to doubt of success ; and yet they 
 are about to face a powder which extends 
 over more than one third of the earth's sur- 
 face, and which may yet give laws to nearly 
 all the nations of our globe. A few min- 
 utes after this, Constantine w as seen flying 
 from the city in which, for fifteen long 
 years, he had exercised the functions of an 
 executioner and corporal. Poland was 
 free. Alas ! it was but for a short time. 
 Great God ! has she not yet suffered 
 enough for liberty ? or has she been guilty 
 of an offence so heinous, that thou canst 
 not forgive her without wounding thine in- 
 finite justice ! O! how^ long before the 
 crown of her martyrdom may be awarded 
 to her 1
 
 EMILY PLATER. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Impressions produced in Lithuania by the news of the 
 revolution of Warsaw. — Fears of the Russian govern- 
 ment. — The managing committee. 
 
 Notwithstanding the redoubled vigi- 
 lance of the Russian police, and the fear of 
 persecution, the news of the revolution of 
 Warsaw soon spread, with astonishing ra- 
 pidity, throughout all Lithuania. The 
 blow, which it struck, was too strong not 
 to resound simultaneously in every corner 
 of Poland. It was like an electric dis- 
 charge, which shakes instantaneously the 
 whole chain, however long it may be. In 
 less than three days, the news filled the 
 space which separates the Vistula from the 
 Dzwina, and inflamed every heart. It 
 was a spontaneous and sublime movement 
 which pervaded every family of a great na- 
 tion. Lithuania, above all, felt herself 
 
 12*
 
 138 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 renovated — which, until that time, had 
 dragged along her chains in hopeless indif- 
 ference. But from this moment she was 
 no longer the same ; the blood circulated 
 once more in a body which had been raised 
 from the tomb. Like a man who hears in 
 the distance, during the night, a mysterious 
 voice, a hollow sound, she first raises her 
 head a little, and looks intently in the direc- 
 tion whence the sound proceeds. She lis- 
 tens and starts to her feet ; it is her sister, 
 her mother, it is Poland, which calls her 
 to arms and shows her how to break in sun- 
 der her chains. But what can she do 
 alone 7 Can she withstand the arms of the 
 Tzar, who has his foot upon her breast? 
 Can she repel far from her those battalions 
 of Muscovite slaves, who retain her in 
 slavery ? She calls then upon the Poles, 
 and, even with cries, implores their aid. 
 Let them but come, let them appear, and 
 Lithuania also will be free and unite her- 
 self to great Poland, never more to be sep- 
 arated from her. This great and sublime
 
 EMILY PLATER. 139 
 
 idea fills all hearts. It is resolved to try 
 every thing, to do every thing, in order to 
 recover that liberty so precious, so beloved 
 by every noble and great heart. — People 
 are seen to run to and fro, they commune 
 in secret whispers, they assemble in the 
 depths of the woods, or in the solitary cot- 
 tage ; they talk to each other of newly con- 
 ceived hopes, and of newly formed plans; 
 they ply the forge, they prepare arms, they 
 bring to light old swords, which have al- 
 ready, more than once, been employed 
 upon the bodies of the Russians, in the time 
 of the first wars for independence : they 
 sharpen them anew, for the blows dealt 
 by them must be mortal ones — he, who 
 has been once struck by them, must never 
 have the power of raising his arm against 
 the liberty of Poland. Patriotism fires 
 the hearts of all. In the general enthusi- 
 asm, every one is resolved to make great 
 sacrifices. The noble and the rich resolve 
 to sacrifice their property if necessary ; the 
 peasant and the workman, looking at their
 
 140 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 strong and muscular arms, calculate, in 
 anticipation, the number of Russians which 
 shall be prostrated by their individual 
 valor. The events of the 29th of Novem- 
 ber are everywhere recounted, and with 
 exaggerations; news is invented, which, 
 as is usual in similar circumstances, great- 
 ly redounds to the honor of the favored 
 party, and which at least proves the spirit 
 which reigns in Lithuania. 
 
 The Russian government, astounded at 
 the news of the sudden revolution, re- 
 mained silent for some time, prosecuting, 
 however, as disturbers of the public peace, 
 whoever dared to mention it in public 
 places. Perceiving, at last, that it was 
 impossible to preserve the secret longer, 
 it caused it to be publicly announced in 
 the journal of Wilna, representing the 
 whole affair how^ever as an insignificant 
 uproar of young men, whom his majesty 
 would soon chastise. 
 
 Measures are, at the same time, adopt- 
 ed for arresting the progress of the conta-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 141 
 
 gion, and keeping the Lithuanians to their 
 duty. But what measures can a govern- 
 ment, of such a character, take, which ex- 
 ists only for oppression, and which trem- 
 bles with a consciousness of its own weak- 
 ness 7 Shall it boldly face the public 
 opinion which is opposed to it 7 Or shall 
 it appeal to the affections of the people 7 
 
 No, it is too cowardly to dare the first, 
 and too well convinced of its own iniquity 
 to place reliance upon the love of a people 
 from which it merits nothing but hatred. 
 Infamous itself, it can look for support to 
 the infamous alone, and it is on the police 
 that it places its chief reliance. This le- 
 gion of spies, therefore, was reinforced by 
 numerous recruits. These were of every 
 sort ; some were fops, handsome, delicately 
 gloved and well perfumed, who were to 
 insinuate themselves into the saloons of 
 the first circles; others, the offspring of 
 revolutions and constant enemies of good 
 order, wherever existing, were to hang 
 upon the steps of the students of Wilna,
 
 142 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 and take note of all their actions ; and the 
 task of such was no easy one, as they were 
 obliged to render a daily account of them- 
 selves to Pelikan, with minute details of 
 every thing seen and heard. Others again 
 were charged with the surveillance of citi- 
 zens who were on the lists of the police. 
 But soon the government, yielding to its 
 fears, caused the suspected to be transport- 
 ed into the interior of Russia, and this by 
 way of jyrecaution.* 
 
 The streets and coffee houses swarmed 
 with secret agents declaiming against the 
 government, in order to entrap the unwary, 
 whom they would at once denounce, if 
 caught in taking side with such sentiments. 
 
 Wherever four persons were accident- 
 ally met together, one of them was sure 
 to be a spy ; all confidence, between man 
 and man, was destroyed. No one knew 
 whom to trust, for even brother had been 
 
   Such was the expression of the ukase of the 24th of 
 December, 1830.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 143 
 
 known to denounce brother and cause him 
 to be thrown into a dungeon. 
 
 If on the one hand this plan of espi- 
 onage afforded the government sure 
 means of being informed of all that was 
 going on, on the other it was far from 
 being adapted to relieving it of its fears ; 
 for, in order to make themselves of 
 greater importance, the secret agents 
 would render most alarming reports, every 
 moment, to the authorities, who were 
 thereby kept in continual apprehension of 
 danger, and hardly knew what to resolve 
 upon. 
 
 Strong patrols were incessantly pass- 
 ing along the streets of the city, and who- 
 ever they met after nine o'clock, was a 
 conspirator as a matter of course, and as 
 such thrown into prison, unless he prefer- 
 red the sacrifice of his purse, for in Russia 
 every thing can be bought — even liberty. 
 
 Lithuania was declared in a state of 
 siege (a consequence quite natural to a 
 country under a military government) ; but
 
 144 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 she was deprived of those small immuni- 
 ties generally granted in such cases, and 
 which tend to soften the hardships of such 
 a position. 
 
 The government ordered a levy of re- 
 cruits, hut the peasants escaped to the 
 woods to avoid this greatest of all calami- 
 ties. 
 
 Under pretext of taking away, from 
 the refractory, the means of resistance, the 
 government ordered a general disarming 
 of Lithuania, and caused to he seized arms 
 of every description — guns, pistols, sabres, 
 swords, daggers, hangers, and even the 
 edged instruments of the kitchen, if their 
 length rendered them, in the least, suspect- 
 ed. In vain did many citizens, having re- 
 gard to the future, attempt to secure a few 
 arms which were, in their estimation, the 
 most higlily prized of their personal effects. 
 The blood-hounds of the police were sure 
 to scent out these secret places of deposit, 
 and the citizen guilty of such an act of re- 
 bellion, was but too fortunate if he could
 
 EMILY PLATER. 145 
 
 purchase, by means of gold, his life, threat- 
 ened by the accusation of so terrible a 
 crime against the state. They laid hands 
 upon the implements of the chase, and the 
 simple fusil even, used by the forester in 
 driving off and destroying Avild beasts, did 
 not escape them. 
 
 Every day saw wagon loads of arms, 
 the last hope of the patriots, deposited in 
 the arsenal at Wilna ; and yet not a word, 
 not a sign, from Poland. She seemed to 
 have forgotten her ancient limits, as well 
 as those ancient brothers, beyond the Nie- 
 men, who were longing to fight with her, 
 as well as for themselves. 
 
 After the first movement, the revolu- 
 tion, at Warsaw, took a decidedly wrong 
 direction. The young men, who com- 
 menced it, were not ambitious, and never 
 thought of aspiring to any dignity ; and 
 besides, they would not have exchanged 
 their post of honor in fi'ont of the enemy, 
 for the highest honor the state had to be- 
 stow. The government, therefore, re- 
 
 13
 
 146 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 mained in the hands of the authorities es- 
 tablished by Nicholas, and every thing was 
 transacted in his name. 
 
 Some time afterwards, the doctrinaires 
 seized upon the reins of government; — 
 these were men who, wedded to old cus- 
 toms, neither comprehended the intentions, 
 nor understood the situation of the Poles. 
 They contented themselves with protesta- 
 tions against the violation of the Charte, 
 and demanded of Nicholas guaranties, 
 when the nation was speaking of inde- 
 pendence. For these, the Congress of Vi- 
 enna had traced the limits of Poland, and 
 their view extended not beyond. Indeed 
 they would have declared the man a trai- 
 tor, who would have dared to assert that 
 partitions, made by violence and sustained 
 by force, were null and void, and that it 
 was necessary to extend the revolution 
 into the invaded provinces. It must be 
 added also, that, judging the nation accord- 
 ing to their imbecility, they believed it in- 
 capable of wrestling with Nicholas, whose
 
 EMILY PLATER. 147 
 
 faithful subjects they always acknowledg- 
 ed themselves to he, and to whom even 
 they sent a deputation to make a regular 
 report of the events which had taken place 
 at Warsaw. 
 
 Clopickitook possession of the dictator- 
 ship ; a skilful general and intrepid soldier, 
 he might have rendered, and did, in fact, 
 render, important services to the cause ; 
 but the camp is no place to acquire a 
 knowledge of political manoeuvres, or the 
 science of government. He shuddered at 
 the danger which threatened Poland ; he 
 believed it on the brink of ruin, and saw 
 no other chance of safety, but in the clem- 
 ency of the Tzar. With his antiquated 
 notions, he could never be persuaded that 
 Poland could resist a power which had 
 baffled Napoleon himself. Age having ex- 
 tinguished in him the intrepid bravery and 
 fiery courage of youth, he submitted every 
 thing to the cold calculation of reason, and 
 never took into account the prodigies of 
 valor and the self-devotedness of a young
 
 148 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 and vigorous nation, and one which had 
 determined to he free at whatever cost. 
 
 It is too often forgotten that men pro- 
 duced hy a revolution, born, as it were, 
 with it, are the only ones who can ensure 
 its success. Great men of the past only 
 obstruct its progress, they are incapable 
 of imbibing its spirit. 
 
 The Polish revolution, in the hands of 
 such men, soon came to a full stand. The 
 grand-duke, instead of being retained as a 
 hostage, w^as permitted freely to pass out 
 of the kingdom, with those very troops, 
 which returned to ravage it, three months 
 after, and wliich might, at that time, easily 
 have been disarmed. The men in power, 
 listening neither to the counsel nor the 
 wishes of the nation, contented themselves 
 with merely acting upon the defensive, 
 and tranquilly awaiting the enemy at the 
 centre of the constitutional kingdom, in-, 
 stead of marching boldly forward to attack 
 him at every vulnerable point. 
 
 In accordance with this deplorable sys-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 149 
 
 tern, Lithuania was placed entirely out of 
 the question ; and if, occasionally, certain 
 Lithuanians, weary of the delay, and hur- 
 ried on by their patriotism, would occa- 
 sionally arrive at Warsaw and offer 
 their services to the government, the dic- 
 tator would reject their offer and their 
 prayers, and would not look upon these 
 over-zealous persons without vexation, 
 who had come to disturb the pacific march 
 which the skilful Lubecki had traced for 
 the revolution, and which he, the dictator, 
 had judged proper to adopt and to follow 
 in every particular. 
 
 Whilst the Poles thus lost, by the inde- 
 cision of its chief, all the advantage which 
 it might have reaped from the panic spread 
 among the Russians, these latter had time 
 to recover their courage, and to concen- 
 trate their forces to crush the rebels. 
 From all parts of the empire troops ad- 
 vanced by forced marches ; the Siberian 
 regiments traversed the immense space 
 which separates them from Europe ; the 
 
 13*
 
 150 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 military colonies were put in motion ; and 
 towards the end of December all this 
 mass spread over the plains of Lithuania, 
 like an impetuous torrent, swollen by the 
 snows of the Oural. The corps of Pahlen, 
 SchacholTskoi, Manderstrcn and Aurep, 
 were pressing upon each other on their 
 way to join themselves to the corps of Ro- 
 sen, an ancient Lithuanian corps, which 
 might have united itself to the Polish corps, 
 if all the suspected officers had not been 
 promptly removed from it and sent to Cau- 
 casia ; this corps, afterwards, evinced the 
 most violent animosity towards the Poles. 
 It was with a bleeding heart that the 
 I^ithuanians saw such bodies of troops 
 brought against Poland, which seemed 
 abandoned to herself, and not able even to 
 profit by her whole strength and the im- 
 mense resources which Lithuania could 
 have afforded her. To look at these for- 
 midable masses, one would have thought 
 that their number alone would suffice for 
 effacing the slightest vestige of the small
 
 EMILY PLATER. 151 
 
 kingdom they were about to overrun. 
 And yet, what terror depicted on their 
 countenances ! What pusillanimity in all 
 their proceedings ! The jirestige attached 
 to the name of Pole, the army of whose 
 nation had always been proposed as a 
 model to the Russian, had actually de- 
 prived them of their energy. Their march 
 through Lithuania offered, already, the 
 spectacle of an army disorganized by a 
 fear which they endeavored in vain to 
 conceal. They advanced as if they had 
 been in the midst of the enemy, in close 
 order, with loaded muskets, and every pre- 
 caution possible against ambuscades. Ev- 
 ery night, they expected the inhabitants 
 would cut their throats ; every forest ap- 
 peared to them peopled with armed men, 
 ready to fire upon them, and yet they 
 could not have been ignorant of the fact, 
 that the whole of Lithuania had been dis- 
 armed, and that, even if armed, she could 
 not be able to struggle with their numer- 
 ous columns.
 
 152 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 At last, Diebitscli arrived at Wiliia. 
 The laurels gathered in Turkey could not 
 conceal the fear which he shared with his 
 army. He knew that he could not find 
 in Poland pachas easy to be bribed. He 
 knew the nation with which he was about 
 to measure his strength, and he was in- 
 spired with a sad presentiment that the 
 laurels of the Balkan would be in danger 
 of fading on the foggy banks of the Vistu- 
 la. Nevertheless, he affected arrogance 
 and bravery, and proclaimed that he 
 would merely have to pass over Poland 
 to reach the south of Europe, and chas- 
 tise those demagogues. But before leav- 
 ing Wilna, the field marshal determined 
 to secure the ground in the rear of his ar- 
 my, and establish the tranquillity of Lithu- 
 ania. 
 
 Diebitsch, in a manner a soldier of for- 
 tune and destitute of country, could not 
 comprehend the nature of such a thing as 
 patriotism, and honestly believed that 
 every revolution was the work of conspir-
 
 EMILY PLATER. ;153 
 
 i 
 
 acy. The focus of the revolt, both in Lith- 
 uania and elsewhere, was to be found, he 
 thought, in the schools, and he determined 
 to curry favor w^th the students of Wilna. 
 He assembled them, therefore, and in a 
 studied speech addressed to them, blamed 
 the conduct of their superiors, regretted 
 the vexations which the students had ex- 
 perienced from them, declared himself 
 their protector, and promised gold and 
 other favors, in reward for their iidelitv. 
 He finished by exhorting them to enter the 
 army, promising instantly to exchange 
 their academic grades for corresponding 
 military ones.* This fine speech of the 
 general's was received in mournful silence ; 
 and a general cry of indignation drowned 
 the voice of Pelikan, who next undertook 
 
 * In Russia, the order of the different grades is strict- 
 ly observed. Literary distinctions have also their class- 
 es, corresponding to civil and military grades. For 
 instance, the first academic degree corresponds to the 
 first grade of an army officer ; a doctor's degree is equiv- 
 alent to that of major in the army.
 
 154 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 to address them. These ardent youths, 
 who dreamed of nothing but liberty and 
 glory, were not seduced by such brilliant 
 offers ; not one of them entered the Rus- 
 sian army, which so willingly opened its 
 ranks to receive and load them with hon- 
 ors ; but if they turned a deaf ear to the 
 invitations of Diebitsch, they listened to 
 their country's call summoning them to 
 arms. What cared they for honors and 
 wealtli? All the reward they sought was 
 to be in the foremost ranks of the army. 
 More than two hundred of tliese heroic 
 young men are now to be seen in France, 
 more truly great in the plain casaque of the 
 soldier, than many of our officers, so proud 
 of their epaulettes and brilliant decora- 
 tions obtained in the Russian or Austrian 
 service. 
 
 Although the national government of 
 Poland was slumbering, at the time it 
 ought to have been engaged in energetic 
 action, there were yet a few persons who 
 had not forgotten Lithuania. At the head
 
 EMILY PLATER, 155 
 
 of these, was Lelewel, whose reputation 
 for patriotism and knowledge, was as uni- 
 versal as it was well deserved. Being 
 thoroughly acquainted with the character 
 and spirit of the young men whom he had 
 himself brought up, and by whom he was 
 greatly beloved, he well knew the import- 
 ance of their assistance ; and in order to 
 make up, as much as possible, for the defi- 
 ciency of the men in power, sent James 
 Grotkowski into Lithuania, with instruc- 
 tions to ascertain how the people stood 
 affected towards the patriotic cause, to 
 rouse and excite them to enthusiasm, and 
 particularly the young, who, no doubt, 
 would take the lead in any movements. 
 This young Lithuanian,* who was at once 
 brave, zealous, and intelligent, surmount- 
 ed all the obstacles which this delicate 
 mission afforded. He eluded the argus- 
 eyed police and penetrated as far as Wilna, 
 when he became convinced that all the 
 
 * He was killed at the battle of Haynowszczyzna, the 
 23cl of May, 1831.
 
 156 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 inhabitants of this ancient province of Po- 
 land were waiting, with impatience, the 
 arrival of the Poles. Faithful to the in- 
 structions which he had received, he 
 had an interview with those who had 
 been particularly pointed out to him, made 
 them acquainted with the particulars of 
 the revolution at Warsaw, and instructed 
 them in what they were to do, and in the 
 expectations formed of them. 
 
 He did not conceal from them the dan- 
 gers wliich threatened them, the fears 
 which were entertained, and the limited 
 resources of the republic; but he described, 
 in glowing terms, tlie patriotism and en- 
 thusiasm which animated the entire popu- 
 lation ; and with that, every thing might 
 be hoped for. After having organized a 
 committee of management, to whom he 
 gave the watch- word, he returned to War- 
 saw. Was this committee necessary, and 
 was it useful 7 This may admit of a doubt. 
 Committees are undoubtedly necessary 
 in rousing from its lethargy a nation which
 
 EMILY PLATER. 157 
 
 is unmindful of its condition and insensible 
 to the moral disease which is consuming 
 it, and to prepare it for a revolution by 
 gradually forming and directing public 
 opinion. But where this is already done, 
 the people will revolutionize themselves^ 
 and require nothing but arms. Commit- 
 tees, in such case, serve only to embarrass 
 the operations of the people, and are more 
 injurious than useful. The men who com- 
 pose these committees, seem to forget that 
 an insurrection is a drama entirely made 
 up of action, and which only needs direc- 
 tion, and not hinderance, and that every 
 thinff must be made to concur in the un- 
 ravelling of the plot which must be sud- 
 den, unavoidable, and unforeseen, else 
 every thing is jeoparded. Success is alone 
 to be expected from patriotism, courage 
 and good fortune, not from arguments 
 and indecision. 
 
 They waste their time in the debates 
 of the assembly, they weigh their pros and 
 cons, pi-epare their plans, engage in in- 
 
 14
 
 158 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 trigues, consume precious time in prepara- 
 tions, and, in the mean time, enthusiasm 
 is quenched, the enemy, taken at first by 
 surprise, recovers his courage, ascertains 
 the number of his assailants, rallies his 
 forces, and all is lost. 
 
 We have a striking proof of this in Lith- 
 uania. The people, impatient of the yoke 
 imposed upon them, wished to revolt with 
 their whole force, and were rendered in- 
 dignant at being held in check ; whilst the 
 blunders of the Russian government plac- 
 ed, as it were, their army in the power of 
 the Lithuanians. Placing too great reli- 
 ance upon the disarming of the country, 
 Diebitsch conceived the project of drawing 
 from Lithuania, all the necessary supplies 
 for the Polish war. The Russian army en- 
 tered the kingdom destitute of provisions, 
 relying upon Lithuania for necessary sup- 
 plies. Immense stores were ordered, 
 with directions to transport them to the 
 frontiers of Poland. This was the easiest, 
 and the most direct method. The military
 
 EMILY PLATER. 159 
 
 purveyors were put to very little trouble 
 in procuring supplies, and the treasure 
 was not drawn upon. A sheet of paper 
 converted into an ukase, was all that was 
 needed. But, at the same time, this man- 
 ner of proceeding placed the Kussian gov- 
 ernment completely at the mercy of the 
 Lithuanians, who, not having the means of 
 assisting their compatriots by means of 
 arms, could send famine into the camp of 
 their enemies. 
 
 Notwithstanding this advantage, and 
 the imperious voice of duty, the committee 
 dared not to decide. They were waiting, 
 and so were the people, but in a violent 
 rage at the restraints imposed upon them. 
 The time for raising the levy of recruits 
 was near at hand, the furnishing of provi- 
 sions had commenced, and the roar of can- 
 non was already heard in the direction of 
 Warsaw. Every true patriot felt that 
 every moment was precious, and tired, at 
 length, at the delay of the committee, re- 
 solved to act. 
 
 Julius Gruzewski, one of the most ar-
 
 160 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 dent, judged the moment favorable ; and 
 alarmed, perhaps, at the news of the arrest 
 of Stanievvicz, atLibau, assembled a small 
 troop of thirty men, and placing himself 
 at their head, on the 25th of March, 1831, 
 drove the Russians from the city of Ros- 
 sien. The whole country responded to 
 this signal, and Lithuania, destitute of arms, 
 threw down the gauntlet to Russia. From 
 this time the committee w^as a perfect nul- 
 lity. The sword alone was to decide the 
 contest. Sublime and terrible moment, 
 when the weaker rise against the stronger, 
 and endeavor to overthrow them ! a mo- 
 ment in which a handful of brave men, 
 without arms, without leaders, animated 
 by the love of country and of liberty, sus- 
 tained by their own courage, and armed 
 by hatred against tyranny, raise the cry of 
 independence, and rush upon an enemy a 
 thousand times more numerous than them- 
 selves, and which they cause to tremble. 
 
 Such instances of patriotism and deep 
 devotedness are rare in the annals of 
 nations.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 161 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Relations of Emily Plater with the young Russians of 
 the military school of Dtinabourg. — She raises the 
 people and marches upon that city. — Her first victory. 
 
 Emily Plater could not rest tranquil, 
 when all about her was animated with a 
 new life. The revolution of the 29th of 
 November did not come upon her unpre- 
 pared. The cry of liberty, rising from the 
 banks of the Vistula, had reached her 
 ears, and it met with a deep response from 
 her own heart. She saw the dreams of 
 her whole youth about to be realized. 
 She could now sacrifice herself upon the 
 altar of her country's good ; she could now 
 labor, even she, a weak woman, in rescu- 
 ing her country from slavery. How this 
 idea made her leap for joy! She felt her- 
 self inspired with a new life. Proud and 
 intrepid, she rose a cubit in stature. She 
 
 14*
 
 162 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 would have challenged any warrior, or 
 hero, to compete with her in courage or 
 intrepidity. She would have seized the 
 helmet and sword, mounted horse, and 
 rushed with boldness into the very midst 
 of the Muscovite battalions, whom she 
 hated, and whom she would have trodden 
 under foot and a thousand times destroyed, 
 had they possessed but one head, even if she 
 had perished herself in the act. To die 
 for her country seemed to her one of the 
 noblest of actions. 
 
 Like all the Lithuanians, Emily had 
 been expecting the arrival of the Poles, 
 and she thought she would have nothing 
 else to do but to serve her country, mingled 
 with the crowd of warriors. But the er- 
 rors of the government, at Warsaw, soon 
 destroyed her hopes, and opened for her 
 courage a career much more extensive, 
 and imposed upon her a task of greater 
 difficulty, but one which afforded greater 
 scope for great and noble deeds. " The 
 country," said Emily, "is not responsible
 
 EMILY PLATER, 163 
 
 for the folly of the men in power." And, far 
 from being disheartened at the apathy and 
 indifference exhibited by this government 
 towards their compatriots, she labored 
 constantly to sustain the enthusiasm in 
 weak and undecided minds, \thich, carried 
 away by the torrent, are willing, at the 
 first moment, to make any sacrifice, but 
 which, as soon as the first impulse has 
 subsided, are too ready to fall back into 
 the apathy and torpor natural to them. 
 
 Where the government of a country is 
 so constituted that its principal strength 
 consists solely in the nobility, and where 
 the people are plunged into the darkness of 
 ignorance and servitude, (and such unhap- 
 pily is the condition of all the countries of 
 the north,) in such a country, the influence 
 of a single individual is capable of power- 
 ful action upon the masses, and of impart- 
 ing to them an impulse ; particularly if by 
 her position in society, her talents and her 
 genius, she can command their respect, 
 while, by her acts of kindness, she can
 
 164 LIFE OF THji COUJNTi:.ai3 
 
 attract to herself their love and confi- 
 dence. 
 
 Emily, always gentle and compassion- 
 ate, was beloved and respected in the 
 neigboring parts, as much by the peasants 
 as by the nobility. She made no other 
 use of the influence which her birth, her 
 virtues and her education afforded her, but 
 to employ it in aid of the holy cause of her 
 country. She was persuaded that the 
 people ardently loved their country and 
 hated the Russians, but that they were not 
 sufficiently enlightened to guide them- 
 selves. Maintaining constant intercourse 
 with them, she profited, by her position, in 
 giving them some direction. She explain- 
 ed to them the causes of delay, on the part 
 of their Polish brethren, gave them reason 
 to hope that the obstacles would soon be 
 surmounted, that in a few days they would 
 have it in their power to unite with their 
 brothers in Poland, in ridding themselves 
 of the Russian yoke, and she counselled 
 them that, while awaiting this event, they
 
 EMILY PLATER. 165 
 
 should hold themselves prepared for every 
 occasion, and should conceal, Avith great 
 care, the arms of which the Russians wish- 
 ed to despoil them. 
 
 The people listened to her counsels and 
 followed them, because they saw her con- 
 stantly occupied in promoting the welfare 
 of the country. 
 
 After having disposed their minds in 
 favor of the cause of liberty, and fully con- 
 vinced herself that the whole neighbor- 
 hood would rise and march at the first 
 signal, Emily set out for Wilna, in order 
 to concert measures with the directing 
 committee, and to take instructions for her 
 future conduct. But she forgot that she 
 was a woman, and that men affect an ex- 
 clusive monopoly in politics, courage and 
 wisdom. Her sex excluded her from that 
 confidence which her enterprising charac- 
 ter, and extensive designs, ought to have 
 secured to her, rather than to two-thirds 
 of the members which composed the com- 
 mittee, and her journey was unsuccessful.
 
 166 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 Tims, left alone in her career and pa- 
 triotic intentions, by the ignorant pre- 
 sumption of the men, Emily, nevertheless, 
 ceased not to occupy herself with her 
 favorite scheme, and conceived an enter- 
 prise as great and as bold as her own 
 heart. She wished to show to the men 
 that she, also, was capable of great things. 
 
 The fortress of Diinabourg, situated 
 upon the other side of the Dzwina, was 
 not far distant from her own residence. 
 To take possession of this half-fortified 
 city, and of the immense arsenal there; to 
 hoist, upon the left bank of the Dzwina, 
 the standard of the white eagle, and of the 
 Lithuanian order of knights ; to call the 
 inhabitants to arms; to awaken, in their 
 hearts, the weak, but not yet extinguished 
 recollections of their former relations with 
 the Poles, and thus transfer the insurrec- 
 tion into Livonia and western Russia, — 
 such were the projects conceived by Emi- 
 ly Plater, and which she wished to ex- 
 ecute. Having lived from infancy in the
 
 EMILY PLATER. 167 
 
 neighborhood of this city, she well knew 
 the weakness of the garrison, and the dis- 
 order which generally reigns in a place iu 
 which a large number of workmen are as- 
 sembled, and the commander of which, 
 full of security, was in little expectation 
 of being attacked on his post, in the midst 
 of such a peaceable population. 
 
 The young heroine was perfectly well 
 acquainted with all the weak points of the 
 place, at which it could be easily entered. 
 She even procured apian of the city, with 
 its fortifications, and after having careful- 
 ly considered the chances, she decided on 
 an attempt to surprise it. 
 
 Is it not surprising to see a young girl, 
 weak and inexperienced, conceive, and 
 put in execution, a project of this kind, and 
 that, too, with deliberation, with the ex- 
 ercise of the greatest caution and prudence, 
 and without forgetting any thing that 
 could, in the least, influence its success 7 
 She must, indeed, have possessed a genius 
 eminently military, a soul full of ardor,
 
 168 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 touched with the most lofty patriotism, 
 and one which sported with danger. 
 
 To ensure success, she endeavored to 
 effect a communication with the interior 
 of the fortress. 
 
 In Russia, by statute law, it is render- 
 ed obligatory, on the part of the nobility, 
 to obtain, by actual service, a grade in the 
 military or civil service, before being en- 
 titled to the rights of citizenship. The 
 disgrace attached to a civil office, on ac- 
 count of the venality and corruption of 
 the government, induces every one to pre- 
 fer the army. The Lithuanians, not being 
 able to enter into the Polish army, saw 
 themselves obliged to enrol themselves in 
 the ranks of the Russian army, in order to 
 meet the requisitions of the law ; and they 
 composed the chief part of the military 
 school established at Diinabourg, for the 
 subalterns of the army. Polish hearts 
 were beating under the Russian uniform, 
 which they were obliged to wear, and 
 thoughts of liberty would produce a thrill
 
 EMILY PLATER. 169 
 
 of delight in the bosoms of these youths, 
 who were as patriotic as they were eager 
 for fame. Among them were two cousins 
 of Emily's. She laid open to these her 
 mind and her plans, and found that they, 
 too. had formed the same design. They, 
 too, felt the importance of the place in 
 effecting the Polish revolution, as well as 
 that which was in a state of preparation 
 in Poland. 
 
 They were long in concerting their plan, 
 and it was finally agreed that, on the ap- 
 proach of Emily and the insurgents, the 
 military school should rise, take arms, fall 
 unexpectedly upon the garrison of the 
 citadel, and thus essentially contribute to 
 the taking of the place. 
 
 There was but one thing further, which 
 retarded Emily, and this was the commit- 
 tee. Persuaded, like every one else, that 
 this committee was acting in accordance 
 with instructions from Warsaw, and that 
 it was incumbent upon them to give the 
 signal for revolt, she feared, by too great 
 
 15
 
 170 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 precipitation, to injure the cause by arous- 
 ing tlie suspicions of the oppressors. This 
 fear was still exerting an influence upon 
 her when Gruzewski, as we have ah-eady 
 mentioned, struck the first blow and gave 
 the signal. 
 
 Without loss of time, Emily went to 
 work ; she rouses the conspirators to ac- 
 tion, and entreats them to follow her. She 
 desires to be among the first to proclaim 
 that the reign of Russia is ended. She 
 possesses as much patriotism as any one 
 else, and longs to partake of the common 
 danger. On the 29th of March, she parts 
 with her golden' tresses, assumes man's 
 attire, arms herself with pistols and a 
 dirk ; and followed by Mademoiselle Prus- 
 zynska and two young men, she repairs 
 to the village of Dousiaty, where every 
 thing was in a state of readiness. They 
 were only awaiting the arrival of Caesar 
 Plater, (the proprietor of the village, and 
 who happened at that time to be absent at 
 Wilna,) before unfolding the sacred banner
 
 EMILY PLATER. 171 
 
 of revolt, which, in the present case, was 
 also that of justice. This young patriot, 
 who will occupy such a prominent place 
 in the sequel of this history, saw, not with- 
 out pain, the slow progress of affairs; he 
 was incessantly going backwards and for- 
 wards, and endeavoring with all his might 
 to accelerate the time for acting. 
 
 It was Sunday. A much greater num- 
 ber of people had collected from the neigh- 
 borhood, to throng the church, than usual ; 
 attracted by mysterious rumors of some- 
 thing new being in agitation. At the 
 sight of the young Countess in arms and 
 mounted, the multitude began to crowd to 
 the public square, where the national stand- 
 ard had already been unfurled by the 
 hands of our heroine. In a brief and 
 animated speech, she explained the pow- 
 erful motives which were calling the 
 country to arms. 
 
 It is not by vain and idle words that 
 she endeavors to rouse them and engage 
 them to join her. It is in the name of
 
 172 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 their own interest that she addresses them. 
 She dwells upon the extortions to which 
 they are subjected by the Russians, the 
 burdensome taxes which weigh them 
 down, the army rescriptions which wrest 
 their children from them, and whom they 
 can never see more, the persecutions of 
 the police, etc. 
 
 " It is time," cries she to them, " it is 
 time to go and aid our Polish brothers, 
 who are fighting for us upon the shores of 
 the Vistula. We must break the chains 
 which overwhelm us, we must be free, we 
 must fight ; God wills it ! ! !" 
 
 No one can resist this powerful appeal 
 of a new crusade against barbarity and 
 oppression. No heart is closed against 
 the cry of liberty. These words sink 
 down into the very depths of the soul, they 
 overcome every obstacle, they gain the 
 complete mastery of every heart. The 
 multitude respond to Emily with shouts of 
 enthusiasm, admiration and hatred. Tiiey 
 hold in abhorrence, and trample under
 
 EMILY PLATER. 17 
 
 o 
 
 foot, the monster whose hand has so long 
 kept ancient Poland in a state of intoler- 
 able oppression. They wish to be free, 
 and they will be so. The hatred which 
 has always lived in the depths of their 
 hearts, once more awakes, powerful and 
 terrible. It is face to face, hand to hand, 
 that they will say to the Russians that 
 they are hated, and that they are wanted 
 no longer. 
 
 The young men run, armed with 
 scythes and pikes, among which are occa- 
 sionally seen to glisten a few fowling- 
 pieces. In less than a quarter of an hour 
 the village assumes a warlike attitude. 
 Cartridges are distributed, and the insur- 
 gents are organized. The blacksmith is 
 busy in converting the scythes into war- 
 like instruments, which hereafter are to 
 be employed in breaking in sunder the 
 chains of their oppressors. The whole 
 day is spent in preparations, amidst noise 
 and confusion. Emily Plater superintends 
 every thing ; nothing escapes her over- 
 
 15*
 
 174 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 sight and unwearied activity. She is the 
 soul of the insurrection. Every moment, 
 fresh bodies of volunteers are coming in 
 from every direction to place themselves 
 under the command of a looman, but a 
 woman who has already given proof of 
 her great energy, whom they know, whom 
 they all esteem and almost worship. 
 
 The next day, she seized the horses 
 
 of the Dangiele post-office, amounting to 
 
 about thirty, and with this addition to her 
 
 cavalry, vshe began her march on Diina- 
 
 bourg, at the head of two hundred and 
 
 eighty chasseurs, several hundred fau- 
 
 cheurs, and a body oi cavillers amounting to 
 
 sixty.* She presses the march in order 
 
 to take the city by surprise. But the 
 
 country through which the march lies is 
 
 still tranquil, and the population must be 
 
 roused, armed and organized, and, above 
 
 all, made to feel the necessity of prompt 
 
 * Chasseurs are light cavalry ; faiicheurs, men armed 
 with scythes ; caviliers, mounted gentlemen.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 175 
 
 and vigorous action. All this retards 
 every moment her march, and embarrasses 
 her plans, the success of which depends 
 almost entirely upon celerity. Moreover, 
 a company of Russian infantry are on the 
 way, from Ucinia to Diinabourg, to inter- 
 cept her march. Emily attacks them on 
 the 2d of April, and, after an obstinate 
 contest, forces the enemy to yield. 
 
 After a painful march of several days, 
 she arrived, at last, at Jeziorossy. But the 
 alarm had already been given to the com- 
 mander at Diinabourg, who sent two com- 
 panies of infantry to arrest the insurgents. 
 The Russians, trusting to their strength 
 and number, advanced with confident ex- 
 pectation of dispersing these rebels, wiio 
 were marching without order or muni- 
 tions. 
 
 Emily was advised of the approach of 
 the enemy and did not seek to avoid them ; 
 she rather desired to meet them^ in order 
 to exercise her troop and impart confi- 
 dence to her own forces ; she knew what
 
 176 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 might be effected by means of enthusi- 
 asm and resolution. She was persuaded 
 that a victory, however slight it might be, 
 would open the way to a thousand victo- 
 ries besides. She wished, by an unex- 
 pected and bold attack, to infuse ter- 
 ror into the Russians ; she did not, there- 
 fore, hesitate to attack them as soon as 
 she met them. 
 
 It was near the village of Jeziorossy, 
 on the 4th of April, at break of day, that 
 she 'fell upon their camp, routed them, 
 threw them into utter confusion, and fin- 
 ished by achieving a complete victory. 
 The Russians had no expectation of this at- 
 tack. They believed the enemy to be struck 
 with fear, and incapable of undertaking 
 any thing. Seeing themselves vigorously 
 pressed by an enemy which they had des- 
 pised, they supposed that he had receiv- 
 ed reinforcements; they did not, there- 
 fore, defend themselves with vigor, but 
 soon gave way, leaving about sixty of 
 their own, killed or wounded. Emily, proud
 
 EMILY PLATER. 177 
 
 of this victory, pushed on, took possession 
 of the village of Jeziorossy and pursued 
 the fugitives on the high road to Diina- 
 bourg, where slie expected to arrive as 
 soon as they, and risk the action which 
 was, perhaps, to decide the campaign.
 
 178 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Battle near Diinabourg. — Emily joins the corps of 
 Charles Zaluski. — She enrols herself among the free 
 chasseurs of Vilcomir.— Affair of Przystowiany . 
 
 If courage and contempt of death 
 had been alone sufficient to make an en- 
 terprise succeed, Emily Plater would 
 doubtless have carried all her plans tri- 
 umphantly through. But a chief has 
 need of something else, besides excellent 
 qualities. He needs arms and soldiers. 
 How can he, with a small troop, badly 
 armed and without munitions, maintain 
 his position in presence of an enemy 
 twenty times more numerous, and abound- 
 ing in resources? 
 
 The small army of Emily, which had, 
 at the beginning of the campaign, but 
 a very small number of cartridges, had 
 almost completely consumed them in the
 
 EMILY PLATER. 179 
 
 two first engagements. She nevertheless 
 advanced; but she could rely on none 
 but the faucheurs ; the lack of powder 
 and ball rendering then* muskets useless. 
 And what a weapon, the scythe ! It is 
 suitable for holding the third rank in the 
 line, excellent in the pursuit of an enemy 
 already routed by regular troops, but 
 very seldom have the faucheurs been 
 known to break close columns and decide 
 the battle. 
 
 Thus it was impossible for our friends 
 to resist successfully the regular troops, 
 and the commander at Diinabourg, advised 
 by the fugitives of the fate of his first de- 
 tachment, sent a battalion of infantry, 
 witli tw^o pieces of cannon, against the 
 enemy who w^ere advancing, and at 
 the same time, raising the country. The 
 affair could not be doubtful ; after a short 
 contest the insurgents, broken at all points, 
 dispersed. Fighting without any order, 
 they were not able to rally ; and closely 
 pressed by the Russians, who pursued
 
 180 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 them for a long distance, Emily was 
 obliged to retrace her steps, and had the 
 grief to see all the villages which she had 
 delivered retaken by the enemy, who exer- 
 cised upon them the greatest cruelties. 
 Dousiaty, where the standard of insurrec- 
 tion had been for the first time unfolded 
 by her own hand, was taken by the Rus- 
 sians, and consigned to the flames. 
 
 Moreover, the plan of Emily, for sur- 
 prising Diinabourg, had become impracti- 
 cable by a number of changes which had 
 been made in that fortress. The young 
 men on whom Emily had most relied, had 
 all been sent away. Whether the Russian 
 general entertained any suspicion of the 
 plot, or whether, alarmed by the progress 
 of the insurrection, he feared to retain in 
 the fortress men whose fidelity was, to 
 say the least, very doubtful, and whom na- 
 tional affinity with the rebels would lead 
 to sympathize with them, he caused them 
 to be disarmed and sent off, on the 9th of 
 April, to the army of Diebitsch, under es-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 181 
 
 cort of a detachment of the imperial 
 guard.* 
 
 This decision of the Russian command- 
 er, and the check which she liad just expe- 
 rienced, destroyed all the plans of Emily. 
 After having collected the shattered re- 
 mains of her little troop, she united them 
 to the command of her cousin, Count 
 Csesar Plater, quitted the neighborhood of 
 Dousiaty, and, followed only by Mademoi- 
 selle Pruszynska, went to join the corps of 
 insurgents under the command of Zaluski. 
 
 Some days after the revolution had 
 broken out in Lithuania, the insurgents, 
 seeing that all their operations were con- 
 ducted without order and without any fa- 
 vorable result, each corps acting separate- 
 ly, resolved to appoint a commander in 
 chief, who should unite all the different 
 corps, and by this means be able to strike 
 
 * These young men, eighteen in number, succeeded 
 in making their escape from their guard during the 
 journey, and were afterwards of great service to the Po- 
 lish cause. 
 
 16
 
 182 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 a decisive blow. It was difficult to find a 
 man capable of this trust, and at the same 
 time worthy of their confidence. The 
 Lithuanians having, for twenty years, 
 crouched under the yoke of Russia, had de- 
 voted themselves exclusively to private 
 life and to agriculture. No one among 
 them had devoted himself to the military 
 service, and if any veteran of the legions 
 was still to be found in the ranks of the 
 insurgents, most frequently he lacked a 
 name which could inspire the people with 
 confidence and command their respect. 
 
 Count Charles Zaluski, leader of the 
 insurrection in the district of Upita, was 
 disting*iished by an unexampled activity 
 and zeal. The choice fell upon him, and 
 he was proclaimed commander in chief by 
 the insurgents of Wilna, Wilkomierz, Tro- 
 ki, Kowno, Oszmiana and Upita. Although 
 a zealous patriot, governed by the purest 
 motives, and of undaunted bravery, yet, 
 being but a mere novice in the art of war, 
 he was unwilling to accept a charge in-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 183 
 
 volving SO much responsibility. It was, 
 nevertheless, insisted upon, and he could 
 not refuse. 
 
 The secret committee of Wilna were 
 constantly sending emissaries to urge Za- 
 luski to uiite all the forces, and come with 
 them to attack Wilna, promising him the 
 rising of the whole town, and a complete 
 success in expelling the Russians from 
 Lithuania. Zaluski well knew the futili- 
 ty of this project, and was perfectly assur- 
 ed that it would be impossible for him to 
 take possession of a city fortified on all sides, 
 bristling with cannon, and long prepared 
 for any attack whatever. But still pressed 
 by the committee and the other insurgents, 
 obeying, moreover, the impulse of his own 
 heart, with a strong desire to free his coun- 
 try in the shortest time possible, he set 
 out. * * * * Braving danger, in every 
 engagement he added much to his reputa- 
 tion ; but, at the distance of five leagues 
 from the capital, he was vanquished by 
 the Russians, in consequence of the inex-
 
 184 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 perience of the insurgents, and constrainetl 
 to retreat, and, finally, to retire to the 
 neighborhood of Wilna. 
 
 When Emily Plater joined him, he was 
 encamped near Smilgi, in the district of 
 Upita. Her renown had preasded her, 
 and every one was curious to become ac- 
 quainted with the woman, who not only 
 had given an example to the men, but who 
 had even surpassed them by her devoted- 
 ness, the boldness of her plans, and her 
 promptness in the execution of them. 
 They ran in crowds to see and admire her; 
 but, with the most part, this admiration 
 was cold and constrained. Romantic 
 young men hoped to find in her an ama- 
 zon of brilliant jmrure, a female warrior 
 like those seen at the theatre ; but how 
 great was their disappointment at the sight 
 of a woman dressed in a plain blue casaque 
 of coarse cloth, and entirely destitute of 
 that brilliant exterior which is so imposing 
 to the vulgar, and which is often mistaken 
 for real merit ! Others, again, regarding
 
 EMILY PLATER. ' 185 
 
 with a j ealous eye a woman who had dared 
 to invade the rights of the male sex, and, 
 influenced by a pitiful jealousy which could 
 not forgive her the glory with which she 
 had covered herself, gave her a cold recep- 
 tion, and under pretence of zeal and solici- 
 tude for a life so precious, would endeavor 
 to divert her from her martial schemes, 
 
 " You are a woman. Countess," said 
 they to her, " and you can never endure 
 the fatigues of the camp. We are far from 
 questioning your courage and talents ; but 
 battles and the prospect of death, which 
 constantly threaten us, are the least of our 
 troubles. You, whose complexion is so 
 delicate, would you be able to pass your 
 nights without sleep, your days without 
 rest, and sometimes without foodl 
 
 " Would you be able to perform forced 
 marches, of fifteen leagues, through dense 
 forests destitute of roads, or impracticable 
 marshes'? Could you swim over rivers? 
 No, Countess, your health would sink un- 
 der such fatigues. Resume, then, your fe- 
 
 16*
 
 186 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 male pursuits, and be satisfied with the 
 glory and gratitude, which are so justly 
 your due, and preserve that health which, 
 for many reasons, is so dear to us. But if 
 you wish to be useful to your country, are 
 there not other ways of serving her, besides 
 bearing arms 7 A grand and noble career 
 is now opened to your sex, which is un- 
 questionably more congenial to your taste. 
 Bestow all your cares upon the wounded." 
 
 Emily would listen coldly to such re- 
 marks, and would sometimes answer : 
 
 " I know that my health and arm are 
 both weak ; but the arms I wear are mere- 
 ly for my own defence. These pistols 
 will protect me from personal danger, 
 when attacked by an enemy, and if these 
 fail me, this dirk, which you see, will not 
 allow me to be taken alive. 
 
 " But, gentlemen," added she with a 
 faint smile, " I am a woman, and, as such, 
 cannot overcome the curiosity which im- 
 pels me to assist in your battles, and be an 
 eye-witness of your courage ; and, finally,
 
 EMILY PLATER, 187 
 
 to dress your noble wounds on the spot, 
 and at the moment you receive them. As to 
 these fatigues, weak as I am, I know how 
 to endure them." 
 
 These officious advisers, rebuked by 
 this polite, though slightly ironical answer, 
 held their peace, and durst not oppose her 
 views any further. 
 
 On the next day. May the 4th, Zaluski 
 marched to Przystowiany, at which place 
 the commander in chief, incorrectly inform- 
 ed with respect to the position of the ene- 
 my, as he supposed him to be far distant, 
 proposed to grant a few days' repose to his 
 troops, fatigued, as they were, by three 
 weeks' marching and counter-marching. 
 They arrived at Przystowiany at about 
 eleven o'clock in the morning. Emily 
 Plater immediately repaired to the en- 
 campment of the free chasseurs of Wilko- 
 mir, and requested that they would admit 
 her into their ranks. This corps, who 
 were for the most part composed of the 
 principal citizens of the country, and who
 
 188 LIKE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 had already given many signal proofs of 
 their devotedness and valor, proud of the 
 choice Emily had made, received her 
 among them with acclamation. They 
 considered such a recruit an honor to their 
 corps, and its commander determined to 
 celebrate the event by a kind of military 
 fete. 
 
 Butwhilepreparations for this fete were 
 making, and the rest of the insurgents were 
 resting, in all security, after the fatigues of 
 their long march, a discharge of musketry- 
 upon their left wing, which was partly 
 composed of the students of Wilna, gave 
 notice, at about one o'clock, P. M., of the 
 approach of the enemy. 
 
 Soon the Russian lancers were seen de- 
 ploying on the plain, and the infantry 
 marching in close column. This force 
 was composed of two regiments of cavalry, 
 one brigade of infantry, and twelve pieces 
 of cannon, all under command of Generals 
 Sulima and Malinowski ; they were march- 
 ing against us.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 189 
 
 The insurgents, taken by surprise, 
 seized their arms, and hastened to take po- 
 sition in a small wood which crowned the 
 summit of a hill. 
 
 " These Russian gentlemen are very 
 impolite to come to molest our fete in this 
 manner," observed the commander of the 
 free chasseurs, with a smile, and who had 
 already stood fire in the service of the 
 French, under Napoleon. 
 
 " They come to grace it," cried Emily, 
 seizing her musket ; " they will give me 
 opportunity of proving to you that I am 
 worthy of being your companion in arms." 
 
 In an instant, every one was at his 
 post ; the fire of the Russians was brisk, 
 and the cannon roared. 
 
 The Russian infantry advanced to dis- 
 lodge, at the point of the bayonet, the in- 
 surgents from their cover ; these allowed 
 them to advance within fifty paces. Fire ! 
 cries the commander of the chasseurs. A 
 simultaneous discharge of musketry ensues, 
 and the Russians are thrown into confu-
 
 190 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 sion by the murderous volley, and are this 
 time repulsed with great loss. 
 
 A second attempt of the enemy in like 
 manner failed, and the insurgents by no 
 means despaired of maintaining their po- 
 sition, which had been already contested 
 for four hours. 
 
 How painful to be forced to relinquish 
 the victory to the enemy, in a moment 
 when it seems to be within your grasp ! 
 How unfortunate that resources should 
 not correspond with courage and justice ! 
 But such is the fate of battles. 
 
 " Cartridges ! We want cartridges," 
 suddenly and almost simultaneously cried 
 all the chasseurs. 
 
 " We have no more," sorrowfully re- 
 plied the commander. All at once the 
 whole line of insurgents rung with a shriek 
 of despair, for they must yield. 
 
 Regular troops, however well disci- 
 plined, rarely retreat with order ; how then 
 could it be otherwise with the insurgents, 
 who were entirely ignorant of discipline?
 
 EMILY PLATER. 191 
 
 As long as they had ammunition, they 
 stood their ground, but once obliged to 
 yield, they dispersed in the greatest disor- 
 der. It was not so much a retreat as a 
 complete helter-skelter. The confusion 
 was, if possible, increased by the giving 
 way of a defective bridge thrown over a 
 small river, which they were obliged to 
 wade, with water up to the chin. All the 
 muskets, which remained charged, were 
 of course wet in this passage, and all fur- 
 ther resistance was out of question. The 
 Russians pursued, for a long time, cutting 
 down all whom they overtook. 
 
 This day would have been entirely 
 fatal to the insurgents, had not Maurice 
 Prozor heard, by good fortune, the firing, 
 and hastened, with his command, to cover 
 their retreat, by directing a murderous fire 
 upon the enemy's cavalry. 
 
 During the battle, Emily was in the 
 front line, passing from rank to rank, 
 braving death, without however inflicting 
 it. At the commencement of the retreat.
 
 192 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 she found herself in a critical position. 
 Deserted by her own people, in the midst 
 of the general confusion, with only three 
 men near her, she was slowly retiring, 
 when the Russians, already in possession 
 of the main road, endeavored to cut off 
 her retreat, and several advanced to lay 
 hold on her. A dozen guns were fired 
 close to her, which Emily did not think 
 proper to return, and prevented her com- 
 panions from firing. " Save your pow- 
 der," cried she, " temerity is useless and 
 imprudent. What could we four do 
 against that cloud of Russians, which is 
 pursuing us? Instead then of wasting 
 our time on the road, let us endeavor to 
 gain ground on them. If we are cut off 
 from every means of retreat, then indeed 
 will we sell our lives as dearly as we 
 can, and prevent ourselves from being ta- 
 ken alive." 
 
 The ground they were obliged to go 
 overbad been lately ploughed, and the re- 
 cent rains had made it so soft as to greatly
 
 EMILY PLATER. 193 
 
 retard the progress of the cavalry, while 
 it afforded considerable advantage to those 
 on foot. However, Emily, much fatigued 
 by the battle and her flight, made but slow 
 progress. Continually exposed to the en- 
 emy's fire, and almost within hearing of 
 the breathing of their horses, she never- 
 theless gained ground on those in pursuit, 
 and succeeded at length in reaching a for- 
 est, when she fell, overcome with fatigue. 
 Nothing on earth would have induced 
 the Russians to enter a wood, which their 
 imagination always represented to them 
 as swarming with insurgents, placed in 
 ambuscade ; the pursuit, therefore, here 
 ended. Towards evening, Emily crawled 
 to the cottage of a forester, not more than 
 five hundred yards from the Russian camp, 
 whence the sentry's call was plainly heard. 
 But she was so much exhausted that she 
 was obliged to stay all night in this inse- 
 cure place, exposed every moment to be- 
 ing captured by the enemy. The next 
 day, feeling a little recovered, she resum- 
 
 17
 
 194 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 ed her retreat. The country was covered 
 with Russians, and crossed and recrossed 
 in every direction by their detachments. 
 Although entirely ignorantof the place the 
 troops of Zaluski had retired to, yet she 
 succeeded in rejoining them on the banks 
 of the Doubissa, leading with her a de- 
 tachment of forty men, which she had 
 rallied during her painful and dangerous 
 retreat.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 195 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Return of the insurgents to Wilcomir. — Mary Raszano- 
 wicz and Emily Plater. — They pass to the corps of 
 Constantine Parczewski. — Sad position of the insur- 
 gents. 
 
 After the unfortunate aflfair at Przys- 
 towiany, the chiefs of the insurrection, 
 perceiving that the uniting of several de- 
 tachments into one corps, so far from be- 
 ing useful to the cause, served, but to 
 leave the country unprotected and expos- 
 ed to the resentments of the Russians, de- 
 termined to divide the troops into small 
 parties, and to return home. This ar- 
 rangement would, at least, afford them 
 an opportunity of exerting their personal 
 influence and of profiting by their know- 
 ledge of localities; whilst, united, they 
 could do little else than march from one 
 place to another, without any object or 
 result.
 
 196 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 In consequence of this decision, Charles 
 Zaluski and Leon Potocki returned into 
 the district of Upita ; Vincent Matusze- 
 wicz took to the forests of Troki with his 
 insurgents, thence to spread terror into the 
 Russian ranks. The free chasseurs of 
 Wilcomir, to which Emily Plater belong- 
 ed, took up the march for their own dis- 
 trict. 
 
 Their arrival was opportune ; for al- 
 ready the fruits of their first success were 
 lost. Werzulin, with his Circassians, (the 
 same Werzulin w^hose cruelty recalled 
 the memory of Souvaroff and Drevitsch,) 
 was master of Wilkomir. The police, 
 under protection of the troops, had re- 
 sumed their usual course ; the spies were 
 active, the Jews were denouncing peace- 
 able citizens and persecutions again com- 
 menced with renewed violence. The de- 
 sire of liberating their friends, their broth- 
 ers, not less than that of avenging, upon 
 Werzulin, the blood of the women and 
 children massacred at Oszmiana, im-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 197 
 
 pelled the free chasseurs to advance on 
 Wilkomir, and after a consultation, on 
 the part of Col. Charles Przezdziecki, 
 Plater, Grolkowski and the chiefs of the 
 insurrection of Wilna, they laid siege to 
 the place on the 17th of May, before sun- 
 rise. 
 
 But Werzulin, brave in the massacre 
 of women, and a coward in battle, seeing 
 the insurgents advancing on all sides, 
 thought it more prudent to abandon the 
 city, marking his retreat by murder, rape 
 and fire. 
 
 The insurgents, once more masters of 
 the chief place of the district, sent sev- 
 eral detachments in pursuit of this brig- 
 and, and applied themselves to the organ- 
 ization of the country. They establish- 
 ed a provisionary government, which was 
 charged with the administration of public 
 affairs, the maintaining of internal tran- 
 quillity and the providing for the immedi- 
 ate wants of the insurrection. It was du- 
 ring these transactions that a young in- 
 
 17*
 
 198 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 surgent presented himself to the chief of 
 the troops, and offered his services. His 
 delicate features, slender form, and fine 
 curls, belied his dress. It was no other 
 than young Mary Raszanowicz, who also 
 wished to try her fate in war. A bloom- 
 ing beauty of twenty, she naturally pos- 
 sessed the happy faculty of supporting re- 
 verses with gayety, without, however, ex- 
 posing herself to the charge of indifference. 
 I^ong and fatiguing marches, the hard- 
 ships of the camp, the soldier's coarse fare, 
 could none of them make any impression 
 on her gay and cheerful temper. She 
 could be playful in the midst of danger, 
 and laugh in the presence of death. Her 
 mirth was without affectation or malice. 
 She was plain, gentle, frank and engaging 
 in her manners; but subsequently, the 
 misfortunes of her country, which greatly 
 afflicted her, imparted a tinge of sadness 
 to her character. But at the time of 
 which we are speaking, nothing, as yet, 
 portended ill to Poland, which, every-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 199 
 
 where victorious, was almost sure of re- 
 gaining her ancient independence. 
 
 The identity of sex and feeling soon 
 united her to Emily in the bonds of the 
 most intimate friendship ; their warm, en- 
 thusiastic young hearts understood each 
 other at once. Both wished to toil and 
 fight in the cause of their country. From 
 that day they were inseparable ; they 
 solemnly pledged tliemselves to fight, side 
 by side, like two brothers in arms, and to 
 share the same fortune, whether good or 
 bad. They kept their faith. Death alone 
 has separated them ; Mary Raszanowicz 
 has received the last breath of Emily 
 Plater. 
 
 Those officious advisers, who, once be- 
 fore, had been so well rebuked, returned 
 to the charge, and again attempted to dis- 
 suade Emily from what they chose to 
 term her mania for war. The recent dan- 
 ger, which she had encountered at Przys- 
 towiany, served them as a pretext for ob- 
 truding their officious advice upon her, and
 
 200 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 to constrain her to retire to the protection 
 of one of her relatives, who lived in the 
 neighborhood of Wilkomir. 
 
 Emily Plater, weary of these babblers, 
 and wishing to avoid the annoyance, re- 
 solved to join another corps. 
 
 Parczewski \vas then intending to ad- 
 vance on Wilna, and reassume the posi- 
 tions in wdiich he had maintained himself 
 for the two successive months, affording, 
 the meanwhile, the most signal proofs of 
 courage and coolness, keeping the enemy 
 constantly on the alert, harassing them, 
 and attacking them when he had the least 
 prospect of success. Although, in ap- 
 proaching Wilna, he would be more ex- 
 posed to the attacks of the Russians, yet 
 it would place it in his power to commu- 
 nicate with the patriots of Wilna, and con- 
 cert measures with them ; he would also 
 be within reach of a thousand resources 
 which that great city could afford. He 
 was about to place himself, as it were, up- 
 on the van of the troops, and this position
 
 EMILY PLATER. 201 
 
 would offer him more opportunities for 
 attacking the enemy, and also more dan- 
 gers to encounter. These considerations 
 determined Emily Plater to select this 
 corps. She therefore, with her new and 
 inseparable friend, Mary Raszanowicz, 
 went to join that corps. 
 
 Six leagues from Wilna, Parczewski, 
 misinformed in regard to the enemy's 
 movements, fell into an ambuscade, and it 
 was after considerable loss, that he finally 
 succeeded in extricating himself from his 
 perilous situation. He w^ent to encamp at 
 01any,'where the Russians did not dare to 
 molest him; he passed eight days quietly 
 in this camp, recruiting his men and pro- 
 curing ammunition, of which the several 
 engagements that he had encountered had 
 nearly exhausted him, and which could 
 with difficulty be procured, at a high price, 
 and at the risk of life. 
 
 In other respects, the last week of 
 May and the first part of June passed 
 without any remarkable events. There
 
 202 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 was, on both sides, a kind of armistice 
 brought on by circumstances. They ap- 
 parently seemed to be resting from the 
 toils of war. The Russians were com- 
 pelled to allow their army some rest, 
 fatigued and harassed by a sort of parti- 
 san war of two months, during which they 
 had been obliged, every day, to act on the 
 offensive or defensive, without obtaining 
 any decided advantage, or being able to 
 force the insurgents to a decisive engage- 
 ment. They therefore ceased to chase 
 the rebels, and waited for General Tols- 
 toi, whom the Emperor had appointed 
 commander in chief of the army of re- 
 serve, and who was coming from Western 
 Russia, with a considerable force, in order 
 to crush the insurgents by their number, 
 and put an end, at once, to the rebellion. 
 The insurgents, Avho had been several 
 times dispersed by the Russians, had also 
 need of repose, in order to rally anew, and 
 did not think of attacking the enemy. The 
 news of the march of Tolstoi alarmed them
 
 EMILY PLATER. 203 
 
 the morej as already, without reinforce- 
 ment, the enemy was four times their own 
 number, and they, moreover, lacked pow- 
 der and shot. After an inspection of their 
 ammunition, the chiefs were convinced that, 
 even if their detachments were reduced one 
 third, each soldier ^^^l:)uld hardly be sup- 
 plied with more than five rounds apiece ; 
 the messengers they had despatched in 
 every direction to procure a supply, would 
 return with but a small quantity, and often 
 with none. 
 
 From the other side of the Niemen, 
 nothing could be heard, and there was no 
 news from Poland, which indeed seemed 
 to have forgotten us, and entirely left us to 
 our own resources to contend single-hand- 
 ed with the Russian army, which allowed 
 us no repose. The moment of decision had 
 come. The most prevailing opinion was 
 in favor of disbanding the troops, and of 
 the bravest, together with those most deep- 
 ly committed in the insurrection, reassem- 
 bling, and, in close columns, forcing a pas-
 
 204 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 sage through the Russian battalions, in 
 order to join the Polish army. Some, 
 however, were far from favoring this opin- 
 ion. Resolved to shed the last drop of 
 blood, they wished to remain in the coun- 
 . try, maintain the insurrection, and keep 
 the Russian troops at bay until the arrival 
 of the Poles, who could not much longer 
 delay to march to the assistance of their 
 brethren. It may well be imagined that 
 Emily Plater was of this last opinion, and 
 that she never could entertain for a mo- 
 ment the idea of abandoning Lithuania to 
 the Russians. " The Lithuanians," said 
 she, " weak as they are, keep busy twenty 
 thousand Russians, who otherwise would 
 goto reinforce Diebitsch's army. Besides, 
 as long as the insurrection lasts, the enemy 
 can reap no advantage from the resources 
 of the country ; his communication with 
 St. Petersburg is cut off, or, at least greatly 
 impeded. In abandoning the country, we 
 voluntarily resign to the enemy all these 
 advantages, and what have we to offer to
 
 EMILY PLATER. 205 
 
 the Poles in return? The insignificant 
 assistance of a few hundred men. Death 
 can overtake us as easily there as here ; 
 it might perhaps be more glorious in Po- 
 land, but here it will, at least, be more 
 useful to the common cause. Let us perish, 
 if necessary, but let us perish with honor ; 
 and let us not forsake those we ourselves 
 have excited to insurrection; they have 
 intrusted us with their defence, and we 
 have sworn to free them from oppression." 
 
 18
 
 206 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Polish troops enter Lithuania. — Chlapowski and 
 Gielgud. — Emily Plater appointed Captain in the 
 twenty-fifth of the line. — Battle of Kowno. 
 
 While the chiefs of the insurrection 
 were in a state of indecision, Constantino 
 Zaleski arrived in the midst of them, with 
 orders from Gen. Chlapowski to the insur- 
 gents, that they should immediately take 
 up the line of march to join the Polish 
 troops, which were advancing towards 
 Lida. 
 
 This unexpected news inspired the in- 
 surgents, as well as the inhabitants, with 
 new hopes and new courage, althougli ig- 
 norant of the amount of force with Chla- 
 powski. They entertained no doubt but 
 that, with the help of the Poles, they 
 could not only successfully oppose the 
 Russians, but even triumph over them.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 207 
 
 Men skilled in the military art would 
 know how to organize and drill these 
 masses of insurgents, who, thus far, had 
 been able merely to revolutionize the 
 country, and keep the enemy in a state 
 of constant alarm, but not entirely to sub- 
 due him ; the insurgents, too, had to this 
 time been destitute of a chief. — We 
 were satisfied that even the sight of the 
 Poles would revive the enthusiasm of our 
 citizens, as well as the courage of the 
 army, which a series of disasters had be- 
 gun to repress. 
 
 Chlapow^ski, it was said, was bringing 
 with him artillery as well as small arms, 
 which he had taken from the enemy, in 
 forcing his passage through the Russian 
 army, over which he had even obtained 
 some advantage. We had no further 
 doubts as to the future ; victory, now, 
 seemed to us certain. We looked upon 
 Chlapowski as a saviour, and no one 
 dreamed any longer of abandoning Lithu- 
 ania. " Let us not hesitate," was the geii
 
 208 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 eral voice ; " every moment is precious, 
 let us go and join our brethren, let us 
 prove, by our readiness to obey orders, that 
 we are worthy of freedom." 
 
 But as the Lithuanians had, for some 
 time past, relinquished the hope of receiv- 
 ing assistance from Poland, many of them 
 looked upon this unexpected news, of the 
 actual approach of the Poles, as improba- 
 ble ; and it raised doubts in the minds of 
 men, whose circumspection amounts to 
 distrust, and who are inclined to give the 
 worst construction to every event. 
 
 "We have so often been deceived on 
 this point," they would say, " that we 
 may yet well doubt it. And what evi- 
 dence can this man, who has come to an- 
 nounce to us the approacli of our friends, 
 afford us of the truth of his assertion ? 
 Blight he not be a spy sent by the enemy 
 to induce us to leave our position, and betray 
 us and the country to the rage and ven- 
 geance of the Russians 7 Let us act with 
 prudence, and, in the first place, send a
 
 EMILY PLATER. 209 
 
 confidential messenger to ascertain the 
 truth of this information ; then, on his re- 
 turn, we can act with perfect safety." 
 
 Such thoughts, secretly disseminated 
 among the insurgents, shook their belief, 
 and soon many detachments declared 
 that they would not leave their position, 
 without some convincing proofs. 
 
 Poor Zaleski was at a loss to know 
 how to convince them. He repeated to 
 them, over and over again, that it was im- 
 possible for Chlapowski to send him writ- 
 ten orders, lest they should fall into the 
 enemy's hands ; besides, as the insurgents 
 were unacquainted with the General's 
 hand-writing, they could place no more 
 dependence upon a written order than on 
 the verbal one that had just been brought 
 to them. It was in vain he endeavored to 
 convince them of the fatal consequences 
 which their hesitation might bring on the 
 national cause, as well as themselves ; 
 they were determined to wait, notwith- 
 standing. 
 
 18*
 
 210 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 Prudence, even distrust, are sometimes 
 necessary, particularly when the interests 
 of a whole nation are at stake, which is to 
 be rescued from the grasp of an ever 
 watchful enemy, who is constantly laying 
 snares, and who knows well how to take 
 advantage of the least fault. However, 
 this prudence, this distrust must not pro- 
 ceed too far, for, in such case, favorable 
 opportunities are liable to be lost, which, 
 in war, are apt to be rather few and far 
 between. It belongs to the man of expe- 
 rience and good judgment to decide when 
 to act and when to forbear; when to ad- 
 vance and when to retreat ; unfortunately, 
 a great deal, too, depends on chance in 
 these matters. 
 
 Evil counsels were about to prevail, 
 and it was nearly decided to wait. But, 
 fortunately, Parczewski, Emily Plater and 
 others, who were personally acquainted 
 with Zaleski, and who knew him incapa- 
 ble of treachery, thought otherwise, and 
 defended their opinions so warmly, that
 
 EMILY PLATER. 211 
 
 it was concluded all at once to march. 
 They took upon themselves the responsi- 
 bility of this movement, and they were 
 not deceived in their expectation, for they 
 discovered the Polish army, on the 6th of 
 June, at Gabrielow, where the Prince Ga- 
 briel Oginski Matuszewicz, with the in- 
 surgents of Troki, and the students of 
 Wilna, had already joined them. 
 
 What painter can depict, what poet 
 can adequately describe a scene like this, 
 when two people, who had been united by 
 nature and sympathy, but whom violence 
 had separated, were reunited after thirty- 
 five years of constrained separation ! The 
 beauty and sublimity of such a spectacle 
 is beyond the power of the pen to describe. 
 Here all is noble and affecting. It is the 
 uniting of two brothers, who have been 
 separated from their cradle, to fight the 
 common enemy, who has carried destruc- 
 tion and death into the bosom of the fami- 
 ly around the paternal hearth. Once 
 more united, they wjU be strong.
 
 212 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 The standards are mingled, tlie ban- 
 ners are crossed, the white eagle of Po- 
 land is united to the knight of Litliuania, 
 or rather, the two standards make but 
 one, on which is written : " Let us die for 
 freedom, and our country." They em- 
 brace one another, arms are exchanged, 
 hearts and tears commingle, a simultane- 
 ous shout, from ten thousand mouths, as- 
 cends to heaven. Heaven hears it, and 
 the reunion is consummated. It is the 
 shout of independence and fraternal feel- 
 ing ; of union against, and hatred for, 
 their oppressors. 
 
 I was present, on that sublime occa- 
 sion ; I can therefore speak of it from per- 
 sonal knowledge. This day will always 
 be remembered as one of the most solemn 
 in my whole life. How beautiful was the 
 spectacle of those two armies uniting to 
 sustain the same struggle ! I seem to my- 
 self to behold them, as they were then, 
 proud and strong, full of youth and enthu- 
 siasm, interesting on account of the recol-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 213 
 
 lections of the past, and still more so by 
 the victories foreboded by their fraternal 
 union. 
 
 Often do I recall to memory those 
 glorious and delightful moments, when 
 every thing smiled on our cause, and every 
 one was dreaming of victory. And I do 
 still dream of victory, even as I did then ; 
 but I can scarcely express my feelings 
 further. Being under the necessity of 
 using a foreign language, I feel the want of 
 suitable expressions for conveying a just 
 idea of the true Polish feeling, which per- 
 vades my mind and soul. 
 
 Joy and hilarity predominate in all the 
 camp. Everywhere the Lithuanians are 
 seen mingling with the Poles, and the long 
 evenings are spent in cheerfulness, and 
 unrestrained conversations. The Lithua- 
 nians relate to the Poles all the troubles 
 they have undergone, all the dangers they 
 have been exposed to, through the delay 
 of the Poles, and the hopeless situation 
 from which they have been extricated by
 
 214 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 the arrival of their brethren, their saviours. 
 The Poles, on the other hand, speak of the 
 29th of November, of the battles of Gro- 
 chow and Dembe ; they relate to us prodi- 
 gies of valor and devotedness. They 
 mention the impatience of the nation to fly 
 to the assistance of the Lithuanians, and 
 they boldly expressed impatience, which 
 the men in power in vain attempted to 
 suppress. 
 
 They would then speculate on their 
 new hopes and new projects, and on that 
 futurity which, to those ardent youth and 
 patriotic warriors, seemed so smiling. 
 The whole country soon assumed a war- 
 like aspect. Nothing was heard, during 
 the day, but the clashing of arms in the 
 hands of the insurgents, whom the old 
 soldiers were drilling. In the evening, 
 the Polish war songs, — the warlike Maz- 
 ourck tie Chlopkki, the simple and merry 
 little song of Krakus, and the solemn 
 hymn. Honor to Poland, — resounded in the 
 air which heretofore had alone echoed the
 
 EMILY PLATER. 215 
 
 plaintive and monotonous chant of the 
 Lithuanian serfs. The call of the vigilant 
 sentinel would now and then interrupt the 
 silence of the night. Every one was in 
 motion in the country, as well as in the 
 camp. Joy filled all hearts, and hope 
 sparkled in every eye — hope too sanguine, 
 indeed, not to be disappointed; joy too 
 violent to last long. 
 
 While the soldiers were giving them- 
 selves up to their joyous mood and military 
 exercises, while awaiting the days of strife, 
 the Polish General, with the principal 
 chiefs of the insurrection, were considering 
 how to make the best use of their local 
 advantages, and the general plan of the 
 Campaign ; resolving to risk as little as 
 possible, and, at the same time, to contest 
 the ground inch by inch, and hand to 
 hand. 
 
 The Prince Gabriel Oginski was the 
 first to show that spirit of disinterestedness 
 which ought to influence every true patri- 
 ot, by surrendering his command to Gen-
 
 216 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 eral Chlapowski ; the other cliiefs followed 
 his example, and also resigned their pow- 
 er, with more eagerness than ambitious 
 men generally exhibit in seizing it. " We 
 devote our fortunes and our lives," said 
 they in their address of June the 10th, 
 " and, in return, we neither ask glory, 
 titles nor rewards ; all we want is to fulfil 
 those duties which belong equally to every 
 Pole, and which the long sufferings and 
 the wants of our country require at our 
 hands. 
 
 Chlapowski, after this address, thanked 
 them, in the name of Poland, for all the 
 Lithuanians had done to that time, for the 
 common cause. He then organized his 
 troops and appointed, as officers over them, 
 old experienced military men, distributed 
 arms among them, and gave to the several 
 chiefs, such appointments as he thought 
 they were entitled to, by their respective 
 merits and capacity. 
 
 Emily Plater, whose fame had reached 
 Poland, and which was spread, indeed.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 217 
 
 all over Europe, was an olyeet of particu- 
 lar attention, on the part of the Polish 
 General. As a woman, she was entitled to 
 that consideration which is due to the sex ; 
 as a soldier, she was deserving of the es- 
 teem and admiration of her compatriots ; 
 besides, her devotedness was of a kind al- 
 together too extraordinary to escape the 
 particular notice of the chiefs. The army- 
 saw, in her, one of those sublime beings 
 which nature sometimes produces, as glo- 
 rious ornaments to the human race ; and 
 the bards of tlie camp, inspired by her 
 presence, would sing the exploits of the 
 Joan d'Arc of Poland. Chlapowski wel- 
 comed her in a most flattering manner, but 
 unwilling to see her precious life exposed 
 to the dangers of the field, advised her to 
 quit the army and rest from her fatigues ; 
 and inasmuch as the war, in consequence 
 of the arrival of the regular troops, would 
 assume, altogether, a new and regular sys- 
 tem, she could with difiiculty use, to ad- 
 vantage, the talents she had displayed dur- 
 
 19
 
 218 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 ing the insurrection, and she would be lost 
 among the crowd of subaltern officers with 
 wliich the army was well supplied. 
 
 The observations of the general were 
 correct, but, woman and Pole as she was, 
 Emily persisted in her design, and earnest- 
 ly requested to be admitted into the ranks. 
 
 " As long as Poland is not entirely 
 free," said she, " my vocation is that of a 
 soldier, and as I am espoused to the cause 
 of my country, without any ambitious 
 views, I will not abandon it at a moment 
 when dangers are more threatening, and 
 battles more decisive." 
 
 She was appointed captain, command- 
 ing the first company of the first Lithua- 
 nian regiment, which, a few days after, was 
 known as the twenty-fifth of the line. 
 
 At the same time the news was re- 
 ceived that General Gielgud, with a Po- 
 lish army, had crossed the Niemen, and 
 just entered Lithuania. This reinforce- 
 ment seemed to add a great deal to the 
 chance of success, but, in accordance with
 
 EMILY PLATER. 219 
 
 that fatality which has always pursued 
 Poland, it served merely to destroy the 
 cause of freedom, by disseminating discord 
 among the generals, and exciting their 
 petty jealousies. 
 
 It was remarked from the first, that 
 Chlapowski did not receive this news 
 with much satisfaction ; he seemed rather 
 vexed than pleased, and it was in vain 
 that he endeavored to hide his vexation. 
 Notwithstanding his patriotism, he was 
 far from being free from personal ambition. 
 The wish to shine and fill the pages of 
 our history with his fame, was the princi- 
 pal motive of his actions, and he saw in 
 the Polish revolution, not only the deliver- 
 ing of his country, but also the means of 
 acquiring fame. When appointed by the 
 general in chief, the commanding officer 
 of the expedition into Lithuania, he ac- 
 cepted the appointment with the greatest 
 eagerness, notwithstanding the small num- 
 ber of troops placed under his command. 
 He feared no dangers, and already thought
 
 220 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 himself the liberator of the invaded prov- 
 inces, and as such, that his nanne would 
 descend to posterity. This ambition, un- 
 til this time laudable enough, led him to 
 display all the resources of his talents ; and 
 the first step in his career being rather 
 successful, seemed to justify the anticipa- 
 tion of a termination corresponding to it. 
 The arrival of Gielgud deranged all his 
 plans. As this officer was his superior in 
 rank, he would, of course, be obliged to re- 
 linquish the command to him, and every 
 thing would be done under the name of 
 Gielgud ; and on this officer would be re- 
 flected all the glory of successful opera- 
 tions, while the name of Chlapow^ski, if 
 mentioned at all, would come in as sec- 
 ond to that of Gielgud, or, perhaps even 
 would be confounded with those of the 
 crowd of officers whose duty it is merely 
 to execute the orders received from their 
 superiors. This idea was revolting to him, 
 and his zeal began to abate. He now 
 acted with unwillingness and reluctance,
 
 EMILY PLATER. 
 
 221 
 
 and too weak to sacrifice his personal in- 
 terests to his country, he sacrificed Poland 
 to the satisfaction of mortifying the man 
 he considered his rival. 
 
 On the other hand, Gielgud was a 
 most unfit person to command an expedi- 
 tion of such vast importance — an expedi- 
 tion, the result of which must have a pow- 
 erful, as well as immediate influence, upon 
 the fate of Poland. His corps, after the 
 battle of Ostrolenka, cut off from the rest 
 of the army, was obliged to pass into Li- 
 thuania, and brought with it desponden- 
 cy, insubordination, and that dejection of 
 mind so common to troops in such circum- 
 stances ; troops, too, who entertained 
 more contempt for, than confidence in, 
 their chief. Gielgud did not attempt 
 to repress this moral disorganization ; — he 
 trusted to chance. 
 
 He was the son of one of the confeder- 
 ates of Targovvi^a, whose odious plot, in 
 1792, brought on the second dismember- 
 ment of Poland, and destroyed all the ad- 
 
 19*
 
 222 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 vantages of the constitution of the 3d of 
 May. A favorite with the Grand Duke 
 Constantine, his patriotism could not be 
 undoubted. Besides, he was too insignifi- 
 cant himself to inspire his compatriots, 
 the Lithuanians, with much confidence. 
 Gielgud had also some ambition of his 
 own, but it was as pitiful as his own soul, 
 and as base as his character. Glory and 
 posterity possessed but a moderate share 
 of his' admiration. All human greatness, 
 in his estimation, consists in personal hon- 
 ors, and these, therefore, were the objects 
 of his wishes. The title of commander in 
 chief of a separate corps was enough to 
 intoxicate him. The honors he received, 
 on his entry into Lithuania, completely 
 turned his head, and, treated as a great 
 man by the wliim of fortune, he really 
 thought himself such. Advice wounded 
 his vanity, and he rejected it with arro- 
 gance. It w^as in vain the superior ofii- 
 cers represented and urged that, in their 
 actual situation, every thing depended
 
 EMILY PLATER. 223 
 
 upon readiness of decision and action ; he 
 nevertheless followed his own way. It 
 seemed as if he had no other object in 
 view than the enjoyment of the dignity 
 chance had thrown in his way, for he 
 spent all his time in feasts and pleasures. 
 
 This incapacity and indifference of 
 one of the generals, and the lukewarm- 
 ness manifested by the other, ruined the 
 cause of the insurrection, just at the mo- 
 ment it seemed to have gained stability. 
 The Russians, who were then dispersed 
 all over Lithuania in pursuit of the insur- 
 gents, and in that situation too weak to 
 oppose the united forces of the insurgents, 
 availed themselves of this inaction, on the 
 part of our troops, to concentrate their 
 own forces. Gen. Diebitsch, being inform- 
 ed of the arrival of the Poles, sent Gen. 
 Kourouta, who, at the same time with 
 Tosltoi, advanced, by forced marches, to 
 the relief of Wilna. 
 
 It was then the shout of indignation, 
 raised by the whole army, recalled Gen.
 
 224 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 Gielgud to his duty. Tlie favorable mo- 
 ment had passed ; Wilna, whose garrison 
 before consisted of only three thousand 
 men, had now, within its limits, thirty 
 thousand men, well intrenched and ac- 
 tively employed in preparing for its de- 
 fence. 
 
 Gielgud did not hesitate to offer them 
 battle under the very walls of the city; 
 they accepted the challenge, and the 
 fight was a bloody one. The Polish 
 troops worthily sustained their reputation, 
 but the want of order and discipline 
 neutralized their bravery and heroism. 
 Knowing that they had to deal with Rus- 
 sians, and that their freedom and country 
 were at stake, they rushed with impet- 
 uosity on the masses of the enemy ; and 
 their efforts would, of necessity, have been 
 crowned w^ith success, had they been bet- 
 ter guided. But what is courage without 
 discipline 7 An heroic death, seldom vic- 
 tory, is the natural result. 
 
 This battle, w hich we ought to add de-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 225 
 
 cided nothing, afforded to the Russians an 
 example of the impetuous courage of the 
 Poles ; but it also revealed to them the 
 inferiority of their generals as well as the 
 weak points of their army. Embolden- 
 ed by this first advantage, and relying 
 on the want of discipline of their adver- 
 saries, the Russians resumed the offen- 
 sive, and compelled Gielgud to recede 
 daily. Notwithstanding the promise ex- 
 torted from the commander in chief, Emi- 
 ly was not present at the battle of Wil- 
 na. She was obliged to follow her regi- 
 ment to Kowno, an important post situ- 
 ated at the confluence of the Wilia and 
 the Niemen, and which was to serve as 
 a point through which communication 
 might be effected between Poland and 
 the insurgents of the Palatinate of Au- 
 goustow. 
 
 In the rank of captain, which the com- 
 mander in chief hrfd conferred on her, 
 Emily saw but the means of being useful 
 to her country ; she therefore applied her-
 
 226 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 self to the study of military tactics, and 
 patiently bore the heat of a burning day 
 in June, as well as the chill of nights. She 
 was a model to her men, and the object of 
 their admiration. She seemed endowed 
 with supernatural strength, when all in 
 her was the effect of energy and firm re- 
 solve : her frail and delicate health was 
 greatly impaired. Unfortunate woman ! 
 thrown as she was into the midst of dan- 
 gers and fatigues, she, whom nature had 
 destined for the luxury of the boudoir, to- 
 tally unmindful, as she was, of the com- 
 forts of life, she soon experienced the dire 
 effects of her military life upon her deli- 
 cate constitution. But she w^as never 
 heard to utter a single word of dissatisfac- 
 tion, or the least murmur of complaint. 
 She was resolved to abide by all the con- 
 sequences of the war. She ever kept her- 
 self actively employed, and worked as 
 
 • 
 
 hard as if it had been her inevitable desti- 
 ny. The first company, the men of which 
 being just arrived, were yet in the fresh-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 227 
 
 ness of their ardor and patriotism, soon 
 became the choice company of the regi- 
 ment. 
 
 When the news of the defeat of the 
 Poles, before Wilna, reached Kowno, the 
 troops, whose confidence in the Poles was 
 almost enthusiastic, were disheartened. 
 It seemed to them that such troops ought 
 to be invincible, and, to Emily, it gave an 
 overwhelming blow. It seemed to her 
 that a thunderbolt had struck the cause 
 of the insurgents to the heart, and that 
 this defeat would disgrace the Polish 
 name. Nevertheless she succeeded in 
 overcoming her grief; and by palliating the 
 faults of the generals, extenuating the loss 
 of the army as much as possible, and attribu- 
 ting Gielgud's precipitate retreatto certain 
 mancEuvres designed to draw the Russians 
 out of their intrenchments, she succeeded 
 in restoring the courage of her men ; but 
 within herself, she felt sad and gloomy, 
 and was consumed with her silent suffer- 
 insjs and her own discouragements. Alas !
 
 228 LIFE OP THE COUNTESS 
 
 "vvas such a holy cause, commenced under 
 such auspices, to miscarry through the 
 incapacity of its commanders 7 The fu- 
 ture freedom of the country, her own fu- 
 ture well-being, (for was not her very life 
 identified with the cause she had espous- 
 ed 7) were to be thus prostrated ; — and 
 then she would lament her absence from 
 the battle. " At least," would she say, 
 " death would have been far preferable to 
 defeat, and I would sooner have died than 
 yield." 
 
 But she was soon roused from these re- 
 flections by the imminent danger of that 
 death which she was regretting the not 
 having hazarded. 
 
 After the battle of Wilna,the Russians, 
 as we have already mentioned, assumed 
 theofi'ensive, and hotly pursued the Poles. 
 Kowno, which as before observed was 
 by its position an important point with 
 regard to the plan of operations Gen. 
 Gielgud had adopted, must of necessity 
 have attracted the attention of the Rus-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 229 
 
 sian commander ; — the garrison being 
 weak, the place could be carried by a 
 bold onset. 
 
 Provided with this information, Tolstoi 
 sent, on the 25th June, a pretty strong de- 
 tachment before the city. 
 
 Col. Kiekiernicki, who commanded 
 the place, unfortunately thought proper to 
 disregard the intelligence, which came to 
 him from every direction, and never even 
 thought of blowing up the bridge over the 
 Wilia, which offered an easy ingress to the 
 enemy. This was an error ! The colonel, 
 with a weak regiment of badly armed con- 
 scripts, with scarcely a hundred horse, 
 could hardly expect to withstand the 
 attack of the Russians. 
 
 This imprudent conduct, on the part of 
 Col. Kiekiernicki, was attended with fatal 
 consequences, not only to himself, but also 
 to the whole army ; for it caused the total 
 loss of the regiment Gielgud had confided 
 to him. 
 
 The enemy, once in possession of the 
 
 20
 
 230 LIFE OP THE COUNTESS 
 
 bridge, crossed the river without meeting 
 an obstacle, and rushed at once on the 
 weak columns of the Poles, which they 
 overcome without difficulty. Overwhelm- 
 ed by numbers and by the artillery, the 
 25th of the line began to give way ; now 
 the ranks are all disorder, the confusion 
 increases, cartridges are exhausted, and 
 our men, deprived of all the means of re- 
 sistance, either allow themselves to be 
 butchered by the Russians, or seek safety 
 in flight. 
 
 Stationed on the right of the line, Emi- 
 ly Plater maintained her position with her 
 company ; she received the charge of the 
 Russians with unflinching firmness ; but 
 as the artillery thinned her ranks more and 
 more, she was, at last, forced to retreat. 
 This intrepid heroine gave not up until 
 the last, and she made the enemy pay 
 dearly for every inch of ground they 
 gained upon her; they fought almost hand 
 to hand. 
 
 Her regiment was nearly all shot
 
 EMILY PLATER. 231 
 
 down, hardly one-third of it remaining 
 and although surrounded by the Russians 
 on all sides, yet she continued to fight ; but 
 it is no longer for victory nor to break 
 through the battalions of Cossacks that 
 she rushed into the midst of them, in de- 
 fiance of a thousand deaths ; it is to avoid 
 falling alive into the hands of the Rus- 
 sians ; she wished to leave them nothing 
 but her dead body 
 
 Kiekiernicki, the first cause of this 
 bloody slaughter, being closely pursued by 
 the Russians, arrived at the place where 
 our heroine had been so long holding out 
 in such an unequal contest. As soon as 
 he perceived her, he cleared his way to 
 her through the ranks of the enemy, and 
 offering her his horse, entreats her to save 
 a life so precious to the army, and at least, 
 spare him the grief of her death. She re- 
 fused him, but seemed uncertain how to 
 decide for herself. Overcome, at length, 
 by the entreaties of the colonel, and the 
 solicitations of her men, who had formed
 
 232 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 a fence around her with their own bodies, 
 she retired. It was quite time she did so; 
 her strength being so exhausted as to ren- 
 der her unable to stand any longer ; her 
 sword fell from her grasp, she could no 
 longer offer any resistance. But, at last, 
 making a final effort, she gathered her re- 
 maining strength, and rushing with a shout 
 into the midst of the Cossacks, she cuts 
 and thrusts, and at length succeeds in 
 opening for herself a path through them, 
 which she covers with their bodies. 
 
 But while she was escaping from the 
 Russians, Col. Kiekiernicki was falling 
 into their power, with the sweet consola- 
 tion of having performed an act worthy 
 of an honest man and a loyal soldier. 
 
 Having so miraculously escaped the 
 bloody affair of Kowno, Emily repaired to 
 Rosienie, where the broken remains of the 
 25th of the line had received orders to 
 rendezvous, and replenish its ranks from 
 the insurgents of Samogitia.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 233 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Battles of Schawle and Schawlany.— The Polish army 
 is divided into three corps. — Emily joins that of Gen, 
 Chlapowski, and leaves it on its entering Prussia. — 
 She wishes to pass into Poland. 
 
 It is not my intention to follow the 
 Polish Generals in Lithuania; I shall 
 speak of their disastrous campaign, only 
 so far as its events may have any relation 
 to the life of the heroine, whose biography 
 I am now writing. Others will narrate 
 these events, and pass judgment on the 
 errors of Gielgud and Chlapowski ; errors 
 so numerous and glaring, that history 
 alone can decide whether they were the 
 result of incapacity or treason. Whatever 
 may be that judgment, we may safely as- 
 sert, that, from this very day, all the chiefs 
 of the Polish army in Lithuania, incurred 
 nothing but shame and ignominy. They 
 
 20*
 
 234 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 demoralized and disorganized this army 
 by unaccountable delays and losses of 
 time; and they harassed it by marches 
 and counter-marches, which were as use- 
 less as they were numerous. They seemed 
 to have no particular object in view, and 
 to trust every thing to chance. Disorder 
 prevailed in the ranks, without the least 
 effort on their part to repress it; and, 
 moreover, the culpable inertness of the 
 central government, arbitrarily establish- 
 ed by Gielgud, without the concurrence 
 or consent of the Lithuanians, paralyzed 
 the whole expedition, and rendered un- 
 available all the resources which the de- 
 votedness and patriotism of the invaded 
 provinces might, otherwise, have afforded. 
 The arrival of the Polish General into 
 Lithuania gave the fatal blow to the in- 
 surrection. He called in all the detach- 
 ments, and incorporated them into the old 
 regiments, as if thousands of men could be 
 transformed into properly drilled soldiers 
 by a single dash of the pen.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 235 
 
 By this measure, which necessity even 
 cannot justify, and the fatal consequences 
 of which the chiefs of the insurrection 
 frankly warned him, Gielgud added an- 
 other cause of disorder to those already 
 existing in the army, and moreover left 
 the country opened and exposed to the 
 vengeance of the Russians, as well as to 
 the dreadful effects of a reaction. The 
 Russians had not now to contend with a 
 force spread over the entire surface of the 
 country ; all they had to do was to com- 
 plete the destruction of the remains of an 
 army which was weak and isolated, lack- 
 ing all kinds of munitions, and commanded 
 by a chief destitute of the necessary 
 talents. 
 
 The citizens of Lithuania, deserted by 
 their protectors, wavered between the fear 
 of persecution and their duties as patriots. 
 Had patriotism prevailed with them, they 
 did not know on whom to depend. They 
 were endeavoring to find means of being 
 useful to the cause of independence, but
 
 236 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 could see no possible way to effect their 
 purpose. Surrounded, on all sides, by hos- 
 tile armies, stripped of every thing, and 
 perceiving no prospect of victory, or even 
 a chance for safety, the army was fast 
 losing whatever discipline yet remained to 
 it. It was indeed a body undergoing de- 
 composition, and which the least collision 
 must destroy. The chiefs themselves were 
 ignorant of the movements of the enemy, 
 and took no trouble whatever to obtain 
 information. Their capacity being totally 
 inadequate to the duties of the important 
 charge committed to them, they despaired 
 of that sublime cause of freedom which, 
 we must add, they never understood, and 
 left the decision entirely to chance. 
 
 The patriots, seeing the turn which af- 
 fairs had taken, deeply lamented the fate 
 of their country, their past disasters, as 
 well as those greater ones which they clear- 
 ly saw were impending. Having no con- 
 fidence in their generals, they foresaw no 
 possibility of being extricated from their
 
 EMILY PLATER. 237 
 
 painful situation, and abandoned them- 
 selves to despair. — For a long time they 
 indulged the hope that the command 
 would be given up to Chlapowski; but 
 owing to his ridiculous disinterestedness, 
 they were deceived in their expectations. 
 He wanted to make a show of subordina- 
 tion, while in fact, at the bottom of his 
 heart, this office was the climax of his am- 
 bition. Besides, had this change been ef- 
 fected, it would have been, to the army, a 
 change of names merely, for, as the sequel 
 proved, Gielgud was almost as good as 
 Chlapowski. 
 
 Emily's noble and generous heart bled 
 at the sight of her country's calamities, 
 and the deep sorrow caused by these mis- 
 fortunes, affected her frail and delicate 
 health more sensibly, even, than the fa- 
 tigues which she had undergone. Placed 
 by her rank in the army, in an inferior po- 
 sition, she could exert no influence what- 
 ever upon the method of conducting the 
 war, and all she could do was to bewail
 
 238 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 the fate of her country. Her only solace 
 was the reflection that she should not sur- 
 vive it ; for she never, for a moment, enter- 
 tained the idea of seeking refuge in a for- 
 eign clime, where the compassion of its in- 
 habitants might afford her protection. Al- 
 though in a complete state of despair, she 
 yet remained faithful to her country in the 
 day of its calamities. She even felt an 
 enthusiastic attachment to it, and contin- 
 ued to discharge her duties with the same 
 punctuality, and to take care of the com- 
 pany which remained under her command, 
 with the same zeal as before, and this, too, 
 with the overwhelming conviction that all 
 that she could do was then useless, and 
 that nothing could extricate Gen. Gielgud 
 from the diflficulties in which his unman- 
 nerly stubbornness had involved him. 
 
 The affair of Schawle, in giving the 
 last blow to the Polish army, completed, in 
 a suitable manner, the series of blunders 
 (if I may use so mild an expression) which 
 signalized the campaign in Lithuania.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 239 
 
 Gielgud, whom the Russians were chasing, 
 not knowing which way to turn, conceived 
 the mad idea (God knows why)* of as- 
 saulting Schawle, a little paltry town, 
 which it has pleased the Lithuanians to 
 adorn with the pompous name of citij^ and 
 which is, in fact, nothing but an assem- 
 blage of a few miserable huts almost in 
 ruins. 
 
 At that place, in an intrenchment has- 
 tily thrown up, was a detachment of three 
 thousand Russians, w^io, in all probability, 
 could not long have withstood the attacks 
 of the Poles, who were five times that num- 
 ber. The result unfortunately proved the 
 contrary. Generals Gielgud and Chlap- 
 owski, who were conjointly the command- 
 ers during the battle, saw themselves com- 
 pletely beaten. Not only was the city 
 
 * This is the expression used by Chlapowski, at that 
 time chief of the staff: " We took up the line of march 
 in order to attack Schawle, Dieu salt pourqiioi ! See 
 his letters on the military events of Poland and Lithuania, 
 Berlin, 1S34, page -1:2.
 
 240 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 not taken, but our ranks were horribly 
 thinned ; and our ammunition, which it 
 was highly essential to be sparing of, was 
 entirely exhausted. 
 
 The 25th of the line, after the disas- 
 trous affair of Kowno, had been sent to es- 
 cort the baggage of the army to Schawle, 
 through another route ; but, by some fa- 
 tality attached to that regiment, they fell 
 into an ambush which the Russians had 
 set in the vicinity of Schawlany. The un- 
 avoidable disaster attending an unexpect- 
 ed attack in a narrow road, and in the midst 
 of a dense forest, was greatly increased 
 by the confusion of wagons, and the horses 
 becoming unmanageable. Notwithstand- 
 ing these disadvantages, they made an in- 
 trepid defence, and came off with the loss, 
 merely, of a considerable portion of the 
 baggage, which, in fact, they cared but lit- 
 tle for. After the conflict was over, the 
 commanding officer could not fmd over a 
 hundred men of his whole regiment. The 
 rest, who were, for the the most part, new
 
 EMILY PLATER. 241 
 
 recruits, had improved this opportunity to 
 desert their colors. He brought them 
 back, towards evening, to the vicinity of 
 the village of Kourszany, where he found 
 the army resting after its discomfiture. In 
 Gen. Gielgud's report of the engagement 
 in the forest, he compliments Capt. Emily 
 Plater on her great courage and intrepidi- 
 ty, as well as her astonishing coolness 
 amidst the most imminent dangers. 
 
 The infamous conduct of tl^e comman- 
 der in chief of the army could no longer 
 be overlooked. It was no longer possible 
 for him to retain the command, as he had 
 become the object of execration, not only 
 to the officers, but also to every private in 
 the army, by w^hom he was openly called 
 the author of all our disasters, and some 
 even went so far as to accuse him of trea- 
 son. 
 
 The critical situation in which we 
 were placed, rendered it highly necessary 
 to call a council of war. This was con- 
 voked on the next night, and after a long 
 
 21
 
 242 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 discussion on the means of saving the 
 army, it was tinally resolved to retreat 
 into Poland. 
 
 Gielgud, in consequence of this decision, 
 lost his command ; the army w^as divided 
 into three separate corps, and the com- 
 mand of each confided to Gen. Chlapow- 
 ski, Rohland and Dembinski, who were to 
 act separately, the better to enable them 
 to effect a passage over the Niemen. 
 
 As soon as the order was promulgated, 
 each one prepared himself to follow the 
 general who most fully possessed his con- 
 fidence. The fictitious confidence attach- 
 ed to the name of Gen. Chlapovvski, al- 
 though much diminished by the inactivity 
 and indifference which he had displayed, 
 while chief of Gielgud's staff, induced al- 
 most every one to believe that he, alone, 
 could effect that retreat as skilfully as he 
 had, six weeks before, effected his entrance 
 into Lithuania, by means as bold as they 
 were ingenious. Consequently the great- 
 est part placed themselves under his com-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 243 
 
 mand ; and Emily Plater, whose regiment 
 no longer existed, sharing in this opinion, 
 or rather the general error, joined and fol- 
 lowed him. 
 
 The general confidence reposed in the 
 talents of Chlapowski would not allow 
 them, for a moment, to doubt a successful 
 return into Poland, where every one 
 hoped to clear himself of the disgrace with 
 which Gielgud had covered the whole 
 army. They were all ready to make any 
 sacrifice for the attainment of this object. 
 The burning of the baggage excited but a 
 slight murmur. They considered as noth- 
 ing their continual marches and want of 
 food and rest ; the anticipation of rejoining 
 the standards of their brethren alone con- 
 stituted their support and consolation. 
 
 We had thus proceeded by forced 
 marches, for two days and two nights, 
 without meeting a single enemy, and we 
 began to hope that he had lost all traces 
 of us, and that soon our wishes would be 
 realized, when, toward the beginning of
 
 244 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 the third day, we descried the bounda- 
 ries of Prussia. We halted, and Chla- 
 powski then informed us, that for us to 
 reach PoLand in safety was impracticable, 
 and that he thought it his duty to take 
 advantage of the only chance of safety re- 
 maining to us, namely the protection of 
 Prussia. 
 
 It would be difficult indeed to give an 
 idea of tlie effect which this unexpected 
 decision produced in the army, and of the 
 consternation which pervaded it. To lay 
 down those arms, the sole dependence of 
 our dearest hopes ; to surrender ourselves, 
 of our own free will and accord, prisoners 
 to a power which, although neutral, was yet 
 hostile to our cause, and thus see Prussia 
 triumph over us; to rot in inaction when 
 our country was in danger and required 
 all the efforts of her sons to help her ; to 
 lead a wretched life in shame and dis- 
 grace ; to have to blush before the stranger 
 as well as our compatriots, who would 
 brand us with cowardice and perhaps trca-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 245 
 
 son, — how exasperating were such consid- 
 erations ! How distressing suilA prospects 
 to a Pole ! 
 
 But if, on the one hand, honor revolt- 
 ed at such an ignominious retreat, on the 
 other, the imagination, struck with such a 
 frightful picture of our situation, a picture 
 shaded with its own sombre hues, repre- 
 sented the return into Poland as imprac- 
 ticable or as impossible. It is not to be 
 wondered at, then, that the greatest part 
 of the army, though with hearts bursting 
 with grief and shame, followed the gene- 
 ral into the Prussian territory; and yet 
 some, who were endowed with a most en- 
 ergetic spirit and heroic courage, rushed 
 headlong amid the Russians, with a faint 
 expectation of forcing their way through 
 them into Poland, and thus being yet able 
 to serve the cause of independence. 
 
 Emily Plater, who was not surpassed in 
 courage and patriotism by any one, eX' 
 perienced, throughout, these feelings in 
 common with her companions in arms, but 
 
 21*
 
 246 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 ill a greater degree ; for, being a woman, 
 she loved l#r country as a woman knows 
 how to love, having fought for it with the 
 most manly courage. Her noble and en- 
 thusiastic soul had but one wish, and that 
 was to save her country, or to die for it, 
 should it become necessary. With her 
 the sacrifice w^as as sincere as it was 
 entire. She could not bring herself to 
 believe that all was lost beyond hope. 
 She was neither dejected nor discour- 
 aged. The love of country afiforded her 
 the needful strength to bear the weight 
 of misfortunes which overwhelmed us. 
 Her firm conviction of the justice of our 
 cause nourished hope in her own heart. 
 During the whole of this retreat, she 
 appeared calm and resigned, hoping for 
 better dayl, and feeding her imagination 
 with heroic projects. Often she would 
 deem herself in Poland, making her en- 
 trance into Warsaw, whence she was as- 
 sisting, as it seemed to her, to expel the 
 Russians, when a report reached her that
 
 EMILY PLATER. 247 
 
 she was to finish all her dreams in 
 Prussia. 
 
 At first, she refused to believe a word 
 of it, and ran to Chlapowski to ascertain 
 the truth of it. At the first words of the 
 general, she resigned all hope, and the 
 truth appeared before her eyes in all its 
 gloomy horror. Then, a sublime scene 
 took place in Chlapowski's tent. A female, 
 weak and timid, though strong in patriot- 
 ism, and as full of hatred for the Russians 
 as she was of contempt for cowards and 
 traitors, dared to face him, and reproach 
 him with his base, ignominious conduct. 
 " You have betrayed the confidence re- 
 posed in you," said she to him ; " you have 
 betraved the cause of freedom and of our 
 country, as well as of honor. As for my- 
 self, I will not follow your steps into a 
 foreign country to expose my shame to 
 strangers. Some blood yet remains in my 
 veins, and I have still left an arm to raise 
 the sword against the enemy. I have a 
 proud heart, too, which never will submit 
 to the ignominy of treason. Go to Prussia !
 
 248 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 Your representation of our situation does 
 not affright me. I prefer a thousand deaths 
 to dishonor, and I fear not to encounter 
 them while forcing my way through the 
 Russian battalions, in order to go and offer 
 to my country this sword, which I have 
 already raised in her defence, and the 
 sacrifice of my life, if necessary. 
 
 As soon as she had left the general's 
 tent, she collected her friends, and commu- 
 nicated to them the scene which had just 
 taken place, and, also, the unalterable 
 resolution which she had taken. Death, 
 in the most frightful shape, appeared to 
 her preferable to infamy. She, therefore, 
 lost not a moment. The same evening, 
 she left the army, accompanied by her in- 
 dispensable friend Mary Kaszanowicz, and 
 Count Caesar Plater, who wished to share 
 her dangers as well as her glory. 
 
 The next day. Gen. Chlapovvski gave 
 up his sword to the Prussian authorities, 
 who were astonished to see a Pole lay 
 down his arms.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 249 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Emily is overcome by fatigue in the midst of her march. — 
 She is taken sick. — Her sufferings. — Her death. — Her 
 character. — Conclusion. 
 
 Ten days after this event, three per- 
 sons might be seen reclining upon a knoll, 
 surrounded by a marsh and the thick 
 forests of Augustin. They are clad in the 
 common dress of the peasants of the coun- 
 try. They have on coarse linen frocks, 
 and their feet are covered with sandals of 
 bark. But their noble and delicate fea- 
 tures betray their real station ; and 
 those arms, carefully concealed under their 
 garments, show that they belong to the 
 remains of the Lithuanian army, which 
 the Russians are everywhere in pursuit 
 of. They seem to be impatiently and 
 anxiously waiting for some one, although 
 a profound silence prevails among them, 
 and they are startled at the least noise.
 
 250 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 " Cover your arms, Emily," says one of 
 them in a low voice, " the air is damp and 
 we have but little powder." These are 
 the only words which are uttered duritig a 
 long and fruitless expectation of three or 
 four hours. 
 
 How deeply affecting is the spectacle 
 of these noble children of Poland, con- 
 cealed in the thickets, in the midst of hos- 
 tile battalions, and who are thus encoun- 
 tering hardships, death and slavery, in 
 order to join the battles of their country, 
 and serve her to the last! 
 
 Sublime patriotism ! Unquenchable 
 flame, which, like the magnetic force in 
 the natural world, animates the soul, and 
 endues it with power to execute things 
 which are seemingly beyond the limit of 
 human achievement! Glorious sentiments 
 of devotedness, ready for any sacrifice, 
 regardless of danger and suffering, how 
 worthy of our deep respect and admira- 
 tion ; and how pitiful the soul which can- 
 not understand you !
 
 EMILY PLATER. 251 
 
 The sun was beginning to decline, the 
 woods re-echoed the lowings of the flocks, 
 which were leaving their pasture, and the 
 plaintive and monotonous song of the herds- 
 man, who was leading them back to the 
 village. The evening was dark and 
 cloudy; very soon, a cold fine rain set in ; 
 the young people wrapped themselves up 
 as well as they were able in their misera- 
 ble frocks, but they did not dare to leave 
 their retreats in order to go to seek shelter 
 in some cottage. 
 
 " How slow in returning !" said the 
 youngest of the three, smiling. 
 
 " Have no fear, Mary," was the reply, 
 " our guide is a Samogitian, and the faith of 
 the Samogitians has been well proved. 
 Some obstacle, without doubt, has detained 
 him beyond the appointed hour, but he will 
 soon return, and I hope we shall resume 
 our journey to-night." 
 
 " That is if he brings us something to 
 eat," said Mary ; " for it is now twenty- 
 four hours since we partook of food, and I
 
 252 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 feel that I have great need of refresh- 
 ment." 
 
 " Have courage ladies," said Caesar 
 Plater, smiling, " and our misfortunes will 
 soon be ended. Our journey, as you well 
 know, has been thus far difficult and disa- 
 greeable, but the most difficult part of it 
 has been accomplished. Thank God and 
 the brave peasants of Samogitia, we have 
 passed the Niemen, that barrier which 
 separated us from Poland, and in a few 
 days, I hope, we shall be in Warsaw." 
 
 " A few days yet," repeated Emily, 
 casting a look of the deepest sadness upon 
 her limbs, which were bruised and torn by 
 a long journey through marshes and dense 
 forests, and which seemed to refuse to bear 
 her further. The train of sorrowful 
 thoughts which was passing through her 
 mind was interrupted by a sharp and pro- 
 longed whistle, and a peasant, about sixty 
 years of age, but still fresh and vigorous, 
 was seen approaching. 
 
 " God be thanked, my children," said
 
 EMILY PLATER. 253 
 
 he to them, I am somewhat late, but it has 
 been impossible for me to arrive sooner. 
 These Russian dogs seized me, as I was 
 coming out of the w^ood, and I have passed 
 a very bad quarter of an hour in the hands 
 of these brigands. They were a long time 
 searching me and asking me questions. 
 Fortunately, I belong to the country, and 
 am well known, thank God ! So the 
 Avhole village confirmed my statement, 
 when I told them that I w^as going to the 
 neighboring village to see my father-in- 
 law, Martin the blacksmith. At last they 
 let me go, and I came off with only a few^ 
 blows, w^hich God, in his own good time, 
 will, without doubt, return to them." 
 
 " The infamous villains !" cried Mary. 
 
 '' In the mean while I have brought you 
 something to eat and I am very sure you 
 must have great need of it ;" and at the 
 same time, he drew from his wallet a black 
 loaf, half bran, a piece of cheese, hard as a 
 stone, and a small bottle of brandy. " All 
 this is not w orth much ; but it wall, never- 
 
 22
 
 254 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 theless, serve to appease hunger in some 
 degree. God knows I feared to take any 
 thing more, for fear of exciting the suspi- 
 cion of these Russians." 
 
 " This is better than nothing," said 
 Mary, gayly, and she began to eat with 
 apparent appetite. 
 
 " What news, old man ?" asked Count 
 Plater. " Can we soon renew our march V 
 
 " Impossible yet, my good sir ; the coun- 
 try is full of Russians, who are in pursuit 
 of our brave Pouschet. We must wait until 
 this rabble quits the country, or at least 
 until sleep closes their eyes, so that you 
 may pass, with safety, through these files 
 of Cossacks. In the mean while, take 
 some rest ; sleep, and I will awaken you 
 when it will be safe for you to commence 
 your journey." 
 
 Emily took but little nourishment. 
 For several days, a burning fever had con- 
 sumed her. The blood boiled in her veins, 
 and her hot breath had rendered her lij's 
 parched. Her heavy head fell back upon
 
 EMILY PLATER. 255 
 
 her shoulders, and she felt within her the 
 germ of a malady, which she knew would 
 not permit her to pursue her projects, and 
 witness the accomplishment of her beau- 
 tiful dreams. She concealed, in the mean 
 while, her frightful condition from the un- 
 fortunate companions of her journey, and 
 passed whole nights in prayer to God that 
 he would grant her, at least, one thing ; 
 that she miglit behold Warsaw — might 
 see the Polish standard, and then die. 
 Long before daylight, the old man called 
 up our pilgrims, and told them it was time 
 to set out. He enjoined on them the 
 most profound silence, and recommended 
 the utmost precaution until they should 
 liave passed the Russian camp, along 
 which they had to pass. 
 
 The young people followed their 
 guide in deep silence, hardly venturing to 
 breathe. Thanks to their precautions and 
 the darkness of the night, they succeeded 
 in winding round the camp without alarm- 
 ing the sentinels, whose calls they distinct-
 
 256 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 ly heard. Although she felt her illness 
 increase continually, Emily kept up her 
 march, repressing with the greatest care 
 all expression of pain. Fever was con- 
 suming her, but still, notwithstanding her 
 lacerated feet, she still continued to ad- 
 vance. The strength of the spirit exceed- 
 ed that of the body. Patriotism, alone, 
 helped to sustain her, but at last she was 
 obliged to give up. All at once, her sight 
 became dim, her limbs refused to per- 
 form their office longer, and she at length 
 fainted. 
 
 " Great God!" ejaculated the old man. 
 " Take up your brother, my children, and 
 carry him where I will show you ; the 
 Russians will not seek him there." 
 
 Mary Kaszanovvicz and the Count 
 Plater took Emily in their arms, and in 
 about a quarter of an hour the mournful 
 train stopped before the door of a miser- 
 able looking hut. It was that of the for- 
 ester. 
 
 During this unhappy war it was not a
 
 EMILY PLATER. 257 
 
 rare sight to see insurgents pursued by 
 the Russians, or indeed citizens flying be- 
 fore persecution, soliciting shelter from the 
 peasants, which was always most eagerly 
 granted. 
 
 The arrival, therefore, of these four 
 persons did not astonish the peaceable in- 
 habitants of this poor cottage. 'The old 
 man entered first, exchanged a few words 
 in Savnogitian with the forester and his 
 wife, who instantly arose to furnish aid to 
 the sick one. They placed the cold and 
 pallid body of Emily upon a bed and cov- 
 ered it up warmly, and sought to recall it , 
 to life, for she had not yet recovered her 
 sensibility. It was a body in which death 
 and life were sustaining a fierce struggle 
 for the mastery. 
 
 '' Blessed Jesus !" exclaimed the for- 
 ester's wife, as she was bathing Emily's 
 temples with brandy ; so young and already 
 so unfortunate ! Poor child, he has suf- 
 fered much." 
 
 22 
 
 *
 
 258 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 " May the curse of heaven fall upon 
 the Tzar," answered the peasants. 
 
 All at once, the woman raised a shriek, 
 which neither Csesar nor Mary understood 
 the reason of. — In her efforts to reanimate 
 Emily she had discovered her sex, and the 
 idea immediately occurred to her, that this 
 person could be no other than the Countess 
 Emily Plater, who.se exploits she had 
 often heard praised. Admiration and 
 astonishment rendered her, for a moment, 
 mute and motionless. 
 
 She stared, in mute contemplation, 
 upon the thin and pale face of the dying 
 Emily. She took her husband aside, and 
 communicated to him the curious discovery 
 which she had made, but which she would 
 not make known to any other individual 
 so long as Emily lived. 
 
 They had relinquished all hope of 
 restoring her, when a sudden and convul- 
 sive chill pervaded her frame. She then 
 opened her eyes, and perceiving herself in
 
 EMILY PLATER. 259 
 
 a hut, surrounded by her fellow travellers, 
 her fainting fit in the forest came to her 
 recollection, and pressing the hand of her 
 cousin, said to him, not without effort : 
 
 " My strength is failing me ; I feel that 
 death is not far distant. Continue your 
 journey. — May you reach Warsaw in 
 safety ; — you may be able to render, there, 
 some service to our country. As for me, 
 my career is ended. Grieve no more for 
 poor Emily, she well knows how to die." 
 
 Caesar Plater, alarmed at the danger of 
 his cousin, whose state of health was not 
 yet removed from danger, and not wishing 
 to leave her in the cottage of the forester, 
 whose extreme poverty, notwithstanding 
 his good will and tenderness of feeling, 
 W'ould forbid his bestowing upon her the 
 extreme care which her situation required, 
 applied to the proprietor of the village, 
 and explaining to him the whole mystery, 
 entreated him to lend his assistance to a 
 dying female, exhausted by fatigue, and 
 whose unbounded and exalted devotedness
 
 260 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 to the Polish cause, had placed her in this 
 situation. 
 
 Citizen A**** was a good patriot, 
 and, above all, an honest man ; he granted 
 his request at once, and the poor patient 
 was carried to his house, where she re- 
 ceived medical attendance, and the most 
 assiduous and tender care.. 
 
 Relieved from his extreme anxiety, 
 with respect to Emily, Csesar Plater 
 resumed his journey, and in a short time 
 arrived at Warsaw. We cannot help 
 devoting here a few words to this young 
 hero of Poland, who himself also was a 
 remarkable instance of self-devotion to his 
 country, and who sacrificed every thing in 
 her service. What has he not done for 
 Poland 1 And what would he not have 
 done in order to see her free and independ- 
 ent ? At the age of twenty-one, he forsook 
 his rank and fortune to place himself at 
 the head of the peasants whom he had 
 excited to revolt, and furnished with arms. 
 He fought as long as the contest lasted,
 
 EMILY PLATER. 261 
 
 and when all was lost in Lithuania, he 
 repaired to Poland, where he still con- 
 tinued to fight, being always found in front, 
 where duty called a true Pole. Most 
 faithful in every duty, and devoted to the 
 cause he had espoused, he rendered im- 
 portant services to that cause. All his 
 property has been confiscated, and he 
 himself proscribed. But all this does not 
 prevent him from serving his country, in 
 being useful to the Polish cause in France, 
 where he has sought refuge. The small 
 amount he has saved from the wreck of his 
 fortune, he devotes to the relief of those of 
 his compatriots who are more unfortunate, 
 even, than himself, and particularly to the 
 education of the young emigrants, whose 
 means are insufficient for preparing them, 
 as true Poles, to bring back to their native 
 country, at some future time, those arts 
 and sciences which the Autocrat has 
 taken so much pains to suppress. 
 
 Mary Raszanowicz, sacrificing glory 
 to friendship, remained near the bed of
 
 262 LIKE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 sickness, and devoted herself day and 
 night to the unremitted care of her, whose 
 dangers and fatigues she had for so long 
 time shared. 
 
 Quietness, and the skill of the phy- 
 sician, at last prevailed in saving Emily 
 ftom the jaws of death, and she began to 
 recover her strength in this hospitable 
 mansion, where she was secreted under 
 the name of Mademoiselle Korawinska, 
 and constantly treated with all the re- 
 spect she was entitled to, by her birth, 
 devotedness and misfortunes. 
 
 Meanwhile, the state of affairs in Po- 
 land were taking a bad turn. Since the 
 battle of Ostrolenka, Skrzynecki was re- 
 maining in a state of the most unaccount- 
 able inaction. After the death of Die- 
 bitsch, Paskiewicz, who had been ap- 
 pointed to the command of the Russian 
 army, had effected, without any molesta- 
 tion, his passage over the Vistula. 
 
 The Poles, whom the seeming indiffer- 
 ence of their general in chief had exas-
 
 EMILY PLATER. 263 
 
 perated, and, who, probably, were too 
 easily inclined to believe in the accusa- 
 tions of the discontented, deprived him of 
 the command, without well knowing 
 whom to appoint in his place. This im- 
 portant and delicate charge, which some 
 refused, while others exercised it for a 
 few days only, at last fell into the hands 
 of Krukowiecki, an ambitious and in- 
 triguing man, and one in respect to whom 
 the Poles ought to have been more on 
 their guard than any one else ; the previ- 
 ous conduct of this chief having been far 
 from a character to inspire favor and con- 
 fidence. The army, which this continual 
 change of commanders had actually de- 
 moralized, lost all sense of subordination ; 
 contradictory orders were issued, and, of 
 course, badly executed. There was no 
 longer any union, or plan of action, and 
 the orders issued one day, were counter- 
 manded the next. In the mean while 
 Paskiewicz drew near to Warsaw, and 
 whether it was that Krukowiecki had
 
 264 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 already sold himself to the Russians, or 
 Avhether he was destitute of all the quali- 
 ties of a general, or whether the indiffer- 
 ence of the chiefs had paralyzed the cour- 
 age of the army ; Warsaw surrendered, 
 in pursuance of a capitulation between 
 Krukowiecki and Paskiewicz. After the 
 loss of the capital, the army was by no 
 means disposed to abandon the cause. It 
 wished to contend as long as there was an 
 inch of Polish ground remaining. But 
 those in power had already become dis- 
 couraged, and depression of mind succeed- 
 ed to patriotism. They lost all confi- 
 dence in their cause, discord arose among 
 them, their minds became exasperated, 
 they began to negotiate, and in conclu- 
 sion, Rybinski. who had been lately ap- 
 pointed commander in chief of the Polish 
 army, marched the troops into the Prus- 
 sian territory, and placed them under the 
 protection of King William. 
 
 Such was the final result of this glo- 
 rious struggle, which, during several
 
 EMILY PLATER. 265 
 
 months, had astonished all Europe, and 
 kept it in suspense between hope and fear. 
 The nations saw on one side, barbarity — 
 hideous barbarity, with its hoards of brute 
 and submissive savages, who, under the 
 fear of the knout and the cannon's mouth 
 were compelled to encounter death. On 
 the other, a long oppressed and suffering 
 nation, jealous of its rights, and who was 
 desirous of reco veering its independence. 
 A mere handful of brave men accomplish- 
 ed all that courage and patriotism could 
 effect. But alas ! they yielded, because 
 Europe forsook them in their struggle, — 
 heroic struggle, in which two nations ea- 
 gerly fought hand to hand with each other, 
 — bloody and glorious struggle, which pre- 
 served France from a third invasion, and 
 inflicted a deep, and, perhaps, incurable 
 wound upon the Russian colossus. Had 
 it not been for this long and bloody fight 
 for several months, on the banks of the 
 Vistula, and under the walls of Warsaw, 
 it is not improbable that the Russians 
 
 23
 
 266 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 might have invaded the world, and ac- 
 complished their gigantic project of uni- 
 versal empire.* Liberty would have been 
 suppressed in every country in which it 
 is a constituent element in the happiness 
 of the people. Slavery and barbarity 
 would have reigned everywhere supreme. 
 Glory to my country ! By her own death 
 she has been the salvation of the world. 
 All these events closely followed each 
 other, and becoming known to the citizens 
 of the distant provinces, destroyed their 
 deeply cherished hopes. This sad news 
 was kept with the most scrupulous care 
 from the knowledge of Emily, in the ap- 
 prehension that it would produce a relapse 
 which might prove fatal. But all precau- 
 tion proved fruitless. The overwhelming 
 intelligence of the Poles having sought 
 refuge in Prussia reached her ears, and 
 gave her the fatal blow. Her soul, iden- 
 
 * A very extravagant idea, but such is the text. 
 Translator.
 
 EMILY PLATER. 267 
 
 tified with the existence of Poland, refus- 
 ed to inhabit longer its shattered tene- 
 ment, worn out by fatigues and sufferings ; 
 and all that medical skill could possibly 
 effect, was to prolong, for a few miserable 
 days, an existence which had become 
 hateful to her, since she had learned that 
 Poland, her beloved country, had been 
 enslaved again. She could not longer 
 dwell on that soil, which had, once more, 
 fallen into the possession of barbarians, 
 who would overwhelm its enslaved inhab- 
 itants with wo. Her heart was broken, 
 and her noble soul disdained an existence 
 which henceforth was to be replete with 
 misery and suffering. She had no wish 
 to live any longer ; all her ties with this 
 world were rent asunder, and, therefore, 
 it was with feelings of gladness that she 
 saw the approach of death. Hardly any 
 thing in the world could have induced her 
 to sacrifice the freedom of her own dear 
 Poland, which) in her own imagination,
 
 268 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 she had so long considered free and happy, 
 but now trampled under the feet of two 
 hundred thousand Russians, and, like her- 
 self, breathing her last. 
 
 Feeling the approach of her last hour, 
 after having submitted herself to God's 
 holy will, and received the last consola- 
 tions of religion, she asked for her arms. 
 She seized them with a feeble grasp, and 
 a burning tear escaped from her eyelid. 
 Her look seemed for a moment to express 
 regret. Alas ! all she regretted and wept 
 for, was that she had failed in saving her 
 country, and that she was unable to serve 
 that country longer. Unwilling to be 
 separated from her arms, she requested 
 that they might be placed in her tomb ; 
 and in the very act of pressing them close 
 to her heart, she expired. Her last breath 
 was a supplication to the Supreme Being, 
 that lie would vouchsafe to take under his 
 holy protection her suffering compatriots, 
 who, less fortunate than herself, remained
 
 EMILY PLATER. 269 
 
 exposed to the vengeful ire of their tyrants, 
 as well as her unhappy country, which 
 Heaven seemed to have forsaken. 
 
 Emily Plater expired on the 23d day 
 of December, 1831. — Such was the short 
 but glorious career of this heroic female, 
 who in the twenty-sixth year of her age, 
 fell a victim to the misfortunes of her 
 country. Endowed by nature with a 
 masculine character and a sanguine tem- 
 perament, she marked out for herself a 
 lofty, bold and poetic destiny ; and when 
 the fit opportunity for realizing her youth- 
 ful dream occurred, she did not shrink 
 from danger and fatigue, but always 
 showed herself worthy of her self-imposed 
 mission. Endowed with all those quali- 
 ties, which render a w^oman almost an ob- 
 ject of adoration, she was gentle, benevo- 
 lent, susceptible of the enjoyment of friend- 
 ship and feelings of gratitude, but always 
 a perfect stranger to the emotions of love. 
 When she lost her mother, she bestow- 
 ed her love exclusively upon her country. 
 
 23*
 
 270 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 She clung to Poland with all the passion- 
 ate ardor of a lover. Poland alone was 
 the subject of her dreams, and she was 
 ever ready to sacrifice her happiness, her 
 own opinions, and life itself, to the inde- 
 pendence of that country which she so 
 passionately loved. 
 
 Having adopted Joan d'Arc for her 
 model, she equalled that extraordinary wo- 
 man in courage and devotedness; the only 
 difference between them is, that the one 
 met with success, and the other with mis- 
 fortune ; and yet both died the victims of 
 their patriotism. Religious writers, in 
 speaking of Joan d'Arc, have long sought 
 to ascribe to a miracle, that which was 
 purely the effect of religious enthusiasm, 
 and entire devotedness to the cause of her 
 country. What is it that an exalted pat- 
 riotism cannot achieve ! Wliat is it that 
 a being, even naturally so weak, is not 
 capable of, when strongly impressed by 
 noble and holy motives! Joan d'Arc, im- 
 pelled by her religious enthusiasm, at the
 
 EMILY PLATER. 271 
 
 sight of the misfortunes of her country, 
 which she believed herself destined to 
 relieve, flies to the field. On the other 
 hand, Emily Plater, unable to behold any 
 longer the sufferings of Poland in the 
 chains of a cruel slavery, calls to arms 
 her compatriots as soon as the first shout 
 of independence is heard. They are two 
 of the most beautiful and interesting beings 
 the annals of any nation can offer. Joan 
 d'Arc roused Charles VII. from his effemi- 
 nate pleasures, and placed a sword in his 
 hands to reconquer his kingdom, and expel 
 the English from the soil. 
 
 Emily Plater electrified her compat- 
 riots, whom slavery had degraded. She 
 rekindled, in every heart, the fire of patriot- 
 ism and devotedness. Both were models, 
 in their respective countries, wortliy of 
 imitation. But to assist the efforts of Joan 
 d'Arc, the French had a well appointed 
 army ; whereas the Lithuanians had only 
 a fev^^ insurgents from the peasantry, bad- 
 ly equipped, and almost destitute of arms,
 
 272 LIFE OF THE COUNTESS 
 
 and totally unacquainted with the use of 
 the sword or musket. It was not the 
 fault of Emily Plater if we had no Dunois 
 or La Tremouilles to assist her in her 
 great undertakings. If the maid of Or- 
 leans is, to this day, the glory and pride 
 of France, so will Emily Plater be the 
 glory and pride of Poland, and her name 
 will descend to posterity, blessed by the 
 nation she has endeavored to wrest from 
 barbarity and oppression, and the admira- 
 tion of all that possesses a manly heart. 
 Joan d'Arc and Emily Plater are two of 
 the most resplendent jewels in the crown 
 of nations. They are ornaments of hu- 
 manity, and the nations who shall produce 
 such persons will always rank among the 
 first in the world. Good trees alone can 
 produce such good fruit. 
 
 The obsequies of Emily Plater were 
 simple and mournful. The whole country 
 being in possession of the despot, how 
 could those funeral solemnities, due to the 
 heroine of our liberty, be performed ! No
 
 EMILY PLATER. 273 
 
 funeral oration was pronounced over the 
 grave. She was privately buried, like a 
 precious relic, which they were endeav- 
 oring to preserve from the outrages and 
 profanations of impious barbarians. A 
 wooden cross only was placed at the head 
 of her grave, which some time after was 
 covered with a white stone slab, until the 
 day shall arrive when her grateful coun- 
 try, in the enjoyment of freedom and glory, 
 will be permitted to raise to her memory, 
 a monument worthy of her and her distin- 
 guished services. 
 
 The only epitaph on that stone is the 
 single word, 
 
 EMILIA.
 
 ^0 tlje,inanoru of tl)e Olountess 
 
 What is a woman's weak, delicate form, 
 
 But a flower that droops beneath every etorm, — 
 
 That shrinks as the chilly breeze wanders by. 
 
 And if tempests arise must fade and die ! 
 
 Oh ! let her be placed on a fairy throne, 
 
 To be flattered, and worshipped, and gazed upon ; 
 
 She never was destined to view the strife, 
 
 The carnage, the toil of this earthly life ; 
 
 But to smile and charm in the summer hours, 
 
 Basking in sunshine like other sweet flow'rs. 
 
 Oh ! never should sorrow its dim form rear, 
 
 To stain that cheek with its scalding tear. 
 
 For the radiant light of those sunny eyes, 
 
 Can only beam under cloudless skies ; 
 
 And her fairy footsteps may only fall 
 
 In a bower of love, or the banquet hall. 
 
 Such woman was ever — and still must be —
 
 276 EMILIA PLATER. 
 
 No: Poland! e'en wowimi can change for thee: 
 
 She doth not shrink from the scathing storm, 
 
 Tho' fragile and weak be her lovely form; 
 
 She doth not desert in the hour of need 
 
 Her Country, her friends, but with them will bleed,- 
 
 As a guardian spirit will hover around 
 
 Where artillery thunders and trumpets sound. 
 
 And oh ! if " the lion will turn and flee 
 
 From a maid in the pride of her purity," 
 
 What demon could harm e'en a single hair 
 
 Of the angel forms that minister there ?
 
 ©ouronne Poetxqite* 
 
 £L.E OIE. 
 
 Dors, o ma Pologne, dors en pais dans ce qu'ils appeUent ta tombe ; moi, 
 
 ie sais que c'est ton berceau. 
 
 J ^ F. DE Lamennais. 
 
 Passe a I'entour de moi, passe, Ifeger fant6me ; 
 Qu'un people infortune dans son exil me nomme, 
 
 Mais qu'il me nomme avec orgueil ! 
 Salut-k toi, salut, vierge, auguste heroine, 
 Jeanne d'Arc de la France ! oh ! quel front ne s'incline 
 
 Devantta vie et ton cercueil ! 
 
 24
 
 278 EMILIE PLATER. 
 
 Ta vie ! elle est sublime ! ah ! que ton ame ardente 
 Devait souffrir de voir la Pologne mourante 
 
 Et par les rois mise en lambeaux ! 
 Ces voraces vautours, avec des cris de joie, 
 Se I'etaient partagee, et dormaient sur leur proie 
 
 Qui reposait dans trois tombeaux.* 
 
 II. 
 
 Mais dans ces trois tombeaux courait encor la vie. 
 
 Le cadavre n'etait point mort; 
 II ne saurait mourir le feu qui vivifie ; 
 
 Parfois seulement il s'endort, 
 Et les tyrans alors triomphent par le glaive : 
 
 Le peuple esclave souffre et sert. 
 Mais leur regne est bien court; la Liberte se leva 
 
 Et brise leur sceptre de fer. 
 Oh ! que tu dus jouir, quand tu vis ta patrie, 
 
 Tout-2i-coup ansi se levant, 
 Comme un frele roseau, briser la tyrannie 
 
 Q,ui tremblait sur le sol mouvant ! 
 
 • La Pologne partagee entre la Russie, la Prusse et I'Autriche,
 
 ELEGIE. 279 
 
 Les tombeaux s'entr'ouvraient comme les tentes pleines 
 
 D'un camp qui s'eveille au matin : 
 Des heroa en sortaient. — lis couvrirent les plaines, 
 
 Comme des cavales sans frein. 
 lis jeterent au monde un cri d'independance 
 
 Q,ue voulaient-ils ? la Liberie, 
 Le plus beau des tresors. — Cinquante ans de souffrance 
 
 Le leur avaient bien merite. 
 Au milieu de leurs rangs tu t'elancas sans crainte, 
 
 Comme un chevalier d'autrefois, 
 Appelant tout un peuple k la liberte sainte 
 
 Et par I'exemple et par la voix. 
 Q,ue n'aurais-tu pas fait pour briser les entraves 
 
 dui sur la Pologne pesaient, 
 Pour fouler a tes pieds ces bataillons d'esclaves 
 Qui sur son corps sanglant passaient et repassaient ? 
 
 III. 
 
 Tu combattis long-teraps, Heroine inspiree ! 
 Mais, helas ! la patra ises tyrans livree 
 
 Redescendit dans son cercueil. 
 Ses freres, ees amis, qui devaient la defendre, 
 L'avaient abandonnee, et nous vimes s'etendre 
 
 Sur elle un long crepe de deuil.
 
 280 
 
 EMILIE PLATER. 
 
 Elle tomba. — Posant leur main lourde sur elle, 
 Ses bourreaux, satisfaits dans leur rage cruelle, 
 
 L'ecrasent sous un joug pesant. 
 Oh ! qui jamais souffrit un plus cruel martyrs 1 
 Attachee k sa croix, elle souffre, elle expire, 
 Et de ses flancs ouverts coulent des flots de sang. 
 
 Mais, par ces flots de sang, bienfaisante rosee, 
 La Pologne, 6 mon Dieu ! sera fertilisee ; 
 
 Elle enfantera des heros. 
 Et, comme un fier lion secouant sa criniere 
 Elle se levera puissante, libre et fiere, 
 
 Et devorera ses bourreaux. 
 
 J'en jure par le Cicl, la Pologne qui tombe, 
 Comme autrefois le Christ, sortira de sa tombe, 
 
 Brillante comme un glaive ardent. 
 Un peuple d'exiles reverra sa patrie ; 
 lis fouleront aux pieds I'ignoble barbarie ; 
 
 lis broiront leurs sous la dent.
 
 ELEGIE. 281 
 
 IV. 
 
 Et toi, Vierge martyre, alors qu'apres ton reve 
 
 De patrie et de liberie, 
 Tu vis cette patrie expirer sous le glaive ; 
 
 Q,uand son cadavre ensanglante 
 Fut remis dans la tombe et scelle sous la pierre, 
 
 Ah ! que ton grand coeur fut brise ! 
 Comme autrefois celui de Marie au Calvaire, 
 
 De sept glaives il fut perce. 
 Tu t'offris au Seigneur toi-meme en sacrifice. 
 
 Comme la fille de Jephte ; 
 Et tu cherchas au ciel, sejour de la justice, 
 
 La patrie et la liberte. 
 La pairie ! *** elle soufFre ; innocente victime, 
 
 Vers le Ciel elle tend les bras, 
 Elle pleure, elle prie *** — et son tyran I'opprime, 
 
 Et le Ciel ne I'ecoute pas ! 
 Et dans ses champs deserts que couvrent les mines, 
 
 L'etranger insulte k ses maux! 
 Elle porte a son front la couronne d'epines, 
 
 Sa chaste robe est en lambeaux, 
 Son sein est lacere, son sang a flots ruisselle 
 
 Et se mele aux pleurs des martyrs. 
 O vierge, dans le ciel invoque Dieu pour elle ! 
 
 Offre son sang et ses soupirs 
 
 24*
 
 282 EMILIE PLATER. 
 
 Audieu des opprimes, au dieu de 1' innocence ! 
 
 Que I'aube perce enfin la nuit, 
 Entrainant sur ses pas le jour de la vengeance 
 
 Et la liberte qui la fuit ! 
 Que I'etoile s'eleve et plus grande et plus belle ! 
 
 Qu'elle brille aux y eux des mortels ! 
 Que ta Pologne, 6 toi, Vierge morte pour elle, 
 
 Puisse t'elever des autels !
 
 DUE mkmM PLMEi.« 
 
 Es giebt ein gut, wer' s einmahl hat geschraecket 
 Der weiss von keinem lieblichern mehr dann ; 
 Verlieren kann all andres er j doch strecket 
 Ein feind die hand nach diesem gut hinan ; 
 So wird zum zorn selbst sanftmuth aufgeschrecket, 
 Das milde weib wird hochempoert zum mann. 
 O freiheit, nimmermehr kann dich vergessen, 
 Du euesses gut, wer einmahl dich besessen. 
 
 Nach langen naechten war es lag geworden, 
 Es fiohen vor dem neuen, ros' gen Licht 
 Zurueck die finsternissgebornen horden, 
 Und freie sahen frei' n ins angesicht. 
 Doch wieder draengt die alte nacht aus norden, 
 Sie goennt den neuen schoenen tag dir nicht. 
 Dem theuren gut will jedes herz sich weihen, 
 Auch eine jungfrau eilt mit in die reihen.
 
 284 DIE GRAEFIN PLATER. 
 
 Den wie Johanna, als das land der Franken 
 Von fremder schaar mit untergann bedroht, 
 Begelstert eintrat in die blut' gen schranken, 
 Bis nicht die bringer mehr unwuerd' ger noth 
 Aus der Loire schoenen fluthen tranken : 
 So trieb des geistes stuermieches gebot 
 Die hohe jungfrau in den laerm der schlachten, 
 Und liess sie nicht der zarten srlieder achten. 
 
 Jhr gold hat sie dem vaterland geschicket, 
 
 Mit rauhem zelt vertauscht ihr gracflich schloss ; 
 
 Und wo der tod die reihen wild durchzuecket, 
 
 Da tummelt auch die jungfrau kuehn ihr rose. 
 
 Und manche tapfre that ist ihr gegluecket, 
 
 Oft floh vor frauenschwerd der feinde tross ; 
 
 Nur dann erst legte sie das schlachtschwerdt nicder, 
 
 Als rings das schoene licht verdraenget wieder. 
 
 Du hohe maid im kriegerischer kleide ! 
 Mit Saragossa's heldenmaedchen hast, 
 Und mit Johanna du ein gleich geschmeide, 
 Viel edler, als des golds, der perlen last.
 
 DIE GRAEFIN PLATER. 285 
 
 Weint nun dein freies herz im tiesen leide, 
 Weil deiner heimath noth dich Bchraerzlich fasst ; 
 So denk' : noch muesste Polens morgen tagen, 
 Wenn, deinem gleich, jedwedea herz geschlagen ! 
 
 Nur eines moegst du nimmermehr dir sagen, 
 Selbst das zu denken, waere gar zu graus ! 
 Die geister derer, die im feld erschlagen, 
 Sie muessten aus der Btillen gruft heraus, 
 Und rastlos angst, gewissensqualen tragen 
 Um mitternacht in des verruchten haus, 
 Wenn — o, nur der nicht von den freveln alien ! — 
 Wenn Polen Polen durch v e r r a t h gefallen.
 
 Sulla itomba 
 
 DI 
 
 EMHE^HA FILA^MIEo 
 
 Sonctto. 
 
 Dal' bianco sasso che il gran cener serra 
 Dell' augusta virago Liliiana, 
 Voce suond che andra di terra in terra, 
 E luor del Tempo viver k lontana. 
 
 Tiscuoti, Europa, a fulminar la guerra 
 Contro la turba de' tiranni insana, 
 Ch'or piega al giogo, or con la scure atterra, 
 Q,uasi vil gregge la famiglia umana ! 
 
 Ti scuoti, o Europa, ed al mio amor t'accendi ! 
 E patrio amor c'ha sempiterno'I volo, 
 Ed ha favilla di superna face. 
 
 Ti scuoti, o Europa, e da una donn apprcndi, 
 Che Patria e Libcrtade d un nome solo**** 
 E il sonno e vituperio, e non 6 Pace ! 
 
 THE END.
 
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