loss of only twelve men on the part of the Swedes. Charles now directed his march upon Thorn, where Augustus had left 7000 men. He appeared before that town May 23rd, but did not succeed in taking it till October 15th, when it surrendered at discretion. The fortifications were now demolished, and the garrison sent to Sweden. Charles remained at Thorn till November 21st, and then put his army into winter-quarters in the neighbourhood of Dantzie and Elbing.

In the course of this summer Augustus had summoned another Diet at Lublin, which formed, as it were, the complement of that of Marienburg. This assembly showed itself favourable to the King. It again sanctioned the confederation of Sandomir, and authorised Augustus to take means for prosecuting the war; for which purpose the army of the crown was to be raised to 36,000 men, and that of Lithuania to 12,000; but Saxons were not to be admitted into it, nor was any alliance to be formed with Russia. It was resolved that the question of the King's deposition should never be debated in the Diet. The Primate had the boldness to appear in this assembly and declare that he had taken no part against the King. He was received with a tumult of indignation; the bitterest reproaches were levelled against him; shouts arose of "The Swedes' friend! the betrayer of his country!" nay, swords were even drawn; yet the prelate, by his imperturbable coolness, succeeded in allaying all this animosity, and even seemed to have convinced the assembly of his innocence! 26 The Diet resolved to despatch a deputation to Charles with terms of peace; he was to be allowed a space of six weeks to decide whether he would accept them; and if at the expiration of that period he should declare for war, Augustus was to be at liberty to seek foreign aid. The offers made by the Diet, which were supported by the Court of Vienna and the States-General, were, the confirmation of the Peace of Oliva and the complete neutrality of Poland. But Charles refused to receive any proposals that had not for their basis the deposition of Augustus, and in September he published a circular denouncing the proceedings of the Diet of Lublin. Augustus, in consequence, made a new treaty with the Czar, by which the latter engaged to send him 12,000 men, and promised 200,000 roubles yearly.27

Only a few months after these proceedings, the treacherous Primate summoned another Diet at Warsaw (January 1704); giving out that Charles, with whom he was in communication, and who sent two ambassadors to the assembly, would treat with the

25 Theatr. Europ., Th. xvi. pt. ii. p. 393.

27 Halem, Leben Peters des Grossen, B. i. S. 225.

230

STANISLAUS ELECTED KING OF POLAND.

[Book V. Polish Republic, but not with the Polish King. The Diet, which was composed of only ten senators and the nuncios of Grand Poland, formed itself into a confederation to effect the deposition of Augustus. The propositions made to Charles, through the Countess of Königsmark, which she had delivered into the hands of the Swedish ministers, were made a ground of accusation against Augustus. They proved that, in order to buy a peace, he had offered to cede some of the Polish provinces to Sweden. This charge excited universal indignation. Not a voice was raised in the King's favour; the throne was voted to be vacant, and on February 16th 1704, an interregnum was publicly proclaimed.

The Primate had been led, by his friendship for James Sobieski, to take this open and irretrievable step against Augustus. The memory of his father, King John, had rendered James Sobieski very generally popular among the Polish nobles; and it had been agreed, with the concurrence of Charles, to raise him to the throne. But Augustus frustrated this design by seizing the person of his intended successor. James Sobieski and his brother Constantine dwelt in the castle of Ohlau, near Breslau; and as they were one day riding towards that city they were suddenly surrounded by a party of Saxon dragoons and carried to Leipsic, where they were kept in a sort of honourable confinement in the Pleissenburg. Alexander, the youngest brother of John Sobieski, having declined the proffered crown, much difficulty arose as to the choice of a king. Four candidates appeared in the field: Jerome Lubomirski, grand general of the crown; Charles Stanislaus Radzivill, chancellor of Lithuania; Piemiazek, voyvode of Siradia; and Count Stanislaus Lesczinski, voyvode of Posen. The claim of Lubomirski was supported by the Primate; but Charles preferred Stanislaus. The Swedish army was moved towards Warsaw; a detachment appeared on the plain of Vola, the place of election; and on July 19th 1704, against the wish of the higher nobles, and without the concurrence of Radziejowski, Stanislaus was saluted King of Poland. 28

He was not, however, to enjoy his new dignity in quiet. Augustus, who had still a considerable party in his favour, had retired to Cracow, and afterwards, for greater security, to Sandomir, where his adherents, under the name of "Reconfederates," published a manifesto against the proceedings at Warsaw and the election of Stanislaus (July 28th). The new monarch was recognised by no Power except Sweden; and the Primate Radziejowski, who had ultimately acknowledged him, was deprived of all his dignities by a Papal bull. Soon after the election Charles and his army pro

28 Theatr. Europ., Th. xvii. p. 254.

ceeded to Heilsberg to levy contributions, leaving Stanislaus with only a few troops at Warsaw; and he afterwards marched into Red Russia, or Gallicia. Augustus quickly took advantage of this political as well as strategical error. By a rapid and dexterous march he pushed on his cavalry, among whom was a large body of Cossacks, to Praga; he himself, with the remainder of his forces, appeared before Warsaw, August 31st, and the Swedish general Horn was compelled to surrender the town and castle. Stanislaus now fled to Charles for protection; his estates, as well as those of the other confederates, were plundered; and he found himself deserted by many of the nobles who had adhered to him.

While these things were going on at Warsaw, Charles, whose chief object seems to have been plunder, was forming an expedition against Lemberg, the capital of Gallicia. Having failed to surprise that place with a body of horse, he captured it by assault at the head of his dismounted troopers, he himself being among the first to mount the ramparts. Here it was that he was joined by Stanislaus, and he now hastened to repair the faults he had committed. The march of the Swedish army was again directed upon Warsaw, before which it appeared October 24th, after capturing Zamosz by the way. Augustus, after making some show of disputing the passage of the Vistula, deemed it more prudent again to evacuate his capital, and fled with his cavalry to Cracow. The Swedish infantry now took possession of Warsaw, while Charles, with his horse, pursued the Saxon foot under Schulenburg, whom he overtook at Pünitz, in the palatinate of Posen. But Schulenburg, by the admirable disposition of his troops, resisted for some hours all the attacks of Charles, till night came to his assistance, during which he effected his retreat in good order. The Swedish troops were now put into winter-quarters along the frontiers of Silesia; while Augustus repaired to Dresden, his capital, and, as if with a presentiment of his fate, employed himself in putting the fortifications in order.

The following year (1705), though almost destitute of military events, was fertile of political ones. The Cardinal Primate, who had taken refuge at Dantzic, was at length persuaded to sanction the coronation of Stanislaus, but on condition that the King of Sweden should engage to support him during five years in his new dignity; that he should cease to levy the exorbitant war-taxes which were ruining the country, and that he should protect the Primate against the effects of the Pope's anger against him for having consented to the coronation.29 The Primate, however,

29 Lundblad, Th. i. S. 322.

232

CHARLES'S TREATY WITH THE POLES.

[Book V. declined to put the crown on the head of Stanislaus with his own hand, and that office was performed by the Bishop of Lemberg, October 3rd. Charles himself, accompanied by Count Piper and the Prince of Würtemberg, was present incognito at the ceremony; while the Swedish soldiers that guarded the church-doors betrayed the source to which Stanislaus owed his crown.

The Cardinal Primate survived this event only a few days. Stanislaus appointed the Bishop of Lemberg as his successor, while Augustus named the Bishop of Cujavia. As the confederates of Sandomir had mostly declared in favour of the conqueror, nothing now stood in the way of a treaty of peace and alliance between Sweden and the Polish Republic, which was accordingly signed at Warsaw, November 18th. The principal articles were, the confirmation of the Peace of Oliva; a general amnesty, except for the ci-devant King Augustus and his adherents, whether Saxons or others; no peace was to be made with Augustus till he should have renounced the Polish crown, and given satisfaction to the Republic, as well as to the King of Sweden, for all their losses by the war; the contracting parties were to pursue the war against the Czar of Muscovy with united forces till they had compelled him to give satisfaction; dissenters were to enjoy the free exercise of their religion; the Sapiehas, and other nobles of Lithuania, were to be restored to their estates and dignities.30

After these occurrences the only hope of Augustus seemed to rest on the friendship of the Czar Peter, with whom he had an interview at Grodno towards the end of the year. Augustus on his way thither was met at Tykoczyn by a large body of the most distinguished dignitaries and nobles of Poland, including Lubomirski, the general of the crown, who came to assure him of their friendship.. At Grodno the meetings of the Polish senators were attended both by Peter and Augustus; and a new treaty was concluded between the Czar and the Polish King.31 The Czar was called away to Moscow by some disturbances at Astrachan; but he left 15,000 men, under Ogilvy, at the disposal of Augustus. In spite, however, of Peter's friendly behaviour, Augustus put but little trust in him; and it was precisely at this time that he caused Patkul to be apprehended, who had left his service for that of Peter, and was now Russian envoy to the Saxon Court. Patkul, who was suspected of endeavouring to promote a peace between the Czar and the King of Sweden, was confined in the fortress of Königstein.32

so Dumont, t. viii. pt. i. p. 173. 31 Peter's Tagebuch, B. i. S. 152; Gordon, Peter the Great, vol. i. p. 178.

32 The circumstances of Patkul's arrest are fully related and explained by Hermann, Gesch. Russlands, B iv. S. 197-223.

Charles XII. set out in mid winter with 20,000 men to attack Augustus at Grodno, before which place he arrived towards the end of January. In this ill-considered expedition the Swedish army suffered incredible hardships from cold and hunger, of which, however, if it be any excuse, it must be allowed that Charles himself bore his share. Nor did they meet with the slightest reward for all these hardships. Augustus escaped from Grodno with his cavalry; the Russian infantry shut themselves up in the town, and Charles, who could neither besiege nor assault it, retired to Kamionka, a place at some little distance, where he and his army lay two or three months inactive, enduring the greatest privation and misery.33 Augustus had ordered Schulenburg to march with the troops cantoned in Silesia to the relief of Grodno; but he was defeated at Frauenstadt (February 13th 1706) by the Swedish general Rehnskiöld, when the Saxon infantry was almost annihilated. After all, the Russian infantry, under Ogilvy, escaped Charles's vigilance, and made good their retreat in the spring from Grodno into Volhynia, whither he immediately followed them. His reasons for this difficult and dangerous march through almost impassable forests and morasses are said to have been to refresh his troops in Volhynia, and to annihilate the party of Augustus in that province. The Russians had placed themselves out of his reach by crossing the Dniepr; and though the Volhynians acknowledged Stanislaus with their lips, it was evident that their new-born devotion would vanish as soon as Charles's back was turned. The only satisfaction he derived from this laborious expedition was the maintaining his army and replenishing his military chest at the expense of the nobles who adhered to Augustus.

At length, however, after so many campaigns without a plan, Charles hit upon a scheme which might have put an end to his struggle with the Polish King some years earlier. He resolved to march into Saxony and dictate a peace to Augustus in his own capital. Although Charles kept his design concealed even from his own generals till the last moment, yet his movements appear to have raised a suspicion of it in the mind of Augustus, who, with view to divert him from his enterprise, had formed a junction in Lithuania with 20,000 Russians under Prince Menschikoff. But

"Charles's disregard of physical obstacles frequently amounted to a want of common sense. Thus, after breaking up from Grodno and arriving at the Niemen, it was found that the ice had been melted by the sun so as to render it unsafe. Charles, however, impatient of the slow

process of throwing a bridge over the stream, attempted to cross it on foot; when the ice breaking, he was precipitated into the water, and was with difficulty brought out alive! Lundblad, Th. i. S. 345.