rich and beautiful group of the Philippines still yields obedience to Spain. In destroying one set of institutions, these Europeans did not establish their own; but such was their despotic, sanguinary course, which alone was governed by motives of relentless cupidity, that under their baneful influence these islands in a measure, have been thrust back into a state of barbarism. The British, who of late have been taking measures to gain a foothold in the archipelago, by their measures for destroying piracy, and by the efforts of their missionaries, will eventually do much for the civilization of its people."

At Singapore, the officers and crew of the exploring expedition joyfully hailed the prospect of a speedy return to the land and homes from which they had been so long separated.

To the regret of all, the Flying-Fish, on examination, was found unfit to return home, and they were reluctantly compelled to sell at public auction, the companion of so many perilous voyages, and the participant in strange, wild adventures, in the distant southern seas. Her crew was transferred to the other vessels, and the squadron sailed from Singapore on the 26th of February, entering the Indian Ocean a week after. The Vincennes, making more progress than the other vessels, Captain Wilkes concluded to touch at the Cape of Good Hope, while the Porpoise and Oregon proceeded to Rio Janeiro. The Vincennes arrived at Table Bay, in the middle of April, and touched at St. Helena on the first of May, where the Porpoise and Oregon had preceded her. On the 10th of June, 1842, she entered the Brooklyn navy yard, where she was soon joined by the Porpoise and Oregon, and gladly welcomed home, after a protracted voyage of perilous adventure, and gratifying discovery, the Porpoise and Vincennes being the only two of the original squadron, which four years previously had left the United States on an expedition, in some respects, unequaled in interest and importance.

SKETCH of Poland-Characteristics of the Poles-Polish Jews--Passage of the Niemen by the French-Invasion and Retreat-Brutality of the Custom House Officers-Captain of the Guard-his Accomplishments-Field of Grokow-Description of the Battle-Valor of the Poles Tyranny of the Grand Duke Constantine-the Polish Insurrection-Fall of Warsaw Warsaw-Sobieski-Field of Viola-Oppressions of the Poles-Cracow-Tombs of the Polish Monarchs-the Mound of Kosciusko.

POLAND was once a large country, though now expunged from the map of Europe; but her people, in their character, language, and national feelings, are still Poles. Its surface is one immense unvaried plain, which is drained by large, long, and navigable rivers.

"The Poles belong to the Sclavonic race, which occupies nearly the whole

*The engraving represents the appearance of a Polish village on the Great Road leading from Warsaw to St. Petersburg. The houses are constructed of wooden framework, the spaces between filled with clay, and the roofs thatched. The nearest dwelling is that of a lodge keeper, as is shown by the horns of an antelope over the door. On the roofs of each house are forked sticks for the nests of storks-those birds of good omen. In the back ground is a windmill, an important structure in a flat country like Poland.

extent of the vast plain of eastern Europe. They have emerged more than the others from the generally rude and unimproved state which characterizes this race. The feudal system, broken up in the greater part of western Europe, exists here in almost undiminished operation. Society consists altogether of two distinct and distant orders, the nobles and the peasantry, without any intermediate degrees. The nobles, who are more numerous than in any other country in Europe, have always, in the eye of the public, formed the people of Poland. They are brave, prompt, frank, hospitable, and gay. They have been called the French of the north, and, both from habits and political connection, are attached to that nation. On the contrary, they regard the Germans with mingled contempt and aversion, calling them Niemic, or dumb, in contrast with their own fluency and loquacity. Before their fall, their neighbors called them "the proud Poles." They consider it the deepest disgrace to practice any profession, even law or medicine; and, in case of utmost necessity, even prefer the plow. The luxury of modern times, and the variations in the price of grain, have very generally involved them in pecuniary embarrassments, and placed many of their fortunes in the hands of Jews. The Polish ladies are celebrated for their beauty, and are considered also more intelligent and agreeable than those of Russia. The peasantry are not absolute slaves, but they are raised little above that degrading condition; an estate being usually estimated by the number of its peasants.

The religion of Poland, contrary to that which prevails in the great body of Sclavonic nations, is Roman Catholic. This is, perhaps, one main cause of higher civilization; for the Catholic religion is more favorable to intelligence and improvement, than that of the Greek church. Preaching has always formed an essential part of its worship, which gives it a decided superiority over a system which excludes that mode of instruction, and deals merely in a round of childish ceremonies.

Knowledge has made greater progress in Poland than in any other of the Sclavonic nations. In the brilliant eras of Casimir and Sobieski, she produced men eminent in science, among whom we distinguish Copernicus, the discoverer of the true system of the world. A very poetical spirit animates the Poles, and is diffused through all ranks. The peasant sings the beauties of rural nature, while the noble bards celebrate the fortunes and glories of their country. Poland, however, within the last two centuries, has not kept pace with the rapid strides which other nations have taken in science and literature. The amusements and mode of life among the higher ranks are chiefly copied from the other nations of Europe, particularly the French. The Polish dances, however, are strictly national, and very graceful. That, especially, called the Polonaise, is marked by a slow majesty of movement, which has been remarked as worthy of a nation who elected their kings. The Poles have a singular manner of shaving the head, leaving only a tuft of hair on the crown, and mustachios are generally worn."

The early annals of Poland are obscure and uninteresting. Just before the discovery of America, Poland became one of the most powerful monarchies of Europe, and its martial character for a time was pre-eminent. The exploits of Sigismund and Sobieski hold a conspicuous place in military his

tory; and Poland, for two centuries, was the main bulwark of Christendom against the alarming progress of Turkish invasion.

"The decline of Poland may be dated from the beginning of the last century, and may be ascribed partly to the improvement and augmented influence of Russia and Prussia, but in a far greater degree to the incurable defects in the constitution of the state. The nobles, about 500,000 in number, formed the nation; the rest of the inhabitants being slaves, incapable of acquiring any property in land, without any privileges, and sold, like cattle, with the estates to which they belonged. After the extinction of the princes of the Jagellon line, the power of the nobles became quite illimitable: each of them might aspire to the throne, the sovereign being merely the first citizen of the order. Among themselves they formed a perfect democracy, the poorest being, in respect to privileges, quite on a level with the most opulent. They were authorized to maintain troops and fortresses; and were rather, indeed, a sort of independent princes than the subject of a constitutional monarchy. By a singular absurdity, any one noble might, by interposing his veto, suspend the whole deliberations of the diet, and prevent the possibility of their coming to any conclusion. Hence the country was the constant theater of intestine commotion; and foreign influence and corruption had unbounded scope, not only at the election of sovereigns, but in the whole proceedings of the diets. How much soever we may detest the means by which it was effected, no one can regret the abolition of a system of government which combined all the mischiefs of anarchy without its stimulus to enterprise; which made every landlord a petty despot, and every cultivator a slave.

The partition of Poland, justly regarded as one of the most iniquitous measures which have disgraced modern times, was begun in 1772, by Frederick II, of Prussia, and the Empress Catharine II, chiefly, it is believed, at the suggestion of the latter; while Austria was reluctantly dragged into the league. At this time, however, each cut off only a corner, to round their own territories, and Poland remained still extensive, and nearly entire. But nothing was done to repair the defects in the constitution; and the weakness and disunion that prevailed left the country as open as ever to foreign aggression. In 1792, the three powers again joined, and made a fresh partition, which reduced Poland to little more than half her original dimensions. She now roused herself, and made a glorious effort for her deliverance. She saw, and endeavored, though too late, to obviate those abuses in her system of government of which she had been the victim. But the partitioning powers had gone too far to recede, and were not to be disappointed of their prey. The Poles, under their hero Kosciusko, made the most gallant efforts to preserve their independence and their newly acquired liberties. Unfortunately, however, their exertions were unavailing. They were overpowered by the energies of Suwarrow, and the valor and number of his troops. The Russian general marched direct upon the capital, and, storming the fortress of Praga, to which the patriots had retired as their last hold, extinguished, apparently forever, the rights and glories of Poland. An entire and final partition was then made, in which Russia had by far the most extensive portion; Prussia, the best situated and most commercial; Austria, on the whole, the most productive."

The political existence of Poland as a great independent kingdom, was finally extinguished, by this last partition. That part of Poland which was not seized by the three great powers, became known as the Kingdom of Poland, and though left nominally independent, was annexed to the Russian crown. Its population was about four millions, and its area somewhat less than that of our own Virginia. This relic of Poland enjoyed many peculiar privileges. The Russian emperor was crowned at Warsaw as king of Poland; the diets of the nobility were still held, in which freedom of speech was permitted, and the viceroy was a native Pole. The present Czar, Nicholas, as well as his predecessor, swore to maintain the independence and rights of Poland. Since the unsuccessful revolution of 1830, Poland has been treated as a conquered province, and its nationality entirely annihilated. She is now but a Russian province, her situation very miserable, her inhabitants singularly poor, and solely engaged in agriculture.

Late one dismal, snowy November afternoon, a few years since, an American gentleman, Mr. John S. Maxwell, at the sound of the horn, sprang into a coach, in the imperial city of St. Petersburg, and on the morning of the fourth day after, arrived at Kovno, a frontier town of Poland.*

The place was thronged by Jews, who comprise a quarter of the population of Poland, and swarming about the villages and towns, monopolize all the petty traffic. The Polish Jews are a degraded, despicable race, and live most wretchedly. They are generally the keepers of the inns throughout the country. "The inn is generally a miserable hovel, communicating with, or a room partitioned off in one corner of a large shed, serving as a stable and a yard for vehicles. The entrance is under a low porch of timber. The floor is of dirt. The furniture consists of a long table, or two or three small ones, and in one corner a bunch of straw, or sometimes a few raised boards formed into a platform, with straw spread over it for beds. At one end a narrow door leads into a sort of hole filled with dirty beds, old women, and ragged, filthy children. Here, the Jew, assisted by a dirty-faced Rachel, with a keen and anxious look, passes his whole day in serving out to the meanest customers beer, and hay and corn; and in wrangling with, and extorting money from, intoxicated peasants. Since the conquest of Poland, the Jews have suffered much from the caprice and petty tyranny of the Russian officials, and the seven decrees of the Emperor, by which their ancient privileges have been greatly curtailed."

Here the troops of

Beyond Kovno, our traveler came to the Niemen. Napoleon, near half a million in number, with martial music, and in all the splendor of military array, crossed over the bridge into Russia, during three beautiful days in June. In the succeeding December a miserable remnant of this splendid army again appeared in Kovno, flying before the Cossacks. The heroic Ney, "the bravest of the brave," with a few veterans, defended the bridge, to allow the passage of the sick and wounded. Then, standing a

This article is abridged from "The Czar, His Court and People," with interpolations from Stephens' Incidents of Travel.