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
Veil and so lead her Blindfold to all the Doors of the House which she must strike with her Right Foot They throw Wheat Rye Oats Barley Rice and Beans at the Doors saying That the Bride shall never want any of those Grains if she continues devout in her Religion and takes Care of the Affairs of the Family That done they take the Veil from before her Eyes and have a Banquet But at Night when it is time to go to Bed they dance and cut off her Hair then some of the Women wrap her Head in a white Linen Cloth which she may wear till she have a Son born for till then she is called a Girl Lastly She is taken to her Chamber where after being jocularly pinched and beaten they deliver her to her Bridegroom who they give to eat Goat or Bears Stones together instead of Sweet-meats and other Delicacies which they are of Opinion help Procreation and therefore in their Marriage-Feasts they have no Flesh of any Creature that was gelt They use in their Diet a good quantity of Saffron and Spices and spare not for Sugar in many Dishes peculiar to them The Polanders are very devout and fast Wednesdays Fridays and Saturdays but they scruple not being drunk and to fight at these times The Country-People are poor and miserable and are Masters of nothing they have but are subject to their Lords who treat them as Tyrannically as Gally-Slaves A Gentleman there has Power of Life and Death over those of his Family and Tenants And if a Neighbour kills one and pays the Value set upon him all is well again And when they speak of a Gentleman's Riches they reckon them by his Number of Tenants The Houses of these miserable Slaves who work hard and live upon little are only of Mud and some Trees to hold up the Roof The Children sleep and eat with the Swine and the Master of the House has no other place to eat in and oftentimes for his Lodging than the Manger and Rack where his Cattel are kept 'T is true there is sometimes a little Apartment next the Roof where thep have a Stove and the best of the Family lie upon Skins They drink Beer or Mead but no Water because 't is almost all stinking in Poland where it corrupts in the Plains Their Women are little not handsom very simple but civil The Polanders love them but treat them like Servants and when they return home from the Army they give them their Right Hands to kiss They are something jealous and therefore have no Conversation but with their next Relations unless when they are at Balls and Feasts They go very seldom abroad There are no Inns in Poland upon the Road and therefore Gentlemen that travel either lodge with their Friends or carry their own Provisions along with them or else lie upon the Country-People who are obliged to receive them and that as a Tax upon them If any of the Nobility are taken in War the King is obliged to ransom him Their Language is Sclavonian besides that they all speak Latin and most of them understand Foreign Languages CHAP. III. Of the Kings of Poland IT is commonly thought the Huns were the first People that came into Poland and the Sclavonians who drove thence the Suedes and Goths and some others that inhabited from the Vistula to the Elbe Lechus made himself Master of it about the Year 550 and began the Monarchy of Poland This Prince resided at Gnesna a City which he built and so named from an Eagle's Nest that was found on the top of a Tree where it was building the Word in the Polish Language signifying a Nest Whence came the Arms of the Kingdom to be a Spread-Eagle The first Governors of this Country did not assume to themselves the Title of Kings but only that of Dukes and the first Form of Government was very inconstant for after the Race of Lechus though it be uncertain how many there were and how long they govern'd and what were their Atchievments Twelve Governors in their Language called Vayvods administer'd the Government who having refin'd this barbarous People by good Laws and Constitutions at last were divided among themselves Whereupon the Poles elected one Cracus who having restor'd the Common-wealth to its former State built the City of Cracovia now Cracow calling it after his own Name and making it his Place of Residence His youngest Son Lechus the Second to obtain the Principality Murther'd his eldest Brother but the Fact being discover'd he was banish'd To him succeeded Venda a Virgin only Child of Cracus After her Death the Government return'd to Vayvods which continued till the Poles elected Premisbus a Gold-Smith called also Lescus the First who obtain'd the Crown by a Stratagem that sav'd the Poles when they were in distress the Manner of which was thus They being in the Field against the Moravians and finding themselves much inferiour in Number this Goldsmith bethought himself of a Way to make the Polish Army seem more numerous which was by making a great Number of Shields of Barks of Trees and afterwards smeering them over with Galls and Quick-Silver which making a great Shew and the Moravians really believing the Poles were equal in Number stood gazing upon the Shields till the Polish Army had Time to retire This Duke having no Issue an Horse-Race was instituted to determine the Succession and three Candidates appearing one of them thinking by Subtilty to obtain the Crown laid several Iron Spikes in the Way where the Race was to be run which the the other two knowing nothing of they gall'd and stop'd in their Career so that the Politician came first to the Goal But the Falacy being soon detected a poor Country Fellow that ran along with them on Foot only for his Diversion was chosen and the other kiil'd upon the Spot This Duke's Name was Lescus the Second and who as some say was afterwards slain in the Wars against Charles the Great To him succeeded his Son Lescus the Third who having appeas'd Charles the Great with Presents made Peace with him either as an unequal Ally or by acknowledging himself his Vassal This Duke left Poland to his Son Popâ—ell but gave the neighbouring Countries of Pomerania and Cassovia to his Natural Children After him succeeded his Son Popâ—ell the Second a very ill Man who by the Persusions of his Lady murther'd his Father's Brothers Whereupon 't is reported that our of their dead Bodies which he would not suffer to be interr'd came forth a great Number of huge Rats which devour'd him and his whole Family notwithstanding all imaginable means were used to prevent it After his Death came an Inter-regnum full of Troubles till the Poles declar'd Piastus a Country-Fellow born at Cruswitz for their Prince from whom ever after if any of the Natives obtained the Royal Dignity they were call'd Piasti His Posterity reign'd for a long time in Poland from whom also descended the Dukes of