his nation in her gallant struggle for life reached him
from any quarter outside his country. Nor was he beset only by external
obstacles. Difficulties inside the state added to his cares. In answer
to the complaint of a deputation from Warsaw, dissatisfied with the
composition of the Supreme Council, he wrote from his tent, begging the
people of the city, his "brothers and fellow-citizens," to remember that
he, whom their delegates "saw," as he expresses it, "serving you and the
country in the sweat of my brow," had only the happiness of the sons of
Poland at heart. May, says he, his "vow made before God and the world
calm all the anxieties of each citizen and defend them from irregular
steps against the established Council. ... My answer is short: let us
first drive out the enemy, and then we will lay down the unchangeable
foundations of our happiness."[1]

Sincerity was the groundwork of Kosciuszko's dealings with his people.
The greater the reverses which the cause of Poland encountered, the
greater must be the courage with which to conquer them. Defeat must be
regarded merely as the incentive to victory. Thus, a few days after the
battle of Szczekociny, giving the nation a full report of the battle, in
which he mitigated none of his losses, he ended with these words:

"Nation! This is the first test of the stability of thy spirit, the
first day of thy Rising in which it is free to thee to be sad, but not
to be dismayed. Those guilty of thy defeat will amend it at the first
opportunity, and they who have never deceived thee as to their courage
thirst to avenge thy misfortune of a moment. Wouldest thou be worthy of
liberty and self-government if thou knowest not how to endure the
vicissitudes of fate? Nation! Thy soil shall be free. Only let thy
spirit be high above all."[2]

[Footnote 1: T. Korzon, _Kosciuszko_.]

[Footnote 2: K. Bartoszewicz, _History of Kosciuszko's Insurrection_.]

He then marched in haste towards Warsaw, whose safety was threatened. On
the way tidings of a great disaster were brought to him--that of the
capitulation of Cracow to the Prussians by its Polish commander, the
national honour only redeemed by the gallant attempt of the Cracow
burghers led by a book-keeper to defend the castle, to whom the Prussian
general gave the honours of war as they marched out. The knowledge that
the Prussians were in possession of the ancient capital of Poland, the
most beloved of Polish cities, which had