HOR.E POLONIC.E. ^53 



part of a spy ? No, replied the officer, he is a Scotchman, and in 

 deference to you I will explain how he fell under my suspicions j 

 perceiving him in plain clothes, of too good a texture to admit of 

 my supposing him a mere servant, I set a watch upon his actions j 

 he rambled about, questioning every one who would listen to him, 

 about the situation of this regiment and that general, and finding 

 that he spoke the German and Polish languages fluently, I could 

 not, acting in accordance with my duty, suffer him to remain at 

 large : upon his being arrested he gave a very unsatisfactory 

 account of himself, and as you, bowing to me, have only known, 

 and can only account for his conduct, since yesterday, my suspicions 

 are more than ever confirmed, and to head-quarters he must go. 

 At this instant a convicted spy was seen to be suspended from the 

 gibbet I had before observed. I was now almost frantic, and in 

 my anxiety for my friend gave vent to abusive expressions, which 

 either my bad French, or the gentlemanly feeling of the officer, 

 prevented him from noticing, but without parley the soldier 

 resumed charge of his prisoner, and marched him off. I felt 

 I had incurred a most serious responsibility, and was in a state of 

 great excitement, when an officer who hitherto had continued to 

 play at chess, and, apparently, had taken no notice of the proceed- 

 ings, except casting one or two scrutinizing glances at the party, 

 rose from his seat, and taking me by the arm, began to soothe me 

 in pure English, and assured me that if, upon his arrival at head- 

 quarters, my servant was found really innocent, he would be 

 immediately set at liberty, for so great was the clemency of the 

 commander-in-chief, that those who really deserved death went 

 unpunished, and the proofs must be extremely strong before any 

 one suffered as a spy. After talking me into a more composed 

 state of mind, he advised me to proceed to head-quarters, and 

 concluded by offering me the use of his horse, and servant, also 

 mounted. I must here digress to express the gratitude I feel to 

 Prince Sapieha for having so seasonably interposed and brought 

 me to reason. Of his subsequent fate I am ignorant j but I hope 

 and trust he has escaped the merciless fangs of the Russians, and 

 is in the enjoyment of European liberty. Should these pages by 

 any chance meet his eye, may 1 beg his acceptance of this, the only 

 acknowledgment I can make for his kindness that evening, which 

 will never be effaced from my memory. I cannot here refrain 

 from recording an anecdote I afterwards heard related of this 

 nobleman. Prince Sapieha, the possessor of extensive estates in 

 Poland, whilst on a visit to England a few years before the 

 present war, won the affections of a young English heiress, who 

 died soon after her marriage, leaving a number of relations, 

 to whom he voluntarily, and most generously, resigned the whole 

 or major part of his late wife's fortune. The Prince subsequently 

 returned to live upon his patrimonial estates, and was one of the 

 first to draw his sword in his country's cause. Mounted upon the 

 Prince's horse, I was not long in reaching Bulimow, and within a 

 hundred yards of the generahssirao's tent, I met Thompson, in 



