146 On the ORIGIN and STRUCTURE of 



not as yet affected the general ftrudlure ' of the legiflature ; and 

 we know of no other frmrce from which any great change in it 

 could have proceeded. Betides, the form of the Polifli diet coin- 

 cides fo exactly with that above defcribed, while Poland, at the 

 fame time, was never feudalized, as greatly flrengthens the con- 

 clufion, that it preferved much of the original ftruclure of the Eu- 

 ropean diets 5 efpecially as the fingular tenacioufnefs of the Poles 

 to ancient cuftoms, and their feclufion from many of the fources 

 of political innovations, render it otherwife highly probable, that 

 theymuft retain more of the arrangements of ancient Europe than 

 are to be fcmnd in other nations. In the diet of Poland, the fenate, 

 confifting of the bifhops, and of the provincial magiftrates, pala- 

 tines, and caftellans, /. e. governors of counties or fortrefTes, aflem- 

 ble within an inclofure, called ihzfaopa. The king prefides, and, 

 in his abfence, or during an interregnum, the archbifhop of 

 Ghefna. The nobleffe are arranged without, under the banners 

 of their palatinates, and approve, or reject, by exclamations, 

 fuch proportions as the fenate think proper to make to them *. 

 And it is to be remarked, that defcent alone, without any eftate in 

 land, is fufficient to conflitute a perfon a member, either of 

 the provincial or national diets f. 



WHAT 



" Les hiftoriens font monter le norr.bre a plus cle foixante mille homines, tous ranges 

 " fous leurs drapeaux et divifes en fix brigades." Vol. i. p. 242. 



* INSTEAD of the noblefTe of the palatinates in the ordinary diets, only deputies at- 

 tend ; but this is known to be merely a modern invention, and that flill it is competent 

 to afTemble the whole body of the nobility, which is aflually done when a comitia palu- 

 data, or an afiembly more deftined for afiion than deliberation is convoked. 



f- THE account SHERNHOOK gives of the ancient Swedifh diet mows, that it was alfb 

 a national aflembly of confederate tribes arranged by the diftrifts to which they belong- 

 ed : " H* provinciae," fays he, " parvum quoddam reipublicae corpus fibi fecifle vi- 

 " dentur, non alias in communi cum reliquis confulentes, quam cum aut de holte pel- 

 " lendo, aut rege eligendo vel fuftentando ageretur : Non enim ut hodie feparati ordi- 

 " nes erant fed provinciae ; ubi mixti nobiles, clerici, cives, milites, ruftici provinciatim, 

 " et pro communi habitationis loco refponderent : Quod et antea diftum eft, et inter 

 '* fe ord'rnes magis quam provincias conjunxit." P. 47. As to the term rujlici, it may 

 be obferved, that only the peafants of the domains fend the reprefentatives which form 

 the houfe of peafants in the modern diet. The crown continuing eleftive, they had 

 become freemen and proprietors in early times. 



