turned to his native land, that great wave of a
nation's magnificent effort to save herself by internal reform, which
culminated in the Constitution of the 3rd of May, was sweeping over
Poland. Equality of civic rights, freedom of the peasant, a liberal form
of government, political and social reforms of all descriptions, were
the questions of the hour. The first Commission of Education to be
established in Europe, the precursor of our modern Ministry of
Education, that had been opened two years before Kosciuszko left Poland,
and on which sat Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kollontaj, both afterwards to
be closely associated with Kosciuszko in his war for national
independence, was, founding schools, refounding universities, and
raising the level of education all through the country. Roads were
built, factories started, agriculture and trade given fresh impetus. A
literary and artistic revival set in, warmly encouraged by Stanislas
Augustus, who gathered painters, musicians, and poets around him in his
brilliant court. All this was done by a dismembered nation upon whose
further and complete destruction the three powers that had already
partitioned her were resolved.

Coincident with these last days of Poland's political existence that
hold the tragic glory of a setting sun is the one tranquil span of
Kosciuszko's life. His sister's husband had managed his affairs so
generously and so well that his old home had been saved for him. Here
Kosciuszko for four years led the retired life which was most to his
taste, that of a country farmer and landowner in a small way, his peace
only disturbed by the financial worries handed on to him by his brother.

Soldierly simplicity was the note of Kosciuszko's rustic country home.
The living-room was set out with a plain old table, a few wooden seats
and an ancient store cupboard. The furniture of the small sleeping
apartment consisted of a bed and by its side a table on which lay
Kosciuszko's papers and books, conspicuous among the latter being the
political writings of the great contemporary Polish reformers--Staszyc
and Kollontaj--which to the Pole of Kosciuszko's temperament were bound
to be fraught with burning interest. His coffee was served in a cup made
by his own hand; the simple dishes and plates that composed his
household stock were also his work, for the arts and crafts were always
his favourite hobbies. An old cousin looked after the housekeeping. A
coachman and manservant we