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POLAND AND KOSCIUSKO.
Froin the Laltirnorc American,
/.bout to take its situ, lion or,re mere ament’
tin- nations ot the < .• In Poiaiul, at this mo
inci.t, uiitat he an inti a .tie.’ siiLj-.-t t of refac
tion for every i. C id n ‘ anti pliilo ophir mind.
Under this 11.1,11 c.. ion, we have prepared the
following .f.e.ch lor llie gratification of our
readers
Poland was anciently famed for hunter,dic
ing in., ol j.l .i. woods, v. ild hearts, ~nt. cic.iv
kiii'l oi inline, and derives its naino i'Vu or
/’//', a Sclav jnir.ll word, which is ‘.ad to
fy .i country fit for ininting. () 1 the whole
the climate is healthy, and the soil is fertile in
<oi .i, v.i t<■ 1 11 anti• i,of which an; m ;,c from
tin u . and . 1 the Vistula to Daatzic,; nd which
am bought no liy the Dutch and other nations.
‘ l- !.e :n •„ especially in that part called
Po .oiia. (••;<• ;d ad description in richness ; and
tii* eat Me, it is grid, cannot frequently he se.cn
< . < iivse.ju lie • of their extreme luxuriance.
!t has mi;.’ sos silver, iron, copper, salt and
e : the mt.-rifi- parts contain large forests,
w i 1) fiirni.sli ihid-er in abundance; fruits,
I” !> , and grapi i are product and there, lint the
mc sc!.or nev ,;r comes to perfection ; the.
• ‘.;irl’if.ers are the Vistula, the Keister, the
}! ‘ i'.ti:• lcs, tl’.e Hi;;', and Dtvinu ;it contains
J*. 1 a ‘ ‘ lakes. Ihe country .abound, with
•vil'i animals, anion;’ which art; horse#, wolves,
I „ t dec:-. ass, and wild oxen. Poland
(i eluding Liihiuniu) lias been supposed to
r >:;tai'i 1 :-/hjo,o‘k> of inhabitants. In their per
sons the Poles make a noble appearance, their
< npk vm.is a."” lair, and their shapes are well
proportioned ; they are brave, honest, and hos
piu.hle ; and their women sprightly, vet mo
<•■’ .U ai.d submissive to their hi hands.’ Their
diversions arc. warlike and manly : they usual
ly tr.;\ 1 on horseback, and arc extremely har
dy. The mode of living of the nobles is very
fastidious, ceremonious, expensive, and • hour.
The Poles are divided into no 1 ‘■ c!c gv, citi
ze.r. or burghers ; and the peasant , aic divi
ded into two sorts, those oi’the mown and
thus.: belongin ‘to individuals. Tlicir dress
bin.pilar ; lin y shave their heads, leaving only
a cireir of hair on the crown, and men cf all
r nks generally were large whiskers; they
v if a vest which reaches down to the middle
o! lilt; lee;, and a kind of gown over it lined
“'till In . an 1 girded with a sash, but the sleeves
fit dose, to their arms as a waistcoat. Their
Ineecms are wide, and make but ore piece
vi h their stockings ; they wear a fir cap ra
il ..net ; their shirts ace without collar or wrist
b .ml, and they wear neither stock dr neckcloth.
Instead ril shoes they wear Turkey leather
1> 1 a .vi.’. Mdo solos, ami deep iron heels bent
li-o- a hall moon. i lie habit ol the women is
a ‘ i r. tie Polonaise or long rube edged with
fee. The peasant-, in winter wear slice ;-skins,
vi h the wool imvanis, unci in summer a thick
etui a- doth, but no linen. Copernicus was a
II i- e of Poland ; but that country is not ccle
b a*. 1 so.- learned men. I* contains three uni- 1
v- si.ie-. ; one at Cracow, one at Wilna, ami
r-eat P< sen. Warsaw is the real capital, anil
i. to npuicd tt contain 70,000 inhabitants. IV>-
1 nd ti.Miii.-c a formidable kingdom, to which
Pi'u mi was in a stale ol vassalage, and the ti
tle of king of Prussia was never acknowledg
ed until the vear I.nd. I.us.ia also in too bc
|.d- tug of th • seventeenth century, saw its ca
pi and and throne possessed by the Poles, while
M'isti ia, i:i 1 C.t*3, was indebted to the king of
P and .ml In- the preservation of its metropolis,
tetri almost tor its very existence. These three
peaces, ho\v vc-r,in 1772, entered into an alli
£m ‘.‘ tr> r.nide .iticl riismcmher tlte kingdom of
. V hand. Th.is partition was projected by the
king of Prussia; and, a!thorn ! 1 they would
gladly have divided the whole ol that unfortu
n,t • country. (Roland) policy taught then to
lt-.st fa;-a while contented with only a third of
rs th republic, instead of tin- v.h >lc, as they
in hi si eomi-inplatcvl. Ihe partitioning pow
< rs ‘.orcibly cfiMtcda great change in the con
mji.i.um. Hut in 179 l, the king ..ml the nation
i 1 1 ..iisn:i. ami without foreign interveution, es
t risked all tiler eon e.itntion. liy this the
t u .vn- n ..s deelured hereditary in the house of
Iy. s any ol the nobles, however, re
t. .- •in*’ the saeriiier .-l some of their privi
1< u-a bad recourse to the court oi Russia; their
and <••. -b-i 1. -.gi-eeing with the ambitious views
v -i'in . ,tc sent an army into Poland un
d 1 u ett-xt (>■ guaranteeing tnc constitution ol
* ‘ ,SI ut-ner of which the last was
>” mown. lie.- 1 e.d object of the empress
v- 1 m.ik-.’ as eo.in division ol this country,
v ..it n itvik place in 1793. The unreasonable
XV --*. vel • oppiv su-s excited the people
to te .at such .cumulate,l w rongs. iff t . ( j
’ 1 .1 i ‘i in. they loudlr complained of
hudi imlitva f injustice. They claimed the
p .s,.'u n r t lim e powers who had become
j. ato the treaty ol Oliva.— -. treaty that
rud assured to them the hulivisibility of their
territory, and which had long been regarded as
.th.- grand charter of the norib. Some of these
p .worsmade remonstrance* with asii.Mt- effect
ns the Poles themselves. The Po’onese di.->-
pr.viay: that enthusiasm, which the uirlor oi
self-deletur inspires, unanimously agreed to
r .ait-iictr ci v .miry t>r perish in tl.e attempt.
An nrniv ,v.;s h s'liy levied, and the command
jtucjv to pnuce Joveph Poniatowskv, whose in
e tpcri-M-• and premature notions, rendered
Jv >1 very unlit ior such an iinjxu-tant underta
king, ‘Phc na’w-n could oppose 1 sX . 1 mea
t the dcs ns . * the empress ; hut under such
a 1.-iroii-'is l<- <.;<- ■’ tht v cou'nl never be brought
to act trt that brni and decided manner which
wa- ncchsiiy to the salvtiuon of their tottering
country. It vas than t’- - nation di.ipand-,-d
tiif ahi'.iri. c?the gallant KoSousko. Though
a .iwitcnatil umier prince Joseph, lie displayed
talents winch \y. ( cured him the love oi his
eour.trv, th:: icsculineiu cl Russia, and tile es
teem of all the rest of Lui opt. 120,000 Hus
sions arrived in Poland, and on the 10th of Oc
obe> u rire.nfful liuttlc took place with the Rus
sians under Fei sen and the troops under Kos
ciusko. The Russians wcie at first repulsed
by the Pole-., v. ho, not content with the aclvun
t. ‘.rs tin y Lad gained, abandoned their fnvors
bla position on tire height.-*, £. pressed on to at
tar, it in tlicir mm, which tlirew their t loops in
to confusion, and the Russians I'oiming them
selves anew, the route soon bccam§ general.
The fight lasted from seven in the morning
till noon. Kosciusko Hew trom rank to rank,
was continually in the hottest part of the en
gagement, in the course ol ~lucli he had tlnce
iicrses killed inidcr him. At length he 1011,
and a cossack, who did not know him in a
peasant*-; dress, which ha constantly wore,
wounded him from behind with a lance. He
recovered and advanced a lew steps, but was
again knocked down by another Cossack, who
v : preparing to give him the fatal blow, when
his aiT.i was arrested by a Russian officer, to
whose wife Kosciusko had a short time before
politely given leave of departure from Warsaw
to join her husband. The unfortunate hero
entreated of the officer to put an cud to his life ;
but the latter preferred making him a prison
er. He was transported to Petersburg, where
he, vr ill: some more brave men, were long im
mersed in dungeons.
The Poles fought with a dqgicc of valor ap
proaching to fury. The Russians summoned
Warsaw to surrender, and oi. being refused,
Suwarrow com mandrel his soldiers to mount
to the assault, over the dead bodies of their
comrades and enemies. The Russians sprung
to the charge with inconceivable impetuosity.
Sir; Russian columns presented themselves
at oik e, before the lines at Prague. Tile
Poles, after bravely defending themselves,
< ndcuvored to find safely b. retiring into War
saw. In their retreat, they were met by an
other Ikklv of Russians, and a woeful slaugh
ter ensued. Alter a conflict of eight hours,
the r, .i .tiuice on the pint of the Poles ceased.
Five, thousand Poles arc said to have been
slain in the .. ::;au!l: the rest were imprisoned
or dispersed. The houses were plundered
by the barbarous Kusiuns, who, after the battle
had ceased Letter than tea hours, set lire to the
town, and began to massacre the inhabitants.
I’he king of Poland formally resigned his
crown at Grodno, in 171/5, aad was afterwards
removed to Petersburg, whvre (living on a
pension granted by -the court of Russia) he
remained a sort of state prisoner till his death
in 1798. The Polish king, though he had o
penly declared against the partition, was long
suspected of being too partial to the views of
Russia. The people even confidently believ
ed. that the king formed the partition then in
agitation, as he afterv.'aids publicly declared,
that it was necessary to submit to the ascend
ancy of the Russians. Alter the treaty of the
partition was acceded toby the members of the
diet convoked tor that purpose, many of the
principal members hastened to the king, and
upbraided him with conspiring to ruin their
country. lie at first tried gentle means to
appear,e their anger ; buUjnding that his mod
eration made them more“njUst in accusations,
he rose up, threw his hat on the ground, and
s.acl to them haughtily :
“Gt tienien, 1 am weary of listening to you.
1 he partition ol your miserable country, is a
consequence of your ambition, of your dis.-.cn
tions, of your eternal disputes. To yourselves
alone you ought to attiinutc your misfortunes.
If no greater ponton of land remained to me
loan this hat would cover, 1 should still, in the
eves ot ail Europe, be ycur lawful, but unfor
tunate king.”
_ Kosciusko had the fortune to be freed from
his prison, after the destruction of his country,
when lie went to Tngku;J, where he was re
ceived by the. enligntencd and liberal men of
that nation, with distinghLhed respect: lie af
terward > visited the baited States of -America,
from whence he returned to France, where he
no doubt lias been waiting for the piesent
crisis in the ailuirs of his country, (which has
been long expected) to make himself useful to
his countrymen.
On the late of Poland and the gallant con
duct of Kosciusko, Campbell, the Scots poet,
ha; the following beautiful and animated lines,
iu the first part ol his I’lcasuies ol Hope
O ! sacred Truth 1 thy triumph cem’d a while,
Ami Hope, thy filler, ceas’d with thee to smile,
\\ hen leagu’d oppreflion pour’d to northern wars
Her whilkiv’d paadors and her fierce huiTars,
Wav’d her dread standard to the breeze of morn,
I’eal’d her loud drum, and twang’d her trumpet horn ;
Tumultuous horror b-ooded e’er her van
Pieligiug wrath to Poland—ami to man!
W arfaw’s lull champion from her heights furvey’d,
\V itie o or the IT-M-, a vva.Ae of ruin laid.
Oh ! Heav'd ! he cried, my bleeding country save !
Is there no hand on high to lhield the brave ?
1 -t, though delb notion sweep thele lovely plains,
Rile, fellow-men ! our country yet remains!
By that dtead name we wave the sword on high,
And swear for her to live ! —w ith her to die !
He said ; and on the rampart-heights array’d
His trolly warriors, few, but undifmay’d;
l-irm-pac’J and flow, a horrid front they form,
Still as the b-eeze, but dieadful as the florin ;
Tow niurm’ring founds, a!ong their banners fly,
Revenge, or Death—the watch-word and reply •,
! 1 hen peal’d the notes, omnipotent to charm,
And the loud toefin toll’d their lull alarm!
til vain, alas ! in vain, ye gallant few- !
From rank to rack yo-.tr voIL-.nl thunder flew:
C)h ! hlcodieft picture In t* e book of Time,
Sarmauu fell, unwept, without a crime ;
Found no: a generous friend, a pitying sot!
Strength it: her aims, nor mercy in her woe !
Droj.t from ! er ne- velcss grufp the faatter’d spear,
PC io-’d her bright eye, and curb and her high career.
Hope, for a season, bade the world farewell,
And Freedom fhrkk’ii—as KofeiuKco foil !”
Poland, including Lithuania, is 700 miles in
length and 6HO in breadth, hir.ee the dismem
berment ol the kingdom,'*the number of in
habitants is rated at about 9,000,000, of w hich
600,000 are Jews. The provinces taken by Rus
sia are the largest; by Austria, the ruost popu
lous ; and by Prusssia, the most commercial.
COMMERCIAL.
Ronapai te s L.ockariing decree occasions va
rious opinions respecting-its bearings and ex
tent, as it affects the commerce of the Unite,,
States the first object of our solicitude, ‘i'he
following extract ot a letter from London will
shew in what light they are considered bv
commercial men in tout emporium ot Euro
pean commerce:—
“ London, December 25, 1806.
“ The very extraordinary decree of the
French emperor, dated at Berlin, the 01st of
November, and the adoption of the same in
Holland, under date of the first of December,
you will of course see in the public papers bv
the time this gets to hand.
“ i he precise effects of these measures, we
cannot, at present, fully estimate; but should
they be executed .according to their tenor, it
will be indispensably necessary that we decline
all acceptances of bills drawn against consign
ments, made to any part of the continent of
Europe, the whole of which cither actually is
under the dominion of the French, or if not,
remains free from it by sufferance rather than
by any resistance that can be successfully op
posed to them.
“ To this serious- state of things we would
beg to call vour attention, and we would parti
cularly remark on that part of the decree which
forbids the passage of letters, addressed to
Englishmen or written in the English language.
We are willing to hope, that home means will
be found to elude the rigor of this prohibition,
and rather expect that in Holland this may be
by and by the case ; but where all is uncertain,
and where n6 assurance of safety is likely to be’
obtained, we cannot but caution our” good
friends in the United States, in tliG strongest
manner, and warn them of the possibility oi
our being very soon obliged to refuse accept
ances to their drafts, predicated on continental
consignments, as, notwithstanding the genera!
assurances we have given ol our readiness to
all'ord this facility, we cannot consider ourselves
held to such an engagement, aftei die publica
tion of the decrees in question.
‘‘ Our opinion is much in favor of shipments
to Ho!! ml, rather than to France cr to L..iy.
considering that to the commercial spirit it
Holland, and the confidence this inspires, are
to he attributed the superior fi.riiity of corres
pondence through that channel, the only < nc
of which we now appear to retain even a
chancfc ; but it seems to us that prudence re
quires that vessels should no longer touch in
England fur orders; that they should be ac
companied by experienced supercargoes, v no
should have instructions, in case they cannot
procure remittances to he sent hither in good
bills, to bring away with thdm the returns in
specie, which they might easily land on cur
coast, and .so provide the funds to meet any de
pending bills; though ibis must be attended
with a delay w hich it will be necessary to guard
against, by withholding your drafts accordingly.
For the same reasons, we think it would le
highly prudent, that bills should be drawn,
payable at 60 or T2O days sight, at the option
of the acceptor, (bearing interest after sixty
days) in order to afford a longer time to obtain
the funds, if necessary ; and also that you
should, if possible, stipulate, that in case the
bills are. unpaid solely in consequence of the
non-arrival of funds from the continent, or
from the decree <>f any of the belligerent
powers, they should be exempt from the usual
damages.
“ We have conversed fully on this subject
w ith several of our most respectable neighbors,
ami find a general agreement of opinion there
on. 1* or ourselves, we confidently appeal to
our good friends in the United States,’ that v. c
arc not likely, on any light or trilling grounds,
to discredit any of their bills, or to ‘suspend
them for a moment longer than this imperious
necessity exists, arising from circumstances
like the present, which can neither he foreseen
nor controled, arid which, in common pru
rience, imposes such a rule of conduct upon us.
Respectfully submitting these reflections to
your consideration.”
VACCINATION.
Such arc the blessed effects resulting from
the Vaccine or Cow-Pock Inoculation, that in
the city of Glasgow, in Scotland, (which con
tains as many inhabitants as Ncw-York) duiing
the last year, fifteen children only have died of
the small-pox. In the year 1797, the number
was 234.
The following is a correct statement of the
number of children who have died of the small
pox in that city and neighborhood duiing the
last ten years, as extracted from the yearly
hills of mortality :
years. Deaths. Years. Deaths.
1 797 231 1802 gw.
1798 179 150.3 0|
1T99 224 1804 123
180) 159 1805 <i4
I 1801 U? 7 isoo 45
PROM TEE RICHMOND ENOUIRFK.
The f0.1t.-.ving affidavit, mace by agcol.t m. a
of respectability, is extracted ..on. the i m
u.oie Aa.eiicub. those who hate u-wi
cl. :r s letter \vili leconect 1n.., i.UM . li. t; aid
-wr. ivuistoli a e thciein staled i.e’. 1 • to
hate spoxer. to him on the subject t.f i.,a so.
.enceti tome ; ar.uyel those are the very ;.c.-
sci.s v. ho me heie re ..-leseiiteii to L,,ve aaso-. t
cu, that the l; ei Miens cf Furr v. tie carried
cn. conjoint y vi:h -tair, anti to have penned
out with ooneclhcss the loutt which Adair was
to lake to Now-Oilcans.”
1 hut man must Le almost infatuated by the
‘pint ol ii.cicciui’.y. who, ul.tt suti. UiUitipiied
piocfs oi trcasoimble projects, could still con.c
lorwaid as the apologist ol t:.c view's or oi.a
lactar ot Aaion f/ttir*
“ C'OL'STr CF Clt LF.JSS. 6S.
“ Personally ap-pt-ared Lctore 1 c, the sub
tciiber,one oi ti:e jusiit cs tjl tl.e p'CUv c t..aa tvir
the said county. Doctor John i . Cuimkiiael,
mho on lus soiemn outii tiecuircs, that on the
evening of the 1 Ith January instant, 2*ii .R is < n
uid Mr. l-loyd, the sen 01 c u ptaiii i x-y,. of
i.t.v.u v,ilc, Kentueky, called :.t tl.e liousc of
tins tlejjt ueiit, spent the evening and b; c..k- •
fasted with him the next day ; that die con
versation liming the evening and morning ge
nerally related to die various opinions in ciict’.-
iuuon respecting ccleiici Bun- and the situation
oi this country ; that alter bi'cakfiist Air. !..i
----syon opened his business vnh tins eepoiient,
stating that he had descended the Atisst&si] j i, r s
tar as Aew-Maclrid, incompany with col. Cuit,
where he Ick hint; that general Adaii had
gone to --ew-Orleans by a circukovs lout,,
and that his intention was to ccmniuirictCd
with general \\ ilkinsen, and to return to as it>
meet them at my house about that time, i. r pos
sible ; that it was ar. object with them to as
certain the exact situation of the ft i t at Raton
Rouge, the state ot the wotks, the number of
men, its weak situation ; and that Fort Adams,
was ol some consequence, what United bta.es
troops were there, ana who .commanded them i
Where the gun-!,oats were; who individu
ally commanded them ; and who was the com
manding officer of the marines ? See. Ail tl cse
questions were answered by this deponent as
he (lud been acquainted with them. ‘'l he s.ficl
Ralston and Floyd proposed to this deponent
to visit Baton Rouge, to ascertain the exact si
tuation of that fort; but declined when the or
ders of colonel Grand Pie v. eic state,!, and the
difficulty attending such an enterprise. Mr.
Ralston informed him that coh-nei Burr was ,
he oti the 12th day of January instant at iU) 1 it
Pierre, where he was to wait for his l ciidoi't ,--
ment and to receive his information lrcm hi a
agents, who were circulated tlm.-ugli the coun
try at that time ; that the first ch ert oi colci ol
Burr was to take Batten Rouge, wide l e was
so raise Us star.dai.tl ano to make bis commu
nications the government of the United Sta.es,
v-iw-.e he was to he joined by a number of n>m
already engaged, to the an.curt of 10,0(0,
it noccsiiarv ; that the number of men at pre
sent with ccloiu-l -Bun- did not exceed 159, but
co:cxel Burr’s arrangen ei ts v-oie somatic,
uia. me men already euguged in Kentucky and,
Tennessee should join without shew, so that no
poaribie alarm or suspicion, on the part of the
general government, should lake place brin e
he had left tlic government, and taken posses
sion of Baton Rouge.
“ ph’- Ralston further statefj to this deponent,
i.iat it was not the intention ol colonel Butt- to
promote and make a seperation of the union,
but to act against the Spanish government; and
staled the intended expedition against Mexico.
When this deponent mentioned the name of
captain Shaw, Mr. Ralston observed, that if he
v. as one cf the Mediterranean officers he was
iiiendly to their measures; that it was well un
derstood that a large proportion of the officers
of the army, and Mediterranean officers, were
already engaged in their interests. Mr. Ral
ston expressed great surprise at the conduct of
general \\ ilkinson, in attesting certain charac
ters, Swartwout, Ogden, Boilman and Alexan
der, and repeatedly asked tins denonent what
Ue thought of the conduct of general Wilkin
son, and whether lie believed he had deserted
the interests of the party, or was it oniv to co
ver his greater objects. This deponent fur
ther declares that Air. Ralston and Mr. Floyd
visited Fort Adams on the evening ol the 12th
of January instant, between sunset and dark, and
walked round said fort.
‘•JOHN F. CARMICHAEL.
“ Sworn and subscribed before me 1 his 1 1 i*
day of Jannary, 1807. R. GEN AS,
Justice of Peace.
From this affidavit (if it be admitted to have
any weigot) it must appear ti.at this ncvei’-tt -
be sufficiently detested plan, w hich according
tv> Adair's much vaunted philippic, was, in tl.e
event that we were not at hostility with Spain,
to be fiurelu agricultural, hat! it in view, first.
unwarrantably anc: wickedly to seize upon t e
possessions of a friendly power ; ant! scrotuUity
a genet ui corruption of the officers et the army
and navy being effected, to prosecute a scheme
of conquest, which, if successful, must eventu
ate in the separation of the union.
Died, at Guilford, Vt. on the lP t j, pvb. i as t,
capt. John Barney, and in the tenth, his con
sort, Rebeccah, being each about 77 rears of
age, and in good health on the first iiist. h:n -
j ing enioved an unusual degree of social fclicity
| in their nuptial relation, for more than 58 years:
forty of which they have lived in the town,
of Guilford—left to regret their less, 6 children,
76 grand children, 55 great grand children
deceased ui tneir day, 0 i hildi en, 30 grand chi’-,
tlrcn, end 10 great grand children—amounting
to 193, lineal posit ixy fit mi tl: e u-,o ]<i
sons. in less than 58 t ears, of which 147 ats
now living in usual prosperh.y.