433 



AUGUSTUS II. 



AUGUSTUS II. 



434 



of the states on all important occasions, especially in the raising of 

 subsidies. His laws and ordonnancea were also held in high esti- 

 mation, and he was styled by some the Justinian of Saxony. He 

 embellished Dresden, an'l built the fine palace of Angustenburg, and 

 yet bft the coffers of the state well filled at his death in 1586. He 

 was succeeded by his son Christian I. 



AUGUSTUS II. This is the title by which the monarch is 

 generally known who united the crown of Poland with the electorate 

 of Siixony in 1(597, although in Saxon histories he is more generally 

 styled Frederic Augustus I. He was the second son of John 

 George III., elector of Saxony, and was born at Dresden in 1670. 

 Distinguished in his youth by great personal advantages, Augustus 

 improved these by military campaigns, by travels through Europe, 

 and by a prolonged residence in its various courts. While at Vienna 

 he formed a friendship with the future emperor, Joseph I. His father 

 was somewhat mistrustful of the partiality shown by his son for 

 courtiers and personages hostile to the Protestant interest. For 

 similar reasons a jealousy existed between Augustus and his elder 

 brother, who succeeded to the electorate as John George IV. in 1691. 

 This prince dying in 1694, made way for Augustus, who showed him- 

 self severe towards his brother's mistress and favourites. His first 

 step was an alliance with Austria, in whose behalf he raised troops 

 ag.iimt France; but as he refused to serve under Prince Louis of 

 Baden, who commanded as imperial general upon the Rhine, the 

 court of Vienna intrusted him with an expedition against the Turks 

 in H igary. Here he showed valour and obstinacy, but very little 

 skill, and obtained little success. Hia personal bravery however pro- 

 duced a marked impression on the Turks, who gave him the name 

 of the Iron-handed. 



The death of the heroic Sobieski in 1 696 left the throne of Poland 

 open to the ambition of candidates. His son, James SoMeski, was 

 thwarted in his hopes of succeeding to the royal heritage by the 

 avarice and enmity of his mother. The elector of Bavaria, and the 

 prince of Conti, both aspired to the throne. Augustus was induced 

 to become their competitor by Count Przebedowski, one of the chief 

 dignitaries of the kingdom, who promised that money would insure 

 (uccess ; and he was supported by all the influence of the court of 

 Vicuna. Augustus, through his able envoy, Count Flemming, lavished 

 considerable sums at Warsaw : he thus obtained the advantage over 

 his rival, who could but promise ten millions of florins, while Augus- 

 tus paid them : the Protestant faith of the elector of Saxony was 

 still a serious obstacle ; but Augustus removed it by a public recanta- 

 tion at Baden, near Vienna, on Whit-Sunday, 1697. In addition to 

 the ten millions of florins, Augustus promised to support an army of 

 6000 men at. the cost of Saxony, and to recover Kauiiuietz, Wallachia, 

 Moldavia, and the Ukraine. 



Notwithstanding these promise', the gr.'at majority of electors, in 

 a diet held the 27th of June, 1697, gave their voices to the prince of 

 Conti. The minority however proceeded to proclaim Augustus, who 

 entered Poland at the head of 8000 Saxons ; while the prince of Conti, 

 sailing unattended to Danzig, arrived in time to hear ' Te Deum ' 

 chanted in honour of his rival's accession. Augustus was crowned 

 king on September 15, 1697, and made his entry into Cracow in a 

 ill-dig valued at a million of florins. 



The first aim of the new monarch was to keep his promise of recover- 

 ing for Poland its lost possrssioua of Podolin, the Ukraine, and Kami- 

 nietz. War, conquest, the. foundation of a great empire, anil his own 

 magnificence, were the favourite dreams of Augustus. He commenced 

 by forming an alliance with Denmark, a measure which provoked 

 the hostility of Sweden, and then marched with an army of Saxons 

 and Poles to drive the Turks from Kaminietz. While proceeding on 

 this expedition, the Polish monarch met at Rava the Czar Peter re- 

 turning from his travels with all the plans and projects that were to 

 procure him the title of ' the Great.' The bold, frank, ambitious, yet 

 uncrafty Augustus was the ally moat suitable to Peter's views : a close 

 alliance was concluded between them, and a scheme of conquest, at 

 the expense of Sweden, was projected. The alliance with Russia 

 enabled Augustus to conclude the treaty of Carlowitz, by which most 

 of the territories which he sought to recover were ceded to Poland. 

 The allied monarchs next proceeded to the completion of their pro- 

 jects against Sweden. This kingdom, under the rule of an infant 

 prince, seemed likely to offer no formidable resistance ; and to detach 

 Livonia from it seemed to Augustus to be an easy task, more especially 

 as Patkul, a refugee Livonian, promise'! to rally his countrymen in sup- 

 port of the Saxon cause. Augustus accordingly invadted Livonia, and 

 laid siege to Riga. The provocation had one of those electric effects 

 on human character that change the face of history : it roused young 

 Charles XII. of Sweden from the insignificance of youth, and excited 

 at once the prince and bin people to a pitch of heroism, that rivalled, 

 or even surpassed, for a time the glories of the great Gustavus. 

 Charles defeated the Russians at Narva, and forced Augustus to raise 

 the rie%6 of Riga ; in the meantime he reoccupied Livonia, and in July 

 1701 defeated the Saxon army on the Duna, compelling it to abandon 

 fortresp^s and artillery. The Saxons were throughout made the 

 sacrifice and the sufferers for others : for Augustus failing to attach 

 to himself any of the great parties of Poland or Lithuania, could 

 depend in his distresses upon the affection of his native kingdom 

 lone. Lost in self-admiration, no one would have perhaps been 



Bioo. DIV. VOL. I. 



more worshipped than Augustus, had he been fortunate or great; in 

 adversity, none were more despised or forsaken. His last resource was 

 to send to Charles the Countess of Kcenigsmark, his mistress, in the 

 hope that the persuasions of beauty might soften the resolutions of 

 the Swedish king. Charles however refused to see the fair envoy : he 

 persisted in regarding Augustus as a usurper, and would grant no 

 peace to the Poles, except on the condition of their electing another 

 king. But Augustus resolved not to yield without another effort : he 

 flew to his native Saxony, drained it of fresh funds and soldiers, and 

 marched by the way of Cracow to the deliverance of Warsaw. The 

 armies met between Clisaow and Binczow, on the 19th July, the very 

 day which, in the previous year, had been marked by the fatal battle 

 on the Duna. The result was now similar. The Poles, composing the 

 right wing of the Saxon army, flee!, and the brunt of the battle falling 

 upon the Saxons, they suffered another disastrous defeat. A party 

 was then formed in Poland, antagonistic to the claims of Augustus. 

 Charles allied himself with this party, and promoted the election of 

 its leader, Stanislaus Lecziuski, to the throne of Poland. Stanislaus 

 was accordingly elected on July 12th, 1704. 



The new monarch participated of course in his patron's hostility 

 towards Saxony and Russia, and both accordingly prepared to invade 

 the electorate, and by the conquest of Dresden itself force Augustus 

 to abandon all claim to the Polish crown. The elector of Saxony 

 however had not yet lost all hope : Russia was his ally, Austria his 

 friend, and the pope obstinately refused to recognise the right of his 

 competitor. A new army of Saxons, commanded by Schulenburg, 

 had been raised to defend the electorate, and the czar had promised 

 to second its operations. But the defeat of Schulenburg at Fraustadt 

 left Saxony completely exposed to the conqueror. After this disaster 

 Augustus began to consider submission as inevitable : he accordingly 

 sent agents to treat with Charles, secretly however, since he himself 

 was yet within tlie camp and the power of Russia. Hut before Augustus 

 could escape, the czar forced him to a measure calculated to interrupt, 

 or prevent altogether, a reconciliation with Charles XII. By the 

 advance into Saxony, the Swevlish force in Poland had been much 

 reduced ; its commander had moreover relaxed his vigilance, relying 

 upon the negociations which he was aware were carrying on. The 

 czar forced Augustus, however reluctant, to take advantage of the 

 moment and to attack the Swedes. He did so with success, and even 

 entered Warsaw in momentary triumph. But Augustus saw that an 

 advantage so gained was little likely to conduce to a permanent supe- 

 riority. Instead therefore of making use of it to raise his tone, or 

 diminish his concessions to Sweden, he on the contrary offered to make 

 amends for the aggression ; and at the same time accepted without 

 hesitation the conditions that Churles had already imposed. Abandon- 

 ing Russia, he hastened in person to meet the Swedish monarch at 

 Altranstadt, and to conclude peace upon terms sufficiently humiliating. 

 Augustus abdicated the crown of Poland in favour of Stanislaus, pro- 

 mised to send this prince the crown jewels, and to congratulate him by 

 letter. He abandoned his allies and his fortresses, and was obliged to 

 give up the unfortunate Patkul to the vengeance of Charles. Charles 

 also, in imitation of his great predecessor Gustavus Adolphus, made 

 himself the Defender of the Protestant Faith ; and stipulated that 

 Augustus should respect the creed and privileges of bis Protestant 

 subjects of Saxony. This peace was concluded on September 24th, 

 170. 



Augustus now saw himself confined to his native dominions, and 

 condemned to political insignificance. He endeavoured to drown dis- 

 appointment in luxury and expense ; and by way of finding occupation 

 for himself and his so'diers, in 1708 he placed it Saxon army of 9000 

 men at the emperor's disposal in the Netherlands. Schulenburg com- 

 manded them ; but Augustus himself served in their ranks as a volun- 

 teer, and as such took part in the siege of Lille. His natural son, 

 Maurice of Saxony, made his first campaign on this occasion. The 

 battle of Pultowa, and the overthrow of the power of Sweden in 1709, 

 recalled Augustus to the throne of Poland. The pope released him 

 from his oath of abdication. Russia, Prussia, and Denmark supported 

 his pretensions ; and Stanislaus, instead of offering resistance, fled into 

 Turkey to join Charles. The first efforts of Augustus on his restora- 

 tion were to drive the Swedes altogether from Germany. In conjunc- 

 tion with Denmark, he marched into Pomerauia ; but here he was 

 repulsed by Strinbock, the Swedish general. 



Charles XII. himself soon after re-appeared upon the scene ; but all 

 his heroism was less dangerous to the allies than the intrigues of his 

 minister, the Count de Goertz, who almost succeeded in subverting 

 the existing alliances between the European states. He had nearly 

 dissolved the bond between Augustus and Russia, when the death of 

 Charles XI I. occurred, and at once brought to a conclusion the struggles 

 of war and of politic d intrigue. The restoration of Augustus to 

 the throne of Poland aggravated the illi of that unhappy country. 

 If Stanislaus had beeu raised to the throne by the dictation of a 

 foreign power, Augustus was still more a foreigner, who relied upon 

 Russian support, and who first placed the country at the mercy of sur- 

 rounding states. Unable to rely on the Poles, Augustus endeavoured 

 to defend his authority by Saxon soldiers. Insurrection and civil 

 war followed; and then the country being evacuated by the Saxon 

 soldiers, and the national army of Poland, under the crafty counsel of 

 Russia, reduced from near 100,000 to the insignificant force of about 



2F 



