Vienna; but disappointed in his endeavour, and deprived of all hope of justice, he resolved to quit for ever the dominions of the house of Austria. On his return to Poland, he was attacked with a violent fever; and being received into the house of Mr. Hensky, a gentleman of distinction, he became enamoured of one of his daughters, with whom he soon after had the pleasure to be united in marriage; but it was not his fate to continue long in possession of happiness or repose.

The confederate states of Poland, a party of whom had declared themselves at Cracow, observing that the count was one of the first who had signed their union at Warsaw, wrote to him to join them; and, compelled by the strong tie of the oath he had taken, he departed without informing his wife, and arrived at Cracow the very day count Panin made the assault.

He was received with open arms by marshal Czarnesky, and immediately appointed colonel-general. On the 6th of July, 1768, he was detached to Navitaig, to conduct a Polish regiment to Cracow, and he not only brought the whole regiment, composed of six hundred men, through the camp of the enemy before the town, but soon after defeated a body of Russians at Kremenka; reduced Landscroen, which prince Lubomirsky, who had joined the confederacy with 2,000 regular troops, had attempted in vain; and, by his great gallantry and address, contrived the means of introducing suppliesinto Cracow when besieged by the Russians; but the count having lost about 1,600 men, was obliged to make a precipitate retreat; and being pursued by the Russians, he had the misfortune to have his horse killed under him, and fell at last, after receiving two wounds, into the hand of the enemy. Apraxin, the Russian general, being informed of the successful manœuvre of the count, was impressed with a very high opinion of him, and proposed to him to enter the Russian service; but, rejecting the overtures with disdain, he was only saved from being sent to Kiovia with the other prisoners, by the interposition of his friends, who paid £962 for his ransom.

Thus set at liberty, and again entering the town of Cracow, he was received with great satisfaction by the whole confederacy. The town being no longer tenable, it became an object of the utmost consequence to secure another place of retreat; and the count was appointed to seize the castle of Lublau, situated on the frontier of Hungary: but after visiting the commanding officer of the castle, who was not apprehensive of the least danger, and engaging more than one half of the garrison in the interests of the confederation, an inferior officer, who was dispatched to assist him, indiscreetly divulged the design; and the count was seized, and carried into the fortress of Georgenburgh, and sent from thence to general Apraxin. On his way he was rescued by a party of confederates, and returned to Lublin, where the rest of the confederation of Cracow had appointed to meet, from which time he performed a variety of gallant actions, and underwent great vicissitudes.

On the 10th of May, the Russian colonel, judging that the count was marching towards Styr to join the confederate parties at Sauok, hastened his march, and arrived there half a day before the count, whose forces were weakened by fatigue and hunger. In this state he was attacked about noon by colonel Brincken, at the head of 4,000 men. The count was at first compelled to give way; but on the arrival of his cannon, he, in his turn, forced the colonel to retire, who at last quitted the field, after sustaining considerable loss, and retreated to Stry, The advantage of the victory served only to augment the misery of the count, who in this single action had 300 hundred wounded, and 268 slain, and who had no other prospect before him than

either to perish by hunger in the forest, or to expose himself to be cut to pieces by the enemy. On the morning of the twentieth, the count, by the advice of his officers, resumed his march, and on arriving at Szuka, being obliged to halt for refreshment, he was surprised by a party of Cossacks. In the heat of the engagement, the count having received two wounds with a sabre, was wounded by the shot of a cannon loaded with old iron and other destrucrive rubbish. His fate decided that of his party; and the Russians had at last the satisfaction of seeing him their prisoner. The count was sent to the commander-in-chief of the Russian armies, then encamped at Tampool, a man equally cruel and base, who, contrary to every sentiment of humanity, not only forbade the surgeons to dress his wounds, but, after reducing him to bread and water, loaded him with chains, and in that state transported him to Kiow. On his arrival at Polene, his neglected wounds had so far endangered his life, that his conductor was induced to apply to colonel Sirkow, and he was sent to the hospital, where he was cured of his wounds. Upon the arrival, however, of brigadier Banna, who relieved colonel Sirkow in his command, and who had a strong prejudice against the count, he was loaded with chains, and conducted to the dungeon with the rest of the prisoners, to whom the inhuman tyrant allowed no other subsistence than bread and water. Upon his entrance he recognized several officers and soldiers who had served under him; and their demonstrations of esteem and friendship was the only consolation he received in this distressed situation. Twenty-two days were thus consumed in a subterraneous prison, together with eighty of his companions, without light, and even without air, except what was admitted through an aperture which communicated with the casements. At length there was such a horrid infection produced among these unfortunate wretches, that thirty-five of them died in eighteen or twenty days; and such was the inhumanity of the commander, that he suffered the dead to remain and putrify among the living. On the sixteenth of July the prison was opened, and 148 prisoners, who had survived out of 782, were driven, under every species of cruelty, from Polene to Kiow, where the strength of the count's constitution, which had hitherto enabled him to resist such an accumulation of hardships and fatigue, at length gave way, and he was attacked with a malignant fever, which produced a delirium. The governor being informed of his quality, ordered that he should be separately lodged, and allowed two rubles a-day for his subsistence. This treatment soon put the count in a fair way of recovery; but at this crisis, an order arrived from Petersburgh, to send all the prisoners to Cazan. The count, from the fatigues of the journey, experienced a relapse, and the officer was obliged to leave him at Nizym. Here Mr. Lewner, a German merchant, interested himself in favour of the count, procured him comfortable accommodations, superintended the restoration of his health, and on his departure, made him a present of 200 roubles, which he placed for safety in the hands of the officer, but who had afterwards the effrontery to deny that he had received the money; and carried his malice so far, that he accused the count of attempting to raise a revolt among the prisoners; and caused him to be loaded with chains, and committed to the prison at Cazan, from which he was not delivered but at the pressing instances of marshal Potockzy. On his deliverance from prison, he was lodged at the house of a goldsmith named Vendischow; and being invited to dine with a man of quality, he was solicited, and joined in a confederacy against the government. But on the sixth of November, 1760, a quarrel happening between two Russian lords, one of them informed the governor, that the

prisoners, in consert with the Tartars, meditated a design against his person and the garrison. The apostate lord accused the count, in order to save his countrymen; and on the seventh, at eleven o'clock at night, the count, not suspecting any such event, heard a knocking at the door. He came down, entirely undressed, with a candle in his hand, to enquire the cause; and upon opening the door, was surprised to see an officer with twenty soldiers, who demanded if the prisoner was within. On his replying in the affirmative, the officer snatched the candle out of his hand, and ordering his men to follow him, went hastily up to the count's apartment. The count immediately took advantage of this mistake, quitted his house, and after apprising some of the confederates that their plot was discovered, he made his escape to Petersburgh, and engaged with a Dutch captain to take him to Holland. The captain, however, betrayed him to some Russian soldiers, who seized him, knocked him down, and carried him to count Cseeserin, general of the police. He was now conveyed to the fort of St. Peter and St. Paul, confined in a subterraneous dungeon, and after a day's fast was presented with a morsel of bread and a pitcher of water; he at length, in hopes of procuring his discharge, was induced to sign a paper, promising for ever to quit the dominions of her Imperial majesty, and obliging himself, upon pain of death, not to enter them again under any pretext whatever.

The count, having signed the engagement, instead of being set at liberty, was reconducted to his prison, and there confined till the fourth of December, 1769, when, about two hours after midnight, an officer with some soldiers came to him; and giving orders that they should take off his chains, and clothe him in a sheep-skin garment, he was conducted into the court of the prison, thrown upon a sledge to which two horses were harnessed, and immediately driven away with the greatest swiftness. The darkness of the night prevented the count from discerning the objects around him; but the continual noise of bells, which resounded from a variety of places, induced him to suppose that he was followed by several sledges, constructed for the purpose of passing the frozen plains over which he was now destined to go an exile. On the approach of daylight, he perceived that major Wynblath, Vassili Panow, and several other distinguished prisoners, were the companions of his misfortunes; and after suffering, from the unexampled brutality of their conductor, a series of hardships equally difficult and painful to relate, they at length arrived at Kamschatka.

Our exiles now began to settle the places of their habitations, built miserable huts to shelter themselves from the inclemency of the weather, and formed themselves into a congress; and after choosing the count de Benyowsky for their chief or captain, in order to rivet their union, they swore, with great solemnity mutual friendship and eternal fidelity.

Among the number of unhappy wretches who had long groaned under the miseries of banishment, was a Mr. Crustiew, who had acquired considerable ascendancy over his fellow-sufferers; and to obtain the particular confidence and esteem of this man, was the first object of the count's attention; in which, with the talent he so singularly possessed of agitating and impelling the minds of others, it is almost unnecessary to say, that he soon succeeded. The pains and perils incident to the situation of those men, were borne in murmuring sufferance for some time, until the accidental finding an old copy of Anson's Voyage, inspired them with an idea of making an escape from Kamschatka to the Marian islands; and they accordingly formed a confederacy for that purpose.

While these transactions were secretly passing, the fame of count Benyowsky's rank and abilities reached the ear of the governor; and, as he spoke several languages, he was admitted familiarly into the house of the governor. and at length appointed to superintend the education of his son and three daughters.

One day,' says the count, whilst I was exercising my office of language master, the youngest daughter, whose name was Aphanasia, about sixteen years of age, proposed many questions concerning my thoughts in my present situation, which convinced me that her father had given them some account of my birth and misfortunes. I therefore related to them all my adventures, at which my scholars appeared to be highly affected, but the youngest wept very much. She was a beautiful girl, and her sensibility created much emotion in my mind: but, alas, I was an exile!'

The merits of the count, however, soon surmounted the disadvantages of his situation in the generous mind of Miss Nilow; and the increasing intimacy and confidence which he daily gained in the family, joined to the advantages of a fine person and most insinuating address, soon converted the feeling of admiration into the flame of love; and on the seventeenth of January, 1771, Madame Nilow consented that her daughter should do the honours of an entertainment, and be publicly declared his future spouse.

The count, though he had cultivated and obtained the affections of his fair pupil, had acted more from policy than passion, and, intending to use her interest, rather as the means of effecting the escape of himself and compa nions, than as any serious object of matrimonial union, contrived to suspend the nuptials, by persuading the governor to make an excursion from Kamschatka to the neighbouring islands, under pretence of establishing a new colony. During these transactions the exiles were secretly at work; and, in order to conceal their design from all suspicion, Messrs. Crustiew and Panow were deputed to wait on the governor, to request that he would please to receive the title of protector of the new colony; upon which orders were given to prepare every thing that might be necessary for the execution of the project. At this crisis, however, an intercourse took place between one of the insurgents and the governor's servant-maid, whereby the whole plot was discovered. In consequence of this, the governor determined to put the count in irons; accordingly, he sent a corporal with four grenadiers, who stopped at the count's door, and demanded admittance in the name of the empress, and ordered the count to follow the guard to the fort. The count proposed to the corporal to enter alone and drink a glass of wine; but on his being admitted, the door was instantly shut, and four pistols clapped to his breast; by the terror of which, he was made to disclose every thing that was transacting at the fort, and at length obliged him to call the four grenadiers separately into the house, under pretence of drinking, when they were all five bound together, and deposited safely in the cellar.

This measure was, of course, the signal of resistance, and the count, marshalling his associates, who had secretly furnished themselves with arms and ammunition by the treachery of the store-keepers, issued forth from the house to oppose another detachment that had been sent by the governor to arrest him. After levelling several soldiers to the ground, the count, by the mismanagement of their commander, seized their cannon, turned them against the fort itself, and, entering by means of the draw-bridge, and despatched the twelve remaining guards who were within it.

Madam Nilow and her children,' says the count, at sight of me, im

plored my protection to save their father and husband. I immediately hastened to his apartment, and, finding him there, begged him to go to his children's room to preserve his life; but he answered, that he would first take mine, and instantly fired a pistol, which wounded me. I was desirous of preserving him, and continued to represent to him that all resistance would be useless, for which reason I begged him to retire. His wife and children threw themselves on their knees, but nothing would avail; he flew upon me, seized me by the throat, and left me no other alternative, either to give up my own life, or run my sword through his body. At this period the petrard, by which my associates attempted to make a breach, exploded, and burst the outer gate. The second was open; and I saw Mr. Panow enter at the head of a party. He entreated the governor to let me go; but not being able to prevail on him, he set me free by splitting his skull.' The count, by this event, became complete governor of Kamschatka.

The conspirators, previous to their hostilities against the governor, had secured a corvette, and their subsequent success afforded them the means of providing her with stores for their intended voyage.

On the eleventh of May, 1771, the count, attended by Mr. Crustiew, as second, by sixteen of his fellow-captives as quarter-guards, and fifty-seven foremast men, together with twelve passengers and nine women, among whom was the lovely Aphanasia, disguised in sailor's apparel, went on board, and on the next day weighed anchor.

After experiencing many hardships, they arrived at the island of Formoso, where the inhabitants at first appeared inclined to treat the count with great civility; but these professions were soon found to be deceitful; for on sending his men on shore to fetch water, they were attacked by a party of Indians, many of them dangerously wounded, and Mr. Panow, the count's most faithful friend, killed. His men now insisted on going in search of the Indians, in order to make them feel their vengeance. The count immediately complying with their desires, he went in pursuit of them, and after a short and unequal conflict, killed 1,156, took 643 prisoners, who had prostrated themselves on the ground, and set fire to the town.

On the twelfth of September the count and his associates sailed from Formosa, and without any farther accident arrived at the port of Macao. At this place he was treated with great respect by the governor and principal men of the town; and captain Gore, then in the service of the English East-India company, made an offer of services to him in the name of the directors. But having accepted proposals from the French directors, the offers of captain Gore were rejected, and the count soon afterwards returned from Macao to Europe on board a French ship.

He arrived on the eighth of August, 1872, in Champagne, where the duke d'Aiguillon, the minister of France then was; and he received me,' says the count, with cordiality and distinction, and proposed to me to enter the service of his master, with the offer of a regiment of infantry; which I accepted, on condition that his majesty would employ me in forming establishments beyond the cape.' In consequence of this condition, the duke his patron proposed to him from his majesty, to form an establishment on the island of Madagascar.

To a romantic mind and adventurous spirit, such as the count possessed, a proposal like the present was irresistible; and after receiving the most positive assurances from the French ministry, that he should constantly receive from them the regular supplies necessary to promote the success of his undertaking;