Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1847-03-31

Any poet may speak,
But elbow it!) nose we can't sing.
.sz.g Description Of Crac0w.
Tho following striking description is
taken from the recent work Of M. Xavier
Mariner:
Cracow is city the aspect Of which is
at once majestic and painful to contem-
plate. 1t is cradle of monarchy and the
tomb Of nation; the town in which kings
were crowned, and where they are now
buried; the capital Of a powerful empire,
ssnd the powerless head Of narrow dis
trict; The first page Of heroic epoch, and
the last line of disastrous history. It's
. monument Of splendor and Of nothing
ness. Nature adds to these contrasts by
her freshness and brightness. Approach
ing Cracew from Warsaw. nothing meets
the eye but a large green valley, fertile as
the Touraine in France, and slrewed with
trees a. in Normandy. The Vi.tula wa
ters it, meandering among golden crops;
and al the horizon are sesn the varied
lines of those great chains Of mountains
which spread from the Black sea to the
Danube. In tho midst of this vast valley
rise the gothic peaks Of tie churches Of
CEacow, the blackched walls Of its ram.
parts, and the creviced towers OF its cas-
tles-the decrepit work Of man eide by
side with the eternal youth Of Nature
In the interior Of the town, as we'll Is the
country which surrounds it, there 10 not
one monument which is not illustrated BY
some neble "reminiscences - not brook. moi
hill, which does not call to mind an his.
torieai tradition of some fabulous legend,
On the steep summit Of the Wawul, Crs-
Gus, the founder Of the Polish monarchy.
constructed fortress, and gave his name
to the city which spread itsel: before him.
Near the village Of Mogida, are buried The
Rename of the heroic Wanda, the first
queen Of Poland, daughter of Cracus, beau.
'i'ui as an angel, according to the old
chronicles, and proud and courapeou. as a
volkyory. Cracow, founded BY Cracus at
the end Of the seventh century, was tn.
residence Of kings until the Commence.
ment Of tho seventeenth, at which epoch
Sigismond III. established himself at War
saw, and until 1854 preserved the priyi-
iege OF GROWING the sovereign of Poland.
All IN town bears an imposing character
Q: age. a rampant surrounds it yet, az it
did when it was the buckier of Poland
Inc streets are mostly tortuous and dark.
like those Of the middle ages, and the hou.
ses have festooned gables, like Ausbure or
Nuremberg. Here one sees gates adorned
with small columns and covered by vines,
- they are in the pleasant villages along
the Rhine; there are statues of saints, and
further on the palais Of the bishops, whose
favors were long since courted by kings,
and the old university, the first Of the old |
Scalavonic universities after Prague.
On all sides peaked towers and silded !
crosses meet the eye. There are no less |
than thirty-sight churches in Cracow, all |
remarkable-some by their architecture,
others BY thrir pious traditions. That Of |
Metre Dame dates from the thirteenth cen.
fury. 1t contains thirty marble altars.-I
Thst Of st. Peter and St. Paul was 70.
constructed by Sisismund Iii. on the mod
81 Of St. Peters at Rome. That Of the
Dominicians, founded in 1920, possesses q
double row Of stalls OF sculptured oak.
wrought admirably. The long political
vicisitudcs which have desolated and on.
pressed the people Of Cracow, have not
yet extinguished their religious feelings.
One Sunday saw the artisans of the CITY.
the peasants from the country, with their
- !e blue dresses adorned with red ber-
ders, and the women with pieces Of white
linen, which they throw in shawl fashion
over their shoulders, running from church
to church, Frustrating themselves in the
squares before them, and kissing the mar.
Bile floors Of the naves.
Doe day ] crossed the market place at
tho moment whom priest was about 10
take the last sacrament 10 dying man.
He walked under canopy hold over him
by attendants; four soldiers with shoulder
ed nuskets walked before him, and young
chorister went:i" front, ringing bell. Al
the sound Of the bell all the passers.by
stopped, took off thsir hats, and the greater
part threw themselves upon their knees.
followed the pi,us cortege as far as the
house which they entered. The four sol.
disrs established themselves az sei,tinels
u the door. and upwards Of one hundred
parsons were there, kneeling, with their
hands crossed on their breasts, and p,ay.
ing in low voice until the priest came
put. When we remember oil that these
poor people have suffered. it is gratifying
10 think that, in the midst of their suffer-
|ngs, they have preserved the piety which
ssnsoles The heart, and the faith which
it..