Brookes’ Universal Gazetteer, page 604
Click on the image to view a larger, bitmap (.bmp) image suitable for printing.

HOME PAGE ... REFERENCE PAGE ... THIS GAZETTEER’S PAGE



Click on the image above for a larger, bitmap image suitable for printing.


St. last roused the spirit of the nation. General
Kosciusko appeared, in 1794, at the head of a
Polish army, to assert the independence of his
country, and to recover the provinces wrested
from it. He was successful at first, against the
king of Prussia ; but was at length overpowered
by numbers; the country was in different parts
desolated, the houses burnt, and the inhabitants
massacred in crowds. The brave Kosciusko was
taken prisoner, and sent with a number of other
patriots into confinement at Petersburgh, for hav-
ing dared to defend his native country against
foreign aggression. The king formerly resigned
his crown at Grodno, in 1795, and was afterwards
removed to Petersburgh, where he remained a
state prisoner, till his death, in 1798. The whole
of the country was divided among the three par-
titioning powers. Austria had Little Poland, and
the greatest part of Red Russia and Podolia,
which is now called the kingdom of Galicia ;
Prussia had Great Poland, Polish Prussia, a
small part of Lithuania, and Polachia ; and Rus
sia had Samogitia, the remainder of Lithuania,
Volhinia, and Podolia. In the war with Prussia,
in 1806, the French penetrated into Poland, and
proclaimed their desire to restore its ancient inde-
pendence, when, treaties of peace having been
adjusted with Russia and Prussia, the project
was for the most part abandoned. By the peace
of Tilsit, the king of Prussia renounced the pos-
session of the greater part of his Polish provinces,
when they were erected into the dukedom of
Warsaw, in favor of the king of Saxony. In
1809 Austria was compelled to cede part of Gal-
icia to Russia, and a further portion to the new
states. But on the retreat of the French army
out of Poland, in 1813, the Russians took posses-
sion of the duchy of Warsaw, and the congress of
Vienna not only confirmed to' that power all the
polish and Lithuanian provinces acquired before
1795, but added the sovereignty of the central
provinces, which form the present kingdom of
Poland.

The towns of Poland are for the most part
built with wood ; and the villages consist of

mean cottages, or huts. The country is so fer-
tile in corn, in many places, that it supplies Swe-
den and Holland with large quantities, and it has
extensive pastures. Peat, ochre, chalk, belemni
tes, agate, chalcedony, cornelians, onyxes, jasper,
rock crystals, amethysts, garnets, topazes, sapphi-
res, and even rubies and diamonds are found in
Poland; also talc, spar, lapis calaminaris, coal,
iron, lead, and quicksilver. Here is much leath-
er, fur, hemp, flax, saltpetre, alum, manna, hon
ey, and wax; and there are mines of salt, of a
great depth, out of which is dug rocksalt. Hor-
ses are numerous, very strong, swift, and beau
tiful ; and horned cattle are bred in immense
numbers.

Poland, the central portion of the preceding
country, erected into a separate state in 1815. It
comprises the chief part of that which, from 1807
to 1813, formed the duchy of Warsaw, and is
bounded by the respective acquisitions of Russia,
Austria, and Prussia. The form of the territory
is a square of 200 m; in the middle stands the
capital, Warsaw; but there is also a detached
tract extending N. E. towards Lithuania. Its
area is 47,000 square rr!0 and its population 3,472
500. It is subject to the same sovereign as Rus-
sia, but is governed in every respect as a separate
monarchy, the czar being represented by a vice-
roy. The prevailing religion is the Catholic, but
Protestants are numerous, as are also the Jews.

This remnant of the great republic of Poland
has rendered itself noted for the desperate attempt
which it made in 1830 and 1831 to throw off the
Russian yoke. The Polish constitution granted
in 1815 by the Emperor Alexander, had been re-
peatedly violated, and many causes of animosity
between the Poles and their oppressors tended
to embitter their servitude. The Grand Duke
Constantine, commander in chief ofthe army, out
raged the feelings of the nation by his insulting
demeanor towards the soldiery. At length inspired
by the recent example of the French and Belgians
the Poles rose in insurrection at Warsaw on the
29th of November 1830 ; the revolt immediately
spread throughout the kingdom and extended in-
to Lithuania and other parts of ancient Poland.
An obstinate and sanguinary war commenced,
and the Poles animated by the greatness of the
object for which tney were contending, and hop-
ing for aid from the powers of western Europe, ob
tained some advantages in the outset which seem
ed to promise a successful result to their heroic
efforts. But none of the European powers stirred
in their behalf; the Russians poured in fresh ar-
mies, and Poland overpowered by numbers, was
forced to submit in the autumn of 1831. This un-
fortunate country now groans under a heavier ty-
rany than before. To the Russian armies that
crushed the revolution, Europe owes the further
infliction of'the pestilential cholera. This disor-
der was introduced by them from Asia into Po-
land during the campaign of 1831, and spread
over a great part of Europe.

Poleron. See Pooloroon.

Poland, ph. Trumbull Co. Ohio. Pop, 1,173.

Polesia, a name commonly given to the palatin-
ate of Brzese, in Lithuania.

Pol, St., a town of France, department of Pas
de Calais, noted for its mineral waters. 16 m. N
W. of Arras.

Policandro, an island in the Grecian Archipe-
lago, one of the Cyclades,’20 m. in circumference.
Here are a few villages, a castle, and a harbour;
but it consists, in general, of barren rocks and
mountains. It lies between Milo and Paros.
Long. 25. 31. E., lat. 36. 32. N.

Policastro, a town of Naples, in Principato Cit-
ra, seated on a gulf of the same name; in the med-
iterranean, 85 m. S. E. of Naples. Lon. 15. 40

E., lat. 40. 15. N.

Polignano, a town of Naples, in Terra di Bari,
seated on
a craggy rock, near the gulf of Venice,
16 m. E of Bari.


Public domain image from GedcomIndex.com

Brookes' Universal Gazetteer of the World (1850)


PREVIOUS PAGE ... NEXT PAGE

This page was written in HTML using a program
written in Python 3.2