THE NOBLEMAN'S PARADISE 187Social harmony was an essential ingredient of the nobleman's idyll. The fre-
quent protestations of mitosc braterska or 'fraternal love' between members of the
nobility were matched by constant appeals for charity and understanding towards
the other social groups. The noble toast of 'Kochajmy Sie' (Let us love one
another!) was raised at innumerable gatherings across the centuries. Not only was
it an expression of deep attachment to Christian principles, but it was also a call
to alleviate social conflicts. If rank and fortune were determined by God, it was
none the less the duty of Man, and of noblemen in particular, to heal social antag-
onisms and to succour the oppressed. Already in the sixteenth century, Mikolaj
Rej, 'the mouthpiece of the middle nobility', had stressed the point in his famous
Krotka rozprawa miedzy partem, wojtem, a plebanem (A Short Discussion
between a Squire, a Village Headman, and a Priest). Nobility, he emphasized, is a
moral quality, whose privileges can only be justified by an exemplary display of
honesty, godliness, moderation, and duty. A nobleman's strength lies in the love of
his serfs. It may not have been an original thought: Nobilitas sola est atque unica
virtus. But it was a necessary reminder. Even in the nineteenth century, the ultra-
conservative writer, Kajetan Kozmian (1771-1856), was still looking back to these
same traditions as the ultimate guide to national salvation. Love for one's neigh-
bour was no less a noble virtue than love of the land and of Nature:
You, who by innocent taste or blissful destiny
Are inclined to love the fields and farms of the country,
Whether you dwell behind some stately gates, or in a lowly tenement
May you seek the happiness of others, and find your own content.
There is no need for riches, nor yet for undue exertion.
The pathway of charity will lead you to its own destination.
May the deeds of your right hand fulfil what your hearts decree.
The merry faces of a village are its fairest property.
Moderation is a supreme good, and a virtue, but the golden chains
Of unrestrained freedom add little comfort to the prisoner's pains.^32In recent years, the szlachta's views on social harmony have been dismissed as
humbug. One writer has denounced them as 'a panegyric to vegetation'. 'Love',
he writes, 'is an ideological ornamentation of the landed nobility. Its basis is to
be found in a class interest threatened by the magnates, by the higher clergy, and
by the land-hungry petty nobility.'^33 Certainly, one cannot deny that the gap
between the ideal and the reality was enormous. To modern eyes, it may seem
monstrous that people who were notoriously cruel to their serfs and openly con-
temptuous of burghers and Jews, could at the same time profess the tenets of
universal love and reconciliation. The incomparable Jan Pasek, for example,
when he caught a peasant snaring rabbits without permission, unceremoniously
ordered the wretched poacher to eat the wretched rabbit alive. His apparent
indifference to the humanity of his serfs stands in marked contrast to the extra-
vagant affection extended to his pet otter.^34 Common cruelty was an established
feature of social life. Faced with the congenital idleness, drunkenness,
and pilfering of the peasantry, the nobleman frequently replied with ferocious