me crown which the fate of
an election might render a royal one, and which, causing them to despise
all other titles, was alone worn as INSIGNE of their glorious equality.

Those who have seen the Polonaise danced even as late as the beginning
of the present century, declare that its style has changed so much, that
it is now almost impossible to divine its primitive character. As very
few national dances have succeeded in preserving their racy originality,
we may imagine, when we take into consideration the changes which
have occurred, to what a degree this has degenerated. The Polonaise is
without rapid movements, without any true steps in the artistic sense
of the word, intended rather for display than for the exhibition of
seductive grace; so we may readily conceive it must lose all its haughty
importance, its pompous self-sufficiency, when the dancers are deprived
of the accessories necessary to enable them to animate its simple
form by dignified, yet vivid gestures, by appropriate and expressive
pantomime, and when the costume peculiarly fitted for it is no longer
worn. It has indeed become decidedly monotonous, a mere circulating
promenade, exciting but little interest. Unless we could see it danced
by some of the old regime who still wear the ancient costume, or listen
to their animated descriptions of it, we can form no conception of the
numerous incidents, the scenic pantomime, which once rendered it so
effective. By a rare exception this dance was designed to exhibit the
men, to display manly beauty, to set off noble and dignified deportment,
martial yet courtly bearing. "Martial yet courtly:" do not these two
epithets almost define the Polish character? In the original the
very name of the dance is masculine; it is only in consequence of a
misconception that it has been translated in other tongues into the
feminine gender.

Those who have never seen the KONTUSZ worn, (it is a kind of Occidental
kaftan, as it is the robe of the Orientals, modified to suit the customs
of an active life, unfettered by the stagnant resignation taught by
fatalism,) a sort of FEREDGI, often trimmed with fur, forcing the wearer
to make frequent movements susceptible of grace and coquetry, by which
the flowing sleeves are thrown backward, can scarcely imagine the
bearing, the slow bending, the quick rising, the finesse of the delicate
pantomime displayed by the Ancients, as they defiled in a Polonaise, as
though in a military parade