humane heart, abilities fuperior to his condition, a refolute mind, and a love for his country, which thefe madmen did not feel in their own breafts. Ambitious men, who themselves defpair of governing, chufe rather to fubmit to a third perfon, who has not entered into the competition, than to obey a rival. In the prefent cafe, they determined in favour of vir-, tue; and by this means repaired, in fome measure, the mifchiefs they had occafioned by their contefts for the throne. Piaft, therefore, the virtuous peafant, was chofen King."

The origin of the Republican Power in Poland, according to our Author, was as follows:

"In the fourteenth century Cafimir the Great, being impatient to put an end to a long war, made a treaty of peace which the enemy required to be ratified by all the eftates of the realm. Being affembled for this purpose, they refused their concurrence, and from this time were convinced that it was not impoffible to establish a Republic, and at the fame time keep a King.

"The foundations of this conftitution were laid even before the death of Cafimir, who having no fon, proposed his nephew Lewis, King of Hungary, for his fucceffor. The Poles gave their confent, but it was upon fuch conditions as laid heavy fetters on abfolute power. They had attempted more than once to leffen it by rebellion, but they now attacked it by treaty. Their new ruler exempted them from all contributions, and gave up an established custom, by which the nation defrayed the charges of the court in all journies. He engaged alfo to repay his fubjects, all the expences he was forced to be at, and even all the damages they fhould sustain, in any war which he undertook against the neighbouring powers. No conditions are thought burdenfome when a crown is to be obtained."

Thus did the Poles, in a great measure, drain the fource of Royal Prerogative; but it was not till Jagellan, King of Lithuania, obtained the crown, that the republican form of government was established. This prince, who married Hedwigia, youngest daughter of Lewis, by offering to incorporate the crown of Lithuania with that of Poland, and fubfcribing to the republican form of government, prevailed upon the Poles to fet afide the right of fucceffion, and to reject Sigifmund, who had married the eldest daughter of Lewis.

"A Republic was now established, composed of three eftates; the King, the Senate, and the Equeftrian Order."

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The King's portion was Majesty, Power fell to the Senate, and Liberty was the fhare of the Equestrian Order; an order including all the rest of the nobility, and which foon set up tribunes by the name of Deputies. Thefe Deputies reprefent the whole Equestrian Order in the General Affemblies of the nation, called Diets, and put a stop to all proceedings there, whenever they please, by their right of Veto.

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"The Plebeians, or common people, who had in the Roman republic a share of the fovereign power in common with the Senate and the Knights, the Poles, actuated by different principles, have placed upon a level with the cattle that till the ground.

"The Legislative Power belongs effentially to the Diet, which the King is obliged to call together every two years; and in cafe of his failure, the Republic has a right to affemble by its own authority.

"When the Diet is affembled, all the doors are left open. to every one, because it meets to deliberate upon the public good. Perfons who go there out of meer curiofity are ftruck with the grandeur of the fpectacle. The King, feated on an elevated throne, the fteps of which are decorated with the great officers of the crown; the Primate, almoft vying in magnificence with the King; the Senators, forming two venerable rows; the Minifters of State, over against the King; the Deputies, more numerous than the Senators, difpofed round about them, and all standing. The foreign ambassadors and the Pope's Nuncio have also a place allotted them, but the Diet may make them retire whenever it thinks proper."

We cannot but obferve, that in the conftitution of this Polish Diet, there is one most abfurd and moft mischievous. law, viz. that the oppofition of one fingle member may annul the decrees of the whole affembly. Thus if any member fhould happen to be of a petulant or contradictory difpofition, or should suppose that any particular decree might interfere with his private intereft, nothing could be done.

The Crown of Poland did not become abfolutely elective till towards the latter end of the fixteenth century.

"Sigifmund Auguftus, dying without children, the Poles took this opportunity of guarding their liberty with new bulwarks. They examined into their old laws, limited many, extended fome, and abolished others; and after many debates,

it was agreed that the Kings, elected by the nation, should make no attempts to get their fucceffors appointed that they fhould not fo much as propofe any one to the state for this purpose, and confequently fhould never aflume the title of Heirs of the Kingdom.”

Now with refpect to the queftion, Whether an elective fucceffion of Kings is preferable to an hereditary one, we fhould indeed give our opinion in the negative. It is true, pars habet utraque caufas. When a nation has the power of electing its King, it may always have good Kings, because it is not neceffary that it fhould have any other motive to its choice than merit. But when the general depravity of mankind is confidered; when it is obferved how many very different motives, faction, or intereft, or prejudice may produce; and what heartburnings and divifions may be created by competition, particularly in a state whose nobles may become candidates for the crown, it were certainly better to avoid the miseries of civil debate, by an hereditary fucceffion of Kings. It may indeed be objected that, in this cafe, you are obliged to take the bad with the good; but in a mixed government, like that of Poland, where the prince is nothing more than a meer fhadow of power, it is matter of very little moment who fits upon the throne. The Poles have of late, however, made fome advantages of the elective fucceffion which have not yet been mentioned. By offering the Crown to the best bidder, the nobility, who are the fole electors, have found a means of improving their private fortunes; and this indeed is no trifling confideration with the Polish nobility, many of whom are very poor and very proud.

Having thus given our obfervations on the French Hiftorian's prefatory sketches of Poland, we fhall now proceed with him to his Hiftory of the celebrated John Sobieski.

Our Hero was born in the year 1629, when Sigifmund III. was King of Poland, in the caftle of Olenko, a fmall town in the palatinate of Ruffia. He was grandfon, by the female line,to the famous Zolkiewski,who, together with one of his fons, bravely fell at the head of the Palib infantry, rather chufing, with the few forces he had left, to be cut to pieces by the Turks and Tartars, than by deferting them to avail himself of the means of escape. The head of Zolkiewski was carried to Conftantinople, but it was redeemed by the Poles, and both he and his fon were buried in the fame grave in Poland. On their monument was infcribed this Latin verfe :

Exoriare aliquis noftris ex offibus ultor!
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Sobieski

Schiefki never read this infcription without emotions, which excited him to vengeance. In 1649 Cafimir V. King of Poland, marched at the head of his army against Chmilienfki, a malcontent, who with a formidable army of Coffacks and Tartars, had made dreadful deftruction in Poland. It was now that young Sabiefki firft appeared to any great advantage in military exploits. "All that had been yet obferved in him, was an impetuous ardor that made him infenfible of danger, and a greedinefs after military knowlege, which carried him where duty did not require his prefence. He fucceeded his father in the ftarofty of Javorow, in the palatinate of Ruffia, and appeared in the army at the head of a felect troop. In the many fkirmishes which must needs happen with an enemy who fled only to return to the charge, he fhewed that nature had given him all the courage of a foldier, and what is much more uncommon, that happy quickness of dif cernment, which indicates a general. A fingular event difplayed the credit he had acquired in fo fhort a time. The Polifh army mutinied in the camp of Zborow, a'city of little Poland, upon the borders of Pidolia; and every method of quieting the fedition, perfuafion, menaces, and even the canon of the Lithuanian troops, was made use of in vain by the General Czarneski. The attentpt was given up as hopeless, when Sobieski defired to be employed. The temerity of extraordinary men is juftified by the fuccefs that attends it. 'It is eafy to conceive what addrefs and eloquence he needed to perfuade men who had arms in their hands. The young orator carried his point, and that empire over the minds of men, which would have done honour to a confuminate General, advanced to the height of glory a youth who had yet borne no public office. The King rewarded him by making him Great Standard Bearer to the Crown."

Sobieski diftinguifhed himfelf alfo in a fingular manner against Charles Gustavus of Sweden, who had forccessfully invaded Poland. He blocked him up between the Vistula and the Sanus, hindered his being fupplied with provifions, harraffed him with continual fkirmishes, and receiving intelligence that Douglas, one of the Swedish Generals, was advanc ing with a body of fix thousand men to difengage the King, he left his infantry to continue the blockade, marched with his cavalry to meet Douglas, fwam across the Pilcza, a river much fwelled by the melting of the fnow, and with that celerity whith Cæfar confidered as the first qualification of a General, furprized Douglas, defeated him, and pursued his army eight miles towards Warfaw.".

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About the thirty-fixth year of his age, Sebiefki married Mary Cafimira, a French lady, one of the maids of honour to the Queen of Poland. He had before this been appointed Grand Marshal of the Crown, and in 1667 he was made;Grand General. Thus he had, what no fubject ever had before, both the civil and military power in his hands.

Happily for him, the envy which this accumulated power might have drawn upon him, was entirely obviated by an event, which placed him on the highest pinnacle of popular glory.

About this time the Coffacks, in conjunction with the Tartars, to the amount of an hundred thoufand, had invaded Poland. Havock and deftruction went before them, and defolation followed. The King of Poland fhook on his throne. The finances were in a wretched condition, and the standing army, fcarce amounting to ten thousand men, being ill paid, was both difheartened and difaffected. It was now that So-. biefki appeared to be that great man our Historian represents him. Far from being affected by the general panic which had made others inactive, his faculties feem to have been newly animated by danger. He took the labouring oar, ufed every poffible means to recover the finances, and ftrengthened them by his private fortune. In his own large demefnes he raised a confiderable body of recruits, which, joined to others, made up the army to 20,000. About 8000 of thefe he fent off in different detachments, fome as light troops to harrafs the enemy in their march, and others to defend the paffes. With the remaining 12,000 he encamped. The enemy approached his camp, and about feventeen days paffed in little more than fkirmishing. At length, with a refolution which furprized every body, he led out his little force to give open battle to the whole Tartarian army. The Tartars, who could fcarce believe it poffible to draw him out of the camp, with a horrid fhout of joy, teftified their furprize. Sobifki, well acquainted with the Tartarian manner of fighting, knew that if once they were thrown into confufion, they could never recover their ranks. He therefore determined to break in upon them, at the first onset. This fucceeded. The Poles made one vigorous push. The Tartars were confused, defeated, and flaughtered.

This victory aftonished all Europe, and the name of Sobieski stood in the first rank of heroes.