gress, they directed their march, and penetrated, without resistance, to Madrid. Philip was obliged to remove, with his court, to Burgos: and the English and Portuguese, on the same day that they entered his capital in triumph, received intelligence, that the count de Santa Cruz had delivered Carthagena and the gallies into their hands. The archduke was proclaimed king of Spain, under the name of Charles III. and had he advanced immediately to the seat of power, the Spanish crown would have been transferred forever from the house of Bourbon. But he loitered unaccountably in the neighbourhood of Barcelona, while the English and Portuguese disolved in sloth and debauchery at Madrid. In the meantime, Philip V. having collected a superior army, Galway and las Minas were forced to quit that city. The duke of Berwick hung close on their rear, and gained some advantages over them; yet they, having effected a junction with the earl of Peterborough and the archduke, passed safely into the kingdom of Valencia, and disposed their quarters in such a manner as to cover the kingdoms of Arragon and Catalonia, and preserve, at the same time, a free entrance into Castile. Carthagena, however, was retaken before the close of the campaign. But that loss was more than balanced by the acquisition of the islands of Majorca and Ivica, which the Engligh fleet, under sir John Leake, subjected to the dominion of Charles III57. During these important transactions in the South and West of Europe, the affairs of the North and East had undergone a considerable change. The progress of that revolution it must now be our business to trace; as it begun, about this time, to threaten the confederates by its consequences. Charles XII. of Sweden, agreeable to the resolution which he had formed of dethroning the king of Poland, by 57. Mem. de Noailles, tom. ii. Burnet, book vii. Mem. vol. i. Duke of Berwick'e means means of the discontents of his own subjects, entered into a secret correspondence with Rajousky, the cardinal primate, who was active in rousing the jealousy of the nobles; so that Augustus II. found, on calling a diet, which broke up in a tumultuous manner, in February 1702, that the malecontents composed the majority of that assembly. The senate was not more loyally disposed. Willing, therefore, to humble himself before the Swedish monarch, rather than submit to the insolent demands of his factious subjects, Augustus attempted secretly to treat with that prince. But Charles, suspecting his design, and still burning with revenge, obstinately refused to see the countess of Koningsmark, a Swedish lady, who was intrusted with the negociation, while he received with the highest marks of respect an embassy from the senate. He assured the deputies, that he took arms against Augustus and the Saxons, not against the Poles, whom he should ever esteem his friends and allies. But instead of agreeing to a conference, as they proposed, he only told them bluntly, that he would confer with them at Warsaw 58. Charles accordingly marched toward that capital, which opened its gates to him on the first summons. The Polish nobility had chiefly retired to their country seats and the king to Cracow. While Augustus was there assembling his forces, the cardinal-primate, whose treachery was yet undiscovered, appeared among the few persons of distinction who still adhered to their sovereign, and intimated to him, that the king of Sweden was believed to be very well inclined to listen to terms of accommodation: and he humbly begged leave to wait on the terrible warrior for that purpose. His insidious offer was accepted, and he and count Lezinski had an audience of Charles in the neighbourhood of Warsaw. They found the Swedish monarch clad in a coat of coarse blue cloth, with brass buttons, large jack-boots, and 58. Voltaire, Hist. of Charles XII. buck buck-skin gloves that reached to his elbows. After they had talked together standing, for about a quarter of an hour, Charles put an end to the conference, by saying aloud, “I will never grant the Poles peace, till they have elected a new king59!" The primate, who expected such a declaration, ordered it to be notified to all the palatines; assuring them, that it gave him great concern, but representing, at the same time, the absolute necessity of complying with the request of the conquering Swede. Augustus, on receiving this intelligence saw that he must either relinquish his crown, or resolve to preserve it by force of arms: and he took the most vigorous measures for appealing to the decision of the sword. Having strengthened his Saxon guards, on which he placed his chief dependence, with the succours of the nobility of the palatinate of Cracow, who still remained faithful to him, and also with that body of Polish troops which bore the name of the Army of the Crown, he marched in quest of the king of Sweden. Nor was he long in meeting with his antagonist, that prince having already taken the field with the same. hostile views. The contending kings met in a spacious plain near Glissaw, between Warsaw and Cracow. Augustus led about twenty-four thousand men, Charles little above half that number, yet he advanced to the charge with intrepidity; and although the king of Poland performed every thing that could be expected from a gallant prince fighting for his crown, he was defeated with great slaughter. Thrice did he rally his troops in person, and attempt to restore the battle, but in vain: all his efforts were fruitless. The Saxons only could be said to fight for him. The Poles, who formed his right wing, gave ground in the beginning of the engagement. Some fled through fear, others from disaffection. The valour and good fortune of Charles prevailed. He gained a complete victory, with all the honours that could 59. Id. Ibid. attend attend it: he took possession of the enemy's camp; and their baggage, their cannon, and even the military chest of Augustus fell into his hands. The king of Sweden halted not a moment on the field of battle. He directed his march instantly to Cracow, which surrendered without firing a gun. Determined still to pursue Augustus, in order to prevent his assembling a new army, Charles quickly left that city; but his thigh-bone being broken soon after, in consequence of the fall of his horse, he was confined to his bed for six weeks. During this interval of repose, the king of Poland assembled a diet at Lublin; where, by his affability, engaging manner, and fine accomplishments, he in a great measure recovered the affections of his subjects. All the palatines swore that they would continue faithful to their sovereign. They agreed to maintain an army of fifty thousand men for his defence: and they resolved, that forty days should be allowed the king of Sweden finally to determine, whether he was disposed to peace or war1. Before the expiration of that term, Charles being able to go abroad, overturned all the resolutions of the diet at Lublin, by one assembled at Warsaw. Meanwhile, having received a strong reinforcement from Pomerania, he marched against the remains of the Saxon army, which he had defeated at Glissaw, and which had been collected and recruited during his confinement. He came up with the enemy on the first of May, 1703, at a place named Pultausk. General Stenau commanded the Saxons, who amounted to ten thousand men. The Swedes consisted only of an equal number; yet so great was the terror struck by the arms of Charles, that one half of the enemy fled at his approach, and the rest were soon routed and dispersed. Augustus himself retired. to Thorn, an ancient city on the Vistula, in Polish Prussia. Charles followed him and besieged the place, which surren 60. Partheny, Hist. Polog lib. iv. Voltaire, Hist. Charles XII. 61. Voltaire, ubi sup. dered dered within a month; but the king of Poland had found means, before it was regularly invested, to escape into Saxony62. The diet at Warsaw, through the intrigues of the cardinal-primate, now declared, "that Augustus, elector of Sax"ony, was incapable of wearing the crown of Poland;" and all the members, with one voice, pronounced the throne to be vacant, on the 14th of February, 1704. It was the intention of the king of Sweden, and the wish of the diet, to raise to the throne James Sobieski, eldest son of the late king; but that prince being taken prisoner, together with his second brother, Constantine, while hunting in the neighbourhood of Breslaw, in Silesia, by a party of the Saxon dragoons, the crown of Poland was offered to a younger brother, named Alexander, who rejected it with a generosity perhaps unexampled in history: Nothing, said he, should ever induce him to take advantage of the misfortune of his elder brothers: and he entreated Charles to employ his victorious arms, in restoring liberty to the unhappy captives 3. This refusal, and the misfortune which led to it, having disconcerted the measures of the Swedish monarch, his minister, count Piper, who was as great a politician as his master was a warrior, advised Charles to take the crown of Poland to himself. He represented how easy it would be to accomplish such a scheme, with a victorious army, and a powerful party in the heart of the kingdom, which was already subdued:—and he tempted him with the title of "De"fender of the Evangelical Religion;" an appellation which flattered the prejudices of the northern conqueror. What Gustavus Vasa had effected in Sweden, might be accomplished, the count affirmed, with the greatest facility in Poland; the establishment of the lutheran religion, and the enfranchisement of the people, now held in the most abject sla 62. Parth. Hist. Polog. lib. v. 63. Id. Ibid. VOL. IV. X X very |