Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/153

Rh he had to conquer, and very often too, on his own nation. With these articles were enclosed gold boxes, and other presents. But he never made any more serious attempts to wipe off the disgrace with which he was covered, and, indeed, it was too late, as the only time when he could have lived and died as a King had already passed.

“From all that I have had the honour to tell you, Monsieur le Comte, you will perceive distinctly that the King of Poland has sinned against his own nation, but never against Russia. The Poles, cautious after a sad experience, distrusted him ; he was not at all aware of the insurrection they were preparing, and, in the course of events, he never belied his character. When General Madalinski raised the banner, and General Kosciuszko proclaimed the act of insurrection at Cracow, Stanislaus-Augustus, believing that those desperate and mad bravadoes would soon be put down by the superiority of Russian armies, declared the insurgents rebels to their country, and banished the