1810.) 
nent services under the last monarch’s 
reign. 
Sobieski, who had compelled the Turks 
to renounce the tribute king Michael 
had agreed to pay them, was obliged, 
through the intrigues which prevailed in 
tke diet, to postpone to another time the 
re-capture of Kaiminieck.. The hero, 
when once crowned, seon found a bril- 
liant opportunity of increasing the glory 
of the nation, as well as hisown. The 
Turks, who were then in the zenith of 
their power, laid siege ‘to Vienna: ahi 
Christendom was in a state of anxious 
inquietude; but the jealousy which the 
house of Austria inspired them with, be- 
came a balance amongst the greatest 
powers, to the alarm which the Turks 
excited ; so that but a very inconsiderable 
number of the princes of Germany put 
their troops in motion to assist the em- 
peror Leopold. Sobieski, although he 
had ‘strong and weighty reasons to be 
dissatisfied with Austria, induced the ge- 
nerous Poles to devote themselves tothe 
cause of Europe: he levied an army. of 
forty thousand men, and took the com- 
mand in person: his valour and his ge- 
nias decided that dreadful battle which 
forced Soliman to raise the siege of Vienna, 
(1683); and, in ashort time after, the 
Turks were even driven from the whole 
of Hungary. But what recompense did 
the intrepid Sobieski receive for these 
signal favours? The emperor Leopold 
continued to detest him; the Polish 
senate enceurayed the disputes: after his 
death, which happened in 1696, all par- 
ties were of the same opinion—that of 
excluding the children of Sobieski from 
the throne; and, to fill up the measure of 
ingratitude, both the Polish and German 
historians agree in representing this great 
hero. as a bad citizen, and a weak 
prince. 
It is not to be wholly denied, but that 
the fame of Sobieski may have been in 
some degree exaggerated. The French 
writers of the day, have praised him so 
much, perhaps, because they believed 
that he seriously meant to placea French 
prince upon the throne, invested with 
absolute power. Sobieski knew the ge- 
nius and temper of the people of Po- 
Jand; and he foresaw that they would 
never consent to receive a master, 
though they would give themselves one. 
Thus every negociation with Louis XIV. 
relative to the prince of Condé and mar- 
shal de Turenne, appears to us but a 
crafty invention to awe the diet of elec- 
yon. The threats of Sobieski against king 
Anecdotes of John Sobieski, King of Poland. 
$31 
Michael, are not to this day explained 
clearly by historians: we will therefore 
avoid touching here upon points of such 
a difficule nature. 
The heroic traits of the life of Sobieski, 
have acquired universal fame and _ cele- 
brity, by the sentences, short, but full of 
eloquence and genius, by which they 
were accompanied, Qn taking his de- 
parture from Warsaw, he turned to the 
different ambassadors and said, ‘Tell 
your masters, that you have seen me 
mount my horse, and that Vienna now is 
saved.” ‘The queen, who was drowned 
in tears, held her youngest son fast in her 
arms. The king requested her not to be 
alarmed : * Sire, (answered she) the rea= 
son why my tears will flow is, that the 
tender age of this young prince will nox 
allow him to follow the footsteps of his 
father, and his ancestors.” Surrounded 
by the princes of Germany, Sobieski 
made the army of the Republic defile 
before them. The cavalry was admired 
for the beauty of their horses, their ap« 
pointments, and their fine appearance; 
but the infantry was badly clothed: 
there was one battalion, in particular, 
whose nakedness, if we may so call it, 
was more remarkable than all the others. 
Prince Lobomirski advised the king, for 
the honour of the nation, not to let that 
regiment march past hisallies.Subieski ree 
jected his advice,’ At the mement when 
the battalion was marching past them, he 
said to the princes around him, “ Jook 
at thas corps well; it is a regiment of 
invincibles, who ‘have taken an oath, 
never in timé of war, to wear any other 
dress than that of their enemies; in the 
late war they were all dressed as 
Turks,” : 
There are various other anecdotes ane 
thenticated by contemporary historians, 
which describe the manners of the ave. 
A Polish deserter, who had. been in the 
service of the Vizier, after the battle, 
brought a silver stirrap, which Mustapha 
had let fall in his flight. The king gave 
it to one of his officers, saying at the 
same time, “ Carry this stirrup to the 
queen, and tell her that he to whom it 
belonged is vanquished.” An immense 
booty was found in the Turkish camp ; 
that of the Vizier, in particular, dazzled 
the eyes of the conquerors, being every 
thing which luxury and pride could cone 
ceive as the richest and most precious, 
Sobieski wrote to the queen, “ that 
the Grand Vizier had made him his heir. 
and that he had found in his tents the 
value of several millions of ducats, So 
that,” 
