POLAND. 251 



by tlio peasantry themselves is anotlier proof of progress, though the obligation of 

 imparting instruction in Russian is a great obstacle to their development. Crimes, 

 also, of every kind, and especially those committed against property, have fallen 

 off by one-third, one-half, and even two-thirds, while the population has increased 

 by 1,500,000. 



Speaking generally, the land has been thrown open to the peasantry under far 

 more favourable auspices in Russian than in Prussian and Austrian Poland. All 

 owners of 3 morg (from the German Morr/en), or about 4 acres, may discuss 

 agricultural matters in the grnina (from the German Gemeinde, commune), whereas 

 in Poznania the peasantry have remained under the magistracy and police sur- 

 veillance of their former masters, and in Galicia they are still worse off, their 

 lands passing rapidly into the hands of the usurers. 



The work of " Russification," conducted without system or perseverance, has 

 utterly failed, and the nation remains more Polish than ever. Already severed 

 from Russia by their patriotic traditions, customs, and religion, they continue to 

 be divided in speech. Doubtless the students in the gj'mnasia learn Russian, 

 v^^hile the Polish schools are everywhere closed ; but Polish still remains the 

 mother tongue. Its literature is diligently cultivated, and yearly enriched with 

 original works, and especially with numerous translations. 



Topography. 



In Poland towns are numerous, especially in the industrial region bordering on 

 Upper Silesia and its coal and iron basins. In this district nearly all the rivers 

 flow to the Oder, except a few rivulets draining southwards to the Upper Vistula 

 above Cracow. On one of these stands Bedzin, centre of a large manufacturing 

 industry. The upper valley of the "VVarta is commanded by the proud and ancient 

 city of Czesfochowa, west of which a new town is springing up beyond the railway. 

 To the east rises the Jasna Gora, or " Clear Mount," crowned by a famous convent 

 presenting the appearance of a castle, and formerly one of the great strongholds of 

 the kingdom. It contains a Byzantine image of the Madonna, to which the Diet 

 of 165fj dedicated the commonwealth, and which the peof»le still regard as the 

 " Queen of Poland." Enriched by continual offerings, this convent formerly 

 owned nearly 13,000,000 acres, or about one-fifteenth of the entire area of the 

 state, and is still yearly visited by 50,000 or 60,000 pilgrims from all parts of the 

 three empires. West of Kiev it is the most popular shrine in the Slav world. 

 Like all holy cities largely frequented by strangers, Czestochowa is also a con- 

 siderable trading place, dealing largely in cattle, cloth, linens, and silks. 



In the province of Kalisz, and also on the Warta, lies the town of Sieradz, a 

 little to the east of which is the more populous Zdunska Wo/a. Farther down is 

 Warta, and near the Prussian frontier JTonin, above the junction of the Prosna. 

 On the latter stream stands Kalisz, capital of the province, said to be the oldest 

 town in Poland, and possibly the Kalisia of Ptolemy. It has some cloth factories, 

 and the surrounding district abounds in prehistoric burial-places, which have 

 yielded numerous archaeological treasures. 



