Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/19

Rh spirit of nearly all his works. His Lithuanian Letters, a kind of periodical published in 1812, for encouraging the Lithuanians, his countrymen, to insurrection against Russia, were one of those unpardonable offences in the eyes of the cabinet of St. Petersburg. On the other hand, the constant object of his other numerous works was to keep alive the patriotism of the Poles: sometimes by popular songs, sometimes by historical labours, sometimes by speeches made on the most solemn occasions, Niemcewicz, with his indefatigable literary activity, harassed the enemies of Poland, and contended, without intermission, with arbitrary power and antinational tendencies. Thus the popularity which our author justly merited, increased in proportion to the displeasure shown by the government represented by the GrandDuke Constantine and Nowosiltzow.

Called by the choice of the notables of Warsaw to the Presidency of the Society of Benevolence of that city, Niemcewicz found in these functions a vast field for