New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-05-07
TIE POLISH ARISToCRAcY'
u,,,v POLAND DID NOT BECOME A NATION

WHY POLAND DID NOT BECOME A NATION
THE STORY or a. +. Pntnnm's sons. Tho story OF
1 Rp Nations SSii ms
,u 10 This book, the one great lesson
Inc r''vn Tom the history Of Poland, Is the
u "o =, n selfish and tyrannical aris'oc-
| "se'eS'". IT, sn;,o Of historical method too op'
raos. taaned with detail and something oil
uio"ov .nxicty to mention everything. With
ii.e ~. ,or,us for making his readers conscious
Wv "..., tocts Mr.. Morrill, has not allowed the
VI ..hIo,n of Polish nationality TO escape MIN
,c..lr.ho,.ss he gives himself tho air OF STUN
h,inr mon IT, lie begins by formally describing
A.. oorntrv and the people as they were IN inc
Ioys Of Stephen Batory, when for moment ~
.oomed as IL Poland might become all that Dotn
D,ssio and Germany are to-day, or, at All
ovorts mioht carry on 10 the Caspian the power
uh;ch then extended from the Baltic 10 TIC
p,ocl Sea. II has been remarked OF lrussa tha''
az contrasted with Germany, she was wholly
, noIitcal product Certainly nothing could dc
moro truly said of Poland than that the region
in which several millions OF people speaking 'hc
poIsb language were intermixcd confuscdiN Win
other millions who spoke any language IN pref
crence 70 Polish was never intended nv nature
for an independent kingdom. 1t had no ha'u-
raj fronters-for indeed it was vast pam
omen 20 incursions on all sides But knowing
what politics has made of Prussia. how di'ier'
ont strains of blood have flowed together 10
make mastcrful people. the wonder Is not tha'
Poland was Observation-Disclosures might almost DC
called n Pigment Of the imagination. il the phrase
were not fixed in the historical tradition OF Eu-
rope-but that 1t was never possible to make oil
her ANYTHING more than a heterogeneous Coffee
ton OF provinces IL.
Ono must 20 b,ck TO ancient Asiatic monafchics
to find parallel for Foland-thoSe monarch'S
which. under a weak ruler, barely eAteho'u W.
yond the walls Of the capital and under caP'"e
king extended in every direction for thousands
of miles In those kingdoms every petty chie''a'''
was king. and he paid tribute only when ne WAS
Obliged TO- In Poland this selfish independence
of the lords was crystallized into legislative
and judicial system. the most extraordinary thaI
ever afflicted a people who claimed to be unite
and to have a common tradition. Inc pf'"c Vi
the Polish nobility was compared IN 'he ,iii'"
Of so-called Polish independence to that oil 'he
Venetian aristocracy The comparison natterS
the arrogance of the Venetans. They took away
from the Dogc and from the people their politlcai
rights, but they can hardly he said to have made
of the people something lower than the neas'S
of the field. A Polish peasant, freeman as nc WIS
at the outset, the owner OF bit oil lana LOT
which he owed no other man homage fell grad
uolly 10 a condition in which he had no rights
that any other human being WIS bound to re-
spect On the other hand. the Polish nobleman,
arrogant as he was, was bound down by an IN
cxorable law of custom. IIe could not engage in
trade without losing his rank Two results fol-
lowed from this In the first place, all thosc
members of the nobility who became poor had 10
attach themselves to the few who were prosper
Gus The only privilege which they could retain.
or which was OF any value TO them, was that OIL
bearing arms. and of this they were 50 jealous
that. rs Mr.. Morrill, says, peasant noble. ragged
and barefootcd might he seen plouehng with
rusty sword hung at his side by string. The
other result was that the place OF the thrifty
middle class. the most valuable in other nations,
was in Poland taken by foreigners, by Jews and
Germans who cared for Nothing except individual
profit, and took political Precautions save such
as would tighten their own burdens oil taNaiio"
This class of necessity remained foreign The
mobiles were withheld by pride Of caste from de-
scendino into il. The scrfs could not rise to 1t
because they could not even make beginning ut
the work of amassing wealth. The only hope for
n peasant lay in escaping TO tile church. The
child of serf might rise in the priesthood. BIT
the utmost vigilance was exercised by the mobiles
to prevent the loss Of their slaves even in this
manner The serf could have legally no opinions
of his own. His religion was fixed for him by
his master In law he could be an object Of liti-
cation but he was without legal existence as
person. II is no wonder that Poland became
proverbial as the hcaycn of mobiles, the paradise
of priests. the gold mine Of foreign adventures
and the hell of the rustics.'
What is particularly worthy of note is that at
the outset Poland was comparatively democratic
II was the bringing in Of prisoners of war who
wee the personal property of the captors which
cheapened agricultural labor and gradually re1-
dered it impossible for the native farmer who had
originally portion of his land free Of any service
TO a lord and had done duty only for lands which
he held by lease. But the lords had no occasion
TO lease their land when they had more captives
to work it than they needed. The free peasant
was confined to his own holding for his living
II he was employed by the lord, the terms OF
his service soon came to be no better than those
accorded the personal slaves. Instead OF owning
the land, ne came to be reckoned with 1t, though
he could finally be bought and sold with with
out tho soil. TO men in such a condition there
worked when they were compelled to they sub
mittcd to Aogging Their only relief was the pot
house and dance. As the lord drew part of his
revenues from the liquor which they consumed he
encouraged their dcballchery. Mr.. Morrill, indi-
Gates that the day for this sort of thing is by
no means past. We have seen, he remarks. " in
our own days, in Gaicia, complaint brought
against a phanthropic ccclcsiasiic, who. panied
at the intoxication of his parishioners, had in
duced many to sign the pledge He was accused
Of diminishing the revenues of the local squire"
This single example Of fcudal greed must have
hocn the common ching all through the history of
Poland.
The impossibility o: raising mp middle class
or of infusng anything like patriotism into an
indis.ine Unstable mass Of down-troddcn slaves
reacted on the throne The King Of Poland
could rarely be anything more than fgnrehead
except in time Of war. Mr.. Morrill, calls attcn-