34] 
the pecple were in fact free, and yet 
the sovereign power appears to have 
been subject to no constitutional re- 
stridiions. Neither the preroga- 
tivesof the duke, nor the privileges 
of the people, were defined by po- 
sitive law. Custonr seemts to have 
formed the only restriCtion to either. 
The sovereign carried his power as 
far as he thought he could depend 
upon the submission of the nation ; 
and the people sometimes exerted 
their right of expelling a tyrannical 
master afd asserting their freedom 
by force. 
The first circumstance that tend- 
ed to exert a permanent influence 
on the form of the government, and 
the condition of the people, was 
the practice of bestowing fiefs upon 
feudal principles, which was intro- 
duced in the beginning of the ninth 
century. Through the continued 
exercise of command, the nobles 
proceeded, by insensible gradations, 
to regard the peasants under their 
jurisdi€tion as their property. The 
spirit of the people was by degrees 
broken, and they yielded. 
Another event, which contribnt- 
ed to strengthen the power of the 
aristocracy, was the introduétion of 
the Christian religion into Poland, 
in the latter part of the 10th cen- 
tury, when the spiritual tyranny of 
Europe was at its height, and the 
despotic principles of the Roman 
Catholic church were received along 
with the catholic faith. ‘Uhe apostles 
of this church, far from inculcat- 
ing thedivine purity and simplicity 
of their predecessors, which are 
so powerfully recommended by 
Chfist, his disciples, and the first 
Christian converts, assumed in 
their mission a tone of authority 
suitable to the high claims of their 
temporal head. From either the 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1793. 
piety or the folly of the kings ané 
nobles, the higher clergy in‘Poland, 
as in other countries, soon saw them- 
selves im possession of ample terrt- 
tories, invested with all the privi- 
leges of the nobility, and, m some 
cases, with amore extensive autho. 
rity than could be claimed by any 
other subject. The body of the 
clergy, weli trained to subordina- 
‘tion, seconded with zeal the views 
of their leaders. While their terri- 
torial jurisdiction gave them the 
same interest with the nobility to 
encroach on the rights of the pea- 
sants, the blind veneration attached 
to their chara@er, facilitated their 
usurpations. ‘Thus the domineering 
spirit of the Roman Catholic hier- 
archy, concurring with the arbitrary 
principles of the feudal system, gave _ 
an easy victory to the clergy and the 
nobility over the liberties of the 
people. These were excluded from 
the diet of eleCtion, the nobility and’ 
gentry, reserving to themselves the 
sole right of regulating the succes- 
sion to the sovereignty. ‘The ab- 
ridgement of personal liberty quick- 
ly followed the loss of political con- 
sequence. Oppressions were mul- 
tiplied. A variety of vexatious 
claims were, from time totime, esta. 
blished against them. ‘They were 
gradually deprived of the rights of 
men, as well as those of citizens. 
‘The law was too weak, or too cor- 
rupt, to afford them relief; and they 
sunk into a state of servitude, from 
which they have never since emer- 
ged. et 
Attempts were indeed made to 
restcre them to the protection of 
law and the rank of freemen ; but 
these attempts failed of success. 
Itis but justice to acknowledge, 
that the heads of the church of 
Rome often interfered, and with 
much 
