474 GALLICIA AND LODOMERIA. 



disapproved of the peace he had concluded with them. As the jea- 

 lousy hereby occasioned continued, the Russians came to a rupture 

 with the Poles ; and being joined by many of the Cossacs, they, in 

 1 654, took Smolensko. This was followed by the taking of Wilna and 

 other places ; and they committed most horrid ravages in Lithuania. 

 Next year Charles X, of Sweden, after overrunning Great and Little 

 Poland, entered into Polish Prussia, all the towns of which received 

 him, except Dantzic. The resistance made by that city gave the Poles 

 time to reassemble ; and their king, John Cassimir, who had fled into 

 Silesia, was joined by the Tartars as well as the Poles : so that the 

 Swedes, who were dispersed through the country, were every where 

 cut in pieces. The Lithuanians, at the same time disowned the alle- 

 giance they had been forced to yield to Charles, who returned to 

 Sweden with no more than a handful of his army. It was during this 

 expedition that the Dutch and English protected Dantzic, and the 

 elector of Brandenburg acquired the sovereignty of Ducal Prussia, 

 which had submitted to Charles. Thus the latter lost Poland, of which 

 he had made an almost complete conquest. The treaty of Oliva was 

 begun after the Swedes had been driven out of Cracow and Thorn, by 

 which Royal Prussia was restored to the Poles. They were, however, 

 forced to quit all pretensions to Livonia, and to cede Smolensko, 

 Kiow, and the duchy of Siveria, to the Russians. 



During these transactions, the Polish nobility grew dissatisfied with 

 the concessions their king had made to the Cossacs, many of whom had 

 thrown off the Polish yoke ; others charged him with want of capacity ; 

 and some, with an intention to rule by a mercenary army of Germans. 

 Casimir, who very possibly had no such intentions, and was fond of re- 

 tirement and study, finding that cabals and factions increased every day, 

 and that he himself might fall a sacrifice to the public discontent, abdi- 

 cated his throne, and died abbot of St. Germain in France, employing 

 the remainder of his days in Latin poetical compositions, which are far 

 from being despicable. 



The most remote descendants of the ancient kings ending in John 

 Casimir, many foreign candidates presented themselves for the crown of 

 Poland ; but the Poles chose for their king a private gentleman, of little 

 interest and less capacity, one Michael Wiesnowiski, because he was de- 

 scended from a Piast. His reign was disgraceful to Poland. Large 

 bodies of Cossacs had put themselves under the protection of the Turks, 

 who conquered all the provinces of Podolia, and took Kaminieck,till then 

 thought impregnable. The greatest part of Poland was then ravaged, 

 and the Poles were obliged to pay an annual tribute to the Sultan. Not- 

 withstanding those disgraceful events, the credit of the Polish arms 

 was in some measure maintained by John Sobieski, the crown general, 

 a brave and active commander, who had given the Turks several de- 

 feats. Michael dying in 1673, Sobieski was chosen king; and in 1676 

 he was so successful against the infidels, that he forced them to remit 

 the tribute they had imposed upon Poland ; but they kept possession 

 ofKaminieck. In 1683, Sobieski, though he had not been well treated 

 by the house of Austria, was so public spirited as to enter into the 

 league that was formed for the defence of Christendom against the in- 

 fidels, and acquired immortal honour, by obliging the Turks to raise 

 the siege of Vienna, and making a terrible slaughter of the enemy ; 

 for all which glorious services, and driving the Turks out of Hungary, 

 he was ungratefully requited by the emperor Leopold. 



Sobieski returning to Poland continued the war against the Turks, 



