122 JOGAL1A
natories. Then, he led the entire assembly to the Church of St. Stanislaw, kneel-
ing before the altar and singing the Te Deum in a strong voice.^11
Sigismund-August's last years were tinged with remorse. His constant appeals
for love and harmony were bred by the fear that love and harmony were in short
supply. In 1569, the Sejm promptly returned to a debate on his marital affairs and
rose on 12 September without attending to the King's urgent requests. The provi-
sions for drafting electoral procedure, for creating a central treasury, and for
preparing judicial reforms were unceremoniously postponed. 'You see that I am a
servant of Death', he had told them, 'no less than Your Lordships. If you do not
pay heed, then my work and Yours will be turned to nought.' They paid little
attention. In Muscovy, Ivan IV was angered by news of the Union of Lublin, and
hastened to the crime which more than anything else earned him the name of
'Terrible'. Forged letters were produced to show that the Archbishop and
Governor of Novgorod were guilty of treasonable contacts with the Polish King.
The Tsar arrived to administer the punishment in person. The inhabitants of
Novgorod were systematically seized and tortured, and killed in batches of five
hundred and a thousand every day. In five weeks, Russia's most civilized city was
depopulated, and reduced to a smouldering heap. Ivan returned to Moscow to pre-
pare the cauldrons of boiling oil and the meat hooks which were to chastise some
hundreds of Muscovites suspected of treasonable contacts with Novgorod. What
future for 'the Republic of goodwill' with such a neighbour? In 1570, the Sejm
debated the problem of tax reform, but passed no taxes; in 1571, it again post-
poned the King's requests, and in 1572 was dispersed by an outbreak of the plague.
Sigismund-August relapsed into despair and insomnia. He locked himself into his
favourite castle at Knyszyn near Bialystok, and refused to receive his senators. He
died on 7 July 1572, surrounded by a motley company of quacks, astrologers, and
witches, in a room hung in black in memory of Barbara Radziwill. His last will
repeated those beautiful lifelong wishes which were so unlikely to come true:
By this our last testament, We give and bequeath to our two realms, to the Polish Crown
and to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, that love, harmony, and unity ... which our fore-
bears cemented for eternity by strong agreements, mutually confirmed by the citizens of
both countries. And to whomsoever of the two nations shall hold firmly to the Union
gratefully received from Us, We bequeath Our blessing, that the Lord God in his favour
shall grant them honour and power above other peoples, in their wide and common rule,
in fame both at home and abroad, in all that is good and needful. But whosoever shall
profess ingratitude and follow the paths of separation, may they quake before the wrath
of God, who in the words of the prophet, hates and curses them who sow dissension
between brother and brother...^12The last of the Jagiellons, like the last of the Piasts 202 years before, was buried
on Wawel Hill. The King's private person was dead. His public person rode in
effigy to the burial. The royal standard was broken asunder and, with the royal
jewels, cast into the grave. This same act symbolized the transfiguration of the
Kingdom of Poland. The late King had ruled as the hereditary monarch of two
separate principalities. He was leaving them united in one elective Republic.