See note 4 to Book II. ↩
Referring to the popular idea that a bear, while hybernating, lives by sucking his own paws. ↩
See note 4 to Book I et seq. ↩
Alexander, Count Pociej, after returning from the war to Lithuania, assisted those of his fellow-countrymen going beyond the frontier, and sent considerable sums to the military chest of the legions. ↩
A well-known matin hymn by Francis Karpinski, beginning, “Kiedy ranne wstają zorze.” The following is an attempt to render it into English.
“When morning dawn doth rise,
To Thee earth, sea, and skies,
To Thee each living thing,
Be praised, O Lord, doth sing.And man, whom measureless
Thy various gifts do bless,
Who dost preserve his days,
Shall he not give Thee praise?Scarce sleep unseals mine eye
To Thee, O Lord, I cry;
My Lord in heaven I call,
And seek Thee round in all.Many are dead who lay
To sleep but yesterday;
We have awaked once more,
To praise Thee and adore.”
The ordinary form of greeting among the common people in Slavonic countries, and also among the German inhabitants of the Black Forest. ↩
A name for black beetles, commonly called in Poland “szwaby” or Swabians. ↩
The battle of Jena took place on the 14th October 1806, and on the 27th November Napoleon entered Posen. ↩
“In Litva made
Just such another bath for Muscovy.”
To prepare a warm bath for anyone is a proverbial expression, meaning to thrash him soundly. It is said to have originated in the rough and ready chastisement inflicted by Boleslaw Chrobry, the founder of Poland’s historic greatness, upon certain of his recalcitrant subjects, whom the intercession of his queen Konilda had saved from death. But before granting their pardon the king, who at that time was in the bath, sent for the criminals, and gave them with his own hands a scourging so severe as to give rise to the above-quoted proverb. ↩
Za, at or by, bok, side. ↩
The worm. ↩
Bartholomew. ↩
Poland is perhaps the only country that has enjoyed what may be called an organised right and constitution of revolt. A discontented minority would often unite under a marshal and other officers to form a confederacy, or organised association for resistance to the royal authority, or that of the Diet. The purpose of the confederacy was set forth by a written act, and the confederates appear to have been generally recognised as belligerents. A revolt organised by a confederacy was called a rokosz. In their deliberations all questions were settled by a plurality of votes, and not by unanimity, so that the veto, of sovereign importance in the Diet, was of no use here. ↩
German—Commissarius, a sort of agent. ↩
The Republic of Babin was a political satire devised in the reign of Sigismund I (contemporary with Henry VIII). In it all offices were purposely bestowed on those least qualified to fill them. The post of cellarer was given to a noted drunkard, that of chancellor to a man who could scarcely read or write. When the king inquired who possessed the royal authority, he was answered that during his lifetime the throne should be vacant!
The Contracts of Kiew and Minsk imply yearly meetings of landowners, farmers, or merchants, held in these principal cities for purposes of buying and selling. From the fact that many agreements are made at such meetings, the meetings themselves are termed Contracts. Those of Minsk are of little importance, but those of Kiew are still famous. They take place about the middle of February, and being the occasion of a great concourse of people, are in a measure equivalent to a season of business and gaiety combined. As these are the only contracts of which Matthias has heard, the word, as used by Buchman, naturally puzzles him. —E. S. N. ↩
“Niepozwalam,” the form in which the liberum veto, by which a single nobleman could annul the deliberations of a whole majority, was couched. It was not in use, until first exercised by Sicinski of Upita, a nobleman of most infamous character, in the reign of John Casimir (1648–68), whence resulted a series of disasters, culminating in the ruin of the country. The last exercise of the veto was by Rejtan, as already noticed. ↩
Liberum Veto. ↩
“Mondrej glowie dosc dwie slowie,” proverb: Verbum sat. sap. ↩
See note 9 in Book III. ↩
German Sharpshooters or Chasseurs. ↩
The order of the Pijary monks (Ordo Scholarum Piarum) attained, after the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1772, great influence over the education of youth, and initiated, mainly by the efforts of Konarski, an improved system of education. While the Jesuits had laid the main stress upon Latin, the Pijary substituted French as the groundwork of education. This was an improvement upon the previous system, but it had the effect of inducing an aping of French manners and customs in literature and social life, till the reaction in favour of Polish nationality. ↩
The flour of Marymont, a small village near the gates of Warsaw, is of a superior quality. The mill of Marymont is celebrated as the place
