to write and to order, and to do nothing yourself." Promising to do what he could, he ordered Mazeppa and his Cossacks to advance through Volynia toward Minsk, with provisions and forage, and made arrangements for their reception at Breszcz. At the same time, Peter took up the idea of protecting the western frontier of Russia by means of walls and ditches, and cutting down trees through the forest region from Pskof to Briansk, and further into the steppe. Cyril Naryshkin, the commandant of Dorpat, and the engineer Kortchmin, now a captain of the guard, were intrusted with this, and after two months of hard work had gone

far toward the fulfillment of his orders.

At Grodno there were two difficulties. Forage and provisions were rapidly getting out, and the letters and orders of Peter could not be read. They were all written in cipher, and Rönne had lost the key. Meanwhile the Saxon army, so impatiently expected at Grodno, had been defeated at Fraustadt, on the Silesian frontier, by Rehnskjöld. Prussian Jews first brought the intelligence, but no one wished to believe it.

Peter was angry and disappointed, and that made him unjust. He wrote to Golovín:

"HERR ADMIRAL: Before this I wrote to you of an unwished-for catastrophe, which I had heard from outsiders. Now, we have full information that all the Saxon army has been beaten by Rehnskjöld, and has lost all its artillery. The treachery and cowardice of the Saxons are now plain,-30,000 men beaten by 8000! The cavalry, without firing a single round, ran away; more than half of the infantry, throwing down their muskets, disappeared, leaving our men alone, not half of whom, I think, are now alive. God knows what grief this news has brought us, and by giving money we have only bought ourselves misfortune. In this occurrence the treachery

of Patkul will be plain, for I really think that he was taken prisoner only that no one might know about his treacherous conduct. The above-mentioned calamity, as well as the betrayal of the King by his own subjects, you can tell everybody (but put it much more mildly), for it cannot remain a secret. Still, tell it in detail to very few."

As soon as he had full details of the defeat at Fraustadt, Peter wrote to Ogilvy, ordering him to begin his retreat at the earliest possible date, although he thought it would be better to take advantage of the breaking up of the ice on the river, which would hinder the Swedes from crossing and following him. He recommended him to take with him nothing except the threepounders, and to throw all the rest of the artillery into the Nieman, and to conceal or destroy all munitions that he could

not carry with him. He advised him to retreat toward Slutsk, which was a strong place, and where he would be met by the Cossacks, and could make good his march toward Kief, for it was impossible to go either toward Wilna or Kovno. He bade him at the same time keep his preparations secret. Two days afterward, he repeated the same instructions. Ogilvy, in reply, said that he would obey the orders and retreat toward Breszcz. At the same time, he thought it would be better to remain there the whole summer. "Don't think of remaining in Grodno till summer," answered Peter, "for the enemy, after resting and getting growing forage, will not easily leave. you, while, on the contrary, their numbers will be increased by the corps of Rehnskjöld." After thus giving Ogilvy orders too strict to be disobeyed, and sending Prince Basil Dolgorúky to King Augustus, at Cracow, to explain the reasons of the retreat, Peter left Minsk, where he had been for a month, for St. Petersburg, giving the command of the troops collected there to Menshikóf.

At Toropétz he celebrated the name's-day of his son, the Tsarevitch Alexis, and passed Easter at Narva. "To-day," he wrote to Menshikóf," after morning service, we went first to your house and broke our fast, and at the end of the day finished our merriment there. In verity, praise be to God, we were merry, but our merriment without you, or away from you, is like food without salt." This letter was signed first by Menshikóf's sister, and then by the "Proto-Deacon " Peter, and all his companions, including even the servants.

Russian troops began their retreat from On that very day, the 4th of April, the Grodno. Three days afterward they were joined by Menshikóf. After taking up the garrison at Tikóczin, they reached Breszcz on the 15th of April, Kovel on the 24th, and Kief on the 19th of May. Between Grodno and Kief the country was entirely covered by forests and morasses, formed by the river Prípet and its tributaries. It was difficult, if not impossible, for the army to take the route recommended by Peter, toward Slutsk, for Charles and his troops barred the way. The only available road was that by the way of Breszcz, but it was going around half the circumference of a circle. Charles, who was attentively watching the movements of the Russians, and ready to attack them the moment they left their fortified camp, had occupied Wilna on

the one side, and had prepared a bridge at Orle, five miles above Zhelúdok, in order to attack them if they retreated into Volynia. His calculations were disturbed by the breaking up of the ice on the Nieman, which carried away his bridge, and for a week he could not move. At last his bridge was repaired, and he started in pursuit, but too late, for the Russians were already at Breszcz. Thinking to cut off their retreat, he advanced directly southward on the diameter of the circle, and the first day marched quickly over twenty-five miles. "It is impossible to describe," says the eye-witness, Adlerfeld, "how men and horses suffered in this march. The country was covered with marshes, the spring had thawed out the ground, the cavalry could scarcely move, the wagon-train got so deep

VOL. XXI.-53.

in the mud that it was impossible to advance, the King's carriage remained in the mire, while, as to provisions, we fared so badly that every one was happy who, in that desolate country, could pull a piece of dry bread out of his pocket." As the Swedes advanced into the forest region called Polésie, it was still worse. At last Charles saw the impossibility of catching up with the Russian army, and staid for two whole months in this swampy region, in the district of Pinsk, destroying the towns and villages, which were inhabited either by the partisans of Augustus or by the Little Russian Cossacks. Finally, after devastating the whole country, he turned into Volynia, gave his troops three weeks' rest, and, leaving Lutsk in the middle of July, returned to Saxony.

To one of his reports about the retreat, Menshikóf added the postscript: "I do not doubt that you will be very desirous to come to us; therefore, when you start, I beg you order our ladies to go to Smolénsk. Our route lies toward Kíef, whence, if the enemy does not follow us, we will advance to Býkhof, so as to take up our quarters between Kief and Smolénsk."

"Mein Bruder," replied Peter to Menshikóf, from St. Petersburg, on the 10th of May, 'it was with indescribable joy that I received Starik with letters when I was at Kronslot on the vice-admiral's ship Elephant, and immediately, in thanks to God, we had a triple salute from the ships and the fort. God grant in joy to see you and the whole army again. And how glad, and then how noisy we were on account of it, Starik himself will tell. For the good news that he brought us we gave him the rank of ensign, and I beg you to confirm it to him. To tell the truth, we were all glad to hear of these things, for, although we live in paradise, still we always had a pain in our hearts. Here, praise be to God, all is well, and there is nothing new of any sort. We will start from here next month. Don't doubt about my coming. If God send no obstacle, I shall certainly start at the end of this month. Earlier than that it is impossible, alas! not because I am amusing myself, but the doctors have ordered me to keep still and take medicine for two weeks, after bleeding me, which they began yesterday. Immediately after that I will come, for you yourself have seen in what state I was when we were separated from the army."

Peter, however, did not start before the middle of June, and arrived at Kíef about the middle of July, having been met at Smolensk by Menshikóf. Here he staid a month and a half, still expecting a Swedish invasion of Russia. As some protection against that, he set about building a new fortress around the great Petchérskaya Lávra of Kief, as Menshikóf had suggested. The fortifications of what was called Old Kief, standing on the low range above the still more modern town on the very bank of the Dnieper, were then abandoned, and left to fall in ruins. The fortified monastery still crowns the summit of the hill, commanding a distant and lovely view over the winding river and the broad plains to the east of it.

The difficulties between Menshikóf and Ogilvy had been of late constantly increasing. Menshikóf had not forwarded to the Tsar Ogilvy's reports written during the

retreat, on the pretext that there was nothing in them that Peter could not learn from his own letters, and on several occasions Menshikóf had interfered with Ogilvy's orders; and in Kief, without the field-marshal's knowledge, had had a salute fired for the victory over the rebels of Astrakhan. As Menshikóf himself wrote: "This caused us a little contra with the field-marshal. Still, after that he came to church where we were, stood a long time silent, but treated us in a very friendly and politic way, and said nothing about it.” Both from Kovel and Lutsk, Ogilvy had written asking, on account of ill-health, to be relieved from service, and allowed to leave Russia. In numerous letters he had complained of the meddling of Menshikóf, and had asked for strict instructions as to who was to be the commander-in-chief, as he did not wish to be saddled with the responsibility for the acts of others. "The general of the cavalry, without my knowledge, in the name of Your Majesty, ordered the whole army to go to Býkhof, and took on himself the air of commander-in-chief. He has about him a guard of infantry and cavalry with waving banners, and makes no account of me. Since then I have learned that, by his orders, Major Holland robbed a merchant from Breslau whom I had intrusted with taking to my sister-in-law various things which I had bought at Kief, as though they had been wrongly obtained. Loving my honor more than my life, I beg and demand satisfaction. As long as I have been at war, nowhere and never have people treated me so badly as here." King Augustus interfered in favor of Ogilvy, and wrote to Menshikóf: "Notwithstanding all his bad acts, we must let him go kindly and with politeness, and even with presents, so that he should not speak ill of the Tsar and of Your Highness. For presents he is very greedy, and is ready to sell his soul for them.” There was probably wrong and misunderstanding on both sides. Ogilvy, while appreciating certain qualities of the Russians, neither understood them nor had confidence in them. The Russian officers found it difficult to obey a foreigner whose orders they did not understand, and of whom, from the simple fact of his being a foreigner, they were suspicious. Menshikof, feeling himself to be the personal representative of the Tsar, certainly interfered in many ways with Ogilvy's plans and orders. and his conduct was always either condoned or approved by his master. The simplest

way, therefore, of settling the difficulty was to accept Ogilvy's resignation, and in October his formal papers were given to him, and his salary was paid in full. He seemed contented, and went away to Saxony, where he entered the service of King Augustus with the rank of field-marshal, and died four years later at Danzig. He was solemnly interred at Warsaw.

It now being ascertained that the Swedish troops had marched toward Saxony, Peter left Kíef and returned to St. Petersburg.

CHAPTER XXII.

AUGUSTUS AT LAST RESIGNS THE POLISH

CROWN.-1706.

EVEN in 1702 the French had suggested to Charles the possibility of compelling the abdication of Augustus by an invasion of Saxony, and there had been hints that even Saxony should be taken away from him. There were many Swedes who wished this with all their hearts, as they thought that thus an end would be sooner put to the When Charles was encamped so long at Rawicz, on the Silesian frontier, there was much talk on the subject, and many hoped that what they wished would now be done.

But as England, Holland, and Austria all protested against a step so fraught with danger to them, Charles resolved to banish all thoughts of it from his mind, and carefully avoid any further entanglement in the general policy of Europe. But he saw that although Stanislas was crowned, he was only kept in place by Swedish arms. Wherever the Swedish soldiers were, the country was for Stanislas; the moment they were withdrawn, the country was against Stanislas.

While in Volynia, Piper, who had up to that time been against an invasion of Saxony, communicated to the King the news of the French defeat at Ramillies, which made him very anxious, for he saw that the successes gained by the allies had encouraged the partisans of Augustus, and he feared lest the war of dethronement in Poland might last many years yet. He therefore suggested to the King that after all he might be compelled to invade Saxony, for otherwise it would be impossible to bring Augustus to an abdication. Charles at once became thoughtful, turned it over in his mind, called a council of war, and after listening patiently to the arguments of both sides, said that he had decided on the invasion. Leaving General Marderfelt, with 6000 Swedes and about double the number

of Poles, to keep order in Poland, Charles, with his main army, having taken a month and a half to traverse the kingdom, crossed the Silesian frontier near Herrnstadt at the end of August, 1706.

It was necessary to pass through Austrian dominions in order to reach Saxony, but Charles asked no consent of the Emperor. Augustus had several times broken the Austrian neutrality in a similar way, and why should Charles hesitate? Nevertheless he kept his troops in good order, marched as rapidly as possible, and reached the Saxon frontier five days after he had crossed the Oder. After swimming over the Oder at the head of his cavalry, he had indeed been

received by deputations of Silesian Protestants, who complained to him of the persecution they endured at the hands of their sovereign, and he had been unwise enough to promise them redress.

The Swedish invasion produced great alarm in Saxony. Every one knew the tradition of the "Kuhstall," and had heard of the Swedish plunderings and devastations during the Thirty Years' War. The alarm bells were still called the Swedish bells, and naughty children were awed with the "Swede-song." The royal family made haste to leave Dresden. The wife of Augus tus, Queen Christina Eberhardina, fled to her father, the Margrave of Baireuth. Her son,