THAT high Station wherewith the King has Recompenc'd Your Merits , and the great Trust His Majesty has reposed in Your GRACE during his Absence , shews his Confidence in Your Ability , as well to Govern the State as the Church . Since therefore being lately Invested with a share of the Regal Authority , you had occasion to know more intimately Our King's Power and Prerogatives , I thought my self oblig'd to give Your GRACE an Account of those of the King of Poland ; to the end , that comparing both together , you might more sensibly perceive the Excellency of our Own Constitution , which makes the Greatness of the King inseparable from the Interest of the People : For when the Executive Power is as vigilant to see our Laws obey'd , as the Legislative has been provident in making them , England can justly boast of a much greater Happiness , than either Poland or any other Kingdom of Europe .

From the Year 550 , to the Year 1698. Having , My LORD , not been a full Twelve Month at the late King of Poland's Court , I cannot pretend to be throughly acquainted with that Kingdom ; yet I find that , like most other Countries , it has undergone several Changes in its Constitution since the middle of the VIth Century ( at which time it began to be a distinct Nation ) during the Reigns of the two great Houses of Piastus and Jagello .

Former Power of the Kings of Poland . Ever since the time of Lechus its Founder , the Kings thereof have been Elected to the Crown after an Hereditary manner , tho' not by an Hereditary Title : They have really been Absolute , and their Will went for a Law ; for then they made Peace and War when they pleas'd , Levied as many Troops as they thought fit , Punish'd or Pardon'd at Pleasure , and Rewarded where they saw Convenient : And all the Administration , either of Public or Private Affairs was so wholly lodg'd in the King's Hands , that I have heard the Poles themselves say , That Sigismund II. A. D. 1574. the last King of the Jagellonic Family , was to the full as Absolute as either the King of France or Denmark is now .

Whilst the Kings of Poland thus maintained Advantage thereby . a Supream Power over their Subjects , they exceedingly enlarged their Dominions , were both fear'd Abroad , and belov'd at Home , Commanded Potent and Numerous Armies into the Field , Executed most Enterprizes speedily , and were almost always sure of Success ; and this because they did not then , as now , depend upon the lingering Determination , and tedious Conclusions of a Turbulent Diet. But the Family of Jagello being once Extinct , by the Death of Sigismund II. who had resign'd his Kingdom to the Senate and Polish Gentry , and given them full Power and Authority to dispose thereof as they thought fit , the Crown of Poland was anew declared Elective , to the end that all the Princes of Christendom , who had due Merits and Qualifications , might have a Right to Aspire thereunto .

Why European Princes Court the Polish Gentry . This gave occasion to most of the Princes of Europe ever since , to Court the Polish Nobility after their King's Death : And that either to get the succeeding Election determined in their own Favour , or else to have some of their Friends Advanced to that great Dignity ; but this most commonly rather with regard to their own private Interests , than out of any Respect to the Person they desired to Promote ; as the Houses of Austria and Bourbon have always practis'd .

Nobilities Resolves thereupon , The Gentry of Poland therefore observing that several Princes at a time always Aspir'd to their Crown , and considering that not one of them had more Right than the rest ; as likewise that it lay altogether in their Power to choose whom they pleased , resolved Unanimously to Elect none but such as should Condescend , nay Swear , to observe the Terms and Conditions they proposed .

Abridge the Antient Power of their Princes , Hereby the Poles by degrees have clip'd and limited the Antient Power of their Kings , and have reduc'd them to the Bounds we now find them to have , that is , barely to a third Part of the Grand Diet : For the Poles knew very well , that no Prince would be so Imprudent as to scruple Submitting to 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 .

And Constitute a Republic . 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 .

Division of the People of Poland . 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. 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 .

It s Power . 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 .

Motives for a mixt Government . 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 .

A Motive . 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 .

II. Motive . 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 .

III. Motive . 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 of the Cosacks , and the last Troubles in Bohemia . To these also may be added the Revolutions of our own Nation in the Time of Charles I. when the Fury of the People extended their Rage , even to the dipping their Hands in this Prince's Blood .

Politicians do generally own , that the People are a wild Beast , which ought rather to be led than left at Liberty , and by consequence have pronounced it most Perilous to acquiesce under their Subjection . An Anarchy would undoubtedly do more harm in a day , than a Tyrant could in all his Reign . If he Punishes , 't is with some pretence of Justice , when nothing can abate the Peoples Rage , but an utter Extinction of whatever is placed over their He●ds .

A mixt Government therefore made out of all these Three , is that which has proved most Advantage of a mixt Government . Agreeable to the Polish Nation , being a just Medium between the dangerous Extremities of an Absolute Monarchy , and those of Aristocracy and Democracy . It is this the Poles have pitch'd upon as most proper to preserve the public Liberty , and to perpetuate the Happiness of their State ; being , it seems , perswaded that a Body Politic resembles a Humane in this , that as the one borrows all its Vigour and Health from a Just Temperament of the different Humours that compose it ; so the other depends absolutely on that of the Three before-mention'd Forms of Government . And moreover , as the former subsists by the mutual Opposition of contrary Qualities , so the King , Senate and Gentry of Poland having in some measure different Interests and Inclinations , are not only hinder'd from deviating into vicious Extremities , but also through a Noble Emulation are excited to labour carefully for the Good of the Public .

Division of the Republic . The Republic is divided into Two States , the Kingdom of Poland , and the Great Dutchy of Lithuania ; yet both which are but as one Body , having the same King , the same Parliament , the same Laws , the same Privileges , the same Religion , and , as the natural result of all these , the same Interest . These Two States are so very well United , that a King cannot be Elected , a Law made , nor any State-Business done , without the mutual Consent of both . But , My Lord , as the King is the Prime and Chief Member of this Republic , I will give Your GRACE an Account of his present Power and Prerogatives .

Kings present Power and Prerogatives . The Poles are too proud a Nation to agree with those Politicians that measure the Grandeur of a Prince , and Happiness of a State , by the Despotic Power of him that Governs it ; and therefore those pernicious Maxims of Tyrants , Si Lubet , Licet ; Oderint dum Metuant , and the like , would be but ill receiv'd among a People that have all along secured their Liberties by their Prudence and Valour . This Vassalage would suit well enough with the Slaves of Asia and Africk , or with the Moscovites and Turks , who all suffer themselves to be govern'd like Beasts , and led by the Nose according to the different Caprice or Pleasure of their Prince .

His Happiness . As for the Kings of Poland , they may rest in security in the Bosom of their Country , even amidst the Noise of Arms , either without or within their Dominions , since they have always their Subjects to crowd about them for their Guards , thro' indispensable Inclinations . For what contributes chiefly to the Happiness of these Princes , is , the Loyal Observance and voluntary Obedience paid them even by those that are at Liberty to do the contrary . I have often heard Monsieur de Polignac , the French Ambassador , say at Warsaw , That he thought a King of Poland more Happy in his Person and Condition , than a King of France . Nevertheless this Authority of the King of Poland is so alloy'd by the Laws of the Land , that it does not exact more Veneration from the Nobles or Gentry , than they think he deserves : For tho' their Behaviour be generally extraordinary Observant , yet do they tacitly seem to call in question the Power they have limited , and often refuse that Duty which they have deem'd him worthy of by his Election .

Unhappiness . The Polish Nobility make no Difference between their King 's Right , and those of the Senate and Deputies , affirming , That since these three Members compose but one Body , they ought equally to share in the same Benefits and Injuries , and consequently ought all either to Reward the one , or Revenge the other .

A great Inconvenience to the State . The small Authority therefore of their Kings , and the Impossibility of their Acting by themselves , has at all times exposed Poland to the Insults of their Neighbours , and the Rage of their own People , as may be seen in the Civil Wars of the Cosacks , and the Treachery and Sedition of the Confederates which could never have arriv'd at so great height , if the King had had but sufficient Power to have suppress'd them . Also the Great Marshal of the Crown Lubomirski , would never have had the Boldness to have oppos'd King Casimir's Designs openly , and to have form'd so many Factions against the Court , had he not had some Assurances of remaining Unpunish'd . This makes the King of Poland to be stiled a King of Kings , and Lord of Lords , since he has no better than Companions and Equals for his Subjects .

Instances of Poles Affections to their Kings . We have divers Instances of the Poles love for their Kings , and particularly by their once enforcing the Right of Sigismund III. to the Kingdom of Sweden , in an obstinate War which they began several times , as likewise in supporting afterwards the Pretences of Vladislaus VII . to Moscovy : To omit divers others of a more ancient Date . This Respect of their obliges them frequently to come and spend their Estates at Court , thinking to augment their Princes Grandeur by their Prodigality and Magnificence . This appears by the mistake made by Gregory King of Bohemia , at the Interview between him and Casimir the Great , at Glogan , ( which Place the former had demanded to bound the Limits of Silesia ) when he saluted a Private Gentleman , splendidly Cloath'd , for the King of Poland .

Modern Kings Power . The Custom and Inclination of the Poles runs so strong towards Honouring their Prince , that all they have , or are able to do , even to the Destruction of their Lives and Fortunes , they are willing to lavish in his Service , without expecting any greater Recompence than the Glory of Waiting on His Majesty's Person . Insomuch , that a King of Poland who is Couragious and Prudent , Just and Sober , Liberal and Religious ; one that observes the Laws and Constitutions of his Kingdom , and in a word , who has no other Interest but the Common Good and Safety of his Subjects , is as much Respected and Honour'd , and as faithfully Obey'd both in time of Peace and War ; nay , as formidable to all his Enemies as most Princes in Europe .

As to what relates to War , no Monarch has greater Advantages than himself ; for he is neither at the trouble of raising Forces nor Expence in Maintaining them ; his Business being only to convene the Diet , and they do all these things to his Hand . After War is once declar'd , he can continue the same , either by himself or his Generals , can Regulate his Troops , and see his Army duly paid out of the Treasury of the Republic . He has a great deal of reason to hope for Success in his Expeditions , because that not having undertaken them on his own account , those that engag'd him to them will infallibly support him in them , and the rather , by reason that what was done was altogether with their Consent . This has prov'd the Cause of almost neverfailing Success to the Polish Arms till of late Days , the King and his Subjects not having been in so good Intelligence with each other as formerly .

Abroad and at Home . When the King is in the Army in Person , he has the Supreme Authority there , gives Battle when he pleases , and Besieges Towns as often as he thinks fit : And likewise Commands absolutely all the Gentry to follow him into the Field on Horseback at ever so little warning . At Home he has the free Nomination of all Ecclesiastical Benefices , and of all Secular Employments , as well Military as Civil throughout the whole Extent of his Dominions ; without speaking of a great number of Royal Demesnes , which together with the State-Dignities he confers on those that have deserv'd them . He can bestow as considerable Preferments as any Prince in Europe , and oblige and raise the Fortune of whom he pleases . He has his Vote in Naming Cardinals , as well as other Roman Catholic Kings have . He can send and receive Ambassadors privately in Matters relating only to himself , but as to what concerns the Republic the Senate must have their Share in it . He can Call , Prorogue , and Dissolve the Diet at Pleasure . In a word , the Poles term him , The Protector of their Laws and Privileges ; The Distributor of Honours ; The Supream Head of their Republic ; and Supream General of their Forces .

The great Respect paid him . The Poles attend his Person Uncover'd : The Chief Senators generally Serve him at Table , first tasting of the Cup before they present him with it . His Subjects never sit before him , nor cover their Heads any where but in the Diet , and there too the Senators are only allow'd that Liberty , for the Deputies stand behind with their Furr'd Caps in their Hands . The late King John Sobieski din'd always in Public , and I never saw any sit down with him at Table when he eat at Court , except the Queen , his Children and foreign Ministers : Yet when he either Hunted or Travell'd , I have known some private Gentlemen to have had that Honour : Nay even his own Servants that waited on him were then admitted to eat with him . This his Majesty knew was absolutely necessary for him to allow of , since by refusing any this Favour , he might incur the Displeasure and Hatred of the whole Noblesse . This was verified in the Case of Sigismund of Luxembourg , who for having refused the Polish Gentry to eat with him , was utterly excluded from the Crown that had been design'd him by Lewis King of Hungary and Poland , his Father in Law .

His Titles and other Prerogatives . The Poles when they speak to their King , call him , Mosci Krullo , or Milociwy Krullo , which is as much as to say , Great or Merciful King . The Titles Ambassadors give him , or which are commonly made use of in Acts of Parliament , or other Instruments sign'd by him and made in his Name , are these ; Frederic Augustus II. King of Poland , Great Duke of Lithuania , Duke of Russia , Prussia , Masovia , Samogitia , Kiovia , Volhynia , Podolia , Podlachia , Livonia , Smolensko , Severia , and Czernikovia . All sorts of Gold , Silver , or Brass Coins are Stamp'd with his Image and Name . All Justice is Administred in his Name , and at Church they always Pray for the King and Royal Family .

His Pension , Houshold-Officers and Guards . When he is Crown'd the Diet allows him a Pension of about 140000 l. per Annum ; which together with his Patrimonial Estate , maintains him a very splendid Court . He has his Polish , German , and Hungarian Guards , and has the same Officers of his Houshold as other Queen Consorts Court , how maintain'd . Kings have . While the Queen-Dowager lives , the Queen-Consort maintains her Court at the King's Charge , but after either the Queen-Dowagers Death or Marriage , or the King's Death , she has a Revenue Assign'd for that purpose , as will appear hereafter .

Kings Patrimonial Estate and Perquisites . Over and above the Pension which the Diet settles upon the King and Queen , which in that cheap Country serves to maintain them as high as our Kings live here ; The King of Poland has great Incomes of his own , for the Poles never care to Elect a Poor Prince , for fear his Children may come to be a Charge to them after his Death . He gets besides vast Sums of Money for Nominations Employments , of which the late King did not scruple to sell , though 't was directly contrary to the Constitutions of the Kingdom . Nay , the Ecclesiastical Benefices which are so very considerable , have been put under Contribution by some cunning Artifice or other , as happen'd some Years since about the Naming of a Bishop of Cracow , whose Bishoprick is worth Eight Thousand Pounds Sterling per Annum , which will go further than Twenty Thousand Pounds in England . There were several that Aspir'd a long while to this Vacant Dignity , and every one solicited what Friends he had at Court for the obtaining of it , but most applied themselves to the Queen , and begg'd of her ( though she has no Authority of her own ) to Intercede to the King in their Behalf . After a long Debate the Queen call'd the Abbot Malakowski aside ( who was one of the Competitors , and a rich Man ) and told him , That tho' there were several that aimed at that Bishoprick , yet she would Wager Fifty Thousand Crowns that he was prefer'd to them all . Whereupon the good Abbot thinking to venture nothing , being sure that either he should be Bishop , or should gain a considerable Sum , readily lays down the Money , and by way of an accidental Bargain , bought very dear his Bishoprick .

Late King 's great Riches . It has been Calculated , that the late King , what by his Own Incomes , Pensions allow'd him from the Crown , and other Casualties , was worth about Three hundred thousand Pounds Sterling a Year , of which he did not spend much above one Hundred thousand , having had no Soldiers nor Army to Pay , or Maintain , but only his Guards and his Court. He hoarded up the greatest part of the Money in the Kingdom , and was reputed to have had as much ready Cash by him , as any Prince in Europe ; all which nevertheless the Poles Vow'd they would have back again , when his Sons bought their Votes to be King .

The Crown Revenues . The Kings Crown-Revenues are Imposts upon Merchandizes , and upon the Jews , part of the Customs of Dantzick , and the Revenues of the Salt Mines of Cracow and other Places .