AUGUSTUS. 



339 



1690, by the death of John Sobieski, A. presented 

 himself as a candidate for it. The abbe de Polignac, 

 the French ambassador at Warsaw, supported the 

 pretensions of the prince of Conti, whom the Polish 

 nobility preferred ; but A. had an army on the fron- 

 tiers, obtained votes by bribery, and publicly embraced 

 the Catholic religion. June 27th, 1697, the election 

 took place. A. strengthened his party by marching 

 10,000 Saxons into Poland. Bribery and intimidation 

 obtained him the victory. After he had ascended 

 the throne, a treaty was concluded between Denmark, 

 Poland, and the czar Peter I., against Charles XII. 

 of Sweden, in which the object was the conquest of 

 Livonia. (See Oliva.) But Charles, having defeated 

 the Danes under the walls of Copenhagen, and the 

 Russians at Narva, was now ready to advance into 

 Poland, and A. was obliged to provide for the defence 

 of his own dominions. Thus commenced the cele- 

 brated northern war, which lasted twenty years, in 

 which A., with his faithful Saxons, had to withstand 

 the opposition of the Poles, as well as the valour of 

 the Swedes. Charles declared him a usurper, and 

 thus separated the cause of the republic from that of 

 the king, who obtained but little assistance from the 

 Poles. The Swedes advanced to Clissow, between 

 Warsaw and Cracow. A. had 24,000 men, Charles 

 only half the number ; but the Poles gave way in the 

 beginning of the engagement, and Charles gained a 

 complete victory, July 20, 1702. May 1, 1703, the 

 Saxon army was defeated again at Pultusk. The 

 diet assembled at Warsaw declared A., Feb. 1 4, 1704, 

 incapable of wearing the crown of Poland, and Stan- 

 islaus Lesczinsky, waywode of Posen, was chosen 

 king, July 12, 1604. Charles, victorious on every 

 side, advanced into Saxony, and A. found himself 

 obliged to conclude a secret peace, at Altranstadt 

 (([. \.), Sept. 24, 1706. Meanwhile the Russians, 

 ignorant of these transactions, obliged A. to attack 

 the Swedish general Mardefeld. He gained a signal 

 victory at Kalisch, and entered Warsaw in triumph, 

 at the time that the proposals of Charles were brought 

 to him. However much he might desire to take ad- 

 vantage of his good fortune, it was too late. Saxony 

 lay at the mercy of the Swedes. He signed the 

 treaty, and, December 18, 1706, visited Charles in 

 his camp at Altranstadt. To complete his mortifica- 

 tion, Charles compelled him to send to Stanislaus the 

 jewels and archives of the crown, with a letter of 

 congratulation. He returned to Dresden, where he 

 soon after received an unexpected visit from Charles. 

 Count Flemming, his first minister, advised him to 

 make himself master of the person of his dreaded 

 enemy ; but he rejected the unjust proposal. He now 

 devoted himself to the domestic affairs of Saxony. 

 His love of splendour had involved him in many 

 expenses, by which the finances of his kingdom were 

 disordered. In 1708, he served, under an assumed 

 name, in a campaign against the French, in the 

 Netherlands. In 1709, after the defeat of Charles 

 at Pultawa, the Poles recalled A., who united 

 himself anew with Peter. These two monarchs, in 

 alliance with Denmark, sent troops into Pomerania. 

 Notwithstanding the exhausted state of Sweden, the 

 Swedish general Steinbock gained a splendid victory 

 over the allies at Gadebusch, Dec. 20, 1712, which 

 compelled them to raise the siege of Wismar and 

 Sir.ilsuiid. Charles XII., having afterwards returned 

 from his residence in Turkey, and made known his 

 determination to prosecute the war with vigour, an 

 alliance, at the head of which was A., was formed 

 against him ; but his death put an end to the war, 

 and A. concluded a peace with Sweden. A confed- 

 eration was now formed in Poland against the Saxon 

 troops, at the head of which was a nobleman, named 

 Lvdekuski. The Saxons were attacked ou all sides, 



and were obliged to surrender. At length, through 

 the mediation of Peter, an arrangement was conclud- 

 ed at Warsaw, 1716, between A. and the republic, 

 The Saxon troops were removed from the kingdom, 

 and A., says a celebrated historian, renouncing the 

 idea of subduing it by force, sought to attain his end 

 by other means. He gave himself wholly up to 

 voluptuousness and a life of pleasure. His court was 

 one of the most splendid and polished in Europe, 

 The Poles yielded but too readily to the example of 

 their king, and the lasL years of his reign were char- 

 acterized by boundless luxury and corruption of 

 manners. We read with astonishment, even at this 

 day, the description of the entertainments given by 

 him. It is related that he gave a regiment of dra- 

 goons to king Frederic William of Prussia for twelve 

 porcelain vases. He was not disliked by his subjects, 

 and filled with dignity his station among the Euro- 

 pean powers. In his character generous ideas were 

 united with despotic feelings, a taste for pleasure 

 with the cares of ambition, and the restlessness of a 

 warlike spirit with the effeminacy of a luxurious life. 

 Death surprised him in the midst of his pleasures 

 and projects. On his journey to Warsaw to attend 

 the diet, a small wound in his knee becoming inflam- 

 ed, he died, Feb. 1, 1733, and was buried in Cracow. 

 His wife, Christine Eberhardine, left him one son. 

 By his mistresses he had many children. The coun- 

 tess of Konigsmarkbore him the celebrated Maurice 

 of Saxony. See Cosel, countess of. 



AUGUSTUS III., Frederic, elector of Saxony and 

 king of Poland, son of Augustus II., born at Dres- 

 den, 1696, succeeded his father as elector, in 173>J. 

 Towards the end of this year, Louis XV. endeavoured 

 to replace Stanislaus Lesczinsky, whose daughter he 

 had married, on the throne of Poland ; but France 

 was too far distant to send troops enough to Poland 

 to support him. A part of the Polish nobility separ- 

 ated from the diet, and, supported by a Russian ar- 

 my, chose A. king ; and in 1736, he was first gener- 

 ally recognized as such by the congress assembled 

 at Warsaw to conclude a peace. Although witliout 

 the great and amiable qualities of his father, in other 

 respects he closely followed his example, distinguish- 

 ing himself by the splendour of his feasts and the ex- 

 travagance of his court. He squandered immense 

 sums on pictures and musicians. Hunting was his 

 passion. The cares of government he gave up to 

 his favourite and prime minister, count Bruhl (q. v.), 

 who was artful enough to persuade a monarch, weak, 

 but proud and jealous of his dignity, that he alone 

 exercised the supreme power. His system of politics 

 consisted in entire dependence upon Russia, He 

 preferred Dresden to Warsaw, and, through his long 

 absence from Poland, the government sank into en- 

 tire inactivity. Never were the annual diets more 

 turbulent, and never were they so inefficient from 

 the unbending obstinacy of the members, who con- 

 tinually opposed each other, under the most trivial 

 pretexts. A. was satisfied if he could remain in his 

 beloved Saxony, and thus the great kingdom of Po- 

 land was almost entirely without a government for 

 thirty years. In the midst of this confusion, the 

 Poles appeared to be satisfied and happy ; but, when 

 Frederic II. had conquered Silesia, A., disturbed by 

 the rapidly-increasing power of Prussia, united him- 

 self with the queen or Hungary, by the treaties of 

 Dec. 1742, May 13, 1744, and by Uiat of Leipsic, 

 May 18, 1745 He pledged himself by means of the 

 money which England and Holland were to pay him, 

 to furnish her with 30,000 auxiliary troops, which he 

 sent into Silesia, where they were united with the 

 Austrian army, but were entirely defeat* d at Hohen- 

 friedberg, June 4, 1745. Frederic now attacked 

 Saxony itself, and prince Leopold of Dessau defeated 

 2 a x* 



