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 Cornell University Library 
 DK 433.B16 
 
 Last king of Poland 
 
 3 1924 028 367 971 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028367971 
 
THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
THE LAST KING OF 
 POLAND 
 
 AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES 
 
 BY 
 
 R. NISBET BAIN 
 
 WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 New York : G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 London: METHUEN & CO. 
 
 1909 
 
UXORI DULCISSIM.E 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE present volume aims at presenting a picture of 
 the social, moral and intellectual condition of Polish 
 society at the moment when the Polish State was 
 about to disappear for ever from the map of Europe. The 
 narrative will also, it is hoped, go far to explain how it was 
 that Poland, originally the most chivalrous, high-spirited 
 and promising of Republics, had, by the end of the eighteenth 
 century, become a nuisance to her neighbours, and an 
 obstacle to the development of her own people. 
 
 The central figure in this sinister yet engrossing tableau 
 of a decadent nation dancing carelessly towards its doom, 
 is naturally the last King of Poland. There are few more 
 pathetic figures in modern history than Stanislaus Ponia- 
 towski, whose dazzling vices and barren virtues were so 
 typical of the age in which he lived, that " Age of Enlighten- 
 ment " which prophesied the Millennium, and precipitated 
 the Revolution. In him we find an idealist whose principles 
 were as lofty as his practice was contemptible ; a reformer 
 who meant excellently well, yet invariably sacrificed honour 
 to expediency ; a statesman by instinct whose political 
 outlook was always clear, whose conclusions were always 
 correct — but alas ! his moral flabbiness had forfeited 
 beforehand the confidence of those whom he could have 
 guided and might have saved. 
 
 And this Prince Charming, eighteenth-century to the 
 very tips of his fingers, lived in an environment which, 
 judging by outward appearances, might very well have been 
 the later Middle Ages. Anyhow it was more eastern than 
 western. His elegant bijou Court was, indeed, a pocket- 
 
viii THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 edition of Versailles, minus most of the gilding ; but in 
 the Diet, where the business part of his life was spent, 
 Stanislaus had to do with people who, to one of his fastidious 
 tastes, must have seemed semi-barbarians. Here there 
 were far more heads shaven in the Turkish style, than 
 powdered and peruked after the French. The very dress 
 of these old-fashioned squires had an Oriental cut and char- 
 acter. Latin was their official language. Of French they 
 had scarce a smattering. Here, too, were the fabulously 
 wealthy Magnates, the Potoccy, the Radziwills, the 
 Braniccy, each one of them an independent King in his 
 own province, and of far more importance in the State,' 
 and out of it, than the titular king whom they openly looked 
 down upon. We shall see in the sequel how these patricians 
 ruined their country to spite their sovereign. 
 
 And beneath and behind everything, ever felt though 
 not always seen, is the hand of the Russian Empress, con- 
 trolling and determining the course of events through a 
 succession of singularly well-chosen satraps, such as the 
 martial Repnin, the courtly Volkonsky, the brutal Saldern, 
 the sarcastic Stackelberg, and — most dangerous of them 
 all — the suave and sentimental Sivers. The work of these 
 finished diplomatists was mostly dirty work, and the best 
 of them heartily disliked it ; nevertheless they did it, as 
 we shall see, well and thoroughly. 
 
 Finally, an explanatory bibliographical note. Though 
 certainly no hero, Stanislaus Poniatowski has gone down 
 to history with a much shadier reputation than he really 
 deserves. This is due to the fact that his earliest con- 
 temporary chronicler, the Saxon Minister Essen, was 
 opposed to him both personally and dynastically. Subse- 
 quent historians, German and Polish alike, have based their 
 estimates of him on Essen's despatches, accepting them 
 absolutely for no other reason, apparently, than because 
 they happen to be original documents. Yet it should by 
 this time be generally recognised that the despatches of 
 diplomatists, as reflecting both the individual and the 
 professional prejudices of their authors, should always be 
 
PREFACE ix 
 
 submitted to the most rigid critical tests. The balance has 
 recently been redressed to some extent, by Kalinka's masterly 
 work, The Quadrennial Diet. Here the King is shown in 
 a true light, for the first time, by a writer of unimpeachable 
 veracity and rare critical acumen. Kalinka's favourable 
 opinion of Stanislaus, on the intellectual side, has since 
 been reinforced by Documents relatifs a I'histoire du deuxieme 
 et troisieme portage de la Pologne (Leopol, 1902), and by 
 Stanislaus Augustus and Prince Joseph Poniatowski in the 
 Light of their Private Correspondence, Lemberg, 1904 (Polish 
 and French). Both these works, edited by B. Dembinski, 
 are of capital importance. For the social life of the period^ 
 Kraszewski's Poland in the Period of the Three Partitions 
 (Polish) is still, on the whole, the best authority, despite its 
 frequent inaccuracies as regards purely political events. 
 Another Polish book, Dembicky's Pulawy, has also been 
 of considerable service to me. Its one defect is a somewhat 
 exaggerated estimate of the " Czartoryscy." Les memoires 
 secrets et inedits de Stanislaus Auguste (Leipsic, 1862) con- 
 tains some curious private information from the King's own 
 pen, but certainly does not exhibit Stanislaus in the best 
 light. Here we have the note-book jottings of an ultra 
 sentimental young coxcomb who has still a great deal to 
 learn. On the other hand, the Correspondence inedite du 
 Roi Stanislas Auguste Poniatowski, et de Madame Geoffrin 
 (Paris, 1875) does honour to the now maturer King's amia- 
 bility and self-restraint under most trying circumstances. 
 The lady does not come out nearly as well. Too often she 
 is guilty of petty meannesses and jealousies, sadly disconcert- 
 ing in the phoenix of the Parisian salons. As to the last 
 years of Stanislaus, and the ambiguous but perhaps in- 
 evitable part he played during the Grodno Diet, we must, 
 I suppose, await the publication in full of the despatches 
 of Count Sivers, still presumably reposing in MS. in the 
 Russian archives,before we can pronounce a final judgment 
 upon the unhappy King's conduct in the midst of appalling 
 difficulties. Meantime we must be content with volume iii. 
 of Des Grafens Sievers Denkwurdigkeiten, by C. L. Blum, 
 
x THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 which contains copious extracts from the private letters 
 of Sivers to his daughters, as well as from his despatches 
 to the Empress, during his residence at Warsaw and 
 Grodno, as Minister Plenipotentiary of Russia. Of the 
 numerous other works utilised by me, I need only mention 
 the following : Grigorovich's Chancellor Prince A. A. Bezbor- 
 odko (Russian), a poor enough biography from a literary 
 point of view, but invaluable as going to the root of Catherine 
 II.'s private views as regards Poland ; Moszczynski's 
 Records of Polish History during the last years of the reigns 
 of Augustus III. and Stanislaus II. (Polish), illustrative, 
 in particular, of the social life of those times ; volume xii. 
 of the Works of Catherine II., edition Puipin (Russian and 
 French) relating to her early liaison with Stanislaus ; 
 Kraushar's Two Historical Sketches of the Times of Stanislaus 
 Augustus (Polish), furnishing interesting pictures of the 
 Court life of the period ; and finally, the last four volumes 
 of Solovev's great History of Russia (Russian), and the same 
 author's Fall of Poland (Russian), an intimate acquaintance 
 of both of which works is absolutely indispensable to a 
 right understanding of the events set forth in this volume. 
 
 R. N. B. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE ROOT OF THE MISCHIEF 
 
 Historical retrospect — Geographical remoteness of Poland — The Tatar 
 Invasion — Rise of a middle class — Origin of the Polish Constitution 
 — -The Szlachta or gentry — Typical instance of its lawlessness — 
 Oppression of the middle classes by the nobles — Limitations of the 
 royal power — Fears of a military dictator — Jealousy and reduction 
 of armaments — Ingratitude of the Poles to the national heroes — 
 Systematic obstruction of every project of reform — Instances of 
 Sigismund III. and Wladislaus IV. — Reform only possible by means 
 of a coup d'itat — Efforts of John Casimir to save the country by 
 diplomatic and legislative means — Hopeless condition of Poland on 
 his failure — Mischievous influence of Sobieski — Subsequent anarchy 
 and stagnation — The Polish principle of Government assumes that 
 men are angels — Total absence of every sort of coercion — Each 
 citizen a law unto himself — Obedience expunged from the category 
 of public virtues — Excellent laws but no means of enforcing them — 
 Legend of the averted Crucifix and the Devils as symbolising the 
 maladministration of justice ...... p. I 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE OLD NOBILITY 
 
 The '' Courts " of the old nobility — Their domestic economy — The Polish 
 patriarchal system — The retinues of the magnates — Manly virtues 
 of the " Pans " — Their magnificent hospitality — Gross ignorance of 
 the country gentlemen — Wine-bibbing — Anecdotes of heroic topers 
 
 Semi-barbaric types — Prince Karol Radziwill — Strong influence 
 
 of religion — Pan Potocki of Kaniow — The Szlachta or gentry — 
 The burgesses — Miserable condition of the peasantry-<-Semi-savage 
 state of the country — The roads — The inns — General apathy and 
 
 ruin P- 24 
 
 xi 
 
xii THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 " THE FAMILY " AND THE YOUNG STANISLAUS 
 
 Rise of the Czartoryski family — The Prince-Chancellor and the Prince- 
 Palatine — Marriage of the latter with Pani Sieniawska — Anecdotes 
 of their domestic felicity — Description of the death of the Prince- 
 Palatine — The women of "the Family" — The Princess Sophia 
 Czartoryska — The Countess Constantia Poniatowska — Prince Adam 
 Casimir Czartoryski — Pulawy — The young Stanislaus Poniatowski — 
 A piece of self-portraiture — Stanislaus made Stolnik of Lithuania — 
 His first visit to the Russian Court — His liaison with the Grand 
 Duchess Catherine — His description of her — Peter III. — Poniatowski's 
 second visit to St. Petersburg — He is expelled from Russia by the 
 Empress Elizabeth — Death of Augustus III. — Ascendency of the 
 Czartoryscy in Poland — They invoke the armed assistance of Russia — 
 The rival candidates for the throne — Catherine declares in favour of 
 Stanislaus — False rumours of their forthcoming marriage — The 
 Stolnik of Lithuania is elected King of Poland . . . p. 47 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE KING AND THE SATRAP 
 
 Good intentions of the new King — Panin's " Northern Accord " — Frederick 
 the Great opposed to any amelioration in the condition of Poland — 
 His brutality in the matter of the Marienwerda tolls — Difficult position 
 of Catherine — The question of the Polish Dissenters arises — The 
 Russian Ambassador at Warsaw, Prince Nicholas Repnin — The 
 Poles refuse to consider the question of the Dissidents — Visit of 
 Madame GeofErin to King Stanislaus — The charm and the weaknesses 
 of Stanislaus — Catherine forces on the solution of the Dissident 
 question — Its transparent fictitiousness — The Confederation of 
 Radom — Stanislaus bows to the will of the Empress in all things — 
 Elevation of the infamous Podoski to the Primacy — Rally of the 
 Catholics against Russia — The nuncio Durini and Soltyk, Bishop of 
 Cracow — Religious enthusiasm of the Diet of 1767 — Repnin overawes 
 the Diet — Review of the conduct of Stanislaus — His unique oppor- 
 tunity of saving his country founders on his timid subservience to 
 Russia — Inherent flabbiness of his character . . . p. 72 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 DECADENCE AND DEMORALISATION 
 
 The dissipations of Stanislaus — Proposed Austrian match frustrated by 
 Catherine — " Les petites " and " les bans diables " — Influence in 
 Poland of the women — The old-fashioned grandes dames — Beginning of 
 
CONTENTS xiii 
 
 their political ascendency — The younger ladies of " the Family " — The 
 Princess Isabella Czartoryska — The Princess Elizabeth Lubomirska — 
 •" The Sphinx " — Pani Kossakowska and Pani Ozarowska — Frequency 
 of divorce — Influence of the Age of Reason — Typical worldly bishops — 
 Krasicki, Bishop of Ermeland — Krasicki and Frederick lie Great — 
 Soltyk, Bishop of Cracow — The Prince-Primate, Michael Poniatowski — 
 Carelessness and indifference of the Polish prelates — General scramble 
 for the property of the Jesuits in Poland — Depredations of the Bishops 
 of Wilna and Posen— <The Confederation of Bar — Outbreak of the 
 Russo-Turkish War — A partition of Poland proposed by Frederick 
 the Great — His reasons for it — Long hesitation of .Russia — Territorial 
 losses of Poland by the First Partition— Frivolity and indifference 
 of the Poles — Negligence and ignorance of the Polish Government — 
 Suppression of the patriots — Gigantic peculations of the hirelings of 
 Russia — Rapacity of Poninsky — Wholesale jobbery — Poland's one 
 benefit from the First Partition is the new constitution . p. 93 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 LE ROI S' AMUSE 
 
 Miseries of King Stanislaus — The Russian Ambassador, Count Stackelberg 
 — Abduction of the King — Improved financial position of Stanislaus — 
 His liberality and extravagance — Amiability and brilliant qualities — 
 Contemporary impressions of him — His residences — The Saxon Palace 
 — Lazienki — The King's mistresses — Lulli — Grabowska — '« Todi " — 
 His morganatic marriage — The sorrows of an unpaid librarian — The 
 fetes champMres — The Countess Oginska at Alexandrovna — Morbid 
 social phenomena — '■ Cranks " and eccentrics — Charlatans and 
 adventurers — Cagliostro — Blackmailers — The King's better qualities 
 — His natural prudence and common sense . . . p. 115 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 RECUPERATION AND RECONSTRUCTION 
 
 1773-1787 
 
 Miserable position of Poland after the First Partition — Decline of agricul- 
 ture and its causes— Ruinous effect of the Prussian tolls — Stanislaus 
 as an industrial reformer — Introduction of manufactories into Poland 
 by Tyzenhaus and others — The commercial revival brings the gentry 
 and the traders together — The Black Sea Company — Improvement 
 of the means of communication — The first Polish Post-Houses — New 
 canals — The school of Cadets — The University of Cracow — Its 
 ' obsolete and absurd curriculum — Appointment of the Education 
 Commission — Hugo Kollontaj, his early career and character — 
 Educational Reforms — The new Generation — The Potoccy come 
 
xiv THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 to the front — Early career and character of Felix Potocki — His three 
 marriages — Ksawery Branicki and Severin Rzewuski — Their intrigues 
 against the King — Struggle between Stanislaus and the obstructive 
 opposition — Diet of 1776 — Its projects of reform — And obstructive 
 parsimony — Frustration of all reform by Branicki — Factious and 
 outrageous opposition to the King — Unfairness of Polish historians 
 towards Stanislaus II. — His extraordinary difficulties — Justification 
 of his administrative abilities — He alone makes government possible 
 — Changes in the political situation consequent upon the death of 
 Frederick the Great and the Austro- Russian alliance . . p. 138 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 AT THE PARTING OF WAYS 
 
 The last chance of Poland a close alliance with Russia — Catherine and 
 her ministers not unfriendly disposed towards Poland — Characters 
 of the leading Russian Ministers — Ivan Osterman — Arkady Morkov — 
 Alexander Bezborodko — Catherine absorbed by the Eastern Project — 
 Prussia the natural enemy of Poland — Russia her natural ally — 
 Efforts of Stanislaus to bring about an understanding between Russia 
 and Poland — Sagacity of the King — His efforts to revive the military 
 spirit in Poland — Stanislaus offers Catherine the terms of an alliance — 
 Programme of the Potocki faction — The picnic of potentates and 
 princes — Catherine snubs Potocki at Kiev — And flatters Stanislaus 
 at Kaniow — The interview in the state barge — Reconciliation of the 
 King with Felix Potocki — The second Turkish War — Catherine's em- 
 barrassments — Rise of the Prussian party in Poland — Character of 
 its chief representative, Ignatius Potocki — His mischievous influence 
 — Revolution in the policy of Prussia after the death of Frederick 
 the Great — Frederick William II. encourages the anti-Russian party 
 in Poland — Character and antecedents of the new Prussian Minister 
 in Poland, the Marquess de Lucchesini .... p. 163 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 
 
 Opening of the Quadrennial Diet — Its marshal, Stanislaus Malachowski 
 
 Character of the Diet — Negotiations with Russia — Political divisions 
 of the Diet — Rejection of the Russian alliance — Arrival of Lucchesini 
 — Polish hatred of Russia — The Diet attacks the Constitution guaran- 
 teed by Russia — Polish army raised to 100,000 men — Degradation 
 of the King — Efforts of Lucchesini to bring about a rupture between 
 Poland and Russia— Prussia demands the withdrawal of the Russian 
 troops from Poland— Impotence of the Russian Ambassador, Stackel- 
 berg— The "Patriots" and the " Parasites "—Prussia instigates 
 
CONTENTS xv 
 
 Poland to abolish all the Russian guarantees — Affected indifference 
 of Catherine — The policy of pin-pricks — Russia's sudden respect for 
 Polish territory — The new Polish Constitution — Proposed cession 
 of Dantzic and Thorn — Conclusion of a Prusso-Polish alliance — 
 Views of England on the Polish question — Negotiations of Mr. Hayles 
 with the Polish Government — Unwisdom of Poland in rejecting the 
 Dantzic project — Pitt's opinion of it — Would Prussia have remained 
 loyal if Dantzic had been ceded to her ? . . p. 182 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE a COUP D'ETAT " OF MAY 3, 1791 
 
 Inefficiency and helplessness of the Polish Diet: — The national vices impede 
 the necessary reforms — Army reorganisation — " The voluntary and 
 perpetual sacrifice " — Its failure — Decline of the public credit — 
 Constitutional reform — Madame Decker — The Black Procession — 
 Hostility of the gentry to the claims of the burgesses — The Civic 
 Constitution — Obstinacy of the Diet — Skilful intervention of the 
 King — Adoption of the Civic Constitution — Favourable impression 
 abroad of this act — The question of an hereditary succession — Its 
 peculiar difficulties — Stanislaus eloquently defends it in the Diet — 
 The appeal to the nation — The political deadlock — Preparations for 
 a coup d'itat — Scipione Piattoli — Conspiracy to bring about a Revolu- 
 tion — The King and the new Constitution — The coup d'itat of May 3 — 
 Dramatic scenes in the Diet — Swearing in the new Constitution — 
 Te Deum ......... p. 210 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE VENGEANCE OF CATHERINE 
 
 Displeasure of Catherine at the Polish Revolution — Her affectation of 
 indifference— The new Russian Ambassador at Warsaw, Yakov 
 Ivanovich Bulgakov — Extreme difficulties of Catherine II. during 
 the year 1791 — The Poles choose the Elector of Saxony as the suc- 
 cessor of King Stanislaus — Alarm of the Elector — Bungling of the 
 Polish Diet — Prince Joseph Poniatowski — His character — Felix 
 Potocki appeals to Catherine to protect the liberties of Poland — 
 Formation of the Confederation of Targowica — Curious letter of Felix 
 to his son — Advance of the Confederation on the capital — Its tyranny 
 and depredations — The triumph of Felix — Celebration of the anniver- 
 sary of the May Constitution at Warsaw — Presages of coming disaster 
 
 The Russian declaration of war and the defection of Prussia — 
 
 Prince Joseph appointed Commander-in-Chief of an army which does 
 not exist — Kosciuszko — His character — The Campaign of 1792 — 
 Overwhelming disadvantages of the Poles — Battle of Zielence — 
 Treachery of the Prince of Wurtemberg and other officers — Battle of 
 Dubienka — The King accedes to the Confederation of Targowica 
 
 p. 23s 
 
xvi THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 " CHE FECE PER VILTA IL GRAN RIFIUTO " 
 
 The King's great opportunity in 179Z — The symbolical municipal banquet 
 — Confidence and energy of the King — His courage fails on the 
 approach of difficulties — The ultimatum of the Empress — Abject 
 surrender of Stanislaus — The Council of State holds him responsible 
 for the future — Stanislaus urges the army to surrender unconditionally 
 — Spirited reply of Prince Joseph — Resignation of all the Polish 
 officers — Arrival of Felix and the Russians at Warsaw — Prince Joseph 
 and the King — Joseph's passionate appeal to his uncle to hold aloof 
 from traitors — The Prussian invasion — Disillusionment of Felix 
 Potocki — He is challenged by Prince Joseph — Arrival of the new 
 Russian Ambassador, Yakov Efimovich Sivers — His character — His 
 letters to his daughters — His descriptions of Stanislaus and of Polish 
 society — Stanislaus compelled to go to Grodno — Odd spectacle pre- 
 sented by Grodno during the Diet — Manners and costumes — The 
 Ambassador and the King — Opening of the Diet — Negotiations with 
 Russia — Refusal of the Diet to treat with Prussia — The Dumb Session 
 — The Second Partition — The last days and death of Stanislaus II. 
 
 p. 261 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FACINO 
 PAGE 
 
 Stanislaus Poniatowski, King of Poland . Frontispiece 
 
 The Grand Duchess Catherine, afterwards Catherine II. . 60 
 
 NlKITA IVANOVICH PANIN, THE POLITICAL MENTOR OF CATHERINE 
 
 II 70 
 
 The Princess Isabella Czartoryska ..... 96 
 From an engraving by G. Testolini, after the drawing by 
 Richard Cosway, R.A. 
 
 The Partition of Poland. On the right Frederick II. and 
 
 Joseph II., on the left Stanislaus II. and Catherine II. 108 
 From an engraving by J. E. Nilson 
 
 The Deputy Tadeusz Rejtan protesting against the first 
 
 partition treaty in the Polish Diet . . . .no 
 From the picture by Matejko 
 
 Stanislaus II., King of Poland 124 
 
 From an' engraving by Alexandre Tardieu 
 
 Sophia the Greek, third Consort of Count Felix Potocki . 152 
 
 Alexander Andreevich Bezborodko, the Chief Counsellor 
 
 of Catherine II. in her later years . . . .166 
 
 From an engraving by A. Weger 
 
 Stanislaus II. defending the May Constitution in the Diet 
 
 of 1791 ......... 230 
 
 Stanislaus II. proceeding to Church to swear to the Con- 
 stitution of May 3, 1791 ...... 234 
 
 From the picture by Matejko 
 
 Prince Joseph Poniatowski . 242 
 
 From a lithograph by Villain 
 
 Kosciuszko .......... 254 
 
 From the engraving by C. Josi after the painting by Grassi 
 
 xvii 
 
 b 
 
xviii THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 FACIKG 
 PAGE 
 
 Yakov Efimovich Sivers, the last Russian Ambassador to 
 
 Poland ......... 276 
 
 Catherine II. in the last year of her Life . . . 288 
 From a lithograph by C. Motte 
 
 Stanislaus II. ;etat 61 296 
 
 From an engraving by A. Fogg, after the painting by Marcel 
 de Bacciarelli 
 
THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE ROOT OF THE MISCHIEF 
 
 Historical retrospect — Geographical remoteness of Poland — the Tatar 
 Invasion— Rise of a middle class — Origin of the Polish Constitution 
 — The Szlachta or gentry — Typical instance of its lawlessness — 
 Oppression of the middle classes by the nobles — Limitations of the 
 royal power- — Fears of a military dictator — Jealousy and reduction 
 of armaments — Ingratitude of the Poles to the national heroes — 
 Systematic obstruction of every project of reform — Instances of 
 Sigismund III. and Wladislaus IV. — Reform only possible by means 
 of a coup d'itat — Efforts of John Casimir to save the country by 
 diplomatic and legislative means — Hopeless condition of Poland on 
 his failure — Mischievous influence of Sobieski — Subsequent anarchy 
 and stagnation — The Polish principle of Government assumes that 
 men are angels — Total absence of every sort of coercion — Each 
 citizen a law unto himself — Obedience expunged from the category 
 of public virtues — Excellent laws but no means of enforcing them — 
 Legend of the averted Crucifix and the Devils as symbolising the 
 maladministration of justice 
 
 POLAND is the only example in history of a State 
 which deliberately committed political suicide for 
 the sake of absolute individual liberty. In the 
 middle of the sixteenth century Poland bore upon her the 
 full promise of Empire. Her territories stretched from 
 the Baltic to the Euxine, from the heart of Germany to the 
 heart of Moscovy. She was indisputably the greatest 
 Power of central Europe, and the whole world regarded her 
 as the chief representative of the Slavonic races. Less than 
 a century and a half later, the " Republic," once so proud 
 and chivalrous, counted for nothing at all in the councils 
 
 A I 
 
2 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 of Europe. She might have been isolated in the midst of 
 an ocean, for all the influence she exercised upon her neigh- 
 hours. Anarchy tempered by insurrection is, approxi- 
 mately, the best description of her internal government. 
 A partition of her dominions had been seriously proposed 
 for generations before it was actually accomplished. The 
 vastness of the spoil, and the weakness of the would-be 
 despoilers were the sole causes of the postponement of a 
 catastrophe which was recognised as inevitable by every 
 continental statesman. For this miserable and peculiar 
 collapse the Poles themselves, or rather perhaps their ruling 
 classes — though it really amounts to the same thing — were 
 mainly responsible. A brief retrospect of Polish history 
 will make this perfectly clear. Nor will it be the least 
 interesting portion of this book. The whole story of 
 Poland's unique act of self-destruction, even when com- 
 pressed within a necessarily bare epitome, cannot fail to 
 attract the curious, from its very oddity if for no other 
 reason. It may also serve as an introduction to what 
 follows. 
 
 It must be admitted at the outset that the Poles were less 
 favourably situated than the Western nations. From the 
 very beginning of their history geographical remoteness 
 placed them beyond the reach of Roman civilisation and 
 feudal discipline, till a comparatively late period. The 
 persistent pressure of the mail-clad German induced them, 
 indeed, at the end of the tenth century, to accept Christianity 
 from the Holy See as a measure of self-protection, but, in 
 1025, a terrible pagan reaction swept away the poor rem- 
 nants of Christianity and civilisation along with it. From 
 1058 to 1 138, Poland, under two exceptionally martial 
 monarchs, Boleslaus II. and III., endeavoured, with some 
 success, to carve out an Empire of her own ; but, on the 
 death of Boleslaus III., the land, split up into more than a 
 dozen independent principalities (" the partitional period " 
 of Polish historians), lost all political significance for a 
 century and a half to come. 
 
 The terrible Tatar invasions (1224-1242) had a curiously 
 
THE ROOT OF THE MISCHIEF 3 
 
 salutary effect upon Poland— it introduced a middle class 
 there for the first time. The only way of rilling up the gaps 
 in the population, due to the ravages of Batu and his hordes, 
 was to invite foreign immigrants of a superior kind, chapmen 
 and handicraftsmen capable of building strong cities and 
 defending them afterwards. Such immigrants, naturally, 
 could be obtained only from the civilised West, on their 
 own terms. Immediately dependent upon the Prince, 
 from whom they obtained their privileges, these traders 
 soon became an important factor in the State, balancing, 
 to some extent, the influence of the already dominant 
 military caste, and enriching the land by developing its 
 resources. Casimir III., Poland's first great statesman 
 ( I 333 -I 37 )» wno reunited most of the divided Polish lands, 
 and reintroduced his long isolated country into the European 
 family, encouraged and protected the townsmen, and 
 admitted them to the franchise. Under the great Princes 
 of the House of Jagiello (1286-1572) this industrious, enter- 
 prising middle class, so indispensable to the national 
 prosperity in an almost purely agricultural community 
 like Poland, was generally protected against the usurpations 
 of the gentry, who would have excluded them altogether 
 from any share in the government of the country. 
 
 The origin of the Polish Constitutions is to be sought in 
 the wiece, or great council of the Polish Princes in the twelfth 
 and thirteenth centuries. The privileges conferred upon 
 the magnates, of whom these councils were composed, 
 revolted the less favoured country gentlemen, or szlachta*, 
 as they were called collectively, who, towards the end of 
 the fourteenth century, combined in defence of their rights 
 in their Sejmiki, or local Diets, and speedily made themselves 
 heard. At a somewhat later date, for the convenience of 
 the Government, the various Sejmiki sent deputies to a 
 Sejm, or general Diet, which represented the whole nation, 
 while the old royal council became a Senate or Upper House. 
 It was during the reign of Casimir IV. (1447-1492) that the 
 gentry, assembled in the local Diets, began to impose their 
 
 * Possibly from the German : Geschlecht. 
 
4 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 will on the country at large. By this time the szlachta had 
 added to its original privilege of freedom from any obliga- 
 tion except that of military service, the right of deciding 
 all questions of peace and war, and controlling the ruszenie 
 pospolite, or county militia. As, moreover, they had the 
 power of the purse, they could hamper the executive at 
 every step. Their distrust of the Kings was fully equalled 
 by their jealousy of the towns, many of which, notably 
 Cracow and Lemberg, had also obtained from the Crown 
 such privileges as local autonomy and freedom from tolls, 
 in return for loans to needy kings, or important public 
 service, e.g., the warding off of Tatar raids. Most of these 
 cities, as already stated, were of German origin, and addi- 
 tionally protected by the Magdeburg Law. Their political 
 rights, at this period, were considerable. Louis the Great 
 (1370-1382) placed the burgesses of Cracow on a level with 
 the gentry by granting to the town council jurisdiction 
 over all the peasantry in the extra-mural estates of the citizens. 
 Henceforth deputies from all the chief cities were usually 
 summoned to the local Diets on all important occasions, 
 e.g., the ratification of treaties — a right formally conceded 
 to them by the Sejmik of Radom, in 1384 — and the election 
 of new sovereigns. Thus, on August 27, 1492, the repre- 
 sentatives of the cities of Cracow, Thorn, Lemberg, Dantzic, 
 and Posen participated in the election of John Albert. But 
 as the szlachta, or gentry, grew in power and pride, they 
 chafed against their political partnership with the wealthy 
 plebeian burgesses, though ready enough to claim their 
 assistance in case of need. 
 
 Nevertheless the Jagiellos respected and defended the 
 privileges of the town as far as they could. The following 
 case may be taken as typical. 
 
 A nobleman, Piotr Bostowski, had attacked the house 
 of Adam Solcz, a citizen of Cracow, broken open the doors, 
 killed two of Solcz's servants, and done other damage. The 
 consuls thereupon arrested and brought "the, culprit 
 before the town council. He was duly tried, according 
 to the Magdeburg law, condemned to death, and publicly 
 
THE ROOT OF THE MISCHIEF 5 
 
 executed, confessing the justice of his sentence. Imme- 
 diately afterwards the Bostowskis cited the consuls and 
 town council before the local Diet for the slaying of their 
 kinsman. The town council refused to admit the jurisdic- 
 tion of the provincial court, and appealed to the King. 
 Casimir IV. summoned the parties to appear before him 
 at the Castle of Cracow, and, after a careful consideration 
 of the case, decided that the town council had acted in 
 strict conformity with the privileges of the city, as guaran- 
 teed by the Magdeburg law, and was worthy rather of praise 
 than of blame. 
 
 Unfortunately for the burgesses, Casimir IV.'s third son 
 and immediate successor, John Albert (1492-1501), was 
 both an ambitious and an impecunious Prince, and his 
 poverty had far-reaching political consequences. Depen- 
 dent on the landed gentry for the subsidies with which to 
 prosecute his wars, he was driven to sacrifice the middle 
 and lower classes to his exacting paymasters. The Diet 
 of 1496 was especially remarkable for a whole series of 
 ordinances levied against the burgesses and the peasants. 
 One of these statutes exempted the exports and imports 
 of the gentry from the payment of all tolls and other impo- 
 sitions ; a second deprived the burgesses of the right of 
 holding extra-mural estates, and those who already possessed 
 the right were to surrender it within a given time, under 
 penalty of heavy fines ; a third enacted that henceforth 
 prelatures and canonries should be held solely by the 
 descendants, on both sides, of noble families. Other 
 statutes restricted the ancient right of the agricultural 
 labourer to migrate to better Wage markets, especially at 
 harvest time, and introduced modifications of land-tenure 
 which just stopped short of the socage system. In one 
 province socage was actually introduced as early as 1477. 
 Thus the Diet of 1496 introduced that abnormal condition 
 of things which was, ultimately, one of the chief causes of 
 the collapse of Poland. It elevated the szlachta, or gentry, 
 into a favoured caste apart. The burgesses, forbidden 
 henceforth to hold landed estates, were thereby excluded 
 
6 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 from all participation in military service, with the numerous 
 attendant advantages. In a word, the very classes which 
 should be the backbone of every normal State was excluded 
 as much as possible from the public service, and thus tended 
 to become indifferent to the welfare of their country. Nay, 
 more, the commercial prosperity of the burgesses was 
 seriously imperilled by the fiscal exemptions now granted 
 to their competitors, the great landowners. The yeomanry 
 of Poland, too, were being degraded into mere serfs. But 
 it was the State which suffered most. The natural equili- 
 brium between the various grades of society was disturbed 
 by these radical one-sided changes, and many sources of 
 national wealth were permanently obstructed. 
 
 To the last the Princes of the House of Jagiello did what 
 they could to defend the liberties of the burgesses against 
 the usurpations of the szlachta. Thus when, in 1513, the 
 Diet of Korczyn went so far as to extrude from its session 
 the burgomaster and consuls of Cracow, Sigismund I., who 
 knew the value of the burgesses from experience, promptly 
 reinstated them, and publicly confirmed their privilege of 
 representing the city in the local Diets. In 1533, and again 
 in 1537, fresh efforts were made by the szlachta to exclude 
 the deputies of Cracow from the Diets. Finally, in 1539, 
 the King was obliged to issue an edict threatening to prose- 
 cute for Idse-majeste any gentleman who attempted in future 
 to infringe the rights of the citizens. The Diet of Bromberg, 
 1520, was very severe on the peasantry, who were now 
 compelled to work one day a week gratis on their masters' 
 land. Hitherto this had been a matter of private arrange- 
 ment, now it was made a statutory and universal obligation. 
 This novelty proved to be the thin edge of the wedge. As 
 time went on the position of the Polish peasants grew worse 
 and worse, till, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, 
 they had sunk into the condition of serfs, in which miserable 
 state they remained till their emancipation by Kosciuszko 
 in 1793. 
 
 But by this time the Polish kings themselves, so far from 
 being able to protect their subjects of the middle and lower 
 
THE ROOT OF THE MISCHIEF 7 
 
 classes, were fighting for their own political existence. The 
 monarchs of the House of Jagiello could always, to some 
 extent, control the vagaries of the nobility, because they 
 were hereditary Grand-Dukes of Lithuania, and possessed 
 enormous estates in their Grand Duchy, which, properly 
 managed, often enabled them to dispense with subsidies. The 
 purely elective kings had no such fulcrum at their disposal. 
 They were bound hard and fast by the pacta conventa 
 solemnly imposed upon them at their coronation. The 
 archtype of these electoral pacta were the Henrican articles 
 subscribed to by Henry of Valois, in 1573. These " articles " 
 deprived the future king of the privilege of electing his 
 successor ; forbade his marrying without the previous 
 consent of the Senate ; considerably restricted his authority 
 as commander-in-chief by virtually placing the national 
 forces at the disposal of the Grand-Hetmans, or Captains- 
 General, who were responsible not to the King but to the 
 Diet ; and bound him to accept a permanent council of 
 fourteen Senators, elected every two years by the Diet, 
 four of whom, in rotation, were to be in constant attendance 
 upon him. As time went on the pacta conventa were made 
 more and more stringent. The szlachta had nothing now 
 to fear from the middle and lower classes, but it was quite 
 conceivable that a monarch, who was also a victorious 
 warrior, might object to remain, all his life, a mere puppet 
 on the throne. Yet, in view of her geographical position, 
 a warrior-king was for Poland an almost absolute necessity. 
 The whole of her vast, ill-protected south-eastern frontier, 
 known as the dzikie poll, or " wilderness," lay open to the 
 incalculable and interminable raids of the Tatar, the Turk, 
 and the Moscovite, who, with but moderate initial success, 
 could easily penetrate to the very heart of the unwieldy 
 realm. The dilemma, then, as it presented itself to the 
 imagination of the 80,000 or so of selfish and ignorant 
 country gentlemen, who, since 1572, had become the domi- 
 nant factor, the motive power of the Republic, was this 
 how is the frontier to be defended without augmenting the 
 authority of the Crown ? The difficulty was solved by 
 
8 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 reducing armaments to a minimum, always a dangerous 
 expedient, but absolutely suicidal in the case of Poland, 
 whose dominions had no natural boundaries and were 
 environed by rapacious and unscrupulous enemies. 
 
 The consequences of this new system speedily made 
 themselves felt. The Jagiellos, after two centuries of almost 
 sisyphean labour, had at last succeeded in welding out of 
 the most unpromising and rebellious materials, a new great 
 power, the Polish Republic. Sixteen years after the death 
 of the last of these great Princes, in 1572, the dissolvent 
 forces of anarchy had already undermined the work of ages. 
 It was of small avail that the first elective King, Stephen 
 Bathory, was a hero and a genius, one of those providential 
 men who are sparingly dispensed to save or enlighten a 
 nation. He did great things for Poland. He humbled 
 Ivan the Terrible to the dust, and made Moscovy harmless 
 for a generation. But he could obtain little or no help from 
 his Polish subjects, who were rather alarmed than gratified 
 by his successes. It was mainly with Magyar soldiers and 
 Magyar money, that he fought the battles of Poland. In 
 the crisis of the struggle with Moscovy, when Bathory had 
 determined upon a winter campaign, the Polish section of 
 the army at once demanded to be led home, and it was only 
 after several young nobles had been well flogged, and a few 
 more had been publicly hanged, that ordinary discipline 
 was restored. Nay more, Bathory's brilliant services to 
 his adopted country, so far from being rewarded with the 
 dutiful gratitude of his new subjects, made him absolutely 
 unpopular with the gentry. Not one word of thanks did 
 the King receive from the Diet for repulsing Moscovy, till 
 his one friend and supporter, the great Chancellor, Jan 
 Zamoyski, put the whole assembly to shame by rising in 
 their midst and delivering an eloquent panegyric, in which 
 he publicly thanked his sovereign, " in the presence of this 
 ungrateful people," for his inestimable services. The 
 Pans, or great lords, chafed and fretted beneath the curb 
 of a strong King, and even rejoiced indecently at the 
 unsatisfactory condition of Bathory's wounds, which 
 
THE ROOT OF THE MISCHIEF 9 
 
 promised to relieve them shortly of that troublesome 
 hero ! 
 
 The next elective King, Sigismund III., was a born 
 statesman. At the beginning of 1606, he summoned the 
 Diet for the express purpose of abolishing the crowning 
 absurdity of the existing Constitution, viz., the practice 
 of demanding absolute unanimity in all the decisions of 
 the Diet. If Poland was to continue her political existence 
 the proposed reform, obviously, was urgent and indispens- 
 able. The best men in the land were at one with the King 
 on this point. At the previous Diet warning voices had 
 even been raised in the Senate itself against the so-called 
 liber um veto. " Whether from malice, obstinacy or stu- 
 pidity," said Ostrogsky, Castellan of Posen, " all our 
 counsels and consultations come to nought. It is a disgrace 
 to the Commonwealth to have such a Government as ours, 
 which enables any one to bring about the ruin of the State 
 from sheer obstinacy and stupidity. For God's sake, let 
 us not suffer the Republic to perish without making an 
 effort to save it." This effort the King now proceeded to 
 make by abolishing the liberum veto. But the royal mani- 
 festo had scarce been issued when Nichols Zebrzydowski, 
 one of the highest dignitaries in the realm, and, what is 
 more, a thoroughly honest and well-meaning man, sum- 
 moned a confederation to protest against an innovation 
 " so obstructive of personal liberty." Amongst the most 
 eloquent champions of individual liberty, at this confedera- 
 tion, was Stanislaus Stadnicki, surnamed " the Devil," 
 who, to quote a contemporary, " had more sins on his 
 conscience than hairs on his head." This nobleman 
 habitually cropped the noses and ears of offensive small 
 squires, and kept his peasants chained to the walls of sub- 
 terraneous dungeons, for months together. On August 6, 
 this confederation converted itself into an " Insurrection," 
 with the avowed object of dethroning the King, simply, 
 we must remember, because he desired to reform a constitu- 
 tion which was paralysing the legislature and the executive 
 alike. Sigismund "had now no choice but to take the field 
 
io THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 against the insurgents. He routed them first, and after 
 they had solemnly pledged themselves to disturb the 
 Commonwealth no more, he permitted them to renew their 
 homage. All their promises were, however, speedily 
 broken, and, in the course of 1607, the agitation was renewed, 
 and became more widespread than ever. A fresh insurrec- 
 tion was formed at the very time when the Diet was assem- 
 bling at Warsaw. When, with the approbation of the 
 Senate, Sigismund issued an edict, demanding the instant 
 dispersion of the insurgents, they retaliated by declaring 
 that an insurrection was as much superior to King or Diet 
 combined, as a General Council was superior to the Pope. 
 Then an amazing thing happened. The Diet, instead of 
 energetically supporting the King in his efforts to re-establish 
 the rudiments of law and order, practically enlisted itself 
 on the side of anarchy. Its sympathies were, indeed, 
 rather with the insurgents than with the Government ; and 
 its edict : De non prcestanda obcedentia (June 17, 1607) was 
 a surrender to the rebels. This disastrous edict enjoined 
 that, in case of any future malpractices on the part of the 
 King, he was to be warned twice to cease therefrom, by the 
 Primate and Senate, and once more by the succeeding Diet. 
 If he neglected these three warnings, the nation was absolved 
 from its obedience, and free to choose a new sovereign. As, 
 however, even this betrayal of the King failed to satisfy the 
 insurgents, and they still clamoured for Sigismund's abdica- 
 tion, the civil war was resumed, and lasted, with varying 
 success, for the next two years. At last, when every one 
 had grown weary of it, it was terminated by a general 
 amnesty which punished nobody and decided nothing. The 
 helpless King was forced to concur, and henceforth aban- 
 doned all his projects of reform. It was in the same reign 
 that the two national heroes, Stanislaus Zolkiewski and Jan 
 Karol Chodkiewicz, were successively sent to certain disaster, 
 dying on the battlefield within six months of each other, 
 because the Diet refused to equip them adequately for the 
 struggle, though the security of the Republic depended upon 
 their exertions. 
 
THE ROOT OF THE MISCHIEF n 
 
 i 
 
 The moral obviously to be drawn from the rebellion pi 
 Zebrzydowski was that constitutional reform in Poland 
 by constitutional means was henceforth impossible. This 
 was clearly recognised by Sigismund's eldest son, who 
 succeeded him in 1632. Wladislaus IV. was the most popu- 
 lar monarch that ever sat on the Polish throne. And he 
 deserved his popularity, for his character was essentially 
 lovable. His election, therefore, was the merest formality ; 
 but the unanimity with which all parties united to elect 
 him was due to the meanest of motives. For the Poles 
 calculated that so generous and impulsive a Prince would 
 be content with fresh limitations of the royal power, would 
 be " a sort of ' king-bee ' dispensing nought but honey to 
 his subjects " ; would first ease all grievances, satisfy all 
 complaints, and then courteously stand aside, and let them 
 rule the kingdom without his help. Accordingly, the pacta 
 conventa presented to Wladislaus before his coronation, 
 bound him never to declare an offensive war, or form alli- 
 ances, however profitable, or hire mercenaries, though there 
 was no regular army to speak of, without the consent of the 
 Estates. Moreover, he was to relieve the szlachta from the 
 payment of the land-tax and the hearth-tax, the sole taxes 
 to which they were still liable, " because the said taxes 
 savoured of servitude." And this, too, at a time when the 
 nobles and clergy* between them owned nearly all the land 
 in the kingdom, and there was a deficit in the Treasury of 
 370,000 gulden ! The King agreed to all these usurpations 
 without cavil, and even without comment. Proud of his 
 popularity, and full of confidence in his military genius, of 
 which he had already given the most brilliant proofs, he 
 had his own views as to the best way of benefiting his 
 country. He proposed, first of all, to win over the army, 
 and then, with its assistance, effect a coup d'etat which 
 should enable him to reform the Constitution on a strong 
 monarchical basis. His chosen instruments were the 
 Cossacks, who formed a large part of the irregular forces 
 
 * The clergy owned 160,000 villages out of a total of 215,000, and paid 
 no taxes at all. 
 
12 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 o£ the Republic. The Cossacks liked Wladislaus. He had 
 endeavoured, so far as he was able, to protect them against 
 the tyranny of the nobles who had always oppressed or 
 chicaned these wild children of the Steppe. Indeed, the 
 Polish Pans, or lords, regarded the Cossacks generally as 
 schismatic runaway serfs to whom only the very minimum 
 of tardy justice was to be grudgingly conceded. They did 
 not always remember that these semi-barbarian freebooters 
 were also the sole guardians of the south-eastern frontier 
 of the Republic. Innumerable had been the compacts 
 made between the Diet and the Cossacks regulating the 
 pay and maintenance of the latter, and not one of these 
 compacts had been honestly kept by the Polish Govern- 
 ment. When the Cossacks presented their grievances, and 
 protested that they also formed part of the body politic, 
 the Poles replied with a sneer : yes you are parts of the 
 body politic just as hair and nails are part of the human 
 body, and hair and nails need cropping and clipping now 
 and then. Wladislaus IV., on the other hand, had "never 
 made any distinction between the Cossacks and the szlachta, 
 either in the field or elsewhere, and hitherto they had 
 willingly followed his banner against Turk and Tatar alike. 
 He had but to give the signal and they would certainly 
 rally round him. His opportunity seemed to have come 
 in the spring of 1646, when the Porte declared war against 
 the Venetian Republic. Wladislaus at once concluded a 
 secret alliance with Venice, and summoned the Cossacks 
 to his assistance. Their deputies arrived at Cracow and 
 held midnight conferences with him. In return for a 
 promise of the restitution of their forfeited liberties, the 
 Cossacks promised to put 100,000 men in the field when- 
 ever called upon to do so. That Wladislaus meant to 
 increase his prestige by fresh military triumphs, as a first 
 step towards finally reforming the Constitution, there can 
 be no doubt. That the well-laid plan had some chance of 
 success is also highly probable, but the plot was betrayed, 
 the Diet of 1646, convinced that a Turkish war would be 
 " the grave of the national liberties," reduced the royal 
 
THE ROOT OF THE MISCHIEF 13 
 
 guard, the nucleus of the standing army, to 1200 men, and 
 forbade the King to issue any declaration of war whatever 
 without the previous consent of the Republic. Thus the 
 endeavour to reform the Constitution by a coup d'etat also 
 came to nought. 
 
 Wladislaus' half-brother and successor, John Casimir, 
 the ex-Cardinal, shared the views of his predecessor as to 
 the necessity of curbing the nobility, and reforming " the 
 absurd Republic," by strengthening the Executive at the 
 expense of the Legislature. Unfortunately he was not the 
 man to cope with a well-nigh desperate situation. His 
 honesty of purpose was incontestable, his splendid personal 
 valour was a national asset, yet somehow he failed to inspire 
 confidence, and was invariably unlucky. On the other 
 hand, it is no light praise to say of him, that, in the face of 
 appalling difficulties, he was almost the only man who, 
 guided by fixed political principles, endeavoured to do his 
 duty as he understood it, till, in sheer weariness and disgust, 
 he voluntarily abdicated the throne. 
 
 But, in truth, Poland had now fallen upon evil days. We 
 have come to the period of open public traitors who delibe- 
 rately sold their country to foreign Powers, rather than 
 submit to the authority of their lawful ruler. This was 
 after, all only a further development of that ultra-individu- 
 ality which desiderated complete personal independence 
 for every gentleman in the land. The King, simply because 
 he was the King, stood officially higher than any one else, 
 and was, for that very reason, a standing contradiction to 
 the universally accepted dogma of absolute political equality 
 as formulated and interpreted by the dominant szlachta. 
 Hence the Diet, composed as it was entirely of gentlemen, 
 nearly always supported every great noble who publicly 
 opposed the King. Was he not one of their own order? 
 Was he not the champion of the Republic ? Was he not 
 resisting " despotism " ? How, in such circumstances, 
 could the merits of the case be considered at all ? 
 
 Take, for instance, the treason of the first of these eminent 
 and popular traitors, the Vice-Chancellor, Hieronymus 
 
H THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Radziejowski. It was at the Court of Queen Cecilia, the 
 first consort of Wladislaus IV., that Radziejowski's wit, 
 savoir-faire, and agreeable manners had gained him powerful 
 patrons, while his open-handedness and affability made him 
 very popular with the szlachta. Though a man of notoriously 
 evil character (he had been convicted of rape, and all but 
 tortured his first wife to death) he was already one of the 
 first dignitaries of the Republic, and his absolute unscrupu- 
 lousness promised him still greater eminence in a society 
 where corruption and simplicity were so strangely inter-- 
 mingled as in seventeenth-century Poland. But he went 
 too far when he accused his second wife, Euphemia Wisnio- 
 wiecka, of adultery with the King. She at once quitted 
 his roof for the protection of a royal convent, and instituted 
 divorce proceedings against her slanderous consort. Rad- 
 ziejowski then attempted to kidnap her ; but the convent 
 was defended by the royal guards, and, for attacking them, 
 he incurred the penalty of lese-majeste, and was condemned, 
 in contumaciam, to lose his life, honour and goods. Never 
 was sentence so richly deserved, yet public opinion, in- 
 doctrinated by Radziejowski and his creatures, was almost 
 entirely on the side of the felon. The King, however, did 
 not flinch. He frustrated every attempt at rehabilitation 
 by treating the lesser seal as vacant, and bestowing it on 
 one of his own adherents, whereupon the Diet, which had 
 just met, was " exploded," or abruptly dissolved, by the 
 deputy Sicinski,* at the instigation of his patron, Prince 
 James Radziewill. The liberum veto, or the dissolution of 
 a Diet by a single deputy, had frequently been employed 
 before, but this was the first time that the right of a single 
 deputy to " explode " the Diet was recognised as a matter 
 of principle. Henceforth it was open to every discontented 
 magnate to put up a petty squire, or some other hireling, 
 to gag the executive by getting rid, at any time, of an in- 
 convenient Diet. At a later stage, the Sejmiki, or provincial 
 Diets, which elected the deputies to the Sejm, or General 
 Diet, frequently included in their mandates to their deputies 
 
 * He had only to rise and exclaim : " Nie pozwalam" (" I protest "). 
 
THE ROOT OF THE MISCHIEF 15 
 
 an express injunction to " explode " the Diet in certain 
 contingencies. In the present case the action of Sicinski 
 prevented any further investigation of the Radziejowski 
 affair. As for Radziejowski himself, he hastened to Stock- 
 holm, where he prevailed upon Charles X. of Sweden to 
 invade and devastate Poland, assuring him that she would 
 be an easy prey. At this crisis many of Radziejowski's 
 friends either joined the Swedish King against their own 
 King, or proceeded to carve independent principalities out 
 of their bleeding country. 
 
 By the autumn of 1655, the Polish State had ceased to 
 exist. The King was an exile. The capital, the coronation 
 city, the central and the western provinces, were in the 
 hands of the Swedes. The Moscovites, unopposed, had 
 quietly appropriated everything not already occupied by 
 the Swedes, the Cossacks had devastated Galicia, black- 
 mailed Lemberg, and ravaged all that remained to be 
 ravaged in the Ukraine. The ruin of Catholic Poland 
 seemed to have been accomplished by the unnatural union 
 of Orthodox Moscovites, Calvinists and Lutherans — directed 
 and encouraged by domestic traitors. Yet Poland's last 
 chance emerged from the very depths of this cataclysm. 
 All Christian societies have within them a germ of regenera- 
 tion capable of arresting and neutralising the natural processes 
 of political dissolution and disintegration. So long as there 
 are a sufficient number of men of good-will ready, when 
 once convinced of the worthlessness of political pretenders, 
 and the mischievousness of hireling help, to sacrifice every- 
 thing for their country, ready to seek, in the sanctuary of 
 their own hearts, for that religious inspiration which, in the 
 last resort, is the one remaining hope of a sinking State — 
 no nation need perish. It was religious enthusiasm which 
 saved Moscovy from destruction fifty years earlier ; it was 
 religious enthusiasm which was to save Poland now, if only 
 for a time. 
 
 The reaction began when, for seventy days, the fortress- 
 monastery of Czenstochowa, the Lourdes of Poland, heroi- 
 cally defended by the Prior, Augustin Kordecki, defied all 
 
i6 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 the efforts of Swedish skill and courage to capture it. On 
 December 27, 1656, the besiegers were obliged to raise the 
 siege, after suffering very heavily. This success, so extra- 
 ordinary that it was popularly attributed to Divine inter- 
 vention, sent a thrill through Poland, and elicited an out- 
 burst of religious enthusiasm which spread through all ranks 
 of the population. A holy national war was proclaimed, 
 against which all the efforts of disciplined armies were 
 powerless. The King returned from exile. His first act, 
 at a solemn service in Lemberg Cathedral, was to dedicate 
 himself and Poland to the service of God, and vow publicly 
 to use every effort to re-establish and reform the Republic, 
 and make it a strong and stable State. Two years later, 
 when the country had been swept clear of the despoilers, 
 John Casimir set about performing his vows. The neces- 
 sary reforms were now to be carried out by diplomatic and 
 legislative methods. The first step was to make the Crown 
 hereditary instead of elective, and thus obviate the anarchy 
 which prevailed, more or less, during every interregnum. 
 
 At first the Polish dignitaries themselves, appalled at the 
 sight of the abyss to the edge of which the Swedish war had 
 dragged them, took the matter of constitutional reform 
 seriously in hand. The Diet of 1658 appointed a commis- 
 sion to report upon the expediency of limiting the liberum 
 veto, and deciding all matters by a plurality of votes. The 
 Commission reported to the Diet of 1659 that such reforms 
 were indispensable, and the Diet of 1660 was preparing to 
 carry them out, when obstruction suddenly arose, and the 
 further consideration of the matter was postponed in- 
 definitely. At the same time " the succession question," 
 which had also made some progress, was frustrated first by 
 the intrigues, and then by the open rebellion, of the Grand- 
 Marshal of the Crown, Prince George Lubomirsky, from 
 purely personal motives. By dint of the most unscrupulous 
 agitation, Lubomirsky and his partisans easily persuaded 
 the Diet to condemn any alteration of the existing mode 
 of election, and inspired the szlachta with such a suspicion 
 of the Court, that it refused to contribute a penny to avert 
 
THE ROOT OF THE MISCHIEF 17 
 
 the threatened economical ruin of the country caused by 
 a war which had reduced the best part of Poland to a wilder- 
 ness. Not a penny would the 100,000 landed proprietors 
 of Poland, pleading their privileges as noblemen, consent 
 to pay out of their own pockets, but they levied a pole-tax 
 on the poorest sections of the community, the townsmen, 
 artisans, shepherds, millers and farmers, to meet the demands 
 of the unpaid and starving army, which claimed 26,000,000 
 gulden of arrears. The wretched taxpayers broke down under 
 the strain, and the result was a dangerous military mutiny 
 which took the form of Confederation levying blackmail 
 on the estates of the bishops and clergy throughout the 
 realm, and refusing to disperse until their claims had been 
 satisfied. So far from attempting to mend matters, the 
 Diet of 1662 reaffirmed the right of free election, condemned 
 as traitors all who should dare to elect a future King during 
 the lifetime of the reigning sovereign ; levied a fresh poll- 
 tax on the plebeian classes ; and actually took measures 
 to rehabilitate the scoundrel Radziejowski. 
 
 Henceforth the case of Poland was hopeless. She had 
 deliberately disregarded every warning, rejected every 
 saving expedient. She was to share the fate of sixteenth- 
 century Hungary, and perish in the same way, and for the 
 same reason, because her great men did not care. 
 
 It was reserved for the last great soldier of Poland, John 
 Sobieski, to accelerate the ruin of his country ; to save it 
 was utterly beyond his power. Sobieski has gone down to 
 history as a national hero. His military exploits were, no 
 doubt, sufficiently numerous and striking to establish his 
 military reputation once for all; but certainly he was a 
 very shoddy sort of hero. Anyhow he stands on a much 
 lower level than the illustrious captains of the two preceding 
 generations, Zamoyski, Zolkiewski, Chodkiewicz, for 
 instance. He could fight as well as the best of them, but 
 he fought for his own hand. He was even patriotic up to 
 a certain point, but his patriotism was inextricably bound 
 up with plotting and self-seeking. In a word, the man was 
 tainted to the core by the lawlessness and egotism of his 
 
1 8 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 age. Lest this verdict should seem unwarrantable or un- 
 charitable, let us very briefly review the public career of 
 Sobieski before he ascended the throne. 
 
 Sobieski rose to distinction during John Casimir's inter- 
 minable wars with the rebellious Cossacks. He was one 
 of the first to desert his sovereign in the hour of need, and 
 go over to the Swedes whom he materially assisted. When, 
 however, the position of the Swedes became untenable, 
 he changed sides again, and as his military talents happened 
 to be indispensable, John Casimir made it worth the while 
 of the capable young general to remain loyal in the future. 
 He was rapidly promoted, and, in 1668, made Grand- 
 Hetman of the Crown, in other words, Commander-in-Chief, 
 with the absolute command of the Polish army, for, though 
 the King appointed the Grand-Hetmans, the army was 
 obliged to swear allegiance not to him but to them. Sobieski's 
 next act was to intrigue against, and endeavour to over- 
 throw, the new King of Poland, Michael Wisniowiecki, 
 who had been elected unanimously in 1669, and that, 
 too, at the very moment when a huge Turkish army had 
 already crossed the southern frontiers of the Republic. In 
 any other country but Poland, a commander-in-chief who 
 had deserted his post in the hour of danger, in order to play 
 at treason and promote civil war, would have been promptly 
 and justly executed. But, by this time, the Poles had 
 become morally blind to the turpitudes of their patricians, 
 so when the peccant Grand-Hetman interrupted his treason- 
 able proceedings by a dashing ten days' raid into the Ukraine, 
 he was held to have expiated all his offences by " washing 
 his hands clean in Turkish blood." As King, Sobieski 
 reaped to the full the bitter harvest of treachery and treason, 
 the seeds of which he himself had so recklessly sown before- 
 hand. He soon found himself in the horrible position of 
 a sinner who repents too late. All his efforts to patch up 
 the crumbling structure of the Republic were frustrated by 
 the same methods which he himself had so frequently 
 employed while he was still aiming at the Crown. Ill-luck 
 persistently dogged him during the last seven years of his 
 
THE ROOT OF THE MISCHIEF 19 
 
 life. Nothing that he put his hand to prospered. Rarely 
 has Nemesis pursued its victim so remorselessly. His 
 attempts to convert Poland into a constitutional monarchy, 
 hereditary in his family, certainly the best thing that could 
 have happened, foundered on the determined opposition of 
 the Diet. No sooner did the szlachta get wind of his plans 
 than a confederation, headed by the chief dignitaries of the 
 Republic, was formed to prevent any such design ; the parrot- 
 cry of " the Republic is in danger ! " resounded everywhere ; 
 and the application of the liberum veto exploded the Diet 
 at the very beginning of the session. His worst enemies 
 were, naturally, the Lithuanians, who could never forgive 
 him for his treachery towards their fellow countryman, 
 King Michael. Thus they prevented the marriage of his 
 son, James, with the wealthy young widow, Ludowika 
 Radziwill, with the result that she married a kinsman of 
 the Elector of Brandenburg, and her immense fortune 
 passed into German hands. The Diet, on this occasion, 
 was inclined to support the King, whereupon it was ex- 
 ploded by one of the hirelings of the House of Sapieha. 
 Anarchical was the state of Lithuania — the eastern and 
 largest half of the Republic — at this period. Casimir 
 Sapieha, Grand-Hetman of Lithuania, preyed upon his 
 neighbours like the worst type of feudal baron. In his 
 private quarrel with the Bishop of Wilna, he devastated 
 the whole diocese, and burnt dozens of churches. Twice, 
 in 1693 and 1695, the King, indignant at these outrages, 
 summoned Sapieha to answer for his misdeeds before the 
 Diet. On both occasions Sapieha's partisans exploded the 
 Diet before it had time to consider the case. Thus the 
 liberum veto had now sunk so low, that its chief use was to 
 shelter high-placed felons from the pursuit of justice ! 
 
 Sobieski died broken-hearted in 1696, and, for the next 
 seventy years, Poland cannot properly be said to have had 
 any history. She became a sort of no-man's land, or hunt- 
 ing-ground, where, as Catherine II. put it, "you could 
 always pick up something worth having for the mere trouble 
 of stooping for it . " Her neighbours treated her as politically 
 
20 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 non-existent. The eight first campaigns of the Great 
 Northern War were actually fought out within her domains 
 by the Swedes, the Saxons, and the Russians, although she 
 had proclaimed her neutrality, and was technically at peace 
 with all the belligerents. Her provinces were ransacked 
 to supply the wants of half a dozen antagonistic armies 
 which deliberately traversed her territories in search of 
 each other. It occurred to nobody to ask her permission 
 beforehand, still less to offer her compensation afterwards. 
 That hideous hurly-burly — the reign of Augustus II. (1696- 
 1733) — was succeeded by an interval of absolute stagnation 
 — the reign of Augustus III. (1733-1763) . During this latter 
 period Poland was free at last from the molestation of 
 foreign enemies. Externally it was a period of peace and 
 quietness, but the quietness was a mortal lethargy, a state 
 of coma preceding death and dissolution. Of Government, 
 in the modern sense of the term, there was no trace. The 
 King, comfortably ensconced at Dresden, very rarely visited 
 his kingdom. The Diet continued to meet, as usual, every 
 two years ; but it was so regularly exploded by the applica- 
 tion of the liberum veto, that no laws were passed, and no 
 business was done, for a whole generation. The long- 
 sought political utopia of the szlachta had, in fact, at last 
 been realised. Poland had become a place where every 
 gentleman had nothing to do but please himself so long as 
 he did not tread on the toes of some other gentleman. All 
 onerous obligations, all vexatious restrictions, had long 
 since been removed. The army had virtually been abolished 
 because the Polish squire refused to pay for it. The diplo- 
 matic service had been done away with for the same reason. 
 The political economy Of the Republic now rested simply 
 and solely on the personal good-will of the privileged citizens 
 who formed about one-twentieth part of the population. 
 No external compulsion of any sort was to be tolerated for 
 a moment. Good-will as the motive power, conscience as 
 the brake, largess as the stimulus — these were henceforth 
 to be the sole instruments of Government in Poland. The 
 morbid optimism which could devise such a system over- 
 
THE ROOT OF THE MISCHIEF 21 
 
 looked the essential fact that no State can be built up on 
 purely ideal grounds, for the simple reason that men are 
 men and not angels. In every man there are bad qualities 
 to be curbed, as well as good qualities to be encouraged. If 
 bad qualities are not curbed, they have an unfortunate 
 and inevitable tendency to gain the upper hand and extin- 
 guish the good qualities, to the detriment of the community. 
 No State, therefore, can exist without a magistracy armed 
 with sufficient authority to control, and, whenever it is 
 necessary, to chastise the perverse and the unruly. Un- 
 fortunately in Old Poland, the word " obedience " had been 
 expunged from the category of public virtues. The Polish 
 statute books abounded with excellent laws and ordinances, 
 enjoining in the most eloquent and forcible language the 
 performance of such public duties as the defence of the 
 country in case of need, the maintenance of order in public 
 assemblies, the strict administration of justice, the payment 
 of taxes, and so on. But there was nobody in the land to 
 enforce them. Abuses of every kind flourished luxuriantly, 
 and everybody tacitly agreed to wink at and ignore them. 
 Now and then the Diet would suddenly awake to a sense of 
 its responsibilities, and pass a whole series of new reforming 
 statutes which were to put matters right, but nobody took 
 any notice of them. Everything continued just as it was 
 before, and the statutes were found to be not worth the 
 paper on which they were written. We may go further still 
 and say that the lawlessness of Poland was in an inverse 
 ratio to her legislative productiveness. Thus, from 1347 
 to 1500, when she was well governed and on the way to 
 become a great Power, a single slender book of statutes 
 sufficed for all her needs, whereas from 1611 to 1714, the 
 period of her debasement, the statutes passed by thirty 
 parliaments filled six enormous volumes. The modicum 
 of direct control nominally in the possession of the chief 
 executive officer of the Crown, the so-called King, was nulli- 
 fied by the absurd regulation, dating from the beginning 
 of the sixteenth century, whereby the King could appoint, 
 but in no case dismiss, the great officers of State. The 
 
22 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 consequence was that the various branches of the adminis- 
 tration became sinecures for life in the hands of their actual 
 holders, to the exclusive personal advantage of those highly- 
 favoured dignitaries. The King could not call them to 
 account for peculation or maladministration, and whenever 
 the Diet ordered an inquiry to be made it was instantly 
 " exploded " by some hireling of the incriminated digni- 
 taries themselves. So venal was the administration that 
 Augustus III. had publicly to promise that he would not 
 sell the Ministry of Finance to the highest bidder. The 
 militia, since the abolition of the army Poland's one visible 
 means of defence, was under the absolute control of the 
 Grand-Hetmans, or commanders-in-chief, who did what 
 they liked with it, employing it generally to blackmail the 
 provinces they were supposed to defend. The tribunals 
 were a scandal to any civilised State. The starostas, or 
 judges, were notorious for their indolence and indifference. 
 Their courts are described as " bear-gardens." " As dis- 
 orderly as a court of justice " became a favourite proverb 
 in Poland. Everybody recognised its appositeness. In 
 fact, the starostas used the jus gladii not to maintain public 
 order, but to promote their private interests. The Polish 
 tribunals seemed only to exist in order to demonstrate the 
 superiority of might to right. It was hopeless for persons 
 with small means to sue for justice against the rich or the 
 powerful. The judges were bought beforehand, and the 
 cost of legal procedure was crushing. There were, indeed, 
 even in the worst days of the Republic, really righteous 
 magistrates, like Prince Czartoryski, Malachowski, Krasin- 
 ski, but the extravagant praises lavished upon them by 
 their contemporaries for merely doing their duty on the 
 bench is eloquent as to the character and conduct of the 
 judicial bench generally. In criminal cases, on the rare 
 occasions when judgments were delivered at all, they were 
 rarely enforced, as there were no means of doing so. In 
 civil cases the parties to the suit were supposed to execute 
 judgment themselves. If they could not, all their trouble 
 and expense, of course, went for nothing. But as a rule 
 
THE ROOT OF THE MISCHIEF 23 
 
 the weaker party had a poor chance of winning. What the 
 poorer classes, necessarily the greatest sufferers, thought of 
 the tribunals may be gathered from the following vivid 
 legend, most probably worked up by an itinerant Basilean 
 monk from a local tradition. The existing state of things 
 could not have been more happily symbolised. 
 
 There was once a poor widow whose little bit of land was 
 her sole possession. But a magnate coveted her tiny estate* 
 and forced her to go to law about it. Her case was as clear 
 as amber, but the magnate bought up all the magistrates, 
 and judgment was declared against the poor widow, contrary 
 to all right and equity. When the judgment was read the 
 unhappy widow cried aloud in the court-house : " If devils 
 had sat in judgment the judgment would have been juster ! " 
 This happened at the end of the session, and the magistrates, 
 for sheer shame, feigned not to have heard the widow's cry 
 of distress. Now when the judges had all gone home, and 
 only the clerks of the court remained behind, a number of 
 carriages suddenly drove up to the court-house, and a number 
 of gentlemen got out. They were dressed in fine clothes, 
 but horns could be seen sticking out of their silken hats, 
 and tails peeped from beneath their atlas hose. They were 
 devils, in fact, and they proceeded, strictly observing all 
 the usual legal formalities, to reopen the widow's case, 
 finally pronouncing judgment in her favour. Then it was 
 that the figure of the Saviour which hung in the court-house 
 turned its face away from the judgment-seat, because the 
 very devils had judged more righteously than those grave 
 magistrates, prelates and magnates, whom Christ had 
 redeemed with His precious blood. 
 
 Such, then, briefly, was the condition of Poland on the 
 death of Augustus III. (October 5, 1763), the point at which 
 our story properly begins. Before proceeding, however, 
 to narrate the adventures and the experiences of the last 
 King of this nightmare kingdom, we will endeavour to 
 describe, with some detail, the social life of Poland as he 
 found it. First we will see what the Polish patricians were 
 at home in the midst of their dependants and retainers. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE OLD NOBILITY 
 
 The ' Courts " of the old nobility — Their domestic economy — The 
 Polish patriarchal system — The retinues of the magnates — 
 Manly virtues of the " Pans " — Their magnificent hospitality — 
 Gross ignorance of the country gentlemen — Wine-bibbing — 
 Anecdotes of heroic topers — Semi-barbaric types — Prince Karol 
 Radziwill — Strong influence of religion — Pan Potocki of Kaniow 
 — The szlachta, or gentry — The burgesses — Miserable condition of 
 the peasantry — Semi-savage state of the country — The roads — 
 The inns — General apathy and ruin* 
 
 "TXTTHEN Lars von Engestrom, the Swedish Ambas- 
 \X/ sa( ^ or a * Warsaw, was staying at Szymaniow, the 
 VV castle of Prince Sanguszko, the daughter of the 
 host said to him one day, as they were strolling in the 
 gardens : " Our whole Court, except the doctor, is de- 
 voted to Sweden." Engestrom, who had been entrusted 
 by Gustavus III. with a difficult and delicate mission to 
 the Polish Court, was delighted at such a piece of good 
 news, though he rather wondered why the opinion of 
 " the doctor " should count for so much in a purely political 
 affair. But both his amazement and his satisfaction dis- 
 appeared when, on further inquiry, it was explained that 
 the Princess was alluding to her father's establishment. 
 " The Polish magnates, it appears, always call their 
 mansions their Courts," wrote the ambassador in his 
 note-book. 
 
 The expression was characteristic, but in no way an 
 exaggeration. In old Poland every great nobleman, every 
 palatine, castellan, and starosta, was, indeed, an independent 
 potentate in his own province, where he surrounded himself 
 
 84 
 
THE OLD NOBILITY 25 
 
 with all the pomp and circumstance of a princely Court. 
 Very often the Courts of these territorial "dynasts" far 
 outshone the royal Court at Warsaw or Cracow. The palace 
 of the Grand-Hetman Branicki at Bialystok, for instance, 
 was called the Polish Versailles. Equally resplendent, but 
 in far better taste, were the country mansions of the Czar- 
 toriscy, at Pulawy and Powonzka. The chief feature of 
 another great mansion, Sochazew, was its landscape gardens 
 and arcades, which cost fabulous sums. At Wasklany, the 
 property of Borch, Palatine of Belsk, was the famous moral 
 and emblematical park, crammed full of highly ornate 
 pavilions in the Classical style, in honour of Friendship, 
 Wedlock, Life, Death, and other abstractions. Here, too, 
 was to be seen a chapel with an altar dedicated to Fame, 
 where Borch had proudly planted his own bust between 
 the busts of Sobieski and Copernicus ! Yet even the 
 Palatine of Belsk was outdone by one of the royal treasurers, 
 who contrived underground grottoes on his estate at Solec, 
 and exhibited colonies of apes on artificial islands. The 
 majority of the vast old country mansions were, however, 
 built of wood, and were far more ambitious than comfort- 
 able. The most distinguished guests were expected to 
 bring with them their beds, bedroom furniture, and table 
 gear, and most of the waiting-men had to sleep where they 
 could on bare boards. 
 
 The whole domestic economy of these great houses was 
 also carefully modelled after the pattern of a royal Court. 
 The very titles of a magnate's servants mimicked those of 
 the official hierarchy. His " treasurer " looked after the 
 general expenses of the house. His cupbearer saw to the 
 cost and maintenance of the cellars. His equerry, naturally, 
 took charge of the stables — perhaps the most expensive 
 charge of all. All these officials, it should be added, were 
 noblemen, as well as the chamberlain or major-domo, who 
 stood at the head of the whole establishment, but whose 
 special charge was to supervise and control the numerous 
 gentleman-servitors. These were youths of gentle birth, 
 mostly the magnate's poor kinsmen, or proteges who had 
 
z6 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 been lucky enough to obtain admittance into his house, 
 for from henceforth their future was secured. They ate 
 at the major-domo's table, wore swords, the distinctive 
 mark of a Polish gentleman, and were never required to 
 perform any menial service. Their principal duty consisted 
 in showing the mistress of the house to her carriage or to 
 her seat at church, or in escorting their lord on horseback 
 when he went forth to visit some other magnate. The 
 gentleman-servitors were treated as equals by their patron, 
 who allowed them a small sum of pocket-money every 
 month, with fodder for their horses and other privileges. 
 They were, in fact, something between comrades and 
 salaried officials. Attired in grey serge kontushes* zwpans, 
 or vests of green atlas, flowered silk girdles with gold tassels, 
 green caps trimmed with chestnut-coloured lambskin, and 
 red boots, a score or so of these handsome, stalwart young 
 fellows were no small addition to the great man's honour 
 and glory. It also flattered his pride to have about him 
 the scions of so many illustrious historical families. Felix 
 Potocki, Palatine of Kiev, one of the wealthiest landowners 
 in Poland, had for his major-domo a member of the ancient 
 but decayed princely house of Czetwertynski, who happened 
 to have the same Christian name as Potocki's mortal foe, 
 Prince Czartoryski — viz., Adam. Whenever any member 
 of the house of Czartoryski came to see Potocki officially, 
 that magnate would always summon his major-domo, 
 solely for the malicious satisfaction of saying to a servant 
 in the presence of the Czartoryskis : " Send Prince Adam 
 hither ! " 
 
 The consorts of the Polish magnates also had their little 
 Courts, at the head of which stood the Lady Chamberlain, 
 or Hofmeisterin, with her attendant retinue of women of 
 the wardrobe, women of the bedchamber, tiring-maids, 
 and so on, all of them of gentle birth. The Hofmeisterinen 
 were " virtuous and religious matrons of advanced age, 
 well able to maintain their subordinates in a state of modest 
 obedience." The lady-servitors divided between them the 
 
 * A sort of long frock-coat. 
 
THE OLD NOBILITY 27 
 
 care of their mistress's effects, some being responsible for 
 her dresses, others for her gloves and needles, and others, 
 again, for her jewels and knick-knacks. They also dressed 
 and undressed her, and took it by turns to sleep on an 
 ottoman in her ante-chamber, so as to be within call in case 
 she required anything during the night. They formed no 
 part of the general company, but had their proper seats, 
 along with the Hofmeisterin, at the major-domo's table. 
 They were supposed, however, to supply, in propria persona, 
 any deficiency of dancers at state balls. Yet they had their 
 own waiting-maids. 
 
 Besides these lady-servitors, and not to be confounded 
 with them, were the so-called " ladies of honour." These 
 were damsels of high birth but small estate, generally kins- 
 folk, who were brought up with the daughters of the house, 
 and shared their lessons and amusements. Often, in small 
 families, they were themselves adopted as daughters. But 
 in any case the magnate and his consort treated these 
 young ladies as if they were their own children ; educated 
 and dowered them ; and settled them for life. 
 
 Love of kindred and strong family affections were, 
 indeed, the good points of the old Polish patriarchal system. 
 In every gentleman's house, large or small, genealogies and 
 family trees were religiously preserved, showing every grade 
 of relationship from the earliest times. The youth of both 
 sexes were taught their pedigrees along with their cate- 
 chisms. The favourite apologue of the domestic mentor 
 in Poland was the ancient story of the Scythian father who, 
 on his death-bed, demonstrated the strength of family ties 
 by making his assembled children break separately five 
 darts which bound together in a bundle they could not 
 break at all. Hence the reverence shown by the Polish 
 youths to their elders. A son, for instance, even when he 
 had arrived at man's estate, would never sit down in the 
 presence of his father and mother without being invited 
 to do so. Moreover, an intimate knowledge of the family 
 ties was necessary for success in life. No one could get a 
 canonry, an abbey, a Maltese cross, or anything else worth 
 
28 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 having, unless he could trace his descent from a noble 
 ancestor through at least sixteen generations. A magnate 
 would always acknowledge kinsmanship with a poor gentle- 
 man, even if he were a cousin fifty times removed, while a 
 cousin in the fourth degree was regarded as a member of 
 the intimate family circle. Thus whenever a powerful 
 family chose to unite together for political purposes at any 
 of the Sejmiki, or local Diets, it was irresistible unless 
 another family equally powerful could be got to oppose it, 
 when the result would be civil war. One of the many 
 reasons why the last King of Poland was looked down upon 
 by the gentry at large lay in the fact that he had very great 
 difficulty in establishing satisfactorily the nobility of his 
 grandfather. 
 
 The Polish magnates also maintained whole hosts of 
 pajuks, heydukes, huszars, murzas, cossacks, and wallachs — 
 semi-Oriental waiting-men, lacqueys, and messengers, chosen 
 from among the best looking and the best built of the 
 peasantry, and arrayed in gorgeous uniforms of Turkish 
 or Magyar origin. Prince Karl Radziwill kept at least 
 ten thousand of these retainers, Count Felix Potocki even 
 more. It was, indeed, a point of honour with every great 
 nobleman to maintain as many as possible of these parade 
 servants, as they may be called. The pajuks and murzas 
 were dressed, hke the janissaries, in ample grey hose, 
 flowing mantles, with wide sleeves, embroidered with silver 
 buttons, and lofty kalpags like grenadiers' busbies, sur- 
 mounted by silver aigrettes. From their richly embroidered 
 silk girdles hung Turkish daggers in silver sheaths. The 
 heydukes, on the other hand, wore tightly-fitting Hungarian 
 jackets embroidered with lace and silver stars. Their outer 
 garment was a gorgeous fur dolman depending from the 
 shoulder. On their heads they wore little turban-shaped 
 caps covered with silver and galoon. The arms of their 
 masters were embossed on the handles of their swords, in 
 silver sheaths, which they carried by their sides. Still 
 more splendid were the huszars. They wore carmine 
 uniforms surmounted by silver cuirasses, and semi-visored 
 
THE OLD NOBILITY 29 
 
 helmets with a ridge of feathers rising behind like a pea- 
 cock's tail erect. The huszars served as a sort of militia, 
 nominally at the service of the Crown, but employed most 
 often, it is to be feared, in local feuds. Their arms, when 
 on active service,, were long lances of light wood, with sharp 
 steel points, swords by their sides, daggers in their belts, 
 and pistols in their holsters. In real warfare, however, 
 these magnificent creatures proved to be of very little use. 
 A single Russian regiment could scatter thousands of them. 
 
 The love of display also appeared in the trappings of the 
 magnates' chargers, which carried saddles encrusted with 
 gems and were covered by shabracks of cloth-of -silver. Thus 
 the great man not only feasted his eyes upon treasures at 
 home, but sat down upon treasures whenever he went 
 abroad. It was all very gorgeous, but also, like gorgeous- 
 ness generally, very barbarous. But for its fantastic 
 picturesqueness, it might have bordered upon vulgarity. 
 But the Pans of old Poland, especially those who lived far 
 away from the capital — and this most of them did — were 
 indeed semi-barbarous. They belonged rather to the 
 fifteenth than to the eighteenth century. They had all the 
 virtues of a primitive state of society. They were, as a rule, 
 manly, generous, straightforward, outspoken ; loyal and 
 affectionate husbands ; indulgent fathers, liberal masters. 
 They delighted in field sports and martial exercises. They 
 loved the risk and danger of the chase even more than its 
 excitement, and in the elk, the bear, and the wild boar of 
 their primaeval forests they found a quarry which taxed all 
 their skill and courage. Fox-hunting and hare-coursing 
 were looked down upon as somewhat poor sport. Thus 
 when Prince Karol Radziwill, the great Lithuanian magnate, 
 was invited by Augustus III. to come to Warsaw, to follow 
 the hounds with him, he scornfully replied : " Why should 
 I go and hunt rats and mice in Poland, when I can always 
 find wild boars in Lithuania ? " 
 
 It must be admitted that the hospitality of the Polish 
 magnates was magnificent, and that they spared neither 
 trouble nor expense to make a pageant picturesque and 
 
30 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 imposing. Thus in 1787 Prince Radziwill spent millions 
 in entertaining Stanislaus II. for a few days at Nieswicz, 
 his " capital," though the King, well aware of the needs of 
 the country, had begged beforehand for the utmost simplicity. 
 For a mile and a half before the royal cortege came to the 
 castle the road on both sides was lined by the Radziwill 
 tenantry, splendidly equipped. At the first stage a beautiful 
 Turkish full-blood charger, a gift from the Prince, awaited 
 the King. There must have been a touch of irony in this 
 present, as the King was notoriously a poor rider, and 
 even at reviews preferred carriage cushions to a seat on 
 horseback. At every milestone thousands of mounted 
 gentry, fantastically attired, met and saluted him, while 
 cannon of the age of Sobieski thundered forth salvos in his 
 honour from the castle walls. Last of all Radziwill himself 
 appeared, riding on a fiery Arab decked out in cloth-of-silver, 
 with a bridle of pure gold studded with rubies. 
 
 Unfortunately these fine old fellows had very few mental 
 resources. Their education was rudimentary at best.* If 
 they grew up with a smattering of Latin, that was considered 
 quite enough for any gentleman to know. Very often they 
 had to be coaxed to leam anything at all. The handwriting 
 of the most eminent and distinguished magnates was gene- 
 rally so bad that nobody, not even themselves, could 
 decipher their letters. Whenever, therefore, the great man 
 had to write to a relation or friend with his own hand, he 
 at the same time dictated it to a secretary sitting in an 
 adjoining room. The calligraphic copy of the secretary 
 was then attached, as a sort of key, to the magnate's own 
 hieroglyphics, and both documents were forwarded to their 
 destination. It would have been simpler, no doubt, to have 
 signed the secretary's letter, but it would not have had the 
 same value in the eyes of the recipient. A holograph letter 
 from a magnate was treasured up as an heirloom by the 
 szlachta, and had pecuniary value also. The great ladies 
 of Poland, on the other hand, were often far better educated 
 than their lords. Thus it is recorded of the mother of Prince 
 
 * I speak exclusively of the old-fashioned country gentlemen. 
 
THE OLD NOBILITY 31 
 
 Karol Radziwill that she not only read books, but wrote 
 them also. 
 
 Thus the young squires grew up ignorant and empty- 
 headed. " The amusement of letters " was incapable of 
 diverting such blockheads, and as time hung heavily upon 
 their hands in consequence they were obliged, for want of 
 something better to do, to fall back upon the primitive 
 delights of eating and drinking. Hence it was that so many 
 of the nobility literally ate and drank up their estates, and 
 that banquets were apt to become orgies. " Gluttony and 
 drunkenness," says a contemporary satirist, " are the 
 beginning and the end of all our magnificence. With us 
 he is the most popular who can give us the most to eat 
 and drink." It was no uncommon thing for a magnate to 
 mortgage a whole town* in order to pay for a single banquet. 
 " As for the culinary science," says another satirist, " so 
 much money is spent upon its profession, and it has attained 
 to such a degree of perfection, that if the army or the 
 treasury were only half as well cared for the Republic 
 would have become, by this time, the most powerful and 
 stable State in Europe." Hard drinking in especial was 
 regarded rather as a virtue than a vice. It was considered 
 as one of the distinguishing marks of the good old Polish 
 gentleman. For instance, the Grand-Hetman Branicki 
 once told King Stanislaus II., quite seriously, that he must 
 never expect to be popular unless he got drunk at least twice 
 a week. In vino Veritas and Qui fallit in vino fallit in omne 
 were maxims highly cherished by the Pans both temporal 
 and spiritual. Consequently every sort of business, both 
 public and private, was settled over the wine-cups, while 
 at purely social gatherings nobody was allowed to leave the 
 table unless he had first drunk his proper quota, which was 
 calculated according to the capacity of the toper who could 
 carry the most liquor. The weaker stomachs had therefore 
 to fall back upon such expedients as coloured water and 
 the surreptitious discharge of "their beakers into their jack- 
 boots. An ailing or otherwise incapacitated host was, 
 
 * Most of the town* were the private property of the magnates. 
 
32 [_ THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 however, permitted to have by his side a surrogate to drink 
 his toasts for him and prevent the entertainment from 
 flagging. Both in town and country every male visitor 
 on his arrival was welcomed with a stirrup-cup of generous 
 dimensions. If he drained it off at one draught he won 
 general approval, while if he followed this up by drinking 
 a gallon of old Hungarian before dessert his fame was 
 assured. At the house of Sapieha there was a very famous 
 beaker renowned as a work of art, but still more so from 
 the fact that Augustus II. and Peter the Great had succes- 
 sively drained it to the dregs in each other's honour. It 
 was religiously preserved in a magnificent cupboard especially 
 made to house it, and was never brought forth except with 
 the honorific accompaniment of drums and trumpets. 
 Another historic drinking-cup, fashioned by a famous 
 goldsmith, on the occasion of the revival of the Order of 
 the White Eagle by Augustus II., bore the inscription, 
 Pro lege, fide et grege. It was subsequently acquired by 
 the Potocki family. Augustus, the physically strong, had 
 often emptied it at a single draught, but as nobody in the 
 succeeding generation was capable of repeating this exploit 
 the cup was henceforth kept only for show. Yet Poland 
 still could boast of heroes far renowned for their baccha- 
 nalian prowess. Thus Pan Komarczewski could empty 
 a bucket full of champagne at a draught, without losing 
 his head or his feet. This gentleman and another equally 
 famous drinker, Pan Sosiejkowski, High Chamberlain of 
 Wolhynia, while staying at the mansion of Prince Lubo- 
 mirsky, drank between them a whole butt of old Hungarian 
 at a sitting. The process was as follows : Drawing out 
 the bung, Komarczewski placed his beaker beneath the 
 bung-hole till it was brim-full, and drank it off while his 
 comrade took his place, beaker in hand; and thus they 
 relieved each other till the butt was empty. 
 
 A typical representative of the old Polish Pan of the 
 patriarchal, semi-barbaric sort was Karol Radziwill, Prince 
 Palatine of Wilna. Radziwill was one of the wealthiest 
 landowners of Lithuania, and he held many of the highest 
 
THE OLD NOBILITY 33 
 
 offices in the State. He was also a man of very great natural 
 abilities and magnificent physical powers. Yet from first 
 to last Panie Kochanku* (he was so called from his invari- 
 able habit of addressing every one as " My dear sir ! ") was, 
 during the fifty-six years of a singularly turbulent life, as 
 useless to his country as if he had lived in another planet. 
 Nevertheless within his own vast domains (which were about 
 half as large as Ireland) he was idolised and omnipotent, 
 and, with this local supremacy, " My dear sir " appeared 
 to be perfectly satisfied. He is thus described by one who 
 knew him intimately : 
 
 Prince Radziwill was of lofty stature and of full habit, 
 but, despite increasing corpulence, he could, even in his 
 later years, always swing himself into the saddle, and guide 
 his horse far better than any of us younger men. He had 
 an enormous head, shaved so clean that only a single little 
 tuft of hair was left hanging over the temples. He had 
 a long, pendulous moustache, which he stroked when he was 
 in a good humour, and twisted upwards when he was 
 irritated or excited. He had a complexion as fair as a 
 lady's, but his nose was long and of a bright blue colour. 
 His eyes were large and generally laughing. He was of 
 scrupulous cleanliness, changing all his linen at least twice 
 a day. He generally wore his beloved Wilna uniform, a 
 short pomegranate-coloured kontusz, or jacket, with vest 
 and trimmings of an amaranth hue, a silver girdle em- 
 broidered with amaranths, a sword in a sheath of costly 
 fur, yellow boots soled with silver, the whole surmounted 
 by a mantle of thick grey cloth lined with fur, and fastened 
 round the neck by a silver Radziwill eagle. His roomy 
 pantaloons were fastened round his body by a sort of apron, 
 so that his kontusz might not be dirtied. Stuck at the back 
 of his head, and leaving his ears uncovered in the coldest 
 weather, was a carmine cap trimmed with black lambskin. 
 He wore felt shoes over his boots, but could not endure 
 gloves, though he passed the greater part of the winter 
 hunting in the open air. He had a keen intellect, a quick 
 
 * " My dear sir." 
 C 
 
34 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 comprehension, and was well versed in the national history. 
 He not only knew all the genealogical ramifications of his 
 own family, but those of most other noble Polish families 
 likewise. He treated the poorest gentleman of ancient 
 descent as his equal, kissing him and embracing him and 
 calling him by his Christian name whenever he met him. 
 But he had an aversion to all people of dubious origin, and 
 would admit none of them to his presence. He was well 
 acquainted with the local statutes, and whenever he sat on 
 the bench as presiding magistrate he often spoke extem- 
 pore, and his speeches always carried conviction. In 
 private conversation he bubbled over with witticisms ; 
 loved his joke ; and was never offended when paid back 
 in his own coin. He was a good master, and loved his 
 servants like children. Every one of them would gladly 
 have been beaten to death to serve him. Though very 
 passionate, he had a good heart, and was easily appeased, 
 not like his uncle, the Standard-bearer of Lithuania, who 
 kept rebellious servants in chains for years. Whenever 
 a gentleman entered the service of the Prince Palatine of 
 Wilna he could be quite unconcerned as to the fate of his 
 children. His master saw to that. So courteous was he 
 towards ladies that he used to kiss the hand of every one 
 of them he met, not even excepting the wife of a house- 
 steward, so long as she was a gentlewoman. 
 
 Being an only son, Radziwill was petted and cockered 
 from his youth upwards. His mother, the Lady Grand- 
 Hetman of Lithuania, would not allow him to be bothered 
 with book-learning, and the consequence was that when 
 he had reached his fifteenth year he could not read a word. 
 Every tutor who tried to make him work was dismissed 
 by his mother the moment her darling boy complained of 
 him. At last it occurred to his father that a youth destined 
 one day to fill the high offices of his ancestors ought perhaps 
 to know a little more than the science of riding horses bare- 
 backed or of shooting a dozen eggs tossed up in the air 
 without missing one. The Grand-Hetman won over his 
 wife to the same opinion, and the lady thereupon announced 
 
THE OLD NOBILITY 35 
 
 that she would give two freehold farms to whomsoever 
 would teach her son reading and writing without using the 
 least compulsion. This pedagogic feat was actually per- 
 formed by an ingenious squire, Pan Piszczalo, who thereby 
 won the eternal gratitude of the magnate, and got the Vice- 
 High Stewardship of Rzeczyia into the bargain. His plan 
 was as follows. He chalked up all the letters of the alphabet 
 on a large wooden board. The young prince and two other 
 nobles of the same age, who were educated along with him 
 to stimulate their mutual emulation, were then stationed 
 a certain number of paces away from the board with loaded 
 muskets in their hands, and shot at the letters as they were 
 named by the tutor. In this way letters, syllables, words, 
 and at last whole periods were learnt by heart, till the pupils 
 were able to read without quite knowing how they had 
 acquired that accomplishment. The rest was easy enough. 
 The curiosity of the lads had by this time been aroused. 
 They wanted to know more, and had no longer any objection 
 to a regular academic course. 
 
 Whenever a great noble attended the Sejmik, or local 
 Diet, of which he was generally the marshal, he took half 
 his " Court " along with him. The expedition then became 
 a sort of jUe champUre, or picnic. For instance, whenever 
 Prince Karol Radziwill set out for Novogrodek on official 
 business he took with him thirty large waggons full of pro- 
 visions, and some hundreds of horsemen as an escort. He 
 generally put up at the Bernardine Monastery, whose syndic 
 he was, taking possession of the whole of it, with the excep- 
 tion of a few cells, into which the monks squeezed themselves 
 together as best they could. The Prince appropriated the 
 cell of the Guardian because it was the roomiest. The 
 szlachta of the surrounding districts, who accompanied the 
 Prince on foot, slept in the courtyard of the monastery, 
 in which were a score or so of extra large waggons laden with 
 grain, meal, bacon, and vodka. A couple of oxen were 
 slaughtered every day in the shambles, at the Prince's 
 charge, and cauldrons full of flesh were seething and steam- 
 ing all night long. The Prince himself dined twice every 
 
36 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 day. First he shared with the small squires in the court- 
 yard their meal — soup and tripe ; then he sat down in the 
 refectory with the magnates and dignitaries who were his 
 guests. When the tables had been removed everybody 
 proceeded to the forecourt of the monastery, where, although 
 they had already well drunk, they fell to their cups again 
 with undiminished vigour. By this time the company had 
 generally become a little mixed. Senators and gentry, 
 magnates and small squires, were all drinking each others' 
 healths like comrades. The Prince, if he perceived any 
 gentleman with a ragged cap on, would snatch it from the 
 owner's head, transfer it to his own, and hand over his rich 
 silken cap in exchange. Instantly, as if by a signal, every 
 one would follow his example. As the Prince got more and 
 more tipsy, he would take off all his garments, one after 
 another, and distribute them among the company, smiling 
 all the time. To one he would throw his girdle, with the 
 words : " Take it, blockhead ! " To another he would 
 throw his kontusz, shouting, " Keep it, you swine I " To 
 a third he would hand his diamond pin, with the words, 
 " Stick to it, you ass ! " His zupan, or mantle, would go 
 to a fourth, and so on, till there he stood before them all in 
 his amaranthine-coloured pantaloons, and his bare shirt, 
 over which he always wore a large scapulary. He would 
 then mount a waggon, and sit astride a hogshead of wine, 
 which had been placed there beforehand. The szlachta 
 would thereupon drag him slowly through the streets of 
 Novogrodek, while the Prince would draw out the spigot 
 and invite Tom, Dick, and Harry to put their pannikins 
 beneath and drink to their hearts' content, while, with 
 tears in his eyes, he implored them pathetically not to 
 abandon him to his enemies. 
 
 It was not always that Radziwill's debauches terminated 
 so peaceably. Once, many years before, while in a state 
 of intoxication, he raided the estate of an old enemy, Pan 
 Kotwicz, and burnt his house over his head. Pan Kotwicz 
 laid the damages at 100,000 gulden, and as young Radzi- 
 will was as poor as a church mouse and in mortal fear of 
 
THE OLD NOBILITY 37 
 
 his violent, austere, and somewhat stingy father, who had 
 not scrupled, on a previous occasion, to administer to him 
 fifty lashes for a far smaller offence, despite the fact that 
 he held the high dignity of Sword-bearer of Lithuania, 
 Prince Karol, I say, was at his wits' end what to do. Had 
 his father heard of this " excess," he would, most probably, 
 in a paroxysm of rage, have struck his prodigal son dead 
 on the spot. The young man was saved by the devotion 
 of a friend, who sold two of his estates to stop Pan Kotwicz's 
 mouth, and Radziwill pire never knew anything about the 
 escapade. 
 
 Yet these drunken dynasts * were peculiarly susceptible 
 to religious impressions. Prince Radziwill, for instance, 
 observed all the prescriptions of the Church most scrupu- 
 lously ; sang every day, with his lackeys, the Hours of the 
 Immaculate Conception ; fasted every Saturday ; flogged 
 himself every Good Friday ; and suffered terribly in the 
 midnight watches from qualms of conscience. His chaplain, 
 a shrewd and pious old monk, who shared his master's 
 bedroom with a large boar-hound every night, so as to be 
 ready at a moment's notice to exorcise evil spirits, re- 
 peatedly took advantage of these moments of compunction. 
 All whom Radziwill had injured, or threatened to injure, 
 during the day — and they were many — used to approach 
 and prime Father Egidius beforehand, and innumerable 
 were the instances in which the worthy chaplain saw to it 
 that wrong was righted and ample reparation made for 
 injury and violence. 
 
 The salutary influence of the clergy was still more observ- 
 able in the case of Pan Potocki, starosta of Kaniow. Potocki 
 was a more difficult subject than Prince Radziwill. He 
 was essentially a hard, stern, even cruel man, whose habitual 
 dissoluteness was untempered by any trace of the joviality 
 of the good-natured and emotional Prince Palatine. He 
 was also far more obstinate and opinionated. Yet he too 
 had a lively tormenting conscience, and would submit to 
 
 * A very usual name for the great nobles of Poland and Hungary, as 
 being the heads of dynasties. 
 
38 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 almost anything from his clergy, even in his worst moods. 
 Potocki was very ready with his whip on the slightest 
 provocation, and thought nothing of administering a hundred 
 stripes to a troublesome servant. But of fast-days and 
 vigils he was superstitiously observant. On the eve of the 
 feasts in honour of the Blessed Virgin, in particular, he 
 would fast rigorously, and at the same time remit all punish- 
 ments. It was clear to every one that Fridays and Satur- 
 days were abhorrent to the starosta, and that he impatiently 
 awaited Sunday in order to return to his cups. Nevertheless 
 his conduct throughout Saturday was such as to edify even 
 the austere monks whom he always had about him. He 
 told his beads again and again, and, along with his whole 
 Court, sang the Hours of the Immaculate Conception so 
 fervently that, observing, on one occasion, a page-boy 
 yawn during an antiphon, he ordered him to receive a 
 hundred strokes with a birch-rod. Every Sunday all his 
 guests, gentleman-servitors, retainers, and menials, follow- 
 ing the example of their lord and master, assembled in 
 church for morning service, and remained on their knees, 
 praying earnestly, till High Mass was over. They dared not 
 do otherwise, being well aware that the Pan Starosta would 
 rate them pretty soundly if they ventured to turn either to 
 the right hand or to the left during Divine service. He 
 himself was in an ecstasy of devotion and contrition the 
 whole time, yet occasionally he would glance around him 
 to observe the behaviour of the others. At High Mass he 
 invariably listened to two sermons, one in Polish from his 
 Dominican, and one in Little Russian from his Basilean, 
 chaplain. Both of them owed their daily bread to their 
 lord's beneficence, yet they never spared the Pan Starosta 
 wholesome truths. The Dominican, it is true, permitted 
 himself only light allusions, but the Basilean went straight 
 for him, without the least circumlocution, denounced the 
 sins of drunkenness and anger, inhuman treatment of 
 dependants, and so on, so that, though he never mentioned 
 the starosta by name, he as good as pointed his finger at 
 him before the whole congregation. The Pan Starosta, 
 
THE OLD NOBILITY 39 
 
 however, moved not a muscle of his face, just as if these 
 demonstrations had no reference to him ; but he bowed 
 his head, blinked his eyes, and, turning towards the altar, 
 would smite his chest repeatedly with his clenched fist. 
 
 The szlachta, or gentry, followed the example of the 
 magnates as far as their means permitted them. They 
 may be roughly divided into two classes, those who were 
 sufficiently well off to live in their own villages among their 
 tenantry, and the multitude of ignorant and necessitous 
 small squires, some 1,300,000 in number, who were the 
 mere hangers-on of the great nobles, living at their Courts, 
 swelling their retinues, and voting as they were told at the 
 local Diets, where they were the loudest champions of that 
 "golden liberty" which found its ultimate expression in 
 the liberum veto and general anarchy. There were excep- 
 tions, of course, but the great majority of these small squires 
 had not the most elementary ideas of real freedom or true 
 patriotism. They were the descendants of generations 
 of lawless, self-seeking forefathers. Egotism unchecked had 
 become a second nature with them. These were the men 
 who refused, on principle, to give any military or financial 
 assistance to the State in its direst need. These were the 
 men who postponed public affairs to private interests, 
 even during the dismemberment of their country ; who 
 refused to allow their villages to be taxed or their peasants 
 to be recruited when the enemy was already across the 
 border ; who opposed the emancipation of the serfs lest 
 their pockets should suffer by it. 
 
 The burgesses, and civic population generally, were of 
 no account at all in eighteenth-century Poland. We have 
 already seen * how the szlachta first deprived the towns of 
 their political privileges, and then ruined their trade. The 
 consequence was that what little trade still remained fell 
 into the hands of the Jews, who took greater risks because 
 they had comparatively little to lose. Long before 1763 
 the Estate of Burgesses had virtually disappeared, arid all 
 but a very few of the larger towns were the private property 
 
 * Chap. i. 
 
40 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 of the magnates. The few native merchants still surviving 
 were to be found in the semi-German cities of Dantzic and 
 Thorn, or in the half-dozen or so royal boroughs which 
 had contrived to save some small fragments of their ancient 
 privileges. But all the old cities were phantoms of their 
 former selves. Cracow, once one of the most populous and 
 prosperous cities in Central Europe, had sunk to the miserable 
 level of a decayed provincial town. Grass grew in the 
 streets of the once flourishing city of Lemberg, for centuries 
 the emporium of the eastern trade. Here and there small 
 traders carried on a petty and ever-shrinking business ; 
 but whatever branch of commerce required a little enter- 
 prise, a little capital, a little skill, had long since been appro- 
 priated by aliens. The descendants of the Polish merchants 
 who in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries had regularly 
 frequented the principal marts of Europe were now little 
 better than petty hucksters. Even the trade of Warsaw 
 was scarcely kept alive by the artificial needs of a luxurious 
 and extravagant Court. It was more of a bric-d-brac 
 bazaar than a commercial centre, till, towards the end of 
 the reign of Stanislaus II., the great bankers, the Teppers 
 and the Schulzes, settled in it and completely transformed 
 it. The magistrates and the nobility encouraged the Jews 
 at the expense of the native traders, because they could 
 get more out of them, and the Jews, in their turn, sucked 
 the few remaining burgesses dry. " We are," says one 
 merchant, "like neglected soldiers. Our weapons are still 
 good enough, but they have rusted from long disuse. We 
 have certain honours and privileges still left, but of what 
 use are they to us when our whole Estate is thrust aside and 
 forgotten ? " 
 
 Still more deplorable was the state of the peasantry. 
 
 The degradation of the once flourishing and stalwart 
 yeomanry to the condition of serfs is one of the blackest 
 blots on Polish history. The condition of the peasant in 
 Poland was not, perhaps, intrinsically worse than it was 
 in contemporary Europe generally. But it was the un- 
 certainty of his lot, depending as it did on the moods 
 
THE OLD NOBILITY 41 
 
 and caprices of individual masters, which made it so hard 
 to bear. The Polish peasant had no rights. The law of 
 the land ignored him. The manorial court was the only 
 court open to him, and he could not hope for much justice 
 from a master who denied him the right of personal liberty 
 and grudged him the wherewithal to live. For so many 
 days a month he was obliged to cultivate or reap his lord's 
 land before he could touch his own. These days of forced 
 labour were, naturally, fixed by the landlord, and that, too, 
 in the most unjust and arbitrary manner. Thus the Pan 
 chose all the fine weather for the cultivation of his own 
 land or the harvesting of his own crops, leaving the wet 
 and stormy days to the tenants. The consequence was 
 that the crops of the peasant frequently rotted in the fields 
 before he had had time to gather them in. The masters 
 were supposed to build the huts of the serfs, or supply them 
 with materials for doing so themselves. They were also 
 supposed to provide them with live-stock, and ploughing 
 steers or horses, and allow them wood for fuel from their 
 woods ; but as there was no controlling or supervising 
 authority over them, they discharged these moral obliga- 
 tions perfunctorily enough. The huts of the peasants in 
 many provinces are described as sooty, one-roomed hovels, 
 as cramped as dungeons, where in winter-time the cows 
 and calves, sheep and poultry, herded together with the 
 peasant and his usually numerous family. In Lithuania 
 the peasant farmer who had two yokes of oxen, three cows, 
 five calves, twenty sheep, and three swine was considered 
 a wealthy man ; but such cases were extremely rare. Most 
 of these small farmers considered themselves lucky if they 
 possessed a horse or a cow and a calf of their own. The 
 peasant paid no rent for his holding ; but this was of com- 
 paratively little benefit to him, as he was overwhelmed by 
 a multitude of petty burdens. Thus a portion of his corn 
 and hay had to be sent to the granaries and lofts of his lord. 
 He had to supply his master's table with hops, mushrooms, 
 and nuts. In the forest regions one-half of what the peasant 
 caught in his snares and traps had to be sent up to " the 
 
42 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 great house." He had also to pay in kind a tithe of his 
 mead, flax, and hemp. The few large farmers who, owing 
 to exceptionally favourable circumstances, still persisted, 
 here and there, had also to maintain at their own expense 
 a driver, a stableman, a dairymaid, and a kitchen-wench, 
 repair their own farm implements, and build proper sheds 
 for keeping them in. If we add to all this that the peasant 
 had frequently to feed casual vagabonds, who would other- 
 wise have burnt his house over his head, that he had to 
 pay the parish priest fees on the occasions of births, weddings, 
 and funerals, to say nothing of church gifts and festal offer- 
 ings, it must be admitted that the margin of profit 
 must, even in the best cases, have been very small indeed. 
 No wonder, then, that the aspect of the Polish peasant 
 astonished and shocked all who beheld him. " I see," says 
 one observer, " millions of beings, many of whom go about 
 half naked, while others are clad only in short and thin 
 siermengas* all of them pinched, parched, dishevelled, 
 begrimed, with eyes deep-sunken in their heads, with bent 
 backs and narrow chests, working continually. Moody, 
 muddled, and stupid, they feel little and think less — and this 
 insensibility is their only felicity. At first sight their bestial 
 figures remind one rather of brutes than of humankind. 
 Chlopy f they are called, a word expressing unutterable 
 contempt. The daily bread of these creatures is coarse 
 groats, and for four months out of the twelve they snatch 
 a bare subsistence from the forest and the heath. Their 
 dwellings are holes in the earth, or hovels raised a little 
 above the surface of the ground. The sun never seems to 
 shine upon these dwellings. It is in such filthy, steaming 
 dens that the peasant, after working all day for his master, 
 lies down in the foul straw of his lair which he shares with 
 his children — and his cattle." 
 
 These are the words of a well-informed Pole. The testi- 
 mony of foreigners travelling in Poland is to the same effect. 
 " I have never seen a smiling Polish peasant," says one of 
 them. " Whenever I have met them they have turned 
 
 * Coats of coarse cloth. f Louts, boors. 
 
THE OLD NOBILITY 43 
 
 their faces away and, with eyes cast down, uttered the 
 usual formula : ' Praised be Jesus Christ ! ' The more I 
 look at them the more I wonder how they can praise God 
 at all." Another foreigner observes : " The Polish squire 
 is generally of a ruddy countenance and a stalwart figure. 
 His wide-open, prominent eyes show intelligence. He is 
 alert, acute, full of vivacity, which he manifests in all his 
 gestures. The Polish boor, on the other hand, has a savage 
 look, a dark face, tanned nearly black by wind and weather, 
 pinched and withered cheeks and hollow eyes, averting his 
 looks from every passer-by. He slouches rather than walks. 
 His general apathy makes him incapable either of keen joy 
 or deep sorrow. He stands there before you as if petrified. 
 He is indifferent alike to blows and promises." 
 
 There may be some exaggeration in these pictures. There 
 are many others of the same sort which I have left unquoted, 
 as they are transparently inspired by the sentimentalism 
 of Rousseau, which profoundly influenced the younger 
 generation in eighteenth-century Poland. They aim, 
 obviously, at bringing tears to the eyes rather than at 
 telling the strict truth. But, when every allowance is made 
 for sentimental colouring and dramatic grouping, it is to 
 be feared that the above accounts of the Polish peasant 
 are substantially correct. There were, of course, consider- 
 able local differences. In the province of Samogitia, for 
 instance, where the peasant still retained the more honour- 
 able name of kmiec, or yeoman, the agricultural class, 
 generally, was well housed, well fed, well clothed, and, 
 indeed, scarcely distinguishable from the small squires. Many 
 of the more enlightened magnates, too, had already awakened 
 to a sense of their responsibilities to their tenantry. " If," 
 says the contemporary moralist Jezierski, " I had to be born 
 a serf, I should like to be the serf of Prince Augustus Czar- 
 toryski, for his peasants regard him, not as a master, but 
 as a father." Prince Augustus's nephew, Prince Adam 
 Czartoryski the elder, and his whole family, were famous 
 for their humanity and beneficence to their dependants. 
 The Princess Adam and her daughter the Princess Mary 
 
44 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 built schools for the village children, and taught them from 
 primers and other manuals compiled by themselves. They 
 also built numerous hospitals, chapels, and model cottages 
 on their estates. Prince Adam Czartoryski the elder was 
 also the first to let land on lease and start agricultural savings- 
 banks. The Czartoryscy found many imitators, but these 
 were after all the exceptions. 
 
 The condition of the country at large reflected only too 
 clearly the apathy of the upper and the misery of the lower 
 classes. Poland gave travellers the impression of a land 
 which had relapsed into savagery. Nowhere else in Europe 
 was travelling so difficult. There was no accommodation 
 for wayfarers, and the roads, where they existed at all, were 
 horrible. One traveller describes them as obstacles to 
 rather than means of communication. To all appearance 
 they were in the same condition as when the pagan fore- 
 fathers of the Poles, a thousand years before, had first settled 
 down among the forests of the Vistula. When primeval 
 rocks and the time-honoured stumps of secular pines and 
 firs did not bar his way, the traveller plunged straightway 
 into leagues of swamp and morass reminiscent of the Deluge. 
 The branches of the trees stretched right across the main 
 thoroughfares, " threatening to gouge your eyes out or 
 tear your head off at every step," whilst the accumulation 
 of fallen trunks across the path often cost the traveller hours 
 of labour with the axe before a path could be hewn through 
 them. To make a detour was still more hazardous, for to 
 leave the track was to plunge forthwith into the impenetrable 
 wilderness. The few existing inns were mostly post-houses 
 leased to Jews, principally for the benefit of the landlords, 
 where the peasants drowned their cares for a time in cheap 
 vodka. These inns had nothing to offer visitors but black 
 bread, small beer, and a few eggs. They were, in fact, 
 never intended for ordinary travellers. Yet food of all 
 kinds was cheap enough in Poland. The country produced 
 far more than its inhabitants could consume. A fowl could 
 be bought anywhere for twopence, while flesh, milk, cheese, 
 and fruit were to be had for a mere song. As, however, the 
 
THE OLD NOBILITY 45 
 
 villages, often leagues apart, were mere congeries of tumble- 
 down huts, more like cow-houses than dwelling-houses, 
 travellers preferred encamping in the forests. For what- 
 ever inconveniences they might have to put up with in 
 Poland, there was at least no fear of highwaymen or foot- 
 pads. Robbery and theft were so rare as to be almost 
 unknown, partly, perhaps, because there was nothing worth 
 stealing, but also because the hospitable traditions of the 
 country still survived, and to some extent supplied the 
 place of law and police. 
 
 It seems marvellous at first that crimes of violence were 
 not more frequent in a country which had such a weak 
 Government, or, rather, no Government at all, and where 
 the military caste was everywhere dominant. There was 
 not a gentleman in the land whose apartments did not present 
 the appearance of an arsenal. The very bed of a small squire 
 was often invisible because of the swords, darts, and pistols 
 piled upon or scattered around it. From the look of things 
 it might very well have been argued that brawls and quarrels 
 innumerable must be of everyday occurrence. As a matter 
 of fact the Polish gentry, however they might storm and 
 rage, were as unmartial a body of men as were to be found 
 on the face of the earth. A peace of half a century had 
 destroyed their ancient bellicosity. The enemies of the 
 Republic had little to fear from the Polish gentry till Kos- 
 ciuszko and Joseph Poniatowski taught them the long-lost 
 art of gaining victories on the battlefield. 
 
 Thus to the impartial outside observer Poland presented 
 a most melancholy picture of failure and ruin. And things 
 might have been so different. The country had been most 
 bountifully endowed by nature. Under a moderately 
 strong Government, there was no reason why she should 
 not have been one of the most prosperous States of Europe. 
 It was monstrous that this vast Republic, considerably 
 larger than the whole of the modern German Empire, 
 abounding in corn of all sorts, with vast forests full of precious 
 pelts, with immense pastures covered by fine cattle, with 
 a network of countless rivers which a proper system of 
 
\6 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 canalisation could so easily, at a relatively trifling expense, 
 have connected with the Baltic and the Euxine — it was 
 monstrous that such a country, intended by nature to be 
 the granary of Europe, should be rotting away in obscurity 
 without ships, without trade, without commerce, without 
 money, obliged to import many of the necessaries of life 
 at the most exorbitant prices. The monopolising of the 
 land by a greedy and ignorant gentry was the chief cause of 
 this deplorable collapse. After destroying the whole country 
 politically, the magnates and the szlachta had proceeded 
 to ruin the individual provinces, one by one, financially and 
 economically. Their fixed determination that no other 
 class but themselves should have any privileges had led, 
 gradually but inevitably, to the disappearance of the native 
 merchants and the trade guilds and the enslavement of the 
 peasantry. So long as they could raise from their estates 
 sufficient for their personal comfort, the landowners of 
 Poland seemed indifferent to what became of their country. 
 Nevertheless the best men in the Republic were still to be 
 found in the ranks of the gentry. Stupid, selfish, flighty, 
 obstinate and obstructive as they might be, they had not 
 quite forgotten the ancient and noble virtues of their race. 
 If their heads were muddled, their hearts at least were sound. 
 Religion and morality were still very real things to them. 
 What they wanted was enlightened leadership. And, 
 towards the middle of the eighteenth century, it seemed 
 as if this saving grace would at last be vouchsafed to them. 
 In the following chapter we shall see from whence this 
 enlightenment came, who were its principal exponents, and 
 why, after promising to work wonders, it failed to carry 
 through even the very modest programme of reform which 
 circumstances seemed to favour. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 "THE FAMILY" AND THE YOUNG STANISLAUS 
 
 Rise of the Czartoryski family — The Prince-Chancellor and the Prince- 
 Palatine — Marriage of the latter with Pani Sieniawska — Anecdotes 
 of their domestic felicity — Description ot the death of the Prince- 
 Palatine — The women of " the Family " — The Princess Sophia 
 Czartoryska — The Countess Constantia Poniatowska — Prince Adam 
 Casimir Czartoryski — Pulawy — The young Stanislaus Poniatowski — 
 A piece of self-portraiture — Stanislaus made Stolnik of Lithuania — 
 His first visit to the Russian Court — His liaison with the Grand 
 Duchess Catherine — His description of her — Peter III. — Poniatowski's 
 second visit to St. Petersburg — He is expelled from Russia by the 
 Empress Elizabeth — Death of Augustus III. — Ascendency of the 
 Czartoryscy in Poland — They invoke the armed assistance of Russia — 
 The rival candidates for the throne — Catherine declares in favour of 
 Stanislaus — False rumours of their forthcoming marriage — The 
 Stolnik of Lithuania is elected King of Poland- 
 
 IT must not be imagined that the miserable condition 
 and the desperate prospects of Poland were alto- 
 gether hidden from the eyes of the Poles themselves. 
 From about the middle of the eighteenth century we 
 begin to notice in Poland the rise of a small but active 
 and increasing minority of earnest and thoughtful men, 
 profoundly afflicted by the political bankruptcy of their 
 country, and eager and zealous to make any sacrifice, to 
 use every available means to re-establish her credit abroad 
 and provide her with a sensible Government at home. The 
 standard of this new movement of reform was raised by the 
 family of Czartoryski — " the Family," as, from its immense 
 influence and political predominance, it was generally called 
 by its contemporaries — who gradually rallied round it the 
 soundest and most promising elements of the nation. 
 
 47 
 
48 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 The Czartoryscy were of very ancient lineage. They had 
 held princely rank as early as the fifteenth century, and 
 were akin to the royal House of Jagiello, which had ruled 
 Poland from 1384 to 1572. It was only in the middle of 
 the seventeenth century, however, that they had risen to 
 eminence, in the person of Florian Czartoryski, who became 
 Primate of Poland during the brief and troubled reign of the 
 unfortunate Michael Wisniowiecki. At the beginning of the 
 eighteenth century the fortunes of the family were re- 
 established by two brothers, Prince Michael, Grand Chan- 
 cellor of Lithuania, better known as the Prince-Chancellor, 
 and Prince Augustus, Palatine of Red-Russia, generally 
 called the Prince-Palatine. These two brothers agreed 
 not only in politics, but in everything else, and walked 
 together, hand in hand, through life, so intimately united 
 that they may almost be regarded as a single personality 
 rather than as two separate individuals. The eminently 
 capable Prince-Chancellor was the statesman of the family, 
 and as such was deferred to unquestionably, while his 
 brother, the Prince-Palatine, was its military celebrity. 
 Prince Augustus had served with distinction in the Turkish 
 wars at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and at the 
 storming of Belgrade had received a golden sword for pre- 
 eminent valour from the hands of the great Eugene. He 
 returned home famous and penniless ; but he was to be 
 as lucky in love as he had been in war, for Fortune had 
 reserved for him a prize which was to make him the most 
 envied magnate in Poland. The charming manners and 
 handsome face of the young hero won the susceptible heart 
 of Pani Sieniawska, daughter of the Grand-Hetman of the 
 Crown, widow of the Vice-Hetman, and sole heiress of the 
 vast estates of the ancient families of Sieniawski and Denhof , 
 of each of which she was the last survivor. As, moreover, 
 she was connected with the reigning Houses of Holstein, 
 Brunswick, and Braganza, Pani Sieniawska was not only 
 the wealthiest, but also the most august lady within the 
 territories of the Republic. Nearly every distinguished 
 bachelor and widower in Poland was suing for her hand, 
 
" THE FAMILY " AND YOUNG STANISLAUS 49 
 
 but she rejected them all in favour of the gallant young 
 officer who wore by his side the sword of honour which he 
 had won in the breach of Belgrade. Amongst the aspirants 
 to her hand were several members of the great House of 
 Potocki, which had attained to fabulous wealth by culti- 
 vating and colonising millions of acres in the Ukraine. A 
 combination of the resources of the Sieniawccy and the 
 Potoccy would have been absolutely irresistible in Poland ; 
 but the advent of the young Prince Augustus frustrated 
 the ambitious plan. The subsequent enmity between the 
 Czartoryscy and the Potoccy is largely attributable to the 
 bitter disappointment of the latter on the occasion. 
 
 This romantic union turned out an unusually happy one. 
 Its unbroken serenity was only eclipsed by death. The 
 following anecdote quaintly but aptly illustrates the perfect 
 harmony which prevailed between the amiable, old-fashioned 
 couple in their latter days, as well as their delicacy in money 
 matters. 
 
 Once in every year the stewards and administrators of 
 the Czartoryski estates made a journey to Pulawy, the 
 principal family mansion of the family, bringing with them 
 the rents which they had collected during the year. These 
 rents were paid in gold, and packed in a number of huge 
 barrels. The Prince was a careful economist, and kept the 
 most exact and minute accounts. On the arrival of the 
 stewards the Prince used to receive them sitting on a dais 
 in one of the state apartments, and carefully checked all 
 the accounts. The barrels full of gold were placed in a 
 circle round the Prince's dais. When the accounts had 
 been duly examined and passed, the Prince would turn to 
 his major-domo and say : " Take to her Highness the 
 Princess these revenues from her property ! " whereupon 
 a procession would be formed, headed by the major-domo 
 holding his silver and ebony wand and surrounded by the 
 gentleman-servitors and pages, while a multitude of hey- 
 dukes and pajdukes, in their most gorgeous uniforms, would 
 follow behind carrying the barrels of gold. On reaching 
 the apartments of the Princess the major-domo would bow 
 
50 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 low and say : " His Excellency the Prince sends your Excel- 
 lency the yearly revenues from your Highness's estates." 
 The Princess invariably replied : " Pray convey my thanks 
 to his Excellency the Prince, and take this gold back to my 
 husband ! " This ceremony was repeated every year in 
 exactly the same form. 
 
 The Prince-Palatine died on April 4, 1782, in the midst 
 of his family, with the same simple dignity which had marked 
 every action of his blameless life. His son, Prince Adam 
 Czartoryski, has thus described his last moments. He 
 might have entitled it, " How a Christian Gentleman ought 
 to die." 
 
 " The Prince-Palatine, to the very day of his death, kept 
 open house and ruled his household. He was not ill before 
 his death, but gradually grew weaker a few days ere the 
 end came ; yet he never took to his bed, nor altered the course 
 of his daily life. On the morning of the day on which he 
 died he awoke early, and found that his sight was failing 
 him ; yet he got up and dressed as usual. He did not sit 
 down to dinner that day ; but, in the evening, hearing his 
 children talking, and recognising their voices, he conversed 
 with them calmly and gaily. When the hour arrived at 
 which all Warsaw had for years been in the habit of making 
 a pilgrimage to the Prince-Palatine, he bade his servants 
 carry him in his chair to his wonted place in the reception 
 room, where he sat down, and, recognising the Nuncio by his 
 voice, excused himself in a cheery tone for his inability to 
 play their usual game of backgammon that evening. . . . 
 Presently he asked why the candles were not lighted ; but 
 on the kammerdiener replying that all the lights were burning 
 he understood that his last hour was approaching. So he 
 sent for the doctor, and asked him to feel his pulse, and tell 
 him how long he still had to live. When the doctor was 
 silent, ' Think you I fear death ? ' said the dying man. 
 ' Tell me the truth without delay ! ' During this sad con- 
 versation the room was filling with visitors and domestics, 
 down to the very scullions, who stood in the doorway. 
 Every one wanted to bless him who had been their good 
 
"THE FAMILY "AND YOUNG STANISLAUS 51 
 
 master for so many years. On hearing the verdict of the 
 doctor, and when all who were present fell a-weeping, the 
 Prince commanded that he should be taken to his own 
 apartments, at the same time begging the Nuncio to be 
 present with him in his last moments. The Nuncio began 
 reciting the psalms, and at the words, ' Lord, into Thy 
 Hands I commend my spirit,' the Prince pressed the Nuncio's 
 hand and gave up the ghost — in the eighty-seventh year of 
 his age." 
 
 In few great families have the women played such a 
 dominant part as in the family of the Czartoryscy. The 
 Princess Sophia Kazimierczowa Czartoryska, the mother 
 of the Prince-Palatine and the Prince-Chancellor, had 
 perhaps, the best head of them all. No other Polish grande 
 dame of her day exercised such a civilising and beneficent 
 influence, an influence due as much to her virtues and graces 
 as to her unquestionable strength of character. It is in her 
 residence, the Blue Palace at Warsaw, that we must seek 
 the source of the new French culture which was so profoundly 
 to affect Poland during the eighteenth century. French 
 modes had first been introduced into Poland during the 
 seventeenth century by two Polish queens of French 
 origin, Marie Ludowika, the consort of John II., and 
 Marie Casimeria, the consort of John III. But their 
 influence had been mainly political and entirely mis- 
 chievous. The influence of the Princess Czartoryska 
 was purely moral and aesthetic. She herself had been edu- 
 cated at the Court of Versailles in its most majestic and 
 quintessential days, when the great divines were as much 
 read and admired as the great poets, and revolutionary 
 and sceptical ideas were still very far below the horizon. 
 Her father was the exiled Polish politician Andrew Morsz- 
 tyn, her mother a lady of the House of Gordon. From 
 her earliest youth her grace, intellect, and beauty had 
 attracted a whole army of suitors from among the noblest 
 families in France, but she finally bestowed her hand upon 
 one of her own countrymen, Casimir Czartoryski, Palatine 
 of Wilna, with whom she quitted France never to return. 
 
52 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 It is remarkable that the numerous contemporary memoires 
 which have so much to say about the disorders and the 
 scandals of the other great Polish Houses are absolutely 
 silent about the House of the Princess Czartoryska. She 
 shunned publicity and detested ostentation, but her house 
 was the rendezvous of a few choice spirits who endeavoured, 
 not unsuccessfully, to combine French esprit with Polish 
 chivalry, and refine without effeminating the sturdy, tradi- 
 tional virtues of old Poland. Her two sons grew up into 
 finished statesmen beneath her very watchful eyes. They 
 were patterns of all the virtues, and to the very last they 
 deferred to the wishes and followed the counsels of their 
 venerable mother, who died in her eighty-sixth year. Her 
 qualities were inherited in a great measure by her daughter 
 Constantia, who married (September 14, 1720) Stanislaus 
 Poniatowski, the friend of Charles XII. and the father of 
 the last Polish King and the last Polish Primate. Con- 
 stantia Poniatowska was a lady of great spirit. She com- 
 pelled her husband to identify himself absolutely with the 
 interests of " the Family," and was the infallible arbitress 
 in all domestic discussions. Her brother, the Prince- 
 Chancellor, married an Austrian lady, who bore him nothing 
 but daughters, to his great chagrin, so that the future hopes 
 of " the Family " were at first placed in Prince Adam 
 Casimir Czartoryski, the son of the Prince-Palatine and of 
 the lady of the barrels of gold. 
 
 Prince Adam Casimir was born in December 1734, at 
 Dantzic, at the very moment when the Russians were storm- 
 ing its walls. His education, conducted at his father's 
 house, by French tutors, was on classical lines and encyclo- 
 paedic in range. At the age of twenty-five he knew all the 
 leading languages of modern Europe, besides some Oriental 
 tongues. He devoted himself with equal ardour to the 
 study of history, art, literature, science, political economy, 
 fortification, and tactics. Everything interested him, and 
 he loved to interest others in everything. His mental 
 detachment was extraordinary. It was said of him 
 with justice that he took everything from the encyclo- 
 
" THE FAMILY " AND YOUNG STANISLAUS 53 
 
 psedists except their philosophy. Almost alone among 
 his contemporaries he was proof alike against the cynicism 
 of Voltaire and the sentiment of Rousseau, though in his 
 placid, reflective way he fully appreciated the merits of both. 
 Towards religion he was somewhat cold, but he maintained, 
 a trifle priggishly perhaps, that " respect for the services 
 of the Church should be one of the first duties of a virtuous 
 citizen." 
 
 When this phoenix of politicians quitted his mother's 
 mansion to complete his education by a long foreign tour 
 he captivated all hearts, especially the hearts of the fair 
 sex, by his manifold gifts and graces. While in England, 
 where he was the guest of Lord Mansfield, he devoted much 
 of his time to the study of the British Constitution, and was 
 one of the few foreigners who acquired a fair working know- 
 ledge of that abstruse subject. On his return to Poland, 
 in 1760, at the age of seven-and-twenty, he was appointed 
 general of the frontier troops of the Palatinate of Podolia 
 (hence his usual title of " the Prince-General," to distinguish 
 him from his father, " the Prince-Palatine "), and married 
 the beautiful and vivacious Countess Isabella Fleming, 
 daughter of the Vice-Treasurer of Lithuania, of whom we 
 shall have something to say presently. 
 
 The focus of the influence of the Czartoryscy was Pulawy, 
 their mansion in Volhynia, which became as famous in Polish 
 as Holland House was in English politics, and about much 
 the same period. The house and grounds were originally 
 part of the enormous Sieniawski estate. On the ruins of 
 the ancient wooden house (burnt to the ground by Charles 
 XII., because the Grand-Hetman, its then possessor, refused 
 to abandon the party of Augustus II.) rose a stone building 
 more remarkable for its imposing dimensions than for its 
 architectural excellence. Here lived and ruled three suc- 
 cessive generations of the Czartoryscy. By comparison 
 with the ceaseless flux and flow of everything else in Poland, 
 " the Family " seemed to be the only permanent institution 
 in the Republic. Their high level of culture and refinement 
 was even more impressive. Contemporaries assure us with 
 
54 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 an air of unmistakable conviction that Pulawy was " a 
 refuge for scholars," " an oasis in a desert full of savages." 
 Many of the most illustrious magnates sent their sons to be 
 educated at Pulawy instead of sending them abroad. Under 
 the Prince-General in particular Pulawy became a training- 
 school of pedagogues, politicians, and reformers. The most 
 promising youths of Poland, quite irrespective of rank and 
 birth, were sought after in the most out-of-the-way places 
 and brought to Pulawy to be educated for the service of 
 their country. The most enlightened foreigners were con- 
 sulted as to the best curriculum for the students assembled 
 there. Thus Dupont de Nemours, the adviser of Turgot, 
 was summoned from Paris to Pulawy to help the Prince- 
 General to organise his schools, while Lhuilier came thither 
 from Geneva to give instruction in mathematics. There 
 was not one of the numerous native writers on political and 
 social subjects at the end of the eighteenth century who 
 did not owe either their success or their reputation to the 
 generous and intelligent assistance of the Prince-General. 
 At a later day he was also one of the most active members 
 of the Committee of Education which from 1775 to 1782 
 did so much for Poland. 
 
 Yet, despite his many brilliant qualities, Prince Adam 
 Casimir Czartoryski was by no means the most capable 
 and promising member of " the Family." That distinction 
 belongs indisputably to his cousin, Count Stanislaus Ponia- 
 towski. It is true that Prince Adam and Count Stanislaus 
 were very much alike in every respect. They had been 
 educated in the same school of ideas, they had inherited 
 the same traditions, they were the pupils and the propa- 
 gandists of the same philosophy. In personal appearance 
 also they were strikingly similar. Both were equally hand- 
 some, charming, and distinguished ; both of them were 
 unmistakably the most cultivated men of their generation, 
 and therefore, apparently, its natural leaders. But in one 
 very important particular Stanislaus was infinitely superior 
 to his cousin. He was essentially a man of action, whereas 
 the other was not. Prince' Adam was too much of a scholar, 
 
" THE FAMILY " AND YOUNG STANISLAUS 55 
 
 one might almost say too much of a pedant, too finical, 
 too fastidious, to play a leading part in affairs of state. 
 In fact, his political career during the twenty years or so 
 when he held the first place in the land was so unsatisfactory, 
 so disappointing, so full of inexplicable contradictions, that 
 his eulogists have discreetly shut their eyes to it. He 
 frittered away all his time and half his immense fortune 
 in peddling enterprises, forfeited the commanding position 
 won and maintained by his father and uncle, and ended 
 in something very like a total failure. Stanislaus, on the 
 other hand, a born diplomatist, and even something of a 
 statesman, was alert, keen-witted, ambitious ; an amused 
 and deeply interested student of human nature ; an adven- 
 turer if you like, but in the best sense of the word, deter- 
 mined to make his way in the world, and with a very shrewd 
 notion of how to set about it, but also honestly resolved — 
 for by nature he was most kindly — to do as much good and 
 as little harm as possible. His defects — and very serious 
 defects they were — will appear in the sequel, but first we 
 must try and learn more of our hero at first hand, and follow 
 him through the singular and sensational adventures which 
 finally planted him on the thorny and unstable throne of 
 Poland. 
 
 Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, the fourth son of Stanis- 
 laus Poniatowski, Castellan of Cracow, and Constantia 
 Czartoryska, was born on January 17, 1732. " I was 
 brought up," he tells his friend, Madame Geoffrin, in a 
 curious autobiographical fragment, " I was brought up very 
 strictly by a mother the like of whom you will scarce find 
 anywhere nowadays, while my father only preached to me 
 by his example. In 1748 I began to travel about with a 
 governor. In my twenty-first year I travelled without a 
 governor — and learnt to know you." This was on the 
 occasion of his visit to Paris in 1753, when his beauty, 
 elegance, and above all his esprit, vividly impressed the 
 Court of France, and especially the grandes dames who gave 
 the ton there. The Duchesse de Broncas pronounced him 
 to be more agreeable and far better informed about every- 
 
56 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 thing, including French affairs, than most Frenchmen. 
 Other ladies praised the modesty and simplicity of hi? 
 conversation, while even in the more austere circles, which 
 criticised his "frivolity" somewhat harshly, it was f reefy 
 admitted that he was no ordinary man. It was a modish 
 pastime in those days to improvise one's own portrait in 
 public viva voce, and such sketches, if happily dashed off, 
 were sure of applause. The Prince de Ligne excelled in this 
 sort of composition, but other beaux esprits pressed him 
 hard, and the young Poniatowski also showed himself to be 
 an adept at the game. Some time between 1755 and 1^60, 
 when he had no idea what the future had in store for him, 
 he thus described his own appearance and character ; 
 
 " I should be content with my figure if only I were an 
 inch taller, and my feet were a trifle better shaped, and my 
 nose were not so much hooked, and my mouth a little 
 smaller. With these reservations, I believe that my face 
 is noble and expressive, my figure not without distinction 
 and capable of attracting attention. My shortsightedness 
 often makes me look awkward, but only for an instant. 
 Indeed, I am rather apt to offend by the opposite extreme— 
 too haughty a demeanour. An excellent education enables 
 me to conceal my mental and bodily defects, so that many 
 people may perhaps expect more from me than I can really 
 give. I have wit enough to take part in any conversation, 
 but not enough to converse long and frequently. However, 
 my natural sympathy and amiability often come to my 
 assistance. I have a natural penchant towards art. I 
 have a quick eye for absurdities and personal defects of 
 every description. Sometimes I even have too deep a sense 
 of them. My indolence prevents me from going as far as 
 I should like to go in the arts and sciences. I work either 
 over-much or not at all. I can judge very well of affairs. 
 I can see at once the fault of a plan and the faults of him 
 who proposes it ; but I am very much in need of good 
 counsel to carry out any plan of my own. I am very impres- 
 sionable, but far more affected by sorrow than by joy. I 
 am the first to be depressed even when I have no anticipa- 
 
" THE FAMILY " AND YOUNG STANISLAUS 57 
 
 tion of impending evil or good. I don't think I was born 
 to please women. I am attracted to them by a general 
 sympathy, but if I love I love too passionately. . . . Friend- 
 ship is to me a sacred thing. I would go very far to please 
 a friend. Rather than break with him I am ready to do 
 or suffer the uttermost. I am not pious, naturally — far 
 from it ; but I venture to affirm that I love God and sur- 
 render myself to His Will sincerely. I have also the flatter- 
 ing conviction that He loves to do good to us when we ask 
 Him so to do. I am not vindictive. Though in the first 
 moment of irritation I may long to avenge myself on my 
 enemies, I am never able to carry out my desire. Compassion 
 always comes between." 
 
 This portrait, though on some points unduly disparaging, 
 is in its main features singularly accurate. 
 
 A visit to England, most probably in 1754, helped, he tells 
 us, " to stiffen my character." On his return home, the same 
 year, he obtained, through his father, the dignity of Stolnik, 
 or High Steward, of Lithuania, and at once embarked on 
 his political career. In view of the later accusations of 
 cowardice and indolence so frequently brought against 
 Stanislaus, and which, unjustly I think, have clung to his 
 memory ever since, it is worth remarking that his first 
 public action was one which displayed both energy and 
 courage. Some years after his return from France he was 
 present in his official capacity at the Diet, where he perceived 
 Count Briihl, the son of the Saxon Minister, sitting among 
 the deputies. The young Poniatowski at once arose and 
 protested warmly against the presence in a Polish Diet of 
 a person who was not, he affirmed, a Polish nobleman. 
 Briihl, who had, as a matter of fact, obtained his indigenat, 
 or patent of nobility, refused to budge, whereupon Ponia- 
 towski drew his sword and advanced towards him. Instantly 
 all the other deputies present drew their swords likewise, 
 to resent the insult offered to the House in the person of 
 one of its members, f As the partisans of the " Royal Party," 
 to which Briihl belonged, were far more numerous than the 
 friends of Stanislaus, he was in imminent danger of being 
 
58 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 cut to pieces. Fortunately General Mokronowski, a man of 
 great strength and spirit, perceiving the young man's danger, 
 hastened to his side, took him by the hand, and led him 
 through a whole forest of drawn swords to the door of the 
 chamber, at the same time holding his own sword over the 
 head of Poniatowski for his better protection. 
 
 At the end of 1755 Stanislaus accompanied the English 
 Ambassador, Charles Hanbury Williams, to St. Petersburg, 
 nominally as his secretary, but really in order to gain a 
 diplomatic footing at the Northern Court, so as to be able 
 to promote the political views of his uncles the Prince- 
 Chancellor and the Prince-Palatine. 
 
 At that time the Court of Russia was perhaps the most 
 corrupt Court in Europe after that of Louis XV. The 
 example of the reigning Empress, Elizabeth Petrovna, had 
 been anything but edifying, though, by way of extenuation, 
 it should be added that she had by this time regulated her 
 conduct as much as possible by ennobling, and espousing 
 privately, her faithful old Cossack lover, Razumovsky. 
 Since then she had turned her back upon illicit pleasures 
 and devoted herself exclusively to the serious business of 
 politics, for which she had a strong natural aptitude. But 
 the Empress's niece, the Grand Duchess Catherine, though 
 still only in her twenty-fifth year, had continued and already 
 far exceeded the vicious traditions of her august aunt. 
 Wedded while still but a child to the good-natured, well- 
 meaning, but semi-idiotic nephew of the Empress, the Grand 
 Duke Peter, afterwards Peter III., the clever and high- 
 spirited girl speedily revolted against the unnatural union. 
 There was, however, no violent collision, no open rupture. 
 Dread of the Empress, who was intent on the perpetuation 
 of the dynasty, constrained the young consorts to observe 
 in public a semblance of unity and concord. But by a 
 secret compact they had mutually agreed henceforth to 
 go separate ways. While Peter consoled himself in the 
 society of that ugly but jovial hoyden the Countess Elizabeth 
 Vorontsova, Catherine had already had several lovers, who 
 were introduced to her by the first of the series, her gentle- 
 
" THE FAMILY " AND YOUNG STANISLAUS 59 
 
 man of the bedchamber, Count Leo Naruishkin, who diverted 
 her by his buffooneries and possessed her entire confidence. 
 Though politely ignored by an indulgent and obsequious 
 Court, the profligacy of the Grand Duchess was already 
 notorious, and even grave Ministers of State like the Grand 
 Chancellor, Count Alexis Petrovich Bestuzhev, made it a 
 factor in their political combinations. At the very time 
 when Poniatowski arrived at St. Petersburg Bestuzhev had 
 selected a new favourite for the Grand Duchess in the person 
 of a young Count Lebrasdov, but the moment Catherine set 
 her eyes upon Poniatowski she declared that she preferred 
 the Pole. She appears to have seen him for the first 
 time at a ball given at Oranienbaum in honour of the Grand 
 Duke's name-day, and was fascinated at once by " the fine 
 expressive eyes " of Stanislaus and " the pensive beauty " of 
 his face. Leo Naruishkin was, as usual, the intermediary, 
 but he encountered unlooked-for obstacles in the shyness 
 and timidity of the young cavalier whom the Grand Duchess 
 would have delighted to honour, Stanislaus himself, in one 
 of his autobiographical fragments, has confided to us, with 
 a frankness which leaves nothing to be desired, the reasons 
 of his extraordinary backwardness on this memorable 
 occasion. 
 
 " A strict education had kept me altogether remote from 
 crapulous commerce in my early youth, and a natural predi- 
 lection for good society had preserved me during my travels. 
 I had been taught to have an extreme aversion for all that 
 sort of thing, and, singular as it may sound, I was still, at 
 two-and-twenty — what very few men can say they are at 
 that age." 
 
 But apprehension had certainly as much to do with it as 
 modesty. In his nursery days he had heard fearful tales 
 of the grim happenings at the Court of the saturnine Empress 
 Anne, and even when Catherine met him half-way by 
 encouraging him kindly at Court functions he saw nothing 
 but pitfalls on every side of him, and had the fear of Siberia 
 constantly before his eyes. Only after months of anxious 
 hesitation did he risk sending a billet-doux. He received a 
 
6o THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 reassuring reply the next day, and the same evening Naruish- 
 kin conducted him to the Grand Duchess's quarters, though 
 he was not aware of it till he was actually at the door of her 
 private apartments. When first he saw her she was dressed 
 in a petite robe of white satin, with no other ornaments but 
 some light lace and pink ribands. Her dazzling complexion 
 seemed all the whiter in contrast with her raven-black hair. 
 She had large blue, somewhat prominent eyes, with very 
 long black lashes, a Greek nose, " a mouth which seemed to 
 invite kisses," perfect hands and arms, a very slender waist, 
 a singularly agreeable voice, and a perfectly fascinating 
 laugh — " as merry as overflowing fun could make it." Not 
 the least of her charms was her mercurial vivacity. " She 
 could pass in an instant from the most madcap sportiveness 
 to the grave consideration of the most complicated business. 
 In manner she was most caressing, and the weak points of 
 every one she met were as clear to her as noonday." In 
 short, as irresistible a Circe as ever converted men into 
 swine. For the next twelve months the young Stanislaus 
 was over head and ears in love with the dangerous little 
 adventuress. 
 
 The earlier assignations were made at the outside stair- 
 case of the Grand Duchess's apartments, generally at 
 Oranienbaum, where she resided with the Grand Duke. 
 Poniatowski used to quit his sledge or carriole some hundreds 
 of yards from the chdteau, and, passing the sentinel, who 
 had previously been instructed not to hinder or even 
 challenge him, proceeded alone to the private staircase. 
 At other times Catherine, at a given signal, generally the 
 miowing of a cat, would emerge from her apartments in 
 male attire and accompany Stanislaus to his private dwelling. 
 Sometimes, for greater security, they would arrange to 
 meet at the bedside of some sick friend, and there make 
 fresh appointments. They also invented an ingenious code 
 of signals by means of which they could easily communicate 
 with each other at the theatre or opera. " We took a 
 singular delight in these furtive rencontres," says Catherine ; 
 " not a week passed without our having one, two, or even 
 
THE GRAND-DUCHESS CATHERINE, AFTERWARDS CATHERINE II 
 
 iETAT 29 
 
" THE FAMILY " AND YOUNG STANISLAUS 61 
 
 three of them." The secret was well kept ; but a curious 
 accident revealed it. On one occasion, during the temporary 
 absence of the Grand Duke, Catherine was showing a small 
 party of friends, including Poniatowski and a Swedish 
 nobleman, Count Horn, over the private apartments of 
 herself and her consort. In the course of their ramble 
 they disturbed a Bolognese spaniel who was sleeping in the 
 Grand Duchess's cabinet. The little dog at once began 
 barking furiously at Count Horn, but went almost mad 
 with joy at the sight of the young Poniatowski. This inci- 
 dent did not escape the notice of Horn, who on returning 
 to the salle drew Poniatowski aside and said : " There is 
 no traitor like your little Bolognese spaniel. He was ready 
 to devour me, as you saw, but he fawned upon you. Evi- 
 dently this is by no means your first visit here. But fear 
 not, my friend ! I can be discreet." 
 
 At last rumours of the intrigue between his consort and 
 her Polish lover reached the ears of the Grand Duke, who 
 took his measures accordingly. A few nights later, while 
 Stanislaus was lurking in the park, he was kidnapped, 
 carried into the chdteau, and frightened into making a full 
 confession. He fully expected never to emerge alive from 
 the presence of the enraged husband, but Elizabeth Voron- 
 tsova, the Grand Duke's mistress, opportunely came to his 
 assistance, and the tragic prologue had a farcical denouement. 
 The sequel is best told in Stanislaus' own words. The part 
 he played throughout was ignominious indeed, but he 
 always had wit enough to tell a story against himself in a 
 piquant manner. The narrative also furnishes us with one 
 of the most characteristic and lifelike sketches of that 
 oddity the future Emperor Peter III. 
 
 " When matters had been fully explained the Grand 
 Duke approached me with a roguish air. ' What a fool 
 you were ! ' says he, ' not to take me into your confidence 
 before. Then we should have had none of this pother. 
 But now that we are such comrades we want some one else 
 here, don't we ? ' With that he hastened into his wife's 
 chamber and dragged her out of bed, giving her no time to 
 
62 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 put on anything but a robe de Batavie. In this condition 
 he brought her in to us, and said to her, pointing at me : 
 ' There ! I hope you are satisfied with me now ? ' ' All 
 we want from your Highness,' she at once replied, ' is a 
 note to the Vice-Chancellor Vorontsov strongly urging the 
 Court of Warsaw to send our friend here back to us as 
 accredited Polish Ambassador as soon as possible.' The 
 Grand Duke immediately placed a board across his knee 
 and wrote with his pencil a note to Vorontsov, countersigned 
 by his mistress, the Vice-Chancellor's niece, telling him to 
 see to this at once. This done, we four began playing all 
 sorts of mad pranks, amongst other things squirting at each 
 other with the water of a little fountain in the room, as if 
 we had not a single care in the world. We kept this up 
 till four o'clock in the morning." 
 
 This was all very well, but Poniatowski had had a shock 
 and did not feel comfortable. " Tout cela n'£tait pas bien 
 clair," he says, and he felt that the sooner he turned his 
 back on St. Petersburg the better. Accordingly, at the 
 end of 1756 he quitted Russia, but at the beginning of 
 1757 was back again as the duly accredited Polish Ambas- 
 sador. The liaison was renewed, but it was now as much 
 a matter of business as of pleasure, Poniatowski making 
 himself very useful as a political spy and newsmonger. 
 
 At this period Catherine was rigidly excluded from every 
 participation in politics by the Empress, and kept ignorant 
 of the details of the epoch-making events which were taking 
 place beneath her very eyes. It was the crisis of the Seven 
 Years' War. Elizabeth had determined to reduce the dis- 
 quieting King of Prussia to the rank of a German princelet, 
 and she suspected Catherine, not without good reason, of 
 strong philo-Prussian proclivities. Poniatowski, therefore, 
 became indispensable to Catherine, for he was now in a 
 position to give her secret and valuable information un- 
 attainable from any other source. It was he who first 
 informed her of the Empress's sudden seizure after church 
 at Tsarkoe Selo, an event which neutralised the effect of 
 the Russian victory at Gross-Jagersdorf and led to all sorts 
 
" THE FAMILY " AND YOUNG STANISLAUS 63 
 
 of political permutations. It was he who warned her against 
 the enmity of the French Ambassador, the Marquis de 
 l'Hopital. It was he who facilitated her secret corre- 
 spondence with the Grand Chancellor, Count Bestuzhev. 
 He was also one of the very few people who were privy to 
 the mysterious conspiracy which aimed at placing her on 
 the throne on the death of the Empress. In fine, he took 
 an active if subordinate part in the subterraneous war of 
 cabal and intrigue which was waged around the sick-bed 
 of the Empress during the year 1758.* On the unexpected 
 recovery of Elizabeth, Poniatowski was ordered to quit 
 Russia within thirty-six hours. He was not sorry to go. 
 By this time he had grown tired of his mistress, and was 
 by no means unwilling to leave her. But for this incon- 
 stancy the liaison might have become permanent and had 
 the most far-reaching political consequences. Catherine's 
 real sentiments are expressed in that curious fragment of 
 autobiography entitled " Making a Clean Breast of it," 
 contained in a Russian letter written to her subsequent 
 favourite, Potemkin, eight years later. " He [Poniatowski]," 
 she says, " was loving and beloved from 1755 to 1758, and 
 it [the liaison] would have lasted for ever if he himself had 
 not got bored by it. I marked this on the very day of his 
 departure from Tsarkoe Selo, and I was more distressed 
 than I can tell you. I don't think I ever cried so much 
 in my life as I did during that last half-year." But she was 
 quickly cured when, shortly afterwards, the Orlovs appeared 
 upon the scene. This love-idyll — for compared with the 
 enormities of her later years the liaison with Poniatowski 
 may well be termed idyllic — left no permanent traces behind 
 it. Catherine, after all, was not naturally sentimental or 
 romantic. As time went on she looked back upon the 
 episode, not with regret, but with indifference. When she 
 met her old lover again, nearly twenty years later, he struck 
 her as unspeakably jejune and insipid. They remained, 
 however, very good friends to the end of their lives, and 
 though, as we shall see, her unscrupulous ambition exposed 
 * Full details will be found in my " Daughter of Peter the Great." 
 
64 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 him to many bitter chagrins and humiliations, in which no 
 regard whatever was paid to his feelings, yet, on the other 
 hand, her liberality enabled him to multiply indefinitely 
 his extravagant pleasures and gratify his expensive tastes. 
 
 Stanislaus could not be congratulated on the results of 
 his first diplomatic mission. He returned to Poland dis- 
 credited and somewhat ridiculous. His uncles the Prince- 
 Chancellor and the Prince-Palatine were much displeased 
 with him. Instead of gaining a firm footing at the Russian 
 Court, he had been expelled from it with ignominy. His 
 disreputable intrigue with the little Grand Duchess was 
 also very offensive to these stately and correct old gentle- 
 men. Even politically it was worse than useless, for Catherine 
 herself at that particular time was not only in disgrace, 
 but in danger of being sent back to her humble and un- 
 comfortable German home by the justly irate Empress. 
 This contretemps did not, however, interfere in any way 
 with the far-reaching plans of the Czartoryscy. The aim 
 of all their endeavours during the last twenty years had 
 been the reform of the Polish Constitution, which they 
 rightly regarded as the indispensable preliminary to any 
 permanent improvement in the condition of the country. 
 To educate, and thereby transform, public opinion was, 
 no doubt, the first step towards the realisation of this noble 
 ambition. An atmosphere had to be created in which the 
 new, saving ideas could live. A race of politicians, full of 
 courage and free from prejudice, had to be trained to be the 
 champions of the new era. But, in the circumstances, the 
 time of preparation could not last for ever ; the time for 
 action could not be indefinitely postponed. They had 
 matured their plans. They had prepared their programme. 
 They only awaited their opportunity. That opportunity 
 seemed to have come when Augustus IJL, to whom they 
 had long been opposed, and whom, latterly, they had even 
 attempted to dethrone, expired, somewhat suddenly, on 
 October 5, 1763. 
 
 It cannot be denied that the position of the Czartoryscy 
 in Poland during the autumn of 1763 was a very strong 
 
"THE FAMILY" AND YOUNG STANISLAUS 65 
 
 one. All the neighbouring Powers were amicably disposed 
 towards them. The Prince-Chancellor had many influential 
 connections at the Austrian Court. Frederick the Great 
 was under considerable obligations to both the brothers, 
 for they had kept Poland neutral during the Seven Years' 
 War, and exploded the anti-Prussian Diet of Grodno, from 
 which the Saxon and Russian Courts had expected so much. 
 Nor was the Court Of St. Petersburg unfavourable to them. 
 Their nephew's former mistress was now autocrat of all 
 Russia, and disposed to listen to old Kayserling, the Russian 
 Minister at Warsaw, whom the Czartoryscy regarded as a 
 friend of long standing. Their carefully elaborated scheme 
 of reform was the best that had yet been devised, because 
 it did not aim at accomplishing too much at first, and, so 
 far as possible, avoided offending the susceptibilities of 
 those great Powers who had so long made the domestic 
 affairs of Poland their own peculiar business. Briefly, they 
 proposed to curb the anarchic Diet and strengthen the 
 Executive, as represented by the King and the Senate ; 
 and while ostensibly retaining the elective monarchy and 
 the liberum veto, they proposed, dexterously, to introduce 
 various checks and restrictions which, they hoped, would 
 neutralise the first of these vicious principles, and reduce 
 the second to an empty demonstration. First they 
 attempted to reform the Republic from within ; but when 
 their opponents exploded every Diet favourable to them, 
 and nullified all their Confederations by counter-Confedera- 
 tions, they recognised that their project was impossible 
 without the aid of some foreign Power. Their eyes in- 
 stinctively turned to Russia. Despite the secular rivalry 
 of the two nations, the Poles had always been more in 
 sympathy with the sister Slavonic State than with their 
 German neighbours. Moreover, immediately after the 
 death of Augustus III. Frederick the Great had privately 
 intimated to the Czartoryscy that a Piast, or native Pole, 
 would be the candidate most acceptable to himself and 
 the Russian Empress, whereupon the Prince-Chancellor, 
 in February 1764, communicated with Catherine direct 
 
 E 
 
66 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 and begged her to support him with a Russian army 
 corps. 
 
 The Czartoryscy have been very severely blamed for thus 
 legalising the armed intervention of Russia in Poland's 
 domestic affairs. Treason is the least offensive epithet 
 that has been applied to their conduct on this occasion. 
 Yet, plausible as the accusation seems at first sight, it is 
 quite unwarrantable. The Czartoryscy were not traitors ; 
 they were patriots. Their sole object in bringing in the 
 Russians was to quell effectually the predominant anarchic 
 elements in Poland, which stood in the way of every attempt 
 at reform. It was, no doubt, a desperate remedy ; but 
 desperate evils can only be cured by desperate remedies, 
 and all the ordinary means of saving the Republic had been 
 exhausted and had failed. The fault of the Czartoryscy 
 was not the bringing in of the Russians, but the imagining 
 that Russia would ever consent to help them to re-establish 
 a strong, independent Poland. They erred from pure 
 simplicity and inexperience. Politics was the one science 
 they had never acquired, yet in the circumstances some 
 political knowledge was the one thing needful, and their 
 ignorance was to be their undoing. For the moment, how- 
 ever, they were the masters of the situation. At the Convo- 
 cation Diet,* held in May 1764, under the protection of 
 Russian troops (some hundreds of whom were quartered 
 in the capital itself), they silenced all their opponents, who, 
 perceiving that further resistance was useless, ultimately 
 fled the country and left them in possession of the field. 
 In June they formed a Confederation to enable them to pass 
 their measures by a majority, f and Prince Adam Czartoryski 
 was unanimously elected the Marshal, or President, of this 
 Confederation. The first act of the Confederation was to 
 thank the Empress for her intervention and acknowledge 
 her imperial title, which the Republic hitherto had steadily 
 refused to concede to Peter the Great and his successors. 
 
 * I.e., the Diet summoned to convoke the Election Diet. 
 ■f Decision by a majority was the essential difference between a Con- 
 federation and a Diet. 
 
"THE FAMILY" AND YOUNG STANISLAUS 67 
 
 Simultaneously the Russian troops defeated and scattered 
 the opponents of " the Family " in the provinces. But 
 now a difficulty arose. Who was to mount the vacant 
 throne ? Should it be Prince Adam Czartoryski or Count 
 Stanislaus Poniatowski ? Kayserling, the Russian Ambas- 
 sador at Warsaw, reported dead against Stanislaus. " The 
 election of Poniatowski," he wrote to Catherine, " would 
 cause a general disturbance here, because he is so little 
 known in the country, has no party to back him, possesses 
 very little property, and therefore has not money enough to 
 purchase votes." On the other hand, he declared that the 
 election of Prince Adam would be an easy matter. As 
 Marshal of the Confederation he had for the moment 
 plenipotentiary power, whilst most of the younger men 
 and all the women in Poland were decidedly in his favour. 
 So strong, indeed, were Kayserling's recommendations in 
 favour of the Prince-General that Catherine, though she 
 seems already to have given a half-promise of the crown 
 to her lover, began to waver. But it was only for a moment. 
 On mature reflection she returned to her former conviction 
 that Poniatowski was the best candidate, inasmuch as his 
 comparative poverty and insignificance would make him 
 entirely dependent upon her, whereas the Prince-General, 
 with the whole concentrated interest of the Czartoryscy 
 behind him, might be by no means so pliable an instrument. 
 Accordingly, the new Russian Ambassador to Warsaw, the 
 energetic Major-General Prince Nicholas Repnin, was in- 
 structed to declare that Stanislaus Poniatowski, Stolnik 
 of Lithuania, was the only possible Russian candidate, and 
 all parties were to be bribed or coerced into supporting him. 
 To add dignity to the new pretendant, the Russian Order 
 of St. Andrew and the Prussian Order of the Black Eagle 
 were sent to him on the same day. 
 
 In Poland itself the candidature of Stanislaus came as 
 a complete surprise. So second-rate a dignitary was scarce 
 considered eligible at all. Every one fancied that either 
 Prince Augustus or his son Prince Adam would be elected. 
 The Czartoryscy thought so themselves. The first public 
 
68 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 notification of the high honour awaiting Poniatowski was 
 a dramatic incident which took place on the occasion of 
 a banquet given by Prince Augustus Czartoryski to the 
 magnates, prelates, and deputies who had come up to town 
 to attend the Diet. The Prussian Minister, Benoit, arrived 
 when all the other guests were already at table. On enter- 
 ing the banqueting-hall he leisurely surveyed the guests 
 till he caught sight of the Stolnik of Lithuania, when he at 
 once proceeded to the place where Stanislaus sat. After 
 making him a low obeisance, the ambassador solemnly 
 invested him with the Order of the Black Eagle in the name 
 of the King of Prussia, at the same time congratulating 
 Prince Augustus on the honour thus rendered to his nephew. 
 This was a plain hint that the candidature of Stanislaus 
 would be supported officially by Prussia. The effect 
 produced by this demonstration was the more impressive 
 as nobody else in Poland possessed the coveted distinction 
 of the Black Eagle. 
 
 Stanislaus himself had already been manipulated privately 
 by the Russian Minister Kayserling. In the middle of 1764, 
 when the obstacles in the way of his election seemed insur- 
 mountable, Kayserling sent for him. " I want your opinion 
 about an idea of mine," began the ambassador. " How 
 would you like your uncle the Prince-Palatine to be placed 
 on the throne instead of yourself ? Tell me frankly if you 
 think it would be to the advantage of Poland or not. I 
 shall expect an answer in three days." " A thousand 
 thoughts occurred to me during those three days," says 
 Stanislaus, who tells his own story, " and I examined the 
 whole question from all possible points of view. My 
 dominant reflection was that if I became a King the Empress 
 sooner or later might marry me, but that otherwise she 
 would be unlikely to do so. . . . Moreover, the despotic 
 and implacable character of my uncle made me fear that 
 his reign would be a hard one. I therefore came to the 
 conclusion that it would be better for my country if I 
 ascended the throne instead of my uncle." 
 
 As a matter of fact Stanislaus' uncle never had a chance 
 
"THE FAMILY" AND YOUNG STANISLAUS 69 
 
 of becoming a King. At a Cabinet Council held at St. 
 Petersburg in November 1763 Catherine had already 
 decided that " no old man on the verge of the grave " (an 
 obvious allusion to the Prince-Palatine and his brother 
 the Prince-Chancellor, both of whom were verging on 
 seventy) " should be allowed to stand as a candidate for 
 the Polish throne." The idea of marrying her ex-lover 
 was by this time most repugnant to Catherine, now that 
 she was enamoured of the more virile Gregory Orlov. Yet 
 the opinion that she meant to give her hand to Stanislaus 
 after she had crowned him King was so widespread that 
 the mere rumour of it seriously disturbed the Porte and 
 provoked the suspicion of an anti-Turkish league between 
 Poland and Russia. Not till the Russian ambassador 
 Obryezkov had solemnly assured the Reis Effendi that " it 
 were a blasphemy against the sacred person of the Empress " 
 even to imagine that she could ever marry Stanislaus 
 Poniatowski did the Porte recover from its alarm. Kayser- 
 ling was instructed to put the sentimental Stanislaus right 
 on this important point in the politest manner possible. 
 Accordingly he informed the young man that " such a 
 union would cause too much jealousy, and put all Europe 
 in combustion." It was therefore not to be thought of. 
 
 Stanislaus goes on to tell us that his uncle the Prince- 
 Palatine never forgave him for thus intervening between 
 him and the throne. A hint, however, from the new 
 Russian Ambassador, Prince Repnin, to the effect that 
 the Empress would support the Stolnik of Lithuania with 
 all her forces and all her treasures compelled the Czar- 
 toryscy to give way, and they had the good sense to give 
 way gracefully and unreservedly. Stanislaus' first cousin, 
 and only serious competitor, Prince Adam, was the first to 
 propose his candidature at the General Confederation held 
 in June ; and when Stanislaus himself had given his uncles 
 a solemn assurance that he would support their plan of 
 reform and abide by their counsel in all things his election 
 was assured. After all, was he not as much a member of 
 " the Family " as Prince Adam ? The progress of events 
 
70 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 was now greatly accelerated. On July 27 Repnin officially 
 informed the Primate, the Ministers, and the Senate of 
 Poland that the Stolnik of Lithuania was the candidate 
 recommended to the Polish nation by her Imperial Majesty. 
 The Prussian Envoy followed suit the same day. 
 
 Nevertheless, at the very last moment the Empress once 
 more began to hesitate. Only a few weeks before the day 
 fixed for the election of Stanislaus the fear lest his election 
 might seriously embarrass her affairs, and even bring about 
 a war with the Turks, so impressed her that, contrary to 
 the advice of her political mentor and first Minister, Count 
 Nikita Panin, who controlled the Russian Foreign Office 
 during the first half of her reign, she instructed Kayserling 
 to stay his hand and not promote the election of Stanislaus 
 too openly. Then Panin took a very bold step. " I know 
 not what the Empress's instructions to you are," he wrote 
 privately to Kayserling, " but, after all that we have done up 
 to now, the honour of our Sovereign and the Empire is too 
 much engaged in this affair for us to think of drawing back. 
 Do, therefore, all you can to advance matters. I will take the 
 risk." Kayserling had the courage to follow Panin's advice. 
 He disobeyed the Empress and supported Poniatowski with 
 all his might. The Election Diet met on the 16th, and 
 terminated on August 26, and the Stolnik of Lithuania was 
 unanimously elected King of Poland. The election was 
 so tranquil that a number of ladies were present on the 
 field of election amidst the squadrons of the nobility without 
 a single accident happening to any one but a certain Pan 
 Trojanowski, who received a kick from a horse. Many of 
 the ladies even mingled their voices with the acclamations 
 of the electors from the various palatinates when the 
 Primate, in an open chariot, went the round of the assembly 
 to receive from the hands of the marshals of the different 
 provinces the suffrages of their respective deputies. Twenty- 
 five thousand electors thus recorded their votes, and there, 
 was not one dissentient among them. But this singular 
 unanimity was not unconnected with the well-known 
 fact that eight thousand Russian regulars, ready for 
 
rpacfj'o H. H. flanum. 
 
 Ct> ipaii. A. PaOtua. 
 
 NIKITA IVANOVICH PANIN, THE POLITICAL MENTOR OF 
 CATHERINE II 
 
"THE FAMILY" AND YOUNG STANISLAUS 71 
 
 action, were only three miles distant from the field of 
 election. 
 
 " Mamma, your son is elected King ! " wrote Stanislaus 
 to his old friend, Madame Geoffrin, immediately after the 
 event. Her reply was an outburst of ecstatic joy. " I 
 see Poland rising from the dust ! I see her in dazzling 
 splendour, like the Kingdom of a new Messiah ! " Catherine 
 was equally delighted, but her first congratulations were 
 not to the young King, but to the greatly-daring old Minister 
 who had best served her interests by traversing her instruc- 
 tions. " I congratulate you on the King you have given 
 me," she wrote to Panin ; " this affair greatly increases my 
 confidence in you, demonstrating as it does the perfection 
 of all your combinations." To Stanislaus she sent a corona- 
 tion gift of 100,000 ducats, besides paying the very consider- 
 able expenses of his election. A basket of truffles was all 
 that the needy monarch could afford to send her in return. 
 He was already sensible of the extreme difficulties of his 
 new position, and it is in a somewhat depressed tone that 
 he now responds to the admonitions of his elderly Egeria 
 at Paris. " I know right well what I ought to do, but the 
 whole situation is terrible. Patience, caution, courage ! 
 And again patience, courage, caution ! — There you have 
 my motto ! " 
 
 And indeed he had need of all these qualities in the evil 
 days that were now close upon him. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE KING AND THE SATRAP 
 
 Good intentions of the new King — Panin's " Northern Accord " — Frederick 
 the Great opposed to any amelioration in the condition of Poland — 
 His brutality in the matter of the Marienwerda tolls — Difficult position 
 of Catherine — The question of the Polish Dissenters arises— The 
 Russian Ambassador at Warsaw, Prince Nicholas Repnin — The 
 Poles refuse to consider the question of the Dissidents — Visit of 
 Madame Geoffrin to King Stanislaus — The charm and the weaknesses 
 of Stanislaus — Catherine forces on the solution of the Dissident 
 question — Its transparent fictitiousness — The Confederation of 
 Radom — Stanislaus bows tu the will of the Empress in all things — 
 Elevation of the infamous Podoski to the Primacy — Rally of the 
 Catholics against Russia — The nuncio Durini and Soltyk, Bishop of 
 Cracow — Religious enthusiasm of the Diet of 1767 — Repnin overawes 
 the Diet — Review of the conduct of Stanislaus — His unique oppor- 
 tunity of saving his country founders on his timid subservience to 
 Russia — Inherent flabbiness of his character 
 
 STANISLAUS II. ascended the throne with the honest 
 determination to do his best for his country. The 
 first step was to endeavour to reform the Polish 
 Constitution on the lines suggested by his uncles, as he had 
 solemnly engaged to do on the eve of his election. The 
 essence of this reform was the substitution of the principle 
 of decision by majority in the proceedings of the Diet 
 instead of absolute unanimity, the immediate effect of which 
 would have been the disappearance of that cardinal vice of 
 the Polish Constitution, the liberum veto, whereby any single 
 deputy could " explode " the Diet, and ipso facto annul all 
 its previous resolutions, even if they had been voted unani- 
 mously. Such an important step could not be taken, 
 however, without the consent of the Empress. Stanislaus, 
 
 72 
 
THE KING AND THE SATRAP 73 
 
 therefore, undertook to persuade her of the necessity of such 
 a reform even in her own interests. On November 15, 
 1764, he addressed her as follows : " You want Poland to 
 be free ; so do I. I would therefore save it from the boundless 
 disorder which prevails there. A large number of patriots 
 would prefer absolute monarchy to the present shameful 
 abuses of mere caprice if a more orderly species of liberty 
 be unattainable. I would save these people from despair, 
 and the only means of doing so is Parliamentary reform." 
 
 This appeal was so reasonable as to be beyond all cavil. 
 If the Polish State were to continue to exist at all, it was 
 indeed necessary that so powerful a solvent as the liberum 
 veto should be eliminated altogether, and as speedily as 
 possible, from the Polish Constitution. Stanislaus was 
 justified in supposing that Catherine, as a statesman and 
 as a philosopher — and she prided herself on being both — 
 could not fail to see the matter in the same light. It were 
 preposterous of her to bestow upon him the useless present 
 of a kingdom which he had no means of governing. More- 
 over, at this very time the dominant Russian Minister, Count 
 Panin, was very benevolently disposed towards Poland. It 
 was the ambition of this statesman to establish a " Northern 
 Accord," consisting of a combination of Russia, Prussia, 
 Great Britain, Saxony, Sweden, and Poland, to counterpoise 
 the influence of the Bourbon-Hapsburg alliance, and pre- 
 serve as much as possible the peace of Northern and Cen- 
 tral Europe. In this " Northern Accord " Poland was to 
 supply the place of Austria, Russia's former ally, especially 
 in case of Oriental complications, for by this time the 
 Polish question had become part of the Eastern question. 
 Inasmuch as Panin regarded Poland as an indispensable 
 factor in his " Accord," it was naturally his desire to make 
 her as serviceable, and consequently as strong, as the 
 interests of Russia would permit. For the same reason 
 he was opposed to any diminution of her territory and 
 inclined to favour some moderate measure of reform in her 
 Constitution. Had Panin's policy succeeded, Poland might, 
 perhaps, have become the retainer, the armour-bearer, of 
 
74 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Russia ; but her territorial integrity would have been 
 respected, her anarchical tendencies repressed, and her 
 ancient military efficiency restored. A union with Russia 
 was therefore, in the circumstances, the best fate which 
 Poland could now expect. Anyhow, it would have strength- 
 ened her present position and held out some hope for a 
 brighter future. 
 
 But Panin's policy never had a fair chance, because the 
 King of Prussia was opposed to it. Frederick the Great 
 detested the theory of the " Northern Accord," as tending 
 to involve him in useless and expensive alliances. The 
 policy of Prussia had always been a policy of self-preserva- 
 tion and aggrandisement, consistently carried out to the 
 last consequences. To this policy every other consideration 
 had always been ruthlessly sacrificed. It was a narrow and 
 selfish policy, no doubt ; but its very simplicity made it 
 easy of execution, and it had the best of all justifications 
 from a purely political point of view — invariable success. 
 No wonder, then, that the relatively benignant policy of 
 Panin excited the utter disgust of the Philosopher of Sans 
 Souci. What had sentiment to do with politics ? he argued. 
 They were mutually exclusive terms. He had no sympathy 
 whatever with Panin's romantic ambition to become the 
 Regenerator of Poland. He objected, most emphatically, 
 to loving his neighbour as himself. It was not business. 
 And cynical as his principles might be, they were at least 
 perfectly consistent with his conduct. He took his stand 
 on the fourth secret article of his treaty with the Russian 
 Empress, ratified March 31, 1764, five months before the 
 election of Stanislaus, whereby the contracting parties 
 engaged to permit no alteration in the actual Constitution 
 of Poland. On the first rumours of the impending abolition 
 of the liberum veto Frederick warned Catherine (October 31, 
 1764) of the inexpediency — nay, the peril — of any such 
 reform. " Your Majesty," he wrote, " would live to repent 
 any alteration of the liberum veto. Such a change would 
 make the Polish State dangerous to its neighbours, whereas 
 by guaranteeing all the old laws you can intervene whenever 
 
THE KING AND THE SATRAP 75 
 
 you please." It was in vain that Panin protested against 
 this frank brutality. " It would be too cruel," he remarked 
 to Catherine, " to prevent Poland from emerging from her 
 barbarism." But Catherine, who was just as practical as 
 Frederick, had been much impressed by the arguments of 
 the King of Prussia. From henceforth she set her face 
 steadily against every notion of a radical reform in Poland. 
 Thus even in theory Russia, at this period, was the best 
 friend and Prussia the worst enemy of Poland, while in 
 practice the methods of the Court of Berlin were so brutal 
 as frequently to provoke the remonstrances of the Court 
 of St. Petersburg. Take, for instance, the affair of the 
 Marienwerda tolls. A few months after the accession df 
 Stanislaus II., Frederick built a new custom-house and 
 fort on the Prussian side of the Vistula at Marienwerda to 
 compel Polish vessels on their way to Dantzig to pay an 
 extra 10 per cent, toll on their cargoes. When the Polish 
 ships, to avoid the exaction, hugged the Polish shore, they 
 were towed by force over to the Prussian side, where the toll 
 was levied despite repeated protests against its illegality. 
 By these means the Polish shippers were mulcted of 900,000 
 roubles (an amount equal to the whole annual revenue of 
 Brandenburg), and Dantzig was threatened with utter ruin. 
 Stanislaus protested energetically against this unheard-of 
 piece of blackmailing. He declared he would rather forfeit 
 his crown than pay the Marienwerda tolls. " I have the 
 right to expect that the Empress, after placing me on the 
 •throne, will at least uphold my dignity," he said to Prince 
 Repnin, the Russian Ambassador at Warsaw. Repnin 
 quite agreed with him. " I must confess," he wrote to 
 Panin, " that the action of the King of Prussia in this 
 matter is cruel, offensive, and insupportable." The Polish 
 Minister at Berlin thereupon demanded an explanation 
 from the Prussian Government, but as he only received an 
 evasive and unsatisfactory reply, Stanislaus, by the advice 
 of his uncle the Prince-Chancellor, addressed the King of 
 Prussia direct. So sharp and vehement was the tone of 
 this letter that Catherine, anxious to avoid any unpleasant- 
 
76 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 ness with Prussia, was rather alarmed by it, especially as 
 it was really unanswerable. Both Panin and Repnin 
 advised the Prussians to remit the tolls, and Catherine went 
 so far as to give Frederick similar advice. Ultimately the 
 whole affair was referred to an extraordinary Polish Diet 
 and allowed to drop. It had, however, one important 
 political result. From henceforth Stanislaus lost all con- 
 fidence in the King of Prussia, and rightly regarded him as 
 the most dangerous adversary of Poland. 
 
 Catherine befriended Stanislaus on this occasion ; but 
 she would not, or, rather, could not, help him to put his 
 house in order by reforming the Polish Constitution, at once 
 and thoroughly, because she was already committed to a 
 policy which was bound to have, at least in the first instance, 
 the contrary effect. 
 
 At the beginning of her reign Catherine's position in 
 Russia was somewhat insecure. To begin with, she was a 
 foreigner, and distrusted as such by a nation that had always 
 hated foreigners. In the second place she had only won 
 the imperial crown by extraordinary and very questionable 
 methods. One thing only might correct her defective title 
 and excuse her dubious origin — popularity. Popularity 
 was essential to the stability of her throne, and the best way 
 of gaining popularity, instantly and completely, was to 
 identify herself with what the Russian nation prized above 
 all things — the Orthodox religion. The easiest and most 
 effective way of doing this was to come forward prominently 
 as the champion of the Orthodox population of Poland — 
 the so-called Dissidents, or Dissenters. Catherine might 
 be sure of the suffrages of the Russian nation if she could 
 place the Polish Dissenters on a footing of absolute equality 
 with the Catholic majority in Poland. To the accomplish- 
 ment of this purpose all Constitutional questions in Poland 
 were therefore to be postponed. It was hoped at St. 
 Petersburg that a party devoted to Russia might be formed 
 out of these enfranchised Dissenters. Such a party once 
 formed, there would, it was argued, be less risk, from a 
 Russian point of view, in reforming, moderately, the Polish 
 
THE KING AND THE SATRAP 77 
 
 Constitution, if reformed it must be. Panin was instructed, 
 therefore, to carry out the details of this plan, and its 
 execution was entrusted to the new Russian Ambassador 
 at Warsaw, Prince Repnin. 
 
 Nicholas Vasilevich Repnin was one of the best specimens 
 of the brilliant soldier-diplomatists for which the reign of 
 Catherine II. is so remarkable. He had become a general 
 during the Seven Years' War, when still but eight-and- 
 twenty, and subsequently, as Minister-Plenipotentiary at 
 the Court of Berlin, had won the reputation of a safe and 
 sound diplomatist. At the beginning of 1764, when not 
 quite thirty, he was transferred to Warsaw. Repnin had 
 lived for a great part of his life in Germany, and was reputed 
 one of the best educated Russians of his day. His worst 
 fault was a brusque haughtiness ; but he had a generous 
 heart, and his honour was unimpeachable. Military glory 
 seems to have been his secret ambition, yet Fate had 
 decided that he should do some very dirty diplomatic work 
 in Poland. Repugnant to him as his orders very often 
 were, he executed them with loyal thoroughness, but also 
 with an outspoken candour which often gave great offence 
 in the highest quarters at St. Petersburg. A man of his 
 sterling character could not help despising such of the Poles 
 as took his money and ran his errands ; but, as a pupil of 
 Panin's, he wished the Polish nation well, and he would 
 have helped it if he could. 
 
 King Stanislaus was full of consternation when Repnin 
 informed him that there could be no talk of reforms until 
 the Polish Dissenters had been placed on a footing of equality 
 with the Catholics. He declared straight out that the 
 thing was impossible. And he was right. Catherine had 
 underestimated the force and fervour of Polish Catholicism. 
 She was about to embark on one of the most serious blunders 
 of her reign. Repnin at first pooh-poohed the King's 
 objections. He insisted that the matter should be brought 
 before the Diet forthwith. The result justified the appre- 
 hensions of the King. The instant the question was in- 
 troduced all the deputies sprang to their feet as one man 
 
78 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 and vehemently demanded the name of the traitor who 
 dared to reopen a matter which had been settled once for 
 all by so many previous Diets. The King and the Primate 
 were speechless with terror, and the same evening Repnin 
 reported that it was impossible to fulfil her Majesty's 
 commands without using violence. Panin thereupon ad- 
 vised Repnin to prepare for " armed negotiations," and 
 directed that the Russian troops should remain in Poland. 
 Stanislaus was deeply distressed. " I want to do some good, 
 and cannot do it," he wrote to Madame Geoffrin. Again 
 and again he remonstrated, through his Minister at St. 
 Petersburg, against the folly and danger of the attempt to 
 place the Dissenters on the same footing as the Catholics. 
 " If the Empress still has the slightest feeling of benevolence 
 towards me," he wrote, " now is the time for her to show 
 it. To perish is nothing, but to perish by the hand of one's 
 own familiar friend is terrible. If this be persisted in, I 
 can see nothing but a St. Bartholomew's Eve for the Dis- 
 senters and a harvest of Ravaillacs * for myself." " The 
 Empress," he exclaims, in a final outburst of despair, " would 
 make of my royal mantle a robe of Nessus. I shall have to 
 choose between renouncing her friendship or being an enemy 
 of my country." 
 
 But Catherine was inexorable. " I cannot conceive," 
 she wrote to Repnin, " how the King can fancy himself a 
 traitor to his country by simply supporting the demands of 
 equity. If the King continues to regard matters in this 
 light, I can only say that I am disappointed with him." 
 
 But Repnin himself was now growing uneasy, and very 
 dubious of success. He told Panin privately that the 
 difficulties of this Dissenting business made the hairs of his 
 head rise up in terror. It would be impossible, he said, to 
 carry out his instructions at all except by force of arms. A 
 last attempt to frighten the Czartoryscy, who were, as 
 we have seen, the protagonists of Parliamentary reform 
 and had bitterly reproached Catherine for disappointing 
 their expectations, failed utterly. The Prince-Chancellor 
 
 * Ravaillac assassinated Henry IV. of Frances 
 
THE KING AND THE SATRAP 79 
 
 declared that the Dissidents were entitled to absolute 
 toleration, and they had that already. To give them full 
 equality with the Catholics was as absurd as it was im- 
 possible. " Then your estates shall be occupied by Russian 
 troops," thundered the Ambassador. " We are prepared 
 to suffer all the horrors of devastation," rejoined the Prince- 
 Chancellor with dignity, " but we cannot comply with the 
 demands of Russia in this particular." 
 
 Disappointed in their hopes of Russia, the Czartoryscy 
 now attempted to carry their Constitutional reforms through 
 the Diet with the aid of the King and their own partisans. 
 When the Russian and Prussian Ministers protested, the 
 Prince-Chancellor declared he would rather see Poland 
 subdued by force of arms than subjected to such dictation. 
 Then Repnin worked upon the fears of the deputies, and 
 persuaded them that a Royalist plot was afloat and that the 
 Republic was in danger. Stanislaus at the same time began 
 to waver, and the Ambassador so worked upon his hopes 
 and fears that he deserted his uncles and allowed the motion 
 for abolishing the liberum veto to fall through without making 
 a single effort to save it. But when, the same evening, 
 Repnin waited upon him to thank him for his gracious 
 co-operation, shame and mortification overcame the un- 
 happy King ; he could not utter a word in reply, but burst 
 into tears. The Diet rose on November 19, 1766. It had, 
 at the bidding of the Empress's satrap, rejected every 
 motion of reform ; but, stimulated by the fiery eloquence 
 of Soltyk, Bishop of Cracow, it absolutely refused even to 
 consider the question of the Dissenters, despite the joint 
 petition of the Russian, Prussian, and British Ministers at 
 Warsaw in their favour. 
 
 Amidst the troubles and the terrors of this unlucky year 
 Stanislaus found some slight distraction in the visit of his 
 old friend Madame Geoffrin. She had been the first person 
 whom he had informed of his election, and at the same time 
 he had invited her to visit him in his capital at the earliest 
 opportunity. Madame Geoffrin, for all her philosophy, was 
 not unaffected by the homage of a King. She responded 
 
80 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 to the invitation of Stanislaus with dithyrambic effusion. 
 " My dear son, my dear King, my dear Stanislaus Augustus," 
 she cried, " imagine, if you can, the transports of my joy 
 on the receipt of your divine letter. I fancied that you 
 were our Henry IV. and I was Sully. I shed tears of ten- 
 derness on hearing of the details of your election, and I feel 
 worthy of that sweet and precious name of Mamma ! 
 Why should I not come and admire you like a second Queen 
 of Sheba attracted by the wisdom of a second Solomon ? 
 . . . Oh, my dear son ! Oh, my adorable King ! With 
 what transports of joy shall I not look upon the admiration 
 of Europe ! " It was no small undertaking for an old lady 
 of sixty-four, of sedentary habits and luxurious domesticities 
 (she had never hitherto been outside the walls of Paris), to 
 undertake a journey of many weeks to the wilds of Poland. 
 But the temptations presented by her royal host proved 
 irresistible. " You will be lodged in the palace where I 
 dwell, and on the same floor," wrote the King ; " we shall 
 only be separated by a couple of rooms. You shall dine 
 and sup by yourself whenever you wish it, or with me when- 
 ever I am not engaged in public functions. You shall only 
 see whom you like in your own apartments, and to see you 
 shall be accounted an exceptional favour. You shall be 
 entirely dispensed from all public receptions. As soon as 
 I know whether you are coming by Vienna, Dresden, or 
 Berlin I shall send to meet you one of my suite who can 
 talk French, German, and Polish. He shall take charge of 
 you and conduct you to Warsaw. You shall see nothing 
 but the best company, I promise you ; but I have reserved 
 a few moments for myself (moments which sometimes 
 will last for hours) when we will tell each other what we 
 think about all men and all things." 
 
 Despite Mamma's protests, Stanislaus ordered for her 
 from Paris furniture which she warned him would cost a 
 King's ransom. How he paid for it is another question. 
 Possibly the 20,000 ducats which he was obliged to borrow 
 the same year from Repnin went some way towards it. 
 Everything which could be done beforehand to make his 
 
THE KING AND THE SATRAP 81 
 
 distinguished guest feel thoroughly at home was done. 
 Indeed, the provident ingenuity of Stanislaus on this oc- 
 casion raised hospitality to the rank of a fine art, and 
 recalled the traditions of the Caliphs. On her arrival at 
 Warsaw, Madame Geoffrin found that the rooms provided 
 for her at the Palace were exactly like those she had quitted 
 at Paris — the same size, the same kind of carpets, the same 
 furniture, down even to the very book which she had been 
 reading the evening before her departure, in the same 
 binding, and placed exactly as she had left it, with a marker 
 in the very place where she had left off reading. 
 
 The visit was planned originally for the year 1765. It 
 wao postponed for a twelvemonth because the lady was 
 suddenly overcome by a fit of pique which scattered all her 
 philosophy to the winds. The cause of this storm in a tea- 
 cup was the bare suspicion that an architect, Louis by name, 
 whom she herself had introduced to the King, had sup- 
 planted her in his confidence. In her first access of rage 
 the spiteful old lady discharged all her accumulated venom 
 at the poor architect and treated the King with glacial 
 coldness. Stanislaus is no longer " my son " or " my 
 adorable infant," but " Sire " and " your Majesty." A 
 very kind and forbearing explanation from Stanislaus soon 
 put matters right, however, and the apologies of the mollified 
 lady were copious enough ; but such a very unpleasant and 
 unexpected exhibition of bad temper from the oracle of the 
 Paris salons did not augur well for the impending visit. 
 And, in fact, it proved as miserable a failure as Voltaire's 
 visit to the great Frederick. The lady expected far too 
 much. She was over-quick to find fault and impute evil 
 motives. She was also intolerably exacting and peevish. 
 She found that the Polish ladies were by no means disposed 
 to yield to her that unquestioning deference which she 
 claimed as a right at Paris, and once, when she presumed to 
 be insolent at an aristocratic reception, she was severely 
 snubbed by the venerable Princess Czartoryska * who 
 objected to the airs of " cette bonne bourgeoise." These 
 
 * The lady of the barrels of gold mentioned in chap. ii. 
 F 
 
82 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 little contretemps vexed Madame Geoffrin exceedingly. 
 Subsequently she reproached Stanislaus for not being as 
 good as his word. This was ungrateful, to say the least of 
 it, and the King had the spirit to reprove her, delicately 
 but decidedly, for her injustice and exaggeration. Their 
 friendship revived, however, as the geographical distance 
 between them increased, and to the very last Madame 
 Geoffrin remained the confidante of the trials, the amours, 
 and the aspirations of the King of Poland. On September 
 13, 1766, she quitted Warsaw, to the great relief of the Court, 
 in a coach especially made for her. It was so small that one 
 could scarce sit upright in it, and it was provided with an 
 ingenious arrangement for keeping out the dust which 
 excited the hilarity of the profane. Evidently the good 
 Poles regarded the great lady rather as an oddity than as 
 a celebrity. 
 
 As a host and a friend Stanislaus always appeared at his 
 best. He was a finished gentleman in no mere conventional 
 sense of that much-abused word. He loved to see and 
 make people happy because he really had a kind heart. 
 His charming manners were the natural expression of a 
 genuine benevolence. If anything, he was too suave, too 
 yielding. The amiable complaisance which made him so 
 perfect, socially, pointed to an inherent instability, a moral 
 flabbiness. He thought too much of persons and too little 
 of things, especially of the things that mattered. It is 
 doubtful whether he ever had any fixed principles. Any- 
 how, he always found it very difficult to make a firm stand, 
 and almost impossible to say no. And the worst of it was, 
 that his acute and resourceful intelligence was always ready 
 with a justification of his most questionable actions. He was, 
 to use a phrase of Edward Fitzgerald's, applied to some one 
 else, one of those exceedingly clever people who can always 
 produce a thousand excellent reasons for going to the devil. 
 Very characteristic of the man is the excuse which frequently 
 appears in his correspondence with Madame Geoffrin ; 
 " My position is so terrible that I am obliged to sacrifice 
 honour to duty ! " As if true honour could ever clash 
 
THE KING AND THE SATRAP 83 
 
 with true duty. As a matter of fact, it was both honour 
 and duty which Stanislaus habitually sacrificed to expe- 
 diency. 
 
 In the earlier years of his reign Stanislaus's obvious duty 
 was to stand by his uncles the Czartoryscy. They were 
 the only persons in Poland strong enough and brave enough 
 to make a good fight for the minimum of reform for lack of 
 which the Republic was perishing. Their superior authority, 
 ability, and patriotism were reluctantly acknowledged by 
 the Russian Ministers themselves. All the best people in 
 the land were with them. If there was any hope at all for 
 Poland, it was founded on their aspirations and efforts. 
 Catherine herself was half afraid of them, or she would never 
 have hated them so bitterly or crushed them so remorse- 
 lessly. Had the King been true to the solemn promises 
 which he had made to them on the eve of his coronation, 
 had he supported them with his whole heart, their position, 
 already respectable, would have been almost impregnable. 
 Doubtless Russia might have triumphed in the end, for the 
 big battalions were all on her side ; but the triumph would 
 have been much more difficult and altogether inglorious. 
 Moreover, the false moves made by the Empress and Panin 
 during the years 1767 and 1768 gave opening after opening 
 to skilful and alert antagonists. The affair of the Dis- 
 senters in particular was a blunder from beginning to end. 
 It was undertaken hastily and ignorantly. No pains were 
 taken beforehand to arrive at a just view of the circum- 
 stances, and when, at last, the real facts came to light it 
 was discovered at St. Petersburg (with what disgust it may 
 be imagined) that there was really no case at all for the 
 Dissenters. The whole thing was a transparent fiction, 
 an artificial grievance. " For some time past," wrote 
 Repnin to Panin in the course of 1767, " I have been trying 
 to find among the Dissenters some one or other who is even 
 moderately educated, but up to the present time I have 
 been unable to discover any one. All these people are 
 tillers of the soil and without a shred of education. The 
 Orthodox gentry of Poland must be sought for in the Russian 
 
84 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 monasteries." " Nay," he adds in another place, " the 
 Dissenters have actually petitioned against being forced to 
 accept high office. They have not a single representative 
 capable of holding it." And these were the very people 
 whom the Empress proposed to thrust among the Polish 
 senators and the Polish prelates ! It should also be borne 
 in mind that there was no suggestion of religious persecution. 
 From time immemorial the Polish Dissenters had enjoyed 
 absolute religious liberty. 
 
 Nevertheless Catherine had committed herself so un- 
 reservedly and ostentatiously to the policy of placing the 
 Polish Dissenters on an equality with the Polish Catholics 
 that she could not now draw back without serious loss of 
 dignity. Repnin was accordingly instructed to proceed 
 with his work, and unlimited funds and thousands of Russian 
 soldiers were placed at his disposal. With these means of 
 persuasion it was an easy matter to form artificial Dissenting 
 Confederations who voted as they were paid to vote. Simul- 
 taneously Repnin's agents scoured the country to stimu- 
 late all the enemies of " the Family " to rise against them 
 en masse. The ambassador's most trusty emissary was 
 Gabriel Podoski, a Polish priest of infamous character and 
 antecedents, who had been in the pay of Russia for years 
 and was actually Repnin's private secretary. Laden with 
 roubles and ukases, Podoski went the round of the Polish 
 provinces, and speedily induced the Opolinscy, the Potoccy, 
 the Mniszscy, and all the other antagonists of the Czar- 
 toryscy to protest formally against their reforms as " in- 
 novations injurious to the Republic." At the same time 
 all those noblemen whom " the Family," with the assist- 
 ance of Russian troops, had expelled from the country in 
 1763, were invited to return, and assured of her Imperial 
 Majesty's high protection. Back they all trooped, headed 
 by that drunken swashbuckler Prince Karol Radziwill, who 
 set the example of slavish obsequiousness by requesting 
 that a Russian officer might be attached to his suite per- 
 manently, in order to communicate to him the Empress's 
 wishes. This rabble, composed of the most reactionary and 
 
THE KING AND THE SATRAP 85 
 
 anarchical elements in the Republic, proceeded to form a 
 general Confederation at Radom, with Radziwill as its 
 marshal. Its first act was to issue a manifesto petitioning 
 the Empress to guarantee the perpetuity of the existing 
 Constitution. In plain English, it proposed to give the 
 coup de grace to every project of reform. 
 
 Without money and without troops as he was, Stanislaus 
 could not prevent this insurrection of evildoers, but he had 
 at least frequent opportunities of embarrassing, and even 
 circumventing, the enemies of his country, if only he had 
 had the moral courage to make use of these opportunities. 
 Unfortunately for Poland, this was just where he failed. At 
 the very outset, " Atticus " and " Cicero," as he nicknamed 
 his uncles, reminded him that though the Empress might 
 form any number of Dissenting Confederations, they re- 
 mained illegal until the King of Poland consented to receive 
 them in public audience and allow them to kiss his hand. 
 Stanislaus assured his uncles that nothing should induce 
 him to receive the Dissidents, yet Repnin had only to threaten 
 him with the loss of the Empress's favour and he instantly 
 gave way. He received the Dissenters. He allowed them 
 to kiss his hand. 
 
 Again, Stanislaus, refortified by his uncles, protested at 
 first against the Empress's proposed perpetual guarantee 
 of the vicious old Constitution. But Repnin had only to 
 threaten once more and Stanislaus surrendered uncon- 
 ditionally. " Very well," he said, with an air of resignation, 
 " I will look on, most reluctantly, of course, but at least 
 patiently and quietly." " Do so," replied the Ambassador, 
 " and then you may be quite sure of the uttermost bene- 
 volence of the Empress." 
 
 A still more promising opportunity of successful resistance 
 presented itself when, for the furtherance of Russia's plans, 
 it was proposed to make the infamous Podoski Primate of 
 Poland. The man's character was so bad and he was so 
 generally detested that the bare proposition seemed ridiculous 
 and impossible. At Rome, too, such a candidature was 
 most unwelcome, as Podoski's orthodoxy was at least as 
 
86 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 problematical as his morality. The Nuncio in Poland was 
 prepared to go all lengths in order to exclude Podoski. At 
 a private interview he solemnly' assured Stanislaus that the 
 Pope would never consent to the consecration of Podoski. 
 The King, greatly embarrassed, consulted Repnin. " What 
 am I to do ? " he asked. " His Holiness declines to send 
 the Bull of Confirmation." " Convoke the Senate and 
 confirm Podoski's election yourself," promptly replied the 
 Ambassador. " Impossible," replied the King. " I warn 
 you that if the Pope adopts a firm tone all the Catholics 
 will obey him. . . . You may introduce Podoski into the 
 Senate with fixed bayonets, but torrents of blood will flow, 
 and Poland and I will have to pay the piper." Repnin 
 shrugged his shoulders. " The thing must be done, what- 
 ever happens," said he. Then the King gave way, and 
 appointed the criminous clerk — Primate. 
 
 Repnin himself was amazed at the completeness of the 
 King's surrender. The appointment of Podoski was by 
 far the greatest triumph he had yet achieved. " I must 
 say," he wrote to Panin, " that Podoski's appointment is 
 the most impressive proof of Russia's omnipotence in Poland. 
 It demonstrates that those of the Polacks who are ready 
 to oblige Russia may hope to rise to the highest dignities 
 in the State even when their conduct has been most offen- 
 sive to their King and their country. Why, without the 
 assistance of Russia, Podoski had not the slightest chance of 
 becoming even the least of the Polish bishops." There can 
 be no doubt whatever that Stanislaus ought to have abdi- 
 cated rather than stoop to such an act of infamy. 
 
 But the last and greatest opportunity of Stanislaus 
 during these dismal years came when the Polish Diet met 
 at Warsaw at the end of September 1767. This Diet, 
 which had been expressly selected, under severe pressure, 
 to equalise the position of the Dissenters, proved rebellious 
 from the first. The country had been thoroughly aroused 
 by the transparently hypocritical professions of Russia, and 
 a wave of religious enthusiasm arose which swept everything 
 before it. " The Faith is in danger ! " was the rallying cry 
 
THE KING AND THE SATRAP 87 
 
 of the Patriots and the Catholics (in the present instance the 
 term was synonymous), and it was only the actual presence 
 of Russian troops which saved the hirelings of Repnin and 
 Podoski from being cut to pieces at the polls. The new 
 Papal Nuncio, Durini, a man who united apostolic fervour 
 with no ordinary diplomatic ability, placed himself at the 
 head of the movement. He brought with him an Encyclical 
 from Pope Clement XIII. which denounced any surrender 
 to the Dissenters. A copy of this Encyclical was sent by 
 Durini to Catherine. " What a lot of fairy-tales the Pope 
 has to tell us ! " she sneered as she turned over its pages. 
 But these " fairy-tales," as they were called in Russia, were 
 regarded as divine oracles in Poland. Durini found a 
 resolute coadjutor in Kajetan Soltyk, Bishop of Cracow, 
 who kept fifteen secretaries busy day and night copying 
 and issuing fiery exhortations to the faithful, which were 
 distributed in every part of the country. The threats and 
 sophisms of Repnin were alike powerless against such a 
 champion as Soltyk. When Repnin haughtily bade the 
 Bishop bridle his tongue for his own sake, Soltyk retorted 
 that he would never keep silent while the interests of 
 religion were at stake. When, resorting to argument, 
 Repnin reminded him that the Poles themselves had in- 
 vited the intervention of the Empress, Soltyk replied : " True, 
 but as an ally. We are not and never have been Russian. 
 We are a free people, and the Empress herself has guaranteed 
 our liberties." This was unanswerable. Repnin could 
 now only suggest to Panin that as Soltyk was a man whom 
 it was impossible to frighten he must be forcibly removed. 
 In the beginning of September the Russian army ad- 
 vanced to within three miles of Warsaw. The 3rd Grenadier 
 Regiment was quartered in the city itself. The dauntless 
 Soltyk thereupon threatened the Russians with a repeti- 
 tion of the Sicilian Vespers. In every church the priests 
 and monks preached uncompromising resistance to Russia, 
 and whenever the Polish ladies happened to meet a 
 Dissenter in public they ostentatiously drew aside their 
 skirts as if to avoid contagion. After all their efforts 
 
88 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 the Russians could only muster fifty deputies in a Diet of 
 some hundreds. 
 
 On the eve of the opening of Parliament (October 4, 1767) 
 the deputies assembled in the Radziwill Palace, where the 
 Nuncio, in a stirring speech, urged them to defend the 
 Catholic Faith to the last drop of their blood. He also 
 forbade any negotiations with the Russian Ambassador. 
 The excitement was extraordinary. Many of those present 
 proposed to settle the question by the drastic expedient of 
 massacring all the Dissenting deputies. Others loudly 
 demanded the withdrawal of the Russian troops. The 
 Diet, they cried, could not deliberate freely while surrounded 
 by Russian guns and Russian bayonets. By this time even 
 the intrepid Repnin was growing anxious. " If I did not 
 know how cowardly these people are I should think some- 
 thing serious was going to happen," he wrote to Panin. 
 " As for the poor King, they have brought him to such a 
 pass that I fear he will be cut to pieces. I shall have to 
 employ the most violent expedients to carry this matter 
 through." These " violent expedients " included the arrest 
 and imprisonment of the deputies Kassakowski and Czacki, 
 who could not be repressed by any other means. 
 
 But even these measures seemed to have no effect, and 
 when the Diet assembled the trembling minority appealed 
 to the Russian Ambassador for protection. Repnin in- 
 stantly hastened to the assistance of his party. He arrived 
 while the uproar was at its height, and forced his way into 
 the crowded House at the risk of his life. " Cease this 
 uproar ! " he shouted ; " or if you will have a row, I'll make 
 a row too, and my row shall be louder than your row." 
 When order had been somewhat restored, the Ambassador 
 expressed his surprise at seeing the representatives of the 
 nation in such an undignified state of excitement and so 
 forgetful of the proofs of the goodwill of her Imperial 
 Majesty. Was it not she who had enabled them to con- 
 federate for the defence of their liberties ? Here he was 
 interrupted by shouts of " We have come together for 
 the defence of the Catholic religion ! " " Well, who 
 
THE KING AND THE SATRAP 89 
 
 prevents you ? " retorted Repnin. " Zeal for the Faith is 
 commendable, but true religion demands fairness to one's 
 neighbours." Cries of " Release Kossakowski ! Release 
 Kossakowski ! " then assailed him from every part of the 
 House. " You'll get nothing from me by shouting," replied 
 Repnin coolly. " Ask gently and politely, and I may, per- 
 haps, do what you require." Then Prince Radziwill ap- 
 proached, chapeau has, and courteously repeated the wishes 
 of the House. Repnin thereupon ordered the kidnapped 
 deputy to be released. 
 
 The Session of October 12 was still stormier. On the 
 motion of Soltyk, the House formally demanded of the 
 Ambassador by whose authority he was committing so 
 many acts of unjustifiable violence. Upon this Repnin 
 resolved to have done with the Bishop once for all. The 
 same evening Soltyk and some other equally irrepressible 
 deputies were seized and sent off to Russia in covered 
 waggons. The resistance of the House thereupon slackened 
 sensibly. Terror had had its effect, and the Diet expressed 
 its willingness to negotiate with the Ambassador. A 
 committee was formed to consider the question of the 
 Dissenters in all its bearings, and, by the end of February 
 1768, the long-pending matter was finally adjusted in ac- 
 cordance with the wishes of the Empress. The Diet was 
 then dissolved. 
 
 The will of a single strong man, determined at all hazards 
 and by any means to do his duty as he understood it, had 
 prevailed against an assembly of nearly four hundred 
 mutinous Polish gentlemen who did not know their own 
 minds. The last independent Diet of old Poland had 
 quailed before the frown of the Russian satrap. But 
 Repnin had not prevailed by force alone. His despatches 
 tell us that he also owed much, very much, to the steady, if 
 secret, assistance of the King. Again and again he insists 
 on the value of the services rendered by Stanislaus. Again 
 and again he insinuates that some recompense is due for 
 such services — some compliance, for instance, with the 
 King's wishes in the, matter of Constitutional reform, some 
 
90 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 small concession on the part of Russia in return for so much 
 compliance on his. Evidently the influence of Stanislaus 
 had been of some weight. But now suppose that the whole 
 weight of that influence had been thrown into the scales 
 against Russia instead of in her favour. Suppose that 
 Stanislaus, as the official leader and representative of the 
 Polish nation, had chosen to oppose Repnin instead of 
 supporting him — what would have happened then ? One 
 thing is certain. Repnin could not have treated the King 
 of Poland like he treated deputies and bishops. He could 
 not have got rid of him by kidnapping or transportation. 
 He would not have dared to do so. The consequences of 
 such a step would have been incalculable. Most probably 
 if Stanislaus had stood firm for reform, well aware as he 
 was that the best part of the nation was with him (Repnin 
 admits as much), the Empress would have been compelled 
 to submit to a compromise which might have benefited her 
 without materially injuring Poland. The establishment 
 of Russia's hegemo^r over Poland would have been 
 quite compatible with the abolition of the liberum veto. 
 Repnin himself would have preferred this solution of the 
 difficulty. " If," wrote he to Panin, " you would make 
 Poland ever so little stable, ever so little useful to you, you 
 must re-establish internal order. ... All the people here 
 who are worth anything desire that domestic affairs at any 
 rate should be determined by a majority of votes. . . . 
 How glorious it would be to make a whole nation happy 
 and enable it to emerge from its anarchy and ruin ! I 
 believe in the possibility of uniting politics with philanthropy. 
 I flatter myself that I should be able to fulfil the wishes of 
 the Empress and at the same time make the Polish nation 
 happy." Catherine refused a compromise because the vacil- 
 lation and weakness of the King had already surrendered 
 into her hands everything she claimed. But suppose he 
 had not so surrendered. Suppose he had stood upon his 
 rights. Suppose he had fought as courageously for his 
 country's liberties as Repnin had fought for his sovereign's 
 glory. In that case things would have been very different. 
 
THE KING AND THE SATRAP 91 
 
 The King, to begin with, would have had a basis for nego- 
 tiation. He would have had something to offer in exchange 
 for concessions from Russia. He could not easily have 
 been ignored or thrust aside. 
 
 Or take the worst possible contingency. Suppose that 
 Catherine had insisted upon absolute surrender, and em- 
 phasised her demand by invading Poland. Even then 
 Stanislaus would have had a last weapon in reserve. He 
 could have abdicated, and at the same time have explained 
 the reasons of his abdication in a manifesto addressed to 
 the Western Powers. We can well imagine how telling his 
 skilful and eloquent pen could have made it. In such a 
 case Catherine would have been placed in an extremely 
 awkward position politically, while her reputation as an 
 enlightened and magnanimous ruler, on which she especially 
 prided herself, would have been severely shaken. Stanislaus 
 would have changed places with her in the good opinion of 
 Europe. All the friends of liberty and equity would have 
 been on his side. 
 
 But Catherine knew her man too well to have the least 
 apprehension of any such heroic demonstration. When, on 
 the eve of his election, she had described Stanislaus to 
 Frederick the Great as " the individual best suited to our 
 purposes," she had summed him up exactly. Stanislaus 
 was not of the stuff of which heroes are made. He was too 
 much of a philosophe for that. He had not faith enough in 
 any one or anything to make sublime ventures. Enthu- 
 siasm, whether religious or patriotic, was disagreeable to 
 him. He called it fanaticism, and had as little to do with 
 it as possible. Prudence and common sense were his pet 
 virtues. But prudence is sometimes only another name 
 for cowardice, while common sense, which generally looks 
 after the main chance only, dislikes risks of any kind. So 
 it was with Stanislaus II. So long as he could save some- 
 thing from the wreckage of his country he was quite content. 
 Nay, he really believed that his conduct, on the whole, was 
 highly creditable to him. His incurable optimism led him 
 to fancy that, somehow, everything would come right in 
 
92 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 the end, with a little patience. Listen to what he says to 
 Madame Geoffrin about the events of the years 1767 and 
 1768 : " The day after to-morrow [October 4, 1767] the 
 Diet will commence ; and what a Diet ! All the others 
 will be nothing in comparison. To keep my head cool I 
 repeat fifty times a day this motto of Fontenelle : ' Never 
 be in a hurry to rejoice or complain ! ' If you were religious 
 I would say to you : ' Pray for me ! ' Oh ! it is a terrible 
 Diet ! " — " It is very vexing to have to live always with a 
 fire-hose in your hands and be walking over hot embers 
 with it. But with patience and courage one gets used to 
 everything. . . . The Empress makes me feel that if she 
 took away her protecting arm I should cease to exist. . . . 
 Meanwhile the Confederates are ravaging my estates and 
 dispersing the few troops I have left. But I always conclude 
 by saying : ' Patience and courage ! ' " 
 
 Patience Stanislaus had in abundance and to spare ; 
 but it is difficult for even the most friendly eye to discern 
 any trace of courage in his conduct during this melancholy 
 period. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 DECADENCE AND DEMORALISATION 
 
 The dissipations of Stanislaus — Proposed Austrian match frustrated by 
 Catherine — " Les petites " and " les bons diables " — Influence in 
 Poland of the women — The old-fashioned grandes dames — Beginning of 
 their political ascendency — The younger ladies of " the Family " — The 
 Princess Isabella Czartoryska — The Princess Elizabeth Lubomirska — 
 " The Sphinx " — Pani Kossakowska and Pani Ozafowska — Frequency 
 of divorce — Influence of the Age of Reason — Typical worldly bishops — 
 Krasicki, Bishop of Ermeland — Krasicki and Frederick the Great — 
 Soltyk, Bishop of Cracow — The Prince-Primate, MichaelPoniatowski — 
 Carelessness and indifference of the Polish prelates — General scramble 
 for the property of the Jesuits in Poland — Depredations of the Bishops 
 of Wilna and Posen — The Confederation of Bar — Outbreak of the 
 Russo-Turkish War — A partition of Poland proposed by Frederick 
 the Great — His reasons for it — Long hesitation of Russia — Territorial 
 losses of Poland by the first partition — Frivolity and indifference 
 of the Poles — Negligence and ignorance of the Polish Government — 
 Suppression of the patriots — Gigantic peculations of the hirelings of 
 Russia — Rapacity of Poninsky — Wholesale jobbery — Poland's one 
 benefit from the first partition is the new constitution 
 
 BY nature, then, Stanislaus II. was the least heroic of 
 men, and the luxurious atmosphere which he 
 breathed, habitually and by preference, was not con- 
 ducive to the cultivation of the robuster virtues. From the 
 moment of his elevation to the throne all the errant and 
 acquisitive Beauties of Poland were as irresistibly attracted 
 to this brilliant Prince Charming as moths are attracted by 
 the light of a candle set upon a lofty pedestal. In this 
 instance, however, it was not the moths, but the candle, 
 which suffered the most. 
 
 The Court of Stanislaus in his earlier days was a sort 
 of miniature of the Versailles of Louis XV. Gallicised 
 
 93 
 
94 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 coquettes in silk and atlas shamelessly pursued the handsome 
 and amiable young King, and plunged him into a whirlpool 
 of excitement and dissipation. It was a delightful existence, 
 but, unfortunately, it was also extremely expensive, and 
 Stanislaus at this time was almost entirely dependent on 
 the generosity of his wealthy but austere uncles, the Prince- 
 Chancellor and the Prince-Palatine. These exemplary old 
 gentlemen naturally objected to throwing their riches into 
 the bottomless sieve of a prodigal nephew's dissipation. 
 They took measures, therefore, to protect both his virtue and 
 their own pockets by endeavouring to contract a sensible 
 marriage for him. The Prince-Chancellor corresponded 
 on the subject with his influential connections at Vienna, 
 and it was arranged at a family council that the King 
 should solicit the hand of the Archduchess Christina from 
 the Austrian Court. Such a union, it was argued with 
 some reason, would benefit Stanislaus both personally and 
 politically. It would compel him to live a more decent 
 and dignified life, and at the same time interest the Austrian 
 Court in his favour, especially if he should become the 
 father of a possible heir to the throne. The plan was kept 
 very secret, for fear of alarming the susceptibilities of 
 Russia, but Catherine soon began to suspect that something 
 of the kind was afoot, and Prince Golitsuin, the Russian 
 Ambassador at Vienna, was instructed to get to the bottom 
 of it. Golitsuin discovered that the prime mover in the 
 affair was the Spanish Ambassador, an impenetrably 
 taciturn man when sober, but confidingly garrulous when 
 in his cups. Golitsuin took his measures accordingly. 
 He invited the Ambassador and the Ambassador's mistress 
 to dinner, plied his Excellency well with liquor, and then, 
 with the assistance of the mistress, who had been bribed 
 beforehand, contrived, in the course of the evening, to 
 extract the secret from him. Catherine was furious at 
 what she considered an ungrateful attempt on the part of 
 Stanislaus to break away from her. The Austrian match 
 was promptly quashed; but Stanislaus, piqued by this 
 high-handed interference, refused to marry a Polish lady, 
 
DECADENCE AND DEMORALISATION 95 
 
 of the great House of Potocki proposed to him as an 
 alternative by the Empress. He preferred his liberty, he 
 said, and remained unmarried. 
 
 After this the private life of Stanislaus became still 
 more disorderly. Pretty Parisian actresses now began to 
 jostle Polish princesses at the merry, recherche suppers 
 given by " the young Telemachus " * in his private 
 apartments to les petites and les bons diables, as he 
 humorously calls the bon vivants of both sexes whom he 
 loved to entertain, and whom he could entertain so ex- 
 quisitely. When his uncles remonstrated with him on the 
 impropriety of his conduct he only shrugged his shoulders. 
 When the Prince-Palatine, who was naturally economical, 
 lectured his nephew on his extravagance and threatened to 
 cut off the supplies, Stanislaus snapped his fingers at him. 
 Henceforth " Telemachus " carefully avoided " Cicero " 
 and " Atticus," as he called his uncles, and kept them 
 ignorant not only of his private amusements, but of his 
 political plans also, which still further incensed them. It 
 was now that he began to run up debts with devil-may-care 
 nonchalance, till his liabilities amounted to some millions 
 of gulden.f The pocket-money with which the Empress 
 supplied him, very irregularly, enabled him to meet the 
 more pressing of his current expenses, but when very " hard 
 up " he was glad to borrow a few extra thousands from his 
 personal friend Prince Repnin, who was much about the 
 same age, and sincerely sympathised with him in his troubles. 
 In extenuation of the King's extravagance it should be 
 borne in mind that he had no fixed civil list at this time, and 
 often suffered acutely from the hereditary niggardliness of 
 subjects who had never been known to maintain their 
 sovereigns adequately or even decently. His dissoluteness 
 may no doubt be excused by the indulgent on the score of 
 youth, and certainly in this respect he was no worse than 
 his cousins, male and female, with whom he was^extremely 
 intimate. This leads us to another question, the influence 
 
 * His nickname for himself in the Geoffrin correspondence, 
 t A Polish gulden = about is. 3d. 
 
DECADENCE AND DEMORALISATION 97 
 
 predominance of the purely personal point of view, is 
 characteristic of feminine politicians all the world over, and 
 the consequences are narrowness and bitterness. It cannot 
 well be otherwise when the political outlook is circum- 
 scribed by family interests and obscured by family prejudices. 
 
 The ladies of the two earlier generations of the Czartoryscy 
 were very exceptional women. They were endowed with 
 the true political temperament, their aims were invariably 
 high and pure, and they did great things in consequence. 
 But their very success was mischievous ultimately, because 
 it established a tradition in favour of the regimen of women 
 within " the Family," a tradition which their daughters 
 and granddaughters attempted to continue, with the most 
 disastrous results. These younger ladies were bound to play 
 a part in the great world. They had inherited, in ample 
 measure, many of the seductive qualities so long hereditary 
 in the united families of Czartoryski and Poniatowski — 
 beauty, grace, charm, and spirit. They exercised quite as 
 much political influence as their mothers and grandmothers 
 had exercised before them. But it was an influence wholly 
 mischievous because no longer directed by wisdom, honour, 
 and conscience and recklessly wasted on personal aims and 
 unworthy objects. But let us examine a few of these 
 grandes dames a little more closely. 
 
 Very few of the contemporaries of Stanislaus II. held such 
 a commanding position in Polish society as the Countess 
 Isabella Fleming, consort of the King's first cousin, Prince 
 Adam Casimir Czartoryski. She was married while quite 
 a child to a pedant, twelve years her senior, whose recondite 
 pastimes she could not share and who treated her as a 
 mere plaything. They spent their honeymoon at Paris, 
 and on their way thither, much to her husband's^amuse- 
 ment, she dressed up as a boy. At Frankfort-on-Maine she 
 was mistaken for Christian VII. of Denmark, who was ex- 
 pected to arrive at the place about the same time. There 
 was some excuse for the blunder as the Czartoryscy travelled 
 with more than regal pomp and the young King of Denmark 
 was of a notoriously effeminate exterior. The burgomaster 
 
 G 
 
98 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 and town-council went so far as to pay a visit of ceremony 
 upon "His Majesty" at the hotel of the Czartoryscy, and 
 were only convinced of their mistake by the appearance on 
 the balcony of the supposed King in a ball-dress. The 
 Princess Isabella was a true child of the eighteenth century. 
 She aimed at being the Queen of Polish society and her 
 country mansion at Powanzka well deserved the name 
 of the Polish Trianon. Here, in her magnificent 
 gardens — horticulture was the one science which she 
 had mastered — she entertained hundreds of guests 
 disguised as shepherds and shepherdesses, gods and 
 goddesses, herself the gayest and most enchanting of the 
 company. Just before her marriage a severe attack of 
 small-pox had severely pitted her face and robbed her of 
 her wonderful hair. No one then imagined that she would 
 become one of the most beautiful women in Poland. She 
 was a reckless, impetuous hoyden in those days, caring for 
 nothing but pleasure and excitement, and indiscreet to the 
 verge of folly. But she had a good heart and there is not 
 a word of truth in the infamous calumnies which insinuated 
 that she was the mistress, simultaneously, of her cousin King 
 Stanislaus and his friend, Prince Repnin.* In her later 
 years, as we shall see, she plunged into politics on the 
 ultra-patriotic side ; but she had no talent that way, and, 
 always with the best intentions, did much harm. But she 
 was neither a philosophe nor a blue-stocking, and frankly 
 expressed her utter repugnance for art and literature, a 
 confession which required some courage in those days. 
 
 Over her husband she possessed not the slightest influence. 
 He was, all his life long, the political tool of his clever, 
 masterful sister, the Princess Lubomirska, a woman of a 
 very different type. 
 
 The Princess-Marshal Elizabeth Lubomirska was the 
 daughter of the Princess Sophia Czartoryska (the lady of 
 the barrels of goldf) and inherited no small share of her 
 
 * The same scandalmongers, with as little show of reason, attribute 
 the paternity of her illustrious son, Prince Adam George Czartoryski, to 
 the Russian ambassador. f Chap. ii. 
 
DECADENCE AND DEMORALISATION 99 
 
 mother's enormous fortune. " Aspasia," as the King 
 jocosely called her, aspired to be the political oracle of 
 " The Family." She had great force of character and 
 considerable ability, but her extreme vindictiveness always 
 got the better of her judgment. Thus instead of keeping 
 " The Family " united and consequently formidable, as 
 heretofore, she eventually broke it up altogether by alien ting 
 both her husband and her brother from her cousin, the King, 
 whom she detested. As, however, the King had a far 
 sounder judgment and a far clearer intellect than any of his 
 relations, except his own brother, the Primate, the con- 
 sequences of the Princess Elizabeth's determined opposition 
 to everything he did or meant to do were most disastrous 
 to herself, her family and her country. 
 
 Anyhow, the virtue of the Princess Lubomirska was in- 
 vulnerable even to the poisoned darts of scandal. As much 
 cannot, unhappily, be said for another equally great lady 
 who frequently appears in the King's private correspondence 
 under the sobriquet of " The Sphinx." This was the 
 Princess Sapiezhna, consort of Prince Sapieha, Palatine 
 of Mscislawl. In her earlier years the Princess was one of 
 the King's many mistresses (her husband previously went 
 abroad by special arrangement) and by far the most ex- 
 pensive of them all. Always gambling heavily, constantly 
 in debt, never with a penny to spare though thousands 
 passed through her hands, she was so extravagant that the 
 King had, at last, to get rid of her, to save himself from 
 being ruined outright. She revenged herself by becoming 
 his political opponent. Unfathomably crafty (hence, per- 
 haps, her nickname) and diabolically malignant, she em- 
 ployed her hirelings and creatures at the Diet to obstruct 
 the royal measures on every occasion till Stanislaus began 
 to think it would have been less costly to have retained 
 " The Sphinx " as his friend. It was in consequence of 
 this lady's unscrupulous victimising of French peeresses 
 at play, that Stanislaus, at the earnest solicitation of the 
 French Government, issued a rescript forbidding French 
 visitors to Poland to lend any money to Polish ladies. 
 
ioo THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Still more dangerous, if possible, in different ways, were 
 two other leaders of Polish society, Pani Kossakowska, wife 
 of the Castellan of Kamieniec, and Pani Ozarowska, widow 
 of the Castellan of Woynic. The former was generally 
 dreaded for her mordant witticisms and amusing but scan- 
 dalous letters, which stuck at nothing and spared nobody. 
 The latter richly provided for a whole army of poor re- 
 lations by bestowing her favours on five successive Russian 
 ambassadors. 
 
 It must not be supposed, however, that all the Polish 
 women were quite so abandoned as Pani Ozarowska. Cer- 
 tainly the court-ladies were not remarkable for extreme 
 austerity of manners, but they were light rather than 
 corrupt. The most disquieting feature of the Stanislavan 
 age, from a moral point of view, was the ease and frequency 
 of divorce. Even the daughters of the virtuous Prince- 
 Chancellor were divorced so often that they were said to 
 have gone the round of the Polish peerage. Gustavus 
 Maurice Armfelt, the friend and favourite of Gustavus III., 
 was one day in a select salon at Warsaw where out of twenty- 
 five noble married ladies present no fewer than fourteen were 
 living apart from their husbands. Armfelt's own liaison with 
 
 the Countess D , a married woman, is characteristic of 
 
 the time and place. The first billet-doux containing the 
 words, " Je ne serai qu'a toi," was thrust into his hands 
 at church, the lady subsequently explaining that she regarded 
 a promise made " in the Temple of the Lord " as the more 
 binding. Let us add that the first assignation was made in 
 the chapel of a monastery, the walls of which Armfelt had 
 to scale at midnight. On the other hand, it should never 
 be forgotten that in so decentralised a Government as 
 Poland the influence of the Court was relatively limited and 
 confined almost entirely to the capital. In the country 
 the ladies were very much what they had ever been, quiet, 
 modest, strenuous house-wives, ignorant of the new ideas 
 and of the strange practices thence ensuing. 
 
 For it was the spirit of the age which had affected the 
 upper circles of Polish society so deleteriously. The Age 
 
DECADENCE AND DEMORALISATION 101 
 
 of Reason had included Religion and Morality amongst the 
 obsolete prejudices which must be got rid of because they 
 barred the path of Progress. The intellectual leaders of 
 the day were terribly afraid of being thought religious — it 
 was so out of date. This moral invertebrateness was most 
 painfully evident where it might have been least expected 
 in so Catholic a country as Poland — among the Prelates. 
 I am not speaking now of mere robbers and scoundrels like 
 the Primate Podoski, or Mlodziejowski, Bishop of Posen, 
 or Massalski, Bishop of Wilna, whom every honest man, 
 whatever his creed, could not but regard with loathing. I 
 am speaking now of prelates of the better sort, men of good 
 repute and sterling qualities, like Krasicki, Bishop of Erme- 
 land Soltyk, Bishop of Cracow, and Turski, Bishop of Luczk. 
 Ignaty Krasicki, Bishop of Ermeland, was the first 
 eminent Polish writer of modern times. A great wit, a great 
 humourist, a great satirist, even a great moralist, he was 
 everything that is great except a great bishop. He borrowed 
 largely from the best French models of the lighter sort 
 without ever losing his own originality. He was the oracle 
 and the delight of contemporary literary circles. A whole 
 generation was trained up to repeat, daily, his national 
 anthem, " Swienta milosc kochanej ojczyczny,"* instead 
 of its prayers. As an author of vers de societe he has rarely 
 been equalled. Perfect taste was the hall-mark of his 
 refined and exquisite talent. As a satirist he delighted all 
 men and offended none. His usual weapon, a delicate 
 irony, was never known to wound, irritate, or even disquiet. 
 And yet, though always gentle, he never flattered. Like 
 Goethe, with whom he has often been compared, Krasicki 
 kept absolutely aloof from politics. Nothing in the world 
 ever seemed to put him out so long as he could enjoy, at 
 his ease and in moderation, the society of quiet, appreciative 
 people of culture and breeding. He was just as gay, just 
 as self-contained, just as suavely dignified when his country 
 was bleeding to death before his very eyes as when, twenty- 
 five years earlier, he was preaching platitudes to an amused 
 * Oh, sacred love of our dear Fatherland. 
 
102 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 and indifferent court. In his youth he was a personal friend 
 of Voltaire, Diderot and d'Alembert. In his old age he was 
 the associate and literary counsellor of Frederick the Great. 
 Numerous are the recorded bon-mots with which he enlivened 
 the round table of the Princess-Marshal Lubomirska at 
 Willanova, where he was always an honoured guest. Kra- 
 sicki's most characteristic witticism, however, is, perhaps, 
 the. repartee with which he mildly rebuked the levity of 
 Frederick under whose jurisdiction his sadly reduced and 
 mutilated diocese passed after the First Partition. " Well, 
 well, Bishop," cried the philosopher of Sans Souci after a 
 more than usual risque sally, " anyhow, when I die, you 
 must contrive to smuggle me into Heaven under your cloak." 
 " Alas ! Your Majesty," replied Krasicki, " you have 
 clipped my cloak so short that to conceal anything con- 
 traband beneath it would be impossible." 
 
 Kajtan Soltyk, Bishop of Cracow, was a man of quite a 
 different stamp, but every whit as unapostolic. The son 
 of the Castellan of Lubelsk and connected with many of 
 the noblest houses of Poland, he had a brilliant academic 
 career at Rome, attached himself, during the reign of 
 Augustus III., to the dominant faction at the Saxon Court 
 and in 1759 was appointed Bishop of Cracow, the wealthiest 
 See in Poland. Loving luxury and splendour, he lived more 
 like a temporal Prince than like a pastor of Christ's flock. 
 His equipages were superb, his gardens and conservatories 
 swallowed up tens of thousands. He had his own troupe of 
 actors, too, and the gem of his palace was a sumptuous 
 theatre. He was also something of a musician, and fre- 
 quently played the clarionet in his own orchestra. A true 
 patriot and an ardent politician, he became, as we have 
 seen, the most daring and determined adversary of Russia. 
 His vehement martial eloquence constrained the Szlachta 
 to follow him blindly, generally to their own hurt and harm, 
 for Soltyk was far too passionate and headstrong to be a 
 safe guide. Nor was his patriotism, genuine enough so far 
 as it went, of the right kind. An aristocrat from top to toe, 
 it was the liberties and privileges of his order for which he 
 
DECADENCE AND DEMORALISATION 103 
 
 mainly fought. In his later years he displayed a sudden 
 enthusiasm for building and restoring churches and made so 
 free with the revenues of the Diocese of Cracow for this 
 purpose that the Chapter brought a restraining action 
 against him, in the course of which he was found to be 
 hopelessly insane. 
 
 The best of the Stanislavan Bishops was the King's 
 brother, Michael Poniatowski, Podoski's successor in the 
 Primacy. Prince Michael was the only Polish Bishop of 
 whom the Papal Legate Garampi could report favourably. 
 The highest tribute to his character is, perhaps, the awe in 
 which his contemporaries held him. The soft and luxurious 
 Polish Court complained that the Primate Poniatowski was 
 an austere man, hard, stern and unyielding. There were 
 others who blamed him for what they called his eccentricities, 
 e.g., making vaccination (which he recommended) the subject 
 of one of his pastorals, and directing his clergy not to marry 
 any peasants till they had learnt their catechism thoroughly. 
 But though far more feared than loved, he was universally 
 respected. His authority in ecclesiastical affairs, always 
 great, was, at last, paramount, and his rigid discipline did 
 much to strengthen and purify the church. Though con- 
 sidered niggardly, he spent large sums of money in training 
 young priests, whom he sent abroad to learn the principles 
 of diocesan administration under the strictest of the foreign 
 bishops. His candidates invariably justified his choice of 
 them, for he possessed, in an unusual degree, his brother's 
 gift of discernment, and, like him, was altogether free from 
 aristocratic prejudice. As Primate he worthily maintained 
 his official position as the First Dignitary in the Realm. 
 Indeed, once, on St. Michael's . Day, he made his solemn 
 entry into Lowicz with such pomp and splendour that the 
 King complained that Prince Michael was depriving him of 
 all his credit. Yet, to the honour of them both, the brothers 
 remained inseparable friends and allies. In political affairs, 
 indeed, Prince Michael was by far the ablest and most 
 courageous counsellor of Stanislaus II. Had his advice 
 always been followed, Poland might have been saved from 
 
104 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 destruction even at the eleventh hour. He was equally 
 influential at the Courts of St. Petersbury and Vienna, and 
 Catherine II. corresponded with him, on purely political 
 matters, even more frequently than with the King. Michael's 
 statesmanlike instinct firmly grasped the essential and 
 indisputable fact that, after the First Partition, the only 
 hope for Poland was an intimate alliance with Russia, and 
 from this standpoint he never swerved for an instant. 
 
 It was not, however, till the latter part of the reign of 
 Stanislaus II. that the influence of Prince Michael Ponia- 
 towski became paramount. A decennium earlier, the con- 
 dition of the Polish church, during the Primacy of Podoski, 
 is thus alluded to in the reply of Pope Clement XIV. to the 
 letters of the Nuncio Garampi : " Your ciphered despatch 
 informs us that the state of religion and of the church in this 
 unfortunate country is deplorable. What especially disturbs 
 us is not so much the plans of the foreign ministers* as the 
 carelessness and indifference of the Catholics and especially 
 of the Bishops. We exhort the more patriotic of the Bishops 
 not to come forward prominently for the sake of personal 
 grievances however real and important, but to recollect 
 that they are Catholics first and Poles afterwards." On 
 October 16, 1773, Clement, by the Brief "Dominus ac 
 Redemptor Noster," dissolved the Jesuit Order. In Poland 
 the Jesuits possessed a hundred and thirty houses and had 
 accumulated great wealth. Upon this treasure the Primate 
 Podoski and his Bishops fell, to use the words of a contem- 
 porary " like wolves upon their prey." Modziejowski, Bishop 
 of Posen, in league with the Vice-Treasurer, Adam Powinski, 
 seized 380,000 guldens' worth of silver in Poland and 170,000 
 guldens' worth in Lithuania, besides plate valued at one 
 million and a half, all formerly the property of the Order. 
 Massalski, Bishop of Wilna, took 600,000 guldens' worth 
 more. The final distribution of thirty-two and a half 
 millions worth of property of all kinds, the estimated total 
 value of the Jesuits' possessions in Poland, was in the hands of 
 ten people, one half of whom were ecclesiastics, who hastened 
 
 * For the partition of Poland. 
 
DECADENCE AND DEMORALISATION 105 
 
 to dispose of it as quickly as possible in case inquiries might 
 be made. Innumerable monstrances, chalices, pyxes and 
 other consecrated vessels were sent direct to the Mint to 
 be coined. No wonder that the Nuncio was scandalised. 
 He reported that the Vice-Treasurer and the Bishop of 
 Wilna had collected between them and hidden in their 
 houses hundreds of precious vestments, encrusted with 
 gold and precious stones, under the pretext of taking care 
 of them. Much of the altar plate from the churches was 
 melted and re-cast into stirrups, spurs and other equine 
 trappings. The Pope was also informed of the shameful 
 appropriation of funds which were to have been set apart 
 for education and the endowment of poor parishes. " The 
 Bishops," wrote Garampi, " are by far the worst offenders, 
 especially the Bishops of Wilna and Posen." The latter 
 prelate, by the way, had worn threadbare the seats of the 
 velvet arm-chairs in the Warsaw gambling saloons, but had 
 not set foot in his diocese for years. He thought nothing 
 of losing half a million livres at a sitting. 
 
 And this wholesale spoliation was contemporaneous with 
 a catastrophe which should have shamed and sobered every 
 Pole who still had any stake in his country or any feeling for 
 her. On September 18, 1773 , by the First Partition treaty, the 
 Republic was forced, at the point of the bayonet, to sacrifice 
 nearly one-third of her territory and more than one-third of 
 her population. How this unique event came about must now 
 be briefly described. It is a curious and suggestive story. 
 
 At the beginning of 1768 it was reasonable to suppose 
 at St. Petersburg that the vexatious Polish question had, at 
 last, been disposed of. Repnin had been very handsomely 
 rewarded; the Polish Diet had been dissolved after doing 
 everything which Russia required of it ; the Russian troops 
 had quitted Warsaw and were about to quit the kingdom 
 altogether ; when, early in March, tidings reached Warsaw 
 of disturbances in the remote palatinate of Podolia on the 
 Turkish frontier. The history of this obscure rising, which 
 was to bring about one of the most momentous changes of 
 modern times, was as follows. 
 
io6 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 On February 29, 1768, two score or so of country gentlemen, 
 some hundreds of peasants, and a few priests and monks, 
 assembled at the little fort of Bar under the banner of the 
 Blessed Virgin, formed a Confederation to protest against 
 the anti-Catholic resolutions of the lately dissolved Diet. 
 Without any influence, or organisation, the Confederation 
 of Bar appeared, at first sight, insignificant enough. It 
 owed its real importance to the fact that it was a genuine 
 popular rising inspired by a patriotism and a devotion 
 utterly unknown to the official classes of Poland. 
 
 Its consequences were momentous and far-reaching. 
 The original Confederates were, indeed, easily scattered by 
 the Russian troops ; but, stamped out in one place, the 
 conflagration quickly burst forth again in half a dozen other 
 places, and, at last, the whole Republic was, as Repnin put 
 it " ablaze with the fire of Bar." At the end of 1768, a 
 band of Cossacks, in pursuit of the Confederates, crossed the 
 border and destroyed the Turkish town of Galta, whereupon 
 the Grand- Vizier, already seriously alarmed by the recent 
 events in Poland, delivered an ultimatum to the Russian 
 Ambassador Obryezkov, threatening war unless the Empress 
 instantly cancelled the guarantee treaty with Poland and 
 withdrew her troops from the territories of the Republic. 
 On refusing to comply with these demands, Obryezkov was 
 thrown into the Seven Towers and a Turkish army of 
 20,000 men was despatched to the Danube. 
 
 Catherine was seriously embarrassed. Unable to prevent 
 the inconvenient and unexpected outbreak of the First 
 Turkish War which absorbed, for the time, all her forces, 
 she was forced to make some concession to Poland. On 
 March 31, 1769, Repnin was superseded by Prince Michael 
 Volkonsky, whose instructions' were to be passive, con- 
 ciliatory and pacific. The supersession of Repnin was a 
 mistake. The exchange of ambassadors necessarily implied 
 a change of system and therefore raised false hopes in Poland. 
 Fortunately for Russia, the extreme weakness of the 
 Republic minimised the consequences of this blunder. 
 Stanislaus was so poor that he was glad to borrow 10,000 
 
DECADENCE AND DEMORALISATION 107 
 
 ducats from Volkonsky soon after his arrival, while the 
 Grand-Hetman, Rzewuski, accepted 3000 more in order to 
 put the lilliputian Polish army on a war-footing. Neverthe- 
 less, it soon became quite clear that neither the King nor 
 the Czartoryscy were inclined, if circumstances improved, to 
 submit to Russian dictation as heretofore. When Volkonsky 
 asked Stanislaus whether he imagined he could keep his 
 throne without the assistance of the Empress, the King 
 simply shrugged his shoulders. The Senate, too, at the 
 suggestion of the Czartoryscy, after despatching an embassy 
 to St. Petersburg complaining that the treaty of 1768 had 
 been extorted by the violence of Repnin, endeavoured, by 
 diplomatic means, to secure the good offices of Great Britain 
 at Stambul, and assured the Porte, by a special envoy, that 
 the Republic would remain neutral during the war. 
 
 It was only now, when Poland seemed about to break 
 with Russia, and Russia herself was immeshed in the Turkish 
 imbroglio, that the partition project, which had long been 
 in the air, suddenly became a cardinal political factor. 
 
 As early as the end of 1768 the Courts of Vienna, Ver- 
 sailles and Copenhagen had become aware that the King of 
 Prussia was about to " compensate " himself, at the expense 
 of Poland, for the subsidies he was bound, by treaty, to 
 pay to Russia on the outbreak of the Turkish War. The 
 first Partition scheme, of whichFrederick was the real author, 
 was sent to Count Solmes, the Prussian Ambassador to 
 St. Petersburg, at the beginning of 1769. Panin, however, 
 was not particularly pleased with it. The territory of 
 Russia, he said, was already so vast that he doubted whether 
 it would be any advantage to her to increase it. As a 
 matter of fact, he preferred to keep Poland completely 
 Russianised but intact and semi-dependent. Frederick 
 was profoundly irritated. He wanted an accretion of 
 territory sufficient to counterpoise any possible acquisitions 
 of Russia from Turkey, and, above all, he wanted it without 
 the risks of war. The Frederick of 1769 was a very different 
 man from the Frederick of 1741 or 1756. The terrible 
 experiences of the Seven Years' War had converted the 
 
108 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 brilliant and unscrupulous adventurer into a cautious, 
 almost timorous statesman, whose invincible machophobia 
 coloured the whole policy of his later years. Of Russia he 
 was especially afraid, while Poland, then, what Turkey is 
 now, the sickman of Europe, seemed expressly at hand to 
 adjust all differences and reconcile all ambitions. The only 
 question was : which of the Powers should benefit by the 
 partition and how ? The Court of Vienna considered it 
 disadvantageous for Austria to transgress her natural 
 north-eastern boundaries, the Carpathians, by annexing 
 the Polish lands beyond ; but was quite willing to allow 
 Frederick a free hand in that direction if only he, first of 
 all, restituted Silesia. Choiseul, the French Minister, of 
 Foreign Affairs, in order to anticipate what Panin called 
 '* the sordid designs of the King of Prussia," suggested that 
 Austria should take the first step and appropriate as much 
 of Polish territory as she wanted — and Choiseul was, os- 
 tensibly, the friend of Poland. Even the Porte, which had 
 actually taken up arms in defence of the Republic, proposed 
 (1770) that Austria and Turkey should partition Poland 
 between them to circumvent Russia and Prussia. 
 
 Joseph II.'s fear and jealousy of Frederick the Great, and 
 the ambition of the aged Austrian Chancellor, Prince 
 Kaunitz, to go down to history as a famous acquisitor of 
 territory, were the causes of Austria's final adhesion to the 
 partition project. Her new understanding with Prussia 
 on the subject was cemented at the conference between 
 Frederick, Joseph, and Kaunitz, at Neustadt in Bohemia, 
 at the beginning of September 1770. Immediately after- 
 wards, Austria formally annexed the Zips Counties, a district 
 in North Hungary which had been mortgaged to Poland in 
 14 12 and never redeemed. The occupation of Zips was 
 followed by the mission of Prince Henry of Prussia to St. 
 Petersburg to accelerate the adhesion of Russia to the 
 partition project. Catherine, however, resented being 
 hurried into a compact for which she had no great relish ; 
 but, at the end of December, she showed Prince Henry that 
 she had penetrated the designs of his brother by hinting, 
 
,«-£.» Vi. ,J ., 
 
 THE PARTITION OF POLAND 
 
 ON THE RIGHT FREDERICK II AND JOSEPH II, ON THE LEFT STANISLAUS II AND CATHERINE II 
 
DECADENCE AND DEMORALISATION 109 
 
 facetiously, that as Austria had already seized Polish 
 territory, Prussia might just as well follow suit. It is 
 highly probable that the project of the First Partition was 
 settled with Prince Henry ; but it is evident that Catherine 
 and Panin would have spared Poland as much as possible. 
 On the other hand, though Frederick was quite capable of 
 seizing Polish territory as unceremoniously as he had seized 
 Silesia, he was not insensible to the outcry which such an 
 act of political brigandage might call forth. It was necessary 
 that the spoil should be shared with the two Empires. 
 Common action would be the safest course in the present 
 and the best guarantee for the future. But the Russian 
 Government had still some scruples of honour and held back. 
 In February 1771, Panin, in reply to an impatient reminder 
 from Potsdam, informed the Prussian Minister, Solmes, 
 that the Empress had so often and so solemnly guaranteed 
 the territorial integrity of the Republic that the open 
 violation of that principle must produce, everywhere, the 
 most unpleasant effect. He added that Frederick's sug- 
 gestion that Russia should compensate herself in Poland 
 for losses sustained elsewhere was regarded at St. Petersburg 
 as " brutal and offensive." It was not till the end of May 
 that Catherine, yielding to fresh pressure, instructed Panin 
 to carry out the details of the partition. 
 
 Poland, meanwhile, was the only country in Europe 
 where there was still no suspicion of the impending partition. 
 Stanislaus and the Czartoryscy naively imagined that the 
 Republic was far too essential a part of the continental 
 system to be dealt with thus summarily. Even when 
 military cordons began to be formed along the Netze by 
 Prussia and on the Galician frontier by Austria ; even when 
 the suave and courtly Volkonsky was superseded by the 
 brutal Saldern and the sarcastic Stackelberg, they failed 
 to discern a fresh change of system at the Russian Court, 
 and obstinately shut their eyes to facts. On September 7, 
 1771, Stackelberg presented the partition project to the 
 Polish Ministers. In their utter helplessness, they could 
 only fall back on passive resistance and procrastination. 
 
no THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 At the end of October the Russian Ambassador put fresh 
 pressure on the King. Stanislaus, characteristically, fell 
 a posing and haranguing. He cited all the classical ex- 
 amples of fortitude in adversity that he could call to mind. 
 He vowed that he would imitate those examples. Stackel- 
 berg impatiently interrupted him. " Would your Majesty 
 graciously be pleased," he sneered, " to leave Plutarch and 
 antiquity alone and deign to give your undivided attention 
 to the history of modern Poland and of Count Stanislaus 
 Poniatowski." He then warned the King that his political 
 existence depended upon two things, the summoning of a 
 Diet to Grodno to consider the propositions of the Powers, 
 and abstention from all intrigue * in the future. Two days 
 later, Stanislaus made a last desperate effort to save his 
 country by sending a secret embassy to Versailles. All 
 that the Polish envoys brought back with them were polite 
 condolences. There was nothing for it but to submit to 
 the inevitable. 
 
 After innumerable notes and declarations had been 
 exchanged between the three Powers, the definitive treaty 
 of partition was signed at St. Petersburg on August 5, 1772. 
 On September 18, 1773, the miserable shadow of a Diet 
 which assembled at Grodno beneath the protection of 
 Russian bayonets, was forced to confirm it. By the First 
 Partition Poland lost 214,000 square kilometres out of a 
 total of 751,000 ; nearly five millions of her population ; and 
 an annual revenue, in round numbers, of 290,000 Polish 
 guldens. 
 
 Abroad, the partition of Poland was, at first, regarded not 
 merely with indifference but with something like positive 
 relief. The subsequent condemnation of it by the Western 
 Powers was of much later date and due not to moral in- 
 dignation but to political apprehension of fresh aggrandise- 
 ments on the part of Catherine and Panin. In 1773 there 
 was no such feeling. The partition was looked upon then 
 as an equilibrating event making for the peace of Europe. 
 Useless and helpless, Poland was regarded, generally, as a 
 * I.e.-, diplomatic efforts to obtain extraneous assistance. 
 
DECADENCE AND DEMORALISATION 1 1 1 
 
 sort of lightning-conductor diverting the storm from 
 Sweden and Turkey, the maintenance of whose independence 
 and integrity was of much more consequence to the balance 
 of power on the Continent. 
 
 Incredible as it may sound, the persons least affected by 
 this terrible mutilation were those who might naturally 
 have been supposed to suffer most from it — the Poles 
 themselves. At no other period of their history were the 
 Poles so unconcerned and nonchalant as during the evil 
 and miserable period of the First Partition. At the very 
 time when the territories of the Republic were' being torn 
 to pieces, the capital abandoned itself to the most reckless 
 and delirious gaiety. Every week there were half a dozen 
 public assemblies with dancing and concerts, while at the 
 farao tables in the side rooms hundreds of gamblers 
 lost small fortunes every night. While the negotiations 
 preliminary to the signing of the partition-treaty were ac- 
 tually proceeding, every one was trying to get as much 
 enjoyment out of life as possible. Every pretext was seized 
 upon for promoting fresh festivities. The most popular 
 and most frequented entertainments were those given by 
 the ministers and generals of the partitioning Powers. On 
 the name-day of the Grand Duke Paul, General Bibikov, 
 who commanded the Russian troops in and about Warsaw, 
 gave a grand dinner-party, followed by a ball, at his camp 
 at Praga, which was attended by the elite of Polish society. 
 Scores of pretty women of the highest rank, many of whom 
 had the most cogent of all personal reasons for regarding 
 Bibikov as the most amiable and generous of men, danced all 
 night with the young Russian officers. " What I am about 
 to say now," exclaims a contemporary, " may seem well- 
 nigh incredible, but nevertheless, it is perfectly true that 
 people here, generally, know more about the different 
 farao banks, or the latest brands of Hungarian wine, or the 
 courtesans of Warsaw, than about what is actually taking 
 place on the Prussian frontier." "There is no govern- 
 ment in the world," he continues, " like the Polish Govern- 
 ment. Nobody knows what is going on. Nobody has any 
 
H2 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 information. Nobody gives any instructions. Only by the 
 merest accident have the proceedings of the Prussians on 
 the northern frontier come to light." So great, indeed, was 
 the negligence and ignorance of the Polish Government 
 that the King of Prussia tried to take advantage of it by 
 annexing fresh districts to which even the treaty of partition 
 gave him no title. He was promptly brought to book by 
 Panin and compelled to disgorge the uncovenanted spoil ; 
 but so far as the Poles themselves were concerned he might 
 have seized, with perfect impunity, anything he took a 
 fancy to. 
 
 But what could be expected of a Government which was 
 composed, almost entirely, of the hirelings of Russia, 
 scoundrels and swindlers like the Vice-Treasurer, Adam 
 Poninski, Andrzej Mlodziejowski, Bishop of Posen, Augustus 
 Sulkowski, palatine of Kalisz and his brother Antoni, palatine 
 of Gnesen ? For by this time the few honest men had been 
 either removed or silenced. The Grand-Chancellor of 
 Poland, Andrzej Zamoyski, had resigned the great seal 
 rather than sign the partition treaty. His colleague. 
 Michael Czartoryski, Grand Chancellor of Lithuania, had 
 been less scrupulous — and was allowed to retain his high 
 office. The Grand-Hetman, Waclaw Rzewuski, had, at 
 least, the courage to protest. " Had I been here earlier," 
 he said to Stackelberg, " there would not have been so many 
 concessions." " I doubt whether the presence of your 
 Excellency would have made much difference," replied 
 Stackelberg, " but if you had been obstinate , you would 
 only have qualified yourself for obtaining an excellent 
 practical acquaintance with the geography of Kamschatka." 
 On the very rare occasions when the members of the 
 Permanent Committee of the Diet resisted the Prussian 
 claims, the Prussian minister Benoit, threatened to order 
 General Lentulus " to knock off half a dozen heads or 
 so in order to bring the rest to reason." The King who", 
 although powerless for good, took the partition greatly to 
 heart, was rebuked for the " extravagance " of his grief. 
 " Of course you may lament in moderation," observed 
 
DECADENCE AND DEMORALISATION 113 
 
 Stackelberg indulgently, "the Empress has no objection 
 to that." 
 
 The Poles who did the work of the ambassadors of the 
 partitioning powers were treated, as they deserved to be 
 treated, " like dogs or dirt." But this troubled them not 
 at all, as they were allowed, by way of compensation, to 
 fill their pockets out of the public funds at the same time. 
 The rapacity of these jackals almost passes belief. Their 
 great opportunity came when the question of rewarding 
 the partisans of Russia arose. The ninety-four members 
 of the Polish Delegation plundered the Republic ad libitum. 
 They actually made a solemn compact to divide, fairly and 
 equally among themselves, everything they could lay their 
 hands upon. Yet when the actual division began, feeling 
 ran so high that a couple of Bishops reviled each other as 
 rogues and knaves in the presence of the Russian Ambassador. 
 The Vice-Treasurer Poninski was insatiable. Not content 
 with securing for himself the lucrative tobacco monopoly, 
 he bargained with the King for a " gratification " of 800,000 
 guldens and, in conjunction with Sulkowski, appro- 
 priated the exclusive leasing of all the public dancing- 
 saloons, concert-halls and coffee-houses in the capital. He 
 also paid the Russian Ambassador 20,000 ducats for a 
 " constitution " prohibiting the Jews from trading in the 
 capital, and, immediately afterwards, sold to the Jews 
 a " licence " for erecting booths beneath the arches of 
 the city gates at a figure which richly compensated him 
 for his previous outlay. Besides these " privileges " he got 
 " emoluments " to the amount of 400,000 guldens as well 
 as a life pension of 100,000 more. Stackelberg ironically 
 congratulated him and his colleagues on becoming " men of 
 such importance." Not content with these enormous profits 
 Poninski sold the dignity of Marshal of the Permanent 
 Committee to his friend Augustus Sulkowski for an enormous 
 sum. He also forced through the Committee a bill for 
 building a bridge across the river at Warsaw for the ex- 
 press purpose of levying tolls on all vehicles crossing it, of 
 which he was to have the monopoly for ten years. Bishop 
 
H4 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Mlodziejowski was bribed by the Prussian Minister to consent 
 to the imposition of the iniquitous tolls which practically 
 ruined the trade of Dantzic. Measures were " galloped 
 through" the Diet so breathlessly that, very often, the 
 reporters and secretaries had no time to examine their 
 contents, or even recite their titles. Many measures were 
 introduced surreptitiously in direct contravention of the 
 rules of procedure. 
 
 One thing, however, Poland did gain by the First Partition. 
 The new Constitution, drawn up at St. Petersburg, to meet 
 the new requirements of the Republic, and confirmed by 
 the Diet of 1775 was, sentiment apart, far superior to 
 anything of the kind which the Poles themselves had ever 
 been able to devise. The crown continued, indeed, to be 
 elective and the liberum veto was also retained ; yet every- 
 where we trace the ingenious hand of Panin endeavouring 
 to make of Poland as serviceable an ally as the circum- 
 stances would permit. The Executive was entrusted to a 
 Permanent Committee of thirty-six members (eighteen 
 Senators and eighteen Deputies) elected biennially by 
 ballot, and subdivided into the Departments of War, 
 Justice, Foreign Affairs, Police, and Finance, on the model 
 of the old Swedish Constitution overthrown by Gustavus III. 
 in 1772. The King was to preside over the Council, sum- 
 mon the Diet with the consent of the Council, and select all 
 Senators, Ministers and Bishops from a list of three can- 
 didates submitted to him by the Council. For the first time 
 in Polish history the King was provided with a really ade- 
 quate Civil List, and the Chief officers of State with decent 
 though not extravagant salaries. The annual budget was 
 fixed at between thirty and thirty-five millions of Polish 
 guldens. The regular army was to consist of 30,000 men 
 of all arms, a force, by the way, considerably larger * than 
 used to be when Poland was in the plenitude of her power. 
 
 * The old ruszenie pospolite, or militia, was practically useless for 
 serious warfare. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 LE ROI S'AMUSE 
 
 Miseries of King Stanislaus — The Russian Ambassador, Count Stackelberg 
 — Abduction of the King — Improved financial position of Stanislaus — 
 His liberality and extravagance — Amiability and brilliant qualities — 
 Contemporary impressions of him — His residences — The Saxon Palace 
 — Lazienki — The King's mistresses — Lulll — Grabowska — " Todi " — 
 His morganatic marriage — The sorrows of an unpaid librarian — The 
 fifes champUres — The Countess Oginska at Alexandrovna — Morbid 
 social phenomena — " Cranks " and eccentrics — Charlatans and 
 adventurers — Cagliostro — Blackmailers — The King's better qualities 
 — His natural prudence and common sense 
 
 NO one suffered so continuously and so acutely during 
 the period of the First Partition as the unfortunate 
 King. A more sensitive man would have died of 
 pain and shame before the ordeal was half over. A prouder 
 man would have vacated, betimes, a position incompatible 
 with self-respect. Stanislaus stuck to his post, first because 
 he hoped to profit, ultimately, from the situation, and, in 
 the second place, because he really believed that he could 
 best serve his country by remaining where he was. Events 
 certainly justified his expectations in both respects. He 
 emerged from the wretched business richer and more powerful 
 for good than he had ever been before, but he had to pay for 
 these advantages by pocketing meekly all sorts of affronts. 
 First of all he had to put up with the contemptuous in- 
 solence of the new Russian Ambassador, Stackelberg. 
 
 Otto Magnus von Stackelberg came from Courland, a 
 province which has supplied Russia with many of her most 
 gifted diplomatists. He had served a long diplomatic 
 apprenticeship in Spain and at various continental courts, 
 
 "5 
 
n6 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 and was one of the most accomplished of Catherine's ser- 
 vants. He prided himself especially on his powers of 
 repartee and, though naturally good-natured, lived, above 
 all things, to seek whetstones for his wit on those 
 about him. His mordant tongue spared nobody from the 
 King downwards. Personally, Stackelberg was a small fat 
 man who strutted about, on state occasions, with his broad 
 breast literally ablaze with stars and orders. During the 
 greater part of his long residence in Poland (1773-1789) 
 all the world bowed down before the dumpy little Satrap 
 and listened to his lightest word with bated breath. When 
 he entered a crowded saloon every one made way for him 
 obsequiously, and, bowing and smihng, right and left, he 
 would make his way to an arm-chair especially reserved for 
 him at the end of the crowded room, inviting two of the 
 most handsome ladies present to sit down one on each side 
 of him. . On reception-days he used to drive to the Palace 
 in a carriage and six. During the sessions of the Permanent 
 Committee which governed Poland from 1775 to 1788, the 
 President of the Committee, day by day, regularly reported 
 the proceedings to Stackelberg between the hours of five 
 and six in the evening. This time suited Stackelberg best 
 because it was the interval between his two whist parties, 
 one of which he had immediately after dinner and the other 
 just before supper. One day Stackelberg procured the Polish 
 blue ribbon for one of his creatures, Baron Unrich, whom 
 he quizzed about it, unmercifully, the whole evening, till 
 at last even the shameless Unrich was obliged to blush. 
 " You see I can make him red when I like," said Stackel- 
 berg, turning to his partner, Count Potocki. " Yes, and 
 blue, too, your Excellency," replied Potocki. The Am- 
 bassador's whist-table was always surrounded by a large 
 circle of courtiers and sycophants whose faces beamed with 
 pleasure whenever he addressed them. The greatest ladies 
 in Poland would never receive any newly-arrived foreign 
 envoy without first consulting the Ambassador. Stackelberg 
 did not even spare King Stanislaus, whom 1 'he sometimes 
 treated with outrageous insolence. Thus at a levee he would 
 
LE ROI S' AMUSE 117 
 
 deliberately make his way up to the King's chair, without 
 any ceremony, and plant himself before the fire with his 
 legs wide apart, and his hands beneath his coat-tails. Once 
 the King paid him a visit while he was dealing out the cards 
 for a game of farao. On perceiving him, Stackelberg did 
 not even take the trouble to rise from his chair. He simply 
 nodded and pointed to another chair with the words : " Pray 
 be seated, your Majesty ! " and went on playing. This rude- 
 ness seems, however, to have been calculated in order to 
 depress the King and prevent him from being rebellious 
 till the First Partition had been accomplished. After that 
 event, the Ambassador became much more courteous and 
 even amicable towards Stanislaus. During the latter part 
 of his mission, Stackelberg, under instructions from Panin, 
 even worked cordially with the King to put down faction 
 and make the new Polish Constitution fairly workable. 
 
 But even the rebuffs of Stackelberg were gentle caresses 
 compared with the unheard of insolence of Stanislaus' own sub- 
 jects. The patriotic party, as represented by the Confederates 
 of Bar, publicly declared that the assassination of the King 
 would be a meritorious action. In May 1770, they went 
 the length of proclaiming his deposition. But, by this time, 
 the Confederates themselves were at the last gasp. The 
 mere fact that their proclamation of deposition was issued 
 at the Turkish port of Varna was as much a revelation of 
 their impotence as of their indignation. Before collapsing, 
 however, they made a desperate attempt to better their 
 fortunes by kidnapping the King and holding him as a 
 hostage. 
 
 On the evening of November 3, 1771, between nine and 
 ten, Stanislaus was driving home from a dinner-party at 
 the house of his uncle, the Prince Chancellor at Warsaw 
 accompanied by a small escort of mounted heydukes. 
 Suddenly, ten men sprang out upon him from an ambush. 
 A single volley scattered all the heydukes but one, who 
 flung himself between the King and his assailants and was 
 instantly shot dead, besprinkling his master with his blood. 
 At the same time a bullet grazed the top of the King's head, 
 
n8 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 and he was dragged from his carriage, thrust upon a hack, 
 and hurried off at full speed. Fortunately for Stanislaus 
 his captors lost their way in the darkness, and, while wander- 
 ing about the forest of Bielny, were attacked by a Cossack 
 patrol. During the melee, Stanislaus tried the effect of his 
 eloquence upon the confederate who had him in charge 
 and begged the fellow to help him to escape. " I have 
 sworn to my chief, General Pulaski, to bring you to Czech- 
 stochowa, and I cannot break my oath," replied the man. 
 " But," objected Stanislaus, " did not you, seven years ago, 
 also swear an oath of allegiance to me ? " " By Heaven ! 
 your Majesty, I had clean forgotten all about it," replied 
 the simple gentleman. The next moment he was at the 
 King's feet imploring pardon. Stanislaus promised to 
 forgive him if he conducted him to the mill at Mariemont 
 close at hand, from whence the King communicated with 
 General Coccei, the Colonel of the Royal Guards at Warsaw. 
 At five o'clock next morning Coccei brought the King back 
 to town dishevelled, bedraggled and bloody, but otherwise 
 none the worse for his singular adventure. The whole city 
 turned out to meet him with naming torches, and great was 
 the rejoicing when the King assured them that he was 
 unhurt. Many wept for pity to see him in such a plight — 
 without hat, pelisse or boots, and his legs half naked. The 
 first thought of Stanislaus on arriving at the Palace was for 
 the family of the brave heyduke who had sacrificed his life 
 to save his master, and till they arrived he refused to be 
 attended to himself. He also ordered all the doors to be 
 thrown wide open so that every one might see that he was • 
 safe. By this time all the bells were ringing, and soon 
 grateful Te Deums were being sung everywhere in crowded 
 churches. It is quite true that the Confederates had no 
 intention of killing the King, as they might very easily have 
 done half a dozen times over while he was in their hands. 
 But Stanislaus, not unnaturally, could never be persuaded 
 to the contrary. He. sent a brief but vivid account of the 
 mishap to his horrified " maman," which concludes thus : 
 " And now, more than ever, I keep on repeating the words ; 
 
LE ROI S'AMUSE 119 
 
 Patience and Courage ! If it has pleased God to save me 
 by something very like a miracle, doubtless it is because He 
 would make use of me for something in this vale of tears." 
 His optimism was invincible. At the very time when 
 Russian, Austrian and Prussian troops occupied two-thirds 
 of the territories of the Republic and an enormous contri- 
 bution was levied upon the capital, which was paid to 
 prevent the city from being treated like a place taken by 
 assault, he could still be hopeful, almost cheerful in fact. 
 All that haranguing and exhorting could do to put off the 
 evil day as long as possible and obtain " less pernicious 
 terms " was done by the indefatigable and eloquent 
 Stanislaus. He won as many as thirty senators and fifty 
 deputies over to his opinions, and his motion in favour of 
 an appeal to the Western Powers was only defeated by five 
 votes. Then fresh pressure was applied. Sixty Prussian 
 dragoons were quartered in the houses of his brother and 
 uncle, and eleven Russian hussars made themselves com- 
 fortable in the very bedroom of Turcki, Bishop of Plock, 
 one of the most courageous of the Polish prelates, where they 
 smoked their pipes, sprawled over the furniture, and de- 
 manded not only as much as they could eat but recherche 
 wines and liqueurs into the bargain. Yet even now, when 
 he was entirely at the mercy of the three Powers and so 
 hard-pressed as almost to be dying of hunger, he could still 
 write to Madame Geoff rin : " nevertheless, it is necessary 
 to keep up some appearance of tranquillity and sustain, with 
 some sort of dignity, the worst conceivable of rdles . . . and 
 try and secrete some grains of liberty which may sprout 
 up again at a more favourable season." And all this time 
 he was crippled by a rheumatism which flew from limb to 
 limb and by " ces maudits maux des nerfs " of which he so 
 often complains. There was certainly some excuse for the 
 wretched condition of the distracted monarch's nerves. 
 In the period between the signing of the First Partition 
 treaty and the formation of the new government the fortunes 
 of Stanislaus were certainly at their lowest ebb. The 
 government, during these few weeks, was entirely in the 
 
120 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 hands of Podosky, Poninsky, the Sulkowscy, and the other 
 Russian hirelings and parasites who treated the King with 
 undisguised contempt. So bad was their conduct that 
 Stackelberg seemed relatively friendly. Very frequently, 
 the Russian Satrap had to intervene to prevent these 
 harpies from ruining everything, for Panin had secretly 
 instructed him to spare the King and get as endurable 
 terms as possible for Poland. The Sulkowscy, in particular, 
 set no bounds to their insolence. On one occasion they 
 had the face to say to the King in public : " It is all very 
 well for your Majesty to keep a stiff upper-lip for you are 
 safe upon the throne. Your Majesty runs no risk of injury 
 to honour, wealth, or children because you have none of 
 these things already." On September 27, 1773, one of 
 them harangued the King and accused him of ruining the 
 country. The manner of this diatribe was even more 
 offensive than its matter. The speaker went so far as to 
 mimic the words, gestures and even the favourite ex- 
 pressions of Stanislaus, till the unfortunate monarch fainted 
 on the throne and had to be blooded. If he had been a 
 revengeful man he could, a few months later, have turned 
 the tables on his persecutors. The Empress had no in- 
 tention of dethroning him as his enemies had, at first, 
 imagined, and when the new form of Constitution had been 
 definitely settled, it was patent that the King would have 
 very much more influence than he had ever had before, and 
 that his patronage would be considerable. This instantly 
 produced a reaction in his favour. All the native place- 
 hunters and fortune seekers suddenly posed as converted 
 royalists. Those who had proclaimed themselves his 
 irreconcilable enemies on the assumption that the Russian 
 ambassador was against him, now approached him hat in 
 hand, apologised for their former rudeness, and assured him, 
 with tears in their eyes, that they had always had a warm 
 place in their hearts for him. Like the sensible man he was, 
 he took these assurances for exactly what they were worth 
 and proceeded to make the most of a situation which was 
 becoming more and more favourable to himself personally. 
 
LE ROI S'AMUSE 121 
 
 From 1774 onwards, when the First Partition had regulated 
 the affairs of Poland for some time to come, Stanislaus, for 
 the first time in his life, found himself in the delightful 
 position of being able to maintain a court where his brilliant 
 social qualities could shine forth in their full lustre. The 
 revenues of the five most lucrative of the one hundred and 
 twenty-five starosties, or reserved crown-lands, had been 
 assigned to him for his maintenance, and they seem to have 
 yielded him, approximately, 1,200,000 thalers a year. His 
 debts, amounting to four millions of Polish gulden * had 
 also been paid, and he received an additional million for his 
 table, wardrobe, equipages, &c. But no amount of money 
 could ever satisfy the extravagance of Stanislaus Augustus. 
 His whole life long he was a gilded pauper. By 1786 his 
 income had increased to no less than 6,143,000 gulden, or 
 one-third of the total revenue of the Republic, yet his debts, 
 despite the fact that between 1764 and 1786 they had twice 
 been discharged by the State, now amounted to ten millions. 
 It was ever thus with Stanislaus. In proportion as his 
 income increased, his liabilities, instead of diminishing, 
 multiplied till they overwhelmed him altogether. Towards 
 the end of his reign he borrowed largely from abroad. In 
 1790 he owed the Dutch banker, Hope, five millions of 
 gulden, the Warsaw banker, Tepper,f four and a half millions 
 more, while his innumerable private debts, including 700,000 
 for unpaid salaries, totted up to the respectable figure of 
 an additional two millions. 
 
 In fairness to Stanislaus, however, it should be added, 
 that by no means the whole of these enormous sums was 
 wasted on himself and his pleasures. One of his most 
 expensive qualities was his extreme goodness of heart. He 
 could never say no to the miserable even when he suspected 
 them to be impostors — as they very often were. Poor men 
 of letters were his especial care. No fewer than three authors 
 of merit, whom he discovered and protected, became 
 members of his own household. As a Mecamas he made 
 
 * The Polish gulden was equivalent to is. $d. 
 t Tepper went bankrupt in consequence. 
 
122 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 very few mistakes, for he had considerable critical acumen 
 and his literary taste was excellent. His family, too, was a 
 constant and severe burden upon him. For years he was 
 the visible providence of his impecunious brothers and sisters, 
 nephews and nieces. In these cases, moreover, his natural 
 generosity was certainly stimulated by the deep-lying 
 sentiment of family solidarity which, as already indicated,* 
 was, perhaps, the most characteristic feature of Polish 
 society. The King was also very generous to his servants. 
 Thus he paid the debts of his Italian secretary Ghigiotti, 
 amounting to 10,000 ducats ; did the same for his chamberlain 
 Wickede ; and made one of his doctors, when on the verge 
 of bankruptcy, a present of 8000 gulden. Yet he allowed his 
 wretched librarian Reverdil to live on credit for years and 
 was so unpunctual in paying the wages of his lacqueys and 
 footmen that their arrears at last amounted to thousands, 
 a large proportion of which, it is to be feared, was never 
 paid at all. In a word, an appeal to his compassion never 
 failed to move him, but he could never be made to recognise 
 that the prompt payment of just debts was as much a 
 matter of honour and conscience as the discharge of gam- 
 bling obligations, or the bestowing of a promised douceur 
 on a pretty woman. 
 
 It should also be remembered that the political expenditure 
 of Stanislaus was considerable. Every Diet cost him 
 thousands of gulden, for not only had he to purchase his 
 party beforehand, he had also to keep it in a good humour 
 by liberal largesses incessantly renewed. Nor did he ever 
 refuse to respond to the large demands repeatedly made 
 upon him for particular public undertakings. We fre- 
 quently hear of him giving half a million guldens at a time 
 towards the extension of education or the increase of the 
 army. On one notable occasion he even pawned the whole 
 of his fine collection of jewels, including the diamond crosses 
 of the Black Eagle and of St. Andrew, respectively conferred 
 upon him by Frederick the Great and Catherine II., and 
 paid the money into the national exchequer. 
 
 * Chap ii, 
 
LE ROI S'AMUSE 123 
 
 Yet, after making every allowance for private charity 
 and public spirit, it must frankly be confessed that by far 
 the largest part of the King's immense income was swallowed 
 up by the expenses of his court. From the nature of the 
 case this was almost inevitable. Stanislaus had very 
 pronounced sociable instincts. His personal qualities, too, 
 were of the most brilliant and attractive descriptions. He 
 loved the society of the most amusing people of both sexes, 
 and the most amusing people are also, generally, the most 
 expensive. Stanislaus was always the heart and soul of 
 every assembly which he frequented. All foreigners were 
 delighted with him, and even his own countrymen, however 
 they might affect to despise him, were never quite insensible 
 to his glamour. His voice always fascinated the most 
 mutinous. " It was so expressive and yet so gentle," says 
 one contemporary, " that its harmonious tones penetrated 
 every heart." " As his former opponents," says another, 
 " we were, naturally, all very much prejudiced against him ; 
 but at the sight of his stately form, his truly regal majesty, 
 all our prepossessions thawed away like April snow before 
 the sun. I could not feast my eyes upon him sufficiently, 
 there was something so enchanting in the features of his 
 handsome face." Even those memoir-writers who are 
 most inclined to belittle him frankly recognise his social 
 superiority. " If any one," says the hostile Moszczynski,* 
 " wanted to discover for the court of a great monarch a 
 most charming cavalier to keep a salon in a good humour, 
 or to act, with distinction, as a master of the ceremonies, 
 it would be impossible to find any one more suitable for the 
 post than Stanislaus Augustus." And he sums him up as 
 a sort of superior ■prtit-maitre " who loved scholars and, 
 especially, witty and merry versifiers because they incensed 
 him freely." 
 
 This, however, is the record of that bitterest of all enemies, 
 a whilom friend. The more impartial view of the man in 
 
 * Pamietnik. The author, once the King's Chamberlain, had, when he 
 wrote his memoirs, gone over to the opposite camp and was a personal 
 friend of Stanislaus' deadliest enemy, Felix Potocki, 
 
124 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 the street is best represented by the memoires of Kitowicz. 
 In this work, Stanislaus is aptly described as the best 
 possible King for quiet times. His affability, accessibility, 
 patience and good sense are highly praised. He also gets 
 full credit for wit, eloquence, love of learning, enthusiasm 
 for reform, extreme moderation in eating and drinking (he 
 rarely took wine), attention to business, and encouragement 
 of public sports. But he is also, and greatly, blamed for 
 his instability, irresolution, wastefulness, frivolity, and for 
 thinking more of his crown than of honour and duty. 
 Kitowicz is especially severe upon him for looseness of life 
 and hypocrisy as regards religion. " A Catholic by pro- 
 fession but a libertine at heart," is the final verdict. But 
 this Aristarchus is plainly too much of a precisian on this 
 head, for he includes in his somewhat elaborate list of the 
 King's peccadilloes, " a great dislike of sermons " — surely 
 a very venial fault. 
 
 Of the numerous foreign descriptions of Stanislaus, the 
 best, on the whole, is that of the Swedish Minister Lars von 
 Engestrom. It is particularly interesting as a picture of 
 Stanislaus when he was beginning to grow old. 
 
 " The King of Poland has the most beautiful head I ever 
 saw, but an expression of extreme sadness somewhat 
 diminished the beauty of his face. He did not look happy 
 and his hair was already beginning to grow grey. He was 
 broad-shouldered, with a deep chest, and tall with relatively 
 short legs. He had had a splendid constitution, but trouble 
 and his mode of life had undermined it. At this time he 
 was often ailing, and fears were even entertained of his 
 life. ... He possessed all the brilliant qualities necessary 
 to sustain his exalted position with dignity. ... He could 
 speak Polish, Latin, German, Italian, French and English 
 perfectly. His conversation always excited the admiration 
 of foreigners, and he was thoroughly au fait with all the 
 literary and artistic novelties of the day. As a master of the 
 ceremonies he would have done infinite honour to the most 
 brilliant of Courts. He had correspondents everywhere 
 whom he paid most handsomely, and was, certainly, one of 
 
STANISLAUS II, KING OF POLAND 
 
LE ROI S' AMUSE 125 
 
 the best informed of Princes as to the course of European 
 affairs." 
 
 Such a man was naturally at his best when playing the 
 part of host at the " Saxon Palace " at Warsaw or at his 
 favourite chateau, Lazienki. On both of these residences 
 he spent millions for he had very ambitious views on the 
 subject of architecture and took care that the interiors of 
 his houses should not be unworthy of their external mag- 
 nificence. The " Saxon Palace " in the Cracow suburb, 
 had one of the finest sites in Europe. The courtyard, to 
 which there was access from three different streets, was 
 large enough to accommodate an army-corps. During the 
 summer evenings, the grounds, in the style of the Palais 
 Royal, but much larger, were a favourite promenade for the 
 youth and beauty of Warsaw. The great feature of this 
 Palace, when the King had thoroughly restored it, was the 
 marble colonnaded bedroom, between the columns of which 
 hung portraits of kings and heroes, and historical pictures 
 by Canaletti and Bacciarelli, illustrating the past glories 
 of Poland. It also contained a magnificent new audience 
 chamber, the walls of which were covered with the portraits 
 of contemporary sovereigns. In the background glittered 
 a gorgeous throne. The library on the other hand, was of 
 almost classical severity. Its sole ornament was a life-size 
 bust of Voltaire, on the pedestal of which the King had had 
 the following lines engraved : 
 
 " Depuis que j'ai ecrit 
 
 On lit, on vit ; 
 Et Von tolere davantage." 
 
 But the King's favourite home, " the work of his own 
 hands and the better half of his heart " was Lazienki, 
 purchased from the Lubomirscy in 1774, which he was never 
 tired of altering, enlarging and embellishing. So dearly 
 did he love the place that in 1792 he is said to have betrayed 
 his country rather than run the risk of losing it. Hither in 
 the summer months he would flit with a gay company of 
 poets, wits and fair ladies, who attired as shepherdesses or 
 goddesses promenaded with him in its far-extending bowers, 
 
126 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 boated with him on its lakes and canals, and entertained 
 him at fetes champitres amidst its bosques and gardens. 
 Here, too, were an elegant theatre, at which the latest French 
 pieces were acted, and an opera-house. But what the King 
 liked best of all was to train whole bands of peasant girls 
 and their swains to sing the popular songs and dance the 
 national dances before him in their characteristic native 
 costumes in the open air. The King's sumptuous little 
 Thursday dinners were also much sought after by the elite 
 of Polish society. The more splendid entertainments 
 given by Prince Adam Casimir Czartoryski at the Blue 
 Palace, or by the Princess-Marshal Lubomirska at Willanova 
 were, in comparison, very second-rate affairs. They lacked 
 the grace, the finish, the amiability with which Stanislaus 
 alone had the gift of investing everything he took in hand. 
 
 The manners of this butterfly court were exquisite, but 
 of high morality there was not the least pretence. Any 
 affectation of austerity would have seemed supremely 
 ridiculous to this Prince Charming and the ladies whom he 
 delighted to honour. It is impossible to observe a chrono- 
 logical sequence in the innumerable amours of Stanislaus 
 Augustus. The most stable of his liaisons were those with 
 Madame de Lulli and Pani Grabowska. The former was a 
 French emigree Marquise of great charm and beauty. At 
 the age of eighteen she accompanied her aunt to Warsaw 
 and soon acquired such an absolute dominion over the King 
 that she interfered in affairs of State and became a source 
 of emolument and promotion to which many had recourse. 
 She lived in the Cracow suburb, and her equipages and her 
 diamonds were the admiration of the Polish capital. Every 
 penny of the millions, which she banked securely abroad, 
 came out of the King's pocket. Pani Grabowska, subse- 
 quently the King's morganatic wife, was an amiable blonde 
 " with heavenly eyes," and a skin of a whiteness rare even 
 in Poland. She was the only sweetheart of Stanislaus who 
 was sincerely attached to him. She asked nothing from 
 him either for herself or for her friends. She never in- 
 trigued or plotted against him. She shared with him both 
 
LE ROI S'AMUSE 127 
 
 his good and ill fortune and was always ready with salutary 
 and disinterested advice. The King's intercourse with her 
 began during her husband's lifetime. He would have 
 married her privately there and then, but his chaplain 
 refused to perform the ceremony till the lady had become a 
 widow. They were finally wedded, late at night, in the 
 royal chapel, Grabowska's brother and the Primate of 
 Poland being the sole witnesses. After his marriage with 
 Grabowska the King led a much more regular life ; renounced 
 all " les autres petites," and gave himself up almost entirely 
 to affairs of State. Of his still earlier relations with the 
 Princess Sapiezhna, already mentioned, Elizabeth Roz- 
 hanka, and the actress " Todi," who enchanted him with 
 her beautiful voice, it is unnecessary to speak. The usual 
 rendezvous was the studio of the artist Bacciarelli where a 
 great court-lady, Pani Malczewska, used to go through her 
 celebrated " mythological poses," au naturel. 
 
 Perhaps the most vivid and certainly the most amusing 
 description of Stanislaus en deshabille is from the pen of his 
 librarian and lector, the Swiss Reverdil, who saw him from 
 day to day, and was expected, ex-officio apparently, to marry 
 the King's cast-off mistresses whenever called upon to do 
 so. 
 
 Reverdil, very highly recommended, arrived at Warsaw 
 on November 23, 1766. " Enfin je vous tiens ! " cried the 
 King, enthusiastically, at their first interview, whereupon 
 the learned Swiss reflected, complacently, that the Duke of 
 Ferrara had greeted Michael Angelo in the same way. The 
 King instantly led Reverdil into his cabinet and examined 
 him so rigorously in the English language that the librarian, 
 though he seems to have passed creditably through the 
 ordeal, began to wonder whether he would do for the post 
 after all. Stanislaus, however, not only expressed his 
 satisfaction but allowed the young man four ducats a 
 month out of his own pocket for finishing lessons. This 
 was a good beginning, but Reverdil soon discovered that the 
 King's moods were very variable. He was apt to become 
 cross and irritable without the slightest warning, and " though 
 
128 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 very polite to every one, especially to his doctor, Herr 
 Boeckler, and his painter, Bacciarelli, he was often very 
 cranky to me." Twelve months after his arrival, the 
 complaisant lector was induced to marry Mariana Constantia 
 
 L , one of the King's discarded beauties, who was 
 
 packed off to Switzerland immediately afterwards because 
 Reverdil could not afford to keep her. Eight years later 
 Reverdil undertook to wed a second ex-mistress of Stanislaus, 
 Dalilka Ciecierzynika. He had the less difficulty in ob- 
 taining a divorce from consort No. i inasmuch as he had 
 never set eyes upon her since their espousals. " What could 
 I do ? " explains the poor lector apologetically. " I had no 
 prospects for the future, and the fresh obligations I now 
 took upon me seemed to guarantee a source of income." 
 The courting took place among the bosques and alleys of 
 the Saxon Park, but Dalilka gave great offence to the 
 officers of the Guard there by continuing to sport the royal 
 colours, blue and white, as if she were still under the King's 
 protection. A Polish General complained to Stanislaus 
 about this irregularity, and Stanislaus warned Reverdil to 
 be more careful in future about the lady's decorations. Not 
 very long afterwards, the disillusioned Reverdil discovered, 
 to his deep chagrin, that his fresh matrimonial venture was 
 not even a financial success. " My second marriage, which 
 was entirely an act of politeness on my part," he observes 
 pathetically, " instead of proving profitable to me, as I had 
 anticipated, was nothing but a source of contrarieties. I 
 had insisted on the following preliminary conditions : an 
 improvement in my official position, a double number of 
 candles for the library, and twenty ducats a month extra 
 for a horse and carriage. But when I mentioned them the 
 King grew very impatient and threatened me with the loss 
 of his favour if I did not wed the lady without more ado." 
 
 After the marriage Reverdil was constantly in debt, so 
 much so, indeed, that he could get no credit and was often 
 in want of the bare necessities of life simply because his 
 modest salary was never paid regularly. The King oc- 
 casionally made him handsome presents, such, for instance, 
 
LE ROI S' AMUSE 129 
 
 as a fine cabinet containing a collection of all the medallions 
 struck to commemorate the chief events of his reign : " but," 
 cries the unfortunate lector, " what was the good of such a 
 pretty trinket to me ? — it was money that I wanted." 
 The Library for which he was responsible was also a constant 
 source of annoyance. He lived in constant fear of being 
 asked for books which he knew beforehand he would never 
 be able to find. There was nothing wrong with the Library 
 itself. It was, indeed, a fine, spacious room well-furnished 
 with handsome bookcases with glass frames. But the 
 bookcases were neither deep enough nor high enough for the 
 folios and quartos they were supposed to accommodate, 
 while the keys either did not fit the key-holes or had been 
 hopelessly mislaid, so that all the books were heaped in- 
 discriminately on the floor in such quantities that it was 
 difficult to move about the room because of them. Then, 
 too, the King and his friends had the slovenly habit of 
 borrowing odd volumes at odd times and never returning 
 them, so that the unfortunate librarian was at his wits' end 
 what to do. To add to his troubles, the newly-appointed 
 Education Committee suddenly demanded a catalogue of 
 the royal library under the threat of dismissing the librarian, 
 while the King at the same time required " a full report of 
 its present condition." The librarian protested that he 
 had neither a table to write upon nor sufficient candles to 
 see by, and, at last, losing all patience, declared he would 
 rather resign if he could not get an increase of salary. At 
 this outspokenness the King also fired up. " Never speak 
 to me again in that tone or you will lose my favour," cried 
 he. " My wife is ill, she vomits spasmodically and is in 
 torments," protested Reverdil ; " and I am also involved in 
 a costly process with the creditors of her first husband. A 
 pretty marriage I have been inveigled into in the hope of 
 being protected!" "You had better not talk so much 
 about your marriages or people will only laugh at you," 
 retorted the King shamelessly. " All you say is right 
 enough," he continued, " but at present I am not in a 
 position to give you any more salary." " A pretty sort 
 1 
 
130 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 of equity, indeed," comments the lector in his note-book, 
 " when he gives the money, part of which should come to 
 me, to the wives of two other men whose families are already 
 well provided for ! " 
 
 On October 8, 1783, Reverdil had a hard fight with the 
 King on the perennial question of more candles. Reverdil 
 represented that the library was very large, and in the winter 
 months very dark, and that he and three assistants had all 
 to work in it together ; but the utmost that the King would 
 concede were two extra lights. Previously to this there is 
 the following significant entry in poor Reverdil's diary : 
 " Signor Pasiello, the composer, and Signora ' Todi,' the 
 singer, came to the Palace to-day and got from this poor 
 King, from whom I dare not ask a much needed increase of 
 salary, no fewer than 4000 ducats for singing three songs ! 
 or the exact equivalent of what I have been begging and 
 praying for during the last twenty years ! " Finally, 
 Reverdil quitted the service of the King for that of a wealthy 
 American " from whom, at any rate, I do get an allowance 
 which I can live upon." And with that he disappears into 
 the comfortable obscurity of private life. 
 
 But though his poor lectors often remained unpaid, the 
 King could generally find money enough for fetes champitres 
 and other divertissements. Such entertainments were com- 
 mon to most of the Courts of Europe in the eighteenth 
 century, but in Poland they were tinged by a peculiar semi- 
 oriental colouring suggestive of barbarism. The King's 
 penchant for these entertainments was so well known that 
 the magnates of both sexes who hoped for favours from him 
 in return vied with each other in amusing him in this way. 
 Thus, in 1782, Stanislaus was, for several days, magnificently 
 entertained by Pani Oginska, the consort of the Grand- 
 Hetman of the Crown, a lady remarkable for her elegance 
 and taste, at her chdteau, Alexandrowna. Whenever the 
 King took his walks abroad here, nymphs and goddesses 
 would suddenly appear before him among the islands on the 
 river, which flowed through the estate, r and recite verses in 
 his honour. On his return to the chdteau, " a company of 
 
LE ROI S'AMUSE 131 
 
 Chinese merchants on Arabian mules " stopped his carriage 
 and offered him pine-apples and " other products of the 
 Orient." He rested at mid-day in a " Turkish chapel " close 
 beside which was a Mosque where a Mufti saluted him in 
 the Turkish tongue. After lunch, he was conducted to 
 " the grotto of Diana," where the village maidens, headed 
 by the local magistrates, welcomed him with rustic melodies 
 and regaled him with " real Neapolitan ices." Close by 
 stood a little mill, near an artificial cascade, and while the 
 King stood there admiring the scene and conversing with 
 his hostess, a beautiful state-barge came round the bend 
 of the river laden with wine and confections. Another day, 
 after dinner, the whole company took a short promenade 
 which led them into a Venetian fair where, besides the 
 inevitable Turks and Venetians, people of every nation and 
 language were selling their particular wares under the arched 
 colonnades of forty beautiful bazaars. Four yoke of oxen 
 then drew the King in a gala boat to a theatre built ex- 
 pressly for him on an artificial island in an artificial lake. 
 In the evening Pani Oginska received her guests in a barn 
 surrounded by haycocks, while " real peasants " sang 
 their artless ditties in an adjoining hut. On closer in- 
 vestigation, all the surrounding bosques and spinnies were 
 found to be full of shepherds and shepherdesses in picturesque 
 costumes. Finally the King was conducted to a shed where 
 Italian chapmen presented him with a rhinoceros, a 
 leopard, and living marionettes. Here, too, were savage 
 Bashkirs and their women-kind, and gypsies who foretold 
 the future to the King by means of wax and Turkish beans. 
 The entertainment ended with an exciting race between a 
 one-legged Italian buffoon and a tortoise. 
 
 These extravagant and fantastic amusements, so charac- 
 teristic of the times were, after all, morbid and disquieting 
 phenomena. An insupportable ennui, especially observable 
 in those who had been abroad, drove the restless and ignorant 
 upper classes of Poland to kill time and waste money in a 
 • febrile pursuit of sensational excitement. At no other period 
 of Polish history were so many bizarre and eccentric figures 
 
i3i THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 observable as during the reign of Stanislaus Augustus. 
 There was. for instance, Nicholas Potocki,* Starost of 
 Kaniow, whose mad exploits were proverbial and who 
 spent the greater part of his life in scouring the country, 
 with his Cossacks and Heydukes, in search of adventures, 
 always escaping unhurt from the most hazardous escapades. 
 His speciality was Jew-baiting, in which he attained to 
 great proficiency. Prince Karol Radziwill * was another 
 eccentric of the same kidney whose whole existence was a 
 reckless indulgence in the maddest of pranks, yet he was of 
 a most chivalrous disposition and possessed abilities of a 
 high order. But even Radziwill was excelled by Prince 
 Marius Lubomirsky; who ruined himself outright simply 
 because he always would have his little joke cost what it 
 might. This Catholic magnate — whose family had con- 
 tributed so many prelates to the Roman church in Poland — 
 died a Jew. Another original was the ex-Vice Treasurer, 
 Prince Casimir Poniatowski, famous for his subterranean 
 grottos, his colonies of apes, and his sumptuous harems, 
 who was a mountebank to the very last day of his frivolous 
 old age. He had a worthy compeer in the learned Prince 
 Jablinowski who maintained regal etiquette at his " Court " 
 at Nowogrodek. This nobleman dabbled in necromancy 
 and " compelled the very devils to obey him." Pan Godzki, 
 on the other hand, was a mediaeval knight of the Don 
 Quixote order. His beautiful and witty sister, who married 
 the Prince of Nassau-Siegen, was equally bizarre. When 
 her splendid palace caught fire she would not permit the 
 flames tobe put out but watched " the sublime and unusual 
 spectacle " through a telescope from the top of a neighbouring 
 hill till nought remained but a heap of smouldering ruins. 
 Even the Grand-Hetman Branicki, one of the highest 
 dignitaries in the realm, could give points to many professional 
 buffoons in his earlier years. His life was eccentrically 
 disreputable, and in one of his drunken frolics he was shot 
 through the stomach by the adventurer Casanova who 
 would infallibly have been cut to pieces by Branicki's 
 
 * See chap. ii. 
 
LE ROI S'AMUSE 133 
 
 retainers had not that magnanimous nobleman facilitated 
 the escape of his adversary by putting the pursuers on at 
 false scent. In those days Warsaw abounded with char- 
 latans and adventurers of all sorts, attracted thither by the 
 hope of profiting by Polish curiosity and credulity. Most 
 of them found the Republic to be a veritable El Dorado. 
 Their numbers were largely increased, especially just before 
 and during the French Revolution, by hundreds of emigres 
 who were received in the Polish capital, at their own 
 valuation, with open arms. The more respectable of these 
 visitors came in search of heiresses. Thus the Prince de 
 Nassau secured the hand of Pani Godzka ; while the Prince 
 de Ligne, aiming higher still, took unto himself the Princess 
 Massalska and became a naturalised Polish nobleman, to 
 the extreme indignation of the high-aristocratic families. 
 The lesser fry were content to open farao tables, by means 
 of which they amassed small fortunes in an incredibly short 
 time. There were other still more dubious adventurers 
 whose practices are best left unrecorded. No chevalier 
 cFindustrie of any importance failed to visit the Polish 
 capital between 1764 and 1788. Casanova has already 
 been mentioned. Cagliostro made his appearance there 
 in May 1780 on his return from an extraordinarily lucrative 
 expedition to Russia, notwithstanding the fact that Cath- 
 erine II. had denounced him as an impostor and declared 
 that her hands itched to flog him. At Warsaw he first 
 presented himself to the ex-Vice Treasurer, Prince Casimir 
 Poniatowski as a thaumaturgical Egyptian Freemason, and 
 was received into the best circles along with his pretty and 
 witty young wife, as accomplished a rogue as himself. 
 Between them they managed to transfer 10,500 ducats 
 from the pockets of the Polish gentry into their own, and 
 then the Grand Copt and his neophyte deemed it expedient 
 to decamp at midnight with their cabalistic cabinets, their 
 transmutation furnaces, and all the rest of the hocus-pocus. 
 Of the numerous adventuresses who swarmed into Poland 
 about this time the most dangerous was a certain Anna 
 Maria de Nevi, calling herself Maria Theresa, Baroness 
 
?34 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Lautenburg, who was supposed to. have married Major 
 Dogrumow, a Polish nobleman. This lady had, for years, 
 been behind the scenes in the very highest circles. The 
 chronique scandaleuse of the Polish aristocracy was an open 
 book to her, and she resolved to utilise her unique and 
 recondite knowledge by practising blackmail liberally and 
 systematically. She began by approaching, mysteriously, 
 the King's chamberlain, Herr Ryks, and the War Minister, 
 General Komarzewski. She informed them that she had 
 discovered a plot against the King's life, and had the 
 brazenness to insinuate that Prince Adam Casimir Czar- 
 toryski, the King's cousin, and his family, were implicated 
 in the plot. But she had her pains for nothing. Both 
 Ryks and Komarzewski, well aware of the extreme levity 
 of the lady's character, pooh-poohed the whole affair. 
 Even when, subsequently, she offered to produce letters in 
 support of her allegations from one William Taylor, a 
 dependent of the Czartoryscy, they refused to take her 
 seriously. Taylor, by the way, was a needy adventurer 
 who had appeared in Poland a few years before, pretending 
 to be the bearer of credentials from Lord Suffolk which he 
 had got, he said, to enable him to collect a sum of money 
 due to his firm in England from some Polish traders. As 
 however, both " the firm " and " the Polish traders " were 
 pure inventions, it is more than probable that Taylor had 
 forged his own credentials. Be that as it may, Taylor and 
 Dogrumowa seem to have been old acquaintances. They 
 were certainly accomplices in the curious conspiracy they 
 now proceeded to set on foot. Baffled in her efforts to coax 
 money out of the King, Dogrumowa, actuated as much by 
 a desire to avenge herself on Ryks and Komarzewski as to 
 enrich herself at their expense, now went over to the op- 
 posite camp, and informed the Princess-Marshal Lubomirska 
 that a plot had been formed to poison that lady's brother, 
 Prince Adam Casimir Czartoryski, a plot to which many of 
 the King's servants, and very probably the King himself, 
 were privy. This time the adventuress was more successful. 
 Both from Prince Czartoryski, and his sister she met with 
 
LE ROI S'AMUSE 135 
 
 instantaneous and complete credence. The Prince was, by 
 nature, the most credulous of men, while the Princess 
 Lubomirska hated the King so frantically that she was always 
 ready to believe the very worst of him. Yet even she had 
 still sufficient common sense left to ask Madame Dogrumowa 
 for some proofs of her horrible accusation. The lady 
 proposed that Taylor, and Count Stanislaus Potocki, a 
 notorious enemy of the King, should hide themselves in 
 one of the rooms of her house. She would then, she said, 
 invite Ryks and Komarzewski to visit her, and the nature 
 of the ensuing conversation would, at once, reveal beyond 
 all doubt, the existence of the plot. Prince Czartoryski — 
 a man of honour — revolted, at first, against lending himself 
 to such vile eavesdropping. He offered the woman, whose 
 character he knew to be shady, 200 ducats if she would 
 confess that the whole affair was a mystification. But 
 Dogrumowa, who wanted much more than a paltry 200 
 ducats, persisted in her accusation, and the Princess Lubo- 
 mirska insisted that her brother should see the thing out. 
 Accordingly, on January 16, 1785, Dogrumowa enticed 
 Ryks and Komarzewski to her house on the pretext that 
 she had received fresh and startling evidence of the conspiracy 
 against the King, first taking the precaution to conceal 
 Taylor and Potocki behind the folding doors. Then she 
 alluded so dexterously to the plot of poisoning the King 
 that the hidden listeners, who could hear but indistinctly, 
 imagined she was referring to the plot of poisoning Prince 
 Czartoryski, with the details of which Ryks and Komarzewski 
 appeared to be surprisingly familiar. At a given signal 
 Taylor rushed out upon the unsuspecting Ryks. Potocki 
 followed him just in time to receive into his arms the fainting 
 form of Dogrumowa who pretended to be overpowered by 
 her emotions. That evening the opera " King Theodore " 
 was being performed at the Warsaw Opera House. In 
 the middle of the piece a whisper ran through the stalls that 
 an attempt had been made to poison Prince Czartoryski 
 and that one of the royal chamberlains and the King's 
 favourite general were under arrest. The consternation 
 
136 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 was general. On quitting the Opera House the people 
 either flocked to the Palace or assembled at the mansion of 
 the Countess Oginska where they remained all night dis- 
 cussing the terrible affair. Early next morning Te Deums 
 were sung in many of the churches for the miraculous escape 
 of the Prince, and " the Family " sent couriers with the latest 
 information to all the Courts of Europe who were interested 
 in their welfare. The Prince was ill-advised enough to 
 bring an action against Ryks for attempt to poison, where- 
 upon Ryks brought a counter-action against the Prince 
 for defamation of character, while Ryks and Komarzewski 
 brought a joint similar action against Dogrumowa and 
 Taylor. A process as ridiculous as it was scandalous now 
 began. The whole Republic was divided into two factions, 
 one of which sympathised with the King, the other with 
 Prince Czartoryski. A most rigid and impartial investi- 
 gation brought to light the true character of the infamous 
 Dogrumowa and her disreputable connection with Taylor. 
 It was proved to demonstration that the poison-plot, from 
 beginning to end, was a pure fabrication of the female 
 defendant. After being branded at the pillory, she was 
 condemned to a lifelong imprisonment, while the documents 
 containing her false charges were burnt by the common 
 hangman. The Czartoryscy were overwhelmed with shame 
 and confusion. The Princess Lubomirska, but for whose 
 vindictiveness the affair would have died a natural death, 
 migrated to Paris for a time to escape ridicule, while Prince 
 Adam, whom every one but his own clique blamed for his 
 almost criminal gullibility, hid his head for a time among 
 the books and bowers of his charming country mansion,- 
 Pulawy. 
 
 The Dogrumowa affair, insignificant in itself, had de- 
 plorable political consequences. It increased the personal 
 tension already existing between the King and the Czar- 
 toryscy, exacerbated their public antagonism, and was 
 indirectly responsible for the fierce; opposition which they 
 offered to his serious and salutary projects of reform during 
 the next few years. In a word, it divided the best forces of 
 
LE ROI S'AMUSE 137 
 
 the nation at the very time when their absolute union and 
 concord were more than ever necessary. 
 
 Nevertheless the King possessed in his own sagacity and 
 in the support of the Russian Ambassador two powerful 
 resources which enabled him to triumph over all the mach- 
 inations of his enemies. Hitherto we have seen him play 
 but a miserable part in the tragi-comic history of his un- 
 fortunate country. Hitherto we have only seen him as an 
 elegant trifler, a careless saunterer through life, a timid 
 mendicant of Fortune's favours. But there was another 
 and better side of his character. For all his apparent 
 apathy and laissez-faire, Stanislaus II. was an uncommonly 
 shrewd observer, who learnt much from adversity and re- 
 flected deeply upon its lessons. He was, moreover, by 
 nature eminently practical, in this respect standing far 
 above his contemporaries, the best of whom were, too often, 
 mere doctrinaires. Without any heroic qualities, he was 
 worse than useless in a period of crisis and catastrophe. 
 But his prudence and foresight were invaluable in periods 
 of transition and reconstruction. Give him but favourable 
 circumstances and a free hand, and he could always find a 
 safe way out of the most complicated political situation. 
 His ultimate failure was due quite as much to untoward 
 events as to his own inherent defects of character. Add to 
 this that up to the period of the First Partition he had 
 had no opportunity of displaying his real ability as a states- 
 man and an administrator. But the period which elapsed 
 between the First Partition and the assembling of the 
 Quadrennial Diet was much more propitious. Let us briefly 
 follow the career of the King during those fifteen years of 
 sustained effort and reviving hope. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 RECUPERATION AND RECONSTRUCTION 
 1773-1787 
 
 Miserable position of Poland after the First Partition — Decline of agriculture 
 and its causes — Ruinous effect of the Prussian tolls — Stanislaus as 
 an industrial reformer — Introduction of manufactories into Poland 
 by Tyzenhaus and others — The commercial revival brings the gentry 
 and the traders together — The Black Sea Company — Improvement 
 of the means of communication — The first Polish Post-Houses — New 
 canals — The school of Cadets — The University of Cracow — Its 
 obsolete and absurd curriculum — Appointment of the Education 
 Commission — Hugo Kollontaj, his early career and character — 
 Educational reforms — The new Generation — The Potoccy come 
 to the front — Early care and character of Felix Potocki — 
 His three marriages — Ksawery Branicki and Severin Rzewuski — 
 Their intrigues against the King — Struggle between Stanislaus and 
 the obstructive opposition — Diet of 1776 — Its projects of reform — 
 And obstructive parsimony — Frustration of all reform by Branicki — 
 Factious and outrageous opposition to the King — Unfairness of Polish 
 historians towards Stanislaus^H. — His extraordinary difficulties — 
 Justification of his administrative abilities — He alone makes govern- 
 ment possible — Changes in the political situation consequent upon 
 the death of Frederick the Great and the Austro- Russian alliance 
 
 POLAND emerged from the frightful catastrophe of 
 the First Partition with her territories diminished by 
 one-third, and her Government entirely at the mercy 
 of the Russian Guarantee Treaty. She emerged depreciated 
 in the opinion of Europe, humiliated in her own eyes, and, 
 apparently, without the ^lightest possibility of reforming 
 a Constitution which she naturally abominated because it 
 was imposed upon her from outside. Yet, despite the most 
 pessimistic anticipations, she was about to enter upon a 
 period of fifteen years of gradual but steady national pro- 
 
 138 
 
RECUPERATION AND RECONSTRUCTION 139 
 
 gress, as if to prove that the vitality of an inherently healthy 
 political organism can always triumph over the most in- 
 veterate diseases. To the honour of the better class of 
 Poles, be it said, no sooner had the first bitter impressions 
 of grief and pain somewhat diminished in violence than 
 they began seriously to consider the condition of the Re- 
 public and, instead of abandoning themselves to senseless 
 fury, diligently sought after the best means of raising up 
 the country both economically and socially. 
 
 Poland was then, almost exclusively, an agricultural 
 country. Her chief concern was to find customers for her 
 raw products. The very spaciousness and fertility of her 
 territories, however, were partially responsible for the 
 relatively low development of her agricultural and forestal 
 industries. The Polish squire, finding himself in the pos- 
 session of vast tracts of land which it cost him practically 
 nothing to cultivate, and upon which he paid no tax or 
 impost whatever, was the most careless and slovenly of 
 landlords. He never thought of making improvements 
 which would, certainly, have increased production, but 
 would, at the same time, have demanded a considerable 
 preliminary outlay and, in any case, presupposed more 
 knowledge and science than he had ever taken the trouble 
 to acquire. Farming, therefore, in the days of Stanislaus II., 
 was pretty much the same as it had been in the days of the 
 Jagiellos, three centuries earlier. It was taken for granted 
 that hungry foreigners would always be found to buy Polish 
 corn, and that when the land was exhausted in one place, 
 rich crops might easily be raised in another. The First 
 Partition considerably modified the advantageous position 
 of the Polish gentry. Production and exportation began 
 to diminish. During the years 1764-1772 the value of the 
 corn conveyed to Dantzic for export had amounted to 
 18,200,000 Polish gulden, it fell in the years immediately 
 following to 9,290,000 Polish gulden. This was the result 
 not merely of the loss of whole provinces but of causes 
 which, hitherto, had never operated. The Prussian ac- 
 quisition of territory, for instance, embracing as it did 
 
140 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 practically the whole of the Lower Vistula, impeded to the 
 uttermost the transport of raw materials from Poland to 
 Dantzic. Frederick II. imposed prohibitive tolls on the 
 Vistula and Wartha, and tried to injure the trade of Poland 
 in every possible way. Then, too, the loss of the salt mines 
 of Wielicza and Bochnia, which formed part of Austria's 
 share of the spoil, caused a serious rise in the price of salt 
 and a corresponding deficit in the receipts - of the Polish 
 Treasury which had to be made up by some other means 
 not immediately discernible. 
 
 Economical reform was extremely difficult in Poland 
 because the usual factors of wealth and prosperity scarce 
 existed there at all. The gentry, as we have seen, had 
 ruined the burgesses, and everything really worthy of the 
 name of commerce had consequently collapsed. So long as 
 the squires retained the absolute control of the corn-market 
 they could manage without middlemen. But when Prussia 
 gained the control of the Polish rivers, and imposed ruinous 
 tolls on Polish products, the absence of a trading class in 
 Poland began to be felt most acutely, for all direct com- 
 munication with the West was now cut off, and there were 
 no great mercantile houses in Poland to correspond with the 
 foreign merchants. It was no reviving sense of justice, it is 
 to be feared, but the unendurable extortions of the King of 
 Prussia which finally compelled the Poles to take some 
 thought for the national industries. 
 
 In everything relating to the material prosperity of his 
 country, Stanislaus II. always took the initiative. It was 
 his ambition to be accounted a prominent propagandist of the 
 new ideas of enlightenment, a compeer of Catherine II., 
 Joseph II., and Gustavus III. — a philosopher on the throne. 
 Immediately after his accession, he began by founding a 
 new Mint, an institution very much wanted in Poland. Two 
 years later he started a cannon foundry and encouraged 
 others to follow his example. Zalucki and Soltyk, successive 
 bishops of Cracow, and Jan Malachowski, for instance, 
 built iron-works on their estates, and, for many years, the 
 village of Konskie, in the possession of the latter, became the 
 
RECUPERATION AND RECONSTRUCTION 141 
 
 centre of the Polish iron industry. Another eminently 
 successful enterprise was the scythe manufactory at Sobienica, 
 near Warsaw, which exported goods to the value of 2,225,000 
 Polish gulden per annum. By far the most energetic and 
 enterprising economist of those days was Antoni Tyzenhaus, 
 the Treasurer of Lithuania. The King was the first to 
 recognise his superior ability and gave him his entire con- 
 fidence. In a marvellously short time Tyzenhaus had set 
 in motion no fewer than twenty-three manufactories which 
 gave employment to 3000 workmen. He also founded 
 schools where book-keeping and mensuration were taught, 
 an institution for the training of midwives, a veterinary- 
 medico-surgical school, and a botanical garden which, by 
 1778, possessed 1500 exotic plants. All these manu- 
 factories, schools and institutes, situated, for the most part, 
 in the environments of Grodno, bore upon them, however, 
 the marks of haste and dilettanteism. Tyzenhaus, being 
 without any special or technical knowledge, imported crowds 
 of specialists from abroad to help him in his undertakings. 
 But they sold their services at a very high rate, and fre- 
 quently abused his confidence ; while it was very difficult 
 to create a native class of workmen and artisans because of 
 the hampering effects of the grinding soccage tenure which 
 kept the peasants in a state of brutalising servitude. More- 
 over, the peasant taken from the plough worked very un- 
 willingly in the factories, for he knew that no amount of 
 labour there could purchase his freedom and that the 
 greater part of his earnings would go, inevitably, to his 
 master. 
 
 The haste with which Tyzenhaus went to work, the 
 extraordinary variety of his undertakings, and, especially, 
 the lack of business capacity and proper supervision (the 
 characteristic and inveterate defects of old Poland) were 
 the principal causes of his ultimate failure, though his ruin 
 was precipitated by the fierce antagonism of the Polish 
 magnates. Nevertheless, like all pioneers, he opened up 
 new and unexpected fields of enterprise and, so far, his 
 influence was salutary. Thus after his disappearance, 
 
142 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 many salt works were opened at Brezsc and Ciechocinek, iron 
 foundries were started at Suchedniow and Samsonow, and 
 coal-mines weresunk and manufactories of faience established 
 at several places in the palatinate of CracoW. About the 
 same time, the peasant, Peter Pajonk, discovered a new 
 method of making steel. In a word, throughout the Polish 
 domains there were unmistakable symptoms of a healthy 
 and encouraging revival of the commercial spirit. 
 
 The long-neglected and deeply depressed estate of bur- 
 gesses naturally benefited by this new state of things 
 The gentry, when they began to discover that they could 
 not do without the co-operation of a commercial and financial 
 class, were forced, however unwillingly, to combine with 
 the bankers and burgesses, take their advice in business 
 matters, and purchase the help of their capital. Thus, on 
 the Committee of the Company of Wool Merchants, founded 
 about this time, we see men of the middle classes like Teppe 
 Dekert and Raffalowicz, sitting by the side of the Zamoiscy, 
 the Poniatowscy, and the Potoccy, and taking upon their 
 shoulders by far the heaviest part of the burden. Nay, 
 Antoni Protazi Potocki, one of the wealthiest of the Polish 
 magnates, did not disdain to take lessons in book-keeping 
 from the trader Krugel, subsequently entering into partner- 
 ship with some English merchants in the suburbs of Cracow 
 and founding a banking house on a large scale. 
 
 Exceptional as these cases may have been, they demon- 
 strated, at any rate, that from within the nation itself, 
 despite strong aristocratic prejudices, fresh sources of energy, 
 making for the combination and unification of all classes, 
 were springing forth in every direction. Very characteristic 
 of this liberal movement were the ordinances promulgated 
 in the year 1774 to the effect that men of noble birth, how- 
 ever ancient and illustrious their origin, were free to engage 
 in trade without forfeiting their nobility, and the adoption 
 by the Executive Committee of the Diet of a general impost 
 which ipso facto traversed one of the most exclusive privileges 
 of the gentry — the privilege of exemption from taxation. 
 
 The efforts of private individuals to revive and develop 
 
RECUPERATION AND RECONSTRUCTION 143 
 
 trade and industry were warmly encouraged by the King. 
 It was also mainly due to him that the administration 
 spared neither trouble nor expense in this respect. After 
 the Peace of Kuchuk-Kainardji, July 21, 1774, when the 
 trade of the Black Sea was thrown open to Russia and a 
 new emporium arose in the recently founded town of 
 Kherson, a lively export of the raw products of Poland began 
 in that direction from the southern provinces of the Republic. 
 In 1782 the Black Sea Company was formed under the 
 presidency of Antoni Potocki, and the Polish Government 
 contributed every year considerable sums for the mainten- 
 tenance of the Euxine trade. In 1783 a Polish consulate was 
 actually established at Kherson. 
 
 The development of trade depended, in a great measure, 
 on the state of the roads and other means of communication. 
 Throughout the eighteenth century they were in a deplorable 
 condition all over Europe, and what their condition was in 
 Poland in especial has already been described.* At his 
 very first Diet, Stanislaus called the attention of the deputies 
 to this disgraceful state of things. At this period the roads, 
 dams and bridges were all in the hands of private individuals, 
 and to interest these persons in the proper maintenance 
 of the thoroughfares they were now authorised to levy 
 light toll on all wares and wayfarers in order to keep the 
 roads and bridges in a proper state of repair. Henceforth 
 a great improvement is noticeable in the condition of the 
 means of communication in Poland. The Government 
 further encouraged the landowners to do their duty in this 
 respect by establishing, for the first time, an excellent 
 posting system in Poland. This was especially appreciated 
 by foreigners, who considered the Polish posting-stations 
 as superior to the general run of such establishments to be 
 found elsewhere on the Continent. Travellers now preferred 
 to go to the East through Poland instead of by the older 
 route vid Berlin, Konigsberg and Klojpeda. 
 
 In those days, when there were no railways, water com- 
 munication, as being the cheapest and the easiest, was in 
 
 * Chap. ii. 
 
144 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 most general use. This applied especially to Poland which 
 was so rich in waterways. In proportion, however, as the 
 Prussian Government obstructed the navigation of the 
 Vistula, the Poles attempted to find fresh markets for their 
 wares by connecting their river systems with the Black Sea. 
 The Grand Hetman of Lithuania, Michael Oginski, took the 
 lead in this patriotic enterprise. At a cost of twelve million 
 Polish gulden he dug out a canal six miles long connecting 
 the rivers Szczara and Jasiolda. In 1784 vessels of thirty- 
 five tons burden passed through the Oginski canal on their 
 way from Kherson to Kdnigsberg. Another work of the 
 same sort was the Royal Canal, which aimed at connecting 
 the Black Sea with the Baltic and was completed in the 
 course of three years (1781-1783). Simultaneously the 
 Government devoted large sums towards the dredging of 
 the rivers Niemen, Wartha, Liwec and Bobr ; removed 
 mills, weirs and other obstructions to navigation ; and did 
 much to regulate the flow of the Vistula and to keep the 
 Vistulan ports in a good condition. 
 
 Simultaneously with these economical measures, there is 
 also to be noticed a vigorous progressive movement in the 
 direction of education which, in a relatively short time, 
 produced an abundant harvest. 
 
 Educational reform had first been taken in hand in the 
 former generation by the famous pedagogue the Piarist, 
 Stanislaus Konarski, who was protected and assisted by the 
 elder Czartoryscy. So successful were the efforts of Kon- 
 arski, that he found many disciples especially after the 
 suppression of the Jesuit Order. Among them none was 
 more liberal and enthusiastic than King Stanislaus. On 
 his coronation day he founded the School of Cadets in the 
 Casimir Palace at Warsaw and assigned for its maintenance 
 out of his Civil List, 200,000 Polish gulden, to which the 
 Polish Treasury added 400,000 more. This institution, 
 though never a military school in the strict sense of the word, 
 always preserved a martial character. Here the youth of 
 noble Polish families (it was exclusively aristocratic) were 
 trained up to be good citizens and taught the mathematical 
 
RECUPERATION AND RECONSTRUCTION 145 
 
 and physical sciences, military surveying, geography^ 
 history and everything else necessary to qualify a young 
 man for entering the public service. On first establishing 
 the School of Cadets, the King had entrusted it to the care 
 of his cousin Prince Adam Casimir Czartoryski, one of whose 
 numerous hobbies was education. With the best intentions 
 in the world the Prince, nevertheless, made a sad muddle of 
 it. So proud was he of the handsome, well-to-do, high- 
 spirited lads whom he got together there that, so long as 
 they practised good manners and avoided " fanaticism " 
 (by which term he meant every sort of religious zeal), he 
 practically let them do what they liked. Beyond drawing 
 up for the Cadets a sort of patriotic catechism, which they 
 were supposed to learn by heart and recite every day instead 
 of their prayers, he never attempted to enforce any dis- 
 cipline. On the contrary, in order to revive the martial 
 ardour of the Polish jeunesse doree he encouraged them to 
 fight duels on the slightest provocation, looking on de- 
 lightedly through the bars of their barracks whilst the 
 young bloods recklessly slashed and banged away at each 
 other with sword and pistol. Even when these little affairs 
 of honour ended fatally, the Prince always took care to 
 hush up the matter and shield the culprit. No wonder that 
 the Cadets idolised Prince Adam, and would gladly have 
 laid down their lives for him. But the King naturally 
 preferred that they should be taught rather to lay down 
 their lives for their country, and as the discipline of the 
 school left very much to be desired, the Cadets exhibiting 
 a decided disinclination to listen to the instructions or 
 obey the directions of the foreign brigadiers and vice- 
 brigadiers set over them, Stanislaus superseded Prince 
 Adam by General Komarzewski, who had already done so 
 much to reform the army. Komarzewski speedily did 
 away with the abuses of the School and made it a model 
 institution. In the long run the School of Cadets rendered 
 valuable service to Poland by turning out some of the best 
 soldiers that ever fought the battles of the Republic. Here 
 Kosciuszko first learnt the art of war. Here, too, were 
 K 
 
146 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 trained the heroes who sustained the Liberator in the titanic 
 struggle of 1794 and subsequently helped the great Napoleon 
 to win his victories all the world over. 
 
 Stimulated by the example of the King, Prince Karol 
 Radziwill founded a school of artillery at Nieswiez, the Vice- 
 Treasurer Potocki a School of Cadets at Niemerow, and 
 Tyzenhaus a similar institution at Grodno, but none of 
 these private enterprises had a very long life. 
 
 At this time the national schools were in the most de- 
 plorable condition. Konarski's reforms had compelled the 
 Jesuits to introduce some changes into their curriculum. 
 They, too, had their collegia nobilium in which they taught 
 the grammar of the French language and a little geography 
 and physics ; but their methods were hopelessly obsolete. 
 As at the end of the sixteenth century so now also themes 
 like the following were propounded in the Jesuit schools : 
 " Was the world created in spring or autumn ? " " Who 
 was Melchisedek ? " " Was the manna in the wilderness 
 equally pleasant to the good and the evil Israelites ? " In 
 a still worse condition was that decrepit Alma Mater the 
 Jagiellonic University, or Academy of Cracow. Obstinately 
 defending herself against every scientific novelty, she clung 
 desperately to her antediluvian system, silently ignoring 
 all modern developments from the Cartesian philosophy 
 downwards ; rejecting Greek as dangerous to orthodoxy ; 
 never teaching history at all ; and treating even the Co- 
 pernican theory as mischievous though Copernicus himself 
 had been her most eminent son and her greatest glory when 
 she still counted for something in the world of learning. 
 The very considerable funds of the University were dis- 
 sipated partly by maladministration, partly in consequence 
 of the enormous fees (amounting to one million Polish 
 gulden) paid for the canonisation of Cantius, famous for 
 his pious pilgrimages, who had held the chair of Theology 
 there from 1413 to 1417. The efforts of the enlightened 
 bishops of Cracow, Zaluski and Soltyk to reform the Univer- 
 sity were of no avail. When Zaluski proposed to place the 
 famous mathematician and natural philosopher Christian 
 
RECUPERATION AND RECONSTRUCTION 147 
 
 Wolff at Cracow at his own cost, the academicians unani- 
 mously and successfully opposed the project. When the 
 bishop sent Professor Swientkowski to Halle to complete 
 his education in mathematics they expelled him from his 
 chair at Cracow. When Bishop Soltyk, at considerable 
 trouble and expense, undertook a visitation of the Academy, 
 so well-combined an opposition was offered that the attempt 
 had to be abandoned. Incapable of any sort of progress, the 
 academicians of Cracow, nevertheless, clung to their inordinate 
 privileges with obstructive tenacity ; put all the machinery 
 of the law in motion to prevent any one from teaching 
 anything better than themselves, and diligently endeavoured 
 to extinguish every kind of enlightenment which interfered 
 with their monopoly of education or showed up its weak 
 points. 
 
 Such was the condition of the public schools of Poland 
 at the time of the formation of the Education Commission 
 in 1774. The Commission had before it a gigantic task of 
 reform ; but, on the other hand, thanks to the suppression 
 of the Jesuits and the appropriation of their property by 
 the State, it possessed ample material resources for the 
 purpose. It was hampered, indeed, at the outset by the 
 intrigues and peculations of its first presidents, the greedy 
 and corrupt Poninski and his worthy coadjutor Massalski, 
 Bishop of Wilna, who dissipated a considerable portion of 
 the property of the Jesuits, or diverted it to the scandalous 
 uses of themselves and their kinsfolk. In 1776, however, 
 the Diet intervened and transferred the control of the 
 distribution-fund from Massalski to the administrative 
 committee of the Education Commission itself, with the 
 happiest results. All sorts of abuses and malversations 
 instantly came to light. Jozef Wybicki, sent to Wilna to 
 visit the Lithuanian schools, discovered the most gigantic 
 frauds. He reported, amongst other things, that Massalski 
 had appropriated 300,000 gulden from the school-funds, 
 that Poninski had seized, under the rubric of " free gifts," a 
 number of houses and estates that had belonged to the 
 Jesuits and sold them to the Jews. The spoliation had. 
 
148 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 moreover, been managed so skilfully that the embezzled 
 property could not be recovered by legal process. 
 
 After establishing order and method in the administration 
 of the funds at its disposal, the Commission set about its 
 proper work of educational reform, beginning with the 
 compilation and distribution of new school-books. With 
 this object there, was formed, on the motion of Ignacy 
 Potocki (who now comes prominently forward as a reformer 
 and of whom I shall have something to say presently) an 
 Elementary Society whose principal duties were the editing 
 and issuing of new school-books ; the establishment of 
 national schools where they were most wanted ; and the 
 reformation and supervision of the Academy of Cracow. 
 
 The first appointed visitor of the Academy was that very 
 remarkable man the Rev. Hugo Kollontaj, whose true 
 character it is so difficult to arrive at. Born in 1751, the 
 son of a poor Sandomerian squire, he completed his education 
 at Rome (where by skilful intrigue he obtained a canonry 
 vacant at Cracow) along with the Florentine Scipio Piatolli, 
 subsequently the most influential of the King's secretaries, 
 by whom the young Kollontaj was first introduced to 
 Stanislaus. From the very first Kollontaj flung himself 
 into the forefront of the reform movement. He was al- 
 ready an ardent disciple of the Encyclopedists, and the most 
 audacious propagandist of their ideas in Poland. At a later 
 day he became a notorious Jacobin ; but at present he was 
 mainly intent upon making his way in the world. As an 
 advocate of the rights of the middle and lower classes he 
 was, naturally, most popular ; but in the upper classes and 
 among the bishops he had many enemies, and when, some- 
 what later, the King took the extreme step of making the 
 clever adventurer Vice-Chancellor, even so easy-going a 
 prelate as Krasicki protested that the election of such a 
 man was dangerous alike to Religion and the State. Kollon- 
 taj possessed extraordinary ability and almost superhuman 
 energy ; but it cannot be said that he was either high- 
 principled or conscientious. He certainly took orders, 
 without any inner vocation, for the sole purpose of getting 
 
RECUPERATION AND RECONSTRUCTION 149 
 
 on as quickly as possible. This first false step affected his 
 whole future career and gave it a sinister twist and a crooked 
 direction. Crafty, subtle, pushing, Kollontaj had a rare 
 gift of insinuating himself into the favour of powerful or 
 influential persons ; but the moment he felt the ground sure 
 beneath him he had no scruples about turning his back on 
 his former benefactors. Naturally revengeful, moreover, 
 he never forgave those who attempted to bar his way. For 
 pure intellect he was, perhaps, head and shoulders above 
 his contemporaries. It was he who drew up the plan (a 
 remarkably lucid and able one ) for the reform of education 
 in Poland ; and as visitor of the Cracow Academy the young 
 canon (he was only twenty-eight) acquitted himself so well 
 of his extremely difficult task as to call forth universal 
 admiration. On the other hand, his adversaries blamed 
 him for his extreme haste and complained that he had 
 pulled the old machine to pieces before he had invented 
 anything suitable to take its place. At the same time 
 Kollontaj got into trouble in consequence of some very 
 shady traffic in benefices for which he was condemned in 
 contumaciam by his own bishop and severely reprimanded 
 by the Papal Nuncio. He consoled himself with the re- 
 flection that he had emerged from his troubles fairly well-off. 
 This worldly abbe would never undertake the cure of souls. 
 He preferred to make a rapid and well-deserved reputation 
 as a political pamphleteer and secured, simultaneously, the 
 lucrative and stable position of Referendary of Lithuania. 
 We shall meet this slippery semi-cleric again as a leading 
 politician during the Great Diet, here we need only em- 
 phasise his distinguished services in the cause of education. 
 It was mainly owing to the efforts of Kollontaj that the 
 curriculum of the Cracow Academy was entirely recast, and 
 that, from 1780 onwards, the chairs of the University were 
 occupied by such capable teachers as Jan Sniadecki, the 
 brothers Shaster, and Scheidt. Next came the turn of 
 the University of Wilna. A medical faculty was established 
 there under the direction of professors from Tyzenhaus's 
 School of Medicine at Grodno ; a Botanical Garden and a 
 
ISO THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Clinical Institution were also founded at Wilna ; and the 
 Jesuit astronomer Andrew Strzecki was sent to England and 
 France to purchase astronomical instruments for the 
 Observatory — in short, everything was done which could 
 be done at once, to place both Universities on the higher 
 level of the requirements of contemporary science. For 
 the education of teachers two Seminaries were established, 
 one at Cracow and the other at Wilna. These teachers were 
 educated entirely at the expense of the State, binding 
 themselves in return to teach in public institutions for six 
 years consecutively. All the new schools were to be affiliated 
 with the Universities, visited periodically, and reported 
 upon to the Education Commission. I may add, in conclu- 
 sion, that the ordinances and regulations of the Education 
 Commission were so apt and to the point, as well from a 
 pedagogic as from a patriotic point of view, that even 
 to-day, despite our enormous advances in experience and 
 educational methods generally, the school administration 
 of Poland, as formulated by the Educational Commission 
 at the end of the eighteenth century, might well serve as a 
 model system now. Its immediate results were certainly 
 extraordinary. Thus, in 1783, there were in Poland thirty- 
 eight high schools with 9816 pupils, and in one district of the 
 Province of Great Poland alone forty-three elementary 
 schools with 1368 pupils and teachers to a population of 
 40,000. The efforts of the Government as regards education 
 were seconded by the zeal of individuals. Thus the Potoccy 
 founded schools of the Basilian order at Human and Buczacz 
 Elizabeth Puzyna contributed 6000 ducats towards the 
 building of the new Observatory at Wilna ; while Joseph 
 Zalucki, Bishop of Kiev, in the year 1775, placed his mag- 
 nificent library at the disposition of the Government. 
 
 While the King and the best men in the country were 
 thus waging a combat a outrance against the ignorance and 
 prejudice of ages, while a whole host of publicists and essayists 
 were doing their utmost to guide the rising generation into 
 new and better paths, the daily life of society continued, 
 apparently, on much the same lines as before. Poland was 
 
RECUPERATION AND RECONSTRUCTION 151 
 
 still suffering from the effects of the First Partition. Eco- 
 nomical stagnation still depressed her. The burden of 
 supporting the army of occupation was almost more than she 
 could bear. The best and noblest patriots were often a 
 prey to callousness or despair. Discontent with present 
 conditions was discernible in every section of society. 
 Hence there arose (it is difficult to say exactly how or 
 when) a restlessness, an impatience, an opposition to things as 
 they actually were, comprehending within it elements often 
 diametrically opposed to each other, yet all of them bent, 
 more or less, on the destruction of the order of things imposed 
 upon the country by force from without, and especially of 
 the new Government as represented by the Executive or 
 Permanent Committee guaranteed by Russia. The times 
 became more and more critical as the old conservative 
 party-chiefs disappeared one after the other, and younger 
 men with all the enthusiasm but also with all the recklessness 
 of youth forced their way to the front. In 1775 died the 
 eldest of the Czartoryscy, the Prince-Chancellor Michael, 
 for more than thirty years a restraining and at the same 
 time a regenerating influence. " The Family " was hence- 
 forth represented by the frivolous and pedantic Prince 
 Adam Casimir Czartoryski, or rather by his masterful and 
 vindictive sister, the Princess-Marshal Lubomirska. The 
 old Grand-Hetman Jan Clemens Branicki, an unruly but 
 really patriotic magnate, was also no more. Prince Radzi- 
 will (" My dear Sir ") now mostly resided abroad. The 
 scandalous old Primate, Gabriel Podoski, ended his days in 
 1777 at Marseilles. 
 
 It is now that the great family of Potocki, so long kept in 
 the background by the elder Czartoryscy, comes prominently 
 forward. Its principal representative was Count Felix 
 Potocki, the eldest son of Francois de Sales Potocki, the 
 richest magnate in Poland, commonly called " the Knight 
 of Russia,"* who at one time aimed at the Polish crown 
 itself. Felix inherited from his father his immense estates 
 
 * I.e., the Palatinate of Red Russia, most of which was his private 
 property. 
 
152 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 in the Ukraine, his overweening haughtiness, and the am- 
 bition to play a leading part in Poland. Yet his parts were 
 mediocre and his education had been very indifferent. So 
 proud were the parents of Felix that they would not allow 
 their son to be sent to the Piarist College at Warsaw, the 
 school par excellence of the Polish nobility, where many of his 
 own cousins were being educated, but had him brought 
 up at home in a way of their own. His Governor was a 
 Bernardine monk, his tutor a Piarist, but he learnt the little 
 he knew from a French Kammerdiener who won the complete 
 confidence of the young nobleman. In the circumstances 
 there could have been no serious education at all. The 
 two tutors killed time by playing cards all day, while 
 Felix and his Kammerdiener sported in an adjoining chamber. 
 The parents paid very little attention to their child. Oc- 
 casionally they gave the lad "a special audience," after 
 the fashion of the great French houses of the day, and from 
 these audiences the young Felix usually emerged either well 
 scolded or well flogged. On arriving at man's estate he 
 made the acquaintance, at his parents' house, of a pretty 
 cousin, Gertrude Komorowska, lost his heart to her and 
 married her privately. The intermediaries were the Kam- 
 merdiener and the Bernardine tutor. But the marriage 
 could not be concealed for ever, and there was a terrible 
 explosion when it came to light. Both the monks were 
 dismissed, the youthful husband was well birched, and the 
 poor young wife, from sheer grief and shame, flung herself 
 into a pond and was drowned. 
 
 After this catastrophe Felix was sent abroad. Here also, 
 though he saw a great deal, he learnt but little. In the 
 diary which he kept during his travels the only recorded 
 items are the post-houses at which he changed horses and 
 the dinners he ate while he waited for them. On his return 
 he was married to one of the great heiresses of Poland, 
 Panna Mniszekowna, with the most disastrous results. He 
 divorced her as soon as he was able to do so, with an allow- 
 ance of £40,000 a year, and married instead a beautiful 
 Greek slave, of whom we only know that her christian name 
 
SOPHIA THE GREEK, THIRD CONSORT OF COUNT FELIX POTOCKI 
 
RECUPERATION AND RECONSTRUCTION 153 
 
 was Sophia, and that she had been brought from Stambul 
 by the French consul Boscamp, who sold her to the com- 
 mandant of the Polish fortress of Kamieniec. Here she 
 became a great favourite with the Russian officers who 
 frequented the place, till the young Palatine of Red Russia 
 came along that way, fell in love with her, and made her 
 his third consort. 
 
 The fact that the whole life of Felix Potocki was a series 
 of light adventures and serious scandals by no means 
 impaired his popularity with the gentry. His political 
 influence was enormous. Inheriting vast estates which 
 embraced three millions of acres in the Ukraine, and main- 
 taining a magnificent establishment at his " capital," 
 Tulczyn, he might almost have been called the King of the 
 Ukraine. Despite his want of education, therefore, he 
 filled some of the highest and most responsible offices in the 
 Republic. Felix Potocki has gone down to history branded 
 with the dark stigma of treason. He certainly was, as .we 
 shall see in the sequel, directly responsible for the Second 
 Partition which was the beginning of the end of unhappy 
 Poland. But he was a traitor by accident not by design. 
 His head was far more to blame than his heart. This 
 bigoted, haughty, self-willed arch-aristocrat, even when he 
 was bringing in the Russians to destroy the Republic, actually 
 deluded himself into the belief that he was defending it. 
 His extreme individualism made him the protagonist by 
 conviction of all that was most absurd and mischievous in 
 the impossible old Polish Constitution. He has been well 
 described as the liberum veto personified. We may go 
 further still and say that he was ready to sacrifice everything 
 to save his country, but only on condition that he was to 
 save it in his own way. Only when the mischief was done 
 did he realise, with horror, that instead of saving his country 
 he had ruined it irretrievably. 
 
 Closely associated with Felix Potocki in all his plans, and, 
 ultimately, the shameless accomplices of his patricide, 
 stand two other Polish magnates, Ksawery Branicki and 
 Severin Rzewuski. As to the former it is only charitable 
 
154 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 to suppose that he was mad rather than bad. Anyhow, 
 only eighteenth-century Poland could have produced such 
 a fantastic specimen of decadent humanity. Branicki was 
 a man of indisputable valour and insatiable ambition, 
 passionate, fitfully energetic but always unreliable, without 
 the least self-control, despising every one and everything, 
 uniting the expensive vices of a Court with the useless virtues 
 of the Polish pseudo-democracy. He first made the ac- 
 quaintance of Stanislaus at St. Petersburg and won his 
 friendship by facilitating his amours with the Grand-Duchess 
 Catherine. On becoming King, Stanislaus rewarded the 
 ex-pander by bestowing upon him the revenues of the 
 starosty of Bialocerkiewsk, amounting to 516,000 Polish 
 gulden per annum, and appointing him Grand-Hetman of 
 the Crown, or Commander-in-Chief of Poland. Thus 
 Branicki, while still in his prime, became the chief dignitary 
 of the Republic with a fortune more than adequate to 
 sustain his exalted position. Yet, even now, his extravagant 
 ambition was not satisfied. Olfended by the limitations of 
 the authority of the Grand-Hetmanship by the Permanent 
 Committee, he sought protection at St. Petersburg where he 
 married Gospodina Engelhardtovna, the niece of the omni- 
 potent Potemkin. Henceforth Branicki was far more of a 
 Moscovite than a Pole and openly boasted of his allegiance to 
 the Russian Empress. His subservience to his uncle-in-law 
 was of the most servile description. Potemkin when angry 
 or drunk, and he was nearly always in one or the other of 
 these conditions, would frequently shake his fist in the 
 Grand-Hetman's face, and Branicki, instead of resenting 
 the insult, used to treat it as a joke. Yet he was the slave 
 of an absurd point d'honneur for which he was always ready to 
 lay down his life at a moment's notice. On one occasion, for 
 an imaginary insult, he compelled the disreputable adventurer 
 Casanova to fight him under the threat of otherwise blowing 
 out his brains. Casanova promptly shot him in the stomach, 
 whereupon Branicki flung a purse of gold in his face and 
 advised him to run for his life to escape the vengeance of 
 his (Branicki's) servants. The religious views of the Grand- 
 
RECUPERATION AND RECONSTRUCTION 155 
 
 Hetman, so far as he can be said to have had any religion 
 at all, were certainly peculiar. Though a nominal Catholic 
 he used always to maintain that a belief in immortality was 
 ruinous to a soldier because it made him live in constant 
 fear of Hell, whereas a really good soldier ought to be afraid 
 of nothing. His own men and the gentry in general were 
 rather fond of him for he always affected a bluff joviality 
 and was hail-fellow-well-met with -every one of them. His 
 popularity, however, only made him the more dangerous. 
 
 Severin Rzewuski, the Grand-Marshal, also owed all he 
 had and all he was to the generosity of the King whom he 
 subsequently so basely betrayed. He was, perhaps, the 
 most capable of the three confederates, but had not a tittle 
 of their popularity as he not only openly professed himself 
 a partisan of Russia but was notorious for his stinginess and 
 meanness. 
 
 This mischievous and factious triumvirate was a perpetual 
 thorn in the side of the King. Very soon after the First 
 Partition they began to intrigue openly against Stanislaus 
 on the pretext that he was aiming at absolutism, and told 
 him to his face that they would make it impossible for him 
 to reign much longer. They caballed persistently against 
 him at St. Petersburg where they relied, principally, upon 
 Potemkin; and at home they persuaded the King's cousin 
 Prince Adam Casimir Czartoryski to throw in his lot with 
 them. At last things went so far that Stackelberg, the 
 Russian Ambassador at Warsaw, had actually to proceed to 
 the Russian capital himself to circumvent the designs of the 
 triumvirate which, certainly, were as injurious to Poland 
 as they were to the King. At the elections to the first 
 post-partitional Diet, in 1776, Branicki and Co. fiercely 
 opposed the royal party at the polls. The King desired 
 the maintenance of the Permanent Committee which, for 
 the first time in three centuries, had given Poland something 
 like a reasonable and effective executive. Branicki, on the 
 other hand, would have freed his Grand-Hetmanship from 
 the dominant control of the Committee in order to obtain 
 an independent and commanding position which would 
 
156 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 have made his authority equal if not superior to that of the 
 King. In the circumstances the Permanent Committee was 
 indispensable to Poland. It could not indeed secure the 
 autonomy of the country, but it made for order and relatively 
 good government, and, thanks mainly to the prudent and 
 skilful statesmanship of Stanislaus, had already introduced 
 many salutary economical and administrative reforms. 
 To all true patriots and lovers of progress it opened out a 
 wide field of useful activity and seriously contributed to 
 heal the gaping wounds which the First Partition had 
 inflicted upon Poland. So, at any rate, did the deepest 
 and soundest thinkers in Poland understand the situation ; 
 and when the King, anxious to save the Diet from being 
 exploded, formed a Confederation, in conjunction with 
 Stackelberg, and offered the dignity of Marshal, or President, 
 to Andrew Mokronowski, Palatine of Masovia, one of the 
 most honest and high-spirited dignitaries in Poland, that 
 distinguished man did not hesitate for a moment to accept 
 this responsible office and supported the King with all the 
 authority of his influence and popularity. 
 
 Despite all the efforts of the opposition, despite the un- 
 scrupulous agitation which they fomented in the local diets, 
 the Royal Party succeeded in forming the Confederation,* 
 though not without having recourse to the most violent 
 expedients. It was justified in doing so because it meant 
 to carry out a wise and useful programme whereas the 
 Opposition cannot be said to have had any programme at 
 all. Obstruction and retrogression were their only motives. 
 From the first the Confederated Diet showed that it meant 
 business. It brushed aside the sophisms and the mock- 
 pathetic appeals of Branicki and his associates, and per- 
 manently transferred the control of the army from the 
 Grand-Hetman to the War Office. At the same time, the 
 right of nominating officers of every grade in the army was 
 restored to the Crown. The Diet next appointed a Com- 
 
 * A Confederation could not be " exploded " like an ordinary Diet, by 
 the vote of a single deputy, because all its measures had to be decided by 
 a majority. 
 
RECUPERATION AND RECONSTRUCTION 157 
 
 mission to expedite the course of judicial procedure. Finally 
 it directed the ex-Chancellor Andrew Zamoyski to prepare a 
 draft project for the much-needed codification of the laws. 
 But at this point the energy of the chamber suddenly 
 collapsed. When the question of supply came before the 
 Diet, when the Budget report showed a considerable deficit, 
 and when, in consequence thereof, the Government asked 
 for a large increase of subsidies to put the army on a war- 
 footing — then the inveterate repugnance of the gentry to 
 part with a single penny of their money for administrative 
 purposes once more asserted itself. In this respect there 
 was nothing to choose between the Government party and 
 the Opposition. Both of them adopted the same watch- 
 word : no increase of taxation, and the same persons 
 who, not so very long before, carried awaj. by Republican 
 ardour, had drawn their swords in defence of outraged 
 liberty, now proceeded, with a light heart, to pare away the 
 military budget and cut down the national defences to 
 starvation-point. Incredible as it may sound, the Polish 
 Diet, on this occasion, was far more indifferent to the vital 
 interests of Poland than the partitioning Powers had been. 
 Catherine II. had " most graciously guaranteed " that the 
 standing army of Poland should not be less than 30,000 men ; 
 the Poles themselves, despite the serious warnings and 
 earnest protests of the King, now reduced it to 18,000. 
 
 The abolition of judicial torture was the last legislative 
 act of this Diet. The subsequent elections to the vacancies 
 in the Permanent Committee fell out according to the 
 wishes of Stanislaus. 
 
 The position of the King was now considerably strength- 
 ened, yet his victory was neither complete nor permanent. 
 The Opposition, disappointed in its hopes, now changed its 
 tactics. Instead of attacking Stanislaus direct, it began to 
 wage a furious warfare against the Permanent Committee, 
 neglecting, at the same time, no opportunity of vexing the 
 King. Knowing as we do the aims and the characters of 
 the men who posed at Warsaw as the enemies of the Mos- 
 covite tyranny, and cringed abjectly at St. Petersburg before 
 
158 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 the Satrap Potemkin, who advertised themselves as the 
 champions of the nation and subsequently betrayed it to 
 Russia, we can only say of them that, consciously or un- 
 consciously, they were traitors and incendiaries. The 
 superior tactics of the King and his advisers held them 
 somewhat in check, but it was no fault of theirs if they did 
 not make legislation absolutely impossible. At the Diet 
 of 1780 they succeeded in ruining the economical reformer 
 Tyzenhaus and destroying most of his industrial under- 
 takings. Still worse, they defeated, once for all, the pro- 
 ject for the codification of the laws laid before the House 
 by Zamoyski which represented the ripe fruits of the thought 
 and labour of that great jurist and his chief assistant, the 
 reformer, Joseph Wybicki, during the last four years. The 
 gentry, still immersed in mediaeval traditions, and spurred 
 on continually by the zealots of " Liberty," refused ob- 
 stinately to admit the authority of a code which ran directly 
 counter to their privileges and their prejudices by proposing 
 to give equal rights to the Burgesses and ameliorate the hard 
 lot of the peasantry. So furious were they against the whole 
 project that they would not even permit the Bill to come on 
 for discussion in the Diet. " We reject every proposal for 
 the codification of the laws, nor will we consent to have it 
 revived at any future Diet," they cried. The proceedings 
 of the Opposition on this occasion were obviously an act of 
 revenge directed quite as much against the King as against 
 Zamoyski. Stanislaus did his utmost to carry through the 
 codification project. Almost alone he had the courage to 
 defend it, in full Diet, in speeches so lucid and cogent that 
 they would have convinced any one but fools or foes. He 
 went out of his way to encourage its authors and promoters. 
 He especially invited Zamoyski and Wybicki to his Thursday 
 dinners. He accepted with enthusiasm a modification of 
 the original project, making some concessions to invincible 
 prejudice, and even publicly advocated this amended 
 version. But all would not do, the House refused to en- 
 tertain it on any terms. During the Diet of 1782 the Op- 
 position became still more outrageous. At one session the 
 
RECUPERATION AND RECONSTRUCTION 159 
 
 drunken Branicki staggered to his feet and threatened the 
 King to his face that within six months he would drive 
 him from the throne. At the Diet of 1786, Branicki, 
 becoming more and more venomous as he realised his 
 powerlessness, had to be suppressed by the personal inter- 
 vention of the Russian Ambassador, Count Stackelberg. 
 For fifteen years this war against the King and the Per- 
 manent Committee continued, a war without aim or purpose 
 which humiliated the crown without in the least benefiting 
 the Republic. Such men as Felix Potocki had not the re- 
 motest idea of patriotism, though the catchwords " Liberty " 
 and " Fatherland " were constantly in their mouths. True 
 patriotism implies self-sacrifice. These pseudo-patriots, a 
 mere handful of ultra-conservatives, would have sacrificed 
 the majority of their fellow countrymen to their inordinate 
 pride and egoism. 
 
 The person who really deserves our sympathy, and even 
 our respect, during those fifteen years of political hurly- 
 burly and barrenness, is the King. Polish historians, with 
 very few exceptions, are never weary of reminding us of the 
 weakness, the irresolution, the moral decadence of Stanis- 
 laus II. Whenever they allude to him, his moral cowardice, 
 his political incompetence, are generally taken for granted. 
 Even when, in common fairness, they are obliged to give 
 him some praise it is of the faintest description. But, after 
 all, this unbalanced censoriousness is but one of the many 
 aspects of that -curious disposition to hold their kings 
 primarily responsible for the calamities of their country 
 which has ever been characteristic of the Poles. On their 
 weak kings they are especially severe, ignoring the fact 
 that these very princes were deliberately elected by the 
 nation at large, and that therefore the nation is partially 
 responsible for their doings. Their last King, Stanislaus II., 
 has been treated worst of all. Not only has he been held 
 responsible for the faults of others ; but his very efforts to 
 reform the nation have invariably been misrepresented, while 
 the extraordinary difficulties of his situation have never been 
 adequately taken into account. No other Polish King ever 
 
160 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 had such a difficult position as Stanislaus II. Not only 
 were his enemies irreconcilable and unscrupulous, but he 
 could place little or no reliance in times of crises, on his 
 numerous partisans. Of most of these it may fairly be said 
 that their moral value was nil. Another difficulty — do 
 what he would, he never could gain the confidence of the 
 nation. Although his ideas were, generally, sound, his 
 intentions excellent, and his views most benevolent, he was 
 always exceedingly unpopular. The nation distrusted him 
 not so much because he was a bad or a weak king, but 
 because he was a king. Every single step he took was the 
 signal for an unloosing of the most foolish and frantic 
 opposition. It was sufficient for him to propose anything 
 original for every one to be instantly up in arms against it. 
 How, it may well be asked, could any constructive statesman 
 build upon such shaking ground with such rotten materials ? 
 Yet, in spite of everything, Stanislaus did much to reorganise 
 and consolidate the State, because his premises were sound 
 and his conclusions were practical. From the first he 
 endeavoured to minimise the mischief of the centrifugalism 
 in which Polish individualism delighted by forming a party 
 devoted to the Crown. Hence the maintenance of a Court 
 more splendid and imposing than Poland had known for 
 generations which was to be the focus of this new political 
 system. For the same reason he would have diminished the 
 authority of the Magnates, whose factious feuds had torn 
 Poland to pieces for centuries, by making them of less ac- 
 count in the State, by employing the lesser gentry almost 
 exclusively. He never had sufficient time to accomplish 
 his projects, he lacked the stability of character necessary to 
 carry them out, yet the projects themselves were good 
 and therefore deserved to succeed. We have already seen 
 what he did for commerce, industry and education, of his 
 invaluable services as an army reformer we shall say some- 
 thing in another chapter. But the strongest testimony to 
 his statesmanship and administrative ability lies in the 
 fact that he made the Permanent Committee a working 
 possibility. 
 
RECUPERATION AND RECONSTRUCTION 161 
 
 The Permanent Committee, it will be remembered, was 
 the Executive Council of State imposed by Russia upon 
 Poland after the First Partition. As a foreign product it 
 was, naturally, obnoxious to the majority of the Poles. As 
 an instrument of government, moreover, it was by no means 
 perfect, yet it furnished Poland with the most sensible 
 administration she had had for two centuries. From the 
 first Stanislaus fully recognised its capabilities and made the 
 most of them. But the Permanent Committee, with its 
 five separate departments, the members of which were 
 selected from all classes, would have been a useless and 
 cumbrous organism had not the King carefully watched over 
 it and given to its manifold operations some sort of order 
 and cohesion. His infinite tact, patience, forethought and 
 amiability were ceaselessly employed in training a whole 
 mob of raw, touchy, eternally bickering officials to work, 
 with each other and with him, loyally and conscientiously, 
 with the most gratifying results. Thus, within twelve years 
 from the date of the First Partition, the Financial Depart- 
 ment of the Committee could report that the funds in the 
 Treasury had been increased by 5,000,000 Polish gulden, 
 and the King was able to contribute 400,000 more out of 
 his own privy purse towards the improvement of the ad- 
 ministration of justice. In 1782, the Budget, for almost 
 the first time in Polish history, showed a credit balance of 
 1,500,000 guldens in cash. The Education Commission had, 
 by the same time, worked wonders. Its expenditure from 
 1780 to 1782 had averaged nearly three millions of gulden 
 and it could show a surplus of 150,000. In the Ecclesiastical 
 Department many useful reforms had been carried out by 
 the new Primate, Prince Michael Poniatowski, the King's 
 brother. The general improvement of the country was 
 still more marked at the Diet of 1784. The King on this 
 occasion was able to report that the army was now twice as 
 large and very much better equipped than it had ever been 
 before. 
 
 In 1786 the political outlook abroad was completely 
 changed by the death of Frederick the (^reat f an event, it 
 I. 
 
162 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 was argued in Poland, which would make another partition 
 difficult to the verge of impossibility. A growing alienation 
 between Russia and Prussia and a corresponding approxi- 
 mation between Russia and Austria were now observable. 
 Frederick the Great had always been more of a hindrance 
 than a help to Catherine. She had frequently to complain 
 of the treacherous, underhand proceedings of the Philosopher 
 of Sans Souci, during the first twelve years of her reign. 
 For his shifty, sentimental successor, Frederick William II., 
 who with all the will to damage her had not the courage, 
 she always entertained a wholesome contempt. She now 
 began to think that, in the circumstances, Austria would be 
 more useful to her than Prussia. Apart from a strong 
 personal attraction, the great bond of union between 
 Catherine and Joseph II. was the grandiose " Greek Project." 
 Joseph simply desired to partition the Turkish Empire 
 between Catherine and himself by way of eclipsing the fame 
 of Frederick the Great. Catherine's more extravagant 
 imagination dreamed of re-establishing the Greek Empire 
 under her grandson, the Grand Duke Constantine. With 
 her thoughts entirely occupied by her magnificent oriental 
 speculations, Catherine was now far less interested in 
 Poland than heretofore. She was even inclined to relax her 
 hold upon that country and admit it into her political 
 system as an active ally. Her decision had momentous 
 consequences both within and beyond Poland, and pro- 
 foundly influenced the fate of King Stanislaus, as we shall 
 see in the following chapter. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 AT THE PARTING OF WAYS 
 
 The last chance of Poland a close alliance with Russia — Catherine and 
 her ministers not unfriendly disposed towards Poland — Characters 
 of the leading Russian Ministers — Ivan Osterman — Arkady Morkov — 
 Alexander Eezborodko — Catherine absorbed by the Eastern Project — 
 Prussia the natural enemy of Poland — Russia her natural ally — 
 Efforts of Stanislaus to bring about an understanding between Russia 
 and Poland — Sagacity of the King — His efforts to revive the military 
 spirit in Poland — Stanislaus offers Catherine the terms of an alliance — 
 Programme of the Potocki faction — The picnic of potentates and 
 princes — Catherine snubs Potocki at Kiev — And flatters Stanislaus 
 at Kaniow — The interview in the state barge — Reconciliation of the 
 King with Felix Potocki — The second Turkish War — Catherine's em- 
 barrassments — Rise of the Prussian party in Poland — Character of 
 its chief representative, Ignatius Potocki — His mischievous influence 
 — Revolution in the policy of Prussia after the death of Frederick 
 the Great — Frederick William II. encourages the anti-Russian party 
 in Poland — Character and antecedents of the new Prussian Minister 
 in Poland, the Marquess de Lucchesini 
 
 WE have now come to that interesting and critical 
 period of Polish history when a unique and unlooked 
 for opportunity of saving the Republic, at almost 
 the last moment of the eleventh hour, suddenly presented 
 itself. This last chance, as we must call it, was the prospect 
 of a close and cordial alliance between Poland and her 
 secular antagonist — Russia. 
 
 We have already seen how Count Nikita Panin, the 
 political mentor and the premier minister of Catherine II. 
 during the first twenty years of her reign, had endeavoured 
 to save Poland from being partitioned, and how all his 
 efforts in that direction were frustrated by his numerous 
 
 enemies in the Russian Council of State acting in concert 
 
 163 
 
164 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 with Frederick the Great. Even after the Partition, Panin 
 had endeavoured to bolster up Poland as much as possible 
 in order to make of her a serviceable ally to Russia. It was 
 with this object that he had improved her Constitution, 
 strengthened her administration, and even consented to a 
 considerable increase in her army. Panin was now dead, 
 but his system, as regards Poland, had to some extent 
 survived him. At any rate there existed at the Russian 
 Court a tradition in favour of a philo-Polish policy. Cer- 
 tainly at this time (1786-1787), neither Catherine nor her 
 ministers entertained any active feeling of hostility against 
 the Republic. It was generally recognised at Tsarkoe 
 Selo that there were two policies adoptable towards Poland 
 and two only : a policy of influence and a policy of ab- 
 sorption. The former policy implied a Poland dependent 
 and subordinate but autonomous and intact. A policy of 
 absorption on the other hand, implied fresh partitions, as it 
 was inconceivable that either Prussia or Austria would ever 
 allow Russia to incorporate the whole of Poland within her 
 Empire. It is obvious, therefore, on the face of it, that a 
 policy of influence was likely to be more profitable to 
 Russia than a policy of absorption. In the latter case 
 Russia would be obliged to share her Polish spoils with 
 Prussia and Austria, whereas in the former case, all Poland 
 would be at her absolute disposal, and, in case of need, the 
 Polish army might always be employed to advantage against 
 either Austria or Prussia, or against them both. Thus the 
 general feeling at the Court of St. Petersburg was rather in 
 favour of an alliance with Poland than otherwise. More 
 than this, however, cannot be said. The Polish question, 
 just then, was not the dominant question with Russian 
 statesmen. The Empress, in particular, had other and 
 more important matters to think of. Her mind was absorbed 
 by the gigantic scheme or speculation known in Russian 
 History as " The Greek Project," which aimed at the expul- 
 sion of the Turks from Europe and the revival of the Empire 
 of Theodosius and Justinian beneath the sceptre of a Russian 
 Grand Duke. The destruction of the Ottoman Empire 
 
AT THE PARTING OF WAYS 165 
 
 had already been agreed upon secretly with the Emperor 
 Joseph II. The first step towards the consummation of 
 this project had been the deliberate occupation of the 
 Crimea (April 1783) by Potemkin when the last Tatar 
 Khan became a subject of the Russian Empress. Then 
 followed a period of suspense and hesitation. Catherine, 
 evidently, had not yet quite made up her mind as to what 
 the next step must be. Consequently her policy was 
 vacillating and tentative. Nor could any of the new gen- 
 eration of Russian statesmen by whom she was surrounded 
 offer her much assistance. She had trained most of these 
 men herself and loved to call them " my pupils " ; but at 
 this crisis their political views were as divergent as their 
 characters. 
 
 At the head of her official hierarchy stood Count Ivan 
 Andreevich Osterman, a taciturn, dignified, highly res- 
 pectable sort of superior foreign-office clerk. As Vice- 
 Chancellor, Osterman nominally presided over the Russian 
 Foreign Office during the last sixteen years of the reign of 
 Catherine II., gave audiences to foreign ambassadors, and 
 communicated to them the views of the Empress. But he 
 was always very imperfectly informed of what was actually 
 going on ; very often knew nothing of the contents of the 
 treaties and conventions which he had to sign officially ; 
 and served, principally, as a sort of public indicator of the 
 Empress's ostensible policy when at the very time, perhaps, 
 she was meditating something entirely different. But 
 Catherine did him an injustice when she dubbed him " a 
 blockhead." Though not a brilliant man, Osterman had 
 great experience and profound common sense which made 
 him decidedly adverse to a speculative policy. He was not 
 unfriendly disposed towards Poland, but would have post- 
 poned any alliance with her till after the settlement of the 
 Greek question. 
 
 Another prominent member of the Russian Foreign Office 
 was Count Arkady Ivanovich Morkov, a diplomatist of 
 many years standing, who owed his position partly to his 
 excellent knowledge of French and partly to the support 
 
166 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 of the new reigning favourite, the youthful Platon Zubov. 
 Mbrkov possessed a most resolute temper and was Russian 
 to the core, but his influence was somewhat neutralised by 
 that of his former protector but actual rival, Alexander 
 Bezborodko, whom the foreign ministers rightly regarded 
 as the soul of Catherine's cabinet. Bezborodko was the 
 most subtle and accomplished diplomatist that Russia had 
 yet produced. Every affair of importance was invariably 
 submitted to him beforehand, the Empress placing the 
 highest value on his opinion. He was an expert on the 
 Oriental question in particular, and all his despatches were 
 models of lucid exposition and literary excellence. Too 
 much was thrust upon him, however, and as, moreover, his 
 dissolute and disorderly life * left him comparatively little 
 time to devote to affairs of State, everything placed in his 
 hands was liable to be indefinitely postponed, to the great 
 annoyance of the foreign ministers and the great incon- 
 venience of the Empress, to whom Bezborodko knew himself 
 to be indispensable. Bezborodko favoured Austria, Morkov 
 leaned towards the Prussian affiance, while Osterman 
 sometimes sided with the one and sometimes with the other, 
 so that Catherine, at this period, was more perplexed than 
 profited when she applied to them for counsel. Nevertheless 
 on the eve of the Second Turkish War, all three ministers 
 were inclined to make some concessions to Poland if the 
 interests of Russia could thereby be promoted. It only 
 remained for Poland to take advantage, as far as possible, 
 of the new combinations at the Russian Court. 
 
 It is the highest tribute to the political sagacity of King 
 Stanislaus that he recognised from the outset that the 
 proper, and indeed the only saving policy for Poland, was a 
 close alliance with Russia on almost any terms. The bitter 
 lessons of the First Partition had not been thrown away on 
 him. They had rudely awakened him to a sense of his true 
 position ; they had completed his political education ; they 
 
 * On one occasion Catherine was obliged to remove an eminent actress 
 out of the reach of Bezborodko as his infatuation for her seriously inter- 
 fered with his official work and brought public business to a standstill. 
 
ALEXANDER ANDREEVICH BEZBERODKO, THE CHIEF COUNSELLOR 
 OF CATHERINE II IN HER LATER YEARS 
 
AT THE PARTING OF WAYS 167 
 
 had impressed his acute and receptive mind with the un- 
 alterable conviction that the arch-enemy of everything 
 Polish was neither the orthodox Russian nor the Holy 
 Roman Empire but the Prussian monarchy. There can 
 be no question that this conviction was perfectly sound. 
 But for Prussia there would, very probably, have been no 
 partition at all. But for Prussia the actual partition might 
 have been a slight excision instead of a serious mutilation. 
 Prussia had ever been antagonistic to Poland in the past, 
 and there was no guarantee against her antagonism in the 
 future. The Poles and the Prussians could never be friends. 
 The characters of the two peoples, the interests of the two 
 nations, were so diametrically opposed, that their enmity 
 seemed natural and inevitable. Nearly one-half of the actual 
 Kingdom of Prussia consisted of territory wrung from the 
 necessities of the Polish Republic, and it was notorious that 
 Prussia coveted still more in order to round off what she 
 possessed already. It was equally notorious that Poland 
 was powerless to protect herself from further encroachments. 
 What, then, was she to do ? Obviously she must look 
 about for some ally sufficiently interested in her preservation 
 to prevent the Hohenzollerns from satisfying their land- 
 hunger at her expense. There was only one such contingent 
 ally and that was Russia. 
 
 It is true that Russia and Poland had been secular ad- 
 versaries. Their hostility, was as ancient as their history, 
 and every page in that history had been coloured by blood 
 and fire. But, at any rate, they were not strangers to each 
 other. If they were foes, they were also kinsfolk. They 
 were of the same race and almost of the same language. 
 They had many common interests. Their respective 
 nobilities were more or less connected. Even their ancient 
 religious differences had ceased to be acute. One-third of 
 the whole population of Poland belonged to the Orthodox 
 Faith. Finally, they had a common hatred of Prussia. 
 Both Russia and Poland regarded the Prussian Germans as 
 aliens, as outsiders, as their real and true enemies, as inter- 
 lopers who had driven disruptive iron wedges into the once 
 
168 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 solid structure of the old Slavonic World. No doubt any 
 approximation between the Russians and the Poles was 
 bound to be tentative and experimental. Both had too 
 much to forgive to be friends all at once. Nor could any 
 really stable alliance be concluded on anything like equal 
 terms. Russia was far too powerful to concede, Poland was 
 far too feeble to claim a parity of conditions. Subordination 
 on the part of the Republic, domination on the part of the 
 Empire, were, from the very nature of the case, the in- 
 dispensable preliminary conditions of an alliance, and 
 against such conditions it was inevitable that Polish pride 
 and Polish patriotism should rebel. But the fact remains 
 that, in the middle of the eighteenth century, the best heads 
 of both nations believed in the possibility of such an ap- 
 proximation ; it is certain that such an approximation 
 would have been beneficial to Poland ; and, consequently, 
 it is to the honour and credit of King Stanislaus that he 
 endeavoured to bring it about. 
 
 The King took in the whole situation with the foresight 
 and sagacity of a true statesman. His scheme, while 
 accommodating itself to present circumstances, looked for 
 its perfect fulfilment to the future. Above all things he 
 desired to make Poland strong and independent ; but he 
 foresaw that the process must be gradual and secret. In 
 any case his project presupposed a preliminary period of 
 dependence upon Russia. He argued, however, and justly, 
 that so far from being derogatory, such dependence could not 
 fail, ultimately, if properly managed, to be salutary to the 
 Poles themselves. After all, it was only meant to be a 
 period of self-discipline and recuperation. To appreciate 
 properly the King's idea, it should always be borne in mind 
 that the Polish State was neither more nor less than a loose 
 confederation of gentlemen whose one recognised obligation 
 was military service. Such a political system was, no doubt, 
 an anachronism, but Stanislaus had to make the best of the 
 only material at hand, and he proposed, in the first instance, 
 to make this semi-mediaeval institution at least efficient by 
 inuring it to the military discipline it so sorely needed. 
 
AT THE PARTING OF WAYS 169 
 
 That a sovereign personally so pacific and philosophical 
 should thus venture upon so drastic an expedient was, 
 certainly, most extraordinary, but there can be no doubt 
 that he was right in so venturing. War was the only school 
 in which the ancient military virtues of the Polish nobility 
 could be revived, and the best chance of obtaining a thorough 
 education in that school was a close alliance with the Russian 
 Empire which, impelled by the ambitious sceptre of Cath- 
 erine II., was just about to plunge into the most incalculable 
 of military adventures. We of the twentieth century are 
 so accustomed to assume war to be an unmitigated evil that 
 we are tempted entirely to overlook its nobler, its curative 
 properties. Yet it has been the mature and deliberate 
 conviction of some of the best and wisest men of every age, 
 our own included, that, in certain contingencies, war alone 
 is able to arrest the course of national decadence. History, 
 fairly and carefully scrutinised, points irresistibly to the 
 same conclusion. Anyhow, as regards Poland, there can 
 be no doubt whatever that the discipline of warfare alone 
 was capable of dissipating the sluggishness and curbing the 
 egotism of the half-million or so of armed and unemployed 
 gentlemen who claimed to represent the whole nation. For 
 seventy years the Republic had been engaged in no regular 
 warfare. The immediate consequence of this long and 
 enervating peace was that the ancient chivalrous spirit of 
 the nation had been well-nigh extinguished, and with the 
 martial spirit the public spirit of the szlachta was also 
 disappearing. The Poles had become a nation of triflers 
 and pettifoggers. To such trivial depths had Polish society 
 sunk during the last twenty years that, throughout that 
 period, the only questions which had excited any general 
 interest at all were : Ought Soltyk, the crazy Bishop of 
 Cracow, to be put in a lunatic asylum or not ? and : Was 
 or was not the adventuress Dogrumowa employed by the 
 King to poison Prince Adam Czartoryski ? Stanislaus II. 
 argued fairly enough that, in such miserable conditions, 
 the quickest way of bringing about a better state of things 
 was to give the Polish nation something serious to think 
 
170 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 about, something which could really arouse it. An active 
 participation in the military adventures of the Russian 
 Empire, as the direct result of a close alliance with it, 
 was obviously the shortest cut to such a goal. There can 
 be little doubt that Stanislaus meant, ultimately, to take 
 the fullest advantage of the influence which the possession 
 of an efficient standing army cannot fail to bring to every 
 State. For example, he intended, if possible, to recover 
 some of the lost provinces of Poland so as thereby to justify 
 his policy ; raise the prestige of the Polish State abroad ; 
 and bring it, once more, within the European concert. 
 
 The King's " wishes " in their fullest form are embodied in 
 the draft memorandum to Deboli, the Polish minister at 
 St. Petersburg, a few months after the famous meeting at 
 Kaniow presently to be recorded. It was an ably drawn 
 document, the terms of which, evidently, had been very 
 carefully considered. * While tacitly assuming the hegemony 
 of Russia, it aimed at substituting for the shameful and 
 oppressive dependence based on the Russian guarantee of 
 1773, relations of a more intimate and more honourable 
 character. In view of the prospective conquest of Turkish 
 territory by Russia, which was taken for granted, Stanislaus 
 desired that by way of compensation for the lost Polish 
 provinces, a slice of Bessarabia with the port of Akkerman, 
 which would give Poland some share in the Black Sea trade, 
 should be transferred to the Republic. The Russian Am- 
 bassador, Stackelberg, supported this " wish " on the ground 
 that its realisation would establish a useful neutral zone 
 between Russia and Austria. The King further desired 
 that the succession to the Polish throne should henceforth 
 be hereditary instead of elective ; that an offensive and de- 
 fensive alliance should be concluded between Russia and 
 Poland, placing the forces of the Republic at the disposal of 
 the Empress in the ensuing war ; that Russia should pay 
 Poland subsidies to the amount of 100,000 ducats per annum 
 and all the expenses of any Polish contingent ; that the 
 
 * It was kept such a profound secret that only the most intimate 
 associates of the two monarchs knew anything about it. 
 
AT THE PARTING OF WAYS 171 
 
 Polish executive should be strengthened and the royal 
 prerogative increased ; that the King, in certain circum- 
 stances, should have a veto on the decrees of the Diet ; that 
 his civil list should be raised two millions and his debts 
 paid ; and that he should have at his disposal sufficient 
 patronage to make his friendship valuable and his influence 
 paramount in Poland. The only one of these proposals 
 which the Empress peremptorily rejected was that which 
 would have converted Poland from an elective into an 
 hereditary monarchy, certainly the most important of them 
 all. Everything else, however, she was ready to concede — 
 with certain limitations. But it was somewhat of a shock 
 to her to find that her new ally was almost penniless. As 
 a business woman she could not, of course, help regarding 
 as a little one-sided a bargain in which she was expected to 
 do nearly everything because the King of Poland could do 
 next to nothing. This was by no means the first time that 
 the clever public policy of Stanislaus was damaged seriously 
 by his private vices, and, unfortunately for him, it was not 
 to be the last. Nevertheless, the general outlook was, on 
 the whole, by no means discouraging. The Russian Vice- 
 Chancellor, Count Osterman, even went so far as to say to 
 Deboli : " Be sure we shall not leave you in the lurch, but 
 remember ; you also must do something for us ! " Such 
 words from the mouthpiece of the Russian Empress to the 
 Polish minister at St. Petersburg were most significant. 
 They demonstrated that Russia had changed her ancient 
 tactics completely, and now preferred to see Poland mod- 
 erately strong instead of absolutely helpless. 
 
 But the King and his friends were not the only persons 
 in Poland who desired to contract a close alliance with 
 Russia. The little band of reactionaries who followed the 
 standard of Felix Potocki and his friends the Grand-Hetman 
 Branicki and the Grand-Marshal Rzewuski had the like 
 ambition though with very different intentions. The object 
 of the King was to use the Russian alliance as a stepping- 
 stone for higher and better things. As projected by him, 
 it was the first serious attempt to extricate Poland from 
 
172 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 her present entanglements, and set her firmly on her feet 
 again in the right path, with courage in her heart and a 
 sword in her hand. The Potocki faction would simply 
 have plunged her back into the hopeless and helpless anarchy 
 from which she was struggling to emerge, by perpetuating 
 aristocratic misrule under a still more stringent Russian 
 guarantee of the ancient Constitution. These men were not 
 consciously traitors perhaps. They have even been called 
 " conscientious traitors." But they were so absolutely 
 incapable of looking beyond the narrow limits of their own 
 caste that they identified the Polish nobility with the 
 Polish nation and were the sworn enemies of every reform 
 and improvement (" innovations " they called them) which 
 threatened, however remotely, their own inordinate pre- 
 judices. Hence their determination to keep things exactly 
 as they were. Hence their absurd jealousy and hatred of 
 what they misnamed " sovereignty," or the natural use of 
 his legitimate prerogatives by a constitutional King. 
 
 In the course of 1787 the two rival factions had a singular 
 opportunity of laying their petitions and their homage at 
 the feet of the Russian Empress. Early in the year Catherine 
 gave herself up to that magnificent and prolonged picnic of 
 Potentates and Princes whom she took with her from the 
 shores of the Baltic to the shores of the Euxine to admire 
 her recently completed arsenal at Kherson, and marvel at 
 the brand new fleet which Potemkin, in an incredibly short 
 time, had constructed and fully equipped for battle in the 
 harbour of SebastopoL The greater part of this brilliant 
 triumphal progress was a water fete, the imperial state 
 barges, with an attendant flotilla of galleys, starting from 
 Kiev on Dnieper and following the course of that broad 
 river to the southern Ukraine. When, in February, the 
 Empress arrived at Kiev she found Potocki and Co. already 
 awaiting her good pleasure. But the undignified haste with 
 which these Polish magnates had stolen a march upon their 
 King profited them not at all. When they presented 
 themselves before the Empress, Catherine received them very 
 coldly, ridiculed their pretensions, and was, manifestly, 
 
AT THE PARTING OF WAYS 173 
 
 bored by their obsequiousness. She bluntly refused to 
 transact any business with them. For three months these 
 " friends of Russia " danced attendance upon the Russian 
 autocrat. During the whole of that time they were never 
 so much as invited to the Empress's table, and the whole 
 Court ostentatiously turned its back upon them. 
 
 Very different was the reception of Stanislaus. It was 
 on February 23, 1787, that the King of Poland set forth on 
 an expedition from which he anticipated the happiest results. 
 He was accompanied by the Russian Ambassador, Count 
 Stackelberg, by that exquisite drawing-room Paladin the 
 Prince de Ligne, and by his own nephew, Prince Joseph 
 Poniatowski, the beloved " Pepi " of his private correspond- 
 ence. A whole host of Polish celebrities and dignitaries of 
 both sexes swelled the royal retinue. This little trip cost 
 Stanislaus 100,000 guldens, and, if only he had remained 
 firm to his own principles, he need never have regretted a 
 penny of it. It was the worst time of the year for travelling 
 and the roads were villainous, but everything passed off 
 happily enough, and " the most handsome of monarchs " 
 whom his nieces admiringly compared to Henry of Navarre, 
 arrived, safe and sound, at Kaniow where he proposed to 
 wait upon the Empress as she passed down the river on her 
 way to the fortress of Ochakov. Catherine welcomed her 
 elderly but still amiable and elegant ex-lover with charming 
 cordiality. When the Poles came to pay their respects to 
 her she ordered her Russians to make haste and wait upon 
 the King of Poland. The brief intercourse between the 
 two courts was of the most lively and friendly description. 
 Messengers, with gifts and compliments, were passing 
 perpetually from the one to the other. The Empress had 
 politely fixed upon St. Stanislaus's Day for the King's 
 private interview with her. This interview took place on 
 one of the state-galleys. Stanislaus arrived incognito as 
 Count Poniatowski. As he came on board he was received 
 with a salute of honour and a long flourish of trumpets. 
 The visit was ultra-ceremonious and lasted only a few hours. 
 Stanislaus could not prevail upon Catherine to stay till 
 
174 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 dark to see the illuminations and fireworks which he had 
 especially prepared for her delectation at a great expense- 
 Before his departure, however, Catherine removed the Order 
 of St. Andrew from her own breast and pinned it on to his. 
 He returned the compliment by sending after her the Order 
 of the White Eagle in brilliants. Business, indeed, the 
 Empress refused to transact. " A barge on a river is no 
 fit place for discussing affairs of State," she laughingly 
 replied to all his diplomatic endeavours, " wait till I am 
 back at St. Petersburg ! " But from the suave and smiling 
 Bezborodko, who accompanied Catherine as Secretary of 
 State, Stanislaus received the most satisfactory assurances. 
 And the Empress's servants had been working in the King's 
 interests elsewhere. At Kiev Prince Potemkin had taken 
 Felix Potocki aside and earnestly represented to him that 
 it would be as well if he buried all his ancient differences 
 with the King of Poland. Potocki, who was not without 
 common sense, took the hint and this very desirable 
 reconciliation between the King and the mightiest of the 
 Polish magnates was cemented at Tulczyn, Potocki's 
 " capital " where, in the autumn of 1787, he welcomed his 
 sovereign with profound respect and entertained him with 
 princely splendour. In return, Stanislaus appointed Felix 
 commander of the Polish Army of Observation on the 
 southern frontier. " Our close alliance with Russia," wrote 
 Stanislaus on this occasion, " is essential to the glory and 
 the preservation of our people." 
 
 On his way back from Kaniow to Warsaw, Stanislaus 
 encountered the Emperor Joseph II., at the little town of 
 Korsun. Joseph, who, full of the Eastern Project, was 
 hastening to join Catherine at Mohilew, warmly assured the 
 King of Poland that neither he nor the Russian Empress 
 had the least desire for any more Polish territory. " We 
 want neither stock nor stone of it," said he, Stanislaus 
 was highly gratified by this assurance. He wrote to one 
 of his nieces, immediately afterwards, that the troubles of 
 the Poles were now over and that a happy time for all of 
 them was at hand. In the joy of his heart he even paid 
 
AT THE PARTING OF WAYS 175 
 
 for five hundred masses to be sung at Cracow for the souls 
 of as many of his defunct kinsfolk as he could call to mind. 
 Stanislaus returned to his capital radiant and reassured. 
 Nothing definite, indeed, had yet been arranged with Russia ; 
 but, anyhow, he was assured of the benevolence of the 
 Empress and that was, certainly, not a bad foundation to 
 build upon. He also was statesman enough to foresee that 
 Catherine was about to embark on a sea of troubles, and 
 diplomatist enough to calculate that those troubles would 
 be Poland's opportunity. The present situation could 
 only be transitional. Friendly as she had. been, Catherine, 
 nevertheless, had, so far, shown little disposition to treat 
 Poland as one ally should treat another. She knew that 
 she was paramount in Poland, and paramount she meant 
 to remain. At present she looked no further than this. 
 Stanislaus had, perhaps, asked too much, but she had 
 certainly given much too little. Stanislaus's political out- 
 look was more than justified by the course of events. Within 
 twelve months of the meeting at Kaniow, things had 
 happened which made " Russia's haughty Dame " more 
 conciliatory and complaisant. The immediate effect of her 
 pleasant triumphal picnic to the Ukraine was to arouse the 
 long-suffering Turk from his apathy, and precipitate a war 
 for which Catherine was totally unprepared although she had 
 done everything to provoke it. Instantly all her numerous 
 enemies were on the alert. It was now that Great Britain 
 took up the rdle of chief Turcophil which prance had sus- 
 tained for more than 300 years. From the first, the British 
 Government had been suspicious of Catherine II. The 
 refusal of the Russian Empress to assist in the subjugation 
 of " His Majesty's misguided subjects in America " had 
 increased the coolness between the two Courts, and when 
 Catherine had begun to apply the principles of the Armed 
 Neutrality of the North to British commerce, public opinion 
 in Great Britain was profoundly irritated against her. Great 
 Britain, moreover, was jealous of Russia's increasing 
 influence in the Mediterranean, which threatened to injure 
 the English Levant trade, so that when the second Turkish 
 
176 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Wax broke out it was clearly the correct policy of the 
 Court of St. James's to assist the Porte as much as 
 possible by multiplying Catherine's embarrassments. Prussia, 
 especially disturbed by the new Austro-Russian alliance, 
 laboured assiduously, and not very scrupulously, to promote 
 the same object. 1787 was the critical year. While Catherine 
 was perambulating the Ukraine, scattering rubles and 
 epigrams in every direction, Great Britain and Prussia 
 were helping to bring about a Swedo-Turkish alliance. It 
 was hoped that Turkey and Sweden would declare war 
 against Russia simultaneously ; but Gustavus III., who had 
 his own very real grievances against Russia, was prevented, 
 by constitutional trammels, from invading Finland till 
 July 1788, whereas the Turks began hostilities by besieging, 
 ineffectually, the fortress of Kinburn as early as October 
 
 1787. The real tug-of-war did not come, however, till 
 
 1788, when Joseph II., acting as his own generalissimo* 
 poured his troops into Turkish territory. The upshot showed 
 that the Emperor was no warrior and that the Turks had 
 lost nothing of their ancient valour. The imperial troops 
 suffered bloody defeats and were driven back headlong 
 into Hungary. Joseph owed his life entirely to the fleetness 
 of his charger, and had not Marshal Laudon taken over the 
 supreme command at the last moment the Austrian army 
 must have been annihilated. The Russians were more 
 fortunate. Rumyantsev took the fortress of Chocim by 
 assault ; the Prince of Nassau-Siegen destroyed the Turkish 
 fleet at the mouth of the Dnieper; and Suvarov put 30,000 
 Osmanlis to the sword at the storming of Ochakov. 
 
 These extraordinary conjunctures set all Poland in a 
 ferment. Those who were not behind the scenes and had 
 no idea of the King's secret understanding with Catherine 
 naturally jumped at the conclusion that now the long 
 expected moment for the Republic to cast off the detested 
 Russian yoke, with the assistance of Prussia, and strike out 
 an independent line of her own had at length arrived. The 
 chief representative of this new school of politicians was 
 Ignatius Potocki, a distant cousin of Felix, but of greatef 
 
AT THE PARTING OF WAYS 177 
 
 natural ability and far more enlightened than his kinsman 
 the Red-Russian magnate who, by the way, cordially detested 
 him, while Catherine bluntly dubbed him " a scoundrel." * 
 The Poles, on the other hand, have always considered him 
 one of their most enlightened patriots. Let us see if we 
 can arrive at a true estimate of the character of this cha- 
 meleon-like politician whose colour invariably changes with 
 the point of view. 
 
 Count Ignatius Potocki, Marshal of Lithuania, one of the 
 six sons of Eustathius Potocki, was now in his six and 
 thirtieth year. Originally, he had been educated at Rome 
 for the priesthood ; but, on the death of his father, he flung 
 off his clerical habit (which, certainly, never well became 
 him) and plunged into the more congenial arena of politics. 
 His handsome face, distinguished manners, and illimitable 
 and unshakable self-confidence, instantly brought him to 
 the front. He profoundly impressed the more serious men 
 of his day by his deep and daring political combinations, 
 as well as by the superior and sarcastic eloquence with 
 which he defended his own views and contemptuously 
 thrust aside those of his opponents. In social intercourse 
 Ignatius Potocki was always very calm, very cold, and very 
 condescending. Every word, every gesture, gave those 
 around him distinctly to understand that he regarded 
 himself as immeasurably more important than any of his 
 contemporaries. He used frequently to say that he resem- 
 bled St. Francis Xavier, " who, like myself, was compelled 
 to preach the Gospel to beasts." Preaching, certainly, 
 was his strong point, but his natural indolence shrank 
 from hard work, and he, very unwillingly, quitted the 
 ethereal regions of abstract speculation for the solid earth 
 of facts and figures. He desired fame and distinction 
 rather than power, and was therefore quite content to be 
 considered (as he generally was) the most original and 
 eminent statesman of the Stanislavan period. The King 
 alone saw through him and appraised him at his real value. 
 The intellect of Ignatius Potocki was a curious blend of 
 
 * Principally because he was such a firm friend of Prussia. 
 M 
 
178 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 acuten'ess and perversity. Thus he was convinced, rightly 
 enough, that Poland could never arrive at a settled govern- 
 ment by her own unaided efforts, and that an hereditary 
 monarchy was indispensable for her. Yet the only means 
 to this end which he would recognise was an intimate 
 alliance with the King of Prussia. When it was objected 
 that the Polish nobility would never assimilate with Prussian 
 Junkerdom, he would simply smile, shrug his shoulders 
 and remark lightly : " Perhaps not ; but, in that case, we 
 must hound on the burgesses against the nobles and liberate 
 the serfs." Like all the members of the House of Potocki, 
 Ignatius regarded the Poniatowscy in general and the 
 King in particular as his natural enemies. Yet it was only 
 after his failure to approach Stanislaus through one of his 
 mistresses that he took up an attitude of irreconcilable 
 antagonism to the Crown and became the oracle of the 
 family clique, largely composed of intriguing, passionate 
 and revengeful women, who, from 1787 to 1790, were the 
 mainstay of the Prussian party in Poland. At the head of 
 this clique stood the feather-brained Princess Isabella 
 Czartoryska, who desired, above all things, to place her 
 son-in-law, the Prince of Wurtemberg, on the Polish throne. 
 The Vice-Hetman Rzewuski, who hated the King for private 
 reasons, was the Princess's most humble servant, and she 
 was also energetically supported by that ambitious virago 
 the Princess-Marshal Lubomirska, who brought into the 
 party her numerous daughters and their husbands of whom 
 Ignatius Potocki was one. We shall see, in the sequel, 
 what irreparable damage all these superior people did to 
 their country. And the tragedy of it was that they only 
 recognised when it was too late that, with the best in- 
 tentions, they had taken the wrong road, the road that led 
 to ruin, and that the unfortunate King, whom they would 
 never listen to, had been in the right after all. 
 
 Hitherto the Prussian Government had not considered it 
 necessary or desirable to maintain a party of its own in 
 Poland. Such a step would have been regarded at St. 
 Petersburg as an offensive trespass upon Russia's preserves 
 
AT THE PARTING OF WAYS 179 
 
 and the Court of Berlin knew better than to provoke the 
 Russian Empress wantonly. Hence the Prussian envoys to 
 Poland had been second-rate, poorly-paid charges d'affaires, 
 the mere jackals of the splendid and imposing Russian 
 ambassadors. Benoit, Frederick the Great's envoy, had 
 starved on a salary of £25 a year ; gone about in a thread- 
 bare grey suit with a steel sword ; lodged at a cheap sub- 
 urban inn ; and paid official visits in a hackney-coach. 
 His successor Buchholtz cut an equally insignificant figure. 
 He was never supplied with money sufficient to acquire any 
 really valuable information, and his despatches, composed 
 mostly of scandal and gossip, were absolutely misleading. 
 Poland, in fact, was looked upon as outside the Prussian 
 sphere of influence altogether. But, on the death of 
 Frederick the Great, the policy of Prussia underwent a 
 complete change. Ewald Friedrich HeVtzberg, who now 
 controlled the Prussian Foreign Office, based his " system " 
 on a complicated scheme of international exchanges mainly 
 at the expense of Poland. Briefly formulated, Poland was 
 to surrender Dantzic and Thorn to Prussia and receive 
 back Galicia from Austria, who, in her turn, was to be 
 compensated at the expense of Turkey, by the restoration 
 of the Passarowicz frontier,* while Prussia and Austria 
 were to assist the Porte to get the best terms procurable 
 from Russia. This meant that Prussia, while studiously 
 preserving an apparent friendliness with all her neighbours, 
 was really trying to suck the utmost advantage out of their 
 troubles without the least scruple. In a word, the " system " 
 of Hertzberg only differed from the " system " of Frederick 
 the Great as petty larceny differs from highway robbery. 
 
 The key to Hertzberg's false and crooked diplomacy is 
 to be sought in Prussia's mortal fear and jealousy of Russia 
 — an inheritance from the Frederician days. The prospect 
 of Russia dominating Europe was a perpetual nightmare 
 to Frederick William II. and his ministers, and both the 
 Austro-Russian Alliance and the approximation of Poland 
 towards Russia filled them with the utmost consternation. 
 
 * Which would have given her northern Servia and western Wallachia. 
 
i8o THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 The prevention of the latter contingency in particular was 
 held to justify any and every expedient, and when rumours 
 began to reach Berlin of an actual secret treaty signed, 
 or about to be signed, between Russia and Poland, the 
 Prussian Court determined to oppose, with all its might, 
 the Russian influence in Poland. The first step, obviously, 
 was to establish a Prussian party in Poland itself and, with 
 this object in view, Frederick William II., in October 1788, 
 despatched as his accredited minister to Warsaw as keen 
 a diplomatist as it had ever been the good fortune of the 
 Prussian monarchy to possess. 
 
 Geronimo, Marquess de Lucchesini, was one of those 
 numerous Italian adventurers who haunted the Courts of 
 Europe during the eighteenth century. Frederick the 
 Great, with characteristic brutality, reminded him of the 
 fact that he was an adventurer when, as a mere youth, he 
 had first presented himself at Potsdam. " How often, sir, 
 will the Marquesses of Italy be base enough to sell themselves 
 to the Monarchs of Germany ? " were the words with which 
 Frederick opened the interview. " So long, your Majesty, 
 as the Monarchs of Germany are fools enough to buy them," 
 was the instantaneous repartee. Frederick smiled as he 
 tapped the golden tabatiere which the Polish Chancellor, 
 Garowski, used to compare to Pandora's box, and Lucchesini 
 was appointed the King's lector on the spot. In this 
 confidential post his ears were even busier than his lips. 
 Nothing escaped this keen-witted observer, who combined 
 Italian subtlety with French esprit, and, while diligently 
 learning the business of a diplomatist in the most advanced 
 of all schools, he completely won the favour of his master, 
 who recommended him warmly to his successor. Over 
 Friedrich William II. Lucchesini, for many years, exercised 
 a paramount influence, which gave the Polish wits occasion 
 to observe that he had the command of " le plus gros corps 
 de I'armee," it being notorious that the King of Prussia if 
 not the greatest was certainly the biggest soldier in his own 
 forces. Lucchesini's own personal appearance was scarcely 
 prepossessing. He was meagre, dark and puny, and had 
 
AT THE PARTING OF WAYS 181 
 
 had the misfortune to lose an eye while engaged in a chemical 
 experiment. Yet, despite these serious external disadvan- 
 tages, the Marquess was one of the most fascinating of men. 
 His manners were soft and insinuating, and he possessed 
 the rare faculty of seeming to open his heart unreservedly 
 to every one with whom he conversed. The impressionable 
 Poles instantly took him for what he pretended to be and 
 rewarded his hypocritical candour with the fullest confidence. 
 The Princess Isabella Czartoryska, in particular, always 
 fancied that Lucchesini was her slave, when, as a matter of 
 fact, she and her associates were but the political tools of 
 the dangerous little fellow who had the heartiest contempt 
 for them all. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 
 
 Opening of the Quadrennial Diet — Its marshal, Stanislaus Malachowski — 
 Character of the Diet — Negotiations with Russia — Political divisions 
 of the Diet — Rejection of the Russian alliance — Arrival of Lucchesini 
 — Polish hatred of Russia — The Diet attacks the Constitution guaran- 
 teed by Russia — Polish army raised to 100,000 men — Degradation 
 of the King — Efforts of Lucchesini to bring about a rupture between 
 Poland and Russia — Prussia demands the withdrawal of the Russian 
 troops from Poland — Impotence of the Russian Ambassador Stackel- 
 berg — The " Patriots " and the " Parasites " — Prussia instigates 
 Poland to abolish all the Russian guarantees — Affected indifference 
 of Catherine — The policy of pin-pricks — Russia's sudden respect for 
 Polish territory — The new Polish Constitution — Proposed cession 
 of Dantsic and Thorn — Conclusion of a Prusso-Folish alliance — 
 Views of England on the Polish question — Negotiations of Mr. Hayles 
 with the Polish Government — Unwisdom of Poland in rejecting the 
 Dantzic project — Pitt's opinion of it — Would Prussia have remained 
 loyal if Dantzic had been ceded to her ? 
 
 It was on October 6, 1788, that the famous Sejm 
 Czteroletni, or Quadrennial Diet, which was to decide the 
 fate of Poland, assembled at Warsaw. The elections had 
 been favourable to the King. Broadly speaking, all the 
 well-to-do gentry, except in the north-eastern provinces, 
 where the influence of the reactionary magnates was para- 
 mount, had declared themselves in favour of a constitutional 
 reform which should strengthen the Executive and do 
 away with the worst of the old abuses. In order that the 
 proceedings of the Diet might be more untrammelled, it 
 was converted into a Confederation, an arrangement which 
 enabled it to decide everything by a majority of votes. 
 The Marshal, or President, of all such confederated Diets 
 
 possessed, ex officio, immense powers, including, virtuall y, 
 
 182 
 
THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 183 
 
 the chief executive functions and the initiative in all the 
 negotiations with foreign Powers. It was therefore of vital 
 importance that so large an authority should not be placed 
 in the hands of another scoundrel or traitor like Poninski 
 of evil memory who had held the office during the con- 
 federated Diet of 1772, and universal was the approbation 
 when the King placed the presidential bdton in the hands 
 of Stanislaus Malachowski, the deputy for Sandomeria. 
 
 In many respects the choice was an excellent one. The 
 new Marshal belonged to a very ancient and wealthy 
 aristocratic family, but it had ever been the tradition of his 
 House to hold rather with the squires than with the magnates, 
 and this policy, unflinchingly pursued, had made the 
 Malachowscy the most popular noblemen in the land. 
 Their patriotism, untainted by the usual prejudices of the 
 Polish patricians, was pure and disinterested, and they 
 were always ready to sacrifice their privileges for the 
 Commonweal. Stanislaus Malachowski set a noble example 
 to his peers, a few years later, by emancipating his serfs 
 at a considerable personal loss. As a magistrate his 
 conduct had ever been blameless. Indeed so just and 
 honourable was he in all his dealings that he was gener- 
 ally known as " the Polish Aristides." Intellectually, 
 Malachowski could not, perhaps, be described as highly 
 gifted. He was neither a good speaker nor a good penman. 
 He shared the general ignorance of his countrymen about 
 foreign affairs. He lacked experience as an administrator. 
 He was no diplomatist. On the other hand, his judgment 
 in ordinary matters was sound ; his acquirements were solid, 
 especially in the domain of economics ; and he was, ad- 
 mittedly, an authority on Polish constitutional law. His 
 fairness and equity would have made him a model president 
 of an ordinary legislature in quiet times. Unfortunately, 
 he was called upon to preside over a Diet, the like of which 
 Poland had never seen before, at a period of acute crisis; 
 when firmness of character was a more valuable quality 
 than any combination of all the virtues. It soon, however, 
 became painfully evident that Malachowski had no control 
 
i8 4 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 over the tempestuous assembly he was supposed to direct. 
 His very anxiety to do his duty and avoid the least semblance 
 of partiality made him unduly tolerant of obstruction and 
 indisposed to rebuke excesses in debate of which he secretly 
 disapproved. Or, as the English minister at Warsaw, 
 Mr. Hayles, epigrammatically put it : " this good and 
 virtuous old man feared nothing so much as to be thought 
 to be afraid." Thus he let the deputies and even the 
 spectators in the galleries do very much as they liked, and 
 " they barked at him and badgered him," and interrupted 
 him, and took no notice of his rulings, till he was very often 
 inclined to quit the presidential chair altogether and leave 
 them to their own devices. 
 
 The Diet over which Malachowski had to preside differed 
 materially from all the preceding Diets of Poland. Elected 
 beneath the stress of unusual circumstances, animated by 
 the desire of carrying out political reforms in accordance 
 with the spirit of the age, a generous enthusiasm was its 
 leading feature. The benches of the Deputies were filled, 
 for the most part, by young and energetic men educated 
 in a new school, stimulated by new principles, penetrated 
 by a burning patriotism which professed itself ready to do 
 all things and suffer all things for a beloved country. As 
 to the sincerity and goodwill of the majority of these young 
 Deputies there cannot be the slightest doubt. If enthusiasm 
 alone could have saved Poland, at that moment Poland 
 would, undoubtedly, have been saved. But enthusiasm 
 without experience to teach and sagacity to guide it is a 
 very dangerous quality. Poland ultimately fell not because 
 she was wanting in heroism, but because she lacked the 
 very rudiments of prudence and self-discipline, and she 
 lacked these essentials of all good government because 
 during the last two hundred years of her existence she had 
 taken her stand, simply and solely, upon individual liberty, 
 that is to say, a liberty which refused to recognise any 
 external authority and shut its eyes and ears against all 
 the warnings and teachings of history. Hence the pheno- 
 menal simplicity of the Polish Diet of 1788-1791.. Perhaps 
 
THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 185 
 
 there never was a legislative assembly so profoundly ignorant 
 of its own duties and obligations, so easily imposed upon by 
 native demagogues and foreign intriguers, so absolutely 
 uninstructed as to what was actually going on around it, so 
 incompetent to repair a crazy Constitution, let alone 
 construct a brand new one. I am well aware that this is 
 not the generally accepted opinion of the character of 
 " The Great Diet," as the last Polish Parliament has so 
 strangely been misnamed ; but the ensuing record of its 
 sayings and doings (necessarily a brief one as this book is not 
 so much a history of Poland as a biography of King Stanislaus) 
 will, I hope, acquit me both of injustice and exaggeration. 
 
 True to his principles that an alliance with Russia was, 
 in the circumstances, the best thing for Poland, the King 
 privately communicated to Malachowski, immediately 
 after his nomination as Marshal, the secret negotiations 
 which had been proceeding with Catherine II. Malachowski 
 agreed that an alliance with Russia would be most service- 
 able ; but, before giving it his absolute adhesion, he stipu- 
 lated that the Republic should first be released from the 
 Russian guarantee of the ancient constitution, the very 
 mention of which was a vexation and a humiliation to all 
 true patriots. To this the King assented, and it was, no 
 doubt, in consequence of this assent that when the long- 
 delayed treaty of alliance, drafted by Bezborodko, reached 
 him at last from St. Petersburg, he rejected it because its 
 conditions seemed to him to be too onerous and tending 
 to make Poland a mere mercenary of the Russian Empress. 
 But, in spite of all this, Stanislaus persuaded Malachowski 
 to agree that nothing should be done by the Diet to irritate 
 Russia needlessly. " Prussia," he said to the Marshal of 
 the Diet, " is to be feared most of all just now because 
 we are so weak, and we can only become strong with the 
 help of Russia." Malachowski at once acquiesced. 
 
 At the opening of the Diet we find three separate factions 
 confronting each other. Of these the King's party, which 
 originally included more than half of the Deputies, was the 
 largest. The most ardent and energetic of the would-be 
 
1 86 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 reformers were grouped, however, around Ignatius Potocki 
 and Prince Adam Casimir Czartoryski. Equally opposed 
 to the Party of Reform and the Royal Party was the faction 
 of the ultra-conservative magnates under Xavier Branicki 
 and Severin Rzewuski. But the richest magnate of them 
 all, Felix Potocki, now reconciled with the King, warmly 
 supported his Russophil policy. As the commander of the 
 Polish troops on the Turkish frontier (the only regular 
 army the Republic had), Felix was now in a position of 
 great authority and responsibility. He was also once more 
 in favour with the Russian court. The Empress had 
 recently sent him a sword and epaulets covered with 
 brilliants. 
 
 The Marshal of the Diet had no sooner delivered his 
 opening address to the House (October 13, 1788) than the 
 Prussian minister, Buchholtz, presented a declaration to 
 the Diet protesting against any Russo-Polish alliance as 
 inexpedient for Poland as well as offensive to the Court 
 of Berlin. He offered, at the same time, the alternative of 
 an alliance between Poland and Prussia. The Prussian 
 declaration produced a profound impression. It was the 
 first time that one of the great Powers (and that too a 
 participator in the First Partition) had come forward so 
 decidedly against Russia. And the tone of the Prussian 
 note was even more remarkable than its tenour. Its polite 
 and respectful language was utterly unlike the diplomatic 
 insults which the great Frederick had been wont to hurl 
 at the head of the Polish Republic. The Diet was highly 
 flattered at being addressed as an independent Power by 
 the greatest military monarchy in Europe. The King, 
 however, only too well aware of the real designs of Prussia, 
 persuaded Malachowski to leave the reply to the Prussian 
 declarations to him, and the result was that the Prussian 
 offer of alliance was rejected in a note of equal dignity and 
 courtesy. 
 
 It was immediately aft«r this episode that the little one- 
 eyed Italian Marquess appeared upon the scene. He found 
 the Polish patriots very sanguine and elated. The open 
 
THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 187 
 
 championship of Prussia had given the necessary impetus 
 to the long-accumulating but hitherto silent and inert 
 hatred of Russia, and, once set in motion, it was plain that 
 its irresistible weight must carry everything before it. 
 This hatred of Russia was very natural. From the begin- 
 ning of the reign of Stanislaus, the Poles had suffered un- 
 forgettable, unutterable things from the tyranny and the 
 brutality of the Russian Satraps who dictated the orders 
 of the Russian Empress in the Polish capital. Repnin, 
 Saldern, and Stackelberg had treated the Polish nation like 
 the dirt beneath their feet. The Russian armies quartered 
 in Poland had freely exploited the country and treated it 
 as if it belonged to them. The men and women of all 
 classes in Poland who had seen and felt these outrages, day 
 by day, for five and twenty years had every right to regard 
 the Russians as their deadliest enemies. On the other hand, 
 the views of these justly aggrieved Polish men and women 
 were very limited. They knew nothing of politics. They 
 were not behind the scenes. They were, of course, totally 
 unaware of the really benevolent views of Catherine towards 
 them in the abstract ; bitter injuries and insults in the 
 concrete were all that came within their ken. Quite as 
 naturally, their hatred of Russia extended to everything 
 which had come to them from and through Russia, even 
 when it had turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The 
 Constitution of 1775, which existed under the Empress's 
 guarantee, was a case in point. It had restricted the 
 Republic within a very moderate political programme, 
 yet there can be no doubt that it made for order, economy 
 and stability. But, whatever its merits, it was, after all, 
 the invention of the enemy, and, therefore, abominable to 
 the Polish patriots. To them it was simply a badge of 
 servitude. To obliterate it, as speedily as possible, was 
 their one desire. But now, suddenly, they encountered 
 an unexpected obstacle in the King. Stanislaus was, 
 perhaps, the only man in Poland who grasped firmly the 
 full significance of what the patriots were about to do. 
 He alone was in a position to survey the situation, in all 
 
1 88 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 its bearings, from a wide and lofty outlook. A large 
 portion of his Civil List was regularly expended in secret- 
 service money and he was kept very well informed of what 
 was going on at the neighbouring courts. He justly divined 
 that to destroy the existing Constitution was tantamount to 
 declaring war against Russia which had solemnly guaranteed 
 it. He was perfectly well aware that the Patriots had 
 nothing to put in the place of what they were so eager to 
 destroy. If any one had the right to counsel the Polish 
 nation it was he. Yet the instant he opened his mouth 
 to protest against the suicidal policy of the Patriots, he 
 lost all his popularity, was branded as a Russophil and a 
 traitor, and deprived of all power to do the slightest good. 
 For the next three years, reduced to the condition of an 
 antomaton, he was constrained to sit through the inter- 
 minable debates of the hallucinated Diet, now and then 
 putting in a warning word but, for the most part, helplessly 
 looking on while the Patriots floundered along after their 
 new guide, the agile and sparkling Lucchesini, who, like 
 some treacherous ignis fatuus, was to lead them far away 
 from the solid ground of useful alliances and constitutional 
 liberty, into the unfathomable morasses of isolation and 
 confusion. 
 
 The Patriots opened their campaign againstTthe" Govern- 
 ment by attacking the War Department of the guaranteed 
 Constitution. This institution had, to a great extent, 
 been under the control of the King, who had spared no pains 
 to make the little Polish army a thoroughly efficient force. 
 Though no soldier himself, he knew a good soldier when 
 he saw him and in Komarzewski who, in 1774, had quitted 
 the Prussian service with the rank of Lieutenant-General, 
 Stanislaus had found the best military coadjutor he could 
 lay his hands upon. During the next twelve years, the 
 King and the General between them had converted what 
 had been the merest scarecrow of an army with more officers 
 than soldiers, and destitute of everything normally apper- 
 taining to a regular army, into a well-armed, well-disciplined 
 fighting force of over 10,000 infantry and 8000 cavalry, 
 
THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 189 
 
 while an admirable system of recruiting had been intro- 
 duced with the object of gradually accustoming the whole 
 male population of Poland to military service. Only the 
 want of money and the necessity of proceeding with the 
 utmost caution, so as not to offend the susceptibilities of 
 the neighbouring Powers, had confined this great and salutary 
 reform within relatively modest limits. The simple cause 
 of this " miracle "was that, for once, the Polish army had 
 been placed under the control of a really responsible War 
 Department administered by a really capable man. Un- 
 fortunately, the War Department was tainted by the 
 Russian guarantee while the capable man was a favourite 
 of the King's. This was quite sufficient to make both 
 the Department and the man obnoxious to the Patriots. 
 Komarzewski was accordingly dismissed and the army 
 was removed from the control of the War Department and 
 placed beneath the immediate jurisdiction of the Diet. 
 Vainly did the King protest against such an unnecessary 
 and mischievous dislocation. He was defeated by seven 
 votes in a house of 249 members. 
 
 Having got the army under their immediate control, 
 the Patriots now proposed that it should be raised from 
 the nominal figure of 30,000 to 100,000 men. The motion 
 was acclaimed not only by the House, but also by the 
 audience in the galleries, the so-called " arbiters," who well 
 deserved the name, for they had almost as much influence 
 on the deliberations of the Diet as the deputies themselves. 
 The ladies were especially fervent and clapped their hands 
 and waved their handkerchiefs as if they were in a theatre. 
 Prince Adam Casimir Czartoryski thereupon rose to his 
 feet, and turning to the King exclaimed : " Your Majesty can 
 read in our eyes the general willingness of every citizen to 
 give up his possessions in order to strengthen the fatherland." 
 Then, gallantly bowing to the ladies in the galleries, he added : 
 " Even that sex which is the most beautiful ornament of 
 nature and whose eyes can inflame us to heroic deeds, even 
 that sex shares the general joy and I may say inspires it." 
 The motion was then carried amidst a perfect tempest of 
 
190 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 applause which drowned the voice of the Marshal as he 
 submitted it to the House. Then Stanislaus, in a voice 
 trembling with emotion, expressed his gratitude to the 
 Deputies. — " I could not very well do anything else," he 
 wrote the same evening to his friend Deboli, the Polish 
 minister at St. Petersburg. 
 
 The next important thing the Diet did (Nov. 5) was to 
 declare its session permanent. This was another forward 
 step in the direction of independence, but it was also another 
 large breach of the Russian guarantee. 
 
 Abroad, the motion for raising the army to 100,000 men 
 produced a very unfavourable impression and tended more 
 than anything else to discredit the Republic in the eyes 
 of all responsible statesmen. To begin with, the scheme 
 was impracticable. An army of 100,000 was equivalent 
 to a tenth part of the male population of Poland. The 
 adequate maintenance of such a force would, at the lowest 
 estimate, have been 40,000,000 Polish gulden or more 
 than double the total revenue of Poland at that time. 
 Well might Mr. Hayles, the British minister at Warsaw, 
 express his amazement at the levity which could pass such 
 a resolution, without first stopping to count the cost of it. 
 
 Meanwhile the Diet was vigorously prosecuting the anti- 
 Russian campaign by pulling the rest of the guaranteed 
 Constitution to pieces. The Permanent Committee, or 
 Governing Board, was now the chief object of attack. 
 The most remarkable session of the ten days' debate 
 (October 30 to November 10) was that of November 3-4, 
 which lasted sixteen hours, during which the King never 
 quitted the throne. The Permanent Committee which 
 had rendered such inestimable services to Poland was 
 assailed as fiercely as if it was the Spanish Inquisition, or 
 the Secret Council of Venice, while Stanislaus was seriously 
 compared to Ivan the Terrible and the Emperor Tiberius. 
 At last, at four o'clock in the morning of November 4, 
 after eighty orations had been delivered, the House divided, 
 and by 149 votes to 114, the War Department, the most 
 important section Of the Permanent Committee, was 
 
THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 191 
 
 abolished. There was as much joy in Warsaw at the 
 result of this debate as if the Poles had won a signal 
 victory over the Russian army. 
 
 For the first time in their history, the representatives 
 of the Polish nation had resisted the pressure of Russia 
 and deliberately gone their own way. Whether it was the 
 right way or not they never troubled to inquire. It was a 
 victory certainly, but a victory won by the ignorant, an- 
 archical elements of the nation over practical statesmen 
 who, anyhow, stood for decent and orderly government. 
 All the loudly-cheered arguments of the Patriots were of 
 the most flimsy and fantastic description. They were 
 fighting against bugbears and phantoms which only existed 
 in their own imagination. They were fighting the phantom 
 of a royal army supposed to be hostile to liberties which were 
 never for a moment endangered. They were fighting the 
 phantom of a Russophil Executive the members of which had 
 been freely elected by the Diet itself and deserved right 
 well of their country. They were fighting the phantom of a 
 despotic monarch who so far from being able to injure others 
 was incapable of defending himself. When argument 
 failed them they had recourse to abuse. It is impossible 
 to justify their disgraceful treatment of the King on the 
 plea, reiterated ad, nauseam, that he was the slave of Catherine. 
 It was from no abstract love of Russia, but because of the 
 lawlessness and impotence of his own subjects that Stanislaus 
 was forced to look to Russia for support. To lean upon 
 Russia was the best conceivable policy in the peculiar 
 circumstances. That the King was often weak, that he 
 yielded, too much and too frequently, to the arguments 
 of the Russian Ambassador, regardless alike of his royal 
 and his personal dignity, that he allowed himself to be 
 unduly influenced by the women of his own family, his 
 sister Pani Krakowska and his nieces for instance, nobody 
 can or will venture to deny. But just because of his well- 
 known infirmity of purpose his subjects, surely, were bound, 
 alike in honour and duty, to support their always well- 
 meaning Sovereign. To have done so would, certainly, 
 
192 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 have been to their own advantage. For we should never 
 forget that Stanislaus possessed many useful and brilliant 
 qualities which, had they been allowed free play, might 
 have more than neutralised his defects. But instead of 
 upholding the feeble arms for the sake of the far-seeing 
 and resourceful head, the Poles, at the most critical period 
 of their history, deliberately thrust aside and kept aloof 
 from affairs a monarch whose superior insight and sagacity 
 were natural assets of no inconsiderable value. They even 
 mulcted him of his covenanted prerogatives and heaped all 
 manner of indignities upon him. The King was by the 
 very nature of his office not merely the servant of the State 
 but the defender of the Realm. To deprive him of the 
 command of the army was, therefore, to use the apt phrase 
 of a contemporary, " to degrade him to the level of a 
 stalled ox." 
 
 But for the insidious promptings of Lucchesini it is 
 doubtful, however, whether the Polish Patriots would have 
 dared to go so far as to abolish an institution actually 
 guaranteed by the Russian Empress. But even this was 
 not enough for the enterprising marquess. He would have 
 made the Poles go a step further still. He would have 
 driven them, there and then, to an actual breach with 
 Russia by demanding the withdrawal of the Russian troops 
 from Poland and full compensation for all the damage they 
 had done during the occupation. As early as October 29, 
 1788, he wrote to Hertzberg as follows : " I have in readi- 
 ness here some agitators who await but a word from me 
 to rush off to the border provinces and create confusion by 
 attacking the Russian troops there. All they want is an 
 assurance that Prussia will assist them." Immediately 
 afterwards General Usedom received orders from Berlin to 
 move his division close up to the Polish frontier in order to 
 be ready to enter Poland, on the first signal from Warsaw. 
 Prussia hoped to be able to fish a Polish province or two 
 out of the political waters she was bent upon troubling. 
 
 On November 25, Lucchesini and his colleague Buchholtz 
 waited upon the Russian ambassador Count Stackelberg 
 
THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 193 
 
 and, in the name of the King of Prussia, demanded the 
 immediate withdrawal of the Russian troops from Poland. 
 To this demand Stackelberg made no definite reply ; but 
 the same day he sent a note to the Marshal of the Diet 
 plainly warning him that any alteration of the Polish 
 Constitution of 1775 would be regarded by its chief guarantor, 
 the Russian Empress, as an act of hostility on the part of 
 Poland. This note was read in the Diet on November 26, 
 whereupon the King, in a loud voice, warned the House 
 against placing any confidence in Prussia especially as 
 Poland had no adequate army of her own to rely upon. 
 Then, for the last time, he defended his Russian policy. 
 " There is no nation in the world, I say it advisedly, whose 
 interests conflict less with ours than do Russia's. I am 
 convinced that if I were to furnish the Empress with proofs 
 of our good dispositions towards her, she would not oppose 
 our internal reforms, whereas if we repulse her overtures 
 we shall only bar the door against her benevolence. I will 
 not tell my people what, no doubt, they would like to hear, 
 but I will tell them what I think is best for them." Im- 
 mediately after this manly speech, and amidst indescribable 
 uproar, the King adjourned the House for four days to 
 give the deputies time for reflection. 
 
 Unhappily, things had by this time come to such a pass 
 that any one who dared to have an opinion contrary to 
 the opinion of the Patriots was branded by them as an 
 enemy of his country. This hatred of Russia was natural 
 enough, but it was, none the less, irrational. The Patriots 
 overlooked the fact that at the partition Russia had been 
 content with a relatively small portion of the spoil on the 
 express understanding that she might establish an exclusive 
 protectorate over the rest of Poland. Insulting and 
 humiliating as this protectorate may have been to the 
 protegi, it was, at any rate, an improvement upon what 
 had gone before, postulating, as it did, a better administration 
 and even a larger regular army for Poland. In a word, the 
 Russian protectorate was, in the circumstances, the best 
 provisional government for Poland and, by the exercise. 
 
194 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 of a little patience, diligence and common sense on the part 
 of the Poles themselves, might, ultimately, have been 
 shaken off altogether. Russia, be it remembered, had no 
 annexation projects at this time so far as Poland was 
 concerned and offered her far more liberal commercial 
 advantages than either Prussia or Austria. Indeed it may 
 be boldly affirmed that a quarter of a century would have 
 sufficed to make Poland strong and independent if her 
 leading statesmen had only been content to act cordially 
 together and do their duty diligently each in his own office 
 and station. " Keep quiet and await the death of Catherine 
 II. before attempting any revolutionary reforms ! " — was 
 the counsel of the wiser heads and no counsel could well 
 have been sounder. On the other hand, a mere glance at 
 the map should have convinced the Patriots that the friend- 
 ship of Prussia was, at best, a prohibitively expensive 
 article. The north-e'ast Polish provinces, including the 
 cities of Dantzic and Thorn, penetrated like a wedge almost 
 up to the Prussian capital. Prussia could never hope to 
 have a firm footing either in West Prussia or Silesia till 
 she was actually in possession of the long coveted north- 
 eastern Polish palatinates. These salient facts the Polish 
 patriots absolutely ignored, but Catherine never lost sight 
 of them and she was by no means disposed to allow Prussia 
 to plunder Poland so long as Poland remained on friendly 
 terms and in close alliance with herself. Prussia's one 
 chance, therefore, of obtaining the coveted territory was 
 to bring about a rupture between Russia and Poland and 
 to this end all the efforts of her ministers were directed. 
 
 And, unfortunately, it was by no means a difficult task. 
 As already suggested, Poland had long and bitter scores 
 to settle with her tormentors as represented by the Russian 
 ambassador at Warsaw and it must have been a delightful 
 sensation, after so many years of acute suffering, to be able 
 to insult the tyrant Stackelberg with perfect impunity, 
 beneath the aegis of the sympathetic Prussian Court. 
 But Stackelberg himself was no longer the tremendous 
 personage he had once been, It was generally known 
 
THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 195 
 
 that his position at his own Court was somewhat precarious. 
 
 Latterly the Empress had not been very well pleased with 
 
 her Ambassador's conduct of her affairs in Poland. Stanislaus 
 
 had had cause to complain to Catherine of the outrageous 
 
 insolence of Stackelberg, and Catherine had sharply reminded 
 
 Stackelberg that in dealing with Stanislaus he was dealing 
 
 not with an equal but with a Sovereign. When, in the 
 
 course of 1787, Stackelberg had waited upon the Empress 
 
 at Kiev, she had made no secret of her displeasure. She 
 
 remarked audibly to those about her that the ambassador 
 
 had aged visibly since last she had seen him ; that, evidently, 
 
 he ate too much ; and that his jokes had lost their former 
 
 piquancy and flavour. We can quite understand that after 
 
 this trying experience the digestion of the poor old epicure 
 
 suffered materially and his health visibly deteriorated. 
 
 At Warsaw a great retribution awaited the discomfited 
 
 bully. Pasquils were fastened to his door. People looked 
 
 him up and down or turned their backs upon him at public 
 
 assemblies. On one occasion when he visited the theatre 
 
 he found his usual seat occupied by a Polish squire who 
 
 refused to surrender it. Unfortunately, the Poles forgot 
 
 that in insulting the Ambassador they were insulting the 
 
 Empress's representative. Catherine had a long memory 
 
 for injuries, real or imaginary, and not one of these 
 
 slights were forgotten by her.* Politically Stackelberg 
 
 was now quite unimportant. All his efforts had failed 
 
 to save the War Department and he helplessly looked on 
 
 while the remainder of the old guaranteed Constitution 
 
 toppled about his ears. 
 
 Yet it is a question whether the position of the Russian 
 Ambassador was quite as wretched as that of the Polish 
 King. Stackelberg could, at least, demand his recall and 
 so get out of this public pillory ; but the King was fast 
 bound in misery and iron and all sorts of indignities were 
 heaped upon him by the Patriots. For instance; it had 
 
 * E.g., the estates of the gentleman who appropriated Stackelberg' s 
 seat at the theatre were the first to be devastated when the Russian troops 
 invaded Poland in 1793. 
 
196 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 been the practice at every Diet, during the last twenty years, 
 for the poorer deputies to sit down day by day with the 
 King at the table of the Court Marshal and some fifty 
 covers were generally provided for them on these occasions. 
 At the Diet of 1788-92, however, the majority of the Polish 
 gentlemen considered it " unpatriotic " to dine with their 
 own Sovereign. They preferred to accept the hospitality 
 of the leaders of the Opposition Prince Karol Radziwill and 
 Prince Adam Casimir Czartoryski. Nearly every day 
 there were free fights in the streets, or at the entrance of 
 the Diet, between the lacqueys and the coachmen of the 
 "Patriots" and the " Parasites "—the latter being the 
 generally adopted nickname of the Russophils. In the Diet 
 itself the Royalists were interrupted and howled down 
 repeatedly, and the Marshal rarely had the courage to 
 intervene and protect them. In these circumstances it is 
 scarcely wonderful if the numbers of the Royalists diminished 
 day by day till they were reduced to a mere handful. The 
 Polish ladies were especially bitter against them. It had 
 long been the fashion for these grandes dames to interfere 
 in affairs of State. Already their conduct in this respect 
 anticipated the axiom of the great Napoleon twenty years 
 later, that in Warsaw the men sign fied nothing and the 
 women everything. The Princess Isabella Czartoryska 
 who took the lead in this policy of agitation was indefatigable 
 in inflaming the patriotic hotspurs more and more against 
 Russia and the King. She used to applaud and cry, 
 " bravissimo ! " when the most offensive epithets were 
 hurled at Catherine in the House, and Malachowski was 
 afraid to call to order the first lady in the land. The orators 
 who distinguished themselves on these occasions were 
 afterwards invited to supper at the Blue Palace and crowned 
 with wreaths by bevies of beautiful young damsels. The 
 Princess also took a lively part in the intrigues of Lucchesini, 
 with whom she was in constant communication. On her 
 birthday the Ambassador presented her with an exquisite 
 filigra? cap adorned with a portrait of the King of Prussia 
 which she wore ostentatiously for the rest of the evening. 
 
THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 197 
 
 Nevertheless, at the last moment, the King succeeded 
 in persuading Malachowski and the more moderate members 
 of the Opposition to restrain their followers from precipi- 
 tating a rupture with Russia and it was resolved that an 
 appeal should be made to the Empress direct for leave to 
 modify in a liberal sense, the Constitution she had guaran- 
 teed. It was a sound political instinct which induced the King 
 to make this supreme effort, and its immediate effect was 
 to compel the Prussian Government to show its hand openly 
 for the first time. Hitherto, Frederick William II. had 
 sedulously avoided pledging himself definitely to Poland. 
 To embroil her with Russia and spoliate her in the process 
 had been his sole object. But now, vehemently urged by 
 Lucchesini publicly to support the Patriots against Russia 
 unless he would lose Poland altogether, he despatched to 
 his representative at Warsaw a declaration to the effect 
 that he would consent to the abolition of the Russian 
 guarantees and was even prepared to secure the Patriots 
 in the possession of their liberties. This declaration was 
 read in the Polish Diet on November 20, 1788, and received 
 with acclamation. From that moment the King knew 
 that he had lost the game. Against such an unexpected 
 trump-card as that nothing could stand. There was hence- 
 forth no more talk of negotiating with Russia. Why, it 
 was plausibly urged, should Poland go on bargaining for 
 some slight modification of the guaranteed constitution 
 with one of the guarantors far away when another of the 
 guarantors, close at hand, had recognised her right to 
 abolish it altogether ? Was it wonderful that the magnani- 
 mity of the King of Prussia should have filled the House 
 with a transport of enthusiastic gratitude ? Henceforth 
 the supremacy of Prussia in the Polish Diet was an estab- 
 lished fact. Henceforth Lucchesini had only to manipulate 
 the patriotic majority to his heart's content. As a con-- 
 temporary well put it : the Diet had become a big organ 
 with Lucchesini for the organist. Henceforth the King 
 was reduced to the passive r6le of a spectator or, at best, 
 to that of an outsider who was, very occasionally, permitted 
 
198 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 to tender his expert advice to a perplexed and distracted 
 Legislature. 
 
 On December 23, 1788, the House adjourned till January 
 7, 1789. On reassembling it vigorously resumed its anti- 
 Russian campaign by proposing the total abolition of the 
 Permanent Committee and the substitution therefor of six 
 Departments of State (War, Foreign Affairs, Finance, 
 Education, Police, and Justice) under the immediate juris* 
 diction of the Diet and acting independently of the King 
 and of each other. This was a practical application of 
 Ignatius Potocki's pet theory of " a division of powers." 
 Its obvious and immediate consequence could scarcely fail 
 to be a dissipation of all authority just when a strong 
 centralised government was indispensable. The debates 
 began on January 9, 1789. Stanislaus once more 
 solemnly warned the House that the proposed abolition 
 of the Permanent Committee would be a direct violation 
 of treaties that were still binding. " Is it right or sensible," 
 he concluded, " to take such a step when we know we are 
 not strong enough to abide by its consequences ? We are 
 exposing ourselves thereby to the utmost danger." The 
 King and the Primate sustained, single-handed, all the 
 attacks of the Opposition. Most of the Senators, though 
 convinced of the utility of the Committee and in favour 
 of its retention, kept silence. The division took place on 
 the 20th when 120 deputies voted for and 11 only against 
 the abolition. There were 62 abstentions. Utterly ex- 
 hausted by his efforts, Stanislaus finally acquiesced in the 
 fatal verdict. " Whatever happens I will never be separated 
 from my people," was his excuse — or explanation. The 
 Primate alone persisted in his opposition and was one of 
 the minority of eleven. 
 
 And what did Russia say to this ostentatious throwing 
 down of the gauntlet ? The King was somewhat relieved 
 on this head by a private assurance from Deboli, his minister 
 at St. Petersburg, that, according to the Russian Vice- 
 Chancellor, Osterman, the Empress did not mean to gratify 
 .the King of Prussia " by losing her temper over this little 
 
THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 199 
 
 affair." At first, indeed, Catherine was profoundly irritated. 
 Only by a very great effort of self-control did she consent 
 to preserve a passive attitude. The real cause of her 
 almost uncanny calmness on this occasion is to be found 
 in the correspondence of the Austrian Chancellor, Prince 
 Kaunitz, with the Austrian minister at St. Petersburg, 
 Count Cobenzl. Kaunitz described the Polish patriots as 
 big children who were" to be taught sense but not provoked." 
 To provoke them, he argued, would only throw them into 
 the arms of Prussia when they might become dangerous. 
 Catherine acquiesced. The Poles might choose whatever 
 Constitution they liked, she said. She was content, for 
 •> the present, to let Austria (just then about to secede from 
 the Turkish War) deal with Prussia while she herself pursued 
 her victorious course along the Danube. But this philo- 
 sophical affectation of indifference was a mere blind. 
 Bezborodko, with his usual acumen, had pronounced a 
 Prusso-Polish aUiance equally dangerous to Russia in 
 peace or war and opined that another partition was now 
 the only means of preserving the political equilibrium. 
 The Empress perfectly agreed with the dictum of the 
 shrewdest of her counsellors, but her hands being full for 
 the moment she dissembled her wrath and postponed her 
 vengeance. But it had now been resolved at Tsarkoe Selo 
 to destroy Poland, even with the assistance of Prussia, 
 rather than forfeit the dominant influence of Russia over 
 the Republic. 
 
 In Poland, unfortunately, the patience of Russia was 
 attributed to indifference or embarrassment. Lucchesini 
 industriously encouraged the false idea and unceasingly 
 spurred on the Patriots to fresh acts of hostility against 
 Russia. On January 23, 1789, the Polish Diet com- 
 manded the Russian Commander-in-Chief Rumyantsev to 
 withdraw the Russian troops, immediately, from the 
 territories of the Republic despite the fact that diplomatic 
 negotiations on this very subject were actually proceeding 
 between the two Courts. On February 16 the Diet received 
 an unusually courteous note from the Russian Cabinet 
 
200 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 treating the Republic as an independent, friendly and allied 
 Power. In this note the assembled Estates were respectfully 
 requested to consent to a postponement of the evacuation 
 of Poland by the Russian troops inasmuch as a hasty 
 withdrawal of the same would interfere seriously with 
 Russia's operations against the Turks. Any insistence 
 upon such an evacuation, would, it was added, be 
 considered a distinctly unfriendly act. Many of the 
 deputies would have ignored this note and persisted in the 
 original demand. Fortunately for them, it suited the 
 policy of Prussia just then to be watchful and cautious 
 as regards Russia, so Lucchesini received instructions to 
 restrain the impetuosity of the Patriots within due limits 
 (March 1789), which he did effectually enough. On 
 April 16 another Russian note reached the Diet asking 
 permission for a Russian division to march through Polish 
 territory to the seat of war in terms so conciliatory that 
 if only all the previous Russian notes had been of the same 
 character there need never have been any unfriendliness 
 between the two countries. This second note was duly 
 communicated by the Diet to the Prussian Court for in- 
 structions. Frederick William II. thereupon advised the 
 Diet to permit the passage of the Russian troops through 
 Poland, but only in companies of five hundred men at a 
 time marching separately and at long intervals. Catherine, 
 so long accustomed to regard Poland as a Russian province, 
 was furious at these conditions. Osterman warned Deboli, 
 the Polish minister at St. Petersburg, that the Poles had 
 better beware of bursting a string already strained to 
 breaking-point. " So long as we are waging war with 
 Turkey," he added, " our troops must pass through your 
 borders. To prevent them from doing so would be tanta- 
 mount to making the war impossible. If you break with 
 us you may be quite sure that a second edition of the 
 Partition of Poland will shortly be published." 
 
 In April the Russians began to send their magazines out 
 of Poland, whereupon the Poles levied tolls upon them as 
 they crossed the frontier, an unheard-of proceeding as 
 
THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 201 
 
 military magazines had always been treated as imperial 
 property and for that very reason were held to be toll-free. 
 The situation now became very critical. But it was again 
 saved by Prince Kaunitz who sent to St. Petersburg an 
 intercepted letter from Hertzberg to the Prussian minister 
 at the Porte urging the Turks to hold out as the King of 
 Prussia hoped, in the course of July, to make Poland's 
 complaints of the Russian troops a pretext for declaring 
 war against Russia himself. Catherine took the hint and 
 immediately ordered the Russian army to skirt the Polish 
 border instead of crossing it, though the long detour through 
 the deserts of Bessarabia was a tiresome and costly operation.. 
 Thus the treacherous design of the King of Prussia to 
 embroil Poland with Russia was thwarted for the second 
 time. 
 
 The Empress's declaration of her intention not to violate 
 Polish territory was accompanied by a still more astounding 
 document from her chief Satrap, Prince Potemkin, apolo- 
 gising for the damage done in Poland by the Russian troops. 
 At the same time, in his capacity of a Polish magnate,* he 
 expressed his sympathy with the Republic and begged it to 
 accept from him a gift of twelve cannons and five hundred 
 carbines. This extraordinary letter was actually written 
 in Polish and in it he blamed the Poles gently, almost 
 tenderly, for having previously addressed him, a Polish 
 citizen, in French. 
 
 After this, common sense and common civility alike 
 dictated the adoption of at least a conciliatory attitude 
 towards Russia on the part of the Poles. Unfortunately, 
 under the changed conditions, a policy of pin-pricks proved 
 irresistible to them. In the course of the summer, the 
 Castellan Szweykowski was sent to the Ukraine to assist 
 the Russian commandants to remove their magazines 
 and provender waggons. In August he reported that all 
 the Russian troops had evacuated the territory of the 
 Republic ; that the Russians had paid for everything in cash; 
 and that Potemkin had, at the same time, contracted 
 
 * He had obtained his indigenat, or patent of nobility, some time before. 
 
202 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 for the delivery in Moldavia of a further considerable 
 quantity of Polish corn on unusually advantageous terms 
 for the Polish farmers ; but that, to his and the general 
 disgust, the first of these consignments of corn had been 
 stopped on the Polish frontier by Polish patrols. The 
 Castellan urged the Diet to remove this vexatious restriction 
 without delay, naturally supposing that this would be done 
 as a matter of course. But the more violent of the patriots, 
 secretly inspired by Lucchesini, ever intent upon the double 
 object of hampering Russia's military operations and still 
 further damaging Poland in the opinion of the Empress, 
 vehemently protested against the transport of the corn 
 on the ground that it would be a violation of the neutrality 
 of the Republic and, in especial, very unfriendly to the 
 Turks. Malachowski, the Marshal of the Diet, reasonably 
 objected that arbitrarily to cancel private contracts would 
 not only be highly injurious to Polish trade but was actually 
 contra fidem publicum. Nevertheless, on August 7, the 
 affair was fiercely debated for eight hours during which the 
 chief obstructionist, Pon Suchorzewski, spoke no fewer than 
 ten times. Finally, permission to export the corn was granted 
 but only by a majority of six. Lucchesini, however, not 
 content with this, procured the reopening of the debate 
 on the nth and, after another wrangle of nine hours it 
 was decided by 73 votes against 18, that the exportation 
 of the corn should only be permitted for three weeks longer 
 and should cease altogether on September 1. The imme- 
 diate effect of this stupid ordinance was to inflict a very 
 material loss upon Poland by preventing the Polish land- 
 owners from selling their immense accumulations of grain 
 at exceptionally high cash prices, and to persuade Potemkin 
 that Poland was meditating active hostilities against Russia. 
 It is at this point (September 1789), that the King, 
 partly from weariness, partly from weakness, shifted his 
 position. He now frankly abandoned the standpoint of 
 the Russian alliance, which the Diet had made impracticable, 
 and attempted to follow a policy of compromise by making 
 use of Prussia without offending Russia. " The minimum 
 
THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 203 
 
 of mischief for my country— that must now be my motto 
 and polestar," he wrote to Deboli. 
 
 The Diet had already forestalled him by formally demand- 
 ing the good offices of Lucchesini and of the British Minister 
 Mr. Hayles, in order to bring about an alliance between 
 Poland and Prussia. " We are about to frame our new 
 Constitution," said the Polish delegates to the two am- 
 bassadors, " and this we cannot do unless Prussia guarantees 
 it beforehand." Thus the very people who had abolished 
 the old Constitution because it existed under a foreign 
 guarantee now demanded another foreign guarantee for the 
 new Constitution they were about to frame themselves. 
 
 Frederick William II. was much embarrassed. As a 
 matter of fact he regarded as practically worthless an 
 alliance with so weak and anarchical a state as Poland. 
 But circumstances proved too strong for him. His alarm 
 at the brilliant and apparently decisive victories of the 
 Russians and the Austrians on the Danube, in the course 
 of 1789 and the vehement representations of Lucchesini 
 that the Poles would lose all faith in the promises of Prussia 
 if she did not come to terms with them at once drove him, 
 at last, out of his cautious and expectant attitude. Early 
 in December 1789, he officially informed the Poles that 
 he was willing to enter into an alliance with them and place 
 his whole army at their disposal ; but first they must 
 frame their Constitution so that he might have a stable 
 and independent Government to negotiate with. But, 
 all the time, he secretly hoped that the process of Constitution- 
 making would result in a civil war between the clashing 
 factions and thus give him a pretext for direct intervention. 
 But again he was disappointed. So anxious were the Patriots 
 to meet the views of Prussia that in twelve days the new 
 Constitution actually passed through the Diet, which then 
 adjourned till February 3, 1790. 
 
 The new Constitution came hot from the pen of Ignatius 
 Potocki and, as might have been expected from^such an 
 origin, was fanciful, ingenious and absolutely impracticable. 
 It was on the model of the French National Assembly, 
 
204 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 modified (and the modifications were by no means improve- 
 ments) to suit the idiosyncrasies of the Polish Republic. 
 It was scarcely possible for any Constitution to insist as 
 emphatically as this one did on the sovereignty of the 
 people and the superfluity of the Sovereign. Indeed, it is 
 difficult to understand why the impotent lay-figure of a 
 King was retained at all, unless it was to enhance the 
 majesty of the omnipotent Diet. Not a single deputy 
 seems to have realised that the absolute authority thrust 
 by the Potocki Constitution upon a single Corporation (the 
 Diet) precluded the possibility of a real Executive and, 
 consequently, was far more injurious than even the abso- 
 lutism of a monarch could ever be. Still there it was — the 
 first draft of a brand-new Constitution, the details of which 
 were to be elaborated subsequently. Prussia, therefore, 
 had no longer any valid excuse for postponing the negotia- 
 tions for an alliance. 
 
 On December 30, 1789, the draft of the new Constitution 
 was placed in the hands of Lucchesini and the negotiations 
 for an alliance began, very unwillingly on the part of Prussia. 
 Nothing could really be more opposed to the inclinations of 
 Frederick William II. than a league with a weak State 
 scarce able to defend itself. There was the additional 
 objection that it would be difficult even for Prussia to 
 plunder an ally whom she had solemnly undertaken to 
 protect. But absurd as the alliance seemed to Frederick 
 William II. he durst not reject it for fear of permanently 
 alienating the Poles, who would no longer be put off with 
 bare promises. Frederick William II. decided, therefore, 
 though much against the grain, to continue the negotiations 
 with Poland, but, at the same time, obtain an equivalent 
 for the trouble and expense he was incurring, in the shape 
 of the long coveted cities of Dantzic and Thorn. On 
 February 24, 1790, Lucchesini formally presented this 
 demand to the Polish negotiators by whom, three days 
 later, it was rejected. To save appearances Lucchesini 
 thereupon discreetly withdrew his demand. The warmest 
 partisans of Prussia were, not unnaturally, disgusted by 
 
THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 205 
 
 this curious specimen of Prussian disinterestedness. But 
 the disgust of the Patriots was as nothing compared with 
 the astonishment of the Court of Berlin at the summary 
 rejection of the Dantzic-Thorn cession project. Hertzberg 
 had so completely made up his mind that Poland, for her 
 own sake, would willingly surrender the two cities that he 
 had actually taken the necessary measures for their occu- 
 pation. Nevertheless, jealousy of Austria, who at this 
 time offered Poland a very advantageous guarantee treaty 
 (the Patriots, with criminal folly, never even communicated 
 it to the Diet though Stanislaus urged them to use it, 
 diplomatically, in order to obtain better terms from Prussia) 
 forced the hand of the King of Prussia. On April 23, 1790, 
 an offensive and defensive treaty was signed between Poland 
 and Prussia, whereby each of the contracting parties 
 engaged to help the other with a fixed number of troops, 
 or its equivalent in money in case either of them were 
 attacked by a third Power. Two days after the ratification 
 of this treaty Lucchesini congratulated his master on the fact 
 that the destiny of Poland now depended upon the future 
 political combinations of Prussia. "Poland," he wrote, 
 "is now, absolutely, at your Majesty's disposal. It can 
 serve either as the theatre of war (with Russia or Austria), 
 or as a bulwark for Silesia or as an object for obtaining 
 compensation in case of complications with Russia." — 
 Such conscienceless perfidy towards a newly made ally is 
 perhaps unexampled even in the sordid annals of diplomacy. 
 Even now Prussia did not at once abandon the idea of 
 obtaining territory from Poland by voluntary concession. 
 From April to July 1790 Hertzberg and his royal master 
 were intent upon what is generally known as the Galician 
 Exchange affair. In brief, Poland was to relinquish 
 Dantzic and Thorn to Prussia in exchange for Galicia which 
 Austria was to be persuaded to retrocede in return for com- 
 pensation from Turkey. But Austria, at the Congress of 
 Reichenbach, July 1790, prudently declined to part with 
 solid acres in Galicia for the sake of mirages in the Orient. 
 Prussia then made one last attempt pacifically to. secure 
 
206 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Dantzic and Thorn with the assistance of England (whose 
 political interests at that time were identical with her own) 
 by holding out to Poland the bribe of a highly advantageous 
 commercial treaty. The management of this business was 
 entrusted to Mr. Hayles, the British Ambassador at Warsaw, 
 and it must be admitted that, even from the Polish point 
 of view, there was something to be said for it. 
 
 On August 10, 1790, Hayles expounded the new scheme 
 to Stanislaus. " I have no hesitation in assuring your 
 Majesty," said he, "that if these two towns are ceded to 
 Prussia, Great Britain will be prepared to go to war with 
 that Power if she does not give to Poland, in return, the 
 fullest commercial liberty in every direction, including the 
 abolition of all tolls. Holland in this respect will go with 
 England. England has as warm an interest in the treaty 
 as Prussia herself. She would thereby obtain a proper 
 market for all the requisities of her Navy, in case she were 
 unable to get them from Russia. England could obtain 
 these products much cheaper from Poland and Poland 
 would make millions by the arrangement." But Hayles 
 pointed out at the same time, very cogently, that all these 
 advantages were unattainable as long as Dantzic retained 
 her prohibitive jus stapula which forbade the sale of 
 Polish products to and through foreigners while Prussia 
 retaliated by imposing a crushing 12 per cent, toll on 
 all wares exported from Dantzic. Finally, he proved 
 to demonstration that, in the actual state of things, 
 Dantzic and Thorn were, from a commercial and fiscal 
 point of view, absolutely valueless to Poland. Unfor- 
 tunately the patriotic pride of the Poles was unequal to 
 the sacrifice of Dantzic and Thorn. On September 3, 
 1790, the Diet decreed, unanimously, that every portion 
 of the territory of the Republic should be absolutely in- 
 alienable for all time. Subsequently this decree was in- 
 corporated with the fundamental laws. In the circumstances 
 such a decree, natural and even laudable as it might be as 
 an abstract principle, was extremely imprudent.. The 
 fact should never be lost sight of that by rejecting Russia 
 
THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 207 
 
 and subsequently committing herself to the Prussian 
 alliance, Poland was bound to accept all the consequences 
 of such a momentous step. It was in the highest degree 
 unreasonable to suppose that the Republic could enjoy all 
 the advantages of the Prussian Alliance for nothing at all. 
 Poland had deliberately contracted a partnership with 
 Prussia by which she hoped to profit largely. But Prussia 
 had an equal right to look for some profit from the 
 arrangement, and an accretion of territory was the only 
 visible means of obtaining it. When, then, the Polish 
 statesmen suddenly turned round upon their new ally and 
 refused to allow her any compensation for her proffered 
 services, their behaviour, to say the least of it, was 
 unbusinesslike. After that, Prussia could take no real in 
 terest in an alliance which was practically worthless to her, 
 and those who knew anything about the methods of 
 Prussian politicians in the past might very easily have 
 predicted that these same politicians would repudiate their 
 treaty with a light heart at the very first opportunity. The 
 King clearly recognised this. " So the thing is done," he 
 wrote on hearing of the decree of the Diet, " God grant that 
 it may not irreparably damage the fatherland." 
 
 But the severest condemnation of the policy of the Polish 
 Diet on this occasion is to be found in the attitude of the 
 British Government which, from first to last, meant nothing 
 but good to the Republic. In November 1790, Stanislaus 
 sent Oginski on a special embassy to London to contract 
 a commercial alliance between Great Britain and Poland. 
 Oginski set out the views of his Government in a long private 
 audience with Pitt, whereupon Pitt declared that the 
 soundest policy for Poland was to contract a commercial 
 treaty with Prussia under the guarantee of England and 
 Holland. " Such a treaty," he argued, " would be well 
 worth the cession of Dantzic, and in case of such cession, 
 I would guarantee Poland against the oppressive tolls and 
 the fiscal chicaneries of Prussia, and send our own agents 
 into the interior of Poland to purchase Poland's raw products. 
 This intercourse would, necessarily, lead to the re-opening 
 
208 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 of such purely Polish ports as Kowno, and others like it, 
 which were once so nourishing that English and Dutch 
 merchants used to settle there." — '.'. The Polish trade is of great 
 importance to England and Holland," he continued, " your 
 corn, flax, hemp and hides can easily compete with the 
 similar products of Russia. Your flax is the best we can 
 get anywhere. Take my word for it, the conclusion of such 
 a commercial treaty under our guarantee, would be of great 
 advantage to us and we would never let Poland suffer in 
 consequence of it in any way." 
 
 In the beginning of 1791 the British Government went a 
 step further. On January 21, the Duke of Leeds empowered 
 Hayles to inform the Polish Diet that England desired to 
 enter into political and commercial relations with Poland 
 on the sole condition that Poland would make it possible 
 for Prussia also to accede thereto. But the British Govern- 
 ment let it be clearly understood that the cession of Dantzic 
 to Prussia was the only way of guaranteeing the free trans- 
 port of Polish products through Prussia. Hayles proceeded 
 to carry out his instructions not only officially but by 
 means of the publication of a pamphlet entitled : " Memoir 
 on the present interests of Poland." His arguments were 
 very much to the point and clearly inspired by a feeling of 
 real goodwill towards Poland. " We would strengthen and 
 save you," he said. " We don't want you to be a mere 
 sally-port for Russia. We don't at all want this Moscovite 
 Colossus ... to dictate to the rest of Europe. But if you 
 won't understand your own interests, we shall be obliged 
 to come to an understanding with your rival, Russia, to 
 your great detriment. Everything depends upon your 
 decision ; but, if you do not decide quickly, it will be out 
 of your power to decide at all." 
 
 But it was all of no avail. The Poles would not cede a 
 foot of their territory. Hayles duly reported' his failure 
 and the causes of it, to the Duke of Leeds. His tone is 
 irritable, but his reflections are just enough. " In this 
 country," he writes, " an Ambassador has to deal with 
 gome three hundred individuals most of whom are in the 
 
THE FRIENDSHIP OF PRUSSIA 209 
 
 most profound ignorance of the actual condition of their 
 own land, and have no idea of foreign politics. Most 
 of the members of the Diet have lived in the country all 
 their lives and had to do with nothing but agriculture till 
 the very day when they were transplanted to a political 
 arena in which everything is in a state of confusion." 
 
 The question remains : would the cession of Dantzic and 
 Thorn have kept Prussia loyal and Poland secure ? Some 
 German historians affirm that it would have had this effect ; 
 but, carefully reviewing all the circumstances of the case, 
 and especially taking into consideration the character of 
 Prussian diplomacy in general, such a contingency must be 
 pronounced problematical at the very least. Prussia might 
 have remained loyal for a time — but for how long ? For no 
 longer, certainly, than it paid her to be loyal. Catherine II. 
 knew only too well the value of Prussian honour, and the 
 bribe of Great Poland, the connecting link between East 
 Prussia and Silesia, which, with the aid of Russia, Prussia 
 could always have secured, would at any time have brought 
 Frederick William II. over to the side of the Empress. 
 Still, it might have been wise of Poland to have taken the 
 risk of this contingency. Had she ceded Dantzic and Thorn 
 in return for a highly lucrative commercial treaty under 
 a strong Anglo-Dutch guarantee, very serious obstacles 
 would have been thrown in the way of future repudiation 
 on the part of Prussia. Even Frederick William II.'s 
 elastic code of honour might have shrunk from estranging 
 the Western Powers by so patent and prodigious an act of 
 perfidy. Poland would, at any rate, have gained time, and 
 the briefest respite would have been of incalculable im- 
 portance to her. Unfortunately the mistaken patriotism 
 and the incurable simplicity of Poland prepared a golden 
 bridge for the retreat of her Prussian " ally ■" from an un- 
 profitable and, consequently, an untenable position. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 THE "COUP D'ETAT" OF MAY 3, 1791 
 
 Inefficiency and helplessness of the Polish Diet — The national vices impede 
 the necessary reforms — Army reorganisation — " The voluntary and 
 perpetual sacrifice " — Its failure — Decline of the public credit- 
 Constitutional reform — Madame Decker — The Black Procession — 
 Hostility of the gentry to the claims of the burgesses — The Civic 
 Constitution — Obstinacy of the Diet — Skilful intervention of the 
 King — Adoption of the Civic Constitution — Favourable impression 
 abroad of this act — The question of an hereditary succession — Its 
 peculiar difficulties — Stanislaus eloquently defends it in the Diet — 
 The appeal to the nation — The political deadlock — Preparations for 
 a coup d'ttat — Scipione Piattoli — Conspiracy to bring about a Revolu- 
 tion — The King and the new Constitution — The coup d'ttat of May 3 — 
 Dramatic scenes in the Diet — Swearing in the new Constitution — 
 Te Deum 
 
 THE Polish Diet had committed itself to an alliance 
 with Prussia which could be of no service to either 
 of the allies until the Polish nation had been 
 converted into a modern state with a fixed budget, an 
 adequate army and a stable government. To accomplish 
 this difficult but essential transformation was the original 
 object of the convocation of the Quadrennial Diet in 1788. 
 Let us see how the Polish legislators set about their 
 Herculean task. I shall regard the whole course of events 
 mainly from the standpoint of the King, first because my 
 narrative is biographical rather than historical, and, in the 
 second place, because the superior abilities and experience 
 of Stanislaus naturally gave him the lead in domestic as 
 well as in foreign* affairs. 
 
 With the abolition of the guaranteed Constitution the 
 Diet became the one administrative and legislative authority 
 
THE "COUP D'ETAT" OF MAY 3, 1791 211 
 
 in the land, and from the moment when it entered upon its 
 usurped functions the political Utopia so long imagined and 
 desired by the Polish gentry seemed, at length, to be on the 
 point of realisation. The Marshal of the Diet was now 
 theoretically and ex-officio the supreme executive officer of 
 the Republic ; but he had little opportunity to discharge 
 this office. How could he find time to control the details of 
 the administration when, for weeks together, he had to 
 conduct the debates of the chamber, introduce bills, defend 
 them in the tribune as well as in the cabinet, and be ready, 
 at a moment's notice, to negotiate with the foreign ministers 
 and with the leaders of the various groups in the Diet itself — 
 in a word, how could he, fairly, be held responsible for 
 everything that went on within as well as outside the 
 Chamber ? The greatest genius would have been unequal 
 to such a burden and Malachowski, though a good and 
 honest man, was anything but a genius. As a matter of 
 fact, the Diet had deliberately destroyed all the usual 
 machinery of government and therefore must be held 
 immediately responsible for the resulting confusion. Even 
 its genuine reforms were not immediately beneficial. Thus 
 the deputies had fondly imagined that by doing away with 
 the liberum veto, and introducing in its place decisions by 
 majority, it had struck at the very root of Polish legislative 
 inefficiency. It was speedily to discover that a majority 
 is the most dangerous of despots, especially when it is ob- 
 sessed by the mania that it is not only omnipotent but 
 omniscient. This, unfortunately, was the case with the 
 majority of the Polish Diet. 
 
 A still worse evil was the utter helplessness of the Chamber 
 against obstruction. This was due to a lack of ordinary 
 forethought. There was no trace of standing rules during 
 the first year and a half of its existence. Every deputy was 
 free to get up and perorate to his heart's content whenever 
 and however he chose. There was very rarely anything 
 even approximating to what we should call a regular debate 
 in the Polish Diet. Except latterly, and on quite extra- 
 ordinary occasions, the time of the House was taken up by 
 
212 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 an interminable succession of irrelevant speeches. Very 
 frequently, nobody could tell what was the subject actually 
 under discussion. Malachowski was far too patient, far 
 too little indignant, to do his duty as Marshal. Sometimes 
 the King and the Marshal combined could only, with the 
 utmost difficulty, persuade a member, bursting with ill- 
 repressed garrulity, at least to wait until the member actually 
 on his legs had sat down again. The two characteristic 
 types of Polish parliamentary oratory of this period were 
 Pan Suchorzewski and Pan Sucholdolski who spoke on 
 every occasion, often a dozen times in the course of a single 
 debate. These two gentlemen, always obstructive, always 
 reactionary, always interminable, always irrelevant, might 
 very well be regarded as comical figures but for the infinite 
 mischief they wrought. 
 
 It was only on comparatively rare occasions, when the 
 whole Chamber happened to be in a particularly good 
 humour, or when the most inveterate debaters had talked 
 themselves into a condition of temporary aphasia, that any 
 measure could be passed through the House at all. The 
 King and Malachowski were always on the look-out for 
 such favourable interludes and learnt at last to scent their 
 approach with unerring instinct. Whenever their oppor- 
 tunity came, they would proceed, suddenly and adroitly, 
 to introduce the more indispensable measures and carry 
 them through before the chamber had had time to recover 
 from its surprise or its exhaustion. 
 
 Even more serious than these technical difficulties, as they 
 may be called, with which the Polish Diet had to contend, 
 were the hereditary national vices — class prejudice, public 
 parsimony, aristocratic pride, democratic intolerance of 
 discipline, excessive individuality — which the most enlight- 
 ened deputies, with all the good-will in the world, could not 
 shake off completely even when they had begun to recognise 
 the necessity of doing so. These national vices and their con- 
 sequences have already, incidentally, been alluded to in these 
 pages. Here I would only exhibit them as obstructing legis- 
 lation and minimising the chances of good government. 
 
THE "COUP D'ETAT" OF MAY 3, 1791 213 
 
 Take, first of all, the way in which the Diet dealt with 
 the vital question of the re-organisation of the national 
 forces. It will be remembered * how the whole Assembly 
 acclaimed, enthusiastically, the proposal to raise the army 
 from 18,000 to 100,000. When, however, the time came to 
 give practical effect to this noble if somewhat impetuous 
 ambition by finding the ways and means for it, the attitude 
 of the Polish legislators was by no means so satisfactory. 
 At first, indeed, things seemed to go along pretty well. On 
 March 16, 1789, the clergy, after some demur, agreed to 
 . pay a tithe towards the strengthening of the army and grant 
 an additional free-gift for the same object. Ten days later 
 the Marshal of the Diet proposed that the gentry should do 
 the same, whereupon a deputy, Pan Zielinski, arose and 
 moved an amendment to the effect that the question >of 
 supply should be postponed to an investigation into the 
 actual condition of the army — obviously an attempt to put 
 off the consideration of the odious tax indefinitely. At this 
 the whole Chamber was indignant and Count Stanislaus 
 Potocki, in a vigorous speech, expressed the sense of the 
 House when he declared that it would be indecent if the 
 gentry, after taxing the other estates, should try to shirk 
 its own responsibilities to the fatherland. Zielinski, how- 
 ever, obstinately held out against the whole Chamber and 
 the King had to summon him to the steps of the throne and 
 argue with him for half an hour before he could be persuaded 
 to withdraw his amendment. This difficulty had no sooner 
 been got over when another deputy moved that the proposed 
 impost should not be called " a tax " but " a voluntary 
 and perpetual sacrifice of the nobility." This motion was 
 hailed with applause, and the Marshal congratulated the 
 House on doing what none of the preceding Polish Diets 
 had ever done before. The Marshal, the Ministers, and the 
 Deputies thereupon proceeded to the throne to kiss the 
 hands of the King, as a pledge of their devotion. And all 
 this effusion of sentiment because the Polish Deputies had 
 at last done what the members of every other Parliament 
 
 * See last chapter. 
 
2i 4 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 do in the way of business as a matter of course, that 
 is to say, engaged to find the necessary funds for national 
 exigencies. The King in order not to be behind his subjects 
 in liberality, thereupon surrendered, for the same purpose, 
 the spigot-tax, which brought him in about 200,000 guldens 
 per annum. 
 
 " The voluntary and perpetual sacrifice " was estimated 
 to yield thirty-six millions of Polish guldens, or only about 
 five million short of the enlarged army budget. " We will 
 sacrifice half our possessions, nay, our very fives to save our 
 country!" the patriots had shouted when the motion to 
 raise the army to 100,000 men had been carried unanimously, 
 A few of the Magnates were certainly as good as their word. 
 Jan Potocki offered to surrender a fifth of his property and 
 charged his estates with a sum equivalent to 10,000 guldens 
 a year. His brother, Joachim, equipped three hundred 
 troopers at his own expense, and Prince Karol Radziwill 
 2000 more. Malachowski supplied the army gratis with 
 artillery from his own foundries and raised a loan on mortgage 
 of 900,000 guldens to supply the Bank of Poland with ready 
 money. But the very splendour of these individual ex- 
 amples only served, by contrast, to throw into a darker 
 shadow the meanness of the community. On May 15, 
 1789, fifteen commissioners were sent on circuit through 
 the 121 counties of Poland to search the various land- 
 registries, examine the landed proprietors on oath as to the 
 value of their estates, and assess the tax accordingly. As, 
 however, these commissioners were armed with no powers 
 of control, or with authority of any sort, they were obliged 
 to depend absolutely on the honour and conscience of the 
 respective landowners for their data. The result might 
 have been anticipated. The thirty-six millions on which ' 
 the Government had counted speedily sank to six millions. 
 Fresh chicaneries and evasions gradually reduced it to the 
 petty sum of 700,000 guldens, or about 6 per cent. of. the 
 amount originally estimated. Thus that magnificent, heaven- 
 storming rocket, " the voluntary and perpetual sacrifice," 
 fizzled down to earth a sordid and useless stick. 
 
THE "COUP D'ETAT" OF MAY 3, 1791 215 
 
 Meanwhile, in the Diet itself, the army debates dragged 
 on, month after month, without arriving at any conclusion. 
 From the end of July to the middle of October 1789, the 
 military budget was discussed in no fewer than forty-five 
 sittings — an all-engulfing ocean of otiose gabble. In par- 
 ticular the salaries of the superior officers gave rise to end- 
 less acrimonious disputes frequently resulting in duels and 
 general confusion. The sole result of all this expenditure 
 of physical energy was the retention of no fewer than thirty 
 sinecures, at a cost to the nation of 800,000 guldens, whereupon 
 the Diet, from sheer weariness, referred the whole subject 
 back to the War Department. 
 
 No wonder that these senseless proceedings seriously 
 affected the public credit. Foreign bankers began to ask 
 themselves whether a nation incapable of self-government 
 was worth financing. The Genoese bankers who had, at 
 first, been inclined to advance the Polish government 
 fifteen millions, suddenly became anxious as to the nature 
 of the security to be offered, and, in February 1790, refused 
 to commit themselves. The " Patriots " then proposed a 
 loan from the Prussian Government and actually opened 
 negotiations with it on the subject. But this proposal the 
 King strenuously and successfully opposed on the ground 
 that it would only lay bare the nakedness of the land and, 
 consequently, be derogatory to the Republic. It was on 
 this occasion that Stanislaus made a gift of his splendid 
 collection of gems and jewels, including the Order of St. 
 Andrew in brilliants, with which Catherine II. had invested 
 him at Kaniow, to the Polish Treasury. The more pressing 
 financial difficulties were then surmounted by a hearth-tax 
 which produced ten millions of guldens. 
 
 But it was the army which suffered most from the mal- 
 administration of the Patriots. They took it over from the 
 King a small but really effective force, in less than two years 
 they had degraded it to the level of a mob. The principal 
 causes of this retrogression were, first, the irresponsibility 
 of half a dozen independent departments which were sup- 
 posed to look after the army between them with the result 
 
216 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 that none of them looked after it at all ; and, in the second 
 place, the paralysing want of funds due again to the par- 
 simony of the Polish landowners. There is no need here to 
 enter into details, but a significant commentary on the 
 military reforms of the Quadrennial Diet was provided, in 
 the sight of all men, when, on the eve of the anticipated 
 outbreak of war between Prussia and Austria in 1790, a 
 Prussian general officer was sent to examine the actual 
 condition of the Polish army with a view to its co-operation 
 with the Prussian forces. The Prussian general reported 
 that the Polish army was quite incapable of active service 
 in the field, whereupon the military authorities at Berlin 
 recommended that, in case of war, it would answer the 
 purposes of Prussia better if Poland remained neutral 
 instead of acting as a belligerent. 
 
 All this time the Diet was painfully labouring to frame 
 on modern lines a constitution corresponding to the needs 
 of the country and the wishes of the nation. The rebuilding 
 of the whole political fabric of a State from the very founda- 
 tions must always be the crucial test of statesmanship. In 
 Poland, as we shall see, it could only be accomplished, at 
 the last moment, by a coup d'etat. It is true that Ignatius 
 Poticki's draft constitution * had been accepted, pro-> 
 visionally, as a basis to be elaborated subsequently, in order 
 to expedite the conclusion of the Prussian alliance ; but 
 when the House went into Committee on the subject it 
 soon became apparent that anything like agreement was 
 impossible. All the time-honoured prejudices of the gentry 
 — suspicion of the Crown, jealousy of the middle classes, the 
 egotism of proprietorship — were instantly aroused and 
 proved to be so many roaring lions in the path of Reform. 
 The two questions which agitated the Chamber the most 
 were the " Civic Constitution " which aimed at restoring to 
 the burgesses the franchise of which they had been so 
 shamelessly deprived by the gentry two centuries earlier, 
 and the conversion of the Government from an electoral 
 into an hereditary monarchy. 
 
 * See preceding chapter. 
 
THE "COUP D'ETAT" OF MAY 3, 1791 217 
 
 The question of the " Civic Constitution "had been forced 
 upon the attention of the House as early as 1789. The 
 initiative was taken by Jan Deckert, Burgomaster of War- 
 saw, who induced no fewer than 141 Polish towns to send 
 deputies to the Diet with a petition of rights. The moment 
 was opportune. At that very time the eyes of all Europe 
 were fixed upon the banks of the Seine where the Burgesses 
 of France had triumphed over the nobility, and compelled 
 an absolute monarch to comply with their demands. So 
 far from being welcome to the Polish gentry these strange 
 happenings plunged them into something very like a panic. 
 They at once imagined that a similar revolution was about 
 to break forth in Poland and that the King would not fail 
 to take advantage of it. The leading magnates were par- 
 ticularly alarmed, possibly because they had the most to 
 lose. The Grand-Hetman Branicki kept loaded pistols by 
 his side day and night and treated Burgomaster Deckert 
 so civilly, whenever he met him in the street, that Branicki's 
 astonished friends asked him the reason of this sudden and 
 extraordinary politeness to a plebeian. " I have an eye to 
 the future and would avoid being hanged if possible," 
 replied the Grand Hetman. A few days previously, Prince 
 Casimir Sapieha, on inquiring for a box at the theatre was 
 told that they were all engaged. Sapieha, knowing that 
 Madame Deckert generally took a box for the season, coolly 
 ordered that it should be divided into two boxes forthwith. 
 " It is much too big for a burgomaster's lady," said he, " and 
 I want to accommodate it for my mistresses." Madame 
 Deckert, however, had too much spirit to submit to this 
 insolence. She ordered that her box should be left intact. 
 Then she wrote a brief note to Prince Sapieha directing his 
 attention to what was going on in Paris. The Prince was 
 much impressed and at once submitted. 
 
 On December 2, 1789, 200 delegates from the Polish 
 boroughs, headed by Deckert, proceeded from the Town 
 Hall to the Palace to present their petition to the King. It 
 had been drawn up with great ability by Kollontaj, always 
 in the front rank of reform, and its demands, bold and 
 
220 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 much better than his own and, there and then, submitted 
 the Suchorzewski amendment to the judgment of the 
 Chamber, which adopted it unanimously. Stanislaus him- 
 self subsequently declared that nothing but a miracle could 
 have put it into the head of such an oddity as Suchorzewski 
 to give such good counsel. Four days later the Opposition 
 began to realise what they had done. As, however, it was 
 now impossible openly to rescind their own vote they 
 attempted to attack " the Civic Constitution " on side issues. 
 This, however, the King would not permit. In a sober and 
 sensible speech he implored them not to stultify themselves 
 in the face of Europe by repudiating a statute which the 
 Chamber had adopted, without a dissentient voice, less than 
 a week before. Against this not a single word could be 
 said and the matter seemed to be settled, once for all, when 
 a deputy, Benedict Hulewicz, arose and protested that the 
 Burgess franchise would be dangerous because there were 
 so few Catholics in the Polish towns and he feared religion 
 would suffer if their influence were increased. This was 
 too much for the gravity of the House, as Hulewicz was a 
 notorious free-liver, and when it came to Hulewicz's turn 
 to kiss the King's hand at the close of the session, Stanislaus 
 whispered in his ear : " You old rascal ! You are always 
 running after the girls, you regularly eat meat on Fridays, 
 you embarrass the Bishops by your indecent practical 
 jokes and now, forsooth ! you come here and pose as an 
 ardent Catholic ! I warn you, sir, that if I have any more 
 of your opposition, I shall repeat, word for word, to the 
 House what I have just said to you in private." Hulewicz, 
 it is needless to say, gave the King no further trouble. 
 
 The tidings of the passing of this memorable reform, and 
 of how largely the King had contributed thereto by his 
 sagacious counsels and his spirited speeches, speedily spread 
 through Warsaw. On the following day three hundred of 
 the most eminent burgesses of the City, headed by their 
 Burgomaster, proceeded to the Palace and petitioned for 
 an audience. When the King appeared, the whole Depu- 
 tation fell at his feet and thanked him with tears of joy!. 
 
THE "COUP D'ETAT" OF MAY 3, 1791 221 
 
 Stanislaus also was deeply moved. He declared that such 
 a demonstration of affection was a sufficient recompense for 
 twenty years of trouble and vexation. Towards the end 
 of April, the Marshal of the Diet showed his respect for the 
 newly enfranchised municipality of Warsaw by inscribing 
 his name as an honorary citizen in the city register at the 
 Town Hall. His example was followed by Prince Jablo- 
 nowski and other liberally-minded magnates. Thanksgiving 
 services were held by the Burgesses all over Poland to com- 
 memorate the happy event. Foreign observers were aJso 
 very favourably impressed by the self-abnegation of the 
 aristocratic Diet on this occasion. " One cannot fail to be 
 struck," wrote De Cache, the Austrian Minister at Warsaw, 
 to his Court, " by the very remarkable and unexpected change 
 in the sentiments of this nation when the Polish nobility, 
 which, hitherto, has so jealously guarded its importance and 
 its privileges and has regarded the Polish burgesses as the 
 mere creatures of its convenience, could now harmoniously 
 resolve to make these same burgesses the partners of its 
 privileges. . . . No doubt this change was, to a great extent, 
 brought about by the enlightenment which His Majesty has 
 always endeavoured to spread among his people." 
 
 Nevertheless, as we have just seen, the " Civic Consti- 
 tution " had only been carried through the House by a 
 lucky accident. The still more important question of the 
 hereditary succession proved to be absolutely insoluble by 
 legislative methods. It could only be settled, as we shall 
 now proceed to show, by the drastic expedient of a coup 
 d'etat. 
 
 The peculiar difficulty of the hereditary succession lay in 
 the fact that it struck at the very root of aristocratic pre- 
 dominance in Poland. The largest concessions to the 
 Burgesses would, after all, leave them but Burgesses still ; 
 but the conversion of the government of Poland into an 
 hereditary monarchy, even if it did not directly add to the 
 power of the Crown, would, anyhow, largely increase its 
 majesty, and depress, to a corresponding degree, the position 
 and the pretensions of the Nobility. So long as theJPolish 
 
222 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 magnates could elect their King, they might very well be 
 excused for regarding him as the first among equals rather 
 than as their superior ; but his superiority would be obvious 
 and indisputable if the crown ever should belong to him and 
 his heirs, as hereditary Sovereigns, by right divine. The 
 pride of the reactionary Polish magnates revolted at the 
 idea of such an insulting innovation. They argued, justly 
 enough from their point of view, that by accepting it they 
 would abdicate a political hegemony which they had held 
 for centuries. That the elective system had been the main 
 source of all Poland's misfortunes, that its abolition must be 
 the first step towards a better order of things, affected them 
 not at all. The welfare, nay, the very existence of their 
 country, demanded the change, but their patriotism was 
 unequal to the sacrifice involved. 
 
 In the Diet itself, the party in favour of " Hereditary 
 Monarchy " was the more popular and patriotic ; but the 
 " Free Election " party was the more numerous and violent. 
 Fortunately, it had no capable leaders and therefore lacked 
 cohesion. The King was obliged, officially, to remain neutral 
 as the pacta conventa which he had signed, as usual, at his 
 coronation, precluded him from having any opinion on such 
 a fundamental question. He was free, however, to express 
 his personal views. Both parties were already under arms 
 when, on September 26, 1790, the Marshal of the Diet 
 moved that a " Universal " or Manifesto, should be sub- 
 mitted to the local Diets, or Dietines, which elected the 
 deputies to the Grand Diet, on this single question : shall 
 the Elective Monarchy of Poland be converted into a 
 Hereditary Monarchy ? The debate then began. The 
 " Free Election " party took their stand upon national 
 tradition and ancient custom, and cited, in defence of their 
 views, the numerous statutes which solemnly declared that 
 whoever dared to tamper with the elective system should 
 be treated, pro hoste patria. They argued, with con- 
 siderable skill, that these ancient statutes deserved peculiar 
 respect because they had been passed unanimously by free 
 assemblies and were entirely free from the stigma of a 
 
THE "COUP D'ETAT" OF MAY 3, 1791 223 
 
 foreign guarantee. The advocates of the hereditary sys- 
 tem pointed out, in reply, the many instances of the havoc 
 wrought by the elective system. Stanislaus himself wound 
 up the debate. He began by reminding the House, with 
 great force and solemnity, that, according to all human 
 probability, he had not many more years to live, and that, 
 after his death, the throne, in the circumstances, could not 
 fail to become an apple of discord among those whose 
 ambition might covet so dangerous a prize. In that case 
 the country would be plunged into civil war — and why ? 
 Simply because an obsolete prejudice required that all 
 their decisions should be unanimous on the point in question. 
 " Now is the time," concluded the speaker, " to prevent 
 this evil. I am breaking no oath when I advise you to 
 remove, betimes, the dangers which will inevitably arise 
 after my death. I earnestly counsel you to endeavour 
 to dam back the flood of foreign influence which would 
 fain overwhelm our liberties and impose upon us its own 
 arbitrary decrees. My very coronation oath binds me to 
 neglect nothing which may contribute towards the well- 
 being of the nation." 
 
 This manly appeal paralysed all further opposition and 
 on September 20, 1790, it was resolved that the following 
 " Universal " should be addressed to the local Diets : " Is 
 it the will of the nation during the lifetime of the present 
 Sovereign to prevent the dangers of an interregnum by 
 choosing a successor to the throne ? " On September 30 
 the Elector of Saxony was chosen by the Diet, suddenly, 
 unexpectedly, but unanimously, as the fittest successor to 
 Stanislaus. The same day the " Universal " to the Dietines 
 was promulgated. 
 
 The elections consequent upon the manifesto passed off 
 with the utmost tranquillity. Nowhere was there the 
 slightest disturbance. The Russian Embassy at Warsaw 
 made no sign. The partisans of Russia in the provinces 
 scarce seemed to exist. Only in the distant palatinates of 
 Volhynia and Braclaw, where reactionary influences were 
 strongest, was there any determined opposition. Both 
 
224 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 these provinces sent deputies to the Diet pledged to demand 
 the restoration of the old order of things. But all the other 
 provinces were, unanimously, in favour of the hereditary 
 principle and the election of a successor to the throne during 
 the lifetime of the reigning King. Of the 172 deputies 
 ultimately returned to fortify the Diet (which now numbered 
 about 500 deputies in all) two-thirds were in favour of the 
 reforms, including the change in the succession. 
 
 On December 20, 1790, the session was re-opened ; but 
 it soon became evident to the more perspicacious that the 
 Diet was unequal to the task of reforming the Constitution 
 for which it had been called together. Its numerical 
 unwieldiness, the timidity of its President, the irrestrainable 
 volubility of its members — especially of the new members — 
 and, above all, the obstructiveness of the Opposition, 
 paralysed all legislative action. As, moreover, no standing 
 orders, or regulations, had yet been framed, the House was 
 at the mercy of those of its members who had the loudest 
 voices and the toughest lungs. On January 1, 1791, the 
 simple question of the order in which the business of the 
 House should be taken led to an inconclusive debate which 
 lasted sixteen hours. Two more days were wasted in a 
 fruitless attempt to limit the duration of future debates. 
 By the middle of January 1791, the state of public business 
 was precisely the same as it had been in the middle of 
 December 1790. The principal obstructionists were the 
 Volhynian deputies who took their orders from the arch- 
 reactionary, Felix Potocki, who, disgusted by the philo- 
 Prussian policy of the Diet, had retired to Vienna, where he 
 was already gathering around him the band of aristocratic 
 malcontents who, twelve months later, were to unmask 
 themselves as rebels and traitors. The Volhynians would 
 not hear of a radical reform of the Constitution and as, 
 according to the fundamental laws, every constitutional 
 question could only be decided by a unanimous vote of the 
 Legislature, the whole business of the House soon came to 
 a deadlock. " At our present rate of progression," observed 
 one of the royal secretaries, Tomas Dluski, " it will take us 
 
THE "COUP D'ETAT" OF MAY 3, 1791 225 
 
 three and a half years, at least, to get our precious Con- 
 stitution ready." 
 
 The only possible issue from this state of fruitless ex- 
 pectation and extreme uncertainty was a coup d'etat, es- 
 pecially as it was above all things necessary to prevent the 
 interference of Prussia, whose hands would be free so soon 
 as the long Turkish War, now, at last, drawing to a close, 
 was concluded. Vague, disquieting rumours of another 
 impending partition were already in the air. Wojna, the 
 Polish Minister at Vienna, was the first to report these 
 rumours. Deboli, the Polish Minister at St. Petersburg, 
 wrote to the same effect and urged the King, repeatedly, to 
 take prompt measures, even the most extraordinary and 
 sensational, to provide for the safety of the Republic 
 Stanislaus's own position was now very much stronger than 
 it had been six months before. Since the renewal of the 
 Diet his partisans had more than doubled, and Ignatius 
 Potocki, the leader of the Patriots, who had so long held 
 aloof from the King, was now persuaded to be reconciled to 
 him and combine their forces in a common struggle for the 
 liberties of their country. The author of this felicitous 
 coalition was the Florentine ex-abbe, Scipione Piattoli, 
 whose ardent soul had been won unreservedly for Poland 
 by a pamphlet of Rousseau's. Highly educated on purely 
 literary lines, sceptical as to religion, which he regarded, 
 indeed, as only another name for superstition, yet over- 
 flowing with an exalted enthusiasm for humanity, he first 
 appeared in Poland in 1787, where he was received with 
 effusion by all the friends of the new ideas, including Ignatius 
 Potocki, Hugo Kollontaj and the King, who though in 
 different political camps, all followed, in their own way, the 
 progressive, tricoloured flag of young France. Piattoli was 
 a puny, sickly-looking, little fellow, but he literally bubbled 
 over with ingenious notions and original arguments ; pos- 
 sessed irresistible powers of persuasion, and could, easily, 
 do the work of ten men far better and in less time than they 
 could have done it themselves. His infinite good-nature and 
 absolute unselfishness endeared him to every one with 
 
226 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 whom he came into contact. In 1790 he was introduced to 
 Stanislaus and instantly conceived a passionate devotion for 
 that still charming and seductive potentate. Henceforth 
 it became the ambition of his life " to serve and save the 
 King." — " With whatever eyes your Majesty may look upon 
 me," he cried, " I would live for you and die with you." 
 The poor King, who was not used to the language of loyalty, 
 naturally felt grateful to the gushing little Florentine and 
 made him his secretary with a considerable salary, not one 
 penny of which Piattoli could ever be induced to touch. 
 Soon Stanislaus became very intimate with the ex-abbe; 
 gave him his entire confidence ; and was frequently closeted 
 with him for hours, desipte the warnings of his own family. 
 They bade him beware of an adventurer who belonged to a 
 Jacobine Club at Paris and whose views were so blown upon 
 at Rome that he durst not show his face there. 
 
 It was at the suggestion of Ignatius Potocki that Piattoli 
 was admitted into the secret council of the King's friends, 
 originally seven in number, formed, at the beginning of 
 February 1791, to bring about a liberal and peaceful 
 revolution. Most of their earlier meetings were held in 
 Piattoli's apartments at the Palace. The affair was con- 
 ducted with all the secrecy of a conspiracy which, indeed, 
 it was. The very Kammerherr, who, with a lighted candle 
 in each hand, conducted Stanislaus to and from the ren- 
 dezvous, was not only devoted to his master but deaf and 
 dumb besides, so that his discretion was unimpeachable. 
 All the conspirators were agreed that the approaching 
 peace between Russia and the Porte must not find Poland 
 unprepared. All of them, except the King, believed that the 
 Prussian alliance and a national Constitution in full working 
 order would be the surest guarantees against active hostility 
 on the part of the Empress. As, however, experience had 
 demonstrated the futility of the Diet's own efforts at con- 
 stitution-making, they now begged the King himself to 
 draw up a new form of Constitution suitable to the peculiar 
 circumstances of the case. It would have been better for 
 Poland if this tardy appeal had been made two years earlier ; 
 
THE "COUP D'ETAT" OF MAY 3, 1791 227 
 
 but Stanislaus was not the man to reject the entreaties of 
 his subjects even at the eleventh hour. He immediately 
 set to work and presented his rough draft, written in French, 
 on the model of the English Constitution, to his fellow 
 conspirators with the words : " There you have the day- 
 dreams of an aged citizen ! " They were delighted with it 
 as well they might be for " the day-dreams of an aged 
 citizen " were the most practical and sensible rudiments 
 of a Constitution which had ever been proposed for Poland. 
 Briefly, the Stanislavian Constitution converted Poland 
 into a limited monarchy of the modern type. The Executive 
 was vested in the Crown alone, the legislative functions and 
 the power of the purse belonged exclusively to the Diet. 
 The liber urn veto and " the free election " system were for 
 ever abolished. The Polish crown was to be hereditary in 
 the House of Saxony. Kollontaj at once proceeded to 
 translate the King's French draft into excellent Polish, at 
 the same time expanding its provisions so as to make it still 
 more susceptible of sweeping reforms in the near future. 
 Piattoli and Ignatius Potocki also had a hand in it. Un- 
 fortunately, some slight difference of opinion amongst the 
 many collaborators as to the next step to be taken, together 
 with the coincidence of current public business, delayed the 
 further progress of the affair for more than a month. Then 
 fresh warnings from the Polish ministers at foreign courts 
 and an encouraging demonstration from the burgesses of 
 Warsaw revived the energies of the plotters. In mid-April 
 the meetings in Piattoli's apartments were resumed and 
 sixty friendly members of the Diet were admitted into the 
 secret. The adj ournment of the Diet for the Easter vacation, 
 almost immediately afterwards, gave the conspirators an 
 idea which brought matters to a crisis. The House was to 
 re-assemble on May 2. It was the usual practice to devote 
 the first fortnight after the recess to financial business which 
 excited little or no interest. On such occasions there was, 
 generally speaking, a very poor attendance of deputies.. 
 Upon this remissness the conspirators calculated their 
 plans. It was proposed on May 5, or immediately after 
 
228 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 the beginning of the new session, to rush the Constitution 
 through a thin House with the aid of as many well-disposed 
 deputies as could be got together for the purpose and who 
 were to be advertised beforehand of what was required of 
 them. At the end of April the King thought he ought no 
 longer to conceal the conspiracy from the Marshal of the 
 Diet. Malachowski offered no objection to the King's 
 plan ; but he seems to have been somewhat indiscreet, 
 though there is no conclusive evidence at hand that he 
 actually betrayed the secret to the Opposition. Anyhow, 
 they got wind of it and their leader, the tipsy Grand-Hetman 
 Branicki at once warned his friends to be in their places by 
 May 5. He is also said to have got his huge broad-sword 
 sharpened and made ready for every emergency. Thus, 
 at the last moment, the conspirators were obliged to re- 
 consider their plans. At a meeting held at Piattoli's rooms 
 on April 28, at 4 o'clock in the morning, it was agreed to 
 carry out the coup d'etat on the 3rd instead of on the 5th of 
 May, and to adopt a number of precautionary measures to 
 facilitate its success. The King's nephew, the young, 
 handsome and popular General, Prince Joseph Poniatowski, 
 was to surround the Palace with troops to protect the 
 Estates from the violence of the reactionaries, while Kollontaj 
 undertook, by means of his various agents, to secure before- 
 hand, the burgesses of Warsaw for the revolution. 
 
 On May 2, the Diet met for the first time after the Easter 
 recess ; discussed some unimportant financial business in 
 a languid way ; and then dispersed till the following day. 
 In the evening there was a private meeting of friendly 
 deputies at the Radziwill Palace. There the draft of the 
 new Constitution was read, but no discussion was permitted, 
 and the meeting separated amidst joyful cries of : " Agreed ! 
 Agreed ! " Later the same evening the chief confederates 
 met at Malachowski's house to decide as to their course of 
 action in the Chamber on the following day. It was resolved 
 to capture public opinion by the startling announcement of 
 another impending partition of Poland and for this purpose, 
 Matuszewicz, the deputy for Brzesc, and one of the 
 
THE "COUP D'ETAT" OF MAY 3, 1791 229 
 
 Secretaries of State, had already been ordered to pre- 
 pare, from the despatches of the Polish Ambassadors, 
 a report on the political situation, for presentation to 
 the Estates. An attempt was then made to secure 
 the signatures of a hundred friendly deputies to the 
 proj ected coup d' etat. The deputies shrank back from giving 
 their signatures, but a solemn promise of non-obstruction 
 was obtained from them at the last moment. 
 
 Early oh May 3, an unusual commotion was observable 
 in the streets of Warsaw. Regiments of foot and squadrons 
 of horse were seen hastening from the barracks to the Palace 
 where the Diet was about to assemble. They were speedily 
 followed by the civic guilds, headed by their presidents, 
 with their banners borne before them. The streets were 
 thronged by excited, gesticulating crowds of all classes. 
 The most disquieting rumours were afloat. Every one was 
 in a state of febrile expectation. People whispered to each 
 other that something great, something unusual, was about 
 to happen, and that the fate of Poland depended upon the 
 events of the next few hours. 
 
 The Hall of Session was already full to overflowing. The 
 galleries were thronged by women of the upper classes. 
 The benches of the deputies were surrounded by extra- 
 parliamentary politicians and agitators. In front of the 
 Marshal's barrier sat Prince Joseph Poniatowski with the 
 King's adjutant, General Golkowski. A score or so of 
 Uhlans stood near them at attention. The throne was 
 surrounded by numerous officers of the Royal Guard. The 
 opponents of reform had taken their seats betimes, but each 
 of them was speedily surrounded and separated from his 
 fellows by two or three of the confederates, who never lost 
 sight of them for a moment. 
 
 On the stroke of eleven, the King entered the Hall of 
 Session preceded by the Marshal of the Diet and followed 
 by a numerous retinue. He was greeted with loud applause. 
 The High-Steward then struck his staff thrice to impose 
 silence, and, amidst a deep hush, Malachowski opened the 
 session. He reminded the deputies of the disasters which had 
 
THE "COUP D'ETAT" OF MAY 3, 1791 231 
 
 the illustrious Estates to provide for the safety of the 
 Republic." 
 
 For a moment intense silence prevailed. Then an uneasy 
 muttering was audible, in the midst of which Ignatius 
 Potocki slowly arose. AU.eyes instinctively turned towards 
 the leader of " the Patriots "who for so long a time had been 
 the most determined opponent of his Sovereign. In view of 
 the danger threatening the Republic, said Potocki, there 
 was but one thing to be done — appeal to the King for counsel. 
 " You, Sire," he continued, turning towards Stanislaus, 
 " you, Sire, have the authority, the will, and the talents 
 which entitle you, and you only, to render this service to 
 the Republic. God grant us grace to forego for ever our 
 private animosities." 
 
 Stanislaus immediately stood up and beckoned to all the 
 Ministers and Senators to draw near to the throne. Then, 
 very solemnly, he declared that after what they had just 
 heard it was obvious that any further delay in establishing 
 a new and stable Constitution must be fatal to Poland. 
 " I propose," he concluded, " to read to you a project, 
 carefully drawn up and earnestly recommended by many 
 well-disposed citizens." Cries of " The project ! the pro- 
 ject ! " came from every part of the House. The draft of 
 the new Constitution was then read. It was received with 
 shouts of : " Zgoda ! Zgoda ! " (Agreed I Agreed !) Mala- 
 chowski, on behalf of the Diet, thereupon thanked the King 
 for giving them the best of all possible Constitutions and 
 begged him to confirm and strengthen " the new contract 
 between King and People," by swearing to observe it there 
 and then. The Chamber supported the petition of its 
 Marshal with loud cries of : " We beg ! We beg ! " 
 
 So far the whole programme of the confederates had been 
 carried out as pre-arranged with unlooked-for success. 
 Everything seemed settled and the swearing to the new 
 Constitution was about to begin, when Suchorzewski 
 suddenly reappeared in the midst of the. Diet carrying in 
 his arms his little son, a child six years old. He shouted 
 that the new Constitution was not only a treason against 
 
232 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 the nation but a conspiracy against himself and his family. 
 He therefore threw himself upon the protection of the 
 Chamber and would not stir from its sacred precincts as it 
 was the only place where he could feel personally secure. 
 In the uproar which ensued, Suchorzewski was speedily 
 surrounded by a group of deputies indignantly protesting. 
 " Lock up the madman \" " Cut him down ! " they 
 cried. One gentleman took the terrified child from his 
 father's arms and carried it away. Unfortunately, how- 
 ever, the persistency of their ring-leader encouraged the 
 Opposition to raise its voice once more and a long and 
 acrimonious debate began, which threatened to drown the 
 Constitution in floods of irrelevant eloquence. To prevent 
 this the King directed Malachowski, as Marshal of the Diet, 
 to take the opinion of the Hq^e upon the matter forthwith. 
 The Marshal, very adroitly, ordered all those who were in 
 favour of the Constitution to keep silence and all those who 
 were not in favour of it to come forward and speak. This 
 placed the malcontents in a very awkward position by 
 revealing their numerical weakness, for it was now patent 
 that they could only count upon eleven members in a House 
 of more than two hundred. Before they could recover 
 themselves, Zabiello, the deputy for Livonia, moved that 
 all who loved their country should vote for the new Con- 
 stitution on the spot and that his Majesty should set the 
 example by swearing to observe it first of all. He then left 
 his seat and approached the throne followed by all the 
 Ministers and Senators and the great majority of the 
 deputies. Surrounding the King, they begged him, with 
 enthusiasm, to wait no longer but take the oath. The 
 ladies in the galleries, waving their hands and fluttering 
 their handkerchiefs, and the general public on the floor of the 
 Chamber concurred. Loud cries of : " Long live the King ! 
 Long live the Constitution ! " resounded on every side. 
 For the moment the Diet had ceased to be a legislative 
 assembly and had become a huzzahing mob. The enthusiasm 
 within the Chamber penetrated first to the corridors of the 
 Palace and then to the crowds outside and soon all the 
 streets and squares in Warsaw were ringing with cries of ; 
 
THE "COUP D'ETAT" OF MAY 3, 1791 233 
 
 " Long live the King ! Long Hve the Constitution ! " In 
 all that vast assembly the sole dissentient was the irrepressible 
 Suchorzewski. Unable to make himself heard any longer, 
 he flung himself down in front of the throne and the mob of 
 Senators, Ministers and Deputies trampled him under foot 
 as they rushed forward to take the oath. The wretched 
 man would have been trodden to death on the spot had not 
 the gigantic deputy, Pan Kublicki, snatched him up and 
 taken him out of the Chamber like a child, yelling and 
 struggling to the last. 
 
 Meanwhile, the din and tumult around the throne had 
 become so great that Stanislaus was obliged to mount upon 
 his chair-of-state and make signs that he would speak. 
 Silence instantly prevailed, and the King, in a loud voice, 
 expressed his desire to accede to the unanimous wish of the 
 Diet that he should swear to observe the new Constitution. 
 " Let some of you who are priests come forward, therefore, 
 and prescribe for me a proper form of oath," he concluded. 
 Turski Bishop of Cracow and Fr. Gorzewski thereupon 
 approached the throne, and while the former recited the 
 proper formula the latter held a copy of the Gospels wide 
 open in front of the King. With his hand resting firmly on 
 the Holy Gospels, Stanislaus took the oath. The whole 
 assembly, in an ecstasy of joy, thereupon flung their caps 
 into the air, and, with streaming eyes, shouted : " Long 
 live the King ! Long live the King ! " After taking the 
 oath, the King exclaimed : " Juravi Domino et ne pcenitibet ! 
 I call upon all those who love their country to follow me 
 to Church there to take the oath in common and, at the 
 same time, to thank God for permitting me to complete so 
 solemn and beneficial a work." 
 
 By this time it was seven o'clock in the evening. The 
 session had lasted eight hours. The last rays of the setting 
 sun were illuminating the vast concourse of people in the 
 square outside when through the gates of the Palace in 
 solemn procession came the members of the last independent 
 Polish Diet on their way to the venerable church of St. 
 John, headed by their two * Marshals. No sooner did the 
 * One representing Poland, the other Lithuania. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE VENGEANCE OF CATHERINE 
 
 Displeasure of Catherine at the Polish Revolution — Her affectation of 
 indifference — The new Russian Ambassador at Warsaw, Yakov 
 Ivanovich Bulgakov — Extreme difficulties of Catherine II. during 
 the year 1791 — The Poles choose the Elector of Saxony as the successor 
 of King Stanislaus — Alarm of the Elector — Bungling of the Polish 
 Diet — Prince Joseph Poniatowski — His character — Felix Potocki 
 appeals to Catherine to protect the liberties of Poland — Formation 
 
 , , of the Confederation of Targowica — Curious letter of Felix to his son 
 — Advance of the Confederation on the capital — Its tyranny and 
 depredations — The triumph of Felix — Celebration of the anniversary 
 of the May Constitution at Warsaw — Presages of coming disaster — 
 The Russian declaration of war and the defection of Prussia — Prince 
 Joseph appointed Commander-in-Chief of an army which does not 
 exist — Kosciuszko — His character — The Campaign of 1792 — Over- 
 whelming disadvantages of the Poles — Battle of Zielence — Treachery 
 of the Prince -_f Wurtemberg and other officers — Battle of Dubienka — 
 The King accedes to the Confederation of Targowica 
 
 IF at Warsaw the proclamation of the Constitution of 
 1791 was rightly celebrated as a national and patriotic 
 triumph, at St. Petersburg the momentous event was 
 naturally regarded from a very different point of view. To 
 Catherine it came as a deliberate affront, an open challenge, 
 nor was her temper likely to be improved by the humiliating 
 reflection that she must pocket the affront because, for the 
 moment, she could not take up the challenge. The Poles, 
 she argued, had treated her scurvily. Her advances had 
 been flouted, her overtures rejected. She had offered them 
 her friendship — and peace ; they had preferred her enmity 
 — and war. Well ! be it so ! They should have what they 
 wanted. In her own good time she would show this un- 
 grateful and unprofitable people that if her amity was a 
 
 «35 
 
236 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 guarantee of welfare, her enmity would, infallibly, bring 
 with it disgrace and destruction. At present, however, the 
 political situation demanded the exercise of extreme caution. 
 Not till she was the mistress instead of the slave of circum- 
 stances could she permit her avenging arm to fall. She 
 must, in the meantime, mask her fury with a semblance of 
 serene nonchalance. It was this cat-like capacity for 
 patiently, tirelessly watching her prey till it was absolutely 
 within her reach, which made Catherine such a dangerous 
 adversary. 
 
 To all outward appearances, therefore, the Russian 
 Empress remained indifferent to the proceedings of the 
 Polish Diet. Even the recall of her Ambassador signified, 
 seemingly, rather a change of persons than a change of 
 principles. It was notorious that Catherine had long been 
 dissatisfied with Stackelberg, and every one at Warsaw 
 was charmed with his successor, whom they declared to be 
 the most amiable of men. This successor was Yakov 
 Ivanovich Bulgakov, who, after an academical career 
 unusually brilliant for those times, had, in 1761, begun his 
 career in the Russian Foreign Office. In 1781 he was 
 appointed Minister Plenipotentiary at Constantinople, by 
 far the most important post in the Russian diplomatic 
 service, where he had worthily upheld the high traditions 
 of his distinguished predecessors. Bulgakov was a man of 
 astounding industry. Though, perhaps, one of the hardest 
 worked of the Empress's servants, he, nevertheless, always 
 found time to continue his literary studies, and during his 
 seven and twenty months of imprisonment in the Seven 
 Towers at Stambul, into which he was thrown on the 
 outbreak of the second Turkish War, in 1787, he translated 
 into Russian for his own amusement, nearly thirty volumes 
 of the Abbe de la Porte's enclycopedic : " Voyageur 
 francois, ou, La Connaissance de l'Ancien et du Nouveau 
 Monde." 
 
 Bulgakov arrived at Warsaw on September 7, 1790. His 
 instructions were to adopt an absolutely passive attitude, 
 observing everything, reporting everything, but doing 
 
THE VENGEANCE OF CATHERINE 237 
 
 nothing at all. " You are to win the hearts of these people 
 by gentle, friendly, cautious behaviour, till the Turkish War 
 is over," wrote Catherine significantly. Bulgakov was an 
 ideal Ambassador for the situation. He had been trained 
 in the secret, underhand school of Oriental diplomacy, and 
 preferred to work by subterraneous methods. During his 
 brief stay in Poland he more than justified the Empress's 
 expectations. He came with a brilliant suite of attaches 
 and at once set up a magnificent establishment. He seemed 
 to have come for the sole purpose of providing the Poles with 
 additional amusements. The most sensational, the most 
 provocative events (from the Russian point of view) left 
 him politely indifferent. All the friends and acquaintances 
 of his predecessor were invited, regularly, to his frequent and 
 soon famous dinners at which the most exquisite dishes, 
 invented by the best French cooks, were served on silver 
 plate and rare porcelain. Still more popular were the 
 simple, honest gentleman's whist-tables, which attracted 
 crowds of Polish Senators and Deputies. For the most 
 indifferent players speedily discovered to their delight and 
 surprise, that, however they might fare elsewhere, at the 
 Russian Ambassador's, at any rate, they invariably held 
 good cards and won respectable stakes. 
 
 Bulgakov reported that the feeling against Russia was 
 increasing rather than diminishing. " It is the fashion 
 here, just now, to be Russophobe," he wrote. This was true 
 enough, but when he added that Prussia had placed 150,000 
 ducats at the disposal of the King for distribution among the 
 Deputies and that everything relating to the succession to 
 the Polish throne had been settled beforehand with the 
 King of Prussia, he was woefully at fault. The fact was 
 that the Court and the Patriots held alodf from Bulgakov 
 altogether, so that he was not in the secret of things and 
 had to depend on loose gossip for his information. Not 
 one penny had been secured from the King of Prussia by 
 Stanislaus, and, so far from consenting to the project of an 
 hereditary monarchy in Poland, Frederick William II. was 
 very much opposed to the very idea of such a thing. Never- 
 
23 8 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 theless, Catherine believed Bulgakov implicitly, and the 
 contents of his reports embittered her ever more and more 
 against the Poles. 
 
 All through 1791, however, she was Obliged to keep 
 quiet. That momentous year was, perhaps, the most 
 anxious period of her life. The astounding victories of her 
 generals on the Danube had excited against her the jealousy 
 of all Europe and she knew that, at any moment, she might 
 have to deal with a formidable coalition. In January, 
 Great Britain and Prussia delivered to her an ultimatum 
 with regard to Turkish affairs which was almost tantamount 
 to a declaration of war. In March, Pitt announced in the 
 House of Commons that inasmuch as all the efforts of the 
 King and his servants had failed to bring about a peace 
 between the Russian Empress and the Ottoman Porte, his 
 Majesty trusted that his faithful Commons would vote 
 extra supplies sufficient to equip a strong fleet for immediate 
 despatch to the Baltic. Despite the vigorous protests of 
 the Opposition,* the Ministry carried their motion by a 
 majority of eighty. The Russian Cabinet, thereupon, 
 unanimously implored Catherine to yield to the demands 
 of Great Britain and Prussia and abate her claims upon 
 Turkey. She resolutely refused. " The God of Russia is 
 great," was the only reply she vouchsafed to their entreaties. 
 Then she rallied all her forces for a supreme effort and 
 made vigorous preparations for the resumption of a war 
 which had already lasted four years and cost her 400,000 
 men. In August, Repnin's brilliant victory at Machin 
 brought the Turk to his knees at last, and, in the meantime, , 
 the threatening clouds in the West had disappeared from 
 the political horizon. In May, Pitt became aware that 
 Prussia did not want a war with Russia ; public opinion in 
 Great Britain, especially in commercial circles, protested 
 more and more vehemently against the Russophobe attitude 
 
 * Catherine was so pleased with Fox's attitude on this occasion that 
 she not only placed his bust between the busts of Cicero and Demosthenes 
 at Tsarkoe Selo, but is said to have paid his debts through the Russian 
 Ambassador at London. 
 
THE VENGEANCE OF CATHERINE 239 
 
 of the Ministry; while Sweden, Denmark and Holland 
 refused to be tempted into another Northern War by any 
 amount of subsidies. So the British Cabinet lowered its 
 tone and the British fleet was not sent to the Baltic after 
 all. In July, Catherine re-opened negotiations with the 
 Porte, and on January 9, 1792, the faultless diplomacy of 
 Bezborodko secured for Russia one of the most advantageous 
 treaties of peace she had ever signed. 
 
 Resoluteness, unity and perspicacity had rescued Russia 
 from a situation of extraordinary difficulty. The want of 
 these three great saving qualities was now to plunge Poland 
 back into the quagmire of anarchy at the very moment when 
 she seemed, at last, to have struggled on to firm ground. 
 
 The authors of the Constitution of 1791 had accomplished 
 a good and great work, a work which deserved to succeed 
 inasmuch as it was based on real good-will, on individual 
 self-sacrifice, on genuine patriotism. The new Constitution 
 was by far the most promising form of government which 
 Poland had ever possessed because it was the voluntary 
 act of the best of the Poles themselves, thoroughly convinced 
 of the absolute necessity of what they were about and 
 supported by the vast majority of their fellow citizens. 
 Against the sincerity, the earnestness, the political morality 
 of these men not one word can fairly be said. Their aims 
 were lofty, their intentions excellent, their proceedings just 
 and right. Unfortunately, with the exception of the King, 
 they were amateurs in politics and veritable children in 
 diplomacy. This was inevitable. All the Patriots had 
 had very little experience in affairs. The very little they 
 happened to know they had learnt from books, books of 
 the worst possible kind, from a practical point of view, 
 because they were saturated with the fanciful theories and 
 the misleading optimism of Rousseau and the Encyclopaedists™; 
 Hence the simplicity, the amateurishness, the rashness of 
 the politicians of the Quadrennial Diet. Their hearts were 
 undoubtedly in the right place, but they had no heads for 
 business — and politics, as they were speedily to discover, is 
 the most difficult and exacting form of business. 
 
240 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 For instance, take the crucial point of the new Constitution 
 —the question of the succession to the throne. In view of 
 the age and infirmity of King Stanislaus it was obvious that 
 it could not be very long before the throne must become 
 vacant. The Diet, recognising the fact, had, consequently, 
 chosen as his successor Frederick Augustus, Elector of Saxony. 
 In some respects the choice was not an infelicitous one. 
 The Elector was personally popular in Poland. As a Catholic 
 he was acceptable to a maj ority of the Poles. As a Sovereign 
 Prince whose ancestors had reigned in Poland for two 
 generations and whose claims were not, at first, unfavourably 
 regarded either by Russia or Austria, he was, certainly, 
 the candidate least likely to be disturbed either by civil 
 discord or foreign interference. On the other hand, he was 
 a Prince who hated surprises and was very easily frightened. 
 Yet, knowing this, the Poles elected him without consulting 
 his wishes or even officially informing him of the honour in 
 store for him. Nevertheless, some vague rumours of what 
 had been done reached the Elector, privately and cir- 
 cuitously, and, as might have been expected, Augustus 
 Frederick wrote, at once, in great alarm, to King Stanislaus 
 plainly telling him that he could not think of accepting the 
 Polish crown until the three neighbouring great Powers had 
 consented thereto, and even then he must stipulate that his 
 election should not cause the shedding of a single drop of 
 blood or the burning of a single hut. Such excessive caution, 
 so many difficult, not to say impossible, conditions were, 
 in the circumstances, tantamount to a refusal. Yet the 
 Polish Government took no steps to reassure the Elector, 
 and the Polish Minister at Dresden, Jan Nepomuk Mala- 
 chowski, a raw youth who should never have been entrusted 
 with so important a post, chose this inopportune time to 
 take a long holiday, leaving behind him a timid and in- 
 experienced attachS without any instructions. Thus, in- 
 credible as it may sound, although Frederick Augustus was 
 elected the successor to the Polish throne early in 1790, he 
 was not officially informed of the fact till nearly twelve 
 months later when Ignatius Potocki sent Thaddeus Matus- 
 
THE VENGEANCE OF CATHERINE 241 
 
 zewicz to Dresden to ascertain his views. All that Matus- 
 zewicz could get out of Frederick Augustus was a vague 
 expression of gratitude to the Polish nation. Only then did 
 the Polish Government seem to realise that the Elector was 
 not to be had for the mere asking. Piattoli now suggested 
 that Ignatius Potocki himself should immediately proceed 
 to Dresden, first to make sure of the Elector, or, failing him, 
 one of his family, and then go on to Berlin to enlist the 
 sympathies of the King of Prussia in the project. But 
 Potocki was either too indolent or too preoccupied to under- 
 take the double mission at once ; other business, supposed 
 to be of more importance, intervened ; and so the matter 
 rested till, at last (April 16, 1792), the Elector declined the 
 Polish crown altogether. 
 
 The withdrawal of the Saxon Elector was a serious blow 
 to the hopes of the Polish statesmen. Yet they took no 
 step to find a substitute although they had in their very 
 midst one who, in ordinary circumstances and normal 
 conditions, would have been an irreproachable candidate 
 for the throne, in the person of the King's nephew, Prince 
 Joseph Poniatowski. 
 
 Joseph Poniatowski was the only son of Prince Stanislaus 
 Andrew Poniatowski, who had settled betimes at Vienna ; 
 married the wealthy Bohemian Countess Kinska ; and 
 become, to all intents and purposes, an Austrian subject. 
 The young Joseph seemed likely to follow his father's 
 example. His education, excellent in its way, was more 
 on cosmopolitan than patriotic lines and up to his twenty- 
 first year he was somewhat of a stranger in Poland. The 
 beauty and amiability of " little Pepi " made him a universal 
 favourite, and the whole Poniatowski family combined 
 together, happily in aim, to spoil him. King Stanislaus in 
 particular doated upon his nephew. At the age of fifteen 
 Joseph was already an officer in the Austrian army and 
 completely emancipated. For the next six years he shone 
 as one of the most striking and original figures in Austrian 
 and Polish society. Devoted to pleasure and gaiety, he was 
 reputed the most daring horseman, the most accomplished 
 Q 
 
242 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 dancer and the most dangerous Don Juan at Vienna and 
 Warsaw. But mere amusement was incapable of satisfying 
 permanently an essentially self-sacrificing and chivalrous 
 nature. Already he longed for nobler exploits. In his 
 eighteenth year he seized the first opportunity of seeing 
 active service and followed the Austrian forces to the 
 Danube on the outbreak of the Turkish War of 1787. At 
 Szabacs he brilliantly distinguished himself but was danger- 
 ously wounded. The convocation of the Quadrennial Diet 
 first awoke in the heart of the young Prince that pure and 
 ardent patriotism which was to cover both himself and his 
 country with such deathless glory. He begged and obtained, 
 the leave of the Emperor Leopold to quit the Austrian for 
 the Polish service, and, hastening to Warsaw, placed his 
 sword at the disposal of the Republic. His royal uncle 
 received him with enthusiasm ; gave him a clear start by 
 paying off all his debts amounting to some 30,000 ducats ; 
 and made him a major-general. He would have raised 
 him to the dignity of Grand-Hetman had he dared. For 
 a moment Stanislaus even dreamed of recommending 
 Joseph as his successor, but speedily abandoned the idea 
 because he was convinced that even if the Diet consented 
 to such a thing (which was more than doubtful), the re- 
 actionary magnates would, infallibly, have plunged the 
 country into a civil war rather than have accepted a second 
 Poniatowski as their King. Yet the ability of Prince Joseph 
 was not inferior to his patriotism. At Vienna he was already^ 
 regarded, as indisputably the ablest general in the Polish army 
 and the best professional experts had the highest opinion" of 
 his military talents. General Mollendorff, the oracle of the 
 Prussian general staff, requested Lucchesini to tempt the 
 Prince with the command of a Prussian division while he was 
 still an Austrian officer. Von Goltz, the new Prussian 
 Minister at Warsaw, reported that Prince Joseph possessed 
 the qualities most likely to win the confidence of the Poles. 
 He was young, handsome, obliging, skilful in all bodily 
 exercises, and of a lively and brilliant understanding. The 
 only objection to him was that, if he became King, his military 
 
PRINCE JOSEPH PONIATOWSKI 
 
THE VENGEANCE OF CATHERINE 243 
 
 capacity might make him dangerous to his neighbours. It 
 is a melancholy reflection that a foreigner, and a Prussian 
 officer to boot, should have been the first to recognise the 
 peculiar fitness of Prince Joseph to succeed his uncle on 
 the throne. Unfortunately, the Poles themselves had long 
 since lost the faculty of arriving at an understanding about 
 their own great men and preferred to turn to second-rate 
 foreign potentates who refused to have anything to do with 
 them. It was this moral and intellectual blindness more 
 than anything else which made the whole situation so 
 desperate. 
 
 The nearer we approach the miserable denouement, the 
 more we must feel amazed at the boundless neglect and 
 nonchalance of the Polish Government. In the higher 
 official circles, extravagant confidence alternated with 
 paralysing hesitation. Everywhere, down to the very last 
 moment, there prevailed a stone-blind ignorance of the 
 gravity of the situation. Not a single step had been taken 
 towards the mobilising of the army and placing the country 
 generally in a state of defence. Instead of that, when the 
 Diet reassembled on March 15, 1792, its attention was 
 engrossed by a petition from the inhabitants of the far- 
 distant eastern palatinates that a Church dedicated to 
 Divine Providence should be built at Warsaw in comme- 
 moration of the Constitution of May 3, 1791. 
 
 And while the friends of the Constitution were debating 
 and debating in as leisurely a fashion as if the political 
 millennium of Poland had actually arrived, the enemies of 
 the Constitution were actually compassing its downfall. 
 The natural leader of the malcontents was Felix Potocki. 
 On the overthrow of the Russian party, Felix had quitted 
 Warsaw in high dudgeon and wandered about for a time in 
 Italy like an evil spirit seeking rest and finding none. 
 Evidently he still hesitated to betray his country, but he 
 was already on the brink of that decision. It needed but 
 the slightest impulsion to topple him over into the abyss 
 of treason. That impulsion came when the Polish Govern- 
 ment commanded him, within three months' time, to return 
 
244 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 to Poland and take the oath to the new Constitution under 
 penalty of outlawry. Then all the long-smouldering pride 
 and resentment of this haughty, self-willed magnate against 
 a King whom he despised and a Parliament which he 
 detested, burst into a devouring flame. Casting his last 
 scruples to the winds, he resolved, forthwith, to appeal to 
 the deadliest enemy of his own country, the Russian Empress, 
 for protection and vengeance. First he hastened to Jassy, 
 where the negotiations between Russia and the Porte were 
 drawing to a conclusion, and, finally, to St. Petersburg, 
 taking along with him his accomplices Rzewuski and 
 Branicki. 
 
 By this time Catherine had quite made up her mind 
 about Poland. The Republic was to be rendered quite 
 harmless for the future by a second partition. A secret 
 understanding to that effect had already been arrived at 
 with the King of Prussia. A decent pretext for direct 
 interference was now all that she wanted and this was 
 supplied when Felix Potocki and his associates arrived at 
 the Russian capital and besought her to protect the ancient 
 liberties of the Polish Republic against the dangerous 
 foreign innovations of the Constitution of May 3, which 
 they said, had been imposed upon the Polish nation by an 
 unheard-of combination of force and fraud. Catherine 
 received the Polish magnates with engaging courtesy. 
 Well aware of the inordinate vanity of Felix, she treated 
 him on terms of perfect equality, as if he were a sovereign- 
 prince ; adroitly flattered him by pretending to be much 
 impressed by his arguments ; and declared that she could 
 really refuse nothing to such a genuine patriot. The 
 infatuated traitor took her words for Gospel truths, and 
 actually believed that he was making a tool of her. She 
 not only undertook to restore the old Constitution by force 
 of arms and place a Russian army-corps at Potocki's disposal 
 for that purpose, but even promised to respect the territorial 
 integrity of Poland, a point on which the petitioners, to, 
 their credit, laid particular stress. Such a promise cost 
 Catherine nothing, for she never meant to keep it. No 
 
THE VENGEANCE OF CATHERINE 245 
 
 sooner was Poland at her mercy than she flung Potocki 
 aside " like a sucked orange " and repudiated " the terri- 
 torial integrity " stipulation with cynical effrontery. On 
 one thing, however, Catherine insisted emphatically. The 
 Poles themselves, she said, must take the initiative by 
 forming a Confederation and publicly inviting her co- 
 operation in the name of the Polish nation. On May 14, 
 1792, a Confederation was accordingly formed at the little 
 town of Targowica in the Ukraine. Its proclamation 
 demanded the dissolution of the Diet, the abolition of the 
 Constitution of May 3, 1791, and the complete restoration 
 of the vicious old form of Government. Every one who 
 refused " to cast off the chains imposed upon us by theJMay 
 Constitution " was branded as a promoter of slavery and 
 an enemy of his country. Finally, " as the nation lay 
 beneath the yoke of foreign elements " and was consequently 
 unable to right itself by its own efforts, they appealed with 
 confidence " to the great Catherine " relying upon her well- 
 known love of justice and magnanimity. And this Con- 
 federation, which spoke with such a loud and threatening 
 voice, consisted, in the first instance, of only ten persons 
 besides the three original conspirators. 
 
 That these men * were infatuated fools rather than 
 deliberate traitors is plain from Felix Potocki's letter to his 
 son Felix George, then a lieutenant in a Polish Cossack 
 regiment, urging him also to turn his sword against his own 
 country. This document is almost pathetic in its mental 
 confusion, its incurable simplicity and its general topsy- 
 turvydom. " I am a Republican," begins Potocki, " and 
 I would retain the Republic intact with all its faults. . . . 
 It is all very well to introduce from Paris a new way of 
 cutting your clothes or wearing your hair, but it would be 
 the height of madness, and even a crime, to allow a French 
 savant, who knows nothing of the circumstances, to do 
 away with our ancient rights and customs and establish 
 among us a metaphysical Constitution. Not everything is 
 
 * One of them, Benedict Hulewicz, subsequently wrote to Kollontaj : 
 " Stulta mens nobis non sceletata fuifc" 
 
246 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 good and perfect because it can be expressed prettily on 
 paper." After this hit at the Reformers, he proceeds to 
 justify his own questionable methods and set forth the 
 whole duty of a Polish nobleman as he understood it : 
 " Providence sanctions extraordinary methods to save the 
 Republic when ordinary means fail. The great Catherine 
 holds out her hand to the nation, let us accept it with 
 gratitude. And remember, my son ! you must fight against 
 every novelty in the Constitution of the Republic. Recollect 
 that only those Republicans stand fast who know and 
 respect the past and refuse to allow the customs of their 
 ancestors to be ridiculed. . . . Remember, my dear Felix ! 
 that you were born a Polish nobleman. Love your Order* 
 therefore ! Let the privileges of that Order be ever sacred 
 to you. Guard them by every means which God may give 
 you. For our Order is the basis of the Republic, nay, it is 
 the very Republic itself." 
 
 In a subsequent manifesto he declared that the Russian 
 army marching along with him was only there to defend the 
 Confederates from attack. This document was really a 
 fulsome panegyric of the Empress. The Polish reformers 
 are even severely taken to task for " insulting her." 
 
 The actions of the Confederates during their long march 
 from the Ukraine to the Capital, beneath the wing of a 
 Russian army, was an instructive commentary upon their 
 patriotic profession of faith. At every stage of their pro- 
 gress they scatterd manifestoes and ukases, as if from another 
 Pandora's box, full of abuse and defamation of the reformers 
 and lauding Catherine to the skies. At every place they 
 came to they formed punitive tribunals by means of which 
 they terrorised their political opponents in the. name of 
 Liberty. All the existing officials in the line of march were 
 dismissed with contumely, all the villages and mansions 
 of the " hostile " nobility, that is to say, those who had 
 acceded to the May Constitution, were destroyed. All the 
 decrees of the Polish Government were declared invalid, 
 all who declined to submit to the Targowicians and their 
 Russian supporters were proscribed. Malachowski was cited 
 
THE VENGEANCE OF CATHERINE 247 
 
 to appear before the Confederate tribunal " for converting 
 a free Republic of gentlemen into a tyranny," and Felix's 
 own cousin Ignatius " for trying to destroy the friendship 
 existing between the Republic and its glorious friend, Her 
 Imperial Majesty, the Empress of Russia." The Russian 
 auxiliaries were freely quartered upon the inhabitants of 
 the provinces through which they passed, who were com- 
 manded to furnish them with provisions and forage " without 
 taking receipts." When the victims protested or com- 
 plained they were haled off to Siberia as " enemies of their 
 country." To a polite and deprecating letter from the 
 King, Felix replied with insults and menaces. 
 
 On September 4, all the Targowicians combined in a 
 general Confederation at Brzesc Litewsk. On the 5th, Felix 
 made his triumphal entry into Teresapol surrounded by 
 his Russian protectors. The whole population, preceded 
 by their magistrates and guild-masters, went forth to meet 
 him with banners and music. The whole of the following 
 week was given up to receptions, banquets and mutual 
 laudations. All the dwellers in the neighbouring regions 
 were swept into the camp by force to give a colour of public 
 rejoicing to these celebrations. Most of the people were 
 obliged to dwell in tents as there wa? no room for them in 
 the towns and villages. A huge light-green pavilion was 
 erected for the reception of Felix and his friends opposite 
 the old Church of the Jesuits. In this Church, after the 
 singing of a solemn Te Deum, the removal of the Blessed 
 Sacrament from the altar, and the bringing in of a huge 
 ' Crucifix " to be a witness of the proceedings," as Felix 
 expressed it, the General Confederation held its first as- 
 sembly. The same day Felix dined in state in his Green 
 Pavilion off gold plate, and while the health of the Empress 
 was drunk, amidst loud salvos, the health of Potocki's 
 own lawful Sovereign was forgotten. By the evening the 
 banquet had become a carouse in the old Polish style at 
 which toasts to " Freedom restored " and " Her Imperial 
 Majesty " were kept up till the speakers subsided for the 
 night under the table. 
 
248 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 At Warsaw, meanwhile, preparations were afoot for 
 celebrating the anniversary of the May Constitution. It 
 was to take w the* form of laying 7 ,the foundations of the new 
 Church to be dedicated to " Divine Providence " toward 
 the expense of which nearly every palatinate in the country 
 had subscribed. Never had Warsaw been fuller or gayer. 
 Everything seemed to breathe hope and joy. The function 
 was to be of unwonted splendour. The King determined 
 on this occasion to wear, for the first time, his new and 
 magnificent mantle of state incrusted with silver white- 
 eagles, though it was not quite finished. At the last 
 moment sinister rumours (supposed to have been circulated 
 by the Russian Minister, Bulgakov) of a plot against the 
 King's life on the part of the Warsaw Jacobins * caused a 
 panic at Court. The King confessed, communicated and 
 made his will as if on the point of death. But in spite of 
 warning anonymous letters and the dissuasions of his friends, 
 Stanislaus would not postpone the ceremony. It was 
 resolved, however, for his better security, that the Holy 
 Sacrament should be carried immediately before him in the 
 procession in which delegates from all the towns and pro- 
 vinces of Poland were to take part. High Mass was pre- 
 viously celebrated in the Church of the Holy Cross in which 
 a crimson throne had been erected for the King within a 
 Tailed enclosure. Around the throne was an amphitheatre 
 of boxes, covered with purple cloth, admission to which was 
 by ticket only. The Te Deum, which had been specially 
 composed for the occasion by Pasiello, was to be sung by a 
 choir of 200 voices. The King drove to Church in " a 
 magnificent crystal coach " surmounted by two winged 
 geniuses or angels who held a gold crown above his head. 
 The Nuncio followed immediately afterwards with a numerous 
 suite clad in cloth of silver. All the foreign diplomatists 
 were there except Bulgakov who had gone into the country 
 the evening before. The ladies present wore white dresses 
 
 * There certainly was some sort of Jacobin Club at Warsaw under the 
 protection of the French minister, Descorches, but the Jacobins in the 
 Polish capital were quite insignificant as a political party. 
 
THE VENGEANCE OF CATHERINE 249 
 
 with red scarves — the national colours. All the gentlemen 
 were in parade or gala uniform. Conspicuous among the 
 attendant clergy was the venerable figure of Theodorus 
 Rostocki, Metropolitan of Red Russia, whose voluminous, 
 long-sleeved, black czamara was all ablaze with gold and 
 jewels. 
 
 After the King had welcomed the principal delegates in 
 a brief speech from the throne and the delegates had res- 
 ponded by kissing his hands the service began. Suddenly 
 the whole Church grew as dark as if night had fallen. A 
 violent storm of wind and rain burst over it. But the 
 tempest passed quickly away and the sun flooded the whole 
 congregation with light at the very moment when the first 
 notes of the Te Deum burst forth. - After Mass, the King, 
 escorted by a battalion of the musketeers of the Royal 
 Foot Guard, set out for " Mount Calvary " a hillock at the 
 foot of which the foundations of the new Church were to be 
 laid, preceded by the City Guilds with their banners, the 
 Religious Orders, the Judges, Senators and Deputies. 
 After a short consecration service by the Primate, the place 
 was dug, the stone was laid, the King struck it with the 
 silver trowel, the cannons thundered forth — and then the 
 heavens were again darkened and again there was a furious 
 tempest of wind and rain. " I am not superstitious," says 
 Niemcewicz, an eye-witness of the ceremony, " but I must 
 confess that when, as the King, after placing several coins, 
 all of them struck during his reign, beneath the foundation- 
 stone, seized the trowel and began to mix the putty with 
 it, and the sky, up to that moment serene, began to grow 
 dark and a tempest of wind and rain descended, I must con- 
 fess that many of us took it for an ill-omen for the durability 
 of the Constitution." " It was," says another eye-witness, 
 " as if Providence rejected our offering and refused to take 
 us under Its protection." 
 
 And presently Job's messengers came flocking in from 
 every direction. The very day after the dedication of the 
 church of " The Divine Providence," a note from Berlin 
 gave King Stanislaus to understand that if the Polish 
 
250 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Government intended to defend the principle of hereditary 
 monarchy and the new Constitution by force of arms, it 
 must not reckon on the support of Prussia. Unable at first 
 to believe in the possibility of such a shameful repudiation 
 of the most solemn engagements, the King sent Ignatius 
 Potocki to Berlin with a letter reminding Frederick William 
 II. of his treaty obligations and formally demanding the 
 assistance due from him in the circumstances. Frederick 
 William received the Polish Ambassador with chilling 
 coldness. When Potocki reminded him that it was he who 
 had first brought about the strained relations between 
 Russia and Poland, undertaking, at the same time, by a 
 special convention, to assist the Republic in case of hos- 
 tilities, Frederick William was exceedingly embarrassed. 
 At first he was quite at .a loss for an answer. Then, in some 
 confusion, he murmured something about circumstances 
 altering cases. In his official reply to the King of Poland 
 he peevishly declared that the May Constitution had been 
 adopted without his knowledge and consent and that, 
 consequently, he could not undertake to defend it. 
 
 Almost simultaneously the Russian Minister Bulgakov 
 presented to Chreptowicz, the Polish Secretary of State for 
 Foreign Affairs, a formal declaration of war, a printed but 
 undated copy of which had been in his possession for some 
 weeks. A few days afterwards, the Russian army crossed 
 the Polish border in three divisions, and private advices 
 from Deboh at St. Petersburg told the King of the formation 
 of the Confederation of Targowica beneath the protection 
 of a Russian army-corps. 
 
 On May 21 the Russian declaration of war was read in 
 the Diet. The King implored the House and the crowded 
 galleries to take the matter calmly and the declaration was 
 read aloud amidst the most profound silence. Then 
 Stanislaus, in a very lucid and vigorous speech, pointed out 
 that the declaration obviously aimed at destroying not only 
 the work of the Diet but the Diet itself including all their 
 recently recovered liberties. Otherwise Russia would never 
 have gone the length of supporting the rebellion of a mere 
 
THE VENGEANCE OF CATHERINE 251 
 
 handful of reactionaries against a Constitution sanctioned 
 by what was, virtually, the will of the whole nation. He 
 next reminded them that, in view of the desertion of Prussia, 
 a desertion doubly base because Prussia had, all along, 
 deliberately urged the Diet to do everything of which she now 
 affected to disapprove, they must depend entirely on their 
 own resources. As for himself, he meant to be wherever 
 his presence might be most required. On the 22nd, the 
 Diet appointed the King Dictator, on which occasion 
 Stanislaus solemnly declared that, if necessary, he would 
 sacrifice his life for his country. Then, after hastily decree- 
 ing a national loan, on the security of the national domains, 
 a levee en masse of the entire male population and other 
 defensive measures, all of them, unhappily, too late, the 
 Diet dissolved, leaving the destinies of the nation in the 
 hands of the King.* 
 
 The King appointed his nephew, Prince Joseph, Com- 
 mander-in-Chief of an army which practically, was not yet 
 in existence. A Polish writer, with fine irony, has thus 
 described the situation : " Prince Joseph asked for maga- 
 zines, reserves, covering fortresses, hospitals, artillery, a 
 commissariat, a military-chest, cavalry and infantry." The 
 War Commission replied : " We have none of these things at 
 present but we will do our best to provide them gradually as 
 the war goes on. You have full powers, remember ! We 
 make you Commissariat-General as well as Commander-in- 
 Chief. Work miracles with all your might ! Have not 
 we also been working miracles during the last two years ? 
 Have we not raised the army from 18,000 to 50,000 men ? 
 It is true that half the cavalry has never been drilled in the 
 saddle. It is true that the calibre of the carbines is different 
 in every regiment. It is true that none of the regiments 
 has its full complement or the same sort of weapon. But 
 what's the use of bothering yourself about all that now ? 
 
 * Characteristically enough, even after the declaration of war, the Polish 
 Government never gave the Russian Ambassador his passports although 
 the Embassy was now, notoriously, the focus of an active conspiracy against 
 the Patriots and the King. 
 
252 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 We must send abroad and get all we want as soon as we can. 
 The army will, of course, have to be armed somehow. In 
 the meantime, your courage, your mother-wit and your 
 patriotism, must supply the place of all these unfortunate 
 deficiencies. What else are you here for ? ' " 
 
 Prince Joseph, when summoned before the Commission 
 of War to suggest a plan of campaign, was the only general 
 officer who had the courage to declare that, from a purely 
 military point of view, the case of Poland was well-nigh 
 desperate. In his opinion, it was foolish to attempt anything 
 with such inadequate resources. He desired, therefore, to 
 be relieved of the supreme command, at the same time 
 expressing his willingness to serve under any other general 
 who might be appointed in his place, provided that the 
 army was sufficientlyreinforced beforehand so as to guarantee 
 at least some small measure of success. But the King 
 replied that at such a crisis the main thing, after all, was to 
 do one's duty with the means in hand, and defend one's 
 country to the uttermost like a true Pole. The Prince was 
 further encouraged bythe assurance that as soon as hostilities 
 began, the King of Prussia * would hasten to his assistance 
 with at least 30,000 men, as provided by treaty. This 
 appeal to his duty and his patriotism was decisive. Without 
 another word of objection, the young Commander-in-Chief 
 hastened to the front. 
 
 On reaching the Ukraine Prince Joseph found things even 
 worse than he had anticipated. The troops he had to 
 command were the debris of the frontier army of observation 
 which Felix Potocki had formed and led during the Russo- 
 Turkish War, and were largely infected by the chronic 
 insubordination of their former chief. Most of the officers 
 of Potocki's regiments were doubtful of success and disin- 
 clined to fight. Some of them had to be cashiered on the 
 spot, others deserted to the enemy during the course of the 
 struggle. The really loyal officers were either too young 
 or too old and, generally speaking, few of them had the 
 
 * The Prussian note had not yet been received and Frederick William II. 
 was still confidently depended upon as an ally. 
 
THE VENGEANCE OF CATHERINE 253 
 
 least idea of military discipline. There was, however, one 
 most notable exception in the person of Kosciuszko. 
 
 Andrew Thaddeus Bonaventura Kosciuszko, though the 
 junior general in the Polish service, was now in his forty- 
 eighth year and thus sixteen years older than the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief. So far his career, though by no means 
 inglorious, could scarcely be called successful, and his very 
 exploits had done him more harm than good in Poland. 
 As one of the numerous proteges of the Czartoryscy, he had 
 received the rudiments of military training in the School of 
 Cadets where he had devoted himself, with ardour, to the 
 study of mathematics and engineering. From 1769 to 
 1774 he completed his education in Germany, Italy and 
 France, more particularly at the military school at Ver- 
 sailles. During his holidays he made two tours of in- 
 spection among the principal fortresses of France in the 
 course of which he imbibed, eagerly, many of the new 
 French ideas about liberty and equality. On his return to 
 Poland an unlucky love-affair (he had the presumption to 
 aspire to the hand of a great lady against the wishes of her 
 family) speedily drove him once more into exile. In 1776 
 he returned to France and enlisted as a volunteer in the 
 army sent by the French Government to assist the American 
 rebels. Nine years later he returned to Poland with the 
 Cincinnatus Order and the reputation of a great military 
 engineer. In his own country, however, he was a stranger, 
 and a stranger on whom some very eminent persons looked 
 askance. On attending a Court levee he was received with 
 marked coldness. King Stanislaus, noticing the inscrip- 
 tion on the Cincinnatus Order: Omnia relinquit servare 
 rempublicam, which Kosciuszko wore upon his breast, 
 gravely shook his head and hinted, pretty plainly, that 
 there were other duties, nearer home, besides duties to 
 distant Republics. " Methinks," he added, "this in- 
 scription savours somewhat of fanaticism." So Kosciuszko 
 was passed over and forgotten. Till 1788 he lived in 
 retirement on his little estate. Then the Princess Lubo- 
 mirska interceded for him and urged the King to give him 
 
THE VENGEANCE OF CATHERINE 255 
 
 hand, was based on an exact knowledge of all the Polish 
 positions. Thus, every moral as well as every material 
 advantage was on the side of the invader. The Polish forces 
 were scattered all over the district lying between the Slucz 
 and the Dniester. The Russians proposed to surround and 
 separate them, cut off their communications with Warsaw, 
 and wipe them out in detail. This surrounding movement 
 was so ably conceived that it seemed impossible for a single 
 Polish brigade to escape. Nevertheless, Prince Joseph 
 succeeded in concentrating all his forces and took up a 
 strong position at Lubar with his front protected by the 
 Slucz and its morasses. It was hoped that the army might 
 rest here for a time, but the Russian advance was so energetic 
 that this proved to be impossible. Early on June 5, the 
 Poles were obliged to fall back upon the fortress of Polonne 
 where a quantity of much-needed stores had, in the mean- 
 time, been collected. Despite the incessant pursuit of three 
 hostile columns (each one of which was larger than his whole 
 army) provided with artillery four times more powerful 
 than his own, Joseph make good his retreat to Polonne, 
 thanks, mainly, to the valour of the rear-guard, under 
 Kosciuszko, which stood firm among the marshes of Borusz- 
 kowieco and, after holding the enemy back till the evening, 
 safely rejoined the main body with the sacrifice of seven 
 guns. 
 
 Two hours later the Cossacks of the Russian advance- 
 guard appeared outside the walls of Polonne. The con- 
 fusion in the Polish army was great, its weariness was still 
 greater ; but Prince Joseph, having convinced himself, 
 in the meantime, that the fortress was untenable, there was 
 nothing for it but to retreat still further. Accordingly, 
 after setting fire to the superfluous magazines and spiking 
 forty-five cannons, the retreat was continued (June 17) to 
 Zielence where Prince Lubomirsky had received orders to 
 await the Commander-in-Chief with 6000 reserves and a 
 quantity of stores and ammunition. The attempt of the 
 Russian general, Kachowski, to outmarch the Poles led to 
 the first general engagement of the war. When Markov's 
 
256 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 detached division, 8000 strong, reached Zielence they 
 found it already occupied by 2200 Polish infantry and 800 
 cavalry, very strongly posted, and at once attacked it. A 
 battle now began in which the whole of the Polish main 
 army was gradually engaged as it came up. The engage- 
 ment lasted from seven in the morning till five in the after- 
 noon and, after desperate fighting on both sides, the Russians 
 were forced to retire with the loss of some thousands of men. 
 The victory was due partly to the skill of Kosciuszko in the 
 disposition of the Polish artillery which commanded that 
 of the Russians from a superior height ; and partly to the 
 heroism of the Polish generals, all of whom brilliantly 
 distinguished themselves. At the crisis of the struggle, 
 when the Polish centre was borne down by the sheer weight 
 of the Russian column, Prince Joseph, placing himself at 
 the head of his one reserve battalion, led it into fire and 
 retrieved the fortunes of the day. 
 
 Prince Joseph has been severely blamed for not following 
 up the victory of Zielence. Kosciuszko always maintained 
 that if Markov's retreating corps had been instantly pursued 
 it might have been annihilated. Many of his contem- 
 poraries agreed with him. Prince Joseph himself regretted 
 his remissness subsequently. " I have sometimes lost a 
 victory because I was too afraid of being defeated," he is 
 reported to have said. But there is another side to the 
 question. We know from the memoires of a contemporary, 
 General Zajaczek, that, at this stage of the war, many of the 
 Polish officers had not that perfect confidence in their 
 young Commander which they had six weeks later and 
 that the Prince was only too well aware of the fact. A 
 generalissimo who has good reason to fear that his sub- 
 ordinates will not adequately support him at a crisis has an 
 excellent excuse for avoiding risks. It should also not be 
 forgotten that the Russian army, though defeated, was by 
 no means demoralised. It retreated leisurely in a solid 
 square formation. A half-hearted attack upon it by inferior 
 forces might have failed, and failure in the circumstances 
 would have been ruination. That the morale of the Polish 
 
THE VENGEANCE OF CATHERINE 257 
 
 army was still very unsatisfactory is plain from two very 
 disagreeable incidents which happened almost immediately 
 after the battle. Brigadier Rudnicki, under the pretext of 
 making a recognisance, deserted to the enemy, and Prince 
 Lubomirsky was relieved of his command for more than 
 equivocal conduct. "Apparently, therefore, Prince Joseph 
 was right in resting upon his laurels. And, after all, Zielence 
 was no contemptible triumph. In congratulating the victor, 
 King Stanislaus appositely reminded him that it was the 
 first pitched battle won by a Polish army since the days of 
 Sobieski. 
 
 The glad tidings of Zielence was all the more acceptable 
 at Warsaw inasmuch as from every other quarter came 
 nothing but news of disgrace and disaster. 
 
 The command of the northern army had been entrusted 
 to Prince Louis of Wurtemberg. This appointment should 
 never have been made. It was due partly to a feminine 
 intrigue (the Prince was the son-in-law of the Princess- 
 Marshal Lubomirska who desired to see him on the Polish 
 throne) and partly to a piece of false diplomacy, being 
 meant as a sop to Prussia to whose interests the Prince was 
 entirely devoted. So thorough a Prussian could only be 
 a very lukewarm Pole at best, and it is now pretty clear that 
 Wurtemberg meditated treachery from the moment that he 
 assumed the command. A fortnight after his appointment, 
 he wrote to the King that gangrene had attacked an open 
 wound in his leg and that, consequently, he feared he 
 would be unable to open the campaign. After four more 
 bulletins on the same subject, within four days, he declared 
 that he could not move from the spot till the Polish Treasury 
 had sent him 4000 ducats. Then Stanislaus understood 
 what was really the matter. Wurtemberg received his 
 conge * and General Judycki was appointed Commander- 
 in-Chief of the Lithuanian army in his stead. All too late. 
 " The sick leg of the Prince of Wurtemberg has done us 
 
 * He at once posted ofi to Berlin giving out that he was on his way to 
 the Spa of Wilhelmsbad to nurse his wound which, it is hardly necessary 
 to say, was a purely fictitious one. 
 R 
 
258 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 irreparable mischief," wrote the King to Prince Joseph. 
 Judycki, a brave and honest, but not particularly able man, 
 could not recover the lost ground. On June 12, the Russians 
 occupied Wilna, the capital of Lithuania. On the 24th, 
 they captured the magazines prepared for the Lithuanian 
 army at Nieswicz, while Judycki was in full retreat upon 
 Grodno. It was to Prince Joseph and Kosciuszko alone that 
 Poland now looked for succour. 
 
 But by this time it was as much as Prince Joseph could 
 do to snatch his own little army from destruction. Since 
 the battle of Zielence he had been compelled to retreat 
 continually. Towards the end of May he reached Ostrog 
 on the Horyn. The place was so strong by nature that a 
 little spade-work could have made it impregnable against a 
 ten-fold larger army. This was so well known at Warsaw 
 that every one there felt convinced that Prince Joseph 
 would remain at Ostrog for at least two months and thus 
 give the King time to get together another army-<orps. 
 Ostrog was to be the rock of deliverance against which the 
 whole might of Russia was to exhaust its fury in vain. 
 Imagine, then, the grief, the astonishment, in the Polish 
 capital when the news arrived that Prince Joseph had 
 stood fast at Ostrog barely a couple of days and was already 
 in full retreat towards the Bug ! The most injurious 
 suspicions were instantly and openly expressed against 
 both the King and his nephew. The least of the accusations 
 brought against them was the betrayal of their country 
 in collusion with the enemy. Couriers were at once de- 
 spatched to the army to discover the cause of this sudden 
 retreat, and till they returned Warsaw was in a state of 
 violent agitation. Yet the explanation was so simple that 
 it might easily have been guessed beforehand. Immediately 
 after Zielence, the Polish Commander-in-Chief received the 
 paralysing intelligence that there were but a dozen charges 
 left for the cannons, and provisions for only two more days. 
 Subsequently, General Golkowski, the royal adjutant, 
 himself reported that he had fasted for twenty-four hours 
 in the camp with the rest of the army, and that the Polish 
 
THE VENGEANCE OF CATHERINE 259 
 
 artillery could only fire one shot to every twenty shots of 
 the enemy. So desperate, indeed, was the situation that 
 Prince Joseph felt bound to send a parlementaire to the 
 Russian Commander, General Kachowski, asking for a 
 suspension of hostilities for four weeks. General Kachowski, 
 well informed by the deserter, Rudnicki, of the wretched 
 condition of the Poles, refused to allow them even a week's 
 respite. They must either accede to the Confederation of 
 Targowica or lay down their arms was his ultimatum. To 
 this dishonour Prince Joseph would not submit and the 
 army set off for Dubno. All that the Polish commander 
 could now do to put some heart into his officers, before 
 resuming the interminable retreat, was to distribute among 
 them the star and ribbon of a new Order, " Pro virtute 
 militari," instituted by the King to commemorate the 
 victory of Zielence. 
 
 At Dubno, a small place between the rivers Horyn and 
 Styr, Prince Joseph expected to find the long-promised but 
 never forthcoming provisions and stores and the King 
 himself, the original plan of- Stanislaus being to bring the 
 reserves thither in person. Instead of all these things Prince 
 Joseph found at Dubno — an empty wilderness. After a 
 few hours of indispensable rest he made for the river Bug 
 as rapidly as possible in order to throw himself between 
 Warsaw and the hotly pursuing Russian legions, according 
 to his strict instructions. 
 
 On July 12, the Polish army, now 12,500 men, took up 
 a very strong position in the marshy ground behind the 
 Bug, which a long drought had made unusually low for the 
 season. On the 17th appeared Kachowsky with 28,000 men. 
 The key of the Polish position was the village of Dubienka, 
 in the mist of deep swamps and virgin forests where Kos- 
 ciuszko had entrenched himself with 6000 men. Leaving 
 his lieutenants to make diversions against Prince Joseph 
 and General Wielhorski, who were posted some miles further 
 off, Kachowsky, after carefully reconnoitring Kosciuszko's 
 position, resolved to attack it himself with 19,000 men and 
 forty-six guns. At three o'clock in the afternoon the 
 
260 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Russians advanced in three columns. The struggle was 
 stubborn. Kosciuszko could scarcely hope to win against 
 a three-fold odds and an immense preponderance of artillery. 
 All he could attempt was to retard the advance of the 
 Russians as long and inflict as much damage upon them as 
 possible. In this he succeeded. The Battle of Dubienka 
 lasted for seven hours — far into the night. Thrice Kach- 
 owsky directed a general assault upon the Polish position, 
 thrice he was repulsed with heavy loss. Then Kosciuszko 
 fell back in perfect order upon the village of Krasny Starow. 
 The Russians pursued him for two hours, but their temerity 
 cost them nearly 3000 men besides those who had fallen on 
 the battle-field. By this time the whole Polish army was in 
 full retreat, neither Prince Joseph nor Wielhorski being able 
 to prevent the other Russian divisions from crossing the 
 river, whose unprecedented shallowness made a sustained 
 defence impossible. 
 
 The glory of Dubienka belongs, unquestionably, to the 
 Poles. They had inflicted far more damage on the Russians 
 than they had received themselves, and, for the first time 
 during the war,' were now permitted to retire unmolested. 
 Full of renewed courage and confidence, Prince Joseph 
 finally halted his army at Kurow. He was now almost within 
 touch of the capital. He knew that for many weeks past 
 his uncle had been assembling another army in the environs 
 of Warsaw. It was calculated that between them they 
 could put nearly 50,000 men in the field, and with this 
 relatively large and fairly well-equipped army the Polish 
 Commander-in-Chief had resolved to stake everything on 
 one decisive battle. Alas ! this heroic resolve was never 
 to be realised. Prince Joseph had scarcely pitched his 
 camp at Kurow when a despatch from Warsaw descended 
 upon him like a thunderbolt : the King had acceded to the 
 Confederation of Targowica ! In plain English, Stanislaus 
 II. had openly thrown in his lot with the worst enemies of 
 his country. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 "CHE FECE PER VILTA IL GRAN RIFIUTO" 
 
 The King's great opportunity in 1792 — The symbolical municipal banquet 
 — Confidence and energy of the King — His courage fails on the approach 
 of difficulties — The ultimatum of the Empress — Abject surrender of 
 Stanislaus — The Council of State holds him responsible for the future — 
 Stanislaus urges the army to surrender unconditionally — Spirited 
 reply of Prince Joseph — Resignation of all the Polish officers — Arrival 
 of Felix and the Russians at Warsaw — Prince Joseph and the King — 
 Joseph's passionate appeal to his uncle to hold aloof from traitors — 
 The Prussian invasion — Disillusionment of Felix Potocki — He is chal- 
 lenged by Prince Joseph — Arrival of the new Russian Ambassador, 
 Yakov Efimovich Sivers — His character — His letters to his daughters 
 — His descriptions of Stanislaus and of Polish society — Stanislaus 
 compelled to go to Grodno — Odd spectacle presented by Grodno 
 during the Diet — Manners and costumes — The Ambassador and the 
 King — Opening of the Diet — Negotiations with Russia — Refusal of 
 the Diet to treat with Prussia — The Dumb Session — The second parti- 
 tion — The last days and death of Stanislaus II. 
 
 WHEN the Polish nation, at the crisis of its des- 
 tiny, placed the dictatorship in the hands of 
 King Stanislaus the great opportunity of his 
 life had come. This testimony of public confidence was, 
 indeed, somewhat belated. It was also unaccompanied by 
 any material accession of strength or power. To put it 
 bluntly, the Diet had got itself into such a hobble that it 
 was only too thankful to shift the responsibility for its own 
 blunders on to the shoulders of some one else, and the most 
 natural and convenient some one else happened to be the 
 King. This was hard upon Stanislaus, no doubt. Had he 
 been appointed Dictator in 1788, when all the political 
 conjunctures were exceptionally favourable, Poland might 
 easily have been saved. In 1792 all that Poland, wounded 
 
 261 
 
262 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 and cast down, could do was to fight valiantly behind her 
 shield to the very last. In the circumstances, Stanislaus 
 might well have been excused if he had declined to accept 
 the Dictatorship. But the fact remains that he did not 
 refuse it. He accepted it freely, and/ by so doing he pledged 
 himself, come what would, to be faithful to his solemn and 
 inspiring charge. The nation had entrusted him with what 
 is the most sacred treasure of every nation — its glory. It 
 was for him, at the head of the armed manhood of Poland, 
 to defend the national glory to the end, or perish for it on 
 the field of honour. The mere attempt to do so would have 
 rallied the elite of the people around him. We have seen 
 what the army did in the most desperate circumstances 
 and how it resolved to turn again upon the enemy as soon 
 as it received reinforcements. And if the tone of the army 
 was still bellicose, the tone of the capital was still more so. 
 " I believe," says Prince Adam Casimir Czartoryski, " that 
 Poland might have been saved if the King had had sufficient 
 audacity to mount his horse and sufficient magnanimity to 
 prefer his country — and honour — to his crown — and comfort." 
 In this opinion of an onlooker there may, perhaps, be some 
 exaggeration, but it shows, at any rate, what the contem- 
 poraries of Stanislaus expected of him when all hope of 
 foreign help had been abandoned. 
 
 And, at first, it really seemed as if the King would rise to 
 the high level of his new responsibilities. We have seen 
 with what sublime dignity he rebuked his nephew for 
 hesitating to accept the command of the army from purely 
 prudential reasons. Was not self-sacrifice a nobler virtue 
 than prudence ? Stanislaus persevered in this heroic vein 
 throughout the month of May and the first fortnight of 
 June. Never had he been so eloquent, so energetic, as 
 during these six weeks. On May 13 the Municipality of 
 Warsaw gave a banquet to the Court and the Diet in the 
 Radziwill Palace, at which 500 guests sat down. This 
 banquet was absurdly decried by the enemies of Poland 
 (including the Prussian Minister Lucchesini) as a Jacobin 
 orgy because the banqueting-hall was profusely adorned 
 
"IL GRAN RIFIUTO" 263 
 
 with those symbolical devices so dear to the hearts of the 
 sentimental legislators on the banks of the Seine. In one 
 corner of the room, surmounting a flight of steps, stood an 
 altar with " a perpetual fire " (Patriotism) burning thereon. 
 In another part of the room were two elegant and striking 
 columns. One of them was wreathed with civic garlands 
 intertwined with laurels, and a dog couchant (Fidelity) 
 surmounted the whole. The other column was surrounded 
 by the fruit of the pomegranate and crowned with pome- 
 granate blossoms (Concord). Close to the chimney-piece a 
 cock (Vigilance) saluted the dawn (The May Constitution) 
 from the top of a lofty pedestal. Finally, a flight of steps, 
 covered with martial emblems (Valour), led up to another 
 altar at which Mutius Scsevola was plunging his hand into 
 the flames (Steadfastness). This was a feast after the heart 
 of the artistic and sentimental monarch who was hailed 
 with acclamations when, in a perfervid speech, he appealed 
 to the patriotism of all who were present, and invited them 
 to come forward and help their country. The most tightly- 
 drawn purse could not resist this appeal. One rich banker 
 lent the King 100,000 guldens on the spot, without interest, 
 for two months. A wealthy magnate thereupon capped the 
 generosity of the banker by laying down 40,000 more as a 
 free gift. Many others followed their example. Altogether 
 Stanislaus could not have collected much less than a quarter 
 of a million on this occasion. 
 
 It was five days after this that Bulgakov presented the 
 Empress's declaration of war. Still Stanislaus was not 
 seriously disturbed. A conciliatory but dignified reply was 
 promptly sent to St. Petersburg, in which the action of 
 Poland in taking up arms in self-defence was justified as the 
 first duty of a free nation. It was resolved to raise a 
 million and a half by taxation to arm " the faithful defenders 
 of the country," and orders for artillery and military stores 
 were placed at Liege and Berlin. As the head of the army 
 the King displayed uncommon activity. He even thought 
 of clipping short his much-admired grey locks in order to 
 look more like a soldier, and though, at the last moment, 
 
4 
 
 264 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 he shrank back from making so terrible a sacrifice, in ail 
 other respects his zeal and martial spirit were irreproachable. 
 Attired in the neat uniform of the National Cavalry, he 
 used to gallop into the great square in front of the Palace, 
 and regularly review the Horse Guards and the Foot Guards 
 which marched out of their barracks to meet him. He 
 made beautiful speeches to them on the necessity of military 
 discipline ; he harangued them heroically on their duty to 
 their country ; and when he had wound them up to the 
 proper pitch of exaltation he administered patriotic oaths 
 to them which they took with tears of enthusiasm. He 
 also formed a camp at Praga, a suburb of Warsaw, on the 
 banks of the Vistula, where 2000 recruits were gradually 
 assembled. The King stimulated their ardour by picnicking 
 among them with the ladies of his Court, when the camp 
 was comfortably inspected and patriotic toasts were drunk 
 all round. At this period Stanislaus was full of confidence. 
 " If all my innumerable arrangements go off as I wish them 
 to do," he wrote to Prince Joseph (May 23, 1792), " I hope 
 to march in[mid-June with 5000 or 6000 men. ... As 
 soon as I begin to march I think I can count upon my 
 troops growing like a snow-ball, for the great majority of 
 our countrymen seem animated with the same spirit of 
 courage and indignation against the injustice and especially 
 against the perfidy of our emigres." 
 
 This was a good start, but, unfortunately, it did not last. 
 By the middle of June the courage of Stanislaus was ebbing 
 fast away. He had counted all along on the solemn promises 
 of assistance from Prussia and, at the end of May, Prussia 
 had shamefully betrayed him. Then came, close upon the 
 heels of one another, a whole succession of Job's messengers, 
 the treachery of the Prince of Wurtemberg, the steady 
 advance of Felix Potocki and the Targowicians, the simul- 
 taneous retreat of Prince Joseph and Kosciuszko behind 
 the Bug. A sudden paralysis seemed to fall upon the 
 Polish capital. The " Watch," or Council of War, appointed 
 to assist the King in military operations, was more and 
 more thinly attended as time went on. Presently its 
 
"IL GRAN RIFIUTO" 265 
 
 sessions ceased altogether. The energy of the recruiting 
 officers was visibly slackening. Recruits of any sort could 
 now only be obtained with the utmost difficulty, many 
 even of those who had first come in ran away again. Even 
 now the King had not, ostensibly, abandoned the struggle — 
 he still fought, but alas I it was with the pen instead of with 
 the sword. On June 22, he took the first step towards a 
 surrender by appealing direct to Catherine for an armistice 
 and Bulgakov despatched this letter to the Empress by 
 special courier. Catherine naturally delayed her answer 
 till all her arrangements had been perfected and Poland 
 lay actually at her mercy. Not till July 23 did Bulgakov 
 place her ultimatum in the King's hands. 
 
 The reply of the Empress was sharp and short. She 
 flattered herself, she said, that his Majesty would accede 
 without delay to the Confederation of Targowica, which 
 had been formed, with her sanction, to restore the ancient 
 liberties of the Republic as guaranteed by treaty. In a 
 word, Catherine ignored altogether the petition for an 
 armistice and ordered the King to unite with the traitors 
 who had brought in the Russians. 
 
 It is due to Stanislaus to say that his first movement on 
 reading this insolent and contemptuous demand was one 
 of generous indignation .He declared, with tears in his 
 eyes, that he would abdicate rather than surrender the 
 glorious Constitution of May 3. But this return to his better 
 self was only of an instant's duration. His character was 
 naturally soft, his temperament essentially easy-going. He 
 had never made the slightest effort to fortify himself by 
 self-discipline. Even in his best days he had always had a 
 preference for half-measures, and now ill-health, advancing 
 age, and thirty years of perpetual compromising with con- 
 science, had eaten away the little moral stamina he had ever 
 possessed. When, then, the fierce torrent of Catherine's 
 wrath suddenly carried him off his feet he sank unresistingly 
 into the turbid depths of shame and infamy. 
 
 On recovering from the shock of the Empress's ultimatum, 
 Stanislaus asked the Russian Ambassador two questions : 
 
266 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 " Will the Prussians really enter Poland ? " " If we have 
 need of them they will," replied Bulgakov. " What, then, 
 do you advise me to do ? " "I advise you," replied the 
 Ambassador gravely, "to trust implicitly in the mag- 
 nanimity of her Imperial Majesty." 
 
 On quitting the Ambassador, Stanislaus shut himself up 
 in his room with Plutarch to seek fortitude from the examples 
 of the heroes of antiquity, but it was in the bosom of his 
 family the same evening that his future conduct was really 
 decided. His wife Pani Grabowska, his sister, Pani Krak- 
 owska, his niece, Pani Tyszkewicza, flung themselves upon 
 his breast, clung to him, wept over him, and implored him, 
 passionately, not to abandon them to poverty and wretched- 
 ness, but to accept the conditions of the Empress and even 
 humble himself before Felix Potocki and the Targowicians. 
 Any sacrifice, they argued, would now be worse than useless. 
 It was all very well for him to talk of hastening to the camp 
 and sacrificing his life on the battle-field, but what would 
 become of them if anything happened to him ? How could 
 he have the heart to leave them ? The scene was heart- 
 rending. The plea was irresistible. What could he do ? 
 Blood is surely thicker than water ? So the King, the 
 Statesman, the Patriot were all forgotten in the tender 
 husband and the affectionate brother. As it seemed im- 
 possible to save his country, Stanislaus determined to do 
 the next best thing and save his family. Thus when, on 
 the following morning, he presided over the Council of State 
 his mind may be said to have been made up beforehand. 
 
 The Council had no sooner assembled than the Empress's 
 ultimatum was read. Then the King, after declaring that 
 further resistance was impossible, announced his unalterable 
 determination to accede to the Confederation of Targowica 
 forthwith. Kollontaj, anxious, above all things, not to lose 
 his recently won dignity of Vice-Chancellor, concurred, 
 though the May Constitution had been the work of his own 
 hands. This time-serving abbi-petit-maUre had always been 
 selfish and grasping. To the very last he preferred his own 
 interests to those of his country. He also nourished the 
 
"IL GRAN RIFIUTO" 267 
 
 vain hope that by acceding to the Confederation of Targo- 
 wica he might be able to control it. The Chancellor of 
 Lithuania, Joachim Chreptowicz, an honest, well-meaning 
 man, took the same side from sheer timidity. In him, as 
 in so many other Polish politicians of the period, we notice 
 that most repulsive of all combinations — high intelligence 
 and feeble character. But, to the credit of Polish patriotism, 
 the majority of the Council protested vigorously against 
 any surrender. Malachowski offered, within an hour, to 
 put 100,000 guldens in specie in the King's carriage if he 
 would proceed at once to the camp and stake everything on 
 another pitched battle. Even in case of defeat, urged 
 Malachowski, it was still possible to retire upon Sandomir 
 and Cracow as King John Casimir had done, in still more 
 desperate circumstances, a century and a half before. 
 Soltan and Ostrowski supported Malachowski. Ignatius 
 Potocki opined that a continuation of the war was quite 
 practicable, and he declared, prophetically, that the as- 
 surances of Russia as to the territorial integrity of Poland 
 were not to be trusted. A hot and prolonged discussion 
 ensued till Ignatius Potocki, perceiving that the mind of 
 the King was inaccessible to further argument, solemnly 
 held him responsible to the nation and to posterity for his 
 future conduct. On the final vote Stanislaus was defeated 
 by thirteen (twenty to seven). Nevertheless, after a brief 
 silence, he persisted in his intention of acceding to the 
 Confederation of Targowica. There was now no more to 
 be said. The King, as Dictator, had authority to override 
 the decisions of the Council of State. 
 
 Stanislaus now set about persuading Prince Joseph and 
 the army to follow his example. To most men in his position 
 it would have been agonising to put the necessary arguments 
 upon paper at all. But Stanislaus, by this time, had lost the 
 faculty of distinguishing right from wrong. His facile pen 
 consequently acquitted itself of its odious task without 
 scruple as without shame. He began, naturally, by throwing 
 the real difficulties of the situation into the darkest light. 
 There was not enough money in the Treasury to pay the 
 
268 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 troops during the next quarter. The Civil List was at zero. 
 The Dutch loan had turned out a complete failure. Two- 
 thirds of the national contributions were lost because all 
 the eastern provinces were occupied by the enemy. No 
 arms at all had been received from abroad. The artillery 
 ammunition was exhausted. There were only eight siege- 
 guns available. When the magazines on the Vistula were 
 emptied there would be no money left to restock them. In 
 these circumstances it was clear that the war must come to 
 an end of its own accord in a few weeks. Another battle 
 might, perhaps, be won by a combination of all the Polish 
 forces, but such a contingency was very problematical as 
 the Russians in the field outnumbered the Poles in the 
 proportion of two to one, and had four times as many guns. 
 In any case the Russians had the wherewithal to remake 
 any number of armies after any number of defeats, whereas 
 a single disaster would ruin the Poles altogether. Why 
 should the lives of so many brave men be needlessly sac- 
 rificed ! The only thing to be done was to accede to the 
 Confederation of Targowica. By so doing some fragments 
 of the May Constitution might, perhaps, be saved and* 
 Poland could then go on again. Finally, " Pepi " was' 
 commanded to hasten back to the arms of his loving uncle. 
 Kosciuszko, to whom the King sent the patent of a lieutenant- 
 general as a reward for his distinguished services, was to 
 take over the command of the army. 
 
 The reply to this craven epistle was a noble outburst of 
 indignation. So far from returning to his uncle, Pepi 
 adjured the King to hasten at once to the army with all the 
 reserves he could get together and perish gloriously on the 
 battle-field. Stanislaus mournfully declined " such a vain 
 honour." So far from feeling any shame he even assumed 
 an injured tone. He bitterly complained that at the very 
 moment when he had sent Kosciuszko his patent of lieut- 
 enant-general that officer had wounded him to the very 
 quick by scornfully rejecting the distinction. But, in spite 
 of everything, Stanislaus insisted that the army should 
 accede to the Confederation and suspend hostilities. Rather 
 
"IL GRAN RIFIUTO" 269 
 
 than obey such an order all the officers in the army, with a 
 single exception, thereupon sent in their resignations with 
 the warm approval of the Commander-in-Chief, who not 
 only publicly defended their conduct but refused to be 
 separated from his comrades. The officers showed their 
 appreciation of Prince Joseph's spirit by subscribing on 
 the spot sufficient funds to have a medal struck bearing the 
 Commander-in-Chief's effigy on the obverse, and on the 
 reverse the words : Miles imperatori. 
 
 The army had saved the honour of the nation and, at the 
 same time, struck Felix Potocki and his sham Confederation 
 a mortal blow. After this public protest of the army, no 
 one could say that the Targowicians represented anybody 
 but themselves. To have pretended that they represented 
 the country would have been a patent absurdity. Catherine 
 was profoundly irritated. Anxious, as she always was, to 
 have the public opinion of the civilised Western Powers on 
 her side, she desired to give a varnish of dignity and mag- 
 nanimity to her vindictive and disreputable proceedings. 
 Henceforth this was impossible. The Polish business stood 
 revealed in all its turpitude. There was nothing for it but 
 to have done with it as rapidly as she could. The King, at 
 any rate, now belonged to her, body and soul. As the sole 
 remaining representative of the Polish State, he was, for 
 the moment, invaluable to her. As for her other dupe, 
 Felix Potocki, the time had nearly come for him to be cast 
 contemptuously aside into the limbo of things forgotten. 
 
 On August 5, 1792, a strong Russian division arrived at 
 Warsaw and pitched its camp in the suburb of Praga. The 
 tidings of its approach caused a general exodus of all the 
 " patriots " and " constitutionalists." Ignatius Potocki, 
 Kollontaj and most of the other liberal leaders took refuge 
 at Dresden or Leipsic. Prince Joseph, with some of his 
 officers, had returned to his old home at Vienna. On the 
 12th, the Russian Ambassador, Bulgakov, gave a great 
 banquet to his friends at Warsaw, when covers were laid 
 for 100 guests of both sexes and the health of the Russian 
 Empress was drunk with enthusiasm. On^ the 19th, he 
 
270 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 waited upon Stanislaus at the Palace in order to introduce 
 to him the officers of the Russian General Staff. They were 
 all in gala uniform, richly bedizened with ribbands, gold 
 chains and diamond stars, and they treated the unhappy 
 monarch with insulting familiarity. On the following day 
 a proclamation was issued forbidding, under the severest 
 penalties, the wearing of the Order Virtute militari 
 instituted to commemorate the heroism of the Polish troops 
 at Zielence. Every one who neglected to comply with this 
 edict was branded as : " the tool of despotism and the enemy 
 of the national liberties." There was even some talk of 
 having this medal publicly destroyed by the common 
 hangman, but even King Stanislaus could not be induced 
 to go quite so far as this. Early in November, Felix Potocki 
 and his swashbucklers, swelling with pride and truculence, 
 made their triumphal entry into Warsaw. Felix was ani- 
 mated by the most virulent hatred of the King and ingeniously 
 sought for opportunities of insulting him every day. He 
 dismissed the Royal Guard, substituting for it Russian 
 troops who were quartered upon the city and half ruined it 
 by their exactions. He lectured Stanislaus, in the presence 
 of his own Court, on the proper duties of a Sovereign. He 
 dispersed the Polish army all over the country, taking care 
 to separate the various corps by intervening Russian 
 divisions, so as to make a general rising impossible. And 
 the King submitted to everything, content to play the 
 miserable part of a dumb witness in the tragic drama going 
 on around him. 
 
 With what feelings the better part of the Polish nation 
 regarded this ignominious submission can well be imagined. 
 Nowhere was this feeling stronger than in the army, and of 
 all the officers in the army, perhaps the one who suffered 
 most was Prince Joseph. For it was his own uncle and 
 benefactor who had done the nation this dishonour. From 
 his childhood upwards Joseph had owed almost everything 
 to the King. The most amiable feature of Stanislaus's 
 character had ever been his warm affection for his family, 
 and none of his family had he loved so dearly as his little 
 
"IL GRAN RIFIUTO" 271 
 
 " Pepi." Upon this prime favourite he had lavished all 
 the treasures of his tenderness and benevolence. Joseph 
 had returned this affection with the devotion of a loving 
 and grateful heart. It is not too much to say that the 
 kinsmen stood to each other rather in the relation of father 
 and son than of uncle and nephew. What, then, must it 
 not have cost Prince Joseph to renounce such an intimacy ? 
 As early as September 9 he had written : " Good God, sir ! 
 why are you not here, why cannot you become a private 
 individual ? " This delicate hint that it was the duty of the 
 King to abdicate rather than dim the lustre of his crown was 
 quite thrown away upon Stanislaus who, three days later, 
 replied as follows : " I must remain where I am to pay your 
 debts and mine, and provide the means of subsistence for 
 you and your sister." To this the Prince made no answer. 
 What answer could be made to a man who measured every- 
 thing — honour and duty included — by its pecuniary value ? 
 Shortly afterwards, tidings reached Joseph of the scandalous 
 attempt of the Targowicians to degrade and destroy the 
 Order instituted to commemorate the victory of Zielence. 
 At this crowning outrage, he could keep silence no longer. 
 On October 10, he addressed to his uncle a passionate 
 appeal to dissociate himself from such scoundrels, an appeal 
 to which no true patriot can listen even now without 
 emotion. 
 
 " I am exceedingly vexed that the proposal of the Con- 
 federates to have the engraver's plate of the army medal 
 broken by the hands of the common hangman has not been 
 carried out. Such an act would have been the finest eulo- 
 gium, the most flattering testimony of merit, I can ever 
 hope to acquire. These gentlemen have so degraded them- 
 selves, have sunk so low in the opinion of Europe, that 
 their reprobation must, in the eyes of all honest folks, be 
 the highest praise, while their indulgence, or friendship, 
 must overwhelm with opprobrium and ignominy those who 
 are unfortunate enough to be the object of either. I would 
 rather beg my bread, I would rather perish miserably, I 
 would rather expatriate myself and renounce for ever the 
 
272 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 pleasure of embracing you again, than change my present 
 sentiments or allow these scoundrels to suppose that I am 
 capable of any feeling towards them but hatred and loath- 
 ing. . . . Any act of weakness towards them on your part 
 would be the greatest torment you could inflict upon those 
 who love you and your good name. Deign to remember, 
 Sir, that you are a King ! Deign to remember that you 
 are responsible to the whole nation for your honour, and if 
 your anxiety for the welfare of this same nation may partly 
 excuse your conduct hitherto, any weak indulgence in the 
 future towards these betrayers of their country, even if it 
 be due to your love for a few private individuals, would be 
 an infamy which future generations would never forgive 
 you. You are at present, sir, surrounded by people either 
 too weak or too cowardly to present things to you from 
 this point of view. But deign to believe in the sincerity of 
 my heart, deign to listen to the voice of truth at least from 
 me I I love you, Sir, more than my life ; but your honour, 
 your reputation, are dearer to me than yourself. If you 
 sacrifice these inestimable treasures — for so / deem them — 
 what will be left to you that is worth anything at all ? . . . 
 One must be vile and contemptible indeed, to be blinded 
 and deluded by the tinsel of an authority usurped from 
 their country by a pack of traitors." 
 
 The " pack of traitors " was not to usurp " the tinsel of 
 authority " for long: In the middle of November 1792, 
 their star was at its zenith, by the middle of February 1793, 
 it had been blotted out of the political firmament. 
 
 On January 16, 1793, a note was issued from Berlin 
 announcing the entry of Prussian troops into Great Poland. 
 The pretext of this invasion was the spread of the horrible 
 maxims of the French " Jacobins " in Warsaw. To prevent 
 the violation of Prussian territory by these intriguers (it 
 was not stated where or by whom), and to protect the neigh- 
 bouring lands from contagion, the King of Prussia felt it 
 to be his duty to send General Mollendorff , at the head of an 
 army-corps, to protect the well-intentioned. The occupa- 
 tion of the city of Thorn, four days later, was the first of 
 
"IL GRAN RIFIUTO" 273 
 
 those acts of " protection." A month later Dantzic also 
 was in the hands of the Prussians. 
 
 Then only did the scales fall from the eyes of the Targowi- 
 cians and, for the first time, Felix Potocki saw yawning in 
 front of him the abyss of ruin to the brink of which his 
 insensate pride and blind hatred had conducted him. He 
 understood at once that the Prussian troops could not have 
 entered Poland without the consent of Russia. Too late, 
 in a note addressed to the Prussian minister, Buchholtz, 
 he demanded the instant withdrawal of the Prussians from 
 Poland. No notice was taken of his communication. He 
 then issued a manifesto urging the Polish nation to rise en 
 masse at the first summons. He might just as well have 
 urged a supine, gagged and pinioned prisoner to leap to his 
 feet and draw his sword. Next, with characteristic sim- 
 plicity he appealed to his Russian friends to drive out the 
 Prussians. They gravely assured him that such a pro- 
 ceeding would be contrary to treaty-obligations. As a 
 matter of fact, a treaty for a fresh partition of Poland 
 between Russia and Prussia had already been signed 
 (January 23, 1793), though it was kept a profound secret 
 till its ratification on February 28. In his distress and con- 
 fusion, Felix finally published a feeble apology for his conduct, 
 desiderating, rather late in the day, the absolute unity of 
 men of all parties " to save their common country " and 
 deprecating any recriminations as to the past. But his own 
 past blunders now rose up and confronted him. Prince 
 Joseph sent him a furious epistle overwhelming him with 
 the most bitter reproaches. Felix replied in much the same 
 strain, whereupon the Prince challenged him to single 
 combat. King Stanislaus thereupon intervened and bade 
 his nephew restrain his impetuosity which was producing 
 the most mischievous effect. Joseph hotly refused to obey 
 his uncle. " These people want to clear themselves of all 
 the blame and shame of the approaching partition of 
 Poland," wrote he, " and they shall not do so if I can help 
 it. All I have left to me is a little bit of honour, for God's 
 sake, sir, do not deprive me of this last consolation." Then 
 s 
 
274 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Stanislaus, always with an eye to the main chance, warned 
 his headstrong young kinsman that he was ruining himself 
 by his conduct. " I have just heard from the new Prussian 
 ambassador," he wrote, " that in consequence of your letters 
 to Potocki, the Empress, by a special ukase, has ordered the 
 confiscation of all your estates. There you see the conse- 
 quences of your disobedience to my orders ! If this confis- 
 cation includes the starosty of Wielma, your aged mother 
 will be reduced to penury." * But Joseph was inflexible. 
 He declared that he did not care what happened so long as 
 he preserved his honour intact. He was quite sure that all 
 honest men would respect him for acting uprightly. " People 
 who have sound legs and arms, and consciences clean and 
 without reproach, are not likely to starve," he added. The 
 threatened duel never came off, however. Potocki thought 
 twice before fighting the national hero on a point of pat- 
 riotism, and, presently, Prince Joseph was expelled from 
 Vienna as " a most dangerous rebel," at the direct sugges- 
 tion of the Russian Empress who, to the very end of her life, 
 bore an implacable hatred against him and Kosciuszko for 
 successfully resisting her armies. Thus the Prince entered 
 upon that long pilgrimage which finally brought him into 
 the service of the great Napoleon. 
 
 It will have been noticed from the above correspondence 
 that King Stanislaus had, by this time, become his own 
 man again. His tone is now more assured, more peremptory. 
 He waives aside appeals and entreaties. He will not listen 
 to arguments. He expects to be obeyed and says so. This 
 agreeable transformation was synchronous with the arrival 
 in Poland of a new protector, who was also an old acquaint- 
 ance of the King's, in the person of the new Russian ambas- 
 sador, Count Sivers, who superseded Bulgakov in January 
 
 1793- 
 From the beginning of her reign, Catherine had been very 
 
 careful in the choice of her representatives at Warsaw. 
 
 Each in his turn had been selected to meet a particular 
 
 * The King ultimately persuaded Catherine to restore this starosty to 
 the poor old lady. 
 
"IL GRAN RIFIUTO" 275 
 
 contingency ; their respective characters had varied with 
 the endless permutations of the Empress's policy ; but they 
 had all been the right men in the right place. When the 
 Polish nation had to be coerced by terror, the masterful 
 and truculent soldier-diplomatist Prince Repnin, or the 
 brutal, time-serving Holsteiner Saldern, had been employed. 
 When, during the first Turkish war, the Polish Court had to 
 be conciliated, Repnin gave way to the urbane and courtly 
 Volkonsky. When, immediately after the First Partition, 
 it was necessary to frown down all opposition and amuse 
 the King at the same time, a bully who was also a bel esprit 
 was wanted, and the witty and sarcastic Stackelberg got 
 the post. When again, during the second Turkish war, 
 Poland broke away from Russia altogether and drew near 
 to Prussia, the situation became so critical that a patient, 
 quiet, observant envoy who could hold his tongue under 
 any and every provocation was the proper person for 
 Warsaw — and Bulgakov was sent. But now an ambassador 
 of quite a different kind to any of his predecessors was 
 required. The situation, if no longer dangerous, was now 
 extremely delicate. Despite her most solemn promises to 
 the contrary, the Empress was about to partition Poland 
 for the second time. The King was to be her chief tool, 
 but it was clear to her that he was a very unwilling tool 
 who must be handled with extreme adroitness. If he were 
 hectored, or hustled, or flurried, he might break down alto- 
 gether, or disqualify himself in some other disconcerting 
 way. Tact and tenderness were the qualities most wanted 
 here. The new ambassador must therefore be the King's 
 sincere friend as well as the Empress's trusty servant. 
 Such a man was difficult to find, but Catherine found him 
 at last. She summoned from a retirement which was a 
 semi-disgrace a statesman whom, through no fault of his 
 own, she had not employed for nearly twelve years, although 
 he had been one of her most useful ministers, and sent him 
 as her plenipotentiary to Poland. 
 
 Yakov Efimovich Sivers was in his sixty-second year 
 when he quitted the seclusion of his Livonian estate to do 
 
276 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 the business of the Empress at Warsaw. During the first 
 seventeen years of Catherine's reign, first as Governor of 
 Great Novgorod and subsequently as Governor-General of 
 Novgorod, Pskov and Tver, he had rendered the Empress 
 notable service, especially as her adviser on all economical 
 questions. His abrupt dismissal in 1781 was due not so 
 much to his differences with the Imperial favourite Prince 
 Potemkin as to his frank strictures on Catherine's wasteful 
 ways, of which, both as a sound financier and as an honest 
 man, he could not possibly approve. He used, frequently 
 and bitterly, to complain that the Empress could never be 
 made to realise the injury she did to the national economy 
 by her financial operations. At last, pique and irritation 
 moved Catherine to remove a counsellor who had become 
 too much like an accusing conscience. For a dozen years or 
 so Sivers diverted himself with horticulture, for which he 
 had a veritable passion, and the education of his daughters 
 to whom he was tenderly devoted, till the Empress once 
 more condescended to remember his existence and recall 
 him to the great world of affairs. 
 
 For all his philosophy, the old man was delighted with 
 this sudden turn of Fortune's wheel. " Fancy, my child ! " 
 he wrote to his eldest daughter, shortly after his arrival in 
 Poland, " fancy me drawn from my profound solitude . . . 
 to see myself at such a post as this ! I have only to utter a 
 word to be obeyed instantly by a King and a whole nation ! 
 ... I have at my disposal an army of 200,000 men ! My 
 dear girl ! what a whirligig human destiny really is ! " 
 " But," he adds in another letter, " I hate to see about me 
 unhappy people who expect everything from me and whom I 
 cannot help at all. Yet I hope to do some good and prevent 
 much evil. Such are my aims and wishes, may Providence 
 strengthen me therein ! " 
 
 These amiable aspirations were perfectly sincere. Sivers 
 was more than benevolent and kind-hearted, he was what 
 his western contemporaries would have called "a man of 
 sentiment." The Polish view of his character which repre- 
 sents him as a venerable-looking, soft-spoken hypocrite, a 
 
YAKOV EFIMOVICH SIVERS, THE LAST RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO POLAND 
 
"IL GRAN RIFIUTO" 277 
 
 Machiavelli beneath the mask of a patriarch, is, indeed, 
 perfectly intelligible. Sivers was the Empress's chosen 
 instrument for inflicting upon defenceless Poland the mortal 
 injury of the Second Partition, and he accomplished his 
 invidious task thoroughly. How could the Poles regard 
 such a man with anything but eyes of hatred ? But he 
 was no hypocrite. It should also not be forgotten that, at 
 first, he was kept quite in the dark as to the real significance 
 of his mission. His instructions gave him no hint of an 
 impending partition. General Igelstrom, the Russian com- 
 mandant at Warsaw, was far better informed. Not till 
 nearly three months after his arrival did Sivers know exactly 
 what was required of him. When he did know it he did it 
 without hesitation, but also with as much consideration for 
 the feelings of his victims as was possible in the circum- 
 stances. Business was business, but that was no reason why 
 the amenities of life should be banished from it. Firm as a 
 rock as to the execution of the Empress's decrees, he could 
 neither be cajoled nor imposed upon ; but to those who 
 were ready to submit to the inevitable he was ready, and 
 even eager, to be patient and compassionate beyond measure. 
 Such, then, was the true character of this much abused 
 minister. 
 
 Sivers' letters to his daughters give us a vivid, minute 
 picture of King Stanislaus and his entourage. They also 
 abound with curious details about contemporary Polish 
 society. In every line we recognise an acute and practised 
 observer. The ambassador reached Warsaw on February 
 9, 1793, and had his first interview with the King on the 
 following day. It was not the first time they had met. 
 Forty years before, when both of them had just set forth to 
 seek their fortunes in the great world, they had encountered 
 at London, were mutually attracted to each other and had 
 become fast friends. The memory of those early days had 
 never faded, and the old amity now revived in spite of the 
 awkward and distressing circumstances in which they now 
 resumed their acquaintance. Sivers, evidently, was much 
 affected at the miserable position of his old friend. It is 
 
278 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 also quite clear that,, like every one who approached Stanis- 
 laus, he was not insensible to the personal charm which that 
 unfortunate monarch exercised, to the very last, on all who 
 approached him. " The King," he wrote to his daughter, 
 " is still a handsome man who wears well though his face is 
 very pale, but one can see that a dark veil has been drawn 
 over his soul. He speaks well and even eloquently, and is 
 courteous and attentive always and to every one. He was 
 dressed in purple, by way of mourning for the King of France, 
 and had an eyeglass in his button-hole and a small flat 
 watch on the sleeve of his left arm. He is lodged badly, 
 served badly, slighted, despised and betrayed, and yet he is 
 the most amiable of men. Leaving his high position out 
 of the question, and regarding him simply from the personal 
 point of view, I may say that his good qualities far outweigh 
 his bad ones. Certainly, after Louis XVI., he is the most 
 unfortunate of monarchs. He loves his kinsfolk most 
 tenderly, and it is just these very people who have been the 
 cause of all his misfortunes." The King's morganatic wife, 
 Pani Grabowska, is described as " pock-marked and very 
 much painted," but the ambassador was much impressed 
 by the King's sister Madame de Cracovie. " The personal 
 qualities of this lady," he writes, " entitle her to general 
 respect. Her whole exterior speaks for her. She has moral 
 worth and dignity combined, yet her very dignity is softened 
 by an amiability which wins you at once. She is the model 
 of a patrician matron." The King's brother, the Primate, 
 is excellently focussed in a couple of sentences. " He is 
 made for a Monarchy rather than for a Republic, wears a 
 red cap though he is not a cardinal, and would be a Mazarin 
 if he could." 
 
 The higher circles of Warsaw were eager to fite and feast 
 Sivers, but the ambassador's frail health and simple tastes 
 revolted against all such entertainments. " My life is a 
 perfect torment here," he wrote to his daughters, " I am 
 overwhelmed by these interminable banquets and these 
 eternal public functions. Three great dinners I might have 
 managed, perhaps, but I am threatened by more than thirty. 
 
"IL GRAN RIFIUTO" 279 
 
 • . , You know how I hate card-parties. Well, I have only 
 two whist-tables in my apartments at Warsaw, so people 
 leave me as early as five o'clock in the afternoon." It soon 
 became generally known that domestic and horticultural 
 subjects alone could interest Count Sivers, and the dowager 
 Princess Radziwill completely won his heart, at a dinner- 
 party, by talking of nothing but their respective families 
 and promising him some shoots of a new kind of honeysuckle 
 which bloomed all the year round. 
 
 The only thing which really detained Sivers at Warsaw 
 was the refusal of Stanislaus to go to Grodno, the place fixed 
 upon by the Empress for the assembling of the Diet which 
 was to conclude the second partition treaty. Grodno was 
 chosen as being an insignificant little town easily controllable 
 by the Russian and Prussian armies which were gathering 
 around it, whereas the atmosphere of Warsaw was supposed 
 to be infected by Jacobinism and consequently dangerous. 
 At first, however, the King would not go to Grodno. He 
 guessed what would be expected of him when he got there, 
 and he declared to Sivers that he would rather die in a 
 dungeon than sign a second partition treaty. He invented 
 all sorts of excuses for postponing his journey thither — ill 
 health, old age, the vileness of the roads, want of money. 
 Nevertheless the gentle but persistent pressure of the 
 ambassador finally prevailed. He assured Stanislaus, with 
 perfect sincerity that there was no thought of another 
 partition. It was sheer imagination, delirium. He, Stanis- 
 laus, would be forced to do nothing against his will. He 
 was King now, and King he would remain to the end of the 
 chapter. All the Empress wanted was the restoration of the 
 old guaranteed Constitution. Still Stanislaus held out. 
 Then Sivers promised that if he went to Grodno, the Empress 
 would undertake to pay all his debts. This bribe the King 
 was unable to resist. Although Catherine had twice already 
 rescued him from bankruptcy, his liabilities were, once more, 
 overwhelming. At that moment his debts stood at the 
 highly respectable figure of 1,566,000 ducats, or about 
 £783,000, and he saw not the slightest possibility of paying 
 
280 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 them. What might he not do for himself and his family if 
 he were only relieved of this incubus ? He hesitated no 
 longer but quitted Warsaw in a closed carriage through a 
 cordon of Russian troops posted on both sides of the road, 
 all the way to the Vistula, to protect him from the insults 
 of the mob. He broke his journey at Bialystok, one of, 
 the residences of his sister, where he received a letter from 
 Sivers confirming his worst suspicions. " I am very sorry 
 to confess to your Majesty," wrote the ambassador, " that 
 your anxiety about the fate of Poland unhappily turns out 
 to be justified.* There is, I fear, nothing for it now but 
 to submit, unconditionally, to the will of her Imperial 
 Majesty." At this Stanislaus again rebelled and refused to 
 move a step further ; but another letter from Sivers, ex- 
 pressing his " grave displeasure " at his friend's dilatory 
 tactics, prevailed over the King's timid scruples. He 
 resumed his journey, and on April 23, 1793, arrived at 
 Grodno. 
 
 The first official act required of the unfortunate King 
 after his arrival at Grodno was the signature of a mani- 
 festo summoning an extraordinary Diet. The Empress, 
 with exquisite malice aforethought, had insisted that this 
 document, the prelude to a fresh partition, should be 
 issued on the anniversary of the glorious Constitution of 
 May 3, 1791. Stanislaus, deeply wounded by the insulting 
 juxtaposition, burst into tears as he signed the mani- 
 festo. In the bitterness of his heart he now expressed!, 
 his willingness to abdicate if he were guaranteed a pension 
 of 50,000 ducats a year. Sivers, in great alarm, dissuaded 
 him from any such intention which would, at that moment, 
 have seriously embarrassed the Empress, f The manifesto 
 was then issued. It was illegal in form inasmuch as the 
 Polish Chancellor refused to countersign it ; but what did 
 
 * Sivers himself had only been informed of the projected partition a few 
 days before. 
 
 f Catherine herself subsequently admitted that she would not have 
 known what to do if Stanislaus had taken such a step. For the moment 
 he was indispensable. 
 
" IL GRAN RIFIUTO " 281 
 
 one illegality, more or less, matter when the whole situation 
 was, in the highest degree, anomalous, and Poland lay 
 absolutely at the mercy of the partitioning Powers ? The 
 Prussians had, by this time, occupied the whole of Poland's 
 north-western, the Russians the whole of her eastern 
 provinces. In the course of May the so-called " elections " 
 were held beneath the pressure of Russian bayonets, and 
 Sivers, by a cunning combination of threats and promises, 
 easily contrived to obtain an assembly after his own heart. 
 But even he could not exclude from it a score or so of coura- 
 geous patriots who were gradually to leaven the whole 
 sluggish mass of venal or indifferent deputies and impede, 
 though they could not prevent, the execution of the decrees 
 Of the omnipotent ambassador. 
 
 From May to September 1793, Grodno presented the 
 oddest of spectacles. In the wake of the big political 
 brigands, who came thither to filch whole provinces by 
 means of an armed diplomacy, flocked hundreds and thou- 
 sands of lesser adventurers and adventuresses, courtiers 
 and courtesans, chevaliers d 'Industrie, gamblers, sharpers 
 and rogues of every description, intent upon diverting into 
 their own pockets some tiny rivulets from the rich golden 
 streams which flowed into the little Lithuanian town out 
 of the seemingly inexhaustible treasuries of St. Petersburg 
 and Berlin. Nine-tenths of the Polish deputies were housed 
 and fed by Sivers and received from him one hundred to 
 six hundred ducats a week according to the value of the 
 services rendered by them in the Diet. Sivers also had in 
 his pay one of the King's secretaries, Herr Friese, who spied 
 upon his royal master, ransacked his correspondence, and 
 daily reported to the ambassador everything that the King 
 said or did. Still more useful to Sivers was Monsieur 
 Boscamp, another member of the King's suite. The in- 
 genuity and thoroughness with which this gentleman per- 
 formed his functions of spy-in-chief amazed the ambassador 
 himself. Boscamp made the most difficult things easy. 
 He purchased deputies wholesale or retail as the occasion 
 required. He negotiated successfully with the most scrupu- 
 
282 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 lous conciseness. The most obstinate waverers were not 
 always proof against his blandishments. It was he who 
 suggested that Pan Chreptowicz, the one able and incorrup- 
 tible Minister of State who accompanied Stanislaus to Grodno, 
 should be compelled, " for the benefit of his health," to take 
 the waters at Carlsbad. 
 
 It was Sivers' policy to make everything as pleasant as 
 possible for the Poles during the session of the Diet. Averse 
 to violent measures, except in the last extremity, he always 
 preferred to bribe, wheedle, or cajole his victims into sub- 
 servience. Nevertheless it is clear from his letters to his 
 daughters that much that he had to do went very much 
 against the grain. He frequently complains that he is 
 leading a dog's life. He is even doubtful whether he can 
 hold out much longer. " Here am I obliged to give dinners 
 of sixty covers to all sorts of distinguished drunkards not 
 one of whom I know or care to know," he complains on one 
 occasion. Frequently, after presiding for hours at banquets 
 which he loathed, he had to sit up till three o'clock in the 
 morning giving audiences, settling differences, and answering 
 despatches. His only relaxations were conversations on 
 literary and artistic subjects with the papal Nuncio Saluzzi, 
 or listening to the excellent concerts at the Castle where 
 Signora Camilla sang Italian arias " like an angel." It 
 was with something like disgust that this correct and 
 dignified old gentleman regarded the mania for amusement 
 going on all around him, though his liberally dispensed 
 roubles helped largely to stimulate it. The gaming-tables 
 were busy all day and all night. The influx of pretty 
 women into Grodno was extraordinary. A few came 
 thither to seek for husbands among the ruins of their country, 
 but most of them were content to fleece the innumerable 
 Russian officers who strutted about the town with nothing 
 to do but spend their money. The bizarre costumes of these 
 ladies gave a strange exotic colouring to the motley scene. 
 This was the time when a passion for antiquity prevailed at 
 Paris, and the so-called " Greek mode " now became as 
 popular on the banks of the Niemen as it was on the banks 
 
"IL GRAN RIFIUTO" 283 
 
 of the Seine. Short skirts, sandalled feet, naked busts, and 
 a toilet generally suggestive of a state of nature were the 
 rage. An all-engulfing whirlpool of reckless gaiety swept 
 society along with it. Ball succeeded ball, banquet followed 
 banquet. There were fireworks and illuminations every 
 day, The gaming saloons were full to overflowing. 
 
 In the midst of this perpetual orgy the poor old King, 
 broken by sickness and anxiety, was the proper object of 
 pity rather than of contempt. Absolutely without means, 
 he was dependent for his material existence upon a nominal 
 3000 ducats a week doled out to him, on good behaviour, by 
 Sivers, yet out of this he contrived to send 1000 ducats to 
 Prince Joseph at Brussels with apologies for not being able 
 to send more. Whatever we may think of Stanislaus' 
 weakness of character, it is impossible to withhold our 
 sympathy from the much-tried man who never lost his 
 natural sweetness of temper in the most distressing and 
 humiliating circumstances. His sole consolation now was 
 the company of a little group of faithful friends who clung 
 to him in his misfortunes simply because they loved him. 
 These included his sister Pani Krakowska, his two nieces, 
 his Italian secretary Ghigiotti, his old Kammerdiener Ryx, 
 and, above all, his favourite equerry, Kicki,* a man of real 
 courage and devotion, who was the intermediary between 
 the King and the little patriotic group in the Diet, the 
 so-called " Zealots." Kicki's influence over the King at this 
 period was most salutary. To the very end he never failed 
 to inspire Stanislaus with noble and chivalrous resolutions. 
 
 On June 17, 1793, after hearing the usual mass and 
 sermon, the Diet opened its sessions in the Great Hall of 
 Grodno Castle, at one end of which a throne had been erected 
 for the King with armchairs around it for the Senators and 
 benches in front of it for the Deputies. The central space 
 was left vacant, as also were the galleries, which should 
 have been placed at the disposal of the public but were 
 generally occupied by Russian officers. The Marshal, or 
 President, of this, the last Polish Diet, was a ruined gamester, 
 * Pronounced " Kitsky." 
 
284 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Stanislaus Bielinski. Sivers could not have found a more 
 serviceable tool than this insignificant and disreputable 
 person. A nod from the Ambassador sufficed to procure 
 his election by a unanimous vote of the House. 
 
 It is unnecessary to set out in detail the proceedings of 
 the Grodno Diet. What could be expected from a carefully 
 selected and constantly terrorised assembly of hirelings and 
 reactionaries, representing only seventeen out of thirty- 
 seven palatinates, driven by Russian bayonets to Grodno 
 in order " to come to an amicable understanding " with 
 despoilers who took good care to keep their victims in 
 durance vile till they had done what they were commanded 
 to do ? The result was a foregone conclusion. Yet even 
 this helpless and debased assembly revolted against its 
 tyrants and displayed, at last, a spirit and a constancy not 
 unworthy of the best days of the Republic. At its third 
 session the Diet protested vehemently against the Empress's 
 breach of her solemn promise to respect the territorial 
 integrity of Poland. In this matter the King himself took 
 the lead. He declared that he had only acceded to the 
 Confederation of Targowica on receiving the express assu- 
 rance of the Empress that Poland should be left intact. 
 From this point, he added, with spirit, he could not depart. 
 Sivers thereupon presented a joint note from Russia and 
 Prussia ignoring the question now raised, which was, indeed, 
 unanswerable, and demanding that a Committee should be 
 formed, forthwith, to conclude a treaty with the partitioning 
 Powers. The Diet refused to recognise the pretensions of 
 Prussia, but announced its readiness to treat with Russia 
 separately. On June 2, a second joint note was handed in 
 to the effect that the interests of the two Powers being 
 identical their claims must be taken into consideration 
 simultaneously. The Diet countered by ignoring Prussia 
 altogether and, at the same time, offering Russia a treaty 
 of alliance, which amounted, practically, to an act of union. 
 This was a very clever move and Sivers was considerably 
 embarrassed by it. He applied to his Court for fresh instruc- 
 tions in order to meet this unexpected difficulty. But 
 
"IL GRAN RIFIUTO" 285 
 
 Catherine had committed herseif too deeply with Prussia * 
 to draw back now, and the Ambassador was curtly directed 
 to carry out her Majesty's original commands. On July 1 
 Sivers tried to overcome the obstructive tactics of the Diet 
 by arresting seven of the " Zealots." The House thereupon 
 suspended its sessions till the deputies should be released, 
 and released they were on the following day. On the 4th, 
 after ordering the Russian Commandant, General Igelstrom, 
 to concentrate his troops nearer to Grodno, Sivers seized the 
 property of the King's nephew, Pan Tyszkiewicz, accused 
 Stanislaus to his face of being a sans-culotte, and finally 
 (July 22), by threatening to confiscate the estates of every 
 member of the Diet, procured the signature of the partition 
 treaty with Russia. Despite the most earnest entreaties 
 from the King and the Diet combined, he would suffer not 
 the slightest alteration to be made in it. It was, he said, 
 not a bargain but an ultimatum. 
 
 Nevertheless, in one respect, at any rate, the Diet had 
 got its way. It had succeeded in separating the Prussian 
 from the Russian negotiations, thereby effectually stigma- 
 tising the peculiarly atrocious behaviour of Prussia. For 
 reprehensible as the methods of Catherine II. might be, 
 they were almost venial as compared with the methods of 
 Frederick William II. Catherine had, at least, openly 
 taken the risks of a bandit who boldly attacks an enemy 
 against whom he has a grudge. Frederick William II., on 
 the other hand, had come up from behind, after the fight 
 was over, to help pillage a victim whom he had solemnly 
 sworn to defend. Such unexampled treachery fanned the 
 smouldering embers of Polish patriotism into a fierce flame. 
 The opposition to Russia had been lukewarm and any- 
 thing but unanimous ; but against the pretensions of Prussia 
 the Polish deputies stood together in a solid phalanx. 
 Stanislaus even appealed direct to Catherine for help, and 
 his appeal was warmly supported by Sivers who opined, 
 
 * We know from the correspondence of Bezborodko, that Russia had 
 not the means, at this time, to engage in a war with Prussia, a war which 
 would have been the inevitable result of any suspension of the partition, 
 
286 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 confidentially, that something ought really now to be done 
 for Poland. Catherine was inexorable for the most cogent 
 Of all reasons, she could not help herself, she durst not run 
 the risk of a breach with Prussia. On August 17 the Polish 
 treaty with Russia was ratified, though only with the utmost 
 difficulty, in a session which lasted from 4 o'clock p.m. till 
 dawn on the following day. '' I hope the Empress is satis- 
 fied now," said Stanislaus to Sivers. Then, turning to the 
 Ambassador, he exclaimed excitedly, " I would enter the 
 Russian service as a common soldier if only I could thereby 
 save my remaining provinces from the grip of Prussia." 
 On August 26 the Prussian propositions were laid before the 
 House and, after a stormy debate, a motion for their rejection 
 was carried. On the 28th the Prussian Minister Buchholtz 
 threatened to occupy the southern provinces of Cracow and 
 Sandomir if the treaty were not agreed to at once. Enraged 
 at the tone of the Prussian note, which was " as insulting as 
 if it had been addressed to slaves," the " Zealots " moved that 
 all negotiations with Prussia should instantly be broken off. 
 A tumult of three hours' duration ensued, and ultimately the 
 House adjourned for a couple of days. In the meantime 
 Buchholtz conferred with Sivers, and both Ambassadors 
 arrived at the conclusion that only by the employment of 
 the most violent expedients couid the opposition be crushed. 
 Accordingly, on September 2, two battalions of Russian 
 grenadiers with four cannons marched into Grodno and 
 surrounded the Castle. The gunners, with lighted hints 
 in their hands, stood beside their guns. The corridors of 
 the Hall of Assembly were lined with sentries. A picket 
 composed of twelve Russian officers, headed by General 
 Rautenfeld, entered the Izba, or Chamber, and posted them- 
 selves behind the seats of the Deputies, while the General 
 sat down on the left hand side of the throne. The Deputies, 
 as they entered in twos and threes, between a file of soldiers 
 with weapons crossed, were informed that they would not 
 be permitted to leave their seats till a resolution had been 
 come to, but that they might freely express their opinions 
 on the matter in hand. At four o'clock, by which time 
 
"IL GRAN RIFIUTO" 287 
 
 most of the Deputies had assembled, the King entered and 
 took his seat on the throne. His attention was immediately 
 directed by one of the " Zealots " to the unwarrantable 
 presence of "strangers in Russian uniform" in the House. 
 " Till these intruders have withdrawn," continued the 
 speaker, ' ' the business of the Diet cannot legally be proceeded 
 with." Stanislaus at once declared that the Russian officers 
 were there without his knowledge or consent, and, after 
 some disturbance, it was agreed to send a deputation to 
 Sivers demanding the withdrawal of the interlopers. For 
 two hours the House remained silent and passive awaiting 
 the reply of the Ambassador. Sivers consented to the 
 withdrawal of the officers but insisted upon General Rauten- 
 feld remaining, and with this compromise the House had to 
 be content. The Prussian draft treaty was then considered, 
 and, after being very much altered and cut about, was sent 
 to Sivers to be despatched by him to Berlin. The Ambas- 
 sador then permitted the exhausted Deputies to depart to 
 their lodgings. They had sat uninterruptedly for twelve 
 hours. 
 
 An interval of rest and relaxation ensued. The birthday 
 of the King was celebrated by a banquet which was followed 
 by a ball and a concert given by the Russian officers. A 
 fortnight later a courier arrived from Berlin with the 
 Prussian treaty. Despite the earnest recommendations of 
 Sivers to the contrary, all the alterations and amendments 
 made by the Poles had been struck out. The Prussian 
 Court not only refused to make the slightest concession, but 
 threatened to occupy all the remaining provinces of Poland 
 if its demands were not instantly and completely satisfied. 
 Sivers at once perceived that there was now nothing for it 
 but to give a final twist to the screw and so extort an un- 
 conditional submission from the wretched Poles. Ac- 
 cordingly, on the night of September 22, he had the four 
 most resolute of the "Zealots" seized by Cossacks and 
 removed from Grodno. The tidings of this arrest spread 
 rapidly and on the following morning the streets of the 
 little town were entirely deserted and as silent as the grave. 
 
288 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Two battalions of Russian grenadiers were again posted 
 round the Castle, with their guns, ready to fire at a given 
 signal, pointed against it. Inside the House, General 
 Rautenfeld was already in his place before the throne, 
 when the Deputies began to arrive. On the Marshal de- 
 claring' that the session was opened, he was interrupted by 
 loud cries of : " It is not opened, it will not be opened till 
 our four Deputies have been released." After two hours 
 of incessant uproar, it was decided to send a message to 
 Horodnica, Sivers' country mansion, demanding the instant 
 release of the Deputies. The messengers returned with a 
 note from the Ambassador politely expressing his regret 
 that the unruliness of the Deputies should have compelled 
 him to arrest them, but refusing to release them till the 
 House had accepted the Prussian treaty in its entirety. At 
 this a fresh tumult arose, above the din of which could be 
 heard the voice of the Deputy Kimbar : " What right has 
 a foreign minister to direct the course of our debates ? " 
 The House thereupon decided, unanimously, that no business 
 should be transacted till the arrestants had been released, 
 and a second deputation was sent to Sivers with a note to 
 that effect. The deputation returned at midnight with an 
 abrupt refusal. The Ambassador, thoroughly angry, de- 
 clared that he would not now release the Deputies even if 
 he had orders from St. Petersburg to do so. He added that 
 if the Prussian treaty were not signed before the House 
 rose, General Rautenfeld would know what to do. Even 
 after this the King made a personal appeal to Sivers through 
 the Bishop of Wilna, a notorious Russophil, but the Bishop 
 returned empty-handed. Still the House refused to allow the 
 Prussian protocol to be read, and, on the motion of Pan 
 Raczynski, the Deputy for Sandomir, it was finally resolved 
 to protest against the use of violence by maintaining an 
 attitude of absolute silence. " Our silence," he said, " will 
 be more eloquent than fruitless opposition. It will best 
 interpret our feelings and our situation." The House 
 adopted the proposition, and from that moment all the 
 Deputies remained dumb. Presently General Rautenfeld 
 
CATHERINE II IN THE LAST YEAR OF HER LIFE 
 
 AZTAT 67 
 
"IL GRAN RIFIUTO" 289 
 
 rose from his seat and approached the throne. " I implore 
 your Majesty to command that the Prussian protocol be 
 read," said he. Stanislaus replied, with dignity, that 
 inasmuch as the Deputies were forbidden to speak according 
 to their convictions, silence was now their sole remaining 
 means of defence. Rautenfeld, whose instructions did not 
 provide for this unforeseen contingency, posted off to 
 Sivers. On his return, he informed the King that his 
 orders were not to let the Deputies go till they had voted 
 the Prussian project, and that bundles of straw would 
 presently be brought into the Chamber for the accommo- 
 dation of the members of the Diet during the night. This 
 announcement was received with unbroken silence. A 
 motion, recommending submission to superior force, read 
 by the one Prussophil deputy in the House, Pan Ankwicz, 
 was treated in the same way. Hour after hour passed. 
 The clock struck three hours after midnight and still the 
 Deputies sat there as immovable as statues. Then Rauten- 
 feld again approached the King and urged him to direct 
 that Ankwicz's motion should be submitted to the con- 
 sideration of the House in the usual way. " I have not the 
 power to compel the Deputies to break their silence," re- 
 plied Stanislaus drily. The General thereupon began pacing 
 up and down the floor of the House. His clanking stride was 
 the only sound which disturbed the stillness. At last he moved 
 towards the door exclaiming : " Very well, then ! I must 
 execute my final instructions and introduce the grenadiers." 
 He was stopped on the very threshold by the timid voice of 
 the Marshal of the Diet, Bielinski, who declared that he 
 was about to put the matter to the vote. Then, in a louder 
 tone, he cried: "Does the House agree to the Prussian 
 protocol ? " Absolute silence. Bielinski put his question a 
 second time with the same result. He put it a third time. The 
 stillness was unbroken. " I take it then, that it is agreed to 
 unanimously, for silence gives consent," cried the Marshal. 
 " I therefore invite the Committee appointed for that pur- 
 pose to sign the protocol." It was by this impudent and 
 ignominious expedient that the difficulty was overcome and 
 
290 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Prussia got her share of the plunder of Poland. Immediately 
 
 afterwards the King closed the session of "the Dumb 
 
 Diet." 
 
 By the second partition treaty, definitely ratified on 
 
 January 4, 1794, Russia gained 250,700 and Prussia 58,570 
 
 square kilometres more of Polish soil. The miserable 
 
 remnant of the ancient kingdom was then compelled to 
 
 re-accept its vicious old Constitution under the guarantee 
 
 of the partitioning Powers. 
 
 . The first partition of Poland has sometimes been excused, 
 
 plausibly enough, on the grounds that it was a regrettable 
 
 necessity ; but no sophistry in the world can extenuate the 
 
 villainy of the second partition. The theft of territory is 
 
 its least offensive feature. It is the forcible suppression of 
 
 a genuine and promising national movement of reform, 
 
 the hurling back into the abyss of anarchy and corruption 
 
 of a people who, by incredible efforts and sacrifices, were 
 
 struggling back to liberty and order which makes this great 
 
 political crime so wholly infamous. » 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 Not very much more remains to be told of the doings 
 of King Stanislaus. He had no part or share in the mar- 
 vellous insurrection of 1794, which shed such deathless 
 glory on the last struggle of the dying Republic for life and 
 liberty. The Kosciuszkorising took him quite by surprise, 
 and, at first, he did not grasp its true significance. Thus, 
 on April 9, he wrote to Prince Joseph) that he, Stanislaus, 
 was bound to act with Russia against' Kosciuszko because 
 the latter was a rebel who would not recognise his authority. 
 Only ten days later, when the whole nation ( had declared 
 for the Liberator and expelled the Russians from Warsaw 
 and Wilna, the King ordered his nephew to hasten to the 
 camp of Kosciuszko without a moment's delay. " As the 
 nation has resolved to risk the uttermost," he explained, 
 " the precepts of prudence no longer apply and I will not 
 be separated from my people." But the people simply 
 ignored the useless and discredited old trimmer. Through- 
 out the dictatorship of Kosciuszko the King was simply 
 
"IL GRAN RIFIUTO" 291 
 
 shoved aside and treated as of no account. Kosciuszko 
 provided for his personal safety while less illustrious par- 
 tisans of Russia were being hanged in the streets — and that 
 was all . When the insurrection had finally been extinguished 
 by Suvarov in torrents of blood, Stanislaus was compelled, 
 very reluctantly, to quit his capital (January 7, 1795) which 
 he foresaw he should never see again. He was sent first to 
 Grodno where he was placed in the charge of his old friend 
 Prince Nicholas Repnin. He was treated honourably as 
 became his rank, and 11,000 ducats, not very regularly 
 paid, were assigned to the maintenance of his tiny Court. 
 He amused himself by reading, playing billiards, and 
 writing his memoirs. On November 23, 1795, he was 
 compelled to abdicate. "I do so," he declared, " for the 
 sake of my unhappy country." Then he burst into tears 
 and Repnin, much moved, helped the broken old man to 
 descend the steps of the throne. As a matter of fact the 
 abdication was equivalent to a confirmation of the third 
 partition which swept Poland altogether out of existence. 
 In return for this last act of submission, the Empress con- 
 firmed the ex-King in the possession of his private estates. 
 In a not unkindly letter, she advised him to spend the 
 remainder of his days in Italy, preferably Rome, as being 
 best suited to his political situation and his predilection for 
 Art. She permitted him also the choice of his route to the 
 Eternal City so that he might avoid all the places " most 
 likely to evoke painful recollections." But Stanislaus 
 preferred to remain at Grodno and took up botany as an 
 additional diversion. The death of Catherine (November 
 17, 1796) profoundly affected him, though he benefited by 
 it very considerably. In a letter, full of sympathy and 
 affection, the Emperor Paul invited Stanislaus to settle at 
 St. Petersburg and assigned to him a pension of 100,000 
 ducats. The three petitioning Powers had already agreed to 
 pay his debts between them. The Marble Palace was given 
 to him for a residence and his first visitor there was the 
 Emperor himself attended by his whole Court. From 
 henceforth the ex-King lived in ease and comfort occupy- 
 
292 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 ing himself for the most part with his books, of which he 
 now began to make a complete catalogue. 
 
 Stanislaus II. died, rather suddenly, on February 12, 
 1798, of an apoplectic seizure, in his sixty>sixth year. On 
 hearing of the last illness of his guest, Paul at once hastened 
 to his side and never quitted him till all was over. The 
 funeral of a crowned head was generously accorded to his 
 remains by the Russian Emperor. Paul himself rode in 
 front of the hearse at the. head of the Life-Guards with his 
 drawn sword reversed. The Ministers and Dignitaries of 
 the Russian Court followed in parade carriages adorned 
 with the royal arms. The White Eagle standard, embroidered 
 with the escutcheons of Poland and Lithuania, was borne 
 before them by a herald. The Metropolitan of St. Peters- 
 burg conducted the funeral service. All the regiments of 
 the Guard were drawn up on both sides of the Nevsky 
 Prospect from the Marble Palace to the Catholic Church, 
 where the relics of Stanislaus were reverently laid within a 
 mural niche. By the Emperor's especial command, two 
 stately standards were placed over the tomb to mark the 
 last resting-place of the last King of Poland. 
 
- ■ ■ ■ . . 
 
 STANISLAUS II 
 
 MTA.T 6 1 
 
INDEX 
 
 Ankwicz, Polish deputy, 289 
 Armfelt (Gustaf), 100 
 Augustus II., King of Poland, 20, 
 
 32 
 III., King of Poland, 20, 22, 
 
 29, 64, 65 
 
 Bacciarelli, 128 
 Bar, Confederation of, 106 
 Benoit, Prussian Minister in Po- 
 land, 68, 112 
 Bestuzhev (Alexis Petrovich), 59, 
 
 63 
 Bezborodko (Alexander Andree- 
 
 vich), 166, 185, 199, 239 
 Bibikov, Russian General, 11 1 
 Bielinski (Stanislaus), 284, 289 
 Boleslaus II., King of Poland, 2 
 
 III., King of Poland, 2 
 Branicki (Jan Klemens), 151 
 
 (Ksawery), 132, 133, 153, 154, 
 
 155. 156, 159. 171. J73. 217; 
 treason of, 243-248 
 Buchholtz, Prussian Minister in 
 
 Poland, 186, 192, 286 
 Bulgakov (Yakov Ivanovich), 249, 
 250, 263, 264, 266, 269 ; character 
 of, 236-237 
 
 Cagliostro, 133 
 Casanova, 132, 133, 154 
 Casimir III., King of Poland, 3 
 
 IV., King of Poland, 5 
 Catherine II., Empress of Russia, 
 65, 69, 70, 71, 72, 75, 91, 108, 109, 
 176, 195, 199, 201, 235, 236, 238, 
 239, 265, 274, 285, 291 ; liaison 
 with Stanislaus, 59-64 ; descrip- 
 tion of by Stanislaus, 60 ; her 
 own account of the liaison, 63 ; 
 insecurity of, 76-77 ; and the 
 Polish Dissenters, 84-89 ; and 
 the picnic of Princes, 172-174 
 Charles X., King of Sweden, 15 
 Chodkiewicz (Jan Karol), 10 
 
 Chreptowicz (Joachim), 218, 219, 
 
 250, 267, 283 
 Clement XIV., Pope, 104 
 Cobenzl, Austrian Statesman, 199 
 Cracovie, Madame de. See Kra- 
 
 kowa, Pani 
 Czartoryska (Isabella), 53, 178, 
 181, 196, 197 ; character of, 
 97-8 
 (Sophia), 51-52 
 Czartoryski (Adam Casimir), 50, 
 52, 53. 67, 69, 97, 98, 126, 
 134, 135. 136, 145. 151. 155. 
 186, 189, 196, 262 
 (Augustus), 48, 49, 67, 68, 94, 
 
 95 ; death of, 50-51 
 (Florian), 48 
 
 (Michael), 48, 52, 65, 79, 94, 
 95, 112, 151 
 
 Deboli, Polish Minister at St. 
 
 Petersburg, 170, 190, 200, 225, 250 
 De Cache, Austrian Minister in 
 
 Poland, 221 
 Deckert, Frau, 217 
 
 (Jan), 217 
 Dogrumowa (Pam), impostures of, 
 
 133-136 
 Dupont de Nemours, 54 
 Durini, Papal Nuncio, 87, 88 
 
 Elizabeth, Empress of Russia, 58, 
 
 59, 61, 62 
 Engelhardtovna, Gospodina, 154 
 Engestrom (Lars von), 124 
 
 Fox (Charles James), and Catherine 
 
 II., 238 
 Frederick II., King of Prussia, 65, 
 
 91, 107, 108, 112, 140, 161, 180; 
 
 Polish policy, 74 ; unscrupulous- 
 
 ness, 75-6 
 Frederick Augustus, Elector of 
 
 Saxony, 240, 241 
 
 293 
 
294 
 
 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Frederick William II., King of 
 Prussia, 161, 179, 180, 197, 200, 
 203, 204, 209, 237, 250, 286 
 
 Garampi, Papal Nuncio, 104, 105 
 Geoffrin, Madame, 71, 119; visit 
 
 to Poland, 79-82 
 Godzki, Pani, 132 
 Golkowski, Polish General, 229 
 Grabowska, Pani, 266; character 
 
 of, 126-127 
 Gustavus III., King of Sweden, 176 
 
 Hanbury-Williams (Charles), 58 
 
 Hayles, English Minister in Po- 
 land, 184, 190, 203 ; philo-Polish 
 policy, 206-208 
 
 Henry, of Prussia, Prince, mission 
 to St. Petersburg, 108-109 
 
 Hertzberg (Ewald Friedrich), 192, 
 201, 205 ; political system of, 179 
 
 Igelstrom, Russian General, 285 
 
 John Albert, King of Poland, 4, 5 
 John Casimir, King of Poland, 12, 
 
 13. 16, 18 
 Joseph II., Emperor of Austria, 108, 
 
 162, 165, 174, 176, 251, 252, 257, 
 
 258 
 
 Kachowski, Russian General, 255, 
 
 259 
 Kachuk-Kainardzhi, Treaty of, 
 
 1774. 143 . „ 
 Kaunitz, Austrian Statesman, 198, 
 
 199, 201 
 Kayserling, Russian Minister in 
 
 Poland, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70 
 Kicki, Equerry, 283 
 Kimbar, Polish Deputy, 288, 289 
 Kollontaj (Hugo), 217, 225, 2 27. 
 
 266, 269 ; character and career 
 
 of, 148-15 1 
 Komarzewski, Polish General, 134, 
 
 135, 136, 145, 188, 189 
 Komorowska (Gertrude), 152 
 Kordecki (Augustin), 15, 16 
 Konarski (Stanislaus), 144, 146 
 Kosciuszko (Andrew Thaddeus 
 
 Bonaventura), 269, 274, 290, 291 ; 
 
 early career and character, 253- 
 
 4 ; at Zielence, 256 ; at Dubien- 
 
 ka, 259-260 
 Kossakowska, Pani, 100 
 Krakowska, Pani, 266, 278, 283 
 Krasicki (Ignaty), character of, 
 
 IQI-J02 
 
 Laudon, Marshal, 176 
 Lautenburg (Maria Theresa von). 
 
 See Dogrumowa 
 Leeds, Duke of, 208 
 Lentulus, General, 112 
 Lhuilier, Mathematician, 54 
 Lubomirska (Elizabeth), 126, 135, 
 
 136, 178, 253, 257 ; character of, 
 
 98-99 
 Lubomirski (Georg), 16, 17 
 
 (Marius), 132 
 Lucchesini (Geronimo), 187, 197, 
 
 198, 200, 202, 203, 243 ; character 
 
 of, 180-181 ; intrigues of, in 
 
 Poland, 192-3, 204-5 
 Lulli, Madame de, 126 
 
 Malachowski (Jan Nepomuk), 240 
 (Stanislaus), 197, 202, 211, , 
 212, 214, 218, 221, 222, 228, V 
 229, 234, 267 ; character, 
 183-185 
 Malczewska, Pani, 127 
 Massalski, Bishop of WiVna, 101, 
 
 104, 105, 147 
 Matuszewicz (Thaddeus), 230, 241 
 Michael, King of Poland, 18, 19 
 Mlodziejowski (Andrzej), 101, 112, 
 
 114 
 Mokronowski (Andrzej), 156 
 Mollendorff, Prussian General, 
 
 243, 272 
 Morkov (Arkady Ivanovich), 165, 
 166 
 
 Naruishkin (Lev), 59 
 Nassau-Siegen, Prince of, 132, 176 
 Neustadt, Conference of, 108 
 Nevi (Anna Maria de). See Dog- 
 rumowa 
 
 Obryezkov, Russian Minister at 
 
 the Porte, 69, 106 
 Oginska, Pani, 130, 131 
 Oginski (Michael), 144, 207 
 Osterman (Ivan Andreevich), 165, 
 
 171, 198, 200, 230 
 Ozerowska, Pani, 100 
 
 Pajonk (Peter), 142 
 
 Panin (Nikita Ivanovich), 70, 71, 
 
 76, 77. 78, 79. 83,163, 164; 
 
 friendliness towards Poland, 73- 
 
 75 ; opposes First Partition, 108- 
 
 109 
 Pasiello, 130 
 Peter, the Great, 32 
 
INDEX 
 
 295 
 
 Peter III., 58, anecdote of, 61-62 
 Piattoli (Scipione), character, 225- 
 
 226 
 Pitt (William), philo-Polish policy, 
 
 207-8 ; hostile to Russia, 238 
 Podoski (Gabriel), 84, 85, 86, 101, 
 
 104, 151 
 Poniatowska (Constantia), 52 ; 
 
 character, 96-7 
 Poniatowski (Casimir), 132, 133 
 (Joseph), 228, 229, 254, 255, 
 258, 259, 273, 274, 283, 290; 
 character of, 241-2 ; at 
 Zielence, 256 ; at Dubienka, 
 2 59 - 260 ; correspondence 
 with Stanislaus II., 268-9, 
 271-2 
 (Michael), Primate, 161 ; cha- 
 racter of, 103-104 
 (Stanislaus), the M-Air, 52 
 
 the Younger. See 
 Stanislaus II. 
 Poninski (Adam), 104, 112, 113 
 Potocka (Sofia), 153 
 Potocki, Starosta of Kaniow, cha- 
 racter of, 37-39 
 (Antoni Protazi), 142 
 (Felix), 28, 159, 171, 174, 186, 
 224, 252, 264, 269, 270 ; 
 early career and character, 
 151-153 ; treason of, 243- 
 248 
 (Felix George), 245 
 (Ignatius), 186, 198, 203, 204, 
 216, 218, 225, 226, 231, 240, 
 241, 250, 267, 269 ; cha- 
 racter of, 176-178 
 (Jan), 214 
 (Joachim), 214 
 (Nicholas), 132 
 (Stanislaus), 135, 218 
 Potemkin (Gregory Alexandro- 
 
 vich), 154, 174, 201 
 Puzyna (Elizabeth), 150 
 
 Radom, Confederation of, 85 
 Radziwill (Karol), 28, 29, 30, 31, 
 84, 89, 132, 146, 151, 196, 
 214 ; anecdotes of, 33-37 
 (Ludowika), 19 
 Radziejowski (Hieronymus), 14, 
 
 15. 17 
 Rautbnfeld, Russian General, 
 
 286, 287, 288 
 Rbpnin (Nicholas), 67, 69, 70, 76, 
 
 83. 84, 95, 99, 105, 106, 291 ; 
 
 character of, 77 ; anecdote of, 
 
 86-89 
 
 Reverdil, Lector, anecdotes of, 
 
 127-130 
 Rumyantsev (Alexander), 176, 199 
 Ryks, Equerry, 134, 135, 136, 283 
 Rzewuski (Severin), 155, 171, 173, 
 178 ; treason of, 242-8 
 (Waclaw), 112 
 
 Saldern, Russian Minister in 
 Poland, 109 
 
 Sapieha (Casimir), 217, 234 
 
 Sapiezhna, Princess, 99 
 
 Sicinski, Polish Deputy, 14 
 
 Sieniawska, Pani, anecdotes of, 
 48-50 
 
 Sigismund I., King of Poland, 6 
 III., King of Poland, 9, 10 
 
 Sivers (Yakov Efimovich), early 
 career and character, 274-77 ; 
 description of Stanislaus II., 
 277-8 ; influence of, over Stanis- 
 laus, 279-280 
 
 Sobieski (Jan), King of Poland, 
 character of, 17-20 
 
 Soltyk (Kajetan), 87, 89, 107, 109, 
 140, 146, 147 ; character of, 102- 
 
 103 
 
 Siadnicki (Stanislaus), 9 
 
 Stackelberg (Otto Magnus von), 
 109, no, 113, 120, 155, 159, 193, 
 194, 195, 196 ; character and 
 anecdotes of, n 5-1 17 
 
 Stanislaus II., King of Poland, 
 early years, 55-6 ; self-por- 
 traiture, 56-7 ; political dibut, 
 57 ; liaison with Catherine II., 
 58-64 ; election of, 69-71 ; 
 weaknesses, 83-86, 89-91 ; and 
 Madame Geoffrin, 79-82 ; Court 
 of, 92-95, 125-126; abduction 
 of, 117-119; public virtues, 119- 
 125 ; extravagances, 120-121, 
 126-127, 1 29-1 3 1 ; as a reformer, 
 143-146, 156-158, 231-233; 
 political sagacity of, 167-171, 
 188, 198-199; at Kaniow, 173- 
 174 ; as a debater, 219-220, 222- 
 223 ; as a statesman, 226-227 ; 
 patriotism of, 250-251 ; as Dic- 
 tator, 261-264 ! final surrender 
 to Russia, 265-268 
 
 Stephen, Bathory, King of Po- 
 land, 8, 9 
 
 Strzecki (Andrzej), 150 
 
 Sucholdolski, Polish Deputy, 212 
 
 Suchoezewski, Polish Deputy, 202, 
 212, 219, 220, 230, 231, 232, 233 
 
296 
 
 THE LAST KING OF POLAND 
 
 Sulkowski (Antoni), 112 
 
 (Augustus), 112, 113, 120 
 Szweykowski, Castillan, 201, 202 
 
 Targowica, Confederation of, 1792, 
 
 245 
 Taylor (William), 134, 135, 136 
 Todi, Signora, 130 
 Turski, .Bishop of Plock, 119, 
 
 233 
 Tyszkiewicza, Pant, 141 
 Tyzenhaus (Antoni), 141 
 
 Volkonsky (Michael), 106, 107, 
 
 109 
 Vorontsova (Elizabeth), 58, 61 
 
 WimjaoRSKi.PolishGeneral, 259, 260 
 Wisniowiecka (Euphemia), 14 
 Wladislaus IV., King of Poland, 
 
 11-12 
 Wojna, Polish Minister at Vienna, 
 
 225 
 Wtjrtemberg, Louis, Prince of, 
 
 178, 257 
 Wybicki (Josef), 147, 148, 158 
 
 Zajaczek, Polish General, 256 
 Zaluski (Josef), 140, 146, 150 
 Zamoyski (Andrzej), 112, 157, 158 
 
 (Jan), 8 
 Zebrzydowski (Nicholas), 9 
 Zolkiewski (Stanislaus), 10 
 
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