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perfecting of individuals; but it is a social cultivation and perfection. The self-improvement of each individual must go on in living connection with the observation and appreciation of the progress made by others. The more extensive these two processes are, and the more thoroughly they interpenetrate and modify each other, the more perfect the result. It is the internal which is to be unfolded, but it can be unfolded only in connection with the external. The subjection is to be guided, corrected, stimulated by the objection reflection, discipline are to be conjoined with observation, conversation, intercourse the wider the better. This is the way in which war, and one of the ways in which commerce, exert so beneficial an influence on civilization. Hence the debt which modern Europe owes to the Crusades. To nothing is civilization more directly opposed than to narrowmindedness. A man truly civilized is distinguished for breadth and comprehension of view. He has what the Germans call a world-consciousness. He carries about with him the familiar feeling that he is here in a world where there are not only New Englanders, with their peculiar prejudices and institutions -not only Americans and Europeans, but Hindoos also, and Turks, and Tartars, and Chinese and Japanese, who, like his own neighbors, are all proud of their several countries, creeds and characters; in a world, too, where there have been Jews, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and Arabians: in short, his mind is to a certain degree a geographical and historical omnipresence. He feels, moreover, that he is in vital connection with a race which has been, and is, in a process of development wherein he shares, from which he has received, and to which he must contribute. He is not a mere isolated individual. In all the fortunes of the race he takes sensible interest. He is a man-and whatever concerns humanity comes home to his bosom. Columbus is said to have discovered America; though multitudes were on the spot before him. But they knew only of the existence of their own tribes, and of their immediate neighbors, whom they chanced o meet in war or hunting-they had no history, no future, i. e., they were savages: they were not properly men; and hence they are said to have been discovered as if they were mere things. True civilization also implies a ready sympathy and power of appreci

ation. It enters with facility into the characters and ideas of other nations, and of more imperfect forms of social culture; and by impartially judging them, includes and makes them its own. In fine, its idea, its mission is to bring into one, the past, the present and the future-all nations and all generations. Its spirit, therefore, is both conservative and progressive. It keeps up the continuity of the race. Its monuments are enduring. Its apostles live and labor for all time, though often obscure and neglected in their own.

What share have we in such a civilization? What are our claims and prospects as compared with the leading nations of Europe? We proceed to offer some views in answer to these queries with a deep sense of insufficiency, but at the same time with a clear consciousness of an earnest and impartial spirit. If what shall be said be true and sound as far as it goes, we trust that, in view of the immensity of the subject, our readers will pardon some incoherence and great deficiencies.

We, Americans, are often accused of indulging a vain and boastful spirit-and not without reason; though it seems to be quite forgotten by our accusers that we are not altogether singular in this respect-nor are our boasts altogether groundless-nor is it a greater sin to boast than to traduce. If we boast more than others, it is because we have more people among us who take it into their heads that they have a right to think for themselves, and not only for themselves but for the rest of the world-more mouths which are opened not only to utter the minds of their owners, but to serve as the organs of the nation. Every little village newspaper dares to speak in the name of the American people; and every petty 4th of July orator and Lyceum lecturer, considers himself the pro tempore mouth-piece of the whole country. Now it is certainly assuming more than any considerate man will venture to maintain, to suppose that we can furnish such myriads of men with views equally enlarged and minds equally cultivated, with the select few who presume to stand forth as the representatives of other nations. Among the mass of the people in most other countries, there is probably as deep-seated a feeling of their national superiority as there is among ourselves; but this feeling is among them comparatively silent, because there is too little

bines. Thus being armed, they were arrayed in divisions under various commanders, and sent to patrol the streets, and arrest all spies and the flying enemy. Upwards of three hundred Russian officers were arrested, and the vile Macrot, the chief of spies was massacred, and his papers were seized.

Towards two in the morning, the quiet of the city being restored, most of the patriots assembled in the Ulica Dluga, the Long-street, to consult upon the measures to be adopted on the coming day, and sent forth the following address to the people: "Dear brethren, let no one have a right to accuse us of cruelty; may the sanctity of our cause never be polluted by barbarous passions. Having a single end in view, national freedom and justice, may we prove lions in battle, mild and indulgent to defenceless foes and repentant apostates. Brethren, let unity, love and friendship be ours! Let us forget private rancor and selfish interest! Children of one mother, our dear Poland, let us save her from ruin!" To this thousands of voices responded, with Poland forever!" And then, grateful to their Maker, the assembled multitude knelt before the Almighty to thank him for the deliverance effected with so little bloodshed, and to crave his blessing for the future. What a touching spectacle to behold a multitude, in the dead of night, when all is dark above-with here and there a solitary lamp throwing its dim light upon their bent figures and upturned faces, as they prayed to their deliverer!

The solemn prayer being finished, plans were adopted for the defence of the city; and, Praga being taken possession of, all was quiet till the approaching morning. Thus ended this memorable night of the 29th of November, 1830, amid these tumults in which no one was slain without provocation, and the rights of property were respected.

The first morn of freedom, after so many years of bondage, was saluted with the shouts of " Our country," Poland forever!" At six in the morning, the drums beat for the people to assemble. Crowds pressed into the public squares, without distinction of rank, age or sex. Clergymen, civil officers, Jews, even women and children, armed with pistols, assembled and mixed in the ranks. The first step was to drive the Russians from the city, and before nine o'clock not a soul of them was left within the walls.

With acclamations the people then received General Chlopicki (Klopitskie) as their Commander-in-chief, while Prince Adam Czartoryski (Char-tau-rys-kie), Prince Michael Radziwil (Radz-iv-ill), Julian U. Niemcewicz (Niem-tseh-vitch), and Lelewel (Lel-ev-el), were chosen members of Provisional GovernmentPrince Lubecki (Loo-bets-kie), the old minister, being retained in his station to assist them. The new members immediately put the wheels of the government in motion, to give confidence to the people and preserve order and quiet.

They sent deputies to the Grand Duke, who, with about 8,000 men, lay before the walls of the city, to inquire what were his intentions. They established the national guard, who immediately entered upon their duties. At the same time, the Provisional Government sent proclamations to inform the nation of these events. All went on as regularly as ever, and the city bore an aspect of perfect tranquillity; even the shops were opened. The Russian prisoners were provided for, and treated with the utmost kindness.

In the afternoon of the 2d of December troops arrived from the country; and more than a thousand peasants, and fifty country girls, from the vicinity of Warsaw, armed with clubs, scythes, and other weapons, entered the city. The enthusiasm for the cause of their country overcame even girlish timidity. The national government welcomed these interesting volunteers, and the populace escorted them through the streets with shouts of joy.

On the morning of the 3d of December the Grand Duke was allowed to depart unmolested for the frontier with his Russian guards; while the Polish troops that were with him declined following him, and returned to the city. On this day, the people were informed that the Prince Adam Czartoryski, was made President of the Provisional Government; that the 18th of December was appointed for the opening of the Diet, and that a deputation would be sent to St. Petersburg to demand their rights of the Emperor.

The succeeding fourth, fifth, and sixth of December, were memorable for the continual arrival of crowds from the country. Soldiers and countrymen flocked in from all quarters, carried away by the general enthusiasm ; and in a short time more than five thousand peasants, armed with axes, scythes, and all sorts of weapons arrived;

while more than two hundred country girls were found in their number. The cup of joy was now full to the brim. All distinction of rank, age, even sex vanished. The noble and the peasant, the rich and the poor, joined hy the common tie of sufferings, embraced as brothers. Tables with refreshments were spread in the streets for those who arrived; and in the evening, the theatre was opened for the first time in this eventful period. A patriotic drama was performed which electrified the audience; the music playing Kosciuszko's march, that had not been heard for fifteen years, was drowned in the shouts of the people. "Hail our country, our father Kosciuszko and his friend La Fayette for ever!" filled the air. On the conclusion of the drama, those of the patriots who distinguished themselves on the first night and after, in this revolution, and those who suffered in dungeons for their country, were presented to the audience. The people received them with joy, and carried them about on their shoulders. Then several ladies were brought forward, who on the first night had followed the patriots in arms, or had sacrificed their wealth on the altar of freedom. These heaven-sent angels appearing in the halo of their virtue, were received by the people with the greatest enthusiasm, who intoxicated with joy and their newly recovered liberty, returned with shouts and songs to their homes.

On the 5th religious solemnities, in honor of the martyrs of Praga, took place under the canopy of heaven at Praga. On the spot where their remains were buried an altar was erected, and mass was said. More than 50,000 men, that were assembled around the altar, sent up, with one voice, their prayer to God. The twelve academical legions formed the innermost circle, amid which the late sufferers were the most prominent. In the intervals of, and after the divine service, several speeches were made; one of which was delivered by one of the liberated prisoners, who, after alluding to the cruelties of Suwarow, and stating his own sufferings, thus concluded:

"Brethren, we were lately forbidden, nay, it was accounted a crime, to pray for our murdered ancestors. To-day, under this free vault of heaven, on the grave of our fathers, on the soil moistened with their sacred blood, which cries to us for retribution, in the presence of their spirits hovering over us, we swear never to lay down

our arms till we shall have been avenged, or fallen like them."

At the conclusion of the ceremony the air resounded with the patriotic hymns which the assembled multitude rolled heavenward in their joy.

On the 6th of December, the silverheaded general, Chlopicki (Klopitskie), whom Europe knew as a warrior, and his country as a patriot, was chosen dictator. Thus, the supreme civil and military power being committed to his hands, the authority of the provisional government was at an end. The Dictator promised to lay down his authority on the assemblage of the Diet, and he took an oath to act in conformity to the spirit of the nation.

On entering upon his duties, the Dictator was found unequal to his task. He amused himself with diplomatic negociations, and neglected the rapid preparations for war that were demanded by the people. In the mean time the Emperor roared like a lion when provoked in his den, threatening utter annihilation if the people did not submit unconditionally. What was wanting to the Dictator in activity, the people tried to make up by their own energy, and the warlike preparations went on briskly. On the assemblage of the Diet, the Dictator's conduct was inquired into; the consequence of which was, that he was deprived of his authority. The civil administration was entrusted to Prince Adam Czartoryski, and the command of the army to Prince Michael Radziwil, both subordinate to the Diet.

After he proved his inability to be at the helm of the government, General Chlopicki took a place in the suite of the Commander-in-chief, and was admitted into the councils of military affairs. The dictatorship was unhappy in its consequences, for the time lost in delay could not be retrieved, even by victories. The enemy was allowed to cross the frontiers, while they might have been easily kept at a distance.

When the Russian army was in motion against the Poles, Diebitsch, the Commander-in-chief published a proclamation, couched in insulting terms, and threatening to crush the Polish nation with one blow. Indignant at these menaces, the people instantly demanded to be led against the enemy. The contest was to be unequal. Prussia and Austria assumed a menacing attitude, and

the numerous Russian army was already advancing. Yet courage and faith in the good cause, joyously bore the handful of the Poles into the field of battle.

On the 25th of January the troops began to leave Warsaw and the other towns of the department, for the scene of action. When the march commenced, people from the neighboring country covered the plains around Warsaw, witnessing the departure. The troops passed in review before the general-in-chief, and left the city marching between lines of people, composed of senators, officers of the government, the clergy, women and children, and extending more than two miles beyond Praga. Each regiment took an oath to defend their country to the last drop of their blood. And sentiments like the following were constantly heard: "Dear General, if you see us turn from before the enemy, point the artillery against us, and annihilate our ranks." The people could not but trust in such soldiers.

The actual force of the Polish army at the commencement of the campaign amounted to 32,600 infantry, 13,200 cavalry, while its artillery consisted of 96 pieces. So small a handful of men dared to engage with the giant forces of Russia, consisting, according to their own statements, of 300,000 men and 300 cannon. This colossal army, with Marshal Diebitsch at their head, crossed, in the early part of February, 1831, the Polish frontier.

Thus, after being chained for fifteen years, the white Polish eagle breaks loose his fetters. Mindful of his past glory he soars high in the skies; he pants for a rencounter, and defies the black two-headed Russian bird of prey. Their first meeting is a determined struggle; the white plumage of the bird of Poland is reddened with the blood of his antagonist, which is glad to escape with life. They meet again; and again the black eagle of Russia seeks safety in flight. But to follow thee, O white eagle! in thy bold flight, to recount thy bloody battles and thy victories, would task the pen of a Livy.

The 10th of February, 1831, was the day that heard the first shots exchanged by the two opposing armies. Miendzyrzec was the place in which a little skirmish took place; and here the Polish army entered upon the career of victory. Several remarkable battles, and numerous

skirmishes had already occurred when the dawn of the 25th of February broke upon the victorious Poles. This was the day of the memorable battle of Grochow, fought within sight of the walls of Warsaw.

The force that the enemy disposed in order of battle consisted of 126,000 infantry, 42,000 cavalry and 280 cannon. The day of this great action was a day of unprecedented horror. The battle opened at day-break, and at once became furious. The earth bellowed and groaned as if in her last agonies; the air, pierced with thousands of voices of the dying and wounded, seemed as if invaded by vociferating spirits, the clouds of smoke turned day into night, through which broke the flashes of the cannon like lightning through the midnight tempest. The men, begrimed with smoke and bespattered with blood, looked as if just escaped from the infernal regions; all was wild, unearthly and terrific. But amid these scenes, senators, officers of the gov ernment, the clergy, nay, women of rank, were seen succoring the wounded and comforting the dying. And hard by, the anxious multitude covered the plain, watching eagerly the balancing of the fate of the battle; their pale, anxious faces now reflecting joy, now fear; their hearts now swelling at the sight of the retreating enemy, and now trembling for the fate of their fathers, husbands, sons and brothers. A little farther off rose the walls of Warsaw, black with the breathless population, fixedly gazing upon the scene below, filled with the agony of wavering hope, the convulsive succession of fear and joy, as the tide of battle flowed towards the city or receded in the distance. Nine times did the Russian thousands sweep over their position, and nine times did that band of freemen steadily hurl them back. At length, with the sunset, victory gave her blast for the Poles. All at once, the heavens resound with "POLAND FOREVER!" The people rush into the embraces of the exhausted but victorious soldiers. Here the mother finds her son, doubly dear to her for his gushing wounds; there, the wife her husband, more beloved for the marks of daring that cover him; and yonder, children come to kiss the wounds of their father. And here, at the sight of a dying brother or son, husband or father, nature struggles between the love of self and that of country; but the last prevails. Such was this eventful day,

tains an elaborate article on the subject of legislation for the working classes; the upshot of which is, that, in order to be treated as freemen, they must be left to starve ;-for to talk to men about exciting industry and economy by throwing them on their own resources, while you allow them nothing to do, or do not pay them enough for their work to furnish them a scanty subsistence from hand to mouth, is only adding insult to injury. The Reviewer, after stating very impartially the advantages and disadvantages of the free working classes as compared with serfs and slaves, and showing how, in Europe, the former condition has gradually taken the place of the latter, adds the following paragraph which we take the liberty to insert entire.

"When we contemplate the actual results of the change in question, and compare the state of the working classes in countries where they are free, with the state of a slave class, we find that the only benefits of free. dom, which have been fully enjoyed by the laboring classes, are the negative ones (such as exemption from bodily inflictions and other ill treatment); but that the positive benefits which they have hitherto derived from their social independence, have been less prominent. The positive benefits, which are economical and domestic, which consist in the acquisition, enjoyment and transmission of wealth, and in the develop ment of the family affections, are more remote, and depend on numerous preliminary conditions which hitherto have rarely coexisted in any community. The entire harvest of the change will not be reaped until civilization has made further progressuntil the providence, industry, intelligence and peaceableness of the working-man are such as to render him altogether fit for selfsupport, and to protect society against the shocks arising from his delusions and violence."

To this we have only to add, by way of comment, that the free working classes in this country, have already made that "further progress in civilization" for which the Englishman and the European can only sigh; that they already enjoy and have long enjoyed to the full, the positive as well as the negative benefits of freedom; so that they would feel indignant at the very thought of being compared with slaves and serfs.

It is charged upon us that we have mobs in this country. It is also too true. But let it also be remembered, that we have scarcely any police and no standing armies to prevent or suppress them; while with all their regiments and systems of police, even the English have not got along without them. Can either France or England point to fifty consecutive years in her history during which she has been freer from mobs than the United States have been for a half century, from the adoption of the Federal Constitution? Moreover, it is not to be forgotten, that we do not send our refuse population abroad, but, from our liberal character and position, must receive the refuse population of other countries, and share with them our rights and liberties. What, then, must be the transforming character of our people and institutions, which can so unfailingly and so speedily change such materials into good citizens, enjoy. ing all the positive as well as negative benefits of freedom-and can continue such a process for so long a period with so very few miscarriages and disasters ?

Overweening self-conceit, repudiation, slavery, mobs-these evils, we grieve to say, do exist among us. But the whole country is not chargeable with any one of them-they are not distinctive characteristics of our social condition. When the enemies of America and American

aristocracy can make a vritue of necessity with as good a grace as anybody we know of. It is stated on the authority of a writer in Blackwood's Magazine, that the number of paupers in Great Britain is four millions, or a seventh part of the population of the empire. At the same time there are 70,000 persons in England whose aggregate annual income is 200,000,000 of dollars. According to the Parliamentary Reports, the money expended for the relief of the poor in England alone, for the last thirty years, has averaged nearly 50,000,000 of dollars annually. Probably all the rest of the world put together, have not expended so great a sum for this purpose. (See Edinburgh Review, Jan., 1846.) Instead of wondering at the munificence of such an immense provision, we are led to reflect that the very necessity for it, proves that there is "something rotten" either in the character of the people, or of the institutions under which they live. Are such multitudes of the free-born natives of England so lazy or so stupid that rather than earn their own living, as they might, they will submit to be fed as paupers? Or, are the political and social conditions under which they live such, that after toiling with the best will, and straining every nerve, they cannot obtain the means of keeping body and soul together without the insulting aid of public charity? We do not see how the English can avoid accepting on this subject one horn or other of the same dilemma which they offer to us on the subject of "repudiation."

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