ROMANCE OF THE POLISH INSURRECTION.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 7, 23 November 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

ROMANCE OF THE POLISH INSURRECTION.

(Bj the special correspondent of the Daily News,) A 1 "" " ' A "\? Par removed from the' scene- of 7 -war., J and turmoil, the tranquility of-„thja^ little watering place has a most soothing;^ eflPect on themind after the excitement^ of the last few months. *. Here the"*? heroes of the revolution are to be. met 7[ with on all sides. Like the island ; valley of Avilion, Krynica lies "* 7. , y Deep-meadowed, happy, fair witli orchard lawnfe ~ A And -not a few" Arthurs have /resorted ; hither to heal -them tof their' grie*Ou|jf ij wounds. y The -immediately sufropnd-:,: ing hills which hold Krynica JnJlj£nr| embrace are ,of that soft, undulatingY nature which always seems to breath*/] perfect repose, while in the distance: tbe sharp granite ' peaks of 'the TaCrr,/ full of wild unrest, seemtdrjerj)etukily-" to threaten to. disturb- the peace which reigns here. Every other' person you meet with haa some stirring,, tale Hr* tell, and the hours pass, swiftly as you*: listen to 'narrative-'of wild^adventurej. and hair- bread rh ''escapes..' - 'A- ' pro-Y fessional story-tellerrnyghtgather.here^ materials which would fender drawing| on his own- imagination' J sup~erflupu» r for a long time. to come. . jor instance,; take the doctor's tale. A^boy of seven«K teen, he is wounded twice during they bombardment of Lemberg, - Nov." 2 f : 1858. In thp following j ear, making the Hungarian campaign, lv is Severejj| wounded by a Cossack lance, from the 1 ? effects of which he barely recovered with life after (passing fifteen monthl; in. hosDita!.' Emerging from^'thV' hospital he is seized by the Austrian^ and thrown into -prison, where'he* isjl detained a year, and then jdismisseq as being good "for nothing, beiwl however, himself -of .-a very" differeffl opinion, the *gdod-fi Xr-notbing " felloS enters the University of Cracow, -a'i| applies himself diligently to the 'statin of medicine. After passing a brllliaffl examination, he is admitted . to "tM degree of doctor of medicine \jm the expiration of the usual term. FroS 1856 to the spring of the present yeaj the doctor worked silently and respectel at Cracow, when the outbreak of tM insurrection again summoned Jiim, in j|j the field. After sharing Langiewicira fortunes and fall, he next attached'hidl self to the corps which under -Jordll entered Russian Poland iv the'firstdaM of June. ~ The disastrous overthrow w this dctatchment by an^ overwhelming Russian force, which had been informed of the time^and .place of Jordan's pas||; age, aU-i had been five days \a readjneg| to attack him before he should yha|if time to form, is too well known- r « justify repetition here. * -During-' lm battle the doctor is reportedly" all ;*wl|j saw„him to have displayed extradrdui ary coolness, and more than lone ofthoji to whose wounds he" was attending^wM killed in his , arms by a fresh bull||l After the day was lost, and two'squa||| rons of dragoons, a squadron of Cbssacffi and a squadron, of mounted Obijescra had completely dispersed all that r|| mained "of the insurgent detatchme*|| the doctor, Jordon, and four; othere cutting their .way through the enemj| succeeded in making good their" escape] The battle had lasied nine hourfc|fJ that men and horses were alike es| hausted. ,In t^e early part, of" the fight the eriemy»had got between -t|| insurgents and the river, and Jordiaij bad given orders to- his men to retiref^ the shelter of the" woods towards tm interior of the country, so that by tnH means, at the end of the day, the sujj| vivors of the fight had a^ considerable distance to perform before reaching this Vistula, which they, could only hopeJ*f| do with safety, by making a detour. a| midnight our little band of six gain|3 the river. Two of the number, Do| brzanski and Wodicki, who are expert swimmers, at once stripped, and reachtti the opposite bank in safety. Jor d anl the doctor, and other two, forcing tjpj horses into the stream, endeavoured-^ get across without dismounting, but thel current .proving too strong, - the -ex- . hausted beasts ,would have been ca"rried7 i away had they noF-made one desperate^ I effort and : regained "the Russian bank.. 1 The doctor's life was saved by a. miracle •"} | for, the "stream, carrying him, off his' i horse's back, 'he would have been; 1 drowned had not his foot caught in tbe^ | stirrup, by which means he-waS dragged* ashore iv a state of~ii-sensibility.' Their" position was now critical in the' extreme,; as they knew the Russians were\on7; their track, and they were contemplating" some desperate steps when they ,- heard,, a boat paddling towards them, and theyfelt they .were saved.- They had scarcely* time to get into the boat and -push/otf' when a party bf 'Cossacks rode' up, auuY; thus their lives were preserved. > Y . Had I spape I could fill column upon; column with tales" like this, which I« merely give as an example. * Nor'is itonly the men who have their advetVY tures to relatg. Almost every, lad r' here- of /my acquaintance has her ojvn" story to tell, beside that of her husband,^ father, or brother, who is either, killed « wounded, 'or sent to a living death >inr-» Siberia. The universal 'mourrilng-^th^ black dress, only relieved by abroad^ white border, painfully suggestive of n* funeral pall, ahd which sits witK' *i 7; mournful strangeness on forms so fu V of life — give so sad an air to this plac y that, but fur the ringing laughter whichj will out at times," jou could believe y<js3 were walking in the Valley oftlfef ShadowVf Death. It is very. painfull i i'have to reply twenty times a day to^ihdg same question, " Have .we anything* Ijl hope from England'?-''~ih-* the ia»n-^ words, "Absolutelynothing/* -One.'o^ my fair interrogators lost" scTfar com ro*| over herself as. .to. exclaim, with bitti-fj ness, " Then why do-* they go on Jall^ ing"? For God's sake, let England -til^ us plainly she will do nothing for v* * and-then we shall at any rate waste C energy in hoping." ]