Pylyp Orlyk was born on October 11, 1672 in Kosuta (modern day Belarus) and died on May 26, 1742 in Iaşi (modern day Romania). He was a Zaporozhian Cossack officer, Hetman in exile, diplomat, and secretary to and close associate of Hetman Ivan Mazepa.

Pylyp Orlyk first studied at the Jesuit college in Vilnius, Lithuania and until 1694 at the Kyiv Mohyla Academy. In 1699 he became a senior member of Hetman Ivan Mazepa's General Military Chancellery and in 1706 was appointed general chancellor. At that position, he was Mazepa's closest aide, facilitated Mazepa's secret correspondence with the Poles and Swedes, and assisted Mazepa in his efforts to form an anti-Russian coalition.

After the Battle of Poltava in 1709, he fled together with Hetman Ivan Mazepa and King Charles XII of Sweden to Bender in the Principality of Moldavia, where Mazepa soon died. Pylyp Orlyk was then chosen by the Ukrainian Cossacks as their Hetman in exile. While in Bender, he wrote the first state constitution in Europe, known as the Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk or the Bendery Constitution.

The Pylyp Orlyk Constitution is regarded as the first in the world to establish the separation of government powers into the legislative, executive and judicial branches. The document consists of a preamble and sixteen articles. According to the constitution, legislative power was vested in the General Council (parliament), which was to hold three annual sessions. The Hetman and the General Staff Council constituted the executive branch, while legal matters fell under the jurisdiction of the General Court. Thus the Ukrainian constitution of 1710 preceded those of the United States, France and Poland, and attested to the democratic thinking of the Ukrainian Cossack elite.

It is of special note that Pylyp Orlyk resided in Kristianstad, Sweden from 1716-1719 and Stockholm, Sweden from 1719-1720. This year, on the 300th anniversary of the Bendery Constitution, Pylyp Orlyk’s contributions to Ukrainian, Swedish and generally European history, his leadership as Hetman of the Ukrainian Cossacks, and his creation of the Ukrainian constitution of 1710, the first and most progressive constitution of its kind at the time, will be commemorated at the Swedish National Archive in Stockholm, Sweden, as well as in Ukraine, Canada and other countries.

The Bendery Constitution (abridgement) 
 
The original document of the Bendery Constitution was written in intricate Latin. There exists also a translation into old Ukrainian. The newly elected Hetman Pylyp Orlyk succeeded, in exile, the late Hetman Ivan Mazepa, who had fled to the Moldavian town of Bendery (or Bender) after the defeat of his forces and those of Charles XII at the battle of Poltava in I309. Orlyk, with the remnants of the Cossack starshyna (officer corps), repre¬sented a Cossack ‘government in exile. ‘ The constitution confirms the status of the ‘ancient Cossack nation’ and its struggle against Moscow. The Cossacks, defenders of the Orthodox faith, nevertheless are guaranteed the supremacy of a Kievan metropolitan, one independent of Moscow’s influ¬ence. Many rights of the Cossacks are provided for, and the protection of the Swedish king is assured. 
 
TREATY AND COVENANT OF LAWS AND LIBERTIES OF THE ZAPOROZHIAN HOST, AGREED UPON BETWEEN HIS HIGHNESS PYL YP ORL YK, THE NEWLY ELECTED HETMAN OF THE ZAPOROZHIAN HOST, AND THE GENERALS, COLONELS, AND ALSO THE SAID ZAPOROZHIAN HOST, DULY PROMUL¬GATED BY BOTH SIDES AND AFFIRMED BY A FORMAL OATH IN A FREE ELECTION BY THE SAID HETMAN AT BENDERY ON THE FIFTH DAY OF APRIL, IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1710 ...
 
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, God glorified in the Holy Trinity. Let it be to the eternal glory and memory of the Zapo¬rozhian Host and the Ruthenian [Rossiacae] (The passages in square brackets, some quoting the Latin original and some clarifying it, are pro¬vided by the translator), people.
God, who is wondrous and unfathomable in his judgments, merciful in forbearance, just in punishment, has ever since the beginning of this visible> world elevated some kingdoms and peoples according to his most equitable judgment and humiliated others because of their offences and iniquities, ¬reduced some to slavery and liberated others, exalted some and cast down others. In the same way, the valiant and ancient Cossack people, formerly called Khazar, was at first exalted by immortal glory, spacious territory, and heroic exploits which inspired fear both at sea and on land not only among neighbouring peoples but even in the Eastern Empire, so much so that the Eastern emperor, wishing to make lasting peace with it, joined his son in matrimony to the daughter of the Khagan, that is to say, the Cossack ¬prince. Then, the same God, the most righteous judge glorified in the high¬est, chastised that Cossack people with many punishments for its multiple iniquities and sins, degraded and humbled it, and reduced it to a state of almost perpetual ruin. Finally, he made it subject to the Polish kingdom, through the victorious arms of the Polish kings Boleslaw the Brave and Stephen Bathory. But though God, unfathomable and incomprehensible in his righteous judgments, had punished our ancestors with innumerable calamities, he was not unceasingly angry or bearing ill will for ever, for, wishing to restore the aforementioned Cossack people to its original free¬dom from the heavy Polish yoke, he brought forth a fervent defender of the Orthodox religion and of the rights and liberties of our fatherland, the valiant Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky of eternal memory, who, with divine help, with the invincible assistance of His Most Serene Majesty Charles X, King of Sweden, of immortal and glorious memory, and with the support of the Crimean state and the military might of the Zaporozhian Host, as well as through his own astute diligence, care, labour, and magnitude of spirit, liberated the Zaporozhian Host and the oppressed Ruthenian [Rossiaca] people from Polish servitude. He also vol¬untarily submitted himself and his people to the authority of the Muscovite tsardom in the hope that, being of the same religious faith with us, it would abide by the obligations contained in treaties and covenants and confirmed by oath, and would for ever preserve inviolably under its protection the rights and liberties of the Zaporozhian Host and the free Ruthenian [Rossi¬acam] people. However, after the death of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky of blessed memory, the Muscovite tsardom attempted by many ingenious means to weaken and utterly destroy the liberties of the Zaporozhian Host that it itself had confirmed and to place the yoke of slavery on the free people whom it itself had never subdued by force of arms. Then, whenever the Zaporozhian Host suffered that violence, it was forced to defend the integrity of its laws and liberties with its own blood and courage, with God the avenger supporting it in defence of those laws and liberties. Finally, in recent years, during the tenure of His Highness Hetman Ivan Mazepa of blessed memory, the aforementioned Muscovite tsardom, intent on carry¬ing out its evil designs and repaying good with evil instead of with grati¬tude and esteem for the many loyal services the Cossacks had been forced to perform at an utterly ruinous cost and number of losses, and for innu¬merable acts of heroism and bloody military exploits, wanted to transform them into a regular militia, to place their towns under its sovereignty, to destroy their rights and liberties, to eradicate the Zaporozhian Host on the Lower Dnieper, and to extinguish its name for ever. Of the truth of all these facts, there were and are now available general indications and docu¬mentary evidence. Then, the aforementioned Illustrious Hetman Ivan Mazepa of blessed memory, inspired by just zeal for the integrity of the laws of our fatherland and the liberties of the Zaporozhian Host, and burn¬ing with a fervent desire to see our fatherland and the Zaporozhian Host in the towns and on the Lower Dnieper enjoying their liberties not only intact but even: increased and enlarged, both during the days of his Het¬manate and after his death, for the sake of the eternal memory of his name, placed himself under the invincible protection of His Most Serene and Mighty Majesty Charles XII, King of Sweden, who, guided by a special act of- divine providence, turned with his armies into Ukraine. Thus, he fol¬lowed in the footsteps of his predecessor, the most valiant Bohdan Khmel¬nytsky of blessed memory, who, receiving no lesser help in his designs to deflect Polish military power, reached an agreement and came to a meeting of minds concerning military plans with the Most Serene King of Sweden Charles X, the namesake and grandfather of His Royal Majesty, in order to liberate his fatherland from the Polish servitude then oppressing it. And although God’s unfathomable judgments not only did not fulfill the late Hetman’s ardent desire, owing to the unfavorable turn of military for¬tunes, but also subjected the Hetman himself, here at Bendery, to the laws of mortality, the Zaporozhian Host, orphaned after the death of its fore¬most commander-in-chief, without abandoning its desire for freedom, and placing its firm confidence in God’s help, in the protection of the Most Serene and Mighty King of Sweden, and in its just cause, which was always wont to triumph, decided, in order to further it and to improve the military administration, through the council of general officers and with the approval of our Most Serene Protector, His Royal Majesty the King of Sweden, to elect a new hetman and to set the time of the election and the place suitable for this electoral act near Bendery, where they had convened for the public council with their leader, Chief Ataman Konstantyn Hordienko. Then all, without any dissent, with their generals, their officers, and the envoys sent by the Zaporozhlan Host in the Sich, in accordance with the old customs and ancient laws, elected in a free vote as their hetman His Grace Pylyp Orlyk, worthy of that dignified position, and able, with divine help, with the support of His Royal Majesty the King of Sweden, and with his keen intelligence and knowledge gained by experience, to shoulder the office of the hetman, burdensome and dangerous as it is in the present confused state of affairs, to take solicitous care of the public affairs of our fatherland, to consult, guide, and direct. Since, however, some of the former hetmans, attached to the despotic Muscovite tsardom, had dared to usurp absolute power, beyond the limits of reasonableness and law, thereby violating ancient rights and liberties of the Zaporozhian Host and imposing heavy burdens on the common people, we, the general officers present here, and we, the Chief Ataman with the Zaporozhian Host, in order to prevent such lawlessness, especially at this most opportune time for such an action, when the Zaporozhian Host for no other reason has sought the protection of His Royal Majesty the King of Sweden, and now is abiding by it steadfastly and unwaveringly merely for the purpose of restoring and promoting its suppressed rights and liberties, have entered into an agreement and decided with the newly elected Hetman, His Excellency Pylyp Orlyk, not only that His Excellency, during what we trust will be his auspicious tenure as Hetman, should observe inviolably the treaty and covenant expressed in the following articles, which he has affirmed by his oath, but also that they should be unchangeably observed and preserved by his successors, the future hetmans of the Zaporozhian Host. They are as follows:
 
I
 
Whereas among the three theological virtues faith is the first, one should in this first article deal with the Orthodox faith of the Eastern confession, with which the valiant Cossack people was enlightened under the rule of Khazar princes by the Apostolic See of Constantinople, and to which it has remained unwaveringly faithful then and now, without straying from it to any alien religion. It is no secret that Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky of glo¬rious memory, with the Zaporozhian Host, took up arms and began a just war against the Polish Commonwealth for no other reason (apart from rights and liberties) except their Orthodox faith, which had been forced as a result of various encumbrances placed on it by the Polish authorities into union with the Roman church. Similarly, after the alien new Roman reli¬gion had been eradicated from our fatherland, he, with the said Zapo¬rozhian Host and Ruthenian [Rossiaca] people, sought and submitted him¬self to the protection of the Muscovite tsardom for no other reason than “’that it shared the same Orthodox religion. Therefore, if God our Lord, strong and mighty in battle, should assist the victorious armies of His Royal Majesty the King of Sweden to liberate our fatherland from the Muscovite yoke of slavery, the present newly elected Hetman will be bound by duty and put under obligation to take special care that no alien religion is introduced into our Ruthenian [Rossiacam] fatherland. Should one, however, appear anywhere, either secretly or openly, he will be bound to extirpate it through his authority, not allow it to be preached or dissem¬inated, and not permit any dissenters, most of all the adherents of deceitful Judaism, to live in Ukraine, and will be bound to make every possible effort that only the Orthodox faith of the Eastern confession, under obedi¬ence to the Holy Apostolic See of Constantinople, be established firmly for ever and be allowed to expand and to flourish, like a rose among thorns, among the neighbouring countries following alien religions, for the greater glory of God, the building of churches, and the instruction of Ruthenian [Rossiacis] sons in the liberal arts. And for the greater authority of the Kievan metropolitan see, which is foremost in Little Russia [Parva Rossia], and for a more efficient administration of spiritual matters, His Grace the Hetman should, after the liberation of our fatherland from the Muscovite yoke, obtain from the Apostolic See of Constantinople the original power of an exarch in order thereby to renew relationship with and filial obedi¬ence to the aforementioned Apostolic See of Constantinople, from which it , was privileged to have been enlightened in the holy Catholic faith by the preaching of the Gospel.
 
II
 
Since every state exists and is made stable through the inviolability and integrity of its borders, it will be the duty of His Grace the Hetman to endeavor and take care to the best of his ability to ensure, whenever necessary during the negotiations for a [peace] treaty by His Majesty the King f Sweden, that Little Russia [Parva Rossia], our fatherland, will remain within the borders confirmed by the treaties of the Polish Commonwealth, e Sublime Ottoman Porte, and the Muscovite tsardom, especially the territory extending to the river Sluch, which was ceded, restored for ever, confirmed by treaties in the possession of the Hetmanate and the Zaporozhian Host under the rule of Bohdan Khmelnytsky. He should also entreat His Royal Majesty, his most gracious lord, guardian, defender, and protector, not to permit anyone to violate or appropriate not only our rights and liberties but also our ancestral borders. In addition, it will be the duty of His Grace the Hetman to obtain, after (we trust) a successful end of the war, such a treaty and guarantee of security from His Majesty the King “of Sweden that His Majesty and his successors, the Most Serene Kings of Sweden, will enjoy in perpetuity the title of protectors of Ukraine’ ¬[Ucraina] and indeed remain as such for the future defence of our father¬land and for the preservation of its integrity in rights, privileges, and bor¬ders. It will equally be the duty of His Grace the Hetman to petition His Royal Majesty to attach to the treaties concluded by His Majesty with the Muscovite tsardom the provision both that our prisoners who are now residing in the Muscovite tsardom be set free after the end of the war and that just compensation be made for all the war damages suffered by Ukraine. His Grace the Hetman also should especially entreat His Royal Majesty, and make efforts to this end, that our prisoners in His Majesty’s kingdom be set free and allowed to return to their fatherland.
 
III
 
Whereas the people formerly known as the Khazars and later called Cos¬sacks trace their genealogical origin to the powerful and invincible Goths, and, moreover, whereas the laws of friendly neighbourhood connect and join together that Cossack people by the deepest ties of affectionate affin¬ity to the Crimean state, with which the Zaporozhian Host many a time entered into military alliances, and from which it obtained assistance for the protection of its fatherland and its liberties; His Grace the Hetman shall endeavour, as far as is possible at present, to renew through his envoys to His Most Serene Highness the Khan the old brotherhood and military alliance with the Crimean state and to confirm perpetual friend¬ship, so that the neighbouring countries, taking note of it, will not dare to strive to subjugate Ukraine or inflict any harm on it. And after the end of the war, when, with God’s help and blessing, the peace prevails which we desire and which will be favourable to us and the newly elected Het¬man establishes himself in his residence, he shall exert all his strength and discerning diligence, and be obliged by the duty of his office, to ensure that the alliance and fraternity with the Crimean state will not be in the least damaged or violated by unrestrained and frivolous people on our side, who, being accustomed to wrongdoing, are not ashamed to break and violate either the laws of neighbourhood and friendship or the cove¬nants of peace.
 
 
VI
 
The Zaporozhian Host on the Lower Dnieper, which won immortal glory through its innumerable heroic exploits on land and at sea, was also rewarded with generous privileges and grants for its common advantage and use. However, the Muscovite tsardom, devising various means to oppress and despoil it, erected on its own grounds and estates first the Samara towns and then the fortresses situated on the Dnieper, thereby hin¬dering the Zaporozhian Host in its fishing and hunting and inflicting on it damage, injury, an infringement of the law, and oppression. Finally, it destroyed in an armed attack the military base Sich, the stronghold of the Zaporozhians. Therefore, after what we trust will be a successful end of the war, if the aforementioned Zaporozhian Host should not reclaim its lands and the Dnieper from the violent occupation of the Muscovites, it will be the duty of His Grace the Hetman to take care during the negotiations for a “peace treaty between His Majesty the King of Sweden and the Muscovite tsardom that the Dnieper and the lands of the Zaporozhian Host be cleared of Muscovite towns and fortresses and restored to the original ownership of the said Host. As for the future, His Grace the Hetman must not only refuse to grant anyone permission to build fortresses or found towns and villages with a predetermined term of freedom, or despoil the lands of the Zaporozhian Host in any other manner, but also give the Zaporozhian Host all possible support in their defence.
…
 
VI
 
If autocratic states maintain in both war and peace the praiseworthy and useful practice of holding private and public councils to deal with matters important for the general welfare of the country, in which even the autocrats themselves take part and do not hesitate to comply with the joint opinion and decision of their ministers and advisers, why cannot such a beneficial system be maintained by a free people? Indeed, such a practice was formerly maintained and continued in the Zaporozhian Host under the rule of hetmans in accordance with old rights and liberties; however, some hetmans of the Zaporozhian Host, having unjustly or illegally usurped absolute power, established through their own authority this law: ’I wish so, and so I order.’ This despotic law, unbecoming to the hetman’s office, has resulted in the introduction into our fatherland and into the Zaporozhian Host of many abuses, violations of rights and liberties, public burdens, arbitrary and venal dispositions of military offices, and a low regard for general officers, colonels, and our distinguished comrades-in¬-arms. Therefore we, the general officers, the Chief Ataman, and the whole Zaporozhian Host, have concluded an agreement and decided together with His Highness the Hetman, on the occasion of his election, to adopt a law, which is to be preserved for ever in the Zaporozhian Host, that general officers should be [elevated to the position of] foremost councillors in our fatherland, both as a mark of respect for their original offices and because of their continuous residence at the Hetman’s side. They are to be followed in the usual order by colonels in command of town regiments, who should be honoured in a similar manner as public councillors. In addition, there shall be elected to the general council, with the Hetman’s consent, one dis¬tinguished, old, judicious, and worthy man from each regiment. The present Hetman, and his successors, shall consult these general officers, colonels, and general councillors concerning the integrity of the fatherland, its common weal, and all public affairs, and shall not undertake, establish, and execute anything through his personal authority without their prior advice and consent. Therefore now, on the occasion of the Hetman’s elec¬tion, in accordance with the unanimous decision of all, three general coun¬cils are scheduled to be held every year at the Hetman’s residence: the first one at Christmas, the second one at Easter, and the third one on the day of the Protection of the Most Blessed Mother of God. They shall be attended not only by the colonels with their officers and captains, and not only by general councillors from all regiments, but also by the representatives of the Zaporozhian Host of the Lower Dnieper, who, having received the Hetman’s summons, shall arrive at the specified time to take part in the deliberations and consultations. Whatever agenda His Highness the Het¬man will submit to the general council must be discussed by all conscien¬tiously, without anyone seeking private advantage for himself or anyone else, without any nefarious envy or vindictiveness, and in such a circum¬spect manner that nothing could occur during these deliberations that would reflect upon the Hetman’s honour and could result in public detri¬ment or even lead to the ruin and destruction of our fatherland. And if some public affairs demand speedy action, amendment, and expedition outside the aforementioned terms set for the meetings of the general coun¬cil, then His Highness the Hetman will have full power and authority to manage and direct such affairs with the advice of the general officers. Also, if any letters should arrive from foreign kingdoms and countries addressed to His Highness the Hetman, then His Highness shall inform the general officers and show them his response, without concealing any letters, espe¬cially those from foreign countries and those which could bring harm to the integrity of the fatherland and to the public welfare ... And if anything adverse, devious, harmful to rights and liberties, and disadvantageous to our fatherland should be observed in the conduct of His Highness the Het¬man, then the general officers, the colonels, and the general councillors will have the authority to express freely their opinion, bring it to the attention of His Highness, and voice their objections against the violation of our “ ancestral rights and liberties, either privately or, if an extreme and urgent need should arise, publicly in the council, without, however, detracting in the least from the Hetman’s high honour; [on his part,] His Highness the ‘Hetman must not show indignation at or take revenge for these reproofs, but should rather attempt to correct such deficiencies ... And just as the general officers, colonels, and general councillors are obliged to treat His Highness the Hetman with due respect and show him appropriate honour :i”and loyal obedience, so His Highness the Hetman should also show them reciprocal respect, and regard them as his comrades-in-arms and not as sergeants and subordinate helpers, and do so without obliging them intention¬[:ally to demean themselves by remaining standing in front of him in public, flan seemly and indecorous manner, except when this is required by necessity.
 
 
VII
 
If anyone of the general officers, colonels, and general councillors, distin¬guished comrades-in-arms, or other officials in authority over the common people should dare to commit the crime of affronting the Hetman’s honour, or should appear guilty of any other offence, His Highness the Hetman shall not himself punish such a defendant with his personal revenge and power, but shall refer such a criminal or civil case to the gen¬eral court, where justice will be administered to everyone without favoritism or hypocrisy.
…
 
 
IX
 
Since formerly there were always general treasurers in the Zaporozhian Host, who managed the public treasury, the mills, and all the revenue and duties pertaining to the treasury and administered them with the Hetman’s knowledge and approval, now likewise the same arrangement is being made by general agreement and established by an immutable law that, after the longed-for liberation of our fatherland from the Muscovite yoke, a general treasurer be elected according to the Hetman’s judgment and with public consent - a prominent, meritorious, prosperous, and hon¬est man, who will take responsibility for the public treasury, administer the mills and all the revenue, and direct them, with the Hetman’s knowl¬edge, to the public need and not to his private gain. His Highness the Hetman himself, however, shall have no claim to the public treasury and to the revenues pertaining to it and no right to direct them to his per¬sonal use, but must be satisfied with the income and revenues allocated to the Hetman’s office and person ... Colonels shall likewise have no interest in regimental treasuries and shall be satisfied with the income and estates pertaining to their office.
 
X
 
Just as His Highness the Hetman should direct and look into the arrange¬ments in our fatherland and in the Zaporozhian Host in accordance with the duties of his office, so also should he carefully and vigilantly see to it that no excessive burdens, taxes, seizures, and violent extortions are imposed on military and common people, who, forced by such imposi¬tions, are wont to move to foreign kingdoms and seek a more comfortable, . ., easier, and more peaceful life outside the borders of their own country ... And all the burdens and abuses weighing down the miserable common people have their origin in the greed for power of office buyers, who, with¬out relying on their own merits but prompted by an insatiable appetite to secure military and private offices for their private gain, corrupt and ensnare the Hetman’s heart with illicit gifts and, thanks to them, thrust their way, without a free vote and against law and equity, into the rank of colonel and into other offices. Therefore, let it be solemnly resolved that His Highness the Hetman must not be guided by any gifts and favours and must not appoint anyone to the rank of colonel or other military or civil office in return for a bribe, nor assign anyone arbitrarily to these positions, but that both military and civil officers, especially colonels, must be elected by a free vote and, after the election, be confirmed by the Hetman’s author¬ity; however, the election of these officers should not take place without the Hetman’s consent. The same law should also be observed by colonels, who must not appoint captains and other officers in return for bribes and other private favours without a free election by the whole century, and may not remove them from office at their personal discretion.
…
 
XIII
 
Be it decreed and confirmed by the authority of this electoral act that the chief (mother) city of Rus’ [Metropolis Urbs Rossiae], Kiev, and other cit¬ies of Ukraine [Ucrainae] preserve inviolable all the rights and privileges they have legally received, and that their confirmation is entrusted at the appropriate time to the Hetman’s power.
…
 
XVI
 
... This treaty and covenant is entrusted [to the Hetman] for its effective enactment and His Highness will deign to confirm it not only with his own signature and public seal, but also with a formal oath, which runs as follows:
I, Pylyp Orlyk, the newly elected Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host, swear-to-our Lord God glorified in the Holy Trinity that, having been elected, proclaimed, and raised to the supreme office of Hetman by free vote, according to the old laws and customs of our fatherland, with the consent of His Majesty the King of Sweden, our protector, by the general officers and the whole Zaporozhian Host, both that staying here at His Majesty’s and that remaining on the lower banks of the Dnieper and represented by its envoys, I will unfailingly fulfill all the compacts and covenants appended hereto and unanimously accepted, made into law, and confirmed all articles, commas, and periods by me and the Zaporozhian Host in the act of the present election. I [further] pledge to love my country Rus’ [Rox¬olanae], our mother, to be loyal to and take solicitous care of her, and to strive, as far as my strength, wisdom, and ability allow, for her common weal, her public integrity, and the extension of the rights and liberties of Zaporozhian Host. I pledge never to conclude any agreements with countries and peoples or within our fatherland that could bring or any harm to it, and pledge to make known to the general officers, and other appropriate persons secret messages from other coun¬tries harmful to our fatherland and to the rights and liberties of the Zapo¬rozhian Host. I promise and pledge to treat with respect worthy and meritorious persons in the Zaporozhian Host, to have affection for all comrades-in-arms of higher and lower rank who behave appropriately, a to mete out punishment to lawbreakers in accordance with the articles laws. So help me God, this inviolable Gospel, and the passion of Christ. I validate and confirm all this with my own signature and with the pu seal.
 
Enacted at Bendery, on the fifth day of April, in the year of Our Lord 1710.
 
[This constitution was ratified by King Charles XII of Sweden 10 May I710.]
 
Translated by Bohdan Budurowycz

Source:  League of Ukrainian Canadians.

In Latin here http://www.lucorg.com/block.php/block_id/26