Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/659

* KORTUM. 597 KOSCIUSZKO. KORTUM, koi'toSin, Karl Arnold (1745- 1824). A Gfi'Mian physic-ian and aullior, bom at Mulhcim-on-liic'-Kulir, Rhenish Prussia. He studied and iJiacliced medicine at Duisburg, and afterwards at Buclium, and Ijesides several medi- cal works wrote ycrteidiijuny der Atcliemie (17S0), also treatises on bee-culture and anti- quarian subjects. But he is chielly remembered as the author of Lehen, Meiiiiiiiycii iind Thaten ion /lii-ioiiijiiiun Jobs dem Kdiididtitcii (1784) — a rr]otcsiiue, comical eiiic, which substMiucntl}' went tlirouj;h many editions under the title Oie Johsidde ( 14th ed. 1888, with the woodcuts of the orif^inal, an introduction, and notes), and whose jjojjularity was gieatly increased through the paintings of Hasenclever (q.v. ), representing various scenes from the poem. Consult Deicke, Dtr .Johniiulendichtcr Karl Arnold Kortiims (JliiHu'im-onthe-Kuhr, 1893). KORVEI, kor'vt. An ancient abbey of Ger- many. Sec CoKVEI. KOSCHWITZ, kosh'vits, Edlaro (1851—). A Romance philologist, born at Brcslau. In 1877 he became docent at Strassburg, and afterwards was made professor at Greifswald and Marburg. His specialty is French and Proven(al. His works include: Leu plus anciens monuments de la langue fran((iise (1870); Les parleys I'arisiens (last ed. 1898) ; Franziisische yoveUistih- und Roman- litteratur ilher 1870-71 (1S9.'!); Die proi:ensa- list-hen Feliher vnd ihrc Voryiinger (1894); Orammairc historique de la langue des Felibres (1894); Anleitung ::um fttudium dcr franco- sisehen Philologie (last ed. 1900); and Mireio, portnr prorenotdp de F. Mistral (1900). KOSCIUSZKO, kfis'I-iis'k6, Mount. The high- est elevation of the Australian Alps, being 7340 feet hii;h, and situated north of the boundary be- tween Xew South Wales and Victoria, and about 75 miles from the Pacific coast (Map: New- South Wales, E 5). KOSCIUSZKO, koschoosh'ko. Tadeusz ( 174G- 1817). . Polish patriot. He was born February 12, 174(i, at Mercczowszczyzna. near Xovogrudek, in Lithuania, being descended from an ancient but impoverislied Lithuanian family. He received his military education at Warsaw and at the mili- tary academy of Versailles, and became a captain in the Polish Army. His love for the daughter of Sosnowski, Marshal of Lithuania, an alTection wliiih was unrequited, subjected him to public humiliation, ancl in 1770 he left his native country and embarked for America. Letters of recommendation from Benjamin Franklin ob- tained for him a colonel's commission, October 18, 1770, and he was attached to General Gates's army operating in northern Xew York. The ex- cellent strategic position taken by the American army at Bemis Heights, near Saratoga, was large- ly jilanned by Kosciuszko, He was engaged as chief engineer in constructing the fortifications at West Point, and became adjutant to General Washington. In 1780-81 he served under General Greene in the South, and after the conclusion of (leace received the thanks of Congress with the brevet of brigadier-general, and became a member of the Society of (he Cincinnati. He returned to Poland in 1780. and three years later was made major-general in the Polisli Army. In the cam- paign of 179'2. followinu on the repudiation by Russia of the Constitution of :May 3, 1791, and the invasion of Poland, Kosciuszko, as lieuten- ant-general under Prince Joseph Poniatowski, with 4000 Pidish troops, held at bay a Russian army of 18,000 men at Dubienka (.July 17), in- llielcd a loss of 4000 men on the enemy, and ef- fected his retreat with a total loss of ninety. Af- ter the submission of King Stanislas, which was followed by the second partition of Poland, Kosciuszko took up his residence in Ix-ipzig. When the Poles rose in arms again.st their foreign ojipressors in 1794, he was made Dictator, and on April 4th, with a force of 4000 peasants, mostly armed with .scythes, he defeated an army of 00(30 Russians, who were marching on Cracow, at Raclawice. On April 17th the inhabitants of 'arsaw rose and expelled the Russian troops. Kosciuszko instituted a provisional government ; but, discouraged by the prevailing anarchy, he soon laid down the dictatorship. He marched against the Russians, but had to encounter a powerful enemy in the Prussians, who advanced to the aid of the Russians. He was defeated at Szczekoczjn, June 6, 1794, and retreated to Warsaw, which he defended successfully against the besieging forces of the enemj'. In this hour (jf trial Kosciuszko was proof against the most tempting proposals on the part of the Prussian King. In the fall he took the field once more with an army of 20,000 regular troops and some 40,000 ill-arined peasants. On October 10th the Poles were decisively defeated at JIaciejowice by an allied army of thrice their strength, and Kos- ciuszko, covered with wounds, fell into the hands of the enemj'. The words 'Finis Polonia',' attrib- uted to Kosciuszko at this crisis, he himself de- nied. He was kept a prisoner till after the acces- sion of the Emperor Paul, who restored him to liberty in 1796, gave him an estate with 1500 peasants, and handed to him his sword, which Kosciuszko declined to receive, saying, "I have no more need of a sword, as I have no longer a country," He afterwards gave up the estate, ?nd sent back from London the money which he had received from the Emperor, Upon the occa- sion of a visit to the United Slates in 1797 he received a pension and a grant of land, but re- turned to Europe after the passage of the Alien Act bv Congress. He spent the remainder of l.is life chielly in France. When Xapoleon. in 1800. formed a plan for the restoration of Po- land, Kosciuszko felt himself restrained from taking an active jiart in it by his promise to the Emperor Paul. The address to the Poles pub- lished in his name in the Moniteur was a fabri- cation. In 1SI4 he wrote to the Emperor Alex- aiuler entreating him to grant an amnesty to the Poles in foreisn countries, and to make himself constitutional King of Poland. Ho released from servitude, in 1817, the |)easantson his own estate in Poland. His death took |)lace October 15, 1817, at Solothurn, Switzerland, as a result of a fall from his horse. His remains Avere removed to Cracow by the Emperor Alexander, and were laid by the side of those of .John Sobieski, A cairn built up of small stones brought together by his admirers stands upon a hill in the suburbs of Cracow, which commands a wide view of the city, the Vistula, and the distant mountains. A biography, with collection of dociiments relating to Kosciuszko's career, was published by Kornon at Cracow in 1894; another Polish publication is that of Rychlicki, 7oscius:l.n and the Piirlilion of I'oliind (Cracow. 1872). There are biograiihies in German by Falkenstein (Leipzig. 1834") : in