Kelly W.K. The History of Russia: from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. Volume 2
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A.D.
1829]
PEOGEESS
IN
THE
EAST. 353
sacrificing, by
the
fatigues
and
privations
of
the
compulsory
march,
the
aged
and
infirm,
the weak
and
the
helpless.
He established
for
his own
subjects
in
Turkey
an
exemp-
tion from
all
responsibility
to
the national
authority,
and
burdened
the
Porte
with
an
immense
debt,
under
the
name
of
indemnity
for the
expenses
of
the war and
for
commercial
losses
;
and
finally
retained
Moldavia,
Vallachia,
and Silistria
in
pledge
for the
payment
of a sum
which
Turkey
could
not
hope
in
many
years
to
liquidate. Having
by
this
treaty
im-
posed
\ipon
Turkey
the
acceptance
of
the
protocol
of the
22nd of
March,
which
secured
to her
the
suzerainete of
Greece and
a
yearly
tribute from
that
country,
Russia used
all
her
influence
to
procure
the
independence
of Greece
;
and
the violation
by
herself and
her allies of the
agreement
which
she
had made an
integral part
of the
treaty
of
Adrianople.
Greece
was
finally separated
from
Turkey,
and erected into
an
independent
state,
of
which count
Capo
d'Istria,
who had
been a Russian
minister,
was
named
president.
In the course of her
hostilities
with
Turkey
in
Asia,
Russia
had
developed
new
and
extensive
projects
of
future
conquest.
The
Turkish
pashalic
of
Bagdad
had for
many
years
been in
the hands of a
body
of
Georgians,
who,
like the
Mamelukes
in
Egypt,
had
usurped
almost
the whole
power
of the
govern-
ment,
and
left the Porte
no
alternative
but to
sanction
and
i
raise the
authority
which
some one
of the number from
time
to
time had
usurped.
The
pasha
of
Bagdad,
when the
Russians invaded
Turkish
Armenia,
was a
Georgian
of the
name of
Daud,
or
David
;
a man
of
much
energy
and
ambi-
tion,
who aimed at
establishing
his
own
independence.
A
brother
of
the
pasha,
who had continued to reside
in his
native
country,
and was
now, therefore,
a Russian
subject,
sd on
a
petty
trade between Tiflia
and
Bagdad,
and
became
the
medium of
communication
between his masters
and
his
brother.
Almost
all the
officers
of trust
in the
pashalic
were held
by
Georgians;
and
they
all
had con-
nexions
in
their
native
country,
—
many
of their
nearest
relatives were
in the
Russian
Bervice.
The influence of
the
government
of
Georgia
in
Bagdad
began
to be
felt;
and
when
general
Paskievitch
found
himself at Erzerum.
on
the
banks
of a
branch
of
tho
Euphrates,
and
not
far
from
the
stream
of the
Tigris,
he
conceived the
project
of
descending
VOL. XI.
2
A
354
HISTOEY
OF EUSSIA.
[CH.
LXVII.
these
rivers,
and
occupying
the modern
capital
of
Assyria
and
Mesopotamia.
But
the
successes of
general
Diebitsch on
the
Balkan had
placed
Eussia in
so
advantageous
a
position,
with means so
inadequate
to
maintain
it,
that it was
con-
sidered
imprudent
to hazard
a failure on
the side of
Asia,
and the
emperor
therefore abandoned the
enterprise
for a
time.
No
opportunity
was lost
to form
connexions with the chiefs
of Koordistan
;
but these wild
mountaineers,
though they
sometimes
yielded
to the influence which then was domi-
nant,
exhibited on some occasions
a
fidelity
to their
sove-
reign,
and
a
manly
spirit
and
intelligence,
which did them
infinite honour.
Tymour,
pasha
of
Van,
on
the
approach
of
the
Russians,
sent a
message
to the
prince royal
of
Persia,
offering
to deliver
up
his
pashalic
into
his
royal highness's
hands if he
would
engage
to
protect
it
from
the
Russians,
and surrender it to the Porte at the termination of
the war.
Thus
Eussia,
by
a
long
series of
hostilities
and
intrigues,
had
not
only conquered
a
large
extent of the
European
and
Asiatic territories of
Turkey,
but
brought
about
the actual
separation
of
Greece,
and
attempted
the virtual
separation
of
Servia,
Moldavia,
and Yallachia
from the Ottoman
empire
;
had
contemplated
the
occupation
of
Bagdad,
and
extended
her
secret connexions
to
that
pashalic
and
to
the
mountains
of
Koordistan.*
CHAPTEE
LXVII.
THE
INSUEEECTION OP
POLAND.
The
encroachments
of Eussia
in the
East,
and the de-
plorable
treaty
of
Adrianople,
by
which
they
were
confirmed,
naturally
excited
alarm
in
the
governments
of Great
Britain
and Austria
;
but
the
times
were
unfavourable
to
vigorous
action on
the
part
of
those
powers,
and
they
contented them-
selves with
protesting against
the evil
which
they
had
not
the
boldness to
prevent
or
redress.
Chief
among
the
causes
of
this
supineness appears
to
have
been
the attitude of
the
two
other
great
"Western
powers.
Prussia
was
devoted
to the
interests
of
the
czar,
and
Erance,
under
the
elder
branch of
*
"
Progress
of
Eussia
in
the
East," pp.
87-90.
A.D.
1830]
THE INSUEBECTION OE
POLAND.
355
the
Bourbons,
would
have sided with
Bussia
in
a
general
war.
In
1829,
negotiations
for an
offensive and
defensive
alliance
were
begun
between
the
cabinets of St.
Petersburg
and
the Tuileries.
That
alliance was to
have been
specially
directed
against
Eugland.
France was
to
receive
back
the
provinces
on
the Bhine.
Hanover,
wrested from
Great
Bri-
tain,
was to be
divided into
two
parts,
the
one
destined to
indemnify
Holland,
the other
to
be
given
as
a bonus to
Prussia,
whose
territory
was further to be
augmented
by
the
addition
of
a
part
of
Saxony
to the
Prussian
provinces
of
Silesia.
The
king
of
Saxony
was to be
compensated
at
the
expense
of Poland. To
Austria were to be
secured
Servia,
a
part
of
Dalmatia not in
her
possession,
and
one
of the
two
banks
of the Danube.
Bussia,
mistress
of the
opposite
bank,
would bave the
dominion
of the
Black
Sea,
and seat
herself
in
Constantinople,
whence she
might
at her
leisure
invade
Asia.*
"When
all
seemed
thus
ripe
for the
consummation
of
Bussia's
long-cherished designs,
came the French
revolution
of
July,
1830,
which
completely
reversed the
foreign
policy
of
Prance. An event so inimical
to his
interests,
and so sub-
versive
of
the
principle
of
legitimacy,
of which
he
regarded
himself as the
consecrated
champion,
infuriated
Nicholas,
and he was
preparing
to invade Prance
with
all
his
forces,
when
the insurrection of
Poland
effected a
timely
diversion
in
favour
of
the throne of
the
barricades.
On the 24th of
May,
1829,
Nicholas was
crowned
at
"War-
saw.
He
pronounced
on his
knees a
prayer,
in
which
we
observe
the
following
words:
"
O
my
Lord,
and
my
God,
may
my
heart
be
always
in
Thy
hand,
and
may
I
reign
for
the
happiness
of
my
people,
and
to the
glory
of
Thy
holy
name,
according
to the
charter
granted
by
my august
prede-
or,
and
already
sworn to
by
me,
in
order thai I
may
not
dread
to
appear
before Thee
on
the
day
of the last
judgment."
On
the
28th
of
May
the
emperor
opened
the
Polish
diet,
with
a
speech
in
the French
Language,
and in a
very lofty
tone.
Some
complaints
were
uttered id
the
assembly,
to
which
the
czar
paid
little
attention.
They
related to the
suppression
of
publicity
for
the
discussions of
the
diet,
to the restrictions
*
Louis
Blanc,
"
History
of
Ten
Years,"
Introduction.
2 A 2
356
HISTORY OF RUSSIA.
[CH.
1XVII.
on
the
press,
the vexatious
conduct of the
police,
and
the
cruelties
of
Constantine.
The
news
of
the
revolution of the 30th of
July
was the
spark
that
kindled the elements of discontent
which existed
in
"Warsaw.
On the
29th of November
the
standard-hearers
forced the
entrance of the Belvidere
palace
;
Grendre and
Lubowicki were killed
;
Constantine
escaped by
a secret
door,
and took
refuge
in the ranks of his
guard.
The
Polish
hussars flew
to
arms,
and seized on
the
arsenal. Constantine
had
10,000 men,
and
might
have crushed the
revolt
in the
bud
;
but his
courage
failed
him,
and he
preferred evacuating
Warsaw.
A
provisional
administration was instituted in
that
city,
of which
prince
Adam
Czartoryski
was
president,
and
Chlopicki
received the command of
the
troops.
The
new
authority
sent
proposals
to
the
grand-duke's
camp,
to
which
he was not
authorised
to accede.
He retired into
Volhynia.
Chlopicki
was nominated
dictator,
and
the diet was
convoked
for the
18th of
December.
It continued
Chlopicki
in his
post,
and
formed
a national
council,
to take the
place
of the
provisional
government.
On
the 24th of
December,
Nicholas
published
a manifesto
against
"
the
infamous
treasons,
which
employed
lies, threats,
and
delusive
promises,
in order to
subject
the
peaceable
in-
habitants
to a few
rebels."
"The
Poles,"
says
the
manifesto,
"who
after so
many
mis-
fortunes
enjoyed peace
and
prosperity
under
the shadow of
our
power, precipitate
themselves
anew into
the
abyss
of
revolution
and
calamity,
are
an
assemblage of
credulous
beings,
who,
though
already
seized
with
terror at the
thought
of the
chastisement which
awaits
them,
dare to dream
for a few
moments of
victory,
and to
propose
conditions
to
us,
their
lawful
sovereign!"
On
the 10th
of
January,
1831,
the
Poles
published
a
mani-
festo,
stating
their
grievances.
It contains
the
following
paragraphs
:
"
The
union
of the
crown of an
autocrat
and
of
a constitutional
king
is
one
of those
political
anomalies
which
cannot
long
exist.
Everybody
foresaw
that
the
kingdom
would
become the
germ
of
liberal institutions
for
Eussia,
or
succumb
under
the
iron
hand
of
its
despotism
;
the
question
was soon decided.
Public
instruction
was
corrupted
;
a
system
of obscurantism
was
organised
;
the
people
were shut
out
from
all means
of
obtaining
instruction
j
an
entire
pala-
A.D.
1831]
THE INSTTERECTION
OF POLAND.
357
tinate was
deprived
of
its
representation
in
the council
;
the
chambers
lost
the
faculty
of
voting
the
budget
;
new
burdens
were
imposed
;
monopolies
were
created,
calculated
to
dry up
the
sources
of the national wealth
;
and
the
treasury,
aug-
mented
by
these
measures,
became
the
prey
of
paid
hirelings,
infamous
incendiary
agents,
and
despicable
spies.
"
Calumny
and
espionage
had
penetrated
even
into
the
privacy
of families
;
had infected
with their
poison
the
liberty
of domestic
life,
and
the ancient
hospitality
of
the Poles
had become
a snare for innocence.
Personal
liberty,
which
had
been
solemnly
guaranteed,
was violated
;
the
prisons
were crowded
;
courts-martial
were
appointed
to
decide
in
civil
cases,
and
imposed
infamous
punishments
on
citizens,
whose
only
crime was
that of
having
attempted
to
save
from
corruption
the
spirit
and
the
character
of the
nation."
The most enthusiastic
of the
Poles could
hardly
conceal
from
themselves
that in
defying
the
power
of
Kussia,
without
a
single
ally
to
support
them,
they
engaged
in a
hopeless
struggle.
Austria and Prussia
established
each
an
army
of
G0,000
men
on their
respective
frontiers,
and
gave
notice of
their
intention
immediately
to
act
in
concert
with
Kussia if
they
were
threatened
with disturbance
in
Posen
or
Gallicia.
England
remained
neutral,
and
France,
under
the
ignoble
influence
of
Louis
Philippe,
had
only
a barren
sympathy
to
bestow
on
the heroic
people
who
had covered
her
threatened
liberties
with their
own
bodies.
Chlopicki
having resigned
the
dictatorship, prince
Michael
Kadzivil
was
appointed
generalissimo
of
the Poles.
He was
incapable
as
a
com-
mander,
and was selected
on account
of
his
relationship
with
the
royal
house
of
Prussia,
and
the
good
effect
which
it
waa
thought
so
great
a
name
would
have
with
the
powers.
Chlopicki,
moreover,
promised
to
aid
him
with
his
advice.
It
was
in
the
beginning
of
February
that field-marshal
Diebitscli
Sabalkanski entered
Poland
with
120,000
Kussians
and
400
pieces
of
cannon.
To
oppose
this
formidable
inva-
sion,
the Poles
had but
35,000
infantry,
10,000
cavalry,
and
13G
pieces
of
artillery.
The
remaining
forces
of
the
country,
amounting
to
15,000
men,
were
disposed
of
in
the
garrisons
of
Prague,
Modlin,
and
Lamoac.
Diebitsch's
army
had
crossed
the
marshes
of
the
Upper
Na-
rcw
over
the
ice,
and
was shut in
between
the
Narew
and
the
Bug
as
it marched
towards
the confluence
of
those
two
rivers
;
35S
HISTORY OF RUSSIA.
[CH.
LXVII.
but a
night's
thaw
having
suddenly
occurred,
the
marshal
abruptly changed
his
plan
of
campaign,
and determined
to
transfer
his
line of
operations
to
the left bank of the
Bug,
leaving
behind him all his
left
wing, composed
of
25,000
grenadiers,
under
the
command of
prince
Szachoskoi.
Chlo-
picki
guessed
that this
great
movement
was
intended.
He
proposed
to cross the
Bug,
and fall on the Bussian
columns
as
they severally
came
up,
or else
to
take
post
on
the
left
bank,
to
drive
the
enemy
into the thawed
river,
and
prevent
its
passage,
so as to shut
in Diebitsch between two broad
currents which
were about
to become
impassable.
Others
thought
of
burning
Warsaw,
transferring
the war to another
theatre,
joining
the revolted
Lithuanians,
and
pushing
on,
if
needful,
to
Constantinople,
from
which
point,
obtaining
the
aid of
Turkey, they
might
keep
in check
the
huge unwieldy
empire
of the czar. This
plan,
if
daringly
executed,
might
have saved
Boland
;
but
Badzivil
thought
only
of
gathering
all his
troops
round the
capital
and
coming
to
a
decisive
en-
gagement
at
Praga.
On
the 19th of
[February
the
Polish
army
deployed
on
all
the line
extending
from the
marshes
of
Zastaw
to
Kavenczyn.
Chlopicki,
the de
facto
commander-in-chief,
reckoned
on
choosing
hi3 field
of battle between Grochow
and
the
Alder
AVood
;
but no
sooner had count Pahlen
debouched,
at
the
head
of
30,000
men,
from
the forest of
Milosna,
than
general
Szembec,
followed
by
the
Zimirski
division,
attacked
him
op-
posite
Waver.
Instead
of
an
ordinary
engagement
it
was a
desperate
hand-to-hand combat that took
place
on
the
verge
of the
forest. The
Bussians were driven
back
again
and
again
into
the
forest,
until
Bosen
coming up
to their assist-
ance
with
thirty
pieces
of
cannon,
the
assailants were
forced
to fall
back
on
Grochow,
favoured
in
their retreat
by
general
Krukowiecki.
The
next
day, February
20,
the Polish
army,
which
had
lost
but
a
quarter
of a
mile of
ground,
had on
its
right
flank
the
Vistula,
and
the
Alder
Wood
on
its left.
Behind
it was
Warsaw,
Avhich
offered
it
an
asylum,
but
it was
horrible
to
think
that in
case of
disaster
an
army
of
45,000
men
would
have
only
one
bridge
over which
to
effect
its
retreat.
Vic-
tory
was for
Poland a
matter of
necessity.
Diebitsch
sought
to
carry
the Alder
Wood,
which
was
the
key
of
the
position.
It
was held
by
Skrzynecki
and
Gielgud's
A.D.
1331]
THE
INSURRECTION
OE POLAND.
359
brigade,
which,
occupied
the
skirt
of the wood.
Eosen
came
up
with
six
regiments
of
infantry,
supported by
thirty-six
pieces
of
cannon, crowning
the
Dombrowa
G-ora summits.
The
fight began
man
to
man
with
the
bayonet.
Eosen'
s
grenadiers
entering
the
wood
were
thrice driven
out,
and
the
open
ground
on
the outskirts
was covered
with
the
dead.
Count
Witt's
cavalry
came
up
to
support
them,
but
the
Po-
lish
artillery, spreading
into a
crescent,
poured
a cross fire
upon
it,
routed
it,
and
separated
it
by
a
line of
gore
from the
Eussian
grenadiers,
who could
no
longer
retreat
or
advance.
Surprised
and
furious
at
seeing
his
troops
decimated
by
an
enemy
so
inferior
in
numbers,
Diebitsch
put
an end
to
the
engagement,
and
resolved
to
await
the arrival
of
prince
Szachosko'i,
whom
he had
left in
the rear.
The
plain
was
strewed
with
dead
;
there
were
Eussian
regiments
which
the
grape
had reduced
to
the number
of a battalion
;
the
two
armies concluded
a truce of
three
hours
to
bury
their
dead
;
but exhausted
with
fatigue
after
a
carnage
of
thirty-
six
hours,
they prolonged
the
truce
for three
days.
Prince
Szachosko'i,
whose march
the commander-in-chief
had been
unable
to
stop,
arrived
at
Xieporent
on the
23rd
of
February,
after
passing
the
!Narew
without
obstacle.
Daybreak
on
the
25th beheld
both armies
ranged
in
order
of
battle.
Forty-five
thousand
Poles confronted
more
than
one
hundred
thousand
Eussians.
Silence
prevailed
in
both
camps.
The Polish
generals
held
a council
of war
in
a
cabin
;
but
the odds were too
great,
and
they
were
filled
witli
discouragement. Chlopieki, despairing
of the salvation
of
his
countrv, shed
tears
of
rage.
Meanwhile
the
generals
of each
division
were at
their
posts.
Skiv.vnecki's
division,
rein-
forced
by
the
j'auchcurs*
occupied
the centre.
Szembec
was
on
the
right,
in
possession
of
Grochow,
and
protected
by
the
marshes of
the Vistula. On
the
left
wing
Xiinirski
occupied
Alder
Wood.
.\t nine
in
the
morning
the
battle
began
along
the
whole
line. Diebitsch
strove
at
any
cost to
get
possession
of
the Alder
Wood,
the
key
to the
position.
Chlopieki
sent
orders
to defend
it to the last
extremity.
Zimirski's
division
fought
there
with
desperate
determination,
and
*
Infantry
armed
with a
weapon peculiar
to
Poland,
resembling
a
scythe
blade set
straight upon
its
handle.
3G0 HISTORY OF
RUSSIA.
[CH.
LXVII.
he himself -was
mortally
wounded. At
last,
by
force
of
men and
cannon,
the
field-marshal
made
himself
master
of the
wood,
planted
his
artillery
there,
and
attacked
the second
line
of the
Poles,
commanded
by Skrzynecki.
That
general
received orders
to
repulse
the
Eussians
and
recover the
wood.
Chlopicki
came to
his
assistance,
and
both
putting
themselves at
the head of
the
grenadiers,
they
charged
into
the
right
side
of the
wood,
and
drove
out
the
Lithuanians at the
bayonet
point,
who,
retreating
in
dis-
order,
threw
the whole
army
into
alarm
and
confusion.
This
was the
precise
moment
for a
charge
of
cavalry.
Chlopicki
sent
orders
to that effect
to
general
Lubienski,
but the
latter
refused
to
obey.
Maddened and
desperate,
Chlopicki
dashed
into
the
midst of
the
enemy,
and
replied
to the
aides-de-camp
Avho
applied
to him for
orders,
"
Go and
ask Badzivil
;
as
for
me,
I
seek but
death."
He
was soon
unhorsed
by
a
shell,
and was
secretly
carried off
from the
field of
battle
;
but the
news of his
wound was
spread
through
the
army
and
filled
it
with
consternation.
Meanwhile
the
field-marshal had
put
all
his
reserves
in
motion
;
prince
Szachoskoi,
who
had
been
fighting
all
the
morning
at
Bialolenka,
baffled
the
experience
of the
veteran
Ivrukowiecki,
deceived
him as to
his
manoeuvres,
and
leaving
his
rear-guard
to
keep
the Polish
general
in
play,
at
length
effected
his
junction
with
Diebitsch.
Surrounded
by
a
battery
of
forty
pieces
of
cannon,
that
poured
a
murderous
slanting
fire
upon
his
ranks,
Skrzynecki
retreated and aban-
doned the wood.
Diebitsch then
brought
up
his
15,000
cavalry,
who
charged
into
the
plain,
preceded
by fifty-eight
pieces
of
flying
artillery.
The Polish
infantry
had
rallied,
and
now
presented
a
fresh
front,
which remained
impene-
trable
to the hulans
;
but
the
Szembec
division,
unable to
resist
the
impetuous charge
of the
hussars,
gave way
and
fell
back in
good
order on
Praga,
whilst
a battalion
of recruits
made a
dastardly
retreat
over the
ice of the
Vistula,
and
carried
terror and
dismay
into Warsaw. At
this
moment
all
eyes
were
turned
towards the
north,
watching
for
the
arrival of
Krukowiecki's
division,
which
had
been victorious
at Bialolenka :
Krukowiecki remained motionless.
To
add
to
this
disaster,
the
approaches
to
Praga
were
choked
up
by
multitudes
of
bewildered
peasants,
heaps
of dead and
dying,
A.D.
1831]
THE
LNSTJEKECTION
OF
POLAND.
3G1
and
sumptuous
equipages
employed
in
the
carriage
of the
wounded,
and
drenched
with
plebeian
blood. The
disorder
was
immense
;
the
night
had
fallen,
the air
was filled with
smoke and rent with
groans.
In order
to unmask the
batteries at the head of the
bridge,
Malachowski set fire to
the houses of
Praga,
and
the flames
lighted
up
that
scene
of
disaster,
the Beresina of
Poland. The
women and children
of
Warsaw
utter
shrieks of
despair
;
but workmen with axes
in their
hands,
hurrying
from
the old
city,
in
an instant
break down the
obstacles,
clear
away
the
rubbish,
and leave
the
passages
free.
Upon
this
the
infantry
again
formed
in
line,
and checked the
Russian
cavalry by
a
well- sustained
fire. The Albert
cuirassiers,
passing
between the
squares,
imprudently
pushed
on
as
far
as to the
second Polish
line.
Their
heavy
squadrons,
sinking
in the
mud,
were soon
hemmed in on all
sides.
Their ranks
ploughed
up by
con-
greve
rockets,
and
furiously charged
by
the
white
lancers,
all
that brilliant
cavalry
of
prince
Albert
was
annihilated,
and
with
loud
hurrahs
the
pikemen
rushed
on
and
struck down
all who had
escaped
the
lance
and
the
bayonet.
This terrible
day
was
fatal
to
five
thousand
Poles,
and
cost
the Russians
the elite
of their
officers,
and
more than ten thousand men
put
hors
de
combat.
Night
closed
in,
and the
cannonade
ceased.
Skrzynecki
and
Szembec were
for
following up
the
victory,
and
proposed
to
the
commander-in-chief
that
they
should fall on the Kussians
under
cover of the
darkness.
Kadzivil was afraid that
the
only bridge
of
Praga
would
be
carried
away by
the ice. He
gave
orders to
retreat,
and
crossed over to the
left
Lank
of
the
Vistula,
whilst
Diebitsch marched
his
army
back
into
the
forest.
The
overflowing
of the Vistula
for
a
month
suspended
the
war after
the
battle of
Grochow
;
but
general
Dwernicki,
commander
of the
right wing
of the Polish
army,
had
kept
the
field
throughout
February
at
the head
of
a
small
body
of 3000 horse.
Surrounded
by
the
republicans
of
the
army,
that heroic man
performed prodigies. Daring
to a
degree
that amounted
to
genius,
and
prompt
as
lightning,
with
his
3000 soldiers he routed and
dispersed
20,000.
On
the
L4th
of
February
he
beat
Geismar in
the
valley
of
Bieroczyn.
<
)n
the
17th
he
crossed
the
Vistula,
advanced to
meet
general
3G2
HISTORY
OF RUSSIA.
[CH.
LSYII.
Kreutz
in the
palatinate
of
Sandomir,
and,
coming
np
with
him in the
forest of
Nowawies,
put
him
to
flight.
On
the
2nd of
March
he
came
up
with him
again
at
Pulawy,
where
he cut to
pieces
the
dragoons
of
prince
"Wurtemberg.
Every-
where
victorious,
he went and
took
up
his
position
at
Zamosc,
in
obedience to
the orders of
jealous
superiors.
The
necessity
was felt at
Warsaw
of
superseding
Eadzivil
as
incompetent,
though
no
one had the
cruelty
to make a
crime of
his
incapacity,
since
he
himself confessed
it with a
modesty
that
ennobled his
misfortune.
Who
was
to
be his
successor ? Count
Pac,
formerly
aide-de-camp
to
Napoleon,
the
great
mathematician
Prondzynski,
and
Krukowiecki,
were
the
rivals set
up
against
Skrzynecki,
now
in the full lustre of
his
recent
glory.
The
republicans
proposed
Dwernicki
;
but
Skrzynecki
prevailed, being
supported by
the aristocratic
party
of
Warsaw,
and
being
recommended
by Chlopicki,
whose wounds
redeemed
his errors.
Skrzynecki
continued
what
Chlopicki
had
begun.
He was a
man
of acute
mind,
accomplished
in all the
pro-
fligate
arts of
the
diplomatic
circles,
valuing only polished
manners,
titles
of
nobility,
and outward
graces.
He
took
pleasure
in
displaying
the
pomp
of his
office,
held
reviews
in
his
open carriage,
and was surrounded
by
a
host of
young
exquisites,
who,
to
please
him,
had
adopted
Parisian
airs,
and
the
language
of
high
fashion.
Imbued
with
that
Jesuitism
which had
crept
into all
the
courts of
Europe
during
the
Erench
restoration,
Skrzynecki
was a
constant
frequenter
of
the
churches,
and affected
to talk of heaven
in his
speeches,
and even in
his
proclamations
to the
army.
Such a
man,
a
congregationalist
in
epaulettes,
and a
pertinacious
negotiator,
was
evidently
not
the leader
befitting
an armed
revolution,
though
he
possessed
courage,
a
quick discerning eye,
and
military
science,
and
was
pricked
on
by
ambition.
After a
month's cessation of
arms
spent
in
attempts
to
come to
an
accommodation
with
Diebitsch,
the commander-
in-chief
resolved to
resume
hostilities. But
he
preserved
the
most
profound
secrecy
as to his
plans.
In the
night
of
the 30th
of
March,
whilst
Warsaw was
wrapt
in
sleep,
Skrzynecki
silently
assembled
his
troops
;
the
Praga
bridge
was
covered with
straw and
crossed without
noise.
Gene-
ral
Kybinski's
division,
supported
by
a
brigade
of
cavalry,