Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/148

120. It may be that there were some; but I declare that their names are entirely unknown to me.

“The money for defraying the expenses of war was derived from the following sources: 1st. from pretty considerable sums that General Madalinski (the first who took arms and raised the banner of revolution,) took from the Prussians; 2d. from the silver plate taken from the churches at Cracow, Warsaw, &c.; 3d. from taxes, consisting of the half of the income of every citizen, which were imposed and raised in the course of two months; 4th. from public donations. This last source was certainly the most prolific, I might say almost inexhaustible: men, women, old and young, of every rank and condition in life, came in crowds to lay offerings on the altar of their fatherland. The most of these offerings consisted of diamonds, jewels of every kind, plate, horses, &c. As to the pretended sum of money advanced by the family of Czartoryski, I have never heard it mentioned, but I venture to say that the recent