Protestantism in Poland and Bohemia - James Aitken Wylie

prostrating themselves, stood erect and turned
away their faces. Raphael Leszczynski, a nobleman
of high character and great possessions, expressed
his dissent from Rome's great mystery in manner
even more marked: he wore his hat all through the
performance. The priests saw, but dared not
reprove, this contempt of their rites.[13]
The auguries with which the Diet had opened
did not fail of finding ample fulfilment in its
subsequent proceedings. The assembly chose as its
president Leszczynski -- the nobleman who had
remained uncovered during mass, and who had
previously resigned his senatorial dignity in order
to become a member of the Lower House.[14] The
Diet immediately took into consideration the
jurisdiction wielded by the bishops. The question
put in debate was this -- Is such jurisdiction,
carrying civil effects, compatible with the rights of
the crown and the freedom of the nation? The Diet
decided that it was consistent with neither the
prerogatives of the sovereign nor the liberties of
the people, and resolved to abolish it, so far as it
had force in law. King Sigismund Augustus
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