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The secret letter, written in 1773, was authored by Jan Antoni Harain, a statesman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and a participant in the Bar Confederation, who at the time held the position of Voivode of Brest. The letter was composed during a period when the territory of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was overrun by Russian and Prussian troops, and fierce conflicts raged among various political factions within the country.
For this reason, the author took a series of precautionary measures, fully aware of the high level of surveillance over private correspondence. On the envelope, he signed his name as “J. Niaroh,” which revealed the sender’s identity when read backward — “J. Horain.”
The letter was addressed to someone named “Grycen” in Gdańsk, although preliminary research has not yet identified this person among Harain’s contemporaries. Additionally, at the conclusion of the letter, the Voivode demonstratively wrote a greeting to the Russian ambassador, “my dear Shtakelberg” — likely as irony or to protect the letter from prying eyes. The author’s anonymity was further ensured by the absence of a wax seal impression.
The letter was written on July 17, 1773, during the Partition Sejm (1773–1775), convened by Russia, Prussia, and Austria to legalize the First Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Three months earlier, the famous protest of the Novogrudok nobleman Tadeusz Rejtan took place (“Trample me, do not trample the state!”), and two years prior, the Voivode of Brest, Jan Antoni Harain, had joined the Bar Confederation, which opposed Russian aggression and King Stanisław August Poniatowski.
In his letter, Jan Antoni Harain addresses various political matters. Among other things, he mentions being pressured to “sign something” — likely referring to the legalization of the First Partition — but the Voivode firmly states: “rezolucji nie biorę i takowej perswazji nie akceptuję” (“I do not take resolutions and do not agree to such persuasion”). The letter also references Harain’s nephew, Jan Nepomucen, who would later participate in Tadeusz Kościuszko’s uprising.
Jan Antoni Harain (1686–1777) was a statesman and official of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, hailing from the noble Harain family of the Sreniawa coat of arms. In his youth, he supported the faction of Stanisław Leszczyński and fought against King Augustus II. In 1720, he was appointed Vilnius Grodzkie Clerk, and in 1729, he was one of those who disrupted a session of the Warsaw Sejm. In 1731, he became Vilnius Cupbearer, and in 1748, Vilnius Deputy Chamberlain. In 1733, he received the starosties of Mahilyow and Yelva. In 1764, he was appointed Castellan of Brest, and in 1765, he was awarded the Order of Saint Stanislaus. In 1768, he became Voivode of Brest, a position he held until his death in 1777.
The acquisition of this extraordinary artifact was made possible thanks to the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Warsaw for the Museum of Free Belarus.
Original article: Budźma Biełarusami
