The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-24 00:00:00

DEATH OF COUNT SIGISMUND

KRASINSKL

On the 23d inst. died in Paris Count Sigismund
Krasinski, a Polish noble, hero, and poet. He was
related to the royal house of Saxony and Piedmont,
and his godfather was the Emperor Napoleon, who
appointed him on the day of his birth aide-de-camp
to the King of Rome. The Confederation of Bar,
the last of Polish national governments, at a time
when Poland was battling with its three invaders,
was presided over by two Krasinskis ; one of them
'a marshal, the other Bishop of Kamienic. General
Count Krasinski, the father of Sigismund, was
Commandant of the Light Horse Cavalry under
Napoleon. It was he that, after the death of Poni-
atowski, brought back to his country the heroic
remains of the Polish Legions. Count Sigismund's
was an agitated and sorrowful existence. The
sufferings of that ardent soul, consumed by the fire
of the purest patriotism, were indescribably bitter.
A great nobleman, a great poet, and one of the
richest men in Europe, he might have aimed at the
highest destinies, yet he voluntarily resigned him-
self to an obscure and passive life. The most bril-
liant offers were made to him from the highest
quarters. Once the Emperor Nicholas desired to
see him. "Be with me," said the Czar, " and I
will grant you anything you may ask." But Count
Sigismund could not bear to witness the subjection
of his country. He went abroad, and sent forth
from the depths of his voluntary exile snatches of
glorious verse, which he never acknowledged. The
Poles sang these inspired hymns without knowing
their author. When there appeared in rapid
succession the Infernal Comedy," " Tridion,"
the " Psalms," and the " Temptation," an allu-
sion to. the offers made to the poet by the
Czar, Sclavonians read and wondered, and asked
who could be this unknown genius whose
verses found an echo in every Polish heart, and
whose name remained a mystery. Some intimate
friends of Sigismund at length 'suspected him of
being the anonymous poet, who took more pains to
conceal himself than others do to make themselves
known ; but nothing could induce him to break his
incognito. He had left the world, and a wide
reputation had no attractions for him. We may
imagine what deep sorrows must have crossed. that
noble heart and mind before it was reduced to this
state of self-imposed obscurity, which would even
stand in the way of its own fame. In his poems
we see the reflex of his passionate soul, so deeply
wounded, yet so sensitive and so: ardently devoted
to the honour of his name and the nationality of
his country. They are the expression, in the
noblest language, of the purest sentiments. His
motto, that " Virtue is the highest wisdom," is also
the leading sentiment of all his poems. War was
the theme of Mickiewicz—philanthropy that of
Sigismund Krasinski. Both have died in exile.
The Nord newspaper, which is always purposely
wrong on certain questions, has insinuated that the
elite of Polish society which assisted at the obse-
quies of Count Sigismund, had assembled mainly
to honour the son of a celebrated man who pointed
out, at the cost of some passing unpopularity, the
true road.upon which Poles can improve and in-
crease their nationality. This awkward sentence
contains a false and treacherous idea. What the
Poles have wished to honour in piously follow-
ingSigisimund Kra-
sinski_them remainsan of
,thee patriot—the incar-
nation of genius, of duty, and of sacrifiee.—Daily
thise the mortal
poet,
News.