The Prussian part of this territory lies to the north-west, the Austrian south, the new kingdom of Poland central, while the acquisitions annexed to the Russian empire (larger than all the rest collectively), occupy all the country eastward, and extend in a vast parallelogram from Lithuania in the north, to the Ukraine in the south.

his way.

The whole of Poland (Polan. Scla. a plain), may be characterised as one vast plain; the only great mountains near, being the Carpathians, which form the barrier between this country and Hungary. There is indeed an inferior range which penetrates the south-west of Poland from Silesia; and a curved line of higher country runs centrally from Hungary to Lithuania, marked by the course of the rivers. All those on the west side of this line flowing into the Baltic; and, along the east, into the Black Sea. Some parts of this almost immense level, bear the marks of cultivation, but others are vast tracts of forest or marsh in traversing which the traveller scarcely meets with any thing to cheer Nothing is heard but the cracking of the driver's whip, re-echoed from the lonely depth of the forest, and no trace of human beings presents itself, except in the mark of some former traveller's fire. The forests are most abundant in the interior and eastern part of ancient Poland. The districts of the new kingdom present many vast plains waving with grain, or pastured by droves and herds. It is not easy to traverse the vast wildernesses of Poland,' says a modern writer, without being filled with a sentiment of awful admiration. Their frequent and deep shade conspires with their never-ending extent to suggest an idea of infinity which approaches the sublime; and sublime indeed would be the prospect, if only a solitary mount peered above the tops of the trees, that the eye might be permitted to rove unimpeded over a hemisphere of green and delightful foliage. During the summer heat, the forests afford a very gratefu' shelter to the traveller. In winter, the scene is totally changed. Every bough and branch is heavily laden with congealed snow, and the evergreens are completely hid beneath this white and universal covering. The pines lift their lofty heads in the cold, clear air, huge and still as giants, enchanted into pillars of salt.'

178,000

6,900,000

284,000 15,000,000

The rivers of Poland, which flow into the Baltic, are the Vistula, Niemer, Bug, Dwina. and Pregel; into the Euxine, the Przypiec, Dnieper, and Dniester. In the new kingdom, the Vistula is the most important stream; but it neither rises nor terminates in the country. It enters on the south-east, and, flowing through the central parts, passes Warsaw and Dantzic, and falls into the Baltic. It receives the Bug, and several other tributary streams, in its progress, and is connected with the Dnieper by the canal which joins it to the Prepiz, which flows into that river. By this means the Vistula affords an inland navigation of great utility in conveying the agricultural produce of Poland to the the ports of the Baltic, especially to Dantzic.

The state of cultivation, the woods, morasses, and other local causes, create a considerable degree of diversity in the climate. In all parts it is similar to that of Russia, under the same parallel; and, though it was long branded as generally unhealthy, in modern Poland the air in many places is dry and pure; and instances of longevity are numerous. During three or four months in the middle of winter, the temperature generally varies from 8° to 20° of Fahrenheit's scale; and for nearly an equal period, in summer, it ranges from 65° to 75°. The winter usually commences about the end of October, or the beginning of November, and lasts five or six months, during the greatest part of which the whole face of the country is robed in a mantle of the purest white, and Nature presents a universal blank. The air at this season is however very serene; but, when the wind blows from the north or north-east, it is extremely keen and piercing. The seasons return with regularity. Spring is, as in most countries, the most agreeable; and it derives additional charms from its immediate contrast with the stern aspect of winter. The air gradually loses its severity, the temperature of the atmosphere, becomes mild and genial, and no sooner is the bosom of the earth disrobed of its wintry vesture than vegetation proceeds with great rapidity. The most pleasant and fertile part, perhaps, is the Ukraine.

Poland yields, among the minerals, iron, lead, copper, and marble: gold and silver, in insig

nificant quantities, have also been found. Among its products are likewise rock crystal, alum, saltpetre, coal, and potter's clay. But the most noted of all the minerals is the salt yielded by the mines at Wieliczka and Bochnia, which are among the most celebrated in Europe. The salt prepared for traffic is cut into large cubical blocks, and conveyed to the places of its consumption, in distant parts of the country, without any package. It is so pure that it only requires pounding to render it fit for use. The annual revenue of these mines, previously to the first partition of Poland, in 1772, was estimated at three millions and a half of Polish florins, or nearly £98,000. Dr. Neale visited the mine at Wieliczka a few years since, and says, 'When all the party had descended, torches were lighted, and we found ourselves at the entrance of a chapel, hollowed out of the salt-rock, containing altars, columns, and statues. Thence we decended by spacious galleries and winding pas sages from one chamber to another, to the depth of 900 feet, where we found our progress terminated by a large lake, formed by the accumulated waters of the springs issuing from the sides of the mine: these springs dissolve large quantities of salt in their passage, and when at rest deposit it in beautiful cubical crystallisations at the bottom of the lake, from which they are raked up by means of instruments with long iron prongs. The extent of these excavations is 6000 feet in their longest diameter, which is from north to south, and about 2000 from east to west; the greatest depth to which they have gone is 900 feet, but even below that level they have ascertained the existence of immense strata of salt, extending from east to west, to an unknown distance. The chambers, scooped out in various directions, resemble the aisles of a cathedral. We entered one that contained a large table; at which, on solemn occasions, such as the visits of the members of the imperial family, 300 persons have been accommodated. The workmen employed generally amount to about 450; and in one of the mines there is a stable for fifty horses. No women are ever permitted to enter them. The galleries and shafts are perfectly dry, and even dusty; for the salt, imbibing all moisture, like a sponge, robs even the human body in its passage, and makes the mouth and throat feel hot and dry. The intricacy of the numerous passages is such, that they sometimes mislead even the best accustomed to them. The mines of Bochnia employ 250 workmen; their extent from north to south is only 750 feet, and from east to west 10,000 feet. The richness of these mines is such, that it has been calculated that their contents might suffice for the whole population of Europe. Every year there are dug up 600,000 quintals; and, although they have now been constantly worked since the year 1261, there is no appearance of their contents being exhausted.'-Travels in Germany, Poland, &c. The soil has been miserably neglected for ages, yet the annual export of corn is well known to be very great. It has been taken at 4,000,000 English quarters. The export of cattle is also considerable; it is said that, in some of the remote uncultivated parts, herds of wild cattle, and even

horses, are to be found, as in South America. Mr. Jacob, in his intelligent Report to government on the Trade in foreign Corn, and on the Agriculture of the north of Europe, has the following important observations respecting this country:

The far greater part of that division of ancient Poland, which is now comprehended in the viceregal kingdom of that name, is a level country, with scarcely an ascent or descent, except where the courses of the rivers have formed channels below the general level of the country. As these rivers, though in summer they appear sma!! streams, are swollen by the rains of autumn, and the melting of the snow on the Carpathian Mountains in the spring, they form large channels, extending on both sides to a great distance and their deposit, in many parts, enriches the land, and it presents, in the summer, the aspect of verdant and luxuriant meadows. In other parts the periodical swellings of the streams have formed morasses, which in their present state are not applicable to any agricultural purposes. The plains, which extend from the borders of one river to another, are open fields, with scarcely any perceptible division of the land, and showing scarcely any trees even around the villages. The portion of woodland on these plains is very extensive; but they are in large masses, with great intervals of arable land between them. The soil is mostly sandy, with occasional mixture of a sandy loam; it is very thin, resting chiefly on a bed of granite, through which the heavy rains gradually percolate. Such a soil is easily ploughed; sometimes two horses or two oxen, and not unfrequently two cows, perform this and the other operations of husbandry. This representation of the kingdom of Poland is strictly applicable to six of the eight waiwoodships or provinces into which it is now divided.

To the south of the river Pilica, which comprehends the two provinces of Sandomir and Cracow, the appearance of the land, and the face of the country, improve; and, in proceeding south to the banks of the Vistula, there is to be seen a more undulating district and a more tenacious and fruitful soil. Much of the land is a clayey loam, requiring three or four horses to plough it, yielding, when tolerably managed, crops of excellent wheat and oats; and, where the husbandry is so good as to have adopted the practice of sowing clover between the two corn crops, the produce is very abundant. The southern point of this district, forming now an independent republic, called, from the name of its capital, Cracow, is very fertile. It extends along the Vistula about twenty miles, and contains, in 500 square miles or 320,000 acres, about 100,000 inhabitants.

'Some of the estates in Poland, belonging to the nobility of the highest rank, are of enormous extent; but owing to the system of dividing the land among all the children, unless a special entail secures a majorat to the eldest son, which is in some few instances the case, much of it is

possessed in allotments, which we should deem large; but which, on account of their low value, and when compared with those of a few others, are not so. Of these secondary classes of es

tates, 5000 or 6000 acres would be deemed small, and 30,000 or 40,000 acres large. There are, besides these, numerous small properties, some of a few acres, which, by frequent subdivisions, have descended to younger branches of noble families. The present owners are commonly poor, but too proud to follow any pro-, fession but that of a soldier, and prefer to labor in the fields with their own hands rather than to engage in trade of any kind. As titles descended to every son, and are continued through all the successors, the nobility have naturally become very numerous; but, since the emperor of Russia has gained the dominion over Poland, the use of titles has been restricted. No one can assume that of baron, unless his clear income from his estates exceed 1000 gulden or £25; none that of count, whose rents are less than 3000 gulden or £75; and none that of prince, who has less than 5000 gulden or £125.

'The whole of the lands are made alienable, and may now be purchased by persons of any rank, and are actually held by some who are burghers or peasants; the Jews alone are prohibited from becoming proprietors of the soil, though they have very numerous mortgages upon it. When they foreclose, the lands must consequently be sold; and as these Jews, the monied capitalists, cannot become purchasers, the prices they yield are very trifling.

The most numerous class of cultivators are peasants; they have a limited property in the lands which they occupy, and the cottages in which they live, under the condition of working a stipulated number of days in each week on their lord's demesne, and paying specified quantities of produce, such as poultry, eggs, yarn, and other things, in conformity with ancient usage. The extent of these holdings varies according to the quality of the land, and the quantity of duty work, or of payments in kind, which are to be fulfilled.

'On a large property which I examined the peasants had about forty-eight acres of land each, for which they were bound to work for two days in every week with two oxen. If their labor was farther required, they were paid three-pence per day for two other days, and if beyond that number sixpence per day. On another property I found the peasants had about thirty-six acres, for which they worked two days in each week, with two oxen; when called upon for extra labor, they are paid sixpence a day for themselves and oxen for the next two days, or, if they work without their oxen, threepence. If their labor is demanded the remaining two days in the week, the sum to be paid is made the subject of a special agrement; on one estate the peasants had but twenty-four acres, and did one day's work themselves, with one horse; the rest of their labor was paid for in money, by agreement made at the time it was required. Another proprietor, on land somewhat exhausted, granted to each of his peasants more than fifty acres of land, for which they worked with two horses, three days in a week. It would be easy to give instances of more various rates of duty work, and of the quantity of land which is appropriated for its performance. Some are of a luxurious and of a

ludicrous kind. I was told that the inhabitants of two whole villages, near a princely domain, hold their lands on condition of employing a certain number of days in each week in cleaning the walks, and keeping in good order the pleasure grounds, which surround the vast castle of their benevolent and hospitable lord.'

In general our author found the peasantry in a condition of great distress, and involved in debt to their lord. They are no longer slaves, or adstricti glebæ. By the constitution promulgated in 1791 they were declared free, and that part of the constitution suffered no alteration under the dominion of the Russians and Prussians; was confirmed when the king of Saxony became sovereign; and was again assured in 1815, when the emperor of Russia was enthroned as king of Poland. The practical effects of the privileges thus granted have hitherto been very inconsiderable. The peasants can leave their land, but must first acquit the pecuniary demands of their lords. Few are able to do this, as most of them are in arrears. The lords must supply them with their oxen, in case one dies; their plough and other implements must be furnished to them by him; and in years of scarcity they become involved in debt, for the requisite subsistence of themselves and their cattle. This, together with local attachments, and the habit of respect for their feudal superior, has, in general, prevented the peasants from wandering away from the houses of their fathers, and from the protection of their chief. It thus rarely happens that the peasants quit the estates on which they have been born; and the instances that do occur are chiefly to be attributed to the embarrassed circumstances into which their lord may fall. A declining property produces a necessitous peasantry, and such may sometimes be induced to try their fortune under another proprietor.

The want of peasantry is a general subject of complaint, especially among those (who are the far greater number) whose estates are loaded with mortgages or other incumbrances; such sometimes lose them, but cannot command the means of inducing new ones to settle on the lands. Though no longer slaves, the condition of the peasants is but little practically improved by the change that has been made in their condition. When a transfer is made, either by testament or conveyance, the persons of the peasantry are not indeed expressly conveyed, but their services are, and in many instances are the most valuable part of the property.

It is said that, when the freedom of the peasants was first decreed, it was viewed by them with great distrust. They were alarmed with the apprehension that in age or sickness, or other incapacity, they should be abandoned by their lords, and left to perish in want. By the form that society has taken in the course of the thirty-four years that have passed since the alteration was enacted, their alarms have been dispelled; and, the same acts of kindness being exercised in most cases as were formerly customary, they can perceive no alteration in their condition, that is, either materially more beneficial or injurious to them.

'These people live in wooden huts, covered

with thatch or shingles, consisting of one room with a stove, around which the inhabitants and their cattle crowd together, and where the most disgusting kinds of filthiness are to be seen. Their common food is, cabbage, potatoes some. times, but not generally, pease, black bread, and soup, or rather gruel, without the addition of butter or meat. Their chief drink is water, or the cheap whiskey of the country, which is the only luxury of the peasants; and is drunk, whenever they can obtain it, in enormous quantities. They use much salt with their vegetable food, and, in spite of the heavy tax on that commodity, can never dispense with the want of it at their meals. I was informed, and saw reason to credit the accounts, that, when the peasants brought to the market towns their trifling quantities of produce, a part of the money was first used to purchase salt, and the rest spent in whiskey, in a state of intoxication that commonly endured till the exhaustion of the purse had restored them to sobriety. In their houses they have little that merits the name of furniture; and their clothing is coarse, ragged, and filthy, even to disgust. Very little attention has been paid to their education, and they are generally ignorant, superstitious, and fanatical. They observe about twenty holidays in the year, besides the Sundays; and pass much of their time in pilgrimages to some favorite shrine, in counting beads, and similar superstitious occupations.

This representation of the condition and character of the peasantry,' says Mr. Jacob, though general, cannot be considered so universal as to admit of no exceptions; some rare instances of perseverance in economy, industry, and temperance, are to be found; and, unfavorable as their circumstances may be for the creation of such habits, they are here attended by the usual correspondent results. Some few peasants have been enabled to gain three or four allotments, and to employ their sons or hired servants to work for them; and there are instances of such persons making a still further progress, and being enabled to purchase estates for themselves. Such cases as these, however, occur so rarely, that, though they produce individual comfort and wealth, they have no perceptible influence on the general mass of society, or on the surplus quantity of agricultural productions.

As may be naturally inferred, from the system under which labor is applied to the land, that labor is performed in the most negligent and slovenly manner possible. No manager of a large estate can have his eye constantly on every workman; and, when no advantage is gained by care in the work, it will naturally be very imperfectly executed. All the operations of husbandry struck me to be very ill performed: the ploughing is very shallow and irregular; the harrows with wooden tines do not penetrate sufficient to pull up weeds in fallowing; the roller is almost unknown; and thus the land is filled with weeds of all descriptions. I observed the same want of attention in threshing; and it appeared to me that a much greater proportion of the grain was left among the straw, than in that which has passed under an English flail. In short, the natural effects of the system of VOL. XVII.

duty work was visible in the whole of the administration of the large estates where it is followed, with the exception of those few proprietors who have intelligent and active managers, and are free from pecuniary embarrassments. The common course of cropping is, the old system of a whole year's fallow, followed by winter corn, and that by summer corn, and then a fallow again. Thus one-third of the land bears nothing. The winter crop in the northern part of Poland consists of wheat and rye; the proportion of the latter to the former is nearly as nine to one, and the wheat enjoys the benefit of what little manure is preserved. Thus the wheat actually cultivated does not occupy more than one-thirtieth part of the arable land. In the southern part of the kingdom the wheat bears a larger proportion to the rye, amounting on the more tenacious soils to a fifth, and even in some cases to a fourth part of the rye. The statements I could collect, and my own observations, led me to conclude the stock of cattle to be very small, in proportion to the extent of land, and to the number of inhabitants.

The reformation was early introduced into Poland, and in 1550 a complete equality in privileges was established between the Catholics and Protestants. At the end of that century the Socinians appeared, who were at first permitted to live in tranquillity, but were afterwards driven to abjuration or exile. In the mean time the church of Rome had the art to procure an act, which confirmed to the Catholic clergy the permanent possession of their vast property, and the preponderance which naturally followed enabled that party to narrow the toleration. In 1766 a relaxation of the prohibitions was obtained by the interference of Russia, Prussia, England, and Denmark; and the partition that ensued altered the face of affairs so far that the Catholics found it necessary to sue for that toleration which they had refused to others. Before this change the usurpations of the clergy had gone beyond all bounds; the tithes in some parts were said to be more nearly a fifth than a tenth of the produce; and the pope was not only the head of the Catholics, but interfered in every appointment of the bishops and archbishops. nuncio held a separate court for the decision of ecclesiastical cases.

His

The numbers of the Greek church are now on the increase in the Russian provinces: the Jews, as we have seen, occupy a conspicuous place in the population. They are the men of business for almost the whole country; the current money in the kingdom is chiefly in their hands; and a great proportion of the land is mortgaged to them. Some of them have a fair title to the name of merchants; but the majority are mean and fraudulent.

The Poles are, for the most part, almost as illiterate as their neighbours, the Russians: but universities were established in Poland a considerable time before the partition, viz. at Cracow, Wilna, and Posen; strange as it may seem, however, there were no schools till the different governments among whom the country was divided, erected a certain number. Additional universities have also been established at Lemberg

2 Q

and Warsaw. The Polish language is a dialect of the Sclavonic; though less unpleasant to the ear than might be imagined. The general use of Latin in literary composition, and even in the conversation of the higher ranks, has prevented the improvement of the vernacular tongue. some works of merit are said to have been composed in it during the last century. The Poles seem to have a peculiar facility in learning foreign languages.

But

The Poles, originally descendants from the ancient Sclavonic stock, have, in their general appearance, as well as in their language, manners, and customs, a great similarity to their eastern neighbours. In general they are of a middle stature, but many of the superior classes are tall and graceful, though the peasants are often low and stunted. The countenance of the Poles is generally open and friendly. The men of all ranks wear large whiskers, and shave their heads, leaving only a single lock of hair on the crown. The females of the higher ranks are celebrated for their beauty, their elegant figures, and graceful demeanor. In society they are lively and animated. Mr. Coxe considers the dress of the higher classes, both men and women, as elegant. That of the gentlemen, he says, is a waistcoat with sleeves, with an upper robe of a different color, which reaches below the knee, and is fastened round the waist with a sash or girdle; the sleeves in warm weather are tied behind the shoulders. In summer the robe is of silk; in winter of cloth, velvet, or stuff, edged with fur, and a sabre is a necessary appendage of the dress, as a mark of nobility. The gentlemen wear caps or bonnets of fur, and buskins of yellow leather, the heels of which are plated with iron or steel. The dress of the ladies is a simple polonaise, or long robe edged with fur. This winter robe or pelisse is lined, or rather padded with wool, but is only used when they go into the open air. In other respects their dress differs little from that of the English or French ladies. Many of the young men in Poland have laid aside the national costume, and adopted the English dress. The summer dress of the peasants consists of a shirt and drawers of coarse linen, without shoes or stockings, and of round caps or hats. The women of the lower class wear upon their heads a wrapper of white linen, under which their hair is braided, and hangs down in two plaits.

The best buildings of the country are occupied by the Jews, whose filth would be intolerable any where else, but cleanliness is not regarded as a virtue in Poland. Men, women, children, hogs, cows, and poultry, all live under the same roof; and the traveller is frequently obliged to share this only apartment in the house with them. Every estate has its still; spirits are found every where, and being used with every meal, habits of intoxication prevail to an extraordinary degree. Beer is little used by the peasantry, and provisions are hardly to be found by the traveller, except in the thinly scattered towns. The inns of Poland are in general stables, built of planks; having a room at one end, without window or furniture, and often so in

fested with vermin that lodgers seek for refuge and repose among the horses. The German settlers present a striking contrast to the natives. They have a cheerful look of industry and opulence, and their houses are comparatively clean and comfortable.

HISTORY.-The sovereigns of Poland at first had the title of duces, dukes or generals, as their office had been only to lead the armies into the field. The first of these is universally allowed to have been Lechus or Lecht; who, according to some writers, migrated at the head of a numerous body of the descendants of the ancient Sclavi; and, to this day, Poland is called by the Tartars the kingdom of Lechus. Busching, however, gives a different account of the origin of the Poles. Sarmatia, he observes, was an extensive country, inhabited by a variety of nations of different names. He supposes the Poles to be the descendants of the ancient Lazi, a people who lived in Colchis near the Pontus Euxinus; whence the Poles are sometimes called Polazi. Crossing several rivers, they entered Posnania, and settled on the borders of the Warta, while their neighbours the Zechi settled on the Elb, in the 550th year of Christ.

The name Poland, or Polska, as it is called by the natives, comes from the Sclavonic word Pole, or Polo, which signifies a country adapted to hunting, because the whole country was formerly covered with vast forests. To Lechus succeeded Viscimer, generally supposed to have been his nephew. He was a warlike and successful prince, subduing many provinces of Denmark, and building the city of Wismar, so called from his name. After his death the nobility were on the point of electing a sovereign, when the people, harassed by the grievous burdens occasioned by the wars of Viscimer, unanimously demanded another form of government. The nobility flattered this humor of the people, but instituted such an administration of affairs as threw all the power into their own hands. Twelve palatines, or vaivodes, were chosen; and the Polish dominions divided into as many provinces. These palatines exercised a despotic authority within their several jurisdictions, and aggravated the misery of the people by perpetual wars among themselves; upon which the Poles, worn out with oppression, resolved to return to their old form of government. They cast their eyes upon Cracus, or Gracus, whose wealth and popularity had raised him to the highest honors among his countrymen, and who is said to have been descended of the Roman Gracchi. He signalised himself against the Franks, whom he overthrew in several desperate engagements, and afterwards built the city of Cracow. He did not enlarge his dominions, but made his subjects happy by many excellent regulations. At last, after a long and glorious reign, he expired, or, according to some, was assassinated by a nobleman who aspired to the crown. He left three children; Cracus H., Lechus, and a daughter named Vanda. Cracus succeeded to the dukedom, but was soon after murdered by Lechus. However, the crime he had committed so disturbed his conscience, that the secret could not be kept. When it was known that he had murdered his brother, he was