all former ones, we find the women standing forth as apostles and champions of their religion and country, that the struggle should be as prolonged and as deadly as it is? When we find mothers nourishing their infants' minds with vengeance almost as soon as they cease to nourish their bodies with their milk; when we see them sending forth their stripling sons, with scythes and stakes to rush on the revolver, rifle, or bayonet, of disciplined troops, as was the case at the commencement of the insurrection (for they are better armed now); when we find wives, with tears of supplication or bursts of rage, goading on their husbands to rebellion or sedition; when we see young girls mounting on horses like men, putting on uniform, handling lance or revolver, and sharing with the hardier sex all the dangers and fatigues of an ever-changing camp; when we darkly hear of others almost sacrificing personal honour and virtue to the public cause, in spurring on the young to action, or rewarding their valour, or in seducing their allegiance; how can we wonder, when women do these things, that men withstand not their influence? When they see their women trailing their mourning to the churches, which had been appropriately put in mourning also; when they see them sorrowful, sobbing, invoking heaven before the altars, and in that position sometimes receiving injuries not intended for them in the excitement of insurrection; when in the intimacies of home they hearken to their lamentations or their taunts, their cajollings or their promises; when their caresses are even adulterated with political instigations; is it not almost an impossibility that men should not be maddened to a similar enthusiasm for the great cause of fatherland and religion, and at least rival their women in that disregard of life which a mystical people like the Poles consider as an accessory to obtaining their desires? As the woman thus stands behind the man, so the priest, shrouded in mystery, stands behind the woman. In most European countries we see the Romish Church hand in hand with the civil power against the apirations of the people. In Poland it is the great prop of the people against the Government; and from the Pope downwards, through every grade of the hierarchy, it has given more trouble to the Russian authorities than all the eccentric pranks and tricks of the Secret Revolutionary Committee. Ever since the first Partition, it has been the priest who has kept alive, and that principally through the women, the hopes of the glorious restoration of a Catholic Poland, and has fanned the smouldering embers of fanaticism when the sun of tranquillity began to beam too brightly on that unhappy country. And his power may be easily understood, when one for a moment reflects on the aid which religion, combined with what certain Irish are still pleased to call their oppressed nationality, even now gives to the priesthood in Ireland and America. In the Kingdom of Poland, and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, it is not only the tyrant, but the Antichrist, which the priest has the opportunity to point at. So stubborn is this sentiment of religion, so well organized the power which upholds it, that I am convinced, if Catholic Poland remain united to Orthodox Russia, even though the Church be as unmolested and even as protected as it is at the present day in Ireland, the last we shall ever hear of the Polish question will only be when there remains not one single priest or one single Polish woman in Poland. What agitations in central Europe an independent Poland would probably give rise to, I will not touch upon, for to do so, would at least double the length of this article. Being tolerably well acquainted with both Russian and Polish character, I have had from personal observation, or from creditable eyewitnesses of the scenes they described, many an illustration of the above remarks. And lest the reader should ascribe to me an idealism as great as that which I ascribe to .the delicate subject about which I . am writing, I will give a few inci dents, taken from a number of the same character, and for the truth of which I can vouch, which I will so arrange as to give him some idea as to how I came to my conclusions. That mothers should order out their sons of tender years to fight, with the prospect of certain death or ruin before them paints the heroism of a Cornelia, or the callousness of fanaticism, just as the feelings of the reader will lead him to regard the act. No sooner had the insurrection once commenced, than the University and Gymnasiums of Polish Russia became half emptied of their scholars. From one military school in St. Petersburg all the Polish students ran away at the same time, and most of them were either killed or taken prisoners in subsequent engagements with the Russians. But one incident which was enacted during the present summer in the streets of Kiev, I will serve to show the influence of Polish mothers. A youth of a noble family of that Government had been persuaded to run away from the University of Kiev, and join an insurgent band which had made its appearance in the neighbouring province of Podolia. After a very short campaign he was taken prisoner, and sentenced, with many of his companions, to exile in Siberia. As the melancholy convoy, of which he formed part, was leaving Kiev for that destination, the mother, who had not been allowed to see her son during his confinement, was waiting in the streets to embrace him once more before his departure. Making her way through the crowd, she fell on his neck and kissed him, when the melancholy spectacle was afforded to a surrounding public of a son repulsing his own mother and upbraiding her as the cause of all his misfortunes. It was certainly not the act of a hero;-indeed, it may be taken as an exception to the general behaviour of the Polish youth under similar circumstances; -but it suffices to show how powerful has been woman's influence during the present insurrection. It is impossible to know in how many cases Polish wives have driven their husbands to rebellion or to deserting their colours. Besides their superior mental qualities, Polish women possess great and very seducing physical beauty, heightened by all those arts of manner which are so attractive to the opposite sex. Hundreds, not only of Russo-Poles, i.e., Poles of the frontier provinces, but of pure Russians, take their wives from among them. Very many of these husbands, occupying an official position in the Russian or Polish service, have passed over to the insurgents; and those who had the misfortune to be taken prisoners, were invariably hanged or shot. Among others was a certain S- , a captain in one of the regiments of the Emperor's body guard; and as his person and character are somewhat familiar to me, I will take him as an example of most of those who met such a fate. Captain Swas of a noble Polish family long settled in the Government of Kiev, and, as is tolerably well known, all the noble families of the frontier provinces consider themselves Poles and not Russians. He was a man of very superior talent, but, like all his countrymen, very mystical in his ideas, and a great enthusiast in politics. During the last autumn he had been employed at St. Petersburg, as the youngest member of the Imperial Commission for studying the various reforms about to be carried out in the army and navy; and had been sent to travel in England and France to collect information concerning the different modes of inflicting punishments in the forces of those countries. He had only just returned to St. Petersburg when the insurrection broke out. In the month of March he left St. Petersburg for Wilna, to fetch his young wife, to whom he had been married only a few months, away from that place, as he feared-so he said at the time-that she might be led into trouble by the heat of her patriotism. When he departed his most intimate friends had no idea that he had any ulterior plansindeed, he afterwards avowed to them that he had none. But a few days of his wife's society turned him into a patriot, and, not a month from the time he left St. Petersburg, he was in command of an insurgent band. An officer of experience was then an acquisition to the cause; and, under his training, the band he commanded became one of the most troublesome to the Russians. But the first serious engagement was unfortunate; he was severely wounded and taken prisoner, as it so happened, by some of the soldiers of the very regiment in which he had formerly held a command. 'When I saw the advancing "Kepies "* of those men I knew so well, some of whom had been under my actual command'-said the unfortunate man afterwards-'I lost all presence of mind and wonted energy, was seized with a giddiness and forgot to give the necessary orders to my men.' While lying a prisoner at Wilna, and almost dying of his wounds, many efforts were made by his former friends and comrades, among whom he had been much beloved, to save his life. His wife came to St. Petersburg for that purpose, and waited on Prince Suvarov, the military governor of the city, to beg him to intercede for her husband. 'Prince,' said she to him, 'you are a soldier and a man of honour; tell me what will be his fate if he recover from his wounds?' 'Madam,' replied Suvarov, 'your husband is not likely to recover; if he do, I am grieved to tell you his crime and example are too serious for him to expect the Emperor's pardon.' 'In that case, Prince, be sure he will never recover from his wounds,' replied the heroic woman, as she thanked the Prince and retired.† Her husband, however, was closely watched, and rallied enough to undergo his trial by court-martial: was sentenced, and suffered his fate. His sentence would probably have been mitigated to Siberian exile by the kind-hearted Emperor Alexander, but the superior authorities at Wilna anticipated any such act of clemency. The unfortunate man had involved himself so deeply that his execution was deemed a political necessity, and an example to others in the same position. For, during the time he remained at Wilna, he had served as aide-de-camp to the governor, had dined every day at his table, and after dinner had been accustomed to ride out of town and convey to the insurgents all that information which his official position enabled him to get so well.‡ That young girls mount on horse * Kepie is the name for the light forage-cap which has lately replaced the heavy Roman helmet as the headdress of the Russian infantry. In the Times of November the 7th was a despatch from Wilna, wherein it was stated that this lady, her sister, and brother had been sentenced to Siberian exile, only because they were related to the insurgent leader who was hanged at Wilna in June, 1863, The Posen Zeitung also contained an account of the infamous manner in which Madame S, who, poor woman, was near her confinement, was treated by order of General Mouraviev. He is there said to have given instructions that her child, as soon us born, should be taken from her and placed in the foundling hospital at Pskov. Since lying has become so systemized for exciting the sympathy of Western Europe, it is almost impossible to know at a distance what truth there may be in such a report. If true, Mouraviev richly deserves all that has been written or said of him. This leads me to say a few words on the Polish officers in the Russian service. Certainly no men are more to be pitied. Those among them who look upon their country's restoration as hopeless, or those who will not palter with their consciences by wearing the uniform and taking the money of the Russian Government, while serving the opposite cause and there are many of both are placed between two fires. Nearly every Polish officer in the Russian service received his special orders from the National Government: if he took no notice of them, or showed them to his superiors-as many did a threatening letter was sure to follow. For example, an acquaintance of mine received a menace to the following effect: that, although he did not possess property in Poland, he was not to think he was out of the reach of the National Government; he must remember he had still parents, or a sister, who would be made to answer for his actions-a threat which, as he had a young sister, almost sent the poor fellow mad. On the other hand, most of these officers were looked upon with suspicion by the Russian Government-and not without reasonsand were sometimes ordered into positions where they could be under strict surveillance. [Although back and take part in the expeditions of the bands, witness the celebrated female aides-de-camp of Langievicz. The following incident of the active heroism of the Polish women was told me by an officer who had commanded a detachment of cavalry in Lithuania, in the early days of the insurrection:-One day about twenty of his Cossacks surrounded the house of a lady, living in a retired part of the country, whose daughter was the betrothed of one of the chiefs of bands known to be in the neighbourhood. At that very moment he and several other leaders were in the house, consulting with the two ladies over their plans. Alarmed by the arrival of the Cossacks, the men hastened to escape from the back windows, and fled to the woods; the two women actually protecting their retreat by keeping up a fire from their pistols from the front. When the Cossacks at last forced their way into the house, they found only the two women, whom they do not seem to have molested, but contented themselves, after their manner, with filling their pockets with all the portable valuables within reach. On retiring, they picketed their horses a short distance off, yet in sight of the house. Presently the young girl was seen to come out, and proceed to the stables, from which she soon again came forth mounted, when she set off in the same direction her lover had taken. One of the Cossacks having a sorry beast of his own, and admiring that which the girl rode, galloped after her, took hold of her bridle, and, as good humouredly as his rough nature allowed, proposed an exchange, observing that as she was going to join the band she had no need of such a good horse. The reply was a bullet from her revolver which sent the Cossack reeling from his saddle. Meanwhile his companions, who had followed him, had come up, and seeing the fate of their comrade, surrounded her. The intrepid girl then snapped her pistol at one after the other, and when all the chambers of this one were discharged, flung the empty weapon at the head of the nearest, knocking him from his horse, and immediately drew forth a second. This was too much for the politeness of the Cossacks, of whom three or four were already on the ground; they lifted the poor girl completely off her Although Russian society in general, and their comrades in particular, did all they could to soothe their susceptibilities, still their position was most pitiable. The Russian Government acted humanely enough in permitting Polish officers of regiments ordered for duty in Poland to remain behind if they pleased. But many, with an obstinate contradiction of character, persisted in fighting against their countrymen, in order to show their zeal. By so doing they were certainly none the more honoured by their comrades, however much they may have been rewarded by the Government; while, if they were unfortunate enough to be taken prisoners, and refused to join the National party, they were sure to be hanged or shot. One evening a few weeks ago, it was my fortune to meet and converse with such a Pole, whose escape had been almost miraculous. The eight or nine patriots who took him prisoner had led him off to hang him; but as all the trees in the neighbourhood were saplings, they wandered for some time in search of a convenient bough. The officer-the love of life strong within him-having a few roubles in his pocket, proposed to his captors to enter a road-side house and drink them away before his death. Good,' said they, we are patriots, not robbers; but if you choose to treat us before you die, there is no harm in that.' So they all got drunk, except the officer, who only pretended intoxication. When they had finished drinking they sallied forth, and at last found a suitable place. You're surely not going to hang me now,' said the officer; 'who ever heard of such a thing as a lot of drunken men hanging another man as drunk as themselves?' This reasoning had the desired effect, and they all agreed to wait till the next morning. On camping for the night they were not too drunk to bind his arms behind his back, and place him in the middle of a little square, their bodies lying two deep on every side. In the middle of the night,' said the officer, when they were fast asleep, I One man had his legs spraw gently raised my head: no one stirred; I got on one knee. ling apart; I put my toe between them, gave a spring, and then ran for two or three hundred yards without stopping; but there was no pursuit. I had, however, had enough of the Polish campaign, and, on rejoining my detachment, got leave to return to St. Petersburg.' horse on the points of their lances, and so she perished. As a further example I will translate an extract from a private letter lately received from an officer serving in the kingdom of Poland: Yesterday,' says the officer who wrote it, we defeated a band and took nineteen prisoners, one of whom was a woman. There were altogether seven of them belonging to that band, but we do not as yet know if the others were killed or escaped. All the women, our prisoner tells us, were dressed as Chasseurs, wearing the same uniform of coarse cloth as the men, only without the red epaulette. Their caps, such as are worn by all the Confederates, were more coquettishly made, and decorated with a white ostrich feather. We captured her by the merest chance. She was a girl from Cracow, finely built, with broad shoulders, a muscular hand and arm, which showed she had been used to gymnastic exercises, while her weatherbeaten complexion proved she must have belonged to the band for some length of time. Her features, without being pretty, were regular and agreeable. On our asking her reasons for serving with the band, she confessed she had followed her lover to the woods; adding, that when he was killed, she would have gone back home, but was prevented by her comrades. Somebody asking her if she had not served as aide-decamp to C (the chief of another band), she blushed deeply, and indignantly denied the imputation. After this reply she was very haughty and retired for a time, but seeing that we were all respectful to her, she gradually became more at home with us, and confiding in her conversation. As she had lost her boots and was bare-footed, we furnished her with a pair of our long boots and some stockings, for which the poor girl was very thankful. The next day she was released and sent home, her male companions being forwarded on to Warsaw.' Many further instances might be mentioned to show how in the most varied manners the women of Poland have actively intermingled ́ themselves in every step of the insurrection. Indeed it is only necessary to take up a newspaper to read at least the results of their interference; although it would be much more satisfactory to an English public to hear at the same time something more of the causes which lead to those wholesale punishments of women. But the examples I have already given are quite enough to show the furious zeal of the Polish women to their country's cause, and their fanatical attachment to the Roman Catholic religion. One more example I will give before I conclude, which will serve to show the combined influence of woman and priest. In the month of July, 1863, quite a rebellion and schism broke out in the Orthodox Government Institution for young ladies in Warsaw. A number of the young girls, daughters of Russian fathers in the Russian service, who had been brought up all their lives in the Orthodox faith, and were actually receiving their education gratis on that account, suddenly declared they were Roman Catholics.* Here was a pretty uproar to add to all that was going on among the adult population! A general with big epaulettes, with breast and stomach covered with crosses and orders, was foolishly sent to awe them into a retraction. But the little maidens it seemed only laughed at him. A lady of the suite of the Grand Duchess was then sent to try on them her powers of persuasion. The first rebel, a girl sixteen years old, who was questioned, boldly declared she was a Roman Catholic. 'But your father is a Russian Orthodox, and you have been brought up all your life in that faith,' remonstrated the lady. 'Yes, but mother is a Catholic, and so will I be.' *By the laws of Russia no marriage of an Orthodox man or woman with a person of another sect is permitted or celebrated, but on the express condition that the children of such a union be brought up in the Orthodox faith. Most of these girls came under this rule, being daughters of Orthodox fathers and Polish Catholic mothers. |