"Hope for a season bade the world farewell,

And freedom shrieked when Kosciusko fell."-CAMPBELL.

THE virtuous hero of Poland, Thaddeus Kosciusko, was born in Lithuania, and educated at Warsaw. When very young he was informed that the Americans were preparing to shake off the yoke of Britain. His ardent and generous mind caught with enthusiasm the opportunity thus afforded for aspiring genius, and from that moment he became the devoted soldier of liberty.

His rank in the American army afforded him no opportunity greatly to distinguish himself. But he was remarked throughout his service for all the qualities which adorn the human character. His heroic valor in the field, could only be equaled by his moderation

and affability in the walks of private life. He was idolized by the soldiers for his bravery, and beloved and respected by the officers for the goodness of his heart and the great qualities of his mind.

Contributing greatly by his exertions to the establishment of the independence of America, he might have remained and shared the blessings it dispensed under the protection of a chief who loved and honored him, and in the bosom of a people whose independence he had so bravely fought to achieve; but Kosciusko had other views; he had drunk deep of the principles of the American revolution, and he wished to procure the same advantages for his native country-for Poland, which had a claim to all his efforts, to all his services.

That unhappy nation groaned under a complication of evils which had scârcely a parallel in history. The mass of the people were the abject slaves of the nobles; the nobles, torn into factions, were alternately the instruments and the victims of their powerful and ambitious neighbors. By intrigue, corruption, and force, some of its fairest provinces had been separated from the republic; and the people, like beasts, transferred to foreign despots, who were again watching a favorable moment for a second dismemberment. To regenerate a people thus debased; to obtain for a country thus circumstanced, the blessings of liberty and independence; was a work of as much difficulty as danger. But to a mind like Kosciusko's the difficulty and danger of an enterprise served but as a stimulant to. undertake it.

The annals of these times give us no 'detailed account of the progress of Kosciusko in accomplishing his great work, from the period of his return from America, to the adoption of the New Constitution of Poland in 1791. This interval, however, of apparent inaction, was most usefully employed to illumine the mental darkness which enveloped his countrymen; to stimulate the ignorant and bigoted peasantry with the hope of a future emancipation; to teach a proud but gallant nobility, that true glory is only to be found in the paths of duty and patriotism. Interests the most opposed, prejudices the most stubborn, and habits the most inveterate, were reconciled, dissipated, and broken, by the ascendency of his virtues and example. The storm which he had foreseen, and for which he had been preparing, at length burst upon Poland. A feeble and unpopular government bent before its fury, and submitted itself to the yoke of the Russian invader. But the nation disdained to follow its example; in their extremity every eye was turned on the hero who had already fought their battles; the sage who had enlightened them; and the patriot who had set the example of personal sacrifices to accomplish the emancipation of the people.

Kosciusko made his first campaign as brigadier-general, under the orders of Prince John Poniatowski. In the second, in 1794, he was

appointed generalissimo of Poland, with unlimited powers, until the enemy should be driven from the country.

Without funds, without magazines, without fortresses, Kosciusko maintained his army for nine months against forces infinitely superior. Poland then only existed in his camp. Devotedness made up for the want of resources, and courage supplied the deficiency of arms; for the general had imparted his noble character to all his soldiers. Like him, they knew no danger, they dreaded no fatigues, when the honor and liberty of Poland were pending; like him, they endeavored to lessen the sacrifices which were required of the inhabitants for national independence; and their obedience to their venerated chief was the more praiseworthy as it was voluntary. He held his authority by no other tenure than that of his virtues. Guided by his talents, and led by his valor, his undisciplined and illarmed militia charged with effect the veteran Russians and Prussians; the mailed cuirassiers of the great Frederick, for the first time, broke and fled before the cavalry of Poland. Hope filled the breasts of the patriots. After a long night, the dawn of an appârently glorious day broke upon Poland. But to the discerning eye of Kosciusko the light which it shed was of that sickly and °portentous appearance, which indicated a storm more dreadful than that which he had resisted. He prepared to meet it with firmness, but with means entirely inadequate.

In addition to the advantages of numbers, of tactics, of discipline, and inexhaustible resources, the combined despots had secured a °faction in the heart of Poland. The unequal struggle could not be long maintained, and the day at length came which was to decide the fate of Poland and its hero. Heaven, for wise purposes, determined that it should be the last of Polish liberty; it was decided, indeed, before the battle commenced. The traitor Poniski, who covered with a detachment the advance of the Folish army, abandoned his position to the enemy, and retreated.

Kosciusko was astonished but not dismayed. The disposition of his army would have done honor to Hannibal. The succeeding conflict was terrible. When the talents of the general could no longer direct the mingled mass of combatants, the arm of the warrior was brought to the aid of his soldiers. He performed prodigies of valor. The fabled prowess of Ajax, in defending the Grecian ships, was realized by the Polish hero. Nor was he badly seconded by his troops. As long as his voice could guide or his example fire their valor, they were irresistible. In this unequal contest Kosciusko was long seen, and finally lost to their view. He fell covered with wounds; and a Cossack was on the point of piercing one of the best hearts that ever warmed a virtuous bosom, when an officer interposed. "Suffer him to execute his purpose," said the bleeding hero;

"I am the devoted soldier of my country, and will not survive its liberties." The name of Kosciusko struck to the heart of the Tartar, like that of Marius upon the Cimbrian warrior. The uplifted wĕapon dropped from his hand.

Kosciusko was conveyed to the dungeons of Petersburgh; and, to the eternal disgrace of the Empress Catherine, she made him the object of her vengeance, when he could no longer be the object of her fears. But the Emperor Paul, on his accession to the throne, thought he could not grant the Polish nation a more acceptable favor than to restore to liberty the hero whom they regretted. He himself announced to General Kosciusko that his captivity was at an end. He wished him to accept, moreover, a present of fifty thousand duc ́ats of Holland; but the general refused it. Kosciusko preferred rather to depend for subsistence on the recompense to which his services in America had entitled him.

With this humble fortune, obtained in so honorable a way, he lived for a while in the United States; then in France, near Fontainebleau, in the family of Zeltner; and lastly, in Switzerland. From that time he refused to take any part in the affairs of his country, for fear of endangering the national tranquillity, the offers that were made to him being accompanied with no sufficient guarantee.

Bonaparte often endeavored to draw Kosciusko from his retirement, and once issued an address to the Poles in his name; but though the virtuous general still loved his country, he knew well that its emancipation could not be achieved under such auspices.

Though an exile from his country, the Poles still considered themselves as his children, and presented, with just pride, to other nations, that model of the virtues of their country, that man so pure and upright so great at the head of an army, so modest in private life, so formidable to his enemies in battle, so humane and kind to the vanquished, and so zealous for the glory and independence of his country.

In the invasion of France in 1814, some Polish regiments in the service of Russia passed through the village where this exiled patriot then lived. Some pillaging of the inhabitants brought Kosciusko from his cottage. "When I was a Polish soldier," said he, addressing the plunderers, the property of the peaceful citizen was respected." " And who art thou;" said an officer, "who addressest us with a tone of authority?" "I am Kosciusko." There was magic in the word. It ran from corps to corps. The march was suspended. They gathered round him, and gazed with astonishment and awe upon the mighty ruin he presented. 'Could it indeed be their hero," whose fame was identified with that of their country? A thousand interesting reflections burst upon their minds; they remembered his patriotism, his devotion to liberty, his triumphs, and his glorious fall

Their iron hearts were softened, and the tear of sensibility trickled down their weather-beaten faces. We can easily conceive what would be the feelings of the hero himself in such a scene. His great heart must have heaved with emotion, to find himself once more surrounded by the companions of his glory; and that he would have been on the point of saying to them,

"Behold your general come once more

To lead you on to laureled victory,

To fame, to freedom."

The delusion could have lasted but for a moment. He was himself, alas! a miserable cripple; and, for them! they were no longer the soldiers of liberty, but the instruments of ambition and tyranny. Overwhelmed with grief at the reflection, he would retire to his cottage to mourn afresh over the miseries of his country.

Kosciusko died at Soleure, on the 15th of October, 1817. A fall from his horse, by which he was dragged over a precipice not far from Vevay, was the cause of his death. A funeral service was celebrated in honor of him, in the church of St. Roche at Paris, which was honored with the most distinguished personages of every nation then in the French capital. The name of Kosciusko belongs to the civilized world, and his virtues to humanity. Poland laments in him a patriot whose life was consecrated to the cause of her liberty and independence. America includes him among her illustrious defenders. France and Switzerland admire him as the man of beneficence and virtue; and Russia, by whom his country was conquered, never beheld a man more unshaken in his principles, or firmer in adversity. ANONYMOUS.

CCVI. THE GRAY FOREST EAGLE.

WITH storm-dâring pinion and sun-gazing eye,
The gray forest eagle is king of the sky!
Oh little he loves the green valley of flowers,

Whêre sunshine and song cheer the bright summer hours,
For he hears in those häunts only music, and sees
Only rippling of waters and waving of trees;
There the red robin warbles, the honey-bee hums,
The timid quail whistles, the sly partridge drums;
And if those proud pinions, perchance, 'sweep along,
There's a shrouding of plumage, a hushing of song;
The sunlight falls stilly on leaf and on moss,

And there's naught but his shadow black gliding across;