Farewell, my dear, dear
Thaddeus! Let the memory that you have a mother check your too ardent
courage. God forever guard you! Live for your mother, who has no
stronger words to express her affection for you than she is thy
mother--thy
"THERESE SOBIESKI.
"VILLANOW, _October,_ 1794."
This letter was indeed a balm to the soul of Thaddeus. That his
mother had received intelligence of the cruel event with such "holy
resignation" was the best medicine that could now be applied to his
wounds, both of mind and body; and when he was told that on the
succeeding morning the body of his grandfather would, be removed to
the convent near Biala, he declared his resolution to attend it to
the grave.
In vain his surgeons and General Wawrzecki remonstrated against the
danger of this project; for once the gentle and yielding spirit of
Thaddeus was inflexible. He had fixed his determination, and it was
not to be shaken.
Next day, being the seventh from that in which the fatal battle had
been decided, Thaddeus, at the first beat of the drum, rose from his
pallet, and, almost unassisted, put on his clothes. His uniform being
black, he needed no other index than his pale and mournful
countenance to announce that he was chief mourner.
The procession began to form, and he walked from his tent. It was a
fine morning. Thaddeus looked up, as if to upbraid the sun for
shining so brightly.
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