won the famous Battle of Cherzim upon the Neister upon the Frontiers of Moldavia That Battle begun upon a Saturday and was not fully over till within three days after at what time it was ended by the Surrender of that that Fortress The Turks in that Battle lost 8000 Janisaries and 2000 Spahi's which being one of die most celebrated Victories in this Age was gained upon the 11th of Nov. the next day after the decease of King Michael Korilut Wiesnowiski The Grand Marshal Sobieski was Elected May 10. 1674 but was not Crowned till fifteen Months after during which time he gained several Advantages over the Turks and constrained them to make a Peace at Zurowna Every one knows how much he contributed towards the Raising the Siege of Viena being himself in Person at the Action wherein he acquired great Renown He espoused Mary de la Grange the Daughter of the Marquiss d' Arquien not long since made a Cardinal of the Noble Family of de la Grange in Nivernois she was the Widow of Prince Zamoiski The King had several Children by her and among the rest three Princes of which the Eldest has the Honour to be Brother-in-Law to the Emperor by Marrying one of the Princesses of Neuburgs Lastly to compleat his Encomium he spoke several Languages and was a great Lover of Books and Learned Men. CHAP. IV. Of the Government and Manner of Election in Poland POland is a State where the Government is Monarchical and Aristocratical It is Monarchical because they have a King and Aristocratical by reason their King is not an Absolute Prince that can Dispose and Resolve upon Affairs by his own Power without Consent of the Senators I have already taken Notice that the Archbishop of Gnesna is Primate of the Kingdom and has the Administration during an Inter-regnum He Assembles the States to Elect a new King and Appoints both Time and Place After every one has given his Suffrage the King is Elected by Majority of Voices This Prelate declares him brings him forth into the middle of the Assembly then he is Conducted to the Church where after Mass he Swears to preserve the Privileges of the Kingdom and to keep the Established Laws which oblige him to do nothing without Consent of the States Upon Matters Of moment the King sends by his Chancellor Letters to the Palatins called Instructionis Litterae because they mention the State of those Affairs his Majesty has to propose to the Assembly and Appoints them a Time to come to Court When they receive these Letters every one of the Senators particularly examines the Nature Quality Subject and Consequences of the Propositions to which he has a Liberty to Answer as he shall think fittting whether with respect to the publick Good or his own private Interest The King sends Letters also into the Palatinates where the Nobility assemble to choose one among them a Person of Merit that is sufficient and capable to speak in behalf of their Province in whom they are universally to agree to For if it happens there be one Negative in the Assembly 't is impossible to proceed farther the Deputy cannot go and that Province has no Voice in the States After these Provincial Assemblies are over the Senators and Deputies appear at Court at the Time prefixed where the King attended by his Chancellor signifies to them first the Cause of their Meeting then hears and receives their Advices but they must be unanimous in their Resolutions or as they say Nemine reclamante nemine dissentiente or the Diet breaks up every one goes home again and the Propositions come to nothing Among the Cities there are only Cracow Danzic and Vilna that have the Privilege of sending Deputies to the Diet. The ordinary Matters are Transacted before the Judges established in every Palatinate and as in the Provincial Assemblies all manner of Persons have Liberty to be present and hear what is proposed the meanest Country-man may know all So when ever they Treat of War the Enemy is advised and informed of their Designs their Strength and how to ruine them The King 's best Revenue consists in the Salt-works near Cracow in the Mines of Copper Lead and Silver in the Fishery and Tribute of the Jews His Revenues are computed at 600000 Crowns per Ann. The Prosit arising from his Demesnes are commonly given away in Pensions and Bounties to the Palatines Chastellains and other Great Men to engage them to his Interests Most of what comes into his own Coffers is either laid up or Expended in the Purchase of Estates for his younger Sons his Daughters being Married at the Publick Charge and the Expences of his Houshold defrayed by his Subjects He has the Nomination of the Bishopricks and of all the Dignities of the Kingdom and of the Commissions of War and Revenue the Courts of Justice and Civil Government The chiefest Dignities are the Lieutenant the Great Master of the King's Houshold the Great Treasurer the Great Provost c. These Places are both for the Kingdom of Poland and Dutchy of Lithuania where the King goes every two or three Years to hold a Diet and as soon as he enters upon the Country he is only served by the Officers of the Dutchy The Grand Marshal of the Crown or Crown General has very great Advantages and his Office gives him the Title also of Grand Master of the King's House Great Master of the Ceremonies Introductor of Ambassadors Judge and Master of the Civil Government he can make Laws and has Power of Life and Death in him The Generals of this Kingdom and of Lithuania may fight as they see Cause and have Soveraign Power in the Camp Besides the Palatines and Chastellans that I have spoke of there are in all the Cities Burghers Judges and Magistrates But there lies an Appeal from them to Cracow for Great Poland and to Lublin for the Lesser Poland and Russia Tho' the King of Poland has the name of a King and the first Dukes were in truth Kings without the Title yet at present he is nothing less being not allowed to make Peace or War to impose Taxes make Laws alienate any of his Demesnes or in short to do any thing of importance which concerns the Publick without the consent of the Diet. And he does not only swear to do all this but allows their Disobedience in case he violates his Oath which makes the Subjects the Princes Judges and this Kingdom a meer Aristocracy or knot of petty Kingdoms under one Head The First Dukes indeed were absolute Princes and ruled after a Despotical manner having power not only of the Estates of their Subjects but of Life and Death without formalities of Law yet when they once became Elective they lost much of that power which decayed so by degrees that at last it came to nothing magni nominis umbra A Diminution which began first in the times of Lewis of Hungary and Jagello of Lithuania who to gain
THE ANCIENT AND PRESENT STATE OF POLAND GIVING A short but exact Account of the Scituation of that Country The Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants The several Successions of their Kings Their Religion c. Drawn out of their best Historians Tâ—â—hich 〈◊〉 added An 〈…〉 â—he 〈…〉 of the late K 〈…〉 as it now stands London P 〈…〉 for Eâ—…â—hitlock near Stationers-Hall 1697. TO THE READER THE Affairs of Poland being at this juncture the common Subject of our Discourses and Expectations upon the happy Determining whereof 't is thought the future Peace Quiet and Prosperity of Europe will in a great measure depend The following Account may perhaps be acceptable to the Publick It treats first in general of POLAND how Bounded and Divided Afterwards of the Nature of the Country and Manners of the People the Election of their Kings their Government and their Religion These are the principal Heads upon which we make our Enquiries of any Country and People They are handled so briefly and succinctly as not to be tedious to the Reader yet 't is hoped to his Satisfaction There is added an Account of the Death of the late King and of the present Election as it now stands THE Ancient and Present State OF POLAND c. CHAP. I. Of Poland Poland is an Elective Monarchy comprehending the Antient Sarmatia Europaea and the Eastern part of Germany towards the Vistula It is called by the Natives Polska and has taken its Name from the Word Pole or Pola which in the Selavonian Language signifie an Hunting Country all this State consisting of vast Plains Fields and Woods proper for Hunting It is much greater and more considerable than it was since Lithuania and several other Provinces have been added For before it only contain'd what we now call the Great and the Lesser Poland But with these Additions 't is one of the greatest Kingdoms in Europe Moscovy and Tartary lie to the East Hungary Transilvania and Moldavia to the South Germany to the West and the Baltick Sea Livonia and a part of White Russia or Moscovy to the North. This State may be divided into the Kingdom of Poland and the Great Dutchy of Lithuania The Kingdom of Poland is subdivided into Great and Lesser Poland The Lesser Poland lies betwixt Hungary Silesia and Russia In it is Cracow the Capital City of all the Kingdom and Sandomirz Great Poland is betwixt Germany Pomerania Silisia and the Lesser Poland and has the Cities of Posnan Kalisch Gnesna Lencici Lublin and Sirad It contains also the Provinces of Mazovia where is Warsaw and Plâ—â—sko Cujavia where is Uladâ—slâ—â—v Royal Prussia which has Dantzick Elbing Thorn c. and Black Russia with the Cities of Leopold and Prezmisle in Latin Premistia Lithuania has in it the Cities of Vilua Novigrade Poloczk Minx Wisepezk Micislaw Breslaw c. and is divided into Volbinia with the Cities of Lucho Klow c. Podolia with the Cities of Caminiec Braclaw c. Polesia where is Bressici and Samogitia the Capital of which is Medniki Poland is otherwise divided into Thirty four Palatinates or Governments Every Palatine has his Chastellans under him and they are Captains and Governors of Cities and are about Eighty seven in all There may be an Ecclesiastical Division of Poland according to their two Archbishopricks of Gnesna and Leopold They had formerly Riga too but that City is now in possession of the Suedes The Archbishop of Gnesna is the First Senator he ascends the Throne upon the King's Death and governs till another is chose There are Fifteen Bishooricks in Poland many Abbies and the Universities ot Cracow Royaumont Coningsherg Zamoiski c. CHAP. II. Of the Country of Poland THE Air of Poland is very pure and the Land so good that it is almost impossible to conceive the Quantity of Corn they send to other Countries There are vast Plains as far as you can see intermix'd with Rivers and many Woods which are to the Advantage as well as Beauty of the Country This chiefly concerns Great Poland The Lesser is as fruitful though not so compact In it are Mines of Silver and Iron and Vines and excellent Fruits With these Advantages they likewise enjoy a temperate Air. But it is not so in Lithuania The Commodities in which they trade are Honey Wax Venison Fish Timber Hemp Corn the Skins of Martins Castors Bears Elkes and other Wild Beasts as also Copper Lead Iron and chiefly Steel The Nobility only are considerable in Poland The Third Estate are in a manner Slaves The Gentlemen of Poland are large and strong dexterously wield the Scimitar Learned in Foreign Languages very liberal brave Men and hearty Roman Catholicks But it must farther be own'd that they are fierce and proud that they sacrifice every thing to their own Opinions and own no Sovereign but Liberty From hence have come those Advantages the Tartars and Moscovites have had formerly against them and the Reasons why the King of Sueden with about Forty Thousand Men reduced their Country to the last Extremity when their Armies consisted of Two Hundred Thousand Fighting Men Which could proceed from no other Cause than a Mis-understang among themselves and the little Power they give their Prince Insomuch that before the Senate can be assembled and the Nobility have resolved to go to War the Enemy has Time to do what he will in the Field and there are no strong Places to hinder his going to the Gates of Warsaw However the Polanders are good Soldiers especially the Horse who are armed with a Carabine a Case of Pistols an Axe on one side and Scymitar on the other a Quiver full of Arrows and a Bow at their Backs which they use after the the Discharge of their Firo-Aâ—â—ns when the Enemy flyes The Polanders love Travelling they are faithful obliging and civil to Strangers They are rich in their Habits and splendid in their Entertainments which they make freely for their Friends Their Marriages especially in the Countries of Prussia Samogittia and Lithuania are as follows The Young Women do not marry before the Age of Twenty lour Years or at least not before they have wrought with their own Hands Cloth and Garments to present every one that attends their Bridegroom to Church When the Father seeks a Wise for his Son he considers neither Beauty nor Fortune but only her Manners whether she be of an agreeable Age if she has a Body likely to conceive and bear Children Having found such an one she is taken away by some of the Bridegroom's Kindred after which they apply for the Father's Consent to compleat the Marriage These People retain still many Relicks of Pagan Superstitions for in the Functions or Ceremonies of Matrimony they make the Bride go three times round the Fire then sit down wash her Feet and with that Water sprinkle the Bed and all the Moveables that belong to the New-married Couple They anoint the Bride's Mouth with Honey cover her Eyes with a
the succession to the Kingdom contrary to Law the one for his Daughter the other for his Son parted with many of their Royalties and Prerogatives to buy the Voices of the Nobility Since which time the Nobility in all their Elections have limited and restrained tie Kings Authority and enlarged their own Yet the King once chosen and enthroned hath sole Power in many things as in assembling the Diets choosing Peculiar Councellors disposing absolutely of his Vassals and the Revenues of the Crown to what use he pleaseth He also is sole Judge of the Nobility in criminal Causes which is a strong Bridle upon them By which and either joyning with the Clergy or well forming his party among the Nobility he may do many things not strictly legal the power and influence he hath in the publick Government being in proportion to his Abilities and Dexterity in managing them The Forces of this Kingdom consist most in Horse whereof they are able to raise 160000. Their Infantry are generally German or Huagarians whom they hire for mony and are like other mercenary Soldiers For the raising the Horse the Gentlemen of the Country are obliged by their Tenure not only to serve in Person for the Defence of the Realm but to maintain a certain number of Horse in continual readiness especially in those parts next the Tartars where their numbers are great and with whom they many times joyn to afflict and harass their own Country CHAP. V. The Religion of the Polanders THe ancient Inhabitants of the Country were Idolaters and worshiped he same Gods as the Greeks the Rowans and Germans Tertullian assures us in his Treatise against the Jews that the Gospel was then preached in Sarmatia But we know it was not received in that Sarmatia which is now Poland till the 10th Century Micislaus or Miskâ— I. married Debraw the Daughter of Boleslaus Duke of Bohemia and was Baptized the 7th of March in the Year 965 and 966. since that time the Polanders have always continued Christians Lutheranism and Calvinism have been received among them but have not not prevailed there as in other Countries They came acquainted with them from John Huss and others in the 15th Century who came from Bohemia into this Country Gregory Paul Minister of Cracow preached Arrianism there about the Year 1566. but was driven thence by Sigismond with George Blandrata Lelius Socinus Valentinus Gentilis and some others Faustus Socinus who has given the name to the Socinians came thither afterwards and left his Disciples who are to be found there to this day There are likewise some Lutherans Calvinists and Anabaptists to be found in other parts of Lithuania They have among them also Schisinaticks Greeks and many Jews that are in some credit for their Wealth They enjoy some particular Priviledges but you see them always intent upon their Profit and Usury They live miserable without Estates in Land and only enrich themselves by Trade The Polanders are zealous in their Religion hear Mass daily and practice great Austerities upon themselves during Lent GHAP. VI. A Relation of the Death of John Sobieski late King of Poland With an Account of the Present Election as it now stands JOhn Sobieski the late King of Poland departed this Life the 17th of June 1696. about nine a Clock at Night leaving behind him his Queen and 3 Princes viz. James Alexander and Constantine with a Princess who is married to the present Elector of Bavaria In his life time he heaped up vast Riches and Endeavoured to make the Crown Hereditary but in vain The King being Dead which was notifyed by Express to the Cardinal Radziowski Arch-Bishop of Gnesna Primate of the Kingdom of Poland and Regent during the Inter-regnum he repaired immediately to the Capitol and made his publick Entry into Warsaw on the 24th of June 1696. with the usual Ceremonies the first thing he did was to call together the Senators Principal Ministers and Bishops who met and had Conference in his Presence the 28 and 29th of June 1696. and came to the following Resolutions viz. First To notify the Death of the King to the Castelleins and that the grand Convocation for Electing a new King be fixed upon the 29th of August 1696. Secondly That notice be given to the Foreign Princes Thirdly That the Frontier Garrisons be reinforced and the Troops maintained out of the publick Revenue Fourthly That the Treasurer of the Crown do regulate the deceased Kings Court Fifthly The Cardinal Primate recommended to the Treasurer of the Crown the safety of Trinity Fort c. And Sixthly He sincerely promised to preserve the Jura Matronatus Regia The Cardinal Primate having thus taken the Government upon him which of right belongs to his Eminence during the Inter-regnum he has managed Affairs there ever since much in favour of France and against the Interest of the House of Austria There were at first several Illustrious Persons proposed as Candidates to fill the Throne viz. Prince James Prince Alexander two of the late King Sons the Elector of Bavaria the Prince of Vaudemont the Duke of Lorrain the Grand Mareschal of the Crown Prince Sapieha the Prince of Newbourg the Prince of Transilvania with the Prince of Conti the Prince Don Livio Odeschalchi and the Prince of Baden the Elector of Saxony not then being talked of There being so many Pretenders the Kingdom fell into Faction and he that had the most Money seemed to have the best Interest in the meantime the Armies of Poland and Lithuania Confederated and Committed abundance of Hostilities doing a World of Mischief being supported under hand by the Abbot of Polignac Ambassador of France with Money This put the Kingdom into a Flame and occasioned the general Convocation to be put off from time to time but at length the Crown generally prevailed with the Confederate Armies to submit having procured a round Sum of Money of the Queen Dowager to be distributed amongst them This being done matters became Calm and the particular Diets were held which terminated but not without heats The general Diet was appointed and the overture made on the 15th of May 1697. with the accustomed Ceremony first the Popes Nuncio solemnised the Mass of the holy Ghost After which the Bishop of Poscow made a Sermon exhorting the Assembly to mind the interest of the republick and lay aside all private Advantages and to Advance to the Throne whom they should deem most Worthy The first thing the Assembly did was to make choice of a Speaker but that took up a considerable time because all the Deputies were not at first came up but in Conclusion the Sieur Bilinski a Person of Polite Learning and Ability was Elected but the lower Nobility being Jealous that he was in the interest of France threatned to cut him in Pieces if he should move the advancing a French Man to the Crown However we find since that he did not in the least promote the Interest of the Prince of