nch.
The Russians had been humbled, and he, a Pole, had marched as one of a
victorious army into their capital. But secretly he wondered if the
condition of much-persecuted Poland would be better under Napoleon than
it was under Russia. His wife candidly declared that it would not be.
Napoleon had promised he would free Poland from the Russian yoke, but
she felt convinced that it would simply be to place the country under
French rule.

'And, wherefore,' she said to her husband, as we read in Watson's
_Heroic Women of History_, 'should Poland find such solitary grace in
the eyes of Europe's conquerors? Shall all the nations lie prostrate
at his feet, and Poland alone be permitted to stand by his side as an
equal? Be wise, my dear Ladoinski. You confess that the conqueror
lent but a lifeless ear to the war-cry of your country. Be timely
wise; open your eyes, and see that this cold-hearted victor--wrapped in
his own dark and selfish aims--uses the sword of the patriot Pole only,
like that of the prostrate Prussian, to hew the way to his own throne
of universal dominion.... Believe it, this proud man did not enslave
all Europe to become the liberator of Poland. Ah! trust me, that is
but poor freedom which consists only In a change of masters. O
Ladoinski! Ladoinski! give up this mad emprise; return to the bosom of
your family; and when your compatriots arise to assert their rights at
the call of their country, and not at the heartless beck of a stranger
despot, I will buckle the helmet on your brow.'

Captain Ladoinski was inclined to believe that his wife had spoken the
truth when she said that Napoleon would forget the Poles, now that
Russia was crushed. Posing as a disinterested man eager to deliver the
Poles from the hands of their oppressor, Napoleon had gathered round
him a band of brave men, who fought with the determination of men
fighting for their homes and liberty. They had served his purpose, and
he would reward them, not with the freedom he had promised, but with
the intimation that they were now his subjects. It was a terrible
disappointment, but Captain Ladoinski consoled himself with the belief
that French rule would not be so hard to bear as the Russian had been.

The fire spread apace. It was a grand yet terrible scene, the like of
which, it is to be hoped, will never again be witnessed. Soon the heat
became unbearable in the quarter of the city where the Ladoinskis stood
and watched, and