could afford to be stingy. The Chancellors also had judiciary powers, exercised through assessors’ courts, which were the highest appellate courts for persons subject to crown law (i.e., not subject to ecclesiastic or magnat courts). Each such court was staffed by a secretary, Referendary (Referendarz) and writer. In the 17th century, each such court was enlarged to include four assessors; and, in 1775, a metrykants and a regens. The Chancellor often gave speeches representing the royal will. The symbol of his office was the Seal, which was used to seal all documents passing through his office. He also sealed documents signed by the monarch, and could refuse to seal a document that he considered illegal or damaging to the state (such documents had no force without his seal). When the King died, the seal was destroyed at his funeral and a new one was issued to the Chancellor by the late King's successor. Therefore, the Chancellors were considered the guardians of the King and state, ensuring that the King's folly would not endanger the state by forcing it into an unnecessary war (the wars that were prevented by the Chancellors included a great crusade against the Ottoman Empire that King Władysław IV Waza had planned in the 1630s). The Chancellor's powers tended to be reinforced by the fact that wars required funds that were appropriated by the Senate. The richer nobles who controlled the Senate were usually loath to increase and levy taxes upon themselves, which meant that Poland herself very rarely declared wars. Usually she was attacked by her neighbors, and while she repelled all attacks till the end of the 18th century, she almost never exploited her victories. The army was undermanned and underequipped (since usually any suggestion to augment the military budget when an enemy was not on the Commonwealth's doorstep was labeled as warmongering) and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's lands were constantly ravaged by new invasions that crippled the economy. Last among the ministers were the Grand Treasurers. They kept accounts of the state finances, cash flow and State Treasury, and controlled the minting of coin. Since, like the Chancellors, they received no wages, corruption ran rampant and a sizable portion of state finances was lost in their pockets. If a Treasurer moved to another post, he was obliged to render accounts of his disbursements, and if he died, his family were required to produce them. A