CHAPTER ONE THE NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF A NATIONAL TRADITION 1. How this book came to be written When Dr. W. J. Rose was inaugurated as Reader in Polish in the University of London in February 1936 he chose as the theme of his inaugural lecture the interest- awakening topic “The Polish Tradition.” In the open- ing paragraph of the printed edition of that lecture Dr. Rose states that he proposes rather to raise issues than to resolve them, implies that he will not make startling revelations of any kind, and would be content if his presentation led to future studies of the subject by others. The present monograph is at least one realization of that hope. I found the topic extraordinarily stimulating, leading me to desite to crystallize into very definite form the observations of seventeen years of residence among the Poles and extensive study of their land, life, and literature-—the last with the help of my wife, both a linguist and an expert in research. During the thee years that have passed since the day of Dr. Rose’s address I have read, conversed, observed, and made extensive notes with the express intention of trying to set down on paper just what the Polish tradition is and the functions it serves in Polish life. This book, therefore, comes out of a long experience with Poles, and is written from a foreground of extensive A2 THE POLISH TRADITION reading on the subject and hundreds of conversations and meetings with Poles, and from a background of a fairly wide experience of life in some thirty countries. The time for such writing is ripe. Poland plays an evei-increasing role in Europe, and tradition plays an important part in determining and directing the conduct of the Pole, both privately and collectively, as an indi- vidual and as one unit of a large nation. Therefore a clear statement of what a Pole is, mentally and socially, and of the traditional forces which influence his actions, should serve a useful purpose. For people today want to know who and what the Poles are, what motives guide their actions, what ideals beckon them on, what the nature of their actions is likely to be in a given set of circumstances. To be sute this is no entirely new thing. “The Polish Problem” has been a feature of almost every major international European problem for centuries—certainly since 1572, when the era of elected kings began; and even long before that, when in the x3th Century Teuton pressure from the west and Tartar pressure from the east made the course of Polish history a matter not only of wide interest but of concern. Hence the sub-title of this book, “An Interpretation of a Nation.” Not in other countries with which I am somewhat familiar would I be tempted by such a topic or prompted to dig for material related to it. In no few lands tradition serves only a minor or inconspicuous social function. In Poland, however, both because the tradition is definite and because it is a heritage of which to be proud, tradition is an active factor in life. Furthermore, though Poland is forward-looking and progressive, the attitude of itsA NATIONAL TRADITION 3 people toward tradition is warm and appreciative; in the words with which Dr, Patkanowska begins a recent article in an English paper published in Warsaw, “Poland loves tradition” ; the word occurs in contemporary life and writing with a surprising frequency, and the idea is potent in determining conduct, In discussing some fifty or mote elements which enter into the composition of the present-day Polish tradition or contribute to it, the matter of arrangement, sequence, proportion, and emphasis is a real problem. To present the elements of the Polish tradition in a supposed order of importance would count against the clarity which comes from logical grouping as to kind, and further- more in seeking logical grouping one separates from each other elements very closely associated in life. As to emphasis, it will be safe to assume that the amount of space devoted to an element of tradition is the best indica- tion of its significance; as a direct contribution to pro- portion, at the end of the essay we shall return to the major elements in a paragraph of final appraisal. 2. The meaning of the word “tradition” as here used The word “tradition” can be used in two ways, the one relating to a single and specific custom, the other to a broad general point of view. As an illustration of the former, it is a tradition in Poland, a custom, for the whole family to gather for a Christmas Eve supper served just as the first star of the evening appears, and consisting of traditional foods. This essay does not deal with “tradition” in that sense of the word. Its scope here is far wider. And yet the word is not here used in a sense quite so wide as in Dr. Ellwood’s definition