not put a stop to the Rapidity of his Conquests and if the Poles submitted themselves to that fiery Nation they and all Europe would find themselves involved in such a Slavery as no Prince would be capable of delivering them from any more All those Complaints were spread even into the Dominions of those Princes who did not concern themselves in the Matter The Ministers of the Allies published them through all the Provinces of Poland Polignac in his Audiences Conversation and at Meals shewed the Vanity of those Discourses and that the Poles had nothing to fear from a Nation at such a distance from them that those who attempted to possess them with that Notion did them wrong that they were too brave to fear that any Nation could accomplish that which the Romans durst never Attempt that the French assisted their Allies but were far from oppressing them that Sweden was a very fresh instance of it that that Kingdom would remember the Alliance they had with France as long as they preserved the Provinces which the King of Denmark and the Elector of Brandenburgh had restored them by means of the Crown of France He afterwards discoursed on the Genius of the Germans who were not baulked by repeated Denials but had the Crown of Poland in view at every Interregnum That France and Poland were the only Kingdoms in Europe where the Germans had not been able to extend their Dominion That the Empire the Kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia had fallen to the Share of the Cadets of the House of Austria That the Eldest Branch had succeeded to the Monarchy of Spain and the Kingdoms of Naples Sicily and Sardinia That they had invaded that of Portugal only because it lay convenient for them and without the Assistance of France it had remained under their Dominion still That Denmark and Sweden and lately Great Britain had fallen under the Dominion of Princes that were originally Germans That the Poles might if they pleased add their Crown to all those Conquests That he had not Power enough to prevent them but he was too much their Friend to give them such pernicious Advice The Enemies of France did not give over their Designs though hitherto every thing had succeeded ill with them The Queen perceived her Son excluded in all the petty Diets She was very much incensed against France and her hatred increased the Prince of Conti's Party Her Resentments came to such an height against the Ambassador of that Crown That in Nov. 1696. she ordered her Picture to be taken out of the Palace of that Minister which contributed more than all that the Abbot could do or say to confirm the Poles on his side who were always afraid that there was some secret understanding betwixt him and her in favour of the younger Princes her Sons whereas had the Queen been so much Master of her self as to have carried it fair outwardly with that Minister she would have thereby render'd him suspected Some further Endeavours were us'd to calm her by representing to her that since the Indignation which France had conceiv'd against her Eldest Son was just she had no reason to complain but she shut her Eyes upon all those considerations and only ruminated upon the French's depriving her Son of a Crown which the Custom of his Country seem'd to have assur'd him of she express'd her Resentments very highly against that Minister who being more addicted to the Interest of his Master and to his own Duty than dazzled with the hopes of making his Fortune which that Princess offer'd him or with the personal Esteem she discover'd for him became the Instrument of the Ruine of her Family by raising up the Prince of Conti as a Candidate for the Crown There were two things she could never forgive him The first that he had so much Courage as to prefer his Duty to that which she demanded of him The second that without informing her of his design to advance the Prince of Conti he had found a way to deprive her of two Millions This Reflexion was so much the more cutting to her that by her Complaisance she had weakned the Party of her Son and fortified that of the only Competitor that he had reason to fear She had every day some New Subjects of Mortification by the Results of the petty Diets who after the Convocation assembled according to Custom in the Provinces That they might not be without Council during the Inter-regnum they unanimously refolv'd to meet every day six Weeks or at least every two Months on different days and to communicate their Deliberations to one another by Deputies These were new Cares laid upon those who were to inspire so great a Body with Resolutions The first Assemblies were very tumultuous because of the rupture of the Convocation or Preliminary Diet of the Confederacy of the Armys of the Complaints of the Palatine of Vilna against the Queen and of the Correspondences that were discover'd with the Enemies of the State It was also believ'd that there would have been great Contestations upon account of the Act of the General Confederacy drawn up by the Cardinal after the Rupture of the Diet. The Primate had then as many Enemies as the Queen because he had maintainâ—d her Interest with so much heat that he was accus'd of stubbornness But Reason carried it against Prudence and the Act of the Confederacy was generally receiv'd in all the petty Diets But some Restrictions were made in it according to the Genius of the Palatinates The Articles generally agreed on were 1. That they oblig'd themselves by Oath to chuse no King but one that was certainly a Catholick and the Princess his Wife if he were married the like 2. That they should not propose any Piasta or Native 3. That the Diet of the Election should be held from the 15th of May to the 26th of June and that all the Nobility should attend there on pain of Infamy and Military Execution which they call the Postpolita of Rigor But the fourth Article propos'd was abundantly more severe They design'd to terminate at the Election the Process bgeun at the Preliminary Diet at the Succession of the King for the Grievances of the Nation which consisted in this that he had not in so long a Reign fulfilled any of the Agreements to which he was engaged by the Pacta Conventa That Prince had promised to retake Caminiec he had not made any Military Expedition that had been profitable to Poland He had not founded in the Kingdom an Academy for the Instruction of 300 Polish Gentlemen nor had he satisfied the Elector of Brandenburg as to his pretensions upon Elbing Those that were Men of sense foresaw that this omission would sometime or other occasion a fatal War to the Republick The unanimity of the Poles on those four Points gave them the force of a Law as if the Convocation had not been broke but in the petty Diets following they had a mind
absented by reason of his great Age. 'T was likewise Signed by all the great Officers of the Crown and Lithuania all the Palatines and Castelans excepting the Great-Mareshal Lubomirski who remained neuter and the Vice Chancellor Tarlo who was gone over to Saxony Then the Ambassador dispatched the third Courier on the 18th of July who had the misfortune not to arrive before the 9th of August The Ambassador could not presume the favourers of France would stand so long out as they did So by that Courier he gave the King notice that he feared all the Polish Gentry would join with Saxony unless the Prince of the Money promised to the Army were there before the 31st of July because the Lords who Signed the Act had only engaged to continue in their Union till that day as being sure by that time the Elector of Saxony would pay the Troops and then they had nothing to Object against him The Prince was so far from being able in so short a time to reach Poland where he was expected so impatiently that he was yet at Paris waiting for the Original Letter from the Cardinal And when that came the the Court received this we now speak of So the Prince saw himself Called and Countermanded by two Letters received both in one Day only that which called him was of an older Date than the other by 18 Days Then the Prince's Journey was put off a second time and by a necessary but fatal consequence The Orders for the Remitments were recalled Good Politicians will easily perceive that the most studied precautions are often times to no purpose especially if they consider that such mean matters as the Private Designs of a Courier have influenced the most important Affairs of this Age. However a little time discovered that the short Day which the Polish Gentry had given to the Abbot of Polignac was only threats for when they received the News of the Elector's Arrival their Zeal revived with fresh Vigor In the mean time t was needful to engage the Town of Dantzick in the French Interests The Abbot of Polignac was obliged to continue in the Centre of the Kingdom where his presence was necessary so the Abbot of Neuf-Chattle set out for that Place on the 2d of July in order to appease the Queen to keep the Migistrate of the Place right to satisfie the Poles that were about to come thither for Money to persuade the Banquiers to have the Money ready to be paid as soon as the Bills of Exchange arrived and in fine to make sure of Prussia where the Prince was to pass when he arrived He delivered to the Queen the King's Letter and with a great deal of submission told her the Reasons that retarded the performance of that Duty She refused to enter into any Negotiation with him and continued Resolute to maintain the Elector's Party as being the weakest and the least able to withstand her when Conti's Faction being the strongest came to be broke The Magistrate was as obstinate as she and alledged as weak Reasons The chiefest were the Losses the Town had sustain'd by Sea during the War The sollicitation of the Queen and Elector of Brandebourg the Elector of Saxony's Country and Religion which were more agreeable to the Inhabitants than that of the Prince of Conti who was but too good a Catholick It had been an easie matter to refute all these Reasons but the Magistrate thought he eluded all possible Replies when he told him that the Town in pursuance of its Statutes would acknowledge either of the two Princes that should be first Crowned and till that time they would stand Neuter The Abbot of Neuf-Chattel perceiving the Magistrate went upon the hopes of Saxony's preventing the Prince of Conti represented the advantage that would accrue to a Trading City by a Commerce with France and told him that if the Citizens would act regularly they were obliged to acknowledge him as King who was first Elected according to the Laws of the Kingdom by a plurality of Votes and by the better part of the Republick that if bad Counsel prevailed with them to take other measures they ought to call to mind how on the like occasion they acknowledged the Emperor Maximilian to the prejudice of King Stephen and drew upon themselves such disgrace as in prudence they ought now to avoid But all these Reasons had no influence upon a set of People prepossessed with a Zeal for their own Religion and an implacable Hatred against France The other Citizens were more tractable Some lent him Sums of Money 'T is true they were very small however they served to stop the Mouths of some of the great Lords Residents that teased the Abbot with perpetual Demands His abode in Dantzick was likewise useful in keeping the Prussians in order and securing the Town of Mariembourg for the Prince till he arrived While the Abbot of Neuf-Chattel was taking care of Prussia the French Ambassador at Warsaw was endeavouring to retain the rest of Poland which his Enemies had a mind to seduce The Elector of Brandebourg in his Letter to the Primate had offered his Meditation and out of respect to a Neighbouring Prince they accepted it tho' they expected to reap no advantage by it but that of gaining time The Publick Conferences commenced on the 9th of August Saxony motioned that the Diet for Confirmation should be Revoked or if the Revocation was inconvenient that the Cardinal should oblige himself by Writing to Nominate Saxony instead of Conti that the Primate by his Vniversalia should call the petty Diets as Preliminaries to the Coronation and come himself to Warsaw to put the Crown upon the Elector's Head that in case they listened to these Conditions the Elector would not admit the Bishop of Cujavia to Crown him That the Date of his Election should Commence from his Confirmation in that Assembly that he would Swear to such Pacta Conventa as they offered him and in fine would Pay in ready Money to the Heads and Lords of the opposite Faction the sum of Eight Hundred Ninety Two Thousand Crowns to be divided among them as they should think fit These Proposals were Answered in the following Articles a Copy of which was given to the Baron of Overbeck the Elector of Brandebourg his Envoy They required the Elector with his Troops should depart the Kingdom and send an Ambassador from the Frontiers to the Diet for Confirmation to desire the Crown That he should give better proof of his Conversion and renew his Abjuration in the Presence of some Bishop of the opposite Faction and in fine should renounce the Act of his pretended Election and all the other means which he and the Bishop of Cujavia had made use of to that purpose Upon these Conditions and the Execution of the Offers made by him they promised to consider of his Pretensions to treat him not as an Usurper but as a legal Candidate and to regard the Merit of
to enquire after the true Authors of so many Disorders They excluded those that were accused and convicted of them The Storm fell in divers Places and all at once upon the Head of Prince James who then perceived the sudden Change of his Fortune and began to repent him of his useless profuseness He who thought himself sure of the Crown in November saw himself excluded in December by the different Results of the petty Diets Prussia was the first Province that gave him the fatal Blow and described him so well without naming him that no Body could mistake him Volhinia afterwards Russia the Palatinates of Lublin Plosko Vilna Novogrodok and many others did likewise exclude him so that it was astonishing to find such a great unanimity betwixt Provinces so remote from one another The Bishop of Cujavia to mortifie the Prince of Conti's Party and to advance that of Prince James sent Circular Letters to all the Nobility In some Palatinates they were rejected and in others not read A Gentleman amongst those that assembled at Sroda having demanded the Bishop's Letter put it to such an use as Modesty forbids to mention The Nobility of Russia assembled at Visnia treated this Affair with more seriousness and ordered the said Letter to be burnt by the hand of the Hangman Prince James during this time lost his Courage The Ardor and Zeal which some of the Senators had testified for his Interest cooled exceedingly He himself had a mind to discover the Sentiments of the Nobility in the Neighbourhood of Warsaw and that he might do it with more ease he went in disguise from Czersko which is the first District of Mazovia where a petty Diet was held but the Prince was known and some Gentlemen pursued him with Sabre in Hand into the very Church where he was forced to hide himself amongst the Organs and had he been found they would certainly have killed him After this the same Diets excluded all German Princes The Party that opposed France made Efforts to obtain the like advantage in some Diet or other against the Pr. of Conti but could not effect it They could not express their malice against him any other way but by such dull insipid Writings as those of the Bishop of Cujavia This obliged the Queen the Court of Vienna and the Allies to have recourse to other Methods than Negotiations Every one took different Measures but all of them tending to the same end The Enemies of France perceiving that the Prince of Conti's party increased every day in Poland thought fit to retard its progress at the French Court They wrote Letter after Letter to Paris to ridicule the Abbot de Polignac's Hopes alledging that he had suffered himself to be blinded by the Enemies of the Royal Family they aggravated his Promises and Liberalities they maintained that the Poles would never chuse in prejudice of their King's Son a Foreigner who would engage them in War with all their Neighbours Those Discourses some of which made Impression together with the fear of rashly hazarding new Summs occasioned that the Court for more surety did send a Person they could confide in either to verifie those Accusations against their Minister or to justifie his Conduct The Abbot de Castagnetes de Chateauneuf was honoured with this Commission and the Quality of Envoy Extraordinary he set out secretly in Feb. 1697. with the Count de Touanski Nephew to the Cardinal Primate who in July 1696. had been sent by his Uncle to notifie to the Court the death of K. John III. The Abbot arrived in Poland the beginning of April he found the Affairs of France in as good a Condition as the Queen had represented them bad He himself found that most of the Lords and Gentlemen were for the Prince of Conti and that only two things were wanting viz. the Prince's Presence and the Money promised to the Armies He was entrusted with a Letter from the King his Master to the Queen according as he found her Affairs and Intentions and the need that France should have to make use of her Service That same Day this Envoy Extraordinary arrived at Warsaw the Queen left it by order of the Palatinats who forced the Cardinal and Senate to that Rigor The absence of that Princess was not the only cause why the Most Christian King's Letter was not delivered to her The Lords of the French Faction demanded it because of their Apprehensions that a Princess who was for making her advantage of every thing might make use of it with the Publick and perswade them that the Abbot de Chasteauneuf was come to overturn what the Abbot de Polignac had done to serve the Royal Family against the Prince of Conti and by that means to baffle all the hopes of the Republick The Envoy did not think fit to oppose those demands which appeared so Just It was his prudence to give no cause of Suspicion to the Friends of France and not to suffer himself to be surprized by the Queen who did not alledge that the Prince of Conti's party was so weak in the Kingdom but to have Pr. Alexander substituted to him to the end that he who was so unacceptable to the Poles being supported by France her Son Prince James as she thought would have no other Competitor to dread These were the Measures that the Royal Family took The Court of Vienna and the Allies took far different Methods to have the Prince of Conti excluded They proposed other Candidates who were no other ways agreeable to the Poles but because of the Money they hoped they might receive from them The Prince of Newburg would fain have been proposed till such time as another came to take his Place and to furnish the Summs of Money that he had neither Will nor Power to distribute He knew what the two last Elections had cost his Family and so took warning by that Example Leopold Duke of Lorrain was also proposed He had no greater reason to expect success than the Duke of Newburg His Mother had no great Cause to be content with the Poles who after having prefered a Fr. Lady to her had also refus'd her her Dower The Family of Patz that stood up for her at the last Election had now lost all their Credit and such of them as remain'd were young and had no publick Posts so that she saw it was in vain for her Son to pretend to thâ—â—â—rown which had been twice refus'd to so Great a Prince as Charles â—â— of Lorrain her Husband This Proposal however gave new Allarms to the Queen and Prince Sobieski They look'd upon it as an Intrigue of the Court of Vienna They expressed their Resentments of it and complain'd that it was an ungrateful Retribution from the Germans to the Family of a Prince who had sav'd the capital City of the Empire These complaints were very touching because they were just The Imperial Court was as high on the other hand and answer'd that Sobieski
the Prince would arrive in a little time Nevertheless he appeared not till the 26th in the Road of Dantzick and upon the 28th came to an Anchor before Olivia at what time the Burgesses of Dantzick were in a great perplexity which part to take While the Reputation and Presence of the Prince swayed one part of the Council to his Interests and the Queen sollicited the rest in behalf of the Elector and the Jews who had been treated so favourably under the Reign of that Princess employed all their Credit to second her desires The Body of the City met and Opinions were divided They who held for Conti represented the Advantages which a Trading City might have by a free Commerce with France that they might fetch from that Kingdom Wine Salt and many other sorts of Merchandise with which they might furnish all the Northern Parts That the Trade with that Kingdom had contributed in part to render that City one of the most Flourishing of all the Hans Towns that it was not Prudence to renounce all these Advantages to gratifie the sollicitations of the Queen and that they might give the Jews leave to speak in her behalf since they were the only Persons that had tasted the sweets of her Reign On the other side they that held for Saxony made answer That Trade was an Advantage which in truth was not to be neglected but that they were rather Germans than Polanders That they ought to favour their own Nation and preserve the Lutheran Religion which was threatned with imminent danger if the Prince of Conti carried the Crown from his Competitor and therefore that it was better to acknowledge for lawful King a Protestant Prince under whose Reign there would be no Invasion upon their Religion that the Elector's pretended Abjurations were not such as the Catholicks gave out and that he was too steady in his Resolutions to betray his first Sentiments and lastly That their Statutes ordained that in case of a Fraction the City should declare for the first that was Crowned The more Judicious earnestly desired the rest to stay till the Senate and Nobility had by unanimous consent decided in favour of one of the Competitors and to forbear acknowledging either till Fortune had declared on his side And this Party seemed to be so much the more swayed by reason because they ran no hazard they further Remonstrated that their own danger ought to render them more circumspect in such a Nice Conjuncture that because they declared themselves in 1575 with too much precipitation in favour of the Emperor Maximilian against Stephen Battori the City had like to have been ruined that he had declared her to be a Rebellious City and compelled her in 1577 to rebuild the Abby of Oliva and to quit the one half of the Revenue of her Haven which the Kings of Poland at present enjoy But the fear of the same usage could not prevail with the Magistrates to make them observe a Neutrality From the 26th that the Prince arrived in the Road they had not sent to Compliment him Their Ships passed by his Squadron without either Saluting him or the French Flag But on the 29th they Discharged their Cannon in favour of the Saxon and the rest of the Cities of Prussia within a very little followed their Example And indeed they had soon reason to Triumph for having taken the Party they had chosen The News of the Victory won from the Turks made them hope to see Ten Thousand Saxons in Poland which were part of that Victorious Army which being useless to the Emperor would not fail to be called off to the Succour of their Prince On the other side it infused Consternation into the contrary Party Several that had flock'd to Dantzick slunk back again and some began to complain that the Prince had brought no Forces along with him as if France had foreseen Prince Eugenius's Victory and that all Poland had not been able to defend her King and her Liberties against Ten Thousand Germans However the Consternation was not so Universal but that several Lords and Gentlemen came to Kiss the Prince's Hand who went every Day ashore to Oliva in order to confer with them Nevertheless he had that Prudence and Moderation though they all gave him the Title of King to refuse it till he had obtained the Consent of the contrary Party But while the Primate and the Deputies of the Rokosz kept at Lowitz the Ambassador of France concluded a Treaty with the two Sapieha's by which it was agreed That for the Sum of Four Hundred and Sixty Thousand Livres that should be deposited in the presence of Commissioners of Lithuania the Son of the Grand Treasurer should come with Ten or Twelve Thousand well Disciplin'd Troops to Guard the Prince where-ever he pleased to go It was also farther stipulated that the Grand General of that Dutchy and all the Officers of the Army should Swear Fealty to him and march afterwards with all their Forces to the Place assigned by the Prince who should put himself at their Head and pay them the same Sum of Four Hundred and Sixty Thousand Livres for two other Quarters before they Marched against the Enemy The same Minister sent away the Postoki of the Crown for Podolia where the Body of Cosacks which he had mustered there together lay encamp'd with three select Troops of the House of Lubomirski He agreed also with the Grand Treasurer of the Crown the Palatinates of of Beltz and Kiovia as to what concerned them and then presently with Prince Czartoreski departed for Dantzick where he arrived the 2d of October and found the Prince expecting him a Ship-board that they might settle together such Affairs as were of greatest Importance The first Proposal which the Polanders made the Prince was go to Mariemburg Dzialinski who was Steward of the Town and Commanded the Place in the room of Bielinski his Brother-in-Law had mustered together a Garrison of Five Hundred Men and was bound to supply that place with every thing for the Sum of Twenty Seven Thousand Livres which the Abbot of Neuf-Chattel had given him But the Prince did not think it convenient to shut himself up in a Pound that 's the last thing that a Soldier can do after a Misfortune and in expectation of new Succours to enable him to take the Field Besides the danger was too great to trust himself with Dzialinski after he had proved so unfaithful to the Abbot of Neuf-Chattel That Minister had trusted him with a Hundred Thousand Livers and he desired him a little before the Prince's arrival to send them to the Cardinal for the supply of pressing Exigences more especially to encourage the Troops at Lowitz to advance towards Dantzick But that Officer kept the Money for himself nor could they ever force him to make restitution or oblige him to give an account of such an Irregular and interested Act. The second Proposal made to the Prince was to go