valiant and admirable
nation to which you belong. I have taken upon myself this solemn
obligation. ... Only political circumstances have placed obstacles
against the execution of my intentions. Those obstacles no longer exist,
... Yet a little more time and prudence, and the Poles shall regain
their country, their name, and I shall have the pleasure of convincing
them that, forgetting the past, the man whom they held for their enemy
is the man who shall fulfil their desires."[1]

[Footnote 1: _Op. cit_.]

Further personal interviews followed between Kosciuszko and the Tsar.
Later, Kosciuszko called upon these as his witness when, at the Congress
of Vienna, Alexander went back upon his given word. The question of
Poland was now to come up in the European Congress, as one of the most
pressing problems of the stability of Europe. Alexander I's intention
was to found a kingdom of Poland of which he should be crowned king.
Adam Czartoryski, Alexander's Minister for Foreign Affairs, requested
Kosciuszko to repair to Vienna and deliberate with himself and the Tsar
upon the matter. Napoleon was back from Elba and marching on Paris, and
to ensure the possibility of prosecuting a journey under the
complications of the hour Kosciuszko was advised to have his passport
made out under some name not his own. He chose that of "Pole."

With considerable difficulty, constantly turned back by police
authorities, forbidden entrance by the Bavarian frontier, sent about
from pillar to post, the white-haired, frail old soldier at last reached
the Tsar's headquarters at Braunau. The Tsar and he conferred for a
quarter of an hour. Kosciuszko derived small satisfaction from the
interview, and immediately proceeded to visit Czartoryski in Vienna.
Czartoryski had nothing good to tell. The wrangling over the Polish
question at the Congress, the mutual suspicions and jealousies of every
power represented, nearly brought about another war. In May, 1815,
Russia, Austria, and Prussia signed an agreement for a renewed division
of Poland between them. An autonomous Kingdom of Poland was, it is true,
to be formed, with the Tsar as king, but only out of a small part of
Poland. As regards the remaining Polish provinces that remained under
Russia's rule, they were severed from the Kingdom and incorporated with
Russia.

Kosciuszko heard these things. Under the shock of his apprehensions he
wrote to the Tsar, pleading in the strongest language at his comma