O referendum Konstytucji 3 Maja raz jeszcze : sejmiki egzulanckie i iflanckie 1792 roku

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ENThe specific legal status of exiles (those whose possessions were outside the lands controlled by the monarchy) resulted in their sejmiki (dietines) being of special character. Not all the regulations of the Four-Year Sejm could be directly applied and the issues debated differed from other gatherings as well. Although a register of the nobility of the Livonian nobility was prepared during the February sejmik of 1792, the issue of registering Livonian exiles as well as those from Courland was not settled. As stated above, the agenda of exiles’ sejmiki differed from other gatherings. For example they did not establish some of the local institutions required by new laws, such as the border commissions. Despite of the lack of a legal basis for it, a six person Civil-Military Commission was established in order to register the landed nobility. The exiles summoned to Żyżmory and Iłukszta revealed different attitudes towards the newly passed 3rd of May Constitution. In Żyżmory, where royalists dominated, the constitution was accepted, voted on, and the deputies swore their lives and estates (usually outside the monarchy) to its defence.At the Livonian sejmik convened in Iłukszta, the Livonian exiles abstained from voting on the constitution as they feared the loss of their estates outside the monarchy. They limited themselves to expressing gratitude to the monarch and the deputies for their work, as well as for the ability to meet even though their domains were not within the borders of the kingdom. Nevertheless, research points to the fact that numerous actions were undertaken to introduce the reforms of the Four-Year Sejm in Livonia by local governments even though these territories were outside the jurisdiction of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. [From the publication]