Pol ish ▁Chron icles — of ▁Marc in ▁B iel ski ). ▁It ▁was ▁Sk arga ' s ▁most ▁popular ▁work ▁and ▁continued ▁to ▁rank ▁highly ▁with ▁Polish ▁readers ▁until ▁the ▁ 1 8 th ▁and ▁ 1 9 th ▁centuries , ▁when ▁it ▁was ▁e cli ps ed ▁by ▁his ▁S erm ons . ▁ ▁The ▁S erm ons , ▁a ▁political ▁treat ise ▁composed ▁in ▁the ▁gu ise ▁of ▁ser m ons , ▁went ▁almost ▁un not iced ▁by ▁contempor aries . ▁In ▁the ▁S erm ons , ▁Sk arga ▁discuss es ▁what ▁he ▁sees ▁as ▁the ▁problems ▁of ▁the ▁a iling ▁Commonwealth : ▁lack ▁of ▁patri ot ism , ▁internal ▁quar rel s , ▁toler ance ▁of ▁her et ics , ▁the ▁king ' s ▁relative ▁power less ness , ▁per verse ▁laws ▁( a ▁critique ▁of ▁the ▁nob ility ' s ▁Golden ▁Fre ed oms ), ▁and ▁imm or ality . ▁Another ▁notable ▁aspect ▁of ▁the ▁book ▁is ▁its ▁focus ▁on ▁the ▁des perate ▁pl ight ▁of ▁the ▁ser fs ▁( the ▁pe as ants ). ▁ ▁Import ance ▁ ▁Jan usz ▁T az bir , ▁in ▁his ▁ 1 9 7 8 ▁bi ography ▁of ▁Sk arga , ▁noted ▁that ▁" there ▁already ▁is ▁an ▁extensive ▁literature ▁on ▁Sk arga ". ▁He ▁attributed ▁this ▁to ▁Sk arga ' s ▁being ▁the ▁most ▁famous ▁figure ▁of ▁the ▁Polish ▁C ounter - Re formation , ▁which ▁gained ▁him ▁his ▁initial ▁fame ; ▁and , ▁later , ▁to ▁his ▁redis cover