unt
of Kosciusko, or Freneau's of Washington, but will content ourselves
with referring the reader to better European sources of knowledge, as
the _Breslau Zeitung_, _Ost Deutsche Zeitung_, _Czas_, _Wiek_, _La
Pologne_, etc.

Indeed, it would not be worth our while to pay any attention to M.
Fouquet's allegations, had not the Paris letter of April 4th appeared in
the above-mentioned paper, and were it not likely to mislead many
ignorant of the facts.

The writer tells us that he has 'experienced a great temptation to tell
what he has seen,' and to 'expose the result of experience acquired at
his own cost, with all attendant risk and danger.' Probably we do not
understand the fear of the author of 'Tardy Truths,' and wish to give no
extended explanation to his conclusion: 'A rare opportunity occurs at
_present_, and he profits by it.' We have been taught that we must
always have courage to speak the truth. Surely no great amount of that
noble quality is required to make accusations in a paper far from the
scene of action, and pronounce a verdict where there can be no adequate
defence, no judges, only the advantage of the fashion of the day, and
the craving for problematical benefits and friendship, to which we must
apply Moore's comparison:

'Like Dead Sea fruits, that tempt the eye,
But turn to ashes on the lips.'

Let us never be deceived: a free nation in the embrace of absolutism
must, sooner or later, fall a prey to the cajoler's hypocrisy and greed.

The correspondent reports that the Polish Committee in Paris declined to
give him information or furnish means, and even said that they did not
wish volunteers. All this may readily be explained by the consideration
that a man who thereafter proved to be so bitter an enemy was not
sufficiently diplomatic to deceive even the obtuse perceptions of so
undeserving a body as the author describes said committee. On the other
hand, it would have been more prudent for the writer to have said less
on this topic, as such hesitation in accepting his services might induce
the reader to think that the Poles were not so anxious for external aid
as he seemed to fancy. We also know that not only at present in Poland,
but in former ages, and in our own days, in the happiest of countries,
there can be no revolution, no war, which will not attract a host of men
covetous of rank or fortune. Lately, in Poland, by certain judicious
arrangements, this calamity has been prevented,