The Count, my honored Father, and the Countess, are so sensible of the grandeur of the Korwin Krasinski family, and they so often speak of it,--not only they, but our courtiers and our guests as well,--and it is thought by all to be such a great reproach not to know precisely about our ancestors, that we all have our heads full of that kind of information. I can recite the genealogy of the Krasinskis and the history of each of them as perfectly as my morning prayer, and I think that I should have more difficulty in telling the names of our Polish kings in chronological order than in telling those of my ancestors. The pictures of the most illustrious are in our hall,[1] but it would take too long to write about each of them. The first of whom we know anything was Warcislaus Korwin, from the old Roman family of Corvinus, who, in the eleventh century, came from Hungary to Poland and was appointed the Hetman (General-in-chief) of the army of King Boleslaus II. [1] They are still in Count Adam Krasinski's palace in Warsaw. Having espoused a noble lady of the name of Pobog, Korwin united his crest--a raven holding a ring--to that of the Pobogs--a hand grasping a sabre--and such is still our cognizance. His grandson was the first to take the name Krasinski, that is, _of Krasin_, from an estate bestowed upon him by the King as a reward for his bravery; and from that time forward many hetmans, castellans, woivodes,[2] bishops, etc., made the Krasinski name famous in Polish history. [2] Governors of provinces. One of them, Alexander, in this very same Maleszow Castle where I am now quietly writing, resisted so bravely a great Tartar army, in one of its plundering excursions from Asia, that the chief was obliged to retreat; but before leaving, he sent to the valorous castellan, as a token of his admiration, the most precious thing he possessed,--namely, a clock, of very simple construction, it is true, but a great wonder at that time. This curious relic, this gift from an enemy,--and he a Tartar, more accustomed to take than to give,--is still preserved with great care in our family; I have seen it but twice in my life, my honored Father keeping it so carefully, and I am sure he would not exchange it for ten Paris clocks with all their chimes. This valiant ancestor of mine was killed in a war with Russia, and left no son. His nephew John built in Warsaw a magnificent palace in the Italian style, which is said to be more beautiful than the King's Castle; but I have not seen it, as I have never been in our capital.