Austrian influence in Poland.The republic was at this moment torn in pieces by the violence of the Austrian and French factions. Leopold had followed up his success in the marriage of his sister by surrounding the weak Michael with creatures of his own, who used all their arts to persuade him that the French monarch had been guilty of bringing in the Tartars against him. Great efforts were made to include Sobieski in these accusations. His second general, Demetrius Wiesnowiesçki, the king’s cousin, who had long been jealous of him, actually put Tartar captives to the torture to obtain evidence, but without success. Sobieski, though deeply indignant, contented himself with publishing a scornful manifesto, and then hastened to defend the frontiers. At the meeting of the Diet (September 20th) the deputies demanded the dismissal of the Austrian courtiers; and the primate Prazmowski vehemently accused the king of treachery to the nation, and of breaking his coronation oaths. Michael calls out the Pospolite.Terrified at this attack, Michael called out the Pospolite, which was devoted to his interests; but he paid no attention to the entreaties of Sobieski that he would use it against the invader. He could not bring himself to save his kingdom at the expense of strengthening his rival.

“Miraculous campaign” of Sobieski.Sobieski determined to act without him. Equipping the regular army at his own cost, he appeared to be covering Kaminiec, the key of south-eastern Poland, but when the Tartar hordes had passed into Volhynia, he marched with surprising celerity through Podolia, and cut them off from their allies, the Cossacks. Trembling for their retreat the barbarians broke up their camp, and hurried out of the country as fast as they could, while Sobieski made a triumphant progress through the Ukraine, capturing several towns which had not seen a Polish army for twenty years, and re-establishing communications with the friendly Moldavians. Europe justly termed this “the miraculous campaign;” yet it was accomplished almost solely by the strenuous exertions of the commander. His troops were in the worst possible condition, the Lithuanian army had disbanded without joining him, and the jealousies of the different palatinates had prevented their sending him any succours. He now begged for reinforcements to enable him to dictate peace to the Tartars, and to fortify Poland against the Turks; but the infatuated malice of the king made it difficult for him even to keep together the troops under his orders. December, 1671. He falls sick.At this juncture fatigue, and perhaps chagrin at the treatment which he received, laid Sobieski on the bed of sickness at Zolkiew; and the king redoubled his efforts to separate him from the army. The attempt recoiled upon his own head. That body at once moved their winter quarters to the Palatinate of Russia, and formed themselves into a confederation to protect their beloved general.

The Sultan declares war against Poland.But the king’s attention was soon most unpleasantly diverted elsewhere. In the same month (December) an envoy from the Porte arrived at Warsaw, and announcing that the Cossacks had been taken under the protection of the Sublime Porte, demanded reparation for the injuries which they had suffered. No resource was left to the king’s party but to treat this as a mere blind intended to conceal from Austria the Turkish advance on the side of Hungary.

Confederation against the king.The patience of the great nobles was now completely exhausted. Under the leadership of Prazmowski they entered into a confederation to dethrone the king. The advice of the primate was that they should take the emperor and the Polish queen into their counsels, and provide some candidate who would be ready to accept the queen’s hand. Eleanor was consulted, and professed herself devoted to the plan, if they would choose Charles of Lorraine, to whom she was deeply attached. Joined by Sobieski.Sobieski, now convalescent, was at length made acquainted with these projects. He strongly opposed any scheme which would place the country under the espionage of Austria; but being firmly convinced of the necessity of a revolution, he exhorted them to choose the brave Duke of Longueville, nephew of Condé. Prazmowski, nothing daunted, sent the queen the duke’s portrait, and was assured of her acquiescence. Everything seemed favourable for the coup d’état; the Diet went out in a body to meet Sobieski; and the rejoicings at his recovery were universal, when suddenly news arrived that the Duke of Longueville had been slain at the passage of the Rhine (June 12th, 1672). The party of the king, and the Lithuanians, who had trembled at the coming storm, took fresh courage, while the confederates were proportionately disconcerted. Michael began to negotiate for Austrian troops to employ against the Grand General; Invasion of the Sultan.but in the midst of the confusion it was announced that Mahomet IV. in person, with the Grand Vizier and 200,000 men, was advancing upon Kaminiec. The king’s party loudly averred that this was a fabrication of their opponents; the Lithuanians swore to defend him to the death; Sobieski proscribed.and Sobieski, with others of the leading nobles, was proscribed. This violence raised a similar storm in the Polish army in Russia, who surrounded their general, and swore to follow him to the end of the earth. “I accept your oaths,” was his answer, “and the first thing I require of you is to save Poland.”

Yet Poland seemed lost beyond all hope. Sobieski’s troops scarcely amounted to 30,000 men, and there was now no chance of uniting them to the Pospolite. The Sultan takes Kaminiec,The Grand General flew to Kaminiec to reinforce and provision the garrison; but he was obliged to leave it to its fate, for the governor, who belonged to the king’s party, refused to admit any of his force. Kaminiec was the only great fortress which Poland possessed. Its natural position—defended on one side by the river Smotrycz, and on the other by an inaccessible cliff—was very strong; and the Poles constantly boasted that God, who built it, would alone be able to take it. Yet so skilful were the Turkish miners, after their long experience in Candia, that it surrendered within a month.

The consternation at Warsaw was fearful. The king assembled the Pospolite at Golemba, near the capital; but his one aim was to conclude peace on any terms. And advances on Leopol.The Sultan, sending on an advanced guard to besiege Leopol, the capital of Russia, encamped at Buczacz, where amongst the Podolian mountains he enjoyed his favourite pastime of hunting. Meanwhile Sobieski had not been idle. A large body of Tartars had passed into Volhynia in support of the Turks, and, after loading themselves with spoil and with a vast train of captives, prepared to beat a retreat. Hovering always on their rear, Sobieski struck a blow whenever it was practicable, and finally caught them in a defile at Kalusz, in the Carpathian mountains. Victory of Sobieski over the Tartars.After a great carnage he dispersed them, recovered the spoil, and liberated nearly 30,000 Polish captives. His attack upon the Sultan’s camp.He then formed the daring plan of a night attack on Mahomet’s camp. By swift and silent marches he approached unperceived, and burst with his cavalry on the imperial tents. For a moment the quarters of the Sultanas were in imminent danger; but the arrival of succours put an end to the raid.

Peace of Buczacz.With his small force Sobieski could do no more than harass the Turkish army, yet it was with indignation that he heard that the king had concluded a peace at Buczacz (October 18th). Michael concealed the terms as long as he could; and this increased the suspicions of the Grand General that they were dishonourable to the country. At length it was found that Podolia, the Ukraine, and Kaminiec had been ceded to the Porte, and that the king had consented to pay an annual tribute of 22,000 ducats. In return for this the Vizier withdrew his army from Polish soil; but he established a vast military camp with 80,000 men at Kotzim, on the Dniester, to overawe the vanquished nation. By this treaty, which he had no power to make without the sanction of the republic, the king of Poland reduced himself to the condition of a vassal of the Sultan.

Hostility of the Pospolite to Sobieski.Yet the leaders of the Pospolite at Golemba, who dreaded nothing so much as a long campaign, were loud in his defence. Suspecting that Sobieski would not accept the peace, they renewed against him the sentence of proscription, and confiscated his estates. On receiving intelligence of these attacks, Louis XIV. offered him a French dukedom and a marshal’s bâton; but Sobieski would not forsake his country. Indeed his position did not justify it; for his party grew stronger day by day, while the Pospolite, ill-furnished with provisions, and rent in pieces by faction, gradually melted away. At length the queen took on herself the part of a mediator, and she was seconded by the Lithuanians, who were weary of anarchy. It then appeared how strong a hold Sobieski had upon the affections of the people. Popularity of Sobieski.When his exploits during the war became generally known there was an immense reaction in his favour. Plot against him.His personal enemies, among whom may be reckoned the king, viewed this with the utmost uneasiness, and a few of them concocted an atrocious plot against him. They suborned a poor noble, named Lodzinski, to come forward in the Diet and declare that Sobieski had sold Kaminiec to the Turks for 1,200,000 florins, and that this money had been seen in waggons on the way to its destination. This calumny raised the Diet to the highest pitch of excitement, and they would have put the slanderer in irons but for the intervention of the king. The army declared that they would wash out the insult with blood; but Sobieski calmed them, and proceeded to Warsaw to demand a trial. He was welcomed with acclamations; the palace of Wiasdow, decorated with all the trophies of Zolkiewski, was placed at his disposal; and Michael sent the Grand Chamberlain to pay him his compliments. Discovered and punished.Lodzinski, when brought before a tribunal of senators and deputies, lost all courage, and confessed that he had invented the story for the sum of 1,000 francs—promised him by certain of the nobles. He was condemned to death; but the sentence could not be carried out without the consent of the Grand Marshal, and he was therefore suffered to live. The nobles who had been his instigators had to ask pardon on their knees.

He persuades the Diet not to accept the peace.The first object of Sobieski in this sudden blaze of his popularity was to procure the rupture of the peace of Buczacz. He at once published a memorandum, setting forth necessary reforms in the administration and the army, and promising that their adoption would ensure a successful struggle against the Turks. The Diet sent him a message in high-flown Polish rhetoric, in which they begged for the presence of that hero “who, if the system of Pythagoras be true, seems to unite in his own frame the souls of all the great captains and good citizens of the past.” He took his seat amid great enthusiasm (March 14th), and easily persuaded the deputies to follow his advice. They did not now dream of paying the tribute. They decreed an army of 60,000 men, the establishment of a war-tax, and the despatch of embassies for foreign aid, and finally placed in the hands of Sobieski full powers both for peace and war. This was in effect to put aside the king, and make the Grand Marshal Regent; but no voice was raised against the proposal. Their confidence in him.Since there was only a trifling sum remaining in the exchequer, Sobieski persuaded the Diet to use the treasure stored up as a reserve in the castle of Cracow. This, with an opportune subsidy which arrived from the Pope, was deposited with him instead of the Grand Treasurer, as the person most likely to use them to advantage.

His difficulties.Such unbounded confidence carried with it a responsibility which few men would have dared to face. Sobieski accepted it cheerfully, yet at the outset of the campaign he had to meet two difficulties, which he had not foreseen. His old enemy, Michael Paz, caused much delay by arriving late with his Lithuanians (Sept. 16th); and at the last moment the king announced that he should put himself at the head of the force. He came, and reviewed the troops; but during the ceremony he was seized with illness; and the next morning the Poles raised a hurra on seeing the “bonzuk,” or long lance, in front of the Grand General’s tent in an upright position—a sure sign that the king had quitted the army. The next day (October 11th), with a force of nearly 40,000 men, and forty small field-pieces, Sobieski began his march.

His plan of the campaign.His plan of the campaign, though simple, was boldly conceived. Having heard that Caplan Pacha, with 30,000 men, was advancing through Moldavia to reinforce the camp at Kotzim, he proposed to cut him off upon his march, and then to turn upon the camp itself. If he should succeed in capturing it, he hoped to isolate Kaminiec, and so to take it by blockade, and recover all that had been ceded to the Porte. He was not dismayed at the lateness of the season; for he trusted that on this account the Turks would be less willing to fight.

March of the army.The banks of the Dniester were reached after three weeks’ march, and here a mutiny broke out among the troops, which was industriously fomented by Michael Paz. They clamoured for rest and provisions; Sobieski promised them both under the tents of the barbarians. “My resolution,” said he, “is not to be shaken. I intend to bury myself here or to conquer. You must do the same, or nothing can save you.” His firmness had the desired effect. They crossed the Dniester and penetrated into the forest of Bucovina; but Sobieski was obliged to alter his original plans. It would have been madness to wait for Caplan Pacha and so give him time to join the camp; and yet his undisciplined soldiery shrank from the inclement plains of Moldavia. He therefore turned aside, and advanced at once on the entrenchments at Kotzim.

Castle and camp of Kotzim.The castle of that name was strongly situated on the right bank of the Dniester, about twelve miles from Kaminiec. Between this and the advancing Poles, at the height of twenty feet from the plain, was the vast fortified camp, unassailable on the side of the river, where the rocks were steep, and surrounded on the other sides by a broad ravine. The ground immediately in front of the entrenchments was marshy, and broken up by rapid streams, and the Turks could sweep it from end to end with their admirable artillery. Within the lines were ranged 80,000 men, the flower of the Turkish army, most of them spahis and janissaries, under the command of the Seraskier[46] Hussein.

Insubordination of Paz.The day after the Poles arrived (November 10th) Paz declared an assault to be impracticable, and announced his intention to retire. Sobieski replied with truth that flight was not in their power except at the risk of extermination. The enterprise indeed seemed superhuman; but the Grand General ranged his troops in order of battle with full confidence of success. During the day a large body of Moldavians and Wallachians,[47] who occupied a spot on the left of the Turkish camp, deserted to the Poles, and greatly raised their drooping spirits. When night came on, the troops were still kept under arms, although the weather was most severe. The snow fell thickly, but Sobieski visited all the posts, and animated the men by his cheerful manner. At length he reclined on the carriage of a cannon and waited for the dawn.

Crisis in Sobieski’s life.It was the crisis of his great career; yet he could not but regard the scene as one of happy omen. On this spot, more than fifty years before, his father had gained a splendid victory over the Turks, which was followed by a long peace. Then indeed the Poles were the defenders instead of the assailants of the entrenchments; but that only made the victory in prospect seem a more glorious prize.

He attacks the entrenchments.At length the day broke, and Sobieski observed the enemy’s lines much thinner than before. Many of the Turks, exhausted by the unwonted cold, had sought their tents, not dreaming for one moment that the Poles would dare to attack them in daylight. “This is the moment that I waited for,” cried Sobieski to his staff, and ordered at once a general assault. After galloping down the lines with a few encouraging words, he alighted from his horse, and led the infantry and his own dismounted dragoons against the entrenchments. The Turks, whose attention was distracted by a false attack on another side, left a weak point in his front, and Sobieski, though somewhat bulky, was the first to scale the parapet. He was splendidly supported by his dragoons; and the battle now raged in the midst of the tents. The infantry might possibly have been surrounded, had not Jablonowski, Palatine of Russia, dashed up a steep place with the best of the cavalry, and rushed to the rescue. Rout of the Turks,Sobieski was supplied with a horse, and the Turks now began to give way on all sides. Soliman Pacha, at the head of the janissaries, tried to retreat in good order to the plain; but he was charged by the Lithuanians in front and by the Poles in the rear, and his fine troops were cut to pieces. He is said to have himself fallen by the hand of Sobieski, who despoiled him of his jewelled scimitar.[48] The Turks fled in confused masses to the bridge leading to the castle; but Sobieski had provided against this by sending his brother-in-law, Radziwill, with a large detachment to seize it. The only retreat now left them was the steep rock on the river-side, from which thousands precipitated themselves into the stream; And complete victory of the Poles.but the Polish cavalry dashed in after them, and completed their destruction. The carnage lasted more than three hours, during which half the Turkish force was slain, and a large number taken prisoners. A remnant of the original force succeeded in escaping to Kaminiec, among whom was the Seraskier Hussein.[49]

Question of the prisoners.It is difficult to credit the statement of some historians, none of whom are contemporaries, that Sobieski put all the prisoners to the sword.[50] Such an act would have been opposed alike to his natural disposition and to his defensive policy. Plain facts are against it; for some days later the commander at Kaminiec, delighted at the generous terms which he granted to the garrison of the castle (November 13th,), released fifty prisoners without ransom. Had such an enormity been committed, it must certainly have reached his ears, and would have met with a prompt revenge.

Joy of the Poles.Immediately after the victory, the Jesuit confessor of Sobieski erected an altar in the pavilion of the Seraskier, and the whole army, with tears of joy, attended a thanksgiving service. The occasion was indeed affecting, especially to their commander. Ere long Christendom was resounding with the praises of one who had obtained the greatest victory over the infidel since the battle of Ascalon. Sobieski was most anxious to follow up his success. Honour forbade him to desert the Moldavians and Wallachians, who had come over to him at considerable risk; and he wished to cut off from the Turks all chance of return. Their advance upon the Danube.He put his cavalry in motion towards the Danube with the hope of encountering Caplan Pacha. But that general, on hearing of the disaster at Kotzim, retreated in all haste, and took with him the Turkish garrisons on the left bank of the Danube. Such was the panic in Turkey that the Sultan, who had advanced to Silistria, hurried back to his capital. But the victorious advance of the Poles was stopped, as they were entering Wallachia, by the news of the death of their king.

Death of Michael.On the night before the battle of Kotzim (November 10th), Michael breathed his last at Leopol. His death was caused by disease of the kidneys, but he had hastened his end by the gluttonous voracity of his appetite, which passed all bounds. He is said to have devoured in a few hours a thousand Chinese apples, presented to him by the municipality of Dantzic. His last hours were embittered by the fruits of his pusillanimous submission to the Turks. A few days before his death a Turkish Aga[51] arrived, bearing the caphtan, or robe of vassalage, which the Sultan sends to his tributaries. The king was too ill to receive him, and he had to depart without executing his commission.

His character.The incapacity of Michael deserves our pity, because the crown was thrust upon him against his will. But he was worse than incapable. Envy and fear alternately gained the mastery over his despicable nature. His evil genius pursued him to the end. Such was the general exultation at the victory of Kotzim that there was no pretence of mourning for him; and his body was conveyed to Warsaw, almost unnoticed, beneath the triumphal arches erected in honour of his rival.

Exultation in Poland.Three weeks elapsed after Michael’s death before the news of the Grand General’s victory arrived at Warsaw (December 4th), and in the interval the Poles had given up the army for lost. It is somewhat surprising that in a nation so excitable the sudden revulsion of feeling did not result at once in the proclamation of Sobieski. Madame de Sevigné,[52] writing just after the news arrived in Paris (December 22nd), says that there no one doubted that he would be elected. The official journals of France speak of him as “worthy of the throne which he had saved.” But the Grand General himself was aware what a stormy opposition his candidature would raise among the Lithuanians. It was thus with unfeigned sorrow that he received the orders of the primate-interrex to bring back his victorious troops. Everything remained to be done towards reaping the benefits of his glorious success. The Turks were still in Kaminiec; Moldavia and Wallachia were yet to be freed; and the Cossacks who had sent in their submission had to be confirmed in their allegiance. Return of the Polish army.He did all he could. Though his men deserted him daily by hundreds for the more profitable field of election, he left a garrison in Kotzim, and detached 8,000 men for the defence of his two allies. Then, with a heavy heart, he retraced his steps to Leopol. He was here met by deputies from the most distant palatinates, who showered upon him their congratulations; but he showed no disposition to proceed to Warsaw. He knew too well the activity of his enemies in the Diet, and he was quite content that it should appear that he had no personal pretensions.[53]

Projects of the queen.While her late husband was still lying in state the queen had resumed her favourite project of retaining the crown by a marriage with Charles of Lorraine. That prince left the army of the Rhine and appeared upon the frontiers; and the emperor massed troops for his support on the borders of Little Poland. Candidates.Sixteen[54] other candidates appeared in the field, but many of these were Protestant princes, whose chances were small; and the contest seemed to lie between Lorraine and the young Duke of Neuberg, the son of his old antagonist. The latter, though a German prince, was supported by Louis XIV. as the heir of the Elector Palatine, and therefore an important ally. Preparations for the election.No artifice was spared by the queen’s party to prevent the proposal of Sobieski. The Pazes brought forward a measure in the Diet for the exclusion of a Piast on account of the misfortunes of the late reign; and when this was unfavourably received, they insisted that the new king must be unmarried.[55] The Diet refused to sanction any measures of exclusion, and wrote to press for Sobieski’s presence. But the hero was now at Zolkiew attending his wife in a dangerous illness, upon the origin of which various rumours were afloat. His enemies averred that he had poisoned her himself to secure the queen’s hand; his friends hinted that the queen had done so to be sure of the crown at all hazards. These speculations were set at rest by the recovery of Madame Sobieska; but her husband still delayed to appear in public. He wrote, however, to the Diet, strongly urging that the threatening attitude of the Turks rendered any delay dangerous; and it was decided on this advice that the election should not be made by the whole Pospolite, but by a representative Diet. But the regulation was practically ineffective; for the Diet being held in the open air, the nobles attended as usual to watch the conduct of their deputies.

The field of election.The field of Wola, close to Warsaw, was the scene of this unique spectacle. On the day when the Diet of election met (April 20) all the orders of the state attended a grand service at the cathedral, and then set out on horseback for the field. In the midst of the plain was pitched the “szopa,” or grand pavilion of the Senate, surrounded by a ditch to keep off intruders, and carefully closed to the public. Not far off, under the open sky, sat the “kolo” or circle of deputies from the palatinates. Round it were ranged 100,000 of the nobility, jealously watching each turn of their deliberations. Every human passion found vent in this motley assemblage. Riots were frequent, and seldom ended without effusion of blood. Each noble was attended by as many valets as he could muster, who were generally a worse element of disorder than their lords. To these must be added a crowd of mercenaries from neighbouring nations, all eagerly intriguing for their national candidate. Long tables were set up as the head-quarters of each faction, and at these was heard an unceasing babel of noisy tongues. In the vacant spaces of the arena jousts were frequent, for which each palatinate brought out a splendid cavalcade. This was the occasion when all gratified the national craving for display. Many a poor noble would readily sell his vote, perhaps to more than one candidate, for the pleasure of donning a brilliant attire. Costly furs adorned their persons, and were almost hidden beneath a profusion of jewels. The same reckless display of the precious metals was seen in their accoutrements. Nor were the bishops outdone by the cavaliers. Green, broad-brimmed hats, with yellow or red pantaloons, were the common ornaments of the soldiers of the Church. Every kind of merchandise was represented. The Jews, who were ordinarily interdicted from appearing in Warsaw, made the most of the short period when the restriction was removed. The plain around the “szopa” was dotted with an immense multitude of tents, most of them devoted to buying and selling, but all decorated in the most gorgeous style. Several pavilions of superb workmanship and oriental magnificence, containing a large suite of luxurious chambers, attracted special attention. They were the quarters of the Seraskier Hussein—transported entire from the camp at Kotzim—and were now surmounted by the shield of Sobieski.

Absence of Sobieski.Nothing more was wanting to kindle the liveliest enthusiasm for the absent general. His name was in every mouth, and his non-appearance caused much surprise. The “kolo” elected as their marshal the Lithuanian Sapieha, a personal friend of the Grand General; and when Michael Paz pushed his hatred so far as to revive his proposal for the exclusion of a Piast (April 15), the attempt was so invidious that a party began to form in Sobieski’s favour, though their designs were at first studiously concealed.

His arrival.On the 2nd of May it was announced that Sobieski was approaching Warsaw. His arrival on the plain created the most unbounded enthusiasm; the Diet rose and went to meet him; and his progress for miles resembled a triumph. Sixty-six banners—the spoil of Kotzim—were carried before him, to be his present, as he said, to his future king; and behind him marched a corps of captive janissaries, who were enrolled as his body-guard. Like his countrymen, he did not disdain ostentation; for on the croup of his horse hung a shield of gold, embossed with scenes from his great career. Nature had gifted him with handsome features and a dignified mien.[56] Though stout, he was tall and erect; and his full flashing eye marked him at once as a man of frankness, bravery, and powers of observation. Yet along with his military air his face wore a sweetness of expression, which was indescribably attractive. Few of the Pules could have witnessed his entry without feeling that he was the fittest person to be their king.

He proposes the Prince of Condé.Two days after (May 4) the Senate forsook the “szopa” and took their seat in the “kolo;” and Sobieski, rising in his place, proposed the Prince of Condé, whose military qualities, he said, made him the proper choice of a nation which would have to struggle for its existence. This unexpected event caused an immense commotion. The vast multitude was split into the old factions of France and Austria, and for days it seemed as if there was no solution but civil war. At length (May 19) Sobieski consented to withdraw the name of Condé if the queen would consent to marry the Duke of Neuberg. Hoping against hope for the success of her party, Eleanor rejected this offer with disdain; and the Lithuanians, who were encamped on the other side of the Vistula, assumed a menacing attitude towards the Polish Pospolite. At this crisis the Bishop of Cracow, who was discharging the functions of interrex,[57] gave orders for the singing of the canticles with which the debates were accustomed to close. The familiar chant and its associations produced a dead calm in the tempestuous assembly, and at its conclusion the prelate ordered each palatinate to range itself round the banner of its palatine. Jablonowski proposes Sobieski.While his orders were being obeyed, Jablonowski, palatine of Red Russia, the home of Sobieski, took advantage of the silence to address all those within hearing. He represented Lorraine as too devoted to the empire, Neuberg as too young, Condé as too old, to command their armies with vigour. The times, he said, required a prince who was well acquainted alike with them and with their military system. He was here interrupted with loud shouts of “A Piast!” a sound which soon collected round the speaker all the surging masses of the Pospolite. The palatine continued, “Among ourselves is a man whose sacrifices for his country have caused him to be everywhere considered the first of the sons of Poland. In placing him at our head we shall do no more than consecrate his own glory; fortunate to be able to honour by one title the more the remainder of a life, of which every day has been dedicated to the republic. We know that such a king will maintain our nation in the rank which it occupies in the world. Such a man as he is will never make himself a vassal of the infidel. Poles, if we are deliberating here in peace on the election of a king, if the most illustrious dynasties are courting our suffrages, if our liberty remains secure, if even we have a country left to us, to whom do we owe it? Remember the marvels of Slobodyszcza, of Podhaic, of Kalusz, above all, of Kotzim, and take for your king John Sobieski!”[58]

A tempest of applause followed this speech, and as it subsided the voice of one of the castellans was heard calling upon the Poles to elect that man whom the Turks would be most anxious to exclude. Then from the midst of the host rose loud shouts of “Long live King John Sobieski!” and thirteen palatinates at once took up the cry. The regular soldiers pressed forward towards the szopa, exclaiming, “We will all perish together, or have for our king John Sobieski!” It was already late in the evening, but the Polish nobility crowded round the interrex, and besought him to take the votes. He postpones the voting.One voice alone was raised against the proposition; it was that of Sobieski. He firmly declared that he could not accept the crown if it was offered at the fall of night, and in a manner so sudden that no one could have time to recollect himself. “If,” said he, “there is no other protest against the election being made this night, I shall oppose my veto.” This disinterested advice was unwillingly followed, and Sobieski left the plain to encounter the reproaches of his wife.

Several writers—principally the later Polish historians, who treat him with marked disfavour—endeavour to detect in his conduct throughout the proceedings the signs of crafty intrigue. And shows his fair dealing. Yet by this last step he allowed his enemies time to combine against him, and gave the queen’s party a fair opportunity of reviving their scattered energies. But such generosity is often the best policy. The succeeding night and day (May 20th) were spent in a general effort to secure unanimity; and the riches and influence of his brother-in-law, Radziwill, were of much service to Sobieski in the Lithuanian camp. But his own popularity was still more effectual. It had ever been the privilege of the Grand General of Poland to quarter his army where he pleased, and pay nothing for their maintenance. Bribes had formerly been freely taken from those districts that desired exemption,[59] but Sobieski, unwilling to exercise such tyranny, had always quartered his army on the frontiers. This was now remembered with gratitude. His offers to the republic.His promises to the republic also became the topic of admiring conversation. He engaged to pay the pension to the queen dowager, to redeem the crown jewels, to found a military school for the young nobility, to build two fortresses wherever the Diet should appoint, and to furnish the regular army with six months’ pay. Early in the day two of the family of Paz came to register their opposition with the interrex, but before night fell they had been persuaded to forego it. Proclamation of Sobieski.The next morning Sobieski was proclaimed king amid the acclamations of both Principalities, and took the name of John III. The same day a vast crowd attended him to the cathedral of St. John to return thanks for his election.

Opinion of Europe.Europe in general was less astonished at his elevation than Poland. At Constantinople and at Vienna alone the news was received with disfavour. Köprili saw less chance of recovering his conquests; and the emperor was bitterly mortified to see upon the throne one who had always belonged to the faction of France. Poland was daily becoming of greater importance in the struggle between Louis and Leopold. When the republic was bleeding from the shocks of her barbarous neighbours, and from a succession of internal troubles, it mattered little to these great potentates who filled the throne; but now that she had proved herself strong enough to withstand the dreaded Turk, and wise enough to offer the crown to her victorious general, she was looked upon with a respect to which she had hitherto been a stranger. This was fully appreciated at the Papal Court. Clement X., besides his benediction, sent assurances of friendship to the new king; and Oliva, the general of the Jesuits, wrote his joyful congratulations to “the pillar of the republic and the avenger of Christendom.” It is difficult to discover how far the court of France had a hand in his election. Its ambassador, Forbin-Janson, bishop of Marseilles, arrived somewhat late (May 8th), and certainly brought instructions to support the Duke of Neuberg. But he probably discovered ere long which way the tide was setting, and, adapting himself to circumstances with a Frenchman’s ready wit, he caused it to be supposed that he had used his influence in favour of Sobieski. Louis XIV. followed the same course; and in an official note of the same summer claimed this election as one more instance of the universal triumph of his policy.

Schemes of the king’s enemies.The machinations of the enemies of Sobieski did not cease with the withdrawal of their veto. Their first move was to give notice of a law which should oblige him to divorce his wife and marry the queen dowager. But on this point the king was firm. “I have not yet finally promised,” said he, “to accept the royal functions. If this is the price of your sceptre, you need not offer it.” The proposal was soon dropped; and Eleanor, after receiving a visit from the king, retired to Thorn, whence she still exercised a baneful influence upon the course of affairs. Four years later (1678) she gave her hand to her old suitor, the Prince of Lorraine.

Whilst the Diet was drawing up the pacta conventa, Sobieski discovered from an examination of his revenues that he could not fulfil his promise of paying the army for six months. Without delay he frankly owned his inability; and his opponents made this a pretext for inserting in the contract new restrictions on the military authority of the king. They also wished to bind him to an eternal alliance with the court of Vienna. It was soon known that the king would not yield to these terms; and several stormy scenes took place in the Diet. At length the obnoxious articles were struck out; and on the 5th June the king received the instrument of his election from the hands of the interrex.

There now remained only the ceremony of coronation—which was a necessary prelude to the exercise of the royal functions. Danger from the Turks.But the steady advance of the Turks grew daily more disquieting. Caplan Pacha had rallied the remnants of the defeated force, and the Sultan was already marching with a great army through Bulgaria. John saw that the delay would be dangerous, and had the courage to disappoint the queen[60] and the whole court by deferring the ceremony. He told the Senate that at such a time a helmet became his forehead better than a diadem. “I know well,” said he, “that I have been elected, not to represent the republic, but to fight for her. I will first fulfil my mission.” Touched by his magnanimity, the Diet resolved to place in his hands at once all the powers of a king.

They invade the Ukraine.Meantime the Turks, accompanied by the Tartars, had appeared in great force before the camp at Kotzim. The Polish commander, terrified at their numbers, soon surrendered, and the whole garrison was put to the sword. But instead of advancing into the heart of Poland, Köprili turned to the right into the Ukraine, where the Muscovites, who also laid claim to that territory, now lined the Borysthenes with 100,000 men. Hearing that he was occupied in besieging small places in the Ukraine, John promised to render a good account of him before the close of the campaign. He kept his word. Campaign of 1674.While the Turks drove the Muscovites beyond the river, he suddenly appeared in Podolia and besieged Bar. The Sultan, who was distracted by news of intrigues at his capital and the advance of the Sophy upon Babylon, suddenly broke up his camp, and made for Silistria. The Tartars disappeared at the sound of “the Polish hurricane,” as they called Sobieski; and John was left to deal with the hapless country which had but just suffered from the Ottoman invasion. John winters in the Ukraine.He could see no mode of protecting its peasants from the yoke of the nobility but to place his army in winter quarters in the neighbourhood, and to teach the cavalry by his own example what clemency and what self-sacrifice they ought to show towards a subject people. Resistance was only to be expected; for his haughty hussars had never before passed a winter away from their estates. But when they saw their king take up his abode in the miserable town of Braclaw, where the scarcity of forage increased the hardships of the season, the Polish cavalry submitted without a murmur.

The Lithuanians desert him.Not so, however, did the Lithuanians. The king had assigned to Paz the town of Bar, the most comfortable post on the frontiers. Yet that general did not approve of the innovation, and taking the law into his own hands marched home with his army. This defection was a great blow to the king. He had begun to invest Kaminiec, and had opened negotiations for an alliance with Muscovy. He now saw himself obliged to narrow his plans, and to confine himself to the defensive. The desertion of Paz aroused the strongest indignation in Poland, and he was forced to ask the king’s pardon; but he could not now repair the mischief. His disbanded troops were amusing themselves with pillaging their own country,[61] and there was no chance at present of rallying them round their standards.

Campaign of 1675.The winter passed without any important success; and early in April another large Turkish army, commanded by Ibrahim Pacha,[62] nicknamed “Schischman” from his enormous bulk, advanced into Volhynia. John hastily quitted the Ukraine and disposed his small forces for the defence of Russia in a vast arc, of which Leopol was the centre. So completely was he outnumbered that his only chance of success seemed to lie in procuring allies. He continued to treat with the Czar, and received at Leopol with ostentatious pomp an ambassador from the Sophy of Persia; but he could hope little from the latter, except the chance of terrifying the Sultan by a supposed coalition with his Asiatic enemy.

Lethargy of the Poles.Meanwhile Ibrahim had copied the fault of the preceding year by wasting time in small sieges, and it was not till he received a threatening message from Köprili that he began to advance upon the Polish force covering Leopol, which hardly amounted to 15,000 men. No exertions on the part of the king could awaken Poland to a sense of its danger. Servitude had numbed the senses of the peasants, and the nobles were wearied with the length of the war. Ibrahim seemed unwilling to trust his fortune against that of Sobieski. Sitting down before Trembowla, a strong fortress in Podolia, he sent on the Tartar Noureddin with 40,000 men “to bring the king before him dead or alive.”

Battle of Leopol.It was late in August when this detachment[63]—the flower of the Turkish army—arrived at Leopol, and began to burn the suburbs. The Poles besought the king to retire, and not risk his life in so deadly a combat. “You would despise me,” said he, “if I were to follow your advice.” The ground in the vicinity was undulating and covered with vineyards, and John carefully made his dispositions in order to conceal from the enemy the smallness of his force. He planted several hills, which he could not occupy, with the spare lances of his hussars, and concealed squadrons in the valleys near the point of attack. Then, on the 24th of August, amidst a storm of snow and hail which beat in the faces of the enemy, he suddenly charged the infidels at the head of 5,000 cavalry, repeating thrice the name of Jesus. The impetuous bravery of the Poles spread terror in the Turkish ranks, and before nightfall the whole force, though at least eight times the number of their assailants, had fled in disorder. The storm was so unusual for the time of year that contemporary memoirs speak of it as miraculous; and it appears that this battle, more than any other, contributed to cause the superstitious fear with which the Turkish troops subsequently regarded John Sobieski.

Siege of Trembowla.Ibrahim was dismayed at the king’s success. He had captured the position of Podhaic, but he could not reduce the garrison of Trembowla, commanded by Chrasonowski, a man of determined courage. He now redoubled his assault upon that place, which must have fallen but for the arrival of John with the Polish army. The king posted his troops to advantage and prepared for the attack; but during the night (Oct. 6th) Ibrahim intercepted a letter to the besieged, which informed him that the king in person was at the head of the Poles. Retreat of the Turks.He at once raised the siege, and without striking a blow retreated precipitately to Kaminiec, and thence across the Danube. John would have pursued him beyond the outskirts of Podolia, but the Polish vanguard, dreading a winter’s campaign in the enemy’s country, set fire to the bridges, and compelled their king to suspend his march.

Return of the king.The whole country clamoured for his return, and the Diet was impatient to return thanks to its deliverer. The Vice-chancellor declared in the Senate that the king moved like a tortoise towards the throne, but like an eagle towards the enemies of the republic. He was now ready to gratify the general wish, and returning to Zolkiew received a number of foreign ambassadors sent to congratulate him upon his election,—among them Lawrence Hyde, Earl of Rochester,[64] whom Dr. South was attending as domestic chaplain. The French ambassador solicited John’s alliance against Brandenburg and the empire, and held out hopes of persuading the Turks to make peace. But the king deferred all fresh engagements for the present; his grand aim in life was to save Poland from the Ottoman grasp.

Cracow was, as usual, the scene of the coronation, which was fixed for the 2nd of February (1676). Burial of the two last kings.Two days earlier, according to the Polish custom, John followed to the grave the body of Michael, and the interest of the ceremony was deepened on this occasion by the obsequies of Casimir. The ex-king had died three years before, of grief, it was said, at the fall of Kaminiec.[65] The reigns of the two deceased kings, so fruitful in misfortunes to Poland, comprised the whole of Sobieski’s wonderful career, and it was fitting that their royal mourner should be he to whose prowess they were chiefly indebted for retaining the crown. Coronation.The coronation took place amid general rejoicings, broken only by a few murmurs when the crown was set upon the queen’s head. It was not long before she showed her unfitness to wear it.

Diet of 1676.Two days later (February 4th) the Diet met, and was conspicuous for its loyal enthusiasm. The king was entreated not to lay down the office of Grand General, but he wisely refused a privilege so invidious, and conferred the post upon his old enemy, Demetrius Wiesnowiesçki. He displayed the same generous spirit in his other appointments, offering the primacy to Olzowski, the favourite of Eleanor, and the Grand Marshalate to Lubomirski, son of his old rival. The brave Jablonowski was rewarded with the post of Second General. His elevation caused some trouble. The Diet proposed to make these dignities triennial, which, in the present reign at least, would have been a salutary enhancement of the royal power; but the queen, out of gratitude to Jablonowski, worked hard in secret to defeat the proposal. The king, though he favoured it at heart, appeared neutral; and the project fell through.

John availed himself of the favourable temper of the Diet to take exceptional measures for the national defence. He proposed a capitation subsidy upon all alike, clergy as well as laity, and strongly urged the necessity of forming a permanent infantry. Hitherto this branch of the service had been fixed at one-third of the regular army (16,000), but it had never reached this standard, and being composed only of the peasants and poorer nobles, commanded by foreign officers, its equipment was disgracefully inefficient.[66] The Diet voted that the army should be raised to 73,000 men, thus augmenting it by 25,000,[67] and that of these 35,000 should be infantry. No king had ever obtained such concessions from the nobility, but they were not granted without a violent opposition. The old expedient was tried of drawing out the Diet, but John defeated it by submitting to a continuous sitting, and presiding upon the throne for forty consecutive hours. He was able to announce that the Great Elector had promised him succours, and that he hoped for an alliance with Muscovy. The Diet did not rise before paying him the unusual compliment of a decree that all the starosties which he had held should remain hereditary in his family.[68]

The king fails to levy troops.Unfortunately their good resolutions were not carried into effect. Although the Dietines ratified their proceedings, it was beyond the king’s power to overcome the inertness and lethargy of the nobility. The patriotic spirit died out at once when the magic of his personal influence was withdrawn. Seizing upon a rumour which was industriously raised by Austria, that the king was treating in secret with the Turks and would use the money for his own purposes, they refused to pay the subsidy, and threw every obstacle in his way. John hastily assembled at Leopol those troops which had not been disbanded; but, although their number is variously stated, some even placing it as low as 10,000, it probably did not amount to one-half of the force that the Diet had decreed.

Armament of the Turks.Meanwhile, Köprili had not been idle. He assembled an army of 100,000 Turks, to be accompanied by a vast host of Tartars. But his aim was more pacific than in the former campaigns. He was beset by the proffered mediation of the European powers, especially of Louis XIV., who wished to evade his promise of sending armed assistance to Poland. Moreover, the condition of Asiatic Turkey distracted his attention; his allies, the Cossacks and the Tartars, inspired him with distrust; and he felt that his fortune was outshone by the star of John Sobieski. The name of the Polish hero was such a terror in the Ottoman ranks that threats alone could induce many of the officers to serve against him. Köprili looked out anxiously for a competent general. He chose Ibrahim, Pacha of Damascus, called “Shaitan” (Satan), from his combined bravery and cunning, and gave him instructions to procure an honourable peace.