At Grodno the confederated partisans of Russia assembled; when the Russian general seated himself under the canopy of the throne which he was about to overthrow. The minister of Catherine published, at the same time, a manifesto, in which he declared the resolution of the empress to incorporate with her domains all the territory of Poland which her arms had conquered. Her soldiers, dispersed among the provinces, committed ravages of which history furnishes but few examples, while Warsaw became a theatre of their excesses. The disorders of the troops were connived at by their general, who made the country groan under his barbarous arrogance. Their property seized upon, themselves reduced to ser-. vitude, the wretched inhabitants, rendered desperate by calamity, once more determined on resistence. Having assembled together, an invitation was sent to Kosciusko, who had retired to Leipsic with three friends, to return and place himself at their head.

These four Poles hesitated not to accept the call of their countrymen; but, to succeed, they felt it would be proper to commence their operations by giving liberty to the peasants, who had been treated in Poland like beasts of burthen. Their measures were planned and taken; the Russian yoke was borne with impatience; every thing seemed ripe for insurrection. Kosciusko was received by the Poles as their deliverer, and, joined by some officers, proclaimed general of their scanty forces. Three hundred peasants, armed with scythes, ranged themselves under his standard. To this little army, consisting of 3000 infantry and 1200 horse, 7000 Russians having opposed themselves, they were defeated and put to flight. On this check, the Russian general arrested all those suspected of being concerned in the insurrection; a measure which served but to irritate the people. The rebellion broke out, and two thousand of their tyrants were slaughtered by

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the Poles. The general, besieged in his house, and refusing to capitulate, found means to escape to the Prussian camp. The provinces followed the example of the capital, but their vengeance was less terrible and sanguinary.

Kosciusko strained every nerve to augment his army: to inspire the peasants, among whom he got recruits, with emulation, he wore their dress, partook of their diet, and distributed encouragements among them. These men, degraded by slavery, and distrusting the nobles, were not yet prepared for freedom. Stanislaus caballed in favour of Russia, whose troops, strengthened by the Prussians, poured into Poland. Frederic

William, at the head of his forces, fought against Kosciuski, whose talents, courage, and despair, were unavailing against multiplied and increasing numbers. The greater part of his army were cut to pieces, or compelled to lay down their arms: himself, covered with honourable wounds, fell senseless on the field, and was captured by the enemy. The remnant that escaped the conquerors, shut themselves up in the suburbs of Prague, whither they were pursued by Suvaroff. The siege was short, and the carnage horrible: without distinction of age or sex, every inhabitant was mowed down by the sword: twenty thousand persons satiated with their blood the savage conqueror of Ismael, who, trampling on the necks of its inhabitants, and reeking from the gore of their countrymen, entered Warsaw in triumph. Such are the trophies of despotism-such the triumphs of ambition!

The courts of Petersburg and Berlin divided at their pleasure the remains of this unhappy country; while the courtiers of Catherine shared among them the possessions of the proscribed. The pageant monarch, the creature of her power, was sent to Grodno, and condemned to live obscurely, on a pension granted to him by the empress ; while the Russian governor of the usurped pro

vinces displayed ostentatiously the pomp and the

pride of a sovereign.

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The friends of the brave and generous Kosciusko were, with their general, conveyed to Petersburg, and shut up in dungeons. Among these was the young poet Niemchevitch, distinguished for his valour and his talents, the friend of Kosciusko, with whom he was wounded and taken. His offence against Catherine had been two-fold; he had not only dared to defend his country, but, with all the boldness and energy of satire, he had presumed to compose verses against its destroyer. In the citadel of Petersburg, and afterwards under severer durance at Schlusselburg, he had leisure to repent his temerity.

Catherine, greatly interested in the French revolution, appeared full of apprehension lest its principles should find their way into Russia, and subvert the sentiments on which her authority was established: to the emigrants she gave a welsome reception, while she proscribed those who dared to avow bolder and more novel opinions. The king of Sweden received from her the promise of an annual subsidy, and 12,000 soldiers, to assist in restoring to his dignity the French monarch. This engagement, made with a view of accelerating the moment of the confederation. of kings, and of exciting her rivals to mutual destruction, she however found means to elude. The assassination of Gustavus precluded the execution of his chivalrous enterprise, and quieted for ever his restless spirit. A short time previous to this catastrophe, the emperor of Germany, Leopold II. died also at Vienna.

The French emigrants, distressed by the loss of these chiefs of the confederacy, fled in numbers to Petersburg, where they implored assistance, but obtained only promises. The embassador of France quitted Petersburg: Catherine, while she censured his opinions, did justice to his talents, to his virtues, and to the amenity of his manners. • I am an aristocrat,' said she to him, on his taking leave, for I must carry on my business.' She recalled her embassador from Paris, refused the chargé d'affaires of France access to her court, and prohibited his conferences with her ministers. Her animosity extended even to Colonel l'Harpe, preceptor to the young princes, a Swiss and a philosopher, who cherished in his heart the love of freedom. The bust of her favourite Voltaire was degraded, nor was that of the English patriot suffered to keep its place. The French in her dominions were compelled, like Hannibal, to swear immortal hatred against the new republic; and to