Volume 1

Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark. Interspersed with historical relations and political inquiries / Illustrated with charts and engravings. In two volumes.

  • William Coxe
Date:
1784
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark. Interspersed with historical relations and political inquiries / Illustrated with charts and engravings. In two volumes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    26/636 (page 4)
    BOOK at once, in any particular period, or by a fingle event, but I' , generally refults from a feries of cucumftances, many of them fcarce feparately difcernible. In Poland, however, the political obferver has this lingular advantage, that a fuccef- fion of accurate hiftorians - (forae of whom flouriflied foon after the aera, when the moll; important branches of the Po- lifli conifitution were afcertained) have developed with un- common precilion and care the various occurrences and in- ilitutions, from which the extraordinary form of government, at prefent fubliliing in that kingdom, was gradually derived. By means of their authentic narratives we are enabled to trace, in what manner, and from what concurrence of circum- ftances, a monarchy nearly abfolute, funk in the courfe of a few centuries, without any depofition of the prince or violent convullion, into a hate of almoft total ariftocracy. A brief inquiry into the principal incidents which pro- duced this remarkable conllitution, accompanied by fuch political reflexions as the progrefs of the detail fuggefts, will not, I flatter myfelf, prove uninterefting ; and will properly introduce a view of Poland in its prefent flate. The fovereigns of Poland are ufnally ranged into four dalles. 1. Of the houfe of Leflco. II. Of Piafl. III. Of faghellon. IV. Of diflerent families. Thefe clafles divide the hiflory of Poland into four correfponding periods, I. The flrll t i)cnod is allowed by the bell; Polifli hillo- rians to be entirely fabulous ; they therefore generally com- • n;ience their narratives at the fecond 3cra. II. * DlugofTiiis, the father of Polifli hiHory, t Qm* de Lecho ejufi]U8 fiiccefforibus aJ wabhorn in 141;, only 4; years after the Piaflum ufqiic ct ultra iiicinorantur, fiint demife of Cafimir the CJrcat, from whole obfciira, fabulofi, ct falfi, quare hicntio. r<i{;n Poland cl lies hci urittcii laws. Me tranfmittiimir, iic variis narrationibiis im- his tiKlory Irom the eai liefl |)ti iod of moremur ; are the words of Letigiiieh, tho Polifh annals, and carries It down to tlie Hifl. Polon. |). 2. The fabulous flory of year 14^0. Ldko is as follows: Upon the death of I Ltfko