Читать книгу History of the Polish Revolution and the Events of the Campaign - Joseph Hordynski - Страница 9

8. The enemies of our country have endeavored to persuade the world that this party was sent to take the Grand Duke's life. It is an infamous calumny. The order to seize the Grand Duke, was given with the noblest intention;—to secure him from the dangers attendant on a revolution, and to prevent farther bloodshed by his captivity. The Poles magnanimously intended to requite his long continued cruelty with the kindest treatment. He would have been placed in safety, and supplied with all the comforts of life in the palace of Bruhl, which was expressly named for the place of his abode. The persons sent to seize him were selected for their habitual moderation and self-restraint. By his flight, Constantine accused himself. The just man fears nothing; the guilty conscience anticipates danger. The Grand Duke injured himself as well as our cause by his flight. His melancholy end is well known.

9. Gendre was one of the Russian generals, who was among the chief spies. He was dismissed by the deceased emperor, Alexander, on account of impositions and even accusations of theft, nor was he allowed to show himself in Petersburgh during the life-time of Alexander. He arrived, in 1829, in Warsaw, when it was the pleasure of Constantine to associate and surround himself with the outcasts of society; and he made him his master of horse, and afterwards general and aid-de-camp. The swindling of this general and his wife, in Warsaw, surpassed all imagination. They cheated and robbed the noblemen, the merchants, the Jews, and their own master, the Grand Duke. According to the accounts found during the revolution, their debts, in gaming and otherwise, amounted to more than a million of Polish gilders.

10. Every Pole lamented the melancholy fate of Stanislaus Potocki. He was one of the most honest of men, and beloved by the army and the whole nation. He always kept aloof from all familiar intercourse with the Russians, and his house was a true Polish dwelling. He had always scorned Russian protection; and, to every patriot, the end of this man, who had become gray in the service of his country, is a sad recollection. Yet every one must confess his death was just, and cannot be a reproach to his countrymen, since he listened neither to the advice nor the intreaties of his brethren, and thus publicly avowed his adherence to the cause of despotism.—As to General Trembizki, he had always been a creature of the Russians, and a proud and mischievous man.

11. The early part of the career of general Hauke was not without merit, but it was tarnished by his later conduct. He was born in Germany, and came to Poland, under the reign of Stanislaus, as a poor mechanic. After leaving his trade he was enrolled in the army, and advanced rapidly in the revolutionary war under Kosciusko, in which he distinguished himself by military skill. In the wars under Napoleon he defended the fortress of Zamosc with great valor. But, from the beginning of the Russian sway and the arrival of the Grand Duke at Warsaw, this man became one of his chief minions, and by fawning and intrigue obtained the post of Minister of War. In the same year he was raised to the nobility, and was made count, senator, and wayewode. In the whole history of Poland the rapidity of this advancement is unexampled. Hauke received these dignities as a reward for his oppression of his inferiors, and for acts of injustice of every kind. As for Mieciszewski, he had always been a villain.

12. This bad man was one of the principal instruments of our oppressors. He was one of the chiefs of the spies, and his particular business was to observe all foreigners coming to Warsaw. He invited them to his house to ascertain their characters, and was assisted at his soirees in his base designs, by the female spies. Under the show of the utmost cordiality, by presents, and by means of love affairs, he was wont to endeavor to draw them to the Russian interest, in order to use them as spies in their own countries. He often succeeded, and several foreigners might be named, who came to Warsaw on the most innocent business or to gratify their curiosity, but who, after having frequented the parties of Sass, and handled Russian gold, returned to their own country to betray it. Such are the means by which Russia steals deeper and deeper into the heart of Europe.

13. The chief of spies, general Rozniecki, escaped. He was one of the most vicious characters imaginable: his crimes surpass expression. He was the oldest general in the Polish army, in which he had served forty years. He entered the service under king Stanislaus. Under Napoleon he commanded a brigade, and subsequently a division of cavalry. Of his character, while in the service of Napoleon, not much is known. Under the government of Russia, this man, already sixty years old, degraded himself irredeemably by becoming one of the most atrocious and detestable tools of tyranny. A volume might be filled with the history of his intrigues, swindlings, and other crimes. As chief of the secret police, he had under him many agents whom he sent throughout the land to extort money for him on unjust pretences. Wo to the unhappy man who refused compliance with any of his demands! He was sure to find his fate in a prison. In the army, those who bribed him were promoted. Rozniecki was the intimate friend of the Grand Duke. The following anecdote may serve to give the reader some idea of his consummate art in fraud.

It was a part of Rozniecki's business to pay the spies, and they received their salaries at his house. He divided the delators into several classes, and rewarded them according to the quickness and importance of their information. By his arrangement of this business he cheated the very spies! In the room where he received their denunciations he had a chest of drawers placed, behind which a clerk was concealed. This clerk wrote down their reports as he heard them, taking care to date them somewhat earlier. When the spy had ended his story and applied for his reward, Rozniecki would declare that he recollected having heard the whole affair the day before. He would then leave the room and return with the forged record. Thus would he defraud the spy of his shameful earnings. Accounts of immense sums received by him were found in his house during the revolution. He was more than once accused of murder by poison, and other enormous crimes, but the proceedings against him were suppressed. On the first evening of the revolution this man happened to be in an assembly of spies in the City Hall. He was there to give his instructions. On hearing the tumult, his conscience smote him, and he stole away without saying a word. Finding a coach at hand, he offered the coachman money to permit him to drive himself whither he pleased. He made his escape in the coachman's cloak. His effigy was exhibited on the gallows seven days, decorated with a dozen Russian orders.