184 HOR^ POLONIC^. 



a human Flora in the shape of a friend in the livery of cholera morbus — > 

 advantages of etudy which I hope he or they might have appreciated 

 more than I did. 



A transition from the War Office to the grave, and that too a quick 

 one, was the fate of many a brave Pole. To the chance of being carried 

 off by this scourge, may be added the catalogue of the annoyances we 

 experienced from the petty jealousies of our Polish medical brethren. 

 It is too painful to dwell upon, but too true it is, that human nature is 

 the same every where ; that philanthropic and munificent as we are to 

 the rest of the world, we are illiberal only to our own professional 

 brethren — humanum est errare. It is, therefore, not surprising that Dr. 

 E. and myself should prefer to face death a la militaire, with the Polish 

 patriots in the field, to the almost certainty of the mort de cMen, in com- 

 pany with the Jews of Warsaw. A dog may die two ways, the truth of 

 which was daily illustrated upon the bodies of the long lost tribe of 

 Israel, who, to a man, were in favour of the Russian party, by whom 

 they were pretty extensively employed in their system of espionage both 

 during and antecedent to the revolutionary struggle ; and scarcely a day 



Eassed over without some of the caitiffs ornamenting the gallows, their 

 aid heads, long flowing beards, and Bohemian countenances most 

 sublimely suspended a sport to the winds. In comparison with the 

 pangs suflfered by the victims of cholera, the fate of these base scoundrels 

 was enviable. 



I can never forget the excitement of my friend and constant com- 

 panion. Dr. E. (and I could fully appreciate his feelings from the state of 

 my own) when, on Sunday, the 29th of May, we beheld, for the first 

 time, the Polish army retreating after the battle of Ostralenka, approach- 

 ing towards Warsaw, on the Praga side of the Vistula, where they 

 h^ted and were joined by the City National Guard as a reinforcement in 

 case the Russian General should have thought proper to follow up his 

 advantage. On the opposite bank of the river we beheld that army on 

 the very field of battle where it so lately defeated the Russians under 

 Deibitsch, and the glorious chivalry of which was still ringing throughout 

 Europe. 



Some of the regiments we now beheld had taken part in the campaigns 

 of Buonaparte. We looked upon the national standards of ancient 

 Poland, and we thought of Leipsic and Poniatowski. Words could not 

 do justice to the expressions of enthusiasm which glowed upon the 

 countenance of my much esteemed friend. From the opposite side of the 

 Vistula we could hear the inspiring sounds of military music arousing 

 the soul to daring energy ; but more immediately surrounding us we had 

 strains which must have aflfected any one whose hearts of compassion 

 were less seared than ours, for as an evil conscience dissipates courage, 

 80 the frequent and familiar intercourse we had with death had proved 

 traitorous to the finer feelings of humanity. The frequent passage of 

 litters with wounded and mutilated soldiers, announced the bloody strife 

 which had taken place at Ostralenka, and told an eloquent and pathetic, 

 though silent tale, of the miseries of war. Surrounding each litter, as 

 they passed, was a crowd of women and decrepit old men, anxious to 

 ascertain the fate of a son, brother, or father, and, like ourselves, being 

 prohibited from passing over to the army, could scarcely suppress their 

 groans and lamentations for the anticipated loss of their relatives ; others 

 stood mute with a look of vacuity, as if the powers of volition had 

 succumbed under the awful feelings of suspense and despair. 



The two armies had met and come to an engagement at Ostralenka, 

 where the Poles, anxious to put an end to the cruelties practised upon 



