prize ; a gallant exploit, arid which merits a particular de»
. fcription.. Thè perfon ivhri. ìhèw'ed us the pàlà'c'e v£as him-
felf prefent^when the Polilh troops iffioed from a ftibterrane-
ous paìfage, and furprized the Ruffian garrifòn, ctìrififting ó f
87 troops. About four in thè morning à party Of 76 confederates,
all o f whom were Poles, led by a lieutenant *,
whofe name was Bytranowiki, entered the palace through a
common fewer,, without being difcòvered, and repairing
to the main-guard intently fell upon the Ruffians : the
latter were fo confounded with the fuddenttefs of the-
aifault, that they all yielded themfelves prifOners ffithóut
the leaft reliftance, and the Poles became mailers o f the citadel.
Two or three Ruffians were killed at the firft onfet,.
and the remainder were confined in a dungeon. One fòldiér
however found means to efcape by climbing the wàll of the
citadel, and alarmed the Ruffian fóldiers within thè town ;
thefe without delay attacked the caftte, but, receiving a warm
fire from the confederates,, they imagined the enemy to be
more numerous.than they really were, and défifted from the
affault. This event happened on the i d of February, 1772",
The fame evening Monfieur de Choify, in the fervice of, the.
confederates of Landikron, being made acquainted with the
fuccefs. of the enterprize, advanced towards Cracow at the
* In moft o f the accounts publifljed of
this txanfa&ion, it isTaid that the confede-.
rAtes were led by a.French officer,.and; that
there wereieveral Frenchmep amon.gft them.
I have related limply the* account which I
received from the fteward o f the palace, who
repeatedly afliired-me, that there was not
one Frenchman amongft them; that they
were ledtby a Polilh lieutenant, whofe name
w a s Bytranowiki. The fteward was himfelf
jyrpfent at the tranfaiiion,. and as h&was.no.
foldier, -was not confined with the garrifon
in the dungeon : be had, therefore., every
opportunity of being informed o f ;the truth:
at the fame time it is poffible, that his par-..
tiality to his countrymen' might have'induced
him to give the ivhole honour to the Poh's«.
Monfieur Viofmenil is the. French officer,
generally mentioned as leading this enter-
priling band of confederates through the
fubterraneous pafiage.
bead.
bead of 8oo> confederates (amongft whom were 30 or 40 chap.
Frenchmen, moft of them officers), and, having defeated a . r* .
detachment of 200 Ruffians, was received into the citadel.
But the Ruffian garrifon in the town, which before confided
ef only 40 0 men, being likewife reinforced, the confederates
in the citadel underwent a regular fiege: they defended
themfelves with the moft undaunted fpirit for the fpace of
three months; and at length capitulated upon the moft honourable
terms.
I examined the fubterraneous pafiage through which the
76 confederates introduced themfelves into the palace : it is
a drain which conveys all the filth from the interior part of
the palace to a fmall opening without the walls near the Vif-
tula. They entered this fmall opening, and crawled upon
their hands and knees a confiderable way, one behind another,
until they came out through a hole in the walls of the
palace; fo that i f the Ruffians had either been apprized of
their attempt, or had over-heard them in their paffitge, not
©tie perfon could have efcaped : the danger was great, but it;
fhows what fpirit and perfeverance will effect.
Having viewed the palace, we vifited the adjoining cathedral,
which ftands within the walls of the citadel. In this-
cathedral,*, all the fovereigns, from the time of Ladifiaus
Loketec, have been interred, a few only excepted, viz. Louis,
and Ladifiaus III. who were kings of Hungary as-well as of'
Boland,, and whofe bodies were depofited in Hungary ;;
Alexander, who died and was buried at Vilna ; Henry of.
Valois, interred in France ; and the late monarch- Auguftus-
III. The laws of Poland are as exprefsi.and minute in regulating
the burial as the election andi coronation, of the.
^ Leognich, Jus Putjl*
kings ;;