ially Germans and French [62] since then several gifted Poles
have devoted themselves to this science, although they have not yet
formed a national school. Lafontaine, body physician of the last king,
Dziarkowski, Perzyna, Malcz, and others, must be mentioned here. The
university of Wilna was the most celebrated school for medical
science.

Among the reflecting statesmen of Poland, in the second decennium of
our century, there began to be a great deal of attention bestowed on
national economy and its various branches; more especially on studies
connected with agriculture, as being the science most applicable to
the present wants of the country. Poland being the most extensive
plain in Europe, and for the most part of a very rich and fertile
soil, the Poles would seem destined by nature to be an agricultural
people. We cannot but observe here, that from this very circumstance,
the wretched state of the labouring classes is placed in a still more
striking light. The interests of agricultural science have been
promoted by different societies, and several able treatises on those
subjects have been published; although it does not appear that any new
theory or principles have been started. Of all the branches of moral
science, political economy has met in Poland with the most disciples.
Valuable statistical works on Poland in the Polish language have been
written by Staszyc, honourably mentioned above;[63] by Slawiarski, and
others. Swiencki in his 'Geography of ancient Poland,' Surowiecki in
his 'History of the Polish towns and peasantry,' give very valuable
statistical notices; and the 'Journey to Constantinople and Troy' by
count Raczynski, contains an exact statistical account of Podolia and
the Ukraine.

The science of law must ever have been in a melancholy state in a
country like Poland. Poland proper has always been governed by
_statutes_ and _constitutions_, sanctioned by the diet.

These were either founded on ancient usages, _consuetudines_, or
occasioned by particular circumstances. The towns were governed
according to the code of Magdeburg. In Lithuania the ancient
Lithuanian statutes, collected in 1529, prevailed and still prevail,
if not in collision with any intervening _ukase_.[64] In the other
provinces, the laws of the respective monarchies to which they are
annexed, are in force. Thus the different portions of Poland are
governed in accordance with seven different systems of law.[65] Under
the administ