found and to establish the prosperity of Poland. The sublime ceremony terminated with a Te Deum, an offering of praise to the Supreme Being for a revolution, as it was called, unattended with bloodshed or even violence of any kind.

By the new constitution, the crown was to be no longer elective after the death of the reigning king, it was to devolve to the elector of Saxony, and then to be hereditary in his family. The Roman Catholic was acknowledged to be the religion of the state; the diet was invested, as before, with the legislative power, and the king retained a deliberative voice. The diet was to assemble every two years, and on extraordinary occasions, as in case of foreign war, of internal rebellion, of the minority of the king, or of his lunacy, it was to be extraordinarily convoked. The executive power was committed to the king under the responsibility of the ministers, whom he was to dismiss if the representatives of the nation should declare that they had lost their confidence. A law passed on the 18th of April, which had conferred on the burghers of the towns nearly equal rights with the nobles, was confirmed in all its parts; and the deputies of the burghers were admitted into the diet. At the expiration of two years, these were to acquire the right to be ennobled as well as all those who in the public offices attained the rank of councillor of regency, and in the army that of captain. During each diet thirty other citizens might be ennobled on the solicitation of their towns. The liberum veto was for ever abolished. Such were the principal points of the new constitution; and the diet declared that every one who should attack or conspire against it, or disturb the peace of the nation in any way, should be treated as an enemy to the country, and brought to justice as a traitor.

Throughout all Poland, this constitution was received.

with prodigious rejoicing and enthusiasm. In foreign countries, the ablest men of all parties joined in unqualified cominendations, and Burke, in his Appeal to the Old Whigs, pronounced a warm panegyric upon it, as did Fox also in the House of Commons. Frederick William, too, testified through his ambassador his satisfaction at the revolution so happily accomplished, which had at length given to Poland a wisely and well regulated constitution; and Herzberg himself, the old enemy of Poland, could not help praising the wisdom of the principles by which the Poles had been governed.

But, while the Polish nation was congratulating itself on the choice which had been made of a future sovereign, and all the friendly powers were applauding the revolution and this choice, the elector of Saxony, who was thoroughly acquainted with the political relations of Europe, and too prudent to accept without consideration a crown which had cost his ancestors so many sacrifices, and the possession of which might so easily be disputed by Russia, returned evasive answers to the proposals transmitted to him from Warsaw. After a negociation of several months, he signified that he could not accept the offer but on certain conditions, the first of which was that the Poles should make sure of the consent of all the neighbouring powers. As it was impossible to fulfil this condition, he might have spared the specification of the rest. Russia had already testified her disapprobation, and it was evident that the elector was not disposed to offend that power. Indeed the ultimatum of the court of Dresden was not delivered till the Russian army was on the point of entering Poland.

Meanwhile the diet took but few steps to give strength and consistency to the revolution. A measure which the king had much at heart was to draw closer the bonds of confederation between the kingdom of Poland

and the grand duchy of Lithuania, which together constituted what was called the republic of Poland, and to smooth the way for a perfect union. With this view a proposal was made to unite the treasuries and armies of the two nations by means of joint commissioners, consisting of an equal number of each. Though opposed at first, the measure was adopted, and declared to be an integral part of the act of union between the two members of the republic.

On the other hand, Stanislaus was much annoyed by the revival of a question which he had already once stopped by his interference. This was the sale of the starosties or crown-fiefs, in imitation of the course pursued by the National Assembly in France. The scheme was strenuously opposed by the king's brother, the prince-primate, who considered it as an attack upon property of every kind, and said that "he was afraid lest the habit of imitating the revolution of another country might in the end introduce those fatal lamps, by the light of which the French had extinguished religion, honour, and common sense." With a view to induce the starosts to come forward and, by the sacrifice of a part, to defeat a project for the pillage both of them and of his crown, Stanislaus made an offer of one-tenth of the lands assigned to maintain his table, and new duties were proposed to balance the deficiency of the public revenue. The offer of the king was declined by the diet; none of the starosts manifested a disposition to follow his example; and in the end it was decreed that all the crown-fiefs should be sold for the benefit of the public, with the proviso that compensations proportioned to their rights should be made to all persons having an interest in them. By this decision, the influence of the crown was very materially diminished.

Meanwhile the Poles, free from care, at least from fear, gave themselves up to rejoicing, and in all assemblies, in

all companies, in the streets, and the public places, were heard new national songs, the burden of which invariably was, "The nation and the king, the king and the nation.” The first anniversary of the new constitution approached, ad for a while all more important matters seemed to be wholly forgotten. The day was celebrated with the utmost pomp. A magnificent procession, headed by the king, his court, the ministers, and generals, went, amidst the acclamations of 50,000 spectators, to the church of the Holy Cross; and vocal music, composed expressly for the occasion by the celebrated Paesiello, was executed by first-rate Italian singers. From the church the procession repaired, in the same order as before, to the place where the diet had decreed that a new temple should be erected in memory of the constitution; and the king laid the foundation-stone of the building. His majesty dined at the town-house. A theatrical entertainment and a general illumination of the city concluded this day, almost the last that a blind confidence and chimerical hopes served to embellish.

From this time the political horizon of Poland became darker and more dark. Every courier that arrived at Warsaw brought alarming accounts either of the renewal of amicable relations between the courts of Berlin and Petersburg, or of the approach of the Russian troops, or of the domestic intrigues of the three great adversaries of the new constitution, Felix Potocki, Branicki, and Rzewuski, who, separating themselves from the rest of the nation, strove to make proselytes to the cause of Russia by promises and threats. Those who were intimately acquainted with the king, and knew his weakness, disbelieved his promises. But it was more particularly the peace concluded by Russia with Turkey, and the unexpected death of the emperor Leopold a few weeks afterwards, that gave a new turn to affairs, and hastened the downfall of Poland.

On the 16th of April, 1792, the deputation of foreign

affairs presented to the diet an official report on the hostile demonstrations of Russia. Concerning the sentiments of Prussia, it could state nothing precise, though it had strong suspicions, for the negociations of the two courts were kept profoundly secret. All these circumstances necessarily alarmed the government: the diet, nevertheless, maintained an imposing attitude, and prepared to meet the dangers that threatened the State. Never did greater harmony and unanimity prevail in that assembly than at this time. The most important measures were carried without opposition. They invested the king with a power which had not been entrusted to any of his predecessors. They placed the whole army at his disposal; they authorized him to appoint foreign officers in the artillery, and engineers, and even such generals as he thought proper; they ordered the commission of the treasury to pay him thirty million guilders as soon as war should commence; and they empowered him to call out the arriere-ban, or militia, in case he should think the army of 100,000 men insufficient.

During the negociations between the court of Vienna and France, the armies of Russia were set in motion, and marched in several columns towards the Polish frontiers. No sooner had intelligence arrived that the National Assembly had declared war against Austria than M. Bulgakow, the Russian ambassador at Warsaw, delivered to the king, in the name of the empress Catherine, a declaration complaining that the Poles had disregarded a guarantee such as hers, though it was eagerly sought by the greatest states, especially those of Germany, as the best means of securing their independence and possessions. All the proceedings of the diet were misrepresented, and charged with illegality, usurpation, and violence. Every thing done or said offensive to Russia was recapitulated the orders for the evacuation of the country by her troops in 1789, the