y. If we may believe the
chroniclers and poets, the entertainments of the Polish magnates must
have often vied with the marvellous feasts of imperial Rome. Of the
vastness of the households with which these grands seigneurs surrounded
themselves, enough has already been said. Perhaps the chief channel
through which this love of show vented itself was the decoration of man
and horse. The entrance of Polish ambassadors with their numerous
suites has more than once astonished the Parisians, who were certainly
accustomed to exhibitions of this kind. The mere description of some of
them is enough to dazzle one--the superb horses with their bridles and
stirrups of massive silver, and their caparisons and saddles embroidered
with golden flowers; and the not less superb men with their rich
garments of satin or gold cloth, adorned with rare furs, their bonnets
surmounted by bright plumes, and their weapons of artistic workmanship,
the silver scabbards inlaid with rubies. We hear also of ambassadors
riding through towns on horses loosely shod with gold or silver, so that
the horse-shoes lost on their passage might testify to their wealth
and grandeur. I shall quote some lines from a Polish poem in which the
author describes in detail the costume of an eminent nobleman in the
early part of this century:--

He was clad in the uniform of the palatinate: a doublet
embroidered with gold, an overcoat of Tours silk ornamented
with fringes, a belt of brocade from which hung a sword with
a hilt of morocco. At his neck glittered a clasp with
diamonds. His square white cap was surmounted by a
magnificent plume, composed of tufts of herons' feathers. It
is only on festive occasions that such a rich bouquet, of
which each feather costs a ducat, is put on.

The belt above mentioned was one of the most essential parts and the
chief ornament of the old Polish national dress, and those manufactured
at Sluck had especially a high reputation. A description of a belt of
Sluck, "with thick fringes like tufts," glows on another page of the
poem from which I took my last quotation:--

On one side it is of gold with purple flowers; on the other
it is of black silk with silver checks. Such a belt can be
worn on either side: the part woven with gold for festive
days; the reverse for days of mourning.

A vivid picture of the Polish character is to be found in Mickiewicz's
epic poem, Pan Tadeusz, from which the above