vernment remained Republican, the liberum veto was expressly allowed, the weakness of the executive insured, and the anarchy of the Diets perpetuated.

After achieving this political Revolution, establishing a Russian army in Poland, and enabling her Ambassadors to govern the country despotically in the name of the Senate and the King, Catherine thought she might bestow her attention on other inatters, until the time should come for putting into full execution her favourite plan of partition.

The hopes of the Poles revived a little on finding that their bitter enemy was engaged in pursuits which in no way involved their own fate. But the first dismemberment had cut off from them all communication with those who could act as their allies. The Republic was surrounded by enemies; its territory was overrun by foreign troops, and there was no national army with whose assistance. something might be done. Some causes of jealousy which broke out between Catherine and Frederick, appeared to the Poles likely to lead to a breach which would save them from the triple yoke they had long been threatened by.

The King of Prussia made an attempt upon Thorn and Dantzic, after which he expressed a desire to form a closer alliance with the Republic than had ever existed between them. This occurred in 1786, at the very moment when the question of recalling the constitution of 1775 was in agitation, and when it was proposed to frame another that would be more in harmony with the situation of Europe in general, and better suited to the interests of Poland in particular. The Prussian ambassador received orders to insist on the necessity of the proposed change. Catherine could not help experiencing jealousy at the ascendency which the King of Prussia was endeavouring to establish in Poland; but at that moment she was too deeply engaged in a war with the Turks to turn her thoughts elsewhere, so that she deemed it prudent to treat with more condescension those for whom she had always manifested great contempt. On another hand, apprehensive lest her army should be placed between the fire of the Poles and Turks, she endeavoured to avert the danger by proposing an offensive and defensive alliance to the King of Poland. But the Russian name was held in execration in Warsaw, and the Prussian ambassador used every effort to heighten discontent. He openly disavowed on the part of his sovereign all idea of a new dismemberment; and he publicly declared that Frederick had no other design in regard to Poland than to restore it to its liberty, its greatness, and its glory, and thereby to secure Europe against all future incursions by the "barbarians of the North." He moreover insinuated that the moment was favourable to break all pacific connexion with Catherine, who was too much engaged with the Turkish war, and too apprehensive of one with Sweden, to have it in her power to prevent the Poles from establishing themselves on a firm footing of independence.

The Poles felt too prone to resent the long series of insults and injuries heaped on them not to be easily excited under such circumstances. Throughout the Republic there was but one wish, and that was to break the fetters so long imposed on them by their barbarous oppressors. The hotel of the Russian ambassador, which had till then been more frequented than the King's palace, was all at once deserted. The nobles made sacrifices, the bourgeoisie tendered their fortunes and their arms, and a patriotic Diet set about the reforms which had been deemed necessary. The King himself was so led away by the enthusiasm everywhere prevailing, that he heartily seconded every patriotic effort, and the constitution of the 3rd of May 1791, received the approbation of all.

By that constitution, which has been since so greatly calumniated from political motives, the dynasties were elective; the throne was hereditary; the ministers were responsible; the Roman Catholic religion was the religion of the state-all others were tolerated; the manumission of the peasantry was provided for; the bourgeoisie were made eligible to all civil and military employments which conferred nobility, and the nobility formed the two legislative chambers. It established a sort of alliance between old prejudices and philosophical ideas-between ancient manners and modern customs. Nearly all the sovereigns of Europe congratulated the King and the Republic on this change. Frederick himself wrote to Stanislaus, and expressed his approbation of the

choice made by the latter of the Princess of Saxony as his successor to the throne. Not long after, however, to the amazement of all the Poles, Frederick publicly disavowed his friendly promises and protestations, and even the very treaties signed by his own order. He gave as a reason for this barefaced inconsistency the danger of the example which the French Revolution had given to the Poles, though no kind of comparison between the constitutions and the situations of the two countries could be reasonably maintained.

Soon after the promulgation of the new constitution, a small number of Polish nobles, who were obstinately attached to their privileges and devoted to Russia, formed a confederation at Targowitz for the purpose of overturning the new order of things established; and Catherine, having concluded a hasty peace with the Turks, directed the whole of her army which had been employed in that war to march in support of the Polish confederates. Had the King Stanislaus then complied with the wishes of the Poles, and trusted to the abilities of his generals, he might have maintained the honour of his crown and placed the independence of his country on the most solid basis. But by listening to the proposal of an armistice, he put a stop to every military measure, paralyzed the national energy, lost the fruits of the advantages gained by Kosciusko, and made himself fully deserving of the shame and misfortunes which soon after befell him. The Russians were under the very walls of Warsaw, when he received a letter from Catherine, in which she told him that she would never forgive him for having deceived her, unless he joined the federates of Targowitz, who were coming at the head of the Russians for the purpose of overturning the constitution of the 3rd of May, and of setting up again the one which she had guaranteed. Stanislaus acceded immediately to the act of the confederates; but when the Russians had entered Warsaw, the confederates themselves perceived that they had given themselves up to their worst enemies. Their tardy remorse, however, did not in any way avail their country, and the subjection to which it had been so long destined was hastened by their folly.

The instant that the Empress Catherine declared her intention of again dismembering Poland, the King of Prussia, who some months before had engaged to maintain its integrity, hastened to take his share of the second spoliation, and announced the entrance of his troops into the territories of the Republic, in a declaration issued the 25th of March 1793, the language of which it would be curious to compare with what he had written, done, and advised two years before. In that manifesto, Frederick reproached the Poles with their resistance to his councils and to the benevolent intentions of the Empress Catherine; he deplored the misfortunes of a country convulsed by internal anarchy and commotion, and pretended to be greatly alarmed at the progress of "French principles" in Poland! These reasons, he said, placed him under the necessity of adopting "salutary measures," by taking possession of Thorn, Dantzic, and a part of Upper Poland, in order to restore tranquillity to that country and afford protection to the well-intentioned Poles!!!

This declaration was immediately followed by the execution of the “salutary measures" therein announced. At Thorn and Dantzic the Prussian troops, though unopposed, entered as if they were taking those places by storm. This unjustifiable violence was protested against by the confederates of Targowitz, who complained to the Russians. Catherine's ambassador feigned ignorance regarding the designs of Frederick, but requested the confederates to rely on the protection of the Empress. This turn of things revived again for a moment the national energy, and recourse was had to arms for the purpose of repelling the invaders. But the Russian troops received secret orders to oppose themselves to this general movement lest it should ultimately prove their own destruction, and on the 9th of April 1793, a day that will never be forgotten by the Polish nation, a declaration was published in the name of the two dismembering powers, by which their atrocious plot was revealed, and the eyes of the confederates, who had been used as vile instruments for its execution, were completely opened. A single paragraph of that memorable declaration will suffice to show by what feelings of justice and disinterestedness these new kind of mediators were actuated. It set forth that "Their Majesties, the Empress of Russia and the King of Prussia, with

the assent of his Majesty the Emperor of the Romans, could not devise any surer means for their respective safety than by confining the Polish Republic within narrower limits, and by assigning to it an extent and an existence suited to a power of an inferior order." This declaration abounded in impudent professions of solicitude for the welfare of the Polish nation. The world had to be taught a new species of charity, in the subjection of a free people for no other purpose on earth than the increase of their happiness!

To such a declaration no answer could have been more appropriate than an instantaneous appeal to the sword. Stanislaus, however, submitted that when he had acceded to the Confederation of Targowitz, formed under the protection of the Empress, he had done so in consequence of the positive assurance given him that the possessions of the Republic would remain untouched; that the only prayer of the States and the King was, that the territories of the Republic should be returned to them; and that it was hoped their Majesties of Russia and Prussia would observe that the Polish nation had never given cause for the partition which those two sovereigns seemed to consider necessary.

This was, indeed, a humble sort of remonstrance, and only served to show the weakness and degradation to which the nation had fallen. It remained, of course, unanswered and unheeded, and soon after the new dismemberment took place; but this was again of a preliminary nature, the definitive partition being left to be settled so soon as the spoliators should have time to discuss the matter among themselves. Poland was so completely overrun by Russian and Prussian troops, that it would have been at this time perfectly useless to make any effort to rid it of their detested presence. They assumed everywhere the tone and behaviour of conquerors. The King remained prisoner in Warsaw, and was included in the amnesty specified in the treaty which was prescribed to the States of Poland. A kind of Diet was held, whose sittings were attended by the presence of twenty thousand Russian bayonets. All the country towns were in the hands of the enemy, and the country itself was deserted by the natives. Those who were known as entertaining patriotic sentiments, were either exiled to Siberia, or fugitives from their native land.

Notwithstanding all these circumstances, and the utmost precautions adopted by the enemy, to ensure the tranquil subjection of the Poles, a revolt broke out some time after among them, which became the signal for a general insurrection. In March 1794, a superior officer, of the name of Madalinski, raised the standard of independence, and in a moment crowds flocked around it, and men were seen hastening from their retreats where they had long remained concealed. Kosciusko appeared in Cracow, signed an act of insurrection, and received the title of Generalissimo of the Polish Armies. His exploits are well known. With four thousand men, consisting chiefly of peasants armed with scythes, he attacked and defeated seven thousand Russians, near Wraclawitz, and took twelve pieces of cannon from them. At the news of this victory the insurrection became general; it broke out in Gallicia, Samogotia, and Wilna. Warsaw soon followed the example. The Russiaus, seeing the fermentation which was taking place there, endeavoured to take possession of the arsenal. This was the signal for a general rise, and on the 18th of April the Poles retrieved their character by the prodigious courage they displayed. Neither the formidable artillery of the Russians, their ferocious obstinacy, nor the advantage of regular command, could withstand the undisciplined valour of the Poles, the confusion of their attacks, or the fury which, long compressed, had now found vent. Six thousand Russians were killed; three thousand were made prisoners; fifty pieces of cannon were taken, and General Igelstrom, commander of the place, was forced precipitately to evacuate the capital.

We shall not euter upon a painful recital of the military operations of the campaign which followed, and which ultimately ended in the total annihilation of Poland as a state.

Frederick arrived with an army of forty thousand men, and the Russians invaded the country on all sides. The Poles defended themselves to the utmost, but it was impossible always to come off victorious in their rencontres with the many well-disciplined armies by which they were incessantly assailed.

Kosciusko, after the most desperate and unheard-of efforts, fell gloriously at Maciesowitz, after sustaining an almost incessant combat for several days against numbers nearly twenty times greater than his own. All Poland, in fact, assumed the appearance of a town taken by storm.

Her enemies came off victorious, and the fruit of their victory was the celebrated partition of 1795, by which Russia obtained nearly one half of the country, consisting of the Duchy of Lithuania, Samogotia, &c. and five millions of inhabitants; Prussia took the Duchy of Warsaw, and Austria the province of Gallicia.*

THE LAST LOOK.

'Tis the very lightness of childish impressions that makes them so dear and so lasting.
THE shade of the willow fell dark on the tide,
When the maid left her pillow to stand by its side;
The wind, like a sweet voice, was heard in the tree,
And a soft lulling music swept in from the sea.

The land was in darkness, for mountain and tower
Flung before them the shadows of night's deepest hour;
The moonlight unbroken lay white on the wave,
Till the wide sea was clear as the shield of the brave.

She flung from her forehead its curls of bright hair,—

Ere those ringlets fell round her, another was there;

Red flushed her cheek's crimson, and dark drooped her eye,
A stranger had known 'twas her lover stood by.

One note on his sea call, the signal he gave,

And a boat, like a plaything, danced light on the wave;
Her head on his shoulder, her hand in his hand,

Yet the maiden looked back as they rowed from the strand.

She wept not for parents, she wept not for friends,

Yet fast the bright rain through her white hand descends;
The portionless orphan left nothing behind

But the green leaves-the wild flowers sown by the wind.
But how the heart clings to that earliest love,

Which haunts the lone garden, aud hallows the grove;
Which makes the old oak tree and primrose bank fair,
With the memories of childhood whose playtime was there.
"Tis our spirits which fling round the joy which they take,
The best of our pleasures are those which we make,
We look to the past, and remember the while,
Our own buoyant step, and our own sunny smile.
A pathway of silver was tracked on the wave,
The oars left behind them the light which they gave,
And the slight boat flew over the moonlighted brine,
Till the coast in the distance was one shadowy line.
They reached the proud ship, and the silken sails spread,
And the gallant flag shone like a meteor blood red;
And forth from the scabbard flashed out each bright sword,
In fealty to her the young bride of their lord.

From a cup of pale gold she sipped the clear wine,
And clasped on her arm the green emeralds shine,
The silver lamps swinging with perfume were fed,
And the rich fur beneath her light footstep was spread.
From the small cabin window she looked to the shore,
Lost in night she could see its dim outline no more:
She sighed as she thought of her earlier hours,

Ah, who will now watch over my favourite flowers?"

To be concluded in our next.

L. E. L

LIVING LITERARY CHARACTERS.

Sir Walter Scott.

(Accompanied by an engraved Bust.)

THE genius of Walter Scott was perceived by Robert Burns. "I was a lad of fifteen," says the former, when he came to Edinburgh, but had sense and feeling enough to be much interested in his poetry, and would have given the world to know him. I saw him accidentally at Professor Ferguson's: the only thing I remember which was remarkable in Burns's manner, was the effect produced upon him by a print representing a soldier lying dead on the snow, his dog sitting in misery on one side, on the other his widow, with a child in her arms; underneath were some affecting lines; the whole touched Burns so deeply that he shed tears; turning round he inquired by whom the lines were written. I whispered to a friend they are by Langhorne; I was overheard by the poet, who rewarded me with a look and a word, which, though of mere civility, I then received and still recollect with very great pleasure." Humility is an attribute of genius; one who was present at this fine scene thus completed the picture" Burns fixed his large glowing eyes on Scott, and striding up to him laid his hand on his head and said, Young man, it is no common spirit which has directed your mind into such a course of study; and, turning half away, he said to the company, This boy will be heard of yet.' He has since amply fulfilled the prediction of

Burns and the intention of Nature.

6

Scott was long known amongst his friends as a scholar and poet; but the first time that his name came to me it was brought by the "Lay of the Last Minstrel," a poem which stirred up the spirit of Scotland as effectually as a war-beacon would have done of old. His "Border Minstrelsy," indeed, a work of great talent, taste, and research, had preceded the Minstrel, but it was known to few, at any rate it had failed in impressing upon the public mind that a great original genius had arisen; and, when read by the light which the Lay threw upon it, there were but few to perceive that, in the ballads of "Glenfinlas," and the "Eve of St. John," there was the true martial and romantic spirit of ballad poetry, while Antiquarians shook their heads at the "pretty considerable" prunings and engraftings visible in many of the rough and time-worn chaunts of our martial ancestors. In truth, Scott was too clever a poet to permit the rent and soiled strains of antiquity to go in such a plight from his hand. There can be no doubt that many of those homely Border ballads received an infusion of poetic life's-blood from his hands; like his own Minstrel, when he strove to recall the half-forgotten strain which he had harped to King Charles the good,

"Each blank in faithless memory void

The Poet's glowing thought supplied."

I mention this as a merit, not as a fault. To eke out and restore perishing works of taste and fancy is a meritorious thing-it bears no resemblance to that of polluting the fountains of historic truth by interpolating passages which give a different hue and meaning to the actions of men: history should be held sacred,-it is otherwise with

verse.