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REGNARD’S JOURNEY TO LAPLAND, 21%
The Prince of Condé has feveral times in the diets been propofed as king ; but the
Poles are too much afraid of him: they are extremely apprehenfive, that he would be
defirous of encroaching on the liberties of Poland, of which they are extremely jealous.
Count St. Paul died two days too foon, and was deprived of the pleafure of feeing
himfelf king. He had been chofen by common confent; but heaven ordained other-
wife. The Poles made fome fcruples about crowning the queen, becaufe the dowager
was {till alive, and wifhed to relieve the ftate, which was unable to fupport two queens ;
but the King had taken his meafures with fuch prudence, that fhe was crowned a fhort
time after him.
The /aro/ties are the governments of a province ; the King gives them to the gentle-
men, and cannot deprive them of them.
The cities fend deputies to the diets, which the King affembles when he pleafes ; and
the moft infignificant of thefe gentlemen, or of thefe envoys, can put an end to a diet ;
for there isa law in Poland, by which it is enacted, that their affairs muft be decided
non pluralitate votorum, fed nemine contradicente, ‘ not by a plurality of voices, but
« by unanimous confent.’
The wayvodes or palatinates are larger than the faro/ies ; they are fub-divided into
frarofties.
The palatinate of M. Vaubrenic, called Bonco/ci, was injured by a Polifh gentleman,
who abandoned it, and was received and brought to France by him. Madame, the
Marchionefs of Breffoi, his aunt, was expelled from the court, and obliged to leave the
city by the intrigues of the queen, who dreaded the King’s engagements, and felt fome
pangs of jealoufy. The ftory adds, that it was Seinkamer, called the Wolget.
We faw, on the day of our departure, the great Hevelius, profeffor of aftronomy,
one of the learned men of theage, who received penfions from a number of princes,
and particularly, from his Moft Chriftian Majefty. This man fhewed us all the works
which the fire had ‘fpared. He related to us, with tears in his eyes, the lofs he had
fuftained by a dreadful fire which had happened two years ago, had confumed more
than forty houfes, and which unfortunately had begun-with his.
This great man has continued to labour night and day, for nearly fifty years. At
night he is employed in obferving the ftars from the top of his houfe, with glafles more
than a hundred and eighty feet in length ; and during the day, he reduces to writing,
what he had obferved the preceding night. Among feveral other learned fubjects on
which he entertained us, we learnt, that he was of the fame opinion with Copernicus ;
and he told us, that it was perfectly abfurd to believe, that the heavens turned round
theearth, and he fupported his affertion by feveral demonftrations, by which we were
convinced ; he fhewed us on this fubjeét, a terreftrial and celeftial globe, which proved
in afurprifing manner, that which’he told us; he mentioned as one of his ftrongeft
reafons, that he always remarked at one time, the fame diftance betwixt the earth and
the fixed {tars, which are attached as well as the fun to the firmament, and that at
anogher, he found that it was much more diftant from them: which convinced him,
that the motion was in the earth, and not in the heavens; and on this fubject, we,
having told him, that this opinion was condemned among us as heretical, he told us
that Father confeffor of his holinefs had written to him on this fubjeét, and
pointed out to him, that the church condemned this opinion, till it was proved, but,
fo foon as any had one demonttrated it to be true beyond a doubt, he would then find ne
difficulty in adopting the more probable opinion. In the obfervation which he made at
firft upon this motion of the earth, and upon this nearnefs and diftance from the {tars,
he thought he had been miftaken, ashe told us, in his calculation: but having, during
EE? ; a lapfe
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