THE SKETCHER. THE POLAND OF TO-DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2511, 30 April 1902, Page 65

THE SKETCHER.

THE POLAND OF TO-DAY.

(A. De Bttbgh, in the Windsor Magazine.) The terrible reverses that Poland has met with, and its entire disappearance as an individual State, were not able to break the spirit of the Poles themselves ; and their patriotism and love for their extinct kingdom burn as brightly as ever, while they still cherish the hope that Poland will some day rise again from out her ruins. Deprived of their country by their conquerors, driven from the home of their ancestors, the Poles at last found an asylum in hospitable Switzerland, and established a centre at the old castle in Ra-pperswyl, on the Lake of Zurich, a bhrine devoted to keeping alive the ever-flickering flame of j Polish nationality, and a place of pilgrimage for all the sons of Poland whom their | country's fate has consigned to exile. The j castle dates from the twelfth century, when j it was built by Count Rudolf of Habsburg ; but it soon passed by marriage settlements to the Counts .of Homburg, and 'later became the property again of a branch of the powerful Habsburgs, whose descendants to this day occupy the throne of AustriaHungary. In 1350 both the castle and tcwn of Rapperswyl were completely destroyed during a war between Zurich and the Rc.pperswyl people. From 1354-1415 the Dukes of Habsburg-Austria reigned in the rebuilt castle. Rapperswyl passed through many vicissitudes, till at last in 1805 it became incorporated into the Canton of St. Gall, in the Swiss Republic. In 1870 the late Polish Count Plater purchased the castle and restored it, and installed in it a Polish , museum, which was solemnly opened on October 23, 1870. | Already, in 1868. some Polish patriots, assisted by Swiss and Austrians, had erected a national monument near the old : castle, in memory of the huudredth birth- ] day of the fight for independence and liberty. This beautiful monument, consisting of a graceful column crowned with the national emblem of the Polish eagle, was transferred into the picturesque and ancient courtyard of the cabtle, where the walls are almost completely hidden by creepers and ivy. It is surprising to notice how the museum, inauguiated about 30 years ago, his> grown already to be one of the most valuable and interesting historic collections of the Continent of Europe. . . . This lasfc of the great Polish patriots is but a name in history to the present generation, so that it may be well to give a short sketch of his- career. Thaddeus Koeciusko was born in 1746, in Lithuania. He was descended from an rid family of small landed proprietors, and began his education at Warsaw. So successful was he as a student that it was decided to send him to Versailles to continue h:s studies, then to Brest, and finally to Paris. Upon his return to his own country he was given a captain's commission in the artillery; but an unfortunate attachment to the daughter of a rich and proud nobleman, who would under no circumstances consent to a marriage, decided young Kosciusko, in 1777, to leave Poland for Paris, whence he sailed witli the French fleet to aid the North American Colonies in their struggle for independence. He rose to the rank of general of a brigade, and only returned in 1786, after the Slates were free, to his native country. For three years he lived a retired life, until, at the reorganisation of the array in 1789, he was appointed majcp-generai. The adoption of the new constitution in 1791 was followed by war with Russia, during which General Kosciusko conducted himself with conspicuous valour and hkill, holding at Dubienka with 4000 men an army of £0,000 Russians at bay. Stanislaw, then King of Poland, eventually agreed to a humiliating peace, whereupon Kosciusko resigned his commission and retired into private life. In 1794 the Poles once more rose against their oppressors ; a general insuire^fion took place, and Koschv^ko vras cailod tfl Cracow and by acclamation nominated Generalissimo and Dictator. In Ms fo-st battle with the Russians he, with 5000 patriots, completely defeated them, although their army was much larger than his. However, poor Poland was not strong enough to fight against Russia's and Prussia's combined armies In one of the xnost torohla conflicts against enormous

odds, Kosciusko fell seriously wounded, and his army was routed. Two years 'he spent as prisoner in St. Petersburg, but gained his liberty after the accession of Czar Paul 11, when he sailed for England and afterwards for America. The love for his country, perhaps also the hope of getting yet another chance to strike for the independence of his countrymen, soon brought him back to Europe ; and he lived for nearly 17 years at Fontainebleau, where he became personally acquainted with Napoleon I. In 1806 he gave a splendid proof of his patriotism by refusing to allow Napoleon to use his name to incite a rising in Poland against Russia. He was too well aware of the fact that the Corsican had no love for the Polish people, and only wished to have their help for his own purposes. Nevjr did the Poles accept the forged address to his country as a genuine one coming from Kosciusko. In 1815 the great Polish genera-! and dictator settled in Switzerland, where he occupied himself iwith farming and agriculture. His death on October 17, 1817, was ths result of an accidental fall from his '.one. So ended a man who, but for the Dyer whelming odds that were against Mm, would have gained for himself a pace among the most renowned generals of his time, for thei'e never was a more skilful and daring soldier, a more intrepid and brave leader ; and to this day his name is not only revered by every one who has Polish blood in his veins, but his nob'e and chivalrous patriotism, free as it was from any desire for self-glorification, has secured him a lasting fame in hLstfuy. Kosciuiko's death took place in Solothum, in the house of a Swiss friend, to v, horn he left his heart as a legacy The trust was accepted, and the heart, placed in a silver urn. was deposited in a tower of tLe fi:rtie>>s of Zurich.