1807.] 4 
firuéted-; they are alfo differently ar- 
ranged. The general plan of a Polith 
town is very fumple, There is commonly 
a pretty large fquare, with the towne. 
houfe in the centre. This place, how- 
ever, is fometimes occupied by the moft 
confiderable inn. 
fort of piazza (if, contrary to Virgil’s 
Shepherd, we mutt defcribe finall things 
by great), particularly in the wooden 
towns, under which bread, cakes, trin- 
kets, &c. are expofed on {mall ttandings 
to Jale. At each angle is ufually an en- 
trance, lined on each fide, for a fhort 
diftance, with houfes. ‘The wooden 
houfes, whether in town or country, 
have rarely, if ever, any thing but the 
roof above the ground floor, It mutt be 
a pretty good town which contains 2,000 
inhabitants, ‘There are many dignitied 
with this appellation, where the people 
cannot exceed 2 or $00. 
This general plan is extended to 9 
large proportion of the better fort of 
towns, to-thofe which are built of brick, 
Thefe are uluglly fituated in a plain, at 
iome dittance from a foreit, and in the 
Vicinity (or even in the midit) of fome 
morafs; partly from the convenience of 
procuring brick with facility, and partly, 
43 itmay be fuppofed, to render them 
more difficult of accefs to an-enemy, 
From the fcarcity of ttone-quarres in 
Poland, it is rarely we meet with houfes 
Built of ftone. At Warlaw there are 
many; at Lemberg there are. others: 
but there are quarries in the neighbour- 
hood, The brick-walls are always ftuc- 
coed, or rather rough-caft, as mafons 
term it: there is not an inftance in 
which bricks appear, except from dila- 
pidation ; it is confidered as vulgar; but 
as this idea cannot prevail univerfally, 
the cuftom probably originated in its 
more effectually guarding them from the 
cold. Moft of the towns which are not 
of wood, are fortified, or rather have 
been; but many of the fortifications 
feem calculated rather to amule than re- 
filt an enemy. 
Warfaw, fituated on the right bank of 
the Vittula, is an nregularly built town. 
On entering it by the wooden bridge 
from the oppofite fuburb of Praga, you 
rife alittle; otherwife, the town itfelf, 
as well as the furrounding country, 1s 
fiat. Ic is remarkable, that it bas no 
fquare ; neither does it contain any te- 
gular {treet.. Some of the beft are adorn- 
ed with ftately palaces, which in two or 
three inftances approach to inagnificence. 
"Ehefe, for the moit part, are now de- 
Particulars of the prefent State of Poland. 
On the tides 1s often a; 
“mentioned, 
ST 
ferted by their former mhabitants; they, 
have been futfered to grow out of repair ;. 
fome of the fronts exhibit a halt-ruinaus, 
appearance, and high grafs flourifhes in 
the court-yards. Several of them have. 
been fold by their princely and noble 
poffeifors, The nobles, chagrined and 
difgufted at their- political annihilation, 
have generally abandoned their ancient, 
metropolis, which, for its elegant vo- 
luptuoufnels, was fuled Gn the times of 
its profperity) the ditt/e Paris. Inttead- 
of pafling the winter at Warfaw, there- 
fore, they now fpend it either in retire- 
ment on their eftates, at the courts of 
their refpective governments, or in fo- 
reign countries, | : 
{mmediately contiguous to thefe 
princely palaces, are commonly icen 
houfes which are quite ordinary, atten 
fhabby ; forcing upon the mind the un- 
welcome contratt of riches and poverty, 
grandeur and meanneis. ie 
The population of Warfaw, fince the 
partition, has been on the decline; one 
caufe of which undoubtedly is, its defer- 
tion by fo many of the nobles. It is 
now rated at no more than 50,000; 
whereas, it has been, as they aflert, , 
nearly double that number. How dilfer- 
ent, at firlt tight, is this city from the, 
aclive butiling town of Dantzic. Here 
all is flat and joylefs as the face of the 
country, of which itis the faded capi- 
tal. I fhall have ocecafion to {peak of it. 
again, when I come to treat of the pre- 
fent {tate of fociety in Poland. 
The fuburb of Praga coniifts of little 
more than a contiderable collection of 
village huts, Some of the houfes, it is 
true, have a decent appearance ; buta, 
large majority are of the defcription 
The fuburbs, indeed, . of 
every fubordinate town are mere collec- 
tions of fuch hovels. | 
The city and univerfity of Cracow I 
did not vilit; but it is {poken of by the. 
Poles as in general better built than 
Warlaw, and-as far fuperior to it in 
point of fituation, which is among: hills 
and woodland fcenery. It is famous, as 
‘ 
4 
is well known, for its wonderful falt- 
mines. It fhould feem, however, that 
there isa flight touch of the magic pen- 
cil in the romantically gorgeous deferip- 
tion of Mr, Coxe. 
Lemberg, in Gallitia, is probably the 
moit conliderable town after.Cracow. 
_Its population is faid to be above 30,000, 
though this feems quettionable from the 
comparative extent of the town. It is, 
however, evidently on the increafe. Ac- 
cording 
