which they may rise to that of Chancellour and both those Officers must be Ecclesiasticks Next to the Great Secretaries are the Referendaries of the Crown and Dutchy there are Two of them in each State one a Lay-man and the other an Ecclesiastick They present Petitions to the King and return His Majesty's Answer And tho' they are not Members of the Senate they have a Privilege to sit by the Senators in Judgements of Processes upon Information to give their Advice and afterwards to Pronounce the Sentence that is given 'T is to be observ'd that all the Judges and Officers of Justice all the Advocates Proctors Registers and Notaries wear a Sabre or Scimitar by their side and do not lay it aside either when they Judge or Plead a Cause and that they have no other Garb than what they usually wear There are Four General Officers of the Army in Poland 2 for the Crown and 2 for Lithuania viz. A Great General and a Petty or Lieutenant-General Those Generals of the Army have no Place in the Senate unless they be Palatines or Castellans or be possest of some of those Offices which Entitle 'em to a Place in the Senate The Great General Commands the Whole Army and has Power to Quarter the Troops where he pleases the King himself not being able to hinder him And this Power is so considerable that it makes a Great General formidable to all the Nobility His Office is to take care that the Soldiers which are Levy'd for the Service of the Republick commit no Disorders that the Members of the Diets may not be over-aw'd by the Army He Helds the Army Orders its Encampments puts it in Battalia and gives the Signal of Battel and of Retreat he takes care of the Convoys and Ammunitions sets a Price on every thing that is Sold in the Army Regulates the Weights and Measures and Punishes Offenders The Office of the Petty General is to take Care of those who are appointed for Guards and of the Parties that are sent out to discover the Enemy He Commands the Foreign Troops and even the Whole Army in the absence of the General and succeeds him in course upon the occasion of a Vacancy There are many other Offices in the Army the most considerable of which is that of the Great Standard-bearer and the next that of Great Master of the Artillery As for the Offices of the Court the most Considerable are those of the Great Chamberlain Great Master of the Horse and the Steward or Master of the Houshold Besides all those Offices there are others in the Palatinats as Chamberlains Masters of the Houshold and many others for the Provinces of Poland were formerly divided among several Princes each of whom had their particular Officers and tho' those Provinces have been long since Re-united to the Crown yet the Officers still contiâ—â—e and enjoy certain Honorary Privileges the chief of which is that they serve the King in their Palatinates when the Officers of the Court are absent CHAP. XIII Of the Interregnum AN Interregnum may happen Four several ways by the Death of the Prince by His voluntary and Public Abdication by His Forc'd and Iavoâ—â—ntary Deposition or by His Flight 〈◊〉 Going out of the Kingdom but the most usual is by the Death of the King whose Body is immediately laid upon a Bed of State and some Senators both Ecclesiastick and Secular are chosen to attend him In the mean time the Republick Orders all the Necessary Expences for the Ceremony to be taken out of the Treasures left by the Deceased King The same Honours are also given to the Queens after their Decease as I had occasion to observe at the Death of Queen Mary Louise who dy'd at Warsaw May 10. 1667. in the Palace which King John Casimir her Husband had in the Suburbs The next day She was carry'd to the Castle where She was expos'd on a Bed of State till She was remov'd to Cracow to be Interr'd She Dy'd about the end of a Diet and almost suddenly of a Defluxion upon Her Lungs occasion'd by a too long and earnest Dispute with General Patz about an Affair She had propos'd to him which he would not consent to For that Princess was so fond of Intriguing and so desirous to Govern the State alone that She was in a manner Jealous of the King her Husband who durst not speak to any Woman in private least she shou'd imagine that he was Govern'd by another This troublesome Constraint made him so uneasie that he was not much afflicted at Her Death for the same Night he return'd from the Diet to the Palace to see a Person whom He had Lov'd before but durst never entertain during the Queens Life The Interregnum may also happen by a Voluntary Abdication when a King freely Resigns the Crown into the Hands of the Republick But 't is very rare to see a King Descend Voluntarily from the Throne and few will imitate the Example of King John Casimir who after he had Reign'd Twenty years with the Love of all the Nobility made a Publick Resignation in St. John's Church at Warsaw Septemb. 16. 1668. Notwithstanding the Earnest Solicitations of the Whole Senate and of all the Nobility to make Him alter His Resolution and the Tears that were shed by all the People at the Sight of so Dismal a Revolution For he was so Universally Belov'd by the Nobility and Senate that they voluntarily Assign'd Him a Yearly Pension of 50000 Crowns as a Testimony of their Acknowledgment towards a Prince who had Govern'd them so well Nevertheless that Pension was never Paid tho it was afterwards Inserted in the Pacta Conventa which King Michael Swore to observe after His Election The Abdicated King went to France where he died at Nevers December 16. 1672. I cannot on this occasion forbear taking notice of an odd Circumstance in the Fate of that Prince and His Queen for the latter quitted France and went to Poland where She dy'd in Her Husband's City and the former left Foland and went to France where he dy'd in His Wive's City Innovation are always dangerous to a State and threaten it with some Fatal Revolution which the Polanders considering endeavour'd to prevent the consequences of so unusual an Action causing an Article to be Inserted into the Pacta Conventa which they made King Michael Swear to observe That never any King should be suffered to Abdicate for the future but that Article was left out in the Pacta which King John the IIId Swore after his Election in the Church of St. John at Warsaw June 5. 1674. An Interregnum may be also occasion'd by the Deposing of a Prince either for Heresie or some other Notorious Crime as in the Case of Locticus who was Depos'd for his excessive Debauchery and Succeeded by Wenceslaus King of Bobemia was chosen King of Poland in the Year 1300. But those Instances are very rare as well as the Examples of a
St. Basil who are under the Vow of Chastity As for the Curats of their Parishes those who are admitted to Orders after their Marriage are not oblig'd to separate from their Wives But they cannot Marry after their Ordination and when their Wives die they must for ever afterwards live in Celibacy Their Liturgy is in the Russian Language which as well as the Polish is properly a Dialect of the Slaâ—ouie They believe that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father by the Son and that the Pope is not the Head of the whole Church but only the first of the Two Patriarchs and that he of Constantinople whose Authority they acknowledge is the Second and yet Independant on the first In all other Articles of Faith they agree with the Catholicks But their Ceremonies and Ornaments are different from those of the Latins and Armenians They Pray standing and make a great number of Genuflexions which they reckon with Beads They Administer the Sacrament in both kinds after this manner The Priest Consecrates several little Loaves of Leaven'd Bread and after he has taken the Sacrament himself he breaks these Loaves into little pieces and puts them into the Chalice with the Consecrated Wine Then with a little Silver Spoon which serves only for that Use he takes one of those pieces with a little Wine out of the Chalice and gives the Sacrament to those who approach him by pouring that little piece of Bread with the Consecrated Wine into the Mouth of each Communicant They Communicate standing holding their Arms a-cross their Breasts and also make their little Children receive the Communion After all the People have Communicated the Priest consumes all that is left in the Chalice The Third Bishoprick is that of Cracow which is the Capital City of the Kingdom scituated upon the Vistula in the Upper or Little Poland This Bishoprick was heretofore an Archbishoprick founded by Mieceslaus in the Year 964. immediately after he had imbraced the Christian Faith But that Dignity was lost by one Lampert who being of a Potent Family neglected to send to Rome for the Pallium 'T is observable that several Prelates have held both this Bishoprick and the Archbishoprick of Gnesna at the same time The Bishop of Cracow stiles himself Duke of Siberia All the Nobility of that Dutchy are under his Authority and are exempted from the Jurisdiction of the Royal Coarts This Metropolis is compos'd of 3 Citties joyâ—â—d together viz. The Antient City which was built by King Cracus Casimirie which was built by Casimir the Great with a design to establish an Academy in it and that which is between them both the two latter being joyned by a Bridge The Jews who before the Year 1494. were dispers'd promiscuously throughout the whole City since that time are oblig'd to reside in Casimirie for upon the occasion of a Fire which burnt down part of the City the Soldiers drove the Jews out of all the Houses they possess'd and ever since they are only permitted to live in Casimirie from whence they come every market-Market-day to the Old City Queen Hedwige the Wife of Vladislaus Jagellon who was a Princess of great Vertue and Piety designed to have finished the Academy which King Casimir the Great began to Erect at Cracow and after the Death of that Queen who left considerable Legacies to the Poor the King her Husband took care to continue her Pious Design in order to which he established 2 Colleges in that City and brought Masters thither from Prague to Instruct the Youth These Colleges are almost like those of Paris There are some endow'd Scholarships and the Students are oblig'd to very little Exercise In one of these Colleges which is call'd the Academy there is a certain number of poor Scholars who receive Weekly Charity to keep them from starving which with what they get by begging Alms in the Streets at Night enables them to 〈◊〉 their Studies The 〈◊〉 is the Bishoprick of Cujavia and Pomeâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 is compos'd of the Palatinate of 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 in the Lower or Great Poland The Bishop's Seat is at Wiadislow a City on the Vistula about Four Leagues above Thorn The Fifth is the Bishoprick of Vilna which is the Metropolis of the Dutchy of Lithuania scituated on the River Vilia which falls into the Niemen below Kowno This City is Large and very Populous The Sixth is the Bishoprick of Posnania which is a City of Lower Poland in the Palatinate of the same Name scituated on the River Varta There is an old Castle upon a Rising Ground and the Cathedral Church is without the City which is indifferently Large and Populous The Seventh is the Bishoprick of Plocsko a small City in Lower Poland scituated on the Vistula about Five Leagues above Wladislaw The Bishops Seat is at Pultausk in Massovia scituated on the River Narev which meets with the Bug about Two Leagues lower The Bishop of Plocsko is Soveraign of the Territory of Pultausk and there is no Appeal from his Sentence not even to the King The Eighth is the Bishoprick of Warmia in Royal Prussia The Episcopal Seat is at Frawenherg a small City near Frischhaff The Bishop of Warmia is President of Royal Prussia and all the Nobility of his Diocess depend upon him and are exempted from all the Royal Jurisdictions The Ninth is the Bishoprick of Luceoria or Lucko which is the Capital City of Volhinia The Tenth is the Bishoprick of Premislia which is a City of Black Russia upon the River Sana about 6 Leagues above Jeroslaw and 12 from Leopold towards the West There are two Bishops in this City one a Latin Catholick and the other a Greek Schismatick One Orichowski Canon of this Cathedral was the first who at the beginning of the Reformation maintained that 't was lawful for Priests to Marry and afterwards Marryed himself Anno 1549. in the Reign of Sigismund Augustus The Eleventh is the Bishoprick of Samogitia This Prelate has no particular Seat except at Midnich which is one of the Chief Burroughs of that Province The Twelfth is the Bishoprick of Culm a City of Royal Prussia scituated on the Vistula about 6 Leagues above Thorn This Prelate formerly preceded the Bishop of Warmia The Thirteenth is the Bishoprick of Chelm in Black Russia There are Two Bishops in this City one a Latin Catholick and the other a Greek Schismatick But the Latin Bishop remov'd his Seat to Kranostaw another City in the same Palatinat Seated on a Great Lake through which runs the River Vieptz by reason of the frequent Irruptions of the Tartars and Cossacks who have ruin'd the City of Chelm The Fourteenth is the Bishoprick of Kiowia the Metropolis of Volhinia and of all Vkrania This City is the Seat of a Greek Schismatical Archbishop who was formerly Primate of all the Russians The Inhabitants of Kiowia are Schismaticks and now Subject to the Great Duke of Muscovy The Fifteenth is the Bishoprick of Caminiec which is the
not be Crown'd and that the austrian Faction oppos'd it both because she was a French-woman born and because she was but a private Gentlewoman But the event show'd the contrary for she was Crown'd at Cracow with her Husband without the least opposition But if a Queen of Poland be not a Catholick she cannot be Crown'd as it happen'd to Helen the Wife of Alexander I. and Daughter to the Duke of Muscovy who being of the Greek Church and refusing to imbrace the Roman Catholick Faith the Republick would never consent that She should be Crown'd Tho' according to the Constitutions of the Republick and the Ancient Laws of the Kingdom both the Kings and Queens of Poland ought to be Crown'd at Cracow we find that this Ceremony has been sometimes perform'd in other places For Queen Cecilia the Wife of Vladislaus IV. was Crown'd at Warsaw in the Year 1637. And tho' there was a Law made the next Year that the Queens should always be Crown'd at Warsaw Anno 1670. 'T is true this was done with the consent of all the Orders of the Republick When the Queen is Crown'd the King must desire it of the Republick he must be present at the Ceremony himself Conduct her to the Church and present her to the Archbishop of Gnesna or to the Bishop who is to perform the Ceremony The Archbishop Anoints Her with the Consecrated Oil and puts the Crown upon Her head the Scepter into Her right hand and the Globe of Gold into Her left The Queens of Poland have no Officers but a Marshal and a Chancellor neither of whom are Senators but only Judges of the Differences that happen among her Domesticks They Answer the Harangues that are made to the Queen when an Ambassador makes her a Compliment in His Master's Name or when a Present is made to her at the Marriage of a Maid of Honour The King furnishes the Queen with Money to defray the Charge of her Houshold But after the King's death she must maintain her self and all her Retinue with the Revenue which the King bestows upon her with the Consent of the Republick both for her Dowry and for her Marriage-Present These Revenues are call'd the Reformation and consist of the Reversion of a certain number of Starosties which she cannot enjoy till they become vacant by the Death of the present Possessors So that a Queen of Poland is frequently kept from her Estate till she be just ready to leave it For sometimes those who possess the Starosties that are in her Reformation out-live her But if the King die before the Queen's Reformation be settled upon her the Republick allows her a Yearly Pension out of the Crown-Lands as they did to Queen Eleanor in the Year 1674 after the Election of King John for they were so king to that Princess as to give her a Yearly Pension of 120000 Livres by an express Article which was afterwards inserted in the Pacta Conventa but she chose rather to quit both that and the Kingdom than to see a French Gentlewoman succeed a Princess of the House of Austria CHAP. XXI Of the Polish Army THERE is so little Order or Discipline observ'd in the Polish Army that the Country is frequently harrass'd by those who are paid to defend it and the Republick is oblig'd to Raise New Troops every Year At the first there were few Cities in Poland But when the Inhabitants grew more Industrious in Cultivating the Ground they were perpetually molested by their Neighbours who by frequent Inrodes endeavour'd to deprive 'em of the fruit of their Labours In order to oppose these Invasions the Kings caused Castles and Fortresses to be built in the Cities which always subsisted so long as they were Protected by the Royal Authority and defended by good Officers and Disciplin'd Soldiers But since those Forts were neglected several Lords have endeavour'd to usurp the Posession of 'em that they might extend their Dominion over the Cities and oppress the Burghers as they do the Peasants in the Villages Those whom the Kings entrusted with the Government of those Places did not employ the Revenues that were annex'd to 'em in Repairing the Walls and Fortificatious whence it comes that all their Cities are open and that the Soldiers who are put there into Winter Quarters may go out when they please and Ravage the Country For when a Regiment is to be sent from one end of the Kingdom to the other the Commander is only Order'd to set out and to go to the place appointed without mentioning either the time or the places through which he is to March or the Cities where he is to Quarter so that he may run through the Whole Kingdom and so sometimes spend a Moneth or six Weeks in Marching to a place which he might have reach'd in Eight days 'T is plain that these disorderly Marches must of necessity waste and destroy the Cities and Villages through which the Soldiers pass Nor is the Law able to to remedy such an insupportable Grievance because it is not the Custom in Poland to establish Magazins and Store-houses in any place The Gentlemen who go to the Army spend the best part of their Estates in furnishing themselves with Magnificent Arms fine Horses and rich Apparel maintaining a Numerous Train of Servants Their Estates alone are not sufficient to defray so vast a Charge and besides they receive no Pay for a considerable time after they enter into the Service so that they are in a manner constrain'd to Oppress the People that they may be able to support their extravagant vanity Some who are naturally of a less violent temper endeavour to excuse a Fault which they are forc'd to acknowledge by laying the blame upon the Court pretending that the King bestows the Royal Gifts of the Republick and the Offices and Dignities upon the Courtiers or other great Lords who either have no need of 'em or do not deserve 'em in stead of giving 'em to those who have done good Service in the Army where they have spent their Estates and expos'd their Lives for the defence of their Country Others accuse those who are entrusted with the management of the Finances who make 'em wait very long for their Pay and even then oblige 'em to quit part of it that they may procure the rest These Grievances exasperate their Minds and frequently occasion great Complaints in the Diet. When they Levy Soldiers in Foland the Captains exact Contributions on those Places where they Raise their Men and give very little to the Soldiers Retaining the Money they Receive on the Publick Account always finding some unjust pretext to Defraud the Soldiers of their Pay who are consequently under a strong Temptation to Rob and Pillage the Country the Officers not daring to Restrain a Disorder which is occasion'd by themselves To put a stop to these Irregularities it has been frequently Propos'd to the Diets by some Wise and Considering Persons to keep the Soldiers always
World In the Ducal Prussia near Coningsberg they have at present a Church and publick Shcools being protected by the present Elector of Brandenburgh contrary to the Laws and Privileges of the Prussians who every year in their Diets exclaim against this Injustice of the Elector But at Racovia the Seat and Sepulcher of Faustus Socinus after many Changes the Printing house and Academy being first demolish'd came at last by right of Inheritance to the Grand Daughter of James Sieninski Palatine of Podolia and Governor of Racovia who embrac'd the Roman Catholick Religion and is still Living And this is the present State of the Socinians of which none else can give a Fuller or Larger Account A SHORT ACCOUNT Of the Late INTERREGNUM IN POLAND AND THE ELECTION OF THE Present KING HAVING given the Reader Page 221. a short Epitome of the Most Glorious Actions of John Sobieski late King of Poland it will not be amiss to Compleat his Caracter to take notice here of his Conduct during the latter end of his Life which has so little answer'd the Glorious beginning of his Reign That Prince entered into a Common League with the Emperour the Republick of Venice and the Pope against the Common Enemy of Christendom And notwithstanding the Emperour and Venetians carry'd on the War with so much Vigour and Success as to give a fair Opportunity to the Poles to regain Caminiek and the Provinces the Turks and Tartars have got from them yet to the great Amazement of the World the Polish Army did nothing at all and was not able to Protect their Country against the Excursions of their Enemies who committed unspeakable Disorders and carryed a Great Multitude of People into Slavery This occasion'd Great Murmurs amongst the Poles against their King and was such a Blot as tranish'd the Lustre of his former Actions Several have Inquired into the Causes of so odd a Conduct for that Prince wanting neither Courage or Ability every body thought that the Miscarriage of the Affairs of Poland was owing to the King Himself There have been many Conjectures on this Subject but the onely who appears to me well grounded is that Princes Covetousness and after an impartial examination this seems to me the only Remora who stopp'd the Vigorous Resolutions that were Yearly taken Old Men generally speaking are Covetous the reason whereof is plain enough but besides this almost natural Byass the little Esteem the Poles had for Prince James was a great Motive to ingage his Father to heap up Money tho' to the visible Detriment of the Republick That Prince seeing as I have said that the Poles expressed little esteem for his Eldest Son and consequently having no prospect that he should Succeed him meerly upon account of his being Born of the Royal Family and on the other hand knowing by Experience that Money is the best Argument to recommend a Prince to the Choice of the Poles resolv'd to Hoard up Money and therefore left His Army unpaid the Magazines unprovided and lived very Parsimonious in his House The same reason obliged him to set a Tax upon several things that were formerly given Gratis at his Court as Passes Petitions and the like France on the other hand being sensible that the Turks could hardly make head against so many Enemies if all of them carry'd on the War with Vigour made a good use of the Covetousness of the King of Poland and by means of a Yearly Pension to that hungry Prince disappointed all the Designs of the Polish Nobility who could hardly bear without Murmur that Caminick should continue so long in the hands of the Infidels A Violent and very Extraordinary Distemper King John laboured under giving him a sufficient Warning of his Death drawing nigh he tryed several ways to have his Son Chosen his Successor in his Life-time but all in vain for that being contrary to the Laws and Constitution of Poland it has been rarely practised and the King was not beloved enough to oblige the Poles to Act against their own Laws Thus stood the Affairs of Poland when King John Dy'd which happen'd the 17th of June at Nine a Clock at Night 1696. The News of the King's Death was immediately carryed by an Express to Dardinal Radziowsky Arch-bishop of Gnesna Primate of the Kingdom and Regent during the Interregnum who made his Entry into Warsaw on the 24th of June that is Seven days after the King's Death in a most Solemn and Magnificent Manner All the Senators and Nobility then in Town Rode forth above a League from the City to meet him with Colours flying and Kettle Drums beating in the midst of an incredible Crowd of People His Eminence went directly to the Castle and ascended into the Room where the King's Body lay exposed in His Royal Robes and having said a short Prayer went to the Queens Apartment to Condole her Majesty He did the like to Prince James and his Brothers and took upon him the Government of the Kingdom calling a General Dyet to Meet on the 29th of August following to Choose a Successor As the Cardinal Primate has made a great noise since that time it will not be improper to give his Caracter in this place He is of a very good family in Poland and Son to the famous Radziousky who called in the Swedes under Charles Gustavus He is a Man of great Parts but somewhat obstinate Pope Innocent XI made him a Cardinal without any other recommendation but his own merit the then King of Poland tho' his Relation nor the French King were pleased with his promotion tho' time has discover'd that his Eminence is absolutely in the Interests of France He went to Rome after the doath of Innocent XI and was present at the chusing of a new Pope which fell on Cardinal Ottoboni He lived like a Prince and his magnificence and Liberality acquired him a great many Friends Upon the 29th of August the Dyet assembled with the usual Ceremony and after the Mass of the Holy Ghost had been celebrated by the Cardinal Primate they began to talk of the Election of a Mareschal or Speaker of their Assembly which gave occasion to many disputes The Lesser Poland pretended that it was her turn to have a Mareshal chosen out of her Body and Greater Poland put in the same claim but was inclinable to wave it The Lithuanians opposed it pretending that the Greater Poland was to take their turn now that Lithuania might have theirs in the next Dyet and their dispute grew so high that People were affraid the Dyet would break up without coming to any conclusion The Bishop of Posen thought of a new way to put an end to the controversy and came to the Assembly in procession at the head of his Clergy pretending to allay their heats by the Charms of his Benedictions but this provoked the Deputies who told him in great scorn they were not possest and therefore had no need of his Exorcisms At last the
Antoninus Pius took a greater Care to Defend the Empire than Inlarge its Bounds and as to Marcus Antoninus the Philosopher he was not able to Compass the Design he had of Reducing Sarmatia into a Province of the Roman Empire Maximin had no better Success against them and since his time the Empire declin'd apace till Probus reviv'd their Spirits again This Great Man Subdu'd the Germans and gave the Sarmatians so many Overthrows that they were forc'd to quit the Territories they had Usurp'd during the Reign of His Predecessors They were again Defeated by Dioclesian and Constantius but it does not appear that they became Subjects to the Romans Valentinian Defeated them some time after in such a Manner that they were forc'd to quit Pannoma and Moesia and Retire into their own Country and Began to Form a Common-wealth under Lochus about the Year of our Lord 550. They have preserv'd their Liberty ever since though they have been often reduc'd to great Extremities but they never paid Tribute to any of their Neighbours 'T is true that their King Michael VVieznowisky had the Weakness to agree to Pay a Yearly Tribute to the Turks but the States of Poland refus'd to Ratify the Treaty and boldly Asserted their Right and Liberty under the Conduct of John Sobiesky Grand Mareshal of the Crown who was afterward Elected King and forc'd the Turks to Renounce the Pretended Tribute that Michael had Promis'd them The Nobility of Poland is so Numerous and Brave that it seems Morally Impossible to Conquer their Country so long as they are well United and the Surprising Progress of Charles Gustavus King of Sweden who in Three Months Time Conquer'd almost that Kingdom signifies nothing in this Case for that Prince was called in by some of the Polanders themselves and the others would not Fight for their King The Precipitated Retreat of the Swedes when the Poles Returned to their Duty sheweth how little they were able to Conquer Poland But I leave off this Subject to speak a word as to this Book The First Part giving an Account of the Constitution of the Polish Government of the State of Poland in respect to its Neighbours of the Prerogative of their Kings of their Dyets Customs Manners Ceremonies Religion Coyns c. is Owing to a Person of Quality who has Resided many years in that Kingdom and who by reason of his Merit as well as Character could better inform himself of the Matters he Treats of than Men of ordinary Birth and Capacity The Appendix containing a Chronological Abridgment of the Kings of Poland some farther Remarks on the Government of that Kingdom the Instrument of the â—bdication of King John Casimire the Rise Progress and Destruction of the Socinians is partly abstracted from History and Private Memoires of Persons that may be depended upon The Account of the late Interregnum and the Election of Frederick Augustus is grounded upon the best Intelligence that it was possible to have from Poland considering the Confusion of the Affairs of that Country and the Pretentions of the Competitors are stated and related as they have been communicated by the Eye-witnesses of those Transactions THE CONTENTS Chap. I. OF the Constitution of the Polish Government and the Principal Officers of State p. 1 Chap. II. Of the Division of Poland into Provinces p. 4 Chap. III. Of the State of Poland with respect to its Neighbours and of the various Success of the VVars in which it has been Engaged with them p. 12 Chap. IV. Of the Tartars their manner of Fighting their Original Division of their Country Manners and History of their Actions and how they became Subject to the Turk p. 27 Chap. V. Of Ukrania and the Cossacks with an Account of the Lithuanians and Livonians p. 37 Chap. VI. Of the State of Poland p. 76 Chap. VII Of the King p. 81 Chap. VIII Of the Senate in General p. 97 Chap. IX Of the Senate an particular and first of the Bishops p. 98 Chap. X. Of the Palatins Castellans and Officers of State who are Senators p. 107 Chap. XI Of the Order of the Nobility and Gentry p. 113 Chap. XII Of the Officers who are not Senators p. 118 Chap. XIII Of the Interregnum p. 120 Chap. XIV Of the Election of a KING p. 124 Chap. XV. Of the Diets in general p. 128 Chap. XVI Of the Diet of the Election p. 137 Chap. XVII Of the Election of a Successor p. 144 Chap. XVIII Of the Pacta Conventa or the Contract betwixt the King and the People p. 147 Chap. XIX Of the Kings Coronation p. 153 Chap. XX. Of the Queens of Poland p. 161 Chap. XXI Of the Polish Army p. 164 Chap. XXII Of the Estates and Revenues of the Polanders p. 174 Chap. XXIII Of the Customs Humours and Inclinations of the Polanders p. 184 Chap. XXIV Of their Religion p. 191 Chap. XXV Of the Administration of Justice p. 194 Chap. XXVI Their Marriages and Funerals p. 196 Chap. XXVII Of the Diet and Entertainment of the Polanders p. 200 Chap. XXVIII Their way of Travelling p. 205 Chap. XXIX Of the Polish Money p. 209. A Chronological Abridgment of the History of Poland p. 212. A Panegyrical Character of the Last King John III. with an Account of his Principal Actions and Death p. 221 Further Remarks on the Government of Poland and the Extraordinary care they take of their Libertys and Priviledges p. 223. The Form of King Casimire's Abdication p. 225. The Instrument of the States Publisht on that Cecasion p. 228. The Rise of Socinianism in Poland and of the Present State of that Sect. p. 230 Edict of King Sigismund against the Socinians p. 233. Edict of King John Casimire against them p. 236. A Letter giving an Account of the Present State of the Socinians p. 238. A Petition of the Socinians sent some years ago into England representing briefly their Miserable Condition p. 248. Where now Setled p. 250. Account of the late Interregnum and Election of the Present King With some further Remarks on the late King and a short Character of the several Candidates for that Crown p. 251 The Proposals made by the Baron de Fleming in behalf of his Master the Elector of Saxony p. 274. The Pacta Conventa Sworn to by the Baron de Fleming in the great Church of Warsaw p. 278 A great Ambassy appointed to go and offer the Crown to the Elector with the Remarkable Speech of the first Ambassador on that Occasion p. 281. The Kings Speech to the Nobility assembled to Congratulate him p. 288. His Corronation p. 293. The Prince of Conty's arrival at Dantzick c. p. 295 THE Present State OF POLAND CHAP. I. Of the Constitution of the Polish Government and the Principal Officers of State POLAND is a Republic compos'd of two Estates the Crown and the great Dutchy of Lithuania The Crown is properly the Kingdom of Poland and the great Dutchy of Lithuania was United to it in the
Year 1386. by the Duke de Jagillon who embrac'd the Christian Religion that he might marry Hedwige Daughter to Lewis King of Poland and Hungary and who with his Religion changed also his Name and was called Viadislaus For the Polanders were Christians long before having received the Faith of Christ ann 964 in the Reign of Miecislans I. who after he had divorced seven Pagan Wives was converted and marry'd the Daughter of Boleslaus King of Bohemiae who was a Christian These two Estates are contiguous to one-another and are now but one Body being united in the same Interest under the Government of the same King and in the Profession of the same Religion especially since the Diet held at Grodeck on the River Bug between the Polanders and the Lithuanians in the year 1413. where the Union was renew'd and where it was concluded that for the future they should have the same Laws and Privileges and that the King should be elected by the joint Consent of the Nobility of the two Estates which was ratified and signed by all the Senators of Poland and Lithuania Nevertheless they are governed by distinct Officers each of them having a Grand Marshal and a Petty or Sub-Marshal whom they call the Marshal of the Court a Chancellor Vice-Chancellor and Treasurer who are all Senators those of the Crown for Poland and those of the Dutchy for Lithuania and are equal in Dignity and Power only those of the Crown take place of those of the Dutchy The Office of the Grand Marshal is to keep the Peace and prevent Tumults or Disturbances both in the Diets and in the King's Houshold to punish Offenders even with death and without Appeal from his Judgement except in cases of great Importance which may be brought before the King He has also Power to command Silence to give leave to speak to introduce Ambassadors to appoint them their Lodgings and to fix the prices of all Commodities and Merchandizes This last Branch of his Authority is extreamly advantageous to him for the Merchants give him very Considerable Presents that they may have leave to sell their Goods at exorbitant Rates The Chancellors and the Vice-Chancellors of the Crown are chosen by turns out of the Clergy and Laity But those of the Dutchy are always Lay-men The Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor make use of the same Seals and either of them may be used indifferently for they have both an equal Authority only the latter gives place to the former and never gives judgement but in his absence The Chancellor by his Office is the Judge of all Civil Affairs and matters relating to the Kings Revenue 'T is also his Duty to take Care that nothing be done contrary to the Laws or Injurious to the Liberty of the People and that the Intrigues of Foreigners may not be prejudicial to the Republick The Authority of the Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors is so great that in several cases they may affix their Seals without the Kings Order and refuse to seal such things for him as are contrary to the Constitutions of the State 'T is the Office of the Chancellor or in his Absence of the Vice-Chancellor to answer all the Harangues that are made to the King by Ambassadors and he of the two who is a Clergyman hath power over the Secretaries Priests and Preachers of the Court and over the Ceremonies of the Church The Treasurer is properly the Keeper of the publick Treasure which is brought to him by four other Officers who keep an exact Account of it and are obliged to give one Copy to the King and another to the Treasurer His Office impowers him to prevent the wasting or embezelling of the Revenues of the Republick and of those which are appointed for maintaining the King's Table and therefore he ought to sign all the Contracts the King makes which otherwise would be void He ought also to take care that the Republick do not sustain any damage by the Contracts that are made for the Coyning of New Money When the Treasurer is called to an Account the General Diet orders a Committee of a certain Number of Persons to examine his Accounts and to give him an Acquittance without which the Republick may still call him to an Account for the Administration of his Imployment And therefore since this Acquittance is of such vast importance to the Grand Treasurer great Interest is always made about the Nomination of the Commissioners that are appointed to examine his Accounts because he is obliged not only to entertain the Commissioners but also to give them considerable Presents to obtain his discharge The Petty or Sub-Marshal or the Marshal of the Court who is the last of the five Officers that are Members of the Senate executes the Office of the Grand Marshal in his absence and in case of the Death or Demise of that Officer he succeeds in course as the Vice Chancellor is in such cases promoted to the dignity of the Chancellor So that before a Man can be Grand Marshal or Chancellor he must first be Petty Marshal or Vice Chancellor CHAP. II. Of the Division of Poland into Provinces THE Kingdom of POLAND formerly contained Fifteen great Provinces which the King retains still in his Title as King of Poland Duke of Lithuania Russia Prussia Massovia Samogitia Livonia Volhinia Kiovia Podolia Podlassia Smolensko Siâ—eria and Czerniechovia But at present there are no more than nine Provinces subject to the Crown of Poland viz. Great and little Poland the great Dutchy of Lithuania Russia Prussia Massovia Samogitia upper Volhinia and Podlassia or Podlachia Great POLAND is so called because Lechus first King of the Polanders settled his Residence at Gnesna in this Province It is also called Lower Poland and Posnania is the principal City This Province contains eight Palatinates viz. Posnâ—â—â— Kalisch Lencici Brest Inowlocz Siradiae Kawa and Ploosko It is bounded on the North with Prussia on the South with Little Poland on the East with Massovia and on the West with Silesia and the New Marquisate of Brandâ—nburg The River Warta runs through the middle of the Province Little POLAND which is also called Upper POLAND contains three 〈◊〉 Cracow Saâ—domir and Lublin It borders with Massovia and Great Poland on the North Mount Crapat on the South Black Russia on the East and Silesia on the West and the River Vistula runs through it The City of Cracow is the Metropolis of this Province and of the whole Kingdom The Starosta of Cracow is not only Governour of the Castle but also the Defender of the Peace and of the publick Tranquility which entitles him to a large Jurisdiction both over the Inhabitants of Towns and the Gentry As for the great Dutchy of Lithuania tho Jagillon began to unite it to the Crown of Poland Anno 1386 and tho that union was afterwards renew'd in the Diet held at Grodeck between the Polanders and the Lithuanians in 1413 yet it still retained its own Dukes and
glad of such an Opportunity to be reveng'd for the ill usage he had receiv'd from him Accordingly he cut off his Master's Head upon a Logg of Wood as if it had been a piece of Beef and was forc'd to give him several Slashes before he could entirely separate his Head from his Body Stephen Battori King of Poland besieg'd the City of Polotta in Muscovy Anno 1579. and after a most vigorous resistance the Besieged finding themselves unable to hold out longer offer'd to surrender the place the Capitulation was at last agreed upon by the unanimous Consent of the Garrison and Inhabitants except the Bishop and the Governor who continually animated the Soldiers and the Burghers to make an obstinate defence representing to them that it would be more honourable to dye in the Service of their Prince than to save their Lives by an ignominious Treaty And indeed neither the Bishop nor the Governor would sign the Capitulation but retir'd into the Church of St. Sophia whence Steven Battori caus'd them to be brought forth and committed them to the Custody of the Treasurer of Lithuania When the Polish Garrison enter'd the Town to take possession of it and to receive the Stores and Ammunitions according to the Articles of the Capitulation they were surpriz'd to behold so many Marks of a horrible and brutish Cruelty which the Muscovites had practis'd on the Polish Prisoners they found some of 'em most barbarously torn in pieces some half boil'd in great Kettles with their Hands ty'd behind their Backs and others who had been miserably butcher'd by ripping up their Bellies the Polanders were so transported with Rage and Indignation at the sight of such a dismal Scene of Horror that they would have reveng'd the death of their Countrymen upon the whole Muscovitish Garrison But King Stephen generously considering that no provocation could excuse the Breach of a solemn Treaty restrain'd the Fury of his Souldiers and sent the Muscovites back to their own Country under the Convoy of two Troops of Horse I could easily produce many other Examples of this nature but what I have already said is sufficient to prove that the Muscovites are naturally cruel I return now to that memorable Irruption which the King of Sweden made into Poland with so much Violence and Success that King John Casimir and his Queen Louise Mary were forc'd to leave the Kingdom and to retire into Silesia for almost all the Nobility and even the Polish Army had abandon'd them and follow'd the Rapidity of the Conqueror's Fortune But the Polanders afterwards being sensible of the Fault they had committed in forsaking their King and those who had still continu'd faithful to him resuming fresh Courage under the Conduct of the General Czarneski they by degrees expel'd the Swedes who had made themselves Masters of the whole Country and of the City of Cracow which they had taken in three days Thus the Kingdom was reconquer'd and the Swedes were oblig'd to enter into a Treaty of Peace which was concluded in the Abby of Oliva Princes are so apt to be jealous of a neighbouring Conqueror that they are even willing to assist a former Enemy against the unequal force of an ambitious and successful Invader For when the King of Sweden had made himself Master of Poland at a time when the Polanders were engag'd in a War with the Cossacks who had besieg'd Leopold the Muscovites who had also invaded Lithuania immediately quitted that Dutchy and fell upon the Swedes in Livonia in order to make a diversion and the Tartars who are naturally Enemies to all Christians and in a particular manner to the Polish Nation not only sent a potent Army to assist the K. of Poland but forc'd the Cossacks to raise the Siege of Leopold and to joyn with them in the defence of the Polanders And the same reason which induc'd the Muscovites and the Tartars to succour the Polanders obliged the Emperor also to send them some Troops but he made 'em pay dear for his Assistance for the Salt-works being mortgag'd to him for some years he caus'd so great a quantity of Salt to be made and exported that the Works were almost ruin'd Nor are the Muscovites and Tartars the only troublesome Neighbours to Poland for 't will appear by the following Relation that the Misfortunes of that Nation were in some measure owing to the Germans Vladislaus Jagellon King of Poland being engag'd in a War with the Teutonic Knights who were Masters of Prussia and having rais'd a powerful Army of Polanders Lithuanians and Prussians was in a condition to overpower his Enemies and to expel them utterly out of his Dominions when the Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg desir'd him to refer the Differences that occasion'd the War to his Arbitration and in the mean time to grant the Teutonic Knights a Truce for two Years Jagellon accepted the Offer and disbanded his Army But since the Emperor design'd only to gain time that the Knights might be able to put themselves in a posture of desence he was so far from taking care to adjust these Differences that he was glad the Polanders were divided fearing that after they had driven the Teutonic Knights out of the Kingdom they would make a vigorous Attempt to retake Silesia which the Kings of Bohemia had lately usurp'd King Jagellon perceiving that the Emperor had disappointed him sent to put him in mind of his Promise but it seems Sigismund had either forgotten or was not willing to remember the Service which the Polanders had done him in the year 1414 when they oblig'd the Turks to restore all the Prisoners they had taken and to grant him a Truce for six years and that Jagellon not only refus'd the Crown of Bohemia which the revolted Hussites had offer'd him but exhorted them to return to their Obedience to the Church and to their Prince Thus without considering those important services and without examining the matter he gave Judgment against the Polanders in favour of the Teutonic Knights which so incens'd King Jagellon that he dispatch'd one immediately to reproach him with his Ingratitude and Injustice and to tell him that he renounc'd his Friendship Whereupon Sigismund endeavour'd to excuse himself by pretending that he was impos'd upon by the Knights Tho' the Emperor knew that the King of Poland had just cause to be angry with him he was so far from seeming to take notice of his Resentment that he went as far as Luceoria to see him and his Uncle Vitold pretending an earnest desire to be reconcil'd to 'em tho his real design was to divide ' em He knew that the latter was a violent and ambitious Prince and that his Nephew had intrusted him with a very great Authority in Lithuania and resolv'd to make use of this Opportunity to corrupt his Fidelity and inspire him with an Inclination to revolt He insinuated that a Prince of so much Merit ought not to depend â—pon his Nephew but to think how
the Russians that they could never afterwards be reconcil'd And this was one of the principal causes of the Revolt of the Cossacks and of all the Disasters with which Poland was afterwards harass'd Such was the dismal effect of that Change of Religion and of those Ceremonies which the Polish Gentry would have introduc'd into their Territories in Russia they ought to have consider'd that the best Innovations are frequently attended with fatal Consequences and their own Country might have furnish'd 'em with a very instructive Example of this nature The Lutheran Doctrin was introduc'd into Riga by a Sedition of the meaner sort of people in the Year 1586 not long after the Reformation of the Kalendar made by Pope Gregory XIII had been publish'd there Some persons resolving to celebrate the Feast of our Saviour's Nativity according to the ancient Kalendar the Governor of the City imprison'd the Principal of the College because he was the first who acted contrary to the Decree of the Senate which rais'd so great an Uproar in the City that the People in the night-time broke open the Prison and pull'd down the Houses of the Curate and of the Governor And even the disorder was so great that almost all the Inhabitants took up Arms against those who defended the Roman-Catholick Religion and especially the Jesuits whom King Stephen Battori had settl'd there in the year 1582 after he had given 'em certain Revenues and a Church which belong'd to the Canons During the heat of the tumult the incens'd People imprison'd some of the Senators and put some others to death so that being sensible of their Guilt and despairing of Pardon they put themselves under the protection of other Lutherans and never afterwards return'd to their ancient Religion Thus 't is plain that the restraining of the Cossacks from making Incursions and the Change of Religion which the Lords of Poland would have introduc'd into their Territories in Russia and Vkrania were the two principal Causes of that Peoples revolt But there was also another reason that caus'd that fierce and untractable Nation to rebel The Gentry of Vpper Volhinia were so addicted to Tyranny and Oppression that they could not endure the Cossacks because their neighbourhood gave a bad Example to all their Subjects and dispos'd 'em to shake off the insupportable Yoke of Servitude for they thought it better to live like the Cossacks at Liberty and without Constraint than to work and till the Ground for the use of their Oppressors so that the tyranny of the Gentlemen augmented the number of the Cossacks by forcing the Peasants to forsake their Habitations and retire to them The fourth reason that the Cossacks had to complain of the Gentry proceeded from the sordid Usury and insatiable Avarice of the Jews who are very numerous in Poland except in the Province of Massovia where they are only permitted to remain when there is a Dyet sitting at Warsaw They live miserably thro the whole Kingdom because they are oppress'd and squeez'd by the Gentry they are usually the persons who sell Aqua-Vitae and Beer and farm the Customs of the Lords which they do for the most part at an excessive price and this is the reason why they make bad Brandy and Beer They were first introduc'd into Poland by a Duke of Kalisch who brought them from Germany and establish'd them in his and some other Cities of Lower Poland from whence they spread themselves throughout the whole Kingdom they have the Privilege not to acknowledge any Judge but only the Palatins whom they easily soften not to say corrupt by the Presents they make them Their Usury and Exactions upon the People have sometimes risen to such an exorbitant height that they have obtain'd a Prohibition for any private person to brew Beer not even for themselves by which means they oblig'd all the Inhabitants of the Kingdom to buy it of them at what price they pleas'd to impose upon it The Son of King Vladislaus dying in the Year 1647 the Cossacks began again to revolt under the command of one Chemeinski who was the first that made the Cossacks joyn the Tartars notwithstanding the mortal Enmity that was formerly betwixt 'em by reason of the great difference of their Language Manners and Religion After they were thus united in the Year 1648 they made a terrible havock in Poland But before I proceed to relate their Barbarities it will not be improper to give a short Character of Chemelnski He understood War very well and was once Secretary to the Army he was also a man of Learning and had studied with the Jesuits at Leopold he knew the weak side of the Court of Poland having been several times there in the quality of an Envoy he was so exasperated by the loss of an Estate which a Polish Lord had taken from him by a Law-suit that immediately he had recourse to force and having gather'd out of the Isles of the Boristhenes a multitude of People like himself and corrupted the Cossacks in the Polish Army he soon after prevail'd with the neighbouring Tartars to joyn him with whose assistance he fell unexpectedly upon the Polanders who guarded the Frontiers of the Kingdom and afterwards cut in pieces part of their Army and sent the rest with their Commanders into Slavery to Tartary From that time he so manag'd the Republick that sometimes he suffer'd himself to be appeas'd by Promises and then rais'd a new Insurrection according to the posture of his Affairs 'T is true he was sometimes beaten by the Polanders but 't is no less certain that he always kept the Advantage over 'em either by his own dexterity or by the Divisions or Neglect of the Polish Generals who could not make a right use of their Victories He was often reconcil'd to the Republick but never trusted in them He was naturally of a turbulent Spirit keeping his Men always in Arms against Poland and fortifying his Interest by the Affiance of some potent Neighbour for 't was his constant practice to change his Affies according to the state of his Affairs Thus after the Tartars had concluded a Peace with King John Casimir he implor'd the Protection of the Duke of Muscovy so that Poland could hardly entertain any Hope of being able to reduce the Cossacks during the life of so politick a General After the death of Vladislaus IV May 30 1648 John Casimir his Brother was chosen King of Poland Nov. 17 in the same Year He immediately apply'd himself to remedy the ill state of the Republick and to repair the Losses it had sustain'd by the Irruption which the Cossacks and Tartars had made even into the very Heart of the Kingdom after the Defeat at Pilaveze Sept. 29 1648. The greatest part of the Polish Army was compos'd of new-rais'd Soldiers and of Militia they were encamp'd near the Cossacks end had even obtain'd some Advantages over them but those Revolters having made a great noise in the Evening with
Controversies by the way of Arms in publick This was their way of Living then which is not yet altogether abolished in some places But in Process of Time Princes and then Kings were brought in among them Yet with a more limited authority than in other Countries and after an Elective manner As for Laws King Casimir introduced the Teutonick there in the Year 1368. and Established a Soveraign Court of Justice at the Castle of Cracow as in the middle of his Kingdom for Poland was then of a far greater Extent than 't is now so that the City of Cracow was in a manner in the middle of that Great State whereas at this time it may be almost call'd a Frontier Town since it is but twelve Leagues from thence to Silesia which was then a province of Poland and now belongs to the Emperor of Germany on the account of the Kingdom of Bohemia The Kings us'd always to have a right to make the People take up arms as often as it was necessary and every Man was excited to give some proofs of Valor because there was no other means to rise and obtain the Right of Nobility neither was there any other Reward to be expected As for those who were not stirr'd up by the desire of honour and advancement the fear of punishment us'd to prevail with them for those who did not obey the King's Orders were either whipt with Cords or cudgel'd into fighting which convinc'd the rest of the Necessity of taking arms with all speed In those days it was not the Custom to levy Military Men with Mony in Poland for there was none at that time in that Kingdom where they then till'd the Ground barely to supply the Necessity of the Inhabitants and had no thoughts of exporting Corn out of the Country nor of importing those things that serve only for Superfluity and good Chear The Soyl which is fruitful of it self suppli'd every one with a sufficient subsistance so that the Peasants were not compell'd to work hard for if they wrought never so little they did enough for their Masters and for themselves But as soon as the Polish Gentlemen began to exchange Corn for foreign Merchandises and Riches and Luxury were brought into that Kingdom the Military Vigour began to abate and the Slavery of the Peasants became intollerable Poland is now properly a Republick and 't is by that Name that the Polanders call it looking upon their King as being no more than the head of their Common wealth This makes them lessen the King's authority more and more when a new one is to be elected still enlarging their own privileges and taking care that his prerogative may not grow too great They are indeed so jealous of their Liberty and so afraid of losing it that they will not have any fortyfied towns upon the Frontiers for fear the King should put a Garrison in it and so should make himself absolute Master of all the Nobility by degrees That sentiment is so strongly rooted within their hearts that they prepossess their Children with it betimes making them believe that their native Freedom would soon be lost if ever they suffered any town to be fortyfied upon the Frontiers But they do not consider that while they design to shun a great Evil they fall into another that is worse since their Neighbours who are all of them their Enemies finding the Country open easily invade it and from time to time make themselves Masters of some part of their state before the Polanders can be in a Condition to oppose their Irruptions as the Swedes did which I have already mentioned The Republick of Poland is composed of three Orders the King the Senate and the Nobility or Gentry Thus all the Rites and Privileges are joyntly holden by those three Orders insomuch that there can be no Laws made nor abrogated no War levied no alliance concluded with Foreigners no Impositions laid 〈◊〉 nor no money coyned but with the joynt Consent of the whole Republick or of the Senators that are deputed for that end therefore some of these are always near the King's person in order to preserve the Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom CHAP. VII Of the KING THe King disposes of all the consistorial Benefices and of many others as also of all the Offices and Places of profit in the Gift of the Crown for he cannot keep them to himself and is obliged to bestow them upon the Gentlemen of Poland and not upon Foreigners tho' they have never so much personal Merit or have done never so much service to the Republick for the Polanders are so jealous of Foreigners that they cannot endure that the King should make them any connderable Gratification As for Instance In the Reign of King Stephen Batori the Hungarians had been very serviceable to the Republick in the War against the Muscovites Now that brave Prince who had invited many of 'em into Poland to repell that encroaching Enemy with their Assistance thought himself obliged to bestow some suitable Rewards upon them but he had no sooner done this but that several of the Great Men of Poland were strangely exasperated particularly the Great General who resented it so highly that he resigned his place upon that Account Many others also murmur'd openly against that Prince which usage may seem the more ungenerous and ungrateful seeing they were so much obliged to that Warlike King who had atcheived braver and greater Actions for Poland than any of his Predecessors Thus all that a Foreigner can pretend to in that Republick can amount to no more than the obtaining the Command of a Regiment of Foot or the Grant of some little Royal Gift Besides that he may be duely qualified for the possession of it he must first be made a Gentleman of Poland for otherwise the King cannot bestow any such thing upon him however there are some little Royal Gifts and Benefices which a man may hold without being a Gentleman of Poland But in the main 't is so certain that there is a necessity of being made a Gentleman of Poland to possess an Estate or Place of considerable Profit in that Kingdom that King Stephen Battori whom we just now mentioned thought fit to procure the Indigenate that is the right of Nobility to two of his Kins-men at the Sessions of the Diet which he had summon'd to meet the 13 of December 1386. For as he had no Children he was desirous of advancing those of his Brother and was perswaded that this Naturalization would enable him to prefer them to something more considerable But that Great Prince was prevented by Death in the fifty fourth year of his age after he had reigned ten years One would be apt to think that this mighty Power which the King of Poland has to dispose of so many places of Trust and Profit of so many Lands by Royal Tenure and of so many Benefices must need gain him the Love and Affection of those on whom they
hundred thousand Livres all this provided he might marry Hedwige and be elected King of Poland These advantageous Proposals were hearkened to and granted and accordingly he was elected King By these means Lithuania was in time united to Poland and from an Hereditaty State is become a part of an Elective Republick Which change some of the Kings of the race of Jagello did not altogether approve nor can it be said that it was fully effected till the Extinction of that Family for being unwilling to deprive their Heirs of an Hereditary Right by submitting to make Lithuania elective they still delayed the Confirmation of the Convention alledging that the Nobility and people of Lithuania would never suffer it lest by such an Union they should lose their antient degree and dignity Things remain'd in this condition while there were Princes of that Family to be elected At last the Lithuanians perceiving that it was extinct as to Males after the death of King Sigismund Augustus and being afraid of Irruptions from their incroaching Neighbours the Muscovites they consented to an Union The Example of Stephen Batori verifies also what we have already said of the regard which the Poles have to the Royal Family in point of Election For that Prince was chosen King of Poland only upon Condition that he should marry the Princess Anne Sister to Sigismund Augustus who dyed without Issue and was the last of the Family of the Jagellones I must own that there were several Reasons which concur'd to cause the Polanders to impose that Condition on Stephen Batori for thus they did not only express their respect to the Jagellonian Family but avoided the Expences which they must otherwise have been at for the maintaining of two Princesses But that which engaged them the rather to act thus was the Abdication of Henry of Valds King of Poland who had refused to marry her for that Prince having received the News of the death of Charles IX his Brother privately left Poland the 18 of June 1574 and returned to France after he had been crown'd at Cracow the 24 of February and had remain'd five months with the Republick The Polanders therefore believing that they would thus more strongly bind Stephen Batori to their Interest oblig'd him to marry the Princess Anne tho' she was somewhat elderly But this prov'd of a very unhappy Consequence for all the Church of Sweden For Stephen Battori dying afterwards at Iroane on the 12 of December 1586 without leaving any Issue the Republick still having a regard to the Family of the Jagellones chose Sigismund the third the Son of John King of Sweden and of Catharine Sister to Sigismund Augustus and thus Nephew to Queen Anne Stephen Battoris's Widow By reason of which Election Sigismund being oblig'd to make Poland the place of his residence left the Government of Sweden to his Unkle the Duke of Sudermania who afterwards made himself Master of the Kingdom where he abolished the Roman Religion and establish'd the Lutheran which he publickly profest What I have said of the Polanders as to their preferring the Offspring of their Kings before others is so true that from the beginning of their acknowledging a Regal State even at a time when they were all strangers to the Christian religion they chose Venda to be their Queen being the only person that was left of the Line of Cracus their third King Long after this Lewis King of Poland and Hungary having chosen for his Successor Sigismund Marquess of Brandenburg who had wedded his eldest Daughter the Republick met at Radom in the year 1312 and the Diet past a Constitution whereby Sigismund was excluded however declaring at the same time that there should be a due regard had to the Princess his Wife The Great Men of the Kingdom gave afterwards their Votes for Ziemowitz Duke of Masovia upon condition he would wed Hedwige who was King Lewis's Daughter But Queen Elizabeth her Mother would not consent that her Daughter should marry so inconsiderable a Prince as was the Duke of Masovia tho' he was of the Royal House of Casimir the Great I have said that the Polanders have not only some Consideration for all those of the Royal Family but that they have also a great regard to the Widows of their Kings It was for this reason that they oblig'd King John Casimir to marry Queen Maria Aloisia the Widow of Vladislaus the fourth his Brother who died without Issue This will further appear by the Proposal that was made to Queen Eleonor of Austria the Widow of King Michael during the Diet of Election in the year 1674. For the Poles insisted upon that Queen's marrying the Prince of Newburg for whom the French us'd their Interest insomuch that on the 18 of May four Bishops came to that Queen and assur'd her that provided she would consent to wed that Prince he would certainly be elected and that by this means the minds of all the different parties would be re-united But Queen Eleonor who is the Emperors Sister and who then did nothing but by the Advice of Chancellor Patz and the motions of the Ministers of the Court of Vienna made them no other answer but that she had some Friends in the Diet who would take care of her Interest A drew Trezebsckâ— Bishop of Cracow was one of the four that were deputed on that account to the Queen and afterwards to Chancellour Patz who as I have said was her chief Councellor But that Chancellor who had a mind the Election should fall on Prince Charles of Lorrain whom the Emperor did very earnestly recommend made answer That he would have no other but the Prince of Lorraine and not the Prince of Newburg The event soon convinc'd him of his error and made him know that he had taken wrong Measures and not understood his true Interest For as he had govern'd King Michael and still had an absolute sway over the mind of the Queen he might easily have govern'd also the Prince of Newburgh who was young and whom his Queen might have enclin'd as she would have thought fit The Chancellor Batz was so positive in his Opinion that it was a very difficult matter to make him alter it He was a Man of his word and when ever he had engag'd it to any body he was sure to keep it inviolably his own Intrest not being able to make him Recant And indeed the Conference which he had with the Prince of Newburgh's Embassador at Belveder whither I kept him Company made it plainly appear that his own Interest alone was not sufficient to make him alter his Measures For I understood afterwards from him that considerable Offers had been made him and that it had been Represented to him what Advantages the Election of the Prince of Newburgh would bring to all his Family But all this did not in the least affect him and so that Conference was to no purpose neither for him nor for the Prince of Newburgh
Nay even his Lady tho' a French-woman of the House of Mailly could never be brought to side with the French Faction tho' very Advantageous Offers were made to her She was Lady of Honour to Queen Eleonor and had promis'd her to be faithful to her which she did Inviolably This unshaken Fidelity in an Austrian French-woman was such that even the French themselves could not but admire and esteem it it being their Nature to Prefer that Vertue to all the Advantages that can be propos'd to them to engage them to part with it France had then almost all the Princes of Europe its Enemies but was still so Fortunate that Heaven would not somuch as suffer her to compass those Things which She most Earnestly desir'd when in process of Time those Things might have been Prejudicial to her Interest Thus the Divine Providence would not permit the Prince of Newburgh to be chosen King of Poland tho' France us'd all her Indeavours to make the Choice fall upon him which if it had taken effect would undoubtedly have been disadvantageous to that Nation for that Prince would not have fail'd to have prov'd her Enemy as did his Father soon after having Married his Daughter to the Emperor I return now to what I have already said that it is in the King of Poland's Power to dispose of all the Places and Offices in the Kingdom and Dutchy Those on whom he bestows them ought not only to be Gentlemen of Poland but ought also to be possest of some Estate in Land in the State or Country to which the said Place or Office Properly belongs So that a Gentleman whose Estate lyes all in the Kingdom of Poland cannot have an Office in the Dutchy of Lithuania neither can he whose Estate is altogether in the Dutchy have an Office in the Kingdom which Order is regularly observ'd tho' the Polanders and the Lithuanians are now properly but one Body and are no more than one People differing but in few things as to their manner of Living Nevertheless in the time that I liv'd in Lithuania I have observ'd that the Politer part of the Lithuanians come nearer to to the French than the Polanders do in all their wayes and particularly in their Briskness and Gayty tho' Lithuania is remoter from France than Poland When the King of Poland enters a City the Magistrates ought alwayes to bring him the Keys and he has power to make his own Regiment of Guards keep watch at the Gates The Citizens of Dantzick alone have the priviledge of Guarding their own Gates when the King enters that City nay they have a Right to hinder any Forces from entering with the King and to go the Rounds all Night in the Streets as long as he stays within their Walls But it must indeed be Acknowledg'd that Dantzic which is one of the most Considerable Hans-Towns is properly a free Republic under the Protection of Poland Consequently it has all the marks of an Entire Sovereignty For it condemns to Death without Appeal even the Gentlemen of Poland themselves if they happen to commit any Crime there that deserves a Capital Punishment It has a Mint of its own and Coyns its own Mony without any previous Leave or Permission obtain'd from the Republic of Poland tho' they Stamp the Kings Image upon it and they are not Oblig'd to take in payment the base Mony of that State however tho' the people of Dantzic may thus be reckon'd a Republic and particular Soveraign State they are nevertheless Oblig'd to send to the Diet some Deputies who never fail to speak in the Name of the Senate of Dantzic and who Consequently never fail to be Interrupted by the Chancellor who always desires them to be Silent forbidding them to take that Quality upon them which yet they are sure to take afterwards in the following Diets Dantzic is Scituated about a League from the Baltic Sea and almost at the mouth of the River Vistula That City till the Year 1170 consisted only of some Fishermen's Cottages but has rais'd it self since that time to such a height of Greatness that it passes now for one of the Principal Cities of Europe It must indeed be own'd that it is a Fine and Stately Place and its Port or Harbour very Famous but of difficult Access because the Vistula divides it self into several Branches before it discharges it self into the Sea and that Branch which goes to Dantzic is one of the least of them which is the reason that Great Ships have not Water enough to Anchor with their Lading thro' that Branch into the Harbour of Dantzic Between the Mouth of the River and the Port there lyes a Fort which is call'd the Light-house because there is a Beacon in it where there is a Light every Night that the Ships which are coming into the Harbour may discover it a far off Dantzic is the Town of the Greatest Trade in all Prussia most of which Trafick consists in Corn as doth almost all the Trade of Poland The Dantzickers have such a priviledge that none but themselves can be allowed to buy any Corn of the Polanders when once it is enter'd in their Port whether vast Quantities are brought to them from all Parts by the Vistula half the Revenue of the Port belong'd to the King of Poland since the time that King Sigismund Augustus oblig'd the Dantzickers to grant him that Tribute for their presumption in proposing some Provoking Conditions to him before they would suffer his Deputies to come into their City Dantzic is the Capital City of all Prussia 't is about Seven Leagues from Elbing and Twenty Six from Thorn 't is well enough Fortifi'd considering the Country since the Irruption which the Sweedes made into Poland in the Year 1655. But there are some Grounds that overlook and command it on the West-side From this Town the Polanders draw what Goods they want of Foreign Growth and Manufacture as Cloth Silks Stuffs Leather Paper Sugar Oyls and all the Spices which they use in very great quantities to Season their Fish and other Meat I do not speak of the Wines and Brandy nor of the Salt which is brought thither from France and worth but a Crown the French Muid or Hogshead because as for Wine the Poles like no other but that of Hungary as for Brandy they make it at home with Corn and as for Salt their Countrey abounds with it Thus the Wines Brandy and Salt that come from France to Dantzic serve only for Prussia however there are such considerable quantities of other Goods exported from Dantzic to Poland and so great a Return made from that Kingdom thither in Corn Money and other Things that as it is the only Place from which they draw all their Necessaries and to which they Trade 't is not in the least to be admir'd how that Town is come to be so Rich and Considerable All the Dantzickers were formerly Roman Catholicks But they Embraced the
Lutheran perswasion in the last Age as did most of the Northern Nations They began to imbibe that Doctrine in the Year 1525. in the Reign of Sigismund the first who did not dare to oppose it because he was afraid of engaging in a War with the Teutonic Knights the Truce which he had made with them being then near expir'd Sigismund Augustus having afterwards receiv'd the Homage and Oath of Fidelity to himself and the Republick from Albert Duke of Prussia he confirm'd the people of Prussia in their Ancient Rights and Privileges and gave them leave to make open profession of the Lutheran Belief according to the Augsburg Confession The greatest part of the Inhabitants of Dantzic are Lutherans and the other part Calvinists there being only some few Roman Catholiks and Anabaptists for there is an entire Liberty of Conscience yet in such a manner that the whole Government is in the hands of the Lutherans none of the other Sects being admitted to a share The Roman Catholiks have a Church there which is a Convent of Dominican Monks which serves for a Parish to all those that reside in the Town The Jesuits have also a House in the Suburbs where there is likewise a Nunnery As for the Lutherans they have that Stately Church which was of Old enjoy'd by the Roman Catholicks and which is one of the finest Buildings that I have seen in Poland 'T is Worthy Observation that at Dantzic even among the Lutherans they acknowledge the Popes Nunicio that resides in Poland in several Eclesiastical Cases as for Licenses and Dispensations to Marry in a degree forbidden by the Canons I have no more to say of the City of Dantzic but only that it disclaims the Jurisdiction of Poland its Inhabitants saying that it did not submit to the Polanders but only to the King To vindicate that right of Exemption the Dantzickers took Arms in the Year 1576. and march'd as far as Ditschow upon the Vistula with some Forces which they had rais'd under the Command of a certain Officer call'd John of Cologn who had before that defended Marienburg But they were defeated by the army of Poland however the King afterwards forgave them at the Intreaty of the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg The King of Poland cannot send any Ambassadors to foreign Princes nor receive any from 'em without the Senates Consent tho' 't is he that is to give them Audience Neither can he leave the Kingdom upon any Account let the Importance be what it will Sigismund III having heard of the death of his Father John King of Sweden summon'd a Diet at Warsaw in the month of May 1592 that the Republick might consent to the Journey which he intended to take into Swedeland And Lewis King of Hungary who was chosen King of Poland in the year 1370 having a desire to return into Hungary was obliged to ask consent and to enlarge the Privileges of the Nobility that he might obtain it The King of Poland has a right to judge and determine civil and criminal Cases The definitive Sentences in all Jurisdictions are past according to the Majority of Votes But in criminal Cases the King 's single Vote saves the Offenders Life And this because he has a right to pardon all manner of Criminals by what Tribunal soever they be condemned But 't is otherwise in the Decision of those affairs that concern the Republick which are handled in a general Diet where all the Nobility is assembled by its Deputies for then it is absolutely necessary to have the unanimous Consent of all those Deputies whose number is considerable before any thing can be concluded and determined So that as often as any one Member of the Assembly will not consent and enters his protestation the Diet breaks off and all the Deputies depart nor can the King oblige 'em to stay nor get another Diet to assemble till three months after that which then broke off But tho' a King of Poland can hardly do any thing by himself yet he may take Cognisance of the payment of the Soldiers regulate their number and command the Army Not but that he that is great General of it still has a great Authority over the Soldiers as I will shew hereafter CHAP. VIII Of the Senate in General THE Senate of Poland is Compos'd of the Bishops Palatines Castellans and the Ten Officers of State whose Dignity Entitles them to a place in that Assembly It was Instituted to Regulate according to the Justice and Equity of the Laws all that is Transacted for the Good and Security of the State The King Creates the Senators and before he Advances them to that Honour makes them take an Oath of Fidelity to the Republick But after they are once admitted into that Body they cannot be afterwards displac'd In the General Diet they sit at the Right and Left hand of the King according to their Dignity and not according to the Seniority of their Reception 'T is they who with the King Approve and Ratifie all the Constitutions which the Nobility propose to them by their Deputies So that the Senators are as it were Mediators betwixt the King and the Nobility to preserve and defend the Authority of the Republick For 't is in this order that the Authority is properly lodg'd not by reason of the great Number of Persons of which it is Composed but by a Power they derive from the Laws which determine their respective Duties and Privileges The Senators value their Dignity so much that they despise all the Titles of Honour which the Emperours are wont to bestow Thus when Sigismund King of Poland and his Brother Vladislaus King of Hungary went to Vienna the Emperour offer'd to confer upon the Senators who accompany'd them the Title of Princes of the Empire which they refus'd to accept of saying That since they were Gentlemen of Poland and had Power to Treat with their King both of Peace and War he did them an Injury to think that the Title of Prince of the Empire could either be more honourable or great than that of Senatour of the Republick of Poland The Senators Swear to maintain the Rights Liberties and Privileges of the Republick against all opposition So that if the King should attempt to extend his Power beyond the Laws and Liberties which he is obliged by Oath to preserve the Senators may put him in mind of his Duty and Oath without losing that respect which is due to His Majesty And therefore there ought always to be Four Senators at Court both to assist the King with their Counsel and to see that nothing be done contrary to their Privileges which the Polanders believe to be the only way to secure the Liberty of their Republick 'T is also to be observed that none of the Senators must go out of the Kingdom without leave obtain'd of the Republick not even for change of Air or to drink the Waters c. for the Recovery of their Health CHAP.
Prince's Flying from His Kingdom like Henry II. King of Poland and III. of France who having receiv'd Advice of the Death of Charles the IXth His Brother by a Courier that was dispatch'd to Him by the Queen His Mother secretly departed from Cracow after he had enjoy'd the Crown of Poland Five Months with the Love of all the Nobility who were so troubl'd at His Flight and the loss of so good a Prince that they Wrote on the 12th of May 1574. a very Pressing and Respectful Letter to perswade Him to Return The Polanders look upon the Interregnums as the most Favourable Occasions to confider of the Surest and Most Effectual Ways to Preserve their Liberties and though the Royal Authority is then properly Lodg'd in the Senate 't is in some measure Represented by the Archbishop of Gnesna as Primate of the Kingdom and the First of all the Senators as I intimated before During the Interregnum some of the Senators and Noblemen are sent to the Generals of the Army to stay with them and to assist them with their Advice in Matters relating to the War Some Senatours are also Deputed to the Castle of Cracow to Visit the Treasury of the Crown and to make an Inventary of it with those that have the Keys which they present at the next Coronation Commissioners are also appointed to enquire into the State of the Revenue that is set apart for the King's Table and to give an Account of it to the Republick During the Interregnum and till the New King be Proclaim'd the Republick pretends that all Soveraign Princes and even Crown'd Heads themselves are obliged to give them the Title of Most Serene But when the King of France Writes to the Republick Assembl'd in a Diet of Election he makes no mention of Serenity and only Writes in these Terms To our most Dear and Great Friends Allyes and Confederates the States of the Kingdom of Foland and Great Dutchy of Lithuania Nor is it reasonable that a King of France should give the Republick of Poland the Title of Most Serene since they do not give their own King either the Title of Most Serene or of Majesty I shall only observe further on this Subject that as soon as the Archbishop of Gnesna has Notify'd by his Circular Letters that the King is Dead all the Courts of Justice are shut up and are not open'd again till after the Coronation of the New Elected King except the Marshal's Court which continues open and another which is establish'd for deciding Controversies that may happen during the Diet of the Election But as for all other Causes and private Law-Suits they are not Try'd till after the King's Coronation CHAP. XIV Of the Election of a King SINCE the Kingdom of Poland is Elective all Christian Princes may Pretend to the Succession and send Ambassadours thither whether they be Catholicks or not But those who Aspire to that Crown must either profess the Roman Catholick Faith or resolve to Embrace it after their Election for otherwise he cannot be Chosen and 't is only for this Reason that the Pope sends a Nuncio to the Diet of Election that he may represent to the Republick that 't is the Interest of the Whole Church that they should Chuse a Catholick Prince who is a zealous Assertor of the True Faith of Christ The Polanders usually Chuse a Foreign Prince for their King because they cannot without Reluctancy submit to those who were formerly their Equals They esteem it their happiness that they have the Liberty to Chuse such a Prince as they please But 't is certain that their Liberty is frequently the Cause of Fatal Divisions They will not Choose a Prince who is King of another Realm least after his Election and after he has remain'd for some time among 'em he should leave them to Return to his own Country 'T was for this Reason that after the Death of Casimir III they would not Chuse Vladislaus his Son because he was King of Hungary and Robemia and this was also one of the Reasons which in a Diet held at Radom in the Year 1382 made the Republick Exclude Sigismund of Luxemburg Marquess of Brandenburg who pretended to the Crowns of Poland and Hungary as having Marry'd the Eldest Daughter of Lewis King of those Two Kingdoms Before the Ambassadours come to Warsaw they are to Notifie their Arrival to the Archbishop of Gnesna who appoints Lodgings for 'em at some distance from the City and sends a Polish Gentleman to each of 'em to observe their Actions and to hinder them from making Parties But those Rules are seldom put in Execution for the Ambassadours of Princes live openly at Warsaw 't is true there is a Polish Gentleman appointed to attend every one of 'em during the Diet that the Republick may be inform'd of their Proceedings and that they may not have an opportunity to Bribe or Corrupt the Deputies But this is an Inconveniency that cannot be avoided by all these Precations for the desire of Money is so reigning a Vice in Poland and attended with so little Scandal and Infamy that the Fidelity which a Polish Gentleman owes to his Country would not be Proof against 1000 Crowns 'T is the Interest of the Ambassadours to Manage all the Senators and the whole Order of the Nobility since the disobliging of one of them may render 'em incapable of Compassing their Designs Thus the Quarrelling with Chancellour Patz in the Diet of the Election Anno 1668. was the true reason why the Duke of Newburg was Excluded and Michael Vicznowieski was Elected King In the mean time it must be acknowledg'd that the Election was Tumultuary that the Nobility had not a Free Vote and that they were in a manner hurry'd away by the Violence of the Multitude which was so great that Prasmowski Archbishop of Gnesna was forc'd to Proclaim Him which he was unwilling to do because he was sensible of the Dangers that threatn'd the Republick in that Juncture and of the great need they had of a Rich and Valiant Prince At the same time he knew that King Michael wanted both those Qualities For he was so poor that during the Life of Queen Mary Louise he had nothing to subsist upon as I intimated before but a Pension which She allow'd him of 6000 Livres a Year And as for his Courage it may be guess'd at by what happen'd immediately after his Election when he durst not resent the Affront he receiv'd from the Marquiss of Brandenburg who without asking his Permission caus'd a Prussian Gentleman who had fled to Poland for Protection to be seiz'd and carryd away before the King's eyes and almost under the Windows of His Palace 'T is plain then that the Polanders ought to have Chosen a Prince that was equally Brave and Rich and able to Support their Tottering State For if they had consider'd their true Interest in the choice of a Soveraign the Turks wou'd never have had the
boldness to Attack Poland as they did in the Reign of King Michael where they enter'd Vkrania with a Powerful Army and easily made themselves Masters of Caminieck which the Polanders could never retake since But as Poland could not choose a poorer so they could not have Chosen a more liberal Prince than King Michael And as he was wholly destitute of the means to display that Noble and Princely Quality so Providence order'd that as soon as he was Proclaim'd King he found himself Master of richer Furniture and a greater quantity of Plate than any of the Kings His Predecessours had ever enjoy'd For all the Senatours and Gentlemen who were able to make any considerable Presents strove with a kind of Emulation to express their Affection to their New Soveraign so that on the Day of his Election he was so amaz'd at such a sudden and unexpected Alteration that he cou'd hardly forbear looking upon it as a Golden Dream He was no sooner Proclaim'd but the Chancellour began to Insinuate that He ow'd his Crown to him nor was it a difficult task to Impose upon a Prince who was easily Govern'd and had more good Nature than Judgment Thus the Chancellor had the pleasure to see that his Power was as great as his Ambition but that satisfaction was sufficiently moderated by the Troubles and Divisions that happen'd under his Ministry for having perswaded the King without the consent of the Republick to Marry the Emperor's Sister by whom he had no Children There was such a considerable Party form'd against that Prince that he was in perpetual danger of being Dethron'd and reduc'd in a Cloister to greater Miseries than that which he suffer'd before his Election And to heighten His Asslictions he perceiv'd that Queen Eleanor his Wife was engag'd in the Party that wou'd have oblig'd him to Resign His Crown that she might Marry a handsom and brave Prince whose Picture she had seen and who without doubt had been King of Poland if Death jealous of the happiness of that Country had not snatch'd him away in the flower of his Age to the regret of all the World and particularly of Q. Eleanor who cou'd not forbear expressing her sorrow by her Tears when she heard the News of his death Among the several Princes who pretended to dispossess King Michael Duke Augustus Ernest of Brunswick Bishop of Osnabrug who would have willingly exchang'd both his Bishoprick and Religion for the Crown of Poland was one But he was Marry'd he would have met with greater obstacles than the Prince I just nown mention'd CHAP. XV. Of the Diets in general THo' as a mark of the Obedience and Respect which Christians are oblig'd to pay to the Clergy the Polanders have thought fit to give the Bishops the Precedency in their Diets as being the Ministers and Dispensers of Holy Things it hath been sometimes observ'd that the Laity have taken the liberty to dispute that Honour with them Thus at the Diet held at Lublin 1501. under the Reign of Alexander the II. there happen'd a great contest betwixt the Bishops and the Temporal Senators for tho' the latter were willing that the Bishops should be Seated all in a Row on the King 's Right hand they desir'd that they might also sit in a Row on his Left hand that so they might not be altogether beneath them This Controversy was long and hotly agitated but at last the King decided it in favour of the Bishops declaring That they should still enjoy their Ancient Priviledge to sit next the King both on His Right and Left hand A General Diet in Poland is a Meeting of the Nobility in one place to Consult about the Affairs of the Republick The King may appoint the Meeting where he thinks fit except the Diet of the Coronation which can only be held at Cracow but as for the rest it has been always in the King's Power to appoint the place of their Meeting 'T is true that for some time they have been always held at Warsaw But the Lithuanians having made a Complaint some years ago that they were expos'd to all the Inconveniencies of a long and tedious Journey it was agreed that one of Three Diets should for the Conveniency of the Lithuanians be held at Grodno a City of Lithuania in the Palatinat of Troki on the River Niemen about Twenty Leagues from Vilna 'T is seated partly upon a Plain and partly upon an Eminence and is Defended by a Castle which was taken and Sack'd by the Muscovites in the Year 1655 when the Whole Kingdom was harrass'd by the Swedes The other Two Diets are to be held at Warsaw which from the Election of Sigismond III. to that of John III. was always the Residence of the Kings of Poland It is Scituated on the Vistula in the Province of Massovia and the Diocess of Posnania There is a fine Palace in this City which Sigssmund built after his Election but there are no Avenues to it and the place where it is Scituated is so straightn'd that one must in a manner Divine how to go into it It has a very fine Prospect but is wholly destitute of Water Gardens or Trees Nor can those Defects be supply'd because on the one side it is bounded by the Houses of the City and on the other by the Vistula Warsaw is composed of Two Cities joyn'd together The Old Town which is Wall'd with Brick is small and ill Paved as are all the Cities of Poland but to make amends 't is Populous and enjoys a good Trade The New Town which is joyn'd to it is not considerable Besides those Two Cities there is also the great Suburb of Cracow the Houses of which are for the most part built and cover'd with Wood except some Pallaces which certain Persons of Quality had begun to Build before the Swedish Invasion both because the Kings Vladislaus and Casimir had a Palace there where they usually Resided and because those Princes design'd to enclose that Suburb and the Two Cities with 16 Bastions which they had already Mark'd out and whereof some footsteps are yet to be seen The above-mention'd Palace where the Kings Vladislaus and Casimir Resided has a Garden but is destitute both of Water and Trees There is still a Chapel in that Suburb called the Muscovites Chapel which Sigismond III. built for the Burying place of a Duke of Muscovie and his Brother who died in Prison at Gostynin in the Palatinat of Rava about Three Leagues from the City of Plocsko upon the Vistula to leave to Posterity a Monument of his Victories over the Muscovites It was some time ago given to the Dominican Fryars who have settl'd a Convent in it 'T is the Custom in Poland to hold Petty Diets in all the Palatinats before they hold a great or General Diet. These Petty Diets must be summon'd Three weeks before they can be held and held Six weeks before the General Diets In order to their Meeting the King sends
are redress'd and all the Ambassadors have had Audience of the Republick they proceed to the Election of a King But before they give their Votes they Implore upon their knees the Assistance of the Holy Ghost by Singing the Veni Creator after which the Deputies of each Palatinat give their Votes and Communicate 'em to the rest and if all the Votes be for one Candidate the Arch-bishop of Gnesna or the Bishop who presides in his Pallace demands thrice Whether the Grievances be Redress'd and afterwards Proclaims the King Elect which is also done by the Marshals of the Crown and of the Dutchy after which they all Sing the Te Deum I observ'd that the King Elect is Proclaim'd by the Arch-bishop when all the Votes are for him For it may sometimes happen that the Diet may be divided in which case the strongest Party carries it Thus in the Diet that was held after the Retreat of Henry III. one Party Chose Stephen Battori and the other Elected Maximilian of Austria Maximilian designing to enter into Poland with some Troops was prevented by Stephen Batori who arriv'd before him at Cracow where he was Crown'd the 18th of April 1576. Thus all the Voices were transmitted to King Stephen whom the Polanders oblig'd afterwards to Marry the Princess Ann whom they had already acknowledg'd for their Queen After the Death of Stephen Battori there happen'd a much greater Division in the Diet for there being Two Parties form'd one of which was supported by Zamoski and the other by Sboroski the former Chose Signismund III. Son to John King of Sweden and Catherine Sister of Sigismund Augustus the last of the Race of Jagellon and Nephew to Queen Ann the Relict of King Stephen and this Party was so strong that they Crown'd Sigismund at Cracow the 27th of December 1587. tho' Maximilian of Austria who was Elected by Sborosky's Party had been Proclaim'd King in the Church of the Bernardins at Warsaw by Cardinal Radziwill who was of his Faction In the mean time Maximilian entering into Poland with some Troops Zamoski pursu'd him to Byczin in Silesia where he defeated and took him Prisoner Jan. 25. 1587. and oblig'd him to renounce his Title to the Crown So that Maximilian was a Second time excluded from the Crown of Poland and the Princes of the House of Austria a Third time First In the Person of Ernest by the Election of Henry de Valois Secondly In Maximilian by that of Steven Battori And a Third time in the same Maximilian by that of Sigismund III. CHAP. XVII Of the Election of a Successor THo' the Election of a Successor is contrary to the Laws and Constitutions of Poland and inconsistent with the Privileges of an Elective Kingdom it may sometimes happen that the natural affection which most persons have for their Children or Relations may induce them to make Party's in the Republick to get them Chosen during their Life Thus in the Reign of Sigismund I. his Son Sigismund Augustus tho' but Ten years old was nam'd King during his Father's Life upon these Conditions That he should not in the least meddle with the Affairs of Poland till after his Father's death That when he came to be Fifteen years old he should Swear to maintain all the Rights and Privileges of the Republick And that this Example should not prejudice a Free Election for the future which his Father Confirm'd by Letters Patents given at Cracow 1530. And afterwards by other Letters dated at Pâ—otrkow 1538. for that Prince lived 82 years But Sigismund Augustus being dead the Republick being Assembl'd in a Diet held at Warsaw after they had carefully examin'd the Ancient Laws of the Kingdom made a Constitution by which they expresly Prohibited the Nomination of any Successor for the future during the Life of the Reigning Prince that they might Inviolably preserve the Right and Liberty of Choosing any Soveraign they pleas'd Nevertheless Stephen Battori seeing he had no Children and considering the danger to which the Republick was expos'd during the Two last Interregnums propos'd the Election of a Successor in a Diet held at Warsaw contrary to the above-mention'd Constitution But the whole Order of the Nobility oppos'd the Design of that Great King who died soon after at Grodno in Lithuania Decem. 12. 1586. Since any Christian Prince may aspire to the Crown of Poland 't is evidently the Interest of 'em all to oppose the Election of a Successor which might render the Kingdom Hereditary and consequently ruin their Pretensions 'T was this Consideration that oblig'd the present Emperor to send Francis de Lisola to the Diet held at Warsaw in the Year 1661. to oppose the Design of King John Casimir who wou'd have had a Prince Chosen to Succeed him after his death And this Envoy with the Assistance of John Owerbeck Envoy of the Elector of Brandenburg who was also apprehensive of the same design form'd a strong Party and was so effectually seconded by Marshal Lubomirski that they broke Casimir's design and prevail'd with the Diet to make a Constitution forbidding any person for the future to make mention of the Election of a Successor The reason why King John Casimir Summon'd a Diet at Warsaw to deliberate about the Election of a Successor was because that Prince consider'd the danger to which the Republick had been expos'd for above Twelve years during which they had Maintain'd a War against the Cossacks Tartars Muscovites Swedes Transilvanians and the Marquis of Brandenburg and that none of all those Enemies would have Invaded Poland if they had not been incourag'd by his want of Issue And therefore he look'd upon the Election of a Successor as the most effectual way to prevent the disorders that might be occasion'd during an Interregnum by the Jealousie and Ambition of the Neighbouring PrInces and especially of the Muscovites who pretended to make themselves Masters of Lithuania and to make all the Inhabitants Slaves There were also many Lithuanian Gentlemen who were engag'd in the same design with King Casimire and had earnestly desir'd that Prince and the Nobility of Poland to Consent to the Election of a Successor who might be able after the King's death to oppose the Muscovites who only waited for that opportunity to enter into Lithuania with a great Army and to possess themselves of that Dutchy A considerable Number of the Nobility were prevail'd with to comply with the intended Election of a Successor upon these Conditions That he should be Chosen again after the death of the King That he should be a Roman Catholick That he should not be a Piaste that is a Native Polander That he should not be a King or Soveraign Prince of any other Country That he should not be a Neighbour of Poland That he shou'd be an Unmarry'd Person and one that was neither too young nor too old It must be acknowledg'd that the design was good for the King and those who seconded his desire look'd upon
Encamp'd that they may be perpetually under a Strict Discipline ready to oppose the Enemy and by that means kept from Pillaging and Ruining the Kingdom And this Expedient wou'd doubtless be very agreeable and advantageous to the People who could with less trouble Raise Money to Pay the Troops at Distance than Maintain them at Home and suffer all the Disorders which they commit in their frequent Marches thro' the Countrey This Remedy has been very much commended by some but others are of opinion that if the Soldiers were always kept in a Camp under the Command of one Officer ' twon'd be a means to make the Generals of the Armies too Powerful Thus the Soldiers continue to oppress the People and harrass the Kingdom without any Prospect of Redress I intimated before that the want of Discipline and the little Order that is observ'd among the Polish Troops is the reason why they are oblig'd to Raise a New Army almost every Year But the manner of Paying their Soldiers which is neither every Week nor every Moneth nor every six Moneths and sometimes not at all is a more dangerous Fault because it keeps 'em under a perpetual Temptation to Desert For when they are in the Army they live upon Colewores Roots Fruits which they find in the Woods and on Horse-flesh when they can get it It is not the Castom in Poland to give Ammunition-bread so that the Officers are forc'd to let the Soldiers shift for themselves and consequently since the greatest part of them are Starv'd 't is no wonder that they must raise a New Army every Year They Pay the Officers but once in the Year and frequently but once in two years and for that end they appoint Commissioners to meet at some place Remote from the Court because by a Constitution of the Diet the King ought not to be present at the Meetings that are held for the Payment of the Soldiers tho' every thing is done in his Name The Commissioners that are deputed by the Diet regulate the Payment of all the Officers and usually make some Abatement especially to Strangers Nor must they be absolutely blam'd for abridging the Pay of the Officers because they hardly lay out any Money for the Subsistance of their Companys whereas the Commissioners make up their Accounts as if they had entertain'd their Soldiers at their own Charges 'T is plain the Polish Service is advantageous to the Officers who are in a condition to wait some time for their Mony The Army is usually Paid but once in Two Years and sometimes the Republick is not able to Pay 'em then which occasions an universal Murmuring among the Soldiers and obliges 'em sometimes to enter into a Confederacy which they do in this manner After the Officers have long complain'd of the retaining of their Pay and have Remonstrated to the Court and to the Diet that they can no longer subsist without it and after they perceive that their Complaints and Remonstrances are neglected they assemble together and make a Rokoâ—z which in the Polish Language signifies a Separation from their Generals The Subaltern Officers thus Assembled chuse Two of their number one for their Marshal and the other for his Licutenant To these Officers whom they call Substitutes they take an Oath of Fidelity to oblige the Republick to Pay 'em After which the Marshal Commands this Confederate Army as if he were 〈◊〉 the General of it 'T is obvious to every considering Person that such a Revolt must be attended with Terrible Consequenees For then the Army in stead of Marching towards the Enemy or Guarding the Frontiers harasses the Country and with an unbridled liberty over-runs the Estates of the Noblemen making Necessity the Prtext of all the Disorders they commit The Danger of these Confederacies will appear if we reflect upon the Violent Proceedings of the Confederate Army of which Swiderski was Marshal and Borzecki Substitute which was not so much occasion'd by want of Pay as by the Parties that were form'd by some Persons who hop'd to Enrich themselves during the General Disorder which cou'd not be quieted without a great deal of trouble at Leopold by King John Casimir in the Year 1663. 'T is thus that the Army enters into a Confederacy tho' there is a Law or Constitution that whosoever shall presume to hold Meetings make Harangues raise Seditions or enter into Confederacies shall be guilty of Death and that whosoever shall joyn the Confederates shall be depriv'd of his Estate and Office I have also observ'd another Defect in Poland concerning the Office of the General of the Army which is given for Life so that 't is not in the King's Power to Displace a General whom he has once Advanc'd tho' he is often oblig'd to confer this Dignity upon some Great Lord who is perfectly unacquainted with the Art of War 'T is not at all strange then that Poland should suffer some Losses from time to time and let slip several Opportunities of weakning their Enemies For they have more need than any other Nation of an Active and Experienc'd General who knows how to manage the Soldiers and will not keep them too long in a Place where there is neither Forage for the Horse nor Subsistance for the Foot who will never engage his Troops in any place from whence he cannot easily make good his Retreat nor ever neglect an advantageous occasion of giving Battle to his Enemy and especially one who knows that a Numerous Army ought not to engage with a Small one in a narrow and close place because in such a case a handful of Men may beat a Formidable Army as it appears for Example by the Instance of Marshal Lubomirski who defeated the Vanguard of King John Casimir's Army at the Passage of Montroi and of the Teutonick Knights who tho' much Inferior in Number to the Army of King Casimir III. defeated them in a place where King Casimir's Troops could not extend themselves nor put themselves in Battalia If therefore the Polanders had Experienc'd Generals they might one Day destroy all the Ottoman Infantry for which they have had several Fair Opportunities they might regain all that they have lost and even extend their Conquests farther But to obtain this Advantage the Office of General of the Army ought not to be given for Life but only to Persons of Merie because there is nothing that more animates the Courage of an Officer than the hope of Higher Preferment and there are more who aspire to that Honour when they may attain it by their own Merit without expecting the Death of those who possess it And 't is certain that heretofore this Office was not given for Life in Poland as 't is at present For John Tarnowski was the first whom King Sigismond made Perpetual General of the Army of the Crown and aâ—serwards Nicholas Radziwill was advanc'd to the same Dignity in Lithuania There is also in Poland another Disorder among the Officers viz.
Templo plusquam Sacerdos In Re-publica plusquam Rex In Sententia dicenda plusquam Senator In Judicio plusquam Jurisconsultus In Exercitu plusquam Imperator In Acie plusquam Miles In adversis perferendis injuriisque condonandis plusquam Vir. In publica libertate tuenda plusquam Civis In Amicitia colenda plusquam Amicus In Convictu plusquam familiaris In Venatione ferisque domandis plusquam Leo. In tota reliqua Vita plusquam Philosophus Sigismund III. An. D. 1587. The Son of John King of Sweden by Catherine Daughter to Sigismund I. having renounc'd the Protestant Religion was chosen King of Poland by the unanimous consent of the Nobility He order'd Maximilian Arch-Duke of Austria whom the Crown-General Zamoski had defeated to be bound with Golden-fetters and carry'd to Zamosch where he kept him Prisoner two years Vladislaus VI or IV. The Son and Successor of Sigismund He had the courage to encounter an Army of 200000 Muscovites with 50000 Men and routed 'em entirely After this Memorable and Important Victory he took the City of Moscow and return'd in Triumph to Warsaw with Two Czars the Patriarch the Crown and 500 Wagons loaden with rich Spoils He defeated the Grand Signior Osman and pursu'd him almost as far as Constantinople Afterwards he was so animated with an Imprudent Zeal for the propagating of Religion that he resolv'd to undertake an Expedition to the Holy-Land and dy'd for grief because the Polanders refus'd to raise Subsidies to enable him to prosecute that design After his Death the Kingdom was harrass'd by the Cossacks who were principally incens'd against the Jews and Jesuits John Casimit Who was formerly a Jesuit and a Cardinal was Elected King after his Brother Vladislaus and obtain'd a Dispensation from the Pope to Marry his Widow He defeated the Cossacks in a doubtful and uncertain Battle near Beresteczko in Russia Having by this Victory curb'd that Factious People and secur'd the Quiet of the Kindom he began to indulge himself in his Pleasures He Banish'd the Vice-Chancellor of the Crown after he had Debauch'd his Wife and that Injur'd Officer returning to Sweden perswaded that Prince to Invade Poland which he did with so great success that Casimir was entirely dispossest But he was afterwards recall'd even by those who joyn'd with his Enemies and after several Battles oblig'd the King of Sweden to make a Peace At last by the perswasion of his Queen that he might make way for the Prince of Conde to Succeed him he Abdicated the Government and retir'd to France where he was made Abbot of St. Germans Michael After Casimir's Abdication several Intrigues were made by the Dukes of Lorrain Newburg and York and the Prince of Conde who stood Candidates for the Crown At that time the Duke of York profest the Protestant Religion but when that was objected against him by the Nobility a certain Jesuite who was employ'd to manage his Interest declar'd openly before the Senate of Poland that he was a Roman-Catholick At last contrary to all expectation the Election was determin'd in favour of Michael Coributh Wisnowieczki who was descended of the most ancient Family of the Dukes of Lithuania This Prince dy'd at Warsaw about a year after his Coronation and 't is commonly believ'd that he was Poyson'd by a certain Priest 'T was observ'd that when the General Sobieski afterwards Chosen King came to see him in his Coffin the Nose of the Deceast Prince began to Bleed assoon as he enter'd the Room John Sobieski This Prince was descended of a very Noble and Ancient Family in the Palatinate of Lublin He was the younger Son of Sobieski Castellan of Cracow by a Daughter of Stanislas Zolkiewski Great General of the Crown He was made Great Marshal of the Crown August 24. 1665 Great General of the Kingdom in 1667 and Great Master of the King's Houshold Palatin of Cracow c. He retook 60 Cities from the Rebel Cossacks in Vkrania In 1667. he defended Podhais against the Tartars and two years after took from them and the Cossacks the whole Palatinate of Braclaw in Lower Podolia In 1673. he obtain'd a Memorable Victory over the Turks at Choczim on the Niester where 8000 Janizaries and 20000 Spahis were kill'd He was Chosen King of Poland May 10th 1674 and made two Campaigns against the Turks before he was Crown'd But that which will for ever perpetuate the Honour of his Memory is that Glorious and Important Action which he perform'd in 1683 when he Rais'd the Siege of Vienna The following Panegyrical Character of that Prince was made upon that occasion JOANNI III. DOminatione Polonico Lithuanico Liberatione Austriaco Pannonico Profligatione Ottomanico Thracio Religione Christianissimo Pietate Catholico Zelo Apostolico Inter Duces pugnacissimo Inter Reges sapientissimo Inter Imperatores Augustissimo Cui Gloria militaris Regna peperit Clementia stabilivit Virtus perennavit Qui Raro pietatis constantiae exemplo propria deserens aliena defendens Docuit quo pacto sacra foederis jura Jungantur custodiantur compleantur Ottomani am lunam fulgentissimo crucis vexillo eternam Eclypsim minitantem Adeo prospere feliciterque finibus extirpavit Vt unum Idemque fuerit Venisse Vidisse Vicisse Igitur Inter innumeros Christiani Orbis plausus Inter vindicatam Religionis Imperii laetitiam Inter cruentae lunae extrema deliquia Agnoscant Praesentes Credant Posteri Non tantum enascenti Evangelio quo propagaretur Sed adulto ne profligaretur Vtrobique a Deo missum fuisse hominem Cui Nomen erat JOANNES He Marry'd the Lady Mary de la Grange the Daughter of the Marquiss now Cardinal d' Arquien and Widow of Prince Zamoiski He died June 17. 1696 being seiz'd with a Fit of an Apoplexy after a long Indisposition SOME REMARKS UPON THE GOVERNMENT OF POLAND 'T IS Worthy Observation as to the Election of a King in Poland that whereas the Nobility and Gentry are the Keepers Preservers and Defendors of the Liberty and Laws of the Country Now for fear of a Change in the Government as has happen'd in France Denmark Swedeland and Italy where the Nobility having been corrupted and brib'd with Honours and other Rewards by the Kings have by degrees remitted from time to time some of their Rights and Immunities ill at last they have fool'd themselves out of their Freedom into a Slavish Dependence on the Court the Republick of Poland warn'd by those Examples to avoid such a Fate has made a Law That the Election of a King must be Nemine Contradicente An Instance of this may be given in the Election of King Vladislaus the Fourth a most Warlike Prince who was Chosen King of Poland in consideration of the great Services he had done the Common-wealth with the unanimous Consent of the Whole Nobility excepting only one Deputy who made a Solemn Protestation against the Votes of all the Diet yet the said Prince could not be Crown'd without the Consent of
for the Consideration of the Money that several Candidates for their Crown must needs bring into their Kingdom In the mean time the Candidates began to make Parties and notwithstanding the Natives of Poland were Excluded by an Article of the Association afore mention'd Prince James and Prince Alexander his Brother appear'd amongst the others who made Interest for the Throne They had for Competitors the Prince of Conti Prince Lewis of Baden and the Duke of Lorrrain for the Duke of Bavaria would not appear and order'd his Minister the Abbot Scarlati to Sollicit for Prince James The Divisions in the Royal Family were very favourable to Forreign Candidates but they were happily extinguished by the Reconciliation of Prince James with his Mother and thereby their Interest which was divided before was reunited and Prince Alexander quitted his Pretensions The Primate contributed much to this Reconciliation which gave occasion to believe that he was not so deeply ingaged in the Interest of France as it was at first reported and as it appeared afterwards Prince James wanted neither Merit nor Money and yet by an unaccountable Fatality he was not much belov'd by the Poles tho they had been Witnesses of his Valour in several Rencounters It was thought that the Emperor would have Declared for that Prince because he had the Honour to be His Imperial Majesties Brother-in-Law but the Imperial Court was always upon the Reserve and what hapned in the Election shewed that the Emperor was Engaged for another The Prince of Conti is certainly endowed with Excellent Qualities and tho he has not met at the Court of France the Encouragement or Reward he deserved and though the Most Christian King has not thought fit to trust him with the Command of his Armies yet all the World owns that he was very Worthy of that Great Employment And most are of Opinion that the French King was Afraid of his Capacity Whatever it be the King of Poland was no sooner Dead but the King of France thought of Promoting the Prince of Conti to the Throne and the Abbot of Polignac his Minister in his Speech to the Dyet that was in August Magnify'd very much the Zeal and Affection the King his Master had always had for the Interests of the Republick and gave some hints to let them understand that his Kindness was so Great as to have Chosen a Successor to their King worthy of their Crown This was not expressed in plain Terms for it was not time to do it but he began few days after his Cabal and made use of such Artifices to render the Royal Family Odious to the People that the Queen was oblig'd to forbid him Her Presence and to Complain of him to the King of France who disown'd in Publick the Conduct of his Minister though likely it was Approved in Secret The French knowing that Money is the best Recommendation in Poland the Prince of Conti was Perswaded to Sell or rather Mortgage his Estate and the French King Remitted Vast Sums of Money to His Ministers which Gained him so great a Party that the House of Austria thought it was high time to think of Preventing his Election and therefore to redouble their Intreague If Merit alone had been sufficient to Raise a Prince to the Throne of Poland there is no doubt but Prince Lewis of Baden would have carry'd the Crown but His Highness wanting Money his Party was so inconsiderable that when the Election came on they were not taken notice of and as to the young Duke of Lorrain neither the Great Actions of his Father nor the Letter of the Queen his Mother to the Senate was able to gain her Friends enough to stand it out against Prince James and Prince of Conti. The Winter was spent in Intreagues and a great many Libels came out upon the Subject some Writing for Prince James others for the Prince of Conti and others against both The Nephew of Prince Sapieha was then at Paris and having spent his Money was Arrested for Debt The Prince of Conti having Notice thereof came himself to the Prison Paid all his Debts and gave him what Money he wanted to return home This young Gentleman was so sensible of the Generosity of that Prince and of the Civility wherewith he had accompanyed that Service that he Proclaimed it in Poland and ingaged his Unckle into his Interest However Prince James seemed to have the Stronger Party till the Death of the late King of Sweden which happen'd on the 17th of April 1697. That Prince who knew what Pretensions the Poles have upon Livonia was against the Election of any Foreign Prince but especially the Prince of Conti and as on the other side the Republick was obliged to have a great regard to the Recommendation of that Prince 't is believed Prince James would have been Elected for many of those who appear'd afterwards against him seem'd the most Zealous for his Interests The time of the Election drawing nigh the Queen thought fit to Remove a Second time from VVarsaw to Dantzick to avoid the Troubles that were occasion'd by her Presence in the last Diet and in the mean time Prince James with Count Jablonowsky General of the Crown and all the Party of the Emperor did their utmost to Ruin the Interest of the Prince of Conti and because they suspected the Rebellion of the Army to be fomented and incouraged by the French the Queen gave a Great Sum of Money to the Crown-General to endeavour to break off their Confederacy and thereupon a New Negotiation was set on foot with the Ringleaders of the Troops in which the Accompts of their Arrears were Adjusted between their own Deputies and those of the Republick and all other Points were so far setled that every body thought their Confederacy at an end However the Treaty broke off at the Instigation of one of their Officers who spread in the Army That the Crown-General had Declared That he would Cut off the Heads of their General and of some others Whereupon they declared They would hearken to no Accommodation and Baronowsky Published a Manifesto containing the Reasons of the Army for continuing in this Confederacy and resolved to take up their Quarters in Great Poland and Royal Prussia The Deputies of the Republick at Leopold upon Examination of the said Manifesto Declared That it was contrary to the Laws of the Kingdom Adjudged it an Act of Rebellion and Publish'd a Decree by which they Declared the Confederated Troops Rebels and Enemies to their Country This Declaration frighted most of the Troops and disposed them to demand another Conference with the Deputies of the Republick and in short they made their Submission to the Crown-General on the 11th of May 1697 in the Great Church of the Bernardins at Lemberg Baronowsky Mareshal of the Confederates Begg'd Pardon with an Audible Voice at the General 's Feet touching the Foot-stool of his Seat with his Forehead and Kissing his Feet under which he
Firing of the Artillery of the place and with Three Salvo's of all the Saxon Forces Incamp'd under the Walls of Cracow The next Day His Majesty being Cloathed in His Royal Robes went in Great Pomp to the Town-House and being Set upon a Throne Erected before the House the Magistrates came to Assure Him of their Fidelity and Presented Him with the Keys of their Town in a Silver Dish The Chancellor in the King's Name Assur'd them of His Maiesty's Clemency and Affection and Read with an Audible Voice the Oath of Fidelity which they took Kneeling After which they Presented according to Custom a Purse full of Ducats to His Majesty who was pleased to Confer the Order of Knighthood upon some of them All the People being about the Throne a Gentleman who had the Office of Treasurer scatter'd some Money amonst them which Liberality was Proclaimed by Great Acclamations of Joy and Long Live Friderick Augustus Our KING The Dyet which was Called some time before Met at Cracow according to Custom and at their first Meeting some of the Deputies of the French Faction made some Reflections on the Castellan of Cracow and other Senators who had advisd the Hastning of the King's Coronation which as they said ought to have been deferred till the great Dispute concerning the Crown was accommodated to which they said the Primate and his Party were enclined but they were Silenc'd by the rest of the Deputies who would not hear such Discourses The Contest about the Choice of a Mareschal went so far that the Sabres were drawn but at last the Matter was Composed and the Starost Minsky of Lithuania was Chosen on the 24th of September and so the Dyet went on upon Publick Business Some days after the Coronation the King held a Great Council of War wherein it was Resolved to send a Detachment of His Forces towards Dantzick to prevent the Prince of Conty's Landing and another to Warsaw to Secure the Place and Disperse the Rebels which was accordingly done the King in ending to repair in few ways to Warsaw at the Head of His Army But the Primate having received Advice of His Majesty's Coronation and of His design to March to Warsaw caused the Corps of the Late King with all the Artillery and Ammunition of the Place to be Embarked on the Vistula for Jarreslow designing to retire himself with the Mareschal of the Nobility of his Party to Lowitz a Strong Place in a Morass belonging to his Eminence which he did few days after The whole Party was much Surpris'd at the News of the King's Coronation for they did not think that the Saxons would have proceeded to it because of the Reasons I have mention'd however they were not Disheartned and they Summon'd the Nobility of Upper Poland to Meet at Lenovi under the Command of the Castellan of Calish In the Lower Poland at Zawickhorst under the Command of the Palatine of Beâ—z but the Rendesvous of the Lithuanians was left to the Prince Sapieha who was to have the Chief Command till the Arrival of the Prince of Conti who was daily expected That Prince set out form Dunkirk the 6th of September on board the Chevalier Bart and Arrived at Dantzick the 25th He sent a Gentleman to give Notice of his Arrival to the Magistrates and desire a free Passage through the City To which they Answer'd That they had a great Respect for his Highness but that the Elector of Saxony having been Crowned they could do no more for him than give him the Liberty to come ashore himself with his Servants alone but not suffer any Officers or Soldiers to Land or Pass through their City The Prince was very much Mortifyed at the Answer of the Magistrates but his Mortification increased much on the 29th of the same Month that he was an Eye-witness of their Proclaiming his Competitor with all imaginable Solemnity which was a great disappointment to his Party who thought to have had their Rendesvous in that Place They had also bought several Pieces of Cannon and Ammunition but the Magistrates would not suffer them to be carry'd away and forbid the Inhabitants upon Pain of Death to Sell any Arms or Ammunition to Strangers The Primate came Incognito to Confer with his Highness with Five or Six other Gentlemen In the mean time the King thought fit to send Circular Letters to all the Provinces of the Kingdom as well to notify his Coronation as to Answer some Calumnies raised by his Enemies The Substance of those Letters were That his Majesty being by the Free Choice of the Kingdom Elected and Crowned King of Poland he was concerned to find there should be any Persons so much Enemies of their Country as to go about to Violate the Rights of the Gentry and disturb the Publick Peace That he understood they Complain'd of his having Possess'd himself of the Castle of Cracow and brought Forces into the Kingdom but that he had done nothing therein but with the advice of the Senators and Great Officers of the Crown and that the Troops he had with him were no more than were necessary for the Security of his Person That notwithstanding the unreasonable Opposition of the Adverse Party he had used all endeavours to gain them by fair Means but the same not having had the effect he hoped for his Majesty Places his Confidence in the Protection of Almighty God and doe's not Doubt but they who Chose him King will be careful to maintain their own Honour and Liberty Immediatly after the Coronation the Castellan of Cracow was sent to the Army who having receiv'd the Arrears due to them declar'd they were ready to obey his Majestys Orders The Primate had sent some Deputies to ingage them to come over to his Party but he having been inform'd at lemberg of the disposition of the Troops they did not think fit to venture to go to the Camp for fear the General should proceed against them as Publick Enemies Thus stood the affairs of Poland towards the latter end of September 1697. and notwithstanding the Obstinacy of the Primate and his Party one may reasonably believe that the Prince of Conti will find himself disappointed his Competitor having many great advantages over him for altho one would suppose which is certainly false that their Parties in the Republick are equal yet the Electors Territories bordering upon Poland and all the Neighbouring Princes as Sweden Moscovy the Emperor Brandenburgh c. having declar'd for him his Party must needs prevail upon the Prince of Conti who has nothing to rely upon but the supplies from France which will be very uncertain considering the distance from France to Poland and the dangers of the Sea in this Season of the year The Reader doe's perhaps expect that we should inquire which of the two Elections is conformable to the Polish Laws or whether either of them may be said to be so which is neither improbable nor impossible but this inquity would