''Thaddeus of Warsaw'' is an 1803 novel written by

Jane Porter Jane Porter (3 December 1775 – 24 May 1850) was an English historical novelist, dramatist and literary figure. Her bestselling novels, ''Thaddeus of Warsaw'' (1803) and ''The Scottish Chiefs'' (1810) are seen as among the earliest historical ...

. It comprises four volumes. The story was derived from eyewitness accounts of British soldiers and

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

refugees fleeing the failed revolts against the foreign occupation of Poland in the 1790s. It was thought by Olga S. Phillips (1940), author of

Isaac Nathan Isaac Nathan (15 January 1864) was an English composer, musicologist, journalist and self-publicist, who has been called the "father of Australian music". Early success Isaac Nathan was born around 1791 in the English city of Canterbury to a '' ...

's biography, that the character of Thaddeus was based on Nathan's father Menachem Mona Polack (Moses Monash the Pole) who was thought to be the illegitimate son of King Stanisław August Poniatowski and his Jewish mistress

Elżbieta Szydłowska Elżbieta Szydłowska, married surname ''Grabowska'' (1748 – 1 June 1810), was a member of the Polish nobility, a mistress and possibly the morganatic wife of the last King of Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski. Biography Elżbieta Szy ...

. Phillips claims that Jane Porter used to call Isaac Nathan 'Thaddeus' when touching his face as a child. The work is a hybrid: the first third relates developments and battles within Poland, the remainder of the books serve as a

novel of manners A novel of manners is a work of fiction that re-creates a social world, conveying with detailed observation the customs, values, and mores of a highly developed and complex society. The conventions of the society dominate the action of the story, ...

describing how Thaddeus, having befriended a British soldier in the Russian army and learned from his mother that he himself is half English, flees to London to seek help for his cause among the British. He sells art, falls in love, and finds (and restores the honor of) his long-lost father. Porter wrote that her goal was "to exhibit so truly heroic and enduring a portrait of what every Christian man ought to be"; she felt obliged to look at the past and to Poland because such people were "extinct" within Britain in her time.McLean, Thomas.
Nobody's Argument: Jane Porter and the Historical Novel
. ''Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies'', Vol. 7, No. 2 (Fall–Winter, 2007), pp. 88–103. University of Pennsylvania Press. Accessed 26 September 2013. Written during a lull in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, ''Thaddeus of Warsaw'' includes numerous speeches and scenes arguing for a spirited defense of

constitutional government A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

against absolutism and criticizes the perceived dilettantism of the English aristocracy. It went through at least 84 editions,Looser, Devoney. ''Women Writers and Old Age in Great Britain, 1750–1850''
pp. 157 ff.
JHU Press, 2010. . Accessed 30 September 2013. including translations into French and German.Laskowski, Maciej.
Jane Porter's ''Thaddeus of Warsaw'' as evidence of Polish–British relationships
. Instytucie Filologii Angielskiej (Poznan), 2012. Accessed 26 September 2013. The German edition was praised by

Tadeusz Kościuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko ( be, Andréj Tadévuš Banavientúra Kasciúška, en, Andrew Thaddeus Bonaventure Kosciuszko; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish military engineer, statesman, and military leader who ...

, the inspiration for the "Thaddeus" of the title and a hero of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, and earned Porter a

ladyship The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inform ...

from the

King of Württemberg King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. McMillan, Dorothy. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'',
Porter, Jane
Oxford Univ. Press (Oxford), 2004. Accessed 1 October 2013. The book was responsible for the name of

Warsaw, North Carolina Warsaw is a town in Duplin County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,054 at the 2010 census. History The Warsaw Historic District and Joshua James Blanchard House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Geogra ...

(founded ). The character of Thaddeus Sobieski was the namesake of

Thaddeus Lowe Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe (August 20, 1832 – January 16, 1913), also known as Professor T. S. C. Lowe, was an American Civil War aeronaut, scientist and inventor, mostly self-educated in the fields of chemistry, meteorology, and a ...

(b. 1832), the father of

aerial reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of i ...

in the United States, and Pembroke

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

was the namesake of

Pembroke, Kentucky Pembroke is a home rule-class city in Christian County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 869 as of the 2010 U.S. Census. It is part of the Clarksville, Tennessee metropolitan area. History The town was settled in 1836 and name ...

(est. 1836).Rennick, Robert. ''Kentucky Place Names''
p. 229
University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987. Accessed 1 Aug 2013. Porter came to be so disregarded that the editor of an 1897 edition of Porter's diary took it for granted that her readers would not have heard of her and a 1905 edition of ''Thaddeus'' was published as part of a series on ''Half-Forgotten Books''. Despite the work's success, Porter was described as "totally destitute or nearly so", was obliged to circulate among her friends as a houseguest, and repeatedly petitioned the government for a literary pension (denied in part because she was unable to gather the support of other important literary figuresLooser
p. 159
). This penury arose because the rights to ''Thaddeus'' and her other stories were after protracted litigation no longer held by Porter but belonged to her various publishers, including Owen Rees, Lee, Elizabeth. '' Dictionary of National Biography'', Vol. 46. " Porter, Jane". Smith, Elder, & Co. (London), 1885. Accessed 1 October 2013. Richard Bentley, and George Virtue. Issuing "improved" and "corrected" versions with prefaces and other errata permitted her to keep some income from works.

References

External links

*
Thaddeus of Warsaw
' at Gutenberg.org {{Authority control 1803 British novels Fiction set in the 1800s Novels set in the 18th century Scottish novels Historical novels Polish historical novels