Pan Tadeusz - Endnotes

Endnotes

“Z archanielskiemi skrzydlami i glosem,
Ty czasem dzierzysz i miecz archaniola.”

↩
In the time of the Polish Republic the execution of judicial decrees was very difficult, in a country where the executive power had scarcely any police force under its authority, and where powerful citizens maintained private regiments; some, like the Radziwill princes, armies of several thousand men. A plaintiff, therefore, who obtained a decision in his favour was forced to apply for its execution to the Equestrian Order, that is, to the nobility, in whom was vested also the executive power. The armed relatives, friends, and confidents of the plaintiff marched with the decree in hand, and with a Wozny (summoner) in their company, and conquered, often not without bloodshed, the estates adjudged, which the Wozny legally made over, or gave into possession of the complainant. Such an armed execution of a decree was called a zajazd (or foray). In former times, so long as the laws were respected, the most powerful lords dared not resist decrees; armed attacks rarely occurred, and violence never escaped unpunished. The corruption of public manners in the Republic increased the number of zajazdy, which continually troubled the peace of Lithuania. ↩
Everyone in Poland knows about the miracle-working picture of the Virgin on Jasna Gora (bright mountain) in Czenstochowa. In Lithuania the pictures of the Virgin over the Ostra Gate of Wilna, of the castle of Nowogrodek, and also of Zyrowiec and Borun, are equally famous.

[The Czenstochowa picture, like many other paintings of the Byzantine school, is credited to St. Luke. It is remarkable that miraculous properties are far more often attributed to these earlier and more imperfect productions of art, than to any of the higher masterpieces of painting.] ↩
This passage is stated, in a critical work recently published in Warsaw, to refer to a real incident in the childhood of the poet. ↩
A sort of loose garment in the old national costume. ↩
A part of the national costume, very like the Hungarian Hussar uniform, but with long skirts. The czamara is still very widely used in Poland, notably in Galicia, where high officials of the Crown wear on state occasions the full national costume, consisting of the zupan, pas Slucki, kontusz, karabella, and kolpak. —⁠E. S. N.

All these terms are explained in subsequent notes. ↩
Thaddeus Rejtan, in 1773, was posel or deputy from Nowogrodek to the Diet at Warsaw, and in that capacity made an energetic protest against the first partition treaty. When this measure was presented for confirmation Rejtan solemnly adjured the assembly by the Saviour’s wounds not to commit this crime, and when all other means were exhausted endeavoured, by using the privilege of the liberum veto, to render the proceedings null and void. This is the last occasion in Polish history of the exercise of the veto. But despite the efforts of Rejtan and five other deputies who supported him, the treaty was confirmed, and the six deputies forcibly removed from the capital. All efforts to bribe or terrify Rejtan into withdrawing his opposition were fruitless. He shortly after became insane with grief, and destroyed himself with a piece of glass out of a window. ↩
The insurrections of Krakow, Warsaw, and Wilna, broke out or the 24th March, the 17th of April, and the 23rd of April 1794 respectively. In the former two hastily formed companies, along with some of the citizens, disarmed the Russian garrison of 3,000 men, and took 1,500 prisoners, with General Arseniew at their head. The Lithuanian forces were commanded by Colonel Jasinski. He subsequently fought three battles in the open country with the Muscovites, Niemenczyn against Lewis, Polany against Dejow, and Sioly against Zubow. When Jasinski was later on summoned to Warsaw by Kosciuszko, the command in Lithuania devolved on General Wielhorski. After unexampled efforts Wilna was compelled to surrender to the Russians on the 12th of August. ↩
The heroic Jasinski and Korsak perished in the terrible carnage of Praga, by Suwarow, on the 4th November 1794, when 60,000 of the inhabitants, of every age and sex, were massacred. ↩
The Russian Government never immediately overthrows the civil laws and institutions of subject countries. In Little Russia, for example, the Lithuanian statutes, modified by ukases, were retained till lately. All the ancient regulations of the civil and criminal courts were left untouched in Lithuania. The urban and rural judges in districts, and the chief judges in governors’ divisions, were therefore elected as in former times. But as all appeals go to St. Petersburg, before numerous institutions of different degrees, scarcely a shadow of their former power remains to the local courts.

[In 1832 Russian institutions were completely substituted for the ancient order of things.] ↩
A Wojski, or Tribune, was in former times the guardian of the wives and families of nobles summoned in a general levy. This office has long been a titular one without obligations. In Lithuania it is the custom to give to persons of dignity some ancient title by courtesy, which title becomes a legal one by use. Neighbours would call a min, for example, Obozny (quartermaster), Stolnik (pantler), or Poaczaszy (cupbearer), at first in conversation, then in correspondence, and finally even in official documents The Russian Government forbade such titles, and would fain make them ridiculous, and introduce instead titles according to the grades of their own hierarchy.

[Pan. As this is the first instance of using in this translation a Polish title of respect, it is the best place to explain it and its congeners. “Pan” signifies lord or master, and is equivalent to the English “Mr.” before a proper name. It is also the respectful form of address, with the third person of the verb, to men not intimate with the speaker. The feminine Pani, or Madam, is the title of married ladies, and Panna of the unmarried, but the use of the latter is only permissible with the name. Pani is the title of address to all ladies alike.] —⁠M. A. B.

In respect to the word Wojski I am compelled to retain the original, there being no real equivalent in any other language. Tribune would be too exclusively suggestive of ancient Rome, or at least of “the last of the Tribunes.” ↩
That is, the first insurrection in 1791, under the leadership of Kosciuszko. ↩
The Chamberlain (original Podkomorzy) was formerly a distinguished and powerful official (princeps nobilitatis); under the Russian Government merely a titular officer. He still occasionally judges disputes concerning boundaries, but has latterly lost even that portion of jurisdiction. He occasionally stands in the place of a Marshal, and appoints the komorniki, or land-surveyors. The office was formerly the highest in the Palatinate. ↩
The original is Podkomorstwo, one of those comprehensive collective nouns common in Polish, but only to be rendered by their separate elements in other languages. ↩
The original is kontusz, the outer garment of the ancient Polish costume, a sort of loose frock or coat, falling below the knees, and secured by a girdle round the waist. The effect was remarkably picturesque and graceful. I have thought it on the whole best to preserve the original word, as also the native term of zupan for a similar inner garment, and others descriptive of costume for which no precise English equivalent exists. ↩
A native proverb, “Panskie oko konia tuczy.” ↩
The Wozny (in English summoner; sompnour of Chaucer) was chosen by a tribunal, or by a judicial decree of the resident nobility. He carried summonses, proclaimed intromissions, performed coroners’ inquests, summoned the parties into court, etc. This office was commonly discharged by the lesser nobility. ↩
Lit. “half goat.” ↩
This passage frequently recurs in the same connection throughout the poem, and well expresses an idea of the regular and methodical proceedings at meals in the Judge’s house. ↩
Cholodziec, a derivative of chlod, chlodny = cool, is a dish made partly of beetroot leaves, but chiefly of cream and fruit, congealed and frozen. —⁠E. S. N. ↩
Podkomorzy’s, or Chamberlain’s, daughter. ↩
Palatine and Senator. ↩
A Tartar horde which overran Russia and the adjacent regions in the fifteenth century, after the expulsion of the Golden Horde. ↩
“Quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat.” ↩
A title of honour, meaning son of an under-butler. See note 7. ↩
It is well known that the lesser birds, especially swallows, pursue those of the hawk kind tumultuously. Hence the proverb, “to fly as though after a kite.” [This line is translated a little freely, for the sake of being more intelligible.] ↩
Niemczysko: the terminations isko and ysko have an augmentative and vilifying import, as accio in Italian. The Polish language is equally rich in diminutive and augmentative forms. ↩
Plica Polonica (koltun) the terrible disease of the hair common among some lowest classes of the Poles and Silesians. The whole mass exudes a sticky liquid, which afterwards hardens into a solid crust, and then drops off altogether. ↩
In the eighteenth century a great rage for French customs and French fashions prevailed throughout Poland, to the detriment of national habits and language. Between 1780 and 1790 there was a period of strong reaction, and revival of national thought and feeling. ↩
The original passage is made ludicrous by the very unPolish character of the words used. The originals, reformowac, cywilizowac, and konstytuowac, are even more ridiculous than reformate and constitutionise in English. ↩
Literally “worm.” See Book X. ↩
A drink like whisky, made from rye. ↩
Pelisse. We have seen this ungallant saying quoted elsewhere as a known Russian proverb. ↩
A multitude of stories were current among the common people in Russia concerning the sorceries practised by Napoleon and Suwarow.

[Mickiewicz also says, in his Conferences Slaves, vol. II, p. 257:⁠—“Le peuple et les soldats le regardaient (Napoleon) comme sorcier; ils étaient persuadés qu’il avait le pouvoir de changer de forme. On raconte des histoires de plusieurs combats entre le géneral Suwarow et l’empereur Napoleon. L’empereur ayant pris la forme d’un lion, Suwarof se hâta de se faire lion. Alors Napoleon se changea en aigle. Suwarow pour le combattre voulut prendre la forme d’un aigle à deux têtes, et il en demanda la permission à l’empereur Paul; mais celui-ci, irrité d’une telle hardiesse, le degrada.” ↩
The Assessors form the rural police of a district. According to the ukases, they are sometimes chosen by the inhabitants, sometimes appointed by the government; these latter are called Crown Assessors. Judges of Appeal are also called Assessors, but we are not here speaking of them.

The Regents perform the writing-out of documents, and record verdicts. They are all nominated by the clerks of court. ↩
Falcon. ↩
Crop-tailed. ↩
Pronounce Soplitza. ↩
It may not perhaps seem irrelevant here to observe that the name of Soplica has been rendered doubly famous in Polish literature by the “Memoirs of Severyn Soplica,” written by Henry, Count Rzewuski; a work purporting to be the personal recollections of a Polish nobleman of the old school, and comprising historic and social sketches, of great interest to students. The selection of a pseudonym is due to the immense influence of the present work of Mickiewicz. ↩
This is not quite the proper rendering. The English village, and the Polish wies or wioska, are not quite alike in signification. The latter means a gentleman’s farm-estate. —⁠E. S. N. ↩
An onomatopoeic exclamation, whose use explains itself. ↩
Provincial or local diet, diminutive of sejm. ↩
Poniatowski. ↩
This is an ordinary method of addressing an assembly, and used even at the present day in Poland, and has no suggestion of subserviency, although sounding unnatural in English. —⁠E. S. N. ↩
Joseph, Count Niesiolowski, the last Wojewode of Nowogrodek, was president of the revolutionary government at the time of Jasinski’s insurrection. ↩
George Bialopiotrowicz, the last Public Writer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, also took an active part in Jasinski’s insurrection. He tried prisoners of state in Wilna, and was much respected for his virtues and patriotism. ↩
The mythical founder of Poland, from whom is taken this expression for unremembered antiquity, as in the time of King Arthur, of King Dagobert, King Wamba, etc. ↩
Podkomorzy’s wife. ↩
Carver’s daughter, title of honour. ↩
This is an example of the change of grammatical gender which Polish family names undergo, when applied to the female members of a house. The adjectival ski always changes to ska, as John Sobieski, Clementina Sobieska. Such names were originally territorial, and are therefore true adjectives, and declined as such. Names in other terminations have also different forms for men and women, though the rule is not so invariable in these latter. ↩
Pisarz, or writer, here signifies a sort of farmyard official, who is at the same time the bookkeeper; but his duties are more in the farmyard, and in the fields, than over the desk. In farmyard hierarchy the gradation is⁠—wlouarz, peasant overseer; pisarz [something superior to a peasant, an overseer of the whole farmyard, or bookkeeper]; ekonom (Lat. aeconomicus) or podstarosci, under-manager of the whole farm estate; rzondzca, or manager. —⁠E. S. N. ↩
In Slucko there was a manufactory of brocade and rich girdles for the whole of Poland, perfected by the efforts of Tyzenhaus. ↩
Vocanda (Lat.), a long and narrow book, in which were written the names of the parties going to law. Every advocate and Wozny was obliged to keep such a vocanda. ↩
A Jewish-Polish word, signifying the administrative committee or board of a synagogue. —⁠E. S. N. ↩
Jews’ cap. ↩
These are almost the very words of the chorus of Dombrowski’s famous March. ↩
General Kniaziewicz was despatched from the army of Italy to lay the conquered standards before the Directory. ↩
The legion of the Danube, under Jablonowski, was despatched to Haiti, for the purpose of subduing the successful insurrection against the French by the negroes under the brave and unfortunate Toussaint L’Ouverture (1802). The story of this war and its consequences is foreign to the subject-matter of the present work, and therefore need not be here detailed. Nearly the whole of the Polish forces in Haiti perished from the unhealthiness of the climate, only a few returning to Europe. A certain number also made common cause with the blacks, and settled in Haiti. ↩
The original word here used for princes is cary, i.e., “czars,” a title which, it may not be uninteresting to notice, does not exclusively apply in Slavonic languages to the Czar of Muscovy. He is often styled “the White Czar,” or “Czar of White Russia.” But the word originally meant no more than prince or king. The Czar of Turkey is a term for the Sultan; and the Czar of Abyssinia, the Tartar Czars are also spoken of. Linde derives Czar merely from Caesar, and accordingly the great Julius himself has been spoken of as a Czar in some old manuscripts. In the Russian Bible the Czar of Glory stands for Christ. ↩
The English word, of course much disguised in Polish spelling, is used. Is it a credit to England that so many terms exclusively relating to horse-racing have passed into a like usance in foreign countries? ↩
The name of the family crest. Armorial crests (Pol. Herb) have their special appellations, derived either from their chief symbolic representations or from some more or less ancient cognomen of the ennobled family. Thus many Polish houses bear a calf in their crests (Ciolek), and are in the aggregate called Ciolkowie; others an axe (Topor), which gives the name of Toporczyk to all individuals of the same crest. Leliwa, Dzialosza, Tromby (Bugles), are, like Polkozic, names of armorial shields. The cosmopolitan heraldic term of the emblem Half-goat, or Polkozic, is Teste de Chevreau. —⁠E. S. N. ↩
This word has in it an idea of long service, and affectionate feeling from the man who uses it, as one proper from an old and attached servant. Panisko has a meaning of the same sort: “Good, dear master.” ↩
Szczerbiec literally means “a thing full of notches,” and is applied to a sword whose edges have become notched and broken by use. In Polish history the name is more particularly applied to the short sword of Boleslaw I, out of which he broke a piece in striking it on the gateway of Kiew when he conquered that city. The szczerbiec was girded on by all subsequent Polish monarchs at their coronation, and according to popular belief is to come into the hands of the restorer of Poland. ↩
I have retained the original word, because klucznik, though nearly, is not entirely expressed by majordomo or steward; it implies in dignity the former office, but signifies literally “the keeper of the keys,” from klucz = a key.

It may be possibly a matter of astonishment to the English reader, that a nobleman like Gervasy Rembajlo should be introduced as having been the servant of another; but in this is nothing but what is quite natural to, and consonant with, Polish feeling. The poorer nobility, though esteeming trade or manufactures disgraceful, did not object to act as servants, and receive salaries from the richer members of their order; and, in fact, noblemen were often found in the lowest menial capacities in the houses of magnates, but yet retaining in this anomalous position a theoretic equality with their masters, and the privileges of their order.

On this subject I have the following note from Mr. Naganowski:⁠—

“Eleven years ago, in my father’s house in Podolia, the cook was a nobleman. He had in his possession all the documents required by the Russian Government to prove his noble descent. He received a salary equal to about seven pounds a year.” ↩
“Sir,” or “My dear sir.” See note 4. ↩
Stolnik. See note 8 to Book I. ↩
In ancient castles an organ was placed in the orchestra. ↩
The health of the Primate of Poland (Archbishop of Gnesen) was drunk after that of the King, because he was the highest dignitary in the Kingdom. Between the death of one sovereign and election of his successor, he was Interrex. ↩
This was commonly the last toast drunk at a banquet, and is even now in very great vogue. ↩
Lowczyna, wife of the Lowczy Wielki Koronny, or Grand Venor of the Realm. ↩
Answers to English Lord-Lieutenant. The Castellan of Krakow was called Pan Krakowski. —⁠E. S. N. ↩
Daughter of a Stolnik, or Pantler. ↩
This is a thickish soup, made chiefly of the blood of a duck or goose, vinegar, and spice. When served to a suitor for the hand of a daughter of the house it meant a refusal. —⁠E. S. N. ↩
The famous constitution of the 3rd of May 1791, passedduring the so-called Four Years’ Diet, from 1788 to 1792. By it a sweeping reform was effected in the state, and many ancient abuses destroyed. Its provisions secured religious liberty to all sects, with Catholicism as the state religion; representation in the Diet to the inhabitants of towns, with confirmation to the nobles of their privileges, and assurance to the peasants of the protection of the laws. The remaining articles provided for the general working of the government, and while framed upon ancient custom, decreed the abolition of many former abuses; among others the liberum veto. An hereditary monarchy, to be fixed in the line of Saxony, was decreed in place of an elective one. Like the constitutions of many of the States of the American Union, that of the 3rd of May contained in itself a provision of modification, and provided for its future revision every twenty-five years. Though in some matters imperfect, it would doubtless have inaugurated a new era of reform and progress, but that the action of the Targowica Confederation (3rd August 1793) frequently alluded to in the course of this work, annulled the constitution, and reinstated ancient abuses in full. The country was immediately occupied by Russian armies, and the war of 1794 began, with what result is known to history. ↩
The author here introduces the name of his own family, as Scott has mentioned his ancestor of Harden in the “Lay of the Last Minstrel,” among the vassals of Branksome, and elsewhere. ↩
That is, a chair in the Senate, a staff, or bulawa, ensign of a hetman or generalissimo, and decorations of honour. No official titles were hereditary in Poland, therefore we never find any dignity or office transmitted from father to son. ↩
We shall find later on additional examples of the habit among the Polish nobles of conferring names expressive of diminution on their most tremendous and formidable weapons, by way of exalting their own strength and prowess, as “Penknife” for a monstrous two-handed sword, “Sprinkler” for a massive club, etc. ↩
German Burg-graf = castle governor. ↩
The English word is here the original. ↩
The priest’s speech involves a pun not capable of translation into English. Ogórki means not only cucumbers, but also the knots in a friar’s rope-girdle. ↩
From kawa coffee. ↩
The Lithuanians trade with Prussia by means of barges, floating down corn, and taking colonial produce in exchange. ↩
The original word is perforce retained, as it is used to signify a national dish, prepared as follows: Take good and tender beef, mince it fine, add a little butter, spice, onions, salt, pepper, egg, breadcrumbs; make small pats or cakes of the compound; fried, boiled, or stewed. ↩
That which is described is a stick with a piece of leather attached to one end. Old men used to (and sometimes do still) walk about with such an instrument, and on seeing a fly would bring down the leather upon it, either killing or scaring it away. ↩
Russian. ↩
Czynownik, an official in the Russian service. “In Russia, in order not to be a peasant or a merchant, in a word, in order to enjoy the privilege of exemption from the knout, it is necessary to enter the service of government, and have a so-called class or czyn (from czynic = to do). The service is divided into fourteen classes; some years of service are necessary to pass from one class into another. Various examinations are assigned to czynowniks, similar to those observed in the Chinese hierarchy of mandarins. A lower or higher rank in the service counts the same as rank in the army.” —⁠Mickiewicz, in the notes to the “Ancestors” ↩
Prince Dominik Radziwill, a great lover of the chase. Having emigrated to the Duchy of Warsaw, he equipped a regiment of horse at his own expense. He died at Paris. In him became extinct the male line of the Princes of Nieswiez. ↩
Mejen distinguished himself in the national war under Kosciuszko. Mejen’s trenches are still shown near Wilna. ↩
The following note is supplied by Dr. Rostafinski of Krakow:⁠—
1. Lisica. Cantarellus cibarius (Chantarelle).
2. Borowik. Boletus edulis (called in Lithuania Boletus Bovinus).
3. Rydz. Agaricus deliciosus.
4. Muchomor. Amanita muscaria, or Agaricus muscarius (fly-agaric). This is the Siberian fungus, with remarkable intoxicating properties.
5. Surojadki. A species of the Russula. Those quoted by Mickiewicz seem to be Russula Nitida, R. Alutacea, and R. Emetica.
6. Kozlak. Two species of Boletus; one B. luteus, the other (mentioned in the text) B. luridus (poisonous).
7. Bielaki. Agaricus piperatus and Agaricus Vellereus.
8. Purchawki. Lycoperdon bovista.
9. Lejki. The word does not signify any particular sort of fungus; it may be that the poet created the name a forma. The shape suggests Agaricus chloroides.
↩
“Fair-cheeks.” ↩
Fox-mushrooms. ↩
Boletus cervi. ↩
There is a well-known popular song in Lithuania about the mushrooms marching to war under the leadership of the borowik. In this song are described the properties of edible mushrooms. (Many species are enumerated in the text as good for food, which English prejudice repudiates as poison.) ↩
Pepper-box. ↩
A sort of long garment, like a dust-cloak. ↩
A proverb equivalent to “A plum growing on a thistle.” ↩
The swaty, or preliminary embassies for negotiation of marriage from the bridegroom to the friends or parents of the bride, play an important part in Slavonic weddings. ↩
“The heart is not
A servant, neither owns a master’s reign,
Nor can be bound by violence in a chain.”

These two lines are quoted from a well-known Polish song. ↩
The Breughel alluded to is Johann (1569⁠–⁠1625), called “Flower Breughel,” to distinguish him from his father and brother, both genre painters. There consequently were three Breughels, instead of only two. Jacob Ruisdael (1635⁠–⁠1681) is the best landscape painter of the Dutch school, and has scarcely, if at all, been surpassed since.

It is scarcely possible for anyone who has travelled in Southern Europe not to recognise the truth of these observations on foreign trees. In spite of the superiority of the south in light and atmosphere, and other advantages of a warmer climate, the north of Europe must certainly bear the palm for beauty of forest scenery. ↩
A famous genre painter; some years before his death he began to paint landscapes. He died in St. Petersburg. ↩
Inner den. See explanation in the text of Book IV. ↩
Literally, centurion, from sto = a hundred; one placed over a hundred peasants, a sort of mayor, or headman of a village. ↩
Panszczyzna, the stipulated amount of service of so many days a week formerly rendered by the peasants to their lords in Slavonic countries. The word szarwark or schaarwerk, probably German in origin, is given in the dictionaries as “statute-labour on the roads,” also a service compulsory from peasants, and commonly applied to agricultural labour exacted one day in each month. ↩
A Sprawnik or Captain Sprawnik is a chief of rural police. A Strapczy is a sort of government procurator. These officials, often having the means of abusing their power, are in great detestation among the people. ↩
Witenez was the father of Gedymin, who was the progenitor of the Jagellons; his sons were Kiejstut and Olgierd, from the latter of whom sprang Wladyslaw Jagellon, afterwards King of Poland. Mindowe, or Mendog, flourishing in the middle of the thirteenth century, was the first prince who freed Lithuania from foreign dominion. He rose to great power, and became terrible to his enemies, accepted Christianity, and by permission of the Pope crowned himself King of Lithuania in 1252. Near Nowogrodek is hill, called that of Mendog, which is said to be the grave of this hero. ↩
The river on which Wilna stands. ↩
According to tradition, the Grand Duke Gedymin had a dream about an iron wolf, and, by the counsel of the bard Lizdejko, built the town of Wilna.

The bard, or Wajdelote, Lizdejko, occupies a prominent place in Lithuanian legend. He is said to have been discovered as a child in an eagle’s nest. ↩
The Jagellons. ↩
A sort of pointed cap. ↩
Sigismond Augustus [d. 1572] was the last king crowned, according to ancient custom, in the capital of Lithuania, girding on the sword, and crowning himself with the kolpak of Witold. He greatly loved hunting. ↩
Tree, as well as serpent worship, formed a large part of the religion of ancient Lithuania. Those oaks which gave forth oracles were called Baublis, an onomatopoeic word, derived from a sound they gave forth, resembling a bull’s roar. They were remarkable for being evergreen, both in summer and winter, and were probably examples of a peculiar variety. The remains of the one specially mentioned in the text still existed in 1845 in the district of Rosien, on the estates of a certain Paskiewicz. Inside it were constructed two small chambers, one above the other, as a museum of Lithuanian antiquities. When cut down the rings on its trunk amounted to 1417. ↩
Not far from the parish church of Nowogrodek grew several ancient linden trees, called Mendog’s Grove, many of which were cut down about the year 1812. ↩
John Kochanowski [1530⁠–⁠1584], though not actually the first of Polish authors to write in his own tongue, was the first poet of merit therein, and was chief in the Augustan age of Polish literature. He translated the Psalms, and also wrote satires, and other poems, both in Polish and in Latin. He declined all court dignities and honours, and lived in retirement at the village of Czarnolas (black wood) composing most of his verses under the shadow of a celebrated linden tree. ↩
Severyn Goszczynski, a writer of the present century, and a poet of the so-called Ukraine school in Polish literature. ↩
Very probably indeed. ↩
Those used for the candles regularly lit by the Jews on Friday at sunset, to avoid the “work” of kindling light or fire on the Sabbath. ↩
The kolomyjki of Galicia, and mazurkas of Warsaw, are popular airs sung and danced at the same time. [The word kolomyjki is derived from the town of Kolomyja in Galicia. —⁠E. S. N.] Mazurka is sufficiently familiar to English readers, and is merely the feminine form of Mazur or Masovian, as Polka is of Polak. ↩
In 1806. ↩
The Jews in Poland have always occupied an anomalous position. Though not exposed, as they were in other countries, to persecution for their religion, yet having nearly all the trade of the country in their hands, and being the most conservative of their race in regard to manners and customs, there is the widest separation between them and the rest of the nation. Most of the Jews, in fact, speak a dialect of their own, and understand scarcely more of Polish than is needed for purposes of buying and selling with the people. In 1831 the attitude of the Jews in regard to national insurrection was one of the most embarrassing questions Polish patriots had to deal with. It may as well be mentioned that travellers in the East say that the majority of the Hebrew immigrants now settling in Syria and Palestine are Polish and Russian Jews. ↩
The place of honour, where in former times were placed the images of the domestic gods, and where the Russians still hang up their images of saints. The Lithuanian villagers there place those guests whom they wish to honour. ↩
The best kind of mead is made from honey, called lipcowy, either because made by the bees from the flowers of the linden tree, or from the month of July, Lipiec in Polish. But this is because the linden flowers are then in bloom. The Polish names of months are nearly all of national origin, and derived from some natural phenomenon characteristic of each. ↩
Bright mountain. ↩
The Greek, or Russian Church. ↩
In the original cham. For the meaning of this word, and the opinion thereby implied, see Book XII. ↩
“Might with a Wojewode stand.”

“Szlachcic na zagrodzie równy Wojewodzie,” a rhyming proverb, in substance as above translated. It was used to express the perfect equality between all Polish noblemen, of whom the poorest, only possessing a small plot of land, or zagroda, had equal rights with the highest functionaries of the Republic. So strictly was this perfect equality formerly maintained, that till the latter end of the seventeenth century the foreign titles of Duke, Marquis, or Count were unknown and discountenanced in Poland. As before observed, no official titles could be inherited. But later on we shall have occasion to mark how the 66 99 magnates strove to exalt themselves into a superior social caste above the ordinary szlachta, or nobility. ↩
The Poraj is in heraldry a white rose with five leaves on a field gules, Polish heraldry is comparatively simple beside that of other countries. The use of family names was unknown till the fifteenth century; before that the different branches of one stock were only recognised by one common escutcheon. One might belong to the stock of the arrow, the two daggers, the horseshoe, the double or triple cross, etc. There were only 540 of these escutcheons for the whole of Poland. A great number of families were grouped together under each one of these signs; we shall often find a man described as being of such and such a crest. This would tend to prove that the escutcheon originally designated a whole clan, rather than a mere family.

[It may be added that a wealthy and powerful nobleman often rewarded his retainers and famuli by “admitting them to his escutcheon,” i.e., obtaining for them a diploma of honour from the king, ratifying the knightly adoption. Hence it is common to hear of the greatest and most ancient Polish families having the same armorial bearings with some very obscure ones. —⁠E. S. N.] ↩
Matthias Stryjkowski, an historical writer of the sixteenth century, published in 1582 a history, partly in prose, partly in verse, entitled, “What beforehand the World never saw, a Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia, and; all the Russias.” It is the chief authority for ancient Lithuanian history. ↩
Dantzig was taken by the French and their Polish allies in 1807. It had belonged from 1310 till 1454 to the Teutonic Order; then became a free port under the protection of Poland, and an important member of the Hanseatic league. It was seized by Prussia in the second partition. ↩
See note to Book I. ↩
The taratatka is a species of capote; the czamara a long frock-coat, braided on the back and chest like a hussar’s uniform, and with tight sleeves. The sukmana is a sort of peasant’s coat made of cloth, the wearing of which by Kosciuszko indicated his strong democratic tendencies, and sympathy with the lower classes.

To some of these observations upon splendour of dress, and its reference to worldly position or moral worth, we may compare Artemus Ward’s remark: “You may always notice how high up a man is in the world by the least good harness he puts on.” ↩
The battle of Austerlitz was fought on the 2nd December 1805. The allied Russian and Austrian armies were there signally defeated by Napoleon. ↩
Quite untrue in 1811. ↩
In an English translation it is hardly to be expected that an implied slur on England should be passed without comment. Our chiefwarlike operations being for so long almost entirely confined to our proper dominion of the ocean, and this being insurmountable to Napoleon’s ambition, it may have for some time appeared to Continentals that we were of necessity driven from the Continent. But it is somewhat singular that in 1811, three years after the beginning of the Peninsular war, it could ever have been thought that English forces had obtained no advantage over the French by land. ↩
Choronzy, another purely honorific title. See note 8 to Book I. ↩
The original is koltunowate, i.e., afflicted with plica polonica; a forcible image, but at the same time one not to be literally translated. ↩
In reality there is no instance of the skeleton of a dead animal being found. [Because when a carcase in a state of nature does not immediately become the prey of the carnivora, it is speedily destroyed by the action of the elements. This is the reason of the comparative rarity of fossils, considering the infinite number of individuals of extinct species, that must have lived and died in geologic ages. Such remains as have been preserved, have either been washed down in rivers, or embedded in morasses, for they are invariably found in sedimentary strata, or consolidated peat. —⁠M. A. B.] ↩
In reality there is no instance of the skeleton of a dead animal being found. [Because when a carcase in a state of nature does not immediately become the prey of the carnivora, it is speedily destroyed by the action of the elements. This is the reason of the comparative rarity of fossils, considering the infinite number of individuals of extinct species, that must have lived and died in geologic ages. Such remains as have been preserved, have either been washed down in rivers, or embedded in morasses, for they are invariably found in sedimentary strata, or consolidated peat. —⁠M. A. B.] ↩
The literal translation. ↩
“It seemed to go right up to heaven,
And die among the stars.”

↩
Guns of small calibre, which are loaded with small shot, are called ptaszynki (small birds). Good shots can hit birds on the wing with such guns. [Compare our own word musket, also the earlier names for different sorts of cannon, falcon, culverin, etc.] ↩
It may be interesting to know that one of the yet surviving friends and schoolfellows of Mickiewicz, Ignatius Domejko, the present Rector of the University of Santiago (Chile), related during his stay in Warsaw last year (1884) that he challenged the young poet, then at Wilna, to find a proper name rhyming with Domejko. Mickiewicz improvised a verse rhyming Domejko with Dowejko. It is not, however, quite certain whether there was actually a family of that name. —⁠E. S. N. ↩
This was formerly a common trial of skill among Polish marksmen. In the “Memoirs of Soplica,” already referred to, is an amusing story of a certain nobleman who insisted on performing this Tell-like feat on the, slippers of his wife; but the lady, being as good a shot as her husband, retaliated by cutting in two the fastening of his girdle with the bullet from the remaining pistol. ↩
The point of this whole passage, as often is the case in our author’s works, is only seen on full acquaintance with the whole. ↩
In bottles of Dantzig brandy there is generally a little gold-leaf (Germ. Goldwasser). —⁠E. S. N. ↩
The bigos was not of course prepared then and there on the spot. It is usually made in large quantities, put into barrels, and stored in cellars. The oftener it is heated the more savoury it is. I should suggest the derivation is bis-coctum, or bis-gotowane (prepared) as the whole undergoes two or more fires.

Zrobic bigos, as a proverb, means to make a mess of anything. —⁠E. S. N. Compare our own, “Make a hash of it.” —⁠M. A. B. ↩
The Wojski had not read the account of this circumstance in the Aeneid, but probably in the commentaries of the Scholiasts. [The origin of Carthage is only referred to by Virgil, not related circumstantially.] ↩
Consommé. ↩
In rich houses in Poland washhand basins and jugs are often made of silver, even at the present time. ↩
A deputy named Philip, from the village of Konopie (hemp) having obtained a hearing in the Diet, wandered so far from the subject in hand, as to excite general laughter in the Chamber. Hence came a proverb, to emerge suddenly, like Philip from the hemp. ↩
The word Niemiec (pl. Niemcy), applied by the Poles to the Germans, means literally dumb. The words Slawa (glory) or Slowo (word) have, on the contrary, furnished the root of Slave, which from other causes has obtained so widely different a meaning in all other European tongues. The habit of applying the term of speakers only to those who speak the language intelligible to themselves is characteristic of many peoples. The name of Mlekas, given to the non-Aryan races of India by their Sanskrit-speaking conquerors, has the same meaning as Niemiec in Polish. We recognise in the uneducated of all countries an inability to comprehend ignorance of their own languages, and a propensity to ascribe such ignorance to mere imbecility. Even now Polish peasants only recognise two nationalities, Poles, and the Dumb ones, i.e., Germans, those not speaking Polish. ↩
These words of the Gospel of St. John are often used as an exclamation of astonishment. ↩
Atracura. ↩
In the original, Hreczecha’s warning concludes with the words, do jednej zwierzyny, literally, “at one animal,” and the whispered comment of his auditors is, do jednej dziewczyny, “at one damsel.” We have tried, by employing English words that rhyme together, to make something like the same effect in translation. ↩
The joke is continued in an untranslatable sequence of puns, by means of the similarly sounding words, kobieta, woman, and kokieta. ↩
Spolia opima in Roman history were spoils taken by a general from the leader of a hostile army in single combat. Such spoils were always dedicated to Jupiter Teretrius. Only two or three instances occur in the whole course of history; those of Romulus and Cornelius Cossus are among them. ↩
Puszczyk = screech-owl, rhymes with Klucznik, and produces one of those peculiar effects in the music of the poem, which frequently occur, but can seldom be translated. ↩
The famous nocturnal festival among the Lithuanian peasantry, celebrated on the 2nd of November, when the souls of the dead are feasted. It forms the groundwork of the grand dramatic poem of the Dziady, by Mickiewicz. ↩
Guslarze. ↩
The English word toast is employed in the text. ↩
“Who dare this pair of boots displace
Must meet Bombastes face to face:
Thus do I challenge all the human race.”

↩
In Lithuania a settlement of nobles is called a zascianek (za = behind, sciana = a wall), in contradistinction to wies or siolo, a village proper, inhabited by peasants. ↩
The original is buzdygan, a formidable steel weapon, planted on a short wooden handle. As no one was allowed to use a staff except the generals, so none of the army were allowed to use the buzdygan except captains, lieutenants, and standard-bearers.

[Buzdygan is commanding officer’s staff, as bulawa was that of the four hetmans, viz., the Grand Hetman of the Crown, Field Hetman of the Crown, Grand Hetman of Lithuania, and Field Hetman of Lithuania. —⁠E. S. N.] ↩
In respect to the title of this book, I have been advised to use Farmstead instead of the original zascianek, derived from za, behind, and sciana, wall, meaning, in a forgotten corner of the world.

[These zascianki were inhabited by the poorest of the lesser nobility, who were in fact peasants, but possessed of truly Castilian pride. The wearing of a sword being restricted to nobles, it was not unusual to see such zasciankowicze, or peasant nobles, following the plough barefooted, wearing an old rusty sword hanging at their side by hempen cords. —⁠E. S. N.] ↩
The original is taktowy rejestr, i.e., the register of the criminal tribunal, which took cognisance of offences in the law-courts, happening a mile from a town, or directed against the person of a deputy. [The meaning of the expression is: He registers into the books of the gród (district) court any suit about to be judged, or after it had passed out of court. —⁠E. S. N.] ↩
The original is “the tenth water from Kisiel,” which peculiar expression the author explains as follows:⁠—

Kisiel, a Lithuanian dish, a sort of jelly, made of oaten leaven, soaked in water till all the farinaceous parts are washed out; hence the proverb. ↩
After the victories of Pultusk, Eylau, and Friedland, following in quick succession, it appeared highly probable that Napoleon would at once cross the Niemen, and enter Lithuania. Instead of this he held a personal conference with the Emperor Alexander on the bridge at Tilsit, where they arranged a peace, July 7, 1807. By this treaty part of Poland was taken from the King of Prussia, and erected into the Duchy of Warsaw, but much was still left in the hands of the Germans, and the province of Bialystok was detached and given over to Russia. The treaty of Tilsit is sometimes known to Polish historians as the fourth partition. ↩
The arms of Lithuania are a Horseman pursuing on a field azure. (“Pursuit” is the appellation.) —⁠E. S. N. ↩
Poniatowski, nephew of Stanislas Augustus. ↩
A convicted slanderer was compelled to crawl under the table or bench, and in that position to bark three times like a dog, and pronounce his recantation. Hence the Polish word odszczekac, to bark back, generally used to express recanting. ↩
This Wolodkowicz, after making several disturbances, was seized in Minsk, and shot by a tribunal decree. ↩
This frequently used word is of Hungarian origin. ↩
When the king ordered a general levy of the nobility, he commanded a high pole to be set up in each parish, with a broom, or wicia, bound to the top, and this was called sending out wici. Every adult man of the equestrian order was obliged, under penalty of losing his nobility, to repair immediately to the Wojewode’s standard. ↩
The Lachy, or inhabitants of Poland proper, have various origins assigned to them. One opinion frequently adopted is that they were a conquering race from the Caucasus, who overran and mingled with the original Slavonic Polani. It is urged, that the difference of social and legal position between the nobles and peasants points to the relations of a conquering and a conquered people. For the alleged Caucasian origin the similarity of the name Lachy with Lazi, a warlike tribe in the Caucasus, formerly allies of Justinian, is quoted, as well as many local names both in those regions and in Poland. Another opinion is that they were of Norse or Scandinavian origin. Vide the new edition of the Encyclopaedia Brittannica. ↩
Imioniska (pl.) are properly sobriquets. ↩
Za, at, and bok, side. This term is explained later on in the text of the poem. ↩
The Confederacy of Bar was formed in 1768 to resist Russia. It was named from the town of Bar in Podolia, where the Confederates first united, and the siege of which forms the first episode of a war replete in traits of heroism, but also abounding in painful details. ↩
“No one was equal in magnificent and useful designs to Tyzenhaus, the Lithuanian Treasurer, who from the beginning of the reign of Stanislas Augustus commenced gigantic projects for advancing progress in Lithuania. He built near Grodno the suburb of Horodnica; on the other side of the river Lososna, he raised buildings where numerous manufactures were established. He founded in Grodno a school of natural sciences and medicine. Tyzenhaus, knowing the king’s partiality for amusements and spectacles, soon procured him, from peasants’ huts, accomplished musicians and ballet-dancers. The king confided greatly in Tyzenhaus, to such a degree that he entrusted to him the distribution of offices in Lithuania. Envy was soon aroused against the treasurer, whose zeal caused him to exceed moderation in the expenses of his enterprise, so that he was not able to pay the interest of a debt to the King of Holland. This circumstance contributed to excite indignation and ill-will against him. The empress Catherine supported this clamour, and demanded of the king that he should dismiss the treasurer. The king abandoned Tyzenhaus in 1782. Calumny, violence, and injury rendered it impossible for him to justify himself. Under the pretext that he had a deficit of a million, four millions of his property were put in execution. Tyzenhaus died in poverty and misery at Warsaw, under the very eyes of his weak and ungrateful master. The manufactures of Horodnica still subsist, and have not ceased to be productive of benefit to the country, although at one time abandoned, and even persecuted. Thus enlightened opinions, crushed down by prejudice and malice, as soon as implanted, begin to produce fruit, and in spite of hindrances flourish and elevate society.” —⁠Lelevel’s Reign of Stanislas Augustus ↩
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 which served as a refuge to Stanislas Augustus, after the attempt to seize him by the Confederates of Bar, November 3, 1772. ↩
Sak in the original. ↩
These three lines are not translated by me, but by Mr. Naganowski. —⁠M. A. B. ↩
Two legendary twin princes, whose story forms part of the powerful, though fantastical drama of Lilla Weneda, by Julius Slowacki. ↩
I.e., Poland. ↩
Corona Borealis. ↩
Ursa Major. ↩
I should not like to say positively, but I am almost certain that the appellation Smok does not exist even in Polish manuals of astronomy. It may be, however, that such is the name in Lithuania for scorpion, or that the poet, not being able to introduce the idea of a scorpion, used dragon. None of the twelve zodiacal signs seem to answer the description, except Scorpio. It may be Serpens in Ophiuchus. —⁠E. S. N. ↩
It was customary to hang up in churches fragments of fossil bones, which the people supposed to be those of giants. ↩
The famous comet of 1811, which, having been scarcely visible during April and May, reappeared with great splendour, after passing its perihelion, in August, the date of this story, and remained visible all the autumn. The tail on October 14 was estimated at 100,000,000 miles long, and 15,000,000 broad; the head measuring 1,270,000 millions of miles. Its period is supposed to be 3,000 years. ↩
The comet of 1811 is described as having its tail divided into two streams, parting from the head, and again united into a curve at their base; so the image used is both characteristic and descriptive. ↩
The common people of Lithuania figure the Pestilence under the form of a maiden of gigantic stature, and waving in her hand a bloodstained cloth, from which she scatters the pestilence. The appearance of this spectre is commonly supposed to precede the ravages of the plague, or other epidemic. (See notes to “Konrad Wallenrod.”)

The comet of 1811, besides being regarded as an evil omen in Poland and Russia, received in Spain the name of “El Cometa de Hambre,” as preceding a great famine, that immediately followed on the Peninsular war. ↩
The priest Poczobut, an ex-Jesuit, published a work on the Zodiac of Dendera, and by his observations assisted Lalande in calculating lunar motions. ↩
John Sniadecki (1756⁠–⁠1830), a famous astronomer, and writer on scientific subjects. From 1807 to 1825 he was professor of astronomy and rector of the University of Wilna. Among other places he studied some time at Oxford. ↩
Xavier Branicki was the chief promoter of the Targowica and other conspiracies. ↩
The family of Sapieha furnished several distinguished men during the seventeenth century, and especially during the reign of John Sobieski. ↩
A tiger in Africa!!! ↩
Stanąc na kobiercu, an idiomatic expression for the ceremony of marriage. ↩
The Wilias, Switeziankas, Rusalkas, are the water-maidens of popular Lithuanian legend. ↩
These snakes were formerly objects of worship, in the old paganism of the country. ↩
The medieval fable and excuse for persecution. ↩
The Polish mile is equivalent to between two and three of English. ↩
The original is a species of legal macaronic Latin; an imitation of the same effect has been attempted by means of English words, similarly Latinised. ↩
In this representation of a Russian officer as an honourable and just man, and one of his own countrymen as most unjust and tyrannical, our author has shown how little of a narrow or exclusive character was his patriotism. ↩
About £166. ↩
The Yellow Book, so named from its cover, is the code of the martial laws of Russia. Sometimes in time of peace the government proclaims whole provinces in a state of war, and by authority of the Yellow Book gives to the military commander full authority over the lives and property of the inhabitants. It is known that from the year 1812 till the revolution the whole of Lithuania was subjected to the Yellow Book, the executor whereof was the Grand Duke Constantine. ↩
Equivalent to “at a discount.” ↩
Baka, a jovial ecclesiastic in Poland of the last century; a poetaster chiefly known by his humorous veridicisms, written in most ludicrous forms. His verses are immortal only on account of their technical absurdities and intrinsic satire. One of them begins:

“Babula,
Cebula,”

and goes on thus in single trisyllabic words or three monosyllabic ones. It requires uncommon lucidity of mind to understand it. —⁠E. S. N. ↩
See note 19 to Book II. ↩
A corruption of the German elf zuolf (eleven-twelve), a game at cards. —⁠E. S. N. ↩
Germ. Gefreiter, a lance-corporal. ↩
The Lithuanian clubs were made in this manner; a young oak was selected, and an incision made in it with an axe, so as to cut through the bark and marrow. In these notches were inserted sharp flints, which in time grew into the wood, and formed hard knobs. Clubs constituted in pagan times the chief weapon of the Lithuanian infantry; they are still occasionally used, and called nasieki. ↩
After Jasinski’s insurrection, when the Lithuanian army had retired towards Warsaw, the Muscovites approached Wilna, left open to their attacks. General Dejow, at the head of his staff, entered by the Ostra Gate. The streets were empty, the inhabitants having shut themselves up in their houses. One citizen, finding a cannon abandoned in an alley, loaded with grapeshot, pointed it at the gate, and fired it off. This single shot saved Wilna for the time being. General Dejow, with some of his officers, perished; the rest, fearing an ambush, retired from the town. The name of the citizen is not known for certain. ↩
There were, however, some forays later on, which, though not so glorious, were celebrated and bloody enough. About the year 1817 a certain U⁠⸺, in the Novogrodek palatinate, slew in a foray the whole garrison in the town, and took the leaders prisoners. ↩
The dates of the battles here enumerated are as follows: Oczakow, 1788; Ismail, 1790; Novi, in the plain of Marengo, where the French were defeated by the Austro-Russian army, 1799. The retreat of Suwarow’s army from Zurich took place in the same year. ↩
At the battle of Raclawice, near Krakow, Kosciuszko gained a signal victory over the Austrian and Russian troops; in a great measure by the peasant infantry armed with scythes, which he was the first to organise, and of which he there proved the efficiency. ↩
Maciejowice, the field where Kosciuszko was defeated and taken prisoner by the Russians on the 10th October 1794. ↩
“Nosil wilk, poniesli i wilka.” A proverb. ↩
In translating the whole of this scene, an effort has been made to reproduce the effect of the broken lines in the original. ↩
John Tenczynski, in the sixteenth century, gained the love of a princess of Sweden, with the approval of her brother King Eric, but being taken prisoner at sea by the Danish fleet, died in captivity, without the consummation of his wishes. This story forms the base of a novel by Niemcewicz, and there is a very pretty poem by Karpinski on the same subject. ↩
Black broth, served to a suitor for the hand of a lady, signified a refusal. See Notes to Book II. ↩
Prince Charles Radziwill, surnamed Kochanek or Beloved, from his invariable habit of thus addressing all persons. ↩
It would appear that the Stolnik was killed about the year 1791, in the first war [followed by the Russian occupation, and subsequent insurrection]. ↩
Of the Greek Church. ↩
War between France and Russia was declared on the 3rd August 1811. ↩
The French and Polish armies crossed the Niemen on the 24th June 1812. ↩
A book now extremely rare, published by Stanislaw Czernicki. ↩
This Roman embassy has been often described. See “The Perfect Cook,” preface. “This legation, being a great marvel to all the Western empire, proclaimed a lord unsurpassed in wit, by the splendour of the house and the service of the table, so that one of the Roman princes said, ‘Today Rome is happy in possessing such an ambassador.’ ” ↩
A proverb, used to imply great abundance and luxury. ↩
In Lithuania, on the entrance of the French and Polish armies, Confederations were formed in the palatinates, and deputies elected to the Diet. ↩
It is well known that a Polish corps, under the leadership of General Kniaziewicz, at Hohenlinden, decided the victory. ↩
The capture of Somosierra, by which the road to Madrid was left open to Napoleon’s troops, was accomplished on the 30th November 1808. After several unsuccessful assaults, owing to the obstinate resistance of the Spaniards, a body of Polish lancers and sharpshooters was despatched against the chief entrenchments. After covering the ground with their dead, they captured the Spanish artillery, and thereby supported, dislodged the defenders. The Spanish commander, San Juan, with great difficulty cut his way through the Poles, and reached Segovia at imminent hazard. —⁠Toreño, Guerra i Revolucion en España ↩
Legion d’honneur. ↩
The meaning of militem is obvious. Scartabel is one of those terms not easy to define. It has many classical derivations assigned to it, with which it is hardly worth while to trouble the reader. Linde thinks that it is a term used to express a new nobility, who owe their rank to fortune in war, from the right to be ennobled which a soldier by a law of Stephen Batory might claim after a certain amount of service, and which was often granted. Or scartabelli might be nobles living under citizen law. Czacki says: “The scartabellus hold a midway position between the ancient nobility and those who have risen from being peasants.” —⁠Linde ↩
The inhabitants of cities only received full political privileges by the constitution of 1791. ↩
The three brothers Czech, Lech, and Russ were the legendary founders of the Bohemian, Polish, and Russian peoples. (See Le Monde Slave, by Cyprien Robert.) ↩
A proverb, signifying to be ready to avenge oneself on the first occasion. —⁠E. S. N. ↩
Prince Denassau’s real name was the Duke of Nassau-Siegen, a noted warrior and adventurer. He was Russian admiral, and defeated the Turks, and was himself defeated by the Swedes. He remained for some time in Poland, where he obtained letters of nobility. His single combat with a tiger (in Africa!!) was much celebrated in all the gazettes of Europe.

The story which the Wojski never finished, concerning Rejtan’s quarrel with the Prince of Nassau, is known from tradition. Rejtan, offended by the prince’s boasting, once stood beside him on a clearing. Just then a monstrous wild boar, furious with shot wounds, and with being hunted, rushed upon them. Rejtan snatched the prince’s gun from his hands, threw it on the ground, and taking a spear, and giving another to the German, said, “Now let us see which of us can manage a spear best.” The boar was just rushing upon them, when the Wojski Hreczecha, standing at a distance, slew the beast by a fortunate shot. The gentlemen were at first angry, but afterwards became reconciled to each other, and liberally rewarded Hreczecha. ↩
One of the finest palaces in Warsaw is that of General Pac, who died at Smyrna in exile. The Russians converted it into a bazaar of industry. ↩
The Leliwa is a crest of Polish heraldry, and is the horizontal crescent with a star between its horns. ↩
The original words are wioski and zascianki, both of which have been already explained. ↩
A soup made chiefly of beetroot and cream. ↩
Consommé. ↩
In the sixteenth and at the beginning of the seventeenth century, at the time when art was most flourishing, even banquets were arranged by artists, and full of symbols and theatrical devices. At the renowned festival given in Rome to Leo X was a service representing in turn the four seasons of the year, which probably served as the model for that of Radziwill. These table customs were changed in Europe about the middle of the eighteenth century: they lasted longest in Poland. ↩
Pineti, a magician renowned through all Poland; when he was among us we do not know. ↩
Leader first in the insurrection of 1831, later on in the Hungarian war of 1848⁠–⁠49. ↩
Dzierzanowski and the Cossack Sawa were both famous as heroes of the Confederacy. ↩
The lamentation of the wife of Cybulski, whose husband lost her at cards to a Muscovite, is well known in Lithuania. ↩
“Baska panska na pstrym koniu jedzie”⁠—a national proverb. ↩
The five Pulawskis, father, three brothers, and nephew, were all distinguished in the Confederacy of Bar, formed to resist Russian interference; being its first originators and afterwards its life and soul. After the death of his father Casimir Pulawski became chief of the whole Confederacy, maintained it for a long time, and was at length persuaded to accede to the seizure of King Stanislas in Warsaw. This act has been undeservedly reprobated by a once famous English novelist, but it was certainly ill-judged, for it contributed to the loss of prestige in the Confederates, and the downfall of their cause. After the ruin of the Confederacy Pulawski fought for some time in Turkey against the Russians, and subsequently taking part in the American War of Independence, fell in an assault on Fort Wayne (1779). ↩
Several French officers, chiefly Dumourier, also Choiseul Vismenil, and others, took part with the Confederates. ↩
A Piast originally signified a sovereign of the first historic dynasty that reigned over Poland, from Piast, the reputed founder of the race, to Casimir the Great, who died in 1370. In later times, during the period of elected sovereigns, a Piast came to mean a king, or candidate for the throne, of Polish birth. Hence it is here used for a national hero. ↩
The fashion of dressing in the French style increased greatly in the provinces between the years 1800 to 1812. Young men often changed their style of dress before marriage, at the request of their betrothed. ↩
The Polish original is striking, being literally, “roasted a crab.” ↩
We may notice this curious coincidence (a very unscriptural genealogy, by the way) between these ideas and the reasons alleged by the Southerners for keeping the negroes in slavery. The reader will remember that the word Cham is actually used earlier in the poem in addressing a peasant. ↩
The Russian Government acknowledged no freemen except nobles. Serfs, freed by their proprietors, were at once inscribed among the peasants of the Imperial estates, and instead of compulsory labour were forced to pay increased taxes. It is well known that in the year 1818 the inhabitants of the governorship of Wilna decreed in the Senate a project of freeing all the serfs, and appointed for this purpose a delegation to the Emperor; but the government ordered the project to be hushed up, and nevermore to be mentioned. There was no way of freeing a man at that time, under Russian rule, except by adopting him into the family. Therefore many were freed in this way, either by avour or for money. ↩
Before the inauguration of a better taste by Mickiewicz and other great writers, the so-called French or Classical school of literature in Poland produced a quantity of panegyrics or complimentary verses in honour of great personages, with stale classical images, and strained, farfetched metaphors, destitute of real poetry. Our author has seized this happy opportunity of satirising the faults of classicism. ↩
“The cymbals are a species of lyre laid flat on a table, and played with padded sticks. They have great tone and capability of expression, and emit as much sound as a grand piano; the lower strings have immense depth and power.” —⁠“Unknown Hungary,” by a Member of the Carpathian Club ↩
An eastern instrument: vide “Lallah Rookh.” ↩
The opening words of this song are nearly as quoted in the text. The melody is of a plaintive and melancholy character. It is included in Sowinski’s collection of national music, published at Paris. ↩
A common equivalent for into the wide world. ↩
With these few concluding words the poet indicates his own presence at the concluding festivities, and personal cognisance of all the circumstances related. We are reminded of Chaucer’s parenthetical phrase in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, “and then there was myself, there was no mo.” The conclusion is, however, probably meant to imitate the general ending of Polish fairy tales, which commonly finish as this poem does, by a sort of rhyming couplet, assuring us that the narrator was himself present at the wedding-feast, and shared in the festivities. ↩