Kosciuszko: A Lithuanian

...and following the spirit of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, one of whose admirable works is the Civics Catechism for the incoming foreigner, which is of such a high order of excellence and so impartial and detached in its state- meats that it has been adopted by several non-Catholic religious organizations in their welfare work...

...He decided in favor of the latter, and in August, I78O, proceeded to join the command of General Green under whom he served with distinction until the end of the war...

...General Cocke resigned the administratorship be-cause of the difficulty which he feared would arise from the fact that the testator's purpose was contrary to the laws of Virginia...

...Them is but one thing that unquiets my soul and disturbs my happiness...

...Kosciuszko was in Paris when he determined to come to America...

...When the independence of Poland and Lithuania was threatened, Kosciuszko was ready to offer himself in their defense...

...Jefferson then had appointed as December 29, 1926 T H E C O M M O N W E A L 209 administrator, Benjamin L. Lear, of Washington, evi- dently an attorney, to whom he sent a statement of Kosciuszko's estate in this country, amounting to $I7,- o99...

...He wrote: "It would afford consolation to those who, having known Kosciuszko personally, deplore the loss of a great and good mannthe friend of liberty...

...His Eminence Cardinal Hayes, who honored the meeting with his presence, was attending what has been the direct outgrowth of his singular zeal for the relief of the poor and unfortunate...

...These are so complicated that no clear evidence as to the purpose to which the proceeds of Kosciuszko's estate were devoted can be obtained from them...

...Kosciuszko (or Kostiuszko---from the Greek, Con- stantine) was born in the village of Mereczowszczyzna in the District of Slonimas (Slonim) in Lithuania, on February 12, 1746...

...Hav-ing participated in the struggle waged by America for her independence, he deplored the fact that after the Americans had attained their own independence the Negro slaves should still be kept in bondage...

...If the will should be defeated on such ground, the funds would probably be subject to a law Of Maryland which provides that all funds remaining in the hands of executors or administra- tors and which cannot be appropriated legally to any other purpose, shall go . . for the support of schools...

...December 2% 1926 THE COMMONWEAL 207 KOSCIUSZKO: A LITHUANIAN By JOSEPH B. KONCEVICIUS I T IS no exaggeration to say that Thaddeus Kos-ciuszko was one of the greatest lovers of liberty of his time...

...WHITHER THE CHILD...

...When he re-turned to the United States the second time (I787) he was more than ever impressed with a sense of the sad condition of the Negroes bondsmen in a free countrynand while no opportunity was given him to fight for their freedom, he did all that was in his power to bring about their emancipation...

...In addition to this expression of the country's appreciation, Kosciuszko had conferred upon him the honor of membership in the order of the Cincinnati...

...Least of all things could I have omitted any researches within my power which might do justice to the memory of General Kosciuszko, the brave auxiliary of my country in its struggle for liberty, and, from the year I797, when our particular acquaintance began, my most intimate and much beloved friend...

...William Wirt, a mutual friend, Jefferson says : This [the will] is to be executed wholly in this state and will occupy so long a course of time beyond what I can expect to live that I think to propose to place it under the Court of Chancery...

...I am a Lithuanian born, and not many years of life remain to me, yet the curtain of the future hides from me the destiny of my native land and mother country...

...He came to America with the single purpose of helping to attain the freedom of this na-tion...

...The National Council of Catholic Women has as-sumed as its foremost task the training of good Amer- ican citizens, fashioning them largely from the immi- grants and their children...

...Barnes, a friend and business agent of Jefferson wrote him, asking that he send to M. Jullien, a French writer, such facts as were in his knowledge of Kosciuszko's life in America...

...Jefferson was deeply moved on receiving news of Kosciuszko's death which occurred on October I5, I817...

...Whom should I de- fend, if not you and myself...

...The instrument ran thus: Know all men by these presents that I, Thaddeus Koseiuszko, formerly an officer of the United States of America, and a native of Lithuania in Poland, at present residing at Paris, do hereby will and direct that at my decease the sum of $3,7o4 currency of the aforesaid United States shall of right be possessed by and delivered over to the full enjoyment and use of Koseiuszko Armstrong, the son of General John Armstrong...

...Even in this crisis, however, his love of Lithuania rose para-mount...

...The tr The wind is a tender lover, Young trees quiver under its touch...

...Washington was not over-eager to ac-cept foreign officers who were ill-acquainted with the English language, and his reply to Kosciuszko was: "What can I do with you...

...From all available documents, including a will made by him in Paris (in which he makes the direct state-ment) it appears conclusively that not alone was Kosciuszko a Lithuani-an by birth, but that he was throughout his whole life a Lithuanian patriot...

...Kosciuszko was sincere in his love of liberty...

...An evidence of this is to be found in the follow- ing letter written to Czar Alexander I in 1815: 2o8 THE COMMONWEAL December 29, I926 Your Majesty: Count Czartoryski has recounted to me all the benefits which you are preparing for the Polish nation...

...Again, writing to Mr...

...His successor, the time of whose appointment is not clear from the records, was Louis Johnson, who submitted a final accounting in t853, showing a balance of $5,6oI...

...If it will do in our Court of Chancery at Staunton I might perhaps be able to go that far, but nowhere more distant...

...While in Paris, Kosciuszko executed another will-- or more correctly, perhaps, a codicil to the first--in which he made a bequest to the son of his friend, General John Armstrong...

...To whom should I show gratitude, if not to you...

...The wind is a terrible lover, Old trees remember much...

...and for the spiritual education of the children, especially the children of the foreign-born, and of those children in the public schools whose intellectual training is practically severed from religion...

...But the country...

...He came of an old and noble Lithuanian family...

...His studies were made, first in a Jesuit school in Lithuania, and later in a military academy in Warsaw, where he so distinguished him- self as a student that he was sent to continue his train- ing in Germany, Italy, and France...

...Kosciuszko was indeed a man of great heart and noble character, whose memory is dear, not only to his own countrymen of Lithuania, but dear, as Jefferson said, "to the people of the United States...

...Try me," was the characteristic answer of the Lithuanian, and he was forthwith commissioned a colonel in the Revolutionary army and detailed for service under'General Gates...

...BORGHILD LUNDBERG LEE...

...The place of probate generally follows the residence of the testator...

...and in this era, and in the United States especially, she is dealing with problems of citizenship foreshadowed, indeed, in other commonweals and centuries, but never on such a scale or with such world-wide implications...

...The entire matter was ultimately transferred to the Orphans' Court in the District of Columbia, and the records are now preserved in the clerk's office at the Supreme Court of the district...

...God knows I have none with whom to speak, yet perhaps that is good, for I have never conversed with oxen...

...To what purpose the courts decided to devote all the funds of Kosciuszko's estate, or into whose hands the money finally found its way, it is difficult to de-termine...

...We do know, however, that in I826 a school for Negroes, known as the Kosciuszko School, was established in Newark, New Jersey, at an initial cost of $13000...

...In another letter to Mr...

...I will not describe it except to say that it is nice and should be predestined for honest and prudent managers, Lithuanians, but not for these abominable and careless people...

...The reports of the county directors at this meeting wthere are seven counties in the diocese, besides the three which cover .New York City--bear witness to the widening Catholic interest here and in the rural districts in the study clubs for the better education of the laity in Church history and doctrine...

...His final accounting, on December 7, 1838, showed the fund to have in-creased to $45,575...

...By ANNA McCLURE SHOLL T HE Church's task of training humanity for celes- tial citizenship has always had an intimate bearing --since human nature is not constructed in bulkheads --on the adaptation of men to the social life of their day, to their commercial development and international understanding and good will...

...I do not mean to accept the ex- ecutorship, because the trust will take a longer course of time than I have left of life, but I have engaged General Cocke to do it...

...The importance of this work is obvious, particularly in its bearing on the relations of Protestants and Catholics in the rural districts, where religious tolera...

...The high opinion en-tertained of him by both Jefferson and Washington may be gathered from certain of their letters in which they give him high praise...

...There he obtained from Benjamin Franklin a letter of introduction to Washington, and on his arrival in 1776 he immediately presented him- self to the commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary forces and volunteered his services in the cause of in- dependence...

...Referring to it in a letter, he said: "I will not trouble you with vain condolences and regrets on the death of our mutual friend, General Kosciuszko . . . which we both lament...

...It is apparent from Jefferson's letters that he was genuinely anxious to see the purpose of Kosciuszko's will realized, but that he was conscious of the impedi- ment which his own age would offer to the faithful execution of the trust at his hands...

...Kosciuszko...

...On his return, he was commissioned a captain of artillery, but it was not till he came back from the United States that he saw active service in Europe...

...His appointment to serve in Polish territory occasioned him keen regret, evidence of which we lind in a letter written by him to General Niesialowski from Wloclawk (Poland) on March 7, 179 ~ He wrote: I beseech you by all that is dearest to you in life (your wife and children) to remove me from so unpleasant and expensive a place, one which has nothing to recommend it...

...In a long letter to Jefferson, Lear wrote : I shall place the funds far enough out of my own reach to avoid the embarrassment above mentioned, and what is scarcely less dangerous, in these peculiar days of im- moral influences, the temptation which no one ought to encounter unnecessarily, since we have seen how many strong men have yielded...

...The years of strenuous warfare through which Kosciuszko passed in his struggles for the freedom of America, Lithuania, and Poland left undimmed his passion for the independence and liberty of his native land...

...What am I if not a Lithuan- ian, one of your chosen countrymen...

...Arriving daily at the port, they must be guided and protected until they have found their parish home, and have learned to clothe their ancient traditions in new American forms without loss of faith or of religious fervor...

...Wirt, he wrote: I wish to prove it [the will] in our own district court, if that will do, because I could attend and give the proof personally...

...So successfully did he carry out the important work of establishing fortifica- tions near Saratoga that his commanding officer ascribed to his efforts much of the credit for the vic- tory in that engagement--a victory that was one of the most notable in the whole course of the war for independence...

...dear to Poland, and to every other nation where the highest type of gentleman and friend of liberty is revered...

...Perhaps you will renounce me, realizing that I am unable to serve you...

...for the protection of the immigrant...

...His-torical justice demands that it be shown Kosciuszko was not a Pole, as has been generally claimed, but a Lithuanian...

...Washington, sensible of Kosciuszko's heroic efforts in the face of most adverse conditions, gave him his choice of remaining at West Point or undertaking duties in the South...

...In 1779, Washington sent him to West Point where he started the work of establishing the military academy...

...and in having them in- structed for their new condition in the duties of morality, which may make them good neighbors, good fathers or moders [mothers] husbands or wives, and in their duties as citizens, teaching them to be defenders of their liberty and country, and in whatsoever may make them happy and useful, and I make the said Thomas Jefferson my executor of this trust.--T...

...Upon their proper introduction to their coun- try depends much of the civic and national soundness of their social and political future...

...He became one of Jefferson's closest friends and Washington's adjutant...

...If my petition does not meet with your favor, and if you do not bring the ques- tion of my return before the Sejm [Parliament] God knows what evll may befall me, for it angers me to be from Lithuania and serving in Poland [Koronie] and be- sides, have you not three generals ? When some force has rendered you powerless, then you will awake and take care of yourself...

...On November 3o, I817, Mr...

...Among the units of the National Council, the New York Archdiocese has peculiar problems to deal with upon whose successful solution may depend much of the city's future strength and prosperity...

...Though a foreigner, his sincerity of purpose, his self-sacrificing endeavors in the furtherance of the cause he so generously espoused, his vast knowledge of warfare, and his splendid endurance made him one of the outstanding leaders in the great struggle for inde- pendence...

...To judge from his correspondence with Washington, he worked under tremendous difficulties and his duties as chief engineer in charge of the work were onerous in the extreme...

...Kosciuszko had an in-tense love of his native Lithuania, and it was this, to- gether with his admiration for the ancient liberators, Timoleon and Cornelius Nepos, who had been his heroes from earliest youth, that inspired him with the love of liberty for all nations...

...At the meet- ing of the Archdiocesan Council at the Hotel Plaza on December 6, the fact was brought sharply into prominence that in New York City the Catholic immi- grants necessarily form the pivot of welfare work...

...His services to this country were recognized by Congress in the following resolution: "Resolved that the Secretary of War transmit to Colonel Kosciuszko the brevet commission of brigadier-general, and signify to that officer that this Congress entertains a high sense of his long, faithful and meritorious service...

...The statements submitted from time to time disclose that when Lear's administration began on January x6, x 823, the estate amounted to $I7,o99...

...He had himself refused a gift of i,ooo slaves from Emperor Paul of Russia on his release from that country--sim- ply because it would have been contrary to his cher-ished principles to have accepted them...

...I do not remember any such excellent promises of Your Majesty in this respect made verbally, either to me or to my countrymen...

...The next administrator appointed was George Bumford, whose final accounting on June 7, I847, showed a balance of $47,oo...

...Jefferson's predictions that the execution of the trust would take a longer time than he had to live, were more than verified...

...Then a question may arise how far the will can be executed compatibly with the laws of Virginia and Maryland, which regard with jeal- ousy the education of that description of persons [Negroes] to the extent provided for by the will...

...Will you return me to Lithuania...

...In a letter to M. Jullien on July 23, i818, Jefferson wrote : However heavily pressed by the hand of age, and un- equal to the duties of punctual correspondence, of which my friends generally would have a right to complain, if the cause depended on myself, I am happy to find that in that with yourself there has been no ground for re-proach...

...Words fail to express my profound respect and gratitude...

...in giving them an edu- cation in trades or otherwise...

...On the oc-casion of this visit, he placed in the hands of his friend, Jefferson, as his attorney, control of all his property here, and the following will : I, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, being just on my departure from America, do hereby dedare and direct that should I make no other testamentary disposition of my property in the united States, I hereby authorize my friend T. Jefferson to employ the proceeds thereof in the purchase of young Negroes, from among his own or any others, giving them liberty in my name...

...The complexities of this side of her mission have varied, of course, with the characteristics of different ages and nations...