The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

248 RUSSIA JN EEBOrE.Like all civilised peoples, the Poles, too often judged from the showy princesand broken-down gentry residing in the "West, present an endless variety ofcharacter. But the general type is, on the whole, such as it has been described bycareful observers. They are, as a rule, more richly endowed with natural giftsthan with those deeper qualities which are the outcome of patient labour andperseverance. Rash, impetuous, enthusiastic, courteous, somewhat obsequious, anddesirous to please, they are more often successful in making themselves agreeablethan anxious to earn esteem by their conduct. More mindful of others than ofthemselves, they more readily understand the higher duties than the humblerclaims of everv-day life.Their ambition is rarely upheld by strenuous action, thecurious aspects of science prevail over painstaking and steady work, the imaginationis more powerful than the will, caprice is followed by caprice. Still theyhave occasional fits of energy, and then they become capable of the greatest deeds,especially in the excitement of the battle-field, for they naturally play high,willingly staking life and fortune on the issue. Like the French, they yieldin misfortune to the inevitable, without querulously complaining of fate. Theeducated Polish lady often reveals in her noble qualities the rare worth of herrace, with grace, wit, unflagging vivacity, and fluent speech, combining unselfishdevotion, courage, quick resolution, and clearness of thought ; and indeed the idealnational tvpe has been best preserved by the Polish women in all its grandeur andpurity.The greatest fault of the Poles is their contempt of work. Their fathers,master and serf alike, were ever taught to despise manual labour, and this sentimentstill survives as a lamentable inheritance bequeathed to the present generation.Hence, possibly, that contrast between their fundamental character, leading soreadily to heroism, and habits which at times tend to degrade them. When weread their collections of national poetry, we are struck with the lack of originalityin their ballads, with the coarseness and even cynicism of their amorous ditties.Most of their modern poets have been fain to seek their inspirations not in thePolish songs, but in the Ukranian, Lithuanian, and even White Russian dunias andtraditions. This is due to the fact that ever since the eleventh century the Polishpeasantry have been enthralled by the nobles, whereas the serfdom of the Lithuaniansdates only from the fifteenth, that of the Little Russians of Ukrania fromthe eighteenth century. A pure and really elevated poetic spirit could scarcelyhave been fostered amongst the Polish peasantry under the regime of the szlachta,fawners on the nobles, taskmasters of the poor.Amongst other Slav literatures thePolish is otherwise distinguished by its wealth of historic proverbs, all originatingwith the aristocracy, which, so to say, formed the political element in the nation.The Polish Jews.— German and Russian Influence. — Land Tenure. —Material Progress.With their improvidence and generous impulses, the Poles, with all theirshrewdness, are easily cajoled, and there is no lack of sharks, Jews and Christians,