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
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
of the great Dutchy's Army and receives no manner of Orders from the Crown-General except where both are jointly engag'd in a Battle These great Generals in the King's Absence have the greatest Power in the Kingdom for they have then a supreme Command in the Army They give Battle and besiege Towns without the King's Participation and settle Winter-Quarters where and upon what Lands they think fit This Power of theirs is so extraordinary considerable that a great General is formidable to all the Nobility Their Duty is to keep good Order and Discipline in the Army to punish mutinous and seditious Officers and Soldiers to settle the Prizes of all Commodities and Provisions brought into the Camp to give Command or necessary Orders for a Charge or Retreat and in fine to do any thing that his Majesty could were he present It is therefore the Interest of a King of Poland always to head his Army himself to have his Sons with him in the Field and to give them Opportunity to gain Reputation and Credit by their Valour and Conduct for the more the King encreases his own Fame or that of his Sons the more he diminishes the Credit and Power of his Generals who are the only Persons in the Kingdom that are most to be fear'd and who have the greatest Power and Influence over the Gentry in the Election of a King The present great General of Poland is the Count Jablonowski of the French Faction and of Lithuania Prince Sapieha suppos'd to be of the Austrian Faction When the Office of great General is vacant the little or Lieutenant-General has a Right to succeed him The two Lieutenant-Generals of Poland and Lithuania are to preside in all Court-Marshals and to take care that Guard be strictly kept throughout the Camp Also they are to observe that all Spies and Scouts be sent out as often as Occasion requires and lastly to see that foreign Soldiers be duly paid The Business of the chief Commander of the King's Guards in the Camp is to command solely those Soldiers who are assign'd to guard his Majesty's Person in the Camp but upon the Kings Departure this Officer's Power ceases There are several other Officers of Note in the Army the most considerable of which are the great Ensign or Standard-Bearer the great Master of the Artillery the Camp Notaries and Commander of the Guards against Incursions of which two last I shall only speak here Camp-Notaries are Pay-Masters General for the Army both of the Kingdom and great Dutchy The chief Commander of the Guards against the Incursions of the Tartars c. This Officer is posted on the Confines of the Kingdom towards Crim-Tartary c. and is to give Notice of all the Motions of the Enemy For the civil State-Officers there are the two great Secretaries of the Kingdom and Dutchy They have a Power to enter into the Privy-Council and to take Cognizance of what the Chancellors and Vice Chancellors do They must both be Ecclesiasticks and their Office is a great Step to the Chancellor's Dignity They have the keeping of the King's Signet and are qualify'd for the highest Episcopal Honours and have Precedence before most Officers of the Court or Kingdom The Masters of Requests or Referendaries of the Kingdom and the great Dutchy Their Business is to receive Petitions made to the King and to give his Majesty's Answer They have a Place in any of the King's Courts of Justice These are in all four one Ecclesiastical and one Civil for the Kingdom and the like for the great Dutchy Two Cup-Bearers for each Nation for the same Two Carvers and Two Sword-Bearers The Treasurers of the Court in the Kingdom and the great Dutchy These supply either the Absence or Vacancy of the Office of the great Treasurers The Treasurer of Prussia whose Business is to take all Accounts of the Collectors of Revenue in that Province and to transmit them to the great Treasurers Associates to Judges which are generally such as reside in the King's Court viz. the Masters of Requests Vice-Chancellors c. Two chief Notaries of the Courts of Justice for civil Causes either of the Kingdom or the great Dutchy Two Registers in the Chancery of both Nations An Officer that looks after the Escheats call'd by us Escheator He can either sue for or seize any such Lands or Goods as fall to the Crown The Commissioners of the Custom-Houses who give in their Accounts as often as the great Treasurers require them The Governours of the Silver Lead and Salt Mines They exercise Jurisdiction over the Workmen there but must nevertheless admit of Appeals to Court The Governours or Wardens of the Mint which are for the most part the Treasurers of the Kingdom Their Business is to take care that the Mony there coin'd be of Weight and Value The chief Officers of the King's Court are treated of before in the Letter to his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury The Officers of Districts may be divided into two Sorts Civil and Military The civil are The Vice-Chamberlain whose Office is to decide all Differences within his District about the Bounds of Land c. to which he is sworn He has several Deputies under him call'd Chamberlains whom he chooses out of the Gentry of his Jurisdiction and to whom he gives an Oath to be true and faithful in the Execution of their Office It is at his Pleasure to displace these as often as he thinks fit The Judge who together with his Assistant determines all civil Causes and Controversies The Prothonotary who in those Courts has likewise a Power of giving his Opinion The head Collector of the publick Revenue who is accountable above The other Officers are less considerable being Sewers Carvers Cup-Bearers Sword-Bearers c. The Reason of there being such Officers in every Palatinate is because formerly each Province of Poland was a Sovereignty and had its peculiar Princes who had all their Court-Officers But now tho these Offices remain yet it is only with Honorary Titles and some few Privileges the chiefest of which are that when the King comes into their Palatinate his Court-Officers must leave to them the Honour of serving him at Table bearing the Sword before him c. The Military Officers of a District are Starostas with and without Jurisdiction Starostas with Jurisdiction are Governours of Castles and Royal Cities who sit and hear private Causes of small Moment once a Fortnight and those of greater concern every six Weeks if nothing intervene to prevent them These have Vice Starostas Judges Clerks and Servants in the Nature of Sheriffs Officers to enforce Justice in Cases of Resistance The Jurisdiction of these Starostas extends not only over the Commonalty but likewise over the Gentry They have also a Care of the
the Church and the Civil Magistrates are oblig'd to be Assisting to them in the Execution of their Sentences as often as they shall be so requir'd To the Ecclesiastical Courts belongs the Court of Nunciature held by the Popes Nuncio for that purpose always residing in Poland However before he can have any Jurisdiction he must have presented the King and the Principal Ministers of State with the Apostolic Brief of his Nunciature The Civil Jurisdiction is divided among divers sorts of Judges and belongs to the Commonalty as well as Gentry Some of these determine Causes exempt from Appeals and others cannot Those from whom there lies no Appeal are the three High-Tribunals instituted by Stephen Batori the Judges whereof are all Gentry Two of these Tribunals are for the Kingdom and one for the Great Dutchy Those for the Kingdom keep their Session Six Months at Petricovia in Low Poland and the other Six at Lublin in High Poland That for the Great Dutchy is alternatively one year at Vilna and another either at Novogrodec or Minski They all consist of so many Judges both Ecclesiastical and Civil chosen out of every Palatinate the former once in four years and the latter once in two Judgment is pronounced here by Plurality of Voices but where Matters are purely Ecclesiastical there ought to be as many of the Clergy as the Laity The Causes here are heard in Order for three days are allow'd to enter all that come and whatever are not enter'd within that time cannot be adjudg'd that sitting A Man that has a Trial in these Courts may be said to have all the Nation for his Judges Deputies both Ecclesiastical and Temporal being sent thither for that purpose from all Parts of the Kingdom The Senate also Judges of Civil or Criminal Matters without Appeal As do likewise the Great Marshals in all Cases relating to the King's Officers And the Great Chancellors in matters of Appeal to the Court which they have only Cognisance of But the Marshal's Jurisdiction extends over all Merchants and Strangers both who find but little Justice done them in Poland when they have occasion for it Also there are two Exchequer Courts for the Revenue one held at Radom in High Poland and the other at Vilna These Courts seldom sit above a Fortnight or Three Weeks Those that are not exempt from Appeals are the Courts of the Gentry and Commonalty in every Palatinate which are by no means to have any of the Clergy for Judges Those for the Gentry are either the Courts of Land-Judicature or those of the Starostas and are more or fewer in number according to the Extent of the Palatinate where they are held The Courts of Land-Judicature have one Judge an Associate and a Natory or Head-Clerk to Try Causes and Administer all Civil Justice in some Places four in others six times a year and in others once a Month. The Courseof these Courts can only be interrupted by the Death of any of their Judges by the Diet or by the general Meeting of the Palatines and Magistrates which last is every Autumn to hear Appeals from Inferiour Courts The Towns where the Gentry sit are in great number and it must be observ'd that none who have Lands or Goods within each Jurisdiction can be made to Appear at a Court where they have none The immediate Appeal from these Courts is to the Vice-Chamberlain of the Palatinate who either by himself or his Deputy the Chamberlain of that District restores all that have been Dispossess'd and ascertains all Bounds and Limits of Lands This is as it were his whole Jurisdiction But where there is any Contest between the King and any of the Gentry in this Kind then at their request Commissioners are appointed out of the Senate to inspect the matter disputed and to do Justice therein Likewise where the Difference is between the King and a Clergy-man Commissioners are order'd but there the Bishop of the Diocess Claims the Nomination of one or more of them When any of the Officers of the Courts of Land-Judicature die the King cannot Name others till the District to which they belong'd have chosen Four out of the House-keepers but then he may pitch upon One for each Election This Office being once obtain'd it cannot be forfeited but by a Higher Promotion or Male Administration The other Courts for the Gentry are those that take cognizance of Criminal Cases whereof there is one only in every Starostaship call'd Sudy Grodskie Where either the Starosta himself or his Lieutenant-Criminal Administers Justice in his Castle or some other publick Place at least every Six Weeks He likewise has Cognisance of Civil Causes between such as have no Lands and such Forreigners as come to Trade here Process in Criminal Cases is to be serv'd here a Fortnight and in Civil a Week before the Court sits He is also the Executive Minister of all Sentences pronounc'd and likewise a sole Conservator of the Peace within his Territories He is oblig'd by himself or his Officers to see all Publick Executions perform'd The Courts of the Commonalty are either in Cities or Villages In Cities Justice is Administred by the Scabins Town-Hall or Judg-Advocate The Scabins have cognisance of all Capital Offences and Criminal Matters the Town-Hall of all Civil Cases to which likewise the Gentry are subject and the Judg-Advocate of Offences committed by Soldiers Civil Matters of small Moment are determin'd solely by the Governour of the City but which are subject to Appeal to the Town-Hall and thence to the King In Villages the Commonalty are subject to Scabins being the Kings Officers and to Scultets or Peculiar Lords from which last lies no Appeal Here Justice is almost Arbitrary except in Criminal Cases The Scultets are Hereditary Judges The Execution of all Sentences in Cities and Towns is in the hands of its own Magistrates though in some cases they are forc'd to beg Assistance from the Starostas The Officers and Magistrates of the Plebeian Courts are some nam'd by their Peculiar Lords and some Elected by their Fellow Citizens except in Cracow only where the Palatine has a Right of Choosing the Magistrates though he has not the same Power to dis-place them after they are once chosen for they are to continue their Office for Life unless they forfeit it by Infamy or Inability Out of the XXIV composing the Council or Senate of Cracow the Palatine every year deputes Eight with the Title and Power of Presidents He also Names the Judge and Scabins by the Magdeburg Laws though these in other Cities are chosen by the Council The Scultets or Hereditary Judges cannot be remov'd but in extraordinary Cases The Profits of all Offices are but very small and scarce any certain the Poles esteeming the Honour of enjoying them sufficient Recompence Nevertheless they have all Salaries and Perquisites though inconsiderable The Military
former of these Qualities yet they are a little wanting in the latter especially before they come into the Field the causes of which may be the want of sufficient Authority in the Prince or the slow and defective Supplies of Money which has always been justly esteem'd the Sinews of War The insufficiency of the Princes Power may appear all along in the reading of this History and the defect in supplies of Money is apparent by the bad Paying and Providing for the Army for the Soldiers that are to receive Pay are never paid above once in half a Year and oftentimes not at all but are forced to subsist upon Plunder or upon what they can find in the Woods nay Hauteville says they have sometimes been reduced to eat Horse-flesh As for the Officers they receive no Pay above once a Year and sometimes but once in two The manner of Paying them is particular and therefore it may not be improper to present your GRACE with an account of it Commissioners deputed by the Diet for this purpose are ordered to meet at a place that is a good way off from Court to the end the King may not concern himself in it tho' every thing there be done in his Name Then they proceed to allot every Officer his quota but they commonly retrench part of their due especially where they are Foreigners and which may the better be tolerated because the Officers are generally at no charge to subsist and recruit their Companies and yet their Commission runs as if they had taken care of them so that however the Soldiers suffer the Officers have no reason to complain By the Armies being so seldom paid and sometimes not at all for want of Money the Soldiers frequently Confederate together and Mutiny the manner whereof is commonly this The Officers after they have found that their repeated complaints both to Court and the Diet prove fruitless are wont to Assemble and make a Rokosz which in the Polish Language implys a forsaking their Generals The Subaltern Officers being thus Assembled Elect two among them one for their Marshal and another for their Lieutenant which last they term their Substitute both these they immediately make to Swear That they will use their utmost endeavours to procure their Pay from the Republick After this the said Marshal forthwith takes upon him the Office of General the sequel of which may be easily conjectur'd to be nothing but Ruin and Desolation for then the Army instead of Marching against the Enemy or securing the Frontiers minds nothing else but Plunder Rapine and Destruction An Example of this kind happen'd under the Reign of John Casimir when one Swiderski was Marshal and one Borzecki his Lieutenant or Substitute This Confederacy which was not easily quell'd by the King was thought to have been occasion'd more by the influence of some Male-contents who hop'd to effect their Designs in such a Confusion than for any great omission in paying the Army There are other inconveniencies which introduce Confusion and Disorder into the Polish Army and consequently Oppression of the people and these flow chiefly from the Officers and first from the General 's being perpetual the King being often oblig'd to give that great Charge to a rich Nobleman that knows little or nothing of Warlike matters yet when he has once bestow'd it he cannot recall his Grant tho' he foresee never so many ill Consequences that attend it so that it is no wonder if Poland often makes false steps in Martial Affairs when it has frequently so unexperienc'd a Guide On the contrary if this high Command were only conferr'd on and continu'd to Merit what wonders might not the Polish Cavalry be able to perform for being so vast a number of Horse they might easily hem in and Cut off the greatest Body of Foot of which the Armies of their Enemies chiefly Consist Another inconvenience proceeds from the ill Conduct and Remissness of the under Officers the greatest whereof is that especially those of the Gentry seldom come to the place of Rendezvouz till a Month or six Weeks after the time appointed and this neither the King nor General dares offer to remedy for fear of disobliging that serviceable Body In like manner the Gentry are sometimes accustom'd to leave the Army a Month before the Campaign is ended which grievance is also not to be redress'd without danger The cause of their being so tardy in appearing is in a great measure to be Attributed to the defective Orders given them for when the Officers are Commanded to March to such or such a place in the Kingdom neither the time they are to march in nor the Towns they are to pass through are comprehended so that by these means they are at liberty to delay on account of their own private Business as much as they please or else to wander all over the Kingdom either for their Profit or Pleasure whereby the Country they March through is not a little damag'd and the best laid Designs of the Army frustrated by their Absence Another Inconvenience arising from the Officers is That they employ so much Money in fitting themselves out with costly Arms and splendid Equipage that for want of timely Pay they have seldom any thing left in a little time to support their Necessities Which Defect they are wont to make up by oppressing the People after an unreasonable manner From this Extravagance of theirs proceeds another Inconvenience to the State For after they have thus exhausted their Pockets they usually lay the Occasion of their Misbehaviour either on the Court or the Government which in the succeeding Diet oftentimes produces great Heats and Disturbances When any new Levies are to be made in Poland the Officers not only excuse for Money what Places they think sit but also as I observ'd before seldom pay the Soldiers the Rates that they are allow'd for them so that these latter are in a manner forc'd to pillage and plunder even their own Country without their Officers being able to hinder them by reason that they have first set them Examples for so doing To avoid most of these Inconveniences some discerning Politicians have propos'd to the Diet to keep the Soldiers always Encamped to the end that they might be made more subject to Discipline by disabling them from pillaging the Country and by keeping them together they might be always at hand to oppose the sudden Inroads of an Enemy By these Means also the People being deliver'd from Oppression would be the better able to pay their Taxes which would remove that fatal Inconvenience of the Army 's being ill paid This Advice some approv'd of and argu'd for But others vigorously oppos'd it alledging that it might be of very ill Consequence to intrust so great a Power in the Hands of one Person their General and to confide it to more than one would probably through Emulation occasion no less Disorder and Danger to the
Credit and Authority nevertheless 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