Kościuszko: A BiographyGardner, Monica M. (Monica Mary)
History
Kościuszko: A Biography
Gardner, Monica M. (Monica Mary)
Kościuszko, Tadeusz, 1746-1817
"You are certainly convinced that to serve my country efficaciously is
my chief object. The refusal of the Tsar to answer my last letter
removes from me the possibility of being of service to her. I have
consecrated my life to the greater part of the nation, when to the whole
it was not possible, but not to that small part to which is given the
pompous name of the Kingdom of Poland. We should give grateful thanks to
the Tsar for the resuscitation of the lost Polish name, but a name alone
does not constitute a nation. ... I see no guarantee of the promise of
the Tsar made to me and many others of the restoration of our country
from the Dnieper to the Dzwiha, the old boundaries of the Kingdom of
Poland, except only in our desires." [That restoration alone, says
Kościuszko, can establish sound and friendly relations between Poland
and Russia. If a free and distinct constitution of such a kingdom be
conferred upon Poland, the Poles might enjoy happiness.] "But as things
go now, and from the very beginning, Russians hold together with ours
the first places in the government. That certainly cannot inspire Poles
with any great confidence. On the contrary, with dread each of us will
form the conclusion that the Polish name will in time be held in
contempt, and that the Russians will treat us as their conquered
subjects, for such a scanty handful of a population will never be able
to defend itself against the intrigues, the preponderance and the
violence of the Russians. And can we keep silence on those brothers of
ours remaining under the Russian government?" [Lithuania and Ruthenia.]
"Our hearts shudder and suffer that they are not united to the
others."[1]
[Footnote 1: T. Korzon, _Kościuszko_.]
Again Kościuszko's unerring single-mindedness and high patriotism had
pierced through all illusions and foretold the truth. His words were
literally verified. Fifteen years later Europe saw his nation driven
into an armed conflict for the rights that had been promised to her by
Alexander, that were trampled upon by him and his successor, and the
man, to whom the above warning was addressed, outlawed by the Russian
Government for the part he played in the insurrection.
Kościuszko also wrote to Lord Grey to the same effect. Grey replied:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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