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
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 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
Country But here the Citizens in Prussia are excepted for they may possess Lands of what Extent soever out of their Cities Also the Inhabitants of Cracow may purchase and enjoy Lands in any Part of the Kingdom Likewise the Magistrates of Vilna have a Power to possess Lands and the City of Leopol in like manner has a Privilege for its private Citizens to hold Lands A Nobleman Gentleman or one that is free-born of the Kingdom of Poland are the same thing Every Gentleman has his Coat of Arms granted him by the Republick but then either he or some of his Family must have Possessions in Lands there He can pretend to all the greatest Employments and Offices in the Kingdom and buy Lands where he pleases all over the Dominions of Poland and Lithuania He has moreover a Right to the Crown if his Credit and Interest can procure it Every Gentleman is a Sovereign Lord and Master in his own Lands for he has the Power of Life and Death over his Tenants or as the Poles term them his Subjects tho' I may better call them his Slaves for they have neither Privilege nor Law to protect them but are to be govern'd absolutely by the Will and Pleasure of their Lord. They dare not leave his Lands to go to anothers under Pain of Death unless he sells them to his Neighbour as he has the Power to do or has violated or ravish'd their Wives or Daughters insomuch that I have heard that some have wish'd to have had a fine Wife or Daughter that their Lord might thereby have given them Occasion to get rid of him If a Gentleman kills another Gentleman's Slave he is neither to be try'd nor punish'd for it and is only oblig'd to give that Gentleman another Slave in the Room of him or as much Money as will buy one And besides to maintain the Family of the Person that he has kill'd likewise if he kills one of his own Slaves he only pays a matter of fifty Livres to be quit Nay if one Gentleman kills another he cannot be apprehended nor clapt into Prison for his Crime Nisi Jure Victus unless a Court of Justice has first convicted him which commonly gives him Time enough to escape for he must first be cited to appear and upon his Neglect he is declar'd contumacious and consequently convicted But it may very well be suppos'd that he who knows himself guilty will not run the Hazard of Appearing nor venture the losing of his Head This Honour the Poles likewise bestow on the common People Hanging being not the usual Way of Execution in their Country However Hartknoch has these Exceptions from this Privilege for says he if a Nobleman be taken in the very Act of Ravishing Burning of Houses Theft Robbery or the like he may be apprehended by the Laws Likewise if he will not give sufficient Caution according to the Quality of his Offence or lastly if he be found in the Register to have been thrice convicted before Notwithstanding this Privilege of the Nobility says Hauteville I have known one Instance to the contrary for those who assassinated Gonczenski Petty General of Lithuania were seiz'd without any Formality and carry'd Prisoners to Elbing and were afterwards condemn'd to be beheaded at the general Diet at Warsaw in the Year 1664. but then this Crime of theirs was so notorious that the Nobility might well have wav'd their Privilege for these Villains took that Gentleman out of his Bed at Vilna and putting him into a Coach with a Confessor carry'd him out of the City where they scarce allow'd him Time to say his Prayers before they shot him dead with Pistols A Polish Nobleman tho' he be proscrib'd and cited and found guilty cannot be executed without the King's Knowledge and Consent as may appear by the Case of Samuel Zborowski who tho' he had been proscrib'd and condemn'd by the Great Chancellor and General of the Army Zamoiski yet would he not presume to Behead him till he had known King Stephen's Pleasure therein The Polish Gentry also have another Privilege which is that no Soldiers or Officers of the Army can be Quarter'd upon them for if any one should presume to attempt such a thing the Diet would either condemn him to Death or pronounce him infamous whereby he would be depriv'd of the Power of giving his Vote in all Assemblies and moreover be render'd incapable of enjoying any Office or Employment in the State and this is as being degraded from his Nobility whereupon I may take notice of a Passage that hapned at the Diet of Election of John III. and which did not a little contribute towards his being chosen The Palatin of Smolensko's Son went and quarter'd at the House of Wiesnowiski without his Leave as was reported by Order of the Grand General Patz which occasion'd the Marshals who are Judges in these Cases two Days before the breaking up of the Diet to deprive this Palatin of his Vote in the Election whereby Sobieski was freed from a declar'd Enemy and the Austrian Faction lost a profess'd Friend The King likewise cannot now lodg in any Nobleman's House against his Will as he could before the Year 1433. Also wherever any Foreigner dies without Heirs his Estate Escheats to the Lord of those Lands where he dy'd and not to the King And where any Polish Gentleman dies without Heirs the King cannot seize upon his Estate by Right of Escheat if he have a Relation left of the eighth Degree inclusively The Gentry also may have Houses in the King's Cities and Towns but then they must not let such Trades inhabit them as may prove obnoxious or a Nusance to the Citizens and likewise these Houses ought to be subject to the Jurisdiction of the City but which however is seldom or never observ'd The House of a Nobleman moreover is a Kind of Asylum for tho' Delinquents may be arrested there with his Consent yet cannot they be taken thence by Force Not less are a Nobleman's Privileges as to Customs and Taxes for if he will swear his Goods were not bought but arising from his Lands he may send them any where out of the Kingdom to be sold without paying Duties and where he has once so sworn his Testimonials alone for the future will suffice to exempt them Also his Subjects will have the same Privilege wherever they trade In Prussia the Nobles are not only free from Customs but likewise all the other Inhabitants by the Magna Charta of Culm But altho the Polish Nobility are thus said to be free from Taxes yet upon emergent Occasions and Exigencies the Diet usually obliges them to pay them for a certain Time The Nobility also have a Privilege of Preemption of Salt for in the Staples for that Commodity there must be at least a Months Notice before any can be sold to any body else After all these Privileges the Polish Nobility
have one very great Grievance which is that they are oblig'd to serve in the Pospolite Ruszanie or General Muster of the Militia at their own Charges How the Polish Gentry came by all these Privileges it may not be here improper to enquire since it is certain that formerly they were not much better than Slaves For to pass by many other Examples Cromerus says they were once oblig'd to keep the King's Dogs The first Glimpse of their Liberty may reasonably be ascrib'd to the Privileges granted the Clergy by Boleslaus the Chast but afterwards when Poland began to be harrass'd by Civil Wars the Gentry obtain'd many larger Privileges from their Kings and which they have since always taken Care to get augmented at every new Election All the Gentry of Poland are equal by Birth notwithstanding some of the meaner Sort send their Children to serve the Great Men as other Servants and this principally to learn Breeding and to be kept in Awe yet may that very same Servant have as good a Vote in the Diet as his Master They neither value nor care for Titles of Honour for they think the greatest they can have is to be a Noble Pole or Gentleman of Poland Neither the King nor Republick gives any Title of Prince Duke Marquess Count Vicount Baron or Knight to any of the free-born of the Nation thinking I suppose that none can be any ways rais'd above another by a bare exteriour Denomination which argues more the Favour of the Prince than Merit of the Person preferr'd but rather by their Services in the Offices and Employments which they enjoy There are no Princes of the Kingdom but those which are of the Royal Family for altho some of the Poles have been made Princes of the Empire by the Emperour as Prince Lubomirski c. Yet it gives them no Precedence in Poland but rather renders them odious and despis'd by the rest of the Gentry who cannot endure that any should pretend to any Superiority among them especially by a Title which is not annex'd to some Employment in the Nation King Sigismund III. thought of establishing an Order of Knighthood of the Immaculate Conception in Poland and had effectually created several Knights thereof allowing them certain Privileges and a Superiority above others but these were so despis'd and undervalu'd by the rest of the Gentry that scarce any one afterwards car'd for that up-start Honour whereupon that Order soon dwindled into nothing The Poles have a Proverb to prove their Equality which is That they are measur'd like a Bushel of Corn that is whenever any one pretends to rise but a Grain above the Level he is immediately struck off and ridicul'd There are some Gentlemen in Poland that have had Dutchies time out of mind annex'd to their Estates as Duke Radzivil in Lithuania c. But there are no Dutchies or Counties created by the King Tho the Poles in their own Country have no Honorary Titles above a Gentleman yet several have been known to have usurp'd them when they have travell'd into France Italy and Germany for they there frequently assume those of Counts to themselves in like manner as the Germans in foreign Countries do those of Barons for nothing is more common than Monsieur le Conte Malakowski Il Signior Conde Potoski Mynheer Graff Jablonowski c. And this they do to be the more easily admitted into Company especially in Germany where 't is scarce thought that any body can be a Gentleman under a Baron and consequently not fit for Conversation Dr. Connor likewise says he has known some of our English Gentry in these Countries that have not scrupul'd to call themselves Lords to procure them the greater Respect since they saw that the Title of Gentleman alone was not regarded there The Gentry of Poland make and defend their own Laws and Liberties elect their King with all manner of Freedom give him the Crown and Scepter appoint Ministers to counsel and instruct him and their Number far exceeding that of the Senate they easily keep the King and Senators in their Duty and threaten both very often especially in the Diet where each Member has a Liberty to speak what he thinks and to think what he pleases 'T is they that despute the Nuncios out of themselves for every Province to meet and sit in the General Diet with full Instructions and absolute Power not to consent to any Proceedings which should in the least entrench on their Privileges or if such Deputies should happen to be brib'd to act contrary to their Instructions then have the Gentry of the Province whence they were sent a free Authority to punish them for so doing Not only these excessive Privileges make the Polish Gentry Powerful and Great but likewise the vast Territories which a great Number of them enjoy with a Despotick Power over their Subjects for some possess Five some Ten some Fifteen some Twenty nay some Thirty Leagues of Land out right whereon they have always their several Pod-Starostas or Gentlemen-Stewards residing who are to take Account of their Revenues to sell some things and to send the rest to their Masters Houses to defray the Exigencies of the Family Some also are Hereditary Sovereigns of Cities which the King has nothing to do with and one of the Princes Lubomirski possesses above Four Thousand Cities Towns and Villages Moreover some can raise an Army of Five Six Eight and Ten Thousand Men and maintain them at their own Charges when they have done Dr. Connor says Prince Lubomirski had actually Seven Thousand Horse Foot and Dragoons in Pay when he was in Poland All the Gentry of Note live most splendidly They have all their Horse and Foot Guards which keep Centry Night and Day at the Gates of their Houses they call them Courts and in their Anti-Chambers These Guards go before and after their Masters Coaches in the Streets But above all these Noblemen make an extraordinary Figure at the General Diets where some have Three Hundred some Five and some a Thousand Guards always attending them Nay Hauteville says that formerly some Great Persons have been known to come to the Diet with above Ten Thousand Men. They esteem themselves not only equal but also above the Princes of Germany especially such among them as are Senators 'T is certain they want nothing to be as so many Sovereign Princes except the Liberty of coining Money which the Republick has reserv'd wholly to it self The Doctor says he has no where seen Subjects live with such excessive Grandeur and Splendour for these Great Men when they go to Dinner or Supper have always their Trumpets sounding and a great Number of Gentry to wait on them at Table some whereof carve some give to drink others reach Plates and all serve with extraordinary Respect and Submission for tho all the Gentry in Poland are equal and have all their free Votes in the Diet yet
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-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-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-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
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
of the great Dutchy's Army and receives no manner of Orders from the Crown-General except where both are jointly engag'd in a Battle These great Generals in the King's Absence have the greatest Power in the Kingdom for they have then a supreme Command in the Army They give Battle and besiege Towns without the King's Participation and settle Winter-Quarters where and upon what Lands they think fit This Power of theirs is so extraordinary considerable that a great General is formidable to all the Nobility Their Duty is to keep good Order and Discipline in the Army to punish mutinous and seditious Officers and Soldiers to settle the Prizes of all Commodities and Provisions brought into the Camp to give Command or necessary Orders for a Charge or Retreat and in fine to do any thing that his Majesty could were he present It is therefore the Interest of a King of Poland always to head his Army himself to have his Sons with him in the Field and to give them Opportunity to gain Reputation and Credit by their Valour and Conduct for the more the King encreases his own Fame or that of his Sons the more he diminishes the Credit and Power of his Generals who are the only Persons in the Kingdom that are most to be fear'd and who have the greatest Power and Influence over the Gentry in the Election of a King The present great General of Poland is the Count Jablonowski of the French Faction and of Lithuania Prince Sapieha suppos'd to be of the Austrian Faction When the Office of great General is vacant the little or Lieutenant-General has a Right to succeed him The two Lieutenant-Generals of Poland and Lithuania are to preside in all Court-Marshals and to take care that Guard be strictly kept throughout the Camp Also they are to observe that all Spies and Scouts be sent out as often as Occasion requires and lastly to see that foreign Soldiers be duly paid The Business of the chief Commander of the King's Guards in the Camp is to command solely those Soldiers who are assign'd to guard his Majesty's Person in the Camp but upon the Kings Departure this Officer's Power ceases There are several other Officers of Note in the Army the most considerable of which are the great Ensign or Standard-Bearer the great Master of the Artillery the Camp Notaries and Commander of the Guards against Incursions of which two last I shall only speak here Camp-Notaries are Pay-Masters General for the Army both of the Kingdom and great Dutchy The chief Commander of the Guards against the Incursions of the Tartars c. This Officer is posted on the Confines of the Kingdom towards Crim-Tartary c. and is to give Notice of all the Motions of the Enemy For the civil State-Officers there are the two great Secretaries of the Kingdom and Dutchy They have a Power to enter into the Privy-Council and to take Cognizance of what the Chancellors and Vice Chancellors do They must both be Ecclesiasticks and their Office is a great Step to the Chancellor's Dignity They have the keeping of the King's Signet and are qualify'd for the highest Episcopal Honours and have Precedence before most Officers of the Court or Kingdom The Masters of Requests or Referendaries of the Kingdom and the great Dutchy Their Business is to receive Petitions made to the King and to give his Majesty's Answer They have a Place in any of the King's Courts of Justice These are in all four one Ecclesiastical and one Civil for the Kingdom and the like for the great Dutchy Two Cup-Bearers for each Nation for the same Two Carvers and Two Sword-Bearers The Treasurers of the Court in the Kingdom and the great Dutchy These supply either the Absence or Vacancy of the Office of the great Treasurers The Treasurer of Prussia whose Business is to take all Accounts of the Collectors of Revenue in that Province and to transmit them to the great Treasurers Associates to Judges which are generally such as reside in the King's Court viz. the Masters of Requests Vice-Chancellors c. Two chief Notaries of the Courts of Justice for civil Causes either of the Kingdom or the great Dutchy Two Registers in the Chancery of both Nations An Officer that looks after the Escheats call'd by us Escheator He can either sue for or seize any such Lands or Goods as fall to the Crown The Commissioners of the Custom-Houses who give in their Accounts as often as the great Treasurers require them The Governours of the Silver Lead and Salt Mines They exercise Jurisdiction over the Workmen there but must nevertheless admit of Appeals to Court The Governours or Wardens of the Mint which are for the most part the Treasurers of the Kingdom Their Business is to take care that the Mony there coin'd be of Weight and Value The chief Officers of the King's Court are treated of before in the Letter to his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury The Officers of Districts may be divided into two Sorts Civil and Military The civil are The Vice-Chamberlain whose Office is to decide all Differences within his District about the Bounds of Land c. to which he is sworn He has several Deputies under him call'd Chamberlains whom he chooses out of the Gentry of his Jurisdiction and to whom he gives an Oath to be true and faithful in the Execution of their Office It is at his Pleasure to displace these as often as he thinks fit The Judge who together with his Assistant determines all civil Causes and Controversies The Prothonotary who in those Courts has likewise a Power of giving his Opinion The head Collector of the publick Revenue who is accountable above The other Officers are less considerable being Sewers Carvers Cup-Bearers Sword-Bearers c. The Reason of there being such Officers in every Palatinate is because formerly each Province of Poland was a Sovereignty and had its peculiar Princes who had all their Court-Officers But now tho these Offices remain yet it is only with Honorary Titles and some few Privileges the chiefest of which are that when the King comes into their Palatinate his Court-Officers must leave to them the Honour of serving him at Table bearing the Sword before him c. The Military Officers of a District are Starostas with and without Jurisdiction Starostas with Jurisdiction are Governours of Castles and Royal Cities who sit and hear private Causes of small Moment once a Fortnight and those of greater concern every six Weeks if nothing intervene to prevent them These have Vice Starostas Judges Clerks and Servants in the Nature of Sheriffs Officers to enforce Justice in Cases of Resistance The Jurisdiction of these Starostas extends not only over the Commonalty but likewise over the Gentry They have also a Care of the
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
Mead Metheglin and Beer for they are want to quench several red-hot Stones in it successively after it has been boyl'd a whole Night to make their Bellies soluble This Drink they put into Vessels made of Bark of Trees Thirdly They have a Custom of rewarding a sturdy Drinker by presenting him with a Shirt Frock Handkercheif and the like Fourthly They live to a greater Age than ordinary in Samogitia for it is no wonder to see a Person of a hundred or a hundred and twenty Years old there which may be partly manifested by a Passage which happen'd while a Monk was preaching about the Creation of the VVorld at the Time of Jagello's Expedition to convert hsi Countreymen This Man is a notorious Lyar said one of the Pagans addressing himself to the King and interrupting the Monk I and many more among us have liv'd for above these hundred Years and yet never remember any such thing as he speaks of for even from the Time that we were Boys the same Seasons and Vicissitudes have continu'd To which the King mildly reply'd Father you say true neither has the Priest affirm'd an Vntruth for these things he speaks of happen'd many Hundred Years ago long before your Time when the World was assuredly made out of nothing by a divine Ordination and Power I conceive My Lord this may as well serve for an Argument of their Ignorance as of their Longevity Fifthly Their Character differs something from the Lithuanians for they are generally speaking more robust bold and nimble and the Defence and Arms they use are for the most part a Coat of Mail and a Hunter's Javelin Sixthly No Part of Poland produces so much Honey for here almost every Tree contains a Swarm of Bees It is observable also that the Honey of this Country is more free from Wax than elsewhere I shall now entertain your Lordship with a few remarkable Customs in Husbandry peculiar to these two Countries and wherein I will be as brief as I am sensible that Art is not much either known or esteem'd being appropriated chiefly to vulgar Conditions It may be observ'd that these People plow sow and harrow all at the same Time and that their Ground having been but once fecundated with burning will bear great Crops seven or eight Years together without dunging When they burn the Woods on the Lands if they meet with high Trees they do not cut them down but only prune off their side Branches so that the Sun may not be kept from the Ground the manner of doing which is uncommon for one Peasant will prune above a thousand Trees together without so much as once coming down To effect this he provides himself of a Seat of Rope much like a Stirrup the which he fastens to a long Cord and having cast it over an Arm of the Tree a Boy that is on the Ground draws him up and down and when he has so done by Help of another Cord easily transfers him to the next Tree This Peasant has always a Hook by his Side with which he uses to lop off the Branches They have moreover another odd and peculiar Way of sowing in these Countries which is by mixing two Parts of Barley with one of VVheat and putting them into the Ground together in the Spring whereby it happens that the Barley may be mow'd on one Harvest and the VVheat reap'd the next This VVheat being trod down by those that mow the Barley the next Harvest commonly comes up so thick and high that there is scarce any passing thro' it for Fear of being stifled In Time of VVar these Boors have a VVay of securing their Corn c. by burying it in a Place made up under Ground with Posts and Bark of Trees for that Purpose Their Way of ordering their Corn is also extraordinary for they first dry it with Smoak before they lay it up in their Graneries by which means it will keep good for several Years together As for the Prussians both Gentry and Commonalty they may likewise be consider'd by themselves in some Respects for the former are not altogether so gaudy in their Habits as the more Southern Parts of Poland and the latter differ something from the Polish Peasants in their Habits wearing sometimes long strait Coats of Leather Formerly the Prussians dwelt in Waggons or in Huts made of Boughs twisted together and at this Day the Commonalty are not much improv'd in Architecture for they generally live in Hovels built with Stakes and raddled with Rods having either Earth or Fern for their Covering Neither is there any great Improvement in their Furniture for the old Prussian slept on the Ground or on Skins of Beasts and these lye upon the Straw They are naturally content with spare Diet and addicted more to Sloath than Gluttony Yet like the Poles and Lithuanians no ordinary Dose of Drink suffices them especially at Feasts where they will frequently get very Drunk Heretofore their Drink was Water or Mares Milk mix'd sometimes with Blood and now for the most part it is Mead or Beer Their Ordinary Food is Fish and they never knew the Use of Roots before the Teutonick Order came amongst them tho' now among the Peasants it is the Chief of their Dainties I speak most of this of the Peasants of Prussia for the Gentry generally agree in their Customs and Manners with the Poles These My LORD are all the Particulars I could possibly meet with relating to the several Subjects propos'd to be addrest to your Lordship and which I must humbly acknowledge I have hastily put together without that due Order and Method which I ought to have done Yet in Regard my Helps were not a little confus'd I hope your Lordship will be pleas'd to pardon the ill Performance as well as the Presumption of Inscribing them to You Granting me the Honour to subscribe my self My LORD Your Lordship 's most humble and most obedient Servant J. S. LETTER VI. To his Grace JAMES Duke of Ormond One of his Majesty's Lieutenant-Generals Of the Army Castles Forts and other Military Affairs in Poland MY LORD YOUR constant Fatigues and vast Expences during the late bloody War discover both an undoubted Zeal to serve your Country and a Natural Inclination like that of your Noble Ancestors to Warlike Atchivements Wherefore being to treat of the Military Affairs in Poland I thought no Person more proper to address my Account to than your GRACE tho' I were well assured at the same time that it is most impossible to give you any tolerable satisfaction therein unless I my self had more Experience in those Matters or the Poles had a better Discipline in their Army But since they must own their Defect in the one as I do ingenuously confess my Ignorance in the other I hope your Grace will be pleased to accept this Letter rather as a Proof of my endeavours to entertain your Leisure than of
any Presumption I had to lay down any thing which might in the least contribute or add to the Knowlege of a General Officer of your Experience MY LORD In the Infancy of the Polish Empire the Poles were rather forc'd by an Arbitrary Power than commanded by indulgent Laws to defend their Country and extend its Limits but since Christianity has been received among them Bolestaus Chrobry their first King ordain'd a certain number of Horse out of every Palatinate and District and a set company of Foot out of every City and Town to be ready at a short warning and to bring their Provisions and Ammunition along with them This is what they call their Pospolite Ruszenie or the whole Body of Militia of the Kingdom gathered together under one Head or General at a place and time appointed by the King and those of the Senate that are always to attend him as his Privy-Council To this General Expedition first all Landed Gentry as well Publick as Private a few only excepted which I shall name hereafter are obliged to come 2. All Gentry that live in Cities or Towns upon Usury or otherwise 3. All Citizens that enjoy Lands or Tenements These besides all in Prussia are those of Cracow Vilna and Leopol 4. All Tenants that have hired Lands are to go themselves or to send out others 5. The Kings Tenants 6. Ecclesiastical Scultets or Advocates 7. In cases of imminent danger all Citizens in general are ordered either to send or go themselves 8. Even those Gentry that are clapt up in Jails for hainous Crimes are to be let out to assist at the Pospolite yet when that is once over they are to return to Prison again to expiate the whole extent of their Sentence All these are to be Horse well accoutred but as an Army cannot be compleat without some Foot this Pospolite also did consist formerly of the 20th Boor out of every Village or rather Farm who was to be arm'd with a Scymitar long Gun and Pole-Ax but which is often now chang'd to a Mulct to hire Forreigners Yet there are still some Polish Foot tho' of small Esteem Every Citizen that is now worth 8000 Florens is to find a Horse and he that has only 4000 is to set out a Foot-Soldier well provided The Boors also are to fit out one among 28 Families and to furnish him with Provisions sufficient for half a Year The Poles term both these Wybrancy's that is Pick'd or Selected Men so that Wybraniecka Piechota is a Pick'd Soldier If any of all these refuse to appear upon the third Summons their Lands or Goods are immediately confiscated to the King's Use Those Gentry that are excus'd from appearing at the Pospolite are 1. Such as may depute others in their Room viz. Superannuated or Sick Persons Widows Orphans Minors and lastly the Clergy for their Temporalities When any Publick or Private Nobleman is Sick he must notisie and attest it by the Oaths of several sufficient Witnesses Also it must be observ'd that in Lithuania a Clergy man must send out both for his Spiritual and Temporal Estate as likewise in Poland where there are any Temporal Lands annex'd to his Benefice 2. Those that have Estates in several Palatinates or Districts are oblig'd but to appear for one 3. The poorer sort of Gentry are eas'd in some measure for several of them may joyn in the fitting out of one Horse which is practised especially in Masovia Also Brothers that are Joint-Tenants may Depute one to appear for all 4. The King's Court and Retinue are not obliged to Muster under the Palatins and where the King does not go into the Field in Person they are to be totally excus'd 5. About 30 of the Gentry of the Queen's Court are exempt 6. About 12 of the Archbishop of Gnesna's Court and oftentimes some Officers of the Bishop of Cracow and other Bishops Courts especially where their Attendance is otherwise requir'd by the Republick 7. All Ministers to Foreign Courts together with their Domesticks are absolutely to be dispensed with 8. All Starosta's that are left in Garrisons and their Tribunes And lastly the great Constable or Governor of Cracow Castle with his Deputy the Burgraves and two Captains of Foot are to be excus'd Several Provinces and Palatinates likewise have peculiar Privileges relating to this general Meeting for in the Palatinates of Masovia and Plockzko six Brothers altho' they have distinct Estates send but one Horse-man In Podlachia out of ten Farms they send but one Light-Horse and out of twenty but one Cuirassier The Palatinates of Kiovia and Braclaw have likewise peculiar Privileges In a general Expedition the Gentry of Podolia were to continue in Garrison at Caminiec while the Poles had that City in possession The Prussians also need not march beyond the River Vistula Ossa and Drebnicz And lastly Lithuanians are not to go beyond the bounds of their Great Dutchy As to the great number assembled at this Pospolite Basko a Polish Writer says that only in the Palatinate of Lenschet in the time of Boleslaus Chrobry 2000 Cuirassiers and 4000 Light-Horse were raised at one time Starovolscius says that Uladislaus had 100000 Horse against the Prussian Knights over and above what he had left to defend the Provinces I might observe several other prodigious Lustrations out of the aforesaid Author but for brevity sake I omit them only I may affirm with Boterus in his Description of Poland that in case of necessity the Poles can raise upwards of 100000 Horse and the Lithuanians 70000 But Starovolscius is of Opinion they can both raise above 200000 Horse without Expense Also Fredro thinks that the Poles can raise above 200000 Horse The number of Polish Foot is uncertain they being at Liberty to appear or to be excused for Money Starovolscius says that in his time they did not amount to many hundreds being discouraged by the rigour of their Starosta's and wholly confin'd to their rustick Drudgery tho' continues he they are more able to sustain the hardships of War then either the Germans or Hungarians who can scarce live in the Polish Air. He also is of Opinion that the Polish Infantry if encouraged might amount to a considerable number and be not a little serviceable The Foreign hir'd Foot have sometimes exceeded 30000 when the Cosacks serv'd the Poles but they fought also on Horseback and King Stephen in his Expedition against the Suedes in Livonia had above 16000 German and Hungarian Foot in his Pay Now I shall proceed to present your Grace with an account of the manner of raising and Mustering this vast Body of Men. When a Pospolite is once agreed by the General Diet to be summon'd the King after the Ancient manner sends out his Writs or Letters into all the Palatinates or Districts of his Kingdom which being received by the inferiour Officers they are fastned by a small Cord to a long Pole whence they are called
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
Commonwealth After a great many Debates Pro and Con these last got the better and prevail'd to have the Army continue in the same Disorder as before Notwithstanding all these Inconveniences that the Polish Government lies under as to Military Affairs yet in time of Action their Cavalry especially have effected Wonders a few Examples of which it may not be improper to entertain Your GRACE with out of Starovolscius He begins with the Reign of Sigismund I. and says That the General Lesniovius with not above 1500 Spear-men routed above 40000 Moscovites killing upwards of 9000 on the Spot In like manner another General Boratinius with 2000 Horse defeated 30000 Moscovites killing 7000 of them and bringing away all their Cannon In the same Reign likewise Camenecius with only 6000 Horse overthrew above 25000 Tartars And about the same time Tarnovius with 4000 beat 22000 Turks and Valachians taking from them above 52 Field-Pieces In Sigismund II's Reign Duke Radzivil with 7000 only routed 30000 Moscovites and took from them the Castle of Ula And Prince Sapieba with 5000 both defended the Fortress of Venda and defeated the Besiegers which were upwards of 24000 Moscovites and Livonians Under King Stephen General Zborowski with scarce 2000 Horse discomfited the whole Army of Dantzic-Rebels made up out of several Nations and left above 8000 dead upon the Spot Also in Sigismund III's Time General Zamoski with scarce 6000 Horse beat the Arch-Duke Maximilian who had with him about 18000 Men He likewise repuls'd the Tartars with only 3000 Men who were coming to invade Poland with 70000. About the same time also Chodkievicz with no more than 3000 routed the Suedes in Livonia killing 9000 and taking 4000 Prisoners Starovolscius has some few other Instances of the Polish Valour but whether what I have already mention'd will be credited by your GRACE and the Publick I am not able to determine However I may affirm that this Author hath never hitherto been esteem'd for Fabulous What I have remaining to say as to the Poles Force is That however great it has hitherto been yet is it rather to be attributed to their good Fortune than Conduct for two principal Qualities to make a Warlike Enterprise especially successful have ever been Strangers to them These are The Power to keep a Secret and an exact Intelligence of their Enemy's Advances and Condition As to a Secret which is the Soul of all great Proceedings that is so little observ'd in Poland that scarce the meanest Officer in the Army but knows what the General intends to do almost as soon as himself And for Intelligence of the Posture and Capacity of the Enemy by reason they make use of no Spies they never know any thing of the matter till they happen to meet a Party and take them Prisoners from whom they are accustom'd to extort Confessions in Cases of Obstinacy As to the Pay of the Polish Army I have shew'd before how it is executed now I must give some short Account from what it arises and the manner of Raising it It arises either from Occasional Impositions or Perpetual Customs and Yearly Taxes Of the former Kind are a General Poll or Capitation and Voluntary Gifts of the Clergy for they cannot be Tax'd by the State Of the latter Sort are All fix'd Duties upon the Jews Tartars Land Merchandize Art c. From Yearly Taxes all Scholars and such as busie themselves in Study are excepted The Fourth Part of the King's Revenue set apart for maintaining a Guard on the Frontiers may likewise be rank'd under this Denomination of Fix'd Duties The manner of Raising these Taxes and Duties is for the most part left to the King's Discretion tho' sometimes the Diet assumes that Authority as likewise to supervise the Distribution of the Money rais'd It may be observ'd that a Collector's Office is to last no longer than the Imposition he is to collect As to Provisions there are no Sutlers in the Polish Army for two Reasons First Because they would never be paid for what they sold and then tho' they durst venture yet they would run no ordinary risque to be plunder'd before they reach'd the Camp and this especially by the Lithuanians who are generally more given that way than the Poles There are likewise no Magazins as in other Countries so that the Officers especially are oblig'd to have great Equipages and many Carriages to convey their Necessaries along with them where-ever they march Among these their Tents are extraordinary fine tho' very heavy Also neither the King nor Republick of Poland has any publick Armories or Arsenals tho' it be true that Uladislaus Jagello instituted some few Repositories for Great Cannon yet which are now of no great Consequence and those which are in far greater Numbers and much more useful are chiefly in the Hands of the Gentry or in the great Cities whence as often as the King has Occasion he either takes them at Pleasure or at Sufferance Poland likewise being not wanting in Metal several new Cannon are founded whenever the Old become unserviceable the which for the most part is perform'd by the Germans the Poles not being so skilful in that Art The Arms the Polanders generally use I have spoken of before yet it may not be improper to add what Hartknoch says of the Antient Polish Historians which is That they affirm that formerly the Poles made use of a very heavy sort of Arms insomuch that when Boleslaus II. in his Expedition against the Prussians waded with his Army through the River Ossa many of his Soldiers were drown'd meerly by the Weight of their Arms. For Castles Poland has a great Number scarce any considerable City or Town being without one yet which are now of little or no Use except some few which are still kept up the rest being suffer'd to decay by the Nobles that have got Possession of them The Cause of the first Fortifications in Poland was on Account of the frequent Incursions of its Neighbours tho' Now says Starovolscius speaking of himself and his Country men being not desirous of invading others we find that we are sufficiently capable to defend our selves with our Bodies tho were we otherwise inclin'd we might raise as strong Fortifications as any in Europe yet which we look upon to be not so consistent with true Courage and Valour It is certain that Unfortify'd Countries lie most expos'd to sudden Irruptions as this Kingdom of Poland has often experienc'd But then this Mischief continues but a little while for as soon as the Nobility can be got together the Invaders are generally forced to retire as may appear by several Examples in our Modern Histories alone These Maxims of the Poles to have few or no Fortify'd Places are founded upon several potent Reasons for they thereby promote the Personal Valour of their own Men and weaken that of their Enemies by not leaving either a Place of Retreat If we
Kingdom have a right to any of these Mines as likewise to those of any Metals found upon their Lands there being by the Constitutions no Royal Mines in Poland except those of white Salt only which belong peculiarly to the King Throughout all Poland and Lithuania there are a great many Corn and Cachat-Mills but scarce any for Fulling or Paper yet which they might very well have by reason of their great number of rapid Streams In this and in other respects the Poles are very negligent of their own Interest being content to pay great rates for Cloth and Paper when they might easily have both of their own Manufacture As for Leather tho' no People use it more having almost all Boots and Chariots which they call Ridevans yet do they not care to take the trouble of dressing it themselves but suffer Foreigners to do it for them and which commonly they pay very dear for when done The Poles Trade very much in fresh Fish amongst themselves and the manner of their Fishing I imagine may not be unacceptable to your Excellency having something peculiar in it Their Lakes and Fish-ponds in Poland and Lithuania being generally so large that it would be almost impossible ever to drain them They usually choose to Fish them in Winter when they are all frozen up They first make a great hole in the Ice to let down their Nets and afterwards several little ones from place to place that they may draw them along from hole to hole with a Rope fastned to a long Pole till they bring them back to the first large opening When the two ends of the Nets are brought together they pull them up and bring out with them all the Fish that happen to be within the space of Water thro' which the Nets were drawn for they cannot possibly leap over them because of the Ice Throughout all Poland and Lithuania there are huge quantities of Honey to be found in the Woods either in hollow Trees holes of the Ground or any where else that the Bees can find to settle in Of this Honey as I said before the People make several sorts of Mead with which and the Wax that comes from it they Trade very much into the Neighbouring Countries Now is it not a great wonder that these Bees can produce so great plenty of Honey in so Cold a Climate But it seems they find something in the Fir-Trees whereof there are great numbers in every Wood that supplies the place of Flowers which they suck their materials from in other Countries Before I proceed to give your Excellency a description of the Famous City of Dantzic I must take some cursory Notice of the former Trade of Prussia before its Inhabitants came to have the use of Money In the XIIIth Century the Teutonic Knights coming out of Germany into Prussia brought along with them the Coin of their Country for before that time the Prussians only barter'd Commodities with their Neighbours Their chiefest Trade then lay in Electrum or Amber of the Nature of which Hartman a late German Author gives this account He says that since it can neither be melted down nor is Malleable it is impossible it should be Metal and because it is too solid a Body to come under the Species of Sulphur or Bitumen it must necessarily be rank'd among the precious Stones This Amber is of divers Colours and notwithstanding Hartman insinuates it to be always solid yet is it certain that sometimes it is as liquid as Oyl There is a black sort of it which is no other than what we call Jett A Description of the City of DANTZIC TO come to the Description of Dantzic in Latin Dantiscum or Gedanum your Excellency may be pleased to understand that it is the Capital and Largest City in Royal Prussia and lies in 41 Degrees and 30 Minutes of Longitude and in 54 Degrees and 20 Minutes of Latitude It is Situate in one of the three Islands of which Regal Prussia consists called by the Germans der Dantzicher Werder the other two having the Names of der Marienbursche Werder and der Elbingsâ—her Werder This Name Der Werder implies properly so many pieces of solid Ground encompassed by Fenns and Boggs By whom this City was first built remains as yet undetermin'd Becanus will have the Danes to have been the Founders of it and from them to have been called Danes-wick i. e. Danes-Town but this derivation seems to have too much Dutch in it therefore it is more probable that to the word Dan Cdan or Gdan was added the Sclavonian term Scke signifying a Town which made it Danscke Cdanscke or Gdanscke and which might very reasonably be suppos'd afterwards for better Pronunciation's sake to be chang'd into Dantzig or Dantzic It is distant about 80 Polish Miles from Cracow 40 from Posnan 50 from Warsaw 30 from Gnesna 22 from Thron 24 from Koningsberg 8 from Elbing 6 from Marienburg and near 4 English Miles from the Baltick Sea and is built on the borders of the Vistula on the North-West side of the aforesaid Island The Town it self is watered by the Rivers Rodawn and Motlaw and divided by the former into two parts the Old and the New On the Southern and Western side it is surrounded with high Mountains and was well fortified with Bulwarks against the Incursions of the Swedes in the Year 1656. It has a large and high Wall so broad that Coaches easily go round the Ramparts and so large in compass that it is three hours Journey round which I may very well compute at six English Miles At the Entrance of the Rodawn on the other side it has a strong Fort wherein there is commonly kept a Garrison of 1000 Soldiers It is impossible this City should be Bombarded from the Sea by reason of its distance from it but from the Neighbouring Hills it may and therefore some Works are raised there and always a certain number of Soldiers with store of Cannon and Ammunition plac'd in them for its greater security This City is at present a famous Mart and one of the principal of the Hanse-Towns being altogether govern'd by its own Laws tho' under Protection of the Crown of Poland from which it has a Castellan appointed over it Half of the Suburbs belong to that Crown and the other half to the City for in some Parts the Crown-Lands reach to the Suburbs but in others the City-Lands go several Miles together into the Country There are Twenty Parishes in the City and the Suburbs The Houses are generally of Brick and the Streets most commonly very large and well pav'd tho' somewhat dirty in Winter as most of the Towns in Poland are The chief Part of the City call'd by the Inhabitants Die rechte Stadt was built by Conrad Wallenrodt Master of the Teutonick Order about the Year 1388. There are no Gardens in the City but nevertheless several very fine and large
the Livonian Order and to his Heirs for ever This happening not long after Luthers Reformation influenc'd Duke Gothotred to become a Protestant and to Marry which none of his Order had ever done before him This Duke had two Sons Ferderic and William whereof the eldest Frederic succeeded him in the Year 1587 but at length dying without issue these Dukedoms came to his Brother William who returning from banishment was receiv'd by the Curlanders with a great deal of Applause This Duke had but one only Son who was Godson to our King James I. After his Death his Son Duke James came to inherit the two Dutchies of Curland and Semigallia This Prince was much given to building of Ships having every thing in his Country proper for that purpose By means of Shipping he discover'd the River Semigal in Guinea and the Island of Tobago one of the Caribbee Islands in America which then was altogether uninhabited Here he built a Fort calling it by his own Name James-Fort and moreover was at vast expences in Cultivating and Fortifying this Island and which he enjoy'd without any interruption for many Years together At length one Lambson a Zealander and a very rich Man as likewise one of the States of Holland getting into a corner of this Island and after much dispute being suffered to Plant there upon paying a yearly Tribute to the Duke he at last took advantage of the War between the Suedes and Poles and of the Duke's Imprisonment by the former to dispossess him of the said Island which he effected after this manner He appear'd with some Forces before the aforesaid James-Fort and perswading the Garrison that the Duke their Protector being carried away Prisoner by the Suedes could not possibly relieve them and that therefore they must necessarily perish unless they forthwith deliver'd up the Fort and Island to him the Soldiers began immediately to Mutiny chain'd their Governor and forc'd him to capitulate and comply with the said Lambson who at the same time engag'd himself as soon as the Duke was set at liberty to restore the Island and what was left there according to an Inventory then taken The Dutch being thus got into possession of this Island the Duke after many long and fruitless endeavours with the Lambsons first and afterwards with the States sinding that neither of them were enclinable to Restitution appli'd himself to our King Charles II. for assistance in recovery of his Right submitting the Island altogether to the King's Protection as being willing to hold it Subtitulo Concessionis or by a Grant from the Crown of England whereupon the ensuing Treaty was formally concluded which for a greater eclaircisement of the matter I have thought not improper to insert The Agreement was in these Words BE it known unto all and singular Person and Persons to whom these Presents shall come That on the 17th of the Month of November in the Year of Our Lord 1664. by a double Writing of the same Tenure and Language it was Agreed between the most Serene and most Potent Prince Charles II. by the Grace of God King of Great Britain France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. of the one part And the most Illustrious Prince James Duke in Livonia of Curland and Semigallia on the other part That the said Lord the King by these Presents doth give and grant to the said Lord the Duke of Curland his Heirs and Successors full liberty of Trade and Commerce for such Ships as do properly belong to him or them but not such Ships as belong to any of his Subjects in any Rivers or Havens within the Dominions of His Majesty on the Coast of Africa which is call'd by the Name of Guinea as also in any Merchandize not exceeding the value of Twelve thousand Pounds Sterling yearly according to the Prices the said Merchandizes first were bought for on those Coasts and Places from whence they were exported together with full liberty to build one or more Ware-houses or Storehouses fit for laying up Merchandizes under the Castles and Forts which shall belong to his said Majesty or his Subjects on those Coasts to hold and enjoy the said Liberties as long as there doth continue Friendship Amity and good Understanding between the said King and the said Duke and upon due consideration of the Concession or Grant thus made by His Majesty the said Duke of Curland Grants and makes over unto His said Majesty his Heirs and Successors the Fort of St. Andrews in Guinea and all other Forts Fortifications and Sconces there belonging to the said Duke together with all Guns Bullets and Powder and other Instruments of War belonging to the same or any of those Forts And the said Duke of Curland doth Agree and Promise for himself his Heirs and Successors that they shall respectively pay to the said Lord the King his Heirs and Successors three in the hundred for Customs of all Goods and Merchandises in Specie as well into the Ports of His said Majesty in Guinea or thence exported as aforesaid and that unto such Officer or Officers whom or which his Majesty his Heirs or Successors shall establish or depute for the recovering or receiving of the said Customs or Duties And moreover his said Majesty by these Presents doth give and grant to the said Duke of Curland his Heirs and Successors all and every that Island call'd Tobago scituate about 12 Degrees North-Latitude and 316 Degrees of Longitude being one of those commonly call'd the Caribbee Islands together with all the Lands Havens Creeks Rivers and Profits to the same belonging to be held and enjoyed under the King's Protection Provided always and under the Condition that the said Duke of Curland his Heirs and Successors shall not suffer or permit any others whatsoever besides his own Subjects and the Subjects of the said Lord the King his Heirs and Successors to abide in the said Island to settle Plantations or build Houses but the Subjects of the said Lord the King his Heirs and Successors shall be always freely permitted to abide in the said Island and to have Plantations and Houses and to enjoy all such Privileges Liberties Immunities and Benefits as any of the Subjects of the said Duke his Heirs and Successors shall or may have hold use or enjoy without any Contradiction or Opposition whatsoever neither shall they be compell'd to pay any other Contributions or Impositions whatsoever saving such as are necessarily requir'd for the defence of the said Island and equally in the same proportion paid by the Subjects of the said Duke Moreover the said Lord Duke Agreeth and Promiseth that neither himself his Heirs and Successors nor any other for the use of him them or his Subjects shall Export or Import or suffer to be Exported or Imported any Merchandises Goods or Provisions of the said Island of Tobago otherwise then out of or into some Ports belonging to
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.
the Gentry and Citizens Rusticks and their Condition Work on Sundays Pay rigid Duties c. Their Edibles and Custom at grinding Corn. Their Habits Carriages and how made Houses Employments within and without Doors Why little Horses here Qualifications for Marriage Character of these Rusticks Samogitia differs from Lithuania Sturdy Drinkers rewarded Proof of great Age. People more robust here Manners in Husbandry Strange way of Pruning Trees Peculiar manner of Sowing Ways of ordering Corn. Peculiar Customs in Prusia Habitations and Furniture Meat and Drink The Pospolite or Polish Militia Who obliged to serve in the Horse Who in the Foot and Penalty for neglect in both Who are excused from serving The great numbers of the Pospolife formerly and now The manner of their being Raised and Mustered Things required in vain of the Polish Cavalry Meet at the General Rendezvous A Division of the Army and first of the Horse Heavy Armed Light Horse A Division of the Foot A further account of the Cosacks Proceedings in their Counsells of War Way of fortifying their Camps and Boats Their Power What the Polish Foot are and how employed Hired Foot and their Condition Why so much used and their Arms and Liveries Gentry how far obliged to March with other particulars Hungarian Foot when first hired Auxiliaries what Example Quartarians what and whence so called Volunteers what in Poland Examples Selected out of the Gentry Causes that weaken the Polish Force Four things required to defend a State Manner of paying the Army The Rokosz and its manner of proceeding Example Other inconveniencies which suppress the Pole's Power Means propos'd to avoid these Inconveniences but ever-ruâ—'d â—reat Force of Cavalry notwithstanding with Examples Two Qualities necessary in War Soldiers Pay from what it arises and how raised Provisions and Ammunition what Gun-Founders Foreign For Fortifications Pretended Advantages thereby Generals their Power and Duration Lieutenant Generals their Power Other Generals Officers Other Officers of the Army Some few particulars of the Poles Jus Belli Poles not much enclined to Trade and why Commidities Exported and Imported But little Money and why Coin most current in Poland Contributes to Poverty Other Coins Poles not very rich and why Particulars of Trade Concerning Salt No Fulling or Paper-Mills Concerning Leather and Fish Manner of Fishing Honey and its Produce Former Trade of Prussia â—antzic here Siâ—ate By whom built and whence so called How distant from other places It s Division and Strength One of the Hanse Towns Parishes Buildings Streets and Gardens Inhabitants their Number and Religion Churches Town-House Three Magazines A College Exchange c. Jurisdiction and Government Senators and their Division The Twelve Scabins and Syndic Burgrave to represent the King Centumviri their Power Manner of Electing and Ordaining Priests Four Roman Catholick Churches King's Power and Revenues here City-Power and Privileges Force by Land and Sea First Coin in Prussia Present Coin in Dantzic How often taken and regain'd Admitted to Vote in Election of Polish Kings Origin of Teutonic Order Who built their Hospital of Jerusalem Their Order confirm'd and by what Title Another Hospital with their removal into Germany and Prussia Marienburg built For sake Prussia and wherefore Their Statutes Habit Number and Manners Are much favour'd by several Princes Great Masters in Prussia I Great Master 1190. II Great Master 1200. III Great Master 1206. IV Great Master 1210. V Great Master 1240. VI Great Master 1252. VII Great Master 1263. VIII Great Master 1275. IX Great Master 1283. X Great Master 1290. XI Great Master 1297. XII Great Master 1307. XIII Great Master 1309. XIV Great Master 1322. XV Great Master 1325. XVI Great Master 1329. XVII Great Master 1339. XVIII Great Master 1342. XIX Great Master 1348. XX Great Master 1379. XXI Great Master 1388. XXII Great Master 1394. XXIII Great Master 1404. XXIV Great Master 1406. XXV Great Master 1414. XXVI Great Master 1323. XXVII Great Master 1432. XXVIII Great Master 1450. XXIX Great Master 1467. XXX Great Master 1468. XXXI Great Master 1480. XXXII Great Master 1489. XXXIII Great Master 1498. XXXIV Great Master 1512. Dantzic B sieg'd by Albert. Siege rais'd by the Poles Albert submits to Sigismund Great Masters in Germany XXXV Great Master 1531. XXXVI Great Master 1543. XXXVII Great Master 1566. XXXVIII Great Master 1572. XXXIX Great Master 1587. XL Great Master 1619. XLI Great Master 1624. XLII Great Master 1627. XLIII Great Master 1644. XLIV Great Master 1664. A Prince of Neubourg Elected of the Order Ceremony of Creation Elected likewise Coadjutor Present State of Teutonic Order in Germany Two Universities Chief Study there Learning formerly Oriental Languages dis-regarded Present Languages in Poland Polish hard to Pronounce Reasons why the Poles affect Latin Have no solid Learning How far that of Divines extends Their Divinity Lawyers their number and study Who seldom go to Law A suppos'd Judgment on a Lawyer Physicians and their Abilities Not allowed to study till qualified Discourges Learning Natural Observables and Rarities Of Wood and Earth Strange Waters and their Effects Monstrous Fish Fowls of odd Qualities Beasts of strange kinds Rarities communicated to Dr. Connor Argentum Fulminans made by chance Other Experiments Dr. Bernitz's Chsâ—t of Rarities Manner of making Glass Odd Method of Curing Wounds Practise of Physick What Medicines us'd Diseases what Venereal how Cur'd by a Quack Surprizing particulars Diseases peculiar to the Poles and first the Plica It s Description Unaccountableness Symptoms Neither Bleeds nor is painful Said to be Contagious and Hereditary Common to Men and Beasts Superstition concerning it and other cases Where most common It s Cure by a Jew Causes Asserted but Question'd Another account of the Plica Hairs Canular The Rose and its Cure Present bounds and extent of Curland It s Soil and former State When wholly Conquered Converted to Christianity by degrees I Bishop in Livonia 1180. II Bp ABp of Riga 1194. III ABp of Riga 1194. I Absolute Master of Livonian Order 1205. II Absolute Master 1223. III Master 1238. IV Master 1240. V Master 1248. VI Master 1250. VII Master VIII Master IX Master X Master XI Master XII Master XIII Master XIV Master XV Mast r XVI Master XVII Master XVIII Master XIX Master 1488. III. Absclute Master 1513. IV. Abso-Master V. Absolute Master VI. Absolute Master 1560. Residence of this Order I. Duke of Curland 1561. II. Duke 1587. III. Duke 1602. IV. Duke 1639. Discovers Tobago and enjoys it Is depriv'd of it Proposes means to recover it Agreement between the K. of England and D. of Curland Grant of Trade in Africa Upon what Conditions Grant of the Island Tabago Under what Considerations Duke obliged to Aid the King in War A Letter sent hereupon but with little Effect French beg the Island of their King A second Letter from K. Charles A Letter Intercepted The Duke sends Governours Makes a Contract with a Captain Description of Tobago Why necessary to be English Hands Tobacco whence so call'd Duke James's Marriage and Issue VI Duke His Marriage and Issue 1683. VII Duke 1698. D. of Curland Vassal to Poland His Privilege and Power Revenue and Court Chief Officers Qualifications of Supreme Stagostas Conditions of Gentry Addition concerning Livonian Order Principal Master how and where chosen Marshal of the Order Number of Comendadors Number of Advocates Title Habit and Arms of this Order Geographical Description of Curland Cities and Towns of Goldingen Vinda Residence of Knights Pilten Richest Gentry in Curland Mittaw It s Castle Streets and Houses How distant from other places How often Conquer'd Bauske Religions in Curland Two Roman Catholick Churches Calvinâ—â— Church at Mittaw Government of Curland The Parliament Court of Supreme Councellors Degrees of demanding Justice Ecclesiastical Courts City Courts Ministerial Officers Trade of Curland Corn in great request and wherefore Where Curland is to revers to Poland