LUBLIN, a town of Russian Poland, capital of the province of same name, 60 miles south-east of Warsaw, on the Bistrzyca, a tributary of the Wieprz. It is the most important town of Poland after Warsaw and Lodz. It has an old citadel, many churches, and several educational and charitable institutions, and it is the see of a bishop. Lublin is one of the chief centres of the manufacture of thread-yarn and of linen and hemp goods (to the value of more than £250,000), as well as of woollen stuffs: there is also an active trade in corn and cattle. The three annual fairs have a certain importance for the neighbouring district. The population in 1873 was 28,900, and is rapidly increasing....
The date of the foundation of Lublin is unknown, but it was in existence in the 10th century, and has a church which is said to have been built in 986. During the time of the Jagellons it was the most important city between the Vistula and the Dnieper, having 40,000 inhabitants (70,000 according to other authorities), and keeping in its hands all the trade with Podolia, Volhynia, and Red Russia. Indeed, the present town is surrounded with heaps of ruins, which prove that it formerly covered a much larger area. But it was frequently destroyed by the inroads of Tartars and Cossacks. In 1568 and 1569 it was the seat of the stormy convention at which the union between Poland and Lithuania was decided. In 1702 another convention was held in Lublin, in favour of Augustus II. and against Charles XII., who carried the town by assault, giving it over to his army to be plundered, and stayed for six weeks at Jacobowice, the estate of Prince Lubomirsky, in the immediate neighbourhood. In 1831 Lublin was taken by the Russians after a battle. The whole surrounding country is rich in historical reminiscences of· the struggle of Poland for independence.
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