cause of their country. The diet also was glad of this opportunity of shewing its gratitude to those on whom it had no other recompense to bestow. This was the last act of the famous, but unfortunate, diet of Grodno, which terminated on the twenty-fourth of Nov. 1793.

But the revival of this order was attended with fatal consequences : it irritated the empress to such a degree, that she directed her ambassador to quit Warsaw without taking leave. Alarmed at this proof of her resentment, the king and council instantly agreed to suppress this order, and to send a deputation to Petersburgh, to request her oblivion of the imprudence of the late diet in reviving it. This transaction seems, nevertheless, to have sunk deep into her mind, and to have influenced much of her subse quent conduct towards the Poles, whom she was led to consider as ir reconcileably averse to her person, as well as to the measures enforced upon them, and unalterably determined to seek every opportunity of throwing off their obedience.

Herein the was not mistaken; but it was no less certain that her severity afforded them ample reason to be dissatisfied. Baron Ingelstrohm, who succeeded count Seivers in the embassy at Warsaw, was ordered to demand a solemn abrogation of all the acts of the diets of 1788 and 1791, both which had been remark ably inimical to the interests of Russia. After complying with this injunction, the Polish government was ordered to reduce the army to sixteen thousand. But this, together with other despotic measures, proved a signal of general insurrec

zion.

The oppressive treatment of

the Polish gentry and peasantry was become intolerable. They were compelled to find food and quarters for the Russian soldiery, and to fur. nish them with all necessaries, at the price which these were pleased to fix, without certainty, however, of any payment. They were treated with insolence, and liable to the harshest usage. Such behaviour in the Russians did not fail to render them odious, and to create a thirst of revenge. When, to these oppressions, the insulting mandate was added to disband the army, the patience of the Poles was exhausted, and they refused to obey. The first who refused compliance was Madalinski, a nobleman highly respect. ed, and a brigadier in the Polish army. Several regiments followed his example, and the defection at* length became general.

On receiving intelligence of this insurrection, the court of Petersburgh immediately dispatched fifteen thou sand men into Poland, and the Rus sion ambassador required the Polish government to send a body of forces against the insurgents, and to put every suspected person under arrest. But his demands were refused; the latter particularly, as contrary to law. The insurrection continued daily to increase: all the military had joined it, and every man able to bear arms seemed heartily ready to unite in one trial more, for the deliverance of his country.

An individual now arose, who fixed at once the eye and expectation of the public. This was the celebrated Kosciusko, whose character pointed him out as the properest man to head the resistance of his countrymen to the Russians. He had, from early life, been bred a soldier,

a soldier, and greatly distinguished himself in that capacity especially in America, where he rendered es sential service to the congress. Returned to his country, he was amongst the foremost openly to profess and encourage a determination to assert the independence of Po land. When the Russians invaded it, in consequence of the constitution of 1791, a command of importance was conferred upon him, and he distinguished himself in all the principal actions. It has been as. serted, that if his advices had been more frequently adopted, the resist. ance to Russia would have proved much more effectual, if not wholly successful. When that unfortunate struggle was over, he went to France, where he so far interested the principal members of the convention in favour of his country, that they supplied them with a very considerable sum of money, with which he speeded back to Po. land, the moment it appeared probable that another insurrection might be raised against the Russians. He employed the money entrusted to him to so good purpose, that about the middle of February, 1794, he had collected a large number of the most resolute insurgents, with whom he attacked the Prussians in their new acquisitions, from many of which he drove them with great slaughter. He next marched to the city of Cracow, which the Russians deserted on his approach. Here he was declared commander in chief of the Polish confederates, by the nobility and gentry, who had as sembled there for that purpose, and who took an oath of fidelity to the cause they had embraced. After a variety of arrangements for the prosecution of hostilities against the

usurping powers, and for the well ordering of the affairs of the confe deracy, the constitution of the year 1791 was solemnly read and sworn to in the cathedral of that city.

The revolutionary government being thus settled, Kosciusko advanced towards Warsaw, with a considerable force. The most vi gorous measures had been taken in that capital, through the power and influence of the Russian ambassador, to stop the progress of the insurrec. tion there. Fifteen thousand Russians were quartered in that city, and more were daily expected. The king had found himself under the necessity of publishing orders. against the insurgents, and of issuing a proclamation to enjoin obedience to government.

The situation of the king, who had lost much of his popu. larity, was now, not only irksome, but by no means secure from dan. ger. The people did not scruple to affirm, that the king was devoted to the interest of Russia, and meant to make his escape from Warsaw. This suspicion being communicated in a manner full of respect and attachment to his majesty's person, by a deputation from the council of Warsaw, he readily agreed, that some persons, in the confidence of the people, should be his constant attendants. According to his ma jesty's wish, fourteen citizens were appointed his adjutants, two of them to do duty at the palace, and accompany the king wherever he should go. From that time, two municipal officers, wearing blue scarfs, accompanied him wherever he went, and ate at his table.

On the intelligence that Kosciusko was marching to Warsaw, baron Ingelstrohm, the Russian ambassador,

bassador, demanded the surrender of the arsenal; but was resolutely. refused. He had, in the mean time,dispatched general Woronzow, with six thousand men, to oppose Kosciusko. On the fourth of April, 1794, they both met, and a despe rate battle was fought, wherein the Russians left upwards of a thousand men dead on the field, with all their cannon and ammunition, besides a number of prisoners, among whom was the general himself.

Irritated at this loss, Ingelstrohm again required the arsenal to be sur rendered, the Polish military to be disarmed, and about twenty persons of rank, whom he suspected, to be taken into custody, and, if found guilty of abetting the insurrections, to be put to death. The king and council refused compliance, and deputed the chancellor of the king. dom to remonstrate against his de. mands: but he was treated with the utmost dignity by the Russian ambassador, who attempted the next morning, seventeenth of April, to take possession of the arsenal. But the citizens had anticipated him; they armed themselves, drew out the cannon, and, joined by the Polish garrison, their forces amount. ed to more than twenty thousand men. They attacked the Russians, and expelled them from the city, after an obstinate contest of thirtysix hours.

Notwithstanding that the king had openly encouraged the people to defend the arsenal, they still look. ed upon him with a suspicious eye. After the expulsion of the Russians, they required him solemnly to pro. mise, that he would not quit the city. The two municipal officers still attended him, and all his motions were strictly watched. The

king, solicitous to remove all suspi.: cions of his sincerity in the cause, sent the one half of his plate to the mint, and expended the other in relieving the families of those citizens who had fallen in the conflict with the Russians. He daily appeared in public, and personally su perintended the repairs of the fortifications round Warsaw.

In order to unite all parties, and convince Europe, that the constitu tion of 1791 was the real object of the Polish nation, the provisional council of regency, that had been established by the patriotic party, at the commencement of the insurrec tion, laid down its authority, and a national council was appointed, under the direction of the king. This measure took place through the ad. vice and influence of Kosciusko, and powerfully conduced to cement the union and cordiality now sub. sisting between all classes of people in the kingdom. These transactions happened about the end of May, by which time the hopes and expecta. tions of the Poles seemed to be coun tenanced by a variety of successful and promising events. The Rus. sians had been defeated in many skirmishes, and the Polish forces were daily becoming more nume. rous. Exclusively of the peasantry, whose vigour and zeal rendered them of most essential utility, and who were constantly ready to act when called upon, the regular military of the patriotic party, pre. sented a formidable aspect. The various bodies under Kosciusko, and the other Polish generals, amounted altogether to near seventy thousand men, well armed, and under good discipline.

But the evil star of Poland still combated these exertions. Russia,

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now fully convinced that the contest was very serious, had collected an immense army, which was draw. ing near the Polish frontiers. Prus. sia, deeply alarmed at the progress of the Poles, and dreading, were they to succeed, an invasion of his own dominions, had concluded a peace with France, which left him at liberty to carry on his projects in Poland. He entered it with a powerful army, laid siege to the city of Cracow, which was obliged to surrender on the fifteenth of June. He advanced towards Warsaw, in the proximity of which place he was joined by the Russian forces in these parts, and immediately resolved to besiege that capital. It was in a state of great fermentation: a number of persons had been tried and convicted of treason against their country. The citizens eagerly demanded their punishment; and notwithstanding the endeavours of the more moderate to suspend their execution, several individuals of distinction were put to death. Af. ter sacrificing those that were re. puted the most guilty, they were prevailed upon to permit a respite to the others.*

The king of Prussia was now encamped, with his own and the Rus. sian forces, within sight of the Polish metropolis. He promised him. self an easy reduction of the city, as it had no fortifications. But the in habitants were numerous, and well provided with all necessaries for a resolute defence. As it was fore seen, that the fate of the capital would in a great measure influence that of the whole kingdom,Kosci. asko resolved to defend it in person. To this intent, he approached it on that side where the, Russians lay He attacked and forced all their

posts on the eleventh of July, and took an advantageous position in front of the city, opposite to the Prussian encampment. He received, in a short time, so many reinforcements, that he was enabled to sur. round Warsaw with intrenchments, by which it was so well protected, that the king of Prussia began to doubt of the success of his enterprise. The Prussians exerted themselves with their usual skill and bravery; but they were almost constantly worsted in all their attempts. They cannonaded and bombarded the city without intermission; but were answered with a fire from the in. trenchments around it, that made prodigious slaughter among them. The king and prince-royal of Prussia were more than once in great danger. The siege continued in this manner till the beginning of August, when the king wrote a letter to Stanislaus, endeavouring to persuade him to a surrender; but the Polish monarch returned him a firm refusal.

In the mean time, the Polish pro vinces that had been seized by the Prussians, were in a state of insur rection. The Poles poured in upon them from all quarters, and the ad vices brought every day to the Prussian camp before Warsaw, be. came so alarming, that the king be gan seriously to think it necessary to hasten to the succour of his own dominions. The Polish capital had suffered very little during the siege, and was in a condition to hold out much longer than he would be able to continue his operations against it; and the auxiliaries, promised to him from Russia, advanced so slowly, that he apprehended they might not arrive before his own strength were too much impaired for the purposes he had in view. Influenced by

there