EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY

EDITED BY ERNEST RHYS

BIOGRAPHY

VOLTAIRE'S HISTORY
OF CHARLES TWELFTH
INTRODUCTORY NOTE BY
RT. HON. JOHN BURNS, M.P.
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VHIOLSTTAOIRRYE'Sof
CHARLES XII
KING
SWEDEN
Translated 6y
WINIFRED «-<D
TODHUNTER

LONDON: PUBLISHED
byJ-M-DENT S-SONS-IS3
AND IN NEW YORK
BY E-P- DUTTONSCO
FIRST ISSUE OF THIS EDITION . 1908
REPRINTED .... 1912
 PREFATORY NOTE
" To Charles the Twelfth of Sweden I owe much
of what has stood me in best stead all my life. It
was nearly thirty years ago, when but a boy, that
I bought his Life for a penny in the New Cut. I
took it home and devoured it. It made a great
impression on me. Not his wars, but the Spartan
heroism of his character. He inspired me with the
idea of triumphing over physical weakness, weari
ness and pain. To inure his body to bear all manner
of hardships indifferently, to bathe in ice, or face
the torrid rays of the sun, to discipline his physical
powers by gymnastics, to despise the niceties of
food and drink, to make his body an instrument as
of tempered steel, and at the same time to have that
body absolutely at the disposition of the mind, that
seemed to me conduct worthy of a hero. And so,
boylike, I tried to imitate him, and succeeded at
least so far as to be happily indifferent to the circum
stances of my personal environment."
JOHN BURNS.
" Och an ar det likt det slagte som boi
Bland Nordiska fjellar och dalar,
Och annu pa Gud och pi Stalet det tror,
An fadernas karnsprik det talar."
And still as of old are the folk that abide
'Mid northerly mountain and valley ;
In God and their weapons they ever confide,
To voice of their fathers they rally.
 INTRODUCTION
THE " Life of Charles XII " that Mr. John Burns
once bought for a penny in the New Cut— an inci
dent in itself historical if one looks at it in the right
way — Was, he writes to say, an English version of
Voltaire's book. The " Histoire de Charles XII,
Roi de Suede," was first published at Rouen in
1731, first freely translated into English by Alex
ander Henderson in 1734, and soon afterwards
reduced into a chap-book, which made the King
a proverbial hero in English fairs and market
places. There have been other translations since
Henderson's, and it is now retranslated by Miss
Todhunter with a closer correspondence than his
to Voltaire's original.
The book may claim a particular right to an
English hearing, apart from the main interest of
its subject. It was in England that the life of
Charles XII was written by Voltaire, when he
was on a visit of exigency there after the Rohan
escapade and his second Bastille imprisonment.
The effect of this stay in England was that of a
determining event in his career. " Voltairism,"
writes Mr. John Morley, " may be said to have
begun from the flight of its founder from Paris to
London. This, to borrow a name from the most
memorable instance of outward change marking
inward revolution, was the decisive 'hegira,' from
which the philosophy of destruction in a formal
shape may be held seriously to date." We may
supplement this passage from the criticism of a
ix A 2
x Introduction
French critic of another school, who says, " Eng
land at this time was worked by a spirit of dog
matic irreligion which based itself on a false
erudition, a bold criticism and an insidious meta-
physic. It was the time of Woolston, of Toland,
of Tindal, of Chubb, of Collins, of Bolingbroke.
Until then, an insouciant disciple and imitator of
the epicureans of the Temple and the rou£s of the
Regency, Voltaire had only ventured on impiety by
sallies; dogmas and mysteries had so far only
Inspired him with bon mots. In the school of the
English philosophers he learnt to reason out his
incredulity."
Voltaire had had time by this to mend his youth
and find his intellectual stature. Born in 1694, he
was now a man approaching thirty-three. He had
written plays, for his love for the theatre, as it
lasted late in him, began early; he had completed
his epic, " la Henriade "; he had used his wit irre
sponsibly, and, thanks to it, had twice been in the
Bastille. In England he learnt, if one may say so,
to take his wit seriously, that is, to realize it as a
decisive weapon in his inevitable revolt and warfare.
Similarly he was to use some of his other faculties
in their most adroit perfection. If in the " Henri
ade " the epic method had failed him, considered
by the side of other poems as ambitious and as
long, he was able to sit down on his return from
his English exile and complete this rapid piece of
biography, in effect a short prose epic, which
shows us the narrative art used by a consummate
master in that art.
More than this we need not claim for him. If we
admit Carlyle's stigma of " persifleur " as apply
ing to his first period, we need not go on to write
him down now philosopher, by way of compensa
tion, because he had studied for a brief period under
 Introduction xi
certain notorious English philosophers. He was
neither a persifleur nor a philosopher : he was a
militant scribe and hyper-critic with a master bias,
anti-religious or anti-Catholic, and an inimitable
gift of expression. We see his gift in a very lumin
ous special form in his " Charles XII," which
luckily need offend no man's susceptibilities.
We do not know whether that extraordinarily
long indicative nose of his was at this time as
telling a sign of his character, backed by his keen
twinkling black eyes, as it became later? The two
best pen-portraits of Voltaire we have belong to a
later day than 1728, when " Charles XII " was
written. The first takes us to the year when his
" S^miramis " was produced, when he appears in
a strange disguise among the casual nightly appari
tions of the Cafe de Procope.
" M. de Voltaire, who always loved to correct his
works, and perfect them, became desirous to learn,
more specially and at first hand, what good or ill
the public were saying of his Tragedy; and it
appeared to him that he could nowhere learn it
better than in the Cafe de Procope, which was also
called the Antre (Cavern) de Procope, because it
was very dark even in full day, and ill-lighted in
the evenings ; and because you often saw there a
set of lank, sallow poets, who had somewhat the
air of apparitions. In this cafe, which fronts the
Com^die Franchise, had been held, for more than
sixty years, the tribunal of those self-called
Aristarchs, who fancied they could pass sentence
without appeal, on plays, authors and actors. AM. de
3
Voltaire wished to compear there, but in disguise
and altogether incognito. It was on coming out
from the playhouse that the judges usually pro
ceeded thither, to open what they called their great
sessions. On the second night of * Se"miramis '
xii Introduction
he borrowed a clergyman's clothes; dressed himself
in cassock and long cloak ; black stockings, girdle,
bands, breviary itself; nothing was forgotten. He
clapt on a large peruke, unpowdered, very ill
combed, which covered more than the half of his
cheeks, and left nothing to be seen but the end of
a long nose. The peruke was surmounted by a
large three-cornered hat, corners half bruised-in.
In this equipment, then, the author of * Se"mi-
ramis ' proceeded on foot to the Cafe" de Procope,
where he squatted himself in a corner; and waiting
for the end of the play, called for a bavaroise, a
small roll of bread, and the Gazette. It was not
long till those familiars of the Parterre and tenants
of
ingthethecafe"
new stept in. They
Tragedy. Its instantly
partisans began
and itsdiscuss
adver
saries pleaded their cause with warmth; each
giving his reasons. Impartial persons also spoke
their sentiment; and repeated some fine verses of
the piece. During all this time, M. de Voltaire,
with spectacles on nose, head stooping over the
Gazette which he pretended to be reading, was
listening to the debate; profiting by reasonable
observations, suffering much to hear very absurd
ones and not answer them, which irritated him.
Thus, during an hour and a half, had he the courage
and patience to hear * Se"miramis ' talked of and
babbled of, without speaking a word. At last, all
these pretended judges of the fame of authors
having gone their ways, without converting one
another, M. de Voltaire also went off; took a coach
in the Rue Mazarine, and returned home about
eleven o'clock. Though I knew of his disguise, I
confess I was struck and almost frightened to see
him accoutred so. I took him for a spectre, or shade
of Ninus, that was appearing to me; or, at least,
 Introduction xiii
for one of those ancient Irish debaters, arrived at
the end of their career, after wearing themselves
out in school-syllogisms. I helped him to doff all
that apparatus, which I carried next morning to its
true owner — a Doctor of the Sorbonne."
Another cartoon, still better known, is that of the
familiar scene of his apotheosis at the Com^die
Franchise. A briefer sketch of that same year of
his death, 1778, may be given, because it contrasts
with his sharp sketch of Charles XII at Adria-
nople, carried on a sofa from his carriage, when,
to avoid been seen, the King covered his face with
a cushion —
" M. de Voltaire appeared in full dress on Tues
day, for the first time since his arrival in Paris. He
had on a red coat lined with ermine ; a large peruke,
in the fashion of Louis XIV, black, unpowdered ;
and in which his withered visage was so buried
that you saw only his two eyes shining like car
buncles. His head was surmounted by a square
red cap in the form of a crown, which seemed only
laid on. He had in his hand a small nibbed cane ;
and the public of Paris, not accustomed to see him
in this accoutrement, laug'hed a good deal."
One interesting point about Voltaire's English
associations, in so far as they prepare the way for
the writing of his " Charles XII," has not hitherto
been pointed out. It is this : that a history of the
" Wars of Sweden," written by no less a hand than
Defoe's, was in existence when Voltaire was study
ing English literature in London. The work, or
at any rate its first part, was anonymously pub
lished, like Voltaire's, in 1715; a continuation was
added, and the two parts were then issued together
in 1720. Between these two dates, let us note, or
in 1719, " Robinson Crusoe " had appeared.
xiv Introduction
Defoe's career has some incidents of prison and
persecution that are like enough to Voltaire's to
warrant a fanciful apposition of the two rebel
authors. He was in severe straits when he wrote
the first part of his Wars of Charles XII ; deeply
involved in political intrigues. He had had, too, a
severe illness — a violent fit of apoplexy — at the end
of the previous year ; and his trial for libelling Lord
Annesley in the whig " Flying Post " was impend
ing. His sentence, and curious escape from being
imprisoned, and his " Hymn to the Mob," have at
best a remote bearing on the present book. But one
notes these ironical lines to the Mob as having an
added irony, when read in the light of his " Charles
XII " and Voltaire's interest in his writings —
" Thou art the Essence of the War ;
Without thee who wou'd in the Field appear?
'Tis all thy own, whoever gets the Praise —
Thy Hands that fight, and 'tis thy purse that pays.
How partial is the common state of things,
And how unjust the Fame of Emperors and Kings ! "
Defoe's " History of the Wars " is written as
" by a Scots gentleman in the Swedish service."
It is a more documentary book than Voltaire's, to
all outward appearance ; and in it he has written
with characteristic fidelity to the make-believe of his
literary double the pseudo " Scots gentleman." It
has much the air of the off-hand, matter-of-fact
military narrator, who does not look for rhetorical
openings, or greatly trouble himself to make the
most of his subject.
In his preface he says of Charles XII : " He has
done Actions that Posterity will have room to Fable
upon, till they make his History Incredible, and
turn it into Romance." The romance is already
in process in Defoe's pages. The following passage
 Introduction xv
in the text may be quoted to give an idea of his
Scots gentleman's estimate of the King —
" And such as these were his Discourses to us,
who were his Servants, which so effectually con-
vinc'd us, that his Cause was just, and his Founda
tions right, that however black the Prospect was,
which we had before us; for we could see nothing
attending us in the Process of the War, but Death,
or being made Prisoners of War, which among
Northern Princes especially, is but one Degree less
in its Nature to a Soldier; and yet it must be said,
in Honour of his Sivedish Majesty's Service, and of
his Servants too; that not an Officer of Note
deserted him to the Day of his Death, or quitted his
Service, tho' always unfortunate; nay, even the
foreign Officers did not desert him ; for we all
thought, so much Virtue, such personal Bravery,
such gallant Principles, such immoveable Steadi
ness, could not fail, but one Time or other must
necessarily have a Turn of Fortune in the World,
must some Time or other find Friends to support
it : For who could . imagine, that so gallant a
Prince should at once be abandon 'd of all the
Princes of the Earth, from whom any Assistance
could be expected; and that he, whose Ancestors
had been the Refuge and Sanctuary of all the Pro
testant Powers and Princes in Germany, in their
Distress, should at last receive Help from none of
the Successors of those very Princes, who were
establish 'd by the Blood and Power of Sweden; nay,
to apply it nearer, should at last be driven out of his
Possessions by those very Powers, whose Ancestors
ow'd the Being of their Government, to the Gal
lantry and Friendship of the King of Sweden's
Predecessors."
Other extracts might be made which would show
that Defoe was writing at his utmost stretch of
xvi Introduction
speed when he wrote the " History." This, too,
is proved by the occasional gaps, dates left blank,
and uncorrected errors of fact, or of the press.

Voltaire's book, on the other hand, though it

repeats some of Defoe's errors, is an admirably
adroit, and a well-poised and considered biography :
one of the best biographies of great soldiers ever
given to the world. We may conclude, if we will,
that Voltaire's English experiences in the decisive
years of the writing of the book, which un
doubtedly gave a new force and impulse to his
genius, helped him also to his particular mastery
in this vein. His tribute to England in his " Lettres
Philosophiques sur les Anglais " is an indirect
testimony to his intellectual expatriation ; and with
these two books and his tragedy, "Zaire," which
followed in 1732, Voltaire may be said to have
attained his brilliant majority.
The students of history who wish to collate Vol
taire's book with later authorities may be recom
mended to turn to Mr. Nisbet Bain's volume on
Charles XII, in the " Heroes of the Nations "
series, Mr. Oscar Browning's monograph, and
Schuyler's " History of Peter the Great."
E. R.

The following are the works of Voltaire —

Dramatic Works: — (Edipe. 1718; Artemire, 1720:
Mariamne, 1724; Zaire, 1732; Samson (opera), 1732;
L'Enfant Prodigue, 1736 ; Mahomet, ou le Fanatisme,
1742; Merope, 1743 5 Semiramis, 1748; Nanine, 1749;
Oreste, 1750; L'Orpheline de la Chine, 1755; Tancrede,
1760; L'Ecossaise, 1760; Le Depositaire, 1772; Irene,
1778; Agathocles, 1779 (performed on the anniversary ot
the poet's death). Other dramas and operas.
Poems: — La Bastille, 1717; La Henriade (fraudulently
published as La Ligue, 1723-4) 1728; Mort de Mile.
Lecouvreur, 1730 ; Temple du Goto, 1733 (prose and verse) ;
 Bibliography xvii
Le Mondain, 1736; Discours sur 1'homme (fipitres sur le
Bonheur, 1738-9); Sur les Evenements de 1744; Fontenoi,
Temple de la Gloire, 1745 ; La Pucelle d'Orle'ans,
1745 ;(some
1755 of the "Chants" had been in circulation since
1735), in twenty Chants, 1762 ; a supplemental one, " La
Capilotade," appeared separately in 1760 ; Sur le desastre de
Lisbonne, 1756 ; Sur la Loi Naturelle, 1756; La Vanite, Le
Pauvre Diable, Le Russe a Paris, 1760 ; Contes de Guillaume
Vade (with prose, 1764) ; La Guerre Civile de Geneve
(burlesque poem), 1768 ; Les Trois Empereurs en Sorbonne,
1768; Epitre a Borleau, 1769; Les Systemes, Les Cabales,
1772 ; La Tactique, 1773 ; and others.
Prose Tales :— Le Monde comme il va (or Babouc), 1746 ;
Zadig, 1748 (published in 1747 as " Memnon, Histoire
Orientelle") ; Memnon, ou la Sagesse Humaine, 1749;
Micromegas, 1750; L'Histoire d'un Bon Bramin, 1759;
Candide, 1759; Le Blanc et Le Nmr, 1764; Jeannot et
Colin, 1764; L'HommeauxQuaranteEcus, 1767 ; L'Ingenu,
1767 ; La Princesse de Babylone 1768 ; Histoire de Jenny,
1769: Lettres d'Amabed, 1769; Le Taureau Blanc, 1774;
Les Oreilles du Comte de Chesterfield, 1774 ; and others.
Historical Works :— Histoire de Charles XII, 1731 ; Siecle
de Louis XIV, 1751 ; enlarged edition 1753 (two chapters
had been printed and suppressed in 1739) j Abrege de
1'Histoire Universelle, vols. i and ii, 1753; vol. iii, 1754;
complete edition, 1756 (fragments had appeared in 1745) ;
Annales de 1' Empire, 1753 ; Precis du Siecle de Louis XV,
published in part 1755 an^ T763> with additional chapters,
1769; Essai sur 1'Histoire Generale et sur les Mceurs et
1'Esprit des Nations depuis Charlemagne jusqu'a nos jours,
five vols, 1756, given in vol. vii of Siecle de Louis XIV
(some chapters had appeared in the " Mercure " in 1745-6) ;
Histoire de Russie sous Pierre le Grand : first part, 1759 ;
second part, 1763 ; La Philosophic de 1'Histoire, 1765 (later
the " Discours preliminaire " to "Essai sur les Mceurs");
La Defense de mon Oncle (in reply to an adverse criticism
on the above work), 1767 ; Le Pyrrhonism de 1'Histoire,
1768; Fragments sur 1'Histoire Generale (Pyrrhonism and
Tolerance), 1773.
Works on Philosophy and Religion :— Epitre philosophique
a Uranie, 1732 ; Lettres sur les Anglaises (twenty-four letters),
I733>/ !734
Traite (also published1734;
de Metaphysique, as ".Lettres
Elements Philosophiques")
de la Philosophic ;
de Newton, 1738; Metaphysique de Newton, 1740 ; Articles
for the Encyclopedic, 1757 ; Dictionnaire Philosophique
Portatif, 1764 ; Catechisme de 1'Honnete Homme, 1763 ; Le
xviii Bibliography
Philosophe Ignorant, 1766; La Raison par Alphabet (new
edition of the Dictionnaire Philosophique), 1769 ; Lettres de
Memmius, 1771 ; Questions sur 1'Encyclopedic par des
Amateurs, 1770-2 ; Lettres Chinoises, Indiennes, et Tartares
par un Benedictin, 1776 ; Memoires pour servir a la vie de
M. Voltaire (printed 1784) ; and others.
Critical Works :— Essai sur la Poesie, 1726 ; Utile Examen
des Epitresde J. J. Rousseau, 1736 ; Lettres sur la " Nouvelle
Heloise," 1761 ; Appel a toutes les Nations de 1'Europe des
"!..-•• »:n*-tto jrl'im A/-**-i troi-r\ Ar^rrloic- /1of*vr Irr»oii7« o c ** Pin rTVl^afr/»

Republi . ...
Corneille (with translation of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar "),
1764; Examen Important de Milord Bolingbroke, 1767;
Commentaire Histprique sur les QEuvres de 1'auteur de la
Henriade, 1776; Eloge et Pensees de Pascal (corrected and
enlarged edition), 1776; Commentaire sur 1'Esprit des Lob
de Montesquieu, 1777 ; and others.
Miscellaneous Writings: — Epitres aux Manes de Genon-
ville, 1729; fipitre des Vous et des Tu, 1732; Sur la
Calomnie, 1733; Anecdotes sur Pierre le Grand, 1748:
Mensonges Imprimes (on Richelieu's Will)), 1749; Des
Embellissements de Paris, 1750 ; Remerciement sincere a
un Homme Charitable, 1750; Diatribe du Doctor Akakia,
1752; Les Quand, 1760; Writings for the rehabilitation
of Jean Galas, who had been unjustly executed, 1762 ;
Traite sur la Tolerance a 1'occasion de la Mort de
Jean Galas, 1763 ; Le Sentiment des Citoyens (attack on
Rousseau), 1764; Discours aux Welches, 1764; Les Anciens
et les Modernes, ou la Toilette de Mme. de Pompadour,
1765 ; Commentaires sur le livre des delits et des peines.
1766 ; Le Cri des Nations (against Papal domination), 1769 ;
De la Paix Perpetuelle (on fanaticism and tolerance), 1769;
La Meprise d' Arras (on another judicial mistake), 1771 ;
Eloge de Louis XV; de la Mort de Louis XV et de la
Fatal ite, 1774 ; and other works.
Editions of Voltaire's works include a few works on
physics and an enormous correspondence.
Chief General Editions of Works:— Ed. Beaumarchais,
etc., 70 vols. 8°, 1784; 92 vols. 12°, 1785-90; Beuchot, 70
vols., 1828, etc. ; Ed. du Siecle, 8 vols., 1867-70; Molancl,
50 vols., 1877-83; with "Table Generate et Analytique,"
by Charles Pierrot, 1885 ; Selections have been published,
and separate volumes of letters.
Bibliography :— G. Bengesco, 1882-90.
Life, etc. :— Condorcet, 1787 ; G. Desnoireterres, "Voltaire
 Bibliography xix
et la Societe Francaise au XVIIIme Siecle," 1871-76 ; Long-
champ et Wagniere, " Memoires sur Voltaire, et ses ouvrages,"
1825 ; Bersot, Etudes sur leXVIIIme Siecle, 1855 ; A. Pier-
ron, "Voltaire et ses Maitres," 1866; Maynard, "Voltaire;
sa vie et ses oeuvres," 1867 ; D. F. Strauss, 1870 ; J. Morley.
1872, 1886 ; James Fasten, 2vols., 1881 ; G. Maugras, " Vol-
taire et Jean Jacques Rousseau," 1886 ; E. Faguet, 1895 5
E. Champion, " Voltaire : Etudes Critiques," 1897 ; L.
Cronsle, 1899 ; G. Lanson, 1907 ; and in Sainte-Beuve,
"Causeries du Lundi," vol. ii; Brunetiere, "Etudes
Critiques," vols. i, iii, iv.
 TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
" CHARLES XII " was written during the years
1727 and 1728. It is more than 170 years since it
was first translated into English. Opinions of its
merits differ widely. Macaulay, classing it with
Boswell's " Johnson " and Marmontel's " M£m-
oires," says that it " may be perused with delight
by the most frivolous and the most indifferent."
Carlyle goes even further: "'Charles XII,'" he
writes, " may still pass for a model in that oft-
attempted species of biography; the clearest details
are given in the fewest words; we have sketches
of strange men and strange countries, of wars,
adventures, negotiations, in a style which for
graphic brevity rivals Sallust. It is a line engrav
ing on a reduced scale of that Swede and his mad
life, without colours, yet not without the fore-
shortenings and perspectives of a true picture. In
respect of composition, whatever may be said of its
accuracy and worth otherwise, we cannot but reckon
it as greatly the best of Voltaire's histories."
Adverse criticism, on the other hand, began as
early as 1732, when La Mottraye, who had lived on
terms of intimacy with the King, wrote a scathing
criticism of Voltaire's work. Voltaire succeeded
in making a laughing-stock of this gentleman, but
the publication of the works of Nordberg, the
King's chaplain, and of Adlerfelt, his chamberlain,
shortly afterwards, did bring discredit on some of
Voltaire's details. Of the modern school of critics,
xxii Translator's Note
Mr. Nisbet Bain, who has made a special study
of original authorities, does not hesitate to call the
book a " romance."
Underlying this difference of opinion is the time-
honoured question of the " scientific " as opposed
to the " epical " treatment of the lives of the great.
The history of any great man's career is a kind of
epic poem, and, to borrow Mr. Bin-ell's words, " I
do not see why we children of a larger growth
may not be interested in the annals of mankind
simply as a story."
It must, indeed, be admitted that Voltaire is no
precise or scientific historian ; but, in the portrayal
of the life of a man of action, rapidity and charm
of style is surely as important as the careful tracing
of cause and effect.
Voltaire's literary style is famous; but work of
high literary merit always suffers in translation ;
so that any roughness in the present rendering must
be attributed to the translator and not to the author.

" Ett vet jag som airing- dor —

Det ar dom ofver dod man."
One thing- I know that never dies —
The verdict passed upon the dead.

" The history of Sweden is the history of her

kings," and of those kings the most striking is
undoubtedly Charles XII, the Lion of the North.
One of the few heroic figures in a prosaic age, he
seems to belong rather to the times of Alfred the
Great and Charlemagne than to those of Riche
lieu and Louis XIII. He has well been called
" the last of the Vikings," for the extraordinary
nature of his adventures no less than his dauntless-
ness and endurance make him a kind of Saga-hero.
 Translator's Note xxiii
The stories told of his childhood show the begin
nings of those Spartan powers of enduring hard
ship which made him the idol of his " brave blue
boys " in later life.
It is said that at the age of six he almost killed
himself by leaving his bed in a Swedish mid-winter
to " harden himself " by sleeping on the bare
boards. The obstinacy which was the most marked
characteristic of his boyhood developed in after
years into the resolution with which as a mere
youth he faced the treachery of his neighbours.
" I am resolved," he said in his first speech to his
Parliament, " never to begin an unrighteous war,
but I am also resolved never to finish a righteous
war until I have completely humbled my enemies."
In all matters of convention he was " in his
simplicity sublime." He cared nothing for the pomp
of sovereignty, and always wore a soldier's plain
buff coat; he took his meals standing, spreading
the bread and butter, which was his usual fare,
with his thumbs. His letters to his sister (whom
he addresses as " mon cceur ") are full of real
affection, and a glance at them dispels the popular
illusion that he was cold and heartless, just because
he could resist the blandishments of Anna von
Konigsm'arck !
Apart from occasional lapses into the fatalism
characteristic of his race, he seems to have been
devout. Shortly after his accession he ordered the
titles " Our Most Gracious Majesty " to be removed
from the liturgy, on the ground that " Almighty
God is not appeased by high-sounding titles but
by the prayers of humble and faithful hearts."
He was the last to lose heart in adversity; he
lost his Empire with as good a grace as he won it.
'* It is only requisite," he wrote after Pultawa,
xxiv Translator's Note
where all was lost but honour, " not to lose courage,
or let go the conduct of affairs."
His early death was a disaster not only for
Sweden but for the whole of Europe, for he was
the first to realize and check the growing power
of Russia.
BOOK I
HISTORY OF CHARLES XII
KING OF SWEDEN

BOOK I
Outline of Swedish history up to the time of Charles XI
— Charles's education — His enemies — Character-
sketch of the Czar, Peter Alexiowitz — His peculiar
ities — Alliance of Russia, Poland, Denmark against
Charles XII.

THE kingdom which is made up of Sweden

and Finland is, according to our measurement,
about 200 leagues broad and 300 long, and
stretches from south to north as far as the
55th degree or thereabouts. The climate is
severe; there is scarcely any spring or autumn,
but there are nine months of winter in the year,
and the heat of summer follows hard upon
the excessive cold of winter. Frost from the
month of October onwards is continuous, nor
are there any of those imperceptible grada
tions between the seasons which, in other
countries, render changes less trying. In com
pensation Nature has endowed the Swedes with
clear sky and pure air. The summer sunshine,
which is almost continuous, ripens fruit and
flowers very rapidly. The long winter nights
are shortened by the twilight evenings and
4 History of Charles XII
dawns, which last in proportion to the sun's
distance from Sweden ; and the light of the
moon, unveiled by any clouds, and intensified
by reflection from the snow-clad ground, and
often, too, by lights like the Aurora Borealis,
makes travelling in Sweden as easy by night
as by day.
The fauna are smaller than in the more
central parts of Europe, on account of the poor
pastures. The people are well developed ; the
purity of the air makes them healthy, and the
severity of the climate hardens them. They )
live to a good old age when they do not under- I
mine their constitutions by the abuse of strong
drink, which Northern nations seem to crave
the more because they have been denied them
by Nature.
The Swedes are well built, strong and active,
and capable of undergoing the most arduous
labours, hunger and want; they are born
fighters, high spirited and daring rather than
industrious. They have long neglected com
merce and are still poor business men, though
commerce
wants. alone can supply their country's
Tradition says that it was chiefly from
Sweden (a part of which is still called Goth
land) that there poured those hordes of Goths
who overran Europe and wrested it from the
sway of Rome, who for the past 500 years
had played the role of tyrant, usurper and law
giver in that country. The Northern countries
 History of Charles XII 5
were at that time far more populous than they
are to-day ; there was no religious restraint
preventing the citizens from polygamy; the
only reproach known to the womenfolk was
that of sterility or of idleness, and as they
were both as industrious and as strong as the
men, the period of maternity was of longer
duration.
In spite of this, Sweden, together with what
remains to it of Finland, has not above 4,000,000
inhabitants. The soil is sterile and poor, and
Scania is the only district which produces
barley. There is not more than four millions
current money in the whole land. The public
bank, the oldest in Europe, was established to
meet a want, because, as payments are made
in brass and iron coin, difficulties of transport
arose.
Sweden enjoyed freedom until the middle of
the fourteenth century ; during this long period
several revolutions occurred, but all innovations
were in the direction of liberty.
The chief magistrate had the title King,
which in different countries involves very differ
ent degrees of power. Thus in France and
Spain it implies an absolute monarchy, while
in Poland, Sweden and Finland it stands for a
representative or limited monarchy. 'In Sweden
the King was powerless without the Council,
and the Council in turn derived its powers from
the Parliament, which was frequently convened.
In these great Assemblies the nation was repre-
6 History of Charles XII
sented by the nobility, the bishops, and deputies
from the towns. In course of time even the
peasantry, that section of the community which
had been unjustly despised and enslaved
throughout almost the whole of North Europe,
was admitted to the Parliament.
In about 1492 this nation, essentially liberty-
loving, and never forgetful of the fact that she
had conquered Rome thirteen centuries before,
was brought into subjection by a woman and
a nation weaker than the Swedes. Margaret
of Valdemar, the Semiramis of the North,
Queen of Denmark and Norway, conquered
Sweden partly by force of arms and partly by
means of diplomacy, and united her vast
estates into one kingdom.
After her death Sweden was rent by civil
war; she alternately shook off and submitted
to the Danish yoke, and was ruled by kings
and ministers alternately. In about 1520 she
passed through a period of cruel oppression
at the hands of two tyrants : one was Christian
II, King of Denmark, a monarch with all the
vices, and no one redeeming feature ; the other,
Archbishop of Upsala, and Primate of the king
dom, was as cruel as the former. One day
these two, acting in concert, had the consuls,
the magistrates of Stockholm and ninety-four
senators seized and massacred by the execu
tioners, on the ground that they had been ex
communicated by the Pope for having defended
the State against the Archbishop. Whilst these
 History of Charles XII 7
two men, united in oppression, but opposed
when it was a question of dividing the spoil,
were exercising the utmost tyranny and the
cruelest vengeance, a new event changed the
whole aspect of affairs in the North.
Gustavus Vasa, a youth descended from the
old line of kings, issued from the depths of
the forest of Delecarlia, where he had been in
hiding, and appeared as the deliverer of
Sweden. He was one of those rare products
of Nature, a great genius with all the qualities
of a commander of men. His noble stature
and an air of distinction brought him adherents
the moment he appeared. His eloquence, re
inforced by his good looks, was all the more
persuasive because it was unassumed. His
genius led to the conception of great under
takings, which ordinary people deemed fool
hardy, but which, in the eyes of the great,
were simply brave. His never-failing courage
carried him through all difficulties. He com
bined valour with discretion, was essentially
gentle in an age of savagery, and had a reputa
tion for uprightness, as far as that is possible
for a party leader.
Gustavus Vasa had been a hostage of Chris
tian, and kept prisoner contrary to the laws of
nations. Having escaped from prison he had
wandered, disguised as a peasant, in the moun
tains and woods of Delecarlia; there, to pro
vide himself both with a livelihood and with
a hiding-place, he found himself forced to work
8 History of Charles XII
in the copper-mines. While buried in these
vaults he dared to form the project of de
throning the tyrant. He revealed himself to
the peasants, and impressed them as a man of
extraordinary gifts, whom ordinary men in
stinctively obey. In a short time he turned
these barbarians into veterans. He attacked
Christian and the Archbishop, gained several
victories over them, and drove them both from
Sweden. Then the States duly elected him
King of the country which he had liberated.
Scarcely was he firmly seated on the throne
before he embarked on an enterprise of greater
difficulty than his conquests. The real tyrants
of the State were the bishops, who, possessing
nearly all the wealth of Sweden, employed it
to oppress the people and to make war on the
kings. This power was all the more terrible be
cause, in their ignorance, the people regarded
it as sacred. Gustavus punished the Catholic
Church for the crimes of her priests. In less
than two years he introduced Lutheranism into
Sweden, using as a means diplomacy rather
than force. Having thus, as he put it, wrested
the kingdom from the Danes and the clergy,
he reigned in prosperity and absolutism, and
died at the age of seventy, leaving his dynasty
securely seated on the throne, and his form of
faith firmly established.
One of his descendants was that Gustavus
Adolphus who is called the Great. This king
conquered Livonia, Ingria, Bremen, Verden,
 History of Charles XII 9
Vismar, Pomerania, besides more than a hun
dred towns in Germany, given up by Sweden
after his death. He shook the throne of Fer
dinand II, and protected the Lutherans in
Germany, his efforts in that direction being
furthered by the intrigues of Rome herself,
who stood more in awe of the power of the
Emperor than of heresy itself. He it was
who, by his victories, contributed to the down
fall of the House of Austria, an undertaking
accredited to Cardinal Richelieu, who was past
master in the art of gaining a reputation for
himself, while Gustavus contented himself with
great deeds. He was on the point of carrying
war across the Danube, with the possibility of
dethroning the Emperor, when, at the age of
thirty-seven, he was killed in the battle of
Liitzen, where he defeated Valstein. He carried
with him to the grave the title of " Great,"
the regrets of the North, and the esteem of his
enemies.
His daughter Christine, an extremely gifted
woman, preferred disputations with savants to
the government of a people whose knowledge
was confined to the art of war.
She won as great a reputation for resigning
the throne as her ancestors had gained in
winning and securing it. The Protestants have
defamed her, as if Lutherans have the mono
poly of all the virtues ; and the Papists exulted
too much in the conversion of a woman who
was a mere philosopher. She retired to Rome,
io History of Charles XII
where she passed the rest of her life surrounded
by the arts which she loved, and for the sake
of which she had renounced an empire at the
age of twenty-seven. After her abdication she
induced the States of Sweden to elect as her
successor her cousin Charles Gustavus, the
tenth of that name, son of the Count Palatinate,
Duke of Deux Fonts. This king added new
conquests to those of Gustavus Adolphus.
First he invaded Poland, where he gained the
celebrated three days' battle of Warsaw; for
some time he waged war successfully against
the Danes, besieged their capital, re-united
Scania to Sweden, and secured the tenure of
Sleswick to the Duke of Holstein. Then, hav
ing met with reverses, and made peace with his
enemies, his ambition turned against his own
subjects.
He conceived the idea of establishing absolut
ism in Sweden, but, like Gustavus the Great,
died at the age of thirty-seven, before having
achieved the establishment of that despotism
which his son, Charles XI, completed. The
latter, a warrior, like all his ancestors, was
more absolute than them all. He abolished
the authority of the Senate, which was declared
to be a royal and not a national assembly. He
was economical, vigilant, and hard-working —
in fact, such a king as would have been popular
had not fear dominated all other sentiments
in the hearts of his subjects. He married, in
1680, Ulrica Eleanora, daughter of Ferdinand,
 History of Charles XII n
King of Denmark, a virtuous princess worthy
of more confidence than her husband gave her ;
the offspring of this marriage was Charles
XII, perhaps the most extraordinary man ever
born — a hero who summed up in his person
ality all the great qualities of his ancestors,
and whose only fault and only misfortune was
that he carried them all to excess. It is of
him, and all that is related of his actions and
person, that we now purpose writing.
The first book they gave him to read was
Samuel Puffendorf, in order that he might
become early acquainted with his own and
neighbouring States. He then learned German,
which he henceforward spoke as fluently as his
mother tongue. At seven years old he could
manage a horse. Violent exercise, in which
he delighted and which revealed his martial
inclinations, early laid the foundation of a
strong constitution equal to the privations to
which his disposition prompted him.
Though gentle enough in early childhood he
was unconquerably obstinate ; the only way to
manage him was to appeal to his honour — he
could be induced to do anything in the name
of honour. He had an aversion to Latin, but
when he was told that the Kings of Poland
and Denmark understood it, he learned it
quickly, and for the rest of his days remem
bered enough to speak it. Recourse was had
to the same means to induce him to learn
French, but he was so obstinately determined
12 History of Charles XII
against it that he could not be prevailed upon
to use it even with French ambassadors who
knew no other language. As soon as he had
some knowledge of Latin they made him trans
late Quintus Curtius; he took a liking to the
book rather for the subject than the style. The
tutor who explained this author to him asked
him what he thought of Alexander. " I think,"
said the Prince, " that I would like to be like
him." "But," was the answer, "he only
lived thirty-two years." "Ah!" replied the
Prince, " and is not that long enough when
one has subdued kingdoms?" These answers
were reported to the King his father, who
exclaimed, "That child will excel me and he
will even excel Gustavus the Great."
One day he was amusing himself in the
King's room by looking over some geographical
plans, one of a town in Hungary taken by the
Turks from the Emperor, and the other of
Riga, capital of Livonia, a province conquered
by the Swedes a century earlier. At the foot
of the map of the Hungarian town was this
quotation from the Book of Job, "The Lord
gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed
be the name of the Lord." The young Prince
read these words, then took a pencil and wrote
beneath the map of Riga, " The Lord gave
thee to me, and the devil shall not take thee
from me." Thus, in the most insignificant
acts of his childhood, his resolute disposition
revealed traits characteristic of greatness,
showing what he was one day to be.
 History of Charles XII 13
He was eleven years old when he lost his
mother; she died from an illness brought on
by the anxiety caused her by her husband and
by her own efforts to conceal it. By means
of a kind of court called the Chamber of
Liquidation, Charles XI had robbed many of
his subjects of their property. A crowd of
citizens ruined by this court — merchants,
farmers, widows and orphans — filled the streets
of Stockholm, and daily poured forth their
useless lamentations at the gate of the Palace.
The Queen gave all her substance to help these
poor wretches : her money, jewels, furniture
and even her clothes. When she had nothing
left to give them she threw herself weeping at
her husband's feet, praying him to have com
passion on his subjects. The King answered
sternly, " Madam, we have taken you that you
may give us children, not advice." Hencefor
ward he is reported to have treated her with
such severity that he shortened her life. He
died four years after her, in the fifty-second
year of his age and the thirty-seventh of his
reign, just as the Empire, Spain and Holland
on the one hand, and France on the other, had
referred the decision of their quarrels to his
arbitration, and when he had already begun the
work of peace-making between these powers.
To his son of fifteen he left a kingdom
secure at home and respected abroad. His
subjects were poor, but brave and loyal ; the
treasury in good order and managed by able
ministers. Charles XII, on his accession, not
14 History of Charles XII
only found himself absolute and undisturbed
master of Sweden and Finland, but also of
Livonia, Carelia and Ingria; he possessed
Wismar, Vibourg, the Isles of Riigen, Oesel,
and the most beautiful part of Pomerania and
the Duchy of Bremen and Verden, all con
quests of his ancestors, assured to the crown
by long tenure and by the solemn treaties of
Munster and Oliva, strengthened by the
prestige of Swedish arms. The peace of
Ryswick, begun under the auspices of the
father, was completed by the son; who was
thus arbiter of Europe from the beginning of
his reign.
Swedish law fixes the age of the King's
majority at fifteen years; but Charles XI, who
exercised absolute power in all points, deferred
that of his son, by will, to the age of eighteen.
By this will he favoured the ambitious views
of his mother, Edwiga Eleanora of Holstein,
widow of Charles X.
This Princess was nominated by Charles XI
guardian of her grandson and, in conjunction
with a Council of six persons, regent of the
kingdom. The regent had taken part in
politics during the reign of the King her son.
She was old, but her ambition, greater than
her strength and ability, made her hope to
enjoy the sweets of authority long during the
minority of the King, her grandson. She kept
him away from public business as far as pos
sible; the young Prince passed his time hunt-
 History of Charles XII 15
ing, or busied himself with reviewing his
troops. Sometimes he even went through their
exercises with them. These pursuits seemed
the natural outcome of the vivacity of youth,
and there was nothing in his conduct to alarm
the regent. Then, too, she flattered herself
that the dissipation of these exercises made
him unable to apply himself, and so gave her
the opportunity of a longer regency. One
November day, the very year of his father's
death, after he had reviewed several regiments
accompanied by the State-councillor Piper, he
was standing plunged apparently in deep
thought. " May I take the liberty," said the
latter to him, " of asking your Majesty of what
you are thinking so seriously?" " I am think
ing," answered the Prince, " that I feel worthy
of the command of those fine fellows, and that
it is not my will that either they or I should
receive our orders from a woman." Piper at
once seized the chance of making his fortune,
and realizing that his own influence was not
strong enough for him to venture on so danger
ous an enterprise as depriving the Queen of the
regency, and declaring the King of age, he
proposed the matter to the Count Axel Sparre,
an ambitious and aspiring man, pointing to the
King's confidence as a likely reward. Sparre
was credulous, undertook the business, and
worked hard in Piper's interests. The Coun
cillors of the Regency were drawn into the
scheme, and vied with one another in hastening
16 History of Charles XII
the execution of it in order to gain the King's
favour. They went in a body to propose it to
the Queen, who did not in the least expect such
a declaration.
The States-General were then assembled,
the Councillors of the Regency laid the matter
before them, and they voted unanimously for
it. The affair was hastened on with a rapidity
which nothing could check; so that Charles
XII merely expressed a wish to rule, and within
three days the States handed over the govern
ment to him. The power and influence of the
Queen melted away at once. Henceforth she
lived in private, a life more suited to her age,
but less to her taste.
The King was crowned on the following
24th of December. He made his entry into
Stockholm on a sorrel horse, shod with silver,
with a sceptre in his hand, and amid the ac
clamations of a whole nation — a nation always
extravagantly fond of novelty and full of great
expectations of a young Prince.
The right of consecrating and crowning the
King belongs to the Archbishop of Upsala, and
is almost the only privilege remaining to him
from among a number claimed by his predeces
sors. After having anointed the Prince accord
ing to custom, he was holding the crown ready
to put on his head, when Charles seized it
from his hands, and, with a proud glance at
the Prelate, crowned himself. The mob, always
impressed by a touch of majesty, applauded
 History of Charles XII 17
the King's action ; even those who had suf
fered most from the tyranny of the father
could not refrain from praising the pride which
was the inauguration of their servitude.
As soon as Charles was master, he took
Councillor Piper into his confidence, and
handed over the direction of affairs to him, so
that he was soon Premier in all but name. A
few days later he made him Count, a title of
distinction in Sweden, and not, as in France,
an empty title to be assumed at will. The first
period of the King's rule did not give people
a good impression of him ; it looked as if he
had been rather impatient of rule than deserv
ing of it. As a matter of fact, he indulged no
dangerous passions, and the only remarkable
thing about him seemed to be youthful fits of
rage and a settled obstinacy. He seemed proud
and unable to apply himself. Even the ambas
sadors to his court took him for a second-rate
genius, and so described him to their masters.
The Swedish people had the same opinion of
him; no one understood his character; he him
self had not realized it, when storms arising
in the North suddenly gave his hidden talents
an opportunity of displaying themselves.
Three strong princes, taking advantage of
his extreme youth, made simultaneous plans
for his ruin. The first was Ferdinand IV, King
of Denmark, his cousin; the second Augustus,
Elector of Saxony and King of Poland ; the
third, and most dangerous, was Peter the
c
18 History of Charles XII
Great, Czar of Russia. It is necessary to
explain the beginning of these wars, which
had such great results. We will begin with
Denmark.
Of the two sisters of Charles XII, the elder
had married the Duke of Holstein, a young
prince of great courage and kindliness. The
Duke, oppressed by the King of Denmark,
came to Stockholm with his consort, in order
to put himself under the King's protection,
and ask his help, not only as a brother-in-law,
but also as King of a people which nourishes
an undying hatred for the Danes.
The ancient house of Holstein, merged with
that of Oldenburg, was elected to the throne
of Denmark in 1449. All the Northern king
doms were at that time elective, but that of
Denmark shortly after became hereditary. One
of its kings, Christian III, had an affection for
his brother Adolphus for which there are few
parallels in history. He neither wished to leave
him powerless, nor could he dismember his
own States. By an extraordinary arrangement
he shared with him the duchies of Holstein-
Gottorp and Sleswick. The descendants of
Adolphus should, in future, rule Holstein in
conjunction with the kings of Denmark, so that
the two duchies should be common property,
and the King could do nothing in Holstein
without the sanction of the Duke, and vice
versa. This extraordinary union, of which
there had, however, been a parallel instance
 History of Charles XII 19
a few years previously, was, for more than
eighty years, a source of quarrels between the
Denmark and Holstein branches of the dynasty,
since the kings always made it their policy to
oppress the dukes, and the dukes were equally
determined on independence. The struggle
had cost the last Duke his liberty and his
supremacy. He had regained both at the
Conference of Altena in 1689, through the
mediation of Sweden, Holland and England,
the guarantors of the treaty.
But as a treaty between princes is often
only a temporary makeshift, until the stronger
is able to oppress the weaker, the quarrel be
tween the new Danish King and the young
Duke began again more violently than ever.
While the Duke was at Stockholm, the Danes
had already begun hostilities in the district of
Holstein, and had made a secret alliance with
the King of Sweden himself.
Frederic Augustus, Elector of Saxony, whom
neither the eloquence and schemes of the Abbe"
de Polignac, nor the great qualifications of the
Prince of Conti, his competitor for the throne,
had been able to deprive of election as King
of Poland, was a prince still more famed for
his courage and chivalrous ideals, than for his
incredible physical strength. His court, after
that of Louis XII, was second to none in
Europe in distinction. There was never a
prince more generous or liberal, nor one who
gave with so good a grace.
20 History of Charles XII
He had bought half the votes of the Polish
nobility, and gained the other half by force on
the approach of a Saxon army. He considered
it better to keep a standing army to strengthen
himself on the throne ; but he wanted a pretext
for keeping it in Poland. He had, in fact,
planned to send it against the King of Sweden,
on the occasion we are now going to relate.
Livonia, the most beautiful and fertile pro
vince of the North, had once belonged to the
Knights of the Teutonic order. The Russians,
Poles, and Swedes had since severally disputed
their claim to it. Sweden had enjoyed it for
nearly one hundred years, and was solemnly
confirmed in possession of it by the Peace of
Oliva.
The late King Charles XI, in his severity to
his subjects, had not spared the Livonians.
He robbed them of their privileges and part of
their estates. Patkul, who from his unhappy
death has since gained the notoriety of misfor
tune, was deputed by the nobility of Livonia
to lay their grievances before the King. His
speech to his master was respectful, but strong
and full of the rugged eloquence begotten of
calamity and courage. But kings too often
regard public speeches as vain ceremonies,
which they must endure without paying atten
tion to. But Charles XI, who, when he did
not give way to transports of rage, knew how
to act a part, patted Patkul gently on the
shoulder and said, " You have spoken for your
 History of Charles XII 21
country like a brave man ; I honour you for it.
Proceed." But a few days after he had Patkul
declared guilty of high treason and condemned
to death.
Patkul, who had hidden, took to flight, and
carried his resentment to Poland. Some time
after he was admitted to the court of King
Augustus. Charles XI was dead, but the
sentence of Patkul was not annulled, and he
was still most resentful. He pointed out to the
King of Poland how easily Livonia could be
conquered ; the people were in despair, and
eager to shake off the Swedish yoke ; the King
was only a child, and unable to defend himself.
These proposals were well received by a prince
who had long meditated this conquest. Pre
parations were immediately made for a sudden
invasion of Sweden, empty formalities of
ultimata and manifestoes being dispensed with.
At the same time the storm darkened on the
Russian frontier. Peter Alexiowitz, Czar of
Russia, had already made his name feared by
the battle in which he defeated the Turks in
1697, and by the conquest of Azov, which
gave him the control of the Black Sea. But
the actions which won him the title of ' ' The
Great " were far more glorious than conquests.
Russia occupies the whole of Northern Asia
and Europe, and from the frontiers of China
extends 1,500 leagues to the borders of Poland
and Sweden. Yet the existence of this im
mense country was not even realized by Europe
 22 History of Charles XII
before the time of the Czar Peter. The Rus
sians were less civilized than the Mexicans at
the time of their discovery by Cortez ; born
the slaves of masters as barbarous as them
selves, they were sunk deep in ignorance, and
unacquainted with the arts and sciences, and
so insensible of their use that they had no
industry. An old law, held sacred among- them,
forbade them, on pain of death, to leave their
own country without the permission of their
Patriarch. Yet this law, avowedly enacted to
prevent them from realizing their state of bond
age, was agreeable to a people who, in the
depths of their ignorance and misery, disdained
all commerce with foreign nations.
The era of the Russians began with the
creation of the world; they reckoned up 7,207
years at the beginning of the last century,
without being able to give any reason why they
did so. The first day of the year corresponded
to our 1 3th of September. The reason they
gave for this was that it was probable that
God created the world in autumn, in a season
when the fruits of the earth are in full
maturity !
Thus the only traces of knowledge found
among them were founded on gross mistakes;
not one of them suspected that autumn in
Russia might be spring in another country in
the antipodes. Not long before, the people
were for burning the secretary of the Persian
ambassador, because he had foretold an eclipse
 History of Charles XII 23
of the sun. They did not even know the use
of figures, but in all their calculations made
use of little beads strung on wire; and this
was their method of reckoning in all their
counting-houses, and even in the treasury of
the Czar.
Their religion was, and still is, that of the
Greek Church, but intermingled with super
stitions, to which they firmly adhered in pro
portion to their absurdity and their exacting
nature. Few Russians dare eat a pigeon, be
cause the Holy Ghost is portrayed in form of a
dove. They regularly kept four Lents a year,
and during that time might eat neither eggs nor
milk. God and St. Nicholas were the objects
of their worship, and next to them the Czar
and the Patriarch. The authority of the latter
was as boundless as the people's ignorance.
He had power of life and death, and inflicted
the crudest punishments, from which there was
no appeal. Twice a year he rode in solemn
procession, ceremoniously attended by all the
clergy; and the people prostrated themselves
in the streets before him, like the Tartars
before their Grand Lama.
They practised confession, but only in the
case of the greatest crimes; and then absolu
tion was held necessary, but not repentance;
they believed themselves purified in God's sight
as soon as they received the priest's benedic
tion. Thus they passed without remorse
straight from confession to theft or murder;
24 History of Charles XII
so that a practice which, in the case of other
Christians, acts as a deterrent, was, in their
case, only an incentive to crime. They scrupled
to drink milk on a fast-day, but on festivals
fathers of families, priests, matrons and maids
got inebriated with brandy. As in other coun
tries they had religious differences among
themselves, but the most important cause of
dispute was whether laymen should make the
sign of the cross with two fingers or with three,
and a certain Jacob Nursoff had, during a pre
vious reign, raised a rebellion on this question.
The Czar, in his vast kingdom, had many
subjects who were not Christians ; the Tartars,
on the west coast of the Caspian, and the
Palus Ma3Otis were Mahometans ; while the
Siberians, Ostiacs and Samoides, who live near
the Baltic, were pagans. Some of these were
idolaters, and some were without God in the
world ; still, in spite of that, the Swedes, who
were sent as prisoners among them, report
more favourably of their manners than those
of the ancient Russians.
Peter Alexiowitz had received an education
which tended to increase the barbarity of his
part of the world. His disposition led him to
like strangers before he knew they could be use
ful to him. Le Fort was the first instrument
that he made use of to change the face of
Russia. Peter's mighty genius, checked but not
destroyed by a barbarous education, suddenly
broke out; he resolved to act a man's part, to
 History of Charles XII 25
hold command of men and to create a new
nation. Several princes before him had re
nounced their thrones, from distaste for public
business, but there was no instance of a prince
resigning that he might learn to rule better,
as Peter the Great did. He left Russia in
1698, before the completion of the second year
of his reign, and took a journey into Holland,
under an ordinary name, as if he were the
domestic servant of M. le Fort, whom he
appointed ambassador-extraordinary to the
States-General. When he reached Amsterdam
he entered his name on the list of ships '-car
penters to the Indian Admiralty, and worked
in the dockyard like other carpenters. In his
leisure time he learned those branches of
mathematics which might prove useful to a
prince, e. g. such as related to fortifications,
navigation, and the making of plans. He
went into the workmen's shops, examined all
their manufactures, and let nothing escape his
notice. Thence he passed to England, where
he perfected himself in the science of ship
building, and, returning to Holland, carefully
investigated everything which might be of use
in his own country.
At last, after two years of travel and labour
which nobody else would have willingly under
gone, he reappeared in Russia, bringing thither
with him the arts of Europe. A band of
artists of all kinds followed him, and then for
the first time great Russian vessels were to
 26 History of Charles XII
be seen on the Black Sea, the Baltic, and
even on the ocean. Imposing buildings of
architectural merit were set up amidst the
Russian huts. He founded colleges, acade-
I mies, printing-houses and libraries. The great
towns were civilized; and gradually, though
not without difficulty, the dress and customs
of the people were changed, so that the Rus
sians learned by degrees what social life really
is. Even their superstitions were abolished,
the Czar declared head of the Church, and the
influence of the Patriarch suppressed. This
last undertaking would have cost a less abso
lute Prince his throne and his life, but in the
case of Peter not only succeeded, but assured
his success in all his other innovations.
I Peter, having subdued the ignorant and bar-
! barous clerical orders, dared to venture to
Ij educate them, and so ran the risk of making
' them a power in the State — but he believed
that he was strong enough to take this risk.
In the few monasteries which remained he
had philosophy and theology taught; though
this theology was only a survival of the age
of barbarity from which Peter had rescued his
country. A credible witness assured the writer
that he had been present at a public debate,
where the question was whether the use of
tobacco was a sin; the proposer argued that
it was lawful to intoxicate oneself with brandy,
but not to smoke, because the Holy Scriptures
say that, " Not that which goeth into the
 History of Charles XII 27
mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh
defileth a man."
out of the mouth, this content
The monks were not with the reform.
Scarcely had the Czar set up printing-presses
than they made use of them to abuse him.
They called him Antichrist, because he had
the men's beards cut off, and because post
mortem dissection was practised in his academy.
But another monk, who wanted to make his
fortune, wrote refuting this argument, and
proving that Peter was not Antichrist because
the number 666 was not included in his name !
The author of the libel was broken on the
wheel, and his opponent made Bishop of
Rezan.
The Reformer of Russia carried a law which
puts to shame many a civilized state; by this
law no member of the civil service, no " bour
geois " with an established position, and no
minor, might enter a monastery. Peter quite
grasped the importance of not allowing useful
subjects to take up idleness as a profession, nor
those who had not yet command of the least
part of their fortune to renounce liberty for
ever.
The Czar not only, after the example of the
Turkish Sultans, subjected the Church to the
State, but, by a greater stroke of policy, he
destroyed a band of troops like the Janissaries ;
and that which the Ottoman Emperors failed
to do, he succeeded in very rapidly ; he dis
banded the Russian Janissaries, called Strelitz,
 28 History of Charles XII
who had dominated the Czars. This band,
feared rather by its masters than its neigh
bours, consisted of about 30,000 infantry, half
stationed at Moscow, and the other half at
various points on the frontier; a member of
the Strelitz only drew pay at the rate of four
roubles a year, but privileges and abuses
amply made up for this.
Peter at first formed a band of mercenaries,
in which he had himself enrolled, and was not
too proud to begin as drummer-boy, so much
were the people in need of good example. He
became officer by degrees, made new regiments
from time to time, and at last, finding himself
at the head of disciplined troops, broke up the
Strelitz, who were afraid to disobey him.
The cavalry resembled that of Poland, and
that of France in the days when France was
only a collection of fiefs. Russian noblemen
took the field at their own expense, and en
gaged without discipline, and sometimes un
armed but for a sabre and a quiver; they were
quite unused to discipline, and so were always
beaten.
Peter the Great taught them to obey, both
by example and by punishment. For he
himself served as a soldier and subordinate
officer, and as Czar severely punished the
"boyards," as the noblemen were called, who
argued that the privilege of the nobility was
to serve the State in their own way. He insti
tuted a regular corps of artillery, and seized
 History of Charles XII 29
500 church bells to cast cannon. By the year
1714 he had 13,000 brass cannon. He also
formed a corps of dragoons, a form of arm
both suited to Russian capacity and for which
their horses, which are small, are particularly
fit.
Russia has, at the present day (1738), thirty
well-equipped regiments of dragoons of 1,000
men each.
He it was, too, who established the hussars
in Russia; he even got a school of engineers
in a country where he was the first to under
stand the elements of geometry.
He was a good engineer himself; but he
excelled especially in seamanship. As he was
born with an extreme fear of the sea, it is all
the greater credit to him that he was a good
captain, a skilful pilot, a good seaman, and a
clever carpenter. Yet in his young days he
could not cross a bridge without a shudder;
and he had the wooden shutters of his carriage
closed on these occasions. It was his courage
and will which led him to overcome this consti
tutional weakness.
He had built on the Gulf of Tanais, near
Azov, a fine port; his idea was to keep a fleet
of galleys there, and as he considered that
these long, flat, light craft would be successful
in the Baltic, he had 300 of them built in his
favourite town of Petersburg. He taught his
subjects how to construct them from ordinary
fir, and then how to manage them.
30 . History of Charles XII
The revenue of the Czar was inconsiderable,
compared with the immense size of his em
pire. It never exceeded twenty-four millions,
reckoning the mark as £50, as we do at the
present moment ; but, after all, only he is rich
who can do great deeds. Russia is not densely
populated, though the women are prolific and
the men are strong. Peter himself, by the
very civilization of his empire, contributed to
its population. The causes of the fact that
there are still vast deserts in this great stretch
of the continent are to be sought in frequent
recruiting for unsuccessful wars, the transport
ing of nations from the Caspian to the Baltic,
the destruction of life in the public works, the
ravages wrought by disease (three-quarters of
the children dying of small-pox), and the sad
result of a means of government long savage,
and barbarous even in its civilization. The
present population of Russia consists of 500,000
noble families, 200,000 lawyers, rather more
than 5,000,000 "bourgeois" and peasants
paying a kind of poll-tax, and 600,000 men in
the provinces conquered from the Swedes ; so
that this immense realm does not contain
more than 14,000,000 men; that is to say, two-
thirds of the population of France.
The Czar Peter, having transformed the
manners, laws, militia, and the very face of his
country, wished also to take a prominent part
in commerce, which brings both riches to a
State and advantages to the whole world. He
 History of Charles XII 31
intended to make Russia the centre of Asian
and European trade. The Volga, Tanais,
and Duna were to be united by canals, of which
he drew the plans, and new ways were to be
opened from the Baltic to the Euxine and the
Caspian, and from these to the Northern
Ocean.
In the year 1700 he decided to build on the
Baltic a port which should be the mart of the
North, and a town which should be the capital
of his empire, because the port of Archangel,
ice-bound for nine months in the year, and the
access to which necessitated a long and dan
gerous circuit, did not seem to him convenient.
Already he was seeking a passage to China
through the seas of the north-east, and the
manufactures of Paris and of Pekin were to
enrich his new town.
A road of 754 versts, made across marshes
which had to be first filled, led from Moscow
to his new town. Most of his projects were
carried out by his own hand, and two Em
presses who succeeded him successively carried
out his policy whenever practicable, and only
abandoned the impossible.
He made tours throughout his empire when
ever he was not engaged in active warfare.
But he travelled as lawgiver and natural philo
sopher. He carefully investigated natural con
ditions everywhere, and tried to correct and to
perfect. He himself plumbed rivers and seas,
had locks made, visited the timber-yards, ex-
32 History of Charles XII
amined mines, assayed metals, planned accu
rate maps, and worked at them with his own
hand.
He built, in a desolate district, the imperial
town of Petersburg, which, at the present day,
contains 60,000 houses, and where there has
arisen in our day a brilliant Court, and where
the greatest luxury is to be had. He built the
port of Cronstadt on the Neva, Sainte-Croix
on the frontiers of Persia, and forts in the
Ukraine and in Siberia, docks at Archangel,
Petersburg, Astrakan, and at Azov ; besides
arsenals and hospitals. His own residences he
built small and in bad style, but his public
buildings were magnificent and imposing. The
sciences, which in other parts have been the
slow product of centuries, were, by his care,
introduced into his empire in full perfection.
He made an academy, modelled on the famous
institutions of Paris and London ; at great ex
pense men like Delisle, Bulfinger, Hermann,
Bernouilli, were summoned to Petersburg.
This academy is still in existence, and is now
training Russian scholars.
He compelled the younger members of the
nobility to travel to gain culture, and to return
to Russia polished by foreign good breeding.
I have met young Russians who were quite
men of the world, and well-informed to boot.
It is shocking to realize that this reformer
lacked the cardinal virtue of humanity. With
so many virtues he was yet brutal in his plea-
 History of Charles XII 33
sures, savage in his manner, and barbarous in
seeking revenge. He civilized his people, but
remained savage himself. He carried out his
sentences with his own hands, and at a debauch
at table he displayed his skill in cutting off
heads. There are in Africa kings who shed
the blood of their subjects with their own
hands, but these monarchs pass for barbarians.
The death of one of his sons, who ought to
have been punished or disinherited, would make
his memory odious, if the good he did his sub
jects did not almost atone for his cruelty to his
own family.
Such a man was Peter the Czar, and his
great plans were only sketched in outline when
he united with the kings of Poland and Den
mark against a child whom they all despised.
The founder of Russia resolved to be a
conqueror; he believed the task an easy one,
and felt that a war so well launched would
help him in all his projects. The art of war
was a new art in which his people needed
lessons.
Besides, he wanted a port on the east side
of the Baltic for the execution of his great
plans. He needed Ingria, which lies to the
north-east of Livonia. The Swedes possessed
it, and it must be seized from them. His an
cestors, again, had had rights over Ingria,
Estonia, and Livonia ; it seemed the right time
to revive these claims, which not only dated
from a hundred years back, but had also been
D
34 History of Charles XII
annulled by treaties. He therefore concluded
a treaty with the King of Poland to take
from Sweden the districts which lie between
the Gulf of Finland, the Baltic, Poland and
Russia.
BOOK II
 BOOK II
Sudden and extraordinary transformation in the char
acter of Charles XII — At the age of eighteen he
carries on war with Denmark, Poland and Russia —
He concludes the war with Denmark in six weeks —
Beats an army of 80,000 Russians with 8,000 Swedes,
and proceeds to Poland — Description of Poland and
its Government — Charles wins several victories, and
conquers Poland, where he makes preparations to
nominate a king.

THUS three powerful kings were threatening

the throne of the boy-king, Charles XII.
Rumours of these preparations dismayed the
people, and alarmed the King's Council. The
great generals were dead ; everything was to
be feared under a young king who had so far
made a bad impression on people. He was
hardly ever present at the Council without
crossing his legs on the table ; he seemed too
absent-minded and callous to take part in any
business.
The dangerous position of affairs was de
liberated by the Council in his presence, and,
as some Councillors were proposing to divert
the storm by means of negotiation, Charles
suddenly rose from his seat with the deter
mined air of a man of resolution who has
decided on a course of action. " Gentlemen,"
he said, " I have resolved never to engage in
an unjust war, but, on the other hand, never
to conclude a just war 37 but by the ruin of my
38 History of Charles XII
foes. I have made up my mind. I intend to
attack the first who declares war against me,
and when I have conquered him I hope to strike
terror into the rest." This speech amazed the
old Councillors ; they exchanged glances with
out venturing a reply, and finally, astonished
at this revelation of their king's courage, and
ashamed to show less courage than he, they
received his orders for the war cordially.
They were still more surprised when they
observed that he suddenly renounced all the
most innocent, youthful pleasures. From the
moment that he began to prepare for war he
entered on a new mode of life, from which he
never afterwards departed in one particular.
With Alexander and Caesar as his ideals, he set
himself the task of imitating those conquerors
in everything but their vices.
He renounced all magnificence, pastimes and
recreations, and reduced his menu to the utmost
frugality. He had affected display in dress,
but in future wore the uniform of a common
soldier. There had been a rumour that he had
entertained a passion for a lady of the Court.
But whether this was true or not, it is certain
that he abstained from the society of women
for ever after, not only to avoid coming too
much under their influence, but that he might
prove to his soldiers his determination to live
under the severest discipline ; possibly, too, he
wished to pose as the only Prince who had
conquered so difficult a temptation. He also
 History of Charles XII 39
resolved to abstain from wine for the rest of
his life. Some people say that he made this
resolve in order to curb nature in every particu-,
lar, and to add a new virtue to his heroism ;
but the majority say that he took this means
of punishing himself for an excess which he
had once committed, leading to an insult offered
to a lady at table in the presence of his mother.
If that was so, his self-condemnation and the
life-long deprivation which he imposed on him
self are none the less to be admired.
He began operations by a promise of relief
to his brother-in-law, the Duke of Holstein.
Eight thousand men were immediately sent to
Pomerania, a province bordering on Holstein,
to protect the Duke against the attacks of the
Danes. The Duke certainly needed them ; his
dominions were already ravaged, his castle at
Gottorp taken and the town of Tonning closely
besieged, the King of Denmark being there in
person, to enjoy a conquest of which he felt
certain. This spark enflamed the empire.
On one side the Saxon troops of the King of
Poland and those of Brandenburg, Volfenbuttel
and Hesse-Cassel marched to join the Danes.
On the other the King of Sweden's 8,000 men,
the troops of Hanover and Zell, and three
Dutch regiments came to the help of the Duke.
While the little country of Holstein was thus
made the theatre of war two squadrons, one
from England and the other from Holland,
appeared in the Baltic.
40 History of Charles XII
These two States were guarantors of the
treaty of Altena, which the Danes had broken,
and they were all the more eager to relieve the
oppressed Duke, as it was to the interest of
their trade to prevent the growth of the power
of the King of Denmark. For they knew that
the Danes, when they once had control of the
Sound, would lay heavy dues on the trading
nations, as soon as they were strong enough
to do so.
The English and the Dutch had, for this
reason, kept, as far as possible, the balance of
power equal between the princes of the North ;
they joined the King of Sweden, who seemed
on the point of being overwhelmed by many
enemies acting in concert, and helped him for
the same reason that the others attacked him,
viz. because they thought him incapable of
self-defence.
He was bear-hunting when he got news of
the invasion of Livonia by the Saxons. He
was conducting the hunt in a way as dangerous
as novel; the only arms used were forked
cudgels, behind a net stretched between trees ;
a bear of enormous size rushed straight at the
King, who, after a long struggle, brought it
to the ground, with the help of his net and
cudgel.
He started for his first campaign on the 8th
of May, new style, in the year 1700. He left
Stockholm never to return.
An immense crowd of people went with him
 History of Charles XII 41
as far as Carlscroon, praying- for him and
weeping- and praising him. Before he left
Stockholm he established a Council of Defence,
composed of Senators. This commission was
to have charge of all that concerned the fleet,
the troops and fortifications. The Senate was
to provisionally regulate all other internal
affairs. Having thus arranged all securely
within his dominions he concentrated entirely
on the war. His fleet consisted of forty-three
vessels, that in which he embarked, called the
King Charles, was the largest they had ever
seen, and carried 120 guns; Count Piper, his
Prime Minister, and General Renschild em
barked with him. He joined the squadron of
the allies ; the Danish fleet refused an engage
ment, and gave the united fleets the opportunity
of coming so near Copenhagen that they could
throw some bombs into the town.
There is no doubt that it was the King him
self who then proposed to General Renschild
that they should disembark and besiege Copen
hagen by land while it was invested by sea.
Renschild was astonished at a proposal which
displayed in a young and inexperienced Prince
as much skill as courage. Soon all was ready
for the disembarkment ; orders were given for
the embarkation of 3,000 men who were
stationed on the coast of Sweden, and who
were added to the men they had on board.
The King left his large ship and embarked on
a lighter frigate ; then they sent 300 grenadiers
42 History of Charles XII
in small vessels along the coast. Among these
vessels were small, flat-bottomed boats, which
carried the fagots, chevaux de frise and the
weapons of the pioneers.
Five hundred picked men followed in other
shallops. Then came the King's men-of-war
with two English and two Dutch frigates,
whose cannon were to cover the landing of the
troops. Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark,
is situated in the island of Zeeland, in the
midst of a beautiful plain, which has the Sound
on the north-west and the Baltic on the east,
where the King of Sweden then had his posi
tion. At the unexpected movement of the
vessels which threatened invasion, the inhabit
ants, dismayed by the inactivity of their own
fleet and by the motion of the Swedish ships,
looked round in terror to see on what point
the storm would burst. Charles's fleet stopped
before Humblebek, seven miles from Copen
hagen. The Danes immediately drew up their
cavalry on this spot. The infantry were placed
behind deep entrenchments, and all the artillery
forthcoming was directed against the Swedes.
The King then left his frigate to embark on
the first boat at the head of his guards. The
ambassador of France was constantly at his
elbow. " Sir," said the King to him in Latin,
for he never would speak French, "you have
no quarrel with the Danes, and must now
oblige me by retiring." <( Sir," answered the
Count de Guiscard, in French, "the King my
 History of Charles XII 43
master has commanded me to attend your
Majesty; and I flatter myself that you will
not banish me from your Court, which has never
been so brilliant as to-day. " With these words
he gave his hand to the King, who leapt into
the boat, followed by Count Piper and the
ambassador.
They advanced supported by the broadsides
of the vessels which were covering the descent.
The small boats were within a hundred yards
of the shore when Charles, impatient of the
delay in landing, threw himself from the boat
into the sea, sword in hand, and with the
water up to his waist, and in spite of a shower
of musket-shot, discharged by the Danes, his
ministers, the ambassador of France, and
officers and soldiers followed his example. The
King, who had never before heard a discharge
of loaded muskets, asked Major Stuart, who
stood next to him, what that whistling was in
his ears. "It is the sound of the muskets
they are firing at you," said the Major.
" Ah !" remarked the King, " that shall hence
forth be my band." At that very moment the
Major, who had explained the noise to him,
was shot in the shoulder, and a lieutenant fell
dead at the other side of the King.
Troops attacked in entrenchments are
generally beaten, because the attacking party
has an impetus which defenders cannot have ;
besides, waiting for the enemy in one's lines is
often a confession of inferiority.
44 History of Charles XII
After a faint resistance the Danish horse and
foot fled. As soon as the King had seized their
entrenchments he fell on his knees to thank
God for the first success of his arms. He
immediately had redoubts formed in the direc
tion of the town, and himself marked out the
line of the encampment. At the same time he
sent his fleet back to Scania, a part of Sweden
not far from Copenhagen, to get reinforce
ments of 9,000 men. Everything conspired to
second Charles's energetic efforts; the 9,000
men were on the shore ready to embark, and
the very next day a favourable wind brought
them to him.
All this happened within sight of the Danish
fleet, which had not dared to advance. Copen
hagen, in consternation, sent deputies to the
King to ask him not to bombard the town.
He received them on horseback at the head of
his regiment of guards, and the deputies fell
on their knees before him. He demanded of
the town four hundred thousand dollars, with
all sorts of provisions for the camp, for which
he gave his word of honour to pay. They
brought him the provisions, because they dare
not refuse, but did not expect that the con
querors would condescend to pay for them ;
and those who brought them were astonished
to find that they were paid generously by the
humblest soldier in the army. The Swedish
troops had long been accustomed to the strict
discipline which contributed not a little to their
 History of Charles XII 45
victories, but the young King increased its
severity. A soldier would not have dared to
refuse payment for what he bought, much less
maraud, or even go out of the camp. He even
easily brought his troops to keep his rule that
the dead should not be stripped after a victory
without his permission. Prayers were said in
camp twice a day, at seven in the morning and
five in the afternoon, and he never failed to
be present at them himself and to give his
soldiers an example of piety as well as of
valour.
His camp, which was far better governed
than Copenhagen, had everything in abund
ance; and the country folk preferred to sell
their goods to their enemies the Swedes than
to their own countrymen, who did not pay so
good a price for them. So it happened that the
townsmen were often obliged to fetch goods,
which were unobtainable in their own markets,
from the King of Sweden's camp.
The King of Denmark was then in Holstein,
whither he seems to have marched only to raise
the siege of Tonning. He saw the Baltic
covered with his enemies' ships, and a young
conqueror already master of Zeeland and ready
to take possession of the capital. He pub
lished a declaration that whoever took up arms
against the Swedes should gain their liberty.
This declaration had great influence in a
country which had once enjoyed freedom, but
where all the peasants and many even of the
46 History of Charles XII
townsmen were then serfs. Charles sent word
to the King of Denmark that he must make up
his mind either to do justice to the Duke of
Holstein, cr have his kingdom laid waste with
fire and sword.
The Danes were, indeed, fortunate in dealing
with a conqueror who prided himself on his
justice. A congress was summoned to meet in
the town of Tevendal on the frontiers of Hol
stein. The Swedish King would not allow
diplomacy on the part of the ministers to
lengthen the proceedings ; he wanted the treaty
settled with the same rapidity with which he
had invaded Zeeland. As a matter of fact it
was concluded on the 5th of August to the
advantage of the Duke of Holstein, who was
indemnified for all the expenses of the war and
freed from oppression. The King of Sweden
would make no claims on his own behalf, being
satisfied with having helped his ally and
humbled his enemy. Thus Charles XII, at
eighteen years old, began and ended this war
in less than six weeks.
Just at the same time the King of Poland
laid siege in person to the town of Riga, the
capital of Livonia, and the Czar was marching
from the East at the head of 100,000 men.
Riga was defended by the old Count D'Alberg,
a Swedish general who, at the age of eighty,
combined the enthusiasm of youth with the
experience of sixty campaigns. Count Flem
ing, afterwards minister for Poland, a man
 History of Charles XII 47
great both in the field and at the council board,
together with M. Patkul, carried on the siege
under the directions of the King ; in spite of
several advantages gained by the besiegers the
experience of the old Count D'Alberg counter
acted all their efforts, and the King of Poland
despaired of gaining the town. At last he got
an honourable pretext for raising the siege ;
Riga was full of merchandise belonging to the
Dutch; the States-General ordered their am
bassador at the Court of Augustus to make
representations to him on the subject. The
King of Poland did not require much pressing,
but consented to raise the siege rather than
occasion the least inconvenience to his allies,
who were not much surprised at his ready
compliance, as they knew the cause of it.
The only thing left to Charles to complete
his first campaign was to march against his
rival for glory, Peter Alexiowitz. He was the
more angry with him because there were at
Stockholm three ambassadors who had just
sworn to an inviolable peace : he who prided
himself on his probity could not understand
how a legislator like the Czar could make light
of what should be held sacred. The young and
honourable Prince never dreamed that there
might be one code of morality for princes and
another for private individuals. The Russian
Emperor published a manifesto which he had
much better have suppressed : he gave as
reason for war that he had not been sufficiently
48 History of Charles XII
honoured when he passed incognito to Riga,
and also that provisions were sold too dear to
his ambassadors. These were the grievances
for which he ravaged Ingria with 80,000 men.
It was on the ist of October, a month in
which the weather is more severe in that
climate than is January in Paris, that he ap
peared before Narva. The Czar, who in such
weather would often ride 400 leagues to see
a mine or a canal, spared his men no more
than himself. Besides, he knew that the
Swedes, ever since the time of Gustavus Adol-
phus, fought in the depth of winter as well as
in summer, and he wanted to accustom his
Russians not to care about the seasons, so that
some day they might at least equal the Swedes.
So at a time when frost and snow force nations
in temperate climates to suspend hostilities
Peter was besieging Narva, thirty degrees from
the Pole, and Charles was advancing to its
relief. The Czar had no sooner arrived before
the place than he hastened to put into practice
all that he had lately learned on his travels :
he drew out his camp, fortified it on all sides,
built walls at intervals, and opened the trench
with his own hands. He had given the com
mand of the army to the Duke of Croy, a
German, and a clever general, who got little
support from the Russian officers.
The Czar himself had only the ordinary rank
of lieutenant in his own army. He thought
it necessary to give an example of military
 History of Charles XII 49
obedience to his nobility, who up till then had
been undisciplined and accustomed to lead
bands of ill-armed slaves without experience or
order. There is nothing- surprising- in the fact
that he who at Amsterdam turned carpenter to
procure fleets for himself should at Narva turn
lieutenant in order to teach his people the art
of war.
The Russians are strong- and indefatigable,
and perhaps as brave as the Swedes, but it
requires time to make veterans, and discipline
to make them invincible. The only fairly
reliable regiments were commanded by German
officers, but there were very few of them ; the
rest were savages torn from their forests,
clothed in the skins of wild beasts, some armed
with arrows and others with clubs. Few had
muskets, none had seen a regular siege, there
was not one good gunner in the whole
army.
A hundred and fifty cannon, which ought to
have reduced the little town of Narva to ashes,
hardly made a breach, while every moment the
artillery of the town were destroying whole
lines at work in the trenches. Narva was
practically unfortified, and Count Horn, who
was in command, had not a thousand regular
troops, and yet this immense army was not
able to reduce it in ten weeks.
On the 1 5th of November the Czar heard that
the King of Sweden had crossed the sea with
200 transports and was on his way to the relief
E
50 History of Charles XII
of Narva. There were not more than 20,000
Swedes, but superiority of numbers was the
Czar's only advantage. He was far, therefore,
from despising his enemy, and used all his skill
to crush him ; and not content with 100,000
men he levied another army to oppose him and
harass him in his advance. He had already
sent for 30,000 men who were advancing from
Plescow by forced marches. He then took a
step which would render him contemptible if
so great a legislator could be so. He left his
camp, where his presence was necessary, to go
to meet these reinforcements, which could quite
well reach the camp without his aid ; this step
made it appear that he was afraid of fighting,
in an entrenched camp, a young and inex
perienced prince, who might attack him.
However that may be, his plan was to hem
in the King between two armies. Nor was
this all : a detachment of 30,000 men from the
camp before Narva was posted at a league's
distance from the town, on the King of
Sweden's route, 20,000 Strelitz were further off
on the same route, and 5,000 others formed an
advanced guard. Charles would have to force
his way through all these troops before he
could reach the camp, which was fortified by
a rampart and a double ditch. The King of
Sweden had landed at Pernaw, on the Gulf of
Riga, with about 15,000 foot and more than
4,000 horse. From Pernaw he made a forced
march to Revel, followed by all his horse and
 History of Charles XII 51
only 4,000 of his foot. He continually advanced
without waiting- for the rest of his troops.
Soon he found himself, with only 8,000 men,
in presence of the enemy's outposts. He did
not hesitate to attack them one after the other,
without giving- them time to find out with how
small a number they had to contend. The
Russians, when they saw the Swedes advanc
ing against them, took it for granted that
they had a whole army to encounter, and the
advanced guard of 5,000 men, who were hold
ing a pass between the hills where 100 men of
courage might have barred the passage of a
whole army, fled at the first approach of the
Swedes. The 20,000 men behind them, terrified
at the flight of their countrymen, were over
come by fear and caused panic in the camp to
which they fled. All the posts were carried in
three days and a half, and what would have
been on other occasions reckoned three distinct
victories did not delay the King an hour. At
last he appeared with his 8,000 men, weaned
with the fatigues of so long a march, before a
camp of 80,000 Russians, protected by 150
cannon. He hardly allowed them time for rest
before he gave orders for an instant attack.
The signal was two musket-shots, and the
word in German, "With God's help." A
general officer pointed out to him the greatness
of the danger. " Surely you have no doubt,"
he replied, " but that I with my 8,000 brave
Swedes shall trample down 80,000 Russians!"
52 History of Charles XII
Then a moment after, fearing that his speech
was boastful, he ran after the officer. " Do
you not agree with me," he said, " that I have
a double advantage over the enemy? First be
cause their horse will be useless to them, and
secondly because, as the position is cramped,
their numbers will only incommode them, so
that I shall really possess the advantage."
The officer thought it best not to differ from
him, and so they attacked the Russians about
noon, on the 3Oth November.
As soon as the cannon of the Swedes had
made a breach in the entrenchments they ad
vanced with fixed bayonets, having the snow,
which drove full in the face of the enemy,
behind them. The Russians stood the fire for
half-an-hour without quitting their posts. The
King attacked the Czar's quarters, on the other
side of the camp, and hoped to meet him in
person, for he was ignorant of the fact that
he had gone to meet his 40,000 reinforcements
who were expected shortly. At the first dis
charge the King received a ball in the shoulder ;
but it was a spent ball which rested in the folds
of his black cravat and did him no harm.
His horse was killed under him, and it is
said that the King leapt nimbly on another,
exclaiming, "These fellows make me take exer
cise. " Then he continued to advance and give
orders with the same presence of mind as
before. Within three hours the entrenchments
were carried on all sides : the King chased the
 History of Charles XII 53
enemy's right as far as the river Narva with
his left, if one may speak of " chasing " when
4,000 men are in pursuit of nearly 50,000. The
bridge broke under them as they fled; in a
moment the river was full of dead bodies; the
rest in despair returned to their camp without
knowing the direction in which they were
going. They found some huts behind which
they stationed themselves ; there they defended
themselves for a time because they had no
mean of escape ; but finally their generals,
Dolgorouky, Gollofkin and Federowitz sur
rendered to the King and laid down their arms
at his feet. Just then the Duke of Croy arrived
to surrender with thirty officers.
Charles received all these prisoners with as
charming and engaging a manner as if he
were fating them in his own Court. He only
put the general officers under a guard ; all the
under officers and soldiers were disarmed and
taken to the river Narva, where they were
provided with boats to convey them to their
own country. In the meantime night came on,
and the right wing of the Russian force was
still fighting. The Swedes had not lost 1,500
men; 18,000 Russians had been killed in their
entrenchments, many had been drowned, many
had crossed the river; but still there remained
enough to entirely exterminate the Swedes.
But it is not the number lost, but the panic of
survivors which spells defeat in war. The
King made haste to seize the enemy's artillery
54 History of Charles XII
before nightfall. He took up an advantageous
position between their camp and the town, and
there got some hours' sleep on the ground,
wrapped in his cloak, waiting till at daybreak
he could fall on the enemy's left wing, which
was not yet completely routed.
At two o'clock in the morning General Wade,
who was in command of that wing, having
heard of the King's gracious reception of the
other generals and his sending home of the
subalterns and soldiers, asked the same favour
of him. The conqueror sent him word that he
need only approach at the head of his troops
and surrender his arms and standards. Soon
the general appeared with his Russians, to the
number of about 30,000. Soldiers and officers
marched bare-headed in front of less than
7,000 Swedes. As the soldiers passed before
him they threw down their muskets and
swords ; the officers surrendered their ensigns
and colours.
He let the whole band cross the river with
out keeping one single prisoner. Had he put
them under guard the number of prisoners
would have been at least five times that of the
conquerors.
He then victoriously entered Narva, attended
by the Duke of Croy and the other Russian
officers ; he ordered their swords to be restored
to them, and when he heard that they wanted
money, because the tradesmen of Narva re
fused to trust them, he sent the Duke of Croy
 History of Charles XII 55
1,000 ducats, and 500 to every Russian officer,
who were full of admiration for this treatment,
which they had never conceived possible. An
account of the victory was at once drawn up to
send to Stockholm, and to the allies, but the
King erased with his own hands whatever re
dounded too much to his own credit or to the
discredit of the Czar. His modesty could not
hinder them from striking several medals to
commemorate the event at Stockholm. One of
these represented him, on one face, standing
on a pedestal, to which a Russian, Dane and
Pole were chained; and on the reverse a Her
cules, armed with a club, trampling a Cerberus,
and the inscription, " Tres uno contudit ictu. "
Among the prisoners made on the day of the
battle of Narva was one who was typical of
the revolutions of fortune. He was the eldest
son and heir of the King of Georgia. He was
called the " Czarafis," a name which means
son of the Czar among all the Tartars as well
as in Russia; for the word Czar meant King
among the ancient Scythians, from whom all
these peoples are descended, and is not derived
from the name of the Caesars, so long unknown
to these barbarians. His father, Mitelleski,
who was master of the most beautiful part of
the country between the mountains of Ararat
and the eastern extremity of the Black Sea,
had been driven from his kingdom by his own
subjects in 1688, and preferred throwing him
self on the mercy of the Emperor of Russia, to
56 History of Charles XII
applying to the Turks. This king's son, at the
age of nineteen, helped Peter the Great in his
expedition against the Swedes, and was taken
in battle by some Finnish soldiers, who had
already stripped him, and were on the point of
killing him, when Count Renschild rescued him
from their hands, supplied him with clothes,
and presented him to his master. Charles sent
him to Stockholm, where the wretched prince
died shortly after. When he took leave, the
King made aloud a natural reflection on the
strangeness of the fate of an Asiatic prince,
born at the foot of the Caucasus, and going to
live a prisoner among the snows of Sweden :
" It is just," he said, "as if I were to be
one day prisoner among the Tartars of the
Crimea." At that time these words made no
impression, but afterwards, when the predic
tion had been justified in the event, there was
but too much reason to remember them.
The Czar was advancing by long marches
with a force of 40,000 Russians, expecting to
surround his enemy on all sides. When he had
got half-way he heard of the battle of Narva,
and the dispersal of his whole camp. He
thought it best not to attack a victor who had
shortly before destroyed 100,000 entrenched
troops, with a force of 40,000 raw and undis
ciplined men. He retraced his steps, hoping
to discipline his troops at the same time as
civilize his subjects. " I know," he remarked,
" that the Swedes will long beat us, but in time
 History of Charles XII 57
they will teach us to beat them. " Moscow,
his capital, was terror-stricken to hear of this
defeat. So great was the pride and ignorance
of the people that they were convinced they
had been conquered by superhuman agency,
and that the Swedes had secured their victory
by magic. This opinion was so widespread
that a public prayer to Saint Nicholas, patron
saint of Russia, was ordered. This prayer is
too singular to be omitted. It runs thus —
" O thou, our perpetual consolation in all
our adversities, great Saint Nicholas, of infinite
power, how have we offended thee in our
sacrifices, our genuflections, our bowings, our
thanksgivings, that thou hast thus forsaken
us ? We have implored thine assistance against
these terrible, insolent, savage, dreadful, in
vincible destroyers, when, like lions and bears
who have lost their young, they have fallen
upon us, terrified us, wounded us, slain us by
thousands, who are thy people. As it is impos
sible that this should have happened without
sorcery and witchcraft, we beseech thee, O great
Nicholas, to be our champion and standard-
bearer, to deliver us from this band of sorcer
ers, and to drive them from our coasts with the
reward they deserve."
While the Russians were thus complaining
of their defeat to St. Nicholas, Charles XII re
turned thanks to God, and prepared himself for
fresh victories.
The King of Poland fully expected that his
58 History of Charles XII
enemy, who had conquered the Danes and Rus
sians, would next turn his arms against him.
He made a firmer alliance with the Czar, and
the two princes arranged an interview at
which they could agree on some policy. They
met at Brizen, a small town in Lithuania, with
out any of the formalities which only delay
business, and for which they were in no humour
under the circumstances. The princes of the
North met with a familiarity which is not yet
the fashion in the south of Europe. Peter
and Augustus passed fifteen days together in
pleasures which passed all bounds; for the
Czar, who had set himself to reform his king
dom, could not restrain his own dangerous
inclination to riotous living.
The King of Poland promised to furnish the
Czar with 50,000 German troops, which were
to be hired from several princes, and which the
Czar was to pay. He, on the other hand, was
to send 50,000 Russians to Poland to be trained
in the art of war, and was also to pay the King
of Poland 3,000,000 rixdollars within two
years. Had this treaty been carried out it
might have been fatal to the King of Sweden.
It was a ready and sure way of making good
soldiers of the Russians, and might perhaps
have forged irons for half Europe.
Charles XII set himself to prevent the King
of Poland from getting the benefit of this
treaty. After passing the winter in Narva, he
marched into Livonia, to the very town of
 History of Charles XII 59
Riga which King Augustus had failed to take.
The Saxon troops were pasted along the river
Dwina, which is very broad at this spot, and
their task was to dispute the passage with
Charles, who lay on the other bank. The
Saxons were not then commanded by their
Prince, who was at that time ill ; but their
leader was Marshal Stenau, who was general ;
under him commanded Prince Ferdinand, Duke
of Courland, and the same Patkul, who, after
having maintained his rights on paper, defended
his country against Charles sword in hand at
the peril of his life.
The King of Sweden had great boats made,
after a new model, so that the sides were far
higher than ordinary, and could be let down
and drawn up like a drawbridge. When raised
they protected the troops they carried, and
when let down they formed a bridge to land by.
He also employed another artifice. Having
noticed that the wind blew straight from the
north, where his troops lay, to the south, where
his enemies were encamped, he fired a large
heap of wet straw, which spread a thick smoke
over the river and prevented the Saxons from
seeing his troops, or guessing at his actions.
Under cover of this cloud he sent out boats
filled with smoking straw, so that the cloud
increased, and being right in the enemy's face,
prevented them from knowing whether the King
had started on the passage or not. Meanwhile,
he himself led the execution of his scheme;
 6o History of Charles XII
and when he was in the middle of the river,
" Well," he said, " the Dwina is going to be
as kind to us as the sea of Copenhagen; take
my word for it, General, we shall beat them."
He got to the other side in a quarter of an
hour, and was vexed to see three people leap
to shore before him. He had his cannon landed
at once, and drew up his line without any oppo
sition from the enemy, who were blinded by the
smoke. When the wind dispersed the smoke
the Saxons saw the King of Sweden already
on his march against them. Marshal Stenau
lost not a moment, but at the first appearance
of the Swedes fell furiously upon them with
the best part of his horse. The violent shock
coming upon the Swedes just as they were
forming, threw them into disorder. They gave
way, were broken, and pursued up to the river.
The King of Sweden rallied them instantly in
the midst of the stream, with as much ease as
if he were holding a review. Then his troops,
marching in closer formation than before, beat
back Marshal Stenau, and advanced into the
plain. Stenau felt that his men were begin
ning to waver, and, like a skilful commander,
drew them off into a dry place flanked by a
marsh, and a wood where his artillery were
posted. The advantage of their position, and
the time they had to recover their spirits, re
stored the Swedes' courage. Charles attacked
at once with 15,000 men, while the Duke had
about 12,000. The battle was hard fought
 History of Charles XII 61
and bloody; the Duke had two horses killed
under him ; he three times penetrated into the
centre of the King's guards, but at last, having
been unhorsed by a musket blow, his army fell
into confusion, and he disputed the field no
longer. His cuirassiers carried him off from
the thick of the battle with difficulty, all bruised,
and half dead, from the horses' feet, as they
were trampling him.
After the victory the King of Sweden
hastened to Mittau, the capital of Courland,
and took it. All the towns of the Duchy sur
rendered at discretion ; it was rather a triumphal
passage than a conquest. He passed rapidly
on to Lithuania, and conquered wherever he
passed. And he acknowledged that it was a
great satisfaction to him to enter in triumph
the town of Birzen, where the King of Poland
and the Czar had plotted his ruin. It was here
that he planned to dethrone the King of Poland
by the agency of the Poles themselves. When
one day he was at table, quite absorbed in the
thought of his enterprise, and observing his
usual rule of abstinence in the midst of a pro
found silence, appearing engrossed in his great
plans, a German colonel, who was present,
said loud enough for the King to hear, that the
meals which the Czar and the King of Poland
had made in the same place were very different
from these.
" Yes," said the King, rising, " and I shall
the more easily disturb their digestions." In
62 History of Charles XII
fact, using a little diplomacy to assist his arms,
he did not delay to prepare for the event about
which he had been busy thinking.
The Government of Poland is an almost exact
image of the old Celtic and Gothic Govern
ment, which has been altered almost every
where else. It is the only state which has
retained the name " republic," with the royal
dignity.
Every nobleman has the right to vote at the
election of the king, and to stand for election
himself. These fine privileges have correspond
ing abuses ; the throne is almost always put up
for sale, and as a Pole is seldom rich enough
to buy it, it is often sold to foreigners. The
nobility defend their liberty against the king,
and tyrannize over the rest of the nation. The
body of the people are slaves ; such is the fate
of mankind, that the great majority are, in
some way or another, kept under by the
minority. There the peasant does not sow his
crops for himself but for his lord, to whom he
and his land and his very work belong, and
who can sell him, or cut his throat as if he
were a beast of the field. A lord is answer
able to none but himself. Judgment can only
be given against him for a criminal action by
an assembly of the whole nation.
Nor can he be arrested until after his con
demnation, so that he is hardly ever punished.
Many among them are poor, in which case
they let themselves out to the richer, and do
 History of Charles XII 63
the basest duties for a salary. They would
rather serve their equals than engage in trade,
and while taking care of their masters' horses
they call themselves electors of kings and
destroyers of tyrants.
Whoever saw a King of Poland in the pomp
of his majesty, would think him the most abso
lute prince in Europe ; yet he is certainly the
least so. The Poles really make with him the
same contract which is supposed to exist be
tween a sovereign and his subjects. The King
of Poland at the moment of his consecration,
and when he swears to keep the " pacta con-
venta," releases his subjects from their oath of
allegiance if he should break the laws of the
republic. He nominates to all public offices, and
confers all honours. Nothing is hereditary in
Poland, except estates and noble rank. The
sons of a count or of a king have no claim to
the dignities of their father. But there is this
great difference between the king and a re
public, that he cannot deprive of any office
after having conferred it, and that the republic
may depose him if he breaks the constitution.
The nobility, jealous of their liberty, often
sell their votes and seldom their affections.
They have scarcely elected a king before they
fear his ambition and make plots against him.
The great men whose fortunes he has made,
and whom he cannot degrade, often become his
enemies instead of remaining his favourites ; and
those who are attached to the Court, become
64 History of Charles XII
objects of hatred to the rest of the nobility.
This makes the existence of two parties the rule
among them ; a condition which is inevitable,
and even a necessity, in countries where they
will have kings and at the same time preserve
their liberty. What concerns the nation is
regulated by the States-General, which they
call Diets. These Diets are by the law of the
kingdom to be held alternately in Poland and
Lithuania. The deputies do business there
with sword in hand, like the old Sarmatae,
from whom they are descended ; and sometimes
too in a state of intoxication, a vice to which
the Sarmatae were strangers. Every noble
man deputed to these States-General has the
right the Roman tribunes had of vetoing the
laws of the Senate. One nobleman, by saying
" I protest," can put a stop to the unanimous
resolutions of all the rest; and if he leaves the
place where the Diet is held they are obliged
to separate.
To the disorders arising from this law they
apply a remedy still more dangerous. There
are almost always two factions in Poland; as
unanimity in the Diet is almost impossible,
each party forms confederacies, in which deci
sions are made by the majority's votes, with
out regard to the minority.
These assemblies, which are unconstitutional
but authorized by precedent, are held in the
king's name, though often without his con
sent and against his interests, much in the
 History of Charles XII 65
same way as the League in France made use of
Henry Ill's name to undermine his power, or
as the Parliament in England, which executed
Charles I, began by putting the King's name
at the head of all the Acts they passed to
destroy him. When the troubles are ended,
then it is the function of the General Diets to
annul the acts of these cabals ; any Diet can
also repeal the acts of its predecessors, be
cause one king can abolish the laws of his
predecessors, or his own laws.
The nobility which makes the laws for the
State is also its defence. They muster on
horseback on great occasions, and can make
a corps of more than 100,000 men. This great
body, called " Pospolite," moves with difficulty,
and is ill-governed. Difficulties of provisions
and forage make it impossible for them to
keep together long; they lack discipline,
experience and obedience, but their strong love
of liberty makes them always formidable.
They may be conquered, dispersed, or even
kept for a time in bonds, but they soon shake
off the yoke ; they compare themselves to
reeds, which a storm will bend to the ground,
and which will rise when the wind drops. It
is for this reason that they have no fortified
towns — they themselves are to be the only bul
warks of the State; they never let their king
build fortresses, lest he should use them rather
for their oppression than for their defence;
their country is quite open, except for two or
F
66 History of Charles XII
three frontier towns, and if in any of their
wars, civil or foreign, they resolve to sustain
a siege, they are obliged to hastily raise earth
fortifications, repair old half-ruined walls, and
enlarge the half -choked ditches ; then the town
is taken before the entrenchments are finished.
The Pospolite is not always on horses to
guard the country ; they only form by order
of the Diet, or, in times of great danger, by
that of the king.
The ordinary protection of Poland is in the
hands of a force which the State is obliged to
support. It is composed of two bodies inde
pendent of each other under two different
generals. The two generals are independent of
each other, and though they are nominated by
the king, are responsible to the State alone and
have supreme authority over their troops. The
colonels are absolute masters of their regi
ments, and it is their affair to get them what
sustenance they can, and to pay them ; but as
they are seldom paid themselves, they ravage
the country, and ruin the farmers to satisfy
their own rapacity, and that of their soldiers.
The Polish lords appear in these armies with
more magnificence than in civil life, and their
tents are finer than their houses. The cavalry,
which makes up two-thirds of the arrny, is
almost entirely composed of noblemen, and is
remarkable for the gracefulness of the horses
and the richness of the accoutrements.
Their men-at-arms especially, who are called
 History of Charles XII 67
either hussars or pancernes, are always at
tended by several valets, who lead their horses,
which have ornamented bridles with plates of
silver and silver nails, embroidered saddles,
saddle-bows and gilt stirrups, sometimes made
of massive silver, with saddle-cloth trailing in
the fashion of the Turks, whose magnificence
the Poles imitate as nearly as possible.
But though the cavalry is so gorgeous the
foot are wretched, ill-clad, ill-armed, without
uniform clothes or anything regular; at least
that is how they were up to 1710. These foot-
soldiers, who are like wandering Tartars, bear
hunger, cold, fatigue, and all the hardship of
war with incredible endurance. The character
istics of the ancient Sarmatae, their ancestors,
can still be seen in the Poles ; the same lack
of discipline, the same fury in assault, the
same readiness to run away and to return to
the field, the same mad fury of slaughter when
they are victorious.
The King of Poland at first consoled himself
with the idea that these two armies would
fight for him, that the Polish Pospolite would
arm at his orders, and that all these forces,
united with his Saxon subjects and his Russian
allies, would make up a multitude before whom
the small Swedish force would not dare to
appear. But he saw himself suddenly deprived
of this means of succour through the very
pains which he had taken to have them all at
once.
68 History of Charles XII
Accustomed in his hereditary dominions to
absolute power, he was perhaps too confident
that he could govern Poland like Saxony.
The beginning of his reign raised malcon
tents, his very first acts irritated the party
which was opposed to his election, and alien
ated almost all the rest. The Poles resented
the fact that their towns were filled with Saxon
garrisons and their frontiers with troops. The
nation, far more anxious to maintain their own
liberties than to attack their neighbours, did
not consider the king's attack on Sweden and
his invasion of Livonia as advantageous to the
State. It is difficult to deceive a free nation
concerning its interests. The Poles saw that
if this war, undertaken against their wishes,
was unsuccessful, their country, unprotected
on every side, would fall a prey to the King of
Sweden, and that if it succeeded they would
be subdued by their own king, who as soon
as he was master of Livonia as well as Saxony
would be able to hem in Poland between these
two countries.
In the face of this alternative, of either being
enslaved by the king whom they had elected,
or of having their land ravaged by Charles
who was justly enraged, they raised a great
outcry against a war which they believed was
rather declared against themselves than against
Sweden. They regarded the Saxons and the
Russians as the instruments of their bondage.
And when the King of Sweden had overcome
 History of Charles XII 69
all that opposed him, and was advancing with
a victorious army into the heart of Lithuania,
they opposed the King violently, and with the
more freedom because they were in misery.
Lithuania was then divided into two parties,
that of the Princess Sapieha, and that of
Oginski. These two factions had begun by
private quarrels, and degenerated into civil
war.
The King of Sweden was on the side of the
Princess Sapieha; and Oginski, ill supported
by the Saxons, found his party almost de
stroyed. The Lithuanian army, which these
troubles and lack of money was reducing to a
small number, was partly dispersed by the con
queror. The few who sided with the King of
Poland were small bodies of wandering troops,
who lived by spoil. So that Augustus found
nothing in Lithuania but the weakness of his
own party, the hate of his subjects, and a
foreign army led by an offended, victorious
and implacable king.
There was certainly an army in Poland, but
instead of 38,000 men, the number prescribed
by law, there were not 18,000. Then it was
not only ill-armed and ill-paid, but the generals
were undecided on any course of action. The
King's best course was to command the nobility
to follow him; but he dare not run the risk
of a refusal, which would increase his weak
ness by disclosing it.
In this state of trouble and uncertainty, all
yo History of Charles XII
the counts and dukes demanded a Parliament
of the King, just as- in England, in times of
crisis, the different bodies of the State present
addresses to the King beseeching him to call
a Parliament. Augustus was more in need of
an army than of a Parliament where the actions
of kings are criticized. But he was forced to
call one, that he might not provoke the nation
irretrievably. A Diet was therefore summoned
to meet at Warsaw, on the 2nd of December,
1701. He soon saw that Charles XII had as
much influence in the Assembly as he had him
self. The part}' of the Sapieha, the Lubomirski,
and their friends, Count Leczinski, treasurer
of the crown, who owed his fortune to King
Augustus, and above all the partisans of the
Sobieski, were all secretly for the King of
Sweden.
The most influential of them, and the most
dangerous enemy that the King of Poland
had, was Cardinal Radjouski, archbishop of
Gnesna, primate of the kingdom and president
of the Diet ; his conduct was full of duplicity
and artifice, and he was entirely dominated by
an ambitious woman whom the Swedes called
Madame la Cardinale, and who never ceased
to urge him to intrigue and faction. King
John Sobieski, Augustus's predecessor, had
first made him archbishop of Varmia and
vice-chancellor of the kingdom. By favour of
the same Prince, the Bishop got a Cardinal's
hat; this dignity soon opened his way to the
 History of Charles XII 71
primacy, and thus uniting- in his person all
that impresses people, he was able to undertake
great enterprises with impunity.
On the death of John he exerted his interest
to place Jacques Sobieski on the throne ; but
the great hate they bore the father, great as
he was, led to the rejection of the son. Then
the Cardinal-Primate united with the Abbe"
Polignac, ambassador from France, to give the
crown to the Prince of Conti, who actually
was elected.
But the money and the troops of the Saxons
got the better of him. At last he allowed him
self to be drawn into the party which crowned
the Elector of Saxony, and waited impatiently
for a chance of sowing dissension between the
nation and the new king.
The victories of Charles XII, protector of
Prince James Sobiesky, the civil war in Lithu
ania, the general dissatisfaction of all his
people with King Augustus, made the Cardinal-
Primate hope that the time had come when he
might send Augustus back into Saxony, and
open the way to the throne for Prince John.
This Prince, who had formerly been the inno
cent object of the Poles' hatred, was beginning
to be their idol, in proportion as King Augus
tus lost their favour; but he dare not even
conceive such a revolution, of which the
Cardinal had insensibly laid the foundations.
At first he seemed to wish to reconcile the
King with the republic. He sent circular letters
 72 History of Charles XII
apparently dictated by the spirit of concord
and charity, a common and well-known snare,
but one by which men are always caught; he
wrote a touching letter to the King of Sweden,
imploring him, in the name of Him whom all
Christians adore, to give peace to Poland and
her King. Charles XII answered the Cardinal's
intentions rather than his words, for he
remained with his victorious army in the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania, declaring that he had no
desire to disturb the Diet, that he was making
war on Augustus and the Saxons, and not on
Poland, and that far from attacking the State
he had come to save it from oppression.
These letters and answers were for public
perusal. The springs which made the Diet
act were the emissaries, who continually came
and went between the Cardinal and Count
Piper, and the private meetings held at this
prelate's house. They proposed
embassy to Charles XII, and were tounanimosend an
us
in their demands that their King should not call
in the aid of any more Russians, and that he
should send his Saxon troops away.
Augustus's bad luck had already brought
about what the Diet asked him. The treaty
made secretly with the Russians at Birzen had
turned out to be as useless as it had seemed
formidable. He was far from being able to
send the Czar the 15,000 men he had promised
to raise in the Empire.
The Czar himself, a dangerous enemy of
 History of Charles XII 73
Poland, was not at all anxious at that time
to help a divided kingdom, hoping to have
some share in the spoils. He contented him
self with sending 20,000 Russians into Lithu
ania, and they did more mischief than the
Swedes, fleeing continually before the con
queror, and ravaging Polish territory, till at
last, being chased by the Swedish generals and
finding nothing else to ravage, they returned
in bands to their own country. As to the
scattered remains of the Saxon army which
had been beaten at Riga, King Augustus sent
them to winter and recruit in Saxony, that
this sacrifice might regain him the affections
of the Polish nation in his present difficult
position.
Then the war was abandoned for a series of
intrigues, and the Diet divided into almost
as many factions as there were dukedoms.
One day the interests of King Augustus were
paramount, the next they were rejected.
Everybody clamoured for liberty and justice,
yet they had no conception of either; the time
was spent in secret cabals and public debate.
The Diet knew nothing about what they might
or should do ; great assemblies seldom agree on
good measures in time of civil uproar, because
bold men in such assemblies are generally
factious, while more reliable men are usually
timid.
The Diet broke up in disorder on the i7th
of February, 1702, after three months' plot-
74 History of Charles XII
ting and irresolution. The senators, that is,
the dukes and the bishops, remained at War
saw. The Polish Senate has the right of
making laws provisionally, which the Diets
seldom disannul; this body, much less cum
brous and more used to business, was far less
disturbed, and quickly came to a resolution.
They agreed to send the embassy proposed
in the Diet to the King of Sweden, and also
that the Pospolite should mount and hold them
selves ready for any emergency. They also
made several regulations to appease the
troubles in Lithuania, and still more to
diminish the King's authority, though it was
less to be feared than Charles's.
Augustus preferred to receive hard condi
tions from his conqueror than from his sub
jects ; he therefore determined to sue for
peace with the King of Sweden, and was on
the point of negotiating with him. He was
obliged to keep this step secret from the
Senate, whom he regarded as a still more
implacable foe. As the affair was difficult he
intrusted it to the Countess of Konigsmarck,
a Swedish lady of high rank to whom he was
then attached. This lady, who was celebrated
throughout the world for her wit and beauty,
was more capable than any minister of bring
ing a negotiation to a successful issue. Be
sides, as she had some property in Charles's
dominions, and had been long a member of
his Court, she had a plausible reason for wait-
 History of Charles XII 75
ing on the Prince. She came then to the
Swedish camp in Lithuania, and first applied
to Count Piper, who too lightly promised her
an audience of his master.
The Countess, among the talents which made
her one of the most delightful persons in
Europe, had a gift for speaking several lan
guages like a native, and would sometimes
amuse herself by making French verses which
might have been written at Versailles. She
made some for Charles XII. She introduced
the gods of antiquity, praising his different
virtues, and ended as follows —
" Enfin chacun des Dieux discourant a sa g-loire,
Le placait par avance au temple de memoire :
Mais Venus ni Bacchus n'en dirent pas un mot."
All her wit and charm were lost on such a
man as the King of Sweden ; he obstinately
refused to see her. She planned to intercept
him when he was taking his usual horse-
exercise. Thus meeting him one day in a
very narrow lane she alighted as soon as she
saw him. The King bowed without a word,
turned his horse and rode straight back. So
that the only satisfaction the Countess got
from her journey was the conviction that she
was the only person of whom the King was
afraid.
The King of Poland was then obliged to
throw himself into the arms of the Senate.
He made them two proposals by means of the
Count of Mariemburg; either that they should
76 History of Charles XII
leave him the control of the army, which he
would pay two quarters in advance out of his
own pocket, or else that they should allow
him to bring 12,000 Saxons into Poland. The
Cardinal replied as severely as the King of
Sweden had done. He told the Count of
Mariemburg, in the name of the Assembly,
" That they had decided to send an embassy
to Charles XII, and that it was not his affair
to introduce Saxons."
In this extremity the King was anxious to
preserve at least a semblance of royal authority.
He sent one of his chamberlains to Charles
to inquire when and how his Swedish Majesty
would receive the embassy of the King, his
master, and of the State. Unfortunately they
had neglected to provide this messenger with
a passport; so Charles threw him into prison,
with the remark that he was waiting for an
embassy from the State, and none from King
Augustus.
Then Charles, leaving garrisons behind him
in some of the Lithuanian towns, advanced to
Grodno, a town famous in Europe for the
Diets held there, but ill-built and worse forti
fied. Some miles away from Grodno he met
the embassy sent by the Polish State. Charles
XII received them in his tent with some dis
play of military pomp ; their proposals were full
of evasion and obscurity, they seemed afraid
of Charles, and disliked Augustus, but they
were ashamed of deposing a king whom they
 History of Charles XII 77
had elected at the order of a foreigner.
Nothing- was settled, and Charles gave them
to understand that he would give them a
decision at Warsaw.
His march was preceded by a manifesto
which the Cardinal and his party spread over
Poland in eight days. By this document
Charles invited all the Poles to join him in
vengeance, pretending that their interests were
the same. They were, as a matter of fact, very
different, but the manifesto, seconded by a
great party, by disorder in the Senate and by
the approach of the conqueror, made a great
impression. They were obliged to own Charles
for a protector, since it was his will, and it
was well for them that he was content with
this title. The Senators who were opposed to
Augustus advertised the manifesto in his very
face, and those who were on his side kept
silence. At last when they heard that Charles
was advancing by forced marches, they all
took panic, and prepared to flee. The Cardinal
was one of the first to leave Warsaw, the
majority hastened to flee, some to await the
issue of affairs on their own estates, some to
arm their adherents. With the King there
remained only the Imperial and Russian am
bassadors, the Pope's Legate, and some few
bishops and counts, who were attached to him.
He was forced to flee, and nothing had yet
been decided in his favour. Before his de
parture, he hastened to take counsel with the
78 History of Charles XII
small number of Senators who remained.
But though they were anxious to serve him they
were still Poles, and had all got so great an
aversion for Saxon troops, that they dare not
allow him to bring 6,000 men for his defence,
and they further voted that these 6,000 men
should be commanded by the Grand Duke
of Poland, and immediately sent back after
peace had been made. As to the armies of
the republic, they put them at his disposal.
After this settlement the King left Warsaw,
being too weak to oppose the enemy, and little
satisfied with his own party. He at once pub
lished his orders for assembling the Pospolite
and the armies, which were little more than a
name.
There was nothing to be hoped from Lithu
ania, where the Swedes were posted ; while the
Polish army, reduced in number, lacked arms,
provisions and the will to fight. The majority
of the nobles, intimidated, undecided, or dis
affected, stayed on their own lands. It was in
vain that the King, authorized by law, ordered
every noble to appear on horseback under pain
of death, and to follow him; they began to
argue that they need not obey him. His chief
trust was in the troops of the Electorate,
where, as the form of government was abso
lute, he did not fear disobedience. He had
already given orders to 2,000 Saxons, who
were marching rapidly. He also recalled
8,000, which he had promised to the Emperor
 History of Charles XII 79
for the French war, but which in his difficult
position he was forced to withdraw. The in
troduction of so many Saxons into Poland
meant the provocation of general disaffection,
and the violation of the law made by his own
party, allowing him a force of only 6,000. But
he realized that if he were victor they would
not dare to complain, while if he were beaten
they would never forgive the introduction of
6,000 men. While his soldiers were arriving in
groups, and he was passing from county to
county collecting the nobles who adhered to
him, the King of Sweden at last arrived before
Warsaw on the 5th of May, 1702. The gates
were opened to him at the first summons ; he
sent away the Polish garrison, disbanded the
militia, set up military posts of his own every
where, and ordered the inhabitants to disarm ;
then content with that, and not wishing to
exasperate them, he only demanded a tribute of
100,000 livres. King Augustus was at that
time assembling his forces at Cracow, and was
very surprised to see the Cardinal-Primate
among them. This man wished, perhaps, to
maintain an external reputation to the last,
and to dethrone his King with every mark of
outward respect. He gave him to understand
that the King of Sweden would grant reason
able terms, and humbly asked permission to
go to see the King. King Augustus granted
what he was powerless to refuse, and so left
him free to do him an injury. The Cardinal
 So History of Charles XII
hastened immediately to see the King of
Sweden, to whom he had not yet ventured to
present himself. He met the Prince at Praag,
not far from Warsaw, but without the cere
mony which had been shown towards the
ambassadors of the State.
He found the conqueror clad in a dress of
coarse blue cloth with brass buttons, jack
boots, and buffalo-skin gloves reaching to the
elbow, in a room without hangings, together
with the Duke of Holstein, his brother-in-law,
Count Piper, his prime minister, and several
officers. The King came forward to meet the
Cardinal, and they stood talking for a quarter
of an hour, when Charles concluded by saying
aloud, " I will never grant the Poles peace
till they have elected another king." The
Cardinal, who had expected this, immediately
reported it to all the counts, saying that he
was most sorry about it, but pointing out the
necessity for complying with the conqueror's
wishes.
At this news the King of Poland saw that
he must either lose his crown or defend it in
battle, and he put forth his best resources
for this last contest. All his Saxon forces had
arrived from the frontiers of Saxony. The
nobility of the Palatinate of Cracow, where he
still was, came in a body to offer him their
services. He personally exhorted every
one
of these to remember the oaths they had taken,
and they promised him that they would fight
 History of Charles XII 81
to the last drop of their blood in his defence.
Fortified by this help, and by the troops called
the crown corps, he went for the first time to
attack the King of Sweden, and soon found
him advancing- towards Cracow.
The two Kings met on the igth of July, 1702,
in a large plain near Clissau, between Warsaw
and Cracow. Augustus had nearly 20,000
men, and Charles not more than 12,000; the
battle began by a discharge of artillery. At
the first volley, discharged by the Saxons, the
Duke of Holstein, who commanded the
Swedish cavalry, a young prince of great
courage and valour, received a cannon-shot in
his loins. The King asked if he were dead,
and when they answered in the affirmative he
said nothing, the tears fell from his eyes, and
then covering his face with his hands for a
moment, he spurred his horse furiously, and
rushed into the thick of the fight at the head
of his guards.
The King of Poland did all that could be
expected of a prince fighting for his crown ;
he thrice personally led his men in a charge,
but the good fortune of Charles carried the
day, and he gained a complete victory. The
enemy's camp, artillery and flags, and Augus
tus's war-chest were left in his hands.
He did not delay on the field of battle, but
marched straight to Cracow, pursuing the
King of Poland, who fled before him. The
citizens of Cracow were brave enough to shut
G
82 History of Charles XII
the gates upon the conqueror. He had them
broken open, the garrison did not dare to fire
a single shot ; they were chased with whips and
sticks to the castle, where the King entered
with them. One gunner ventured to prepare to
fire a cannon; Charles rushed up to him and
snatched the match away; he then threw him
self at the King's feet. Three Swedish regi
ments were lodged at free quarters in the town,
and the citizens were taxed by a tribute of
100,000 rixdollars. Count Steinbock, having
heard that some treasure had been hidden in
the tomb of the Polish kings, in the Church of
Saint Nicholas at Cracow, had them opened ;
they only found gold and silver ornaments be
longing to the church ; they took some of them
and Charles sent a golden chalice to a Swedish
church; this would have raised the Polish
Catholics against him, if anything could have
withstood the terror inspired by his arms.
He left Cracow fully resolved to pursue
Augustus without intermission, but within a
few miles of the city his horse fell and broke
his thigh-bone, so that he had to be carried
back to Cracow, where he lay in bed in the
hands of the surgeons six weeks. This acci
dent gave Augustus breathing space. He had
the report immediately spread throughout
Poland and Germany that Charles had been
killed by his fall. This false report, which was
believed for some time, filled all men's minds
with astonishment and uncertainty.
 History of Charles XII 83
During- this slight interval he assembled all
the orders of the kingdom to Mariemburg.
The meeting was a large one, and few of the
Counts refused to send their deputies.
He regained popularity by presents,
promises, and the affability which is so neces
sary to absolute kings to make them popular,
and to elective kings as an added support to
their power. The Diet was soon undeceived
concerning the false report, but the impulse
had already been given to that great body, and
they allowed themselves to be carried along by
the impulse, and all the members swore fidelity
to the King.
The Cardinal himself, pretending to be still
attached to King Augustus, came to the Diet.
He kissed the King's hand, and did not scruple
to take the oath with the rest. The oath
implied that they had never attempted, and
never would attempt anything against Augus
tus. The King excused the Cardinal from the
first part of the oath, and he blushed as he
swore to the rest.
This Diet resolved that the republic of
Poland should maintain an army of 50,000 men
at their own expense for the service of the
State, that they should give the Swedes six
weeks to declare for peace or war, and the
same time to the Princess Sapieha, the authors
of the troubles in Lithuania, to come and beg
pardon of the King of Poland.
In the meantime the King of Sweden was
84 History of Charles XII
cured of his wound, and carried everything be
fore him. Still pursuing his plan of making
the Poles dethrone their King themselves, he
had, by means of the intrigues of the Cardinal,
a new assembly called at Warsaw, to oppose
that of Lubin. His generals pointed out to
him that the affair might still be protracted and
might at last prove abortive, that during this
time the Russians were daily attacking the
troops he had left behind in Livonia and
Ingria, that the Swedes were not invariably
successful, and that his presence there would
in all probability shortly be necessary. Charles,
who was as dogged in the carrying out of his
plans as he was brisk in his action, answered,
" Should I stay here fifty years, I would not
leave the place till I have dethroned the King
of Poland."
He left the Assembly of Warsaw to dispute
with that of Lubin in debates and writings,
and to seek precedents to justify their proceed
ings in the laws of kingdoms, laws which are
always equivocable, and interpreted by each
party at will.
For himself, having increased his victorious
troops by 6,000 cavalry and 8,000 infantry,
he marched against the rest of the Saxon
army he had beaten at Clissau, and which had
time to rally and recruit while he had been
kept in bed by his fall.
This army avoided him and withdrew to
wards Brussels on the north-west of Warsaw.
 History of Charles XII 85
The river Bug lay between him and the
enemy. Charles swam across at the head of
his horse, while the infantry sought a ford
higher up.
On May i, 1703, he came upon the Saxons
at a place called Pultask. They were com
manded by General Stenau and were about
10,000 in number. The King of Sweden in
his precipitate march had not brought more
with him, being sure that fewer would have
sufficed. The fear of his arms was so great
that one half of the army ran away at his
approach.
General Stenau held his ground for a few
minutes with two regiments; but the moment
after he was drawn into the general retreat of
his army, which was dispersed before it was
beaten. The Swedes did not make 1,000
prisoners, nor were there 600 killed ; they had
more difficulty in pursuing than in defeating
them.
Augustus, who had nothing left but the
scattered remnants of the Saxons who had been
beaten on all sides, hastily withdrew to Thorn,
a town in the kingdom of Prussia, on the Vis
tula, and under Polish protection. Charles at
once prepared to besiege it. The King of
Poland, realizing his danger, withdrew to
Saxony, but Charles, in spite of brisk marches,
swimming across rivers, hurrying along with
his infantry, and riding behind his cavalry,
was not able to bring his cannon up to Thorn ;
86 History of Charles XII
he was obliged to wait till it was sent him
from Sweden by sea.
In the meantime, he took up a position with
in some miles of the town, and would often
advance too near the ramparts to reconnoitre ;
the plain coat that he always wore was of
greater service to him than he had ever
expected on these dangerous walks; it pro
tected him from being marked out by the
enemy for a shot. One day, when he had gone
very near with one of his generals, called
Lieven, who was dressed in blue trimmed with
gold, he feared that he would be seen. With
the magnanimity which was natural to him,
which prevented him from remembering that
he was exposing his own life for a subject, he
told Lieven to walk behind him. Lieven, realiz
ing too late the mistake he had made in putting
on a noticeable uniform which brought those
near him also into risk, and being equally afraid
for the King's safety in whatever place he
was, hesitated as to whether he ought to obey
him. While he was debating with himself
for a second, the King took him by the arm,
and screened him : at that very instant a dis
charge of cannon took them in the flank, and
struck the general dead on the very spot which
the King had just left. The death of this man,
killed directly in his stead, and because he was
trying to save him, confirmed him in the
opinion he had always had about predestina
tion, and made him believe that his fate which
 History of Charles XII 87
had saved him under such extraordinary circum
stances was reserving him for the execution
of great designs.
All his schemes succeeded, and he was
equally fortunate in negotiations and in war;
his influence was felt throughout the whole
of Poland, for his Grand Marshal Renschild
was in the heart of those dominions with a
large section of the army. Nearly 30,000
generals, scattered through the north and east
on the Russian frontier, withstood the efforts
of the whole Russian Empire; and Charles
was in the west, at the other end of Poland,
at the head of picked troops.
The King of Denmark, tied down by the
treaty of Travendal, which he was too weak
to break, remained quiet. He was prudently
afraid of showing his vexation at seeing the
King of Sweden so near his estates. Further,
towards the south-west, between the Elbe and
Weser, lay the Duchy of Bremen, the last
territory formerly acquired by the Swedes,
filled with strong garrisons, and opening the
way for the conqueror to Saxony and the
Empire. Thus from the German Ocean
almost to the Gulf of Borysthenes, that is,
across the whole breadth of Europe, and up
to the gates of Moscow, all was in consterna
tion, and a general revolution was imminent.
His vessels were masters of the Baltic, and
employed in transporting prisoners from
Poland into his own country. Sweden alone,
88 History of Charles XII
at peace during these great doings, was re
joicing in deep peace, and in the glory of her
King, for which she did not have to pay the
price, for his victorious troops were maintained
at the expense of the conquered.
During this general peace of the North be
fore the arms of Charles XII, the town of
Dantzig ventured to offend him. Fourteen
frigates and forty transports were bringing the
King reinforcements of 6,000 men, with cannon
and ammunition to finish the siege of Thorn.
These had to pass up the Vistula ; at the mouth
of that river lies the rich town of Dantzig, a
free town, enjoying the same privileges in
Poland as the Imperial towns have in Germany.
Its liberty had been alternately attacked by the
Danes, Swedes, and some German princes,
and was only saved by the mutual jealousy
of these Powers. Count Steinbock, one of the
Swedish generals, assembled the magistrates in
the name of the King, and demanded a passage
and ammunition for his troops. The magis
trates, showing an unusual rashness in those
treating with their superior, dare neither abso
lutely refuse nor yet exactly grant what he
demanded. The general compelled them to
give him more than he had asked; and even
exacted from the town a contribution of
100,000 crowns to make up for their rash
denial.
At last the recruits, the cannon and the
ammunition having arrived before Thorn, the
 History of Charles XII 89
siege was begun on the 22nd of September.
Robel, governor of the place, defended it for
a month with a garrison of 5,000 men, and
then it was forced to surrender at discretion.
Robel was presented unarmed to the King.
His Majesty never missed a chance of honour
ing merit in a foe, and gave him a sword with
his own hand, together with a considerable
present of money, and sent him away on parole.
But the town, which was small and poor, was
condemned to pay 40,000 crowns, an excessive
sum for it.
Elbing, standing on an arm of the Vistula,
was founded by the Teutonic Knights, and
had been annexed to Poland. It did not take
advantage of the mistake of the Dantzig
townsfolk, hesitated too long about giving
passage to the Swedes, and was more severely
punished than Dantzig.
Charles entered it in person on the i$th of
December, at the head of 4,000 men armed
with bayonets. The inhabitants, in terror,
threw themselves upon their knees in the
streets, and begged for mercy. He disarmed
them, quartered his troops in their houses, and
then summoning the chief magistrate he de
manded a sum of 260,000 crowns, to be
handed over that very day. He seized the 200
pieces of cannon, and the 400,000 charges of
powder, which were in the town; a victory
gained would not have brought -him so
many advantages. All these successes were
90 History of Charles XII
the precursors to the dethroning of King
Augustus.
The Cardinal had scarcely taken the oath of
fealty to his King when he repaired to the
assembly at Warsaw, still under pretence of
making peace. He talked of nothing but peace
.and obedience, but was attended by 3,000
soldiers raised on his own estate. At last he
threw off the mask, and declared in the name
of the Assembly that " Augustus, Elector of
Saxony, was incapable of wearing the crown
of Poland." They then unanimously pro
nounced the throne vacant.
The intention of the King of Sweden, and so
necessarily of this Diet, was to give the throne
to the Prince Jacques Sobieski, whose father
Jean had possessed it.
Jacques Sobieski was then at Breslau, in
Silesia, impatiently waiting for the crown
which his father had worn.
One day he was hunting some miles from
Breslau, with Prince Constantine, one of his
brothers, when thirty Saxon cavaliers, sent
secretly by King Augustus, suddenly rushed
from a neighbouring wood, surrounded the two
princes, and carried them off without resist
ance. Relays of horses were ready a little
distance off, on which they were at once taken
to Leipsig, and closely guarded.
This step upset the plans of Charles, the
Cardinal and the Assembly of Warsaw.
Fortune, which sports with crowned heads,
 History of Charles XII 91
almost brought the King- of Poland to the
point of being taken himself. He was at table,
three miles from Cracow, relying on an
advanced guard, posted at a distance, when
General Renschild appeared suddenly, after
having surprised this guard. The King of
Poland had only time to mount with eleven
others. The general pursued him for eight
days, expecting to seize him at any moment.
The King had almost reached Sendomir; the
Swedish general was still in pursuit, and it
was only through extraordinary good luck that
the Prince escaped.
In the meantime the King's party and that of
the Cardinal were calling each other traitors
to their country.
The army of the Crown was divided into
two factions. Augustus, forced at last to
accept help from the Russians, regretted that
he had not applied to them sooner; he hurried
alternately into Saxony, where his resources
were at an end, and into Poland where they
dare not help him. On the other hand, the
King of Sweden was ruling calmly and suc
cessfully in Poland. Count Piper, who was as
great a politician as his master was a hero,
seized the opportunity to advise Charles to
take the crown of Poland for himself; he
pointed out to him how easily he could carry
out the scheme with a victorious army and
a powerful party in the heart of a kingdom
which he had already subdued ; he tempted him
92 History of Charles XII
by the title of Defender of the Reformed Faith,
a name which flattered Charles's ambition.
He could, he said, easily play (in Poland) the
part which Gustavus Vasa had played in
Sweden, and introduce Lutheranism, and break
the tyranny of the nobility and the clergy over
the people. Charles was tempted for a
moment; but glory was his idol; he sacrificed
to it both his interests and the pleasure he
would have had in taking Poland from the
Pope. He told Count Piper that he would
rather give away kingdoms than gain them,
and added smiling, " You were born to be the
minister of an Italian prince."
Charles was still near Thorn, in that part
of the kingdom of Prussia which belongs to
Poland ; from there he had an eye on what
was going on at Warsaw, and kept his power
ful neighbours in awe. Prince Alexander,
brother of the two Sobieskis, who had been
carried off to Silesia, came to ask vengeance
of him. The King was all the more ready
to grant it, because he thought it easy, and
that he would gain his own vengeance too.
But as he was eager to give Poland a king,
he proposed that Prince Alexander should take
the crown, which fortune seemed bent on deny
ing to his brother. He did not in the least
expect a refusal, but Prince Alexander told
him that nothing would ever persuade him to
take advantage of his elder brother's misfor
tune. The King of Sweden, Count Piper, all
 History of Charles XII 93
his friends, and especially the young Palatine
of Posnania, Stanislas Leczinski, pressed him
to accept. But he was decided. The neigh
bouring princes were astonished at the news,
and did not know which to admire most — a king
who at the age of twenty-two gave away the
crown of Poland, or Prince Alexander who
refused it.
BOOK III
 BOOK III

Stanislas Leczinski chosen King- of Poland—Death of

the Cardinal-Primate — Great retreat of General
Schullemburg— Exploits of the Czar — Foundation
of Petersburg — Charles's entry into Saxony —The
peace of Altranstadt — Augustus abdicates in favour
of Stanislas— General Patkul, the Czar's pleni
potentiary, is broken on the wheel, and quartered—
Charles receives the ambassadors of foreign princes
in Saxony — He also goes to Dresden to see
Augustus before his departure.
YOUNG Stanislas Leckinski was therefore de
puted by the Assembly at Warsaw to give the
King of Sweden an account of several differ
ences that had arisen among them since Jacques
had been carried off. Stanislas' personal ap
pearance was pleasing, full of courage and
sweetness, with that frank open air which is
the greatest of outward advantages, and a
better seconder of a man's words than elo
quence itself. Charles was impressed by his
discreet allusions to King Augustus, the
Assembly, the Cardinal and the different inter
ests which rent Poland. King Stanislas did
the writer the honour of relating his conversa
tion with the King, which took place in
Latin. " How can we hold an election if the
two Princes and Constantine are absent?" he
inquired. " How can you get the State out
of the difficulty without an election?" answered
the King.
97 H
98 History of Charles XII
This conversation was the only intrigue
which placed Stanislas on his throne. Charles
prolonged the conversation purposely, that he
might the better sound the young deputy's
genius. After the conference he said aloud
that he had never met a man so fit to reconcile
all parties. He immediately made inquiries
about the character of Leczinski, and found
that he was brave and inured to fatigue, that
he always slept on a kind of straw mattress,
and that he required no personal service from
his attendants; that he was more temperate
than is usual in that climate, economical, adored
by his servants, and perhaps the only popular
prince in Poland, at a time when all ties were
broken but those of interest and faction. This
character, which corresponded in many respects
with his own, made him make up his mind
finally. He remarked aloud after the meeting,
"There is a man who will always be my
friend," and people knew that that meant,
" There is a man who shall be king."
When the Primate of Poland heard that the
King had nominated the Palatine Leczinski, he
hastened to Charles to try to make him change
his mind, for he wished to put the crown on
the head of a certain Lubomirski. " But what
objection have you to Stanislas?" asked the
conqueror. " Sire," said the Primate, "he is
too young." "He is much about my own
age," answered the King dryly, turning his
back on the Prelate. Then he sent Count
 History of Charles XII 99
Horn to Warsaw at once to notify the Assembly
that they must elect a king in three days, and
that they must choose Stanislas Leczinski.
Count Horn arrived on the 7th July, and fixed
the election for the i2th, just as if he were
arranging the decampment of a battalion. The
Cardinal-Primate, disappointed of the fruit of
so many intrigues, returned to the Assembly,
where he left no stone unturned to ruin the
election in which he had had no share; but
the King of Sweden arrived incognito at War
saw, so that he had to be silent. All that the
Primate could do was to absent himself from
the election : he took up the position of a
neutral, being unable to oppose the conqueror
and unwilling to assist him.
On Saturday, i2th July, the day appointed
for the election, the Assembly met at Colo, at
about three in the afternoon. They met there by
arrangement, and the Bishop of Posnania pre
sided instead of the Cardinal. Count Horn
and two other officers were present at the cere
mony, as ambassadors extraordinary from
Charles to the Republic. The session lasted
till nine in the evening, and the Bishop brought
it to an end by declaring in the name of the
Diet that Stanislas was elected King of Poland.
They all threw their caps into the air, and
the acclamations stifled the cries of the
opposers.
It was no use for the Cardinal and his party
to stay away from the elections ; they were
ioo History of Charles XII
all obliged the next day to come and pay
homage to the new King, who received them
as if he were quite satisfied with their conduct ;
their greatest mortification was that they had
to attend him to the King of Sweden's quarters.
His Majesty gave all honours to the King he
had just made, and, to add weight to his
new dignity, assigned money and troops for
his use.
Charles XII left Warsaw at once to proceed
to the completion of the conquest of Poland.
He had ordered his army to meet before
Leopold, the capital of the great Palatinate of
Russia, a place important in itself, but still
more so for the riches it held. It was thought
that by means of the fortifications, which King
Augustus had made there, it would hold out
fifteen days. The conqueror invested it on the
5th, and took it the following day by assault.
All who resisted were put to the sword. The
victors, who were now masters of the town,
did not disperse for pillage, in spite of the
reports concerning treasure in Leopold : they
ranged themselves in battle array in the great
square. The King then proclaimed, by sound
ing a trumpet, that all who had anything be
longing to King Augustus or his adherents
should bring them themselves before sunset on
pain of death. The arrangements were so well
made that few dare disobey him, and they
brought him 400 chests, filled with gold and
silver coin, plate and other things of value.
 History of Charles XII 101
The beginning- of Stanislas* reign was con
temporaneous with a very different event.
Some business for which he must be present
had forced him to remain in Warsaw : he had
with him his mother, his wife and two
daughters ; the Cardinal, the Bishop of Pos-
nania and some prominent Poles made up his
new court. His guards were 6,000 Poles of
the royal army, who had lately entered his
service, but whose fidelity had not yet been
tried. General Horn, governor of the town,
had only about 1,500 Swedes with him. They
were at Warsaw in peace, and Stanislas was
reckoning on starting in a few days for the
conquest of Leopold, when suddenly they heard
that an immense army was approaching the
town. It was King Augustus, who was making
a fresh effort; by one of the finest marches
ever made he was coming up with 20,000 men
to fall on Warsaw, after having eluded the
King of Sweden; his purpose was to kidnap
his rival.
Warsaw was not fortified, and the Polish
troops who were defending it were not reliable.
There were those in the town from whom
Augustus got information, and if Stanislas
delayed he would be ruined. He sent his
family to Posnania, under the guard of Polish
troops upon which he could absolutely rely. It
was in this disorder that he feared he had lost
his second daughter, aged one ; she was lost by
a nurse, and they discovered her in a manger,
102 History of Charles XII
in a neighbouring- village, where she had been
left. That is the story that I have often
heard him tell. It was this child who, after
many vicissitudes, became Queen of France.
Several gentlemen took different roads. The
new King went to join Charles XII, learning
early to suffer disgrace, and forced to leave his
capital six weeks after he had been made King.
Augustus entered the capital as a victorious
and enraged sovereign. The inhabitants,
already fleeced by the King of Sweden, were
more heavily taxed still by Augustus. The
Cardinal's palace and all the houses of the
confederate lords were given over to plunder.
The most extraordinary thing about this tran
sient revolution was that the Papal Legate,
who had come with King Augustus, demanded
in the name of his master that the Bishop of
Posnania should be handed over to him as
responsible to the Court of Rome for having
abetted a Prince who had been put on the
throne by the arms of a Lutheran.
The Court of Rome, which had always
endeavoured to increase its temporal power by
means of the spiritual, had long established a
kind of jurisdiction in Poland, with the Papal
Legate at the head of it. These ministers
never missed a chance of extending their
power, which was revered by the majority, but
always resisted by those of greater discern
ment. They had claimed the right of judging
all ecclesiastical cases, and had, especially
 History of Charles XII 103
during periods of disturbance, usurped many
other privileges which they maintained until
about 1728, when they were deprived of them :
for such abuses are seldom reformed till they
have become intolerable.
King Augustus, very glad to be able to
punish the Bishop with decency, and at the
same time to do something acceptable to the
Roman Court, though he would have opposed
it on any other occasion, delivered up the
Polish Prelate into the hands of the Legate.
The Bishop, having seen his palace plundered,
was taken by the soldiers into Saxony, where
he died.
Count Horn endured the continual fire of the
enemy in the castle where he was enclosed for
some time, but at last the place could hold out
no longer, and he sounded a parley and gave
himself up with his 15,000 Swedes. This was
the first advantage which King Augustus
gained in the torrent of his misfortune against
the victorious Swedes.
Charles, accompanied by King Stanislas,
went to meet his enemy at the head of the
best part of his troops. The Saxon army fled
before him; the towns for thirty miles round
sent him their keys, and every day brought
word of some advantage gained. Success be
came too familiar to Charles : he said it was
hunting rather than fighting, and complained
of never having to contest a victory.
For some time Augustus entrusted the com-
104 History of Charles XII
mand of his army to Count Schullemburg, a
very able general : he certainly needed all his
experience at the head of a discouraged army.
He seemed more anxious to safeguard his
master's troops than to conquer : he made war
by means of stratagem, while the two kings
acted with vigour. He stole marches on them,
seized advantageous posts, and sacrificed some
of his cavalry to give time to his foot to with
draw in safety. He saved his troops by
splendid retreats before an enemy with whom
one could only gain this sort of glory.
Scarcely had he arrived in the Palatinate of
Posnania than he heard that the two Kings,
whom he had believed to be fifty leagues off,
had covered the fifty leagues in nine days. He
had not more than 8,000 foot and 1,000 horse;
he had to hold his own against a superior force,
the King of Sweden's reputation and the fear
which so many defeats had naturally inspired
in the Saxons. He was always of opinion, in
spite of the German generals, that the foot
might hold their own against the horse in an
open field, even without the benefit of a
chevaux de frise: and he ventured to try the
experiment on that day against a victorious
horse commanded by the two Kings and the
most experienced of the Swedish generals.
He took up such an advantageous position that
he could not be surrounded ; his first line knelt
on the ground, and were armed with pikes and
muskets ; the soldiers were in close formation,
 History of Charles XII 105
and presented to the enemy's horse a kind of
rampart bristling with pikes and muskets ; the
second line bending a little over the shoulders
of the first, shot over their heads, and the
third, standing upright, fired simultaneously
from behind the other two. The Swedes fell
upon the Saxons with their usual impetuosity,
but they awaited them without flinching. By
this means the Swedes advanced in disorder,
and the Saxons warded off the attack by
keeping their ranks.
Schullemburg drew up his men in an oblong
battalion, and, though wounded in five places,
he retired in good order at midnight to the
little town of Gurau, three leagues from the
battle-field. He had scarcely time to breathe
here before the two Kings appeared close
behind him.
Beyond Gurau, towards the river Oder, lay
a thick wood through which the Saxon general
led his exhausted troops; the Swedes, without
being nonplussed, pursued him through the
thickets of the woods, finding their way with
out difficulty through places scarcely passable by
foot-passengers. Yet the Saxons had not
crossed the wood more than five hours before
the Swedish cavalry appeared.
On the other side of the wood runs the river
Parts, at the foot of a village named Rutsen.
Schullemburg had sent forward in haste to get
the boats ready, and had got his troops across
the river : they were already lessened by half.
io6 History of Charles XII
Charles arrived just as Schullemburg had
reached the other side ; never had a conqueror
pursued his enemy so rapidly.
The reputation of Schullemburg depended on
his escaping from the King of Sweden, while
the King thought his glory concerned in taking
him and the rest of his army. He lost no time
in making his cavalry swim the river. Thus
the Saxons found themselves enclosed between
the river Parts and the great river Oder, which
rises in Silesia, and is very deep and rapid at
this spot.
The ruin of Schullemburg seemed inevitable :
but after having lost few soldiers he crossed
the Oder during the night. Thus he saved
his army, and Charles could not help saying,
" To-day Schullemburg has conquered us."
It was this same Schullemburg who was
afterwards general of the Venetians, and he in
whose honour the Republic erected a statue in
Corfu, because he defended this rampart of
Italy against the Turks. None but republics
confer such honours ; kings do not give
rewards.
But what thus brought glory to Schullem
burg was of little use to King Augustus. He
once more abandoned Poland to his enemies,
withdrew into Saxony and hastily prepared the
fortifications of Dresden, for he already feared,
not without reason, the loss of the capital of
his hereditary dominions.
Charles XII found Poland submissive; his
 History of Charles XII 107
generals, following his example, had engaged
in Courland with several small bodies of
Russians, who, since the great battle of Narva,
had only shown themselves in small companies,
and who in this part only made war like the
Tartar vagabonds, who plunder and flee and
reappear only to flee again. Wherever the
Swedes were they thought they were certain to
win, though they numbered only twenty against
a hundred.
Under these fortunate circumstances Stanis
las prepared for his coronation ; fortune, which
had had him elected king at Warsaw and then
had driven him thence, recalled him thither to
the acclamation of a crowd of nobles which
the fortune of war attached to him ; a Diet was
convoked there ; all other obstacles were re
moved, only the Court of Rome was disposed
to thwart it.
It was naturally expected that this Court
would declare in favour of King Augustus, who
from a Protestant had become a Catholic to
gain the crown in opposition to Stanislas, who
was placed upon the throne by the great enemy
of the Catholic faith. The then Pope, Clement
XI, sent dispatches to all the prelates of
Poland, and especially to the Cardinal-Primate,
threatening them with excommunication if they
presumed to assist at the consecration of
vStanislas or take part in any plot against King
Augustus.
If these dispatches were delivered to the
io8 History of Charles XII
bishops who were at Warsaw, it was to be feared
that, while some would obey them through
weakness, the majority would seize the op
portunity to become more exacting in propor
tion as they were necessary. All possible pre
cautions were therefore taken to prevent the
letters of the Pope from being received at
Warsaw. A Franciscan got possession of them
secretly, undertaking to deliver them into the
bishops' own hands : he first gave one to the
suffragan of Chelm. This prelate, who was a
great partisan of King Stanislas, gave it to
his Majesty unopened. The King sent for the
monk, and asked how he dare take charge of
such a document. The Franciscan answered
that he did it by order of his general. Stanislas
told him to in future take his orders from his
King rather than from his Superior, and
banished him immediately from the town.
The same day a placard was published by
the King of Sweden, by which all ecclesiastics,
secular and regular, were forbidden to take
part in politics under the severest penalties.
For greater security he had guards posted
at the doors of all the prelates' houses, and for
bad the entry of any stranger into the town.
He exercised these small severities so that
Stanislas should not fall out with the clergy
on his accession; he said that he refreshed
himself from the fatigue of campaigns by
checking the intrigues of the Roman Curia,
and that he must fight it on paper, just
 History of Charles XII 109
as he attacked other sovereigns with actual
weapons.
The Cardinal was asked by Charles and
Stanislas to perform the ceremony of corona
tion. But it did not seem to him seemly that
he should quit Dantzig to consecrate a king
who had been elected against his wish ; but,
as it was always his policy to act a part in all
that he did, he wanted to get a legitimate
excuse for his refusal : he therefore caused the
Pope's dispatch to be fixed, in the night, tp
the gate of his own house. The magistrate of
Dantzig in great indignation had search made
for the culprits, which were not found; the
Primate feigned irritation and was really very
pleased : he had an excuse for not consecrating
the new King, and at the same time remained
on good terms with Charles, Augustus, Stanis
las and the Pope.
He died a few days after, leaving his country
in turmoil. The only result of all his intrigues
was that he had offended simultaneously three
Kings, Charles, Augustus, Stanislas, the Polish
State and the Pope, who had commanded him
to come to Rome to account for his conduct.
But, as even politicians sometimes experience re
morse in their last moments, he wrote to King
Augustus on his death-bed asking his pardon.
The coronation was solemnized quietly and
magnificently in Warsaw in spite of the Polish
custom of crowning kings in Cracow. Stanis
las Leczinski and his wife Charlotte were con-
i io History of Charles XII
secrated King and Queen of Poland at the
hands of the Archbishop of Leopold assisted
by several other bishops. The only reward
Charles reaped from his conquest was to be
present at the ceremony incognito.
While he was thus providing Poland with a
king, and the King of Denmark dare not
harrass him, while the King of Prussia was
courting his friendship and Augustus was
withdrawing to his hereditary dominions, the
Czar became daily more formidable. His assist
ance of Augustus in Poland had been feeble,
but he had made powerful diversions in Ingria.
As for him, he not only began to be a great
soldier himself, but also to teach his soldiers
the art of war : discipline was established
among his forces ; he had good engineers,
experienced artillery and many good officers ;
he had also learned the great art of supporting
his armies. Some of his generals had learned
both to fight well and, if necessary, to abstain
from fighting ; more than all, he had built up
a fleet capable of making head against the
Swedes in the Baltic.
Confident in all these advantages, due both
to his genius and to the absence of the King
of Sweden, he took Narva by assault after a
regular siege and a blockade by land and sea.
When the soldiers had taken the town they
plundered it, and gave themselves to horrible
barbarities : the Czar hastened from one place
to another to stop the disorder and massacre.
 History of Charles XII in
He rescued by force from the hands of the
soldiers women whose throats they were going
to cut after having- outraged them ; he was
obliged to kill with his own hands some
Russians who would not listen to his com
mands. In the town hall at Narva they still
show the table where he laid his sword, as he
said to the citizens who flocked after him,
" This sword is not wet with the blood of the
citizens I have slain, but with that of the Rus
sians whom I have killed to save your lives."
Had the Czar always shown such humanity
he would have been the greatest of heroes.
His ambition went beyond the destruction of
tcwns. In the midst of his new conquests he
was laying the foundations of a city not far
from Narva. This was the city of Peters
burg, which was henceforth his seat and the
centre of his trade. It is between Finland and
Ingria, in a marshy island, around which the
Neva flows in several branches before it falls
into the Gulf of Finland. He himself made the
plan of the town, of the fortress, the port, the
quays, which adorn it, and the fortifications
defending its entry. This desert, uncultivated
island, which is nothing but a mud heap
during the short summer of that climate, and
a pool of ice in winter, unapproachable by
land except across wild forests and deep
morasses, and till then the habitation
of bears and wolves, was, in 1703, filled
with more than 300,000 men whom the
ii2 History of Charles XII
Czar had called together from the farthest
limits of his dominions. The peasants of the
kingdom of Astrakan and those who live on
the frontiers of China were transported to
Petersburg. Before he could lay the founda
tions of a town he was obliged to pierce
forests, make roads, drain marshes and raise
banks. Nature was subjugated in every direc
tion. But the Czar was bent on peopling a
country which did not seem meant for man's
habitation ; he was not to be diverted from his
resolve either by the floods, which ruined his
works, or by the barrenness of the soil, or by
the ignorance of the workmen, or by the
mortality which swept away 200,000 men at
the very beginning. The town was founded in
spite of the obstacles which existed in nature
herself, in the genius of the people, and an
unfortunate war. Already in 1705 Petersburg
was a considerable town, and its port was full
of vessels. The Emperor attracted strangers
in large numbers by the rewards which he gave
them, giving some lands, others houses, and
encouraging all the arts which might civilize
life in that cruel climate. Above all, he made
it inaccessible to the enemy. The Swedish
generals, who frequently beat his troops in
every other district, were not able to do the
least harm to this increasing colony. It was
at peace in the midst of the war which sur
rounded it.
The Czar, by thus creating new dominions
 History of Charles XII 113
for himself, still held out a helping hand to
King Augustus, who was losing his. He per
suaded him by the instrumentality of General
Patkul, who had lately joined the Russian side,
and was then the Czar's ambassador in Saxony,
to come to Grodno to confer with him once
more on the unhappy state of affairs.
King Augustus came thither with some
troops, attended by General Schullemburg,
whose passage across the Oder had got him a
reputation in the north, and in whom he placed
his great hope. The Czar arrived followed by
100,000 men. The two monarchs formed new
plans of war. As King Augustus was de
throned he was no longer afraid of exasperat
ing the Poles by delivering their country to
the Russian troops. It was decided that the
Czar's army should be divided into several
bodies to oppose every action of the King of
Sweden. During this interview King Augustus
instituted the order of the White Eagle, a feeble
resource to bring over to his side certain
Polish lords who wanted real advantages rather
than an empty honour, which becomes ridicul
ous when derived from a prince who is king
only in name. The conference of the two
Kings ended in a strange manner. The Czar
departed suddenly, leaving his troops to his
ally, in order to extinguish a rebellion with
which he was threatened in Astrakan. He had
scarcely started when King Augustus ordered
the arrest of Patkul at Dresden.
I
114 History of Charles XII
All Europe was amazed that, in opposition to
the law of nations, and apparently to his own
interest, he should venture to imprison the
ambassador of the only prince who afforded
him protection. The secret history of the
affair was this : Patkul, proscribed in Sweden
for having maintained the privileges of his
country, Livonia, had become general to
Augustus : but his high spirit not according
with the proud disposition of General Fleming,
the King's favourite, and more imperious than
himself, he had passed into the Czar's service,
and was then his general and ambassador to
Augustus. He was a man of great discern
ment, and had found out that the proposal of
Fleming and the Chancellor of Saxony was to
offer Charles peace on his own terms. He at
once formed a plan to prevent this and to bring
about some arrangement between the Czar
and Sweden. The Chancellor got wind of his
project, and obtained leave to seize him. King
Augustus told the Czar that Patkul was a
wretch and would betray them both. His only
fault was that he served his master too well :
but an ill-timed piece of service is often
punished as a treason.
In the meantime, the 100,000 Russians, on
one side, divided into several small bodies, burnt
and ravaged the estates of Stanislas' adher
ents : while Schullemburg, on the other, was
advancing with fresh troops. But the fortune
of the Swedes dispersed these two armies in
less than two months. Charles XII and
 History of Charles XII 115
Stanislas attacked the separate corps of the
Russians one after another, but so swiftly that
one Russian general was beaten before he had
heard of the defeat of his colleague. No
obstacle could check the conqueror's advance.
If he found a river in the way he and his
Swedes swam across it.
One party of the Swedes took the baggage
of Augustus in which were 400,000 crowns of
silver coin; Stanislas seized 800,000 ducats
belonging to Prince Menzikoff, the Russian
general. Charles, leading his cavalry, would
often march thirty leagues in twenty-four
hours, every soldier leading another mount to
use when his own should be spent. The
Russians, panic-stricken and reduced to a
small band, fled in confusion beyond the
Borysthenes.
While Charles was thus driving the Russians
into the heart of Lithuania, Schullemburg at
last repassed the Oder and came at the head
of 20,000 men to offer battle to the great
Marshal Renschild, who was considered
Charles's best general, and was called the
Parmenio of the North. These two famous
generals, who seemed to share the fate of their
respective masters, met near Punits, at a place
called Frauenstadt, a territory which had
already proved fatal to the troops of Augustus.
Renschild had only thirteen battalions and
twenty-two squadrons, which made a total of
about 10,000 men, and Schullemburg had twice
that number.
n6 History of Charles XII
It must be remembered, too, that he had
in his army between 6,000 and 7,000 Russians,
who had been under discipline a long- time, and
were as reliable as veterans. This battle of
Frauenstadt was fought on i2th February,
1706: but the same General Schullemburg,
who with 4,000 men had to a certain extent
harassed the King of Sweden, was completely
defeated by General Renschild. The battle did
not last a quarter of an hour, in a moment
the Saxons wavered, and the Russians threw
down their arms on the first appearance of the
Swedes. The panic was so sudden and the
confusion so great that the conquerors found
on the field 7,000 muskets ready loaded, which
they had thrown away without firing. There
never was a rout more sudden, more complete
or more disgraceful : and yet all the Saxon
and Swedish officers acknowledged that no
general had ever arranged his men better; it
was that day that they realized how little
human foresight can pre-arrange events.
Among the prisoners there was a whole
regiment of French. These poor wretches had
been taken by the Saxon troops in 1704 at the
famous battle of Hochstet, which was so fatal
to the greatness of Louis XIV. They had since
enlisted under King Augustus, who had formed
them into a regiment of dragoons, and put
them under the command of a Frenchman
called Joyeuse. The colonel was killed at the
first and only charge of the Swedes, and the
 History of Charles XII 117
whole regiment became prisoners of war. From
that day these Frenchmen petitioned to be
taken into the service of the King of Sweden ;
they were received into that service by a
singular fate, which preserved them for a
further change of their conqueror to their
master.
As to the Russians they begged for their life
on their knees, but they were inhumanly mas
sacred in cold blood, six hours after the battle,
to punish them for the outrages of the com
patriots, and to get rid of prisoners which the
conquerors did not know what to do with.
Augustus was now absolutely without re
sources. He had nothing left but Cracow,
where he was shut up with two regiments of
Russians, two of Saxons and some troops of
the regal army, by whom he was afraid of
being handed over to the conqueror; but his
misfortune was at its height when he heard
that Charles had at last entered Saxony, on
the ist September, 1706.
He had crossed Silesia without deigning to
even warn the Court of Vienna. Germany was
in consternation : the Diet of Ratisbon, which
represents the Empire, and the resolutions of
which are often as ineffectual as they are
solemn, declared the King of Sweden an enemy
to the Empire if he crossed the Oder with his
army ; this very resolution was a further in
ducement to him to march into Germany.
Upon his approach the villages were de-
u8 History of Charles XII
serted and the inhabitants fled in all directions.
Charles acted as he had at Copenhagen : he
had proclamations made everywhere that he
only wanted to procure peace, and that all
those who returned to their houses and paid the
contributions that he would demand should be
treated as his own subjects, while the rest
should be pursued with no quarter. This de
claration from a prince who had never been
known to break his word brought back in
large numbers all those of the inhabitants who
had been dispersed by fear. He encamped at
Altranstadt, near the plains of Lutzen, the
field of battle famous for the victory and death
of Gustavus Adolphus. He went to see the
place where this great man fell, and when he
reached the spot he said, " I have endeavoured
to live like him ; perhaps God may one day
grant me a death as glorious."
From this camp he commanded the estates
of Saxony to meet, and to send him without
delay the register of Finance of the Electorate.
As soon as he had them in his power, and had
information of exactly what Saxony could
supply, he levied a tax on it of 625,000 rix-
dollars a month.
Besides this contribution the Saxons were
obliged to supply every Swedish soldier with
two pounds of meat, two pounds of bread,
two pots of beer and fourpence a day, together
with forage for his horse. When the contri
butions had been thus fixed the King arranged
 History of Charles XII 119
a new method of protecting the Saxons from
the insults of his soldiers. He ordered that in
all the towns where his soldiers were quartered
every housekeeper with whom the soldiers were
lodged should give certificates of their be
haviour each month, without which the soldier
could not draw his pay; further, inspectors
went round once a fortnight to inquire if the
Swedes had done any damage, and house
keepers were carefully indemnified and culprits
punished.
The severe discipline under which Charles's
troops lived is well known ; they did not pillage
towns taken by assault without permission ;
they pillaged in an orderly way, and desisted
at the first signal. The Swedes boast to this
day of the discipline they kept in Saxony : yet
the Saxons complain that the most terrible
outrages were committed among them. These
contradictory statements would be irreconcil
able if we did not remember that men look
at the same thing from different points of
view.
It would have been very strange had not the
conquerors sometimes abused their privileges,
and had not the conquered regarded the small
est damage as the most terrible injury. One
day as the King was riding near Leipsig a
Saxon peasant threw himself at his feet to
ask justice against a grenadier, who had just
gone off with what he had intended for his
family dinner. The King had the soldier called.
120 History of Charles XII
" Is it true," he asked sternly, " that you have
robbed this man?" "Sire," answered the
soldier, " I have not done him so much harm
as your Majesty has done his master, for you
have stolen a kingdom from him, while I have
only taken a turkey from this rustic." The
King- gave the peasant ten ducats, and pardoned
the soldier for the boldness of the repartee, but
he added, " Remember, friend, that 1 have
taken a kingdom from King Augustus, but I
have taken nothing for myself."
The great Leipsig fair was held as usual,
tradesmen attended it in perfect security ; not
one Swedish soldier was to be seen in the fair ;
it might have been said that the only object of
the Swedish army in Saxony was to keep the
peace : the King ruled throughout the Elector
ate with as absolute a power and as deep a
tranquillity as in Stockholm.
King Augustus, a wanderer in Poland, and
deprived both of his kingdom and his elector
ate, at last wrote a letter with his own hand
to Charles XII to ask for a peace.
He commissioned Baron Imhof, accompanied
by M. Finsten of the Privy Council, secretly to
deliver this letter; he gave them full powers
and carte blanche, directing them to try to
obtain for him reasonable and Christian con
ditions. He was obliged to conceal his over
tures for peace and to refrain from having
recourse to the mediation of any prince, for
being then in Poland, at the mercy of the
 History of Charles XII 121
Russians, he had reason to fear that the
dangerous ally whom he had abandoned would
take vengeance on him for his submission to
the conqueror. His two plenipotentiaries came
by night to Charles's camp and had a private
audience. The King read the letter, and said,
" Gentlemen, you shall have your answer in a
moment." Then he went into his office and
wrote as follows —
" I consent to grant peace on the following
conditions, in which it must not be expected
that I will make the least alteration : —
" i. That King Augustus renounce for ever
the crown of Poland, that he acknowledge
Stanislas as lawful king; and that he promise
never to recover the throne, even after the
death of Stanislas.
" 2. That he renounce all other treaties, and
especially those he has made with Russia.
" 3. That he send back with honour into my
camp the Princess Sobieski, and any other
prisoners he may have taken.
" 4. That he deliver into my hands all the
deserters who have taken service with him,
particularly Jean Patkul; and that proceedings
be stopped against all such as have passed
from his service to mine."
He gave this paper to Count Piper, bidding
him negotiate the rest with King Augustus's
plenipotentiaries. They were overwhelmed by
the severity of the terms, and tried with the
small skill which is possible to the powerless,
122 History of Charles XII
to lessen the rigour of the King of Sweden.
They had several conferences with Count Piper,
the only answer he would give to all their
suggestions was, " Such is the will of the
King my master, and he never changes his
mind."
While this peace was being negotiated
secretly in Saxony, chance seemed to give King
Augustus the opportunity of gaining more
honourable terms, and of treating with his
conqueror on a more equal footing.
Prince Menzikoff, commander-in-chief of the
Russian army, went to join him in Poland with
30,000 men, at a time when he not only did
not expect their assistance but even feared it.
He was accompanied by Polish and Saxon
troops, 6,000 in all. Surrounded by Prince
Menzikoff's army, and with only this small
body-guard, he was in terror lest they should
discover his negotiation ; he pictured himself
simultaneously dethroned by his enemy, and
in danger of being taken prisoner by his ally.
In this critical state of affairs the army found
itself in the near neighbourhood of one of the
Swedish generals, called Meyerfield, who was
at the head of 6,000 troops at Calish, near the
Palatinate of Posnania. Prince Menzikoff
pressed the King to give battle. The King,
in this most difficult position, delayed under
various pretexts, for though the enemy had
only one third of his numbers, there were
4,000 Swedes in the army of Meyerfield, and
that was enough to make the result doubtful.
 History of Charles XII 123
On the other hand, to fall upon the Swedes
during the negotiations and to lose the day,
would mean irretrievable ruin. He therefore
resolved to send a reliable messenger to the
enemy's general to let him know the secret
of the peace and to warn him to retreat. But
this advice had a very different effect from
what had been expected. General Meyerfield
believed that it was a snare to intimidate him,
and on that supposition alone he dared to risk
a battle.
That day the Russians for the first time con
quered the Swedes in a pitched battle. This
victory, which King Augustus had gained in
spite of himself, was complete ; in the midst
of his ill-fortune he entered in triumph into
Warsaw, formerly his capital, but now a dis
mantled and ruined town, ready to receive any
conqueror whatever, and to acknowledge the
strongest as king. He was tempted to seize
this moment of prosperity, and to attack the
King of Sweden in Saxony with the Russian
army. But when he remembered that Charles
was at the head of a Swedish army, which
had till then been invincible; that the Russians
would forsake him directly they had informa
tion that the treaty had been begun; that
Saxony, his hereditary dominions, already
drained of men and money, would be ravaged
by the Russians as well as by the Swedes;
that the Empire, occupied with the French
war, could not help him; and that he would
be left without dominions, friends, or money,
 124 History of Charles XII
he considered it better to accept the King of
Sweden's terms.
These terms were made even more severe
when Charles heard that King Augustus had
attacked his troops during the negotiations.
His rage and the pleasure of still further
humbling an enemy who had just conquered his
troops, made him more inflexible about all the
articles of the treaty. Thus the victory of
King Augustus was wholly to his own dis
advantage, a circumstance in which his experi
ence was unique.
He had just had the Te Deum sung in
Warsaw, when Fingsten, one of his pleni
potentiaries, arrived from Saxony, with the
treaty of peace which deprived him of his
crown. Augustus signed it after some hesita
tion, and then started for Saxony, in the vain
hope that his presence might soften the King
of Sweden, and that his enemy might recall the
former bonds between their houses, and their
common blood.
The two Princes first met at Gutersdorf, in
Count Piper's quarters. The meeting was
unceremonious ; Charles was in jack-boots, with
a piece of black taffeta tied carelessly round
his neck instead of a cravat; his coat was as
usual made of coarse blue cloth with brass
buttons. He was wearing the long sword
which he had used in the battle of Narva, and
often leaned upon it.
The conversation turned entirely upon those
 History of Charles XII 125
great boots. Charles told Augustus that he
had not had them off for six years, except at
bed-time. These details were the only subject
discussed by two kings, whereof one had taken
the crown from the other.
Augustus adopted during the whole inter
view that air of delight and satisfaction which
princes and great men accustomed to business
know how to assume in the midst of the
crudest mortifications. The two kings dined
together several times afterwards. Charles
always pretended to give the place of honour
to Augustus, but far from relaxing his terms,
he made them even more severe. It was bad
enough for a sovereign to be forced to hand
over a general and a public minister, it was a
great humiliation to be forced to send to his
successor, Stanislas, the crown jewels and
archives, but it was the finishing touch to this
humiliation to be forced to congratulate on
his accession him who had taken his place on
the throne. Charles insisted on a letter from
Augustus to Stanislas : the King showed no
haste to comply with this demand ; but Charles
had made up his mind, and it had to be written.
Here is a faithful copy of the original, which
King Stanislas still keeps, and which I have
lately seen.

" SIR AND BROTHER,

" We do not consider it was necessary
to enter upon a detailed correspondence with
126 History of Charles XII
your Majesty; but to please the King of
Sweden, and that it may not be said that we
have been unwilling- to satisfy him, we hereby
congratulate you on your accession, and hope
that your subjects will prove more faithful to
you than ours have been to us. Every one
will do us the justice to believe that we have
only been paid with ingratitude for all our
benefits, and that the majority of our subjects
have only aimed at our ruin. We hope that
you will not be exposed to like misfortunes,
and commit you to God's keeping.
;< Your brother and neighbour,
" AUGUSTUS, King.
" Dresden: April 8, 1707."
Augustus was further obliged to command
all the magistrates to no longer style him King
of Poland, and to efface the title he renounced
from the liturgy. He was less concerned about
liberating the Sobieskis ; on coming out of
prison these princes refused to see him. But
the sacrifice of Patkul was a great hardship
to him ; on the one hand, the Czar was clamour
ing for him to be sent back as his ambassador ;
on the other, the King of Sweden threatened
terrible penalties if he were not handed over.
Patkul was then imprisoned in the castle of
Konigstein in Saxony. Augustus thought he
could satisfy Charles and his own honour at
the same time. He sent his guards to deliver
up the wretched prisoner to the Swedish
 History of Charles XII 127
troops ; but sent, in advance, a secret message
to the Governor of Konigstein to let him
escape. Patkul's bad luck frustrated the care
they took to save him. The governor, know
ing him to be very rich, wished him to buy
his liberty. The prisoner, still relying on the
law of nations, and informed of the intentions
of King Augustus, refused to pay for what he
thought he could obtain for nothing. During
the interval, the guards appointed to deliver
him to the Swedes arrived, and handed him
over at once to the four Swedish officers, who
took him straight to head-quarters at Altran-
stadt, where he stayed three months, tied to a
stake by a heavy iron chain. Then he was
taken to Casimir.
Charles XII, forgetting that he was the
Czar's ambassador, and only remembering that
he had been his own subject, commanded the
court-martial to pass sentence upon him with
the greatest rigour. He was condemned to be
broken on the wheel and quartered. A chap
lain came to tell him he must die, without in
forming him of the form of his execution. Then
the man who had braved death in so many
battles, finding himself alone with a priest,
and his courage no longer supported by the
incitements of glory or passion,' wept bitterly.
He was engaged to a Saxon lady, named
Madame D'Einstedel, who had birth, merit,
and beauty, and whom he had hoped to marry
at the time that he was given up to execution.
128 History of Charles XII
He asked the chaplain to visit her and comfort
her, and assure her that he died full of the
tenderest affection for her. When he was led
to the place of execution, and saw the wheels
and stakes in readiness for his death, he fell
into convulsions of fear, and threw himself
into the arms of the minister, who embraced
him, and covering him with his cloak wept
over him. A Swedish officer then read aloud
a paper as follows —
'* This is to declare that the express order
of his Majesty, our merciful lord, is, that this
man, who is a traitor to his country, be broken
and quartered for the reparation of his crimes,
and as an example to others. Let every man
beware of treason, and faithfully serve his

King."
At the words "most merciful lord," Patkul
cried out, "What mercy!" and at "traitor
to his country," " Alas, I have served it
too well." He received sixteen blows, and
endured the longest and most dreadful tortures
imaginable. So perished the unfortunate Jean
Patkul, ambassador and general to the King
of Russia.
Those who regarded him only as a revolted
subject who had rebelled against his King,
thought that he deserved his death, but those
who regarded him as a Livonian, born in a
province with privileges to defend, and who
remembered that he was driven from Livonia
just for supporting these rights, called him the
 History of Charles XII 129
martyr to the liberties of his country. All
agreed that the title of ambassador to the
Czar should have rendered his person sacred.
The King of Sweden alone, trained in despotic
principles, believed that he had only done an
act of justice, while all Europe condemned his
cruelty.
His quartered members were exposed on
gibbets till 1713, when Augustus, having re
gained his throne, ordered these testimonials
of the straits he was reduced to at Altranstadt
to be collected. They were brought to him in
a box at Warsaw, in the presence of the French
ambassador. The King of Poland showed the
box to him, simply remarking, " These are
the members of Patkul," without one word of
blame or regret for his memory, so that none
present dare refer to so sad and terrible a
subject.
About this time Paikel, a Livonian officer
of Saxon troops, taken prisoner in the field,
was condemned at Stockholm by a decree of
the Senate; but his sentence was only to lose
his head. This difference of punishment in the
same cases made it only too plain that Charles, 1
in putting Patkul to so cruel a death, had
thought rather of vengeance than of punish
ment.
However that may be, Paikel, after his con
demnation, proposed to the Senate to disclose
to the King in exchange for a pardon the
secret of the manufacture of gold ; he made the
K
130 History of Charles XII
experiment in prison, in the presence of
Colonel Hamilton and the magistrates of the
town; and whether he had really discovered
some useful art, or whether he had learned
the art of cunning deception, as seems most
probable, certain it is that they carried the
gold which was found at the bottom of the
crucible to the mint at Stockholm, and made
such a circumstantial report to the Senate that
the Queen, Charles's grandmother, ordered that
the execution should be suspended till the King
had been informed of this curious fact, and
should send his orders from Stockholm. The
King answered that he had refused to pardon
a criminal for the entreaties of his friends, and
that he would never do for the sake of profit
what he could not do for friendship. There
was something heroic in this inflexibility on the
part of a prince who, it must be remembered,
thought the secret possible. When King
Augustus heard of the incident he remarked
that he was not surprised that the King of
Sweden was so indifferent about the philo
sopher's stone, as he had found it in Saxony.
When the Czar heard of the strange peace
that Augustus, in spite of their treaties, had
concluded at Altranstadt, and that Patkul, his "
ambassador and plenipotentiary, had been
handed over to the King of Sweden, in defiance
of international law, he advertised his com
plaints in all the Courts of Europe. He wrote
to the Emperor of Germany, to the Queen of
 History of Charles XII 131
England, and to the States-General of the
United Provinces. He said that the unfortu
nate necessity to which Augustus had yielded
were merely cowardice and treachery. He
called upon all these Powers to mediate that
his ambassador might be sent back, and to
resist the affront which, through him, was
offered to all crowned heads ; he appealed to
their honour not to stoop so low as to
guarantee the Peace of Altranstadt, which
Charles was urging upon them by threats.
The only effect of these letters was to make
the power of the King of Sweden more obvious.
The Emperor, England and Holland, were then
carrying on a destructive war against France ;
they thought it inexpedient to exasperate
Charles by refusing him the vain form of
guaranteeing a treaty. As for the wretched
Patkul, not one Power mediated for him,
which proves both the danger of a subject's
reliance on a prince, and also the great prestige
of Charles.
A proposal was made in the Czar's Council
to retaliate on the Swedish officers who were
prisoners at Moscow. The Czar would not
consent to a barbarity which would have had
such fatal results ; there were more Russians
prisoners in Sweden than Swedes in Russia.
He sought for a more useful vengeance.
The great army of his enemy lay idle in
Saxony. Levenhaupt, general to the King of
Sweden, who was left in Poland at the head
132 History of Charles XII
of about 20,000 men, could not guard the
passes in a country which was both unfortified
and full of factions. Stanislas was at the camp
of Charles. The Russian Emperor seized the
chance, and entered Poland with more than
60,000 men; he split them into several corps,
and marched with a flying camp as far as
Leopold, which was not garrisoned by the
Swedes. All Polish towns are at the mercy
of whoever may present himself at their gates
at the head of an army. He had an assembly
called together at Leopold, like the one which
had dethroned Augustus at Warsaw.
Poland then had two primates, as well as
two kings, the one nominated by Augustus,
the other by Stanislas. The primate nominated
by Augustus summoned the assembly at Leo
pold, and got together there all those men
whom the Prince had abandoned by the Peace
of Altranstadt, and also those who had been
bribed to the Czar's side. It was proposed to
elect a new king. So that Poland was very
near having three kings at one time, and no
one could say which was the right one.
During the conferences of Leopold, the Czar,
whose interests were closely connected with
those of the Emperor of Germany, through
their mutual fear of the King of Sweden,
secretly obtained from him a number of Ger
man officers. These gradually considerably
strengthened his force, by the discipline and
experience they brought with them.
 History of Charles XII 133
He attached them to his service by great
rewards ; and for the greater encouragement
of his own troops he gave his portrait set in
diamonds to all the generals who had fought
in the battle of Calish; the subaltern officers
had gold medals, and every private soldier
had a silver medal.
These monuments of the victory at Calish
were all struck in the new town of Petersburg,
where arts and sciences flourished in propor
tion as he taught his troops of emulation and
glory. The confusion, multiplicity of factions,
and frequent ravages in Poland hindered the
Diet of Leopold from coming to any conclu
sion. The Czar transferred it to Lubin. But
the change of place made no alteration in the
disorder and uncertainty which every one felt.
The assembly contented themselves with own
ing neither Augustus, who had abdicated, nor
Stanislas, who had been elected contrary to
their wishes.
But they lacked both the unanimity and the
resolution to name another king. During
these futile deliberations the party of the
Princess Sapieha, Oginski's party, those who
secretly supported King Augustus, and the new
subjects of Stanislas, were all at war with one
another, ravaging each other's estates, and
completing the ruin of their country.
The Swedish troops, commanded by Leven-
haupt, of which one part was in Livonia,
another in Lithuania, and a third in Poland,
134 History of Charles XII
were seeking the Russian troops, and burn
ing the property of Stanislas' enemies. The
Russians ruined friends as well as enemies, and
nothing was to be seen but towns in ashes,
and vagrant troops of Poles, deprived of all
their possessions, who hated their two kings,
Charles and the Czar, equally.
King Stanislas set out from Altranstadt on
the 1 5th of July, 1707, with General Renschild,
sixteen Swedish regiments and much money.
His object was to appease the troubles in
Poland, and to make his authority owned by
peaceable means. He was acknowledged
wherever he went; the discipline of his troops,
which threw into stronger contrast the cruelty
of the Russians, gained all hearts ; his extreme
affability brought round to him, in proportion
as it was realized, almost all factions, and
his money gained him the majority of the royal
forces. The Czar, fearing that he would lack
supplies in a country ravaged by his own
troops, withdrew into Lithuania, where he had
told the various parts of the army to meet,
and established magazines. This retreat left
King Stanislas in peaceable possession of
all Poland.
The only one who then troubled him in his
dominions was Count Siniawski, Grand General
by nomination of Augustus. He was extremely
able and very ambitious, and, heading a third
party, he recognized neither Augustus nor
Stanislas. He had used all his influence to
 History of Charles XII 135
get himself elected, but was now content to
lead a party, as he could not be king.
The crown troops, who continued under his
command, had hardly any other pay but licence
to ravage their own country with impunity.
All who suffered from their ravages or were
afraid of them, immediately submitted to
Stanislas, whose power was daily increased.
The King of Sweden was then receiving
in his camp at Altranstadt ambassadors from
almost all the princes of Christendom. Some
begged him to retire from the Imperial do
minions, others to turn his arms against the
Emperor. It was reported on all sides that he
meant to join France in crushing the House
of Austria.
Amongst these ambassadors was the famous
John, Duke of Maryborough, who was sent by
Anne, Queen of Great Britain. This man, who
took every town that he besieged, and gained
every battle that he fought, was a prominent
courtier at St. James, the leader of a Parlia
mentary party, and the most able foreign
minister of his time. He did France as much
damage by his diplomatic talent as by his
arms; and M. Fagel, Secretary of the States-
General, has been heard to say that, on more
than one occasion, the States having resolved
to oppose what the Duke intended to lay be
fore them, the Duke, when he appeared, though
he spoke very poor French, brought them all
round to his way of thinking.
136 History of Charles XII
Together with Prince Eugene, his fellow-
victor, and the Grand Pensioner of Holland,
Heinsius, he bore the whole weight of the
enterprises of the allies against France. He
knew that Charles was angry with the Emperor
and the Empire, that he was being secretly
approached by the French, and that if the con
queror joined Louis XIV the allies would be
overwhelmed.
It is true that Charles had given his word
to take no part whatever in the war between
Louis XIV and the allies; but the Duke did
not believe that any prince would be so great
a slave to his word as not to sacrifice it to his
greatness and interest. He therefore started
for the Hague in order to sound the King of
Sweden.
As soon as he arrived at Leipsig, he went
secretly, not to Count Piper, first minister, but
to Baron Gortz, who was beginning to share
the King's confidence with Piper. When he
was presented to the King with the English
minister Robinson, he spoke French, saying
that he would be happy to have the opportunity
of acquiring under his direction what he had
yet to learn of the art of war. The King made
no polite remark in answer to this compli
ment, and seemed to forget that he was being
addressed by Marlborough. The conversation
was tedious and trivial, Charles using Swedish,
and Robinson acting as interpreter. Marl-
borough, who was never in a hurry to propose
 History of Charles XII 137
things, and who had learned by long- experi
ence the art of reading men, and discovering
the connection between their inmost thoughts
and their actions, gestures and speech, studied
the King carefully. When he spoke on war in
general he thought he remarked in his Majesty
a natural dislike of France, and he saw, too,
that he was talking with pleasure of the con*
quests of the allies. He noticed that his
eyes kindled when he mentioned the Czar, in
spite of the restraint shown in the conversa
tion ; and he noticed a map of Russia before
him on the table. This quite convinced
him that the real intention of the King of
Sweden, and his only ambition, was to de
throne the Czar, just as he had dethroned
the King of Poland. He understood that his
object in remaining in Saxony was to impose
on the Emperor of Germany certain severe con
ditions. But he knew that the Emperor would
accept them, and that thus matters would be
satisfactorily settled. He left Charles to
follow his own bent, and, satisfied with having
fathomed his intentions, he did not make any
proposal to him.
As few negotiations are concluded without
money, and as ministers have been known to
sell the hatred or friendship of their masters,
all Europe believed that the Duke of Marl-
borough had succeeded with the King of
Sweden by means of the gift of a large sum
of money to Count Piper, and the Count's repu-
138 History of Charles XII
tation has suffered for it to this very day.
For my part I have traced this report to its
source, and I have it on authority that Piper
received a small present from the Emperor,
with the consent of the King his master, and
nothing from the Duke of Marlborough. It
is certain that Charles was bent on dethron
ing the Czar of Russia, that he took counsel
of no one, and that he had no need of advice
from Count Piper to wreak his long-meditated
vengeance on Peter Alexiowitz. Lastly, the
minister's reputation is absolutely vindicated by
the fact that Charles paid honour to his memory
long after, when, hearing of his death in
Russia, he had his body taken to Stockholm,
and buried with great pomp and magnificence
at his own expense.
The King, who had as yet experienced no
ill-fortune, nor even any hindrance to success,
thought that one year would dethrone the
Czar, and that then he could retrace his steps
as the arbiter of Europe; but his aim was
first to humiliate the Emperor of Germany.
Baron Stralheim, Swedish ambassador at
Vienna, had quarrelled at table with Count
Zobor, the Emperor's chamberlain ; the latter,
having refused to drink to the health of
Charles, and having accused him of treating
his master too badly, Stralheim had given him
the lie with a box on the ears, and had dared,
after this insult, to demand reparation at the
Imperial Court.
 History of Charles XII 139
Fear of the displeasure of the King- of
Sweden had forced the Emperor to banish the
subject whom it was his duty to avenge.
Charles was not satisfied, but insisted that the
Count of Zobor should be handed over to him.
The Court of Vienna had to swallow its
pride and hand over the Count to the King,
who sent him back, after having kept him
prisoner some time at Stettin. Contrary to
international law he further demanded that
1,500 wretched Russians, who had escaped
his arms and fled to the Empire, should be
given up to him. The Court of Vienna would
have had to consent to this strange demand,
and they would have been handed over to
the enemy, had not the Russian ambassador
at Vienna arranged for their escape by different
routes.
The third and last of his demands was the
most exorbitant. He declared himself pro
tector of the Emperor's Protestant subjects in
Silesia, a province of the House of Austria,
and not of the Empire ; he wanted the Emperor
to grant them the liberties and privileges which
had been gained by the Treaty of Westphalia,
but nullified, or at least eluded, by the Treaty
of Ryswick. The Emperor, whose great aim
was to get rid of so dangerous a neighbour,
still assented, and granted him all that he
wanted. The Lutherans obtained more than
100 churches, which the Catholics were obliged
to cede by this treaty, but many of these con-
140 History of Charles XII
cessions, secured for them by the King of
Sweden's fortune, were taken from them as
soon as he could no longer impose laws.
The Emperor, who was forced to make
these concessions, and who submitted to
Charles's wishes in everything, was Joseph, the
eldest son of Leopold, and brother of Charles
VI, who succeeded him. The Pope's nuncio,
who then resided in the court of Joseph,
reproached him severely for ceding, as a
Catholic, the interests of his own religion to
the heretics. " It is very lucky for you,"
answered the Emperor, smiling, " that the
King of Sweden did not propose that I should
turn Protestant, for had he done so I do not
know what I might have done."
Count Wratislau, his ambassador to Charles
XII, brought the treaty in favour of the
Silesians, and signed by his master, to Leip-
sig. Charles then said he was satisfied, and
the firm friend of the Emperor. But he was
disgusted that Rome had opposed him to the
utmost of her ability. He felt the greatest
contempt for the weakness of the Court, which
being at present the irreconcilable enemy of
half Europe, always distrusts the other half,
and only maintains its credit by its skilful
diplomacy. He seemed determined on ven
geance. He told Count Wratislau that the
Swedes had once subjugated Rome, and that
they had not degenerated as she had done.
He let the Pope know that he would one day
 History of Charles XII 141
demand the effects which Queen Christina had
left at Rome. It is impossible to say how far
this young conqueror would have carried his
resentment and his arms, had fortune seconded
his designs. Nothing then seemed an impossi
bility to him ; he even sent several officers
secretly to Asia, and as far as Egypt, to take
plans of the towns and inform him of the
strength of those countries. Certainly, if any
one were capable of overturning the empire of
the Persians and Turks, and then going on into
Italy, it was Charles XII. He was as young
as Alexander, as great a soldier, and as dar
ing ; but he was more indefatigable, stronger,
and more temperate ; then the Swedes, too,
were perhaps better men than the Macedonians.
But such plans, which are called divine, when
they succeed, are regarded as chimeras when
they fail.
At last, all difficulties having been over
come, and all his plans carried out, after
having humiliated the Emperor, dictated to the
Empire, protected the Lutherans in the midst
of Roman Catholics, dethroned one king and
crowned another, and made himself the terror
of all princes, he prepared to start. The
luxuries of Saxony, where he remained idle a
whole year, had made no alteration in his
mode of life. He rode out thrice a day, got
up at four o'clock in the morning, dressed
unaided, never drank wine, only spent a quarter
of an hour at table, exercised his men every
142 History of Charles XII
day, and indulged in no other pleasure than
that of making- Europe tremble.
The Swedes did not yet know what was to
be their destination, but it was rumoured in the
army that Charles might go to Moscow. Some
days before he started he commanded the Grand
Marshal of the Household to write out for him
the route from Leipsig, then he paused, and,
that the Grand Marshal should have no idea of
his project, he added, with a smile, " and to
all the capitals of Europe." The marshal
brought him a list of them all, at the head of
which he had purposely placed " Route from
Leipsig to Stockholm." The majority of the
Swedes longed to return thither, but it was
far from the King's intention to take them
back home. " Monsieur le Marechal," he said,
"I see whither you would lead me; but we
shall not return to Stockholm so soon."
The army was already on the march, and
passed near Dresden. Charles was at their
head, riding, as was his habit, two or three
hundred paces in advance of his guards. Sud
denly they lost sight of him; some officers ad
vanced at full gallop to see what had become
of him, but they could not find him. In a
minute the whole army took the alarm. They
halted ; the generals assembled ; they were in a
state of great consternation when they learned
from a Saxon peasant what had become of him.
As he was passing so near Dresden, he had
taken it into his head to pay a visit to King
 History of Charles XII 143
Augustus; he rode into the town, followed by
three or four generals. Count Fleming, seeing
them pass, had only time to run and let his
master know. He suggested to Augustus a
suitable reception on this occasion, but Charles
came into the room in his boots, before Augustus
had time to recover from his surprise. He was
then ill, and in a nightshirt, but he hastily
dressed. Charles breakfasted with him as a
traveller taking leave of a friend, then he ex
pressed a wish to see the fortifications. During
the short time that they were going round
them, a Livonian, exiled from Sweden, who was
serving in the Saxon army, thought that he
could not have a better chance of pardon. He
felt sure that his Majesty would not refuse so
small a favour to a prince from whom he had
taken a crown, and in whose power he had
placed himself. Augustus readily undertook the
office — he was a short distance from Charles,
talking to General Hord. " I believe," he said,
smiling, " that your master would not refuse
me." " You don't know him," answered the
General; "he would rather refuse you here
than anywhere else." This did not prevent
Augustus from asking a pardon for the Livo
nian in the most pressing way. Charles re
fused, in such a way that it was impossible to
ask again. After having spent some hours on
this strange visit, he embraced Augustus and
departed.
On rejoining his army, he found all his
144 History of Charles XII
generals panic-stricken. He inquired the
reason ; they told him that they had determined
to besiege Dresden, in case he had been de
tained prisoner there. "Pshaw!" said the
King; "they dare not." The next day they
got news that Augustus was holding a Council
extraordinary at Dresden. " You see," re
marked Renschild, " they are deliberating as
to what they ought to have done yesterday."
Some days later, Renschild, in an interview
with the King, spoke with astonishment of the
journey to Dresden. " I had confidence in my
good fortune," said Charles; " but at one mo
ment it looked critical. Fleming was not at all
anxious that I should leave Dresden so soon."
BOOK IV
 BOOK IV

Charles leaves Saxony — Pursues the Czar — Advances

into Ukrania — His losses and wounds, and the
battle of Pultowa — The consequences of the battle
— Charles forced to escape into Turkey — His
reception in Bessarabia.

AT last Charles left Saxony in September 1707,

with an army of 43,006 men, formerly steel-
clad, but now shining resplendent in gold and
silver, and enriched with the spoils of Poland
and Saxony. Every soldier had with him fifty
crowns ready money ; not only, too, were all
the regiments complete, but there were several
supernumeraries to each company. Besides
this army Count Levenhaupt, one of his best
generals, was waiting for him in Poland with
20,000 men ; he had, too, another army of
15,000 in Finland, and recruits were on their
way from Sweden. With all these forces it
was not doubted that he would dethrone the
Czar.
The Emperor was then in Russia, trying to
keep up the spirits of a party which King
Augustus seemed to have deserted. His
troops, divided into several corps, fled in all
directions on the first report of the approach
of the King of Sweden. He had advised his
generals never to wait for the arrival of the
148 History of Charles XII
conqueror with a superior force, and he was
well obeyed.
The King of Sweden, in the midst of his
march, received an embassy from the Turks.
The ambassador was received in Piper's quar
ters; he kept up his master's dignity by a
certain display of magnificence, and the King,
who was worse lodged, worse served, and
more plainly clad than the humblest officer in
his army, would often say that Count Piper's
quarters were his palace. The Turkish
ambassador presented Charles with 100 Swed
ish soldiers, who had been taken by the
Calmouks and sold in Turkey, redeemed by
the Grand Master, and sent by him to the King
as the most agreeable present he could make
him. Not that the proud Ottoman meant to
pay homage to the glory of Charles, but be
cause the Sultan, the natural enemy of the
Emperors of Russia and Germany, wished to
strengthen himself against them by the friend
ship of the King of Sweden and alliance with
Poland.
The ambassador complimented Stanislas on
his accession ; so that he had been owned as
King, in a short time, by Germany, France,
England, Spain and Turkey. But the Pope
deferred acknowledging him till time had con
firmed him in a kingship of which a sudden
fall might deprive him.
Scarcely had Charles interviewed the ambas
sador of the Ottoman Porte than he went in
 History of Charles XII 149
search of the Russians. The Czar's troops
had left and returned to Poland more than
twenty times during the war; as the country
lay open on all sides, without strongholds to
cut the retreat of an enemy, the Russians were
often able to return to the very spot where they
had suffered defeat, and could even penetrate
as far into the country as the conqueror.
During Charles's stay in Saxony, the Czar had
advanced to Leopold, on the southern frontier
of Poland. He was at that time in the north,
at Grodno, in Lithuania, about 100 leagues
from Leopold.
Charles left Stanislas in Poland with about
1,000 Swedes and his new subjects to help him
preserve his kingdom against his enemies at
home and abroad ; he himself, at the head of
his horse, marched through ice and snow to
Grodno, in January 1708. He had already
passed the Niemen, within two leagues of the
town, before the Czar knew anything of his
march. Directly the news came that the
Swedes were upon them, the Czar left the town
by the north gate, while Charles entered by
the south. The King had only six hundred of
his guards with him, the rest being unable to
follow him. The Czar, imagining that a whole
army was entering Crodno, fled with 2,000
men ; but he heard that very day from a Polish
deserter that he had abandoned the place to
not more than six hundred men, the body of
the enemy's army being still more than five
150 History of Charles XII
leagues away. He did not lose time, but sent
a detachment of 15,000 cavalry in the evening
to surprise the King of Sweden in the town.
The 15,000 Russians, helped by the darkness
of the night, advanced as far as the first
Swedish guard without recognition. This
guard consisted of thirty men, and they alone
supported the charge of the 15,000 for seven
minutes. The King, who was at the other end
of the town, came up presently with his six
hundred guards, and the Russians fled in
haste. In a short time his army joined him,
and he pursued the enemy. All the Russians
dispersed throughout Lithuania, retiring
hastily into the Palatinate of Minski, where
they had a rendezvous. The Swedes, whom
the King also divided into several corps, con
tinued to pursue them for about thirty leagues
of their way. The fleers and the pursuers
made forced marches almost every day, though
it was mid-winter.
The soldiers of Charles and the Czar had
long become indifferent to the seasons : it was
only the terror inspired by the name of Charles
which made the difference between the Rus
sians and the Swedes.
From Grodno eastward to the Borysthenes
there is nothing but marshes, deserts, moun
tains and immense forests. Even where the
ground is cultivated no provision was to be
found ; the country folk hid all their grain and
Pther dry goods underground. In order to find
 History of Charles XII 151
these subterranean magazines, they had to
sound the earth with long poles tipped with
iron. The Russians and the Swedes used these
provisions by turns, but they were not always
discovered, nor were they always sufficient
when they were.
The King of Sweden, who had foreseen these
difficulties, had provided biscuit for his army,
so that nothing hindered his march. After he
had crossed the forest of Minski, where his
men were obliged every moment to cut down
trees to make way for the troops and baggage,
he found himself, on the 25th of June, 1708,
near Borislou, in front of the river Berezine.
The Czar had assembled the best part of his
troops in this spot and had entrenched himself
to advantage ; his aim was to hinder the
Swedes from crossing the river. Charles
placed some of his regiment on the banks of
the Berezine, close to Borislou, as though he
intended to attempt the crossing in face of the
enemy. At the same time he led his army
about three leagues up the river, threw a bridge
across it, cut his way through a body of 3,000
men who defended that post, and marched
straight against the enemy without a halt.
The Russians did not wait for his arrival, but
immediately decamped and withdrew towards
Borysthenes, spoiling all the roads, and destroy
ing all on their line of march, so that they
might at least delay the Swedes' advance.
Charles surmounted all difficulties, continu-
 152 History of Charles XII
ally advancing towards Borysthenes. On his
way he met 20,000 Russians, entrenched at a
spot called Hollosin, behind a marsh, which
could not be reached without crossing a river.
Charles did not wait till the rest of his infantry
had arrived to make the attack, but threw
himself into the water at the head of his foot-
guards, and crossed the river and the morass,
though the water was sometimes above his
shoulders. While he thus attacked the enemy,
he ordered his cavalry to pass round the morass
and take them in the flank.
The Russians, amazed that no barrier could
defend them, were simultaneously routed by the
King on foot, and by the Swedish horse. The
horse, having made their way through the
enemy, joined the King in the midst of the
fray. He then mounted, but some time after,
finding a young Swedish noble named Gyllen-
stein, for whom he had great affection,
wounded in the fray and unable to walk, he
insisted on his taking his horse, and continued
to command on foot at the head of his in
fantry. Of all the battles he had ever fought,
, this was in all probability the most glorious —
that in which he was exposed to the greatest
risks, and in which he showed the greatest
ability. The memory of it is kept by a medal
with the inscription, " Silvae, paludes, aggeres,
hostes, victi " on one side and '* Victrices
copias alium laturus in orbem " on the other.
The Russians, driven out everywhere, re-
 History of Charles XII 153
crossed the Borysthenes, which separates
Poland from their own country. Charles lost
no time in following them ; he crossed the
great river after them at Mohilou, the last
town in Poland, which is sometimes in the
hands of the Poles, sometimes in those of the
Czar, after the usual fate of frontier places.
The Czar, seeing his empire, into which he
was introducing arts and commerce, becoming
a prey to a war which might in a short time
ruin his plans, and perhaps lose him his throne,
was thinking of peace, and even made pro
posals by a Polish nobleman whom he sent to
the Swedish army. Charles, who had been
unaccustomed to granting peace to his enemy
except in their capitals, only replied, " I will
treat with the Czar at Moscow."
When the Czar heard this haughty answer,
" My brother Charles," he said, " would still
pose as Alexander, but I flatter myself he will
find me no Darius."
From Mohilou, where the King crossed the
Borysthenes, turning north along the river,
upon the frontiers of Poland and Russia, is
situated the country of Smolensko, through
which lies the main road from Poland to Mos
cow. The Czar fled by this road, and the King
followed by forced marches. Part of the Rus
sian rearguard was more than once engaged
with the dragoons of the Swedish vanguard.
Generally the latter got the advantage, but
they weakened themselves by these skirmishes,
154 History of Charles XII
which were never decisive, and always meant
the loss of some of their men.
On the 22nd of September this year, 1708,
the King attacked a body of ten thousand horse
and six thousand Calmouks near Smolensko.
These Calmouks are Tartars, living between
Astrakan, which is part of the Czar's
dominions, and Samarcande, the country of
the Usbeck Tartars. The Calmouks' country
stretches from the east to the mountains
which separate the Mogul from the western
part of Asia. Those who dwell near Astrakan
are tributary to the Czar. He pretends to
absolute dominion over them, but their wander
ing life hinders him from subduing them, and
forces him to treat them as the Grand-Seignior
treats the Arabs, sometimes bearing with their
robberies, and at others punishing them.
There are always some of the Calmouks in
the Russian army, and the Czar had even suc
ceeded in reducing them to discipline like the
rest of his soldiers.
The King fell on this army with only six
regiments of horse and four thousand in
fantry ; he broke the Russian ranks at the head
of his Ostrogothic regiment and forced the
enemy to retreat. The King advanced upon
them by rough and hollow ways where the
Calmouks lay hid ; they then appeared and
threw themselves between the regiment where
the King was fighting and the rest of the
Swedish army. In an instaot both Russians
 History of Charles XII 155
and Calmouks had surrounded this regiment
and made their way close up to his Majesty.
They killed two aides-de-camp who were fight
ing near him. The King's horse was killed
under him, and as one of the equerries was
offering him another, both equerry and horse
were struck dead on the spot. Charles fought
on foot, surrounded by some of his officers who
immediately hastened to rally round him.
Several were taken, wounded or slain, or
swept off to a distance from the King by the
crowd which attacked them ; so that there were
only five men left near him. By that extra
ordinary good luck which till then had never
deserted him, and on which he always relied,
he had killed more than a dozen of the enemy
with his own hand without one wound. At last
Colonel Dardoff forced his way, with only one
company of his regiment, through the Cal
mouks, and came up just in time to save the
King. The rest of the Swedes put the Tartars
to the sword. The army re-formed, Charles
mounted, and, fatigued as he was, pursued
the Russians two leagues.
The conqueror was still on the main road to
the capital of Russia. The distance from
Smolensko, where this battle was fought, to
Moscow, is about 100 French leagues; the
army had scarcely any provisions. The King
was pressed to wait till General Levenhaupt,
who was to bring up reinforcements of 15,000
men, came to join him. Charles, who rarely
 156 History of Charles XII
listened to advice, not only refused to listen to
this wise counsel, but, to the great amazement
of the whole army, left the Moscow road, and
marched south towards Ukrania into the
country of the Cossacks, between lesser Tar-
tary, Poland and Russia.
This country is about 100 French leagues
from north to south, and about the same from
east to west. It is divided into two nearly
equal parts by the Borysthenes, which crosses
from north-west to south-west ; the chief town
is Baturin, on the little river Sem. The north
ernmost part of Ukrania is under cultivation,
and rich ; the southernmost part, in the forty-
eighth degree, is one of the most fertile and at
the same time the most deserted districts in the
world ; bad management quite counteracts its
natural advantages.
The inhabitants of those parts, which border
on lesser Tartary, neither plant nor sow lest
the Tartars of Budziac, Precop and Moldavia,
who are all brigands, should carry off their
harvests.
Ukrania has always aspired to freedom ; but
being hedged in by Russia, the dominions of
the Grand-Seignior, and Poland, it has been
obliged to seek for a protector (who is, of
course, a master) in one of those States. First
it put itself under the protection of Poland,
who treated it too much as a subject-state ;
then they appealed to the Russians, who
did their best to reduce them to serfdom,
 History of Charles XII 157
At first the Ukranians had the privilege of
choosing a prince, called general, but soon they
were deprived of this privilege, and their
general was nominated by the Russian Court.
The office was then filled by a Pole called
Mazeppa ; he had been brought up as page to
King John Casimir, and had got a little learn
ing at his Court. On the discovery of an
intrigue with the wife of a Polish nobleman,
the latter had him tied, stark naked, to a wild
horse, and set him free in that state. The
horse, which had been brought from Ukrania,
returned to its own country, carrying Mazeppa
with him half dead from hunger and fatigue.
Some of the peasants gave him relief, and he
stayed a long time among them, and dis
tinguished himself in several attempts against
the Tartars. The superiority of his intelli
gence made him a person of consideration in
the eyes of the Cossacks, and as his reputation
daily increased the Czar was forced to make
him Prince of Ukrania.
One day, as he was sitting at table with the
Czar at Moscow, the Emperor proposed to
him to drill the Cossacks and make them more
independent. Mazeppa pointed out the situa
tion of Ukrania and the nature of the people
as insurmountable obstacles. The Czar, who
was over-heated with wine, and had not always
sufficient self-control, called him a traitor, and
threatened to have him impaled. On his return
into Ukrania Mazeppa planned a revolt. The
158 History of Charles XII
Swedish army appearing shortly after on the
frontier facilitated matters for him, and he
resolved to gain independence, and to form for
himself a powerful kingdom from Ukrania and
the ruins of the Russian Empire. He was a
man of great courage, of considerable enter
prise, and most painstaking, though he was
advanced in years.
He made a secret league with the King of
Sweden, to hasten the Czar's downfall and gain
something himself out of it. He gave him a
rendezvous near the river Desna ; Mazeppa
promised to meet him there with 30,000 men,
ammunition and provisions, and all his trea
sure, which was immense. The Swedish army
was therefore ordered to march towards that
part of the country, to the great regret of the
officers, who knew nothing of the King's treaty
with the Cossacks.
Charles sent orders to Levenhaupt to bring
his troops and provisions with all haste to
Ukrania, where he intended passing the winter,
that, having subdued that country, he might
conquer Russia the following spring; mean
while he advanced towards the river Desna,
which flows into the Borysthenes at Kiouw.
The obstacles they had hitherto encountered
on their march were trifles to those they met
on this new route; they had to cross a forest
fifty leagues broad, which was full of marshes.
General Lagercron, who led the van with 5,000
men and pioneers, led the army thirty leagues
 History of Charles XII 159
too far to the east. They had marched four
days before the King discovered their mis
take. They regained the right road with some
difficulty, but almost all the artillery and
wagons were stuck fast or sunk in the mud.
They then marched for twelve days in this
painful and laborious fashion till they had eaten
the little biscuit they had left, and so they
arrived, spent with hunger and fatigue, on the
banks of the Desna, where Mazeppa was to
meet them. Instead of the Prince, however,
they found a body of Russians advancing to
wards them on the other side of the river.
The King was much astonished, and decided
to cross the Desna and attack the enemy. The
banks of this river were so steep that they
were obliged to let the soldiers down by cords ;
then they crossed in their usual manner, some
by swimming, some on hastily constructed
rafts.
The band of Russians, which arrived at the
same time, were only 8,000, so that their resist
ance was feeble, and this obstacle was also
overcome.
Charles advanced further into this desolate
country, uncertain of his route and of
Mazeppa's fidelity; at last the latter appeared,
but rather as a fugitive than as a strong ally.
The Russians had discovered and prevented his
plan : they had fallen upon the Cossacks and
cut them in pieces ; his chief friends were taken
red-handed, and thirty of them had been broken
160 History of Charles XII
on the wheel. His towns were reduced to
ashes, his treasures plundered, and the pro
visions he was preparing for the King of
Sweden seized. He himself escaped with diffi
culty, accompanied by 6,000 men, and some
horses laden with gold and silver. But he
held out to the King the hope that he would be
of some service from his knowledge of this
unknown country, and by the affection of the
natives, who, enraged with the Russians, came
in troops to the camp, and brought provisions.
Charles hoped that at least General Leven-
haupt would come to repair this ill fortune ; he
was to bring about 15,000 Swedes (of more
use than 100,000 Cossacks), with stores and
ammunition. He arrived at last, but almost
in the same condition as Mazeppa. He had
already passed the Borysthenes above Mohilou,
and advanced about twenty leagues further on
the road to Ukrania. He brought the King a
convoy of 8,000 wagons, with the money he
had raised in Lithuania and on march. On
reaching Lesno, near the spot where the rivers
Pronia and Sossa unite to flow into the Bory
sthenes far below, the Czar appeared at the
head of 50,000 men.
The Swedish general, who had not quite
16,000, decided not to entrench. Their many
victories had given the Swedes so much con
fidence that they never inquired as to the
enemy's numbers, but only their position.
Levenhaupt marched against them on the 7th of
 History of Charles XII 161
October, 1708, in the afternoon. At the first
attack they killed 15,000 Russians; the Czar's
army took panic and fled in all directions, and
the Emperor of Russia thought he would be
entirely defeated. He saw that the safety of
his dominions depended upon the action of the
day, and that he could be ruined if Levenhaupt
joined the King of Sweden with a victorious
army.
As soon as he saw his troops fall back he
ran to the rear, where the Cossacks and Cal-
mouks were posted, and said, " I order you to
fire on every man who runs away, and even to
shoot me, should I be so cowardly as to turn
my back." Then he returned to the van and
rallied the troops in person, assisted by the
Prince Menzikoff and Prince Gallitsin. Leven
haupt, who had pressing orders to join his
master, chose to continue his march rather
than to renew the battle, thinking that he had
done enough to discourage the enemy from
pursuit.
No later than eleven the next morning the
Czar attacked him on the entrance to a morass,
and spread his lines to surround him. The
Swedes faced about, and the fight lasted two
hours with equal resolution on both sides.
The Russians lost three times as many men,
but still held their position, and the victory
was undecided. At four General Bayer brought
the Czar reinforcements. The battle was then
renewed for the third time with greater fury
M
1 62 History of Charles XII
than before, and lasted till nightfall. Then the
force of numbers carried the day ; the Swedes
were broken, routed, and driven back on their
baggage. Levenhaupt rallied his men behind
his chariots, and though they were conquered
they did not flee.
Not one from an army of about 9,000 men
took to flight. The general formed them up as
easily as if they had not been beaten. The
Czar, on the other hand, passed the night
under arms, and ordered his soldiers on pain
of death, and his officers on pain of dismissal,
to abstain from plunder.
Next morning at daybreak he orderd a fresh
attack. Levenhaupt had retired to a strong
position some miles distant, after having
spiked some of his cannon and fired some of
his wagons. The Russians came up just in
time to hinder the whole convoy from being
burned, and seized six thousand wagons
which they saved. The Czar, who wished to
utterly crush the Swedes, sent one of his
generals, called Phulg, to attack them for the
fifth time, and he offered them honourable
terms if they would capitulate. Levenhaupt
refused, and the fifth battle was as bloody
as any of the former ones. Of the 9,000
soldiers he had left he lost half, the other half
not breaking line. At last night came on, and
Levenhaupt, after having fought five battles
against 50,000 men, crossed the Sossa by
swimming, followed by the 5,000 men remain-
 History of Charles XII 163
ing to him. The wounded were carried over
on rafts. The Czar lost about 20,000 Rus
sians in these engagements, in which he
had the glory of conquering the Swedes,
and Levenhaupt the credit of disputing the
victory for three days, and of retreating with
out being forced from his last position. So
that he came to his master's camp with the
honour of having made so good a defence, but
without ammunition or forces. The King of
Sweden, therefore, without provisions, and cut
off from communication with Poland, was sur
rounded by enemies in the midst of a country
where he had scarcely any resource but his
own courage.
In this extremity the memorable winter of
1709, which was still more severe in those fron
tiers of Europe than it was in France,
destroyed a part of his army. Charles resolved
to defy the season as he had his enemies ; he
ventured on long marches with his troops
during the bitter cold. It was on one of these
marches that 2,000 of his men died of cold
before his very eyes. The cavalry had no
boots, and the foot no shoes, and hardly any
clothes. They were forced to make footgear
of the skins of beasts as best they could, and
they often went hungry. They had even been
obliged to throw the best part of their cannon
into quagmires and rivers for want of horses
to draw them ; so that this once flourishing
army was reduced to 24,000 men at the point of
164 History of Charles XII
starvation. They neither got news from
Sweden, nor were they able to send there. In
this state of affairs one officer only complained.
"What," said the King to him, "are you
miserable at being so far from your wife? If
you are really a soldier I will lead you to such
a distance that you will not hear from Sweden
< » W* TVEXl'^L c Kf l^foR
once in three years. Ok/cr ,M TH^EE
The Marquis of Brancas, now Swedish am
bassador, told me that a soldier ventured to
present the King, before the whole army, with
a piece of bread that was black and mouldy.
It was made from barley and oats, and was
the only food they then had, and that in
scanty quantities. The King received the piece
of bread unmoved, ate it all, and then said
coolly to the soldier, "It is not good, but one
can eat it." This characteristic touch, insig
nificant as it is (if, indeed, that should be called
insignificant which increases respect and con
fidence), did more than all the rest to help the
Swedish army to bear hardships which, would
have been insupportable under any other
general.
In these circumstances he at last received
news from Stockholm, but only that his sister
the Duchess of Holstein, aged 27, had been
carried off by small-pox. She was as gentle
and pitiful as her brother was imperious and
implacable in revenge. He had always been
very fond of her ; he felt her loss the more as,
now that the tide of his fortune had turned, he
 History of Charles XII .165
was more susceptible. He learned also that
they had carried out his orders and raised
troops and money, but could not send them to
his camp ; for there lay between him and Stock
holm nearly five hundred leagues and an enemy
with a superior force to encounter.
The Czar, who was as energetic as the King,
after having sent fresh forces into Poland to
assist the confederates, united under General
Siniawski against Stanislas, and soon advanced
into Ukrania, in the middle of this severe
winter, to oppose the King of Sweden. He
stayed there with the object of weakening the
enemy by small engagements, for by this
means he thought the Swedish army must be
quite wrecked at last, as he was able to draw
fresh forces every moment from his dominions,
while they could not get recruits. The cold
there must have been excessive, since it forced
the two enemies to suspend hostilities. But
on the first of February, amid ice and snow,
they began to fight again.
After several small skirmishes and some
reverses, the King's army was reduced in April
.to 18,000 men. Mazeppa alone, the Prince of
the Cossacks, supplied them with the neces
saries of life; without his assistance the army
must have perished from hunger and des
titution.
At this moment, the Czar, to attract
Mazeppa to his service again, offered him terms ;
but the Cossack stood by his new ally, either
166 History of Charles XII
from fear of the terrible punishment of the
wheel, by which his friends had perished, or
because he sought revenge.
Charles, with his 18,000 Swedes and as
many Cossacks, had not abandoned his plan of
reaching Russia. Towards the end of May he
went to siege Pultawa, on the river Vorskla,
on the extreme eastern frontier of Ukrania,
about thirteen full leagues from the Bory-
sthenes, where the Czar had a magazine. This
country is that of the Zaporavians, the
strangest people in the world. They are a
collection of former Russians, Poles, Tartars,
and all make profession of a kind of Christi
anity, and of a kind of freebooting brigand
age. They elect a chief, whom they depose or
assassinate ; they allow no women to live
among them, but they kidnap all the children
for twenty or thirty leagues round, and train
them in their ways. During summer they are
always in the field, during winter they sleep in
vast barns, containing 400 or 500 men. They
fear nothing, and live at liberty ; they risk
death for the smallest booty, with the same
boldness with which Charles XII faced it to
bestow crowns. The Czar sent them 60,000
florins in the hope that they would side with
him ; they took the money and then, through
the exertions of Mazeppa, declared for Charles :
but they proved of very little use, for they
think it ridiculous to fight for anything but
booty. It was a great point gained that they
 History of Charles XII 167
did no harm : there were about 2,000 of them
at most who did regular duty. Ten of their
chiefs were one day presented to Charles, but
they had great difficulty in finding those who
were not intoxicated, for they always began the
day in that condition. They were taken into
the trenches, and showed their skill in shooting
with long rifles, for they could pick off the
enemies they singled out at 600 paces away.
Charles added to these bandits some 1,000
Valaques ; then he laid siege to Pultawa,
with an army of about 30,000 men, in a
wretched condition and wanting all necessaries.
The Czar had made Pultawa a magazine : if
the King took it it would open the road to
Moscow for him, and he could await, well
supplied, the recruits he expected from Sweden,
Livonia, Pomerania and Poland. As, then, his
sole resource lay in the taking of Pultawa, he
carried on the siege with vigour. Mazeppa,
who had informants in the town, assured him
that he would soon master it, and hope began
to reanimate the army. His soldiers regarded
the taking of Pultawa as the end of all their
miseries.
From the beginning of the siege the King
realized that he had given his enemies some
useful lessons in the art of war. Prince Menzi-
koff, in spite of all his precautions, threw rein
forcements into the town, and the garrison
then amounted to almost 10,000 men. They
made sorties, sometimes successfully; but
 1 68 History of Charles XII
what made the town impregnable was the ap
proach of the Czar, who was advancing with
10,000 combatants. Charles XII went to meet
him on the 27th of May, his birthday, and beat
one of their corps ; but as he was returning
from his camp he got a musket-shot, which
pierced his boot and shattered his heel-bone.
There was not the least sign on his face that
he had been shot ; he continued calmly to give
his orders, and remained mounted nearly six
hours after the accident. One of his servants
at last noticing that the sole of his boot was
covered with blood, ran for the doctor; then
the King's pain was so acute that they had
to take him off his horse and carry him to his
tent. The surgeons examined the wound and
saw that it had already begun to mortify, and
thought that the leg must be cut off. The con
sternation in the army was great. But one of
the surgeons, called Newman, better skilled
and braver than the rest, was certain that he
could save the leg by means of a deep incision.
" Begin at once, then," said the King; " cut
boldly, fear nothing." He held his leg with
his own hands, looking at the incisions made
as if they were in the leg of another.
As they were putting on the dressing he gave
orders for an assault next morning, but
scarcely had he given the order than they
brought him word that the whole army of
the enemy was upon him. He was therefore
obliged to alter his plan. Wounded and incapa-
 History of Charles XII 169
ble of action, he found himself shut in between
the river Borysthenes and the river which runs
to Pultawa, in a desert district, with no forts
or ammunition, and opposed to an army which
cut him off from retreat or provisions. In this
terrible position he did not, as might have been
expected, assemble a council of war, but on
the night of 7th July he sent for Marshal
Renschild, and ordered him, without delibera
tion, but without uneasiness, to prepare to
attack the Czar next morning-. Renschild
did not argue, but went to carry out his
orders.
At the door of the King's tent he met Count
Piper, with whom, as often happens between
the minister and the general, he had long
been on bad terms. Piper asked him if there
were anything new. " No," said the General
coldly, and passed on to give his orders. As
soon as Piper entered the royal tent the King
asked if Renschild had told him anything.
"Nothing," answered Piper. "Well, then,"
answered the King, " I tell you that to-morrow
we shall give battle." Count Piper was aston
ished at so desperate a resolve, but he knew
that his master could never be made to change
his opinion ; he only expressed his astonish
ment by his silence, and left the King to sleep
till dawn.
The battle of Pultawa was fought on the
8th of July, 1709, between the two most famous
monarchs in the world : Charles XII, distin-
170 History of Charles XII
guished by a course of nine years' victories,
and Peter Alexiowitz by nine years of pains
taking1 training of his troops to an equality
with the Swedes ; the one famed for having
given away the dominions of others, the other
for having civilized his own ; Charles loving
danger and fighting only for the sake of glory,
Alexiowitz not running away from difficulties,
and making war from interested motives only ;
the Swedish King liberal from a generous tem
perament, the Russian never generous but with
some object in view; the former sober and
temperate in an extraordinary degree, naturally
brave and only once showing cruelty, the latter
not having thrown off the roughness of his
education or his race, as terrible to his sub
jects as he was wonderful to strangers, and
addicted to excess which, as a matter of fact,
shortened his days. Charles bore the title
" Invincible," which he might lose at any
moment ; the nations had already given Peter
the title " Great," which he could not lose by
any defeat, as he did not owe it to his victories.
To get a clear idea of this battle and the
place where it was fought, one must imagine
Pultawa to the north, the King of Sweden's
camp to the south, slightly to the east; his
baggage about a mile behind him, and the
river Pultawa on the north side of the town,
running from east to west. The Czar had
passed the river about a league from Pultawa,
towards the west, and was beginning to form
 History of Charles XII 171
his camp. At daybreak the Swedes appeared
above their trenches with four cannon for their
artillery ; the rest were left in the camp with
about 3,000 men, and 4,000 remained with the
baggage. So that the Swedish army march
ing against the enemy consisted of about
25,000 men, of whom not more than 12,000
were regulars. Generals Renschild, Roos,
Levenhaupt, Slipenbak, Hoorn, Sparre, Hamil
ton, the Prince of Wirtemburg, a relation of
the King, and some others, most of whom had
been at the battle of Narva, reminded the
subalterns of that day, when 8,000 Swedes had
destroyed an army of 100,000 Russians in
entrenchments. The officers remarked it to the
soldiers, and all encouraged one another on the
march.
The King conducted the march, carried in
a litter at the head of his infantry. By his
order a party of horse advanced to attack that
of the enemy; the battle began with this
engagement. At half-past four in the morning
the enemy's cavalry lay to the west, on the
right of the Russian camp : Prince Menzikoff
and Count Golowin had placed them at inter
vals between redoubts fortified with cannon.
General Slipenbak, at the head of the Swedes,
fell upon them. All who have served with the
Swedes know that it is almost impossible to
resist their first onset. The Russian squadrons
were broken and put to flight. The Czar him
self ran to rally them, and his hat was pierced
172 History of Charles XII
by a musket shot. Menzikoff had three horses
killed under him, and the Swedes shouted
victory.
Charles was sure that the battle was gained ;
he had sent General Creuts about midnight
with five thousand horse to attack the enemy's
rear while he attacked their front, but, as ill-
luck would have it, Creuts lost his way and did
not appear.
The Czar, who had thought that all was lost,
had time to rally his cavalry, and fell on the
King's horse in his turn; unsupported by
Creuts' detachment it was broken, and Slipen-
bak taken prisoner. At the same time seventy-
two cannon from the camp played on the
Swedish horse, and the Russian foot, issuing
from their lines, advanced to attack Charles.
The Czar then detached Menzikoff and sent
him to take up a position between Pultawa
and the Swedes. He carried out his master's
orders dexterously and promptly : not only did
he cut the communication between the Swedish
army and the troops remaining in the camp at
Pultawa, but meeting a body of 3,000 reserves
he cut them to pieces. Meanwhile, the Russian
foot issued from their lines and advanced in
order into the plain on the other side ; the
Swedish horse rallied within a quarter of a
league of the enemy's army, and the King,
assisted by General Renschild, gave orders for
a general engagement.
He ranged his remaining troops in two
 History of Charles XII 173
lines, his foot in the centre, his horse on the
two wings. The Czar arranged his forces in
the same way ; he had the advantage in num
bers and also seventy-two cannon, while the
Swedes had only four, and were running out of
powder.
The Czar was in the centre of his army, and
at that time bore the title of Major-General,
and was apparently in the service of General
Czermetoff; but as Emperor he went from
rank to rank, mounted on a Turkish horse, a
present from the Grand-Seignior, exhorting his
officers and soldiers and promising them all
rewards. At nine in the morning the battle
began again. One of the first discharges of the
Russian cannon carried off the two horses of
the King's litter; he had two others harnessed
in, and a second volley shattered the litter and
threw the King out. The troops who were
fighting near him believed he was killed ; in
the consternation the Swedes lost ground, and,
their powder failing and the enemy's cannon
keeping up fire, the first line fell back on the
second, and the second fled. In this last action
of the Swedish army they were routed by a
single line of 10,000 Russian infantry; so much
had matters changed. Prince Wirtemburg,
General Renschild and several leading officers
were already prisoners; the camp before Pul-
tawa was forced, and all in utterly hopeless
confusion. Count Piper and other officers had
left the camp and did not know what to do,
174 History of Charles XII
nor what had become of their King. They
ran from one side of the field to the other ;
Major Bere offered to lead them to the bag
gage, but the clouds of dust and smoke which
covered the field, and their own confusion,
carried them to the other side of the town,
where they were taken prisoners by the
garrison.
The King was unwilling to flee, and would not
defend himself. General Poniatowski chanced
to be with him at that moment. He was a
colonel of King Stanislas' Swedish guards,
and a person of remarkable merit, who was so
attached to Charles XII that he had accom
panied him as a volunteer to Ukrania. He
was a man who in all the chances of life, and in
danger, where others would at most have only
shown courage, always made his plans at once
and met with success ; he signed to two soldiers,
who took the King under the arms and put him
on horseback in spite of the great pain of his
wound.
Poniatowski, though he had no command in
the army, being made general by necessity on
this occasion, rallied 500 horse round the
King's person : some were dragoons, some
ordinary troopers, some officers. This band,
inspired by the misfortune of their Prince,
made their way through more than ten regi
ments of Russians and took Charles through
the midst of the enemy, the distance of a
league, to the baggage of the Swedish army.
 History of Charles XII 175
This amazing- retreat was an achievement in
such a disastrous situation, but it was neces
sary for the King to flee further.
Though the King had never had a coach since
he left Stockholm, they found Count Piper's
among the baggage. They put him into it
and started for the Borysthenes with all haste.
The King, who had not spoken a single word
from the time he was put on horseback till he
came to the baggage, then asked what had
become of Count Piper. '* He has been taken
prisoner with all his chancery officers," they
told him. " And General Renschild and the
Duke of Wirtemburg?" he asked. " They too
are prisoners," said Poniatowski. " Prisoners
of the Russians!" exclaimed Charles, with a
shrug; " let us rather escape to Turkey." His
expression did not change, however, and who
ever had seen him and been ignorant of his
position would never have suspected that he
had been either conquered or wounded.
While he was escaping the Russians seized
his artillery in the camp before Pultawa, his
baggage and his military chest, containing
6,000,000 in specie, the spoil of Poland and
Saxony. Nearly 9,000 Swedes were killed in
the battle, about 6,000 were taken prisoners.
There still remained some 18,000, including
Swedes and Poles, as well as Cossacks, who
escaped to the Borysthenes under the direc
tion of General Levenhaupt. He went one
way with these fugitives while the King,
176 History of Charles XII
with some of his cavalry, took another direc
tion. The coach in which he was riding-
broke down by the way, and they put him on
horseback again. To complete his misfortunes
he got lost in a wood during the night; there
his courage could no longer make up for his
spent strength, the pain of his wound was
intensified by fatigue, and his horse fell under
him from exhaustion. He lay for some hours
at the foot of a tree, each moment in danger
of a surprise from the conquerors who were
looking for him everywhere.
At last, on the night of July gth, he found
himself on the banks of the Borysthenes, and
Levenhaupt had just come up with the rem
nants of the army. The Swedes saw with joy
mingled with grief, their King whom they had
thought to be dead. The enemy drew near;
they had no bridge to pass the river, nor time
to make one, nor powder to defend themselves
with, nor provisions to save the army from
perishing with hunger, for they had eaten
nothing for two days.
At all events, the rest of the army were
Swedes, and the conquered King was Charles
XII. Almost all the officers advised that a
stand should be made to meet the Russians,
and that they should die or conquer on the
banks of the Borysthenes. Doubtless Charles
would have decided on this course had he not
been overcome with weakness ; his wound
mortified and he had fever; and it has been
 History of Charles XII 177
remarked that most men, when attacked with
the fever of suppuration, lose the instinct of
valour which, like other virtues, needs a calm
head. Charles was no longer master of him-!:
sejf. They carried him like a sick man who
has lost consciousness.
Happily they had still a miserable calash,
which they had brought to that spot at great
risk; they embarked it in a little boat, and the
King and General Mazeppa in another. The
latter had saved several coffers full of money,
but as the current was very rapid and the wind
began to blow the Cossack threw more than
three parts of his treasure into the river to
lighten the boat. Mullen, the King's chancellor,
and Count Poniatowski, who was now more
than ever indispensable to the King, for his
remarkable presence of mind in difficulties,
crossed over in other boats with some of the
officers. Three hundred horsemen and a large
number of Poles and Cossacks, relying on the
strength of their horses, ventured to cross by
swimming. Their troop, keeping close to
gether, resisted the current and broke the
waves, but all who tried to cross separately a
little lower down were carried away and sank.
Of the foot that tried to cross not one got to
the other side.
While the routed army was in this difficult
position Prince Menzikoff came up with 10,000
horse, each with a foot soldier behind him.
The bodies of the Swedes who had died on the
N
178 History of Charles XII
way of wounds, fatigue and hunger were an
index to the Prince of the route that the army
had taken. The Prince sent a herald to the
Swedish General to offer capitulation. Im
mediately four generals were sent by Leven-
haupt to receive the conqueror's order. Before
of King Charles's soldiers
would day
that have16,000
attacked the whole force of the
Russian empire and have perished to a man,
rather than have surrendered ; but after a
battle lost and a flight of two days, and after
having lost their Prince who had been forced to
flee himself, the strength of every soldier being
spent and their courage no longer supported by
hope, the love of life overcame courage. The
whole army was made prisoners of war. Some
of the soldiers, in despair at falling into
Russian hands, threw themselves into the
Borysthenes, and the rest were made slaves.
They defiled in Prince Menzikoff's presence and
laid their arms at his feet, as 30,000 Russians
had done nine years before at the King of
Sweden's at Narva.
But while the King then sent back all the
Russian prisoners he was not afraid of, the
Czar kept all the Swedes that were taken at
Pultawa. These poor wretches were dispersed
throughout the Czar's dominions, and particu
larly in Siberia, a vast province of greater
Tartary which stretches eastward to the
frontiers of the Chinese empire. In this bar
barous country, where the use of bread was
 History of Charles XII 179
unknown, the Swedes, ingenious through
necessity, exercised the trades and arts they
had formerly been brought up to. All the
distinctions which fortune makes between men
were then banished, the officer who had no
handicraft was forced to cut and carry wood
for the soldier, who had now turned tailor,
draper, joiner, mason, or smith, and got a
livelihood by his labour. Some officers became
painters and some architects, some taught
languages and mathematics ; they even went
so far as to erect public schools, which
gradually became so useful and famous that
they sent children there from Moscow. Count
Piper, the King's first minister, was long im
prisoned at Petersburg. The Czar, like the
rest of Europe, believed that this minister had
sold his master to the Duke of Marlborough,
and so brought the arms of Sweden, which
might have pacified Europe, on Russia, and
he made his captivity more severe on this
supposition. Piper died some years after at
Moscow, having received little assistance from
his family, which lived in great opulence at
Stockholm, and uselessly lamented by his King,
who would never humble himself by offering a
ransom, which he feared the Czar would not
accept, for there was never any challenge of
exchange between Charles and the Czar. The
Emperor of Russia, elated by a joy which he
took no pains to conceal, received on the battle
field the prisoners whom they brought to him
i8o History of Charles XII
in troops, and asked every moment, " Where,
then, is Charles my brother?"
He paid the Swedish Generals the compli
ment of inviting them to his table; among
other questions he asked Renschild : What
were the numbers of the army of the King his
master before the battle? Renschild answered
that only the King had the list of them and
never gave information to any one, but that
he thought the whole number might be 35,000
men, of whom 18,000 were Swedes and the
rest Cossacks. The Czar seemed surprised,
and asked how they dare invade so distant a
country and lay siege to Pultawa with so small
a force. " We were not always consulted,"
answered the Swedish General, " but like faith
ful servants we obeyed our master's orders
without ever contradicting him." On this
answer the Czar turned to certain courtiers,
who had been suspected of conspiring against
him, " Ah !" he said, " see how a sovereign
should be obeyed."
Then, taking a glass of wine, " To the
health of my masters in the art of war," he
said. Renschild asked who they were whom
he honoured with so high a title? " You,
gentlemen, the Swedish Generals," answered
the Czar. " Your Majesty is very ungrateful
to handle your masters so severely," replied
Renschild. When dinner was over the Czar
ordered their swords to be restored to all the
officers, and treated them as a Prince who
 History of Charles XII 181
had a mind to give his subjects lessons in
generosity and good breeding. But this same
Prince, who treated the Swedish Generals so
well, had all the Cossacks he caught broken on
the wheel.
Thus the Swedish army, which left Saxony
in such triumph, was now no more : one half
having perished from want, and the other half
being enslaved or massacred. Charles XII
had lost in one day the fruit of nine years'
labours and almost a hundred battles.
He fled in a wretched calash, with General
Hoorn, dangerously wounded ; the rest of his
troops followed, some on horseback, some in
wagons, across a desert where there were
neither huts, tents, men, animals nor roads ;
everything, even water, was lacking.
That was at the beginning of July. The
country is in the forty-seventh degree of
latitude; the sun's heat was made less endur
able by the dry sand of the desert; horses fell
by the way, and men were near dying of
thirst. Towards night they found a spring of
muddy water ; they filled bottles with the water,
which saved the lives of the King's little
troop. After five days' march he found himself
on the banks of the river Hippais, now called
the Bogh by the barbarians, who have dis
figured even the names of the countries to
which Greek colonies had brought prosperity.
This river joins the Borysthenes some miles
lower, and with it falls into the Black Sea.
182 History of Charles XII
Beyond the Bogh, towards the south, is the
little town of Oczakou, frontier-town of the
Turkish empire. The inhabitants, seeing ap
proach a troop of men-at-arms whose dress
and language were strange to them, refused to
carry them over to Oczakou without an order
from the Governor of the town, Mahomet-
Bacha. The King sent this Governor an ex
press message, asking for a passage. But the
Turk, not knowing how to act in a country
where a false step often costs a man his life,
dare not act on his own responsibility without
the permission of the Pasha of the province,
who lived at Bender, in Bessarabia, thirty
leagues from Oczakou. While they were
awaiting this permission the Russians had
crossed the Borysthenes, and approached to
seize the King himself.
At last the Pasha sent word to the King
saying that he would send a small boat for
him and for two or three of his suite. Then
the Swedes seized by force what they could
not obtain by gentle means : some went to
the other bank in a little skiff, and seizing-
some boats brought them to their bank. This
was the means of their rescue, for the owners
of the Turkish boats, fearing to lose the chance
of some gain, came in crowds to offer their
services ; just at this moment the favourable
reply of the Governor of Bender arrived. But
the Russians came up, and the King had the
misfortune of seeing 500 of his followers who
 History Oi<- Charles XII 183
had not been able to get over in time seized
by the enemy, whose insulting boasts he heard.
The Pasha of Oczakou asked his pardon, by
an interpreter, for these delays, which had
caused the capture of the 500 men, and be
sought him not to mention it to the Grand-
Seignior. Charles promised, after scolding him
as if he were one of his own subjects.
The Commander of Bender sent in haste an
aga to wait on the King, and offer him a
magnificent tent, provisions, wagons, all con
veniences, officers and attendants, necessary to
bring him with splendour to Bender. For it is
customary with the Turks not only to defray
the expenses of ambassadors to their place of
residence but plentifully to supply, during the
time of their sojourn, the needs of the Princes
who take refuge among them.
I
BOOK V
 BOOK V
The state of the Ottoman Porte— Charles retires to
Bender— His occupations— His intrigues at the
porte — His plans — Augustus restored — The King
of Denmark attacks Sweden— All the King's other
territories are invaded — The Czar keeps festival at
Moscow — The affair of Pruth— History of the
Czarina.

ACHMET the third was then Emperor of the

Turks. He had been placed on the throne in
1703, replacing his brother Mustapha, by a
revolution like that which in England trans
ferred the crown from James II to his son-in-
law William. Mustapha was under the control
of his Mufti, whom the people hated, and
made his whole empire revolt against him.
His army, with which he had reckoned to
punish the malcontents, joined them, and he
was seized, unceremoniously deposed, and his
brother taken from the seraglio to be made
Sultan, almost without bloodshed. Achmet
confined the deposed Sultan in Constantinople,
where he survived for several years, to the
great surprise of the Turks, who had been
accustomed to see the dethronement of their
kings followed by their death. The only return
the new Sultan made to the ministers, the
of janissaries, and to
generals, the officers 187
those who had part in the revolution, was to
execute them one after the other, for fear they
 1 88 History of Charles XII
should subsequently attempt another revolu
tion. By the sacrifice of so many brave men
he weakened the empire but strengthened his
throne. Henceforth his mind was bent on
amassing treasure. He was the first of the
sultans who ventured to make a small altera
tion in the money, and to impose a new tax;
but he was obliged to give up both these plans
for fear of a rebellion, for the rapacity and
tyranny of the Grand Seignior is felt only by
the officers of the empire, who, whoever they
may be, are slaves of the sultan ; but the rest
of the Mussulmans live in absolute security,
with no fears for their lives, fortunes and
liberty.
Such was the Emperor of the Turks, to
whom the King of Sweden fled for refuge.
He wrote to him as soon as he arrived in his
territory. His letter is dated i3th of July,
1709. Several different copies of it are extant,
which are all condemned as mere fabrications,
but of all those which I have seen there is not
one which does not display pride, and which
was not rather in accordance with his courage
than with his situation.
The Sultan did not reply till towards the
end of September. The pride of the Ottoman
Porte made Charles feel the gulf that it con
sidered existed between the Turkish Emperor
and a Christian fugitive and conquered King
of part of Scandinavia.
Charles was, as a matter of fact, treated as
 History of Charles XII 189
an honourable prisoner. But he formed the
design of turning- the Ottoman arms against his
enemies ; he believed he could subdue Poland
again, and reduce Russia to submission ; he
sent an envoy to Constantinople, but his best
helper in his great project was Poniatowski,
who went to Constantinople unofficially, and
soon made himself indispensable to the King,
agreeable to the Porte, and dangerous to the
grand vizirs themselves.
One of those who seconded his designs most
cleverly was a Portuguese doctor, Fonseca,
living at Constantinople, a learned and able
man, who had knowledge of men as well as
of his own art, and whose profession gave him
access to the Court, and often intimacy with
the vizirs. I knew him well at Paris, and he
confirmed all the details which I am going to
relate. Count Poniatowski told me himself
that he was clever enough to get letters through
to the Sultana Valida, mother of the reigning
Emperor, who had been at one time ill-used
by her son, but was now beginning to recover
her influence in the seraglio. A Jewess, who
was often with the princess, was perpetually
talking of the King of Sweden's exploits, and
charmed her by reciting them. The Sultana,
by a secret inclination which most women feel
for extraordinary men, even without having
ever seen them, took the King's part openly
in the seraglio and called him "her lion."
"When will you," she said sometimes to the
i go History of Charles XII
Sultan her son, "help my lion to devour this
Czar?" She even went beyond the strict rules
of the seraglio so far as to write several letters
with her own hand to Count Poniatowski, who
still possesses them.
However, the King was taken to Bender
with pomp, across the desert formerly called
the desert of Getae. The Turks took care that
his journey should be made as agreeable as
possible; many Poles, Swedes and Cossacks,
who had escaped from the Russians, came from
different directions to increase his train. When
he arrived at Bender he had 1,800 men with
him, all fed and lodged, they and their horses,
at the expense of the Grand Seignior.
The King chose to encamp near Bender
rather than in the town. The Serasquier,
Jussuf, had a magnificent tent pitched for him,
and also furnished all his suite with tents;
some time after the King built a house on this
spot, and his officers followed his example.
The soldiers, too, raised barracks, so that the
camp became gradually a little town.
The King was not yet cured of his wound,
and had to have a decayed bone removed from
his leg, but as soon as he could mount a horse
he renewed his usual exercises, rising at sun
rise, tiring out three horses a day, and making
his soldiers drill. His only amusement was an
occasional game of chess. If details are /
typical of character, it may be remarked that
he always brought out his king in the game; !
 History of Charles XII 191
he used him more than his other pieces, and so
always lost the game.
At Bender he found plenty of everything
about him, rare good fortune for a conquered
and fugitive king ; for besides more than
enough provisions and the 500 crowns a day
he got from the Ottoman generosity, he got
money also from France, and borrowed of the
Constantinople merchants. Part of this money
was used to carry on the intrigues in the
seraglio, in buying the vizirs or procuring
their downfall ; the rest he distributed profusely
among his officers and the janissaries who
guarded him at Bender.
Grothusen, his favourite and treasurer, dis
pensed these bounties ; he was a man who,
contrary to the custom of a man of his station,
was as eager to give as his master. One day
he brought him an account of 60,000 crowns
in two lines, " 10,000 given to the Swedes and
janissaries, and the rest eaten up by me."
"This," said the King, "is the kind of
balance-sheet that I like ; Mullern makes me
read whole pages for the sum of 10,000 francs,
I like Grothusen 's laconic style much better."
One of his old officers, thought to be slightly
covetous, complained to the King that he gave
everything to Grothusen. " I give money,"
answered the King, " to none but those who
know how to make use of it. " This generosity
often reduced him to such straits that he had
nothing to give. Better economy in his
192 History of Charles XII
liberality would have been more to his advan
tage and no less honourable, but it was the
Prince's failing to carry all the virtues to
excess.
Many strangers hurried from Constantinople
to see him. The Turks and the neighbouring
Tartars came in crowds; all honoured and
admired him. His rigid abstinence from wine,
and his regularity in attending public prayers
twice a day, spread the report that he was a
true Mussulman. They burned to march with
him to the conquest of Russia.
During this life of leisure at Bender, which
was longer than he had expected, he developed
unconsciously a great taste for books. Baron
Fabricius, nobleman of the duchy of Holstein,
an agreeable youth who had the gaiety and
the ready wit which appeals to princes, induced
him to read. He had been sent to him as
envoy from the Duke of Holstein, to protect
the interests of the latter, and succeeded by
the amiability of his manner.
He had read all the French authors, and
persuaded the King to read the tragedies of
Corneille, and of Racine, and the works of
Despreaux; the King did not at all enjoy the
latter's satires, which are by no means his best
performances, but he appreciated his other
writings, and when he read the passage in the
eighth satire, where he calls Alexander a
" frantic madman," he tore out the leaf.
Of all the French tragedies Mithradates
 History of Charles XII 193
pleased him most, because the condition of the
King, conquered and breathing forth ven
geance, was like his own. He pointed out to
M. Fabricius the passages that struck him, but
he would read nothing aloud, nor venture on
a word of French. Even afterwards, when he
met M. Desaleurs, the French ambassador
to the Porte, a person of distinction, who
only knew his mother-tongue, he answered him
in Latin, and when the ambassador protested
that he did not understand a word of that
language he called for an interpreter, rather
than express himself in French. Such were the
occupations of Charles at Bender, where he
was waiting till a Turkish army should come
to his assistance.
His ambassador presented memoirs in his
name to the Grand Vizir, Poniatowski, and
supported them with his readily-acquired pres
tige. The intrigue succeeded entirely ; he wore
only Turkish dress, and he insinuated himself
everywhere ; the Grand Seignior had him pre
sented with a purse containing 1,000 ducats,
and the Grand Vizir said to him, " I will take
your King with one hand, and a sword in the
other, and I will lead him to Moscow at the
head of 200,000 men." But the first minister
soon changed his mind. The King could only
treat, while the Czar could pay; he did pay,
and it was the money that he gave that Charles
used ; the military chest taken at Pultawa pro
vided new arms against the vanquished. No
194 History of Charles XII
more mention was made of making war on
Russia. The Czar's influence was all-powerful
at the Porte; they granted honours and privi
leges to his ambassador at Constantinople such
as had never been enjoyed by a previous envoy ;
he was allowed to have a seraglio, that is, a
palace in the quarters of the Franks, and to
converse with foreign ministers. The Czar
even felt strong enough to demand that Ma-
zeppa should be handed over to him, just as
Charles had demanded Patkul. Chourlouli-Ali-
Pasha now found it impossible to refuse any
thing to a Prince who made demands with
millions behind him. Thus the same Grand
Vizir who had solemnly promised to take the
King of Sweden to Russia with 200,000 men,
had the impudence to propose to him that he
should consent to the betrayal of Mazeppa.
Charles was enraged at the request. It is
hard to say how far the Vizir would have
carried the matter had not Mazeppa, who was
then seventy years old, died at this juncture.
The King's grief and resentment increased
when he heard that Tolstoi, who had become
ambassador from the Czar to the Porte, was
served in public by the Swedes who had been
enslaved at Pultawa, and that these brave men
were daily sold in the market-place at Con
stantinople. Besides, the Russian ambassador
remarked aloud that the Mussulman troops at
Bender were there rather as a guard to the
King than for his honour.
 History of Charles XII 195
Charles, abandoned by the Grand Vizir, and
conquered by the Czar's money in Turkey, as
he had been by his arms in Ukrania, found him
self deluded, scorned by the Porte, and a kind of
prisoner among- the Tartars. His followers
began to despair. He alone remained firm and
did not show dejection even for a moment.
He thought that the Sultan was ignorant of the
intrigues of his Grand Vizir; he determined to
inform him, and Poniatowski undertook this
bold task. Every Friday the Grand Seignior
went to the mosque, surrounded by Solacks, a
kind of guard, whose turbans were so high that
they hid the Sultan from the people. Any one
who had a petition to present to the Sultan,
must mingle with these guards, and hold the
petition up in the air. Sometimes the Sultan
deigned to take it himself, but generally he
bade an aga take charge of it, and afterwards,
on his return from the mosque, had the petitions
laid before him. There was no fear that any
one would importune him with unnecessary
petitions, or petitions about trifling affairs,
for at Constantinople they write less in a year
than at Paris in a day. Much less dare any
one present petitions against the ministers, to
whom the Sultan hands them generally without
reading them. But Poniatowski had no other
means of conveying the King of Sweden's com
plaints to the Grand Seignior. He drew up a
strong indictment of the Grand Vizir. M. de
Feriol, then Turkish ambassador from France,
196 History of Charles XII
got it translated into Turkish. A Greek was
hired to present it; he mingled himself with
the King's guards, and held up the paper so
high, and so persistently, that the Sultan saw
it and took it himself.
Some days after, the Sultan sent the King
of Sweden, as the only answer to his com
plaints, twenty-five Arabian horses, one of
which had carried his Highness, and was
covered with a saddle enriched with precious
stones, and with massive gold stirrups. With
this present he sent a polite letter, couched in
general terms, and such as seemed to show
that the Vizir had acted with the Sultan's
orders. Chourlouli, too, who knew how to
dissemble, sent five fine horses to the King.
Charles said haughtily to the man who
brought them, " Return to your master and
say that I do not receive presents from my
enemies." M. Poniatowski, who had already
had the courage to get a petition against the
Grand Vizir presented, had formed the bold
plan of having him deposed; he knew that the
Vizir was no favourite of the Sultan's mother,
and that he was hated both by Kislar-aga, the
chief of the black eunuchs, and by the aga of
the janissaries. So he urged them all three to
speak against him. It was a strange sight
to see a Christian, a Pole, an unaccredited
agent of the King of Sweden who had refuged
with the Turks, caballing almost openly at the
Porte, against a Viceroy of the Ottoman
 History of Charles XII 197
Empire, and one who was, too, both a useful
minister and a favourite of his master.
Poniatowski would never have succeeded,
and the mere notion of his design would have
cost him his life, had not a stronger power than
those on his side given the last blow to the
Grand Vizir Chourlouli's fortune. The Sultan
had a young favourite, who has since governed
the Ottoman Empire and been killed in Hun
gary in 1716, at the battle of Petervaradin,
gained over the Turks by Prince Eugene of
Savoy. His name was Coumourgi-Ali-Pasha ;
his birth much the same as that of Chourlouli ;
he was the son of a coal-heaver — as the name
signified — for Coumir is Turkish for coal.
The Emperor Achmet II, uncle of Achmet III,
meeting Coumourgi as a child in a wood near
Adrianople, was so struck by his great beauty
that he had him taken to the seraglio. Mus-
tapha, Mahomet's eldest son and successor,
was taken with him, and Achmet III made him
his favourite; he was then only selic-tar-aga,
sword-bearer to the crown. His extreme youth
did not allow him to stand for the office of
Grand Vizir, but his ambition was to make
it. The Swedish faction could never gain
this favourite ; he was never a friend of King
Charles, or of any other Christian prince,
or their ministers, but on this occasion he
was unconsciously of service to the King.
He united with the Sultana Valida, and the
leading officer of the Porte, to bring about
1 98 History of Charles XII
the fall of Chourlouli, whom they all hated.
This old minister, who had served his master
long- and well, was the victim of the caprice
of a boy and the intrigues of a stranger.
He was deprived of his dignity and his
wealth, his wife, daughter of the last Sul
tan, taken from him, and he himself banished
to Cassa in Crimean-Tartary. The bul, i. e.
the seal of the Empire, was given to Numan
Couprougli, grandson of the great Couprougli
who took Candia. This new Vizir was what
misinformed Christians hardly believe a Turk
can be, a man of incorruptible virtue and a
scrupulous observer of the law, which he
often set up in opposition to the will of the
Sultan.
He would not hear of a war against Russia,
which he thought unjust and unnecessary, but
the same respect for the law which prevented
him from waging war against the Czar, made
him punctilious in the duty of hospitality to
the King of Sweden. "The law," he said
to his master, " forbids you to attack the
Czar, who has done you no harm, but it com
mands you to help the King of Sweden, who
is an unfortunate Prince in your dominions."
He sent his Majesty 800 purses (a purse
being worth 500 crowns), and advised him to
return peaceably into his own country, through
the territories of the Emperor of Germany, or
in some French vessels that were then lying in
the harbour at Constantinople, and which M.
 History of Charles XII 199
de Feriol, the French ambassador, offered to
Charles to take him to Marseilles. Count
Poniatowski continued negotiations with the
minister, and gained in the negotiations an
ascendancy of . which Russian gold could no
longer deprive him in dealing with an incor
ruptible minister. The Russian faction thought
that the best plan was to poison such a danger
ous diplomat. They bribed one of his servants,
who was to give him poison in his coffee ; the
crime was discovered in time; they found the
poison in a little vial which they took to the
Grand Seignior; the poisoner was judged in
full divan, and condemned to the galleys, be
cause, by Turkish law, crimes that have failed
of execution are never punished by death.
\ Charles, still persuaded that sooner or later
he" would succeed in making the Turkish
Empire declare against that of Russia, would
agree to none of the proposals for his return
in peace to his own dominions ; he persisted in
pointing out to the Turks as dangerous the
very Czar whom he had long despised; his
emissaries kept up their, insinuations that Peter
the Great was aiming at gaining control of
shipping in the Black Sea; that, after having
beaten the Cossacks, he had designs on the
Crimea. Sometimes his representations roused
the Porte, sometimes the Russian minister
nullified their effect. '
While he was thus 'letting his fate depend on
the caprice of a vizir, and was forced to put
200 History of Charles XII
up with the affronts as well as accept the
favours of a foreign power — while he was
presenting- petitions to the Sultan, and living
on hospitality in a desert — his enemies roused
themselves to attack his kingdom.
The battle of Pultawa was at once the signal
for a revolution in Poland. King Augustus
returned thither, protesting against his abdica
tion and the Peace of Altranstadt, and openly
accusing Charles, whom he now no longer
feared, of robbery and cruelty. He imprisoned
Finsten and Imof, his plenipotentiaries, who
had signed the abdication, as if in so doing
they had exceeded their orders and betrayed
their master. His Saxon troops, which had
been the excuse for his dethronement, brought
him back to Warsaw with most of the Polish
counts who had formerly sworn fidelity to him,
had afterwards done the same to Stanislas, and
were about to renew their oath to Augustus.
Siniawski himself joined his party, forgetting
the idea he had had of making himself King,
and was content as Grand General of the
crown. Fleming, his first minister, who had
been obliged to leave Saxony for a time, for
fear of being given up as Patkul had been,
managed matters at that time so as to bring
over a great part of the Polish nobility to his .
master.
The Pope released his people from the oath
of allegiance they had sworn to Stanislas.
This step of the Holy Father, taken at the right
 History of Charles XII 201
time, and supported by Augustus's forces, had
no small weight in establishing the interests of
the Court of Rome in Poland, where they then
had no wish to dispute with the sovereign
pontiff the chimerical right of meddling with
the temporalities of kings.
Every one was ready to submit to Augus
tus's authority again, and received without the
least opposition a useless absolution which the
Nuncio did not fail to represent as necessary.
• Charles's power and the greatness of Sweden
were now drawing to their last phase. For
some time more than ten crowned heads had
viewed the extension of Sweden beyond her
natural boundaries, to the other side of the
Baltic, and from the Duna to the Elbe, with
fear and envy. Charles's fall and absence
awakened the interests and jealousy of all these
princes, after they had lain dormant for a long
time through treaties and inability to break
them.
The Czar, who was more powerful than
them all together, making the best use of his
victory, took Wibourg, and all Carelia, inun
dated Finland with troops, besieged Riga, and
sent a corps into Poland to help Augustus to
recover the throne. The Emperor was then
what Charles had once been — the arbiter of
Poland and the North ; but he consulted only
his own interests, whereas Charles's ambitions
were always of glory or vengeance. The
Swedish monarch had helped his friends, and
202 History of Charles XII
overcome his enemies, without exacting the
smallest reward for his victories ; but the Czar,
rather a prince than a hero, would not help
the King of Poland except on condition that
Livonia should be given up to him, and that
this province, for the sake of which Augustus
had begun war, should belong to the Russians
for ever.
The King of Denmark, forgetting the treaty
of Travendal as Augustus had that of Altran-
stadt, had from that time thoughts of making
himself master of the Duchies of Holstein and
Bremen, to which he renewed his claim. The
King of Prussia had long-standing claims to
Swedish Pomerania which he wished to revive ;
the Duke of Mecklenburg was provoked at see
ing Sweden still in possession of Wismar, the
finest city in his duchy. This Prince had
married the Emperor of Russia's niece, and his
uncle was only looking for an excuse to estab
lish himself in Germany, after the example of
the Swedes. George, Elector of Hanover, also
wanted to enrich himself from the spoiling of
Charles. This Bishop of Munster, too, would
have been glad to have made some claims had
he possessed the means to do so.
There were about 12,000 or 13,000 Swedes
defending Pomerania, and the other districts
which Charles held in Germany ; here was the
seat of war. But this storm alarmed the
Emperor and his allies. It is a law of the
Empire that whoever invades one of the pro-
 History of Charles XII 203
vinces should be considered an enemy to the
whole Germanic body.
But there was still greater difficulty involved,
for all these princes, except the Czar, were
then leagued against Louis XIV, whose power
had for some time been as formidable to the
Empire as that of Charles himself.
At the beginning of the century Germany
found herself hard pressed between the French
on the south and the Swedes on the north.
The French had crossed the Danube, and the
Swedes the Oder; if their victorious forces had
united, the Empire would have been lost. But
the same fatality that had ruined Sweden had
also humbled France ; yet some resources still
remained to Sweden, and Louis carried on the
war with vigour, though unsuccessfully. If
Pomerania and the Duchy of Bremen became
the seat of war, it was to be feared that the
Empire would suffer, and being weakened on
that side would be the less able to withstand
Louis. To prevent this, the Princes of Ger
many, Queen Anne of England, and the States
of Holland, concluded at the Hague, in 1709,
one of the' most extraordinary treaties ever
signed.
It was stipulated by these powers that the
seat of the war should not be in Pomerania,*
nor any other German State, but that Charles
might be attacked by his enemies anywhere
else. The King of Poland and the Czar them
selves agreed to this treaty, and had a clause
 204 History of Charles XII
inserted which was as strange as the treaty
itself, to the effect that the 12,000 Swedes in
Pomerania should not leave it to defend their
other provinces.
To safeguard the treaty it was proposed to
raise an army, which was to encamp on the
Oder, to maintain this imaginary neutrality.
It was an unheard-of thing, to levy an army to
prevent war ! Those who were paying the forces
were, for the most part, very much concerned
to bring about the war they were pretending to
prevent. The army was, by the treaty, to
consist of the troops of the Emperor, the King
of Prussia, the Elector of Hanover, the Land
grave of Hesse, and the Bishop of Munster.
This project was, as might be expected, not
carried through. The princes who were to
furnish their quota for the army contributed
nothing ; not two regiments were formed.
There was much talk of neutrality, but no one
observed it ; and all the Northern princes who
had any controversy with the King of Sweden
were left at full liberty to dispute who should
have his spoils.
At this point the Czar, having stationed his
forces in Lithuania and left orders for carrying
ton the siege of Riga, returned to Moscow, to
show his people a sight as new as anything he
had yet done in his kingdom. It was a
triumph little inferior to that of the ancient
Romans. He made his entry into Moscow
under seven triumphal arches, erected in the
 History of Charles XII 205
streets, and adorned with all that could be
produced in that climate, and that the flourish
ing trade which his energy had nourished could
supply. The procession began with a regi
ment of guards, followed by the artillery taken
from the Swedes at Lesnow and Pultawa, each
piece being drawn by eight horses with scarlet
trappings hanging to the ground. Then came
the standards, kettle-drums, and the colours
won at these two battles, and carried by the
officers who had won them ; all the spoils were
followed by the Czar's picked troops. After
they had filed past, the litter of Charles XII,
in a chariot made for the purpose, appeared
as it had been found on the battle-field, all
shattered by cannon-shot. Behind this litter
marched the prisoners two by two, and among
them Count Piper, Prime Minister of Sweden,
the famous Marshal Renschild, Count Leven-
haupt, Generals Slipenbek, Hamilton, and
Stackelburg, and all the officers and soldiers
who were later scattered through Russia.
Immediately behind them came the Czar, rid
ing the same horse he had used at Pultawa;
just behind him were the generals who had
their share in the success of this battle; after
them came another regiment of guards, and
the wagons loaded with Swedish ammunition
brought up the rear.
This procession was accompanied by the
ringing of all the bells in Moscow, by the
sound of drums, kettle-drums and trumpets,
 206 History of Charles XII
and an infinite number of musical instru
ments, echoing each other. Volleys were dis
charged from 200 cannon, to the acclamations
of 5,000,000 men, who at every halt of the
Czar in his entry cried, " God save the Emperor
our father !"
This imposing procession increased the
C people's veneration for his person, and gave
him greater prestige in their eyes than all the
-\)good he had really done them. In the mean
time he continued the blockade of Riga, and
the generals subdued the rest of Livonia and
part of Finland. At the same time the King
of Denmark came with his entire fleet to
attack Sweden, where he landed with 1,700
men, whom he left under the command of
Count Reventlau.
At that time Sweden was governed by a
regency, composed of some Senators appointed
by the King at his departure from Sweden.
The Senatorial body, which regarded the right
of governing as their prerogative, were jealous
of the regency. The State suffered from these
divisions, but directly they received news at
Stockholm after Pultawa, that the King was
at Bender in the hands of the Turks and Tar
tars, and that the Danes had made an attack
on Schoner and had taken the town of Elsing-
burg, all jealousy disappeared, and they con
centrated on saving Sweden. There were now
very few regulars left, for though Charles had
always made his great expeditions with small
 History of Charles XII 207
armies, yet his innumerable battles for nine
years, the continual necessity for recruits, the
maintenance of his garrisons, and the standing
army he was obliged to maintain in Finland,
Livonia, Pomerania, Bremen, and Verden,
had cost Sweden, during the course of the war,
more than 250,000 men; there were not as
many as 8,000 of the veterans who, with raw
forces, were now Sweden's only resource.
The nation is born with a passion for war,
and every people unconsciously imitate their
King. Nothing was discussed from one end
of the country to the other but the great ex
ploits of Charles and his generals, and of the
old regiment which fought under them at
Narva, Duna, Crassau, Pultask, and Hollosin.
Thus the humblest of the Swedes were filled
with a spirit of emulation and thirst for glory.
Besides this, they loved their King, were sorry
for him, and hated the Danes thoroughly. In
many other countries the peasants are slaves
or are treated as such ; here they form part of
the body politic, consider themselves citizens,
and think worthy thoughts. So that in a
short time these forces became the best in the
North.
By order of the regency, General Steinbock
put himself at the head of 8,000 veteran troops
and 12,000 recruits, to pursue the Danes, who
were ravaging all the country round Elsing-
burg, and had already put some places far
inland under contribution.
2o8 History of Charles XII
There was neither time nor money to get
uniforms for the soldiers ; most of the country
labourers came dressed in their linen smocks,
with pistols tied to their girdles by cords.
Steinbock, at the head of this extraordinary
army, came up with the Danes three leagues
from Elsingburg, on the loth March, 1710.
He intended to rest his troops some days, to
entrench, and to give his raw recruits time
to get accustomed to the enemy ; but the
peasants clamoured to fight directly they
arrived.
Some officers who were there told me that
they saw them almost all foaming with rage, so
great is the Swede's hatred of the Dane. Stein-
bock took advantage of this disposition, which
is almost as effective in war as military discip
line. The Danes were attacked, and the
strange sight was seen — of which there are,
perhaps, no two other instances — of raw forces
equalling in bravery a veteran corps at the first
attack. Two regiments of these undisciplined
peasants cut the Danish army to pieces, and
left only ten survivors.
The Danes, entirely routed, retreated under
the cannon of Elsingburg. The passage from
Sweden to Zeeland is so short that the King
of Denmark heard of the defeat of his army
in Sweden the same day at Copenhagen, and
sent his fleet to bring off the remnant of his
army. The Danes hastily left Sweden five days
after the battle, but, being unable to bring
 History of Charles XII 209
away their horses, and not wishing to leave
them to the enemy, they killed them all and fired
their provisions, burning- their corn and bag
gage, and leaving 4,000 wounded in Elsing-
burg. The majority of these died from the
infection from the large number of dead horses,
and from lack of food, which even their own
countrymen deprived them of, lest they should
fall into Swedish hands.
At the same time the peasants of Delecarlia,
having heard in the depths of their forests that
the King was prisoner in Turkey, sent a depu
tation to the Regency at Stockholm, offering
to go, at their own expense, to rescue their
master from the enemy's hands with a force of
20,000 men. This proposal, useless as it was,
was heard with pleasure, because it proved the
courage and loyalty of the proposers, though
it was rejected ; and they gave the King an
account of it, when they sent him word about
Elsingburg. King Charles received this cheer
ing news in his camp near Bender, in July 1710,
just after another event which confirmed him
in his hopes.
The Grand Vizir Couprougli, who was op
posed to his plans, was turned out of office
after he had been in the ministry two months.
Charles XII's little Court, and his adherents in
Poland, boasted that he made and removed
vizirs, and was governing Turkey from his
retreat at Bender. But he had no hand in the
ruin of this favourite.
p
2io History of Charles XII
The rigid justice of the Vizir, it was said,
was the only cause of his fall; his predecessor
had been accustomed to pay the janissaries, not
out of the Imperial treasury, but from the
money he got by extortion. Couprougli, on
the other hand, paid them from the treasury.
For this Achmet accused him of putting the
subjects' interest before that of the Emperor.
" Your predecessor, Chourlouli," he said,
" managed to find other ways of paying my
troops." The Grand Vizir replied, " If he had
the art of enriching your Highness by theft, it
is an art of which I am proud to be ignorant."
The great secrecy observed in the seraglio
rarely lets such stories leak out, but this got
known at the time of Couprougli 's fall. The
Vizir's courage did not cost him his head, be
cause real goodness often forces even those
whom it offends to respect. He had leave to
retire to the island of Negropont.
After this the Sultan sent for Baltagi Ma
homet Pasha of Syria, who had been Grand
Vizir before Chourlouli. The Baltagis of the
seraglio, so called from balta, meaning an axe,
are slaves employed to cut wood for the use of
princes of the blood and the Sultana. This
Vizir had been baltagi in his youth, and had
always retained the name, according to the cus
tom of the Turks, who are not ashamed to bear
the name of their first profession, their father,
or their birthplace. While Baltagi was a serv
ant in the seraglio he was fortunate enough to
 History of Charles XII 211
do Prince Achmet some trifling- service, that
Prince being then a prisoner of State in the
reign of his brother Mustapha. Achmet gave
one of his female slaves, of whom he had been
very fond, to Baltagi Mahomet, when he be
came Sultan. This woman made her husband
Grand Vizir by her intrigues; another intrigue
deposed him, while a third made him Grand
Vizir again. Baltagi had no sooner received
the seal of the Turkish empire than he found
the party of the King of Sweden dominant in
the seraglio. The Sultana Valida, the Sultan's
favourite, the chief of the black eunuchs, and
the aga of the janissaries, were all in favour of
war against the Czar. The Sultan had decided
on it, and the very first order he gave the
Grand Vizir was to go and attack the Russians
with 200,000 men. Baltagi had never been in
the field, but was no idiot, as the Swedes, out
of pure malice, have represented him to be.
When he received from the Sultan a sabre
set with precious stones, " Your Highness
knows, "he said, " that I have been brought up
to use an axe and fell wood, and not to wield
a sword, or to command armies. I will do my
best to serve you ; but if I fail, remember that I
have begged you not to lay it to my charge."
The Sultan assured him of his favour, and the
Vizir prepared to carry out his orders. The
Ottoman Porte 's first step was to imprison the
Russian ambassador in the castle of seven
towers.
212 History of Charles XII
It is the custom of the Turks to begin by
seizing those ministers against whom they de
clare war. Strict observers of hospitality in
every other respect, in this they violate the
most sacred of international laws. They act
thus unfairly under the pretext of fairness, per
suading themselves and trying to persuade
others that they never undertake any but a
just war, because it is consecrated by the ap
probation of their Muphti. Thus they look
upon themselves as armed to chastise the viola
tion of treaties (which they often break them
selves), and argue that the ambassadors of
kings at variance with them are to be punished
as accomplices of their masters' treachery.
Besides this, they affect a ridiculous contempt
towards Christian princes and their ambassa
dors, whom they regard as only consuls and
merchants.
The Kan of Crimean-Tartary had orders to
be ready with 400,000 Tartars. This Prince
rules over Nagai, Bulziac, part of Circassia
and all the Crimean district called by the
ancients the Tauric Chersonese, whither the
Greeks carried their commerce and their arms,
building large cities there ; and whither the
Genoese afterwards penetrated, when they were
masters of the trade of Europe.
In this country there are the ruins of Grecian
cities, and some Genoese monuments still sub
sisting in the midst of desolation and savagery.
The Kan is called Emperor by his own subjects,
 History of Charles XII 213
but in spite of this grand title he is a mere
slave to the Porte. The fact that they have
Ottoman blood in their veins, and the right
they have to the Turkish Empire on the extinc
tion of the race of the Sultan, make their family
respected and their persons formidable even to
the Sultan himself : that is why the Sultan
dare not destroy the race of the Kans of Tar-
tary ; but he hardly ever allows them to con
tinue on the throne to an advanced age. The
neighbouring pashas spy on their conduct,
their territories are surrounded by janissaries,
their wishes thwarted by the Grand Vizir, and
their designs always suspected. If the Tartars
complain of the Kan, this is an excuse for the
Porte to depose him ; if he is popular among
them it is regarded as a crime, for which he
will be even more readily punished. Thus all
of them leave the throne for exile, and finish
their days at Rhodes, which is generally both
their place of exile and their grave.
The Tartars, their subjects, are the most dis
honest folk in the world ; yet, at the same time
(inconceivable as it seems), the most hospitable.
They go a fifty leagues' journey to fall upon a
caravan and to destroy towns, but if any
stranger happens to pass through their country,
he is not only received and lodged everywhere,
and his expenses paid, but everywhere the in
habitants strive for the honour of having him
as guest.
The master of the house, his wife and
214 History of Charles XII
daughters vie with one another in his service.
Their ancestors, the Scythians, transmitted to
them this inviolable regard for hospitality ; and
they still retain it, because the scarcity of
strangers in their country, and the cheapness
of provisions, makes this duty in no way bur
densome to them. When the Tartars go to
war with the Ottoman army they are main
tained by the Sultan, but receive no other pay
but their booty; this makes them more ardent
at pillage than at regular warfare.
The Kan, bribed by the presents and in
trigues of the King of Sweden, got permission
to have the general rendezvous of troops at
Bender, under the King's eye, that he might
realize that the war was being made for him.
The new vizir, Baltagi, not being bound in the
same way, would not flatter a foreign prince so
far. He countermanded the order, and the
great army was collected at Adrianople.
The Turkish troops are not so formidable
now as they were when they conquered so
many kingdoms in Asia, Africa and Europe.
Then they triumphed over enemies less strong
and worse disciplined than themselves by physi
cal strength, courage and the force of numbers.
But now that Christians understand the art of
war better, they seldom failed to beat the Turks
in a drawn battle, even when their forces are
inferior in number. If the Ottoman empire
has lately gained some success, it is only in a
contest with the Republic of Venice, reputed
 History of Charles XII 215
more wise than warlike, defended by strangers,
and ill supported by Christian princes, who are
always divided among themselves.
The janissaries and spahis attack in disorder,
and are incapable of action under command, or
of a rally ; their cavalry, which should be excel
lent, considering- the good breed and agility of
their horses, is unable to sustain the shock of
German cavalry ; their infantry were not yet
able to use the fixed bayonet; besides this, the
Turks have had no great general since Cou-
prougli, who conquered Candia. A slave
brought up in the idleness and the silence of the
seraglio, made a vizir through favouritism,
and a general against his own inclinations,
headed a raw army, without experience and
without discipline, against Russian troops, with
twelve years' experience in war, and proud of
having conquered the Swedes.
The Czar, according to all appearances,
must have vanquished Baltagi, but he made
the same mistake with regard to the Turks as
the King of Sweden was guilty of in his own
case ; that is, he had too poor an opinion of his
enemy. Upon the news of the Turkish pre
parations he left Moscow; and having given
orders to change the siege of Riga into a block
ade, he drew up his army of 24,000 men on
the Polish frontier. With this army he
marched to Moldavia and Wallachia, formerly
the country of the Daci, but now inhabited by
Greek Christians, tributary to the Sultan.
216 History of Charles XII
Moldavia was then governed by Prince Can-
temir, a Greek by birth, who had the talents
of the ancient Greeks together with a know
ledge of letters and of arms. He was reputedly
descended from the famous Timur, famous
under the name of Tamberlain : this genealogy
seemed more distinguished than a Greek one.
They proved it from the name of the con
queror; Timur, they said, is like Temir : the
title Kan, which Timur had before his conquest
of Asia, appears again in the name Cantemir :
thus Prince Cantemir is a descendant of Tam
berlain ; that is the sort of basis on which most
genealogies are built.
To whatever house Cantemir belonged, he
owed all to the Ottoman Porte. Scarcely had
he been invested with his principality than he
betrayed the Emperor his benefactor for the
Czar, from whom he had greater expectations.
He believed that the conqueror of Charles XII
would easily triumph over an obscure vizir,
with no military experience, who had ap
pointed as his lieutenant the chief customs
officer of Turkey; he reckoned on all Greece
joining his faction, and the Greek priests en
couraged him in his treachery. The Czar made
a secret treaty with him, and having received
him into his army, marched up country, and
arrived in June 1711 on the northern side of
the river Hierasus, now Pruth, near Jazy, the
capital of Moldavia.
As soon as the Grand Vizir heard that Peter
 History of Charles XII 217
had arrived, he left his camp at once, and fol
lowing the course of the Danube, was going to
cross the river on a bridge of boats near Saccia,
at the same spot where Darius had built the
bridge that bore his name. The Turkish army
marched so rapidly that they soon came in
sight of the Russians, with the river Pruth
between them.
The Czar, sure of the Prince of Moldavia,
never expected that the subjects might fail
him ; but the Moldavians often oppose their
interests to those of their masters. They
liked the Turkish rule, which is never fatal
except to the grandees, and pretends a leniency
to its tributaries ; they were afraid of the Chris
tians, especially the Russians, who had always
used them ill.
Those who had undertaken to furnish the
Russians with provisions made with the Grand
Vizir the same bargain they had made with
the Czar, and brought all their provisions to
the Ottoman army. The Wallachians, neigh
bours of the Moldavians, showed the same care
for the Turks, for to such a degree the remem
brance of former cruelties had alienated their
minds from the Russians.
The Czar, thus frustrated of his hopes, which he
had perhaps indulged too readily, found his army
suddenly destitute of food and without forage.
In the meantime the Turks crossed the river,
cut off the Russians, and formed an entrenched
camp in front of them.
218 History of Charles XII
It is strange that the Czar did not dispute
the passage of the river, or at least repair this
fault by engaging the Turks at once, instead
of giving them time to tire out his army with
fatigue and famine. But that Prince seems,
in this campaign, to have acted in every way
for his own ruin ; he was without provisions,
with the river Pruth behind him, and about
4,000 Tartars continually harassing him to
right and left. In these extremities he said
publicly, " I am at least in as bad a case as my
brother Charles at Pultawa."
Count Poniatowski, indefatigable agent to
the King of Sweden, was in the Grand Vizir's
army with some Poles and Swedes, who all
thought the Czar's ruin inevitable.
As soon as Poniatowski saw that the armies
must inevitably meet, he sent word to the King
of Sweden, who, eager for the pleasure of
attacking the Russian Emperor, started that
moment from Bender, with forty officers. After
many losses, and several destructive marches, the
Czar was driven back on Pruth, and had no
cover left but some chevaux de frise and some
wagons. A party of the janissaries and spahis
fell immediately on his army in that defenceless
condition, but they attacked in disorder, and
the Russians defended themselves with an
energy inspired by the presence of their Prince
and despair.
The Turks were twice driven back. Next
day M. Poniatowski advised the Grand Vizir
 History of Charles XII 219
to starve out the Russians, for they lacked all
necessaries, and would be obliged to surrender
at discretion in one day.
The Czar has since then repeatedly acknow
ledged that he never felt anything so acutely
as the difficulties of his position that night :
he turned over in his mind all that he had been
doing for so many years for the glory and good
of his people, so many great plans, always in
terrupted by war, were perhaps about to perish
with him, before having reached completion.
He must either die of hunger or attack nearly
200,000 men with feeble troops, reduced by half
from their original number, a cavalry with
scarcely a horse between them, and infantry
worn out by hunger and fatigue.
He called General Czeremetoff at nightfall,
and ordered him peremptorily to have all ready
by daybreak for an attack on the Turks with
fixed bayonets.
He gave strict orders also that all baggage
should be burned, and that no officer should
keep more than one wagon, so that in case of
defeat the enemy might not have the booty
they expected.
Having made all arrangements with the
general for the battle, he withdrew into his
tent overcome by grief, and seized with con
vulsions, to which he was subject, and which
worry brought on with redoubled violence. He
forbade any one to enter his tent during the
night on any pretext whatever, not wanting
220 History of Charles XII
to receive remonstrances against a desperate
but necessary resolve, and much less that any
should witness the wretched state he was
in. In the meantime they burned the greater
part of the baggage as he had ordered ; all
the army followed this example with much
regret, and some buried their most cherished
treasures. The generals had already given
orders for the march, and were trying to give
the army the confidence which they did not
feel themselves ; the men, exhausted by fatigue,
and starving, marched without spirit or hope.
The women, of whom there were too many in
the army, uttered cries which further unnerved
the men; every one expected that death or
slavery would be their portion next morning.
This is no exaggeration, it is the exact account
of officers who served in the army.
There was at that time in the Russian camp
a woman as extraordinary as the Czar himself.
She was then known only by the name of
Catherine. Her mother was an unfortunate
country woman called Erb-Magden, of the vil
lage of Ringen in Estonia, a province held in
villeinage, which was at that time under the
rule of Sweden. She had never known her
father, but was baptized by the name of
Martha. The priest of the parish brought her
up out of pure charity till she was fourteen,
then she went into service at Marienburg, in
the house of a Lutheran minister whose name
was Gluk.
 History of Charles XII 221
In 1702, at the age of eighteen, she married
a Swedish dragoon. The day after her mar
riage part of the Swedish troops were beaten
by the Russians, and the dragoon was in the
action. But he never returned to his wife, and
she could never learn whether he had been
taken prisoner, nor later could she get any
news of him.
Some days after she was taken prisoner her
self, and was servant to General Czeremetoff,
who gave her to Menzikoff, a man who had
known fortune's extremes, for he had become
a general and a prince from being a pastry
cook's boy, and then was deprived of every
thing and banished to Siberia, where he died
in misery and despair. The Czar was at supper
with this prince when he first saw her and fell
in love with her. He married her secretly in
1707, not fascinated by womanly charms, but
because he found that she had the strength of
mind to second his designs, and even to con
tinue them after him. He had long since put
away his first wife Ottokefa, daughter of a
boyard, on a charge of opposition to certain
political reforms he had made.
This was the greatest of all crimes in the
Czar's eyes. He would have none in his family
who differed from him. In this foreign slave
he expected all the qualities of a sovereign,
though she had none of the virtues of woman
hood. For her sake he scorned the petty pre
judices which would have hampered an ordi-
222 History of Charles XII
nary man, and had her crowned Empress. The
same capacity which made her Peter's wife
gave her the empire after her husband's death.
Europe was amazed to see a bold woman, who
could neither read nor- write, supply her lack
of education and her weakness by spirit and
courage, and fill the throne of a legislator
gloriously.
When she married the Czar she left the
Lutheran faith for that of the Russian Church ;
she was baptized again according to the Rus
sian rite, and instead of the' name of Martha
she took that of Catherine, by which she has
been known ever since. This woman was in
the camp at Pruth, and held a private council
with the generals and the Vice-Chancellor
while the Czar was in his tent.
They agreed that it was necessary to sue for
peace, and that the Czar must be persuaded to
this course. The Vice-Chancellor wrote a let
ter to the Grand Vizir in his master's name,
which the Czarina, in spite of the Emperor's
prohibition, carried into the tent to him, and
after many prayers, tears and argument, she
prevailed on him to sign it ; she then took all
her money, all her jewels and valuables, and
what she could borrow from the generals, and
having collected by this means a considerable
present, she sent it with the Czar's letter to
Osman Aga, lieutenant to the Grand Vizir.
Mahomet Baltagi answered proudly, with the
air of a vizir and a conqueror, *' Let the Czar
 History of Charles XII 223
send me his first minister, and I will see what
can be done." The Vice-Chancellor came at
once, loaded with presents, which he offered
publicly to the Grand Vizir; they were large
enough to show they needed his help, but too
small for a bribe. The Vizir's first condition
was that the Czar, with all his army, should
surrender at discretion. The Vice-Chancellor
answered that the Czar was going to attack
him in a quarter of an hour, and that the
Russians would perish to a man, rather than
submit to such shameful conditions. Osman
seconded him by remonstrances.
Baltagi was no soldier. He knew that the
janissaries had been repulsed the day before,
and was easily persuaded by Osman not to risk
certain advantages by the hazard of a battle.
He therefore granted a suspension of hostilities
for six hours, during which the treaty could be
arranged.
During the discussion an incident occurred,
proving that the word of a Turk is often more
reliable than we think.
Two Italian noblemen, related to a M. Brillo,
colonel of a regiment of grenadiers in the
service of the Czar, going to look for forage,
were taken by the Tartars, who carried them
off to their camp, and offered to sell them to an
officer of the janissaries. The Turk, enraged
at such a breach of the truce, seized the Tartars
and carried them before the Grand Vizir, to
gether with the two prisoners. The Vizir sr
224 History of Charles XII
them back at once to the Czar's camp, and had
the two Tartars who had carried them off be
headed. In the meantime the Kan of Tartary
opposed the conclusion of a treaty which
robbed him of all hopes of pillage. Poniatow-
ski seconded him with urgent and pressing
reasons. But Osman carried his point, not
withstanding the impatience of the Tartar and
the insinuations of Poniatowski.
The Vizir thought it enough for his master
the Sultan to make an advantageous peace ;
he insisted that the Russians should give up
Asoph, burn the galleys that lay in that port,
and demolish the important citadels on the
Palus-Mseotis ; that all the cannon and ammu
nition of those forts should be handed over to
the Sultan; that the Czar should withdraw
his troops from Poland ; that he should not
further disturb the few Cossacks who were
under Polish protection, nor those that were
subject to Turkey, and that for the future he
should pay the Tartars a subsidy of 40,000
sequins per annum — an irksome tribute which
had been imposed long before, but from which
the Czar had delivered his country.
At last the treaty was going to be signed,
without so much as a mention of the King of
Sweden ; all that Poniatowski could obtain from
the Vizir was the insertion of an article by
which the Russians should promise not to
hinder the return of Charles XII, and, strangely
enough, that a peace should be made between
 History of Charles XII 225
the King and the Czar if they wished it, and
could come to terms.
On these terms the Czar got liberty to re
treat with his army, cannon, artillery, colours
and baggage. The Turks gave him provisions,
and there was plenty of everything in his
camp within two hours of the signing of the
treaty, which was begun on the 2ist July, 1711,
and signed on the ist of August.
Just as the Czar, rescued from his dangerous
position, was drawing off with drums beating
and colours flying, the King of Sweden, eager
to fight, and to see the enemy in his hands,
came up; he had ridden post haste about
fifty leagues from Bender to Jazy, and alight
ing at Count Poniatowski's tent, the Count
came up to him sadly and told him how he
had lost a chance which would perhaps never
recur.
The King, beside himself with rage, went
straight to the tent of the Grand Vizir, and
with flushed face reproached him for the treaty
he had just made.
" I have authority," said the Grand Vizir,
calmly, " to make peace and to wage war."
" But," answered the King, "had you not
the whole Russian army in your power?"
" Our law," said the Vizir solemnly, " com
mands us to grant peace to our enemies when
they implore our mercy."
"Ah," replied the King, in a rage, "does
it order you to make a bad treaty, when you
Q
226 History of Charles XII
can impose the terms you please? Was it not
your duty to take the Czar prisoner to
Constantinople?"
The Turk, thus nonplussed, answered slyly,
" And who would govern his empire in his
absence? It is not fitting that all kings should
be away from home."
Charles replied with an indignant smile, and
then threw himself down on a cushion, and,
looking at the Vizir with resentment mingled
with contempt, he stretched out his leg towards
him, and, entangling his spur with his robe,
tore it ; then jumped up, mounted, and rode
to Bender full of despair.
Poniatowski stayed some time longer with
the Grand Vizir, to see if he could prevail on
him by gentler means to make some better
terms with the Czar, but it was prayer-time,
and the Turk, without one word in answer,
went to wash and attend to his devotions.
BOOK VI
 BOOK VI

Intrigues at the Porte— The Kan of Tartary and the

Pasha of Bender try to force Charles to depart—
He defends himself with forty servants against
their whole army.

THE fortune of the King of Sweden, greatly

changed as it was, now failed him in the
smallest details. On his return he found his
little camp at Bender, and his whole quarters,
under water, flooded by the waters of the
Neister. He withdrew to a distance of some
miles, near a village called Varnitza; and, as
if he had a secret suspicion of what was going
to happen to him, he had a large stone house
built there, capable, in an emergency, of sus
taining some hours' siege; he furnished it
magnificently, contrary to his usual custom,
and in order to impress the Turks. Besides
this he built two more, one for his Chancery,
and the other for his favourite, Grothusen,
whom he supported. While the King was
thus building at Bender, as if it was his inten
tion to stay always in Turkey, Baltagi, being
more than ever fearful of his intrigues and
complaints at the Porte, had sent the resident
consul of the German Emperor to Vienna to
gain for the King of Sweden a passage
dominions of the house
through the hereditary 229
of Austria. This envoy returned in three weeks
with a promise from the Imperial Regency
230 History of Charles XII
that they would give Charles all due honour,
and conduct him safely to Pomerania.
The application had been made to the
Regency because Charles, the successor of
Joseph, who was then Emperor, was in Spain
as a rival with Philip V for the crown. While
the German envoy was carrying out his mission
to Vienna, the Vizir sent three pashas to the
King of Sweden bidding him begone from
Turkish territory. The King, who knew their
mission, sent them a message, that if they were
venturing on any dishonourable or disrespect
ful proposal to him he would have them
hanged forthwith. The pasha who delivered
the message cloaked the harshness of his
message in the most respectful language.
Charles dismissed the audience without deign
ing a word of reply; but his chancellor, who
remained with the three pashas, signified in
few words his master's refusal, which they
had already concluded from his silence.
But the Grand Vizir was not discouraged.
He ordered Ishmael Pasha, the new serasquier
of Bender, to threaten the King with the
Sultan's displeasure if he did not haste to
come to some conclusion. The serasquier was
of an agreeable and tactful disposition, and
had therefore gained Charles's good-will and
the friendship of the Swedes.
The King held a conference with him, and
informed him that he would only depart from
Turkey when the Sultan granted him two
 History of Charles XII 231
things : the punishment of his Vizir, and
100,000 men with which to return to Poland.
Baltagi was aware of the fact that Charles's
presence in Turkey meant his ruin, so he placed
guards on all the roads from Bender to Con
stantinople, with orders to intercept the King's
letters; he also cut off his " thaim," the
allowance that the Porte makes to exiled
princes in her dominions. The King of
Sweden's was immense, 500 crowns a day in
money, besides all that contributed to the
maintenance of a court in pomp and abund
ance. As soon as the King heard that the
Vizir had dared to cut off his allowance he
turned to his steward, remarking, " So far
you have had only two tables, for to-morrow
prepare four."
Charles XII's officers had never found any
order of their master's impossible, but having
neither money nor provision they were forced
to borrow at twenty, thirty, and forty per
cent, of the officers' servants and janissaries,
who had grown rich by the King's liberality.
M. Fabricius, ambassador from Holstein, Jef
freys, English minister, their secretaries and
their friends, gave what they had; the King,
with his usual pride, and without a thought for
the morrow, lived on these gifts, which would
not have long sufficed. They had to go through
the Turkish guard, and send secretly to Con
stantinople to borrow from European money
lenders. All refused to lend to a king who
232 History of Charles XII
seemed to be powerless to pay; but one Eng
lish merchant, named Cook, at last ventured
to lend 40,000 crowns, taking the risk of
losing them if the King of Sweden was killed.
They took the money to the King's camp, just
as they were feeling actual want, and were
beginning to despair of supplies.
In the meantime M. Poniatowski wrote
actually from the Grand Vizir's camp an ac
count of the Pruth campaign, accusing the
Vizir of cowardice and treachery. An old
janissary, enraged at the weakness of the
Vizir, and bribed by Poniatowski, undertook
the delivery of the letter, and, having got his
discharge, presented it with his own hands to
the Sultan. Some days later Poniatowski set
out from the camp and went* to the Ottoman
Porte to form intrigues against the Grand Vizir
as usual.
All seemed to favour the design. The Czar,
now at liberty, was in no hurry to carry out
his promises ; the keys of Azov did not come,
and the Grand Vizir, who was responsible for
them, justly fearing his master's resentment,
dare not appear in his presence.
The seraglio was then more full of intrigues
and factions than ever. These cabals, which
exist at all courts, and which, in our case,
generally end in the removal of a minister from
office, or at most by a banishment, always meant
more than one execution in Constantinople.
It ended in the execution of the former Vizir
 History of Charles XII 233
Chourlouli, and of Osman, the lieutenant of
Baltagi, who was the chief author of the Peace
of Pruth, and who since the peace had held a
prominent office at the Porte. Among the
treasures of Osrnan they found the Czarina's
ring- and 20,000 gold pieces, in Saxon, Polish
and Russian coin ; this was a proof that it
was money alone which had rescued the Czar
from his perilous position, and had ruined the
chances of Charles XII. The Vizir, Baltagi,
was exiled to the isle of Lemnos, where he
died three years later. The Sultan did not
confiscate his property either at his exile or at
his death ; he was not rich, and his poverty
protects his memory.
This Grand Vizir was succeeded by Joseph,
whose fortune was as singular as that of his
predecessors. He was a Russian by birth, and
had been taken prisoner by the Turks at six
years of age with his family, and had been sold
to a janissary. He was long a valet in the
seraglio, then became the second person in
the empire where he had been a slave. But
he was only the shadow of a minister.
The young Ali-Coumourgi had placed him in
the slippery post until he could seize it himself,
and Joseph, his creature, had nothing else to
do but affix the Imperial seals to the favourite's
desires. The policy of the Ottoman Court
seemed to be revolutionized from the very be
ginning of this Vizir's ministry. The Czar's
plenipotentiaries, who lived at Constantinople
234 History of Charles XII
both as ministers and hostages, were better
treated than ever; the Grand Vizir counter
signed the Peace of Pruth with them. But
that which annoyed the King of Sweden more
than all else was the news that the secret
alliance made at Constantinople with the Czar
was brought about by the mediation of the
English and Dutch ambassadors.
Since Charles's retreat to Bender, Constan
tinople was occupying the position that Rome
had so often held, as the centre of the business
of Christendom. Count Desaleurs, the French
ambassador at the Porte, was supporting the
interests of Charles and of Stanislas ; the
Emperor of Germany's minister was opposing
them. The Swedish and Russian factions were
falling foul of each other, as those of France and
Spain have long done at the Court of Rome.
England and Holland posed as neutrals, but
were not really such ; the new trade of Saint
Petersburg attracted the attention of those two
trading powers.
The English and the Dutch are always on
the side of the prince who most favours their
trade, and there was just then much to be
gained from the Czar, so that it is no wonder
that the English and Dutch ministers should
work secretly in his interest at the Porte. One
of the conditions of this new alliance was that
Charles should at once be driven from the
Turkish dominions.
Perhaps the Czar thought him less formid
able at home than in Turkey, where he was
 History of Charles XII 235
always on the spot ready to raise the Ottoman
arms against the Russian empire, or perhaps
he hoped to seize him en route. The King of
Sweden continued his petitions to the Porte to
send him home through Poland with a large
army. The Divan resolved to send him back,
but only with a guard of 7,000 or 8,000 men,
not like a King they wished to help, but as a
guest they were anxious to be rid of. With
this object in view the Sultan Achmet wrote
him the following letter :
" Most powerful of the Princes that worship
Jesus, redressor of wrongs and injuries, and
protector of justice in the ports and republics
of South and North, shining in Majesty, lover
of Honour and Glory, and of our sublime
Porte, Charles, King of Sweden, whose enter
prises may God crown with success.
" As soon as the most illustrious Achmet,
formerly Chiaoux-Pasha, shall have the honour
to present this letter to you, adorned with our
Imperial seal, be persuaded and convinced of
the truth of our intentions expressed therein,
namely, that, although we had planned to
march again against the Czar, yet that Prince,
to avoid our just resentment at his delay in the
execution of the treaty concluded on the banks
of the Pruth, and renewed again at our sublime
Porte, having surrendered to us the castle and
city of Azov, and having endeavoured by the
mediation of the English and Dutch ambassa
dors, our ancient allies, to form a lasting peace
with us, we have granted his request, and
236 History of Charles XII
given up his plenipotentiaries, who remain with
us as hostages, our Imperial ratification, after
having received his from their hands.
" We have given our inviolable and salutary
orders to the right honourable Delvet Gharai,
Kan of Budziack, of Crimea, Nagai, and Cir-
cassia, and to our wise counsellor and noble
serasquier of Bender, Ishmael (whom God pre
serve and increase in magnificence and wisdom),
for your return through Poland, according to
your first plan which has been again laid
before us from you. You must, therefore,
prepare to set out next winter under the guid
ance of Providence and with an honourable
guard, that you may return to your own
territories, taking care to pass through Poland
in a peaceable and friendly manner.
" You will be provided by my sublime Porte
with all that is needed for your journey, both
money, men, horses and wagons. But above
all else we advise and exhort you to give the
most express and detailed orders to the Swedes
and other soldiers in your retinue not to com
mit any act of disorder, nor be guilty of any
action which may either directly or indirectly
tend to the breach of this peace. By that
means you will preserve our good-will, of which
we shall endeavour to give great and frequent
proofs as we shall find opportunity. The
troops to attend you shall receive orders to
that effect, according- to our Imperial will and
pleasure.
 History of Charles XII 237
" Given at our sublime Porte of Constan
tinople on the 1 4th of the month Rebyul Eureb,
1214. Which corresponds to the igth April,
1712."
This letter did not, however, entirely destroy
the hopes of the King of Sweden. He wrote
to the Sultan that he was ready to go, and
would never forget the favour he had shown
him ; but he added that he believed the Sultan
was too just to send him away with nothing
but a flying camp through a country already
overrun with the Czar's troops. Indeed, the
Emperor of Russia, in spite of the fact that
the first article of the Treaty of Pruth obliged
him to withdraw his forces from Poland, had
sent recruits thither, and it seemed strange
that the Sultan was ignorant of the fact. The
bad policy and vanity of the Porte in suffering
the Christian princes to maintain their ambas
sadors at Constantinople, and not keeping one
single agent in any Christian court, gives the
former an opportunity of probing and some
times of directing the Sultan's most secret
resolutions, while the Divan is always ignorant
of the most public transactions of Christen
dom. The Sultan, shut up in the seraglio
among his women and his eunuchs, sees only
through the Grand Vizir's eyes; the latter is
as inaccessible as his master, taken up with
the intrigues of the seraglio, and without any
communication with the world outside. He is
therefore generally imposed on himself, or im-
238 History of Charles XII
poses on the Sultan, who deposes him or has
him strangled for his first mistake, in order to
choose another as ignorant or as treacherous
as the former, who behaves in the same way
as his predecessors and falls as soon as they.
Such is, for the most part, the negligence
and profound security of this Court, that if
the Christian princes leagued against the Porte
their fleets would be at the Dardanelles and
their army at the gates of Adrianople before
the Turks could think of taking the defensive.
But the different interests which divide
Christendom will protect that people from a
fate for which they at present seem ripe in
their want of policy and their ignorance in war
and naval matters.
Achmet was so little acquainted with what
was happening in Poland that he sent an aga
to see if the Czar's forces were there or not.
Two of the King of Sweden's secretaries, who
understood Turkish, went with him, to keep
a check on him in the event of a false report.
The aga saw the forces with his own eyes and
gave the Sultan a true account of the matter.
Achmet, in a rage, was going to strangle the
Grand Vizir, but the favourite, who protected
him, and thought he might prove useful, got
him pardoned and kept him some time in the
ministry.
The Russians were openly protected by the
Vizir, and secretly by Ali-Coumourgi, who had
changed sides; but the Sultan was so angry,
 History of Charles XII 239
the infraction of the Treaty was so palpable,
and the janissaries, who often make the
ministers, favourites and Sultans themselves
tremble, clamoured so loudly for war that no
one in the seraglio dare counsel moderation.
The Sultan at once put the Russian ambas
sadors, who were already as accustomed to go
to prison as to a concert, in the seven towers.
War was declared again against the Czar, the
horse-tails hoisted, and orders issued to all the
pashas to raise an army of 200,000 fighting
men. The Sultan left Constantinople for
Adrianople in order to be nearer the seat of
war.
In the meantime a solemn embassy from
Augustus and the republics of Poland to the
Sultan was on the road to Adrianople. At the
head of this embassy was the Prince of Mas-
sovia with a retinue of 300 persons. They
were all seized and imprisoned in the suburbs
of the city. Never was the Swedish party
more hopeful than on this occasion; but these
great preparations came to nothing, and all
their hopes were dashed. If a minister of
great wisdom and foresight, who was then
living at Constantinople, is to be credited,
young Coumourgi had other plans in his head
than hazarding a war with the Czar to gain
a desert. He wanted to take Peloponnesus,
now called Morea, from the Venetians, and to
make himself master of Hungary.
To carry out his great designs he wanted
240 History of Charles XII
nothing but the office of Grand Vizir, for which
he was thought too young. With this in view
the friendship of the Czar was more important
to him than his enmity. It was neither to his
interest nor to his inclination to keep the King
of Sweden any longer, much less to raise a
Turkish army for him. He not only advocated
sending the Prince away, but declared openly
that henceforth no Christian minister ought to
be tolerated at Constantinople ; that the ordin
ary ambassadors were only honourable spies,
who corrupted or betrayed the vizirs, and had
too long interfered in the affairs of the seraglio ;
that the Franks settled at Pera, and in the
commercial ports on the Levant, were mer
chants, who needed no ambassador, but only a
consul. The Grand Vizir, who owed both his
position and his life to the favourite, and who
feared him besides, complied with his plans the
more readily that he had sold himself to the
Russians, and hoped to be avenged on the King
of Sweden, who would have ruined him.
The Mufti, Ali-Coumourgi's creature, was
also completely under his thumb : he had given
the vote for war against the Czar when the
favourite was on that side, but he declared it
to be unjust as soon as the youth had changed
his mind. Thus the army was scarcely col
lected before they began to listen to proposals
for a reconciliation. After several negotiations
the vice-chancellor Shaffiroff and young Czere-
metoff, the Czar's plenipotentiaries and host-
 History of Charles XII 241
ages at the Porte, promised that the troops
should be withdrawn from Poland. The Grand
Vizir, who knew that the Czar would not carry
out this treaty, decided to sign it for all that ;
and the Sultan, content with the semblance of
laying down the law to the Russians, remained
at Adrianople. Thus, in less than six months,
peace was made with the Czar, then war was
declared, then peace was renewed.
The main article of all the treaties was that
the King of Sweden should be forced to de
part. The Sultan would not imperil his own
honour and that of the Porte to the extent of
exposing the King to the risk of being captured
en route by his enemies. It was stipulated
that he should be sent away, but on condition
that the ambassadors of Poland and Russia
should be responsible for the safety of his
person; these ambassadors swore, in their
masters' names, that neither the Czar nor
Augustus should molest him on his journey.
On the other hand, Charles was not to endeav
our to make any disturbance in Poland. The
Divan, having thus determined the fate of
Charles, Ishmael, serasquier of Bender, repaired
to Varnitsa, where the King was encamped,
and acquainted him with the Forte's resolve,
explaining civilly enough that there was no
time for delay, but that he must go. Charles's
only answer was that the Sultan had promised
him an army and not a guard, and that kings
ought to keep their word.
242 History of Charles XII
In the meantime General Fleming, King
Augustus's minister and favourite, maintained
a private correspondence with the Kan of
Tartary and the serasquier of Bender. A
German colonel, whose name was La Mare,
had made more than one journey from Bender
to Dresden, and these were an object of sus
picion.
Just at this time the King of Sweden caused
a courier sent from Fleming to the Tartar
prince to be seized on the Wallachian frontier.
The letters were brought to him and de
ciphered ; there was obviously a correspond
ence going on between the Tartars and
Dresden, but the references were so general
and ambiguous that it was hard to say whether
King Augustus's plan was to detach the Turks
from the Swedish alliance, or to persuade the
Kan to hand over Charles to his Saxons as
he attended him on the road to Poland.
It is hard to imagine that so generous a
prince as Augustus would, for the sake of
seizing the King of Sweden, risk the lives
of his ambassadors and 300 Poles, detained at
Adrianople as hostages for Charles's safety.
On the other hand, Fleming was absolute,
very shrewd, and quite unscrupulous. The
outrageous treatment of the Elector by King
Charles might be thought an excuse for any
method of revenge, and if the Court of Dresden
could buy Charles of the Kan of Tartary they
may have thought that it would be no difficult
 History of Charles XII 243
matter to purchase the liberty of the Polish
hostages of the Ottoman Porte.
These reasons were argued between the
King, Mullern, his private chancellor, and his
favourite Grothusen. They read the letters
over and over again, and, their wretched plight
increasing their suspicions, they resolved to
believe the worst.
Some days later the King was confirmed in
his suspicions by the sudden departure of
Count Sapieha, who had sought refuge with
him, and now left him suddenly to go to
Poland and throw himself into the arms of
Augustus. On any other occasion he would
have regarded Sapieha as a malcontent, but in
the critical state of affairs he felt certain that
he was a traitor; the repeated requests to him
to begone made his suspicions a certainty.
His own positiveness, together with all these
probabilities, made him continue in the certainty
that there had been a plot to betray him and
deliver him up to his enemies, although the
plot had never been proved.
He might be wrong in thinking King Augus
tus had made a bargain with the Tartars for
his person, but he was much more so in de
pending on the Ottoman Porte. But in any
case he resolved to gain time. He told the
Pasha of Bender that he could not go till he
had the wherewithal to pay his debts, for
though his thaim had been regularly paid his
liberality had always forced him to borrow.
244 History of Charles XII
The Pasha asked how much he needed. The
King answered at hazard 1,000 purses, that
is, about 1,500,000 francs French money full
weight. The Pasha wrote to his master about
it; the Sultan, instead of the 1,000 purses
which he demanded, sent him 1,200 with the
following letter to the Pasha —
" The object of this Imperial letter is to
inform you that, upon your representation and
request, and that of the right noble Delvet
Gherai Kan to our sublime Porte, our Imperial
munificence has granted the King of Sweden
1,000 purses, which shall be sent to Bender in
the custody of the most illustrious Mahomet
Pasha, to remain in your hands till such time
as the King of Sweden departs, whose steps
may God direct, and then to be given him with
200 purses more, as an overplus of our Imperial
liberality beyond what he desires. As to the
route through Poland, which he has decided
on, you and the Kan, who are to accompany
him, must be careful to take such prudent and
wise measures as shall prevent, during the
whole journey, the troops under your command
and those of the King of Sweden from any
disorderly conduct or anything which may be
reckoned a breach of the peace between our
sublime Porte and the realm and republic of
Poland, so that the King of Sweden may travel
as a friend under our protection.
"By so doing (and you are to desire it of
him in set terms) he will receive all the honour
 History of Charles XII 245
and respect due to his Majesty from the Poles,
as we have been assured by the ambassadors
of King Augustus and the republic, who have
offered themselves and certain other of the
Polish nobility, if required, as hostages for his
safe passage. At the time which you and the
right noble Delvet shall agree on for the march
you shall put yourselves at the head of your
brave soldiers, among whom shall be the
Tartars, led by the Kan, and go with the King
and his men.
" May it please the only God, the Almighty,
to direct your steps and theirs. The Pasha
of Aulis shall continue at Bender, with a
regiment of spahis and another of janissaries,
to defend it in your absence. Now, by follow
ing our Imperial orders and wishes in all these
points and details, you will earn the continu
ance of our royal favour, as well as the praise
and rewards due to all such as observe them.
" Given at our Imperial residence of Constan
tinople, the 2nd day of the month Cheval,
1124 of the Hegira. "
While they were waiting for the Sultan's
answer the King had written to the Porte, to
complain of the supposed treachery of the Kan.
But the passages were well guarded, and the
ministry against him, so that his letters never
reached the Sultan. The Vizir would not allow
M. Desaleurs to go to Adrianople, where the
Porte then was, lest he, as the King of
Sweden's agent, tried to thwart their design
246 History of Charles XII
of driving him away. Charles, indignant at
seeing himself hunted, as it were, from the
Sultan's territory, resolved not to stir a step.
He might have asked to return through German
territory, or to take ship at the Black Sea, in
order to reach Marseilles by the Mediterranean,
but he preferred to ask no favour and see what
happened.
When the 1,200 purses arrived, his treasurer,
Grothusen, who from long residence in
Turkey had learned to speak the language,
went to the Pasha without an interpreter,
hoping to get the money from him, and then to
form some new intrigue at the Porte, on the
false supposition that the Swedish party would
at last arm the Ottoman Empire against the Czar.
Grothusen told the Pasha that the King's
equipage could not be prepared without money.
" But," said the Pasha, " we are going to de
fray all the expense of departure; your master
will have no expenses while he continues
under the protection of mine." Grothusen
replied that the difference between the Turkish
equipages and those of the Franks was so
great that they must apply to the Swedish and
Polish workmen at Varnitsa.
He assured him that his master was ready to
go and that this money would facilitate and
hasten his departure. The too credulous Pasha
gave him the 1,200 purses, and in a few days
came and respectfully asked the King to give
orders for his departure.
 History of Charles XII 247
He was most surprised when the King told
him he was not ready to go and that he wanted
1,000 purses more. The Pasha was overcome
by this, and remained speechless for some time;
then he walked to a window, where he was
seen to shed some tears. Then, turning to the
King, he said, " I shall lose my head for having
obliged your Majesty. I have given you the
1,200 purses contrary to the express orders of
my sovereign." With these words he took
leave and was going away full of grief.
The King stopped him and told him he would
excuse him to the Sultan. " Ah !" replied the
Turk, " my master can punish mistakes, but
not excuse them."
Ishmael Pasha went to tell the news to the
Kan of Tartary. The Kan, having received
the same order as the Pasha, not to let the
1,200 purses be delivered before the King's
departure, and having agreed to their delivery,
was as apprehensive of the Sultan's resentment
as the Pasha himself. They both wrote to the
Porte to clear themselves, and explained that
they had only parted with the 1,200 purses on
a solemn promise made by the King's minister
that they would go at once, and they entreated
his Highness
to their not to attribute the King's refusal
disobedience.
Charles, quite convinced that the Kan and
the Pasha intended to hand him over to his
enemies, ordered M. Funk, his envoy at the
Ottoman Court, to lay his complaints against
248 History of Charles XII
them before the Sultan and to ask for 1,000
purses more. His great generosity, and his
indifference to money, hindered him from see
ing the baseness of this proposal. He only
did it to get a refusal so that then he might
have a fresh pretext for failing to depart ; but
a man must be reduced to great straits when
he has recourse to such tricks. Savari, his
interpreter, a crafty and enterprising character,
carried the letter to Adrianople in spite of
the Grand Vizir's care to have the roads
guarded. Funk was forced to go and deliver
this dangerous message, and all the answer he
got was imprisonment.
Thoroughly angry, the Sultan called an extra
ordinary Divan and made a speech at it him
self. His speech, according to the translation
then made of it, was as follows —
" I hardly knew the King of Sweden, but
from his defeat at Pultawa and the request he
made to me to grant him sanctuary in my
empire. I am under no obligation to him, nor
have I any reason either to love or fear him;
yet, thinking only of the hospitality of a
Mussulman and my own generosity, which sheds
the dew of its favour on small and great alike,
I received and aided him, his ministers, officers
and soldiers, in every respect, and for three
years and a half have continually loaded him
with presents.
" I have granted him a considerable guard to
take him to his own country. He has asked
 History of Charles XII 249
for 1,000 purses to defray expenses, though I
am paying- them all, and instead of 1,000 I
have granted him 1,200. After getting these
from the serasquier of Bender he wants 1,000
more, and refuses to go under the pretext that
the guard is too small, whereas it is too large
to pass through the country of a friend and
ally. I ask you, then, is it any breach of the
laws of hospitality to send this prince away,
and whether foreign princes would have any
ground for accusing me of cruelty and injustice
if I used force to make him go?"
All the Divan answered that the Sultan might
lawfully do as he said.
The Mufti declared that Mussulmans are
not bound to offer hospitality to infidels, much
less to the ungrateful, and he granted his
festa, a kind of mandate, which generally
accompanies the Sultan's important orders.
These festas are revered as oracles, though the
persons who issue them are as much the
Sultan's slaves as any others.
The order and the festa were taken to Bender
by the Master of the Horse and the first Usher.
The Pasha of Bender received the order at the
Kan's, whence he went at once to the Varnitsa
to ask if the King would go away in a friendly
way, or would force him to carry out the
Sultan's orders.
Charles XII, not being used to this threaten
ing language, could not command his temper.
" Obey your master if you dare," he said,
250 History of Charles XII
" and begone." The Pasha in indignation set
off at a gallop, an unusual thing with a Turk.
On the return journey he met M. Fabricius,
and called out to him without stopping, " The
King won't listen to reason; you'll see strange
doings presently." The same day he cut off
the King's supplies and removed the guard of
janissaries. He also sent to the Poles and
Cossacks to let them know that if they wanted
to get any provisions they must leave the King
of Sweden's camp and come and put them
selves under the protection of the Porte at
Bender.
They all obeyed and left the King, with
only the officers of his household and 300
Swedes, to cope with 2,000 Tartars and 6,000
Turks. There was now no more provision in
the camp for man or beast. The King at once
gave orders that the twenty fine Arabian horses
they had given him should be shot, saying,
" I will have neither their food nor their
horses." This made a great feast for the
Tartars, who, as every one knows, think that
horse-flesh is delicious. In the meantime the
Turks and Tartars invested the little camp on
all sides.
The King, with no signs of panic, appointed
his 300 Swedes to make regular fortifications,
and worked at them himself. His chancellor,
treasurer, secretaries, valets, and all his ser
vants, lent a hand to the work. Some barri
caded the windows, others took the bars
 History of Charles XII 251
behind the doors and placed them like but
tresses.
When the house was well barricaded, and
the King had reviewed his pretences at fortifi
cations, he began to play chess unconcernedly
with his favourite Grothusen, as if everything
had been perfectly safe and secure. It hap
pened very luckily that Fabricius, the envoy of
Holstein, did not lodge at Varnitsa, but at a
small village between Varnitsa and Bender,
where Mr. Jeffreys, the English envoy to the
King of Sweden, lived also. These two minis
ters, seeing that the storm was about to break,
undertook to mediate between the Turks and
the King. The Kan, and especially the Pasha
of Bender, who had no intention of hurting the
monarch, were glad of the offers of their
services. They had two conferences together
at Bender, at which the Usher of the seraglio,
and the Grand Master of the Horse, who had
brought the order from the Sultan, were
present.
M. Fabricius owned to them that the
Swedish King had good reason to believe that
they intended to give him up to his enemies in
Poland. The Kan, the Pasha, and the rest,
swore on their heads, calling God to witness,
that they detested the thought of such a
horrible piece of treachery, and would shed
the last drop of their blood rather than
show the least lack of respect to the King in
Poland.
252 History of Charles XII
They added that they had the Russian and
Polish ambassadors in their power, and that
their lives should answer for the least affront
offered to the King of Sweden. In a word,
they complained bitterly of the outrageous
suspicions which the King- was harbouring
about people who had received and treated him
so well. And though oaths are often the lan
guage of treachery, M. Fabricius allowed him
self to be persuaded by these barbarians. He
thought he saw that air of truth in their pro
tests which falsehood imitates but lamely; he
knew that there was a secret correspondence
between the Tartar Kan and Augustus, but he
remained convinced that the object of this
negotiation was only to force Charles to retire
from the territories of the Sultan.
But whether Fabricius was mistaken or not
he assured them that he would represent to the
King the unreasonableness of his jealousies.
" But do you intend to force him to go?" he
added. " Yes," answered the Pasha, " such are
our master's orders." Then he desired them
to consider again whether that order was to
spill the blood of a crowned head. "Yes,"
answered the Kan with warmth, " if that head
disobeys the Sultan in his own dominions."
In the meantime everything was ready for
the assault, and Charles's death seemed inevit
able; but as the Sultan's command was not
positively to kill him in case of resistance, the
Pasha prevailed on the Kan to send a mes-
 History of Charles XII 253
senger that moment to Adrianople, to receive
his Highness's final orders.
Mr. Jeffreys and M. Fabricius, having got
this respite, hurried to acquaint the King with
it. They hastened like bearers of good news,
and were received very coldly; he called them
forward, meddling mediators, and still insisted
that the Sultan's order and the Mufti's festa
were forged, because they had sent for fresh
orders to the Porte. The English minister with
drew, resolving to trouble himself no further
with the affairs of so obstinate a prince. M.
Fabricius, a favourite of the King, and more
accustomed to his whims than the English
minister, stayed with him, to exhort him not
to risk so valuable a life on so futile an
occasion.
The only reply the King made was to show
him his fortifications and to beg him to
mediate so far as to obtain provisions for him.
Leave was easily obtained from the Turks to
let provisions pass into the King's camp till
the couriers should return from Adrianople.
The Kan himself had forbidden the Tartars to
make any attempt on the Swedes till a new
order came; so that Charles went out of his
camp sometimes with forty horse, and rode
through the midst of the Tartar troops, who
respectfully left him a free passage; he even
marched right up to their lines, and they did
not resist, but opened to him.
At last the Sultan's order arrived with com-
254 History of Charles XII
mand to put to the sword all the Swedes who
made the least resistance, and not to spare the
King's life; the Pasha had the civility to show
the order to M. Fabricius, that he might make
a last effort with Charles. Fabricius went at
once to tell him his bad news. " Have you
seen the order you refer to?" said the King.
"I have," replied Fabricius. " Tell them,"
said the King, " from me that this order is a
second forgery of theirs, and that I will not
go." Fabricius fell at his feet in a transport of
rage, and scolded him for his obstinacy. " Go
back to your Turks," said the King, smiling at
him; "if they attack me, I know how to
defend myself."
The King's chaplains also fell on their knees
before him, beseeching him not to expose the
wretched remnant over from Pultawa, and
above all, his own sacred person, to death;
adding, besides, that resistance in this case was
a most unwarrantable deed, and that it was a
violation of the laws of hospitality to resolve
to stay against their will with strangers who
had so long and generously supported him.
The King, who had showed no resentment with
Fabricius, became angry on this occasion, and
told his priests that he employed them to pray
for him, and not to give him advice.
General Hoord and General Dardoff, who
had always been against venturing a battle
which in the result must prove fatal, showed
the King their breasts, covered with wounds
 History of Charles XII 255
received in his service, and assured him that
they were ready to die for him, and begged him
that it might be on a more worthy occasion.
" I know," said the King, "by my wounds
and yours that we have fought valiantly to
gether. You have hitherto done your duty ; do
it again now."
The only thing remaining was to obey ; they
were all ashamed not to seek death with their
King. He prepared for the assault, secretly
gloating over the pleasure and honour of resist
ing with 300 Swedes the efforts of a whole
army. He gave every man his place ; his
chancellor, Mullern, his secretary, Empreus,
and the clerks were to defend the Chancery
house ; Baron Fief, at the head of the officers of
the kitchen, was to defend another post; the
grooms of the stables and the cooks had
another place to guard, for with him every
man was a soldier. He rode from his forti
fications to his house, promising rewards to
every one, creating officers, and declaring that
he would make his humblest servant captain
if he behaved with valour in the engagement.
It was not long before they saw the Turks
and Tartars advancing to attack the little
fortress with ten cannon and two mortars.
The horse-tails waved in the air, the clarions
brayed, and cries of "Alia, Alia," were heard
on all sides. Baron Grothusen remarked that
they were not abusing the King as they shouted,
but only calling him " demirbash," i.e. iron-
256 History of Charles XII
head ; so he resolved to go alone and unarmed
out of the fort. He advanced to the line of
the janissaries, who had almost all of them
received money from him. " What, my
friends," he said in their own language, " have
you come to massacre 300 defenceless Swedes ?
You brave janissaries, who have pardoned
100,000 Russians, when they cried Amman
(pardon) to you, have you forgotten the kind
ness you have received at our hands? And
would you assassinate the King of Sweden
whom you loved so much, and who has been
so generous to you? My friends, he asks only
three days, and the Sultan's orders are not
so strict as they would make you believe."
These words had an effect which Grothusen
himself had not expected ; the janissaries swore
on their beards that they would not attack
the King, and would give him the three days
that he demanded. In vain was the signal
given for assault. The janissaries, far from
obeying, threatened to turn their arms against
their leaders if three days were not granted
to the King of Sweden. They came to the
Pasha of Bender's tent in a band, crying
that the Sultan's orders were forged. To this
sedition the Pasha could oppose nothing but
patience.
He pretended to be pleased with the gener
ous resolve of the janissaries, and ordered them
to retreat to Bender. The Kan of Tartary,
who was a passionate man, would have made
 History of Charles XII 257
the assault at once with his own troops ; but
the Pasha, who would not allow the Tartars
alone to have the honour of taking the King-
while he might perhaps be punished for the
disobedience of his janissaries, persuaded the
Kan to wait till next day.
The Pasha returning to Bender, assembled
all the officers of the janissaries, and the older
soldiers ; he read them and showed them the
positive command of the Sultan, and the man
date of the Mufti. Sixty of the oldest of them,
with venerable grey beards, who had received
innumerable presents from the King, proposed
to go to him in person, and entreat him to put
himself into their hands, and permit them to
serve him as guards.
The Pasha consented ; for there was no stone
he would leave unturned rather than be forced
to kill the King. So these sixty old soldiers
went next morning to Varnitsa, having nothing
in their hands but long white staves, their
only weapon when they intend not to fight; for
the Turks consider it a barbarous custom of the
Christians to wear swords in time of peace,
and to go armed to the churches or the houses
of friends.
They addressed themselves to Baron Grot-
husen and Chancellor Mullern; they told them
that they had come with the intention of serv
ing as faithful guards to the King, and that if
he pleased they would conduct him to Adrian-
ople, where he might speak to the Sultan in
s
258 History of Charles XII
person. While they were making the proposal
the King read the letters that had come from
Constantinople and that Fabricius, who could
not see him again, had sent to him privately by
a janissary. These letters were from Count
Poniatowski, who could neither serve him at
Bender nor at Adrianople, having been detained
at Constantinople by the Czar's order, from
the time of the imprudent demand of 1,000
purses. He told the King that the Sultan's
order to seize his royal person was only too
true, that the Sultan was indeed imposed upon
by his ministers; but that the more he was
imposed upon in the matter the more he would
be obeyed, that he must submit to the times
and yield to necessity, and that he took the
liberty of advising him to attempt all that was
possible in the way of negotiation with the
ministers, not to be inflexible in a case where
the gentlest methods would prevail, and to
trust to time and diplomacy the healing of an
evil which rough handling would aggravate
beyond the hope of recovery.
But neither the proposal of the old janis
saries nor Poniatowski 's letters could in the
least convince the King that it was possible for
him to give way without injuring his honour;
he would rather die by the hands of the Turks
than be in any sense their prisoner. He dis
missed the janissaries without seeing them,
sending them word that if they did not hurry
he would shave their beards for them, which
 History of Charles XII 259
in the East is considered the most provoking
affront that can be offered.
The old soldiers, in a rage, returned home,
crying, " Down with this iron-head. Since he
is resolved to die, let him." They gave the
Pasha an account of their mission, and told
their comrades at Bender of the strange recep
tion they had met with. Then all swore to
obey the orders of the Pasha without delay,
and they were now as eager for the assault
as they had been adverse to it the day
before. The word was given at once; they
marched up to the entrenchments, the Tartars
were already waiting for them, and the ten
cannon began to play. The janissaries on one
side and the Tartars on the other, forced this
little camp in an instant. Twenty Swedes had
scarcely time to draw their swords, the 300
were surrounded and taken prisoners without
resistance. The King was then on horseback
between his house and his camp, with Generals
Hoord, Dardoff and Sparre; seeing that all his
soldiers had suffered themselves to be taken
before his eyes, he said with sangfroid to those
three officers, " Let us go and defend the house.
We'll fight," he added with a smile, " pro aris
et focis."
With them he immediately galloped up to
the house, where he had placed about forty
servants as sentinels, and which they had forti
fied as best they could.
These generals, though they were accus-
260 History of Charles XII
tomed to the obstinate courage of their master,
could not but be surprised that in cold blood
and in jest he should propose that they should
defend themselves against ten cannon and a
whole army; they followed him with twenty
guards and domestics.
But when they were at the door, they found
it besieged by janissaries. Besides, nearly 200
Turks and Tartars had already got in at a
window, and had seized all the rooms, except
a great hall, whither the King's servants had
withdrawn. Luckily this hall was near the
door at which the King intended entering with
his twenty men. He threw himself from his
horse, pistol and sword in hand, and his
followers did the same.
The janissaries fell on him from all sides,
encouraged by the Pasha's promise of eight
gold ducats to any who did but touch his coat,
in case they could not take him. He wounded
and killed all that came near him. A janissary,
whom he had wounded, stuck his musket in
the King's face, and if the arm of a Turk had
not jostled him in the crowd the King would
have been killed. The ball grazed his nose,
and took off a piece of his ear, and then broke
the arm of General Hoord, whose fate it was
always to be wounded at his master's side.
The King stuck his sword into the janissary's
breast, and at the same time his servants, who
were shut up in the hall, opened the door to
him. He and his little troop slipped in as
 History of Charles XII 261
swiftly as an arrow; they closed the door at
once, and barricaded it with all they could find.
Behold Charles shut up in this hall with all
his attendants, about three-score men, officers,
secretaries, valets, and servants of all kinds !
The janissaries and the Tartars pillaged the
rest of the house and filled the rooms.
" Come," said the King, " let us go and drive
out these barbarians." Then, putting himself
at the head of his men, he, with his own hands,
opened the door of the hall, which opened into
his bedroom, went in and fired on his
plunderers.
The Turks, laden with booty, terrified at the
sudden appearance of the King whom they
had reverenced, threw down their arms and
jumped out of the window or fled to the
cellars. The King, taking advantage of their
confusion, and his own men being animated
with this piece of success, pursued the Turks
from room to room, killed or wounded those
who had not made their escape, and in a
quarter of an hour cleared the house of the
enemy.
In the heat of the combat the King saw two
janissaries who had hidden themselves under
his bed. He thrust one through, but the other
asked pardon, saying ' 'Amman." "I grant
you your life," said the King, "on condition
that you go and give the Pasha a faithful
account of what you have seen." The Turk
readily promised to do as he was told, and
262 History of Charles XII
was then allowed to leap out of the window
like the others.
The Swedes were at last masters of the house
again, and shut and barricaded the windows.
They did not lack arms, for a room on the
ground floor, full of muskets and powder, had
escaped the tumultuous search of the janis
saries. This they turned to good account,
firing close on the Turks through the window,
and killing 200 of them in less than a quarter
of an hour.
The cannon played against the house, but as
the stones were very soft they only made holes
in the wall, but demolished nothing.
The Kan of Tartary and the Pasha, who
wanted to take the King alive, ashamed at
losing time and men, and employing a whole
army against sixty persons, thought it expe
dient to fire the house in order to force the King
to surrender; they had arrows twisted with
lighted matches shot on to the roof and against
the door and windows ; by this means the
whole house was soon in flames ; the roof, all
in flames, was about to fall on the Swedes.
The King quietly gave orders for extinguish
ing the fire, and finding a small barrel full of
liquor he took hold of it himself, and with the
help of two Swedes, threw it on the place
where the fire was most violent. Then he
found that it was full of brandy. The fire
burned more furiously than ever, the King's
room was burned, and the great hall, where
 History of Charles XII 263
the Swedes were then, was filled with terrible
smoke mingled with tongues of flame, that
came in through the doors of the next rooms.
Half the roof fell in, and the other had fallen
outside the house, cracking among the flames.
A guard called Walberg ventured, when
things had got to this pass, to say that they
must surrender. " What a strange man this
is," said the King, " to imagine that it is not
more glorious to be burned than to be taken
prisoner." Another guard, called Rosen, re
marked that the Chancery-house, which was
only fifty paces away, had a stone roof, and
was fire-proof ; that they might well sally out,
gain that house, and there stand on the defen
sive.
"A true Swede," cried the King; then he
embraced him and made him a colonel on the
spot. " Come on, my friends," he said, " take
all the powder and ball you can carry, and let
us gain Chancery, sword in hand." The
Turks, who were all this while round the
house, were struck with fear and admiration
at seeing that the Swedes were staying inside
in spite of the flames. But they were much
more astonished when they saw them open
the doors, and the King and his men fall on
them desperately. Charles and his leading
officer were armed with sword and pistol.
Every one fired two pistols at a time at the
instant that the door opened, and in a flash
throwing away their pistols, and drawing their
264 History of Charles XII
swords, they drove back the Turks fifty paces;
but the next moment the little band was sur
rounded.
The King-, booted according to custom, got
his spurs entangled and fell. At once one-
and-twenty janissaries fell on him, disarmed
him, and took him away to the quarters of the
Pasha, some holding his arms and others his
legs, as a sick man is carried for fear of in
commoding him.
As soon as the King saw himself in their
hands, the violence of his rage and the fury
which so long and desperate a fight had
naturally inspired, gave way to gentleness and
calm ; not one impatient word escaped him,
not one frown was to be seen. He smiled at
the janissaries, and they carried him, crying
" Alia," with mingled indignation and respect.
His officers were taken at the same time, and
stripped by the Turks and Tartars. This
strange adventure happened on the i2th of
February, 1713. It had extraordinary conse
quences.
BOOK VII
 BOOK VII

The Turks remove Charles to Demirtash — King Stanis

las is seized at the same time — Bold action of M.
de Villelongue — Revolutions in the seraglio — Battles
in Pomerania — Altena is burnt by the Swedes —
Charles returns to his kingdom — His strange
method of travelling — His arrival at Straelsund —
The state of Europe at that time — The losses of
King Charles — The successes of Peter the Great —
His triumphal entry into Petersburg.
THE Pasha of Bender waited in state in his
tent, with a certain Marco for interpreter, ex
pecting the King. He received him with great
respect, and asked him to rest on a sofa ; but
the King disregarded his civilities and continued
standing.
" Blessed be the Almighty," said the Pasha,
" that your Majesty is safe. I am grieved that
you have forced me to execute the Sultan's
orders." The King, on the other hand, was
only vexed that his 300 men had allowed
themselves to be taken in their entrenchments,
and said, "Ah! if they had fought like men
we should have held out these ten days."
" Alas," said the Pasha, " what a pity that so
much courage should be misapplied." Then
the King was taken on a fine horse with magni
ficent trappings to Bender. All the Swedes
were either killed or 267taken prisoners. The
King's equipage, furniture and papers, and the
most needful of his clothes were pillaged or
268 History of Charles XII
burned; on the roads the Swedish officers,
almost naked and chained in pairs, followed
the horses of the Tartars and janissaries. The
Chancellor and the general officers were in the
same condition, becoming slaves to those of the
soldiers to whose share they fell.
The Pasha Ishmael, having brought the King
to his seraglio at Bender, gave him his own
room, where he was served in state, but not
without a guard of janissaries at the room
door. They prepared a bed for him, but he
threw himself down on a sofa in his boots, and
fell fast asleep. An officer in waiting near by
put a cap on his head; the King threw it off
directly he awaked, and the Turk was amazed
to see a king sleeping on a sofa in his boots
and bare-headed. In the morning Ishmael
brought Fabricius to the King, and when he
saw his Prince's clothes all rent, his boots, his
hands, and his whole person covered with
blood and dust, his eyebrows scorched, yet
even in this state smiling, he threw himself on
his knees unable to speak ; but, soon reassured
by the natural and gentle manner of the King,
he resumed his ordinary familiarity, and they
began to make sport of the battle.
" They tell me," said Fabricius, " that your
Majesty killed no fewer than twenty janis
saries.1' "No, no," said the King, " you
know a story always grows in the telling."
In the midst of the conversation the Pasha
brought to the King his favourite Grothusen
 History of Charles XII 269
and Colonel Ribbins, whom he had generously
ransomed at his own expense. Fabricius
undertook to ransom all the other prisoners.
Jeffreys, the English ambassador, helped him
with money, and La Mottraye, the French
noble who had come to Bender from curiosity
to see him, and who has written some account
of these matters, gave all he had. These
strangers, assisted by the Czar's advice and
money, redeemed all the officers and their
clothes from the Tartars and Turks.
Next morning they took the King in a chariot
decked with scarlet to Adrianople, and his
treasurer Grothusen was with him ; the Chan
cellor Mullern and some officers followed in
another carriage. Many others were on horse
back, and could not restrain tears at the sight
of the King's chariot. The Pasha commanded
the escort. Fabricius remarked that it was a
shame that the King had no sword. " God for
bid," said the Pasha; "he would soon be at
our throats if he had a sword." But some
hours after he had one given to him.
While they were carrying, disarmed and a
captive, the King who had shortly before dic
tated to so many countries, and been arbiter of
the North and the terror of all Europe, there
occurred in the same neighbourhood another
instance of the frailty of human greatness.
King Stanislas, seized in the Turkish domin
ions, was being taken prisoner to Bender at
the same time as Charles was being taken to
270 History of Charles XII
Adrianople. Stanislas, without support from
the hand that had made him king, having no
money, and so no friends in Poland, retired
to Pomerania, and as he was not able to keep
his own kingdom had done his best to defend
his benefactor's.
He even went to Sweden to hasten the
recruits needed in Livonia and Poland ; he did
all that could be expected of him as friend to
the King of Sweden. At this time the first
King of Prussia, a very wise prince, justly
uneasy at the near neighbourhood of the
Russians, planned to league with Augustus and
the Polish republic to dismiss the Russians to
their own country, and to get Charles himself
to share in the project. There would be three
great results from such a course : the peace of
the North, the restoration of Charles to his
estates, and a barrier erected against the
Russians, who were becoming formidable to
Europe. The preliminary of this treaty, on
which the tranquillity of the republic depended,
was the abdication of Stanislas ; Stanislas not
only agreed, but he undertook to carry through
a peace which deprived him of the throne :
necessity, the public good, the glory of sacrifice,
and the interests of Charles, to whom he owed
so much, decided him.
He wrote to Bender, explaining to the King
the position of affairs, the evils and their
remedies. He besought him not to oppose an
abdication which was necessary under the cir-
 History of Charles XII 271
cumstances, and which was to take place from
honourable motives ; he begged him not to
sacrifice the interests of Sweden to those of
an unhappy friend, who would rather sacrifice
himself for the public good.
Charles XII received the letters at Varnitsa,
and said, in a rage, to the courier, before many
people, " Well, if he will not be a king I shall
find some one else." Stanislas insisted on the
sacrifice that Charles refused to accept ; he
wished to go himself to persuade Charles, and
he risked more in the losing of a throne than
he had done to gain it. He stole away at
nine one night from the Swedish army, which
he was commanding in Pomerania, and started
with Baron Sparre, who was afterwards
the Swedish ambassador to England and
France, and another colonel. He took the
name of a Frenchman called Haran, then major
in the King of Sweden's army and since killed
at Dantzig. He passed round the whole of
the hostile army, stopped several times, but
released under a passport in the name of
Haran ; at last he arrived after many risks at
the Turkish frontier.
When he reached Moldavia he sent Baron
Sparre back to his army, believing himself safe
in a country where the King of Sweden had
been so honoured ; he was far from suspecting
what had happened since.
They inquired who he was, and he said a
major in Charles's service. They stopped him
272 History of Charles XII
at the bare mention of his name; he was
brought before the hospodar of Moldavia, who,
already informed from the newspapers that
Stanislas had stolen away, had some inkling
of the truth. They had described the King's
appearance to him, and it was very easy to
recognize his pleasant face with its extra
ordinary look of sweetness. The hospodar
questioned him pointedly, and at last asked
what had been his work in the Swedish army.
Stanislas and the hospodar were speaking in
Latin. " Major," said Stanislas. " Imo maxi-
mus est," replied the Moldavian, and at once
offering him an arm-chair he treated him like
a king, but like a captive king, and they kept
a strict watch outside the Greek convent where
he was forced to stay till they got the Sultan's
orders. The order came to take him to Bender,
whence they had just removed Charles.
The news was brought to the Pasha as he
was travelling with the King of Sweden, and
he told Fabricius who, coming up in a chariot,
told Charles that he was not the only king
prisoner in Turkey, and that Stanislas was
prisoner a few miles away. " Hasten to him,
my dear Fabricius," said the King, " and tell
him never to make peace with King Augustus,
for we shall certainly have a change of affairs
soon."
Fabricius had permission to go with the
message attended by a janissary. After some
miles' journey he met the body of soldiers who
 History of Charles XII 273
were bringing Stanislas, and addressed one
who rode in the midst, in a Prankish dress and
indifferently mounted. He asked him in Ger
man where the King of Poland was. It proved
to be Stanislas, whom he had not recognized in
that disguise. " What," said the King, " have
you forgotten me?" Fabricius then told him
of the King of Sweden's sad condition, and of
his unshaken but unsuccessful resolution.
When Stanislas came to Bender, the Pasha,
who was returning from accompanying Charles,
sent the King an Arabian horse with elegant
trappings. He was received in Bender with
a volley of artillery, and, except that he was a
prisoner, had no cause to complain of his
treatment there. Charles was on the way to
Adrianople and the town was full of gossip
about his battle. The Turks both admired him
and thought him blame-worthy ; but the Divan
was so exasperated that they threatened to
confine him in one of the islands of the
Archipelago.
Stanislas, who did me the honour of inform
ing me on most of these details, assured me
also that it was proposed in the Divan that
he too should be kept prisoner in one of the
Greek islands, but some months later the Sultan
softened and let him go.
M. Desaleurs, who could have championed
him and prevented this affront to all Christian
kings, was at Constantinople, as well as Ponia-
towski, whose resourcefulness was T always
274 History of Charles XII
feared. Most of the Swedes were at Adria-
nople in prison, and the Sultan's throne seemed
inaccessible to any complaints from the King
of Sweden.
The Marquis of Fierville, a private envoy to
Charles at Bender, from France, was then at
Adrianople, and undertook a service to the
Prince at a time when he was either deserted
or ill-used by all. He was luckily helped in
this design by a French noble of good family,
a certain Villelongue, a man of great courage
and small fortune, who, fascinated by reports
of the King of Sweden, had come on purpose
to join his service.
With the help of this youth M. de Fierville
wrote a memorial from the King of Sweden,
demanding justice of the Sultan for the wrong
offered in his person to all crowned heads, and
against the treachery of the Kan and the Pasha
of Bender.
It accused the Vizir and other ministers of
having been corrupted by the Russians, of
having deceived the Sultan, intercepted letters,
and of having employed trickery to get from
the Sultan an order contrary to the hospitality
of the Mussulmans, in violation of the laws of
nations, and this in a manner so unworthy of a
great Emperor, that a king who had none but
his retinue to defend him, and who had trusted
the sacred word of the Sultan, was attacked
by 20,000 men.
When this memorial had been drawn up it
 History of Charles XII 275
had to be translated into Turkish, and written
upon the special paper used for the Sultan's
petitions.
They tried to get it done by several inter
preters, but the King's affairs were at such a
pass, and the Vizir so openly his enemy, that
none of them at all would undertake it. At
last they found a stranger whose hand was not
known, so for a considerable fee, and a promise
of profound secrecy, he translated the memorial
and copied it on to the right sort of paper.
Baron Ardidson counterfeited the King's hand
and Fierville sealed it with the arms of Sweden.
Villelongue undertook to deliver it to the
Sultan as he went to the mosque. This had
been done before by people with grievances
against the ministers, but that made it now the
more dangerous and difficult.
The Vizir was certain that the Swedes would
seek justice from his master, and knew from
the fate of his predecessors what the probable
sequel was. So he forbade any one to ap
proach the Sultan, and ordered that any one
seen in the neighbourhood of the Mosque with
petitions should be seized.
Villelongue knew the order, and that he was
risking his life; but he dressed as a Greek,
and, hiding the letter in his breast, went early
to the place. He feigned madness, and danced
into the midst of the two lines of janissaries,
where the Sultan was to pass, and now and
then dropped some money to amuse the guards.
276 History of Charles XII
When the Sultan was coming they wanted to
push Villelongue aside ; he fell on his knees and
struggled with the soldiers. At last his cap
blew off, and showed that he was a Frank,
from his long hair : he received several blows
and was ill-used.
The Sultan heard the scuffle, and asked what
was the matter ; Villelongue cried with all his
might, " Amman, Amman " (mercy), and
pulled out the letter. The Sultan commanded
that he should be brought before him. Ville
longue hastened forward, and embracing his
stirrup gave him the paper, saying, " Sued call
dan " (the King of Sweden gives it to thee).
The Sultan put the letter in his breast, went on
to the mosque, and Villelongue was secured in
one of the out-houses of the seraglio.
The Sultan read the letter on his return
from the mosque, and resolved to examine the
prisoner himself. He changed the Imperial
coat and turban, and, as he often does, took
the disguise of an officer of janissaries, and
took an old Maltese with him as interpreter.
Thanks to his disguise Villelongue had a private
talk of a quarter of an hour with the Turkish
Emperor, an honour that was never done to
any other Christian ambassador. He did not
fail to detail all the King of Sweden's hard
ships, accusing the minister and demanding
vengeance with the greater freedom, because
he was throughout the conversation talking to
the Sultan as to an equal. He had recognized
 History of Charles XII 277
the Sultan, although the prison was very dark,
and this made him the bolder in his discourse.
The seeming officer of the janissaries said to
him, " Christian, be assured that the Sultan
my master has the soul of an Emperor, and
that if the King of Sweden is in the right he
will do him justice." Villelongue was soon
released, and some weeks after there was a
sudden change in the seraglio, which the
Swedes attribute to this conference. The
mufti were deprived, the Kan of Tartary ban
ished to the Rhodes, and the serasquier Pasha
of Bender to an island in the Archipelago.
The Ottoman Porte is so subject to such
storms that it is hard to say whether this was
an attempt to appease the King of Sweden or
not; his subsequent treatment by the Porte
showed little anxiety to please him.
Ali-Coumourgi, the favourite, was suspected
of having made all these changes for some
private ends of his own ; the pretext for the
banishment of the Kan and the serasquier of
Bender was that they had given the King
1,200 purses against the express orders of the
Sultan. He put on the Tartar throne the son
of the deposed Kan of Tartary, a young man
who cared little for his father and on whom Ali
counted for military help. Some weeks after
this the Grand Vizir Joseph was deposed, and
the Pasha Soliman was declared Prime Vizir.
I must say that M. de Villelongue, and many
Swedes, have assured me that the letter he
278 History of Charles XII
gave was the cause of these changes, but M.
de Fierville denies this, and I have in other
cases met with contradictory accounts. Now,
an historian's duty is to tell plain matter of
fact, without entering into motives, and he
must relate just what he knows, without
guessing at what he does not know.
In the meantime, Charles was taken to a
little castle called Demirtash, near Adrianople.
Crowds of Turks had collected there to see him
alight. He was carried on a sofa from his
chariot to the castle; but to avoid being seen
by this mob he covered his face with a cushion.
It was several days before the Porte would
consent to his residence at Demotica, a little
town six leagues from Adrianople, near the
river Hebrus, now called Marizza. Coumourgi
said to the Grand Vizir, " Go and tell the King
of Sv/eden he can stay at Demotica all his
life. I warrant he will ask to move of his own
accord before the year is over, and be sure you
do not let him have a penny of money."
So the King was moved to the little town of
Demotica, where the Porte allowed him suffi
cient supplies for himself and his retinue.
They allowed him twenty-five crowns a day
to buy pork and wine, a sort of provisions that
the Turks do not supply, but as to the allow
ance of five hundred crowns a day, which he
had had at Bender, it was quite withdrawn.
Scarcely had he arrived at Demotica with his
small court than the Grand Vizir Soliman was
 History of Charles XII 279
deposed ; his place was given to Ibrahim Molla,
a haughty, bold and rough man.
He had been a common sailor till the acces
sion of Achmet III. This Emperor often dis
guised himself as a private citizen, a priest, or
a dervish; he would then slip in the evening into
the cafes and other public places of Constanti
nople to listen to what was said of him, and
to hear the people's opinions with his own ears.
One day he heard this Molla finding fault with
the Turkish ships because they never brought
home any prizes, and swore that were he a cap
tain he would never return home without some
infidel ship. The next morning the Sultan gave
him a ship and sent him out on a cruise. A
few days later the Captain brought back a
Maltese boat and a Genoese galley, and in
another two years he was Admiral, and then
Grand Vizir. He was no sooner appointed
than he began to think that he could dispense
with the favourite, and to make himself indis
pensable he planned to make war on the Rus
sians ; in order to do so he set up a tent near
the castle where the King of Sweden was living.
He invited the King to meet him there with
the new Kan of Tartary and the French am
bassador. The King's misfortunes made him
feel the indignity of being sent for by a subject
the more; he ordered the Chancellor Mollern
to go in his place, and because he feared that
the Turks might be disrespectful, and force
him to compromise his dignity, he resolved to
280 History of Charles XII
stay in bed during his stay at Demotica. This
he did for ten months, just as if he had been
ill. The Chancellor, Grothusen, and Colonel
Dubens were his only table-companions. They
had none of the conveniences of the Franks,
all had been carried off at Bender, so that their
meals lacked pomp and elegance. They waited
on themselves, and Chancellor Mullern did all
the cooking during that time.
While Charles was thus staying in bed, he
heard news of the wreck of all his foreign
dominions.
General Steinbock, famous for having driven
the Danes out of Scandinavia, and for having
defeated their picked troops with a band of
peasants, was still maintaining the credit of the
Swedish arms. He defended Pomerania, Bre
men, and the King's possessions in Germany
as long as he could, but could not prevent the
Saxons and Danes united from passing the
Elbe and besieging Stade, a strong town near
that river, and in the Duchy of Bremen. It was
bombarded and burnt to ashes, and the garri
son was obliged to surrender at discretion, be
fore Steinbock could come to their assistance.
He had about 10,000 men, and half of them
were cavalry, with which he pursued the enemy,
though they were twice his number, and forced
them to recross the Elbe. He caught them at
a place called Gadebesck, on a small river of
the same name, on the 2oth December, 1712.
The Saxons and Danes were posted with a
 History of Charles XII 281
marsh in front and a wood in the rear; they
had all the advantage both in number and
position, for there was no getting at them but
across the marsh, through the fire of their
artillery.
Steinbock led on his men, and, advancing
in battle order, began one of the most bloody
engagements that had ever taken place be
tween those rival nations. After a sharp fight
of three hours' duration, the Danes and the
Saxons were forced back and had to leave the
field.
After this victory Steinbock could not but
remember how the Danes had reduced Stade
to ashes, and resolved to avenge himself on
Altena, a town belonging to the King of Den
mark. Altena is above Hamburg, on the river
Elbe, which brings up large vessels thither.
The King of Denmark had granted it great
privileges, in the hope of making it a place of
considerable trade. Hamburg therefore got
jealous, and wished nothing but their destruc
tion. When Steinbock came within sight of
the place, h^ sent a herald to bid them begone
at once with their possessions, for he intended
to destroy their town immediately.
The magistrates came and threw themselves
at his feet and offered him a ransom of 100,000
crowns. Steinbock said he must have 200,000.
They begged for time to send to their corre
spondent at Hamburg, and promised that he
should have it by the next day. The General
282 History of Charles XII
told them that if they did not pay at once he
would burn their town about their ears.
His soldiers were in the suburbs ready with
their torches in their hands. The town had no
defence but a poor wooden gate and a dry ditch ;
so that the poor wretches were forced to flee
at midnight. It was on the Qth of January,
1713; the weather was severely cold, and a
great north wind helped to spread the flames,
and to increase the sufferings of the people
exposed in the open fields.
Men and women, loaded with their property,
went weeping and lamenting towards the
neighbouring ice-clad hills. Paralytic old folk
were carried by the young on their shoulders,
women just delivered were carrying their chil
dren, and died of cold on the hillside, in sight
of their burning homes. The people had not
all left the town when the Swedes fired it. It
burned from midnight to about ten the next
morning ; the houses, being mostly of wood,
were easily burnt, so that by morning there
was scarcely any trace of a town left. The
aged, the sick, and the women of delicate
health, who had refuged on the frozen ground
while their houses were burning, dragged
themselves to the gates of Hamburg, and
begged that they would let them in and save
their lives, but they were refused on the ground
that there had been infectious disease among
them. So that most of these poor wretches
died under the walls, calling Heaven to witness
 History of Charles XII 283
the cruelty of the Swedes, and of the still
more inhuman Hamburgers.
All Germany was scandalized by this vio
lence. The ministers and generals of Poland
and Denmark wrote to Steinbock, complaining
of his cruelty, which was inexcusable because
it was uncalled for, and must set God and man
against him.
He replied that he never would have gone
to these extremities were it not to show his
master's enemies how war ought to be made—
not like barbarians, but in consideration of
the laws of nations ; that they had committed
atrocities in Pomerania to ruin that beautiful
country, and sell 100,000 people to the Turks;
that his torches at Altena were only a fitting
return for the red-hot bullets they had used at
Stade; that it was with such violence that the
Swedes and their enemies made war on each
other. If Charles could have appeared then
in Poland, he might possibly have retrieved
his former fortune. His armies, though they
needed his presence among them, were yet
actuated by his spirit; but when the master is
away success is seldom turned to good account.
Steinbock gradually lost all that he had gained
in those great actions, which might have been
decisive at a more fortunate time.
With all his success it was not in his power
to prevent the Russians, the Saxons, and the
Danes from uniting. They seized his quarters,
and he lost several of his men in little skir-
284 History of Charles XII
mishes ; 2,000 of them were drowned in the
Oder as they were going to their winter quar
ters in Holstein ; these were losses which could
not be repaired in a country where the enemy
was strong in all directions. He intended to
defend the country of Holstein against Den
mark, but in spite of his ruses and efforts the
country was lost, the whole army destroyed,
and Steinbock taken prisoner. To complete
the misfortunes of the Swedes, the King per
sisted in his resolve of staying at Demotica,
and fed his mind with vain expectations of
help from Turkey.
The Vizir, Ibrahim Molla, who had been so
bent on war with the Russians in opposition
to the favourite, was pressed to death between
two doors. The post of Vizir was now so
dangerous that none dare take the office; but
after it had been vacant for about six months,
the favourite Ali-Coumourgi took it. Then
the King of Sweden abandoned all hope. He
really knew Coumourgi, because he had been
of service to him when the favourite's interest
had corresponded with his own.
He had spent eleven months buried in idle
ness and oblivion at Demotica; this extreme
idleness, following the most violent exercise,
made the illness which he had before assumed
a fact. All Europe believed he was dead, and
the Regency which he had settled when he left
Stockholm, getting no word from him, the
Senate went to the Princess Ulrica Eleanora
 History of Charles XII 285
to ask her to take the Regency during the
absence of her brother. She accepted it ; but
when she found that the Senate were trying to
force her to peace with the King of Denmark,
who was attacking Sweden from all sides, and
with the Czar, she resigned the Regency in
the certainty that her brother would never
ratify the peace, and sent a long account of
the affair to him in Turkey.
The King received the dispatches at Demo-
tica, and the despotic theories which he had
inherited made him forget that Sweden had
once been free, and that the Senate had for
merly governed the kingdom together with
the Kings. He looked on them as servants,
who were usurping the government in the
absence of their master ; he wrote to them that
if they wanted to govern he would send them
one of his boots, to whom they might apply
for orders. Then, to prevent any attempt to
overthrow his authority in Sweden, and to de
fend his country, hoping for nothing further
from the Ottomans, he depended on himself,
and told the Grand Vizir that he would go
through Germany.
Desaleurs, the French ambassador who
transacted all the affairs of Sweden, made the
proposal to the Vizir. "Well," said the
Vizir, " didn't I say that the year would not
pass without the King's asking to go? Tell
him that he is free to go or stay, but that
he must fix his day, that we may not have a
286 History of Charles XII
repetition of the trouble we had with him at
Bender."
Count Desaleurs softened the form of this
message to the King. The day was fixed,
but Charles wished, in spite of his wretched
position, to show the pomp of a grand king
before leaving. He made Grothusen his
ambassador extraordinary, and sent him to
make a formal leave at Constantinople, with
a suite of fourscore persons in rich attire. But
the splendour of the Embassy was not so great
as the mean shifts to which he descended to
provide it were disgraceful. M. Desaleurs lent
the King 40,000 crowns, Grothusen borrowed,
through his agents at Constantinople, 1,000
from a Jew, at the rate of fifty per cent., be
sides 200 pistoles of an English merchant, and
1,000 of a Turk.
They amassed this money solely to act before
the Divan the comedy of a Swedish embassy.
At the Porte, Grothusen received all the honour
paid to ambassadors extraordinary on their
day of audience. The object of the whole
thing was to get money from the Vizir, but
the scheme failed. Grothusen proposed that
the Porte should lend him a million. But the
Vizir answered that his master could be gener
ous when he wished, but that lending was
beneath his dignity; that the King should
have all necessary for his journey, and in a
degree becoming to the giver ; and that pos
sibly the Porte might send him a present of
 History of Charles XII 287
uncoined gold, but that he was not to count
on that.
The King began his journey on the ist of
October, 1714. A capigi-pasha, with six
chiaoux, went to accompany him from Demir-
tash, whither he had removed a few days
before. The presents they brought him from
the Sultan were a large scarlet tent embroi
dered with gold, a sabre set with jewels, eight
beautiful Arab horses, with fine saddles and
stirrups set with massive silver. It is not
beneath the dignity of history to tell that the
Arabian groom, who had charge of the horses,
gave the King an account of their genealogy;
it is the custom there to think more of the
family of a horse than of a man ; which is not
unreasonable, for if we are careful of the breed
these animals never degenerate.
The convoy consisted of sixty chariots, laden
with all sorts of provisions, and three hundred
horses. The Pasha, knowing that many Turks
had advanced money to the King's suite at
high rate of interest, told him that, as usury
was forbidden by the law of Mahomet, he de
sired his Majesty to settle the debts, so that
his resident at Constantinople should only pay
the principal. "No," said the King, "if my
servants have given bills for a hundred crowns
it shall be paid, even if they have only received
ten for it." He proposed to the creditors to
go with him, and promised payment of all
their debts; and many did go to Sweden, and
288 History of Charles XII
Grothusen was responsible for seeing that they
were paid.
The Turks, to show more respect for their
guest, made very short stages in the journey ;
this respectful delay bored the King ; he got
up as usual about three in the morning ; as
soon as he was dressed he himself called the
capigi and the chiaoux, and ordered them to
march in the midst of pitch darkness. The
Turkish solemnity was not pleased by this novel
way of travelling, and the King was glad to
find it was so, and said that he would avenge
Bender a little.
When he arrived at the Turkish frontier,
Stanislas was leaving it by another road,
intending to withdraw into Germany to the
Duchy of Deux Fonts, a country bordering on
the Rhine Palatinate and Alsace, which had
belonged to the King of Sweden ever since it
had been united to the crown by Christina,
successor to Charles XI.
Charles assigned the revenue of this Duchy
to Stanislas ; it was then reckoned at about
70,000 crowns. And this was the end of so
many wars and so many hopes. Stanislas
both would and could have made an advan
tageous treaty with Augustus, if Charles had
not been so obstinate as to make him lose his
actual estates in Poland only that he might
keep the title King.
The Prince stayed at Deux Fonts, till
Charles's death, then this Duchy falling to the
 History of Charles XII 289
Palatine family, he retired to Weissemburg in
French Alsace. When M. Sum, King
Augustus' ambassador, complained to the
Duke of Orleans, Regent of France, he re
ceived this strange answer: "Sir, tell the
King, your master, that France has ever been
a refuge for kings in misfortune."
The King of Sweden, having arrived on the
German frontier, found that the Emperor had
given orders for his reception with proper
state throughout his dominions. The towns
and villages where harbingers had fixed his
route were making great preparations to enter
tain him; and every one was looking forward
to see the passing of this extraordinary man,
whose conquests and misfortunes, whose least
actions and whose very times of rest had made
so much talk in Europe. But Charles disliked
so much pomp, nor did he, as the prisoner of
Bender, care to go on show; he had even
resolved to never re-enter Stockholm till he
had repaired his misfortunes.
So dismissing his Turkish attendants at Ter-
gowitz, on the border of Transylvania, he called
his people together in a yard, and bade them
not to be anxious about him, but make the
best of their way to Stralsund, in Pomerania,
about 300 leagues from that spot, on the Baltic.
He took no one with him, but a certain During,
and parted cheerfully with all his officers, leav
ing them in astonishment, fear and grief. As
a disguise he wore a black wig, a gold-laced
u
290 History of Charles XII
hat, and a blue cloak, passing for a German
officer. Then he rode post-haste with his
travelling companion.
On the road he kept clear of places belong
ing to his real or secret enemies, and so,
through Hungary, Moravia, Austria, Bavaria,
Wirtemburg, the Palatinate, Westphalia and
Mecklenburg, he made the tour of Germany,
and doubled his route. At the end of the first
day, During, who was not used to such
fatigues, fainted when he alighted. The King
would not wait a moment, but asked him how
much money he had. He said about a thou
sand crowns. " Give me half," said the King;
" I see you can go no further; I will go with
out you." During begged him to rest for at
least three hours, assuring him that then he
would be able to go on, and desired him to
consider the risk of travelling alone. The
King would not be persuaded, but made him
hand over the five hundred crowns, and called
for horses. During, fearing the consequences,
bethought himself of a plan.
He drew the post-master to one side, and,
pointing to the King, " Friend," he said,
"this is my cousin; we are travelling on the
same business, and you see he won't wait
three hours for me ; pray give him the worst
horse you have, and procure me a chaise or
coach." He put a couple of ducats in the
man's hand, and was obeyed punctually; so
that the King had a horse which was both
 History of Charles XII 291
lame and restive. He started at about ten at
night, through wind, snow, and rain. His fel
low-traveller, after a few hours' rest, set out
again in a chaise with very good horses. At
about daybreak he overtook the King, with his
horse in a state of exhaustion, and walking to
the next stage. Then he was obliged to get
in with During, and slept on the straw; then
they continued their journey, on horseback
during the day and sleeping in the coach at
night. They did not make any halts, and so,
after sixteen days' riding, and often at the
risk of being taken, they arrived at last at the
gates of the town of Stralsund, at one o'clock
in the morning. The King shouted to the
sentinel that he was a messenger from the
King of Sweden in Turkey, that he must speak
that very moment to General Ducker, the
governor of the place ; the sentinel answered
that it was late, that the governor was in bed,
and that they must wait till daybreak. The
King answered that he was on important
business, and declared that if they did not wake
the governor without delay he would have them
all hanged. The next morning a sergeant went
and called the governor ; Ducker imagined that
he was perhaps one of the King of Sweden's
generals ; the gates were opened, and the
courier was brought into the room. Ducker,
half asleep, asked the news. The King seized
him by the arm. " What," he said, " my most
faithful subjects have forgotten me!" The
292 History of Charles XII
General recognized the King ; he could hardly
believe his eyes. He threw himself from his
bed, and embraced his master's feet, shedding
tears of joy. The news was all over the town
in a minute ; every one got up, the soldiers
collected round the governor's house; the
streets were full of people asking if the news
were true; the windows were illuminated, the
conduits ran with wine, and the artillery fired
a volley.
In the meantime they put the King to bed,
as he had not rested for sixteen days. They
had to cut his boots from his legs, so much
were they swollen from excessive fatigue. He
had neither linen nor clothes. They hastily
manufactured a wardrobe from whatever would
fit him best that was in the town. When he
had had some hours' sleep, he got up to go
and review his troops, and visit the fortifica
tions. That very day he sent his orders to all
parts for renewing the war against his enemies
with more vigour than ever.
Europe was now in a very different condition
from that she had been in when Charles went
away in 1709. The war in the South, between
England, Holland, France, Spain, Portugal and
Italy, was over; this general peace was due to
some private quarrels in the English Court.
The Earl of Oxford, a clever minister, and Lord
Bolingbroke, one of the greatest geniuses and
most eloquent men of his century, were in the
ascendant against the famous Duke of Marl-
 History of Charles XII 293
borough, and persuaded Queen Anne to make
peace with Louis XIV. France having made
peace with England, soon forced the other
Powers to terms. Philip IV, grandson of Louis
XIV, was beginning a peaceful rule over the
ruins of the Spanish monarchy. The Emperor,
master of Naples and Flanders, was firmly
settled in his vast dominions. The only thing
that Louis asked was to finish his long career
in peace. Queen Anne of England died in
August 1714, hated by half the nation for
having given peace to so many States. Her
brother James Stewart, an unfortunate prince
excluded from the throne almost from his
birth, failing to appear in England to try to
recover a succession which new laws would
have settled on him, had his party prevailed,
George I, Elector of Hanover, was unani
mously chosen King of Great Britain. The
throne came to him not by right of descent, but
by Act of Parliament.
Called at an advanced age to rule a people
whose language he did not understand, and
where everything was strange, George con
sidered himself rather Elector of Hanover than
King of England; his whole ambition was for
the improvement of his German States; nearly
every year he crossed the seas to visit the sub
jects who adored him. In other ways he pre
ferred a private to public life; the pomp of
majesty was burdensome to him, and what he
liked was a familiar talk with a few old
294 History of Charles XII
courtiers. He was not the most dazzling king
of Europe, but he was one of the wisest of the
kings, and perhaps the only one who could, as
king, taste the pleasures of friendship and a
private life. These were the chief princes, and
this was the position of affairs in South
Europe. The changes that had occurred in the
North were of another kind : the kings there
were at war, but all united against the King
of Sweden.
Augustus had been long restored to the
crown of Poland, by the help of the Czar, and
with the consent of the Emperor, Queen Anne,
and the States-General, who, though guaran
tors of the Peace of Altranstadt, in Charles's
better days, forgot their obligations when they
found there was no longer anything to fear
from him. But Augustus was not at peace in
his kingdom. His people's fears of arbitrary
power returned with the return of their King ;
they had taken up arms to make him submit
to the Pacta Conventa, a solemn compact they
had with their King.
They seemed to have summoned him home
only to make war on him. At the beginning
of these troubles not a word was said of Stanis
las, his party seemed to have disappeared, and
the King of Sweden was no more remembered
than as a kind of torrent, which had for a time
borne down all before it.
Pultawa and Charles's absence, which
caused the fall of Stanislas, was also the cause
 History of Charles XII 295
of the fall of the Duke of Holsteln, Charles's
nephew, who was dispossessed of his dominions
by the King of Denmark. The King of
Sweden had a great regard for the father, and
was moved and humiliated by the son's losses.
Besides, as he only acted for the sake of glory,
the fall of princes which he had himself set up
was as vexing to him as his own losses. His
enemies vied with each other in profiting by
his ruin. Frederic William, the new King of
Prussia, who seemed as anxious for war as
his father had been for peace, took Stetin and
a part of Pomerania for four hundred thousand
crowns, which he advanced to the King of
Denmark and the Czar. George, Elector of
Hanover, now King of England, had the
Duchy of Bremen and Verden for three-score
thousand pistoles which he had lent to the King
of Denmark. Thus was Charles spoiled, and
those who had gained these territories as
pledges were from their interests as much op
posed to him as those who had taken them
from him. The Czar was indeed most of all
to be feared. His former losses, his victories,
and his very mistakes, combined with his dili
gence to learn, and care to teach his subjects
in their turn, and his hard work, made him a
remarkable man.
Riga, Livonia, Ingria, Carelia, part of Fin
land, and all the countries that had been won
by Charles's ancestors, were now subject to
Russia. Peter, who had only twenty years
296 History of Charles XII
before not so much as one ship on the Baltic,
had gained control of those seas with a fleet
of no fewer than .thirty ships of the line. He
built one of these ships with his own hands ;
he was the best carpenter, admiral and pilot
in the North. From the Gulf of Bothnia to
the ocean he had sounded every league of the
way. He had united the labour of a common
sailor to the experiments of a theorist, and
having become admiral gradually, and by dint
of victories, as he had before when he aimed
at land command. While Prince Gallitsin, a
general made by him, and the best at second
ing his plans, was completing the conquest of
Poland, by taking Vasa and beating the
Swedes, this Emperor put to sea to make a
descent on Alan, on the Baltic, about twelve
leagues from Stockholm.
He went on the expedition in the beginning
of July 1714, while his rival Charles was in
bed at Demotica.
He embarked at Cronslot, a harbour he had
built four miles from St. Petersburg. The har
bour, the fleet, the officers and sailors were all
the work of his own hands, and he could see
nothing that he had not made himself.
The Russian fleet found itself off Aland on
the 1 5th of July; it consisted of thirty ships of
the line, four-score galleys, and a hundred half-
galleys; it carried twenty thousand men, and
was commanded by Admiral Apraxin, the Rus
sian Emperor being Rear-Admiral.
The Swedish fleet came up on the i6th, under
 History of Charles XII 297
the command of Vice-Admiral Erinschild, and
was weaker by two-thirds ; yet they fought for
three hours, the Czar himself attacking the
flag-ship, and taking it after an obstinate fight.
The day of the victory he landed 16,000
men at Aland, and took many of the Swedish
soldiers who could not board their own fleet
prisoners. Then he returned to his port of
Cronslot, with the flag-ship and three smaller
ones, a frigate, and six galleys, which he had
taken.
From Cronslot he went to St. Petersburg,
followed by his victorious fleet and the ships
he had taken. He was greeted by a salute
of 150 guns. Then he made his triumphal
entry, which gave him more pleasure than that
at Moscow, as it was in his favourite town,
where ten years before there was not so much
as a shed, and which now possessed 34,000
fine houses. Then, too, he was at the head
of a victorious army, and of the first Russian
fleet ever seen in the Baltic; and among a
people who, before his time, had never known
what a fleet was.
At Petersburg the ceremonies were much
the same as at Moscow. The Swedish Vice-
Admiral was the pihe de resistance. Peter
appeared as Rear-Admiral, and a Russian, who
represented the Czar on these occasions, was
set upon a throne surrounded by twelve sena
tors. The Rear-Admiral presented him with
an account of his victories, and was then made
Vice-Admiral in consideration of his services.
298 History of Charles XII
It was an odd ceremony, but suited to a
country where the Czar had introduced military
distinctions as a novelty.
The Russian Emperor, having thus got the
better of the Swedes by land and by sea, and
having helped to expel them from Poland, was
master there himself ; he made himself medi
ator between the King and the people, an
honour perhaps equal to that of setting up a
King. The pomp and fortune of Charles had
passed to the Czar; he made a better use of it
than his rival, for he used all his successes for
his country's good. If he took a town the
chief artisans were transferred to Petersburg.
The manners, arts and sciences of any place
he took were carried home to enrich and refine
his own country. 'So that of all conquerors he
had the best excuse for his conquest.
Sweden, on the other hand, had lost all her
foreign possessions, and had neither trade,
money, nor credit; her veterans were either
killed or had died of want. More than a hun
dred thousand Swedes were slaves in the vast
Russian Empire, and as many more had been
sold to the Turks and the Tartars. The male
population was visibly becoming scarce ; but
in spite of all this, their hopes revived when
they heard that their King had arrived at
Stralsund.
The sentiment of respect and admiration for
him was still so strong that the rustic youth
crowded to enlist, leaving the land without
cultivators.
BOOK VIII
 BOOK VIII
Charles marries his sister to the Prince of Hesse— He is
besieged in Stralsund and escapes to Sweden — The
enterprise of Baron Gortz his premier— Plans of
reconciliation with the Czar— An attack on Eng
land—Charles besieges Frederickshal in Norway-
He is killed— His character— Gortz is beheaded.
DURING these preparations the King gave his
only surviving sister in marriage to Frederic,
Prince of Hesse-Cassel. The Queen Dowager,
his grandmother, aged fourscore years, did
the honours of the fete on the 4th of April,
1715, and died shortly afterwards. The King
could not attend the ceremony, as he was so
busy finishing the fortifications of Stralsund,
which was in danger from the Kings of Den
mark and Prussia. But he made his brother-
in-law generalissimo of all the forces of Sweden.
This Prince had served the States-General in
the French war, and was considered a good
soldier, a qualification for his sister's hand in
the eyes of Charles XII.
Misfortunes now followed as fast as victories
had once done. In June 1715 the English
King's German forces and those of Denmark
invested the strong town of Wismar; the
Danes, Saxons and Prussians, 36,000 of them,
marched in a body to Stralsund to form a
siege. Not far from Stralsund, five Swedish

301
302 History of Charles XII
ships were sunk by the Danes and Prussians.
The Czar held the Baltic with two large men-
of-war, and 150 transports, which had 30,000
men on board. He threatened a descent on
Sweden, appearing alternately on the coast of
Elsingburg and Stockholm. All Sweden was
in arms, expecting an invasion ; his land forces
were chasing the Swedes from the places they
held in Finland towards the Gulf of Bothnia,
but he attempted nothing further. At the
mouth of the Oder, a river that divides Pome-
rania, and, passing Stetin, falls into the Baltic,
there is a little island called Usedom. Its
position makes it a place of considerable im
portance, for it commands the Oder both on
the right and the left, and whoever holds it is
master of the navigation of that river. The
King of Prussia had dislodged the Swedes,
and was holding the place as well as Stetin,
saying that he did so purely for the sake of
peace. But the Swedes had retaken Usedom
in May 1715, and held two forts there, one
called Suine, on a branch of the Oder of that
name, the other called Penamonder, of greater
importance, on another branch of the river.
The forts were manned with only 250 Pomera
nians, commanded by an old Swedish officer
called Kuze-Slerp, a man who deserves to be
remembered. On the 4th of April the King of
Prussia sent 1,500 foot and 800 dragoons into
the island. They arrived and landed on the
side of Suine without opposition. The Swedish
 History of Charles XII 303
commander had left them this fort, as being
the least important, and, not being able to
divide his small force, he withdrew to the
castle of Penamonder, resolving to await the
worst.
So they were forced to make a formal siege.
They shipped artillery at Stetin, and sent in a
reinforcement of 1,000 Prussian foot and 400
horse. On the i8th, they opened the trenches
in two places, and a brisk battery was played
by cannon and mortars. During the siege a
Swedish soldier, sent privately with a letter to
Charles, found means to land on the island
and slip into the place. He gave the letter to
the commander. It was as follows : " Do not
fire till the enemy come to the edge of the
ditch ; defend yourselves to the last drop of
your blood. — CHARLES."
Slerp read the note, resolved to obey, and
die as he was bid in his master's service. On
the 22nd, at daybreak, the assault was made.
The besieged did as they were told, and killed
many, but the ditch was full, the breach large,
and the besiegers too numerous. They entered
at two different places at once.
The commander now thought that he had
no further duty but to obey orders and sell his
life dear, so he abandoned the breaches, en
trenched his few troops, who all had honour
and courage enough to go with him, and placed
them so that they should not be surrounded.
The enemy hastened up, surprised that he
304 History of Charles XII
did not ask for quarter; but he fought a whole
hour, and when he had lost half his soldiers,
was killed at last with his lieutenant and major.
There were then left 100 men and one officer;
these asked that their lives might be spared,
and were taken prisoners. In the commander's
pocket they found his master's letter, which
was taken to the King of Prussia.
Just as Charles had lost Usedom, and the
neighbouring islands which were quickly taken,
while Wismar was on the point of surrender,
with no fleet to lend aid, and Sweden in great
danger, he himself was at Stralsund, besieged
by 36,000 men. Stralsund, famous throughout
Europe for the siege the King of Sweden sus
tained there, is one of the strongest places in
Pomerania. It is built between the Baltic
and the Lake of Franken, near the Straits of
Gella. There is no land passage to it but
across a narrow crossway defended by a citadel,
and by retrenchments that were once thought
inaccessible. There was in it a garrison of
9,000 men, and, more than all, the King of
Sweden himself. The Kings of Denmark and
Prussia besieged it with an army of 36,000
men, consisting of Saxons, Prussians and
Danes. The honour of besieging Charles was
too great an incitement to them to make any
task difficult, so the trenches were opened on
the night between the igth and 2oth of
October, 1715.
The King of Sweden said at first that he
 History of Charles XII 305
wondered how any place well manned and forti
fied could be taken. True, he had taken many
towns himself in the course of his victories,
but none by regular attack. It was the fame
of his exploits that gained them ; besides, he
never judged others by his own standard, and
always underrated his enemies. The besiegers
carried on their work with great alacrity, and
they were assisted by a curious chance.
It is well known that the Baltic has no flux
and reflux. The entrenchments of the town
were thought impregnable, as there was an
impassable marsh on the west and the sea on
the east.
No one had remarked before that in a strong
westerly wind the waves of the Baltic roll
back so as to leave only three feet of water
under the entrenchment. They had always
thought it deep. A soldier, happening to fall
from the top of the entrenchment, was sur
prised to find a bottom ; but having made that
discovery, he concluded that it might make his
fortune. So he deserted, and going to the
quarters of Count Wakerbath, General of the
Saxon forces, he told him that the sea was
fordable, and that it would be easy to carry
the Swedes' entrenchments. The King of
Prussia was not slow to take the hint
The next day the west wind was still blow
ing ; Lieutenant-Colonel Kepel entereded the at
water with 1,800 men, and 2,000 advanc
the same time on the cause way; all the
x Prus-
306 History of Charles XII
sian artillery fired, and the Prussians and Danes
gave an alarm on the other side. The Swedes
were sure they could deal with those who were
advancing with such rashness by the causeway ;
but Kepel, coming in behind them from the
sea, enclosed them so that they could make
no headway, and the position was carried after
terrible slaughter on both sides. Some of the
Swedes retired into the town, but they were
pursued by the besiegers, and some entered
pell-mell with those that were fleeing. Two
officers and four Saxon soldiers were already
on the drawbridge, but they had just time to
shut it, and took the men, and so for that time
the town was saved. They found four-and-
twenty pieces of cannon on the entrenchments,
which they turned against the town. After this
success the siege was carried on eagerly, the
town being cannonaded and bombarded without
remission.
Opposite Stralsund on the Baltic is the island
of Ruegen, which is a rampart of the place,
whither the garrison and people could retire
if they only had boats. This island was of the
first importance to Charles, for he knew that
if the enemy were masters of it he would soon
be invested both by sea and land, and probably
buried in the ruins of Stralsund, or else taken
prisoner by those whom he had formerly
despised so much and used so harshly.
However, the wretched state of his affairs
had prevented him from sending a sufficient
 History of Charles XII 307
garrison to Ruegen, and there were not more
than 2,000 regular troops altogether on the
island. For three months the enemy had been
making all the preparations for an attack on
it, but having built boats for the purpose, the
Prince of Anhalt, favoured by good weather,
made a landing at last with 12,000 men on the
1 5th of November.
The King, who was everywhere, was in this
island; he joined 2,000 men who were en
trenched near a little haven, about three leagues
from where the enemy had landed. He
marched with them at midnight, with great
silence. The Prince of Anhalt had used what
seemed unnecessary caution to entrench his
cannon. His officers expected no attack by
night, and had no idea but that Charles was
safe at Stralsund. But the Prince, who knew
Charles much better, ordered a deep ditch,
with chevaux de frise on the edge, and took as
much care as if he had to do with a superior force.
At two in the morning Charles came to the
enemy's camp, without the slightest noise. His
soldiers said to one another, " Come, let us
pull up the chevaux de frise." These words
were overheard by the sentinels ; the alarm was
quickly given, and the enemy stood to arms.
The King, raising the chevaux de frise, saw a
great ditch. "Ah," he said, "impossible;
this is more than I expected." Not at all dis
couraged, and knowing nothing of their num
bers, nor they of his, for the night favoured
3o8 History of Charles XII
him in that, he decided at once, leaped into the
ditch, followed by some of the boldest. The
chevaux de frise was removed, the earth
levelled with any trunks and branches they
could find, and the bodies of the dead for
fascines. The King, generals, and boldest of
the officersas and
shoulders soldiers got on one another's
in assaults.
The fight began in the enemy's camp; the
vigour of the Swedes threw the Danes and
Prussians into disorder, but their numbers
being too disparate, the Swedes were repulsed
in about a quarter of an hour, and repaired to
the ditch.
The unfortunate King rallied his troops in
the field, and the fight was renewed with equal
warmth on both sides. He saw his favourite
Grothusen fall, and General Dardoff, and as he
fought passed over the body of the latter
while he was still breathing. During, his com
panion from Turkey to Stralsund, was killed
before his face. The King himself was shot
near the left breast ; Count Poniatowski, who
had been so lucky as to save his life before at
Pultawa, had the good fortune to do the
same again, and gave him a new mount. The
Swedes retired to a part of the island named
Alteferre, where they still held a fort ; from
thence the King returned to Stralsund, obliged
to leave those brave troops who had served
him so well in that expedition ; they were all
prisoners of war two days later.
 History of Charles XII 309
Among the prisoners was that unfortunate
French regiment, the debris of the battle of
Hochstet, which had first served Augustus, and
afterwards Charles. Most of the soldiers were
drafted into a new regiment belonging to the
son of the Prince of Anhalt, and he was their
fourth master. In Ruegen the commander of
this vagrant regiment was then the famous
Count Villelongue, who had so nobly risked his
life at Adrianople to save Charles. He was
taken with all his men, and was ill rewarded
for all his services, fatigues and sufferings.
The King, having only weakened himself by
all these prodigies of valour, pent up in Stral-
sund and expecting to be taken, was yet the
same as he had been at Bender. Nothing
could surprise him. All day he was making
ditches and entrenchments behind the walls,
and at night he sallied out against the enemy.
The town was badly damaged, bombs fell thick
and fast, and half the town was in ashes. The
townsfolk, far from complaining, were full of
admiration for their master, whose temperance,
courage and fatigues were astonishing; they
acted as soldiers under him, following to the
attack, and were now as good as another
garrison.
One day, as the King was dictating to a
secretary some dispatches for Sweden, a bomb
fell into the house, came through the roof, and
burst very near his room. Part of the floor
fell in, but the ante-room where he was at
3io History of Charles XII
work, being attached to a thick wall, was
undisturbed, and by a lucky chance none of
the splinters came in at the door, though it
was open. In this noise and confusion the
secretary dropped his pen, thinking that the
house was coming- down. " What is the mat
ter?" said the King calmly; "why are you
not writing?" The man could only stammer
out, "The bomb, Sire!" "Well," said the
King, " what has that to do with our writing?
"
GoAnon. ambassador of France, a M. de Croissy,
was then shut up with the King in Stralsund.
To send a man on an embassy to Charles was
like sending him to the trenches. The King
would talk with Croissy for hours together, in
the most exposed places, where people were
falling on all sides, killed by the bombs and
cannon ; the King was unconscious of the
danger, and the ambassador did not care to
say anything to make him chose a safer place
for business. Before the siege this minister
tried his best to make a treaty between the
Kings of Sweden and Prussia; but the one
expected too much, and the other would not
make any concessions. So that the only satis
faction that Croissy got out of his embassy was
the familiarity he enjoyed with this remarkable
man. He often slept on the same cloak with
him, and, as they shared so many dangers
and fatigues, he was outspoken with him.
Charles encouraged this in the case of those
 History of Charles XII 311
he liked, and would sometimes say to Croissy,
' Veni, maledicamus de rege. " "Come, let
us talk scandal of Charles."
Croissy stayed in the town till the i3th of
November. Then, with the permission of the
enemy to pass with his baggage, he took leave
of Charles, whom he left among the ruins of
Stralsund with only a third of his garrison
left, and fully resolved to stand an assault.
In fact, the assault on the horn-work was
made in four days. The enemy took it twice,
and were twice beaten off.
At last numbers prevailed, and they became
masters of it. Charles stayed two days longer
in the town, expecting every moment a general
assault; on the i6th he stayed till midnight in
a little ravelin quite destroyed by bombs and
cannon ; the day after the principal officers
begged him to stay no longer in this untenable
situation, but retreat was now as dangerous
as to stay there. The Baltic was full of Russian
and Danish ships ; in the port at Stralsund
there was only one boat with sails and oars.
So many dangers made retreat glorious, and
determined Charles to go; he embarked on the
evening of December 2Oth, with ten persons
aboard. They were obliged to break the ice,
and it was several hours before they could get
away. The enemy's admiral had strict orders
not to let Charles escape from Stralsund. Hap
pily they were to leeward of him, and could not
approach. He ran the most risk in passing a
312 History of Charles XII
place called the Barbette, in Ruegen, where
the Danes had fixed a battery of twelve cannon.
They fired, and he made all the sail he could
to get clear of their range. Two men were
killed close by him, and at another shot the
mast was shattered. In the midst of these
dangers the King met two of his ships that were
cruising in the Baltic, and the next day Stral-
sund was surrendered, and the garrison made
prisoners of war. The King landed at Isted
in Scania, and came to Carlscrona, in a very
different state from that in which he had left it,
ten years before, when he started in a ship of
twelve guns, to dictate to the North.
As he was so near his capital, it was con
cluded he would go there after so long an
absence. But he could not bear the thought
of it till he had gained some great victories.
Nor did he want to see his people who loved
him, and to whose burdens he had perforce to
add to defend himself against his enemies.
He only wanted to see his sister, and he sent
for her to meet him near Lake Wetter, in Ostro-
gothia. He rode post-haste with one attend
ant, spent a day with her, and returned.
At Carlscrona, where he passed the winter,
he levied new forces everywhere. He thought
his subjects were only born to follow him to
war, and he had accustomed them to think
so too. He enlisted many of but fifteen
years old. In many villages there were only
old men, women and children left ; in some
 History of Charles XII 313
places the women ploughed unaided. It was
still more difficult to get a fleet. But to bring
that about commissions were given to pri
vateers, who enjoyed great privileges to the
ruin of the country, but who provided him with
some ships. This was the last effort of Sweden
to meet the great expense ; all the houses were
searched, and half their provisions carried into
the King's warehouses. All the iron in the
country was bought up for his use and paid
for in paper, which he sold for ready money.
Whoever wore silk, or wigs, or gilded swords
was taxed, and there was a heavy hearth-rate.
A people thus loaded with taxation would
have revolted under any other King, but here
the most miserable peasant knew that his
master was faring harder than he himself.
So they quietly bore what their King was
always the first to bear. In the public danger,
private misfortunes were not thought of. They
expected hourly an attack from the Russians,
Danes, Prussians, Saxons, and the English.
Their fear was so strong, and so well justified,
that those who possessed valuables buried
them.
It was a surprise to all Europe, who had
still an eye on Charles, when, instead of de
fending his country about to be attacked by
so many princes, he invaded Norway at the
head of 20,000 men. Since the time of Hanni
bal there had been no instance of a general
who, unable to hold his own against his ene-
314 History of Charles XII
mies at home, had gone to attack them in
their own dominions. His brother-in-law, the
Prince of Hesse, accompanied him. There is
no way from Sweden to Norway except by
dangerous by-ways, where at every turn one
meets with pools of water, formed by the sea
between the rocks ; bridges have to be made
every day. A very few Danes might have
stopped the Swedish army, but they were not
ready for such a rapid invasion.
Europe was still more surprised to find the
Czar so quiet, without descending on Sweden
as he had intended.
The reason was that he had a plan, which
was one of the greatest, and one of the most
difficult to carry out, that has ever been con
ceived.
Baron Gortz, a Franconian by birth, and
Baron of the empire, having done the King of
Sweden important services during his sojourn
at Bender, was now his favourite and Prime
Minister. He was the boldest and the most
diplomatic of men : full of resource in advers
ity, ambitious in his plans, and active in his
policy, no project was too ambitious for him, no
means too dear for his end ; he was prodigal
with presents, oaths, truth and falsehood.
From Sweden he went to England, France,
Holland, to himself lay the train which he
meant to use ; he was able to inflame all
Europe, and that was his idea. What his
master was at the head of an army, he was in
 History of Charles XII 315
the cabinet, and this gave him more influence
over Charles than any minister had ever had
before. This King, who from the age of
twenty had given orders to Court Piper, was
now willing to receive them from Baron Gortz,
and was the more submissive because his mis
fortunes had made it necessary for him to ask
advice, and because Gortz 's advice suited with
his courageous disposition. He found that of
all the princes in league against him Charles
felt especially resentful to George of Hanover,
King of England : because he was the only
one whom Charles had never injured, and had
entered into the affair only as a mediator, with
intent to hold Bremen and Verden, which he
bought for a trifle from the King of Denmark.
It was early that he discovered the Czar's
secret discontent with the allies, who all wanted
to prevent his getting any footing in Germany.
Since the year 1714 the Czar had been in a
position to make a descent on Sweden, but
whether he could not agree with the Kings of
Poland, England, Denmark, and Prussia, allies
whose suspicions were justifiable, or whether
he thought his troops not seasoned enough to
attack that people at home, whose very pea
sants had beat the pick of the Danish forces,
he still took care to put it off.
The want of money was what had hitherto
delayed him. For the Czar was one of the
greatest monarchs in the world, but not one
of the richest, his revenue not amounting to
316 History of Charles XII
more than 18,000,000 French francs. He had
discovered gold, silver, iron and copper mines,
but the profit they yielded was uncertain, and
the working- of them expensive. He had estab
lished a great trade, yet at first it did not
flourish ; his new conquests increased his
power and his fame, but brought him very little
treasure.
Time was necessary to bind up the wounds
of Livonia, a fertile country which had suffered
much from a fifteen years' war, by fire, sword
and plague — almost desolate of inhabitants,
and a burden to the conqueror. The fleets he
now maintained ; and every day some new
enterprise was exhausting all his treasures.
He had been reduced to the bad expedient of
raising the value of the coinage, a remedy
which never cures the evil, and is particularly
injurious to any country where the imports
exceed the exports. It was upon these grounds
that Gortz had laid the basis of a revolution ;
he was bold enough to suggest to the King
of Sweden that he should make peace with the
Czar, insinuating that the Czar was very angry
with the Kings of Poland and England, and
that Peter and Charles together might make
the rest of Europe tremble.
There was no making peace with the Czar,
unless he yielded a good many provinces to
the east and west of the Baltic, but he called
his attention to the fact that in yielding such
places as the Czar possessed already, and which
 History of Charles XII 317
he could not possibly regain, he might have the
honour of replacing Stanislas on the throne of
Poland, and setting James II 's son upon that of
England, besides restoring the Duke of Holstein.
Charles was pleased with all this, and
without giving the matter much considera
tion he gave the minister full powers to act :
Gortz left Sweden with carte blanche for any
prince he wished to treat with. His first
business was to try how the Court of Moscow
stood, which he did through the Czar's chief
physician, a man devoted to the Pretender's
interests, as most of the Scots are, where they
are not in the pay of the English Court. This
physician represented to Prince Menzikoff, with
all the eagerness of a man much interested,
the greatness and importance of such a plan.
Prince Menzikoff was pleased with it, and the
Czar approved it. Instead of an invasion of
Sweden he sent his troops to winter in Meck
lenburg, and came there himself on the pretext
of settling some disputes between his nephew
the Duke and his nobles : his real object was
to gain a principality in Germany, for which he
hoped to bargain with the Duke.
The allies were angry at this step, not caring
to have so terrible and formidable a neighbour,
who, should he once gain German provinces,
might become Emperor and oppress the sove
reigns. The greater was their resentment, the
more that Gortz 's plan flourished. But he
negotiated with all the confederates in order to
3i8 History of Charles XII
conceal his private intrigues. The Czar fed
them all with vain hopes. Charles was all this
while with his brother-in-law in Norway at
the head of 20,000 men, the country was de
fended by 110,000 Danes in separate bands,
which were routed by the King and Prince of
Hesse. Charles advanced to Christiania, the
capital, and fortune smiled on him again, but
from want of provisions he was forced to retire
to Sweden, there to await the result of his
minister's plan.
This affair was to be carried through with
profound secrecy, and elaborate preparations
were necessary : these two are incompatible.
Gortz planned to go as far as Asia in his quest,
and though the means seemed undesirable, it
would at least bring men, money and ships to
Sweden, which could be used for an attack on
Scotland.
For some time the pirates of all nations, and
especially the English, had banded themselves
together to infest the seas of Europe and
America; they had received no quarter and
had retired to Madagascar, a large island on
the east coast of Africa ; they were quite
desperate, and famed for actions which would
have made them heroes had they been legal.
They wanted a prince to take them under his
protection, but international law shut them out
from every harbour.
When they heard that Charles XII was re
turned to Sweden they hoped that, as lie was
 History of Charles XII 319
devoted to war and forced to take share in it,
and needed a fleet and soldiers, he would be
glad to make terms with them. So they sent
a deputy, who travelled to Europe in a Dutch
ship, to propose to Baron Gortz that they
might be received at Gottemburg, where they
promised to prepare three-score ships loaded
with treasure.
The Baron persuaded the King to agree, and
two Swedes were sent to negotiate with them.
Then more honourable and substantial help
came from Cardinal Alberoni, who directed the
government of Spain long enough for his own
reputation but not for the good and glory of
that kingdom.
He took up the project of setting James II 's
son on the English throne with great enthusi
asm. But as he had only just taken up the
ministry, and Spain was to be settled before
he could attempt to overthrow thrones, it ap
peared that there was no great likelihood of
his undertaking the task at present. Yet in
two years he had done so much for Spain,
and had so raised her prestige in Europe that
he had got the Turks (it is reported) to attack
the Emperor. Then he took steps to remove
the Duke of Orleans from the Regency and
King George from the English throne. Such
danger lies in the power of one single man
who is absolute, and has the sense and capacity
to use his power.
Gortz, having made this beginning in the
 320 History of Charles XII
Courts of Russia and Spain, went secretly to
France, and thence to Holland, where he inter
viewed representatives of the Pretender's party.
He got special information concerning the
strength, number, and position of the dis
affected in England, what money they could
raise, and what men they could put in the
field. They only wanted 10,000 men, with
which they would feel assured of success.
Count Gyllemburg, the Swedish ambassador in
England, acting under Gortz's instructions,
had several meetings with the disaffected ; he
encouraged them and promised them all they
wanted. The Pretender's party even advanced
considerable sums, which Gortz received in
Holland, and with which he bought ships and
ammunition.
Then he secretly sent some officers to France,
especially a certain Folard, who, having served
in thirty French campaigns without mending
his fortune, had volunteered with Charles, not
with any ulterior motive, but just to serve
under a prince with such a reputation. He
especially hoped to get the Prince to adopt
the new discoveries he had made in the art of
war, which he had studied theoretically and
had published views of in a commentary of Poly-
bius. Charles was pleased with his ideas, and,
as he was never governed by convention, he
intended to make use of Folard in his attack
on Scotland.
The main point for Baron de Gortz was to
 History of Charles XII 321
settle a peace between Charles and the Czar,
in spite of the many difficulties in the way.
Baron Osterman, a man of weight in Russia,
was not so ready to agree with Gortz. He
was as cautious as the other was enthusiastic.
One was for letting things gradually ripen, the
other wanted to reap and sow together. Oster
man was afraid his master, pleased with the
plan, would grant too advantageous terms with
Sweden, and so delayed the conclusion of the
matter. Luckily for Gortz the Czar himself
came to Holland at the beginning of 1717 on
the way to France, for he had yet to see this
nation, criticized, envied, and imitated by all
Europe. He wanted to satisfy his insatiable
curiosity, but also he hoped to arrange some
political matters.
Gortz had two talks with the Emperor at
the Hague, and did more by their means than
he could have done in six months with pleni
potentiaries. Everything went well, his great
plans seemed quite unsuspected, and he hoped
they would only be known to Europe in their
execution. The first who discovered these
intrigues was the Duke of Orleans, Regent
of France, who had spies everywhere. The
Duke, having personal obligations to the King
of England, made the discovery of the whole
plot against him. At the same time the Dutch,
having suspicions of Gortz 's behaviour, com
municated them to the English ministry. Gortz
their
and Gyllemburg were getting on with Y
322 History of Charles XII
schemes rapidly, when one was arrested at the
Hague and the other in London.
As Gyllemburg had broken international law
by the conspiracy they did not scruple in Eng
land to attack his person. But it was thought
exceedingly strange that the States-General
imprisoned Baron Gortz out of mere friendship
for the King of England. They even went so
far as to appoint Count Velderen to question
him. This was going very far, and as it
turned out, only added to their confusion.
Gortz asked Velderen if he knew him. '" Yes,"
said the Dutchman. "Well, then," he an
swered, " you must then be aware that I shall
only answer what I like."
All the foreign ministers protested against
the wrong done to the persons of Gortz and
Gyllemburg. Nothing could excuse the Dutch
from breaking so sacred a law in seizing the
King of Sweden's premier, who had never done
anything against them, and so violating the
spirit of freedom which has attracted so many
strangers and has been the cause of her great
ness. The King of England acted within his
rights in seizing an enemy, so that the letters
found among Gyllemburg 's papers from him to
Gortz were printed to justify the King's pro
ceedings.
The King of Sweden was in Scania when
the printed letters came with the news of his
ministers having been seized. He only smiled
and asked if his letters were printed too, and
 History of Charles XII 323
ordered the English ambassador and all his
family to be seized. But he could not take
the same vengeance on the Dutch, because
they had no minister then at the Court of
Sweden. He kept a disdainful silence towards
England and Holland.
The Czar's behaviour was just the opposite :
as he was not named but only hinted at by
distant references in the letters of Gortz and
Gyllemburg, he wrote a long letter full of
congratulations to the King of England on the
discovery, with assurances of his good-will.
King George received his protestations with
incredulity, but pretended to believe them. A
plot laid by private men is at an end when
once discovered, but where kings are concerned
a discovery only makes it go further. The
Czar came to Paris in 1717, and did not spend
all his time in viewing the wonders of art and
nature there : the academies, public libraries,
cabinets of the antiquaries and royal palaces.
He made a proposal to the Regent which, had
it been accepted, would have put the finishing
touch to the greatness of Russia. It was this :
to himself ally with the King of Sweden, who
would yield many countries to him, to take
from the Danes their power in the Baltic, to
weaken England by a civil war, and to attract
to Russia all the trade of the North. He had
thoughts, too, of setting up Stanislas against
King Augustus, so that when the fireflame was
kindled in all directions he could fan the
324 History of Charles XII
or damp it as he saw fit. With these views he
proposed to the King's Regent to mediate
between Sweden and Russia, and to make an
offensive and defensive alliance with them and
Spain. The treaty, though so natural and
so useful to the nations concerned, putting
into their hands the balancing of power in
Europe, was yet rejected by Orleans, for he
did just the opposite and made a league with
the Emperor and the King of England.
Political motives were then so powerful
with all princes that the Czar was going to
declare war against his old friend Augustus,
and to help Charles his mortal enemy; while
France, for the sake of the English and Ger
mans, was going to declare war against a grand
son of Louis XIV, after having so long sup
ported him at great expenditure of blood and
treasure against those very enemies. All that
the Czar could obtain was that the Regent
should interpose for the freeing of Baron Gortz
and Gyllemburg. He returned to Russia about
the end of June, having shown a rare example
of an emperor travelling to improve his mind.
But what most of the French people saw of
him was a rough, unpolished exterior, the
result of his education, while they were blind
to the legislator and the genius who had
founded a new nation. What he had sought
for in Orleans he soon found in Alberoni, who
governed all Spain. Alberoni wanted to restore
the Pretender : first as the minister of Spain,
 History of Charles XII 325
so ill-used by the English, and secondly because
he had a personal quarrel with the Duke of
Orleans for his close alliance with England
against Spain; besides, he was a priest of
that Church for which the Pretender's father
had lost his crown.
The Duke of Ormond, as unpopular in Eng
land as the Duke of Marlborough was admired,
had left the country at the time of George's
accession, and was now in Spain. He went
with full powers from the King of Spain to
meet the Czar, in Courland, accompanied by a
certain D'Irnegan, an Englishman of ability
and daring. The business was to ask the
Princess Anna, the Czar's daughter, for mar
riage with James's son, in the hopes that such
an alliance would bring the Czar over to the
King's side. Baron Gortz, among his other
schemes, had intended this lady for the Duke
of Holstein, who did marry her later. As
soon as he heard of the Duke of Ormond 's
plan he grew jealous and did what he could to
defeat it.
He left prison in August with the Count
Gyllemburg, without any apology from the
Swedish to the English King. At the same
time the English ambassador and his family
were released at Stockholm, where their treat
ment had been a great deal worse than Gyllem
burg 's in London.
Gortz at liberty was an implacable enemy,
for besides his other aims he now sought
326 History of Charles XII
vengeance. He went posthaste to the Czar,
who was now better pleased with him than
ever, for he undertook to remove in less than
three months all obstacles to a peace with
Sweden. He took up a map which the Czar
had drawn himself, and, drawing a line from
Wibourg, by Lake Ladoga, up to the frozen
ocean, promised to bring his master to part
with all that lay east of that line, besides
Carelia, Ingria, and Livonia. Then he men
tioned the marriage of the Czar's daughter to
the Duke of Holstein, holding out hopes that
the Duke would readily give his country in
stead, and if once he became a member of the
Empire the Imperial crown would, of course,
come to him or some of his descendants. The
Czar named the isle of Aland for the confer
ences between Osterman and Gortz ; he asked
the English Duke of Ormond to withdraw lest
the English Court should take alarm. But
D'Irneg-an, his confidant, remained in the town
with many precautions, for he only went out at
night and never saw the Czar's ministers but
in the disguise of either a peasant or a Tartar.
As soon as the Duke of Ormond went, the
Czar impressed upon the King his courtesy in
having sent away the chief partisan of the
Pretender, and Baron Gortz returned to Sweden
with great hopes of success.
He found his master at the head of 30,000
troops with all the coast guarded by militia.
The King needed nothing but money, but he
 History of Charles XII 327
had no credit at home or abroad. France,
under the Duke of Orleans, would give him
none. He was promised money from Spain,
but that country was not yet in a position to
support him.
Baron Gortz then tried a project he had
tried before. He gave copper the same value
as silver, so that a copper coin whose intrinsic
value was a halfpenny might, with the royal
mark, pass for thirty or forty pence, just as
the governors of besieged towns have some
times paid their soldiers with leather money
till they could get better. Such expedients
may be useful in a free country, and have often
been the salvation of a republic, but they are
sure to ruin a monarchy, for the people quickly
lose confidence, the minister is unable to keep
faith, the money paper increases, individuals
bury their specie, and the whole plan fails,
often with disastrous results. This was the
case in Sweden. Baron Gortz had paid out his
new coin with discretion, but was soon carried
beyond what he had intended by forces he could
not check. Everything became excessively
dear, so that he was obliged to multiply his
copper coin. The more there was of it the
less was its value. Sweden was inundated
with this false money, and one and all com
plained of Gortz. So great was the veneration
of the people for Charles that they could
not hate him, so the weight of their dis
pleasure fell on the minister who, as_ a
Y 2
328 History of Charles XII
foreigner and financier, was sure to suffer their
opprobrium.
A tax that he arranged on the clergy gave
the final touch to the universal hatred; priests
are only too ready to plead that their cause is
God's, and publicly declared him an atheist,
because he asked for their money. The new
coins were embossed with the figure of heathen
gods, and hence they called them the gods of
Gortz.
The ministry joined in the universal hatred
of him, all the more ardently because they
were powerless. None in the country liked
him except the King, whom his unpopularity
confirmed in his affection. He placed absolute
confidence in him, giving him also his entire
confidence at home. He trusted to him, too,
all negotiations with the Czar, especially as to
the conference at Aland, which of all things he
wished to urge on with the greatest haste.
As soon as Gortz had completed at Stock
holm the arrangements for the treasury which
demanded his presence, he went away to com
plete with Osterman the great work he had
in hand. These were the preliminaries of that
alliance which was to have changed the face of
affairs in Europe, as they were found among
Gortz 's papers.
The Czar was to keep Livonia, part of In-
gria, and Carelia, leaving the rest to Sweden.
He was to join Charles in restoring Stanislas,
and to send to Poland 80,000 men to dethrone
 History of Charles XII 329
the very king on whose side he had been fight
ing- for so many years before ; he was to supply
ships to carry 30,000 to Germany and 10,000
to England ; the forces of both were to attack
the King of England's German dominions,
especially Bremen and Verden ; the same troops
were to restore the Duke of Holstein and
force the King of Prussia to an agreement
by parting with a good deal of his new acquisi
tions.
Charles acted henceforth as if his own
victorious troops had done all this, and de
manded of the Emperor the execution of the
peace of Altranstadt. But the Court of Vienna
scarcely deigned an answer to one whom they
feared so little. The King of Poland was
not altogether so safe, but saw the storm com
ing. Fleming was the most suspicious man
alive and the least reliable. He suspected the
designs of the Czar and the King of Sweden
in favour of Stanislas, so he endeavoured to
have him taken off to Deux Ponts, as James
Sobieski had been in Silesia. But Stanislas
was on his guard, and the design miscarried.
In the meantime Charles was making a
second attempt upon Norway in October 1718.
He had so arranged matters that he hoped to
be master of the country in six months.
The winter is fierce enough in Sweden to
kill the animals that live there, but he chose
to go and conquer rocks where the climate is
more severe and the snow and ice much worse
330 History of Charles XII
than in Sweden, instead of trying to regain his
beautiful provinces in Germany.
He hoped his new alliance with the Czar
would soon make it possible for him to retake
them, and his ambition was gratified by the
thought of taking a kingdom from his victori
ous foe.
At the mouth of the river Tistendall, near
the bay of Denmark, between Bahus and Anslo,
stands Fredericshall, a place of strength and
importance, which is considered the key to the
kingdom. Charles began its siege in Decem
ber. The cold was so extreme that the soldiers
could hardly break the ground. It was like
digging trenches in rock, but the Swedes were
nothing daunted by fatigue which the King
shared so readily. Charles had never suffered
so severely. His constitution was so hardened
by sixteen years' hardship that he would sleep
in the open in a Norwegian mid-winter on
boards or straw, wrapped only in his mantle,
and yet keep his health.
Some of the soldiers fell dead at their posts,
but others who were nearly dying dare not
complain when they saw their King bearing it
all. Just before this expedition he heard of
a woman who had lived for several months on
nothing but water, and he who had tried all
his life to bear the hardest extremes that nature
can bear resolved to try how long he could fast.
He neither ate nor drank for five days, and on
the sixth, in the morning, he rode two leagues
 History of Charles XII 331
to his brother's, where he ate heartily, yet
neither his large meal nor his long fast
incommoded him.
With such a body of iron, and a soul of so
much strength and courage, there was not one
of his neighbours who did not fear him.
On the nth of December, St. Andrew's day,
he went to view his trenches at about nine
in the evening, and finding the parallel not
advanced as much as he wished, he was a
little vexed at it. But M. Megret, the French
engineer who was conducting the siege, told
him the place would be taken in eight days'
time. " We shall see," said the King, " what
can be done." Then, going on with the engi
neer to examine the works, he stopped at the
place where the branch made an angle with
the parallel ; kneeling upon the inner slope,
he leaned with his elbows on the parapet, to
look at the men who were carrying on the
entrenching by starlight.
The least details relating to the death of
such a man as Charles are noted. It is there
fore my duty to say that all the conversation
reported by various writers, as having taken
place between the King and the engineer, are
absolutely false. This is what I know actually
happened.
The King stood with half his body exposed
to a battery of cannon directed precisely at the
angle where he stood. No one was near him
but two Frenchmen : one was M. Siquier, his
332 History of Charles XII
aide-de-camp, a man of capacity and energy,
who had entered his service in Turkey, and
was particularly attached to the Prince of
Hesse; the other was the engineer. The
cannon fired grape-shot, and the King was
more exposed than any of them. Not far be
hind was Count Sveren, who was command
ing the trenches. At this moment Siquier and
Megret saw the King fall on the parapet, with
a deep sigh; they came near, but he was
already dead. A ball weighing half-a-pound
had struck him on the right temple, leaving a
hole large enough to turn three fingers in ;
his head had fallen over the parapet, his left
eye was driven in and his right out of its
socket; death had been instantaneous, but
he had had strength to put his hand to his
sword, and lay in that posture.
At this sight Megret, an extraordinary and
feelingless man, said, " Let us go to supper.
The play is done." Siquier hastened to tell
the Count Sveren, and they all agreed to keep
it a secret till the Prince of Hesse could be
informed. They wrapped the corpse in a grey
cloak, Siquier put on his hat and wig ; he was
carried under the name of Captain Carlsbern
through the troops, who saw their dead King
pass, little thinking who it was.
The Prince at once gave orders that no one
should stir out of the camp, and that all the
passes to Sweden should be guarded, till he
could arrange for his wife to succeed to the
 History of Charles XII 333
crown, and exclude the Duke of Holstein, who
might aim at it.
Thus fell Charles XII, King of Sweden, at
the age of thirty-six and a half, having experi
enced the extremes of prosperity and of
adversity, without being softened by the one
or in the least disturbed by the other. All his
actions, even those of his private life, are
almost incredible. Perhaps he was the only
man, and certainly he was the only king who
never showed weakness; he carried all the
heroic virtues to that excess at which they be
come faults as dangerous as the opposed
virtues. His resolution, which became obsti
nacy, caused his misfortunes in Ukrania, and
kept him five years in Turkey. His liberality
degenerated into prodigality, and ruined
Sweden. His courage, degenerating into rash
ness, was the cause of his death. His justice
had been sometimes cruel, and in later years
his maintenance of his prerogative came not
far short of tyranny. His great qualities, any
one of which would immortalize another prince,
were a misfortune to his country. He never
began a quarrel; but he was rather implacable
than wise in his anger. He was the first whose
ambition it was to be a conqueror, without
wishing to increase his dominions. He desired
to gain kingdoms with the object of giving
them away. His passion for glory, war, and
vengeance made him too little of a politician,
without which none has ever been a conqueror.
 334 History of Charles XII
Before a battle he was full of confidence, very
modest after a victory, and undaunted in defeat.
Sparing others no more than himself, he made
small account of his own and his subjects'
labours ; he was an extraordinary rather than
a great man, and rather to be imitated than
admired. But his life may be a lesson to kings
and teach them that a peaceful and happy reign
is more desirable than so much glory.
Charles XII was tall and well shaped. He
had a fine forehead, large blue eyes, full of
gentleness, and a well-shaped nose, but the
lower part of his face was disagreeable and
not improved by his laugh, which was unbe
coming. He had little beard or hair, he spoke
little, and often answered only by the smile
which was habitual to him.
Profound silence was preserved at his table.
With all his inflexibility he was timid and bash
ful; he would have been embarrassed by con-
'{ versation, because, as he had given up his
whole life to practical warfare, he knew
nothing of the ways of society. Before his
long leisure in Turkey he had never read any
thing but Cesar's commentaries and the
history of Alexander, but he had made some
observations on war, and on his own cam
paigns from 1700-1709; he told this to the
Chevalier Folard, and said that the MSS.
had been lost at the unfortunate battle of
Pultawa. As to religion, though a prince's
sentiments ought not to influence other men,
 History of Charles XII 335
and though the opinion of a king so ill-
informed as Charles should have no weight in
such matters, yet men's curiosity on this point
too must be satisfied.
I have it from the person who has supplied
me with most of my material for this history,
that Charles was a strict Lutheran till the
year 1707, when he met the famous philosopher
Leibnitz, who was a great freethinker, and
talked freely, and had already converted more
than one prince to his views. I do not believe
that Charles imbibed freethought in conversa
tion with this philosopher, since they only had
a quarter of an hour together; but M. Fabri-
cius, who lived familiarly with him seven years
afterwards, told me that in his leisure in
Turkey, having come in contact with diverse
forms of faith, he went further still.
I cannot help noticing here a slander that is
often spread concerning the death of princes,
by malicious or credulous folk, viz., that when
princes die they are either poisoned or assassin
ated. The report spread in Germany that M.
Siquier had killed the King ; that brave officer
was long annoyed at the report, and one day
he said to me, " I might have killed a King
of Sweden, but for this hero I had such a
respect that, had I wished to do it, I should
not have dared."
I know that it was this Siquier himself who
originated this fatal accusation, which some
Swedes still believe, for he told me that at
336 History of Charles XII
Stockholm, when delirious, he shouted that he
had killed the King of Sweden, that he had
even in his madness opened the window and
publicly asked pardon for the crime; when on
his recovery he learned what he had said in
delirium, he was ready to die with mortifica
tion. I did not wish to reveal this story during
his life; I saw him shortly before his death,
and I am convinced that, far from having
murdered Charles, he would willingly have laid
down his life for him a thousand times over.
Had he been capable of such a crime it could
only have been to serve some foreign Power
who would no doubt have recompensed him
handsomely, yet he died in poverty at Paris,
and had even to apply to his family for aid.
As soon as he was dead the siege of Frederic-
shall was raised. The Swedes, to whom his
glory had been a burden rather than a joy,
made peace with their neighbours as fast as
they could, and soon put an end to that abso
lute power of which Baron Gortz had wearied
them. The States elected Charles's sister
Queen, and forced her to solemnly renounce
her hereditary right to the throne, so that she
held it only by the people's choice. She
promised by oath on oath that she would never
secure arbitrary government, and afterwards,
her love of power overcome by her love for her
husband, she resigned the crown in his favour
and persuaded the States to choose him, which
they did under the same condition. Baron
 History of Charles XII 337
Gortz was seized after Charles's death, and
condemned by the Senate of Stockholm to be
beheaded under the gallows, an instance rather
of revenge than of justice, and a cruel insult
to the memory of a king whom Sweden still
admires.
Charles's hat is preserved at Stockholm, and
the smallness of the hole by which it is pierced
is one of the reasons for supposing he was
assassinated.
 INDEX
ACHMET III, Emperor of the 90; his narrow escape of 1 icing
Turks, 187 ; receives letter from captured, 91 ; advances on War
Charles XII, 188 ; treats the saw, ioi ; victorious entry into,
king as an honourable prisoner, 102 ; finally forced to retreat
189-196; decides on war against from Poland, 106 ; is sent for by
Russia, 211 ; imprisons Russian Peter the Great to conference at
ambassador, ib.\ his letter to Grodno, 113 ; arrests Patkul,
Charles XII offering to send ib. ; shut up in Cracow, the last
him home with an escort, 235, town left him, 117; writes to
236 ; Sultan again declares war Charles XII asking for peace,
against Russia, 239 ; again 120 ; his victory over the Swedes,
makes peace, 241 ; sends money 123 ; enters Warsaw in triumph,
and directions for the King of ib,\ accepts Charles XII's terms
Sweden's departure, 244, 245 ; of peace, 124; his meeting with,
sends peremptory orders to him at Gutersdorf, 124, 125 ; is forced
to leave his territory, 251 ; sends to write a letter of congratulation
orders to put all the Swedes to to Stanislas, 125, 126; and to
the sword and not to spare the give up his prisoners, 126 ;
returns to Poland after battle of
king's life, 254 ; sends troops to Pultawa, 200 ; his embassy to
attack the king's house, 255 ; the Sultan, 239 ; insists on
reads the petition presented him
by de Villelongue, 276 ; inter Charles XII being sent away,
views him in disguise, 276, 277 ; 241 ; his restoration to the Crown
he banishes the Kan of Tartary of Poland, 294 ; his people force
and the Pasha of Bender, 277 ; him to submit
Conventa, 294 to the Pacta
his farewell presents to Charles
XII, 287 224» surrendered
Azov, 235 to the Porte,
Alberoni, Cardinal, his dealings in
Spain, 319 ; sides with the
Pretender, 325 BALTAGI MAHOMET, Pasha of
Altena, burnt by General Stein- Syria, made Grand Vizir, 210;
bock, 282 ; terrible suffering of has orders toattack the Russians,
the inhabitants, 282, 283 211 ; suing
his answer to the
Altranstadt, peace concluded at, letter for peace, 222,Czar's
233 ;
130 his terms, 223, 224 ; concludes a
Anne, Queen of England, con- treaty of peace with the Czar,
eludes treaty at the Hague, 203 ; 224, 225 ; his efforts to force
her death, 293 Charles XII to depart from
Augustus, Elector of Saxony and Bender, 229, 230 ; cuts off the
King of Poland, 17, 19, 20 ; con king's plots
supplies, 231 him,
; Ponia-
cludes treaty with Peter the towski against 232 ;
183
his lieutenant is executed and he
Great against Sweden, 34 ;
besieges Riga, 46 ; meeting with himself exiled, 233 ; his death,
Peter the Great at Brizen, 58 ; ib.
intrigues against, by opposing Bender, Governor of, handsome
reception of Charles XII by,
parties, 70-72 ; forced to flee, 77 ;
endeavours to collect troops, 78,
Borysthenes, escape of Charles
79 ; his army defeated at XII and his troops to, after
Clissau, 81 ; at Pultask, 85 ;
withdraws to Thorn, 85 ; is Pultawa, 175, 176; troops
declared by the Assembly in drowned
cross, 177 while attempting to
capable of wearing the crown,

339
 Index
340
CALISH, victory at, 122, 123 ; Augustus, 103 ; his continual
Peter of,
the133Great's commemor success, ib. ; his pursuit of
ation Schtillemburg, 105, 106 ; his
Calmouks, their country, 154 ; de preparations for the coronation
tachment of, in Russian army, of Stanislas, 108 ; present in
Charles154,XII's cognito at the ceremony, no;
from, 155 narrow escape defeats Russian troops, 114, 115 ;
Cantemir, Prince of Moldavia, massacres his prisoners, 117 ;
forgets benefits received from enters Saxony, ib. ', visits the
the Porte, and makes treaty field of Lutzen, 118 ; levies
with the Czar, 216 money and food from the
Catherine, wife of Peter the Great, Saxons, 118, 119; his method
her early history, 220-222 ; for enforcing good behaviour
persuades the Czar to sue the on his troops, and their severe
Grand Vizir for peace, 222 discipline, 119 ; anecdote of, and
Charles XI abolishes the authority soldier, 119, 120; his absolute
of the Senate, 10 ; his character, rule in Saxony, 120 ; terms of
ib. ; his marriage, ib. ; death of peace offered by him to Augustus,
his wife, 13 ; his cruelty to her 121 ; his troops defeated by the
and oppression of the people, Russians, 123 ; account of his
ib. ; his death, ib. interview with Augustus at
Charles XII, his birth, early edu Gutersdorf, 124, 125 ; his cruel
cation, tastes and character, u, sentence on Patkul, 127 ; re
12 ; anecdotes of, 12 ; his acces ceives ambassadors from all
sion, 13, 14 ; takes the reins of parts, 135 ; Duke of Marl-
power into his own hands, 15, borough's interview with, 135-
16 ; his coronation, 16, 17 ; 137 ; histhedetermination
sudden transformation of his dethrone Czar, 137, 138to;
character, 37, 38 ; begins war his exorbitant demands on the
with Russia and its allies, 39 ; Emperor of Germany, 138-140;
his skill and courage, 40, 41 ; sends officers to Asia and Egypt
his first success in arms, 43, 44 ; to report on their strength, 141 ;
concludes the war with Den magnificence of his plans, ib. ;
mark, 46 ; his victory at Narva continues his hardy mode of
over 80,000 Russians, 40-54 ; life, ib. ; account of his visit to
war vessels constructed by, 59 ; Augustus in Dresden, 142, 143 ;
his artifice to hide his move alarm of his officers, 143, 144 ;
ments, 59 ; defeats the Saxons leaves Saxony to pursue the
and enters Birzen, 60, 61 ; his Czar, 147 ; receives Turkish
further successes against the ambassador, 148 ; starts in search
King of Poland, 73 ; refuses to of the Russians, 149 ; enters
see the Countess of Konigs- Grodno, ib. ; arrives at the
marck, 75 ; receives the embassy river Berezine, 151 ; his strata
of the Polish State, 76 ; arrives gem, ib. ; leads his forces on
before Warsaw, 79 ; his inter foot and wins gloriously at
view with Cardinal Radjouski, Borysthenes, 152 ; his haughty
80 ; his victory at Clissau, 81 ; answer to the Czar, 153 ; his
enters Cracow, 82 ; his accident narrow escape from detachment
and false report of his death, of Calmouks, 154, 155 ; leaves
82 ; his success at Pultask, 85 ; the Moscow road and turns
his indifference to danger, 86 ; south towards Ukrania, 156;
besieges Thorn, 89 ; resists his secret league with Mazeppa,
temptation of seizing the throne 158 ; terrible difficulties and
of Poland, 92 ; offers it to hardships of his march, 159 ;
Alexander Sobiesky, ib. ; re Mazeppa reaches him with only
ceives Stanislas Leczinski and a few men left, 160 ; is cut
nominates him King of Poland, off from communication with
97, 98 ; takes Leopold by assault, Poland without provisions, 163 ;
ico ; joins Stanislas against extreme cold destroys a part of
 Index
34
his army, ib. ; miserable condi- with only forty followers against
tion of his soldiers, ib. ; anecdote the Turkish forces, 261 ; his
of, 164; receives supplies from house set on fire by assailants,
Mazeppa, 165; advances on 262 ; his coolness, 263 ; he and
Pultawa, 166 ; is wounded, 168 ; his followers make a sally, and
battle of Pultawa, 169-175 ; his are taken prisoners, 264 ; his
retreat and escape, 175, 176; reception by the Pasha, 265 ;
his dangerous condition, 176, his chancellor and officers made
177 5 .finally reaches the river slaves, 268 ; retains his natural
Hippias, 181 ; his narrow escape and gentle manner even in ca
from the Russians, 182 ; some lamity, ib. ; is taken in a chariot
of his troops captured, ib. ; to Adrianople, 260; his officers
handsomely received by the redeemed by Jeffreys and La
Commander of Bender, 183 ; Mottraye, ib. ; has a sword
his letter to Achmet III, 188 ; given him, ib, ; is angry at
his journey across the desert to hearing of the abdication of
Bender, 190 ; his life and occu Stanislas, 271 ; hears that Stan
pation at, 102, iQ3 ; his anger islas is a prisoner a few miles
and disappointment at his treat away, and sends Fabricius to
ment by the Porte, 194, 195 ; him, 272 ; is removed to the
angrily rejects the Sultan's pre castle of Demirtash, 278 ; is
sent, 196 ; advice and money allowed to reside at Demotica,
given him by new Grand Vizir, 279 ; stays in bed for ten months,
198 ; clings to the hope of 279, 280 ; hears of the wreck of
rousing the Turks to declare his foreign dominions, 280 ; is
war against Russia, 199 ; con taken ill, 284Jreceives dispatches
trast of, with Peter the Great, from his sister, 285 ; sends arro
201, 202 ; his numerous enemies, gant message to the Senate in
ib. ; starts to join the Vizir Sweden, ib. ; determines to
against the Russians, 218 ; his leave and return home, ib. ; he
rage at finding the treaty borrows money to provide a
between the Vizir and the Czar Swedish Embassy to Constanti
concluded, 225, 226 ; rides back nople, 286; receives presents
to Bender in despair, 226 ; builds from the Sultan before leaving,
himself a large stone house at 287 ; his journey, 287, 288 ; pre
parations made for his enter
Bender, 229 ; Baltagi's efforts tainment in Germany, 289 ;
to force him to depart, 229, 230 ;
the king agrees only on condi disguises himself and with one
tion of the Vizir's punishment, officer rides for sixteen days till
231 ; his supplies cut off, ib. ; he reaches Stralsund, 291 ; the
finds difficulty in borrowing loss of his dominions, 294, 295 ;
money, 231, 232 ; petitions the is besieged in Stralsund, 304-
Porte to send him home with 311 ; his escape, 311, 312 ; spends
large army, 235 ; letter from a day with his sister, 312 ; raises
Achmet to, 235, 236 ; refuses money and recruits, 312, 313 ;
to go without an army, 241 ; invades Norway, 313 ; advances
his courier seizes letter from to Christiania, 318 ; hears of
General Fleming to the Tartars, Gortz and Gyllemburg being
242 ; the Sultan sends money seized, 322; enters Norway again
and directions for his departure, and besieges Fredericshall, 330;
244, 245 ; his letters to Sultan his soldiers die of cold, ib. ', his
intercepted, 245 ; refuses to extraordinary powers of endur
listen to reason or to move, ance and constitution, 330, 331 ;
250; his supplies cut off, ib. ; his death, 332 ; description of,
barricades his house, 251 ; pre 334 ; his religious views, 335 ;
his hat in which he was killed
pares for assault, 255; refuses preserved at Stockholm, 337
all advice and offers of media
tion, 253, 254, 257, 258; his Charles Gustayus, invades Po
courage, 260 ; defends his house land, 10 ; his conquests, ib. ;
 Index
342
endeavours to establish abso 70 ; factions in, 70, 71 ; breaks
up in disorder, 73 ; assembled
lutism, ib. ', his death, ib.
Charlotte, wife of Stanislas, by Charles XII, 83 ; by Peter
crowned Queen of Poland, no the
132, Great
133 at Leopold, and Lubin,
Chourlouli, Grand Vizir, breaks
his promise of help to Charles Dresden, visit of Charles XII to
XII, 194; Poniatowski plots Augustus at, 142, 143
against,
ite helps195towards
; the Sultan's favour
his downfall, ED\VIGA EI.EANORA of Holstein,
198 ; is dismissed and banished, wife of Charles X, her regency,
if. 235
14-16 entered by Charles XI I, 89
Christian II, King of Denmark, Elbing,
6 ; driven from Sweden by England, her neutral pose, 234 ;
Gustavus Vasa, 8 secretly favours the Czar, ib. ;
Christian III, King of Denmark, alliance of, with the Porte, 234,
makes arrangement with his
brother concerning the Duchies Europe, state of, at the period of
of Holstein and Sleswick, 18 Charles XII's return to his
Christine, Queen of Sweden, her
character, 9 ; her resignation, 9, country, 292^".
10 FABRICIUS, envoy of Holstein, 251;
Clement XI threatens excom is persuaded of the integrity of
munication to those who assist the Kan and the Pasha, 252 ; is
at coronation of Stanislas, 107 anxious to mediate for Charles
Clergy forbidden by King of XII, but king receives him
Sweden to take part in politics, coldly, 253 ; he makes a last
108 effort to save the king, 254 ; is
Clissau, victory of Swedes at, 81 overcome at seeing the king a
Constantinople, its position as the prisoner and with rent clothes,
centre of Christendom, 234 ; 268 ; undertakes to ransom the
Swedish and Russian factions prisoners, 269
at, 234 ; bad policy of the Porte, Ferdinand IV, King of Denmark,
17 ; attacked and defeated by
Copenhagen, Charles XII, 40-46 ; treaty with,
at, 43, 44 Charles XII's success
Coumourgi-Ali-Pasha, favourite S',olstein,
87 ; 202
renews his claim to
of the Sultan, his history, 197 ; Fleming, General, minister of
plots downfall of Grand Vizir, King Augustus, his correspond
197, 198 ; secretly protects the ence with the Kan of Tartary,
Russian cause, 238, 239 ; his 242 ; letter of his seized by
plans, 240 ; his intrigues, 277, Charles XII's courier, 242
278 ; made Grand Vizir, 284 Frauenstadt, battle of, 115, 116
Cracow,
199 Charles XII, entry of, 82 Frederic, Prince of Hesse-Cassel,
Criminals, Turkish law concerning, Charles XII marries his sister
to, 301; accompanies his brother-
Norway,
in-law in314his expedition into
DANES, attacked by Steinbock and
his raw recruits, 207, 208 ; cut Fredericshall, besieged by Charles
to pieces by, 208 XII, 330; death of king at, 332;
Dantzig, punishment of, by Charles the siege raised, 336
XII's troops, 88 French, regiment of, taken pri
Delecarlia sends deputation to soners by Saxon troops, 116 ;
Regency at Stockholm offering enter service of King of Sweden,
to go and rescue the king, 209 117 ; further notice of, 331
Demotica, Charles XII's residence GERMANY, its position at the be
at, 27 8 Jr.
Diet, held in Poland and Lithuania, ginning of i8th century, 203 ;
description of, 64 ; duties of, 65 ; Princes of, conclude treaty of
summoned to meet at Warsaw, the Hague, ib*
 Index
343
Gortz, Baron, Charles XII's pre IBRAHIM MOLLA, elected Grand
mier, great scheme of, 314, 316; Vizir, 379; his history, ib.; plans
the Czar approves of it, 317 ; to make war with the Russians,
sends secretly to interview ib. ; is pressed to death between
two doors, 284
representatives of Pretender's
party, 320; his intrigues dis Ishmael, Pasha of Bender, sent to
covered, and is arrested at the acquaint King of Sweden with
Hague, 321, 322 ; is set at the Sultan's resolve that he must
liberty, 325 ; his efforts to effect quit his territories, 241 ; re
a peace between the Czar and ceives letter and money from the
Charles XII, 326; hatred of Sultan enforcing his orders, 244 ;
Swedes towards, 327, 328; seized his fear and trouble on finding
after the king's death and be Grothusen had deceived him,
headed, 336, 337 247 ; his further interview with
Grodno, conference between Peter
the Great and Augustus at, 113 ;
result of, ib. ; Charles XII enters
town in pursuit of Czar, 149 grace before the janissaries as
Grothusen, Charles XII's treas sault the king's house, 257 ;
urer, gets possession by false offers prize to those who can
assurances of the money sent take the king, 260 ; he and the
by the Sultan, 246 ; goes out Kan fire the king's house, 262 ;
alone to address the janissaries the king is carried prisoner to
sent to take the King of Sweden, his quarters, 264 ; his reception
256 ; is taken prisoner and ran of the king, 265, 266 ; gener
somed by the Pasha, 269 ; ac ously ransoms Grothusen and
companies the king to Adrian- Colonel Ribbins, 269 ; is ac
ople, 269; with him at Demotica, cused
215 by De Villelongue and
280 ; sent as ambassador extra banished by the Sultan, 276, 277
ordinary to the Sultan, 286 ; fails
to borrow money from the Porte, JANISSARIES, their mode of attack,
ib. ; killed at siege of Stralsund,
Jeffreys, English envoy, en
Gustavus
308 Adolphus, his conquests, deavours to mediate between
8, 9 ; his death, 9 the King of Sweden and the
Gustavus Vasa, 7 ; his deliverance Turks, 251, 253 ; helps the king
of Sweden from King Christian with money, 269 ; with assist
and the bishops, 8 j introduces ance of La Mottraye redeems
Lutheranism, ib. ; his death, ib. the Swedish officers, 269
Gyllemburg, Count, Swedish am Joseph, Emperor of German)',
bassador, conspires with Baron accedes to Charles XII's exorbi
Gortz, and is arrested in London, tant demands, 138-140; signs
320, 322 ; set at liberty, 325 treaty in favour of Silesian
Lutherans, 140
Joseph, succeeds Baltagi as Grand
HAGUE, the, treaty of, 203 Vizir, his early history, 233 ;
Holland, States of, conclude treaty the creature of Ali-Coumourgi,
of the Hague, 203 ; neutral pose 233 ; countersigns the Peace of
of, 234 ; secretly support the Pruth, 234 ; is accused by De
Czar, ib. ; alliance of, with the Villelongue to the Sultan and
Porte, 234, 235 deposed, 276, 277
Holstein, Duchess of, sister of
Charles
164 XII, dies of smallpox, KAN of Tartary, his dependence
on the Porte, 212, 213 ; his
Holstein, Duchy of, 18; its strug opposition to the treaty _ be
gle with Denmark, 18, 19 ; cause tween the Turks and Russians,
of,supported by Charles XII, 46; 224 ; corresponds with the
renewed claim of Denmark to, minister of King Augustus,
242 ; swears treacherously that
344 Index
lie will be responsible for Charles 178 ; the Swedish force sur
renders to him, 178
XII's safe conduct, 251 ; his
anxiety to commence the assault Moldavians side with the Turks
on the king's house, 256 ; fires against their prince, 217
the king's house, 262 ; is ac Moscow, Peter the Great's tri
cused by De Villelongue to the umphal entry into, 204-206
Sultan and banished, 276, 277
Konigsmarck, Countess of, sent to NARVA, besieged by Peter the
negotiate with Charles XII, 74 ; Great, 48 ; great battle of,
the king refuses to see her, 75 49-54 ; taken by assault by
Kuze-Slerp, his brave defence of Peter the Great, no; barbarity
Usedom, 302-304 of Russian soldiers at, in
Numan Couprougli, Grand Vizir,
LECZINSKI. See Stanislas his incorruptible honesty, 198 ;
Leopold, taken by assault by his advice to Charles XII, ib. ;
Charles XII, 100 ; Diet at, turned out of office, 209 ; his
T32> X33 answer to Achmet, 210 ; retires
to Negropont, ib.
Levenhaupt, Count, Charles XII's 194
general in Russia, 147, 158 ; his
victory over the Russians, 160- OGINSKI, head of one of the rival
161 ; is pursued by the enemy, factions in Lithuania, 69, 133
161 ; disputes the victory for Ottoman Porte, state of, 188;
three days against odds, 162, influence of the Czar at, 193,
163 ; reaches the king without
provisions, 163 ; at Pultawa,
171, 175 ; reaches the Bory- PAIKEL, Livonian officer, en
sthenes, 176 ; surrenders with deavours to save his life by
remainder of troops, 178 Czar,
; in disclosing the secret for manu
triumphal processision of facturing gold, 129
. Patkul, General, joins the Russian
Lithuania, two parties in, 69, 70 side, 113 ; Czar's ambassador in
Livonia, its struggle for independ Sweden, ib. ; arrested by order
ence, 20, 21 of Augustus, ib. ; Charles XII
Louis XIV, league against, 203 ; insists on his release, 126 ; his
carries on war after Charles terrible end, 127, 128
XII's defeat, 203 Peter the Great, 17, 18 ; his con
quests, 21 ; his education and
MARGARET OF VALDEMAR, early life, 24, 25 ; his reforms,
Queen of Denmark and Nor 26-29 ; builds St. Petersburg,
way, 6 32 ; his barbarity, 32, 33 ; con
Maryborough, Duke of, interview cludes treaty with King of
with Charles XII, 135-7 Poland against Sweden, 34 ;
Mazeppa, tale of, 157 ; made his defeat at Narva, 49-54 ;
Prince of Ukrania, ib. ; plans meeting and further treaty with
a revolt, 157, 158 ; his secret King of Poland, 58 ; takes
league with Charles XII, 158 ; Narva by assault, no; checks
his loans and treasures taken the outrages of his soldiers,
and plundered, 160 ; reaches in ; lays the foundations of
Charles XII as a fugitive, ib. ; St. Petersburg, ib. ; invites Au
furnishes the king with neces gustus to conference at Grodno,
saries of life, 165 ; refuses the 113 ; departs suddenly to check
Czar's offers, 165, 166 ; escapes an insurrection, ib. ; his troops
with Charles XII after Pultawa, dispersed by Charles XII and
177 ; his death, 194 Stanislas, 114, 115 ; his troops
Menzikoff, Prince, defeats the victorious over the Swedes, 123 ;
Swedes under General Meyer- his anger at and revenge of the
feld, 123 ; at battle of Pultawa, execution of his ambassador,
169-175 J comes up with the 130-132 ; enters Poland with
Swedes at the Borysthenes, 177, over 60,000 men. 132 ; his
 Index 345
desolation of, 134 ; withdraws take the crown of Poland, 91,92 ;
into Lithuania, ib. ; flies at the negotiates with the plenipotenti
approach of Charles XII, 149 ; aries of Augustus, 121 ; question
leaves Grodno by one gate as as to whether he received money
Charles enters at another, ib. ; from the Duke of Marlbprough,
is driven from the Berezine, Z37) J38 5 receives Turkish am
151 ; defeated at Borysthenes, bassador, 148; at Pultawa, 169,
152 ; sees his country deso 173 ; his imprisonment at St.
lated and makes proposals to Petersburg and death, 179 ; in
Charles XII, 153; the king's Peter the 205
processi Great's triumphal
haughty answer, ib. ; his de on,
feat by the Swedes under Pirates, send to Charles XII to
Levenhaupt, 161 ; pursues the make terms with them, 318, 319
enemy and brings them to a Poland, government and general
stand, ib. ; after three days' condition of, 62-67 ; torn by con
righting his superior forces gain flicting parties, 70-74 ; embassy
the upper hand, 162 ; at Pultawa, sent by, to Charles XII, 76 ;
169-175 ; his elation at his suc throne of, declared vacant, 90 ;
cess, 170, 180; his admiration crown of, offered to Alexander
of the Swedish generals, 180 ; Sobiesky, 92 ; Stanislas Lee-
cruelty to the Cossack prisoners, zinski elected and crowned king,
181 ; makes use of his victory 99, 109 ; invaded by Peter the
to seize other places and sends Great, 132 ; two kings and two
troops to Poland. 201 ; contrast primates in, ib. ', insurrection in,
of, with Charles XII, 201, after battle of Pultawa, 200 ;
202 ; agrees to treaty of the Augustus returns to, as king, ib. \
Hague, 203 ; triumphal entry miserable condition of, 134 ; the
into Moscow, 204-206; hears of people's fear of arbitrary power,
Turkish preparations against 294 ; force Augustus to submit
him, 215 ; makes a treaty with to the Pacta Conventa, ib. ', the
Prince Cantemir and marches Czar makes himself master in,
into Moldavia, 216 ; finds him 298
self without provisions, 217 ; is Pomerania, battles in, 280
driven back on Pruth, 218 ; his Poniatowski, General, 174, 177; his
difficult position, 219 ; deter designs at Constantinople, 189,
mines to attack the Turks, 193 ; draws up indictment against
destroying all that might serve the Grand Vizir and presents it
as booty to the enemy, ib. ', is to the Sultan, 195, 196 ; plots
induced by the Czarina to sue against the Grand Vizir, 196 ;
for peace, 222 ; concludes treaty negotiates with new Grand
with Grand Vizir, 224, 225 ; Vizir, 199 ; attempts to poison
fails to fulfil his promises, 232 ;
Sultan declares war against, him,
againstib. the
; in Russians,
Grand Vizir's
218;army
op
239 ; peace again concluded, poses the treaty of peace, 224 ;
241 ; insists on Charles XII sends letter to Sultan accusing
the Grand Vizir, 232 ; sends
being sent away, ib. ', gains letter of advice to Charles XII,
control of the Baltic, 296 ; his
victory over the Swedish fleet, 258 ; at siege of Stralsund,
297 ; triumphal entry into St.
Petersburg, ib. ', supports Baron Posnania, Bishop of, handed over
Gortz's scheme, 317 ; his be to papal legate, 102 ; carried to
Saxony, and dies, 103
haviour on hearing of Gortz's
arrest, 323 ; his proposal of Pretender,
308 for the, James II's son,
alliance to the Regent of France, plots placing him on the
ib. ; his daughter asked in throne, 317, 319, 320, 325
marriage for the Pretender, 325 Prussia, the first king of, league
Piper, Count, prime minister of proposed by, to secure peace and
Charles XII, 15, 16, 17, 41, 43, the restoration of Charles XII,
72, 80; advises Charles XII to 270
 Index
346
Pruth, Peace of, 225, 234 ; Sultan's party against Augustus and
anger at infraction of, 239 Stanislas, 134, 135 ; joins party
Pultawa, great battle of, 169-175 ; of Augustus, 200
Sobiesky, Alexander,
crown of Poland, 92, 93 refuses
RADJOUSKI, Cardinal, his intri
gues, 70, 71 ; opposes the king in Sobiesky, Jacques, partisans of,
the Diet, 76 ; his manifesto, 77 ; 70, 72 ; ooearned off by Saxon
flees from Warsaw, ib. ; his soldiers,
interview with Charles XII, 80 ; Stade, bombarded and burnt by
takes his oath of fealty to the the Danes, 280 ; General Stein-
latter, 83 ; throws off his mask bock's revenge, 283
and declares Augustus incapable Stanislas Leczinski, appointed
of wearing the crown of Poland, deputy to Charles XII by
90 ; unable to oppose the election assembly at Warsaw, 97 ; his
of Stanislas, 99 ; finds legitimate character, 98, nominated King
excuse for not consecrating him, of Poland, ib. ; finally elected,
109 ; his death, ib. 99 ; attacked in Warsaw, ici ;
Renschild, General under Charles joined by Charles XII, 103 ; his
XII, 41 ; defeats Schullemburg victory over Augustus, 106 ; his
at Frauenstadt, 115, 116; with coronation, 109 ; Poland entered
Stanislas in Poland, 134 ; remark by Peter the Great during his
on the Council at Dresden, 144 ; absence, 132 ; his return to, and
at Pultawa, 169, 172 ; taken popularity, 134 ; Pope releases
prisoner, 173 ; conversation with the people from their oath of
the Czar, 180 ; in triumphal allegiance to, 200 ; agrees to
procession of the Czar, 205 treaty of the Hague, 203 ; taken
Riga, besieged by the King of prisoner in the Turkish do
Poland, 46 minions and carried to Bender,
Rome, Court of, its policy, 102, 269 ; his efforts on behalf of
107; Charles XII, 270; willingly
140 Charles XII "s disgust with, abdicates the throne of Poland
Russian prisoners massacred by for the public good, 270 ; dis
Charles XI I and Stanislas, 117 guises himself and tries to
Ryswick, peace of, 14 reach the King of Sweden,
271 ; is taken and well treated,
SAINT PETERSBURG, foundation 272 ; Fabricius allowed to bring
of. by Peter the Great, in, 112 him a message from Charles
Sapieha, Princess, head of one of XII, 272 ; Pasha sends him
the rival factions in Lithuania, an Arabian horse, 273 ; Sultan
69» 133 finally releases him, ib. ;
Saxony, entered by Charles XII, Charles XII assigns him the
117; tax levied on, 118 ; his revenue of the Duchy of Deux
method for protecting the in Ponts, 289
burg, 288 ; retires to Weissem-
habitants from the ill-conduct
of his soldiers, 118, 119 ; his Steinbock, General, heads an army,
absolute rule over, 120 chiefly composed of raw recruits,
Schullemburg, Count, in command to pursue the Danes, 207 ; cuts
of the enemy to pieces, 208 ; defends
planAugustus's troops,
of formation 104 ; 104,
in battle, his Pomerama, 280; his victory
105 ; he saves his army, 106 ; over the Danes and Saxons at
statue erected to him by Gadebesck, 280, 281 ; he burns
Venetian Republic, 106 ; his Altena, 282 ; his answer to
defeat by General Renschild at complaints of his cruelty, 283 ;
Frauenstadt, 115. 116 loses his army and is taken
Silesia, Charles XII demands prisoner, 284
restitution of privileges to its Stralsund, siege of, 304-311
Protestant subjects, 139, 140 Sweden, its climate, 3 ; its fauna,
Siniawski, Grand General, his 4 ; its soil, 5 ; its ancient con
ambition, 134 ; heads a third stitution, 5, 6; conquered by
 Index 347
Margaret of Valdemar, 6 ; its Ulrica Eleanora, Princess, sister
later history,^. ; treaty of Russia, of Charles XII, asked to take
Denmark and Poland against, the Regency in Sweden, 285;
34 5 >ts government by a Re refuses to make peace with Den
gency during Charles XI I 's ah- mark and resigns, ib.; sends ac
sence, 206 ; loses all her foreign count
26. of affairs to her brother,
possessions, 295, 298 ; scarcity of
male population in, 298 ; people
heavily taxed, 313 ; their readi- by the Prussians,
UtedT' T^aken from303the Swede*
ness to help the king, ib.
Swedes, their stature and endur
ance, 4; fate of those taken VALIDA, Sultana, favours Swedish
cause, 2ii
prisoners at Pultawa, 178, 179;
sold as slaves at Constantinople Villelongue, Monsieur de, his bold
194.; their love of war and of action on behalf of Charles XII,
their king, 207 ; their inveterate 274 ; presents petition to the
hatred of the Danes, 208 ; thou Sultan at the risk of his life, 275,
sands made slaves, 298 276 ; has interview with Sultan,
W.; is released, 277; taken
TARTARS, description of, 213 ; their prisoner at siege of Stralsund,
extreme hospitality, 213, 214; 309
receive no pay in war but their
booty, 214
Tartary. See Kan WARSAW, Charles XII appears
before, 79 ; battle near, 81 ; Au
Thorn,
89 King of Poland, retires to, gustus enters it as a victorious
85 ; siege of, by Charles XII, sovereign, 102; coronation of
Tur215 Stanislas in, 109 ; entered in
kis troops, descri of, 214 triumph by Augustus, 123
h ptio
n Charles Winter of 1709, memorable, 163 ;
Turks, embassy from, to Charles XII loses 2,000 men on
XII, 148 ; present the king with one march, ib.
one hundred Swedish soldiers
Wirtemberg, Prince, taken pris
who had been redeemed by the oner at Pultawa, 173
Grand Master, 148

, its need ofif a protector

protector ZAPOKAVIANS, description of, 166
in one of the surrounding
ndmg States,
States, Zobpr, Count, Emperor's chamber-
156 ; seeks protection
wtinn from
ft. J,^ },{«. quarre( wjth Swedish
Poland,
157 ib.; from Russia, 156. ambassador and its results, 138-
140
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