The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-08-21
III.
THE NATION IN MouRNIN,

On the plains of the Warta and the Wis
lula. from the chain of the Carpathian
mountains to the shores of the Baltic sea,
there live people, very mighty, now
divided and conquered-a nation in mourn
ing. Think of it. citizens of the United
States, nation in mourning!
Those fertile plains, homes of the most
unhappy people on this earth, will, in the
case OF struggle between the Slavs and
the Teutons, be the theater of war; the
theater of war, as if the soil of Poland had
not absorbed already blood enough. Do
the two potentates. the young German
emperor and the autocrat of all the Rus
sias, remember that? Hardly; what do
they care to remember in the past. espe-
cially If in the past the greatest crime was
ommitted-murder of nation.
A country more than twice as large as
Germany is now the land of brave peo-
pie. and the people who gave Copernicus
and Brudzewski to the world, and who de-
tended Christendom against the Moslems;
the country which produced Sobieski, the
hero of Vienna, and Kosciusko, the hero
of America as well as of Poland-that
country was absorbed by the powerful
neighbors. Three vultures feasting on a
corpse of an eagle.
To murder man is q crime; to murder
nation is What? The two emperors
meet now and decide the fate of the nations.
Will they remember Poland2 Az, re-
member; but how? to oppose it still more;
to suppress the latest spark of nationality:
to make, perhaps, its plains again the bat
tle-feld, as in the years of yore; to make
the once splendid country still more un-
happy, for too unhappy Poland never can
be. She has not suffered enough as yet.
There were not enough of her children
sent to Siberia, not enough of her sons ex-
PEELED from Germany. The streams of
tears of the orphans and widows are not
broad enough yet. Will William and
Alexander remember that amidst the
festivities of royalsplendor? The so-called
greatest monarch of Prussia, Frederick,
suggested the partition of Poland, and was
eagerly listened to by a courtesan on the
throne of Russia. Verify, Frederick and
Catherine-it is good company to meet at
the gates of hades!
Bismarck, regarded by many to be the
greatest statesman of the age, expelled
thousands of the Poles from the country
which was originally their cradle The cry
of children has not softened the heart of
the man of "blood and iron." He would
make good company for Frederick and
Catherine. Is there no retribution? Who
knows?
A short time ago an imposing ceremony
took place in Cracow, the ancient capital
OF Poland. now under the rule of Austria
the only country of the three conquerors
where the Poles can be safe. The body of
the great poet Mickiewicz was brought
from Paris and entombed among the ashes
of the kings. Mickiewicz, whom even the
German critics regard to be the greatest
poet since the time of Milton, if not since
tine time of Dante Alighieri. rests now in
the company of kings, for Poland knows
how to honor her poets. The Poles from
all the parts of the world, even from Amer.
lea and Australia, fiocked to the ceremony
to prove to the world that Poland is not
lost yet VIII William and Alexander, now
discussing the fate of nations, remember
that?
If we leave Cracow and follow the river
Vistula we will reach the city of Warsaw.
the modern capital of Poland, now in the
hands of Russia. We will see on our Jour-
ney sad faces; we will hear melancholy
songs; we will listen to tales of woe.
"Order reigns in Warsaw" as Paskewitch
said, and the land is silent. Yes; it is true,
there reigns the silence of a sepulcher.
If we proceed farther to the north toward
the banks of Villa, to the city of Vilno, the
capital of Lithuania sister of Poland. we
will see that the children are prohibited to
speak their native language, that the
churches are closed, and that the people
are forced en- n,Gssc 10 adopt the orthodox
religion. Still we are living in the nine
teenth century,
But let us proceed now towards the era
die of the Polish nation, to that part which
is now under the rule of the Hohenzollerns.
In Posen, Gniezno and other cities dear to
the Poles, there is the Polish nation still
more oppressed than even in Russia; vet
Germany is a civilized country. On the
banks OF Warta the Teuton repeats day
after day, Here we are the lords, for
might is right" Father of Heaven and
Earth, is there no retribution? Poland
has sinned, but which nation is free from
blame? And if it has sinned, it has suf-
fered more than all the human family put
together. The two emperors discuss now
the fate of nations. Will they remember
the nation in mourning? Hardly; for
what do they care? In the case of war
between those powerful antagonists. nm
happy Poland will be the theater of war.
On its field the German and the Russi an
will meet Strange fate! Could this tate
be averted? Yes.
The monarchs of Germany and of Rus
STA discuss now the probabilities of war or
peace. Their chancellors are with them.
consequently they are not discussing any
unimportant questions. Let the monarchs
restore Poland as a neutral land between
Russia. Germany and Austria. and the
question will be settled forever in favor of
peace.
II William and Alexander would give
back but small part of that which their
ancestors have taken, how grand would
they stand in history. The figure OF the
great Bismarck himself would appear like
a pigmy beside them. To restore a nation
TO life, TO avoid bloodshed What noble
action! Can it be expected from the de-
scendants of Frederick and OF Catherine?
The German people studious, laborious,
industrious; the Russian people good
natured and intelligent, are not response
bic for the state of affairs in Poland. The
Poles do not hate them, but they hate the
governments of Russia and of GERMANY.
that is the difference Ii Poland would be
restored strong enough to have an indie
pendent development, but not strong
enough to be q menace TO Europe. then
the probability of war between Germany
and Russia would disappear. Poland, its