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GENERAL BEM . The late Hero of the War of Independence in Hungary , 1848 end 1849 . Joseph Bern was born in 1795 in Tarnow , a small town in Gallicia . His father was a barrister of some eminence , and a landed proprietor in the palatinate of Cracow . His son , the subject of this sketch , entered the Jagellonian University of Cracow , to study the law ; but when in 1809 the Polish army , after having defeated the Austrians ( who invaded the grand duchy of Warsaw ) , made its triumphal entry into Cracow , Bern was so overpowered by a patriotic enthusiasm that he abandoned the study of the law and , with the consent of his father , became a pupil of the school of Artillery and Military Engineering
in Warsaw , organized by General Pelletier , a Frenchman , who was then commander-in-chief of the Polish artillery and engineers . Bern , after two years' study , past a most successful examination , and was promoted to the rank of a second-class lieutenant , and as such entered a battery of horse artillery . At the opening of the French campaign , of 1812 , against Russia , Bern ' s battery was attached , first to the corps of Marshal Davoust , then to that of Macdonald . When the debris of the French army retreated and crossed the Niemen , and Rapp shut himself up in the fortress of Danzig , Bern , whose battery belonged to the besieged garrison of that fortress , so greatly distinguished himself that he was raised to the rank of first-class lieutenant , and decorated with the cross of the legion of honour .
In the year 1815 , when a portion of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was patched up by the Congress of Vienna as a kingdom of Poland , and the Grand-Duke Constantine reorganized the Polish array , of which the remnants of the army of the Grand-Duchy of Warsaw—amounting to about 8000 men , formed the basis—Bern was reappointed lieutenant in a newly-organized battery of horse artillery . The tyrannical system of the grand-duke was such that a considerable number of the most distinguished Polish officers manifested their discontent in various ways ; Bern , of course , was amongst the number ; and was , consequently , put on the inactive list . However , owing to the exertions of General Bontemps , a favourite of the grand-duke , he was , in 1819 , reinstated and
appointed professor of artillery in the so-called school of artillery for non-commissioned officers during the winter months , established at Warsaw , on the plan and under the auspices of Bontemps . About this time Bern was promoted to the rank of captain of the second class , and published a pamphlet on the manufactoring of Congreve rockets , introduced into the Polish army by General Bontemps . He dischaiged his duties as professor with the greatest talent and ability ; and in 1821 was even promoted to the rank of captain of the first class ; but his unflinching patriotism drew upon him first the suspicion , then the inexorable hatred of the grand-duke ,
who incessantly persecuted him ; so that , from 1821 to 1826 , he was three times tried by court martial , or rather by the grand-duke himself ; for the decrees were always prospectivoly dictated by him , and woe to the judges who should venture to deviate from them ! He was , consequently , twice imprisoned for vaiious terms , and lastly Kent to a . small town , where lie was placed under the surveillance of the police , and strictly prohibited from absenting himself . In 182 ( 5 , he gave in his resignation in order , at last , to bo rid of his constrained position , and repaired to Leinbe . rg , in Gallicia , where he devoted his time to literary pursuits , and composed a work on mechanics .
The Polish revolution of 18150 roused Bern from his studies to the battle-field . He hastened back to enter the ranks of the national army , whore he was entrusted with the command of the fourth buttery of horse-artillery , composed of twelve piecew of ordnance , and promoted to the rank of major . At the battle of I ^ anie ( April 8 , 1831 ) Bern showed what a single battery against seveial others is capable of doiiiif , when well commanded . For the-service he rendered in this battle he was rai . sed to the rank of lieutenant-colonel , and decorated with the ( joldfu cross of Poland , whose motto was " Virtuti milUari . " At the battle of Ostrolenku ( May 2 (> , 1 K , 'U ) he actuall y charged the Uuusiun troops with liis artillery , and hy desperate v \> lh y . s of grapeshot stopped the progress of the
enemy ' s storming columns , thus Having the main army from certain destruction and enabling it to accomplish an orderly retreat . He wan now raised to the rank of colonel , decorated with a higher class of the Polish eros . i , and invested with the command of the whole artillery . Soon after he was promoted to the rank of major-general . When Warsaw was besieged by the MiiHcovite army , Bern suggcHted in » council of war a nocturnal attack upon the whole line of the besiegern ; but . his bold hii-j ; - K « - « lion , beiiitf unsupported by the majority , was not carried out . When , after two days' storming ( September () and 7 , lH . 'H ) , the metropolis capitulated and the
Polish army crossed the Vistula , conccnti-aiing itself in the HiibuibH of l'ruga , Bern made another salutary suk-K « Htion , viz ., to destroy the bridge over the Vistula , and to rejoin the 2 ' 2 , ()()<> men of choice troops , commanded by ui « traitor Kamorino , but . that also fell to the ground . The 22 , 000 men were thus lost , nml with them the causo hIhu . TK- army now effected its retreat northwardH , via Modlin and Plook , and on the /> rli of October , IH' , 11 , enured tW « 1 ' ruHhian territory near Urodnica . Hem whh with tin ; uimy , and during hit * stay in l \ unsia made th « greatest efforts to < , bt ; ti » f , () m the l ' i ussiiiii Government permmtiion for nil the private « oldicr » to proceed to France ,
but without success ; for the Government was determined to deliver them to the Muscovites ; and in this resolution it went so far as to compel the poor fellows by force of arms to reenter the Polish territory , and thus to fall into the insatiable maw of Nicholas . Bern now proceeded to France as an exile . His main effort was to form there a Polish legion , but being unsuccessful , in his negotiations with Louis Philippe's Government , he endeavoured to encourage his exiled countrymen to enter the foreign legion in Algeria , and afterwards in a Portuguese one , which he contemplated to organize ; but , a few individuals excepted , all his fellow-exiles not only refused to comply with his wishes ( for they had . then the greatest
repugnance to enter a foreign service ) , but were so incensed against Bern , that one of them ( in Bourges ) actually fired at him , firmly believing that in so doing he was rendering a great service to his fatherland by ridding it of a man whom he and many others considered to be the instrument for dispersing the exiles , or exposing them to be killed in unjust wars . But , according to the confessions Bern afterwards made to some few of his intimate friends , his object was to have a certain number of his countrymen under arms , in order to arrange an armed expedition to Poland , and to raise the whole nation against its foreign oppressors . Whoever knew Bern's ardent love for his country , cannot but believe that he was sincere .
He now remained quiet in France , but not inactive . He published an historical and statistical work on the Polish provinces , under the title of La Pologne dans ses Anciennes Limites , 8 $ c . 1836 , Paris . He likewise published two pamphlets , containing his views on a future insurrection in Poland . After considerable opposition , he succeeded in introducing into the public institutions of Paris a system of mnemonics , invented by Mr . Jazwinski , one of his old comrades . He came over to England twice to endeavour to introduce the system here , but was not successful .
When quite a young man , he had a quarrel with a Polish captain of the corps of Veterans , the consequence of which was a duel . His adversary had the first shot , and Bern , being hit in his right thigh , fell to the ground ; whereupon the captain was about leaving the spot , when Bern cried out : " Stop , it is my turn now ! " and , supported by his second , he aimed at his adversary , and sent a bullet through his heart . In spite of the bullet remaining embedded in his thigh for a period of
thirty-one years , in spite of the most excruciating suffering , especially upon every change of the weather , he never , as we have already shown , relinquished his active pursuits . However , when his sufferings became insupportable , he submitted to an operation performed by the celebrated Dupuytren , of Paris , which was unsuccessful . Upon his second visit to England , at the beginning of 1847 , he obtained admission to the hospital of University College , and there underwent an operation under the skilful hand of the late Mr . Liston . The
operation was performed under the influence of ether , but Bern unhappily became conscious at the very moment of the greatest pain , viz ., when the bullet was being extracted , together with a scooped out piece of bone in which it was embedded . Exfoliation taking place some time after Bern had left the above hospital , he was obliged to return . At the beginning of 1818 , Bern published A Letter from a Pole to the Statesmen of Great Britain , on the present Commercial and Financial Crisis ; in which he laid bare the injury inflicted by Russia upon British commerce , pointed out both the opening for our trade which an independent Poland would afford , and the immense stores of grain now rotting in the granaries of Poland , which would secure us against any future fear of famine .
The French revolution of February , 1848 , recalled Bern to an active life . Ho first , hastened from London to Paris , and from thence ( after a stay of two months , where he vainl y endeavoured to obtain some help ) to his native country Gallicia ; but when there , perceiving that the Austrian Government , only awaited a favourable opportunity again to crush the new-bom liberty , ho repaired to Vienna , there to worm out the real intention of that Government . When ho found that that metropolis was preparing for a second outbreak , he accepted the command of the national guard , which they offered him . We know the result . Discretion does not allow us to name the noble minded person to whose skilful exertions JJein was indebted for his almost miraculous escape from certain death .
1 ' iom Vienna he proceeded to Presburg , in Hungary , where , having oilered his services , he was invested with the command of the army destined to reconquer TraiiHyl . vania . The extraordinary heroism and military skill Hem evinced during the war carried on . iu that country , which he entirel y reconquered , lias been abl y related by eye witnesses , and especiall y by General John Crelz , who fought under him , in his work entitled , Hem ' a I ' c / dzug in Sicbaubii rgrn in den Jahrtn 1818 and IHli ) ( Hem ' s Campaign in TraiiHyl vania , during the yoaitt lMH and 181 !)) , reviewed by the British duartcrl y Jlatuttw of February 1 , 1861 ; we must , therefore , owing to our limited space , refer our readers to that work or its review . Hut we cannot , abstain from giving a fact ,
which is not mentioned in the above-quoted woik , and which shows that , the policy Hi in pursued in Transylvania was an sagacious aH his tactics and nt . riil . egy were perfect , and for which he obtained the promotion to t . hci rank of lieuU'imnt-genwsil , mid the Hungarian national decoration . The fact , to tvhich we allude is , that when Hem found that the two inimical rimes in Transylvania , viz ., the riaxons and WallacliH , were all armed by the AustriiwiH to keep tin ; unarmed Magyar inhabitants in check , thtm disabling them from taking an aciive part in the struggle , he . announced that he would pay for every gun with iiH Imyonet delivered to him twenty-five zwun / . i K < th ( £ I ) , and , thus allured , the Wallac . liH surr . ndercd their arms to Iniu one by one , and when no more remained in their hands , they act about disarming the Huxoiih in
order to get more money ; so that he not only disarmed the antagonistic portion of the population , but was also enabled to arm his own troops , and even to send a large quantity to Szcgedin . After the melancholy issue of the Hungarian struggle owing to the armed intervention of Russia and the treachery of Georgey , Bern with Kossuth and other Hungarian and Polish patriots took refuge in the Turkish territory . Once there , he soon acquired the conviction that Turkey would be compelled , sooner or later , to take up arms against the unremittingly invading and encroaching power of Russia , and thought that in such , a case he again could render an efficient service to his fatherland ; he therefore not only entered the Ottoman service as a pasha , but did not even hesitate to embrace Mahomedanism , thinking by so doing to win the confidence of the Porte , and thus be enabled better to serve
his native country . In his new position Bern assumed the name of Mourad Pasha , and eventually resided in Aleppo . The night of the 23 rd of November , 1850 , he was suddenly seized with Febris perniciabilis ( pernicious fever ) , which never left him , ultimately proving fatal . * He died on the 10 th . of December last , at half-past two o ' clock in the morning , and was buried on the very same day at noon . —Sic transit gloria mundi ! We will conclude this narrative by giving an extract from a letter addressed to General Wysocki , written by Bern's aide-de-camp , Tabaczynski , dated from Aleppo , ten days after thegeneral ' s decease , viz ., the 20 th of December , 1850 . It gives some details about his last moments , which faithfully pourtray his love of country and his wish to render justice to those whom , he had in life mistaken . The extract runs thus : — " After you left Shumla for Kutayah , and when Zarzycki was dismissed , I was attached to General Bern ' s staff , tog-ether with Major Fiola of the 9 th battalion , whom I already found with the general . Some days afterwards we likewise left Shumla , and arrived at last in Aleppo . Once here we all three formed , as it were , but one family ; we frequently conversed about the Hungarian war , the surrender of arms by Georgey , the infamous execution of several generals by Austria , about those still alive , and those who are captives in Kutayah , and personally about yourself ( Major Fiola knows you well , having been in your brigade ) . General Bern became gradually convinced that the
misunderstandings which had arisen between him and you originated with unprincipled individuals , intrigaers , and flatterera , for , in his last moments , when he felt himself fast sinking , he grasped my hand , and thus addressed me : ' Dear Tabaczynski , you weep , I than t you for your devotedness and care about me Poland . ' Poland ! I shall no more contribute to save thee / ' After a . short pause he added , Write to General Wysocki in my name , that all misunderstanding between us is at an end , that I respect him , and that I bequeath to him the sacred duty never to cease to act , as he always has done , for the salvation of Poland—for the hour of her salvation will yet strike . ' "
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE CHARTIST CONVENTION . The following is the list of the places represented in this Convention , with the names of the delegates : Greenwich and Kent , G . W . M . Reynolds ; North Lancashire , John Gray ; Portsmouth and Edinburgh , Thornton Hunt ; Westminster and Marylebone , A . Hunniball ; Lambeth and Southwark , George Shell ; Tower Hamlets , John Shaw ; City and Finsbuiy , James Finlen ; Bradford district , A . Robinson ; Exeter and Tiverton , T . M . Wheeler ; Manchester , F . O'Connor , and G . J . Mantle ; Worcestershire and Gloucestershire , G . J . llarney ; Bristol , Thomas Savage ; Halifax District , Ernest Jones ; Paisley District , A . Duncanson ; Nottinghamshire , W . Felkin ; Staffordshire Potteries , James Capewell ; Sheffield and Rotherham , J- J . Bezer ; Cheshire , W . Benfold ; Coventry and Birmingham , A . Yutes ; Northampton , John Barker ; Leicester , George Wray ; South Shields , &c , D . W . Ruffy ; Edinburgh , Walter Pringle ; Huddersfield District , T . Hirst ; Dundee , James Graham ; Derby District , John Moss ; Newcastleupon Tync , James Watson ; Dudley District , D . Thompson ; Glasgow District , Daniel Paul .
We resume the statement of the propositions which have been affirmed l > y thia Delegation , meeting at the Parthenium Rooms , St . Murtin ' s-lune . The concluding document adopted by this body—the Plan of Organization—we whall give next week . The following Hluteincnt commences at Section III ., Education , the prciimhulury piiragraph of which we gave in our lawt report . III . —Education . Ah every man lias a right to the means of physical life , ho he Iiiib to the menus of mental activity . It is us unjiiHt io withhold aliment from the mind , as it in to deny food to the body . . Education should , therefore , he national , universal , gratuitous , alid , ' to a certain extent ., compulsory . It in , therefore , recommended
—1 . That schools , colleges , mid universities , nupported hy the state , ( should he gratuitousl y open to every citizen , and that , it he compulsory with all parents to have their children educated in the common branches of learning . 2 . Education in its higher branches to be equally gratuitouH , hut , optional . : < . Industrial ( schools to he established , in whioh , the young umy be taught the various trades and profcHsions , thuti graduall y superseding the system of apprenticeship . IV . — -La noun [^ w . Labour is tlio creator of a nnlion ' H wealth ~ -nh wuch , tho moat iiiUKH'luiit element of ita proBperity . Not-
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This page is accorded to an authentic Exposition of the Opinions and A . cts of the Democracy of Europe : as such we do not impose -any restraint on the utterance of opinion , and . therefore , limit our own responsibility to tne authenticity of the statement .
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350 Wbt 3 Le&lltt . [ Satprday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), April 12, 1851, page 350, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1878/page/18/
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