Most of our young readers are no doubt aware that Poland is no longer a kingdom, but a Russian province. Subsequently to the period of which we have been speaking, the fall of the Polish nation was rapid, and their final overthrow took place about twenty years ago, under Nicholas, the present Emperor of Russia.
It now remains for us, young readers, to inquire what moral may be learned from the little history before us. Every book we read should do something more than amuse the fancy and interest the feelings. It should inform our minds and teach us some valuable lesson for practice. We have seen that our hero’s generous action was made in the Providence of God to lead to its own reward. Had he not sought an interview with the Czar he would not have discovered his mother. Again we may observe, that circumstances do not affect the conduct of individuals so as to prevent the possibility of their performing noble deeds. The fisherman and his wife practised generosity and kindness of the highest order, lowly and poor though they were; and the seemingly disadvantageous situation of the boy who was cast upon their bounty did not prevent his achieving a truly heroic action. Think not, therefore, that your circumstances, whatever they may be, shut you out from the exercise of exalted virtues, for there are no circumstances, however unfavourable, which exclude the performance of generous and self-denying deeds.
LONDON:
RICHARD BARRETT, PRINTER, MARK LANE.
Transcriber’s Notes
A few minor errors in punctuation were fixed.
The spelling of Mentzikoff was standardized.
[Page 9]: “wont you?” changed to “won’t you?”