Frederic Chopin as a Man and Musician | Page 8

Wallachians.]
They monopolise [says Mr. Coxe] the commerce and trade of the
country, keep inns and taverns, are stewards to the nobility, and seem
to have so much influence that nothing can be bought or sold without
the intervention of a Jew.
Our never-failing informant was particularly struck with the number
and usefulness of the Jews in Lithuania when he visited that part of the
Polish Republic in 1781--
If you ask for an interpreter, they bring you a Jew; if you want
post-horses, a Jew procures them and a Jew drives them; if you wish to
purchase, a Jew is your agent; and this perhaps is the only country in
Europe where Jews cultivate the ground; in passing through Lithuania,
we frequently saw them engaged in sowing, reaping, mowing, and
other works of husbandry.
Having considered the condition of the lower classes, we will now turn
our attention to that of the nobility. The very unequal distribution of
wealth among them has already been mentioned. Some idea of their
mode of life may be formed from the account of the Starost Krasinski's
court in the diary (year 1759) of his daughter, Frances Krasinska.
[FOOTNOTE: A starost (starosta) is the possessor of a starosty
(starostwo)--i.e., a castle and domains conferred on a nobleman for life
by the crown.] Her description of the household seems to justify her
belief that there were not many houses in Poland that surpassed theirs
in magnificence. In introducing to the reader the various ornaments and
appendages of the magnate's court, I shall mention first, giving
precedence to the fair sex, that there lived under the supervision of a
French governess six young ladies of noble families. The noblemen
attached to the lord of the castle were divided into three classes. In the
first class were to be found sons of wealthy, or, at least, well-to-do
families who served for honour, and came to the court to acquire good
manners and as an introduction to a civil or military career. The starost
provided the keep of their horses, and also paid weekly wages of two
florins to their grooms. Each of these noble-men had besides a groom
another servant who waited on his master at table, standing behind his

chair and dining on what he left on his plate. Those of the second class
were paid for their services and had fixed duties to perform. Their pay
amounted to from 300 to 1,000 florins (a florin being about the value of
sixpence), in addition to which gratuities and presents were often given.
Excepting the chaplain, doctor, and secretary, they did not, like the
preceding class, have the honour of sitting with their master at table.
With regard to this privilege it is, however, worth noticing that those
courtiers who enjoyed it derived materially hardly any advantage from
it, for on week-days wine was served only to the family and their guests,
and the dishes of roast meat were arranged pyramidally, so that fowl
and venison went to those at the head of the table, and those sitting
farther down had to content themselves with the coarser kinds of
meat--with beef, pork, &c. The duties of the third class of followers, a
dozen young men from fifteen to twenty years of age, consisted in
accompanying the family on foot or on horseback, and doing their
messages, such as carrying presents and letters of invitation. The
second and third classes were under the jurisdiction of the
house-steward, who, in the case of the young gentlemen, was not
sparing in the application of the cat. A strict injunction was laid on all
to appear in good clothes. As to the other servants of the castle, the
authoress thought she would find it difficult to specify them; indeed,
did not know even the number of their musicians, cooks, Heyducs,
Cossacks, and serving maids and men. She knew, however, that every
day five tables were served, and that from morning to night two
persons were occupied in distributing the things necessary for the
kitchen. More impressive even than a circumstantial account like this
are briefly-stated facts such as the following: that the Palatine Stanislas
Jablonowski kept a retinue of 2,300 soldiers and 4,000 courtiers, valets,
armed attendants, huntsmen, falconers, fishers, musicians, and actors;
and that Janusz, Prince of Ostrog, left at his death a majorat of eighty
towns and boroughs, and 2,760 villages, without counting the towns
and villages of his starosties. The magnates who distinguished
themselves during the reign of Stanislas Augustus (1764--1795) by the
brilliance and magnificence of their courts were the Princes Czartoryski
and Radziwill, Count Potocki, and Bishop Soltyk of Cracovia. Our
often-quoted English traveller informs us that the revenue of Prince
Czartoryski amounted to nearly 100,000 pounds per annum, and that

his style of living corresponded with this