Selected quad for the lemma: work_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
work_n	day_n	lord_n	week_n	6,148	5	10.2436	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64345	An account of Poland containing a geographical description of the country, the manners of the inhabitants, and the wars they have been engag'd in, the constitution of that government, particularly the manner of electing and crowning their king, his power and prerogatives : with a brief history of the Tartars / by Monsieur Hauteville ... ; to which is added, a chronology of the Polish kings, the abdication of King John Casimir, and the rise and progress of Socinianisme ; likewise a relation of the chief passages during the last interregnum ; and the election and coronation of the new King Frederic Augustus ; the whole comprehending whatsoever is curious and worthy of remark in the former and present state of Poland.; Relation historique de la Pologne. English	Tende, Gaspard de, 1618-1697.	1698 (1698)	Wing T678; ESTC R20715	178,491	319

then they make nothing of entring their Huts and plundering what they can The poor Rusticks have no admittance into their Lord's Presence without Presents and if it be their Fortune to have access to them they are commonly directed to make their complaint to the Judges who are sure to do them but little good unless the Plaintifs bring them Presents to recommend their Petitions so that every word of the Judge in Lithuania is money Four days commonly and sometimes five or six in a week the Wretches must work for their Lords On Mundays they are allowed to drudge for themselves and as they have not time enough on other days they frequently do all manner of work on sundays for the Peasants keep no manner of Saints Holy-days there having that also particular to them with the Russians that if you ask them why they presume to work on the Lord's day they will answer you with this question whether they must not eat on the Lord's day They are oblig'd to pay a Tax three or four times a year towards defraying the charges of guarding the Frontiers besides several other heavy Impositions of their Lord 's devising Their Bread is the brownest and coursest the Wheat and Ears of Corn being commonly ground together They have very little Horses which yet are excellent for service either in War or Husbandry They do not plough the Ground with Iron but with Wood which seems the stranger because their soil is generally hard and not sandy When they go to plough they take along with them several pieces of Wood which they use instead of Plough shares and when one is broken they presently clap another into the Plough A certain great man to ease those poor men in that hard labour caus'd several Iron Plough-shares to be fabricated but as the following years by reason of the badness of the weather there were no plentiful Harvests they Peasants positively ascribed the sterility of the Ground to those Iron Plough-shares insomuch that to avoid a sedition they were permitted to use their old Way Their Dress is generally a course Ash-colour'd Habit with a sort of Buskings or Boots made of the skins of Beasts after they have taken off the hair They have a sort of light Carts about which they make use of no manner of Iron-work and as they never grease them when many of them are driven together the Axel-trees make a strange uncouth sort of a Noise In some places in the Country if any one of the Peasants has committed a Crime for which his Lord thinks fit to condemn him to die the Criminal is obliged to hang himself and be his own Executioner and if he refuses he is compell'd to do it with Threats and Blows As 't is not many hundred years since the Lithuanians became Christians there are some of the meaner sort still in the Country so stupidly ignorant as to retain many things of their Ancestors Idolatrous Worship these keep a sort of swarthy serpents which they look upon as their tutelary Divinities feeding them with great Care and Respect and attributing their ill Fortune to their neglect of those Animals Not long ago the Lithuanian Rusticks us'd to offer sacrifices about the latter end of October to an imaginary Deity whom they called Ziemiennick Those of Samogitia and Russia us'd to do the like Neither were those of Livonia less idolatrous having been taught Christianity not only by preaching and apostolical Admonitions but also by force of Arms. This gave Birth to the Order of Livonian Knights who first styl'd themselves Sword-bearing Fryers or Brothers and these finding themselves unable to fight the Livonians out of their ancient Belief and Liberty in time call'd in the Teutonick Knights of Prussia to their assistance by which means they at last prevailed Being at last incorporated with them by Pope Gregory IX the Livonian Masters were oblig'd to pay homage and certain Tributes to the Masters of Prussia till the time of Albert Marquess of Brandenburg who about the year 1513 parted with that yearly Tribute and Homage for a large summ of Money Thus the Livonian Knights by degrees and also the several Bishops and Arch Bishops became so many Soveraigns till after many Wars the whole Country of Livonia was subdued by Sigismund Augustus King of Poland tho' since it has been quitted to the Swedes who are now Masters of it CHAP. VI. Of the State of POLAND THe Polanders have at all times had an Inclination to War Insomuch that at first they continually went arm'd as if they had been just ready to engage their Enemies and indeed all their business was to rove about and change their Station from time to time more like Shepherds than like setled Inhabitants of any particular Place neither were they ever in safety for they were on one side always ready to be attacked by the Germans and by the Scythians on the other So that they had many Wars and bloody Conflicts with both those Nations Yet tho' there never was any solid Friendship between them and the Germans at last their way of Living and the Care they took to keep their word to one another made them Accustom themselves more to them than to the Scythians In the beginning the Polanders had neither Laws nor Princes to govern them and liv'd after an uncontroul'd manner but as no Nation can remain long without Rulers principally in time of War they afterwards us'd to chuse among themselves a Chief who was commonly the most Famous person for Valour among them and they us'd to obey him as a Leader but his Authority lasted no longer than the War All the People resolutely followed him Arm'd with Bows and Arrows Partisans and long Launces the Women attended their Husbands pretending to witchcraft the Knowledge of the future Events of Battles The Men never us'd to betake themselves to flight whosoever ran away was never suffer'd to return to his Party This being esteem'd the greatest shame and ignominy among them They came in time to have Knights which was the next Dignity to their Chief Captain and those were also never chosen but out of the Bravest after they had signaliz'd their Valour against the Enemy They Worship'd the Sun the Moon Mars and diverse other false Divinities having certain Places and Rites appropriated to pay them their Adoration They buried the dead in Forests and Fields laying high heaps of stones over their Tombes as may be still seen in many places in Russia others according to the Roman way us'd to burn the dead Bodies and layd up the ashes in Urns Few things satisfi'd them for their Food They had nothing which they properly call'd their own except their Bow their Partisan and Launce They purchased what ever they wanted of others by the way of Barter or Exchange They wore course Garments made of the skins of Wild Beasts down to their heels despising all Rich Dresses Treasures Houses and possessions They made an end of all private

Presents of Flesh Fish Stuffs hay and Oats The Starosties ought only to be given to old Officers who have serv'd long time in the Army and are as it were Super-annuated for the Polish Word Starosc signifies old Age and he who enjoys one of those Estates is call'd Starosta from Stary which signifies an Old Man There are Two sorts of Starosties some are empower'd to exercise a Jurisdiction thro' the whole extent of their Territory whereas there are others without any Jurisdiction The first are the most considerable tho' they are not always the Richest Each Starosta is oblig'd to give the fourth part of the Revenue of his Starostie to the Republick and no Man can possess Two of those who have Jurisdiction The King may bestow the Reversion of a Starostie upon the Starosta's Wife except in Rússia which is a Frontier Province for since a Starostie is a Government the Republick supposes that the Governor ought to reside upon the place but Polish Gentlemen may be made Governours of Frontier Places because the Republick relies more upon their Fidelity than upon that of Forreigners tho' they are sometimes deceiv'd in this Maxim For he who surrender'd the City of Caminiec to the Turks without making any Resistance was not only a Gentleman of Poland but even a Palatine As for the Salt-works of Poland the most considerable are those of Vieluczka and Boehinia about Five Leagues from Cracow which yields about 400000 Livres Yearly They were found out in the Year 1252. They resemble deep Mines dug in the Earth to which they descend by a hole like to that of a Quarry The Workmen who are employ'd in Digging out the Salt begin to enter the Pits at Midnight and those who go down first begin to come out about Noon because they must be let down and drawn up with a great Rope like that with which large Stones are rais'd up out of Quarries As they dig the Salt out of the Mines they must leave great Pillars from place to place to support the Earth and since these Vaulted Pits are all cover'd with Salt when one goes down into them he seems to be surrounded with a Thousand Crystals which reflect the Light of the Torches There are some parts of 'em dug so far that it would be dangerous to go into 'em because one might easily lose himself in these Labyrinths The Salt is taken out in large Columns which being loosen'd from the Mine are drawn by Horses just under the Mouth of the Pit and afterwards drawn up like Stones out of a Quarry The Horses continue always in those Subterranean Caverns but the Men come out every day and which is very remarkable there is a Spring of Sweet Water in the Salt-pits of which both the Men and Horses drink After the Salt is brought out of the Pits they carry those great Pieces or Columns through the whole Kingdom except Prussia where they only use French Salt Before the Polish Salt can be us'd it must be beaten to pieces and then ground in a Mill. Besides these Pits of Bochnia and Vieluczka there are other Salt-works at Halicz in Pokutia on the Neister at Kolomey in the same Province on the River Prut and at Pinsk a City of Lithuania in Pol●sia and besides these there are some others which belong to private Men for there is an express Law that the Republick shall not pretend a Right to the Mines of Salt or of any Metals which are found in any Gentleman's Lands There is also White Salt made in many other places of Poland as in the Palatinat of Craeow between Oswiecin upon the Vistula and Mount Crapat But this Salt is for the King's use besides they make great quantities of Salt in Russia by Boiling Salt-water which costs 'em little because that Province is all cover'd with Woods There are also some Mines of Lead mixt with Silver in the Burroughs of Ilkusch Slankow Kranow and Nowoguiia which are in the Palatinat of Cracow and in that of Sandomir there is Salt-peter at Vieliczca there is also Vitriol found at Byecz and Quicksilver at Tustan in Pokutia towards the Mountains The Ecclesiastick Estates are the Benefices as Bishopricks Abbacy's Priory's Canonships Curacies and all the Lands that are possess'd by the Regular Clergy The Benefices are not so numerous as in France for there are but Sixteen Bishopricks and some Abbacy's But the Bishopricks are of a great extent and endow'd with large Revenues some of these Prelates having above 100000 Livers Yearly Rent The Patrimonial Estates belong properly to the Polanders whether the Right of Succession be by Purchase or Inheritance and consist in Houses Lands Towns Villages Lakes Mills Meadows and Woods but especially in Peasants for a Gentleman's Riches are valu'd by the Number of his Peasants every one of them being worth 100 Livres a Year to his Master These Peasants are Slaves and cannot possess any thing all that they heap together belongs to their Lord whom they cannot leave without his permission unless they turn Priests or Fryers But these miserable Wretches work so hard without intermission that they have no time to study in order to fit themseives for admittance among the Secular or Regular Clergy except only in the quality of Lay-Brothers which the Polish Gentlemen take also care to prevent by obliging them to Marry young that they may not be receiv'd into the Convents To settle a Peasant upon a Piece of Land or in a Village the Lord causes a Cottage of Wood to be built for him and gives him Two little Horses one Cow some Hens Geese and Rye to subsist upon for a Year In the mean time he appoints a certain Piece of Ground in the Village which the Peasant is oblig'd to Till for his Landlord and upon which he is to maintain himself for the future for all the Goods of the Village belong to the Lord. The settling of a Peasant costs a Gentleman nothing but the price which he pays for him Because the other Peasants of the Village build the House and furnish the Cattel Poultry and all that he gives to his new Subject who with his Wife and Children is oblig'd to work Four days in the Week for his Master and to spend the other Two days in Tilling the Ground which is given him for his Subsistance When Harvest comes all the Peasants of the Village go out together to cut down and gather in the Corn for their Lord who appoints certain Persons to Oversee their Work and to beat 'em when they are idle For the Punishment of the Peasants there is a sort of Pillory in every Village on which those Miserable Wretches are sometimes forc'd to stand a whole day One would think the Peasants in Poland should reckon themselves the most unhappy Creatures in the World to see themselves reduc'd to perpetual Slavery and oblig'd to Work continually without the prospect of one day of rest But they do not so much as know that there are