it was during his whole life a matter of
regret to him, that he "had lost the golden season of his youth, and
wasted the labour of sleepless nights on irksome trifles."
Notwithstanding this learned education, the author of the Letters on
Poland finds between him and Burns a kind of analogy. Kniaznin's
principal fame rests on a ludicrous heroic called the 'Balloon.' He
spent a part of his life at Pulawy, the estate of prince Czartoryski,
under the patronage of this nobleman; and is said to have become, like
Tasso, the victim of a passion for one of his lady patronesses.

The following are further regarded among their countrymen as poets of
the first rank, viz. Niemcewicz, Brodzinski, bishop Woronicz, and
Mickiewicz. Julius Niemcewicz is also known by his political fortunes
and influence, and is equally esteemed as an historian and for his
poetical talents. The eloquence which he exhibited in the diet of
1788-92, as the _nuntius_ or deputy of Lithuania, laid the foundation
of his fame. When his country was lost, after having fought at the
side of Kosciuszko and shared his fate as a prisoner, he accompanied
this great man to America, where he associated with Washington, whose
life he has since described. His eulogy on Kosciuszko is considered as
a masterpiece. His principal works are his historical songs, his
dramas, and his "Reign of Sigismund III." Whatever he writes evinces
more than common talents; as to which his friends only deplore that he
has scattered them so much, or, according to the expression of the
author of the Letters on Poland, that "his genius was too eager in
embracing at once so much within its potent grasp; and thus, instead
of concentrating his powers, lessened their brilliant beams, by
diffusing them over too wide a horizon." [58]

John Woronicz, bishop of Cracow, and afterwards of Warsaw, whom we
have named above as one of the most eloquent preachers, is equally
celebrated as a poet. His productions all have a character of dignity
and loftiness; and, with the exception of some religious hymns, are
devoted to the historical fame of his country. His "Sybil," in which
he conjures up in succession the ancient Polish kings from their
graves to behold the cruel state of their once triumphant country, and
the "Lechiade," an epic, which Schaffarik considers as the best Polish
production of this species, are his principal works. The inclination
of the Polish poets to celebrate and exalt their own country an