512 LIVES OF THE POLISH HEROES. 



extinguish in his young mind the old hereditary patriotism of his house, 

 Julius was, therefore, educated under the paternal roof, and gave early 

 proofs of uncommon force of character. 



In 1829, James Gruzewski died. Deprived of this excellent mentor, 

 on Julius, as the eldest of the family, devolved the management of his 

 father's affairs, and all the care of his brothers' and sisters' education. 

 Those duties he fulfilled with wisdom and perseverance, his sole 

 ambition appearing to be centered in the happiness of his family ; 

 this tranquil state of existence might doubtless have lasted long, if the 

 revolution of the 29th of November had not awakened in the mind of 

 the young patriot other emotions and other desires. 



The resuscitation of the nationality of Poland had just taken place in 

 Warsaw, and Lithuania was already agitated with hope and impatiance. 

 The noble sister of Poland, she could not abjure her in the hour of 

 of danger ; faithful to the family compact, she resolved to co-operate 

 with her elder sister or perish with her. 



This thought was that of all Lithuania. With that intuitive sagacity 

 which distinguishes the mass, her people imagined that the first act of 

 the dictator, Chlopicki, would be to push forward his heroic battalions 

 on Lithuania. It was, in fact, the only means of safety, the only plan 

 of campaign that could ensure success to a revolution commenced under 

 such brilliant auspices. 



Julius Gruzeweski, more than any other, reckoned upon this move- 

 ment. From the first moment he had taken the firm resolution of not 

 remaining inactive during the struggle. Fortune, family, all was in 

 his eyes, subordinate to the interest of his country. He every day made 

 excursions to the neighbouring towns, in the hope of hearing of the 

 arrival of a regular corps of troops, which he would have joined with 

 the numerous recruits raised upon his estates ; but during two months 

 his expectations proved fruitless. Chlopicki had allowed the favourable 

 moment to escape him. Relying then, but upon himself Gruzewski 

 scarcely two-and-twenty years of age, conceived the project of seizing 

 the iriiative and of precipitating the insurrectionary movement. He 

 conferred with his friend Dobroslaw, Kalinowski, and the two brothers 

 Jyaatius and Zeno Slaniewicz, who were already acting on their side 

 animated with the same views. These noble patriots held, in the course 

 of the month of February, numerous conferences, in which they con- 

 certed the plan of a general rising. The enterprise was bold, the obstacles 

 almost insurmountable. To dare so much, required minds cast in a 

 Roman mould ; but Gruzeweski and his companions shrunk not from 

 the attempt. They were fully sensible how powerfully the Polish 

 cause would be affected by a diversion in the heart of the Russian 

 empire, and upon the rear of her armies ; how fatal it would prove to 

 the emperor, could they but cut off his troops from their magazines, 

 interrupt their communications, and deprive them of the contribuf ions 

 and levies, which the imperial ukases required from a country entirely 

 Polish. Convinced of the importance of such a diversion the Lithb inian 

 patriots did not consider the danger or their numerical inferiority. 



They first appealed to the most influential persons of the province, 

 but finding that time was lost in hesitation, and sure, moreover, of the 

 spirit of the country and of the active co-operation of her population, 

 exasperated to the highest degree by Russian oppression, they resolved 

 to give to Lithuania a great and patriotic example. 



