During the late war, Polish women assisted the men in erecting fortifications; and one of the out-works was called the “_lunette_ of the women,” because it was built entirely by their hands. The countess Plater raised and equipped a regiment of five or six hundred Lithuanians at her own expense; and she was uniformly at their head, encouraging them by her brave example in every battle. The women proposed to form three companies of their own sex to share the fatigues and perils of the army; but their countrymen, wishing to employ their energies in a manner less dangerous, distributed them among the hospitals to attend the wounded. The old Spartan spirit revived at this troubled period, and Polish matrons wished their sons to conquer or die. If any man, from prudential motives, hesitated to fight for his country’s freedom, the ladies treated him with contempt, and not unfrequently sent him a needle and thread, and asked a sword in return. Two beautiful sisters of Rukiewicz, quietly seated at home, were startled by the sight of a Russian officer, with gens d’armes, entering the court. Knowing that their brother was secretary of a patriotic club, they immediately suspected that he had been arrested, and that his enemies were in search of his papers. While one sister with graceful courtesy received and entertained the unwelcome visiters, the other hastily set fire to the summer-house, where her brother kept the records of the club. More than two hundred persons, whose names were on the register, were saved by her presence of mind. She returned joyfully, and when the Russians inquired what had occasioned the fire, she replied, “I wished to save you further brutalities. You will find no documents, or papers. I am your prisoner. Add me to the number of your victims.” These noble girls were carried to prison, and shamefully treated for three years. As soon as they were released, they set off, in spite of the remonstrances of their friends, to travel on foot, and on the wagons of the peasantry, until they could reach their exiled brother in Siberia. In Poland, a son has two shares of an estate, and a daughter but one; a father cannot dispose of his fortune otherwise, except by a judicial sentence.