Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 6.djvu/30

 220 WORKMEN AND HEROES delivered from the plunderers by some Cossack chiefs ; and thus was saved from death to meet a scarcely less harsh fate imprisonment in a Russian dungeon. Thomas Wawrzccki became the successor of Kosciusko in the command of the army ; but with the loss of their heroic leader all hope had deserted the breasts of the Poles. They still, however, fought with all the obstinacy of de- spair, and defended the suburb of Warsaw, called Praga, with great gallantry. At length this post was wrested from them. Warsaw itself capitulated on No- vember 9, 1 794 ; and this calamity was followed by the entire dissolution of the Polish army on the i8th of the same month. During this time, Kosciusko remained in prison at St. Petersburg ; but, at the end of two years, the death of his persecutress, the Empress Catharine, released him. One of the first acts of the Emperor Paul was to restore him to liberty, and to load him with various marks of his favor. Among other gifts of the auto- crat was a pension, by which, however, the high-spirited patriot would never con- sent to profit. No sooner was he beyond the reach of Russian influence than he returned to the donor the instrument by which this humiliating favor was con- ferred. From this period the life of Kosciusko was passed in retirement. He went first to England, and then to the United States of America. He returned to the Old World in 1 798, and took up his abode in France, where he divided his time between Paris and a country-house he had bought near Fontainebleau. While here he received the appropriate present of the sword of John Sobieski, which was sent to him by some of his countrymen serving in the French armies in Italy, who had found it in the shrine at Loretto. Napoleon, when about to invade Poland in 1807, wished to use the name of Kosciusko in order to rally the people of the country round his standard. The patriot, aware that no real freedom was to be hoped for under such auspices, at once refused to lend himself to his wishes. Upon this the emperor forged Kos- ciusko's signature to an address to the Poles, which was distributed throughout the country. Nor would he permit the injured person to deny the authenticity of this act in any public manner. The real state of the case was, however, made known to many through the private representations of Kosciusko ; but he was never able to publish a formal denial of the transaction till after the fall of Napoleon. When the Russians, in 18 14, had penetrated into Champagne, and were ad- vancing toward Paris, they were astonished to hear that their former adversary was living in retirement in that part of the country. The circumstances of this discovery were striking. The commune in which Kosciusko lived was subjected to plunder, and among the troops thus engaged he observed a Polish regiment. Transported with anger, he rushed among them, and thus addressed the officers : " When I commanded brave soldiers they never pillaged ; and I should have pun- ished severely subalterns who allowed of disorders such as those which we see around. Still more severely should I have punished older officers, who author- ized such conduct by their culpable neglect." " And who are you," was the gen- eral cry, " that you dare to speak with such boldness to us ? " "I am Koscius- ko." The effect was electric : the soldiery cast down their arms, prostrated