excessive Power and Privileges of the Nobility which they soon effected by being Resolute and more in Number But in Poland it is quite otherwise for there the Clergy and Gentry have a common Interest to keep the King and People in Subjection The Clergy have great Privileges and are very Rich. The Bishops for the most part are Princes or Dukes they are all Senators and sit in the Diet before all the Temporal Lords so that by the great Authority and Veneration which they have procur'd to themselves from the slavish People they can hinder them from making any Insurrection and by the Arbitrary and Free Power which they and the Gentry have hitherto maintain'd to Elect whom they pleas'd for King they will always keep him in such a Dependence for the sake of his Children that he shall hardly ever be able to effect any Design upon their Prerogatives Nay providing he had found any Opportunity to compass such a dangerous Enterprize yet would it not consist with Prudence either to declare or Attempt it for fear of Incurring the Hatred and Displeasure of the People which would not only tend to his own Ruin but likewise Obstruct the Election of any of his Family to the Throne after his Death so that the surest way for a King of Poland to continue the Crown in his Family is never to attempt any Innovation I would not however think the Kings of Poland Unfortunate in not being able to assure the Succession of the Throne to their Children since they are thereby compell'd as it were by a lucky Necessity to breed them up to all Royal Virtues and this to the end that it may render them more Accomplish'd and Worthy to be Elected For where they are satisfied that the Crown is not due to their Blood but to their Merits what will either the Father or Sons omit to obtain it by the most Glorious Means My LORD I have hitherto presented Your GRACE with what relates to the Form of Government in Poland and to the King's Power and Revenues I would now give a particular Account of the King's Court were it not like to that of other Princes as to Splendor and Number of Officers For besides the Great Crown-Officers as the two Great and Little Marshals as many Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors two Generals and two Great and Little Treasurers The King has his Lord-Chamberlain his Court-Marshal or Lord Steward his Master of the Horse his Secretaries of State his Standard-Bearer Chief Huntsman his Gentlemen of the Body answerable to our Lords of the Bed-Chamber his Physicians Chaplains Pensioners Cup-Bearers Sewers Carvers Musicians and Guards The Gentlemen Pensioners always attend the King on Horseback this Body of Gentry consists of the Noblest Youth of the Kingdom whereof many have Court and State-Employments and are all subject to the Jurisdiction of the Court-Marshal There are some of these that attend his Majesty on Foot but in long Journeys they are always carried in Waggons A set number of these keep Guard Day and Night about the King Whenever the King goes in Public these last March every way about him with long Battle-Axes on their Shoulders and Sabres by their Sides but still admitting the Senators and Chief Courtiers to March next him yet when the Queen goes with the King the Senators and other Persons of Quality are to walk before The King's Horse-Guards ought by the Constitutions to be either Poles Lithuanians or Natives of some of the Incorporated Provinces but however this Law has been dispens'd with for the late King admitted both Germans and Hungarians amongst them Their Number by the Law is not to exceed 1200 and their Chief Commander is to be subject to all the Four Marshals The King has the same Number of Court Officers in Lithuania as he has in Poland the Lithuanians being as Ambitious to keep up the ancient Grandeur of their Great Duke as the Poles are for that of their King The King has likewise the Nomination of some Court-Officers in several Provinces as in Prussia Masovia and Russia which had formerly distinct Princes of their own and were afterwards United to the Kingdom of Poland so that the King has the Nomination of as many Court-Officers as any Prince in Europe but most of them are rather Honorary than Beneficial yet the Gentry always make great Interest to get into them Precedence of which they are Ambitious being Regulated according to the Nature and Dignity of the Employment As for the Queen's Court it consists of about Thirty Officers the Chief whereof are her Marshal and Chancellor Their Business is to Preside over Domestic Affairs in the Queen's Court. Her Marshal or Steward is to carry the Staff before her and her Chancellor or Secretary to Write Sign Receive and Answer all her Letters There is her Treasurer who Manages her Revenue her Master of the Horse Cup-Bearers Carvers Sewers Clerk of the Kitchen c. For Women Servants she has her Ladies Maids of Honour Dressers c. When she goes in Public she is always attended by a great number of her own Sex It may not be here amiss to add something of the Court of the Inter-Rex or Primate and so I will conclude While the Archbishop of Gnesna has the Administration of the Government he has much the same Officers with the King but when he has laid down that Authority his Officers are his Marshal spoken of before his Chancellor who Presides in his Courts of Justice his Almoner Master of Requests Cross-Bearer Steward Treasurer Chaplains Library-Keeper Clerk of the Kitchin c. This Archbishop alone as he is the Chief Senator of Poland has Drums beating and Trumpets sounding both within and without Doors before he sits down to Table He also by his Prerogative is not to wait for the King's Commands when he should Visit him but may go when and as often as he pleases Before My Lord I put an end to this Letter permit me to take notice to Your GRACE that the King of Poland does not Name his Privy-Counsellors but all Senators are Counsellors of Course for all of that Dignity that are about the Place where the King Resides have a Right to sit at the Council-Board For fear notwithstanding that there should not be always Senators sufficient for that purpose at Court the Senate always depute four of their Members to attend the King's Person by turns and that not only to give him Advice but likewise to Inspect into his Conduct and to prevent him from Acting contrary to the Laws For the King and Council are accountable to the Diet for any Mismanagement in the Government In short the Genius of the Polish Nation and the whole Frame of their Constitution is entirely bent to Curb the King's Power and to secure their Laws and Prerogatives against the Incroaching Factions of Foreign Princes or of their own Court-Party I might here My Lord add a great many
Frederic Augustus the Present King of POLAND The History of POLAND IN Several LETTERS to Persons of Quality Giving an Account of the Present State of that Kingdom VIZ. Historical Political Physical and Ecclesiastical The Form of Government The King's Power Court and Revenues The Senate Senators and other Officers The Religion Diet and little Diets with other Assemblies and Courts of Justice The Inter-regnum Election and Coronation of a King and Queen with all the Ceremonies The present Condition of the Gentry and Commonalty as likewise The Genius Characters Languages Customs Manners Military Affairs Trade and Riches of the Poles Together with an Account of the City of Dantzic The Origin Progress and Present State of the Teutonic Order and the Successions of all its Great Masters Likewise The Present State of Learning Natural Knowledge Practice of Physick and Diseales in Poland And lastly A Succinct Description of the Dutchy of Curland and the Livonian Order with a Series of the several Dukes and Provincial Masters To this is also added A Table for each Volume And a Sculpture of the Diet in Session With some Memoirs from Baron Blomberg VOL. II. By BERNARD CONNOR M. D. Fellow of the Royal Society and Member of the College of Physicians who in his Travels in that Country Collected these Memoirs from the best Authors and his own Observations Compos'd and Publish'd by â—ir SAVAGE LONDON Printed for Daâ— Brown without Templ-Bar ' and A. Roper and T. Leigh both in Il et-street 1698. D R. CONNOR ' S PREFACE IN my PREFACE to the First Volume of this Historical Relation of POLAND I have mention'd my Incapacity for Matters of this Nature both because I was only Twelve Months in that Kingdom and because I have no Talent or Genius for History I thought Writing it by way of LETTERS in Imitation of some of our Neighbours would be more easie to my self and more acceptable to the Publick I am proud to have this happy Occasion of giving the Honourable Persons I write to so publick a Testimony of my Respects I am sorry in the same time I cannot have Leisure to honour my self in writing to the Noble Persons mention'd in the Second Volume as I have had in the First I follow a Profession so remote from HISTORY particularly a Polish one that it neither allows me Time nor leaves me any Inclination to attend any other Business I hope notwithstanding the Persons I promis'd to write to will be pleas'd to excuse me for not being able to keep my Word to them as I flatter'd my self I could since the ingenious Gentleman I desir'd to undertake this Work will give them the same Satisfaction he having already assisted me in my First Volume and having had all my Memoirs for this Second THE Antient and Present STATE OF POLAND PART II. The Present State LETTER I. To His Grace THOMAS Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Of the Form of the Government in Poland and of the King's Power Court and Revenues My LORD THAT high Station wherewith the King has Recompenc'd Your Merits and the great Trust His Majesty has reposed in Your GRACE during his Absence shews his Confidence in Your Ability as well to Govern the State as the Church Since therefore being lately Invested with a share of the Regal Authority you had occasion to know more intimately Our King's Power and Prerogatives I thought my self oblig'd to give Your GRACE an Account of those of the King of Poland to the end that comparing both together you might more sensibly perceive the Excellency of our Own Constitution which makes the Greatness of the King inseparable from the Interest of the People For when the Executive Power is as vigilant to see our Laws obey'd as the Legislative has been provident in making them England can justly boast of a much greater Happiness than either Poland or any other Kingdom of Europe Having My LORD not been a full Twelve Month at the late King of Poland's Court I cannot pretend to be throughly acquainted with that Kingdom yet I find that like most other Countries it has undergone several Changes in its Constitution since the middle of the VIth Century at which time it began to be a distinct Nation during the Reigns of the two great Houses of Piastus and Jagello Ever since the time of Lechus its Founder the Kings thereof have been Elected to the Crown after an Hereditary manner tho' not by an Hereditary Title They have really been Absolute and their Will went for a Law for then they made Peace and War when they pleas'd Levied as many Troops as they thought fit Punish'd or Pardon'd at Pleasure and Rewarded where they saw Convenient And all the Administration either of Public or Private Affairs was so wholly lodg'd in the King's Hands that I have heard the Poles themselves say That Sigismund II. the last King of the Jagellonic Family was to the full as Absolute as either the King of France or Denmark is now Whilst the Kings of Poland thus maintained a Supream Power over their Subjects they exceedingly enlarged their Dominions were both fear'd Abroad and belov'd at Home Commanded Potent and Numerous Armies into the Field Executed most Enterprizes speedily and were almost always sure of Success and this because they did not then as now depend upon the lingering Determination and tedious Conclusions of a Turbulent Diet. But the Family of Jagello being once Extinct by the Death of Sigismund II. who had resign'd his Kingdom to the Senate and Polish Gentry and given them full Power and Authority to dispose thereof as they thought fit the Crown of Poland was anew declared Elective to the end that all the Princes of Christendom who had due Merits and Qualifications might have a Right to Aspire thereunto This gave occasion to most of the Princes of Europe ever since to Court the Polish Nobility after their King's Death And that either to get the succeeding Election determined in their own Favour or else to have some of their Friends Advanced to that great Dignity but this most commonly rather with regard to their own private Interests than out of any Respect to the Person they desired to Promote as the Houses of Austria and Bourbon have always practis'd The Gentry of Poland therefore observing that several Princes at a time always Aspir'd to their Crown and considering that not one of them had more Right than the rest as likewise that it lay altogether in their Power to choose whom they pleased resolved Unanimously to Elect none but such as should Condescend nay Swear to observe the Terms and Conditions they proposed Hereby the Poles by degrees have clip'd and limited the Antient Power of their Kings and have reduc'd them to the Bounds we now find them to have that is barely to a third Part of the Grand Diet For the Poles knew very well that no Prince would be so Imprudent as to scruple Submitting to
of the Cosacks and the last Troubles in Bohemia To these also may be added the Revolutions of our own Nation in the Time of Charles I. when the Fury of the People extended their Rage even to the dipping their Hands in this Prince's Blood Politicians do generally own that the People are a wild Beast which ought rather to be led than left at Liberty and by consequence have pronounced it most Perilous to acquiesce under their Subjection An Anarchy would undoubtedly do more harm in a day than a Tyrant could in all his Reign If he Punishes 't is with some pretence of Justice when nothing can abate the Peoples Rage but an utter Extinction of whatever is placed over their Heâ—ds A mixt Government therefore made out of all these Three is that which has proved most Agreeable to the Polish Nation being a just Medium between the dangerous Extremities of an Absolute Monarchy and those of Aristocracy and Democracy It is this the Poles have pitch'd upon as most proper to preserve the public Liberty and to perpetuate the Happiness of their State being it seems perswaded that a Body Politic resembles a Humane in this that as the one borrows all its Vigour and Health from a Just Temperament of the different Humours that compose it so the other depends absolutely on that of the Three before-mention'd Forms of Government And moreover as the former subsists by the mutual Opposition of contrary Qualities so the King Senate and Gentry of Poland having in some measure different Interests and Inclinations are not only hinder'd from deviating into vicious Extremities but also through a Noble Emulation are excited to labour carefully for the Good of the Public The Republic is divided into Two States the Kingdom of Poland and the Great Dutchy of Lithuania yet both which are but as one Body having the same King the same Parliament the same Laws the same Privileges the same Religion and as the natural result of all these the same Interest These Two States are so very well United that a King cannot be Elected a Law made nor any State-Business done without the mutual Consent of both But My Lord as the King is the Prime and Chief Member of this Republic I will give Your GRACE an Account of his present Power and Prerogatives The Poles are too proud a Nation to agree with those Politicians that measure the Grandeur of a Prince and Happiness of a State by the Despotic Power of him that Governs it and therefore those pernicious Maxims of Tyrants Si Lubet Licet Oderint dum Metuant and the like would be but ill receiv'd among a People that have all along secured their Liberties by their Prudence and Valour This Vassalage would suit well enough with the Slaves of Asia and Africk or with the Moscovites and Turks who all suffer themselves to be govern'd like Beasts and led by the Nose according to the different Caprice or Pleasure of their Prince As for the Kings of Poland they may rest in security in the Bosom of their Country even amidst the Noise of Arms either without or within their Dominions since they have always their Subjects to crowd about them for their Guards thro' indispensable Inclinations For what contributes chiefly to the Happiness of these Princes is the Loyal Observance and voluntary Obedience paid them even by those that are at Liberty to do the contrary I have often heard Monsieur de Polignac the French Ambassador say at Warsaw That he thought a King of Poland more Happy in his Person and Condition than a King of France Nevertheless this Authority of the King of Poland is so alloy'd by the Laws of the Land that it does not exact more Veneration from the Nobles or Gentry than they think he deserves For tho' their Behaviour be generally extraordinary Observant yet do they tacitly seem to call in question the Power they have limited and often refuse that Duty which they have deem'd him worthy of by his Election The Polish Nobility make no Difference between their King 's Right and those of the Senate and Deputies affirming That since these three Members compose but one Body they ought equally to share in the same Benefits and Injuries and consequently ought all either to Reward the one or Revenge the other The small Authority therefore of their Kings and the Impossibility of their Acting by themselves has at all times exposed Poland to the Insults of their Neighbours and the Rage of their own People as may be seen in the Civil Wars of the Cosacks and the Treachery and Sedition of the Confederates which could never have arriv'd at so great height if the King had had but sufficient Power to have suppress'd them Also the Great Marshal of the Crown Lubomirski would never have had the Boldness to have oppos'd King Casimir's Designs openly and to have form'd so many Factions against the Court had he not had some Assurances of remaining Unpunish'd This makes the King of Poland to be stiled a King of Kings and Lord of Lords since he has no better than Companions and Equals for his Subjects We have divers Instances of the Poles love for their Kings and particularly by their once enforcing the Right of Sigismund III. to the Kingdom of Sweden in an obstinate War which they began several times as likewise in supporting afterwards the Pretences of Vladislaus VII to Moscovy To omit divers others of a more ancient Date This Respect of their obliges them frequently to come and spend their Estates at Court thinking to augment their Princes Grandeur by their Prodigality and Magnificence This appears by the mistake made by Gregory King of Bohemia at the Interview between him and Casimir the Great at Glogan which Place the former had demanded to bound the Limits of Silesia when he saluted a Private Gentleman splendidly Cloath'd for the King of Poland The Custom and Inclination of the Poles runs so strong towards Honouring their Prince that all they have or are able to do even to the Destruction of their Lives and Fortunes they are willing to lavish in his Service without expecting any greater Recompence than the Glory of Waiting on His Majesty's Person Insomuch that a King of Poland who is Couragious and Prudent Just and Sober Liberal and Religious one that observes the Laws and Constitutions of his Kingdom and in a word who has no other Interest but the Common Good and Safety of his Subjects is as much Respected and Honour'd and as faithfully Obey'd both in time of Peace and War nay as formidable to all his Enemies as most Princes in Europe As to what relates to War no Monarch has greater Advantages than himself for he is neither at the trouble of raising Forces nor Expence in Maintaining them his Business being only to convene the Diet and they do all these things to his Hand After War is once declar'd he can continue the
before the King where-ever he goes and to take care that all the Court-Officers perform their Duty in their several Stations over whom he has the sole Jurisdiction in criminal Cases If any Person so much as wounds one of his Officers he loses his Head for it by a Law made in the Year 1573. He is moreover the Introducer of all Ambassadors He has an exceeding great Benefit by imposing Prizes on Merchants Wares for they generally make him great Presents and Bribes to augment their Profit Nevertheless his Power is very much lessen'd in the Time of the Election of a King for then he must act in Conjunction with the Grand Marshal of Lithuania He always acts by Assistance of the Court Marshal who is his Deputy in his Absence And when the Court Marshal absents likewise the Duty of that Office is requir'd from the Grand Marshal of Lithuania and in his Absence from his Little Marshal And when all these are absent that Duty is incumbent on the Chancellors and Treasurers in their respective Turns The hundred and twentieth Lay Senator is The grand Marshal or grand Steward of Lithuania His Office is much the same with that of the grand Marshal of Poland The hundred and twenty first Lay Senator is The great Chancellor of the Kingdom The hundred and twenty second Lay Senator is The great Chancellor of the Dutchy The hundred and twenty third Lay Senator is The Vice-Chancellor of the Crown The hundred and twenty fourth Lay Senator is The Vice-Chancellor of the Dutchy The Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor of the Kingdom must be the one Ecclesiastical and the other Secular by a Law made at Cracow in the Time of Sigismund I. But those of the Great Dutchy are both oblig'd to be Secular tho Hartknoch says there is no Law against a Bishop's being Chancellor there They have each of them two Seals the Chancellor the greater Seal and the Vice-Chancellor the lesser Their Authority is equal except that the former always takes Place of the latter tho' he happens to be a Bishop and that the Vice-Chancellor does not act but in Absence of the Chancellor or at least under him The Chancellor's Office is to take Cognizance of all civil Affairs to see Justice done the Laws observ'd and to render ineffectual the Cabals and Intrigues of foreign Princes in Prejudice of the Liberties and Authority of the Republick They are to seal all the King's Mandates and Grants and to receive and answer all his Letters Their Power also is so great that they can seal several things without the King's Consent and refuse as many where he commands if they are contrary to the Constitution of the State The Chancellor or in his Absence the Vice-Chancellor answer to all Speeches made the King and propose all Matters to be debated in the Senate He of the two that is Ecclesiastical hath a Power over the King's Secretaries Chaplains and Preachers as likewise over all the Ceremonies of the Church which in any wise relate to the King They are the general Chroniclers and Publishers of the Laws and take Cognisance of all Appeals made to the King The Vice-Chancellor generally succeeds the Chancellor tho sometimes in Lithuania it has happen'd otherwise The Ecclesiastical Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor of Poland is for the most part chosen out of the meaner Bishopricks as Culm Premislia Chelm c. They ought to be Persons of great Prudence Learning and Probity their Business being to admonish advise and direct the King in his Administration of the Government The hundred and twenty fifth Lay Senator is The great Treasurer of the Crown The hundred and twenty sixth Lay Senator is The great Treasurer of the Dutchy These Treasurers are Masters and Guardians of the Treasure and Revenue of the Republick which is brought them in by four general Collectors who all keep a true Register of it giving a Copy thereof to the King and another to the Treasurer They also have the keeping of the Regalia as the Crown Scepter Globe Sword of State Robes c. They moreover have in their Custody all the King's Furniture and Records and are to preside in the Office of the Mint They likewise pay all Salaries either of the Military or civil List The Treasurers Privilege is so great that they are not oblig'd to give any Account either to the King or any of his Officers how they perform their Trust but in due Time the Diet appointing Commissioners for that Purpose they are oblig'd faithfully to charge and discharge themselves before them otherwise the Republick may sue them for it and confiscate their Lands Nevertheless the Treasurers who most commonly misemploy the publick Stock by treating the Commissioners well and making them considerable Presents withal often obtain their Discharge without much Difficulty I may here give your Grace an Account of a Passage that happen'd when Count Morstyn was great Treasurer of Poland who having more Regard to his own private Interest than publick Benefit sent all the Riches of the Treasury into France when fearing that the Diet would soon think fit to call him to Account he retir'd privately with all his Effects out of the Kingdom and went to settle in France where he purchas'd the whole County of Chateau-Villain which is worth above an hundred thousand Livres a Year The hundred and twenty seventh Lay Senator is The little or Court Marshal of the Kingdom The hundred and twenty eighth Lay Senator is The little or Court Marshal of the Dutchy These Court Marshals in the Time of Vladislaus VII had a Contest with the Chancellors for Precedence but at length they were order'd to be contented with the last Place in the Senate therefore Starovolscius who in his Colen Edition of the State of Poland places them next to the great Marshals in that of Dantzic puts them last of all It will not be here amiss to acquaint Your Grace that besides these ten Crown-Officers there are three other Sorts of Officers which are not Senators and they are either of the Kingdom and Great Dutchy the King's Court or belonging peculiarly to Palatinates and Districts The Principal of the first Kind are these The two Grand Generals of the Crown and Great Dutchy who are the King 's immediate Substitutes and have a full Power to do whatever his Majesty could were he present Tho this Dignity of Great General be the most considerable and honorable of any in the Republic yet does it not make the Person that enjoys it to be a Senator nor qualifies him to have the least Seat in the Diet unless he be therewithal a Palatin or Castellan as most commonly he is The two great Generals of Poland and Lithuania have equal Power in their respective States and have no Dependance upon each other unless that the Great General of Lithuania always gives Place to him of Poland yet has he the sole Command
England and Curland or the Ports of the City of Dantzic Moreover for the acknowledgment that the said Duke of Curland doth hold and enjoy the said Island of Tobago from and under his said Majesty it is further Provided and Agreed that when and as often as the said Lord the King his Heirs or Successors shall so require it or when he or they are engag'd in a War against another King Prince or State except only the King of Poland the Duke of Curland his Heirs and Successors at their own proper Costs and Charges from time to time shall bring or cause to be brought one good Man of War furnished with 40 great Iron Guns to such Ports Station or Place which his said Majesty his Heirs and Successors shall Name into which Ship his Majesty his Heirs and Successors shall put Commanders and Seamen and supply them with Food and Wages under the Conduct and at the Expences of the said King so long as the said Ship shall abide in his or their Service which at one time shall never exceed the limits of a Year For the Testimony and undoubted Confirmation whereof the abovesaid Parties namely the most Serene and most Potent King of Great Britain and the most Illustrious Duke of Curland have set their Hands interchangeably to the mutual Agreement contained and explained in these Presents and moreover have applyed their Great Seals for the Establishment thereof Hereupon at the Instance of the Duke of Curland's Minister His Majesty King Charles II. sent a Letter to the States-General to acquaint them with this his Grant and to recommend to their considerations the just Pretentions of the said Duke to this Island but notwithstanding the States enclining to favour the Lambson's Interest who had the Impudence to call this a sham-Grant affirming that his Majesty could not give that which was none of his to dispose of the said Royal Letter had little or no Effect till it happen'd that Count d' Etree the French Admiral took the Island and made there a miserable slaughter and Extirpation of the Dutch but who thought fit to quit the Possession of it soon after Notwithstanding several of the French Gentry and Merchants having a Prospect of Benefit before their Eyes afterwards Sollicited their King to Grant the said Conquer'd Island to them but which he generously refus'd declaring that it belong'd to a Neutral Prince who did no body any harm Hereupon the Duke without further loss of time prepar'd to send Ships to take possession of his Right and upon his Request King Charles was pleas'd to favour him with his second Royal Letter to the Government of Barbadoes directed to the then Governor Sir Jonathan Atkins and dated the 19th of January 1680 whereby that Governor was ordered not only to permit and suffer the Commanders and Officers of the said Ships to provide and furnish themselves with what they might stand in need of but likewise to be aiding and assisting to them with his Authority wherever there should be found occasion The like Letter was some time before dispatch'd from King Charles to the said Government by one of the Duke's Ships call'd the Flower-Pot but which together with the Ship was betray'd to the Pyrates of Algiers by one Captain Nagel the Commander Upon the Governor of Berbadoes's Receipt of the aforesaid Royal Letter the Duke was encourag'd to send a Governor to Tobago and soon after several others from time to time to keep possession thereof till by assistance of the English he might be able to establish a Colony there In 1681 the Duke enter'd into a Contract with Captain Pointz granting 120000 Acres of the said Island to him and Company upon very advantageous terms This Island lies very commodiously among the Caribbees or Antilles having many excellent Havens and Rivers and affording divers good Products and would be of very dangerous consequence to the English either in French or Dutch Hands for First when in the Years 1664 1665 and 1666 it was in the possession of the Dutch they took in the Wars several hundred Sail of Ships belonging to the Subjects of England either going or coming from the Plantations and brought them to Tobago but on the contrary were it in the English Hands under the Duke of Curland their Allegiance would prevent for the future the like Damages Secondly in the said Wars both French and Dutch made up their Fleets at the said Island and took and plunder'd St. Christopher's Mountserat Antegoa Berbudas c. to the great Damage of the English Thirdly King Charles was at excessive Charge in fitting out a Fleet to preserve Mevis from being taken by the Dutch in the said Wars And Fourthly the said Island being accommodated with Harbours and Roads beyond any other of the Caribbees might probably shelter Enemies to the English Crown when if it were in their Hands that inconveniency would be prevented Much more might be added concerning this Island but for brevity sake it is omitted only I may take notice that a French Geographer supposes that either Tobacco has taken its Name from this Island or this Island has been so called from that Weed This Duke James upon his succeeding his Father in the Dutchy of Curland was Married to Chariotte the Daughter of George William Elector of Brandenburg the last Elector Frederic William's Sister who died in 1676 by whom he had the late Duke Frederic Casimir Prince Ferdinand Lieutenant-General in the Elector of Brandenburgh's Army and Prince Alexander who was wounded by a Cannon-Ball at the Siege of Buda and who died in his way to Vienna and three Princesses whereof Louis Elizabeth Marry'd Frederic Landtgrave of Hesse of the Line of Hambourg Mary Amalia Marry'd May 21 1673 Charles Landtgrave of Hesse of the Line of Cassel And the third Charlotte lives still unmarry'd in the King of Sueden's Court. Duke James was succeeded by his Eldest Son Frederic Casimir but now lately deceas'd who while he was Prince serv'd under our present King in Holland in the first French War bringing several Regiments of Horse and Dragoons along with him and there Marry'd Princess Sophia Amalia of Nassau-Siegen who died in Child-bed on the 25th of December 1688 By this Dutchess he hath three Princesses alive He was a second time Marry'd at Berlin in the Year 1691 to the Princess Elizabeth Sophia the present Elector of Brandenburgh's Sister by whom he had two or more Sons This Duke died at Mittaw about the beginning of February 1698 and is succeeded by his Eldest Son Frederic Casimir II. the present Duke being a Child not above six years of Age. The Duke of Curland is Vassal to the Crown of Poland in like manner as the Electors are to the Emperor for when any new King is Elected there this Duke is oblig'd to send his Envoy to receive investiture by having a Standard deliver'd with the Arms of Poland on one side
any Conditions to become Master of so considerable a Kingdom to which he had no Right either by Birth or other Claim and more especially since these Conditions are neither Rigorous nor Dishonourable but such as are decently consistent with the Regal Character he is to be Invested with Thus the Polish Gentry of a kind of Monarchical Government have in time made a perfect Republic consisting of three Orders The King Senate and Gentry which they call the Nobility Here My Lord I must take notice to Your GRACE that the Polish Nation is divided into two sorts of People the Gentry or Freeborn Subjects who are hardly a Tenth Part of the Kingdom and the Vassals who are no better than Slaves to the Gentry for they have no Benefit of the Laws can Buy no Estates nor Enjoy any Property no more than our Negroes in the West-Indies can and this because some Ages since the Common People Revolting against their Lords and having driven them out of the Nation the Gentry came with a Foreign Power and reduced them to a greater Subjection than before in which they have been kept ever since So that the Government of Poland at present comprehends only the King and Gentry By a Gentleman or Nobleman of Poland is understood a Person who either himself or his Family has a Possession in Land For they never Intermarry with the Common People All the Gentry from the King's Sons to those that are but only Masters of an Acre of Land are equally Noble both by their Birth and the Constitution of the Kingdom for no Body is Born either a Palatine Senator or Lord but those Titles are always annexed to certain Employments which the King only gives to Persons advanced in Age and recommended by their Merits The Diet of Poland in some respects resembles our Parliament being made up of two Houses the House of Senators answerable to our House of Lords and the House of Nuncio's not unlike our House of Commons The Senators are the Bishops Palatines Castellans and the Ten Great Officers of the Crown in all about 142. In the Upper-House the Senators sit not by any Writ of Summons or Letters Patents as in England but only by Virtue of the Great Preferments in the King's Gift which they Enjoy for Life So that the King wholly Constitutes the Upper House but the Lower are the Representatives of the Gentry Elected by them alone in their respective Provinces without the Concurrence of the Common People who have no Priviledge to Vote in their Election Insomuch that at least Nine Parts in Ten of the People of Poland are excluded from having any Share in the Government The Grand Diet of Poland is nothing else but the King Senators and Deputies assembled together in any Part of the Kingdom that his Majesty Commands Without this great Assembly of the States the King can neither Make nor Repeal Laws Declare War nor Conclude a Peace make no Alliance with any Foreign Princes raise neither Troops nor Taxes Coin no Money and in a word can Determine no Matter of State of any Importance without the Universal Consent and Concurrence of this Parliament which they term the Free States of Poland Several powerful Motives have enclin'd the Poles to Establish this kind of mixt Government which they take to be a just Temperament of whatever is to be found most Excellent in the several Monarchies Aristocracies and Democracies that have been in the World The most considerable of which Motives as I have met with them in their Histories or learn'd them from the most knowing among their Natives are as follows First They think by this Judicious Choice of a Government to preserve their Kingdom from those Disorders which most commonly attend Absolute Monarchies Agreeing herein with that Prince of Philosophers Aristotle who though he preferr'd this kind of Government to all Others yet was he nevertheless obliged to own that when ever it degenerated it was the most pernicious of all Thus the Poles have temper'd the Exorbitant Power of their Kings with the mixture of two other Governments whereby they thought to secure their Liberty a Thing always most Dear to them from the Arbitrary Will of a Prince who by Imagining himself above the Laws might Fancy whatever his Passions prompted him to allowable and his truest Interest to be the Entire Subjection of his People The miserable Examples of their Neighbours the Turks and Moscovites have sufficiently convinced them of this Truth wherefore the Polish Nation thought it but convenient to limit the excessive Power of their Kings and confine them to Rule with more Moderation and Justice Secondly The Poles have observ'd as well from their own Government as from that of their Neighbours that no small disadvantage has flow'd from an Aristocracy They could not be perswaded but that the Authority of one Person was infinitely more easie to be Tolerated than that of many for that either the Ambition or Jealousy of such would often disturb the Repose and Tranquility of the Public Poland also began to Reflect upon its former Miseries under its Woievods when it was deplorably rent and torn by the Factions among those Palatines Insomuch that even while it became a Conqueror from without it was vanquish'd within and that by its own Force This gave the Poles no small dislike to an Aristocracy which they have resolved never more to admit among them The Third Reason of State which has obliged the Poles to reject a Democracy is that they look upon that sort of Government to be the most dangerous of all being the easiest enflam'd and the greatest Enemy to true Nobility Its first Maxim is To procure a Vniversal Levelling or making all alike whereby under the Notion of a common Liberty they weaken and enervate those great Genius's which were design'd to Govern and Protect them How then could it be expected that the Descendents of those mighty Warriers who Founded the Polish Nation and have so long maintain'd the Honour of it by their Valour should submit to have their Blood debased by mixing it with the Ignoble Vulgar The Tyranny of Laws which the Nobles are subjected to in an Absolute Common-wealth would be too rude a Check to this Ambition which the Poles have always had to Command over their Vassals and therefore they have always entertain'd a secret Odium for those Grecian Republics that Banish'd their greatest Statesmen meerly because they would not have them gain too fast upon the Affections of the People If any should perhaps doubt of the pernicious Consequences of a popular Government where Reason does not so much reign as an Unruly violence of a People who know no other Laws than those of their Passions let them cast their Eyes on the Heats of the Roman Empire who were often ready to Overturn the State had not the Senate speedily applied a prudent Remedy But there are other Examples more Modern as the Revolt
same either by himself or his Generals can Regulate his Troops and see his Army duly paid out of the Treasury of the Republic He has a great deal of reason to hope for Success in his Expeditions because that not having undertaken them on his own account those that engag'd him to them will infallibly support him in them and the rather by reason that what was done was altogether with their Consent This has prov'd the Cause of almost neverfailing Success to the Polish Arms till of late Days the King and his Subjects not having been in so good Intelligence with each other as formerly When the King is in the Army in Person he has the Supreme Authority there gives Battle when he pleases and Besieges Towns as often as he thinks fit And likewise Commands absolutely all the Gentry to follow him into the Field on Horseback at ever so little warning At Home he has the free Nomination of all Ecclesiastical Benefices and of all Secular Employments as well Military as Civil throughout the whole Extent of his Dominions without speaking of a great number of Royal Demesnes which together with the State-Dignities he confers on those that have deserv'd them He can bestow as considerable Preferments as any Prince in Europe and oblige and raise the Fortune of whom he pleases He has his Vote in Naming Cardinals as well as other Roman Catholic Kings have He can send and receive Ambassadors privately in Matters relating only to himself but as to what concerns the Republic the Senate must have their Share in it He can Call Prorogue and Dissolve the Diet at Pleasure In a word the Poles term him The Protector of their Laws and Privileges The Distributor of Honours The Supream Head of their Republic and Supream General of their Forces The Poles attend his Person Uncover'd The Chief Senators generally Serve him at Table first tasting of the Cup before they present him with it His Subjects never sit before him nor cover their Heads any where but in the Diet and there too the Senators are only allow'd that Liberty for the Deputies stand behind with their Furr'd Caps in their Hands The late King John Sobieski din'd always in Public and I never saw any sit down with him at Table when he eat at Court except the Queen his Children and foreign Ministers Yet when he either Hunted or Travell'd I have known some private Gentlemen to have had that Honour Nay even his own Servants that waited on him were then admitted to eat with him This his Majesty knew was absolutely necessary for him to allow of since by refusing any this Favour he might incur the Displeasure and Hatred of the whole Noblesse This was verified in the Case of Sigismund of Luxembourg who for having refused the Polish Gentry to eat with him was utterly excluded from the Crown that had been design'd him by Lewis King of Hungary and Poland his Father in Law The Poles when they speak to their King call him Mosci Krullo or Milociwy Krullo which is as much as to say Great or Merciful King The Titles Ambassadors give him or which are commonly made use of in Acts of Parliament or other Instruments sign'd by him and made in his Name are these Frederic Augustus II. King of Poland Great Duke of Lithuania Duke of Russia Prussia Masovia Samogitia Kiovia Volhynia Podolia Podlachia Livonia Smolensko Severia and Czernikovia All sorts of Gold Silver or Brass Coins are Stamp'd with his Image and Name All Justice is Administred in his Name and at Church they always Pray for the King and Royal Family When he is Crown'd the Diet allows him a Pension of about 140000 l. per Annum which together with his Patrimonial Estate maintains him a very splendid Court He has his Polish German and Hungarian Guards and has the same Officers of his Houshold as other Kings have While the Queen-Dowager lives the Queen-Consort maintains her Court at the King's Charge but after either the Queen-Dowagers Death or Marriage or the King's Death she has a Revenue Assign'd for that purpose as will appear hereafter Over and above the Pension which the Diet settles upon the King and Queen which in that cheap Country serves to maintain them as high as our Kings live here The King of Poland has great Incomes of his own for the Poles never care to Elect a Poor Prince for fear his Children may come to be a Charge to them after his Death He gets besides vast Sums of Money for Nominations Employments of which the late King did not scruple to sell though 't was directly contrary to the Constitutions of the Kingdom Nay the Ecclesiastical Benefices which are so very considerable have been put under Contribution by some cunning Artifice or other as happen'd some Years since about the Naming of a Bishop of Cracow whose Bishoprick is worth Eight Thousand Pounds Sterling per Annum which will go further than Twenty Thousand Pounds in England There were several that Aspir'd a long while to this Vacant Dignity and every one solicited what Friends he had at Court for the obtaining of it but most applied themselves to the Queen and begg'd of her though she has no Authority of her own to Intercede to the King in their Behalf After a long Debate the Queen call'd the Abbot Malakowski aside who was one of the Competitors and a rich Man and told him That tho' there were several that aimed at that Bishoprick yet she would Wager Fifty Thousand Crowns that he was prefer'd to them all Whereupon the good Abbot thinking to venture nothing being sure that either he should be Bishop or should gain a considerable Sum readily lays down the Money and by way of an accidental Bargain bought very dear his Bishoprick It has been Calculated that the late King what by his Own Incomes Pensions allow'd him from the Crown and other Casualties was worth about Three hundred thousand Pounds Sterling a Year of which he did not spend much above one Hundred thousand having had no Soldiers nor Army to Pay or Maintain but only his Guards and his Court. He hoarded up the greatest part of the Money in the Kingdom and was reputed to have had as much ready Cash by him as any Prince in Europe all which nevertheless the Poles Vow'd they would have back again when his Sons bought their Votes to be King The Kings Crown-Revenues are Imposts upon Merchandizes and upon the Jews part of the Customs of Dantzick and the Revenues of the Salt Mines of Cracow and other Places The Queen's Revenue consists either in a Gift from the King her Husband out of the Royal Revenues with Consent of the States or in an Annual Pension allow'd her by the Republick The Gift from her Husband serves also for her Dower and is called by the Poles what amounts to the Sense of the word Reformation being the Reversion only of a certain number of
Starostaships after the Death of those that Enjoy them If the King chance to die before the Queen has this Reformation assign'd her then the Republic gives her a Yearly Pension out of the Crown-Revenues but this no longer than she continues unmarried or stays in the Realm for otherwise in both those Cases the Queen Regent gets it or else it reverts to the State It may be observ'd that the Queen Regent never comes by it without the Consent of the Diet and that is no ordinary Expence to her to procure by Purchasing almost all the Votes of that Mercenary Assembly This may be seen in the Case of the present Queen-Dowager for when the Queen her Predecessor Marry'd the Duke of Lorrain she observing that the Settlement of her Pension was like to be put off to the succeeding Diet which is conven'd only once in three Years thought it better to be at the Charge of gaining their Votes at that Session than to lose three Years Income This Revenue is generally computed at half a Million Polish which amounts to about Thirty Thousand English Pounds As long as the Queen-Dowager enjoys this Pension the Queen-Regent can have none for the Poles say that it would be too much to Pension two Queens at once Tho' the King of Poland has many important Employments to distribute yet his Power is always limited in the Distribution of them for he cannot Name any of his Children no nor so much as the Queen to any Charge either Ecclesiastical or Temporal Sigismund III. having a mind to give his Queen Constantia two Starostaships vacant by the Death of Queen Anne who died in the Year 1625. all the Gentry oppos'd it by a great Uproar in the Diet and maintain'd vigorously That a King of Poland ought not to part with any Office without their Consent Neither can he Purchase any Lands for them in any part of the Kingdom without Consent of the Diet Although the late King bought several vast Territories in other Peoples Names both in Russia Prussia and almost all over the Kingdom and besides purchas'd a Principality of the Emperor in Silesia for Prince James his Eldest Son But the Poles having long since discovered the Secret pretended when I was at Warsaw that all those Lands must come to the Crown after the King's Death Some of the Kings of Poland also have been so kind as to part with their Prerogatives in Ecclesiastical Matters so that now they retain only the Collation of Benefices As for the Foundation of Monasteries whatever Power the King may have left to Erect them they must always be confirm'd by the Three Orders of the States The King of Poland is likewise limited in divers other respects for he can neither encrease nor diminish the Number of Officers either of his Court or the Kingdom nor Name any Stranger that is not Naturaliz'd to any Charge or Government only in the Foot Army and there too such a Person can pretend to no more than to be a Captain or at most a Colonel This may appear by the Example of Stephen Batori who having had considerable Services done him by the Hungarians in the War against the Moscovites he thought it but reasonable to Prefer some of them for Recompence which extreamly incens'd the Poles and particularly the Grand General so much that he immediately thereupon resign'd his Staff 'T is also out of the Kings Power to advance some Natives for all Citizens Merchants Tradesmen and their Sons Country-Men Labourers and generally all Artificers are not only by the Constitutions of the Kingdom excluded from Preferments which the King has the Nomination of but also have not Liberty either of Buying or Enjoying Lands or Estates 'T is then the Nobility alone or Freeborn of the Kingdom of Poland the Great Dutchy of Lithuania or of the other Provinces Incorporated into that Monarchy that can pretend to any Preferment in the Republic Wherefore the aforesaid King Batori thinking to Advance his Nephews by reason he had no Children design'd to get them Naturalized in the Diet held the Thirteenth of December 1586 but was prevented by Death It must withal be understood that 't is not every one of these that can Aspire or lay Claim to every Preferment but only such as have Lands or Estates in the Kingdom the Great Dutchy or any other Incorporated Province where the Preferment lies For a Free-born Native of the Kingdom though he has an Estate in it yet cannot be a Governor of a City in Lithuania nor have any kind of Employment there without a setled Estate in that Country But the Advantage that all Freeborn Natives have is that they can Buy an Estate throughout the whole Extent of the Dominions of Poland There is another Inconvenience which very much Prejudices and Limits the King's Power and the public Interest of the whole Commonwealth for where-ever a Noble Pole is once named to a Preferment and is in actual possession of it let him commit never so many Crimes against the Crown or State he can never be depriv'd of his Employ or turn'd out of it without the Unanimous Consent of the Diet but shall continue in the same for Life even against a the Will of the Diet if he has but one Member on his Side who will protest against the Proceedings For the Negative Voice of a Member of the Diet of Poland has the same Force with a Negative of a King of England in Parliament This pernicious Constitution occasions many Troubles and Animosities for it encourages Unruly and Mutinous People to disturb the Commonwealth Officers never serve the Republic faithfully Treasurers arè thereby emboldened to give no Account of the Public Revenues the Generals of the Army and Governors of Provinces and Towns do as they think fit and most commonly mind their own private Affairs more than the Interest of the Republic In a word though the Poles term this Constitution the greatest Mark of their Liberty it inevitably Ruins the Foundation of the whole State and every one sees what bad Consequences must and do necessarily follow from this excessive Liberty or rather Libertinism of every Private Officer of the Kingdom My Lord This great Privilege of the Ofcers makes them pay more than ordinary Respect to the King before they are Dignify'd and court him to give them a Charge which he can never afterwards take away Moreover this Power of the King 's to Name such of the qualify'd Nobility as best pleases him to these important Employments keeps all the Gentry in a great Dependance on him for the design of the Republic in lodging the Nomination of Officers in the King's Hands was that he should take care to confer them on those that had best deserv'd them by their Services either in Peace or War and exclude such from them as had been Stubborn Mutinous and Unserviceable to the State Another Reason that makes the King respected is the natural Ambition
the Poles have to Aspire to the Honours of the Kingdom for by their Constitutions all the Nobles as they call them or Free-born of the Land are equal as to their Birth and none though never so Poor ows precedence unless through a Compliment to any ever so Rich Insomuch that Preferments and Honours are the only Means by which they attain to Precedence which is annex'd thereto and ascertain'd by the Statutes and Laws Now one would think that this mighty Power which the King of Poland has to dispose of so many Places of Profit and Trust so many Lands by Royal Tenure and so many Benefices must needs gain him the Love and Affection of those on whom they are conferr'd But on the contrary the Poles being none of the most grateful and knowing too well that the King cannot dispose of those Preferments but to themselves they believe that when he Grants them he only gives back what of Right belongs to them and that it is not so much an Act of Grace in him as a piece of Justice When a King of Poland comes to any City the Inhabitants are oblig'd immediately to present him with the Keys and he can send his Regiment of Guards to take possession of the Gates The Citizens of Dantzick only have a Privilege to keep their own Keys and to hinder all but a few Troops from following the King into the City It is certain that Dantzick has more Immunities and Privileges than any other City of Poland insomuch that it may be rather look'd upon to be a small Republic of it self under Protection of that Kingdom than a City subject to it Nay it has in a manner all the Marks of a Sovereign Power for it can Condemn to Death without Appeal even the Polish Gentry if they commit any Crime within its Territories and Jurisdiction The King can raise no Troops at his own Charges without Consent of the Diet and this for fear that he should strengthen himself and Intrench upon their Liberties Nevertheless Vladislaus VII Levied some with the Portion of his Queen Mary Ludovica but the Senate so Murmur'd that he was soon oblig'd to Disband them The King cannot on any Account whatever go out of the Kingdom without Consent of the Diet for Your GRACE may observe that King Henry of Valois was fain to steal out of the Kingdom when he went into France Sigismund III. after the Death of his Father John King of Sueden was forc'd to call a Diet at Warsaw in the Month of May 1592. to obtain Consent to return into Sueden to take Possession of his Hereditary Kingdom and that Lewis King of Hungary who was chosen King of Poland in the Year 1370 having a mind to return to his Native Kingdom desired leave of the Senate and was oblig'd to Augment their Privileges to obtain it The King's Children are more than ordinarily respected though at the same time every private Gentleman thinks himself as great as they by the Law and to have as lawful a Right to the Crown yet are they nevertheless always treated as Princes of the Blood Royal. His Eldest Son has the Title of Prince of Poland and the others barely that of Princes adding withal their Christian Names as Prince Alexander and Prince Constantin of Poland The Kings Eldest Daughter is call'd the Princess of Poland and the others only Princesses adding thereto their Names as Princess Mary of Poland But it must be understood that when the King their Father dies and a new King of another or the same Family succeeds and has Children then do they lose the Titles of Princes and Princesses of Poland and take only the Names of their Families or Estates such as Prince Sobieski Princess Czartoriski yet however the Senate always look upon themselves oblig'd to provide for them to give them Pensions and to Match them equal to their Dignity and Birth which has ever hitherto been duly observ'd Nay the Poles have all along shew'd such Esteem and Affection to the Royal Family that although they have not allow'd them any Hereditary Right to the Crown by Law yet have they always Elected one of them King where there was any surviving For I find from the time of their Prince Piastus even down to that of the Election of the late King John Sobieski which is from the Year 830. to the Year 1674 the Crown has always continued in the same Family in a direct Line as your GRACE may observe in the First Volume of my Account of Poland They have also not confin'd this Affection of theirs to the Kings Sons only but have likewise extended it towards their Daughters and even their Widows as may be seen at large in their Histories where Your GRACE will find what strict Regard the Poles had to the Royal Race in the Election of the Princess Hedwigis whom they waited for with great Patience though all the while they suffer'd extreamly by the Insults of the Duke of Masovia who pretended a Right to the Crown as being a Relation to Casimir the Great The King 's Natural Sons are extreamly undervalu'd and are hardly look'd upon to be Common Gentlemen for none of the Gentry care to keep Company with them Nay one of the Late King's is a Clerk in the Salt Custom-House at Thorn a City in Prussia where his Place is not worth him above Thirty Pounds per Annum All over the Kingdom they usually have a very mean Opinion of Illegitimate Children though Nature endows them generally with as many Perfections and with as good Qualities as she does the Lawfully Begotten The only way for a King of Poland to continue the Crown in his Family is to be Warlike to enlarge his Dominions to gain the Love and Affections of his People by his own Merits and by the Favour of the Clergy to send his Children early to the Wars to get Credit and Reputation in the Army to spend Liberally all his Revenues and to die in Debt to the end that the Poles may be enclin'd to Elect his Son to enable him to pay what his Father ow'd But all this while he must never think to encroach on the Privileges of the Nation nor endeavour by any means to render the Crown Hereditary for whenever the Poles begin to smell out any such private Design they are presently apt to stir up Seditious Tumults which would prove very Pernicious to all the Posterity of that King as the ill Success the Late King's Sons have had sufficiently demonstrates It is altogether impossible for a King of Poland in Imitation of the King of Denmark to reduce his Subjects under an Arbitrary Power for the State of Denmark was quite different then from what that of Poland is now In Denmark the King Clergy and Commonalty were under the Rule and Government of the Gentry so that it was the Interest of the Clergy and Commonalty to side with the King to abate and depress the
Gnesna An Address to this Bishop is commonly Admodum Reverendo when others have only Reverendo The fourth Ecclesiastical Senator is the Bishop of Cujavia and Pomerania the See of whose Bishoprick is at Vladislaw upon the Vistula four Leagues below Thorn in Low Poland His Seat in the Senate is on the right hand of the Archbishop of Gnesna whose Place he officiates in an Inter-regnum as your GRACE may have observed before His Bishoprick was formerly call'd the Bishoprick of Cruswick because he had a Cathedral Church there but that being translated to Vladislaw at this Day it has sometimes the Name of the Bishoprick of Vladislaw His usual Residence when in Poland is either at Wolboria in the Palatinate of Lanschet or Lagovia in the Palatinate of Sendomir and when in Prussia is chiefly at Sobkovia The fifth Ecclesiastial Senator is the Bishop of Vilna the capital City of the great Dutchy of Lithuania on the River Vilia which discharges it self into the River Niemen below Cowno His Diocess extends it self thro' Lithuania and White-Russia even to the Borders of Moscovy The sixth Ecclesiastical Senator is the Bishop of Posnan a City in Low or Great Poland situate on the River Varta There are the Tombs of several Kings of Poland in the Cathedral Church of this City all which are very Magnificent His Diocess not only extends thro' the Province of Posnania but also thro' some part of the Palatinate of Masovia as Warsaw c. The seventh Ecclesiastical Senator is the Bishop of Plosko a small City in Masovia on the River Vistula five Leagues above Vladislaw He has the same Jurisdiction over the Territory of Pultausk as the Bishop of Cracow has over the Dutchy of Severia and wherein there lies no Appeal to the King His Episcopal See is at Pultausk in Masovia upon the River Narew which runs into the Bug two Leagues below The eighth Eclesiastical Senator is the Bishop of Varmia in Royal Prussia which Bishoprick is so divided that the Bishop has two Parts and the Chapter the third and in which they have a free Jurisdiction over the Gentry exempt from the Regal Power His Episcopal See is at Frawenberg a little Town near Frisc-haff The ninth Ecclesiastical Senator is the Bishop of Luceoria or Lucko which is the capital City of High Volhynia His Diocess contains part of the Palatinate of Masovia Podlachia and Briescia or Polesia in the great Dutchy of Lithuania The tenth Ecclesiastical Senator is the Bishop of Premislia or Premislaw a City of Red-Russia on the River San six Leagues above Jeroslaw and twelve from Leopol In this City there is a Greek-schismatic Bishop It was here that a Canon of the Cathedral Church nam'd Orikowski in the Beginning of Lutheranism maintain'd the first that Priests might Marry and who Marry'd afterwards himself in the Year 1549. under the Reign of Sigismund II. The eleventh Ecclesiastical Senator is the Bishop of Samogitia who obtain'd from Pope Vrban VIII that he might likewise be Bishop of Curland This Bishop has no particular See appointed but sometimes resides at Midnich one of the chief Towns in that Province The twelfth Ecclesiastical Senator is the Bishop of Culm a City of Royal Prussia on the River Vistula six Leagues above the City of Thorn This Bishop formerly preceded the Bishop of Varmia His Episcopal See is at Lubavia as likewise at Stargardie which the Germans call Althousen The thirteenth Ecclesiastical Senator is the Bishop of Chelm in Red-Russia There is besides in this City a Greek-Schismatick Bishop The Bishop of Chelm has for some time translated his See to Kranostaw a Town in the same Palatinate of Chelm built upon a great Lake thro which runs the River Nieper This Translation was occasion'd by the frequent Irruptions of the Tartars and Cosaks and who have altogether destroy'd the City of Chelm The fourteenth Ecclesiastical Senator is the Bishop of Kiovia capital City of Low Volhynia and of all Vkraina Here is moreover a Greek-Schismatick Bishop formerly Primate of all Russia or Moscovy The Inhabitants of this City are all of the Greek Perswasion and at present are subject to the Great Czar The fifteenth Ecclesiastical Senator is the Bishop of Caminiec Capital of Podolia which is now under the Turk The sixteenth Ecclesiastical Senator is the Bishop of Smolensko upon the River Vistula Capital of the Dutchy of the same Name This Dutchy was formerly subject to Lithuania but now is also subdu'd by the Moscovite Every one of these Bishops has a great Retinue and a kind of little Court having several Ecclesiastical and Secular Officers about him The greatest Part of them also have Suffragans because they believe themselves chiefly made Bishops to have a Right to sit in the Senate and not to be troubled with the Duties of their Office and therefore allow these a small Pension to perform all Episcopal Functions for them Guagnini says that in the Year 1506. there was a great Contest in the Diet held at Lublin between the Ecclesiastical and Lay Senators for the latter pretended to have a Right to sit next the King on his left Hand but which at length the Bishops over-power'd them in and thereby retain'd their ancient Privilege Krzistanowic in his State of Poland says that such was the Piety of the Poles that immediately after they became Christians they prefer'd their Clergy to their Laity and allow'd them many Noble Immunities and Privileges which they enjoy to this Day Most of the Bishops have very large Revenues wherewith they may not only live splendidly and comfortably themselves but also be assistant to the inferiour Clergy and charitable to the Poor Here I must beg leave to give Your GRACE by way of Digression some Account of the present State of Religion both in Poland and Lithnania together with a few historical Circumstances relating as well to modern as more remote Times and wherein I shall all along endeavour to be as concise and comprehensive as the several Particulars I have to go thro' will admit Your GRACE may first be inform'd that the Poles became Christians under the Reign of Miecislaus I. in the Year 964. as may be observ'd in the Life of that King The first Tenets they embrac'd were those of the Church of Rome But however the Russians entertain'd the Greek Perswasion which they continue in many Places of that Province to this Day They are utterly averse to the Roman Catholick Religion and term its Professors by way of Contempt Latins their Service being in that Language There are two Sorts of Greek Churches in this Kingdom the Schismaticks and the Vniats whereof the latter differ only from the Roman Catholicks in that their Devotion is all in the Greek Language The Priests of both these Churches are call'd Popi the Word Pop in Polish signifying a
a Town in the Palatinate of Kalisch The seventy eighth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Srzdo or Sremsk a Town in the Palatinate of Posnania The seventy ninth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Zarnow a Town in the Palatinate of Sendomir The eightieth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Malagost or Malogsch a Town in the same The eighty first Lay Senator is The Castellan of Vielunia a Territory in the Palatinate of Siradia The eighty second Lay Senator is The Castellan of Praemislaw a District in the Palatinate of Russia The eighty third Lay Senator is The Castellan of Halicz a District in the same Palatinate The eighty fourth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Sanoch a District in the same Palatinate The eighty fifth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Chelm The eighty sixth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Drohiczin a District of the Province of Podlachia The eighty seventh Lay Senator is The Castellan of Poloviec a Town in the Palatinate of Sendomir The eighty eighth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Premecz or Primen a Town in the Palatinate of Posnania The eighty ninth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Kriven a Town in the same Palatinate The ninetieth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Czekow a Town in the Palatinate of Sendomir The ninety first Lay Senator is The Castellan of Nakel or Naklo a Town in the Palatinate of Kalisch The ninety second Lay Senator is The Castellan of Rosprza a Town in the Palatinate of Siradia The ninety third Lay Senator is The Castellan of Biechovia a Town in the Palatinate of Lanschet The ninety fourth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Bidgotz a District and Town in the Palatinate of Inowlocz The ninety fifth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Brezini a District and Town in the Palatinate of Lanschet The ninety sixth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Kruswick a District and City in the Palatinate of Bresty The ninety seventh Lay Senator is The Castellan of Oswieczin a Dutchy and City in the Palatinate of Cracovia The ninety eighth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Kamin a Town in the Palatinate of Kalisch The ninety ninth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Spicimiria or Rizepice a District and Town in the Palatinate of Siradia The hundredth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Inowlocz The hundred and first Lay Senator is The Castellan of Kowalow a Town in the Palatinate of Bresty The hundred and second Lay Senator is The Castellan of Zandoc a Town in the Palatinate of Posnania The hundred and third Lay Senator is The Castellan of Sochazovia a District and Town in the Palatinate of Rava The hundred and fourth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Warsaw a District and famous City in the Province of Masovia The hundred and fifth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Gostinin a District and capital City in the Palatinate of Rava The hundred and sixth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Wisna a District and Town in the Palatinate of Masovia The hundred and seventh Lay Senator is The Castellan of Radzanow a Town in the Palatinate of Plosko The hundred and eighth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Sieprcz or Siepez a Town in the same Palatinate The hundred and ninth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Wissegrod a District and Town in the Palatinate of Masovia The hundred and tenth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Ripin a District and Town in the Palatinate of Dobrina The hundred and eleventh Lay Senator is The Castellan of Zacrol a District and Town in the Palatinate of Masovia The hundred and twelfth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Cickanow a District and Town in the same Palatinate The hundred and thirteenth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Liw or Liwo a District and Town in the same Palatinate The hundred and fourteenth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Slonsk a District and Town in the Palatinate of Dobrina The hundred and fifteenth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Lubazow a Town in Royal Prussia The hundred and sixteenth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Konarzew a Town in the Palatinate of Siradia The hundred and seventeenth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Konarzew in the Palatinate of Lanschet The hundred and eighteenth Lay Senator is The Castellan of Konarzew in the Territory of Cujavia Having thus gone thro' the several Precedencies of the Bishops Palatins and Castellans in the Senate Your GRACE may please to observe that a Palatin cannot be a Castellan of the same Place whereof he is Palatin Nor can either of them two be a Starosta or any other Officer in the same Palatinate or Castellany except some few and all those of Lithuania and Prussia where the Palatins govern wholly by Martial Law Neither can a Palatin Castellan or Starosta have two Commands either of the same Kind or any other at the same time It is likewise to be observ'd that no Castellan can be Burgrave of the Castle of Cracow or any other Castle whilst he is Castellan In the Polish Tongue the Castellans are call'd Lords of a Place by adding only the Termination of Ki or Ski to it as Pan Poznanski Lord of Posnan c. Last of all the Lay Senators come the ten Crown-Officers who stand about the Throne on each Side of the King Their Degrees are as follow viz. The great Marshal or great Steward of Poland The great Marshal or great Steward of Lithuania The great Chancellor of the Kingdom The great Chancellor of the Dutchy The Vice-Chancellor of the Kingdom The Vice-Chancellor of the Dutchy The great Treasurer of the Crown The great Treasurer of the Dutchy The little Marshal or Court-Marshal of the Kingdom The little Marshal or Court-Marshal of the Dutchy Here it is to be observ'd that the five Senator-Officers of Lithuania have the same Dignity and Power with those of the Kingdom except that they give place to the Former But first for The hundred and nineteenth Lay-Senator who is The great Marshal or great Steward of Poland His Office is to prepare every thing for the general Diet either by Command of the King or the Primate to assign Stations for the several Members to exclude such as are none and to provide Lodgings for foreign Ministers and moreover to take care that all be safe where that general Assembly of the States is to convene Likewise to set Prizes upon all Vendibles and to moderate publick Shows He may punish Offenders and seditious Persons even with Death without being subject to an Appeal unless it be in a Matter of very great Consequence He has the Authority to impose Silence and to give Liberty to speak He has a Power to admonish a Senator or Deputy if he exceeds the Bounds of Modesty in his Harangue His Business is to promulgate the Acts of the Senate and to put in Execution the King's Decrees either in Cases of Infamy or Death His Duty is also to carry a Staff erected
King's Revenue arising within their District and may discount a fourth Part for their Trouble The Starostas without Jurisdiction are those who are properly Tenants in Capite They have no Power to exercise Justice unless in very slight Cases Burgraves and Tribunes have the Custody of Castles Forts c. and are to keep constant Guard there either by themselves or their Deputies These are subject to the Starostas The Revenue of Starostaships partly arises from Agriculture and partly from Manufacture and Handicrafts They have been sometimes known to have been Mortgag'd to raise the King's Revenue more speedily especially those without Jurisdiction Here likewise the Officers of the Mines call'd Zuppars in Polish may be taken notice of who have divers Officers and Substitutes under them The Minor Ecclesiastical and Temporal Officers and Persons of this Kingdom being in all Respects like to those of other Nations I have purposely omitted them Thus My LORD I have gone thro' the several Particulars which I propos'd to entertain Your GRACE and the Publick with yet at the same time cannot but be highly sensible of my Presumption in prefixing Your Great Name to so imperfect an Account therefore hoping Your GRACE'S Pardon upon an humble Acknowledgment I beg Leave to subscribe my self My LORD Your GRACE'S Most Obedient and Most Humble Servant J. S. LETTER III. To the Right Honourable JAMES VERNON Esq Principal Secretary of State Of the Grand Diet Little Diets and other general Assemblies in Poland with an Account of all the several Courts of Justice from the highest to the lowest As likewise of the Judges Laws and Punishments in that Kingdom SIR A. The Present King in his Throne BB. The ten Crown Officers C. The A Bp. of Gnesna w th the Cross born behind him DDDD The other Ecclesiasticall Senators EEEEE Forreign Embassadors admitted only to the Diet of Election FFFFFF The Palatins Castellans in the three Rows on each side GGGGGG The Deputy s in the two back Rows on each side H. The Nuncio Marshall or Speaker of Deputy s. IIII. Vacant seats for such others as are sometimes admitted 1. The Arms of Poland 2. The Arms of Lithuania SIR The Grand Diet or Parliament of Poland by the Natives call'd Seym Walny is an Assembly of the King Senators and Nuncio's or Deputies of every Province met together in any City or Town of Poland or Lithuania in order to deliberate upon State Affairs and the Means to secure and preserve the Kingdom both in Times of Peace and War It is the King or during an Inter regnum the Primate who has the sole Power of convoking this great Assembly as likewise to determine the Place where and the Time when it shall sit By the Constitutions of the Kingdom the King is oblig'd to call a Diet every third Year and of every three successively call'd two must be held in Poland most commonly at Warsaw and the third in Lithuania in the City of Grodno in the Palatinate of Troki twenty Leagues from Vilna Capital of this great Dutchy So that every ninth Year the King with all the Senators and Deputies of the Kingdom goes into Lithuania and every third the Senators and Deputies of Lithuania come into Poland The Reason of the Diet 's being held in Lithuania was because the Lithuanians complain'd that it was not a little inconvenient for them to come so far as Poland When the King has a mind to convoke this general Meeting he is to send out circular Letters six Weeks before the time he appoints for its Session by the Constitution in the Year 1613. to all the Palatins of the Provinces acquainting them with his Design together with the Time he intends it shall meet He sends them likewise a List of all the Affairs and Articles which are to be treated of in that Diet. Whereupon every Palatin or his Deputy in his own respective Government forthwith dispatches Notice to all the Castellans Starostas and other Gentry requiring them at a certain Time to meet together in order to deliberate on the Articles and Affairs propos'd by the King's Letters as likewise to choose a Nuncio or Deputy to represent their Intentions and Decisions in the Great Diet. These Letters are proclaim'd by a Herald call'd by the Poles Wozny and afterwards pasted up upon all the Town-Gates and Church-Doors These Assemblies in the Provinces are term'd by them Comitiola in the Polish Language Seymiki or little Diets In Cases of Extremity six Weeks Notice need not be given as appears by the Constitutions of the Year 1638. The several Places these little Diets meet at are as follow In Lower or Great Poland In the Palatinates of Posuan and Kalisch Siradia In the Cities and Towns of Sroda Schadkow In the Castellany of Vielunia In the Cities and Towns of Vielun In the Palatinates of Lanschet Bresty and Inowlocz In the Cities and Towns of Lanschet Radzieiow Appointed by the Constitutions in the Year 1510. In the Palatinate of Dobrina the little Diet meets in the Town of Ripin Appointed by the Constitutions in the Year 1567. In the Palatinates of Plosko Rava in three Places In the Citys Towns of Radzanow Rava Sochaczow Gombin In the Provinces of Podlachia in three Places In the Cities and Towns of Droghiczin Mielnik Bransko Masovia in ten Places In the Cities and Towns of Cirna Warsaw Wisna Wissegrod Zakrol Ciekanow Lombze Rozan Liw and Nur. In the Province of Upper or Little Poland In the Palatinate of Cracovia in two Places In the Cities and Towns of Zator for the Dutchy of Oswieczin and Prossovia for the Palatinate By the Constitutions of the Year 1667. In the Palatinates of Sendomir and Lublin In the Citys Towns of Opatow and Lublin In the Great Dutchy of Lithuania In the Palatinates of Vilna in four Places In the Cities and Towns of Vilna Osmian Wilcomitz Braclaw Troki in five Places In the Cities and Towns of Troki Grodno Cowno Lida Ponienwiez Polocz In the Cities and Towns of Polocz Novogrodec in two Places In the Cities and Towns of Slonim Wolkowizko Witebsko in two Places In the Cities and Towns of Witebsko Orska Briescia or Polesia in two Places In the Cities and Towns of Briescia Pinsko Mscislaw In the Cities and Towns of Msceislaw Minsk in three Places In the Cities and Towns of Minsk Modzir Reczycza In the Province of Prussia In the Palatinates of Pomerania Marienburg Culm Elbing In the Cities and Towns of Imprimis in all the Districts then in Stargar-Stuma die Michalovia and Graudentz Elbing In the Province of Russia In the Palatinates of Russia in five Places In the Cities and Towns of Leopol Praemislaw Sanoch Halitz Chelm Belsko Podolia In the Cities and Towns of Belsko Caminiec Since Caminiec's being taken by the Turks its Little Diet meets at Leopol In the Palatinates of Kiovia Braclaw In the Cities and Towns of
which is the Reason that he is often brib'd either by the King Foreign Princes or some great Men of the Kingdom On the Day prefix'd for the Meeting of the Diet the King with all the Senators and Nuncios goes to hear a Sermon which being ended he retires into the Senate where he is severally saluted by the Members thereof And the Nuncios retiring likewise into their House call'd by the Poles Izba Poselska confer together about electing a Speaker during which the last Speaker or Marshal officiates till a new one be chosen and then is oblig'd to resign his Staff to the Marshal elect who is to take an Oath to be true and faithful before he enters upon his Office When the Marshal or Speaker is elected he with all the Deputies of the Province goes to kiss the King's Hand in the Diet-Chamber where his Majesty sits on a Throne erected for that Purpose Then the Chancellor in the King's Name proposes all the Points to be debated in the Diet and desires the Senators and Nobility to take them into Consideration whereupon the King immediately leaves them lest his Presence might be an Awe upon them and then the Senators retiring into their Room by themselves and the Nuncios into theirs by them call'd Izba Poselska they forthwith set about deliberating on the Articles propos'd Here SIR I may remark a pleasant Reflection of Hauteville in his Account of Poland where he says That the Poles employ more Time in drinking and feasting than in debating Matters of State for that they never think on that Work till they begin to want Money to buy Hungarian Wine After the Chancellor has thus propos'd to the Diet in the King's Name all the Articles they are to go upon the Marshal of the Nuncios likwise on the Part of the Deputies presents to the King what they desire of his Majesty which is 1. To make void all Intrenchments either upon the State or the People And 2. To bestow all vacant Offices upon Persons of Worth and Merit This Marshal of the Deputies has a great Authority over them in the Diet for he it is that commands Silence among 'em and who transmits all their Requests to the King or Senate and seeing that by his Power he can either animate or moderate them it is not to be wonder'd at if he be a Person of no ordinary Esteem and that the Court always endeavours by various Favours to secure him for their Friend The Manner of Proceedings in the Nuncios House is much the same as in the Little Diets No body offers his Opinion there till having first ask'd Leave of the Marshal who alone introduces all Messengers from the King Senators Army or Foreign Princes and answers them all in the Name of the House If any Disserences arise among the Nuncios or other Tumults are rais'd by the Spectators he causes Silence immediately by striking his Staff against the Ground The two Orders being thus separated there are nevertheless frequent Intercourses between them as are between our two most Honourable Houses The Nuncios have a Power of impeaching all Magistrates and Officers for Male Administration and to put the King in mind as often as they think fit of his Coronation-Oath Moreover the Nuncios Power and Authority appears the greater in that no Constitution or Law is of any Validity or Force that was not first begun in their House Nay their Marshal is to be the first Starter of all Laws and when concluded upon it is his Office only to read them before the Senate For this Reason in the Year 1668. the Marshal protested against a certain Law because it was first concerted in the Senate But what is more to be admir'd than all this is that the Dissent of one single Nuncio is sufficient to annul the whole Proceedings and to occasion the Diet to be dissolv'd To confirm this Authority and for the futher Security of the Nuncios Sigismund I. in the Year 1510. ordain'd that it should be High Treason to Injure any Member of the Diet tho he afterwards in the Year 1539. restrain'd this Law to the Royal Person but which notwithstanding John Casimir in some measure renew'd in the Year 1649. If one of these Nuncios commits any Crime he is to be try'd only by his Fellow-Members This Privilege of the Nuncios begins a Month before and lasts as long after the Diet. Upon some Occasions the Marshal assigns Committees of these Nuncios who are to transact a-part such Matters as are intrusted to them The Nuncios remain in their House till the fifth Day before the Conclusion of the Diet when they are all to go to the Senate Et sic Comitia ad Patres transferre dicuntur But if within the Time assign'd by the Laws they find they are not able to finish their Business they humbly petition the King that the Diet may be prorogu'd Whilst the Nuncios are thus providing for the publick Good in their House the King and Senate do not pass their Time idly in theirs for after the Chancellor has given the Charge to the lower House and they are retir'd he together with the Senators tries criminal Causes for a whole Week which being ended there are several other Matters assign'd for certain Days until the lower House bring up Bills to be debated Near the Conclusion of the Diet and before the Senators and Nuncios are join'd the Marshal of the lower House in a set Speech gives Thanks to the Deputies for the Honour and Favour they have conferr'd upon him and is answer'd by one of the Nuncios in the Name of the rest who returns him their Acknowledgments for his faithful Execution of his Office When the Nuncios are come to the upper House their Marshal or Speaker sits on a Form below the Senator Marshals and the rest of the Deputies stand behind the other Senators who are seated all in their Order Being thus join'd they proceed to confirm create or abrogate Laws No body speaks here without having first obtain'd leave of the great Marshal In this Meeting the Nuncio-Marshal's Power is at an End his Office being then officiated by the great Marshal either of Poland or Lithuania or in their Absence by some other of the Senator Officers The great Marshal has Authority not only to check a Nuncio but also a Senator in speaking if he exceeds his Bounds He also in case of great Disorders imposes Silence by striking his Staff on the Ground In Cases of Controversy the King always suspends his Opinion till the Differences are reconcil'd This the Kings Henry and Stephen promis'd faithfully to observe as may appear by the Book of their Laws Page 254. To establish a Law or Constitution in the Diet the Deputies must first propose it by their Marshal and then the King and Senate are to approve of it but however before it
can have any Force it must be review'd by the great Marshal and two Deputies or by three Senators and six Deputies Having been thus review'd it is read out in the Diet by the Nuncio Marshal after which the Chancellors demand with a low Voice If the King Senate and Deputies consent to apply the Seal which being answer'd in the affirmative it is presently seal'd and enroll'd among the Acts in the Register of Warsaw and this by the Care of the Deputy's Marshal who is to see it done soon after the Conclusion of the Session After this one of the King's Secretaries is to get it printed and dispers'd among the several little Diets and Tribunals all over the Kingdom It must be observ'd that where the Diet has been dissolv'd thro' the Obstinacy of any particular Member no Laws or Constitutions can be committed to the Press Whereupon in the Year 1665. the Nuncios severely reprov'd their Marshal for but suffering them to be transcrib'd where the Session had been adjourn'd The same Law is to be observ'd in all Decrees of the Diet for immediately after the publishing of them by the Referendary they are to be transcrib'd sign'd seal'd and printed Those Decrees that concern the Treasury are to be sign'd only by a Prothonotary appointed for that Purpose By the Constitution of the Kingdom the Diet ought never to sit above six Weeks and the Gentry are so very exact in observing this Privilege that as soon as ever that Time is expir'd they send their Marshal to take Leave of the King in their Name and moreover to acquaint him that they intend to wait on him to kiss his Hand which they are admitted to do soon after They are so obstinately bent upon defending this Custom that tho' the Urgencies of State require never so short a Continuance of the Diet after the Time prescrib'd yet they always vigorously oppose it as they did in the Year 1649. when the Tartars and Cosacks had almost over-run the Kingdom The Reason I suppose why the Members of the Diet are so punctual in observing this Constitution above any other is because by that Time their Money generally is spent and other Provisions which they bring in Waggons from home as Beer Wine Meat Fowl c. Consum'd by the great Train of Guards and other Domesticks which they have with them The Affairs generally treated of in the grand Diet are either a King's Election or his Marriage sending Ambassadours to Foreign Princes declaring War or making Peace imposing Taxes to carry on a War making Alliances with other Princes and all other State Affairs Likewise all Suits of Law between private Persons have their last Appeal from the Tribunals to the Diet As may appear by the Difference adjusted by them between the Order of Malta and Prince Demetrius Wiesnowiski who with-held Possession of what was given by his Brother-in-Law the Duke of Ostrog to this Order Also in criminal Cases they judge and condemn as they did those who assassinated Gonczeski Lieutenant General of Lithuania who had all their Heads cut off by Proceedings in this Court In Cases of High-Treason the Poles say their King ought not to be present at the Tryal of any Traytor and therefore the Marshal Lubomirski complain'd of John Casimir's condemning him in the Diet for Contumacy Also they do not generally admit the Nuncios at that Time tho Stephen Batori at a Diet held at Warsaw in the Year 1582. caus'd them to be present at the Tryal of Shorowski for Treason to the End that they might all be Witnesses of the Injustice done him 'T is likewise in the Diet that Strangers are naturaliz'd and Natives of the Country who are not free-born are made Gentlemen Formerly no Person was capable of this Honour but such only as had serv'd in the Wars for a considerable Time or else who had done some other good Service to the State but now there needs no other Merit or good Qualities than to be rich enough to purchase the Favour of the Court or the Protection of some great Man They that pretend to the Indigenat that is to be made Noble have no more to do than to apply themselves to the Nuncio-Marshal who has the Power to put their Names into the Roll of those that desire to be made Polish Gentlemen After which they are to give in a Note of their Genealogy Names Sir-names Family and Services and to put their Arms in the Middle When they have been receiv'd and accepted by the Diet and have got their Patent sign'd they are to take an Oath before the same Marshal to be true and faithful to their King and Country and whereof the Marshal afterwards gives them a Certificate Nevertheless tho the Candidate be declar'd Noble by the unanimous Consent of the three Orders yet is he capable only of mean Employments and to have a Vote among the Gentry it not being in the Power of the King to bestow either on him or his Children any important Preferment till the third Generation be past and the Republick is thereby satisfy'd of their Fidelity Loyalty and Affection for their Country Tho' no other Person but the King Senate and Nuncios can have any Business or Vote in the Diet yet vast Numbers of other People still flock thither Also most commonly Foreign Princes choose then to send their Ambassadors according to the Interest they have to maintain in the Diet. At this time likewise the greatest Part of the Nobility that have wherewithal to appear in any Sort of Grandeur meet here together with their Wives and Children tho' they have no other Business than to see and be seen It is then their Sons get acquainted with others of the young Gentry and often are marry'd to some of the young Ladies that come in like manner to be observ'd and to get Husbands In short the Diet is a kind of general Rendevouz of all the People of Quality in the Kingdom as well Men and Women as Children so that what City soever the Diet sits in there are always Thirty Thousand and sometimes Forty thousand Persons more than there us'd to be Nevertheless Provisions are not very scarce by reason that every Gentleman almost brings his Necessaries along with him Nay the greatest Part send their Fuel and Provender for their Horses by the River Vistula to Warsaw when they come from that Side of the Country There are likewise several Gentlemen that always come from Germany Sweden and other adjacent Countries to see this general Meeting which is a fine Sight and the only thing that is worth observing in Poland At this Time there is always such a Crowd of Soldiers Heydukes and Footmen in the Streets that it is not safe to be abroad after Day shut in for Fear of being rob'd or strip'd naked as happens almost every Night for the Polish Gentry give so very short Allowance to their Guards and Servants
the Church and the Civil Magistrates are oblig'd to be Assisting to them in the Execution of their Sentences as often as they shall be so requir'd To the Ecclesiastical Courts belongs the Court of Nunciature held by the Popes Nuncio for that purpose always residing in Poland However before he can have any Jurisdiction he must have presented the King and the Principal Ministers of State with the Apostolic Brief of his Nunciature The Civil Jurisdiction is divided among divers sorts of Judges and belongs to the Commonalty as well as Gentry Some of these determine Causes exempt from Appeals and others cannot Those from whom there lies no Appeal are the three High-Tribunals instituted by Stephen Batori the Judges whereof are all Gentry Two of these Tribunals are for the Kingdom and one for the Great Dutchy Those for the Kingdom keep their Session Six Months at Petricovia in Low Poland and the other Six at Lublin in High Poland That for the Great Dutchy is alternatively one year at Vilna and another either at Novogrodec or Minski They all consist of so many Judges both Ecclesiastical and Civil chosen out of every Palatinate the former once in four years and the latter once in two Judgment is pronounced here by Plurality of Voices but where Matters are purely Ecclesiastical there ought to be as many of the Clergy as the Laity The Causes here are heard in Order for three days are allow'd to enter all that come and whatever are not enter'd within that time cannot be adjudg'd that sitting A Man that has a Trial in these Courts may be said to have all the Nation for his Judges Deputies both Ecclesiastical and Temporal being sent thither for that purpose from all Parts of the Kingdom The Senate also Judges of Civil or Criminal Matters without Appeal As do likewise the Great Marshals in all Cases relating to the King's Officers And the Great Chancellors in matters of Appeal to the Court which they have only Cognisance of But the Marshal's Jurisdiction extends over all Merchants and Strangers both who find but little Justice done them in Poland when they have occasion for it Also there are two Exchequer Courts for the Revenue one held at Radom in High Poland and the other at Vilna These Courts seldom sit above a Fortnight or Three Weeks Those that are not exempt from Appeals are the Courts of the Gentry and Commonalty in every Palatinate which are by no means to have any of the Clergy for Judges Those for the Gentry are either the Courts of Land-Judicature or those of the Starostas and are more or fewer in number according to the Extent of the Palatinate where they are held The Courts of Land-Judicature have one Judge an Associate and a Natory or Head-Clerk to Try Causes and Administer all Civil Justice in some Places four in others six times a year and in others once a Month. The Courseof these Courts can only be interrupted by the Death of any of their Judges by the Diet or by the general Meeting of the Palatines and Magistrates which last is every Autumn to hear Appeals from Inferiour Courts The Towns where the Gentry sit are in great number and it must be observ'd that none who have Lands or Goods within each Jurisdiction can be made to Appear at a Court where they have none The immediate Appeal from these Courts is to the Vice-Chamberlain of the Palatinate who either by himself or his Deputy the Chamberlain of that District restores all that have been Dispossess'd and ascertains all Bounds and Limits of Lands This is as it were his whole Jurisdiction But where there is any Contest between the King and any of the Gentry in this Kind then at their request Commissioners are appointed out of the Senate to inspect the matter disputed and to do Justice therein Likewise where the Difference is between the King and a Clergy-man Commissioners are order'd but there the Bishop of the Diocess Claims the Nomination of one or more of them When any of the Officers of the Courts of Land-Judicature die the King cannot Name others till the District to which they belong'd have chosen Four out of the House-keepers but then he may pitch upon One for each Election This Office being once obtain'd it cannot be forfeited but by a Higher Promotion or Male Administration The other Courts for the Gentry are those that take cognizance of Criminal Cases whereof there is one only in every Starostaship call'd Sudy Grodskie Where either the Starosta himself or his Lieutenant-Criminal Administers Justice in his Castle or some other publick Place at least every Six Weeks He likewise has Cognisance of Civil Causes between such as have no Lands and such Forreigners as come to Trade here Process in Criminal Cases is to be serv'd here a Fortnight and in Civil a Week before the Court sits He is also the Executive Minister of all Sentences pronounc'd and likewise a sole Conservator of the Peace within his Territories He is oblig'd by himself or his Officers to see all Publick Executions perform'd The Courts of the Commonalty are either in Cities or Villages In Cities Justice is Administred by the Scabins Town-Hall or Judg-Advocate The Scabins have cognisance of all Capital Offences and Criminal Matters the Town-Hall of all Civil Cases to which likewise the Gentry are subject and the Judg-Advocate of Offences committed by Soldiers Civil Matters of small Moment are determin'd solely by the Governour of the City but which are subject to Appeal to the Town-Hall and thence to the King In Villages the Commonalty are subject to Scabins being the Kings Officers and to Scultets or Peculiar Lords from which last lies no Appeal Here Justice is almost Arbitrary except in Criminal Cases The Scultets are Hereditary Judges The Execution of all Sentences in Cities and Towns is in the hands of its own Magistrates though in some cases they are forc'd to beg Assistance from the Starostas The Officers and Magistrates of the Plebeian Courts are some nam'd by their Peculiar Lords and some Elected by their Fellow Citizens except in Cracow only where the Palatine has a Right of Choosing the Magistrates though he has not the same Power to dis-place them after they are once chosen for they are to continue their Office for Life unless they forfeit it by Infamy or Inability Out of the XXIV composing the Council or Senate of Cracow the Palatine every year deputes Eight with the Title and Power of Presidents He also Names the Judge and Scabins by the Magdeburg Laws though these in other Cities are chosen by the Council The Scultets or Hereditary Judges cannot be remov'd but in extraordinary Cases The Profits of all Offices are but very small and scarce any certain the Poles esteeming the Honour of enjoying them sufficient Recompence Nevertheless they have all Salaries and Perquisites though inconsiderable The Military
Then they proceed to institute the Court call'd Kaptur treated of before This Diet consists of the Archbishop of Gnesna who represents the King's Person and the other Senators together with the Deputies of the Provinces In Case there is no Archbishop of Gnesna when the King dies the Office of Inter-Rex comes to the Bishop of Cujavia and next to the Bishop of Posnan and so to the rest of the Bishops of Lower Poland which in this Respect is preferr'd to the Higher tho' in nothing else Yet however they may grant away their Power as they did in the Inter-Regnum before the Election of the late King when the Bishop of Cracow officiated during the whole Interregnum by a common Consent of those Bishops Some of the Senators and Deputies are dispatch'd to the Generals of the Army to remain with them and to be assisting to them with their Counsel in the Affairs of the War Some Senators and Deputies likewise are appointed to inspect the Crown-Treasure deposited in the Castle of Cracow and to take an Inventory thereof which they are afterwards to report to the Diet. This Treasure is commonly committed to the Custody of eight Senators who are the Castellan of Cracow the Palatins of Cracovia Posnania Vilna Sendomir Kalisch and Troki together with the Treasurer of the Kingdom each having his particular Seal and Key and therefore none to act without the unanimous Consent of all Also Commissioners are sent to inform themselves of the King's Crown-Revenue which they are likewise to make their Report of during this Session and till a new King be proclaim'd the Republick claims the Title of Most Serene from all Sovereign Princes and Crown'd Heads altho' Hautaville says he has observ'd that the King of France writing to this Diet of Election has not faluted them with that Title but only express'd himself in these Terms To our dearest and well beloved Friends and Allies the States of the Kingdom of Poland and Great Dutchy of Lithuania Whilst this Diet sits which by the Laws is not to be above a Fortnight without Prorogation and from the Time of the Circular Letters to the Conclusion of the Diet of Election all Courts of Justice cease except only that of the Marshal's which continues as before and a Court establish'd to prevent Disorders in the Diet. As for all private Affairs and Suits of Law they are delay'd till after the new King's Coronation The Proceedings in this Diet are much of the same Nature with those in other Diets Most Crown'd Heads and other Christian Princes send Ambassadours to this Election and more especially the Emperour and King of France The Pope also always sends his Nuncio to take care that the Election should fall upon a profess'd Catholick and one that is in the Interest of the See of Rome The Emperour and French King always raise great Factions to promote their several Interests Before any Ambassadours arrive they are to send Notice of their coming to the Archbishop of Gnesna who is to appoint them Lodgings at a Distance from the City and to assign them a Polish Gentleman whose Business is rather to observe their Conduct and to acquaint the Diet therewith than to do them either any Service or Honour But however these Rules are but seldom observ'd for Princes Ambassadours now generally live publickly at Warsaw A Gentleman 't is true is still appointed to be always with them whose chiefest Business is to prevent their corrupting any with Money but this Precaution is notwithstanding now become useless since Avarice bears so great a Sway in Poland that even the Fidelity which a Polish Gentleman ows his Country cannot withstand the Charms of a Thousand Crowns Embassadors are not only receiv'd from Foreign Princes and their Masters Letters publickly read but also Polish Ministers are sent at this Time from the Republick to all Neighbouring States to answer their Embassies and to request their Amity Here it may be observ'd that all Embassadours or Envoys who have had Audience of Leave before the late King's Death are desir'd to depart within eight Days Embassadors from foreign Courts must take especial Care to secure the Diet in general since the bare disobliging of one particular Member may render them for ever incapable of bringing their Designs about as it hapned in the Election of Michael Wiesnowiski where the true Reason of the Duke of Newburg's being excluded was the Quarrel with the Chancellor Patz Nevertheless it must be acknowledg'd that that Election was tumultuary the Nobility had not their free Votes and that they were in a manner hurried away by the Violence of the Multitude which was so great that Prasmowski then Primate was forc'd to proclaim him tho' he knew that the Republick at that Juncture had need of both a rich and valiant King neither of which that Prince could in the least pretend to be He was no sooner proclaim'd but the Chancellor began to insinuate that he ow'd his Crown to him nor was it a difficult Task for him to impose on a Prince who was easily govern'd and who had always shewn more good Nature than Judgment After the Diet of Convocation ended the Nuncios and Deputies retire to their several Countries where they acquaint the Gentry being a second Time assembled in their Little Diets of the Proceedings in this general Convocation and particularly of the Day assign'd for the Election Whereupon the Gentry immediately begin to consult about what is proper to be propos'd in the Diet of Election and they proceed to choose new Deputies In Prussia the Bishop of Varmia being sole Lord Lieutenant summons all these little Diets by his Mandates The general Diet for the Election of a King was formerly held at Petricovia but since the joining of the Kingdom with the Great Dutchy is always held in an open Field half a League from Warsaw and near the Village of Vola and is not to continue by the Laws above six Weeks The Crown-Treasurer at the Charges of the Republick builds there a large Booth or Hall with Boards not unlike Booths in our Bartholomew Fair The Name the Poles give to this Place is Szopa signifying a cover'd Room against the Injuries of Weather It has but three Doors to go in at and they fortifie it round with a broad and deep Ditch When this Place is thus finish'd by the Care of the aforesaid Officer and the Day fix'd for the Diets convening is arriv'd the Senators and Nobility go in great Order to St. John's Church at Warsaw where they pray God to assist them in the Election of a King who may have all the Qualities necessary to defend the Church and protect the Republick Then they go to wait on the Queen Dowager to condole the Death of the deceas'd King her Husband the Primate speaking for the Senate and the last Nuncio-Marshal for the Deputies who are then answer'd in the Queen's
the King always bore to his Queen in Conjunction with her own Intrigues among the Senators soon broke this Design They have also sometimes elected absolute and neighbouring Princes as the King of Sweden the King of Hungary the King of Bohemia and the Prince of Transilvania but then this Constitution was not in Force being only made of latter Days for they are now resolv'd to admit of no such Election hereafter So that at present a Prince must be very rich to purchase the Votes of so many Hundreds that compose the Diet and to treat the Gentry in general And besides must have many Heroick and Warlike Qualities and a great Reputation in the World to obtain the Crown of Poland Insomuch that before he can be elected and crown'd it must necessarily cost him several Hundreds of Thousand Pounds Sterling And moreover the vast Sums that all the Competitors spend liberally at this Election far exceeds what the elected Prince has spent so that the Members of the Diet must needs get well by their Election which I take to be one of the chiefest Reasons why they maintain their Kingdom elective The others are first That they take that Government to be easiest which is executed by a Person whom they have unanimously chosen to obey being not thereby oblig'd to be subject to a Prince that Nature only has set over their Heads Secondly That they esteem an elective Kingdom free from those Hazzards which one that is successive most commonly incurs during the Minority of its Princes for that then either its Neigbours take an Occasion to invade it or its Great Men to embroil it the better to secure the greater Share in the Government to themselves under so weak a Head If this be pretended to be remedy'd by assigning fit Tutors and Counsellors to the young Prince They say that the Government will be miserably mistaken for that we do not want in History several Examples of young Kings who have been driven out of their Thrones by their assign'd Governours And moreover that seldom any Kingdom has been known to continue long in Peace during the Minority of its King The third Reason they give is that in an elective State rarely any Blood is shed about the Succession as has frequently happen'd in other Countries without fetching any Examples from Antiquity Fourthly They say that a King chosen by the free Consent of the People will be likely in common Gratitude to retaliate the Obligation by the Clemency and Justice of his Reign The fifth Advantage which the Poles pretend by an Election of their Kings is that in no other State Princes take so great Care to educate their Children as in theirs And the sixth is That by Means of electing their King the Gentry who are only consider'd in Poland have the greater Power of conserving their Liberties and Privileges in which their greatest Happiness consists And the seventh is by limiting the Actions of their Kings to the unanimous Consent of the Diet. I might here mention many more Reasons but for Fear of tiring your Lordship by too long a Digression I return to my Subject As for those that have Suffrages in this Election it must be observ'd that the Diet have in general as likewise the Deputies of some particular Cities especially the greater ones of Prussia which formerly had not only Place among the Nuncios but also in the Senate As for the lesser the Bishop of Varmia generally subscribes in their Names There are others who have pretended to but have been deny'd a Vote in the Election as the Dukes of Prussia and the Dukes of Curland when they were only tributary to Poland The King's Sons also are excluded from a Vote tho' they should be dignify'd with Consent of the Republick Soldiers likewise are refus'd a Suffrage tho' it is no wonder that they laid Claim to such a Privilege being for the most part chosen out of the Gentry when the Cosacks once pretended to it but who were rejected with Contempt being look'd upon to be no better than the Scum or Dregs of the Populace At the Time of this Election the Diet apply themselves to the Conservation of their Rights and Liberties for this is the best Time to secure their Constitutions and Privileges and to prevent any Abuse of or Breach in their Laws for which Purpose they are always then very busie in making new Laws not only to preserve but likewise enlarge their Prerogatives As soon therefore as their King is elected they propose to him certain Articles or Capitulations to be agreed to before he can be proclaim'd These Articles they call Pacta Conventa being properly a Contract between the King and People which he swears afterwards to keep inviolable before the Altar in the Church of St. John at Warsaw Providing the elected King be a foreign Prince then must his Embassador who represents him sign these Articles and take this Oath for him Thus at the Election of Henry of Valois his Embassador John de Monluc Bishop of Valence was oblig'd to come to the Diet where after the Conditions to be observ'd by the new King his Master were read to him he sign'd them in the Name of the said Henry and of Charles IX his Brother King of France Then was he conducted to St. John's Church where after taking the abovesaid Oath his Master Henry of Valois was proclaim'd King of Poland by the Great Marshal the eighteent of May in the Year 1573. Afterwards according to Custom in these Cases Embassadors were sent by the Republick to take the Oath from that King in Person at Paris which they did on the tenth of September following This is the Method prescrib'd by the Laws for swearing to observe the Pacta Conventa yet which is not always punctually observ'd for King Michael and John Sobieski took that Oath several Days after their Election The Form of this Agreement or Capitulation is drawn up and methodiz'd by Order of the Senators and Deputies at the same time that they make the Decree of Election after which the three Orders viz. the King elect or his Embassador the Senate and Deputies go to the Church where the Chancellor or Grand Marshal reads distinctly with an audible Voice the whole Contract as follows 1. That the King shall not assume to himself the Quality of Heir of Poland nor will appoint any to be his Successor but on the contrary will preserve and maintain inviolable the Laws and Constitutions made for the free Election of a King 2. That he will pretend to no Right of Coining Money but will entirely leave that Power and the Profit thereof in the Hands of the Republick 3. That he will ratifie and confirm all the former Articles of Peace made with foreign Princes 4. That he will make it his principal Care to preserve and maintain the Quiet and Tranquility of the Publick 5. That without the Consent of the Diet he will not
it was practis'd in the last Election with as much Brevity and Succinctness as possible and which are as follow After the King has thus been conducted into the Church the Ceremony forthwith begins First the Archbishop in a short Oration exhorts the King to continue stedfast in the Roman Communion to exercise all Regal and Princely Virtues and lastly to remunerate his Obligations to the Republick by a just and inviolable Administration of the Government After which the Archbishop asks him to this Effect in Latin Will you support and maintain the Holy Catholick Faith and uphold it by good Works To which the King answers I will Then the Archbishop asks him again Will you protect and defend the Churches and their Ministers Answer I will Then the Archbishop again Will you govern and rule the Kingdom committed by God to your Charge according to Equity and Justice Answer I will Then the King-elect kneeling and kissing the Archbishop's Hand and laying his own upon the Evangelists sworn to perform all that he had before sworn to observe at St. John's Church at Warsaw with some other Particulars that induce me to repeat the Form which runs thus We Frederic Augustus duly elected King of Poland Great Duke of Lithuania and Duke of Russia Prussia Masovia Samogitia Kiovia Volhynia Podolia Podlachia Livonia Smolensko Severia and Czernicovia by all the Orders of both States of Poland and Lithuania and by all the Provinces incorporated and depending thereupon do sincerely promise and swear before Almighty God and upon the Evangelists of Jesus Christ to maintain observe keep and fulfill in every of the Circumstances Particulars and Articles all the Rights Liberties Immunities and Privileges both publick and private excepting such as are contrary to the common Rights and Liberties of both these Nations or to any Law either ecclesiastical or civil that have been justly and lawfully establish'd by our Predecessors the Kings of Poland Great Dukes of Lithuania and Dukes c. Or which have been granted by all the Orders during the Interregnum to the Catholick Churches Lords Barons Gentry Citizens and Inhabitans of what Rank or Condition soever together with the Pacta Conventa agreed upon between our Embassadours and the Orders of the Kingdom of Poland and Great Dutchy of Lithuania We do moreover promise to maintain and acquiesce in whatever has been enacted or establish'd in the Diet of our Election as we do likewise to what shall be agreed upon in that of our Coronation Also that we will restore both to the Kingdom and Great Dutchy whatever has or shall be alien'd and dismember'd from their Lands or Revenues Moreover we promise not to lessen the Bounds of either the Kingdom or Great Dutchy but rather to defend and enlarge them We swear likewise to establish Courts of Justice throughout the Kingdom and Great Dutchy and to see that Justice be render'd every where without Intermission or Delay without any Regard to or Favour of Persons or Things And lastly we consent that if it should happen which God forbid that we should in any wise violate this our Oath or any Part thereof that the Inhabitants of the Kingdom and all our Dominions shall be totally discharg'd and exempt from paying us Obedience and Fidelity This Form or Oath having been distinctly repeated by the King after the Chancellor and before the Archbishop his Majesty takes the Testament in his Hand and Kissing it uses these Words So may God help me and the Contents of this Book inspire me as I perform inviolably this sacred Oath After the King has been thus sworn he rises and hears the Pacta Conventa read and confirms the Oath which he had taken concerning them Then he Kneels again and receives the Benediction of the Archbishop and other Bishops after which he rises and has the upper Part of his Cloaths taken off when the Archbishop Anoints his right Hand and Arm up to his Elbow and Shoulder with consecrated Oyl with these Words I anoint thee King with consecrated Oyl in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Amen And then he has his Cloaths put on again Afterwards the two Bishops lead him to a Chappel on the left Side of the Church where they Habit him a-new somewhat like a Bishop After which he has other Ornaments put on by the two Marshals of the Kingdom and Great Dutchy and then he is convey'd by the Senator-Officers the Standard-bearer of the Kingdom walking before to the Throne rais'd for him in the Middle of the Church whence after having heard Mass he is brought back to the Altar where the Archbishop delivers a drawn Sword into his Right Hand with these Word Receive this Sword and cordially protect and defend the Holy Church against all Vnbelievers Then the King delivers the Sword to the Great Sword-Bearer of the Kingdom who having put it up in its Scabbard returns it to the Archbishop who then girds it to the King's Side whereupon the King immediately rises and drawing it again Flourishes it three Times over his Head to signifie that he will defend the Trinity and Church against all Unbelievers This being done the King kneels again and the Archbishop puts the Crown after a very solemn Manner on his Head which the two Bishops bear up with their Hands till the Archbishop has said certain Prayers After which the Archbishop puts the Scepter into the King's Right Hand and the Globe into his Left when the King rising his Sword is given again to the Sword-Bearer of the Kingdom to bear before him After this his Majesty is brought back between the Archbishop and the two Bishops to the Throne wherein he is forthwith plac'd by the Archbishop with these Words Sit and maintain the Place given you by God c. The King being thus seated the Archbishop and Bishops return to the Altar where they sing Te Deum which being ended and the Archbishop sit down by the Altar the King comes and Offers him Gold Kisses his Hand and having made his Confession to him receives the Sacrament and Benediction from him Thus the Ceremonies being at an end the Archbishop rises and gives his Benediction to all present when the Court-Marshal with a loud Voice cries out Vivat Rex Vivat Rex Which Signal being taken from him by the People all the Church soon rings with the same joyful Notes after which the Great Treasurer scatters a great Number of Coronation-Medals among the People and the Guns begin to roar out their Satisfaction in what had been done when the King forthwith returns to his Court with great Pomp and Magnificence The Coronation being thus compleated the rest of the Day is spent in various Kinds of Feasts and Rejoycings among which there is one very particular in the King's Court where they roast three whole Oxen stuff'd and larded with divers Kinds of fatned Wild Beasts when they also give a great many Hogs-heads of Wine and Beer
large black Velvet Pall thrown over it with a Cross of red Satin in the Middle and six long black Silk Tassels hanging down from it which are born up by as many of the deceas'd Person 's Domesticks all in close Mourning Before the Chariot march several Priests Monks and a great Number of People each of which carries a white Wax Torch lighted in his Hand next to whom and immediately before the Herse come three Men on Horseback who carry the Arms of the deceased one his Sword another his Lance and the third his Dart. The Procession thus set out marches very slowly in a manner that they usually come late to the Church After the Burial-Service is over those that carry'd the Armour enter the Church on Horse-back and furiously riding up to the Coffin break the Arms of the deceas'd thereupon after which the Body is Inter'd Then they return to the House where there is always a great Feast prepar'd when the Lay-Guests will not only drink to Excess but likewise force the Clergy to follow their Example Here it may not be amiss to observe something relating to the Interment of the King and Queen of Poland As soon as the King dies he is laid upon a Bed of State and a certain Number of the Senators both Ecclesiastical and Temporal are appointed to attend about his Corps The Republick also orders all necessary Expences relating hereunto to be levied out of the Crown Revenues A deceas'd Queen likewise has the same Ceremonies and Honours as a King for Queen Mary Ludovica Wife to John Casimir was carry'd from the Suburbs of Warsaw where she dy'd to the Castle where she lay in State till she was carry'd to Cracow to be buried It may not be improper to entertain your Lordship with the Manner of her Death there being something observable in it She dy'd of a Defluxion upon her Lungs or of a Consumption occasion'd by Excess of Passion on Account of a Contest she had had with the Chancellour Patz about something she had propos'd to him which he would not consent to This Princess lov'd so dearly to intermeddle with and to govern the State solely according to her Fancy that she was not a little jealous when the King her Husband spake to any other Women and that chiefly for fear he might enâ—line to be govern'd by another more than her self This your Lordship may imagine gave him no great Cause to be concern'd at her Death for at the very Instant of her expiring he posted away to a Mistriss he had formerly lov'd but whom he durst not have spoke to during his Queen's Life As Mourning is not only a necessary Circumstance but also the Sequel of a Funeral so I think my self oblig'd here to give some short Account of it The Mourning of the Men is much like ours only differing according to the Habits of the Country but the Women of Quality are generally apparell'd in a Sort of coarse black Stuff and their Linnen is not much finer than Canvass and the greater the Quality always the coarser the Linnen and Stuff This Habit does not misbecome Widows that are both young and handsome It may here be observ'd that the Senators Deputies and all others that have a Mind to appear at the Diet of Election must be in Black tho' the Fashions of the several Countries of Foreigners are not requir'd in like manner to be alter'd For the other Customs of eating and drinking among the Poles both at Feasts and elsewhere they are various but first I must give some Account of the Edibles and Potables Their ordinary Meat is Beef and Veal for Mutton they do not value and generally give it to their Servants They have great Store of grey but no red Partridges a great many Hares but no Rabits for they would sooner eat a Cat than these last They have 't is true some white Rabbets which they breed tame for the Sake of their Furrs In Poland there are a great many Roe-bucks but few Stags Abundance of wild Boars Hogs Poultry Pigeons and the like But as for wild-Foul they have great Store indeed in Summer but none in Winter as in other Countries when they are best They have a great many wild Oxen which when moderately salted are great Dainties with them The Manner of hunting these wild Oxen it may not be improper here to give some short Account of when they have surrounded the Beast with a great Number of Horsemen each of them rides up to him and darts him with an Arrow when the Beast feeling himselfwounded eagerly pursues its Enemy while another Person darting him from behind he turns in great Rage after that Person and then another darting him as likewise many others successively at length the poor Beast is so tir'd with pursuing so many Assailants that he falls down and is easily taken or kill'd They have another way of taking them in the Woods which is by causing the Rusticks to enclose a great Number of them with Trees feil'd down who also immediately raise up a Stage for Spectators when the Hunters assigning themselves every one a Post and the Beasts being frighted into the Middle by Dogs and the great Vociferation of the Assailants as they move towards each Person they are wounded with Darts which making them to run with great Force against their Enemy and finding an Opposition by the Trees they endeavour to force their Way whilst the Hunter from behind most commonly gives them their Deaths Wound but if they happen to break thro' then the next Hunter holds out a Piece of red Cloath which it seems this Beast having an Antipathy against forthwith leaves that Person and runs at the other who being provided for him most commonly kills him or in Case of Danger his Neighbour has Recourse to the aforesaid Stratagem which never fails of diverting the Fury of this wild Beast It may be also observ'd that this Beast has a Power of drawing a Man to him with his Tongue it being rough if he can but reach any Part of his Coat or the like Near the Mountains of Hungary there are also wild Goats which they admire mightily for Meat They likewise make a fine Dish as they think it of Beavers Tails but throw away the Body They likewise eat Bears Paws when pickled for Dainties When they take or kill Elks they do not gut them for fourteen or fifteen Days afterwards and sometimes in Winter not in a whole Month. When the Great Men come to the Diet they commonly bring these with their Skins and Guts and hang them at their Windows some five or six at a Time until they turn rank like Venison then they roast some and dress others like Beef a la mode This is esteem'd delicious Meat and none but Great Mens Tables have it The Manner of taking Bears also I presume may not be unacceptable to your Lordship They are generally taken with Nets even
and are Arm'd with Darts and Sabres and if they please they may wear Wings and Feathers Those out of Armour which are the fourth sort of Horse wear a Burka or rough Mantle about their Necks and have for Arms a Bow and Arrows with a Sabre These are the most numerous of all and compose the main Body of the Army call d by the Poles Woysko The number of these is always determin'd by the Diet. Neither these nor the others ever wear Liveries as in most Countries because they are all Polish Gentlemen These were they better Disciplin'd and better paid would perhaps be the finest Cavalry in the World As for the Foot they are either Poles and Lithuanians or Foreigners levy'd chiefly in Germany and Hungary The Zaporohensian Cosacks formerly serv'd the Poles as Volunteers for very small Pay They sometimes came in 30000 strong Arm'd with hook'd Lances Scymitars and long Guns and each having his Horse they fought either Mounted or on Foot They us'd their own Discipline and chose all their Commanders out of their own Body and would frequently depose even their General without any reason if he were not successful I have observ'd some of the Manners of these Cosacks in the first Volume of this History and here it may not be a-miss by way of Digression to say something more of them especially in what relates to War wherein I shall be as brief as I ought in reason They had their Name of Zaporohensian from the Russians calling them Porohi importing that they liv'd beyond the borders of the Kingdom of Poland He that Governs them at present is their General who instead of a Scepter bears only a Commander's Staff made of Cane As this Person is not Elected by Votes but by tumultuary Acclamations and throwing up of Caps so he is frequently deposed after the same manner by the inconstant Suffrages of the Populace but however while he injoys his Supremacy he has an Arbitrary Power over Life and Death Next to him are the 4 Counsellors of War called by them Assavuli and the Lieutenant-General After these are the several Prefects and other Sub-Commanders In their Counsels of War the General having caus'd all the People to be Conven'd and standing under a Canopy bare headed together with the Counsellors and Lieutenant-General after making a small Reverence to the Multitude who are sitting all the while proposes to them what is fit to be debated at that Session then is also his time to clear any Accusations made against him or to request any Favour of the Publick which he always does with a great deal of Submission and Respect While the General is speaking the People all hearken with profound silence but as soon as he has done they pronounce their Pleasure with no less Noise and Vocifieration By Land like the Ancient Gauls they fortify their Camps with their Carriages and at Sea they are wont to defend their little Boats against the Fury of Tempests by fencing them all round and over head with Reeds radled together not unlike our Arbors Of these Cosacks Amurath the Great Emperor of Turkey us'd to say That in spite of the other Potentates of Europe he could sleep on both Ears a Turkish Expression but that these Gad-flies would scarce suffer him to sleep on either We may guess at the Power of the Cosacks by observing that at one time they had above 200000 Men in the Field in their Rebellion against Poland but then indeed they had assistance from the Russians who Rebell'd likewise At present they have pretty good intelligence with the Poles being very uneasy under the Turkish and Muscovitish Yoke and they did the late King John Sobieski no small service in his Wars against the former To return to the Polish Foot as I said before they are either Natives or Foreigners How the Natives are raised I shewed before They are generally nothing but the vilest Mob and their business is rather to serve as Pioneers than Soldiers for the Gentry only make use of them to dig and fill up Trenches and Ditches to undermine Walls build Bridges clear the Roads to load and drive the Carriages to keep Guard in the Camp while the other Soldiers are absent and in a word to do all manner of drudgery they shall be commanded to These are mixt for the most part with the German hir'd Foot who do not meet with much better treatment in the Army VVhen we design to Besiege any Place says Starovolscius we commonly send into Germany or Hungary to hire Foot they being more Expert and Expeditious at any such work than ours Among these the word of Command is generally given in the German Tongue They are all divided into Regiments and Companies as in other Countries and Commanded as well by Polish as German Officers The Soldiers are generally so ill provided for that most of them have neither Swords nor Shooes and when they are in Winter-Quarters they have not above a Penny a day allowed them besides what they can steal Neither are their Officers much more kindly dealt with for they scarce fare so well in any respect as our common Sentinels do here Altho' there is a set number of Polish Foot that are Natives allowed out of every Village and Town and which consequently is part of the Pospolite yet because these General Expeditions are very slow in getting together and so instead of relieveing their Country rather oppress and expose it to Danger the Poles have always almost made use of Foreign Soldiers upon sudden Occasions which would the easier be made subject to Discipline and fit to undergo any Hazard or Exploit The Arms of all these Foot are chiefly a long hook'd Battle-Ax and which the Poles call in their Language Bardysz but sometimes they have a sort of long Guns When the Cosacks and Heydukes serve the Poles the latter have Liveries given them of one Colour and the former have a sort of course Cloth of what Colour they please They both have Horses to use upon occasion What other Foreign Horse or Foot there are I shall give your Grace an Account of in their proper places but at present for Method's sake I must go back to the Pospolite The Gentry are not obliged to go beyond the Frontiers above five Miles nor to continue above six Weeks in the Field and if they are compell'd by a unanimous Agreement of the Diet which never happens but upon very extraordinary Occasions then either the King or State is to bear their Charges and make good their Damages When the Gentry take any Prisoners they are to present them to the King and he is to make them some return by Custom but when they are taken themselves they are to be ransom'd out of the Publick Treasury For Foreign Expeditions the Poles make use of Stipendiary Soldiers provided the Enemy be not extraordinary strong for in such case the Nobility by a decree of
the Diet is to march against them So the Turk once coming towards Poland with 600000 Men the King did not care to trust even to 70000 hir'd Foreigners but convok'd the Gentry together at Leopol with whom if he had set forward as speedily as he was advised he might have totally extirpated the Infidels for ought I know out of Europe The Gentry are oblig'd to be in Arms as long as the King or State has occasion for them They all serve on Horseback not only for Honours sake but likewise that they may the more speedily intercept and oppose the Enemy before they reach their Frontiers When the Wars are over the Nobility are not ipso facto Discharged but must wait till they are methodically dismiss'd the Roll or Register by the Palatins the reason of which is for fear they might otherwise misuse the Citizens and Boors in a tumultuous Return Of the hir'd Soldiers I have spoken something before All that I think proper to add is that the Hungarian Foot which the Poles call VVegerska Piechota were first instituted by Stephen Batori in his Wars against the Muscovites to the maintaining of which almost every Diet contributes something yet which seldom or never suffices them Formerly the hir'd Foot consisted as well of Natives as Strangers The Auxiliary differ from the hir'd Forces in regard that the former are such as have been agreed to be furnished the Poles by Foreign Princes in a Treaty of Peace and the latter are such as have been levied in other Countries by permission Of this first sort were a certain number allowed Boleslaus Crivoustus by the Russians and to Casimir IV. by the Tartars against the Prussias which were to have some Rewards from the Poles These Rewards the Tartars afterwards requir'd yearly as a Tribute nay tho' they did no manner of Service for them whereupon King Stephen repell'd their Importunacies with an absolute Refusal as I have observ'd before in that King's Life which occasion'd great heats and disturbances but at length a Peace was concluded between these two Nations under the Reign of John Casimir whereby the Poles were oblig'd to pay a certain Stipend to the Cham and on the other hand the Cham was to be assisting to the Poles whenever they had occasion but it is certain that the latter broke his promise which induced a non-performance in the former There are other Examples of these kinds of Soldiers and at present some Allies are still obliged by such Contracts These Soldiers are both Horse and Foot as the Agreement is made This breach of Alliance by the Tartars occasion'd the Poles a new sort of Soldiers for Sigismundus Augustus to prevent their Incursions into his Kingdom allotted a fourth part of his Crown-Revenues to maintain a Guard on the Frontiers towards Tartary This fourth part was sometimes augmented and that as often as Exigencys required It was to be supervised by two Senators and two of the Gentry in conjunction with the High-Treasurer of Poland The Starosta of Rava had the Custody of it and was to give in his yearly Accounts how he had distributed it From hence these Soldiers had the Name of Quartarians Before this time the like Institution had been attempted at a Diet held at Vilna to guard the Frontiers of Lithuania against the Muscovites but this met with Opposition and consequently was laid aside These Forces generally consist of Foot and are always kept in Garrison Besides all these Soldiers before-mentioned some of the richest Gentry in Poland have all along been accustom'd at their sole costs and charges to raise several Troops of Horse for the publick Service some few Examples of the Power of which it may not be amiss to insert By the help of these Zamoski in the Reign of Sigismund III. worsted Carambeius the Scythian with 3000 Men only who with 70000 came to Invade Poland but with the loss of many thousands of his Tartars was quickly forced to return home And in the same Reign Zolkievi with only 3000 Horse set upon 80000 Muscovites unawares and routed them entirely bringing away three German Regiments that served among them Also in the late Reign Andrew Trzebicki who afterwards was made Primate when but Bishop of Cracow and Duke of Severia rais'd a considerable number of Forces at his own proper Expence to be sent against the Turks and which performed Wonders under the then General John Sobieski I omit many others that have done the same thing These Soldiers have been for the most part selected out of the Nobility which has been the occasion of their so frequent success in but small numbers in respect to those of their Enemies From this voluntary raising of these Soldiers they have had the Name given them of Volunteers tho' in other Countries that Title is appropriated to such as serve of their own Accord and without Pay Notwithstanding the great number and Warlike Disposition of all these several kinds of Soldiers yet their Power is very much abated by their want of Discipline and the neglect of the State and their Officers in the due administration of Affairs for first as to the State the Diet consisting of so many Persons of differing Sentiments is so exceeding tardy in fitting matters for Action that like a Clock made up of many contrary Motions its Progress must consequently be very slow and likewise before the Senators and Gentry can meet together there are so many Ceremonies to be past which they scarce ever abridge in the greatest Extremities that a Potent Enemy may over-run the Kingdom before the Pospolite can well be got ready to oppose them This was experienced when the Czar of Muscovy took Polocz and Smolensko from Sigismundus Augustus who by reason of the disagreements at that time in the Diet was never afterwards able to revenge it The same Czar likewise invaded Livonia without opposition thro' the like Defect which he could never have effected with so good success had the Poles been in a readiness to have marched against him but they are generally so long in fitting out and so unwilling to part with their beloved Luxury at the Diet that they cannot easily change to the rougher exercise of War Boterus in his Description of Poland says that four things are indispensibly requisite to the Defence of a State and they are 1. Native Force 2. Numerous 3. Potent And 4. Expeditious First their Force ought to be Native that they may not be betray'd by trusting it in the Hands of Strangers who have not so great Interest in the Success as themselves Secondly Numerous that they may always be able to bring on fresh Supplies in cases of Extremity Thirdly Potent because Numbers without Courage would rather contribute towards their Defeat than Victory And fourthly Expeditious and Active that they may be qualified for hasty Marches and to rally upon the greatest Rout. Now tho' the Poles have a sort of Claim to the three
City has always above 2000 Soldiers in Service and they can easily maintain 12000 but in Cases of Necessity they have been known to have rais'd 60000. For Ships they have no Men of War but abundance of Merchant-men of 3 or 400 Tuns each and 30 or 40 Guns apiece They never Trade so far as the East or West-Indies but into the Streights and all over Europe they do Here it may not be improper to give Your Excellency some short Account of their present Coin in Dantzick But first by way of Digression I may observe that the Coin which the Teutonic Order brought into Prussia not proving sufficient to furnish that Country with Money those Knights soon began to set up Mints and to coin Money of their own there which they perform'd with so much accuracy that most Nations have allow'd that where-ever invented the Art of Coining was there first brought to Perfection This has been confirm'd by the great Antiquary Spelman who was of Opinion that our English Word Sterling came from the Easterlings a People of Prussia and who coming from thence into England first taught us the Art of Refining and Coining purer Silver than we had before made use of The Species of Money now Current in Prussia or rather in Dantzic are these Gold Ducats Ourts Choustacks and Chelons A Ducat is worth two Rix-Dollars or 9 Shillings English An Ourt is a Silver Coin equal to the French Piece of 15 Sous and worth 18 Grosses of Dantzic and 30 of Poland A Choustack is of the value of 6 Dantzic-Grosses or 10 Polish And as for their Chelons three of them make one of their Grosses The farther Difference between the Polish Money and theirs stands thus The Tinfe that is worth 30 Grosses of Polish Chelons is worth but 18 of those of Dantzic The Ducat which is of the value of 12 Franks of Polish Chelons is worth but 7 of the Current Money here Five Choustacks or an Ourt and two Choustacks make a Livre of Dantzic-Money because 5 Choustacks make 30 Grosses and 30 Grosses make 20 Pence This City of Dantzic was taken from the Danes by Sabislaus Grandson to Swentorohus about the Year 1186 and was seiz'd by the Poles some short time after The Knights of the Teutonic Order made themselves Masters of it in 1305 and Wall'd it round in 1314. Casimir III. King of Poland surnam'd The Great regain'd it in 1454 and granted very great Privileges to the Citizens who afterwards declaring for the Auspurg-Confession sided with Maximilian of Austria against Stephen Batori insomuch that the latter proscrib'd and even besieg'd them in 1577. but however by the Mediation of other Princes they were restor'd to their Religion and Liberties in 1597. In 1656. they vigorously repuls'd the Suedes and adher'd to the Interest of John Casimir King of Poland And at present they make one of the Members of this State having been admitted to a Suffrage in the Election of the Polish Monarchs in the Year 1632. This my Lord is what I have been able to gather from Dr. Connor's Memoirs and the best Authors that have writ any thing of the Trade of Poland and of the famous City of Dantzic and wherein if I may not be so happy as to correspond every where with your Excellency's greater Knowledge of those matters I hope at least I may be excus'd upon account of my good will to entertain you and the publick as far as my assistance went which if granted will abundantly recompence the Endeavours of My LORD Your Excellency's Most Humble Servant J. S. LETTER VIII To the Right Honourable CHARLES Earl of Burlington Of the Origin of the Teutonic Order and the Succession of all its Great Masters in the Holy-Land Prussia and Germany together with its present State in the Empire MY LORD DR Connor having design'd this Letter for your Lordship's Entertainment and not having had leisure to accomplish it himself by reason of the urgency of his Profession desired of me to Address it for him but upon a just Reflection on the meanness of my Abilities and an awful Regard to your Lordship's Grandeur I found I had more than ordinary reason to decline it Yet however upon balancing your goodness with your great Quality and considering my well meaning at the same time with my attempt I hop'd I might not be so unfortunate as to Offend if I undertook it and the rather because of the great conformity which the subject I were to write of had with the hopes which the Nation has in you My LORD Your Lordship will here find that this Order was first founded to reward and encourage Great Actions and that particularly in the German Nation whence it came to have the Title of Teutonic for when the Emperour Frederic Barberossa had engaged in the Crusade for recovery of the Holy-Land a great number of German Nobility and Gentry joyn'd his Army as Volunteers Of this Crusade were several other great Princes of Europe such as Philip King of France Richard I. King of England Frederic Duke of Suabia the Dukes of Austria and Bavaria Philip Earl of Flanders Plorant Earl of Holland c. After this Emperor's Death the Germans being before Acon or Ptolemais which they then besieged chose for their Leaders Frederick Duke of Suabia second Son to the aforesaid Emperour and Henry Duke of Brabant Under these Generals they behav'd themselves so well both at the taking of Acon Jerusalem and other places of the Holy-Land that Henry King of Jerusalem the Patriarch and several other Princes thought themselves oblig'd to do something extraordinary in honour of the German Nation Hereupon they immediately resolv'd to erect an Order of Knights of that Nation under the protection of St. George but afterwards they chang'd that Saint for the Virgin Mary by reason that she had an Hospital already founded on Mount Sion at Jerusalem for the relief of German Pilgrims of the manner of building which Ashmole in his Order of the Garter gives this following account He says that in the time of the Holy-War a wealthy Gentleman of Germany who dwelt at Jerusalem commiserating the condition of his Countrymen coming thither on Devotion and neither understanding the language of that place nor knowing where to lodge receiv'd them hospitably into his House and gave them all manner of suitable Entertainment Afterwards obtaining leave of the Patriarch he erected a Chappel for them and Dedicated it to the Virgin Mary whence the Knights that were established there afterwards came to have the Title of Equites Mariani Other German Gentlemen contributed largely to the maintaining and encreasing this Charitable Work insomuch that in a short time these Knights became very numerous and wealthy and gave themselves to Military Employments and to acts of Piety and Charity In the Year 1190 they elected their first Great Master Henry Walpot and in the Year following had their Order confirm'd upon the request of
and those of Curland on the other After this the Envoy is permitted to sit down to cover his Head and has great civilities paid him This Duke has all the Regalia that the German Soveraign Princes have He Coins Money in his own Name and has high and low Justice over the Noblemen of his Country only in some extraordinary cases Appeals may be made to the Court of Poland He has great Demesns of which his Revenue chiefly consists and keeps a very pretty Court having all his great Officers as other Princes have The chiefest of which are The Landhoff-Meister or chief Minister The High Chancellor The Supreme Marshal and The Supreme Burgrave These are the Four great State Officers The more inferiour are The Councellors of State which are the Supreme Starostas whereof two are for Curland viz. The Supreme Starostas of Goldingen and Tuczkon And two for Semigallia viz. The Supreme Starostas of Mittaw and Selburg These Staâ—ostas ought all to be Noble Natives and Landed-Men Next follow the Governors of Places Military-Officers c. The Gentry of this Country are very Antient and very free being exceedingly Jealous of suffering any Upstart Nobleman to come among them esteeming nothing so much as Ancient Families and Creations Before I proceed to give a farther account of this Country I must add a word or two more concerning the Livonian Order and which I could not have done before unless I had broke the Chain of the Connection The Provincial Master of this Order was wont to be chosen by the Great Chapter of Prussia whereupon when in the Year 1439. the Livonian Knights had Elected one Henry a Bukenode for their Master they were forc'd to give a reason for their having so done and notwithstanding were afterwards oblig'd to submit to a new Election in Prussia Next the Provincial Master of the Livonian Order was the Marshal of the Order After whom came the several Commendadors and the Advocates The Commendadors were in number Eleven whereof the two first were in Curland and the third in Semigallia The Advocates were Nine two having been of Curland and one of Semigallia These Knights had the Title of the Order of Sword-Bearers and their Habits Arms were a White Mantle with a Sword on the Breast in Pale and a Star Gules in Chief but after their joining with the Teutonick Order they had likewise their Habit and Cross For a Geographical Description of this Country I must acquaint you Sir that the two Dutchies of Curland and Semigallia have these several principal Cities and Towns for I cannot meet with any sub-division into Jalatinates or Districts as I have perform'd in Poland In the Dutchy of Curland are the several Cities and Towns of Goldingen Cap. Vinda Bish Pilten Liba Erdwalen Angermund Grubin Tuczkon Frawenburg Vschwend Talsen Candaw Durben Hasenpot and Oendange Of all which the chief City is Goldingen in Latin Goldinga a City that stands on the Banks of the River Wete about seven German Miles from Vinda or Windaw to the West and near fifteen from Mittaw in Semigallia to the East This City has a large Jurisdiction Vinda or Windaw call'd by the Poles Kiescz is a City and Palatinate It has a Castle built on the Sea-shoar and which was formerly Residence to the Livonian Knights as likewise the place where they conven'd their Parliament or General Assemblies Now it has usually a Garrison of Poles but which are nevertheless under command of the Duke of Curland This City is one of the Sea-ports of Curland the other being Liba Pilten is a Town and Palatinate of this Dutchy whose Gentry being Protestants and offering themselves to the King of Poland's Protection he endeavoured to re-establish a Popish Bishop there this having formerly been a Catholick Bishoprick whose Lands they then possess'd whereupon they alter'd their Resolutions and forthwith submitted to the Duke of Curland These are the richest Gentry in this Prince's Dominions whereof the principal Families are those of Maydel Beher Sacken Mandevil c. In the Dutchy of Semigallia are the Cities and Towns of Mittaw Metropolis of these Dominions Bauske Doblin Selburg Radziwiliski Nithaw Birze Pozwole Lunka Dalen Schudding Pilkall Beher Nersten and Salatt Of all which the Capital of this Dutchy and Metropolis of the Duke of Curland's Dominions is Mittaw in Latine Mittavia or Mittovia the usual place of Residence of the Dukes of Curland This City is built on the River Musza and is a pretty large place containing about Twelve Thousand Inhabitants It has a weak Wall tho' nevertheless a well Fortifi'd and stately Castle with two Bastions which are surrounded by Marshes and defended by a strong and numerous Garrison The streets of this City are not Pav'd for want of Stone and the Citizens Houses are either of Brick or Timber as in Poland This place lies about seven Polish Miles from Riga in Regal Livonia and only four from the Prontiers of Samogitia It has been twice taken of late by the Swedes but has been since regain'd and is at present wholly subject to its Duke Bauske another strong City in this Dutchy which has a well Fortifi'd Castle and a numerous Garrison The Religion of this Country is generally Lutheran tho' there are some few Roman Catholicks and Calvinists there In favour of the first the late Duke at the King of Poland's request gave leave for the building of two Roman Catholick Churches one at Mittaw and the other at Goldingen The Jesuits pretend to have bought this Cureteship of Mittaw and upon that account to have settled there but nevertheless they are frequently oppressed and their College was broke down not long since yet notwithstanding they still subsist The Dutchesses of Curland having been all hitherto Calvinists have always had one Church at Mittaw set a part for them and their Religion where the Calvinists and Protestants of Livonia as likewise the English Merchants of Riga come to Exercise their Devotion there being no liberty of Conscience allowed throughout the King of Sweden's Dominions except at Stockholm only where the French Huguenots have been permitted to build a Church As to the Government of Curland there is first The Parliament or General Assembly of the States of this Duteby which is conven'd after this manner The Duke as often as any Urgencies of State so require it sends out his Letters of Summons to all the Starostas of his Dominions together with a Schedule of the Points propos'd to be debated on requiring them and every of them to cause Deputies or Representatives of the Gentry to be forth with Elected in their respective Jurisdictions whereupon they are soon Elected accordingly and furnished with Instructions from their Electors how they shall behave themselves in like manner as in Poland These afterwards meeting at Mittaw together with the four Supreme Counsellors consult
General of the Clergy How often and where Conven'd 115. Minor Clergy admitted by Deputies ib. Courts of Justice The Kaptur what and its Power 115. Ecclesiastical 116. Of Nunciature ib. High Tribunals ib. c. Senate and Green-Cloth 117. Exchequer-Courts ib. Of Land-Judicature with its Judges 118. Of the Vice-Chamberlains ib. Gentry's Criminal Courts 119. Commonalty-Courts in Cities ib. In Villages 120. Where Courts of Justice cease 129. Exception ib. Relating to Courts of Justice in Lithuania 224 Former Judges there 225. Candidate for Election What Qualifications requir'd in him 140 c. Ceremony Of the King's Swearing to the Pacta Conventa 149 c. Of his Entring Cracow 154. The Interrment of a deceased King 155. Obsequies and Procession 154. Procession at the Coronation 156. Ceremony thereat ib. Farther Particulars ib. c. Coronation-Oath 157. Words at Kissing the Book 159. Unction c. ib. c. How pronounc'd King 161. Feasts thereupon ibid. Ceremony of Creation of Teutonic Knights 71. * Coronation King appoints the Day 153. Place fix'd ib. Exceptions ib. By whom perform'd 155. Manner of Crowning 160. Enthroning ibid. Curland Bishop of Vide Samogitia Bishop of Curland Dutchy Its Bounds and Extent 99 * Soil and former State ib. c. * When wholly conquer'd 100 * Converted by degrees ib. * Its Dukes 105 c. * Duke Vassal to Poland 115 * His Privilege and Power 116 * Revenue and Court ibid. * Chief Officers ibid. * Condition of Gentry ib. 117 * Geographical Description 118 * Government 121 * Degrees of Demanding Justice 122 * Ecclesiastical Courts 123 * City-Courts ibid. * Ministerial Officers ibid. * Trade of Curland ibid. * Corn in great Request ibid. * When Curland is to revert to Poland ibid. * D. Diet Grand of Poland How resembles the English Parliament 5. What it is 6 83. It s Power ib. By whom call'd and where and how often meets ib. Manner of calling it and proceedings thereupon 84. Divides into three Nations 91. Proceedings at the opening 95. After the choice of a Speaker ib. Proceedings in the Lower House 96. Conferences between the two Houses 95. Upper House how employ'd 96. Committees ib. Manner of breaking up Session in the lower House ib. Both Houses joined ib. Diets Session limited and wherefore 98 c. Matters generally treated of 99. Great concourse there 101. Provisions not scarce ib. Dangerous to be out a Nights 102. Visits unacceptable ib. Order of Session in the Diet ibid. c. Causes of disunion here 105. By whom somented ib. Great freedom of Speech 108. Policy of concluding matters by an unanimous consent 110. Diet of Convocation How summon'd 126. Proceeding in little Diets ib. First proceedings in this Diet 128. Diet of Election Where held c. 131 c. First proceedings there 133. Exorbitancies examin'd 135. Diet proceeds to Election 137 c. Farther particulars thereof 138 c. Great concourse there and Policy to byass them 139 c. Rules observ'd in Elections 141. Poland why preserv'd Elective 142 c. Diets Little Where meet 84. Qualifications for and Manner of Voting there 89. Proceedings 90. Deputies Representatives of the Gentry Elected only by the Gentry 6. Assume great Liberty in the Diet 34 c. Who and how many chosen with their Instructions 90. How chosen 91. Their Number ib. Cannot be Senators ib. Their Salaries ib. When first sent ib. Their Power 95. Confirm'd and encourag'd ib. Their Privileges 95 c. How long sit 96. Have great Guards at the Diet 102. Awe the King and Senate 104. Their Business after Diet of Convocation 131. Dantzic Privileges 23 * Where situate by whom built and whence so call'd 42 * How distant from other Places ib. c. * Division and Strength 43 * One of the Hanse-Towns ib. * Parishes Buildings Streets and Gardens 44 * Inhabitants their Number and Religion ib. * Churches and Town-House ib. * Magazines College Exchange c. 45. * Jurisdiction and Government ib. * Senators and their Division ib. * Scabins Syndic and Burgrave 46 * Centum-viri and their Power ib. c. * City's Power and Privileges 48 * Force by Land and Sea 49 * How often Taken and Regain'd 50 * Admitted to Vote in Election of Polish Kings 51 * Dutchies What in Poland 174. Descents Nature of them in Poland 180. Children support their Families however 181. Divines Polish How far their Learning extends 78. * Their Divinity 79. * E. Escheator His Power 77. Embassadors Sent to the Diet of Election 129. Notifie their Arrival and how are receiv'd ib. c. 135 c. Others sent from the Republick 130. Caution to Foreign Ministers ib. c. What requisite in Foreign Ministers 136. What Foreign Embassadors are oblig'd to 179. Election Decree of Presented the King 150. Exercises What practis'd in Poland 202. Edibles What Sorts us'd among the Poles 209. Odd Dainties 210. Pottage and Sauces 215. Crachat what and how made 216. Edibles among the Rusticks of Lithuania 227. Meat and Drink of the Peasants in Prussia 235. F. Fasts in Poland How observ'd 51. Poles retain a rigid Custom and wherefore 52. Factions Foreign What promotes them 106. Fashions Present in Poland 196. What Furrs us'd ib. Some follow the French Mode 197. Women's former and late Fashions ib. c. Families Polish What 202. Fowl Sorts in Poland 211 c. Fish What Kinds the Poles have 212. Feasts Customs thereat 216. Banquetting-Halls ib. c. Particulars of Servants there 217. Feasts made by Turns 218. Foot Polish What and how employ'd 13 * Hir'd and their Condition ib. c. * Why so much us'd and Arms and Liveries 14 * Hungarians when first hir'd 16 * Force Polish Causes that weaken it 18 c. * Other Inconveniencies that suppress it 21 c. * Means to avoid these but over-rul'd 24 * G. Gentry Polish Courted by European Princes 3. Resolves thereupon 4. Equally Noble 5. Seldom intermarry with Commonalty ibid. Only capable of Preferment 20 167. Have not equal Claim to every Preferment ib. c. How kept in Dependance on the King 22. What proves Equality among them 103. No Disgrace to be chastis'd 123. Their Power and Privileges 168. Cannot be Apprehended till Convicted 168 c. Exception 169. Cannot be Executed without the King's Consent 170. Need not Quarter Soldiers ib. c. Other Privileges 171. Need not pay Taxes till oblig'd by Diet ib. Have Pre-emption 172. Have one Grievance ib. How came by their Privileges 172. Value no Honour and why 173. Despise Title of Prince ib. Assume Titles when they travel 174. Further Power 175. What makes them so great ib. c. Their Excessive Grandeur and Magnificence 176. Gentry and Citizens in Lithuania 225. Gentry how far oblig'd to March 15 * Gentlemen Polish Who 5. Gentlemen-Pensioners 29. A Gentleman how made 188. Government Mixt Establish'd in Poland by what Motives 6 c. Unhappy State of Polish Government 109. A Wonder how it can subsist 110.
to be in English Hands ibid. * Whence had its Name 114 * U. Vilna Bishop of His Diocess 43. Vilna Castellan of Preferr'd wherefore 55. Varmia Bishop of His Jurisdiction and See 44. Votes Intended Limitation like to produce a bad Effect 104. Who have them in Election of a King 144. Volunteers What in Poland 17 * Examples ib. c. * Selected out of the Gentry 18 * Universities Two in Poland and Lithuania 75 * Chief Studies there ibid. * Have no solid Learning 78 * W. Women Polish Their former and late Fashions 197. Very modest 200. Exception 201. Their Liberty restrain'd ibid. War Two Qualities necessary there 26 * Z. Zuppars What 80. Vide Mines FINIS From the Year 550 to the Year 1698. Former Power of the Kings of Poland A. D. 1574. Advantage thereby Why European Princes Court the Polish Gentry Nobilities Resolves thereupon Abridge the Antient Power of their Princes And Constitute a Republic Division of the People of Poland The Diet. It s Power Motives for a mixt Government A Motive II. Motive III. Motive Advantage of a mixt Government Division of the Republic Kings present Power and Prerogatives His Happiness Unhappiness A great Inconvenience to the State Instances of Poles Affections to their Kings Modern Kings Power Abroad and at Home The great Respect paid him His Titles and other Prerogatives His Pension Houshold-Officers and Guards Queen Consorts Court how maintain'd Kings Patrimonial Estate and Perquisites Late King 's great Riches The Crown Revenues Queens Revenues The King's Power limited in several respects Nobility only capable of Preferment Other Limitations of the Kings Power Inconveniences thereby Why he is paid so great Respect Cities present their Keys upon his Approach Why he can raise no Forces without Consent of the Diet. His Legitimate Issue greatly Respected His Illegitimate as much slighted Means to continue the Crown in one Family Why the K. of Poland can't imitate him of Denmark Not Unhappy because he cannot secure the Succession to his Family Crown and Court Officers Gentlemen Pensioners Horse-Guards Court Officers in Lithuania And in several Provinces Chief Officers of Queen's Court. Principal Officers of Primate's Court. What peculiar to him The Senate and its Office Senators by whom made and their Oath Four to attend the King and wherefore Senators not suffer'd to travel * Vide Sueton. Cap. 42. in vita Jul. Caesar Tacit lib 12. Annal. cap. 23. This Title not bestow'd by its self Senator's Office Extreamly prize their Dignities Their Division and Subdivision Diocesses of Poland Peculiar Jurisdictions of the two Archbishops Ecclesiastical Senator his Power and State His Power as Inter. Rex Why entrusted so much His See Two other Bishops in Leopol Those of the Greek Perswasion Their Tenets Ceremonies and Ornoments His Bishoprick and Power His Residence and Precedence His See Precedence and Authority Several Places of Residence His Diocess His Diocess His Jurisdiction and See His Jurisdiction and See His Diocess Here is a Greek Bishop Likewise Bishop of Curland yet has no See His Precedence and See His See translated and wherefore Honorary A Greek Bishop formerly Primate of Moscovy Honorary Honorary Each Bishop has a Kind of little Court Their Precedence in the Diet and large Revenues Religion in Poland and Lithuania Conversion and several Perswasions of the Poles Socinians expell'd 1658. 1673. Lutherans and Calvinists and other Religions in Poland The Roman Catholick prevails and always prefer'd Privileges of Regular Clergy Their dissolute Lives Fasts how observ'd in Poland Manners of the Secular Clergy The Poles Behaviour at Church Their Churches Division and Subdivision of Lay Senators Palatins c. with their Precedence 1. Lay-Senator Preferr'd and wherefore 1130. * Duglossus lib. 4. Annal. Polon p. 369. Preferr'd for what Reasons †Lib. 2 Cap. 3. p. 504. Preferr'd and why Wherefore preferr'd and how chosen Honorary Palatinate Why he has the Title of the Province Honorary Palatinate Honorary Palatinate Formerly Seat of Teutonic Knights Honorary Palatinate Greatest Part Honorary Honorary Palatinate Duty and Office of Palatins * Hartknoch lib. 2. cap. 3. p. 506. c. Vice Palatins and how qualify'd Duty of Castellans Their Division Qualifications Office and Titles Greater Castellans and their Precedence Lay-Senator Honorary Honorary Honorary Honorary Lesser Castellans No enjoying Plurality of Offices Castellans how call'd in Polish The ten Crown-Officers Those of the Kingdom precede Lay-Senator His Office Power and Authority Duty and Privilege His Perquisites Deputy and who officiates in Cases of Absence Qualifications of these of the Kingdom * Lib. 2. Cap. 3. p. 528. Both have Seals and equal Authority Their Office and Power Succeed each other How ought to be Qualified Their Office and Authority A remarkable Breach of Trust Contend for Precedence but refus'd it Extra-Senatorial Officers Great Generals Have equal Authority Their Power and Duty King's Interest to head his Army Present great Generals Dignity successive Lieutenant-Generals and their Office Chief Commander of the Guards Other great Officers in the Army Camp-Notaries Captain of Guards against Incursions Great Secretaries and their Authority Referendaries and their Office Cup-Bearers Carvers Sword-Bearers Court-Treasurers and their Office Treasurer of Prussia Associates to Judges Chief Notaries Registers inChancery Escheator Commissioners of Custom House Governours of Mines Governours of the Mint Court-Officers Civil Officers of Districts Vice-Chamberlain and his Office Chamberlains Judge and Assistant Prothonotary Head Collector Other Officers and why so call'd Military Officers of Districts Starostas with Jurisdiction Vice-Starostas c. Jurisdiction of Starostas Starostas without Jurisdiction Burgraves and their Office Revenue of Starostaships Zuppars what What the Diet is By whom call'd and where and how often meet Manner of calling it and Proceedings thereupon Where the little Diets meet I. In Great Poland * Vide Herburt Voce Comitia p. 92. and in Edit Polon p. 257. Podlachia and Masovia II. In Little-Poland III. In Lithuania IV. In Prussia V. In Russia VI. In Volhynia VII In Samogitia Qualifications for and Manner of voting in little Diets Who and how many chosen Deputies With their Instructions Proceedings in little Diets * Hartknoch lib. 2. cap. 6. p. 682. c. Deputies how chosen †Hartknoch lib. 2. Cap. 6. p. 689. Cannot be Senators Their Salaries When first sent Vide Constitut An. 1581. p. 375. Their general Meetings Diet divides into three Nations Speaker how chosen and Heats thereupon How occasion'd Next Proceeding Further Proceedings Reflection of Hauteville Speakers Request for the Deputies His Authority Proceedings in the lower House Conference s with the Upper and Nuncios Power Confirm'd and encourag'd Their Privilege * Constitut An. 1649. Committees How long sit Upper House how employ'd Manner of breaking up Session in the lower Two Houses join'd Speakers Power devolves to great Marshal Where the King suspends his Opinion What requir'd to establish a Law Where it cannot be printed Session of the Diet limited Wherefore Affairs treated of in the Grand
Diet Who not to be present at Tryals for Treason Naturalization and Manner of making Noble in Poland Restrain'd in some Respects notwith standing Great Concourse at the Diet. Provisions indifferent Planty notwithstanding Dangerous to walk a Nights Visits at this Time unacceptable Great Guards of some Gentry Order of Session in the Diet. Members wear no distinguishing Habits * Hartnoch lib. 2. cap. 3. p. 512. What proves Equality among Polish Gentry Intended Limitation of Votes like to produce a bad Effect Deputies awe the King and Senate Causes of Disunion in the Diet. Fomented by the Empire and France What promotes foreign Factions Members not to give Reason for Dissent to any Bill Easie Matter to annul the Projects of the Diet. Great Freedom of Speech there Unhappy State of the Polish Government Policy of concluding Matters by unanimous Consent Wonderful how the Polish Government can subsist Must always flourish for several Reasons I. Reason II. Reason III. Reason Assemblys of the Convocation and Synods in Poland The Kaptur Court Ecclesiastical Courts and their Jurisdiction Court of Nunciature Gentry's Civil Courts High Tribunals The Senate and Green-Cloth Exchequer Courts Gentry-Courts not free from Appeal Of Land-Judicature with its Judges Vice-Chamberlains Court Commissioners to take Appeals Gentries Criminal Courts Starostas Power and Office Courts of Commonalty in Cities In Villages Officers and Magistrates of Plebeian Courts 〈◊〉 Profits Military Jurisdiction Origin Progress and present State of Laws Punishments in Poland Manner of chastising Servants No Disgrace to the Genty to be thus beat Crown vacant has many ways Diet summon'd Proceedings in little Diets before Grand Session Who officiates where no Interregnum * Lib. 2. cap. 1. p. 275. First Proceedings * Hartnoch lib. 2. cap. 1. p. 291. †Ibid. lib. cap. eodem p. 306. Courts of Justice cease except two Foreign Ministers on this Occasion Notifie their Arrival and how receiv'd Embassadors from the Republick Caution to foreign Ministers Deputies Business after this Diet Diet of Election * Hartknoch lib. 2. cap. 1. p. 295. †Ibid. lib. 2. cap. 1. p. eadem First Proceedings therein * Piasecius ad An. 1632. p. 530. Exorbitancies examin'd and Embassadors receiv'd Manner of Receiving them What requisite in forreign Ministers Diet proceeds to Election Further Particulars thereof Great Concours at the Election and Policy to byass them Qualifications requir'd in a Candidate * Lib. 2. Cap. 1. p. 309. to 312. †Ibid. p. 431. Rules observ'd by the Poles in Elections Why preserve their Kingdom elective Who have Votes and who not The Pacta Conventa When taken by Embassadors By whom drawn and after what manner Administred The Form and several Articles An Article Violated Occasional Articles Ceremony of the Kings swearing The Oath Presented with the Decree of Election Concerning the Election of a Successor Interest of foreign Princes to oppose it Reasons for and against such an Election The King has no Regal Authority till Crown'd * Hartknoch lib. 2. cap. 1. p. 331. Appoints the Day of Coronation †Neugebaver Hist Polon lib. 3. p. 185. Manner of his entring Cracow with other Ceremonies Obsequies of Deceas'd King and order of Procession * Piasetius in Chron. Anno 1632. p. 525. †Hart knoch lib. 2. cap. 1. p. 336. Ceremonies at the Interment Day of Corenation and by whom perform'd * Herbert Tit. Cardinalatus p. 63. †Heidenstein lib. 2. Rerum Polon p. 95. Procession in order to Coronation Ceremony at the Coronation Further Particulars of the Ceremony of Coronation King exhorted and sworn His Coronation Oath Words at kissing the Book Unction with other Ceremonys Manner of Crowning him Is Enthron'd And prenounc'd King Feasts thereupon Procession to receive Homage and Citizens Knighted Inter-Rex resigns and King Proclaim'd Queens where Crown'd and where not Place of their Coronation And what requir'd to confirm it Gentry only capable of Preferment Commonalty Incapable except some few Gentrys Power and Privileges Cannot be Apprehended till convicted Exception Cannot be Executed without the Kings Consent Need not Quarter Soldiers Other Privileges of the Gentry Need not pay Taxes unless oblig'd by the Diet. Privilege of Preemption Have one Grievance notwithstanding How they came by these Privileges All equal and consesequently value no Honour Title of Prince despis'd An Order Instituted but undervalu'd What Dutchies in Poland Polish Gentry assume Titles when they Travel Farther Power of Polish Gentry What makes them so Great Their Excessive Grandeur and Magnificence Means to support for ever the Polish Republic What foreign Embassadors are oblig'd to Law Differences decided by the Sword An Example Nature of Descents in Poland Children however support their Families Good Temper of the Poles and its Effect How Occasion'd Polish Peasants how first Enslav'd Live satisfy'd notwithstanding Their present Condition Enrich their Lords How establish'd in a Farm Their Service annex'd thereto Meet to reap their Lords Corn. Their Manners at Bed and Board Children how taught to go Habits of both the Men and Women Nobility how acquir'd in Poland Creation of a Gentleman A third way of becoming Noble Three ways of forfeiting it In what Case restor'd Chracter of the Poles Their Complexion Constitution c. Manners of the Polish Men. Their further Character Education and Learning To what generaly apply themselves Worst part of their Character Genius how enclin'd Enur'd to Hardship Greedy of Money Manner of Lending and Borowing Love to make a Figure Their present Fashions What Furrs us'd Rusticks Habit in Lithuania A few follow the French Mode The Womens former and late Fashions Poles great Extravagance Description of their Houses Furniture No Gardens nor Orchards Private and publick Baths with their Effects Poles great admirers of Shows Their Atendants Women very Modest Exception Women's Liberty restrain'd Indifferences in the Polish Temper What Exercises Practis'd Polish Families and Names formerly and now Marriages and their duration Court-Marriages Customs thereat Presents made the Bride Espousals and Ceremonies Who not Married without Dispensation Burials and order of Procession Other Proceedings Particulars relating to the King and Queens Enterment Cause of J. Casimir's Queens Death Manner of Mourning in Poland Edibles among the Poles Way of Hunting wild Oxen. Odd Dainties Manner of taking Bears Other sorts of Fowl What Fish they have Way of ordering Cabbage Their Potables Beer of what Quality Sorts of Mead. And of Wine What strong Waters Customs in Eating and Drinking Potage and Sauces Poles eat little Bread Crachat how made Customs at Feasts Banquetting Hall Particulars of Servants Manners at Table Poles way of taking Tobacco Feasts made by turns Brimmers much practis'd Customs in Traveling Description of Inns. Have few Conveniencies Travellers oblig'd to carry Provisions c. Travelling cheap in other respects Poles manner of Travelling Incommodities in Travel how remedy'd Disturb'd a Winter Nights by Boors Danger of losing Noses Manners of peculiar Countries Concerning Lithuania What relates to Courts of Justice there Former Judges Of