from Polish newspaper "GAZETA" May 3-5 2002

Witold Liliental  

The May Constitution – a Different Aspect

I was raised in a tradition of great cult for the Third of May Constitution, its founding fathers and its heritage. The 211th anniversary of this great act of state has just gone by. As I have always pointed out, I am not a historian. But history, especially our Polish history, has always fascinated me because I see in it a certain continuation, a living link between what has passed and what is present. Thus, I ask professionals in this field for indulgence to the fact that an engineer is dabbling in matters, which are not his. Nevertheless, I would like to write something in connection with the Constitution, although… from a slightly different aspect.

We, who live in Canada, are neighbours across barely a footpath from the United States. We watch American TV; we often listen to American radio stations. As for myself, I like to listen to Paul Harvey, an excellent storyteller who recounts various interesting facts, always however, leaving out some significant detail. He leaves it for the very end, adding his signature phrase: “And now you know the rest of the story”. I am mentioning this because it’s nobody’s secret that many Poles, both in the Old Country and in the States, love to quote historical ties between Poland and America. There are even those who stubbornly insist that the American continent was discovered not by some Christopher Columbus from Genoa but by a Pole, Jan of Kolno (Joannis Scolvenius), way back in the XIIth century. There is, however, no historical proof of that and I am not going to add my voice to this debate.

On the other hand, it is an undisputed historical fact that during the American Revolution, Poland “lent” two generals to the Americans, namely Casimir Pulaski and Thaddeus Kosciuszko. Voices are being raised today that it is time America paid back the loan. No interest is demanded; just two generals would do quite well, and preferably General Electric and General Motors. All right, time to get serious. I would like to write about a relatively little known, albeit quite authentic fact which truly points to historical ties between Poland the United States. And since the U.S, are our neighbour and the world’s top power, it should be interesting to both Canadians and Canadian Poles.

The end of the XVIth century was approaching when a certain book surfaced in England, illegally published under the Latin title: “De optimo senatore” (About the Accomplished Senator). Queen Elizabeth ordered the book burned. No wonder. It had already managed to cause quite a stir in Europe and to instill fear into many a monarch. But then, it proclaimed some poignant heresies. Here are but a few:

 “...The public happiness of the community lies in the private happiness of individual subjects… All citizens are born equal and have equal rights”. And then something even worse: “Kings are created not for themselves but for the good of their subjects”. Finally, the most horrific, most demonic thought expressed in this work:  “… sometimes, a nation frustrated by tyranny and excessive powers of its king, takes upon itself the undoubted right to fight for its freedoms, and either by conspiracy or in an open struggle to shake off the yoke and to take the helm of government in its own hands…”.

The second edition of  “De optimo senatore” in England met the same lot as the first one, but single copies, kept clandestinely, made it through to see better times. The third edition, translated from Latin into English by one William Oldisworth, found much more fertile ground. Seventeenth century England was ripe for liberalization. When in 1648 it found itself in the throes of Cromwell’s Revolution, some thoughts, quoted directly from “The Senator” served as a moral base and as official political ideology. 

The popularity of this new trend in history caused that the book finally arrived on the other side of the ocean, in New England where its ideas of liberty became a guiding light to several generations. And then it happened exactly as the author had predicted. The American people, irritated by the tyranny of the English king, shook off the yoke to take the helm of government in their own hands.  At this juncture I have to go off slightly on a tangent. The above is by no means intended as finger pointing at Canada, which, as we all know, was founded by British loyalists, but has long since reconciled its differences with the United States. Getting back to our story, the book finally has a significant effect on one of the great thinkers of those times – Thomas Jefferson. In his letter to James Madison he wrote that it was not his intention to create new ideas or sentiments that had not been expressed by anyone before him. What he wrote was quite true. This is because many of the thoughts and even expressions from “De optimo senatore” were transplanted by Jefferson directly into the United States Constitution

Several years later, these same thoughts lay as the basis for the second constitution in the world, our own Polish Constitution, proclaimed on May 3rd, 1791. Thus, two democracies, American and European from the banks of the Vistula river, based their existence on the same thoughts, forging the future of their nations.

But this is not the end yet. I wrote in the beginning that the book surfaced in England, however, I never mentioned where it had come from. Anybody care to volunteer an answer? My esteemed readers perhaps assume correctly that… yes indeed. It came from no other country but Poland. Its author was Wawrzyniec Goślicki, (Laurentius Grimaldus Goslicius), bishop and crown chancellor of the Commonwealth of Poland. Born near the town of Płock in 1533, Goślicki studied at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow and received his doctorate in canonic law in Italy. It was there that in 1568 the book “De optimo senatore” was written. And only at this point can I add, like Paul Harvey that “now, you know the rest of the story”.

 And thus, we Poles have every reason to be proud. Not only did we lend the United States two generals, but also the thoughts of our great countryman, unusually bold for the times and reaching far into the future, have found their way into the wording of the Constitution of the United Sates of America and the one closer to our hearts, of 1791. Sadly, but for the sake of historical truth, it should be added that in 1578 Goślicki was excommunicated for spreading theses that for the times were quite revolutionary. But let us remember that Galileo Galilei shared the same fate even earlier… These were times when nobody even dreamed about the Second Vatican Council.

The May Constitution was the fruit of enlightened thoughts of Wawrzyniec Goślicki and later intellectual elites who dared to act and to proclaim bravely that something must be changed because “our ship is sinking”.

I always maintain that the Third of May Constitution came too late to save the Polish state at the close of the 18th century, but it did save the Polish nation in the long run. Its proclamation resulted in a new spirit of unity among the citizenry of Poland. This spirit accompanied Poles during the entire subsequent period of partitions, lasting until World War I and served as a guiding light for the idea of independence. Without this spirit, there would never have been the driving force behind the great national uprisings, to the formation of Piłsudski’s Legions and to the regaining of independence in 1918. The greatness of our Constitution lies in the idea of creation of a democratic nation, based on law, progress and equality for all its citizens and assurance of political freedoms and rights for all.

May the Dawn of May (as we say in Poland) live in the hearts of all Poles for ever.