for the 19th of April, 1773, according to the will of the three courts; nevertheleſs, in order to avoid all cauſe of reproach, the king, with the advice of the ſenate, again appeals to the guarantees of the treaty of Oliva." It is not to be doubted, that if there had been in Poland a people in exiſtence, as there is in Holland, to have given this amiable prince only the authority of a ſtadtholder, he would have ſaid, "I will die in the laſt ditch."
Of the diſmembered provinces, the Ruſſian, which is the largeſt territory, contains only one million and a half of ſouls; the Auſtrian, which is the moſt populous, contains two millions and a half; the Pruſſian, which is the moſt commercial, commanding the navigation of the Viſtula, contains only eight hundred and ſixty thouſand, and has given a fatal blow to the commerce of Poland, by transferring it from Dantzick to Memel and Konigſburg.
The finishing ſtroke of all remains.—
The three ambaſſadors, on the 13th of September, 1773, delivered, "A part of thoſe cardinal laws, to the ratification of which our courts will not ſuffer any contradiction.
"I. The crown of Poland ſhall be for ever elective, and all order of ſucceſſion proſcribed: any perſon who ſhall endeavour to break this law ſhall be declared an enemy to his country, and liable to be puniſhed accordingly.
"II. Foreign candidates to the throne, being the frequent cauſe of troubles and diviſions, ſhall be excluded; and it ſhall be enacted, that, for the future, no perſon can be choſen king of Poland, and great duke of Lithuania, excepting a native Pole, of noble origin, and poſſeſſing land within the kingdom. The ſon,
