Gustavus, king of Sweden, with about forty thousand men, entirely subdued Poland in less than two years time; yet when he began to encroach too much upon their constitutions and liberties, the Polish gentry joined unanimously together, and soon drove the Swedes out of the kingdom. The Tartars, in numerous bodies, make frequent incursions into this open country; but still, as soon as they have loaded themselves with their booty, they make all possible haste away. The loss of Caminiec makes the Poles admire at their own policy in having no strong towns; for they say, had not that been so well fortified, it had not served for shelter to a strong garrison of Turks and Tartars at their doors. Insomuch that it may be observed, that forts and castles, which other nations account their greatest security, would inevitably be the ruin of Poland; they being neither well skilled in besieging towns, nor plentifully stored with good artillery, engineers, ammunition, or other necessaries, since they never were nor will be able to retake Caminiec, though it is a place of no extraordinary strength.

I come now to my last particular; which is a short view of their customs and manners, such as I have already given no account of; and must assure you, that both men and women are extravagant to the last degree, insomuch that some among them will have fifty suits of clothes at once, all as rich as possible. But what shews their prodigality much more is, that they will have their servants go almost as well clad as themselves; whereby they generally waste away their estates in a short time, and are reduced to great poverty and want. As to their dwellingplaces, they never live above stairs, and their houses are not united: the kitchen is on one side, the stable on another, the house on another, and the gate in the front; all which make a court, either square or round.

The inside of these houses is generally hung with tapestry or arras; and all the rest of their householdstuff proportionably suitable. Yet towards Tartary they have little or no rich furniture; and the gentry content themselves with a few small beds with taffeta curtains, just enough to

lodge their families; for if any go to lie at their houses, they for the most part carry their beds along with them. Though it be extreme cold in Poland, yet will almost every one of these gentry have a bagnio in his house, in which the women have their separate apartments. There are likewise public baths in every city and town for the use of the common people, which they frequent not only in summer, but also in winter; from the use of which, in all probability, it happens that the Polish children seldom break out in their head or face, and that not one of a thousand is distorted, crooked, or ill-shaped, as in other countries.

The Poles are generally so great admirers of splendour and shew, that their ladies scarce stir out of doors, though little further than cross the way, without a coach and six horses, either to church, or to visit a neighbour; but the men for the greatest part go on horseback, and rarely on foot, which they look upon as ignoble. When the gentry of either sex go abroad at night, they have twenty-four or more white wax flambeaux carried before their coach. Women of quality for the generality have their trains borne up by he or she dwarfs: they have also an old woman with them, which they call their governante, and an old gentleman usher, whose office it is to follow their coach on foot, and to help them out of it when they alight; though the reason of these two old people's waiting on them does not proceed from any jealousy in their husbands, as in most of the eastern countries, since the Polish ladies are generally very modest, and do not at all abuse the great liberty that is allowed them.

As the Poles bear their own losses, and suffer all disasters, with a great deal of temper, so likewise they regard the miseries and misfortunes of others with the same indifference; for they will often stand and see a house burn, without offering in the least to lend a helping hand to quench the fire. Neither are they more indulgent to their children, or, on the contrary, the children to their parents; both of whom are reciprocally suffered to continue slaves to the Tartars, when but a small sum of money would purchase their redemption.

As to their marriages, it must first be observed, that the feasts of those gentry always last three days, be they that make them either poor or rich; wherefore they are necessarily exceeding expensive; since, if a lady give in matrimony any one of her waiting maids, she generally expends as much as for one of her daughters: an instance of which I saw at court, during my lord ambassador Hyde's stay at Zolkiew, when the queen celebrated the nuptials of one of her maids of honour after this manner. The first and second day she gave a very magnificent feast; for which purpose a large hall was pitched upon, where three tables were placed. At the first sat the king and queen, in a manner that both faced the entrance into the hall. Next the queen sat the couple that were to be married; and next to the king, the pope's nuncio and archbishop of Gnesna, with the foreign ambassadors. At the two other tables, extending the whole length of the hall, were placed all the ladies, senators, and officers, except only such as attended upon the king and queen, all ranked according to their respective precedence.

This feast began both days precisely at four in the afternoon, and lasted to the same hour of the next morning; and it was observable that the senators eat very little, but drank Hungarian wine to an immoderate degree; nor did the bishops themselves shew any great tokens of continence, they leaving their seats very often, to go up to the king's table, and drink his majesty's health on their knees. The ladies, out of modesty, only touched the tops of the glasses with their lips, and so sat them down before them, or poured them into their plates, in such a manner that abundance more wine was spilt than drank by them.

When they had sitten about five or six hours at table, the violins and a little sort of portable organ began to strike up, and then they spent the rest of the time in dancing. In this exercise every body joined; and even I myself, who have no manner of relish for such unedifying vagaries, had a Madonna put into my hand by the bishop of Plosko,

whom I had the honour, as domestic chaplain to the ambassador from the king of Great Britain, to sit next to. Those that began this whimsical way of shaking the feet, were the most ancient senators and old ladies, who moved slowly about, like so many friars and nuns in procession; yet though the dance began with such gravity and formality, it was ended with a great deal of hurry and confusion.

On the second day, all the guests presented the bride with something new; and none gave less than a piece of plate: which presents were all made in the presence of the queen, it being the custom to perform this ceremony just before they sit down to table. These made a good part of the bride's portion.

On the third day, the espousals were solemnized after this manner. All the guests accompanied the bridegroom and bride on horseback to church, as likewise in their return home. During all the time of their going and coming, the trumpets sounded from the balconies on each side of the way. When the bride had been conducted to her husband's house, where a noble entertainment had been prepared, she, at the departure of the company after dinner was ended, fell a crying; it being the custom, it seems, in Poland, for maids to weep at that time, and to seem concerned, for fear they should be thought impudent and immodest.

The men and women that stand godfathers and godmothers together at christenings, are thenceforward deemed to be cousins and relations, though they were not so before, and consequently cannot be married to each other, without a dispensation from the bishop of the diocese.

The ceremonies of burial also in Poland are usually celebrated with so great pomp and magnificence, that one would rather take them for triumphs than interments. At these, the corpse having been put into a velvet coffin with large thick silver plates at each corner, is placed in a hearse or chariot with six horses all covered with black housings. The coffin has a large black velvet pall thrown over it, with a cross of red satin in the middle, and six long black

silk tassels hanging down from it, which are borne by as many of the deceased's domestics, all in close mourning. Before the chariot march several priests, monks, and a great number of people, each of them carrying a white wax torch lighted in his hand; next to whom, and immediately before the corpse, come three men on horseback, who carry the arms of the deceased, viz. his sword, his lance, and his dart. The procession thus set out moves very slowly, so that they always come late to church. After the burial-service is over, those that carried the arms enter the church on horseback, and furiously riding up to the coffin, break them thereupon; after which, the body is interred. Then they return to the house, where there is always a very sumptuous supper prepared; at which not only the lay guests drive away sorrow by swilling to excess, but force the clergy to do the like, by the same acts of intemperance.

I shall close all with the customs and manners of travelling in Poland. As an introduction to which, you are to understand, that there are scarce any inns in that country, except those the natives call karczmas, where travellers are obliged to lodge with the cattle. These inns, or rather long stables, are all built up with boards, and covered with straw: within there is no furniture; neither are there any windows, but all the light comes in either at holes made by the weather, or the crevices of ill-joined boards. It is true, at the further end they have a little chamber with a firehearth; but to make an abatement for that, there is no lodging in it, because of the gnats, fleas, bugs, and especially the noisome smell that incommodes it. For if they happen to have a little window there, (which is a rarity if they do,) yet they never open it, though the weather be at its extremity of heat: so that strangers choose to lie in the aforesaid stable, where the gospodarz or innkeeper lodges himself and his family, than to be suffocated by the stink and smell of so close and small a room. In the long room there is also an intolerable smell, occasioned by a parcel of rotten cabbages, which those people always keep by them.