His Power and State 38. Power as Inter-Rex 39. Why he is intrusted so much 40. His See ibid. Who officiates where no Inter-Rex 127. Inter-Rex resigns 162. Physicians Polish Their Abilities 81 * Not allow'd to study till qualify'd ib. * Palatins What 35. Their Number and Precedence from 55 to 59. Duty and Office 59. Palatins Vice How they must be qualified 59 c. Posnan Bishop of Extent of his Diocess 43 c. Plosko Bishop of His Jurisdiction and See 44. Premislaw Bishop of 44. Premislaw City A Greek-Bishop here 44. Here first Maintain'd that Priests might marry ib. c. High Podolia Palatinate of Honorary 57. Protho-Notary of a District 78. Projects in the Diet easily annull'd 107. Punishments in Poland Various and how differ 122. Manner of Chastising Servants ib. c. Pacta-Conventa Articles of Election 144. When taken by Ambassadors 145. By whom drawn and how administer'd 146. The Form ib. Occasional Articles 149. The Oath taken by the King 150. Peasants Polish Their Condition 5 184. Wherefore enslav'd 5. Incapable of Preferment except a few 167. How first enslav'd 182. Live satisfy'd notwithstanding 183. Enrich their Lords 184. How fix'd in a Farm 185. Their Service annex'd thereto ibid. Meet to Reap their Lords Corn 186. Their Customs at Bed and Board 186. Children how taught to go 187. Habits of both Men and Women ibid. Peasants Condition in Lithuania 226. Work on Sundays ibid. c. Pay rigid Duties 227. Their Habits and Carriages 228. Description of the last by a Poet ib. Character of these Rusticks 230. Potables Sorts us'd in Poland 212. Beer of what Quality 213. Mead and Wine ib. What Strong-Waters 214 Brimmers much practis'd 219. Sturdy Drinkers rewarded 231. Drink among the Rusticks of Prussia 235. Prussia Peculiar Customs there Vide Customs Pospolite What 2 * Who oblig'd to serve in the Horse ib. * Who in the Foot 3 * Penalty for Default ib. * Who excus'd ib. * Number great formerly and now 5 * Manner of Raising and Mustering them 6 * Meet at General-Rendezvouz 8 * Pay of Soldiers From what it arises and how is rais'd 26 c. * Provisions and Ammunitions What in the Army 27 * Q. Queen Consort Her Court how maintain'd 16. Artifice 17. Revenues 18. To what Amount ibid. Her Court-Officers 30. Where Crowned and where not 163 c. Place of her Coronation 164. What requir'd to confirm it ib. Cause of J. Casimir's Queen 's Death 207. Queen Dowager Revenue Conditional 18. Excludes Queen Consort while she enjoys it ib. Quartarians What and whence so call'd 17 * R. Republick of Poland Wherefore instituted 4. It s Division 10. Means to support it for ever 177. Revenues Crown What 17. Russian Bishops Why can't Marry 40 c. Their Tenets Ceremonies and Ornaments 41. Religion in Poland and Lithuania Conversion and Persuasions 47. Former Religions ibid c. Roman-Catholick how long continu'd 50. Zeal and Bigotry ib. None but Roman-Catholicks admitted of Senate c. except in Prussia ib. Bishops preside wherefore 51. Other Clergy preferr'd ib. Four Roman Catholick Churches in Dantzic 47 * Religions in Curland 126 * Russia Palatin of Why has the Title of the Province 57. Referendaries Masters of Requests Their Office Power and Qualifications 77. Registers in Chancery 77. Reflection of Hauteville 95 c. Rokosz What and its Proceedings 21 * Example ibid. * Rarities and Observables in Poland Of Wood and Earth 82 * Strange Waters and their Effects 83 * Monstrous Fish 84 * Fowls of odd Qualities ibid. c. * Beasts of strange Kinds 85 * Rarities communicated 86 * Closet of Rarities 87 * Rose Disease What and its Cure 96 * Riga Bishop and Archbishop thereof 100 * S. Senators Polish Who and their Number 5. Sit by what Authority 5 c. By whom made and their Oath 34. To what further bound 35. Not suffer'd to travel ibid. Title annex'd to Dignities ibid. Their Office 36. Who immediately becomes so ibid. Despise other Honours ibid. Their Division and Sub-division ibid. Senate Polish What and its Office 34. Samogitia Dutchy Wherein differs from Lithuania 231. Proof of great Age here 232. Inhabitants more robust ibid. Samogitia Bishop of Likewise Bishop of Curland 45. Has no See ibid. Samogitia Starosta of Why preferr'd and how chosen 56. Smolensko Bishop of Formerly subject to Lithuania and now Honorary 46. Smolensko Palatin of Honorary 57. Socinians When and how often expell'd 48. Steward Great Vide Marshal Great Secretaries Great Their Qualifications and Authority 76 c. Starosta's With Jurisdiction 79. Without 80. Vice-Starosta's 79. Jurisdiction of Starosta's ib. Power and Office 119. Starostaships Revenue from what arises 80. Have been sometimes mortgag'd ibid. Speaker of the Diet How chosen and Heats thereupon 94. Must treat the Gentry ibid. Reason of stickling in his Election ibid. Last Speaker officiates till a new one be chosen 95. Speaker-Elect goes to kiss the King's Hand ibid. His Request for the Deputies 96. His Authority ibid. His Power devolves to Great-Marshal 97. Synods Provincial Aw'd by the Pope 15. That of Leopol subject to the Archbishop of Gnesna ib. Successor Election of a Interest of Foreign Princes to oppose it 151 c. Reasons for and against it 152 c. State Four Things requir'd to defend it 19 c. * Salt Farther Particulars thereof 39 * T. Titles Polish Annex'd to Employments 5. Tartars in Lithuania Their Number and Religion 49. How long continu'd there ib. Upon what Conditions ibid. Troki Castellan of Wherefore preferr'd 56. Treasurers Great Their Office and Authority 72. Remarkable Breach of Trust in one of them 73. Treasurer of Prussia His Office 77. Travelling Customs in Travelling 219. Travellers oblig'd to carry Provisions c. 221. Travelling cheap in other respects ibid. c. Manner of Travelling 222. Incommodities in Travel how remedy'd ibid. c. Disturb'd a Winter-Nights by Boors 223. Danger of losing Noses ib. c. Trade Poles not much inclin'd thereto 35 * Commodities Exported and Imported 35 c. * Particulars of Trade 39 * No Fulling nor Paper-Mills ibid. * Concerning Leather and Fish 40 * Honey and its Produce ibid. c. * Former Trade of Prussia 41 * Teutonic Order Its Origin 53 * Who built their Hospital at Jerusalem 54 * Order confirm'd and by what Title ibid. * Their Removal into Germany and Prussia ibid. c. * Forsake Prussia and wherefore 55 * Their Statutes Habit Number and Manners ibid. c. * Are much favour'd by several Princes 56 * Lives of their Great Masters from 56 to 71 * It s Present State 72 * Tobago Island Discover'd by the Duke of Curland 106 * Is depriv'd of it ibid * Proposes to recover it 107 * A Grant from King Charles the Second 108 * French beg the Island 112. * A Second Letter from King Charles ibid. * Intercepted ibid. * Duke sends Governors 113 * Makes a Contract ib. * Description of the Island ibid. * Necessary
Frederic Augustus the Present King of POLAND The History of POLAND IN Several LETTERS to Persons of Quality Giving an Account of the Present State of that Kingdom VIZ. Historical Political Physical and Ecclesiastical The Form of Government The King's Power Court and Revenues The Senate Senators and other Officers The Religion Diet and little Diets with other Assemblies and Courts of Justice The Inter-regnum Election and Coronation of a King and Queen with all the Ceremonies The present Condition of the Gentry and Commonalty as likewise The Genius Characters Languages Customs Manners Military Affairs Trade and Riches of the Poles Together with an Account of the City of Dantzic The Origin Progress and Present State of the Teutonic Order and the Successions of all its Great Masters Likewise The Present State of Learning Natural Knowledge Practice of Physick and Diseales in Poland And lastly A Succinct Description of the Dutchy of Curland and the Livonian Order with a Series of the several Dukes and Provincial Masters To this is also added A Table for each Volume And a Sculpture of the Diet in Session With some Memoirs from Baron Blomberg VOL. II. By BERNARD CONNOR M. D. Fellow of the Royal Society and Member of the College of Physicians who in his Travels in that Country Collected these Memoirs from the best Authors and his own Observations Compos'd and Publish'd by â—ir SAVAGE LONDON Printed for Daâ— Brown without Templ-Bar ' and A. Roper and T. Leigh both in Il et-street 1698. D R. CONNOR ' S PREFACE IN my PREFACE to the First Volume of this Historical Relation of POLAND I have mention'd my Incapacity for Matters of this Nature both because I was only Twelve Months in that Kingdom and because I have no Talent or Genius for History I thought Writing it by way of LETTERS in Imitation of some of our Neighbours would be more easie to my self and more acceptable to the Publick I am proud to have this happy Occasion of giving the Honourable Persons I write to so publick a Testimony of my Respects I am sorry in the same time I cannot have Leisure to honour my self in writing to the Noble Persons mention'd in the Second Volume as I have had in the First I follow a Profession so remote from HISTORY particularly a Polish one that it neither allows me Time nor leaves me any Inclination to attend any other Business I hope notwithstanding the Persons I promis'd to write to will be pleas'd to excuse me for not being able to keep my Word to them as I flatter'd my self I could since the ingenious Gentleman I desir'd to undertake this Work will give them the same Satisfaction he having already assisted me in my First Volume and having had all my Memoirs for this Second THE Antient and Present STATE OF POLAND PART II. The Present State LETTER I. To His Grace THOMAS Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Of the Form of the Government in Poland and of the King's Power Court and Revenues My LORD THAT high Station wherewith the King has Recompenc'd Your Merits and the great Trust His Majesty has reposed in Your GRACE during his Absence shews his Confidence in Your Ability as well to Govern the State as the Church Since therefore being lately Invested with a share of the Regal Authority you had occasion to know more intimately Our King's Power and Prerogatives I thought my self oblig'd to give Your GRACE an Account of those of the King of Poland to the end that comparing both together you might more sensibly perceive the Excellency of our Own Constitution which makes the Greatness of the King inseparable from the Interest of the People For when the Executive Power is as vigilant to see our Laws obey'd as the Legislative has been provident in making them England can justly boast of a much greater Happiness than either Poland or any other Kingdom of Europe Having My LORD not been a full Twelve Month at the late King of Poland's Court I cannot pretend to be throughly acquainted with that Kingdom yet I find that like most other Countries it has undergone several Changes in its Constitution since the middle of the VIth Century at which time it began to be a distinct Nation during the Reigns of the two great Houses of Piastus and Jagello Ever since the time of Lechus its Founder the Kings thereof have been Elected to the Crown after an Hereditary manner tho' not by an Hereditary Title They have really been Absolute and their Will went for a Law for then they made Peace and War when they pleas'd Levied as many Troops as they thought fit Punish'd or Pardon'd at Pleasure and Rewarded where they saw Convenient And all the Administration either of Public or Private Affairs was so wholly lodg'd in the King's Hands that I have heard the Poles themselves say That Sigismund II. the last King of the Jagellonic Family was to the full as Absolute as either the King of France or Denmark is now Whilst the Kings of Poland thus maintained a Supream Power over their Subjects they exceedingly enlarged their Dominions were both fear'd Abroad and belov'd at Home Commanded Potent and Numerous Armies into the Field Executed most Enterprizes speedily and were almost always sure of Success and this because they did not then as now depend upon the lingering Determination and tedious Conclusions of a Turbulent Diet. But the Family of Jagello being once Extinct by the Death of Sigismund II. who had resign'd his Kingdom to the Senate and Polish Gentry and given them full Power and Authority to dispose thereof as they thought fit the Crown of Poland was anew declared Elective to the end that all the Princes of Christendom who had due Merits and Qualifications might have a Right to Aspire thereunto This gave occasion to most of the Princes of Europe ever since to Court the Polish Nobility after their King's Death And that either to get the succeeding Election determined in their own Favour or else to have some of their Friends Advanced to that great Dignity but this most commonly rather with regard to their own private Interests than out of any Respect to the Person they desired to Promote as the Houses of Austria and Bourbon have always practis'd The Gentry of Poland therefore observing that several Princes at a time always Aspir'd to their Crown and considering that not one of them had more Right than the rest as likewise that it lay altogether in their Power to choose whom they pleased resolved Unanimously to Elect none but such as should Condescend nay Swear to observe the Terms and Conditions they proposed Hereby the Poles by degrees have clip'd and limited the Antient Power of their Kings and have reduc'd them to the Bounds we now find them to have that is barely to a third Part of the Grand Diet For the Poles knew very well that no Prince would be so Imprudent as to scruple Submitting to
any Conditions to become Master of so considerable a Kingdom to which he had no Right either by Birth or other Claim and more especially since these Conditions are neither Rigorous nor Dishonourable but such as are decently consistent with the Regal Character he is to be Invested with Thus the Polish Gentry of a kind of Monarchical Government have in time made a perfect Republic consisting of three Orders The King Senate and Gentry which they call the Nobility Here My Lord I must take notice to Your GRACE that the Polish Nation is divided into two sorts of People the Gentry or Freeborn Subjects who are hardly a Tenth Part of the Kingdom and the Vassals who are no better than Slaves to the Gentry for they have no Benefit of the Laws can Buy no Estates nor Enjoy any Property no more than our Negroes in the West-Indies can and this because some Ages since the Common People Revolting against their Lords and having driven them out of the Nation the Gentry came with a Foreign Power and reduced them to a greater Subjection than before in which they have been kept ever since So that the Government of Poland at present comprehends only the King and Gentry By a Gentleman or Nobleman of Poland is understood a Person who either himself or his Family has a Possession in Land For they never Intermarry with the Common People All the Gentry from the King's Sons to those that are but only Masters of an Acre of Land are equally Noble both by their Birth and the Constitution of the Kingdom for no Body is Born either a Palatine Senator or Lord but those Titles are always annexed to certain Employments which the King only gives to Persons advanced in Age and recommended by their Merits The Diet of Poland in some respects resembles our Parliament being made up of two Houses the House of Senators answerable to our House of Lords and the House of Nuncio's not unlike our House of Commons The Senators are the Bishops Palatines Castellans and the Ten Great Officers of the Crown in all about 142. In the Upper-House the Senators sit not by any Writ of Summons or Letters Patents as in England but only by Virtue of the Great Preferments in the King's Gift which they Enjoy for Life So that the King wholly Constitutes the Upper House but the Lower are the Representatives of the Gentry Elected by them alone in their respective Provinces without the Concurrence of the Common People who have no Priviledge to Vote in their Election Insomuch that at least Nine Parts in Ten of the People of Poland are excluded from having any Share in the Government The Grand Diet of Poland is nothing else but the King Senators and Deputies assembled together in any Part of the Kingdom that his Majesty Commands Without this great Assembly of the States the King can neither Make nor Repeal Laws Declare War nor Conclude a Peace make no Alliance with any Foreign Princes raise neither Troops nor Taxes Coin no Money and in a word can Determine no Matter of State of any Importance without the Universal Consent and Concurrence of this Parliament which they term the Free States of Poland Several powerful Motives have enclin'd the Poles to Establish this kind of mixt Government which they take to be a just Temperament of whatever is to be found most Excellent in the several Monarchies Aristocracies and Democracies that have been in the World The most considerable of which Motives as I have met with them in their Histories or learn'd them from the most knowing among their Natives are as follows First They think by this Judicious Choice of a Government to preserve their Kingdom from those Disorders which most commonly attend Absolute Monarchies Agreeing herein with that Prince of Philosophers Aristotle who though he preferr'd this kind of Government to all Others yet was he nevertheless obliged to own that when ever it degenerated it was the most pernicious of all Thus the Poles have temper'd the Exorbitant Power of their Kings with the mixture of two other Governments whereby they thought to secure their Liberty a Thing always most Dear to them from the Arbitrary Will of a Prince who by Imagining himself above the Laws might Fancy whatever his Passions prompted him to allowable and his truest Interest to be the Entire Subjection of his People The miserable Examples of their Neighbours the Turks and Moscovites have sufficiently convinced them of this Truth wherefore the Polish Nation thought it but convenient to limit the excessive Power of their Kings and confine them to Rule with more Moderation and Justice Secondly The Poles have observ'd as well from their own Government as from that of their Neighbours that no small disadvantage has flow'd from an Aristocracy They could not be perswaded but that the Authority of one Person was infinitely more easie to be Tolerated than that of many for that either the Ambition or Jealousy of such would often disturb the Repose and Tranquility of the Public Poland also began to Reflect upon its former Miseries under its Woievods when it was deplorably rent and torn by the Factions among those Palatines Insomuch that even while it became a Conqueror from without it was vanquish'd within and that by its own Force This gave the Poles no small dislike to an Aristocracy which they have resolved never more to admit among them The Third Reason of State which has obliged the Poles to reject a Democracy is that they look upon that sort of Government to be the most dangerous of all being the easiest enflam'd and the greatest Enemy to true Nobility Its first Maxim is To procure a Vniversal Levelling or making all alike whereby under the Notion of a common Liberty they weaken and enervate those great Genius's which were design'd to Govern and Protect them How then could it be expected that the Descendents of those mighty Warriers who Founded the Polish Nation and have so long maintain'd the Honour of it by their Valour should submit to have their Blood debased by mixing it with the Ignoble Vulgar The Tyranny of Laws which the Nobles are subjected to in an Absolute Common-wealth would be too rude a Check to this Ambition which the Poles have always had to Command over their Vassals and therefore they have always entertain'd a secret Odium for those Grecian Republics that Banish'd their greatest Statesmen meerly because they would not have them gain too fast upon the Affections of the People If any should perhaps doubt of the pernicious Consequences of a popular Government where Reason does not so much reign as an Unruly violence of a People who know no other Laws than those of their Passions let them cast their Eyes on the Heats of the Roman Empire who were often ready to Overturn the State had not the Senate speedily applied a prudent Remedy But there are other Examples more Modern as the Revolt
more Particulars relating to the King of Poland but this is what I thought most material to be mention'd and what I cou'd only learn in so small a Time as I have lived in that Country I beg your GRACE's Pardon for tiring your Patience with so long and imperfect an Account and desire my Lord you wou'd receive this at least as a Testimony of my good Will of satisfying your Curiosity and of owning your many Favours to My LORD Your GRACE's Most Obedient Servant BERNARD CONNOR The following Letters intended at first to be Written by Dr. Connor were Compiled by Mr. Savage the Doctor not having Leisure to attend them from his Practice LETTER II. To His Grace HENRY Duke of Norfolk Earl Marshal of England Of the Senate and Senators of Poland both Ecclesiastical and Temporal With an Account of the Present Religion in Poland and Lithuania As also of the State-Officers and Officers of Districts belonging as well to the Kingdom as the Great Dutchy My LORD YOUR Grace's High Birth and Station in our Government together with Your Primary Right of Suffrage in our House of Lords entitle you in a Superlative manner to the Patronage of this Letter Wherefore I was glad to meet with an occasion so favourable to pay my Duty to Your GRACE and I could heartily wish it had been on a Subject that I were more Master of than in an Account of a Country which I never saw yet that you may give some Credit to the Truth of my Relation I dare humbly assure you that I have mention'd nothing therein but what I either had out of Dr. Connor's Memoirs learn'd from his own Mouth or drew from such Books as both the Doctor and Other Persons of Credit have own'd to be Authentic and most Correct My LORD The Senate of Poland is an Order of Nobles between the King and common Gentry establish'd to rule and govern according to Law and to observe the Conduct of the King And moreover they are to apply themselves to study the publick Good and the Preservation of the Privileges of the People It consists at present of a far greater Number of Persons than formerly It is the King that makes every Senator but who being once so made is to continue his Office for Life At the Time of his Creation he is oblig'd to take a solemn Oath to conserve inviolable the Rights and Liberties of the Republic so that if the King himself had a mind to extend his Power and Authority beyond the Limits prescrib'd him by the Laws every Senator's Oath alone would oblige him to acquaint his Majesty with due Respect of his Duty and Obligation Nay every Nuncio in the grand Diet assumes this Liberty For in that Place dicunt quae sentiunt sentiunt quae velint as may appear by an insolent Affront put upon the late King John Sobieski who having been call'd Tyrant Nero and many other opprobrious Names by some of the Deputies and not being able to bear it he started up and threatned them laying his Hand on his Sword That had he been the great General still he would have done something whereat one of them rising likewise and clapping his Hand to his Sword reply'd and that Sword would have done something too Another Passage I have read of Lewis King of Hungary and Poland who having been basely abus'd in the Diet stood up and cry'd Si non essem Rex whereto the Orator briskly reply'd Si non fuisses Rex These Senators are likewise bound to see that nothing be done against their Privileges and therefore four of them are always deputed to attend the King with their Advice Besides these four who are ever actually the King's Counsel any of the others in like manner have a Right to assist at the Council-Board if they think fit The Presence of these Senators is look'd upon to be so absolutely necessary for the Good of the Kingdom that not one of 'em can travel upon whatsoever Account without Leave of the Republic This Custom is taken from the Romans who not only forbid the Senators but also their Sons to go beyond the Verge of Italy This Title of Senator the King cannot bestow by it self but it is always annex'd to one of the four Dignitys of Bishops Castellans or Palatins The Ten Crown-Officers all which the King names whereof Palatins are Lord-Lieutenants of Provinces Castellans are Governours who have not their Names from Castles as the Word might reasonably import but from commanding a Portion of a Province in Time of War The ten Crown-Officers are the Marshals Chancellors and Treasurers of the Kingdom and Bishops preside over their several Diocesses with an Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction When any one is nam'd a Bishop Palatin Castellan or any of the ten Officers of the Crown he is immediately a Senator without more ado Their Business is to serve faithfully the King and Republick in the Senate at home to administer Justice by Commission or otherwise and abroad with Consent of the Diet to exercise foreign Ministrys c. These Senators of Poland value their Dignities so highly that they despise almost all other Titles of Honour whatever and therefore when Sigismund I. went to Vienna and the Emperour offer'd the Title of Princes of the Empire to the several Senators that came along with him they absolutely refus'd 'em giving for Reason That being born Gentlemen of Poland and thereby having a Right to treat either of Peace or War with their King they believ'd it an Injury to their Dignity to have a Prince of the Empire thought superiour This Senate consists either of Ecclesiastical or Secular Members The Ecclesiastical are either Archbishops or Bishops and are the chief Members of the Senate Their Number at present is but sixteen Three of these Bishopricks are now in the Enemies Hands though they nevertheless have titular Bishops viz. Smolensko and Kiovia possess'd by the Moscovites and Caminiec enjoy'd by the Turks So that there remain but thirteen Bishopricks actually in the King's Dominions of which but two are Archbishopricks viz. those of Gnesna and Leopol When any of the aforesaid three Bishopricks are vacant there are always those ready that will beg their Titles meerly to have the Honour to sit as Senators The several Diocesses belonging to all these Bishopricks are Archiepiscopal of Gnesna and Leopol Episcopal of Cracow Cujavia and Pomerania Vilna Posnan Plocksko or Plosko Varmia Luceoria or Lucko Premislia or Premislaw Samegitia Culm Chelm Kiovia Caminiec and Smolensko Subject to the two Archbishops are the other Bishops and first to the Archbishop of Gnesna are the several Bishops of Cracow Vladislaw Posnan Plosko Vilna Varmia Samogitia and Culm And next to the Archbishop of Leopol are the Bishops of Chelm Caminiec Luceoria Premislia and Kiovia The Archbishop of Gnesna is not only Chief of the Bishops but also of all the other Senators of Poland He is
before the King where-ever he goes and to take care that all the Court-Officers perform their Duty in their several Stations over whom he has the sole Jurisdiction in criminal Cases If any Person so much as wounds one of his Officers he loses his Head for it by a Law made in the Year 1573. He is moreover the Introducer of all Ambassadors He has an exceeding great Benefit by imposing Prizes on Merchants Wares for they generally make him great Presents and Bribes to augment their Profit Nevertheless his Power is very much lessen'd in the Time of the Election of a King for then he must act in Conjunction with the Grand Marshal of Lithuania He always acts by Assistance of the Court Marshal who is his Deputy in his Absence And when the Court Marshal absents likewise the Duty of that Office is requir'd from the Grand Marshal of Lithuania and in his Absence from his Little Marshal And when all these are absent that Duty is incumbent on the Chancellors and Treasurers in their respective Turns The hundred and twentieth Lay Senator is The grand Marshal or grand Steward of Lithuania His Office is much the same with that of the grand Marshal of Poland The hundred and twenty first Lay Senator is The great Chancellor of the Kingdom The hundred and twenty second Lay Senator is The great Chancellor of the Dutchy The hundred and twenty third Lay Senator is The Vice-Chancellor of the Crown The hundred and twenty fourth Lay Senator is The Vice-Chancellor of the Dutchy The Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor of the Kingdom must be the one Ecclesiastical and the other Secular by a Law made at Cracow in the Time of Sigismund I. But those of the Great Dutchy are both oblig'd to be Secular tho Hartknoch says there is no Law against a Bishop's being Chancellor there They have each of them two Seals the Chancellor the greater Seal and the Vice-Chancellor the lesser Their Authority is equal except that the former always takes Place of the latter tho' he happens to be a Bishop and that the Vice-Chancellor does not act but in Absence of the Chancellor or at least under him The Chancellor's Office is to take Cognizance of all civil Affairs to see Justice done the Laws observ'd and to render ineffectual the Cabals and Intrigues of foreign Princes in Prejudice of the Liberties and Authority of the Republick They are to seal all the King's Mandates and Grants and to receive and answer all his Letters Their Power also is so great that they can seal several things without the King's Consent and refuse as many where he commands if they are contrary to the Constitution of the State The Chancellor or in his Absence the Vice-Chancellor answer to all Speeches made the King and propose all Matters to be debated in the Senate He of the two that is Ecclesiastical hath a Power over the King's Secretaries Chaplains and Preachers as likewise over all the Ceremonies of the Church which in any wise relate to the King They are the general Chroniclers and Publishers of the Laws and take Cognisance of all Appeals made to the King The Vice-Chancellor generally succeeds the Chancellor tho sometimes in Lithuania it has happen'd otherwise The Ecclesiastical Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor of Poland is for the most part chosen out of the meaner Bishopricks as Culm Premislia Chelm c. They ought to be Persons of great Prudence Learning and Probity their Business being to admonish advise and direct the King in his Administration of the Government The hundred and twenty fifth Lay Senator is The great Treasurer of the Crown The hundred and twenty sixth Lay Senator is The great Treasurer of the Dutchy These Treasurers are Masters and Guardians of the Treasure and Revenue of the Republick which is brought them in by four general Collectors who all keep a true Register of it giving a Copy thereof to the King and another to the Treasurer They also have the keeping of the Regalia as the Crown Scepter Globe Sword of State Robes c. They moreover have in their Custody all the King's Furniture and Records and are to preside in the Office of the Mint They likewise pay all Salaries either of the Military or civil List The Treasurers Privilege is so great that they are not oblig'd to give any Account either to the King or any of his Officers how they perform their Trust but in due Time the Diet appointing Commissioners for that Purpose they are oblig'd faithfully to charge and discharge themselves before them otherwise the Republick may sue them for it and confiscate their Lands Nevertheless the Treasurers who most commonly misemploy the publick Stock by treating the Commissioners well and making them considerable Presents withal often obtain their Discharge without much Difficulty I may here give your Grace an Account of a Passage that happen'd when Count Morstyn was great Treasurer of Poland who having more Regard to his own private Interest than publick Benefit sent all the Riches of the Treasury into France when fearing that the Diet would soon think fit to call him to Account he retir'd privately with all his Effects out of the Kingdom and went to settle in France where he purchas'd the whole County of Chateau-Villain which is worth above an hundred thousand Livres a Year The hundred and twenty seventh Lay Senator is The little or Court Marshal of the Kingdom The hundred and twenty eighth Lay Senator is The little or Court Marshal of the Dutchy These Court Marshals in the Time of Vladislaus VII had a Contest with the Chancellors for Precedence but at length they were order'd to be contented with the last Place in the Senate therefore Starovolscius who in his Colen Edition of the State of Poland places them next to the great Marshals in that of Dantzic puts them last of all It will not be here amiss to acquaint Your Grace that besides these ten Crown-Officers there are three other Sorts of Officers which are not Senators and they are either of the Kingdom and Great Dutchy the King's Court or belonging peculiarly to Palatinates and Districts The Principal of the first Kind are these The two Grand Generals of the Crown and Great Dutchy who are the King 's immediate Substitutes and have a full Power to do whatever his Majesty could were he present Tho this Dignity of Great General be the most considerable and honorable of any in the Republic yet does it not make the Person that enjoys it to be a Senator nor qualifies him to have the least Seat in the Diet unless he be therewithal a Palatin or Castellan as most commonly he is The two great Generals of Poland and Lithuania have equal Power in their respective States and have no Dependance upon each other unless that the Great General of Lithuania always gives Place to him of Poland yet has he the sole Command
which is the Reason that he is often brib'd either by the King Foreign Princes or some great Men of the Kingdom On the Day prefix'd for the Meeting of the Diet the King with all the Senators and Nuncios goes to hear a Sermon which being ended he retires into the Senate where he is severally saluted by the Members thereof And the Nuncios retiring likewise into their House call'd by the Poles Izba Poselska confer together about electing a Speaker during which the last Speaker or Marshal officiates till a new one be chosen and then is oblig'd to resign his Staff to the Marshal elect who is to take an Oath to be true and faithful before he enters upon his Office When the Marshal or Speaker is elected he with all the Deputies of the Province goes to kiss the King's Hand in the Diet-Chamber where his Majesty sits on a Throne erected for that Purpose Then the Chancellor in the King's Name proposes all the Points to be debated in the Diet and desires the Senators and Nobility to take them into Consideration whereupon the King immediately leaves them lest his Presence might be an Awe upon them and then the Senators retiring into their Room by themselves and the Nuncios into theirs by them call'd Izba Poselska they forthwith set about deliberating on the Articles propos'd Here SIR I may remark a pleasant Reflection of Hauteville in his Account of Poland where he says That the Poles employ more Time in drinking and feasting than in debating Matters of State for that they never think on that Work till they begin to want Money to buy Hungarian Wine After the Chancellor has thus propos'd to the Diet in the King's Name all the Articles they are to go upon the Marshal of the Nuncios likwise on the Part of the Deputies presents to the King what they desire of his Majesty which is 1. To make void all Intrenchments either upon the State or the People And 2. To bestow all vacant Offices upon Persons of Worth and Merit This Marshal of the Deputies has a great Authority over them in the Diet for he it is that commands Silence among 'em and who transmits all their Requests to the King or Senate and seeing that by his Power he can either animate or moderate them it is not to be wonder'd at if he be a Person of no ordinary Esteem and that the Court always endeavours by various Favours to secure him for their Friend The Manner of Proceedings in the Nuncios House is much the same as in the Little Diets No body offers his Opinion there till having first ask'd Leave of the Marshal who alone introduces all Messengers from the King Senators Army or Foreign Princes and answers them all in the Name of the House If any Disserences arise among the Nuncios or other Tumults are rais'd by the Spectators he causes Silence immediately by striking his Staff against the Ground The two Orders being thus separated there are nevertheless frequent Intercourses between them as are between our two most Honourable Houses The Nuncios have a Power of impeaching all Magistrates and Officers for Male Administration and to put the King in mind as often as they think fit of his Coronation-Oath Moreover the Nuncios Power and Authority appears the greater in that no Constitution or Law is of any Validity or Force that was not first begun in their House Nay their Marshal is to be the first Starter of all Laws and when concluded upon it is his Office only to read them before the Senate For this Reason in the Year 1668. the Marshal protested against a certain Law because it was first concerted in the Senate But what is more to be admir'd than all this is that the Dissent of one single Nuncio is sufficient to annul the whole Proceedings and to occasion the Diet to be dissolv'd To confirm this Authority and for the futher Security of the Nuncios Sigismund I. in the Year 1510. ordain'd that it should be High Treason to Injure any Member of the Diet tho he afterwards in the Year 1539. restrain'd this Law to the Royal Person but which notwithstanding John Casimir in some measure renew'd in the Year 1649. If one of these Nuncios commits any Crime he is to be try'd only by his Fellow-Members This Privilege of the Nuncios begins a Month before and lasts as long after the Diet. Upon some Occasions the Marshal assigns Committees of these Nuncios who are to transact a-part such Matters as are intrusted to them The Nuncios remain in their House till the fifth Day before the Conclusion of the Diet when they are all to go to the Senate Et sic Comitia ad Patres transferre dicuntur But if within the Time assign'd by the Laws they find they are not able to finish their Business they humbly petition the King that the Diet may be prorogu'd Whilst the Nuncios are thus providing for the publick Good in their House the King and Senate do not pass their Time idly in theirs for after the Chancellor has given the Charge to the lower House and they are retir'd he together with the Senators tries criminal Causes for a whole Week which being ended there are several other Matters assign'd for certain Days until the lower House bring up Bills to be debated Near the Conclusion of the Diet and before the Senators and Nuncios are join'd the Marshal of the lower House in a set Speech gives Thanks to the Deputies for the Honour and Favour they have conferr'd upon him and is answer'd by one of the Nuncios in the Name of the rest who returns him their Acknowledgments for his faithful Execution of his Office When the Nuncios are come to the upper House their Marshal or Speaker sits on a Form below the Senator Marshals and the rest of the Deputies stand behind the other Senators who are seated all in their Order Being thus join'd they proceed to confirm create or abrogate Laws No body speaks here without having first obtain'd leave of the great Marshal In this Meeting the Nuncio-Marshal's Power is at an End his Office being then officiated by the great Marshal either of Poland or Lithuania or in their Absence by some other of the Senator Officers The great Marshal has Authority not only to check a Nuncio but also a Senator in speaking if he exceeds his Bounds He also in case of great Disorders imposes Silence by striking his Staff on the Ground In Cases of Controversy the King always suspends his Opinion till the Differences are reconcil'd This the Kings Henry and Stephen promis'd faithfully to observe as may appear by the Book of their Laws Page 254. To establish a Law or Constitution in the Diet the Deputies must first propose it by their Marshal and then the King and Senate are to approve of it but however before it
to give any Reason for his said Refusal but is only to say after their usual Manner Nie pos Volam It is not my Pleasure that it shall be so Whereupon he immediately withdraws from out of the Diet and most commonly retires into the Country for Fear of being either kill'd or abus'd as it often happens such People are by some desperate Member of the Diet. Thns SIR you may plainly perceive how easie a Matter it is for any Foreign Prince to interrupt all the Projects of this Diet if they seem in any wise to move against his Interest If Poland be in Peace and has a mind to declare War against any Nation contrary to the French Interest the French Pistoles can easily find some Senator or Deputy to oppose this Design Or if by the Heat and Resolution of some great Men War be denounc'd the French King can never fail of somebody to break their Ways and Means of raising Money to carry it on as he effectually did in the War the late King had against the Turks and Tartars Then on the other side if the Poles are actually in War with the Turks and Tartars which is for the Emperours Interest the Court of Vienna will never want some Christianly dispos'd Bishop or some other Member to perswade or oblige the Diet to continue the War as long as it agrees with the Affairs of the House of Austria and this under Pretence of serving God and the Apostolick See This appears sufficiently in this present War for the Poles having been extreamly fatigu'd and impoverish'd by the continu'd and fatal Interruptions of the Tartars for near these fifteen Years do all no doubt wish for a Peace and have propos'd it in every Diet for several Years ever since the Siege of Vienna But notwithstanding either thro their own Disorders or the Austrian Faction they could never yet accomplish their Design Thus the Austrian Party keeps them in a tedious War and the French prevents them from carrying it on with Vigour insomuch that between these two that Nation is almost ruin'd since on one Side they are hinder'd from making Peace to remedy the prodigious Desolations made upon them and on the other prevented from raising Money sufficient to carry the War into the Country of their Invaders Every Member of the Diet after having obtain'd Leave of their Marshal who can only stop their Mouths has a Right to speak and harangue there as long as he pleases Nay can say what he will for they often abuse one another and affront their King to his Face branding him with the infamous Titles of Perjur'd Vnjust and the like They often likewise threaten both him and his Children when perhaps they have the least Reason The Occasion of this is generally in that they come drunk into the Diet and consequently talk only as the Spirit moves either good or bad Nay you shall have some of these Fuddle-caps talk Nonsense for two or three Hours together trespassing on the Patience of the soberer Sort with a railing carping injurious and ill digested Discourse without any bodies ever daring to interrupt them tho' they spin it out never so long for if the Marshal himself should then presume to bid 'em hold their Tongues they would infallibly dissolve the Diet by protesting against the Proceedings thereof so that the prudenter Way is always to hear them out and moreover to shew no Dislike to the impertinent Speeches they have made No body but sees the unhappy State of the Government of Poland that their Constitutions and Privileges are most pernicious that the unlimited and absolute Liberty of each Member makes all the Republick Slaves either to the Whimsy or factious Obstinacy of one particular Man for can there be any thing more unreasonable than that after all the Senators and Deputies have come from most remote Provinces with excessive Expence to the Diet and labour'd jointly with the King to conclude Matters for the common Benefit of the Nation it should be in the Power of one disaffected or corrupted Person without giving any farther Reason than his own Pleasure to annul the Proceedings of the rest and to dissolve the Diet at a Juncture especially when there is the greatest Occasion for their Concurrence Thus SIR you may perceive that Affairs of the greatest Consequence depend not only on the prudent Deliberations of sober Men but also on the whimsical Humours of the senseless or deprav'd This excessive Liberty of every private Man shews that both the Nation and the Diet have none at all This Constitution of concluding Matters in the Diet rather by universal Consent than Plurality of Voices was establish'd to deprive their Kings of all Means and Opportunities of ever becoming absolute for they imagin'd it was morally impossible as it really is that whatever Interest or Authority the King might get in the Country that he should ever so far prevail as to bring all the Members of the Diet for he might have the Majority to consent to any Article or Bill which might any wise be injurious to the Nation But on the other hand observing the many bad Consequences that usually attend and must still necessarily follow such Constitutions they once propos'd to decide their Affairs by the two Thirds of the Voices yet which they could never agree in by reason that the greatest Part of them being over-fond of their Liberties were loath by these means to consent to part with them and so that Proposal had no Effect SIR you may have just Reason to admire how the Polish Nation could for above a Thousand Years subsist with such bad Constitutions and still possess not only a vast Kingdom but also hitherto enjoy their Freedom and Liberties in their utmost Force and Extent 'T is wonderful also that far from losing or limiting any of their Prerogatives they rather enlarge and encrease 'em as often as they elect their Kings Nay considering the Power of their King the absolute Prerogative every Gentleman has in his own Lands in a manner above the Laws the Turbulency of their Diets and the small Obligation the Officers think they lie under to perform their several Duties the Poles themselves have own'd it to be no less than a Miriacle that they should have subsisted so long and Dr. Connor says he has often heard them say that their Preservation was to be attributed to God alone that protected 'em to be the invincible Bulwark of Europe against the Progress of the common Enemies of Christendom the Turks and Tartars Here we need not have Recourse to any peculiar Providence bestow'd by God on the Poles since by his own ordinary Concourse to all natural Causes we may easily collect that the Polish Nation could not but subsist hitherto only but likewise must in all Probability last as long as any Kingdom in Europe and this for several Reasons First Because tho' the King's Power is limited by the Law his Credit and Authority nevertheless
reflect on those States that have a great many Fortifications we shall find that with the Loss of but one Battel they have been in a manner ruin'd for the Enemies being once got into their Strong-Holds are not easily forc'd out of them When on the contrary the Poles always rally in a Field-Battle and having no Places to retire to either for themselves or their Enemies never give out till they have totally excluded their Invaders Besides the Poles look upon Garrisons to be the Promoters of Effeminacy and Softness by the Examples of several Heroes of Antiquity for the Courages of Alexander and Hannibal were altogether enervated by their Revels at Persepolis and Capua and Boleslaus bury'd as it were in his Debauches at Kiovia Next I must proceed to present Your GRACE with an Account of the General Officers of the Army And first Of the Generals whereof there are two one for the Kingdom and another for the Great Dutchy as I have observ'd before He that is for the Kingdom is stil'd Hetman Wielki Koronni and he for the Dutchy Hetman Wielki W. X. Litheuskiego These as I have said before have almost the same Power with the King whilst they continue in the Field over their respective Armies for their Authority is altogether independent on each other This Dignity does not intitle them to sit in the Senate yet for the most part they are chosen out of the Senatorian Order and that to procure them the greater Respect and sometimes they have at the same time been the highest Officers in the Kingdom as Great Marshal Great Chancellor c. for John Zamoski was both Great Chancellor and General at once Yet this was afterwards abrogated and now the Office of General or Lieutenant General is usually conferr'd either upon the Palatins or Castellans who altho' they be in a manner superiour to the Great Officers of the Kingdom in respect of their Sitting in the Diet when the others are to stand about the King yet they are not presum'd to have so great a Power in the Republick This Office was not long since perpetual but now by the Constitutions in the Year 1666. it is to expire at the End of three Years Each of these Generals has his Lieutenant General The Office of these is describ'd in the Letter to his GRACE the Duke of NORFOLK and therefore need not be repeated here The Title the Poles give the former is Hetman Polny Koronni and to the latter Hetman Polny W. X. Litheuskiego In the absence of the Generals they have almost the same Power with them and formerly had equal tho' the Generals were present but that was afterwards abrogated They are chosen out of the Senatorian Order in like manner as the Generals Besides these there are the Generals of the Frontier-Guards which are independent on all but the King and Diet Likewise the General of the Cosacks whose power is established by the Constitution in the Year 1661. Next may be reckon'd the Chief Commander of the King's Guards in the Camp whose Office has been describ'd already in the Letter before-mention'd Next to these General-Officers come the Great Masters of the Artillery whereof there are two one for the Kingdom and another for the Great Dutchy Their Office is to take charge of and to provide the Armies with all sorts of Cannon c. and to see the Soldiers want for no Ammunition After these may be rank'd the Pissarsz of the Army that is to say the Intendant the Great Ensign the Camp-Marshal the Captain of the Guard or Watch and lastly the Major Generals which are much the same with our Brigadiers Then come the Colonels Captains c. There are two other sorts of Officers belonging to the Army which are the Camp-Notaries and the Roto-Magistri The former are to take an exact account of the number of Soldiers in the Army every three Months and to transmit a Copy thereof to the Great Treasurer and another to the Nuncio-Marshal but in Lithuania this is to be done every Month and the Nuncio-Marshal's Copy is to be given to the General The Roto-Magistri are as it were Captains or Centurious of the Frontier-Guards and who cannot by the Constitutions enjoy such a Commission and be Senators at the same time As to the Laws relating to Arms Your GRACE may first be pleased to understand that tho' the King cannot properly be said to declare War without the unanimous consent of the Diet yet in cases of sudden Incursions he might formerly with the Approbation only of such of the Senators as were then about him And under Sigismund III. there was a Council of War assign'd by the Diet or elected by the little Diets amounting to a considerable number to attend and advise in those matters which Council continues even at this day however with this restraint That what they do is not altogether valid till it has been confirm'd by the General Diet but as to offensive War that belongs peculiarly to the Great Diet to declare The King in like manner cannot either give to or receive Assistance from any Foreign Prince without the consent of the General Diet neither can he place any Foreigner in the custody of Castles or Forts without their Approbation The Poles have many other Laws concerning Martial Discipline which I have not Room here to Insert only I may take notice to Your GRACE that Deserters are punish'd not only with the loss of their Reputation but also whatever else they have in the World is Consiscated to the sole use and benefit of the Army By the Laws also no Women are suffer'd to follow the Camp tho' too great a number of Servants and useless Rabble are allow'd of insomuch that in an Army of but 10000 Men there will at least be 50000 of that Gang. Thus my Lord I have presum'd to present your GRACE with what particulars I could find as well in the best Polish Historians as in some private Memoirs relating to the Military Affairs in Poland and which I hope tho' not capable to afford what satisfaction might be expected may at least give no occasion of Offence I am My LORD Your Grace's most Humble and most Obedient Servant J. S. LETTER VII To his Excellency Monsieur de CLEVERSKERK Ambassador in Ordinary to his Majesty WILLIAM III. from the States of Holland Of the Trade Coyn and Riches of Poland with an Account of the Famous City of Dantzic its Manners Privileges Strength and Revenues MY LORD TRADE has ever been justly esteem'd so necessary towards the Support and Grandeur of any State that no Nation in the World has hitherto been found so Stupid as to be without it Some Countries indeed have wholly confin'd it to the limits of their own Dominions but how much they have been in the wrong may appear from the vast advantages which Foreign Commerce has brought to other Nations England and Holland are sufficient Demonstrations of this Assertion who during
Must always flourish for several Reasons 111. Guards Horse 29. Chief Commander of Guards in the Camp 79. Captain of the Guards against the Incursions 76. Gnesna Archbishop of Vide Primate Genius of Polish Government To what bent 31. Generals Great Power and Authority 74. Duty 75. Present Great Generals ibid. Dignity Successive ibid. Their Power and Duration 29 c. * Generals Lieutenant Their Office 75. Titles and Power 30 c. * Other General-Officers 31 * Governors of Mines 78. Of the Mint ibid. Gun Founders Foreign 28 * Glass Polish Manner of making it 88 * Gardens and Orchards Seldom any in Poland 199. H. Head-Collector of a District 79. High-Podolia Vide in P. Houses in Poland Their Description 198. Furniture 199. Houses of the Rusticks in Lithuania 197. Habitations and Furniture of the Peasants in Prussia 234. Horses Why little in Lithuania 229 c. Hairs Canular 96 * I. Jews in Poland Enjoy their Religion and Privileges 49. Restrain'd from Trading ib. Their Number ibid. Idolaters Where to be found 50. Retain Superstitions ib. Example ib. Judge and Assistant of a District 78. Jurisdiction Military Wholly in the King 's or his General 's Hands 121. Palatins and Castellans likewise exercise their Authority ib. Inns How call'd in Polish 219. Have few Conveniencies 220. Jâ—â— Belli Polish Some few Particulars thereof 32 * K. King of Poland Former Power 2. Advantages thereby 3. Abridg'd by the Gentry 4. King's Happiness 11. Unhappiness ib. c. Modern Power 13. Abroad and at home 14. What his Subjects term him ib. Great respect paid him ib. c. His Titles and Prerogatives 15 c. Pension Household-Officers and Guards 16. Patrimonial Estate and Perquisites ib. late His Riches 17. Power limited in divers respects 19 c. Other Limitations 21. Inconveniences thereby ib. Occasion of Respect 22. Cities present their Keys 23. Why he can make no Levies without consent of the Diet ib. Must not go out of the Kingdom 24. His Legitimate Issue much respected ib. Titles of his Eldest and other Sons and Daughters ib. How lost 25. Examples of the Poles Affection to the Royal Family ib. Illegitimate Issue slighted 26. Impossible to reduce his Subjects to an Arbitrary Power ib. c. King not unhappy because not able to secure Succession to his Family 28. His Interest to Head his Army 75. Where the King suspends his Opinion 97. Ought not to be present at Trials for Treason 99. Has no Regal Authority till Crown'd 153. Goes to receive Homage and Knights Citizens 161 c. Is Proclaim'd 162 c. What follows 163. His Power and Revenues in Dantzic 48 * Kiovia Bishoprick of Honorary 45. Kiovia Palatinate of Honorary 56. L. Leopol City Whence so nam'd 40. Is the Residence of three Bishops ib. Luceoria Bishop of His Diocess 44. Lutherans Abundance in Poland 48. Tolerated and Protected ib. Name in Polish ib. How the Prussians became so ib. Lay-Senators Their Division and Sub-division 54. Laws What requir'd to Establish them 97 Where cannot be Printed 98. Their Origin Progress and present State 121. Lawdifferences decided by the Sword 179. Example 180. Lawyers Their Number and Study 79 c. * Who seldom go to Law 80 * Suppos'd judgment on a Lawyer ib. * Lending and borrowing in Poland The manner of 195. Lithuania Particulars relating thereunto 224. Learning Former 75 * What discourages Learning 81 * Languages Oriental dis-regarded 76 * Present in Poland ib. c. * Hard to Pronounce 77 * Latine Reasons why the Poles affect to speak it 77 * Livonia Its first Bishop 100 * Livonian Order It s several Masters from 101 to 105 * Residence of the Order 105 * Addition concerning this Order 117 * M. Marienburg Pal. a City of Formerly Seat of Teutonic Knights 58. Built 55 * Marshal Great of Poland His Office Power and Authority 69. Duty and Privilege ibid. His Perquisites ibid. c. Who officiate in his Absence 70. Marshal Great of Lithuania His Office 70. Marshals Little Contend for Precedence 73. Mines Their Officers called Zuppars 80. Meetings General of Senators and Deputies 90. Members of the Diet How habited 103. Not to give Reason for Dissent to any Bill 106. Magistrates and Officers of Plebeian Courts 120. Their Profits 121. Marriages Description and Duration 203. Court-Marriages 204. Customs thereat ib. Presents made the Bride 205. Espousals and Ceremonies ib. c. Who can't be Marry'd without Dispensation 206. Qualification for Marriage among the Peasants 230. Mourning The manner in Poland 208. Money Little in Poland and how occasion'd 36 * What Coin most current there ibid. c. * Contributes to Poverty 37 * Other Coins ib. c. * First Coin in Prussia 49 * Present in Dantzic ib. c. * Mittaw City of Curland It s Castle Streets and Houses 120 * How often conquer'd and regain'd 120 * Calvinist-Church there 121 * N. Nuncio's Vide Deputies Nobility Vide Gentry Notaries Chief 77. Notaries Camp 76. Nuncio-Marshal Vide Speaker Naturalization and Manner of Making Noble 100. How far qualified thereby ibid. c. Nobility how acquir'd 188. A Third Way of becoming Noble 189. Ways of Forfeiting Nobility ib. Where restor'd ib. Names Polish What formerly and now 203. O. Officers Crown and Court 28. Court In Lithuania 29. In several Provinces ib. c. Some rather Honorary than Beneficial 30. Ten Crown-Officers where placed in the Diet 68. Who they are ibid. Those of the Kingdom precede ib. Extra-Senatorial Officers 74. Great Officers in the Army 76. Of Districts 78. Some why so call'd 79. Military Officers of Districts ib. Offices By whom Plurality can be held 67. Exceptions ib. Order of Knighthood Instituted in Poland but undervalu'd 179 c. Vide Teutonic Order P. Poland Undergone several Changes 2. How expos'd to Inconveniencies 12. Physick Practice in Poland 89 * Medicines us'd ib. * What Diseases 91 * Venereal how cur'd by a Quack 90 * Odd Method of curing Wounds 88 * Surprising Particulars 91. * Plica Disease its Description ibid. c. * Unaccountableness and Symptoms 92 * Said to be Contagious and Hereditary 93 * Common to Men and Beasts ibid. * Superstition concerning it ibid. c. * Where most common and how cur'd by a Jew 94 * Causes asserted but question'd ibid c. * Another Account of the Plica 95 c. * Poles Their Division 4. Love for their Kings 12. To Extravagance 13. Behaviour at Church 53. Their good Temper and its Effect 181. How occasion'd 182. Their Character 189. Complexion Constitution c. 191. Their Manners ibid. Further Character 192. Education and Learning ibid. To what they generally apply themselves 193. Worst part of their Character ibid c. Genius how inclined 194. Greedy of Money 195. Love to make a Shew ibid. Their great Extravagance 198. Great Admirers of Shew 200. How Attended ib. Not very Rich and why 38 * Primate His Court-Officers as Inter-Rex and Arch-Bishop 30. What peculiar to him 31.
to be in English Hands ibid. * Whence had its Name 114 * U. Vilna Bishop of His Diocess 43. Vilna Castellan of Preferr'd wherefore 55. Varmia Bishop of His Jurisdiction and See 44. Votes Intended Limitation like to produce a bad Effect 104. Who have them in Election of a King 144. Volunteers What in Poland 17 * Examples ib. c. * Selected out of the Gentry 18 * Universities Two in Poland and Lithuania 75 * Chief Studies there ibid. * Have no solid Learning 78 * W. Women Polish Their former and late Fashions 197. Very modest 200. Exception 201. Their Liberty restrain'd ibid. War Two Qualities necessary there 26 * Z. Zuppars What 80. Vide Mines FINIS From the Year 550 to the Year 1698. Former Power of the Kings of Poland A. D. 1574. Advantage thereby Why European Princes Court the Polish Gentry Nobilities Resolves thereupon Abridge the Antient Power of their Princes And Constitute a Republic Division of the People of Poland The Diet. It s Power Motives for a mixt Government A Motive II. Motive III. Motive Advantage of a mixt Government Division of the Republic Kings present Power and Prerogatives His Happiness Unhappiness A great Inconvenience to the State Instances of Poles Affections to their Kings Modern Kings Power Abroad and at Home The great Respect paid him His Titles and other Prerogatives His Pension Houshold-Officers and Guards Queen Consorts Court how maintain'd Kings Patrimonial Estate and Perquisites Late King 's great Riches The Crown Revenues Queens Revenues The King's Power limited in several respects Nobility only capable of Preferment Other Limitations of the Kings Power Inconveniences thereby Why he is paid so great Respect Cities present their Keys upon his Approach Why he can raise no Forces without Consent of the Diet. His Legitimate Issue greatly Respected His Illegitimate as much slighted Means to continue the Crown in one Family Why the K. of Poland can't imitate him of Denmark Not Unhappy because he cannot secure the Succession to his Family Crown and Court Officers Gentlemen Pensioners Horse-Guards Court Officers in Lithuania And in several Provinces Chief Officers of Queen's Court. Principal Officers of Primate's Court. What peculiar to him The Senate and its Office Senators by whom made and their Oath Four to attend the King and wherefore Senators not suffer'd to travel * Vide Sueton. Cap. 42. in vita Jul. Caesar Tacit lib 12. Annal. cap. 23. This Title not bestow'd by its self Senator's Office Extreamly prize their Dignities Their Division and Subdivision Diocesses of Poland Peculiar Jurisdictions of the two Archbishops Ecclesiastical Senator his Power and State His Power as Inter. Rex Why entrusted so much His See Two other Bishops in Leopol Those of the Greek Perswasion Their Tenets Ceremonies and Ornoments His Bishoprick and Power His Residence and Precedence His See Precedence and Authority Several Places of Residence His Diocess His Diocess His Jurisdiction and See His Jurisdiction and See His Diocess Here is a Greek Bishop Likewise Bishop of Curland yet has no See His Precedence and See His See translated and wherefore Honorary A Greek Bishop formerly Primate of Moscovy Honorary Honorary Each Bishop has a Kind of little Court Their Precedence in the Diet and large Revenues Religion in Poland and Lithuania Conversion and several Perswasions of the Poles Socinians expell'd 1658. 1673. Lutherans and Calvinists and other Religions in Poland The Roman Catholick prevails and always prefer'd Privileges of Regular Clergy Their dissolute Lives Fasts how observ'd in Poland Manners of the Secular Clergy The Poles Behaviour at Church Their Churches Division and Subdivision of Lay Senators Palatins c. with their Precedence 1. Lay-Senator Preferr'd and wherefore 1130. * Duglossus lib. 4. Annal. Polon p. 369. Preferr'd for what Reasons †Lib. 2 Cap. 3. p. 504. Preferr'd and why Wherefore preferr'd and how chosen Honorary Palatinate Why he has the Title of the Province Honorary Palatinate Honorary Palatinate Formerly Seat of Teutonic Knights Honorary Palatinate Greatest Part Honorary Honorary Palatinate Duty and Office of Palatins * Hartknoch lib. 2. cap. 3. p. 506. c. Vice Palatins and how qualify'd Duty of Castellans Their Division Qualifications Office and Titles Greater Castellans and their Precedence Lay-Senator Honorary Honorary Honorary Honorary Lesser Castellans No enjoying Plurality of Offices Castellans how call'd in Polish The ten Crown-Officers Those of the Kingdom precede Lay-Senator His Office Power and Authority Duty and Privilege His Perquisites Deputy and who officiates in Cases of Absence Qualifications of these of the Kingdom * Lib. 2. Cap. 3. p. 528. Both have Seals and equal Authority Their Office and Power Succeed each other How ought to be Qualified Their Office and Authority A remarkable Breach of Trust Contend for Precedence but refus'd it Extra-Senatorial Officers Great Generals Have equal Authority Their Power and Duty King's Interest to head his Army Present great Generals Dignity successive Lieutenant-Generals and their Office Chief Commander of the Guards Other great Officers in the Army Camp-Notaries Captain of Guards against Incursions Great Secretaries and their Authority Referendaries and their Office Cup-Bearers Carvers Sword-Bearers Court-Treasurers and their Office Treasurer of Prussia Associates to Judges Chief Notaries Registers inChancery Escheator Commissioners of Custom House Governours of Mines Governours of the Mint Court-Officers Civil Officers of Districts Vice-Chamberlain and his Office Chamberlains Judge and Assistant Prothonotary Head Collector Other Officers and why so call'd Military Officers of Districts Starostas with Jurisdiction Vice-Starostas c. Jurisdiction of Starostas Starostas without Jurisdiction Burgraves and their Office Revenue of Starostaships Zuppars what What the Diet is By whom call'd and where and how often meet Manner of calling it and Proceedings thereupon Where the little Diets meet I. In Great Poland * Vide Herburt Voce Comitia p. 92. and in Edit Polon p. 257. Podlachia and Masovia II. In Little-Poland III. In Lithuania IV. In Prussia V. In Russia VI. In Volhynia VII In Samogitia Qualifications for and Manner of voting in little Diets Who and how many chosen Deputies With their Instructions Proceedings in little Diets * Hartknoch lib. 2. cap. 6. p. 682. c. Deputies how chosen †Hartknoch lib. 2. Cap. 6. p. 689. Cannot be Senators Their Salaries When first sent Vide Constitut An. 1581. p. 375. Their general Meetings Diet divides into three Nations Speaker how chosen and Heats thereupon How occasion'd Next Proceeding Further Proceedings Reflection of Hauteville Speakers Request for the Deputies His Authority Proceedings in the lower House Conference s with the Upper and Nuncios Power Confirm'd and encourag'd Their Privilege * Constitut An. 1649. Committees How long sit Upper House how employ'd Manner of breaking up Session in the lower Two Houses join'd Speakers Power devolves to great Marshal Where the King suspends his Opinion What requir'd to establish a Law Where it cannot be printed Session of the Diet limited Wherefore Affairs treated of in the Grand
of the Cosacks and the last Troubles in Bohemia To these also may be added the Revolutions of our own Nation in the Time of Charles I. when the Fury of the People extended their Rage even to the dipping their Hands in this Prince's Blood Politicians do generally own that the People are a wild Beast which ought rather to be led than left at Liberty and by consequence have pronounced it most Perilous to acquiesce under their Subjection An Anarchy would undoubtedly do more harm in a day than a Tyrant could in all his Reign If he Punishes 't is with some pretence of Justice when nothing can abate the Peoples Rage but an utter Extinction of whatever is placed over their Heâ—ds A mixt Government therefore made out of all these Three is that which has proved most Agreeable to the Polish Nation being a just Medium between the dangerous Extremities of an Absolute Monarchy and those of Aristocracy and Democracy It is this the Poles have pitch'd upon as most proper to preserve the public Liberty and to perpetuate the Happiness of their State being it seems perswaded that a Body Politic resembles a Humane in this that as the one borrows all its Vigour and Health from a Just Temperament of the different Humours that compose it so the other depends absolutely on that of the Three before-mention'd Forms of Government And moreover as the former subsists by the mutual Opposition of contrary Qualities so the King Senate and Gentry of Poland having in some measure different Interests and Inclinations are not only hinder'd from deviating into vicious Extremities but also through a Noble Emulation are excited to labour carefully for the Good of the Public The Republic is divided into Two States the Kingdom of Poland and the Great Dutchy of Lithuania yet both which are but as one Body having the same King the same Parliament the same Laws the same Privileges the same Religion and as the natural result of all these the same Interest These Two States are so very well United that a King cannot be Elected a Law made nor any State-Business done without the mutual Consent of both But My Lord as the King is the Prime and Chief Member of this Republic I will give Your GRACE an Account of his present Power and Prerogatives The Poles are too proud a Nation to agree with those Politicians that measure the Grandeur of a Prince and Happiness of a State by the Despotic Power of him that Governs it and therefore those pernicious Maxims of Tyrants Si Lubet Licet Oderint dum Metuant and the like would be but ill receiv'd among a People that have all along secured their Liberties by their Prudence and Valour This Vassalage would suit well enough with the Slaves of Asia and Africk or with the Moscovites and Turks who all suffer themselves to be govern'd like Beasts and led by the Nose according to the different Caprice or Pleasure of their Prince As for the Kings of Poland they may rest in security in the Bosom of their Country even amidst the Noise of Arms either without or within their Dominions since they have always their Subjects to crowd about them for their Guards thro' indispensable Inclinations For what contributes chiefly to the Happiness of these Princes is the Loyal Observance and voluntary Obedience paid them even by those that are at Liberty to do the contrary I have often heard Monsieur de Polignac the French Ambassador say at Warsaw That he thought a King of Poland more Happy in his Person and Condition than a King of France Nevertheless this Authority of the King of Poland is so alloy'd by the Laws of the Land that it does not exact more Veneration from the Nobles or Gentry than they think he deserves For tho' their Behaviour be generally extraordinary Observant yet do they tacitly seem to call in question the Power they have limited and often refuse that Duty which they have deem'd him worthy of by his Election The Polish Nobility make no Difference between their King 's Right and those of the Senate and Deputies affirming That since these three Members compose but one Body they ought equally to share in the same Benefits and Injuries and consequently ought all either to Reward the one or Revenge the other The small Authority therefore of their Kings and the Impossibility of their Acting by themselves has at all times exposed Poland to the Insults of their Neighbours and the Rage of their own People as may be seen in the Civil Wars of the Cosacks and the Treachery and Sedition of the Confederates which could never have arriv'd at so great height if the King had had but sufficient Power to have suppress'd them Also the Great Marshal of the Crown Lubomirski would never have had the Boldness to have oppos'd King Casimir's Designs openly and to have form'd so many Factions against the Court had he not had some Assurances of remaining Unpunish'd This makes the King of Poland to be stiled a King of Kings and Lord of Lords since he has no better than Companions and Equals for his Subjects We have divers Instances of the Poles love for their Kings and particularly by their once enforcing the Right of Sigismund III. to the Kingdom of Sweden in an obstinate War which they began several times as likewise in supporting afterwards the Pretences of Vladislaus VII to Moscovy To omit divers others of a more ancient Date This Respect of their obliges them frequently to come and spend their Estates at Court thinking to augment their Princes Grandeur by their Prodigality and Magnificence This appears by the mistake made by Gregory King of Bohemia at the Interview between him and Casimir the Great at Glogan which Place the former had demanded to bound the Limits of Silesia when he saluted a Private Gentleman splendidly Cloath'd for the King of Poland The Custom and Inclination of the Poles runs so strong towards Honouring their Prince that all they have or are able to do even to the Destruction of their Lives and Fortunes they are willing to lavish in his Service without expecting any greater Recompence than the Glory of Waiting on His Majesty's Person Insomuch that a King of Poland who is Couragious and Prudent Just and Sober Liberal and Religious one that observes the Laws and Constitutions of his Kingdom and in a word who has no other Interest but the Common Good and Safety of his Subjects is as much Respected and Honour'd and as faithfully Obey'd both in time of Peace and War nay as formidable to all his Enemies as most Princes in Europe As to what relates to War no Monarch has greater Advantages than himself for he is neither at the trouble of raising Forces nor Expence in Maintaining them his Business being only to convene the Diet and they do all these things to his Hand After War is once declar'd he can continue the
same either by himself or his Generals can Regulate his Troops and see his Army duly paid out of the Treasury of the Republic He has a great deal of reason to hope for Success in his Expeditions because that not having undertaken them on his own account those that engag'd him to them will infallibly support him in them and the rather by reason that what was done was altogether with their Consent This has prov'd the Cause of almost neverfailing Success to the Polish Arms till of late Days the King and his Subjects not having been in so good Intelligence with each other as formerly When the King is in the Army in Person he has the Supreme Authority there gives Battle when he pleases and Besieges Towns as often as he thinks fit And likewise Commands absolutely all the Gentry to follow him into the Field on Horseback at ever so little warning At Home he has the free Nomination of all Ecclesiastical Benefices and of all Secular Employments as well Military as Civil throughout the whole Extent of his Dominions without speaking of a great number of Royal Demesnes which together with the State-Dignities he confers on those that have deserv'd them He can bestow as considerable Preferments as any Prince in Europe and oblige and raise the Fortune of whom he pleases He has his Vote in Naming Cardinals as well as other Roman Catholic Kings have He can send and receive Ambassadors privately in Matters relating only to himself but as to what concerns the Republic the Senate must have their Share in it He can Call Prorogue and Dissolve the Diet at Pleasure In a word the Poles term him The Protector of their Laws and Privileges The Distributor of Honours The Supream Head of their Republic and Supream General of their Forces The Poles attend his Person Uncover'd The Chief Senators generally Serve him at Table first tasting of the Cup before they present him with it His Subjects never sit before him nor cover their Heads any where but in the Diet and there too the Senators are only allow'd that Liberty for the Deputies stand behind with their Furr'd Caps in their Hands The late King John Sobieski din'd always in Public and I never saw any sit down with him at Table when he eat at Court except the Queen his Children and foreign Ministers Yet when he either Hunted or Travell'd I have known some private Gentlemen to have had that Honour Nay even his own Servants that waited on him were then admitted to eat with him This his Majesty knew was absolutely necessary for him to allow of since by refusing any this Favour he might incur the Displeasure and Hatred of the whole Noblesse This was verified in the Case of Sigismund of Luxembourg who for having refused the Polish Gentry to eat with him was utterly excluded from the Crown that had been design'd him by Lewis King of Hungary and Poland his Father in Law The Poles when they speak to their King call him Mosci Krullo or Milociwy Krullo which is as much as to say Great or Merciful King The Titles Ambassadors give him or which are commonly made use of in Acts of Parliament or other Instruments sign'd by him and made in his Name are these Frederic Augustus II. King of Poland Great Duke of Lithuania Duke of Russia Prussia Masovia Samogitia Kiovia Volhynia Podolia Podlachia Livonia Smolensko Severia and Czernikovia All sorts of Gold Silver or Brass Coins are Stamp'd with his Image and Name All Justice is Administred in his Name and at Church they always Pray for the King and Royal Family When he is Crown'd the Diet allows him a Pension of about 140000 l. per Annum which together with his Patrimonial Estate maintains him a very splendid Court He has his Polish German and Hungarian Guards and has the same Officers of his Houshold as other Kings have While the Queen-Dowager lives the Queen-Consort maintains her Court at the King's Charge but after either the Queen-Dowagers Death or Marriage or the King's Death she has a Revenue Assign'd for that purpose as will appear hereafter Over and above the Pension which the Diet settles upon the King and Queen which in that cheap Country serves to maintain them as high as our Kings live here The King of Poland has great Incomes of his own for the Poles never care to Elect a Poor Prince for fear his Children may come to be a Charge to them after his Death He gets besides vast Sums of Money for Nominations Employments of which the late King did not scruple to sell though 't was directly contrary to the Constitutions of the Kingdom Nay the Ecclesiastical Benefices which are so very considerable have been put under Contribution by some cunning Artifice or other as happen'd some Years since about the Naming of a Bishop of Cracow whose Bishoprick is worth Eight Thousand Pounds Sterling per Annum which will go further than Twenty Thousand Pounds in England There were several that Aspir'd a long while to this Vacant Dignity and every one solicited what Friends he had at Court for the obtaining of it but most applied themselves to the Queen and begg'd of her though she has no Authority of her own to Intercede to the King in their Behalf After a long Debate the Queen call'd the Abbot Malakowski aside who was one of the Competitors and a rich Man and told him That tho' there were several that aimed at that Bishoprick yet she would Wager Fifty Thousand Crowns that he was prefer'd to them all Whereupon the good Abbot thinking to venture nothing being sure that either he should be Bishop or should gain a considerable Sum readily lays down the Money and by way of an accidental Bargain bought very dear his Bishoprick It has been Calculated that the late King what by his Own Incomes Pensions allow'd him from the Crown and other Casualties was worth about Three hundred thousand Pounds Sterling a Year of which he did not spend much above one Hundred thousand having had no Soldiers nor Army to Pay or Maintain but only his Guards and his Court. He hoarded up the greatest part of the Money in the Kingdom and was reputed to have had as much ready Cash by him as any Prince in Europe all which nevertheless the Poles Vow'd they would have back again when his Sons bought their Votes to be King The Kings Crown-Revenues are Imposts upon Merchandizes and upon the Jews part of the Customs of Dantzick and the Revenues of the Salt Mines of Cracow and other Places The Queen's Revenue consists either in a Gift from the King her Husband out of the Royal Revenues with Consent of the States or in an Annual Pension allow'd her by the Republick The Gift from her Husband serves also for her Dower and is called by the Poles what amounts to the Sense of the word Reformation being the Reversion only of a certain number of
excessive Power and Privileges of the Nobility which they soon effected by being Resolute and more in Number But in Poland it is quite otherwise for there the Clergy and Gentry have a common Interest to keep the King and People in Subjection The Clergy have great Privileges and are very Rich. The Bishops for the most part are Princes or Dukes they are all Senators and sit in the Diet before all the Temporal Lords so that by the great Authority and Veneration which they have procur'd to themselves from the slavish People they can hinder them from making any Insurrection and by the Arbitrary and Free Power which they and the Gentry have hitherto maintain'd to Elect whom they pleas'd for King they will always keep him in such a Dependence for the sake of his Children that he shall hardly ever be able to effect any Design upon their Prerogatives Nay providing he had found any Opportunity to compass such a dangerous Enterprize yet would it not consist with Prudence either to declare or Attempt it for fear of Incurring the Hatred and Displeasure of the People which would not only tend to his own Ruin but likewise Obstruct the Election of any of his Family to the Throne after his Death so that the surest way for a King of Poland to continue the Crown in his Family is never to attempt any Innovation I would not however think the Kings of Poland Unfortunate in not being able to assure the Succession of the Throne to their Children since they are thereby compell'd as it were by a lucky Necessity to breed them up to all Royal Virtues and this to the end that it may render them more Accomplish'd and Worthy to be Elected For where they are satisfied that the Crown is not due to their Blood but to their Merits what will either the Father or Sons omit to obtain it by the most Glorious Means My LORD I have hitherto presented Your GRACE with what relates to the Form of Government in Poland and to the King's Power and Revenues I would now give a particular Account of the King's Court were it not like to that of other Princes as to Splendor and Number of Officers For besides the Great Crown-Officers as the two Great and Little Marshals as many Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors two Generals and two Great and Little Treasurers The King has his Lord-Chamberlain his Court-Marshal or Lord Steward his Master of the Horse his Secretaries of State his Standard-Bearer Chief Huntsman his Gentlemen of the Body answerable to our Lords of the Bed-Chamber his Physicians Chaplains Pensioners Cup-Bearers Sewers Carvers Musicians and Guards The Gentlemen Pensioners always attend the King on Horseback this Body of Gentry consists of the Noblest Youth of the Kingdom whereof many have Court and State-Employments and are all subject to the Jurisdiction of the Court-Marshal There are some of these that attend his Majesty on Foot but in long Journeys they are always carried in Waggons A set number of these keep Guard Day and Night about the King Whenever the King goes in Public these last March every way about him with long Battle-Axes on their Shoulders and Sabres by their Sides but still admitting the Senators and Chief Courtiers to March next him yet when the Queen goes with the King the Senators and other Persons of Quality are to walk before The King's Horse-Guards ought by the Constitutions to be either Poles Lithuanians or Natives of some of the Incorporated Provinces but however this Law has been dispens'd with for the late King admitted both Germans and Hungarians amongst them Their Number by the Law is not to exceed 1200 and their Chief Commander is to be subject to all the Four Marshals The King has the same Number of Court Officers in Lithuania as he has in Poland the Lithuanians being as Ambitious to keep up the ancient Grandeur of their Great Duke as the Poles are for that of their King The King has likewise the Nomination of some Court-Officers in several Provinces as in Prussia Masovia and Russia which had formerly distinct Princes of their own and were afterwards United to the Kingdom of Poland so that the King has the Nomination of as many Court-Officers as any Prince in Europe but most of them are rather Honorary than Beneficial yet the Gentry always make great Interest to get into them Precedence of which they are Ambitious being Regulated according to the Nature and Dignity of the Employment As for the Queen's Court it consists of about Thirty Officers the Chief whereof are her Marshal and Chancellor Their Business is to Preside over Domestic Affairs in the Queen's Court. Her Marshal or Steward is to carry the Staff before her and her Chancellor or Secretary to Write Sign Receive and Answer all her Letters There is her Treasurer who Manages her Revenue her Master of the Horse Cup-Bearers Carvers Sewers Clerk of the Kitchen c. For Women Servants she has her Ladies Maids of Honour Dressers c. When she goes in Public she is always attended by a great number of her own Sex It may not be here amiss to add something of the Court of the Inter-Rex or Primate and so I will conclude While the Archbishop of Gnesna has the Administration of the Government he has much the same Officers with the King but when he has laid down that Authority his Officers are his Marshal spoken of before his Chancellor who Presides in his Courts of Justice his Almoner Master of Requests Cross-Bearer Steward Treasurer Chaplains Library-Keeper Clerk of the Kitchin c. This Archbishop alone as he is the Chief Senator of Poland has Drums beating and Trumpets sounding both within and without Doors before he sits down to Table He also by his Prerogative is not to wait for the King's Commands when he should Visit him but may go when and as often as he pleases Before My Lord I put an end to this Letter permit me to take notice to Your GRACE that the King of Poland does not Name his Privy-Counsellors but all Senators are Counsellors of Course for all of that Dignity that are about the Place where the King Resides have a Right to sit at the Council-Board For fear notwithstanding that there should not be always Senators sufficient for that purpose at Court the Senate always depute four of their Members to attend the King's Person by turns and that not only to give him Advice but likewise to Inspect into his Conduct and to prevent him from Acting contrary to the Laws For the King and Council are accountable to the Diet for any Mismanagement in the Government In short the Genius of the Polish Nation and the whole Frame of their Constitution is entirely bent to Curb the King's Power and to secure their Laws and Prerogatives against the Incroaching Factions of Foreign Princes or of their own Court-Party I might here My Lord add a great many
is so great that he can dispose the Affairs in the Diet as he pleases especially where they tend to the publick Good of the Kingdom for very few if any at all will venture to protest against any Proceedings there that are for the Interest of the Nation unless they be supported by a good Party of Senators and Deputies and this because it is not only infamous and scandalous to his Person but also prejudicial to his Posterity that breaks up a Diet as also not a little dangerous to his Life to irritate and disobey so powerful a Body for they are commonly very liberal in their Passion of bestowing several Slashes of a Scymitar on any ill-natur'd corrupted Member that opposes the Interest of his Country tho' in Reality he has the Law on his Side It is certain therefore that where any Person withstands the rest in the Diet it is either because the King has not sufficiently employ'd his Authority to pacifie him or Policy to win him with a small Present or else by reason that he does not care they should agree or lastly because there is a considerable Party of Senators and Deputies that support or rather employ him to protest against an Act that they do not think for their Interest to let pass It is a common Practice where any of the Members of the Senate have any particular Advantage by opposing the Diets Proceedings not to expose themselves either to the Hatred or Anger of that numerous Body but rather to sacrifice some private Deputy to their Fury who for a small Summ of Money will come into the Diet and declare in plain Terms without any manner of Reason that it is not his Pleasure that such a Matter then in Agitation should pass Whereupon he immediately withdraws if he can into the Country for Security But generally these Oppositions are never practis'd where the publick Interest of the Nation is concern'd as appears in the raising the last Siege of Vienna by the Turks where the Poles finding that the Loss of that City would turn be very much to their Prejudice march'd directly under their then reigning King John III. to the Relief of it which they soon effected to their immortal Honour and Glory 'T is true that it is not an easie Matter to bring the Poles into the Field but when once they are got together into a considerable Body their Courage and undaunted Resolutions render them invincible Secondly The Order of their Government and their Courage and Resolution does not so much contribute towards their Preservation as the Envy and Jealousies of their Neighbours among themselves for when the late King of Sueden and Elector of Brandenbourg made War with Poland the Tartars came to assist the Poles and at the same Time the King of Denmark made a considerable Diversion in Suedeland When the Tartars likewise declare War against Poland most commonly either the Emperour or Moscovite come to its Relief or else make great Diversions on their Sides for as it is the Interest of the Princes their Neighbours not to let them grow to that exorbitant Power which they had formerly so it is not at all for their Benefit to let them perish for whoever could be able to conquer Poland and unite it to his own Dominions would quickly be too powerful for all the rest Thirdly The Poles besides this can the easier conserve their Dominions by reason that they have no strong Forts or Castles to shelter their Enemies where they happen to make any Progress in their Country yet I verily believe that an Army of fifty Thousand well-disciplin'd Men would at present conquer the whole Kingdom of Poland tho' at the same Time I am of Opinion that an Hundred Thousand could not be able to keep it Carolus Custavus King of Sueden with about Forty Thousand Men entirely subdu'd Poland in less than two Years Time yet when he began to encroach too much upon their Constitutions and Liberties the Polish Gentry join'd unanimously together and soon drove the Suedes out of the Kingdom The Tartars in numerous Bodies make frequent Incursions into this open Country but still as soon as they have loaded themselves with their Booty they make all possible Haste away The Loss of Caminiec makes the Poles admire at their own Policy in having no strong Towns for they say had not that been so well fortify'd it had not serv'd for Shelter to a strong Garrison of Turks and Tartars at their Doors Insomuch that it may be observ'd that Forts and Castles which we count our greatest Security would inevitably be the Ruine of the Poles they being not skill'd in besieging Towns and moreover having no good Artillery Ingeniers Ammunition or other Necessaries since they never were nor ever will be able to retake Caminiec tho it is a Place of no extraordinary Strength and for my Part I verily believe that if it should be surrender'd to them they would quickly rase and demolish it SIR Having thus far treated only of the Diet or Parliament of Poland I will now proceed to present you with a cursory Account of its other Assemblies and Courts of Justice and therefore must acquaint you that besides the Grand Diet and Senate the Clergy there have both a general Convocation and two Provincial Synods but which are wholly regulated and aw'd by the Pontifical Chair I may take notice that the Archbishop of Leopol tho he can call and hold his Synod a-part yet is he altogether subject in Spirituals to the Archbishop of Gnesna or Primate of Poland The general Convocation is for the most part conven'd every third Year at Petricovia Lanschet or Lowitz whereof the minor Clergy as in England are admitted by their Deputies or Representatives As for Cours of Justice the Poles have one that is wholly peculiar to the Interregnum which they call the Kaptur This is twofold either general which sits during the Interregnum to prevent Disorders and which has Power over Life and Death Or particular in the several Palatinates of the Kingdom The Judges of the former are chosen out of the Prime Nobility and those of the latter out of the Nobility in general of every Palatinate at the several particular Conventions and in the Beginning of every Interregnum All these Courts cease three Weeks before the Assembly for Election meets and after the Election they sit again to the very Day of the Coronation The other Courts of Justice in Poland are either Ecclesiastical Civil or Military The Ecclesiastical as in other Nations are altogether in the hands of the Bishops who have Each their Chancellor Register c. from whom Appeals may be made to the Archbishops and even from the Archbishop of Leopol to him of Gnesna who is the Popes Legat Born and Primate and Metropolitan of all Poland Nevertheless from him Appeals lye to the See of Rome These Judge according to the Canons and Customs of
Jurisdiction of Poland is wholly in the hands of the King or his Generals although the Palatines and Castellans who generally Accompany his Majesty to the Wars retain their Authority over their respective Inferiours but where those are Refractory a Court-Marshal Adjusts the Debate As for the Laws of Poland it is on all hands agreed that it had none till the time of Casimir the Great and then but very few made by him altho it is certain that the Poles hadlong before been Christians and were well enough vers'd in the Human-Learning yet was there never any Law or Statute of any Prince committed to Writing but that People were contented to be govern'd by the Customs and Manners of their Ancestors handed down to them from Father to Son Casimir III. therefore call'd the Great from his prudent Administration observing the disadvantages his Kingdom labour'd under by the Germans who then frequently came into Poland on account of Trade receiv'd the Saxon Laws now call'd Magdeburg-Laws from the City of Saxony whence they were taken by which Poland is at this day principally govern'd although the Gentry have many peculiar Customs and some Statutes which have been since made And which in the Time of Sigismundus Augustus being compiled into one Volume by Learned Men were entitled the Statutes of the Kingdom and since some having been Approv'd and Augmented and others Chang'd and Alter'd in several Diets have obtain'd the Name of Constitutions of Poland to which nevertheless all that Kingdom is not Subject Lithuania and Volhynia observing its own Laws Prussia likewise both Regal and Ducal has a Municipal Law of its own commonly stil'd the Law of Culm from which notwithstanding Three Cities are Exempt viz. Elbing Bransberg and Fraumberg all which make use of the Laws of Lansberg The Punishments in Poland are various and differ only according to the Quality of the Crimes and not of the Persons for a Thief is to be hang'd of what degree soever he be and Capital Offenders of all other Kinds and Qualities are to be Beheaded except in Notorious Villanies where the Offender is commonly broke on the Wheel or else Tortur'd by cutting off two Thongs or long Pieces out of the Skin of his Back A Nobleman is sometimes punish'd by forfeiting half his Estate to the King and the rest to an Informer and sometimes by Imprisonment only Masters also have a Power of Chastising their Servants which they do after this manner If the Servant they are about to Punish be a Polish Gentleman then they make him lye down on his Belly on a Carpet spread on the Ground or upon a Stool when another Gentleman-Servant lays him on unmercifully on the Back with a Rope or Stick giving him as many Blows and Lashes as the Master who is then present orders After which he that is beaten embraces the Knees of him that had commanded him to be Beat and salutes him with the good-natur'd Title of Benefactor This Discipline seems a little too severe but however the Temper of these People makes it necessary The Peasant-Servants are punish'd after the same manner only with this difference that they have no Carpet spread under them Some of the former sort think it an Honour to be so lash'd which Honour they always receive liberally as often as they deserve it This Custom of the Poles in punishing their Gentlemen-Servants so rigidly ought not much to be wonder'd at if it be consider'd that they may serve in the meanest Offices without derogating from the Nobility of their Birth or incapacitating themselves for the Highest Preferments For says Hauteville I have known some who from being Foot-boys to great Lords and Drummers in a Company of Dragoons have been advanc'd to the Dignity of SENATORS Also in general Nothing debases Nobility in this Country but a Handicraft or Mechanic Employment This SIR is all that I could meet with by various Reading relating to the Legislative and Executive Justice in Poland and which though not capable to pass your Censure with the Name of a Regular Composition I hope may obtain Effects of your Candour under the Regretted Title of a hasty Compilation I am SIR with all Humility Your most Obedient Servant J. S. LETTER IV. To the Right Honourable JOHN Earl of Marlborough Governour to his Highness the Duke of Glocester Of the Election and Coronation of a King of Poland with the Proceedings in the Inter-regnum and all other Ceremonies as likewise a short Account of the Coronation of the Queen My LORD TO whom can this Letter which treats of the Election of a King more properly address it self than to your Lordship who has lately been pitch'd upon by the wisest of Monarchs to be Governour to the presumptive Heir of his Crown No Doubt his Majesty saw those united Qualifications in you which were but to be singly met with in all others and which moreover could not but be requir'd to copy a successor from so great an Original as himself These Considerations My Lord have embolden'd me to present your Lordship with this imperfect Account but which I hope in regard it has been extracted from so many Volumes may favourably pass your discerning Censure tho it must not in the least pretend to deserve your Approbation My LORD The Crown of Poland may be vacant four Ways for either the King abdicates voluntarily and publickly like John Casimir is depos'd for his Vices as Locticus was runs out of the Kingdom as Henry III. of France did or dies which is the ordinary Cause of an Inter-regnum When the Crown is once become vacant the Archbishop of Gnesna being the first Senator of the Kingdom is the Prime Minister and hath the same Authority as the King had most of the Crown Revenues being invested likewise in him during the Interregnum After the King's Death he issues out circular Letters to all the Provinces to acquaint them therewith and to command their several Officers to make Publication of the Inter-regnum as likewise to summon a general Convocation of the Gentry to meet at Warsaw at a Time prefix'd Before this general Meeting they meet at the Little Diets where Care is taken to secure the Roads from Thieves and to set strong Guards every where on the Frontiers to oppose an invading Enemy Next Spies are sent into all Neighbouring Kingdoms to have Intelligence of what they design or do Then all Persons are prohibited either to go out or come into the Kingdom during the Interregnum as likewise to carry any Horses out of it All foreign Letters directed to any Members of the Senate are intercepted All the High-ways are block'd up with Trees fell'd down and Ambuscades are plac'd about them None of the Senate nor no Foreigners are permitted to write to the Army All the Gentry are commanded to have every thing in Readiness for publick Defence The common Use of Guns is forbidden Taverns are shut up and Concerts of Musick silenc'd
there should be no Successor nam'd for the future while the Predecessor surviv'd This Constitution Stephen Bateri would have invaded but the Republick oppos'd him so vigorously that he was forc'd to let fall his Design All Christian Princes having a feasible Right to the Crown of Poland it is the Interest of each of them to oppose the Election of a Successor since they would thereby absolutely be excluded from it This occasion'd the present Emperour Leopold to send Francis de Lisola to the Diet held at Warsaw in the Year 1661 where John Casimir had a Mind to propose a Prince to succeed him Wherefore in Conjunction with John Owerbeck Envoy to the Elector of Brandenbourg Lisola rais'd Factions in the Diet which were seconded by Marshal Lubomirski insomuch that they quickly overthrew King Casimir's Design and caus'd the Diet to confirm the former Constitution against electing of a Successor Several of the Lithuanian Gentry had the same Intentions with John Casimir but however with these following Precautions First That such a Successor should be elected a new after the King's Death Secondly That he should be a Roman Catholick Thirdly That he should not be a Piasto or Native Fourthly That he should neither be an Emperour King nor Sovereign Prince of another Country Fifthly That he should not be any Neighbour of Poland Sixthly That he should neither be too young nor too old And Seventhly That he should not be marry'd No doubt the Designs of King Casimir and of all those that were for the Election of a Successor were good for they had thereby a Mind to secure the Government from those Divisions and Intestine Jarrs which commonly happen in Interregnums But those who oppos'd them affirm'd that the Election of a Successor would undoubtedly soon introduce an Hereditary Monarchy and be the ruin of their Liberties and Privileges whatever care they could take to prevent it That it would be likewise against the Constitutions of the Realm to Elect a Soccessor in the King's Life time and that if the Republic consented to it they would be no longer at Liberty to oppose it That it would moreover be an Injury done to several Princes who all had a kind of Right to the Kingdom of Poland which would therefore infallibly embroil it in new Troubles when it was the Interest of that Crown to be at Peace with all the World These were the several reasons offer'd by the two Parties the last whereof as I said before got the better Till a King of Poland be Crown'd he has really no Regal Authority for he can bestow no Benefice give no Office nor Pardon any Offence Neither can he make use of the Great Seal of the Chancery nor set the Courts of Justice a going which are always silenced during an Interregnum till he has taken his Coronation Oath It belongs to the King-Elect to appoint a Day for his Coronation which formerly was wont to be at Gnesna till the Coronation of Vladislaus Locticus was solemniz'd at Cracow in the year 1320. where it was fix'd by the Constitutions of the Kingdom nevertheless Vladislaus VII would needs Crown his Queen Caecilia Renata at Warsaw but which was not perform'd without excessive Murmurings of the Gentry The Day of Coronation being arriv'd the King makes his solemn Entry into Cracow with great Pomp and Acclamations The Scabins of the City carry the Dais over him preceded by all the Horse and Foot-Guards with their Officers Immediately after the King follow the Bishops Palatins and foreign Embassadors on Horseback Just before the King Rides an Officer who throws some Coronation Medals among the People but which seldom amounts to any great Sum. Thus Attended his Majesty is conducted thro' the City to the Castle having first receiv'd the Keys of the City from the Magistrates in the first Gate thereof and pass'd under several Triumphal Arches with Motto's of various Invention At the Castle-gate he has the Keys of that Important Place also presented him with a solemn Harangue by the Starosta of Cracow The rest of the Day is spent in Banqueting and Feasts The Day following being that which precedes the Coronation the Obsequies of the deceas'd King are to be celebrated when they carry his Body to Schalka to the Church of St. Stanislaus The Order of Procession is this First the new King marches on foot then follow all the Officers of the Crown and Great Dutchy together with the Deputies the Ensigns with the Standards of every Palatinate and lastly the Crown Scepter Globe Sword and other Regalia being carry'd before the Corps pointed towards the Ground After these come a great Number of other Gentry and next after them march the several Companies of Trades barefooted belonging both to the City and Court each having an empty Coffin and Pall born before them on the Shoulders of two Men. It is to be observ'd that all that assist at this Procession must be in Mourning At the Place of Interment the Marshals break their Staffs against the King's Tomb and all the other Officers are discharg'd of their Authorities several Ways After which the Body is interr'd in the Cathedral Church among the rest of the Kings of Poland who for the most part lie all buryed there I should have remember'd that the Myter'd Clergy generally march about the Corps The Day after the Funeral is assign'd for the Coronation the Ceremony whereof is to be perform'd by the Archbishop of Gnesna as Primate of the Kingdom altho' that Office was once disputed with him by Sâ—igneius Olesnicius as being both Bishop of Cracow and Cardinal at the same time yet nevertheless Casimir IV. decided that Difference in Favour of the Archbishop and which was afterwards confirm'd by Alexander Notwithstanding if the Primate be either dead or refractory that Right devolves to the Bishop of Cracow and upon his Obstinacy Absence or Death to the Bishop of Cujavia The two Bishops that assist at the Coronation are the Bishops of Cracow and Cujavia The Ceremony of the Procession when the King goes to be crown'd is order'd by the Master of the Ceremonies but before his Majesty stirs out he is habited after a very splendid Manner by the Great Marshal of the Kingdom The King is conducted from the Castle to the Cathedral by the Senators foreign Embassadors and a great Number of the Gentry Before he enters the Church the Great Master of the Horse brings the Crown Scepter and naked Sword to the Archbishop who places them all upon the Altar After which the Bishops of Cracow and Cujavia having receiv'd the King they hold him under each Arm and present him to the Archbishop to whom he makes a Bow I imagine a more particular Account of this Ceremony may neither be unacceptable to your Lordship nor the Publick and therefore I shall for the future describe all the most remarkable Circumstances thereof as
to the People Next Day the King goes on Horse-back richly attir'd and in great Pomp to the Town-House some of the Senators carrying the Regalia before him The Order of March is the Bishops behind and the Lay Senators before and then the other Officers Nuncios c. before them While he is in Procession the Great Treasurer of the Kingdom scatters among the People a great Number both of Gold and Silver Medals more from the Castle to the Town-House Here he is habited a-new with his Royal Robes and seated in a splendid Throne erected on purpose when the Senate sitting in an inferiour Degree on each Hand of him the Magistrates of the City come to pay him their Homage and to assure him of their Fidelity and Loyalty presenting him again with the Keys of every of their Gates gilded and laid in a Silver Plate Which done the Chancellor assures them of the King's Favour and then reads aloud the Oath of Fealty to them which they then take on their Knees holding up their Hands all the while Having thus sworn the Magistrates Present him with a Purse of Gold and then receive their Keys back After which the King having deliver'd the Scepter and Globe to some of the Senators standing about him he receives a naked Sword from the Great Sword-bearer which rising up and flourishing over his Head towards the four Quarters of the World he sits down again and by a light Stroke of the Blade on the Shoulders of some of the Burghers creates them Knights This done the Great Treasurer in the King 's Return back to the Castle scatters some more Medals among the People whilst the Canons proclaim their Joy and if it be Night as generally it is by that Time all these Ceremonies are over the Fireworks are lighted and various Proofs of Satisfaction are every where both to be seen and heard The King being thus establish'd in the Throne the Diet of the Coronation sits where first the Primate lays down his Authority of Inter-Rex and then every individual Member of the Senate and Diet takes an Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy to the King after which his Majesty is invested with the Plenary Regal Authority he gives new Seals to the Chancellors and the Marshals bear their Staffs erected before him then he issues out his Royal Proclamation commanding all Magistrates and all other Officers of the Kingdom Great Dutchy and annex'd Provinces to cause his Coronation and Confirmation of the Peoples Liberties and Privileges to be proclaim'd on the first publick Days in every City and Town and afterwards to be registred in their Journals Also by the same Proclamation he gives Liberty to all the Courts of Justice to proceed after their usual Manner and then confirms aâ— the Acts and Constitutions which have pass'd in the Diet during the Inter-regnum As to what relates to a Queen of Poland's Coronation we must first observe that she cannot be Crown'd unless she be a Roman Catholick an Instance whereof we may see in Helena Wife to King Alexander who being of the Greek Perswasion and not caring to reform was not Crown'd Also we may read in History that Queens have either been Crown'd with their Husbands or without with their Husbands when they were either marry'd to them before or at the Time of their Coronation and without when they were marry'd afterwards with Consent of the Diet for it has always been thought so very necessary to have their Consent that it is inserted among the Articles of the Pacta Conventa Likewise the King cannot be Divorc'd from his Queen without the Approbation of the Diet Neither can he crown her if she be marry'd to him after his Coronation without their Consent but if she were marry'd before he may The Place of the Queen's Coronation is generally Cracow altho there have been some Examples to the contrary for Vladislaus VII caus'd his Queen Cecilia Renata to be Crown'd at Warsaw and King Michael his Queen Eleonora in the same City but however this last was with Leave of the Diet tho' at the same time they forbad it to go for a Precedent for the future What has been said about a Queen 's not being to be crown'd if a Dowager surviv'd is not so as may appear by several Examples As for the Manner of a Queen's Coronation alone it must be with the King's Consent he must request it of the Republick he must be present at the Ceremony he must lead his Queen into the Church and he must present her to the Archbishop or other Bishop who is to Crown her Anoint her with consecrated Oyl and to put a Scepter into her Right Hand and Globe into her Left The King likewise is to carry his Queen to the Town-house but she is to receive no Homage there Having thus My Lord amass'd the several Particulars intended for Your Lordships Perusal I have nothing left to do but humbly to acknowledge my Presumption and to have Recourse to your Candour and Goodness for Pardon and Protection I am My LORD Your Lordship 's most humble and most devoted Servant J. S. LETTER V. To the most Honourable JOHN Lord Marquess of Normanby Of the Power of the Gentry and Slavery of the Commonalty in Poland with an Account of the Customs and Manners of the People of that Kingdom as likewise of some peculiarly relating to particular Countries My LORD TO approach so great a Person as your Lordship on so trifling an Account as the Subject of this Letter I was conscious to my self was no way suitable On one Hand your known Abilities might reasonably deter my Presumption and on the other your elate Quality check my Ambition Yet considering at the same time that sometimes the greatest Genius's and Persons have stoop'd to be entertain'd with the Follies and Transactions of the Crowd I hop'd among the rest I might not offend if I address'd this Letter to you and the rather because it was first design'd for the Entertainment of your Lordships Leisure Hours My LORD The Third Order of the Republick of Poland is that of the Nobility out of which all the Senators and all other Officers as well Civil as Military are taken for no Body else that is not a Polish Gentleman tho' he be never so Noble in his own Country can be capable of any Preferment here unless it be some inconsiderable Posts in the Army the highest whereof is a Colonel or at most a Major-General which is much the same with a Brigadeer in our Army So that there is little or no Encouragement for Persons of foreign Countries of what Merit or Degree soever to go to serve this Republick which proves no small Inconvenience and Prejudice to their State As for the Citizens and Peasants they are excluded from all Preferments and can have no Possessions unless they be a few Houses in a City or a small Piece of Land about a League off in the
Commonwealth After a great many Debates Pro and Con these last got the better and prevail'd to have the Army continue in the same Disorder as before Notwithstanding all these Inconveniences that the Polish Government lies under as to Military Affairs yet in time of Action their Cavalry especially have effected Wonders a few Examples of which it may not be improper to entertain Your GRACE with out of Starovolscius He begins with the Reign of Sigismund I. and says That the General Lesniovius with not above 1500 Spear-men routed above 40000 Moscovites killing upwards of 9000 on the Spot In like manner another General Boratinius with 2000 Horse defeated 30000 Moscovites killing 7000 of them and bringing away all their Cannon In the same Reign likewise Camenecius with only 6000 Horse overthrew above 25000 Tartars And about the same time Tarnovius with 4000 beat 22000 Turks and Valachians taking from them above 52 Field-Pieces In Sigismund II's Reign Duke Radzivil with 7000 only routed 30000 Moscovites and took from them the Castle of Ula And Prince Sapieba with 5000 both defended the Fortress of Venda and defeated the Besiegers which were upwards of 24000 Moscovites and Livonians Under King Stephen General Zborowski with scarce 2000 Horse discomfited the whole Army of Dantzic-Rebels made up out of several Nations and left above 8000 dead upon the Spot Also in Sigismund III's Time General Zamoski with scarce 6000 Horse beat the Arch-Duke Maximilian who had with him about 18000 Men He likewise repuls'd the Tartars with only 3000 Men who were coming to invade Poland with 70000. About the same time also Chodkievicz with no more than 3000 routed the Suedes in Livonia killing 9000 and taking 4000 Prisoners Starovolscius has some few other Instances of the Polish Valour but whether what I have already mention'd will be credited by your GRACE and the Publick I am not able to determine However I may affirm that this Author hath never hitherto been esteem'd for Fabulous What I have remaining to say as to the Poles Force is That however great it has hitherto been yet is it rather to be attributed to their good Fortune than Conduct for two principal Qualities to make a Warlike Enterprise especially successful have ever been Strangers to them These are The Power to keep a Secret and an exact Intelligence of their Enemy's Advances and Condition As to a Secret which is the Soul of all great Proceedings that is so little observ'd in Poland that scarce the meanest Officer in the Army but knows what the General intends to do almost as soon as himself And for Intelligence of the Posture and Capacity of the Enemy by reason they make use of no Spies they never know any thing of the matter till they happen to meet a Party and take them Prisoners from whom they are accustom'd to extort Confessions in Cases of Obstinacy As to the Pay of the Polish Army I have shew'd before how it is executed now I must give some short Account from what it arises and the manner of Raising it It arises either from Occasional Impositions or Perpetual Customs and Yearly Taxes Of the former Kind are a General Poll or Capitation and Voluntary Gifts of the Clergy for they cannot be Tax'd by the State Of the latter Sort are All fix'd Duties upon the Jews Tartars Land Merchandize Art c. From Yearly Taxes all Scholars and such as busie themselves in Study are excepted The Fourth Part of the King's Revenue set apart for maintaining a Guard on the Frontiers may likewise be rank'd under this Denomination of Fix'd Duties The manner of Raising these Taxes and Duties is for the most part left to the King's Discretion tho' sometimes the Diet assumes that Authority as likewise to supervise the Distribution of the Money rais'd It may be observ'd that a Collector's Office is to last no longer than the Imposition he is to collect As to Provisions there are no Sutlers in the Polish Army for two Reasons First Because they would never be paid for what they sold and then tho' they durst venture yet they would run no ordinary risque to be plunder'd before they reach'd the Camp and this especially by the Lithuanians who are generally more given that way than the Poles There are likewise no Magazins as in other Countries so that the Officers especially are oblig'd to have great Equipages and many Carriages to convey their Necessaries along with them where-ever they march Among these their Tents are extraordinary fine tho' very heavy Also neither the King nor Republick of Poland has any publick Armories or Arsenals tho' it be true that Uladislaus Jagello instituted some few Repositories for Great Cannon yet which are now of no great Consequence and those which are in far greater Numbers and much more useful are chiefly in the Hands of the Gentry or in the great Cities whence as often as the King has Occasion he either takes them at Pleasure or at Sufferance Poland likewise being not wanting in Metal several new Cannon are founded whenever the Old become unserviceable the which for the most part is perform'd by the Germans the Poles not being so skilful in that Art The Arms the Polanders generally use I have spoken of before yet it may not be improper to add what Hartknoch says of the Antient Polish Historians which is That they affirm that formerly the Poles made use of a very heavy sort of Arms insomuch that when Boleslaus II. in his Expedition against the Prussians waded with his Army through the River Ossa many of his Soldiers were drown'd meerly by the Weight of their Arms. For Castles Poland has a great Number scarce any considerable City or Town being without one yet which are now of little or no Use except some few which are still kept up the rest being suffer'd to decay by the Nobles that have got Possession of them The Cause of the first Fortifications in Poland was on Account of the frequent Incursions of its Neighbours tho' Now says Starovolscius speaking of himself and his Country men being not desirous of invading others we find that we are sufficiently capable to defend our selves with our Bodies tho were we otherwise inclin'd we might raise as strong Fortifications as any in Europe yet which we look upon to be not so consistent with true Courage and Valour It is certain that Unfortify'd Countries lie most expos'd to sudden Irruptions as this Kingdom of Poland has often experienc'd But then this Mischief continues but a little while for as soon as the Nobility can be got together the Invaders are generally forced to retire as may appear by several Examples in our Modern Histories alone These Maxims of the Poles to have few or no Fortify'd Places are founded upon several potent Reasons for they thereby promote the Personal Valour of their own Men and weaken that of their Enemies by not leaving either a Place of Retreat If we
Diet Who not to be present at Tryals for Treason Naturalization and Manner of making Noble in Poland Restrain'd in some Respects notwith standing Great Concourse at the Diet. Provisions indifferent Planty notwithstanding Dangerous to walk a Nights Visits at this Time unacceptable Great Guards of some Gentry Order of Session in the Diet. Members wear no distinguishing Habits * Hartnoch lib. 2. cap. 3. p. 512. What proves Equality among Polish Gentry Intended Limitation of Votes like to produce a bad Effect Deputies awe the King and Senate Causes of Disunion in the Diet. Fomented by the Empire and France What promotes foreign Factions Members not to give Reason for Dissent to any Bill Easie Matter to annul the Projects of the Diet. Great Freedom of Speech there Unhappy State of the Polish Government Policy of concluding Matters by unanimous Consent Wonderful how the Polish Government can subsist Must always flourish for several Reasons I. Reason II. Reason III. Reason Assemblys of the Convocation and Synods in Poland The Kaptur Court Ecclesiastical Courts and their Jurisdiction Court of Nunciature Gentry's Civil Courts High Tribunals The Senate and Green-Cloth Exchequer Courts Gentry-Courts not free from Appeal Of Land-Judicature with its Judges Vice-Chamberlains Court Commissioners to take Appeals Gentries Criminal Courts Starostas Power and Office Courts of Commonalty in Cities In Villages Officers and Magistrates of Plebeian Courts 〈◊〉 Profits Military Jurisdiction Origin Progress and present State of Laws Punishments in Poland Manner of chastising Servants No Disgrace to the Genty to be thus beat Crown vacant has many ways Diet summon'd Proceedings in little Diets before Grand Session Who officiates where no Interregnum * Lib. 2. cap. 1. p. 275. First Proceedings * Hartnoch lib. 2. cap. 1. p. 291. †Ibid. lib. cap. eodem p. 306. Courts of Justice cease except two Foreign Ministers on this Occasion Notifie their Arrival and how receiv'd Embassadors from the Republick Caution to foreign Ministers Deputies Business after this Diet Diet of Election * Hartknoch lib. 2. cap. 1. p. 295. †Ibid. lib. 2. cap. 1. p. eadem First Proceedings therein * Piasecius ad An. 1632. p. 530. Exorbitancies examin'd and Embassadors receiv'd Manner of Receiving them What requisite in forreign Ministers Diet proceeds to Election Further Particulars thereof Great Concours at the Election and Policy to byass them Qualifications requir'd in a Candidate * Lib. 2. Cap. 1. p. 309. to 312. †Ibid. p. 431. Rules observ'd by the Poles in Elections Why preserve their Kingdom elective Who have Votes and who not The Pacta Conventa When taken by Embassadors By whom drawn and after what manner Administred The Form and several Articles An Article Violated Occasional Articles Ceremony of the Kings swearing The Oath Presented with the Decree of Election Concerning the Election of a Successor Interest of foreign Princes to oppose it Reasons for and against such an Election The King has no Regal Authority till Crown'd * Hartknoch lib. 2. cap. 1. p. 331. Appoints the Day of Coronation †Neugebaver Hist Polon lib. 3. p. 185. Manner of his entring Cracow with other Ceremonies Obsequies of Deceas'd King and order of Procession * Piasetius in Chron. Anno 1632. p. 525. †Hart knoch lib. 2. cap. 1. p. 336. Ceremonies at the Interment Day of Corenation and by whom perform'd * Herbert Tit. Cardinalatus p. 63. †Heidenstein lib. 2. Rerum Polon p. 95. Procession in order to Coronation Ceremony at the Coronation Further Particulars of the Ceremony of Coronation King exhorted and sworn His Coronation Oath Words at kissing the Book Unction with other Ceremonys Manner of Crowning him Is Enthron'd And prenounc'd King Feasts thereupon Procession to receive Homage and Citizens Knighted Inter-Rex resigns and King Proclaim'd Queens where Crown'd and where not Place of their Coronation And what requir'd to confirm it Gentry only capable of Preferment Commonalty Incapable except some few Gentrys Power and Privileges Cannot be Apprehended till convicted Exception Cannot be Executed without the Kings Consent Need not Quarter Soldiers Other Privileges of the Gentry Need not pay Taxes unless oblig'd by the Diet. Privilege of Preemption Have one Grievance notwithstanding How they came by these Privileges All equal and consesequently value no Honour Title of Prince despis'd An Order Instituted but undervalu'd What Dutchies in Poland Polish Gentry assume Titles when they Travel Farther Power of Polish Gentry What makes them so Great Their Excessive Grandeur and Magnificence Means to support for ever the Polish Republic What foreign Embassadors are oblig'd to Law Differences decided by the Sword An Example Nature of Descents in Poland Children however support their Families Good Temper of the Poles and its Effect How Occasion'd Polish Peasants how first Enslav'd Live satisfy'd notwithstanding Their present Condition Enrich their Lords How establish'd in a Farm Their Service annex'd thereto Meet to reap their Lords Corn. Their Manners at Bed and Board Children how taught to go Habits of both the Men and Women Nobility how acquir'd in Poland Creation of a Gentleman A third way of becoming Noble Three ways of forfeiting it In what Case restor'd Chracter of the Poles Their Complexion Constitution c. Manners of the Polish Men. Their further Character Education and Learning To what generaly apply themselves Worst part of their Character Genius how enclin'd Enur'd to Hardship Greedy of Money Manner of Lending and Borowing Love to make a Figure Their present Fashions What Furrs us'd Rusticks Habit in Lithuania A few follow the French Mode The Womens former and late Fashions Poles great Extravagance Description of their Houses Furniture No Gardens nor Orchards Private and publick Baths with their Effects Poles great admirers of Shows Their Atendants Women very Modest Exception Women's Liberty restrain'd Indifferences in the Polish Temper What Exercises Practis'd Polish Families and Names formerly and now Marriages and their duration Court-Marriages Customs thereat Presents made the Bride Espousals and Ceremonies Who not Married without Dispensation Burials and order of Procession Other Proceedings Particulars relating to the King and Queens Enterment Cause of J. Casimir's Queens Death Manner of Mourning in Poland Edibles among the Poles Way of Hunting wild Oxen. Odd Dainties Manner of taking Bears Other sorts of Fowl What Fish they have Way of ordering Cabbage Their Potables Beer of what Quality Sorts of Mead. And of Wine What strong Waters Customs in Eating and Drinking Potage and Sauces Poles eat little Bread Crachat how made Customs at Feasts Banquetting Hall Particulars of Servants Manners at Table Poles way of taking Tobacco Feasts made by turns Brimmers much practis'd Customs in Traveling Description of Inns. Have few Conveniencies Travellers oblig'd to carry Provisions c. Travelling cheap in other respects Poles manner of Travelling Incommodities in Travel how remedy'd Disturb'd a Winter Nights by Boors Danger of losing Noses Manners of peculiar Countries Concerning Lithuania What relates to Courts of Justice there Former Judges Of