"
or grandſon, of a king of Poland, cannot be elected immediately upon the death of their father or grandfather; and are not eligible, excepting after an interval of two reigns.
"III. The government of Poland ſhall be for ever free, independent, and of a republican form.
"IV. The true principle of ſaid government conſiſting in the ſtrict execution of its laws, and the equilibrium of the three eſtates, viz. the king, the ſenate, and the equeſtrian order, a permanent council ſhall be eſtabliſhed, in which the executive power ſhall be veſted. In this council the equeſtrian order, hitherto excluded from the adminiſtration of affairs in the intervals of the diets, ſhall be admitted, as ſhall be more clearly laid down in the future arrangements."
Thus the ſupreme legiſlative authority reſides in the three eſtates of the realm, the king, the ſenate, and equeſtrian order, aſſembled in a national diet; but each eſtate has no negative upon the other, and therefore is no balance, and very little check. The great families and principal palatines will ſtill govern, without any effectual controul.
The executive power is now veſted in the ſupreme permanent council; but here neither have they any checks, all being decided by the majority, and the ſame principal families will always prevail.
Theſe auguſt legiſlators have acknowledged the principle of a free republican government, that it conſiſts in a ſtrict execution of the laws, and an equilibrium of eſtates or orders: but how are the laws to govern? and how is the equilibrium to be preſerved? Like air, oil, and water,
