had pass'd at Sambor and she had sent him the same Summ to pay off the Army This General was for making up the business secretly with Baranowski and to this purpose had dissolv'd the publick Negotiation and did not begin his own private Treaty till after the Commissioners were gone As they were half way on the Road they were inform'd of the design by their Spies and spur'd back again with so much speed that they got time enough to be present at the conclusion of the Treaty and to dispute the Glory of having terminated this great Affair The Queen was for attributing the whole Honour of it to her self because it had cost her the Money she expected to have received the Compliments of the whole Nobility after such an Act of Liberality But they who made any Reflections upon it only said That those who excited Rebellions were more obliged than others to suppress them The Queen Prince James and Count Jablonowski were still looked upon by most Persons as the chief Fomenters of a Confederacy which had been the occasion of so many Disorders This Count was Sobieski's intimate Friend when he was elected King and had employed all his Interest to set the Crown upon his Head This piece of Service had raised him to be Great General Castellan of Cracow and by that means the the Chief Secular Senator of the Kingdom Out of Gratitude he took such Measures with the Queen as might bring about a Design the Execution whereof he foresaw would be very difficult The Intimacy which he held with that Princess gave an occasioâ— to those who had no good will to either of them to give out That the Queen being convinced of that Aversion which the Gentry had for her Family concerted with the Great General to espouse his Interests upon these Conditions viz. That she should supply him with Money to purchase Votes and that he should share a Crown with her which she could not procure for her Children This was no new Opinion in Poland they were afraid of such a thing even fifteen Years before the King's death so that to prevent the Execution of this Project the principal Lords had entred into private Confederacies which appeared too visibly in the Diet wherein the League against the Turks was concluded and wherein there was so much discourse concerning the Affairs of Count Morstyn Great Treasurer of the Crown These Reports flattered the Great General 's Ambition who did not trouble his head much in suppressing them And if he thought that his familiarity with the Queen would facilitate his ascending the Throne he was mightily mistaken since that was the Pretence which his Enemies made use of to hinder him from it Maria de la Grange d' Arquien Q. Dowager of Poland did not think fit to undeceive him The Gentry spake very loudly of the severity of the former Reign and it was not prudence by an unseasonable haughtiness to increase the Number of the Malecontents There were e-now already and the design she had laid of abasing the greatest Families drew upon her every day new Enemies It was a difficult Matter to quiet such angry Spirits by such a Conduct the Princess therefore to clear her self opened her Coffers and believed that her Liberality woud put a new Face upon her Affairs as if the Memory of Good Turns would be as lasting as that of Injuries The wound was so great that the Remedy proved useless They who had received the Money gave out that she had made those Restitutions which Father Lewis of Amsterdam a Capuchin who they said was her Physician and Confessor had enjoyned her to make and that Poland was indebted to that holy Man who took an equal Care of the Health of the Body and of the Salvation of the Soul of his Penitent But it was not this alone which had estranged the Minds of the Poles The Queen and Prince James had contributed as much as others to the weakening of their own party Ever since the Eldest Son was married she had shewed a particular Affection to Prince Alexander and this preference she had given him in her Love had made her think him not unworthy of a Crown She had perhaps explained her self too openly upon that Subject and Prince James had conceived so great an Indignation at it that he quite forgot those Sentiments which Nature it self should have inspired in him This happened a little before the King's Death The Queen never since looked upon Prince James as her Son because he had not respected her as his Mother At first she neither declared for nor against him and it seemed as if she would rather have been the Wife than the Mother of a King In this Suspence she waited till time should give her such Advice as the present Posture of Affairs would not admit her to take James Sobieski the late King 's eldest Son did not renounce his Pretensions though the Queen seemed indifferent or rather disaffected to his Designs He knew that the Poles had always chosen their Sovereigns out of the Royal Family and though the Gentry had a Right of chusing whom they pleased yet he thought his Brother 's had no more merit to plead than he he never found that the younger had been preferred before the Elder and therefore he flattered himself that they would not make him the first example of that kind His Reputation was established by a Passage which the Poles could not but be pleased with He had attended the King his Father at the raising the Siege of Vienna and had fought near his Person in the two Battles of Barcan near Strigonium wherein the Turks had been totally defeated The Emperor ought to use his Interest in assisting him and the honour of that Prince whose Brother-in-Law he was would not allow him to be engaged for any Body else The Elector Palatin whose Sister he had married promised to do as much for him as he had endeavoured for himself the last Election The Elector of Bavaria gave him the same Assurance though he was employed too much otherwise than to do any thing else besides praying for his Success Charles XI King of Sweden had rather see Prince James on the Throne than any other of his Competitors Livonia was up in Rebellion and it seemed these People over-burdened with Taxes and Grievances were weary of the Government of their old Masters A designing and busie Prince might have favoured their Revolt and so robb'd the Crown of Sweden of a Province that was very advantagious to it He who should have formed a design of reuniting it to Poland could not have been blamed by any Prince for they all knew that Sweden had seized upon it contrary to all the Rules of Equity and Justice and they had not so much as the least Pretence for what they did They had made their Advantage whilst the Poles were engaged in a War against the Turks in the Year 1621. and whilst they were defending Christendom against
AN Historical Account OF THE DIVISIONS IN POLAND From the DEATH of K. JOHN SOBIESKI To the Settlement of the Present KING on the THRONE CONTAINING A Particular Relation of the Late KING's Death and of all the Intrigues of the several Candidates till the Coronation of the Elector of Saxony Translated from the French Original Written by M. de la Biazdiere LONDON Printed for H. Rhodes at the Star near Fleet-Bridge T. Bennet at the Half-Moon in St. Paul's Church-Yard A. Bell at the Cross-Keys and Bible in Cornhill and D. Midwinter and T. Leigh at the Roseand Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCC TO THE READER THis Work is a Continuation of the History of the Diets of Poland that was Publish'd in 1697. The Poles engaged the Author to write this Second Relation and sent him according to Promise all Necessary Instructions The Sincerity that appears in their Memoirs is such as an Historian would wish for to enable him to give an Account of a Transaction of which all the Circumstances are almost unknown to the Publick Poland may be look'd upon as the most famous Theatre of Europe for Variety of Scenes Persons of the most refin'd Wits were the Actors in this Affair and whilst the Princes of Christendom were at War every where else it would seem they reserv'd Poland for a place of Intrigue The Polish Nobility being as Zealous for their Religion as Jealous of their Liberty had not hitherto suffer'd any thing to escape them that Humane Prudence could suggest for maintaining themselves in the Possession of their Right which they had enjoy'd Time out of Mind to chuse their Sovereign They had preserv'd this Right whilst other Nations had lost it This Valorous Nation had also signaliz'd themselves by their Courage and won almost as many Battles as they had Fought In short the Poles seem'd to have surpassed the Generosity of the Ancient Romans in the most innocent State of their Republick because the Latter made War meerly to extend the Limits of their Empires and the Former had often neglected or despis'd the Fruits of their Victory like those first Conquerors of whom 't was said Contenti Victorià Imperio Abstinebant The Poles had a way of making Conquests peculiar to themselves The Mildness of their Government made other People wish to be partakers of the same Laws The famous Jagellon having embrac'd the Christian Religion by that Means became K. of Poland to which he reunited Lithuania whereof he was Apostle as well as Sovereign His Posterity govern'd that State till the Death of Sigismund Augustus who dyed at the Castle of Knichin in Lithuania in 1572. It was in the Person of that Prince that this Illustrious Family was extinguish'd Henry de Valois who succeeded him the next Year Reigned too short a while in Poland to be regretted there Stephen Battori who mounted the Throne next comforted the Poles for all the Losses they had Sustained but by a new Misfortune greater than those that had gone before that Prince left no Children and by his Death depriv'd Poland of the Hopes of finding a Successor equal to himself The Eldest Branch of Vasa did by the Election of Sigismund III Quit the Throne of Sweden to mount that of Poland and the Alliance of these two Great Monarchies became a Subject of War which made the Poles lose the Conquests they had made in the preceding Reign Uladislaus Son to Sigismund gave his Subjects cause to hope that he might repair those Disgraces by his Valour and Conduct but the Misfortune with which they were over-whelm'd after his Death by the Revolt of the Cosacks and the War with Sweden depriv'd the Poles of all hopes of Remedy for their incurable Maladies The Mighty Courage of K. Casimir gave his Subjects time to come to themselves a little Hereby that Prince found a Way to allay that Distemper that he could not perfectly Cure but by his Abdication he involv'd the Kingdom in New Misfortunes K. Michael who succeeded him lost Caminiec and Podolia It was then the Poles began to fear the Loss of their Kingdom but Providence not designing its Ruine did by the Death of that Prince deliver the Poles and all Europe from a danger which they had so much cause to Apprehend The Defeat of the Turks at Choczin and the Election of John Sobieski rais'd the Courage of the Poles who believ'd that under the Conduct of so Great a Prince they could not be Vnfortunate Their Thoughts were Just That Prince sav'd Vienna and the Empire and by that Great Action made his Subjects look upon all that he had done for them as nothing His Insensibility of their Condition join'd with one Mistake was the Cause or Pretext at least that they made use of to deprive his Posterity of the Crown which the Custom of the Nation seem'd to have assur'd them of but that Custom was abolish'd and after his Death his Family was Excluded Their Resentments have carryed them further The Aversion they entertain'd for the Memory of that Prince made them renounce their own Interests and the Blindness of that Nation became so excessively Great that they could not see their own Ruine before them tho' they had carefully avoided the same ever since the Foundation of their Monarchy The Hatred they always entertain'd for the Germans made them in 1386 prefer Jagellon D. of Lithuania to William D. of Austria Sigismund Marquis of Brandenburg was excluded from the Succession at the same time and on the same Account The other German Princes that offer'd themselves to the Poles since the Death of Sigismund Augustus had no better Success And if Ernest the two Maximilians of Austria and so many other German Princes had not been excluded it might have been said that the Poles lov'd their Money as much as they hated their Persons So many and such repeated Denials did not baulk the Germans they always presented themselves as Candidates when ever an Interregnum happen'd and Poland which in 1621 was not in the least afraid of an Army of 200000 Turks was daunted in 1697 by 12000 Saxons This is a Mystery that is not easie to be unfolded The Polish Memoirs which afforded us the Subject Matter of what follows will illustrate abundance of things The Reader may blame the Conduct of that Nation and at the same time commend their Sincerity The Affairs of this Kingdom are at present in a deplorable State But the Poles have Piety and Courage They may perhaps put on Resolutions agreeable to their Genius They came formerly to seek one of their Kings in the Abby of Cluny whither he had retired they may find this at the Court of France if the Peace continue long enough to prevent his being employd in commanding the Armies of that Crown ADVERTISEMENT IT was thought fit for to publish this part of the Secret History of Poland first There is in the Press and will speedily follow the Secret Memoirs of Poland c. during the
he did was only to support the Interests of Prince James There was need to say any more to draw off the most faithful of Oginski's Party so that this General of the Confederates was so prudent as to put an end to this Affair which else would have turned to his ruine Whilst the Confederates of Lithuania were in Contest and discoursed of an Accommodation the Confederate Army of Poland was more quiet in outward appearance Baranowski had killed no Man yet had ruined all Russia He levied 32000 Florins of the City of Leopold and the Jews were forced to give him 14000 to exempt them from quartering the Army upon them The City of Zolkiew and its Dependencies which were part of the King's Estate met with no beter treatment they demanded 100000 Florins of them and in case they refused to pay that Summ they threatned them with Military Execution The Turks and Tartars advanced with 50000 Men within 8 Leagues of Leopold and plundered all that the Rebels had left behind them Baranowski looked upon their Booty as a prey which had escaped his Hands and to force them to restore it sent out a Detachment who after several slight Skirmishes returned back to their General very much discontented that he had employed them in a Service where they got nothing but blows Those few Troops who still remained in their Duty did their utmost to put a stop to the Incursions of the Tartars some of which they took who declared that they fell into the Kingdom only at the Sollicitation of some Poles and that the Chief of them had only invited them in order to make the Republick sensible how necessary it was to hasten the Election of a King and to call the Diet during Winter This Declaration sufficiently satisfied them of the wicked Intention of those Persons whom they had already suspected to prefer their own Interests before the Publick Good The Tartars threatned them with a second Incursion and it was so much the more to be feared by how much he who had invited them was in a Capacity of soliciting them to raise new Disturbances nor was Poland for want of Money in a condition to put a stop to their Designs The French Ambassador as a Testimony of the sincere Friendship which the King his Master bore to the Republick offered 100000 Florins which he had by him to keep the Sultan off from the Frontiers of Poland during the Inter-regnum This Minister received a thousand Thanks from those whose Intentions were only for the publick Good but the Castellan of Cracow who had other designs in his Head eluded as much as possible the Ambassador's Proposal However this Affair was treated of at Constantinople without costing France or Poland any thing The Sultan did not commit those Acts of Hostility which he had designed rejected the Offers of those who had invited him and sent an Express to give the Republick an Assurance of it But the Castellan of Cracow's injustice rendred those advantagious Offers a second time useless he kept this Envoy in Person contrary to the Publick Faith did not release him till after the Election and by this Treachery put the Affairs of Poland into a miserable Condition The Republick was not able to redress all these Grievances The Army which it maintained had declared against it they had not Funds to levy fresh Troops whereupon the Senat found themselves obliged to send Deputies to the Confederate Army to confer with them about the Grievances which they proposed and to satisfie their Demands Baranowski who was afraid of nothing so much as that the Republick would resolve upon granting the Satisfaction which he had demanded had recourse to fresh Difficulties He forbad them coming nearer to his Camp than within half a League and declared that he would not suffer the Great or Little General to be present at the Conferences for fear they should take particular Notice of some Officers and Soldiers of the Confederacy and punish them as soon as the Accommodation was made The Senate was obliged by necessity to do that which the Dignity of the Republick would never have allowed in less dangerous Circumstances The Deputies entred into a Conference upon those Terms that the Rebels were pleased to allow them There were great Concessions made to them they knew how to take the Advantage of it and declared that they would not separate till after the Election was over The Army which ought to have defended the Republick continued its Disorders and lived upon Discretion The Marshal with Menaces demanded of the Primate 150000 Florins and of the Burghers of Warsaw 100000 and upon refusal sent his Troops to commit Acts of Hostility in the Parts that lay round the City Regal Prussia tho' at some distance was not free from Insults and twelve Companies entred into it by the same Marshal's Orders That Bravery which the Gentlemen of Great Poland testified kept them secure they had returned the Rebels Answer That in case they advanced towards them they would meet them above half way Baranowski who was for pillaging without fighting dissembled his Resentment and was for striking Terror only into those who were the most capable of Receiving it In the mean time the Deputies of the Republick who were in Conference at Leopold with those of the Rebels were for buying their Peace at any Price and to this end they offered the Army a part of what was due to them with Bills for the Remainder on the Palatinates and an Amnesty without any Exception The Bishop of Plosko Chief of the Commissioners who had in behalf of the Senate managed this Accommonation thought that the Rebels would return to their Duty because the Deputies approved of the Offers This Prelate was blessing himself for having acquitted himself so successfully of his Commission when he received Intelligence that Baranowski disapproved of the Terms and had condemned the Chief of their Deputies to death as a Prevaricator who had exceed his Powers However the Execution of this Sentence was respited at the Intreaties of the Commissaries of the Republick who two Months after renewed their Conferences at the Castle of Sambour whither Baranowski was retired This Interview was no happier than the former the Head of the Mutineers who had no more reasons to alledge sought out for a Pretence which his Malice soon furnished him with He suborned one of his Companions who cryed out in the Conference That those Collocutions were useless since the Deputies of the the Senate were for surprizing them that he was advised of the Design that was laid of beheading Baranowski and his Counsellors so soon as the Confederacy was broken That those brave Persons ought rather to fall with their Swords in their Hands than suffer their Throats to be cut as Victims That he did not think there was any among them so cowardly as to accept of such ensnaring Proposals and that it was not reasonable that Men whom they could not conquer with their Arms
not put a stop to the Rapidity of his Conquests and if the Poles submitted themselves to that fiery Nation they and all Europe would find themselves involved in such a Slavery as no Prince would be capable of delivering them from any more All those Complaints were spread even into the Dominions of those Princes who did not concern themselves in the Matter The Ministers of the Allies published them through all the Provinces of Poland Polignac in his Audiences Conversation and at Meals shewed the Vanity of those Discourses and that the Poles had nothing to fear from a Nation at such a distance from them that those who attempted to possess them with that Notion did them wrong that they were too brave to fear that any Nation could accomplish that which the Romans durst never Attempt that the French assisted their Allies but were far from oppressing them that Sweden was a very fresh instance of it that that Kingdom would remember the Alliance they had with France as long as they preserved the Provinces which the King of Denmark and the Elector of Brandenburgh had restored them by means of the Crown of France He afterwards discoursed on the Genius of the Germans who were not baulked by repeated Denials but had the Crown of Poland in view at every Interregnum That France and Poland were the only Kingdoms in Europe where the Germans had not been able to extend their Dominion That the Empire the Kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia had fallen to the Share of the Cadets of the House of Austria That the Eldest Branch had succeeded to the Monarchy of Spain and the Kingdoms of Naples Sicily and Sardinia That they had invaded that of Portugal only because it lay convenient for them and without the Assistance of France it had remained under their Dominion still That Denmark and Sweden and lately Great Britain had fallen under the Dominion of Princes that were originally Germans That the Poles might if they pleased add their Crown to all those Conquests That he had not Power enough to prevent them but he was too much their Friend to give them such pernicious Advice The Enemies of France did not give over their Designs though hitherto every thing had succeeded ill with them The Queen perceived her Son excluded in all the petty Diets She was very much incensed against France and her hatred increased the Prince of Conti's Party Her Resentments came to such an height against the Ambassador of that Crown That in Nov. 1696. she ordered her Picture to be taken out of the Palace of that Minister which contributed more than all that the Abbot could do or say to confirm the Poles on his side who were always afraid that there was some secret understanding betwixt him and her in favour of the younger Princes her Sons whereas had the Queen been so much Master of her self as to have carried it fair outwardly with that Minister she would have thereby render'd him suspected Some further Endeavours were us'd to calm her by representing to her that since the Indignation which France had conceiv'd against her Eldest Son was just she had no reason to complain but she shut her Eyes upon all those considerations and only ruminated upon the French's depriving her Son of a Crown which the Custom of his Country seem'd to have assur'd him of she express'd her Resentments very highly against that Minister who being more addicted to the Interest of his Master and to his own Duty than dazzled with the hopes of making his Fortune which that Princess offer'd him or with the personal Esteem she discover'd for him became the Instrument of the Ruine of her Family by raising up the Prince of Conti as a Candidate for the Crown There were two things she could never forgive him The first that he had so much Courage as to prefer his Duty to that which she demanded of him The second that without informing her of his design to advance the Prince of Conti he had found a way to deprive her of two Millions This Reflexion was so much the more cutting to her that by her Complaisance she had weakned the Party of her Son and fortified that of the only Competitor that he had reason to fear She had every day some New Subjects of Mortification by the Results of the petty Diets who after the Convocation assembled according to Custom in the Provinces That they might not be without Council during the Inter-regnum they unanimously refolv'd to meet every day six Weeks or at least every two Months on different days and to communicate their Deliberations to one another by Deputies These were new Cares laid upon those who were to inspire so great a Body with Resolutions The first Assemblies were very tumultuous because of the rupture of the Convocation or Preliminary Diet of the Confederacy of the Armys of the Complaints of the Palatine of Vilna against the Queen and of the Correspondences that were discover'd with the Enemies of the State It was also believ'd that there would have been great Contestations upon account of the Act of the General Confederacy drawn up by the Cardinal after the Rupture of the Diet. The Primate had then as many Enemies as the Queen because he had maintainâ—d her Interest with so much heat that he was accus'd of stubbornness But Reason carried it against Prudence and the Act of the Confederacy was generally receiv'd in all the petty Diets But some Restrictions were made in it according to the Genius of the Palatinates The Articles generally agreed on were 1. That they oblig'd themselves by Oath to chuse no King but one that was certainly a Catholick and the Princess his Wife if he were married the like 2. That they should not propose any Piasta or Native 3. That the Diet of the Election should be held from the 15th of May to the 26th of June and that all the Nobility should attend there on pain of Infamy and Military Execution which they call the Postpolita of Rigor But the fourth Article propos'd was abundantly more severe They design'd to terminate at the Election the Process bgeun at the Preliminary Diet at the Succession of the King for the Grievances of the Nation which consisted in this that he had not in so long a Reign fulfilled any of the Agreements to which he was engaged by the Pacta Conventa That Prince had promised to retake Caminiec he had not made any Military Expedition that had been profitable to Poland He had not founded in the Kingdom an Academy for the Instruction of 300 Polish Gentlemen nor had he satisfied the Elector of Brandenburg as to his pretensions upon Elbing Those that were Men of sense foresaw that this omission would sometime or other occasion a fatal War to the Republick The unanimity of the Poles on those four Points gave them the force of a Law as if the Convocation had not been broke but in the petty Diets following they had a mind
Emperor who knew that Prince James had no share in the Election was glad to see that the Queen was disabused One of the Princes she had propos'd to him was his Brother-in-law and the other his Nephew and so near an Alliance would not suffer him to engage them seriously in an Enterprize from which he foresaw they could not come off with Honour However he was willing to make some advantage of the disposition the Queen was in and a Polish Senator one of his Inconstancy presented a new Candidate whom the Council of Vienna thought fit not to neglect John Przependowski Castellan of Culm was the most intent of all the Polish Gentlemen upon advancing his Fortune He was an ingenious Man and capable of Intrigues but his Courage was not answerable to his Address which his Enemies knowing they often assaulted him which he bore with an such Insensibility as rendered him despicable among all brave Men and made them say that a Man who knows himself a Coward ought not to be so Intriguing This Defect had so much stained his Reputation that his Authority was considerably diminished thereby particularly in Prussia after the time that he came the Burger-Master Deputy of the City of Dantzick He had been a Lutheran and in the Late King's Reign he turned Roman-Catholick to be made a Senator the hopes of advancing himself higher made him side wih Prince James as long as his Faction was superiour to that of the other Candidates But when he found it began to decline he in Novemb. 1696. became of the French Faction and carried all the Prussians with him but his restless and turbulent Genius soon drew him over to another only because the Ambassador of that Crown did not confide enough in him nor furnish him with Money enough for his Insatiable Avarice His Treacheries to Prince James and to the Prince of Baden caused that Minister to suspect him and render'd him odious to the Lords of his Party who saw that this Man being too much self-interested did not adhere to the Prince of Conti neither out of Zeal to his Country nor from any regard for true Merit but only in hopes to make his Fortune great under a Prince whom he thought in a fair way of succeeding This Senator reflecting on the other hand that those who were more deserving than himself had embraced the French Faction and so prevented him he was fully perswaded that they would have the first Dignities of the Kingdom conferred upon them to his prejudice This consideration obliged him to take other measures and to search out such means as that the Soveraign who should be chosen might wholly owe the Crown to him So sudden a Change joyned to his former Treacheries made those who could not yet revenge themselves of his Perfidy to curse and revile him and to apply this passage to him Intravit autem Satanas in Judam qui cognominabatur Iscariotes meaning that the Devil had entred into a Traitor called Przependowski He had married a Daughter of General Flemmings who was in the Elector of Brandenbourg's Service He desired his Father-in-law to acquaint him with what was said in the North of Germany of the approaching Election in Poland He understood that the Elector of Saxony had an excessive desire for the Crown and that he only wanted the necessary Instructions for carrying on that Enterprize Przedendowski wrote immediately to the Chevalier Flemming Collonel of a Regiment in the Troops of Saxony and Cousin German to his Wife he offered his Service to the Elector and upon his Answer he went privately in February 1697. to Dresden where he was received with all the demonstrations of Friendship Esteem and Assurance that Princes express to those who are useful to them He represented to the Elector the present State of Poland That Prince James was lost that his Younger Brothers had no pretensions to the Crown that the Queen kept up her Faction with great difficulty with the few Friends that in Honour had not yet abandoned her that her Complaisance for the French Ambassador had stript her of two Millions which was the only thing could re-establish the Affairs of her Eldest Son that the Princes Charles of Nieubourg Leopold of Lorrain and Lewis of Badcn had no party that that of the Prince of Conti was really strong but that it would not be impossible to overthrow it and to put his Electoral Highness in his place if he would follow the same Plan for himself that the Fr. Ambassador had laid down for the Prince of Conti That that Minister had brought all Poland over to the Interest of his Candidate by making a solemn promise to the Republick to disburse three Millions for paying the Army and to pay the said Summ to the Commissaries before the Election That the second thing which that Minister desired of the King his Master was the Princes presence which seem'd to be necessary to avoid the difficulties that might happen by by a Divsion and the trouble of an Embassy which could not go into France in a time of War Przependowski added that the Abbot of Polignac could never perform his promises that since the five or six hundred thousand Franks which he had received only 600000 Livers were sent him by Bills of Exchange upon Dantzick that he had been obliged to protest the said Bills and that the Queen was sure enough of the Bankers of that City to hope that that Minister would not be better serv'd hereafter That it was not observ'd that the Court of France pursued this Affair with the same vigour as others which they undertake that if they should pursue it with the same Zeal they would be necessitated to send their Money in specie that they might not be subject to the ill designs of the Bankers that they had occasion for their Money elsewhere and that the War which that Crown had with the most formidable Potentates of Europe would hinder him from exposing three Millions and the person of the Prince on board of Ships which besides the danger of being cast away would run a great risque of being taken by the Fleet of England and Holland which being superiour in strength guarded all the Passes so narrowly that the lightest Frigats could not escape them In fine he concluded that it was his Electoral Highnesses Interest to make good use of the sincerity of his Counsel and to find the Sums necessary for succeeding in so glorious an Enterprize which was not difficult That for his part he had not quitted the French Faction had he not foreseen better than another by assisting several times in Council the Impossibility of executing his designs without Money and that the Ambassador of that Crown waited in vain for new Bills of Exchange that he had examined the Bankers and that by their Answers he knew very well that that Minister was in an errour of which he did not think it proper to undeceive him The Castellan of Culm had reserv'd
a Prelate that was not very scrupulous in serving them Christian Augustus of Saxezeitz a Kinsman of the Elector's had formerly been of the Lutheran Communion Upon what motives he departed from it we shall not enquire His Preferment he owed to the Emperor who in the Month of April 1696. removed him from Cologne where he had been Canon and Grand Provost and put him in possession of the rich Bishoprick of Raab in Hungary And upon the Emperor's recommendation his Holiness's Bull was obtained Gratis This New Prelate being willing to serve his his Family and withal to give proof of his grattude his to Benefactor did yield to their importunity in signing an Attestation that on the second of June being Trinity Day the Elector of Saxony had made an Abjuration at Vienna before him General Fleming shewed the Certificate to every one but could convince none They credited this Attestation no more than the report of his Abjuration at Rome two years before because neither the Church nor Witnesses were mentioned and they would not take a Lutheran's Abjuration upon a Calvinist's word Besides the Duke had been observ'd to follow the Lutheran Communion since that time and those who were convinced of the matter of Fact could not excuse such a sinful relapse nay the most judicious looked upon the action as a Crime that Politicks might disguise but Repentance alone could expiate The Abbot of Polignac and his Collegue improved these Reasons to that advantage that the more reasonable sort of People were guarded against all surprizes upon that Head They represented the whole as an Artifice to procure a Rupture and told them his Favourers furnished themselves with those pretexts in order to get an Army into the Kingdom to attack their Laws and Publick Liberty These Reflections had a great influence upon the Body of the People but those who had sold themselves to the Saxons did not trouble themselves having resolved to sacrifice their Liberties Religion and Country to sordid Avarice The 26th of June all the Palatinates assembled That Day was appointed for adjusting the preliminaries for the Election was to be determined as next Day All the Gentry being in number above a Hundred Thousand appeared in the Fields of Warsaw every Palatinate under their own Standard divided into Companies the biggest containing eight or nine Hundred Men and the least two Hundred They were all on Horseback excepting a few on Foot that followed the Cavalry and were drawn up behind them These were the poorer sort of Gentry which could not go to the charge of a Horse they were armed with Scythes without Sabres and appeared as formidable as the others and had an equal right to Vote Each Senator made Harangues to his own Palatinate in order to recommend his own designs and direct them in the Election The Bishop of Plosko had no sooner made an end of his harangue but the Palatinate of the same Name cried long live Conti and drew their Sabres This universal acclamation did at once encourage the French and mortifie the opposite Faction The Palatinates of Siradia and Rava followed the Example of Plosko and the three from Prussia did the same Nay the Election was almost anticipated through the impatience of the Noblility to be under a Soveraign that seemed only capable to restore the Kingdom to its ancient Splendor Przependouski observing the fury of the Prussians endeavoured to put a stop to it in telling them the Duke of Saxony was as good for them as the Prince of Conti Whereupon Czapski Chamberlain of Mariembourg replyed Why Traitor is this thy Oath And at the same time shot a Pistol at him which would have killed him had not a Priest put it by with his Cane Though 't was an act of Charity that merited approbation yet it drew more Curses than Thanks upon the Priest Others were stunn'd with their forwardness and apprehensive of a surprize and to put a stop to the Career protested against the Cardinal the Bishop of Plosko the Palatin of Culum the Lubomirski's Sapieha's and Radgivil as having concerted a disorderly Election in opposition to the Laws which require that the Candidates should be first proposed They on the other hand out of tenderness to some of their Party yielded to the Legal form and so lost the opportunity of compassing their designs that was now a second time thrown into their Lap. Had they kept up to the ardor of the Palatinates the Duke of Saxony had been buried in Oblivion For the greater part of the Gentry had never heard of any other Candidates beside the Prince of Conti and James Sobieski and were intirely engaged to the former without dreaming of any other pretensions Br 〈…〉 aw prevailed and stifled their Acclamations the Decision being put off till the next Day Both the Ministers of France and their Adversaries were equally in suspence and run busily about all that Day and the succeeding Night The one entertained the Gentry with the Story of the Elector's Conversion which they would fain have passed for a truth The other cndeavoured by all means to convince them of its falsity Both of them made their Address to the Pope's Nuncio who found himself in a quandary but to satisfie both Parties promised the one he would confirm the Bishop of Raab's Certificate with his own Attestation and at the same time assured the other he would not do it perhaps for a salvo to his word he meant he would not do it next day On the 26th they assembled early in the Morning in St. John's Church were the Cardinal Primate said Mass and the Bishop of Plosko made a Sermon in which he compared himself to the Prophet Samuel that demanded of God a King not like Saul but such a one as David was And interlaced his Discourse with ingenious little hints that gave his Audience to know where his wishes and hopes were pointed After Sermon the numerous Assembly marched in order to the place of Election And the Senators being placed in the Kolo the Cardinal Primate made an Eloquent Speech upon the due qualifications of a new King and then Named the Candidates giving every one a Panegyrick either upon his Personal Qualities or those of his Family When he came to mention the Duke of Saxony who was the last in Order he declared that in Honour they could not forget him but he was not fit to be chosen because he professed Lutheranism and no Body was sure of his Conversion though the Publick was imposed upon with insufficient Proof Then the Elector was nam'd openly in the Ranks which surprised even those who were best acquainted with the Laws of the Kingdom However his Party was so weak that the terror was not equal to the surprizal The Cardinal having made an end of his Harangue kneeled on the Ground of his own accord and lifting up his Eyes to Heaven declared he would never Nominate a King without their unanimous consent provided they did not insist
promised in his Master's Name to advance Ten Millions for the Use of the Republick to maintain Fifteen thousand Men during the War with the Turks to retake Caminiec upon his own Charges to re-establish the Catholick Religion in Saxony and that the Electoress should make an Abjuration before she were crowned or else forfeit all her Pretensions to the Crown The Bishop was not ashamed to administer the Oath to a Calvinist Envoy in the Presence of the Holy Sacrament notwithstanding the Opposition of James Halecki Huntsman of Podlachia and Martin Grazewski Vice-Chamberlain of Vilna upon whom they drew their Hangers in the very Church where the Sacrament was exposed And this Prelate instead of redressing the Disorder cried Kill Kill whereupon they made a verbal Process before the Nuncio who publickly disapproved the action but did not think fit to punish it When the Election was over the Cardinal hoping the smaller number would be brought to comply proposed a Conference between the two Parties Accordingly it began on the 28th the most noted Lords on both Parties being present George Albert Denohoff Bishop of Premislia and Great Chancellor of the Crown opened the Conference with a Speech in which he told them the day of the Election was a representation of the day of Judgment and the Favourites of France on the Right represented the Elect and alluding to the Lamb upon the Primate's Arms quoted that passage of Scripture Hi sequentur Agnum quocunque ieret And compared Saxony's Faction to the Goats that put all in disorder applying to them that other passage Vos enim depasti est is vineam Then the Deputies were named Conti's Party demanded that according to Law the two Competitors should not enter nor send Troops into the Kingdom nor seize any Place or claim aright for Coronation till the publick were assembled again in a second Diet to confirm the Election and determine which of the Candidates should mount the Throne Saxony's Party considering Conti was far off and Saxony just at hand gave no other answer but a flat denial and on the fifth of July which was the last day of the Conference declared that they saw the French had a mind to gain time but the Saxons would not loose the opportunity While the Conference was held those who were not admitted enjoyed themselves in Feasting and their heat was so much abated that they seemed to bury the Old Polish Humour By their Voices one would have thought they were rather pleading upon some particular cause before Judges than managing the Election of a King in a General Diet of the Kingdom Some wondered the Bishop of Cujavia should encroach on the rights of the Primate in nominating a King in a tumultuous Assembly but they were more surprized to hear him say the Elector had made an Abjuration at Rome two years ago 'T was Publickly notorious that he had not performed one external act of the Catholick Religion On the contrary he continued openly in the Lutheran Profession And the more zealous among them owned that if his Abjuration was true he should be looked upon as an Apostate Others examined the qualities of the two Rivals They extolled the Prince of Conti whose Vertue they had sensible impressions of from the French Ambassador Prince Lubomirski Great Treasurer of the Crown and many other Polish Gentlemen were witnesses of his Bravery at the Siege of Newhausel and they could not but credit their Report that 't was by his means chiefly that that important Place was taken Others would have spoke on the Elector's behalf but his Defeat at Temeswaer in the Month of April 1696 was too fresh in their Memories to consist with his Glory Though afterwards the disgrace was in some measure extenuated by Prince Eugene of Savoy's Reprisals They boasted of the Elector's strength which indeed was extraordinary and declared every Day by fresh instances His Enemies could not deny it but they distinguished between Hero's and Gladiators and affirmed that Milon of Crotone went beyond him When the News of the Election of the Elector came to his own Country they were as much disturbed as Poland Prince Eugene of Furstemburg their Governour having caused Te Deum to be sung at Dresden on the 4th of July would have said Mass in the Castle Chappel But Christian Ebrarde the Electoress Daughter to the Marquiss of Brandebourg Baroth being a Calvinist ordered the Gates to be shut and refused to take upon her the quality of Queen The Electoress Dowager was not less zealous So that both these Princesses upon this occasion show'd all the transports of anger that Women in a passion are capable of I know not whether they did it out of Zeal or to serve the Elector's Interest in seeming to stand by the Country of Saxony However the States were as resolute as the two Princesses and declared they would admit of no change in the point of Religion They went upon the latter will of John II. the Elector's Grandfather which obliged all his Successors to Profess the Lutheran Religion This Act they would have looked upon as Authentick had not some former accidents given them a jealousie of what might come after George Duke of Saxony Died in 1539. He was the most Zealous Prince of his time for the Catholick Religion as it appeared by many proofs in his life-time and at his Death by his latter will He had no Children to Succeed him Henry his Brother Maurice and Augustus his Son had imbraced the Lutheran Profession in 1537 and he was unwilling his Country which by his means had kept up the Purity of the Gospel should fall into the Hands of Hereticks that had corrupted Saxony and a great part of Germany In order to compass his Pious Design and at the same time to give his Family no occasion to complain of Injustice he made a latter Will in which he determined the Succession to Henry and his Children providing they introduced no Change of Religion into the Countries which he gave them And declared that if they counteracted that Condition they had no Right to his Heritage He entreated the Emperor Charles V and King Ferdinand his Brother to be Executors of his Will and not to give the nearest of his Relations Possession of his Country without they Professed the Catholick Religion Had these Executors been possessed by the same sentiments of Piety with that Prince Leipsic might have been a Catholick City this Day but their particular Interests prevailed above Religion They gave Henry and his Children the liberty of establishing Heresie in that City at a time when they were pretending to extirpate it out of the whole Empire Henry took advantage of their weakness and invited Luther to that Town which he perverted as well as many other Cities in Germany Now the Saxons considering how Prince George's Will was executed were apprehensive of the like Treatment for Prince John's They and the Poles were equally in fear the one for the Lutheran the
absented by reason of his great Age. 'T was likewise Signed by all the great Officers of the Crown and Lithuania all the Palatines and Castelans excepting the Great-Mareshal Lubomirski who remained neuter and the Vice Chancellor Tarlo who was gone over to Saxony Then the Ambassador dispatched the third Courier on the 18th of July who had the misfortune not to arrive before the 9th of August The Ambassador could not presume the favourers of France would stand so long out as they did So by that Courier he gave the King notice that he feared all the Polish Gentry would join with Saxony unless the Prince of the Money promised to the Army were there before the 31st of July because the Lords who Signed the Act had only engaged to continue in their Union till that day as being sure by that time the Elector of Saxony would pay the Troops and then they had nothing to Object against him The Prince was so far from being able in so short a time to reach Poland where he was expected so impatiently that he was yet at Paris waiting for the Original Letter from the Cardinal And when that came the the Court received this we now speak of So the Prince saw himself Called and Countermanded by two Letters received both in one Day only that which called him was of an older Date than the other by 18 Days Then the Prince's Journey was put off a second time and by a necessary but fatal consequence The Orders for the Remitments were recalled Good Politicians will easily perceive that the most studied precautions are often times to no purpose especially if they consider that such mean matters as the Private Designs of a Courier have influenced the most important Affairs of this Age. However a little time discovered that the short Day which the Polish Gentry had given to the Abbot of Polignac was only threats for when they received the News of the Elector's Arrival their Zeal revived with fresh Vigor In the mean time t was needful to engage the Town of Dantzick in the French Interests The Abbot of Polignac was obliged to continue in the Centre of the Kingdom where his presence was necessary so the Abbot of Neuf-Chattle set out for that Place on the 2d of July in order to appease the Queen to keep the Migistrate of the Place right to satisfie the Poles that were about to come thither for Money to persuade the Banquiers to have the Money ready to be paid as soon as the Bills of Exchange arrived and in fine to make sure of Prussia where the Prince was to pass when he arrived He delivered to the Queen the King's Letter and with a great deal of submission told her the Reasons that retarded the performance of that Duty She refused to enter into any Negotiation with him and continued Resolute to maintain the Elector's Party as being the weakest and the least able to withstand her when Conti's Faction being the strongest came to be broke The Magistrate was as obstinate as she and alledged as weak Reasons The chiefest were the Losses the Town had sustain'd by Sea during the War The sollicitation of the Queen and Elector of Brandebourg the Elector of Saxony's Country and Religion which were more agreeable to the Inhabitants than that of the Prince of Conti who was but too good a Catholick It had been an easie matter to refute all these Reasons but the Magistrate thought he eluded all possible Replies when he told him that the Town in pursuance of its Statutes would acknowledge either of the two Princes that should be first Crowned and till that time they would stand Neuter The Abbot of Neuf-Chattel perceiving the Magistrate went upon the hopes of Saxony's preventing the Prince of Conti represented the advantage that would accrue to a Trading City by a Commerce with France and told him that if the Citizens would act regularly they were obliged to acknowledge him as King who was first Elected according to the Laws of the Kingdom by a plurality of Votes and by the better part of the Republick that if bad Counsel prevailed with them to take other measures they ought to call to mind how on the like occasion they acknowledged the Emperor Maximilian to the prejudice of King Stephen and drew upon themselves such disgrace as in prudence they ought now to avoid But all these Reasons had no influence upon a set of People prepossessed with a Zeal for their own Religion and an implacable Hatred against France The other Citizens were more tractable Some lent him Sums of Money 'T is true they were very small however they served to stop the Mouths of some of the great Lords Residents that teased the Abbot with perpetual Demands His abode in Dantzick was likewise useful in keeping the Prussians in order and securing the Town of Mariembourg for the Prince till he arrived While the Abbot of Neuf-Chattel was taking care of Prussia the French Ambassador at Warsaw was endeavouring to retain the rest of Poland which his Enemies had a mind to seduce The Elector of Brandebourg in his Letter to the Primate had offered his Meditation and out of respect to a Neighbouring Prince they accepted it tho' they expected to reap no advantage by it but that of gaining time The Publick Conferences commenced on the 9th of August Saxony motioned that the Diet for Confirmation should be Revoked or if the Revocation was inconvenient that the Cardinal should oblige himself by Writing to Nominate Saxony instead of Conti that the Primate by his Vniversalia should call the petty Diets as Preliminaries to the Coronation and come himself to Warsaw to put the Crown upon the Elector's Head that in case they listened to these Conditions the Elector would not admit the Bishop of Cujavia to Crown him That the Date of his Election should Commence from his Confirmation in that Assembly that he would Swear to such Pacta Conventa as they offered him and in fine would Pay in ready Money to the Heads and Lords of the opposite Faction the sum of Eight Hundred Ninety Two Thousand Crowns to be divided among them as they should think fit These Proposals were Answered in the following Articles a Copy of which was given to the Baron of Overbeck the Elector of Brandebourg his Envoy They required the Elector with his Troops should depart the Kingdom and send an Ambassador from the Frontiers to the Diet for Confirmation to desire the Crown That he should give better proof of his Conversion and renew his Abjuration in the Presence of some Bishop of the opposite Faction and in fine should renounce the Act of his pretended Election and all the other means which he and the Bishop of Cujavia had made use of to that purpose Upon these Conditions and the Execution of the Offers made by him they promised to consider of his Pretensions to treat him not as an Usurper but as a legal Candidate and to regard the Merit of
Castelans of Vilna and Troke arrived the 26th of August that he might be present at the Diet of Confirmation which was to sit down the next Day Four Thousand Men of his Army also marched after him but upon advice that there was no Money yet come he countermanded them till farther Orders Upon the 26th of August the Cardinal and all the Senators who had Elected Conti repaired to the Church of St. John where they met above Sixty Troops of the Choice of the Nobility under their Standards The Mareshal of the last Election was at the Head of them They heard Mass which was solemnized by the Bishop of Kiovia and a Jesuite Preached the Sermon Which done they went to the Electoral Field where the Count Biesinski Director of the Crown opened the Sitting and declared against the Elector and all those who had delivered the Castle and City of Cracovia into his Hands while the Factious had no other design than to break the Diet by some Protestation To which purpose Donowski Nuncio of Wisna more bold than any of the rest stood up and said the Assembly was to no purpose since the Nation had chosen the Elector of Saxony He was about to have gone on when a threatning murmur watched his Ears from all parts of the Room and at the same time he perceived several Sabres drawn which constrained the Nuncio to betake himself to his Heels while the rest pursued him out of the Field of Election and gave him so many Wounds that they left him almost for Dead in the Arms of those that durst not undertake to defend him The Nuncio was cured of his Wounds but he lost the use of one Side of his Body and was so disfigured that after he had given this bad Example no body was more capable than he to amend it His Accomplice had better luck for he threw himself at the Cardinal's Feet who touched him with his Cross as Ahasuerus did with his Cane and and saved his Life Krassinski Palatine of Plosko had given order to his Son to second Danowski's Protestation But the imminent danger was a lawful dispensation with his Obedience He presently got a Horseback and made his escape to Warsaw though above twenty Gentlemen pursued him with their drawn Swords to the very Turnpikes of the City Upon the 27th nothing was decided because the Ambassador of France tarried for News which did not come Thereupon Rietinski demanded what answer he should give to two Gentlemen the one of the Palatinate of Cracow and the other of the Palatinate of Sandomiria who astonished at the misfortune that had befallen Danowski and the Day before durst not make their Appearance unless the Diet would grant them a safe Conduct for the security of their Persons But those two Gentlemen were ordered to be told that if they came with the same Design as Danowski did they should be answered as he was Upon the 28th the Articles of the Rokosz was proposed at what time the Cardinal painted forth in all its Colours the Invasion of the Saxon he also excused the slowness of the Prince of Conti and the Defect of Returns of Money which he attributed to the Intercepting of the Bills of Exchange The Brabbles of the Dantzickers the Queen's Credit with the Merchants and the obliging fear that France was in of making the least Attempt upon the Liberty of a Nation to whom she was unwilling to shew the least suspicion He assured them that the Prince in conformity to his Letter received the 14th would appear so soon as the Republick should shew their forwardness to receive him The Rokosz was resolved upon in opposition to those who to the prejudice of the Religion Laws and Liberties of Poland had brought an Army of Hereticks into the Kingdom under the Conduct of a Lutheran Prince who had delivered to him Cracovia and the Castle belonging to it and put the Republick into the danger from which they were now endeavouring to deliver her Humiecki was declared Mareshal of the Rokosz who so well acquited himself of that Commission at the Preliminary Diet and during a Month at the Diet of Election that the Efforts and Intrigues of Constantine Wapowski Ensign of Sanok who alone durst contend with him for that Dignity were absolutely frustrated Prielinski delivered to him the Battoon of Command and reserved to himself only the priviledge of presenting the Diploma to the King lawfully Elected which was granted him The Palatine of Vilna was the same day chosen Generalissimo of the Forces of the Republick but excused himself from accepting that Honour till the necessary Funds for Defraying that Charge was arrived The Palatine of Kiovia also to whom the same Preferment was offcr'd return'd the same Answer So that it was resolved that the Prince should confer that Honour upon whom he should think fitting Several Regulations were likewise made which would have been very beneficial had they been well put in Execution The Bishop of Kiovia at the same time disingaged all the Senators from a great deal of trouble when he offered to go to Cracovia and admonish the Elector in the name of the Rokosz to depart the Kingdom And the Prelate was upon his way in order to Execute his Commission when he understood that they expected him with Impatience that they might give him the same Entertainment which Donowski had received nor did he need any new Advice to prevent him from continuing his Journey After the Enclosure of the Camp was broken down to the end the Mutineers should not hold their Conferences therein the Palatine of Plosko was summoned upon the 29th to Surrender the Castle of Warsaw of which he was Governour who thereupon demanded two hours respite But upon his answer the Palatine of Kiovia drew Twelve Pieces of Cannon out of the Arsenal which were pointed just against the Palatine of Plosko's Palace So that this Palace which for a Private Lord is one of the most Magnificent in Poland had like to have been laid in Ashes if the Owner of it had not presently delivered the Castle where they held their Conferences and where the Act of Association was generally approved To which when every one had signed he swore the observance of it by his Head and Soul A Gentleman whose name was Kortechowski and who followed the Law was discovered to be the Person who drew up the Elector of Saxony's Pacta Conventa upon which he was apprehended by another who urged with great Earnestness that they were not to let such a Man go unpunished who was as wicked a Citizen as he was a bad Lawyer and several there were who flocked about him with their drawn Swords and the most merciful would have had him thrown out at a Window But fear sometimes infuses strength and wholsome Expedients insomuch that the Gentleman had the good luck to get out of their Clutches For he threw himself at the Cardinal's Feet who covered him with his Mantle and saved his Life But