Enemy and that a Conqueror may quickly ruin himself by neglecting the prudent Maxims of a cautious Policy As soon as the Polish Army arriv'd near the City of Orsza the Muscovites retir'd about 4000 paces beyond the Boristhenes concluding that their retreat would embolden the Polanders to pass the River and that afterwards they might easily defeat them and intercept their flight The Duke of Muscovy was then at Smolensko about thirteen leagues from his Army where he employ'd his time in dividing Lithuania and sharing it among his Generals allotting to each of them a part of the Country on the Mapp and considering how he should dispose of an Army whom he look'd upon already as his Prisoners But the Polanders who have always the advantage over the Muscovites in the open Field were so incens'd at the Pride and Insolency of the Duke of Muscovy who threaten'd to whip them that they resolv'd to give him Battle In pursuance of this Resolution they divided their Army into two parts one commanded by General Suirczowski and the other by General Ostrogski The two Generals having held a Council of War commanded a Bridge to be laid over the River and order'd all the Artillery with the Infantry to pass the same which being done the Cavalry follow'd 'em with an incredible bravery the Muscovites pursuant to the Czar's Order not stirring from their Posts The two Armies being drawn up in order of Battle Suirczowski detach'd 800 Horse for a body of reserve and order'd them to post themselves in a Wood at the side of the Enemy's Army and in the heat of the Fight to sally out and attack the Muscovites with terrible Cries to put 'em into a consternation King Sigismund's Army was so dispos'd that the Polish Cavalry had the right Wing and the Lithuanians the left the Infantry being plac'd in the middle The Battle began about three a clock the Polanders first attacking the Muscovites with an undaunted Resolution Sometimes they gain'd Ground of 'em and sometimes were repuls'd by the unequal numbers of their Enemies but immediately they rally'd and broke through 'em afresh On the other hand Ostrogski who commanded the Lithuanians attack'd the Muscovites with an extraordinary fury and made a great slaughter among them There was in the Polish Camp a little rising Ground which contributed very much to the gaining of the Battle for their Artillery being planted there made such a dreadful havock in the Enemy's Rear and broke all their Ranks in so terrible a manner that they began to be disorder'd and to take the flight and those who were in the middle perceiving that those who were in the rear gave way began also to fly while they were still sighting in the van During this disorder the 800 Horse who were posted in the Wood attack'd the Muscovites in the flank with so much Fury that being no longer able to sustain the shock of the Polanders the whole Army gave ground and fled In this Battle 32000 Muscovites were kill'd and many drown'd in a Morass which they endeavour'd to pass in their flight Some affirm the Muscovites lost 40000 Men and 't is certain the slaughter was so great that the Waters of the Boristhenes grew red with the Blood that was sned on its banks The Polanders took a great number of Prisoners and among others ten Generals of the greatest Lords of Muscovy seventeen Palatins or Governors of Provinces and two thousand Gentlemen Of the Polanders there were but 400 men kill'd but the number of the wounded was much greater They obtain'd this memorable Victory March 25. 1614. After the gaining of such an important Battle the loss of which would have been infallibly attended with the total ruin not only of Lithuania but also of Poland the Generals ought to have besieg'd the City of Smolensko which they might have easily retaken during the universal consternation that was spread over Muscovy but instead of making a right use of that advantage they retir'd without making any further attempt and King Sigismund himself who expected the event at Boryssow return'd to Vilna with the Prisoners whom he caus'd to be led before him in a kind of Triumph From thence he sent Ambassadors to all Christian Princes to notifie the great Victory which he had obtain'd over the Muscovites and that their Eyes as well as Ears might convince 'em of the Truth of that Advice the Envoys were accompanied with fourteen Muscovites who were remarkable for their white Hair But the Emperor being enrag'd at the loss which his Allies had sustain'd and at the unhappy event of a War of which he himself was the Author surpriz'd the Envoys of the King of Poland as they were passing thro' his Territories and took their Prisoners from 'em whom he sent back to the Czar by the way of Lubec It is so natural to the Polanders to neglect the advantages which they obtain over their Enemies that after they had defeated Gustavus King of Sweden in a memorable Battle in which he himself was wounded and could hardly secure his own person they were so far from pursuing him that they suffer'd him to retire to Stum between Marienburg and Marienwerder where having rally'd his scatter'd Forces he renew'd the War with greater Vigor than before Nor were they guilty of a less inexcusable blunder after the Victory they obtain'd in Vkrania June 30. 1651 for tho the Cossacks and Tartars were totally routed and the Cham with Chemelnski put to flight the Polanders retir'd as if they had been beaten and immediately concluded a Peace by which they suffer'd the Cossacks to keep an Army of 20000 Men in the Palatinate of Kiowia This Reflexion is so just and important that I cannot forbear adding another remarkable instance of the same nature which happen'd Anno 1489. About that time Russia and Podolia were miserably harass'd by the Tartars who infested these Provinces with continual Inroads and always return'd home with a multitude of Slaves at last King Casimir resolving to prevent the utter ruin of the Country upon advice that the Tartars were preparing to make a new Incursion into Russia and Podolia he sent John Albert his Son with a body of light Horse to oppose 'em and order'd all the Gentry of Russia and Podolia to joyn him The Tartars being divided into two bodies the first of which consisted of 15000 Horse and the second of 10000 were returning home without fearing any danger with a prodigious number of Slaves according to their usual Custom but the young Prince with his Troops meeting the first attack'd and totally routed them and took from them all the Booty and Slaves they had carried away After this Success he march'd immediately to attack the other body The Officer who commanded 'em made some resistance but was at last kill'd and the slaughter was so great that the Polanders were weary with cutting off so many Heads for not one of the Tartars return'd to the Crim. This total defeat of the
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
him none In the mean time the Cham drove his Brothers out of the Peninsula without the Grand Signior's assistance whom he suspected to be the Contriver and Promoter of the Rebellion concluding that if he had not had such a design he would have deliver'd 'em up long before or at least would have kept 'em so secure that they could not have made their escape At the some time Amurath who was still engag'd in the War with the Persians sent to require Muchmetkirey's Assistance no longer as a Friend but as a Master and in a haughty and imperious manner which so enrag'd the Cham that he began to commit Hostilities against the Grand Signior without declaring War He besieg'd the City of Caffa and press'd it so hard in a few days that the Turks who were not in a posture of defence because they were not afraid of being attack'd by a Prince who was their Ally had resolv'd to surrender it in two days time if they were not reliev'd Then Amurath who was extreamly alarm'd at so unexpected an Expedition sont for one Assan a Tartar whom he had kept a long time Prisoner and who was said to be the Bastard-brother of Machmetkirey He spoke to him in a very obliging manner and told him that if he would obey his Orders he would advance him to great Honours that the Cham of Tartary had declar'd War against him without any reason that he was a Tyrant and abus'd his Subjects so barbarously that they were no longer able to bear his Cruelties and that if he would undertake to invade Crim Tartary he would furnish him with Mony and an Army to deliver his Countrymen from their inhuman Oppressor Assan who had never dreamt of exchanging his Chains for a Scepter transported with Joy at the prospect of so happy a turn in his Fortune readily accepted Amurath's Offer He was declar'd Viceroy of Tartary under the protection of the Grand Signior to whom he took an Oath of Fidelity and to all his Successors in the Ottoman Empire and afterwards having receiv'd the Golden Standard as a Mark of his Investiture he departed from Constantinople with 40 Galleys commanded by General Ochiali and arriv'd in a few days at Caffa just as that City was going to be surrender'd to Machmetkirey After he had reliev'd Caffa he endeavour'd by Presents and Promises to gain the principal persons among the Tartars to his side and to induce them either to kill the Cham or to deliver him up alive to him He found it no difficult Task to debauch their Fidelity for the Grand Signior had furnish'd him with a great quantity of Money and 't is the general weakness of the Oriental Nations that they are very easily brib'd Thus having secur'd a considerable number of them and even some of the Chain 's most faithful Friends he caus'd him to be massacr'd with his two Sons after which he was acknowledg'd Cham of the Tartars and acquir'd the Esteem and Affection of his Subjects by his extraordinary Liberality to them 'T was thus that the Crim Tartars who till then were a free People became Vassals to their ancient Allies and by the way this may serve to shew us what success may be expected from an Alliance with the Turks The Tartars are naturally so barbarous and cruel and of so haughty and imperious a temper that they despise all those who profess the Faith of Christ and look upon them as Beasts so that when they obtain any Advantage over them they impose insupportable Conditions upon them Thus the Tartars who inhabit along the Volga impos'd very shameful and dishonourable Conditions upon the Muscovites when they forc'd 'em to pay tribute to 'em anno 1470. After they had ravag'd Muscovy and subdu'd part of the Country they made a Peace with the Muscovites upon these Conditions That the Czar or Great Duke should pay a yearly tribute to the Tartars which he should be oblig'd to send to them on Horseback that he should go himself on foot with all the Lords of his Court to meet the person who should come to demand the said tribute even tho it were but a Postillion or Groom that the Czar should in a very respectful manner present him with a Pot of Mares-Milk to drink that if any one drop of it should happen to be spilt upon his Horse's Mane the Duke himself should be oblig'd to lick it off with his Tongue that he should spread a fine Sable Furr under the Feet of him who should read the Prince of Tartary's Letters that he and all the Lords of Muscovy should hear them read upon their Knees and that they should blindly obey all his Orders even tho he should command them to make War against the Christians In the Year 1226 in the Reign of Boleslaus Pudicus the Crim Tartars made a terrible Irruption into Poland over-run all the Palatinate of Lublin and having passed the Vistula at Zavichost ravaged the Country and carried away a great Booty into Russia After they had secur'd their Prey they return'd to Poland where they committed far greater Barbarities and as if the whole Kingdom had not been sufficient to satisfie their insatiable Desire of Plunder they march'd as far as Silesia where the Dukes of Oppelen Ratibor and Lignitz having joyn'd the Teutonic Knights and the Troops of Great Poland resolv'd to attack them but were themselves unfortunately defeated and the slaughter was so great that the Barbarians carried away with 'em nine Sacks full of Ear-rings which they had cut from the Christians after the Battle Some time after in the same Reign the Tartars return'd into Poland with a great Army accompanied by Leo and Romanus Dukes of Russia who tho' they profess'd the Christian Faith scrupl'd not to join with its mortal Enemies After they had over-run the Palatinates of Lublin Sandomir and Cracow they retir'd into their own Country but the Dukes of Russia being also desirous to enrich themselves with Booty made Incursions into Massovia and Lithuania where Boleslaus defeated them and Romanus was afterwards kill'd at Zavichost a small City on the Vistula about two leagues below Sandomir But as if those first Incursions which the Tartars made into Poland had only serv'd for a Whet to their ravenous Appetites they return'd again in the Reign of Leseus Niger in the year 1279 with a terrible Army and carried away so many Slaves that having counted them at Vlodzimirs a Town of Vpper Volhinia on the Frontiers of Russia they found that there were Twenty thousand young Women among the Captives I might venture to affirm that the Tartars have invaded Poland in the Reigns of almost all its Kings In that of John Albert they made an Irruption into Volhinia in the year 1493. And in the same Reign being joyn'd by the Turks they made such a dreadful Incursion into that miserable Country that after they had sacked Premislia Jeroslaw and several other Cities they carried away above One hundred thousand
But the Dyet which was afterwards held at Warsaw would not ratifie that Peace so that the War between Poland and the Port was renew'd with greater Vigor than before The two Armies of the Crown and of the Dutchy advanc'd towards Podolia the one commanded by General Sobieski and the other by General Patz and march'd together to attack that of the Turks which was encamp'd at Chotzin on the Niester about five leagues from Caminiec where they fought and entirely routed ' em This Victory which was very considerable would have doubtless restor'd the Affairs of Poland to a good condition and contributed very much to the retaking of Caminiec if the Generals had made a right use of so important an Advantage But the Battel was no sooner over than they carried home their Troops the one into Poland and the other into Lithuania in which they imitated their Predecessors Swirâ—zowski and Ostrogski who after they had obtain'd a memorable Victory over the Muscovites return'd home instead of marching to attack Smolensko which they had lost a little before and might then have easily retaken The Error which those two Generals committed by neglecting so inviting an opportunity to reduce Smolensko was so unaccountable and so directly opposite to the Maxims of Policy and even of common Prudence that I cannot forbear inserting the whole Story In the year 1512 Sigismund King of Poland married the Daughter of the Count of Scepusz which so incens'd the Emperor Maximilian that he left no means unattempted to involve Poland either in a civil or foreign War It was in pursuance of this design that in a Dyet of the Princes of Germany he complain'd of King Sigismund's Proceedings alledging That he was contriving indirect Methods to expel the Teutonic Knights out of Prussia which they had purchas'd with their Blood and where they had extirpated Paganism and establish'd the Faith of Jesus Christ But seeing he could not prevail with the Princes to declare War against the King of Poland at a time when all the Christians were ready to enter in a Confederacy against the Turks he made a League with Basil Duke of Muscovy and perswaded him to declare War against the Polaenders and to invade Lithuania The Muscovite relying upon this new Alliance with the Emperor scrupl'd not to violate the Peace he had made with King Sigismund He rais'd an Army enter'd Lithuania and after he had destroy'd the Country sate down before Smolensko but could not take it tho at the same time Sigismund was in Poland and had no Troops on foot to oppose him The King of Poland being inform'd of the Treachery of the Duke of Muscovy who had broke the Peace without any cause call'd a Dyet at Radom in the Year 1513 to concert the Measures that were to be taken in so pressing an exigency The Czar on the other hand sent to demand Succours from the Emperor his Ally who only sent him some Engineers who cast 300 pieces of Cannon for him The year following the Duke of Muscovy having assembl'd an Army of 80000 Men march'd with his 300 pieces of Cannon to besiege Smolenske which he batter'd in a very furious manner The City was so closely block'd up and the Avenues so well guarded that 500 Horse whom the King of Poland sent to its relief could not get into the place In the mean time the Garrison made so vigorous a defence that the Muscovites being discourag'd by the obstinate resistance of the Polanders rais'd the Siege and ravag'd Lithuania a second time After they had sent their Booty to Muscovy they return'd to the Siege of Smolensko but the Garrison defended the place with so much Courage and Resolution that the Czar despairing of Success resolv'd to raise the Siege but Glinski a Lithuanian Rebel perswaded him to continue it insinuating that he could not without exposing himself to eternal Infamy suffer an impotent and dishearten'd enemy to insult over such a formidable Army At last the cunning Traytor who had engag'd Basil in this enterprise perceiving that he could not take the City by force resolv'd to try the Success of a Stratagem To this end he desir'd leave to speak with the Governor to whom he represented That his Master was not in a condition to relieve him that the Garrison could not hold out much longer and that unless he was resolv'd to bury himself in the Ruins of the City he ought to consult his own true Interest and accept the vast Recompences which the Czar was willing to give him Thus the Governor was perswaded to surrender the City of Smolensko which the Polanders had possess'd for the space of a hundred years As soon as King Sigismund had receiv'd at Radom the news of the loss of that important place he went immediately to Lithuania in September and assembl'd all the great Lords of that Dutchy at Vilna to deliberate with them how they might effectually oppose the Progress of their victorious enemy 10000 Horse 20000 Foot and some light Horse were rais'd in Lithuania with which and with the Army of Poland and the necessary Artillery the King set out from Vilna with a design to attack the Muscevites The Czar having receiv'd Advice of the march of the Polish Army reassembl'd his Troops and encamp'd near Smolensko lest the King should sit down before it After he had reinforc'd the Garrison he marched with his Army to Lithuania and advanc'd to the River Berezina in the Palatinate of Minsk where Sigismund arriving immediately after struck such a Terror into the Muscovites that they retir'd to the City of Orsza not far from the Boristhenes The King of Poland having passed the River Berezina without any opposition detach'd a body of 30000 chosen Men whom he order'd to march towards the enemy while he remain'd at Boryssow on the River Berezina with the rest of the Army where he cast up Trenches and fortified the Camp with great diligence that if the Muscovites should gain the Battle the Polanders and Lithuanians might have the advantage of retiring to a place of security and that he might afterwards be in a condition to oppose the enemy who even after a Victory would have been weaken'd by the Battle and harass'd by the Fatigues of so long a pursuit The Czar who was at the head of an Army of 80000 Men despis'd that of Poland which was not half so numerous and insolently boasted that his Soldiers should not so much as take the pains to draw their Sabres against the Polanders but drive 'em all to Muscovy with Whips like Herds of Oxen or Flocks of Sheep Nor was this a meer Rhodomontade for he actually gave Orders to his Soldiers that they should not draw their Sabres but let the Polanders pass the Baristhenes without opposition and then whip 'em to Muscovy But that insolent and haughty Prince had the Mortification to be convinc'd by a very fatal and unwelcome experiment that a great Army should never despise a feeble
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
Republick That right is now given to those who are in Favour at Court or Protected by some Great Lord whereas formerly it was granted only to Officers as a Recompence for their Services done to the State Those who are not Officers and yet pretend to the Indigenat by the favour of the King or of the Marshal of the Deputies procuring their Names to be inserted in the Instructions of the Army that is among the Names of the Officers who demand to be made Gentlemen of Poland and every one of the Pretenders gives in an account of his Genealogy Name Sirname Family and Services and puts his Coat of Armes in the middle And after they have been receiv'd by the Diet and their Pattents Seal'd they take an Oath of Fidelity before the Marshal of the Deputies by which they Swear to be faithful to their Country and to the King and the Marshal gives 'em a Certificate declaring that the Diet has receiv'd such a one for its Natural Son and that he has taken the Oath of Fidelity before him Yet tho' a stranger be made a Gentleman of Poland the King cannot bestow any considerable Employment or Consistorial Benefices on him or his Children to the third Generation For the Republick has made this Provision that they may be the better assured of the Fidelity of those who are entrusted with any Office or enjoy any Benefices According to the Constitutions and Laws of Poland a Diet must not sit above Six Weeks and the Nobility are so fond and jealous of their Privileges that when the King endeavours to prolong the Session of a Diet and even when the Interest of the State requires the Sitting of that Assembly the Deputies are always ready to oppose such an Innovation and Charge their Marshal to Acquaint the King that they will immediately leave the Diet as soon as they perceive that he intends to keep them longer than usually I shall only mention one Instance of this Unaccountable Obstinacy which happen'd in the Diet Assembled at the Coronation of King John Casimir in the Year 1649. The Defeat of the Polish Army at Pilaveze and afterwerds the Dreadful Irruption of the Cossacks and Tartars into the very heart of the Kingdom had reduc'd the Republick almost to the last extremity and since the Diet had been so busy'd in determining particular affairs that they had not time to consider of the Means to raise a sufficient Army to oppose the progress of so Barbarous and formidable an Enemy till the very day before the breaking up of the Diet the King and the Senators endeavour'd to find out a way to avoid the terrible danger that threatned 'em and for that end resolv'd to Prolong the Diet But as soon as the Deputies were inform'd of this Resolution they sent their Marshal to the Senators to put 'em in mind of the Law which forbids the prolonging of Diets and afterward to take leave of the King The Marshal to execute his Commission went to the Senate and began to thank the King and to take leave of Him in the Name of all the Nobility whereupon the Senators rising up desir'd that they wou'd condescend to sit only one day longer representing the Pressing Exigencies of the present Juncture The Chancellor seconded these Intreaties with a very Moving and Pathetick Harangue After which the Marshal having resum'd his Character which he had already laid down went back to the Deputies and pray'd them to give their Opinion concerning the Prolongation which the King and Senate desir'd The Deputies met again at the return of their Marshal and were at last prevail'd with tho' not without a great deal of difficulty to consent that the Diet should be prolong'd but upon this condition that every one of them should obtain whatever his Palatinat had charg'd him to ask CHAP. XVI Of the Diet of the Election THE General Diet for the Election of a King is always held in the open Field about half a League from Warsaw near the Village of Vola where they erect a sort of Booth cover'd with Boards at the Publick Charge which in the Polish Language is called Szopa or a Shelter from bad Weather This place is built and prepar'd by the Treasurer of the Crown 't is surrounded with a Ditch and has Three Doors The Day appointed for the Diet being come the Senate and the Nobility go to St. John's Church at Warsaw to hear the Mass of the Holy Ghost and to beg the Grace of God in order to the Electing of a New King who may have all the Qualitys necessary to defend the Interests of the Church and of the Republick After which they go to the Szopa where the Order of the Nobility elects the Marshal of the Deputies that were sent by the Petty Diets who being Chosen by Plurality of Voices and having taken the Oath goes to Salute the Senators and to be confirm'd by their Approbation After these Preliminaries the Orders of the Senate and Nobility enter into an Union or Association which they Ratifie and Confirm with an Oath Not to separate from one another not to Name any person for King Nor acknowledge him as such till he be Elected by the unanimous consent of 'em all They swear also to preserve all the Rights Privileges and Immunities of the Republick and that he who shall do otherwise shall be declar'd an enemy to his Country They Promise reciprocally neither to give their Voices for an Election nor to enter into any Agreement with the Candidates or their Ambassadors till all the Irregularities and Disorders that have been committed either in the Kingdom or Dutchy be consider'd and redress'd They annul and make void all the Decrees of the Tribunals and even the Statutes of the Kings that are found to be contrary to their Liberties and Promise to make a Law to that Purpose They declare That all the Judgements given before the Publication of the Interregnum shall be valid and that they will approve of all that shall be done by the Court of Justice establish'd during the Interregnum which is called Kaptur and is design'd for the defence of the Country for Coyning of Money for raising of Soldiers and for maintaining the Laws They forbid any person to come to the Diet with Strangers or with Fire-Arms They ordain that the Generals of the Army shall take an Oath before Commissioners to discharge the Trust that is repos'd in 'em with all possible fidelity to make no other use of their Troops than to oppose the Enemies of the Nation To defend the Frontiers of the Kingdom and to secure the Honour and Liberties of the Republick They oblige 'em also to Swear to Assert the Publick Interest in case of a Sedition or Revolt To restrain the Souldiers from injuring any person To receive no Money either from the Clergy or Laity and to hinder the Soldiers from receiving any After which they forbid the Officers of the Army to March with their Forces into
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.
that they seldom come to the place of Rendezvous on the Day appointed for there are many of them who do not arrive there with their Companies or Regiments till a Moneth and sometimes Six weeks after and even there are some who leave the Army a Moneth before the Campagne is ended The King of Poland and the Generals might easily Remedy this Disorder but they dare not attempt to do it for fear of offending some Persons of Quality whose Affection they must carefully preserve For they who leave the Army or come not to the Rendezvous by the Day prefixt are commonly Polish Gentlemen and not Strangers who are more exact and dare not assume such Liberties without asking and obtaining Leave As 't is impossible to carry on a War without Money so there is no other way to Raise Mony but by Taxes And therefore besides the ordinary Revenues of the Republick which are the Fourth Part of the Estates and Offices that are in the King's Gift The Customs upon Wines and Merchandizes and the Tribute that is Exacted from the Jews they impose also in time of Necessity a certain Sum by way of Poll upon every Person 's Head which is no new sort of Tax in Poland For King Casimir III. after he had lost the Battle against the Toutonick Knights Summon'd a Diet at Peotrkow in which it was ordain'd That the whole Gentry and Clergy and even the King Himself should give half of their Revenues for defraying the Charge of the War The Polish Army is compos'd of Polanders and Strangers All the Polish Troops are Cavalry and are called Husartsz and Tovarzysz The Husartsz are Chosen Men Brave and in good Condition The Tovarzysz are so called from a word which signifies a Comerade and both sorts are Gentlemen The one are Armed with Lances and the other with Bows and Arrows and there are some Troops of Horse who have behind their Backs Wings made of Cocks Feathers which are usually White in order to frighten the Enemies Horses which are not accustom'd to such sights They are all Richly Cloath'd with the Skins of Tygers Leopards or Panthers their Horses are also very sine and well-harnessed In a word it may be said that they are the finest and best Cavalry in the World and that they would be Invincible if they were more submissive and better Paid As for the Foreign Troops they are almost all Infantry and are called Forreigners because they are kept on German Pay and receive the Word of Command in the German Language tho' most of the Soldiers and Officers are Polanders Those Troops are divided into Regiments of Foot or Dragoons and the Regiments into Companys as in France But the Soldiers are so miserably poor that the greatest part of them have neither Swords nor Shooes When they lie in Towns they live on Three Gros a day which are worth Two pence of Polish Money or a Penny English and upon what they can steal from the Peasants that come that come to the Markets for 't is not the Custome in Poland to give them Ammunition-bread and even the Officers of Foot are not better Cloath'd than our common Soldiers I proceed in the next place to give some Account of the Equipage with which the Polanders go to the Army And first There are no â—utlers in the Polish Army for besides that the Soldiers would not pay 'em they could never arrive in the Camp without being plunder'd by the Soldiers and especially by the Lithuanians who are more accustom'd to Pillage than the Polanders so that every Man must carry every thing that he stands in need of along with him which obliges the Officers to hare a great Equipage and to provide sufficient quantities of Meat Bacon Butter Salt Sugar Comfits Spices Beer Hungary-Wine Brandy Oats and generally of every thing that is necessary for themselves their Servants and their Horses They have many Wagons as well for carrying all sorts of Provisions as their Tents which are very heavy but very fine As for the poor Soldiers I have already intimated that they live upon Roots and the flesh of dead Horses or such as they find lying in Quagmires For if the Owner does not take speedy care to draw him out he must expect to be prevented by the Famish'd Soldiers who in a moment cut him into a Thousand Pieces 'T is generally known and acknowledg'd that the success of an Enterprize espeially in War depends in a particular manner upon two things viz. Secrecy and the Certain Knowledge which a General ought to have of the strength or weakness of his Enemies and of the place where they are posted As for Secrecy which is the Soul of all Important Affairs it is so little observ'd in Poland that every petty Officer is acquainted with all the Great General 's Designs And as for the Knowledge of the State of the Enemy since the Polanders never make use of Spyes they never learn any News of the Enemy's Army till they meet with some of their Parties And this is the reason why the News which come from the Polish Army are so uncertain that those who are acquainted with the Country seldom give any Credit to these Reports The Army of Poland being thus Compos'd and being accompany'd with such an Equipage as I lately mention'd is under the Command of a Great General and of the General of the Field and besides these Two General Officers there are also others under them as the Master of the Artillery the Pissarsz or Intendant of the Army the Great Standard-Bearer the Field-Marshal the General of the Centinels and the Major-Generals who are the same with our Brigadiers Before I conclude this Chapter there is one thing more observable in the Polish Army which is that if News be brought to them when they are at Table that the Enemy appears they will not stir till they have done to Mount their Horses and pursue their Enemies CHAP. XXII Of the Estates and Revenues of the Polanders THE Estates in Poland are of Three sorts either Royal Ecclesiastick or Patrimonial The Royal Estates are part of the Domain and belong to the Republick They consist of the Starosties Salt-works and half the Revenue of the Port of Dantzick As for the Starosties the King is oblig'd to bestow them on Polish Gentlemen within Six Months after a Vacancy for 't is not in his Power to reserve any of them for himself except those that are called Royal Oeconomies which together with the Salt-works and the Port of Dantzick belong properly to him so that his whole Revenue amounts to but about a Million of Livers But then he is not to pay any Troops out of it not so so much as his own Regiment of Guards and all the Officers of his Houshould who are Gentlemen of Poland serve him without any Salary in hopes of obtaining some Benefice or Starostie So that he is at no Charge but for his Table Cloaths and Stable and besides he receives many
Offices under the Penalties aforemention'd This space of three years was afterwards Contracted to two years as appears by the following Edict WHereas in the Diet of the Year last past 1668. the Arian or Socinian Sect was Banish'd out of our Dominions by Us with the Consent of the States and Three Years time was allow'd them to Sell off their Goods By the Authority of the present Diet We grant them Two Years for Selling their Goods to Commence from the time of the last Diet and to end precisely on the Twelfth of July in the Year next ensuing 1669 which shall not be prejudicial to those who shall hereafter return into the Communion of the Roman Catholick Church But forasmuch as several Absconded in the Kingdom and many others were Protected by the Favour of the Nobles after the Foreign War in which Poland was engag'd was over they were all Banish'd the Kingdom by a Severe Edict which is as follows We Returning due Thanks to the Lord of Hosts for the Benefits of the last Year who has given us so many Signal Victories over our Enemies and desiring by this our Gratitude to continue the Divine Favour towards us when We shall have Banish'd out of our Dominions those who oppose the Praeeternity of his Son According to our Edicts made in the Assembly of the States in the Year 1668 and 1669 against the Arian or Socinian Sect We for the preventing the Absconding of any of the said Sect within our Territories of Poland and Lithuania and that the foresaid Laws against them may be put in Execution do require all our Officers and Judges to be strict therein And in the Great Dutchy of Lithuania we assign a Court of Judicature to Determine all such Causes By this last Law Publish'd and Ratify'd in an Assembly of the States under the Reign of the late King in the Year 1673 The Socinians were driven out of the Kingdom How Miserable their present Condition is and to what Dangers and Troubles they in their Exile were expos'd appears by this Sorrowful Letter of one of them to the rest of his Brethren A LETTER giving an Account of the Present state of the Socinians YOu desire that I should give you an Account of our present Calamity and Distress Alass you command me to renew an unspeakable Woe to run over again the Remembrance of our Sorrows and to make our Wounds raw and gaping as they are to Bleed afresh My Soul shivers at the reflexion of those many Fatal Blows we have receiv'd Not only my Mind but my Hand and Pen shake at and fly back from the Recital of those Misfortunes which have hitherto pursu'd us and whereof I my self was an Eye-witness We were ah we were a happy People and now the very remembrance of that Felicity which our Churches for so many years by the Divine Favour did enjoy does render the sense of our present Troubles the more severe So that we are loth so much as to remember when how and by what steps we fell from being what we were And did not the goodness of the Cause for which we suffer and the Consolations of this kind of Patience support our Minds it would be better for us who are almost overwhelm'd with such a vast weight of Calamity to forget all that is past that so our present Miseries might be born the more easie Yet because you are desirous of having some description of our present Condition we will give it you not drawn in its own proper and lively Colours but set off in the plainest Dress and such things as are but a trouble for us to insist long upon these we shall but lightly touch Nor do I think it worth the while to give you in a long train a Catalogue of unknown Names if the Faithfulness of the Relators be suspected upon the account of the Inraged or at least ignorant Witnesses and Judges of our Cause 'T is a great Enhancement to the Misfortunes of the Miserable But tho' fortune has abandon'd us in our Misery yet we still retain our Integrity It is best therefore to shew you the Beginnings of our Troubles and when these are once known it will be visible to every one how absurd and unjust it is to discredit the Truth of those things which by the very Nature of our Sufferings cannot be otherwise The first Rise of our Troubles we may date from the War begun in our Country with the Cossacks in the Year 1648 whereby several Inhabitants of the Country and many of our Countrymen especially those of us who were borderers on the Boristhenes were rifled of our Estates and Possessions or at least suffer'd irreparable Losses Upon this long before the Law of Proscripion made in the Year 1668 I with the greatest part of my Estate was ruin'd and for the full space of Ten years before the Banishment was an Exile and with several others of our Friends were as it were cast away before the Storm came Immediately after this the Muscovites and within a while the Swedes and at last the Transilvanians made Incursions into our Country which put the whole Kingdom into great Confusion and not the least Creature in it was free from these Outrages For their own Soldiers were so insolent and the Auxiliary Troops of Scythia and Germany so violent that they could neither escape by flight nor repel by Armes their unjust Force We were not indeed the only Persons who suffer'd by the Wars but we alone were those who exhausted by so many Wars and almost Expiring were harrass'd by a Peace more cruel than any War at a time when others were at quiet and by our Constant strugling with an adverse Fortune it seems as if the former Wars had inspir'd a Spirit of Persecution into the Peace which follow'd Altho' in the very heat of the Wars our Enemies were so industrious as to find out means whereby the heaviest Weight of the War might fall on our heads For upon the Abdication of King Casimire while the Swedes were Masters of Cracow the Deputies from all Provinces of the Kingdom flock'd thither to adjust Matters with the Enemy and their Armies with their Generals separated and almost all Orders bought their Peace by Surrendring But that we might not share the benefit of that short Peace our Inveterate Enemies fell upon us and Plunder'd us whilst we dream'd of no such danger and were every one of us quiet in our own Habitations This sudden Evil was the Death of some of our Party and of some of my own Relations but several who with much ado escap'd from these Pillagers fled to Cracow which was then Govern'd by a Swedish Garrison Tho they were forc'd upon this Flight through Fear and had long before this voluntarily thrown themselves under the Protection of the Swedes yet this was afterwards most unjustly laid to their Charge as a Crime and no Course of Law was us'd in the Oppressing of our Friends The Romish Mass-Priests who
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
the Heart of the Kingdom and much less near the Diet upon pain of being declared Enemies of the State And if the Republick should be Attack'd by such Potent Enemies that the Army shou'd not be strong enough to oppose them they declare That from that Minute they Summon all the Nobility to Meet together without delay at the place and time which the Archbishop of Gnesna and his Council shall appoint That the Review of the Soldiers rais'd in General by the Republick or in Particular by the Palatinats shall be made in the Camp That each Palatinat shall take care to pay it 's own Troops and not to Disband any but such as the General Diet shall think fit to dismiss That the Army shall not offer any violence to the Persons or Estates of the Polish Gentlemen or Clergy and much less to the Royal Demesnes And that the Officers shall be accountable for the Injuries done by their Troops They forbid the Treasurers of the Crown and of the Dutchy to give out any Mony without the Knowledge and Approbation of the Arch bishop and his Council but only for the Payment of the Troops of the Republick They ordain that skilful and honest persons shall be sent to visit the Salt-works and to regulate the Reparations that shall be found necessary and that the Deputies of certain Cities shall not be admitted to the Diet till they have prov'd their Right After the Marshal of the Deputies is Elected and a Court of Justice Established for the security of all that is done during the Diet they begin to treat of the Exorbitances or Irregularities committed against the Republick in General or against private Persons Then they give Audience to the Ainbassadors of all the Princes who either Aspire to the Crown or Recommend some of the Pretenders When the Ambassadors are to have their Audience the Republick sends for them beginning with the Pope's Nuncio then proceeding to the Emperour's Ambassador after him to the French Ambassor and next to that of Spain But since the Diet of Election held at Warsaw after the Death of Sigismund Augustus when the Spanish Ambassador demanded Audience before the Ambassador of France who notwithstanding was preferr'd before him whereupon he retir'd without making his Harangue there has never been any Ambassanor from the Court of Spain For as for Don Ronquillos the Spanish Minister who was present at the Diet in 1674. for the Election of the late King John III. he never durst assume the Title or Quality of Ambassador least he should be oblig'd to give place to the Ambassador of France The Diet always sends some of the Senators to the Ambassadors I know not whether there be any Constitution that regulates the number of those that are sent to the Ministers but I remember the Diet in 1674. deputed 2 Palatins and 4 Casteilans to the Ambassador of France and all the Friends of the French Faction sent their Servants and Coaches so that his Train consisted of above 100 Coaches and more than 3000 Men. When the Ambassadors receive Audience they make their Harangue in Latin The Arch-bishop or Bishop who presides Answers for the Senate and the Marshal of the Deputies for the Nobility The French Ambassador in his return from the Audience was attended by the same Train that accompany'd him thither And since a plentiful Entertainment is next to Money the most prevailing and successful Argument to win the Esteem and Affection of a Polander it ought to be one of the principal cares of an Ambassador to Treat 'em Liberally and to allow 'em so much as may not only fill their Stomachs but intoxicate their Brains Besides the care that an Ambassador ought to take to Manage the Orders of the Senate and Nobility he ought in a particular manner to oblige the Clergy who by reason of their Interest and Authority are most capable of rendring his Negotiation successful He must be always ready to make them considerable Presents which they receive under the notion of Alms that in their Sermons and private Discourse they may extol the Liberality and Magnificence of his Master 'T is plain then that an Ambassador ought to be Liberal to all the various Ranks and Conditions of People that he may gain the Assistance of some and avoid the Opposition of others Besides he ought not to pay 'em all that he promises in ready Money but give them part at first and keep 'em in expectation of the rest otherwise they do not believe themselves oblig'd to keep their Word and the hopes of receiving more has a far greater Influence upon 'em than the consideration of what they have receiv'd already I have already observ'd and 't will not be improper to repeat it that an Ambassador is oblig'd to Manage all the Senators in General as 't is in a particular manner his Interest to Manage the Bishops and Clergy because they are the Heads and Masters of Religion by which the People are usually soonest gain'd But above all if an Ambassador designs to obtain the Favour of the Senate be must never forget to secure the Assistance of at least one of the most Considerable Prelates And 't is even expedient to Treat the Clergy as well as the Laity For the Money that is spent in Feasts is sometimes bestow'd to better purpose than that which is given away in Presents because he that gives Presents acquires the Jealousy and Hatred of those whom he neglects whereas many Persons at once may be oblig'd by a Well-tim'd Entertainment Liberality is the most necessary Qualification of an Ambassador for if he should be Penurious his Master would be accused of the same fault and the People who Judge only by what they see would be apt to believe that his Parsimony was a Mark of the Poverty of the Candidat whom he Represents 'T is also no less certain that an Ambassador should pursue no other Interest than that of his Master that he should serve him without any private design and blindly follow all his Orders and Intentions 'T is for this reason that the Popes forbid the Nuncio's whom they send to Poland to the Diets of the Election of a King to make any Interest to secure the advantage of the Privilege which that Prince has to Nominate one to the Dignity of a Cardinal that it may appear to all the World that they are only concern'd for the Publick good of Christendom and that a Minister who is sent from the Common Father of the Faithful comes not thither with a Spirit of Partiality but only with a design to promote the Election of a Prince who may be able and willing to advance the good of the Church and State Nevertheless it has been frequently observ'd that the Nuncio's contrary to the express Orders of the Soveraign Pontiff have acted zealously for their private Interests and have made great Party 's to secure the Nomination to the Cardinalship To return to the Diet after all the Grievances