a kingdom of Europe, in its largest extent bounded by Pomerania, Brandenburg, Silesia, and Moravia, to the west; and, towards the east, by part of Russia and the Lesser Tartary; on the north, it has the Baltic, Russia, the grand province of Livonia, and Samogitia; and on the south, it is bounded by Bessarabia, Transylvania, Moldavia, and Hungary. Geographers generally divide it into the provinces of Poland Proper, Lithuania, Samogitia, Courland, Prussia, Masovia, Polachia, Polesia, Little Russia, called likewise Russia Rubra or Red Russia, Podolia, and the Ukrain. Now, however, it is very considerably reduced in extent, as will appear in the course of its history.

With regard to the history of Poland, we are not to gather the earlier part of it from any accounts transmitted to us by the natives. The early histories of all nations indeed are involved in fable; but the Poles never had even a fabulous history of their own nation. The reason of this is, that it was not the custom with that nation to entertain itinerant poets for the amusement of the great; for the songs of these poets entertained among other nations we are obliged for the early part of their history; but this assistance being deficient in Poland, we must have recourse to what is recorded concerning it by the historians of other nations.

The sovereigns of Poland at first had the title of duke, dukes or generals, as if their office had been only to lead the armies into the field. The first of Poland there is universally allowed to have been Lechus or Lecht; and to render him more illustrious, he is said to have been a lineal descendant from Japhet the son of first duke Noah. According to some writers, he migrated at the head of a numerous body of the descendants of the ancient Scavi from some of the neighbouring nations; and, to this day, Poland is called by the Tartars, the kingdom of Lechus. Butchting, however, gives a different account of the origin of the Poles. Sarmatia, he observes, was an extensive country, inhabited by a variety of nations of different names. He supposes the Poles to be the descendants of the ancient Lazi, a people who lived in Colchis near the Pontus Euxinus; whence the Poles are sometimes called Poleni. Crossing several rivers they entered Polonia, and settled on the borders of the Warta, while their neighbours the Zechi settled on the Elbe, in the 550th year of Christ. Of Poland As to the name of Poland, or Polla, as it is called by the natives, it comes from the Slavonic word Pole, or Pola, which signifies a country adapted to hunting, because the whole country was formerly covered with vast forests, exceedingly proper for that employment.

Of the transactions of Lycho during the time that he enjoyed the sovereignty, we have no certain account. His successor was named Vifcimer, who is generally supposed to have been the nephew of Lechus. He was a warlike and successful prince, subduing many provinces of Denmark, and building the city of Witmar, so called from the name of the sovereign. But the Danish historians take no notice of his wars with their country; nor do they even mention a prince of this name. However, he is said to have reigned for a long time with great glory; but to have left the people in great distresses, on account of the disputes which arose about a successor.

After the death of Vifcimer, the nobility were on the point of electing a sovereign, when the people, harassed by the grievous burdens occasioned by the wars of Vifcimer, unanimously demanded another form of government, that they might no longer be made sacrifices to ambition and tyranny. At first the nobility pretended to yield to this humour of the people with great reluctance; however, they afterwards determined on such a form of government as threw all the cacy power into their own hands. Twelve palatines, or vaivodes, were chosen; and the Polish dominions divided into as many provinces. These palatines exercised a delusive authority within their several jurisdictions, and aggravated the misery of the people by perpetual wars among themselves; upon which the Poles, worn out with oppression, resolved to return to their old form of government. Many assemblies were held for this purpose; but, by reason of the opposition of the vaivodes, they came to nothing. At last, however, they cast their eyes upon Cracus, or Gracus, whose wealth and popularity had raised him to the highest honours among his countrymen. The Poles say, that he was a native of Poland, and one of the 12 vaivodes; but the Bohemians affirm that he was a native of their country; however, both agree in maintaining, that he was descended from the ancient family of the Gracchi in Rome; who, they say, were banished to this country. He is said to have signified lized himself against the Franks, whom he overthrew in some desperate engagements, and afterwards built the city of Cracow with their spoils. He did not enlarge his dominions, but made his subjects happy by many excellent regulations. At last, after a long and glorious reign, he expired, or, according to some, was assassinated by a nobleman who aspired to the crown.

Cracus left three children, Cracus, Lechus, and a daughter named Vanda. The first succeeded to the dukedom in virtue of his birthright; but was soon after murdered by his brother Lechus. However, it seems the thoughts of the crime which he had committed so disturbed his conscience, that the secret could not be kept: when it was known that he had been the murderer of his late sovereign, he was deposed with all possible marks of ignominy and contempt, and his sister Vanda declared duchess. She was a most beautiful and accomplished lady; and soon after she had been raised to the sovereignty, one Rithogar, a Teutonic prince, sent an ambassador demanding her in marriage, and threatening war if his proposals were refused. Vanda marched in person against him at the head of a numerous army, and the event proved fatal both to Rithogar and herself. The troops of Rithogar abandoned him without striking a blow, upon which he killed himself in despair; and Vanda, having become enamoured of him, was so much concerned for his death, that she drowned herself in the river Vistula or Wiefel. From this unfortunate lady the country of Vandalia takes its name.

The family of Cracus having become extinct by the death of Vanda, the Poles were again left at liberty to choose a new sovereign, or a new form of government. Through a natural levity, they changed the form of government, and restored the voivodes notwithstanding all that they had formerly suffered from them. The consequences were the same as before; the voivodes abused their power; the people were oppressed, and the state was distracted between foreign wars and civil contentions. At that time the Hungarians and Moravians had invaded Poland with a numerous army, and were opposed only by a handful of men almost ready to surrender at discretion. However, one Premilus, a private soldier, contrived a stratagem by which the numerous forces of the enemy were overthrown; and, for his valour, was rewarded with the dukedom. We are ignorant of the other transactions of his reign; but all historians inform us, that he died deeply regretted, and without issue; so that the Poles had once more to choose a sovereign.

On the death of Premilus, several candidates appeared for the throne, and the Poles determined to prefer him who could overcome all his competitors in a horse-race. A stone pillar was erected near the capital, on which were laid all the ensigns of the ducal authority, and an herald proclaimed, that he who first arrived at that pillar from a river at some distance named Powderic, was to enjoy them. A Polish lord named Lechus was resolved to secure the victory to himself by a stratagem; for which purpose he caused iron spikes to be driven all over the course, leaving only a path for his own horse. The fraudulent design took effect in part, all the rest of the competitors being dismounted, and some severely hurt by their fall. Lechus, in consequence of this victory, was about to be proclaimed duke; when, unluckily for him, a peasant who had found out the artifice, opposed the ceremony; and upon an examination of the fact, Lechus was torn in pieces, and the ducal authority conferred upon the peasant.

The name of the new monarch was also Lechus. He attained the sovereignty in the year 774, and behaved with great wisdom and moderation. Though he possessed the qualities of a great warrior, and extended his dominions on the side of Moravia and Bohemia, yet his chief delight was to make his subjects happy by peace. In the decline of life he was obliged to engage in a war with Charlemagne, and is said by some to have fallen in battle with that powerful monarch; though others assert that he died a natural death, having lived so long that the springs of life were quite worn out.

Lechus III. was succeeded by his son Lechus IV., who inherited all his father's virtues. He suppressed an insurrection in the Polish provinces, by which he acquired great reputation; after which he led his army against the Greek and Italian legions who had overrun Pannonia. He gained a complete victory over his enemies. Nor was his valour more conspicuous in the battle than his clemency to the vanquished: for he dismissed all his prisoners without ransom; demanding no other conditions than that they should never again disturb the peace of Poland, or the allies of that kingdom. This duke is said to have been endowed with many virtues, and is charged only with the vice of incontinence. He left 20 natural children, and only one legitimate son, named Popiel, to whom he left the sovereignty. Popiel was also a virtuous and pacific prince, who never had recourse to arms but through necessity. He removed the seat of government from Cracow to Gnieza, and was succeeded by his nephew Popiel II. a minor.

The young king behaved with propriety as long as he was under the tuition of others; but as soon as he had got the reins of government into his own hands, the face of affairs was altered. Lechus III., who, as hath been already mentioned, had 20 illegitimate children, had promoted them to the government of different provinces; and they had discharged the duties of their offices in such a manner as shewed that they were worthy of the confidence reposed in them. However, as soon as Popiel came of age, being seduced by the advice of his wife, an artful and ambitious woman, he removed them from their posts, treated them with the utmost contempt, and at last found means to poison them all at once at an entertainment. A dreadful punishment, however, according to the historians of those times, attended his treachery and cruelty. The bodies of the unhappy governors were left unburied; and from them issued a swarm of rats, who pursued Popiel, his wife and children, wherever they went, and at last devoured them. The nation became a prey to civil discord, at the same time that it was harassed by a foreign enemy; and, in short, the state seemed to be on the verge of dissolution, when Piatius was proclaimed duke in 830.

The election of the new duke is said to have been directed by a miracle. He was a man of very low extraction, having been formerly a wheelwright; however, he showed himself to be in every respect worthy of the high authority to which he was raised, being a man of the most benevolent and humane disposition; nay, so much was he esteemed by his subjects, that all the natives of Poland who have since been promoted to the ducal or royal authority, have from him been called Piast.

Piastus died in 861, and was succeeded by his son Ziemowit. He was of a more warlike disposition than his father, and was the first who introduced a regular discipline among the Polish troops. He maintained a respectable army, and took great pains to acquire a perfect knowledge in the art of war. The consequence of this was that he was victorious in all his battles; and retaken from the Germans and Hungarians not only all that they had gained, but enlarged his dominions beyond what they had been. After his death, nothing remarkable happened in Poland till the time of Mieszko I, who attained the ducal authority in 964. He was born blind, and continued so for seven years; after which he recovered his sight without using any medicines; a circumstance so extraordinary, that, in those times of ignorance and superstition, it was accounted a miracle. In his reign the Christian religion was introduced into Poland. The most probable account of the manner in which Christianity was introduced is, that Mieszko having by ambassadors made his addresses to Daborwka daughter to the duke of Bohemia, the lady rejected his offer, unless he would suffer himself to be baptized. To this the duke consented, and was baptized, after having been instructed in the principles of Christianity. He founded the archbishoprics of Gnesna and Cracow; and appointed St Adalbert, sent by the pontiff to propagate Christianity in Poland, primate of the whole kingdom. On the birth of his son Boleslaus, he redoubled his zeal; founding several bishoprics and monasteries; ordering likewise, that, when any part of the Gospel was read, the hearers should half-draw their swords, in testimony of their readiness to defend the faith. He was, however, too superstitious to attend to the duties of a sovereign; and suffered his dominions to be ravaged by his barbarous neighbour the duke of Russia. Yet, with all his devotion, he could not obtain the title of king from the pope, though he had warmly solicited it; but it was afterwards conferred on his son, who succeeded to all his dominions.

Boleslaus I, the first king of Poland, surnamed Czerwony, succeeded to the sovereignty in 999. He also professed and cherished Christianity, but was a man of great valour and prudence. However, the first transaction of his reign favoured very much of the ridiculous piety of those times. He removed from Prague to Gnesna the remains of a saint which he had purchased at considerable price. The emperor Otho III, made a pilgrimage, on account of a vow, to the tomb of this saint. He was hospitably received by Boleslaus, whom, in return, he invested with the regal dignity; an act which was confirmed by the pope. This new dignity added nothing to the power of Boleslaus; though it increased his consequence with his own subjects. He now affected more state than before: his body-guards were considerably augmented; and he was constantly attended by a numerous and splendid retinue whenever he stirred out of his palace. Thus he inspired his people with an idea of his greatness, and consequently of their own importance; which no doubt was necessary for the accomplishment of a design he had formed, namely, an offensive war with Russia; but, when he was upon the point of setting out on this expedition, he was prevented by the breaking out of a war with the Bohemians. The elevation of Boleslaus to the regal dignity had excited the envy of the duke of Bohemia, who had solicited the same honour for himself, and had been refused. His jealousy was further excited by the connection between Boleslaus and the emperor, the former having married Rixa the emperor's niece. Without any provocation, therefore, or without giving the least intimation of his design, the duke of Bohemia entered Poland at the head of a numerous army, committing everywhere dreadful ravages. Boleslaus immediately marched against him, and the Bohemians retired with precipitation. Scarcity of provisions, and the inclemency of the season, prevented Boleslaus at that time from pursuing; but as soon as these obstacles were removed, he entered Bohemia at the head of a formidable army, with a full resolution of taking an ample revenge. The Bohemians were altogether unable to resist; neither indeed had they courage to venture a battle, though Boleslaus did all in his power to force them to it. So great indeed was the cowardice of the duke or his army, that they suffered Prague, the capital of the duchy, to be taken after a siege of two years; having never, during all that time, ventured to relieve it by fighting the Polish army. The taking of this city was quickly followed by the reduction of all the places of inferior note: but though Boleslaus was in possession of almost all the fortified places in Bohemia, he could not believe his conquests to be complete, until he became master of the duke's person. This unfortunate prince had shut himself up with his son in his only remaining fortress of Wilkogrod, where he imagined that he should be able to foil all the attempts of the Polish monarch. In this, however, he found himself disappointed. Boleslaus invested the place, and made his approaches with such rapidity, that the garrison, dreading a general assault, resolved to capitulate, and persisted in their resolution notwithstanding all the intrigues and promises of the duke. The consequence was, that the unhappy prince fell into the hands of his enemies, and had his eyes put out by Boleslaus; after which, his son Jaromir was put into perpetual and close confinement.

From Bohemia Boleslaus marched towards Moravia; but no sooner did he arrive on the frontier, than the whole province submitted without a blow. He then resumed his intention of invading Russia; for which he had now a very fair opportunity, by reason of a civil war which raged with violence among the children of duke Volodomir. The chief competitors were Jaroslav and Swantepolk. The latter, having been defeated by his brother, was obliged to take refuge in Poland, where he used all the arguments in his power with king Boleslaus in order to induce him to revenge his cause. Boleslaus having already an intention of invading that country, needed but little entreaty; and therefore moved towards Russia at the head of a very numerous army; giving out, that he had no other design than to revenge the injustice done to Swantepolk. He was met, on the banks of the river river Bog, by Jarislaws, at the head of an army much superior in number to his own; and for some days the Polish army was kept at bay by the Russians. At last Boleslaus, growing impatient, resolved to pass the river at all events; and therefore forming his cavalry in the best manner for breaking the torrent, he exposed his own person to the utmost of its force. Encouraged by his example, the Poles advanced breast-high in the water to the opposite shore; from whence the enemy gave them all the annoyance in their power.

In spite of all opposition, however, the Poles reached the bank, and soon gained a complete victory; Jarislaws being obliged to fly to Kiev. This city was immediately invested; but Jarislaws retired farther into the country in order to recruit his army, leaving the city to its fate. The garrison made a brave defence, but were at last compelled to surrender at discretion. A vast treasure was found in the place; great part of which was distributed by Boleslaus among the soldiers.

Though the king of Poland had now become master of the greatest part of Russia, he knew that the only possible means of keeping the country in subjection, was by placing a natural sovereign over the inhabitants. For this reason he reinstated Swantepolk, tho' his pretensions were still disputed by Jarislaws. The latter had formed a flying camp, and meditated a scheme of surprizing and carrying off his rival brother; but having failed in this attempt, he retired to Novgorod, where the attachment of the inhabitants enabled him to make some resistance, till at last he was attacked and defeated by Boleslaus, which seemed to give the finishing stroke to his affairs. The king of Poland, however, now met with a more dangerous enemy in the perfidious and ungrateful Swantepolk, than he had experienced in Jarislaws. The Russian prince, imagining himself a dependent on Boleslaus, formed a conspiracy against him; by which he projected nothing less than the destruction of him and his whole army. The massacre was already begun, when Boleslaus received intelligence. The urgency of the case admitted of no delay; the king therefore mounted his horse; and having with the utmost haste assembled part of his army, fell upon the traitors with such fury, that they were obliged to take themselves to flight, and Boleslaus got safe into Poland. But in the mean time Jarislaws having assembled fresh forces, pursued the Polish army; and having come up, with them just as one half had crossed the river Borithenches, attacked them with the utmost fury. Boleslaus defended himself with the greatest resolution; but by reason of his forces being divided, victory was dubious for a long time. At last, when the army had wholly crossed, the Russians were entirely put to the rout, and a terrible carnage ensued. The victory, however, though complete, was not decisive; for which reason Boleslaus thought proper to continue his retreat, without attempting to conquer a country too extensive for him ever to keep in subjection. Still, however, his martial inclination continued, and he led his army into Saxony. The inhabitants of this country had hitherto resisted all attempts that had been made on their freedom, and still made a violent struggle for liberty; though, in spite of their utmost efforts, they were obliged at last to submit to the yoke. On his withdrawing the troops from Saxony, however, the king thought proper to leave the people to their liberty, contenting himself with a rich booty. The boundaries of his empire he now fixed at the river Elbe; where he erected two iron columns, in order to transmit the memory of his conquest to posterity.

Boleslaus, still unsatisfied with victory, now meditated the conquest of Prussia and Pomerania; the latter of which provinces had, in the former civil wars, been dismembered from Poland. His arms were attended with equal success against both; indeed the very terror of his name seemed to answer all the purposes of a formidable army. These, however, he seems to have designed to be the last of his warlike enterprises; for he now applied himself wholly to the enacting of wholesome laws for the benefit of his people. But in the midst of this tranquillity, Jarislaws assembled the most numerous army that had ever been heard of in Russia, with which he appeared on the frontiers of Poland. Boleslaus, though now advanced in years, marched out against his adversaries, and met them on the banks of the Borithenches, rendered famous by the victory over victory he had lately gained there. The Poles crossed the river by swimming; and attacked the enemy before they had time to draw up in order of battle, with such impetuosity, that a total rout soon ensued. The Russians were seized with a panic, and Jarislaws was hurried away, and almost trampled to death by the fugitives. Many thousand prisoners were taken, but Boleslaus released them upon very easy conditions; contenting himself with an inconsiderable tribute, and endeavouring to engage the affection of the people by his kindness. This well-timed clemency produced such an happy effect, that the Russians voluntarily submitted to his jurisdiction, and again became his subjects. Soon after this he died in the year 1025.

Boleslaus was succeeded by his son Mieczelaus II.; but he possessed none of the great qualities of his father; being indolent and debauched in his behaviour. In the very beginning of his reign, the Russians, Bohemians, and Moravians, revolted. However, as the spirit and discipline introduced by Boleslaus still remained in the Polish army, Mieczelaus found no great difficulty in reducing them again to obedience; after which, devoting himself entirely to voluptuousness, he was seized with a frenzy, which put an end to his life in the year 1034. The bad qualities of this prince proved very detrimental to the interest of his son Casimir; though the latter had received an excellent education, and was possessed of many virtues. Instead of regaling him king, they chose Rixa his mother queen-regent. She proved tyrannical, and so partial to her countrymen the Germans, that a rebellion ensued, and she was forced to fly to Germany; where she obtained the protection of the emperor by means of the immense treasures of Boleslaus, which she had caused to be transported thither before her. Her bad behaviour and expulsion proved still more fatal to the affairs of Casimir than even that of his father. He was immediately driven out of the kingdom; and a civil war taking place, a great many of pretenders to the domestic crown appeared at once. To the miseries occasioned by by this were added those of a foreign war; for the Bohemians and Russians invaded the kingdom in different places, committing the most dreadful ravages. The consequence of these accumulated distresses was, that the nobility came at last to the resolution of recalling Casimir, and electing him sovereign. However, before they took this measure, it was thought proper to send to Rome, to complain of the behaviour of the duke of Bohemia. The deputies were at first received favourably; but the influence of the duke's gold prevailing, no redress was obtained; so that at last it was resolved, without more ado, to send for Casimir.

The only difficulty was where to find the fugitive prince; for he had been gone five years from the kingdom, and nobody knew the place of his retreat. At last, by sending an embassy to his mother, it was found out that he had retired into France, where he applied closely to study at the university of Paris. Afterwards he went to Italy; where, for the sake of subsistence, he took upon him the monastic habit. At that time he had returned to France, and obtained some preferment in the abbey of Clugni. Nothing now obstructed the prince's return but the sacred function with which he was invested. However, a dispensation was obtained from the Pope, by which he was released from his ecclesiastical engagements, on condition that he and all the kingdom should become subject to the capitulation tax called Peter-pence. Some other conditions of less consequence were added; such as, that the Poles should shave their heads and beards, and wear a white linen robe at festivals, like other professors of the Catholic religion. Great preparations were made for the reception of the young prince; and he was met on the frontier by the nobility, clergy, and forces of the nation; by whom he was conducted to Gnesen, and crowned by the primate with more than usual solemnity. He proved a virtuous and pacific prince, as indeed the distracted situation of the kingdom would not admit of the carrying on of wars. However, Casimir proved his courage in subduing the banditti by which the country was overrun; and by marrying the princess Mary, sister to the Duke of Russia, all quarrels with that nation were for the present extinguished. Upon the whole, the kingdom flourished during his reign; and became more respectable from the wisdom and stability of the administration, than it could have been by many victories. After a happy reign of 16 years he died, beloved and regretted by all his subjects.

By the happy administration of Casimir, the kingdom recovered sufficient strength to carry on successful wars against its foreign enemies. Boleslaus II., the son of Casimir, an enterprising and valiant prince, succeeded to the throne; and soon made himself so famous, that three unfortunate princes all took refuge at his court at once, having been expelled from their own dominions by their rebellious subjects. These were, Jacomir, son of Bretislavus duke of Bohemia; Bela, brother to the king of Hungary; and Zalhaus duke of Kiovia, eldest son to Jaroslavus duke of Russia, and cousin to the king of Poland. Boleslaus determined to redress all their grievances; but while he deliberated upon the most proper means for so doing, the duke of Bohemia, dreading the consequence of Jacomir's escape, assembled an army, and, without any declaration of war, marched through the Hercynian forest, defoliated Silesia, and laid waste the frontiers of Poland with fire and sword. Boleslaus marched against him with a force greatly inferior; and, by mere dint of superior capacity, cooped up his adversary in a piece of wood, where he reduced him to the greatest distress. In this extremity the duke sent proposals for accommodation; but they were rejected with disdain by Boleslaus; upon which the former, ordering fires to be kindled in his camp, as if he designed to continue there, removed with the utmost silence in the nighttime; and marching through narrow defiles, was advanced several leagues before Boleslaus received advice of his retreat. The king pursued him, but in vain; for which reason he returned, after having ravaged the frontiers of Moravia. The next year he entered Bohemia with a numerous army; but the duke, being unwilling to encounter such a formidable adversary, submitted to such terms as Boleslaus thought proper to impose. In these the king of Poland stipulated for certain conditions in favour of Jacomir, which he took care to see punctually executed; after which he determined to march towards Hungary, to assist the fugitive prince Bela.

This prince had been for some time solicited by a party of disaffected nobility to return, as his brother, the reigning king, had alienated the hearts of his subjects by his tyrannical behaviour; as soon therefore as Boleslaus had finished the war in Bohemia, he was solicited by Bela to embrace so favourable an opportunity, and put him in possession of the kingdom of Hungary. This the king readily complied with, as being agreeable to his own inclinations; and both princes entered Hungary by different routes, each at the head of a numerous body. The king of that country, however, was not disconcerted by such a formidable invasion; and being largely assisted by the emperor, advanced against his antagonists with a vast army; among whom was a numerous body of Bohemians, who had come to his assistance, though in direct violation of the treaty subsisting between the duke and the king of Poland. At last a decisive battle was fought, in which the Germans behaved with the greatest valour, but were entirely defeated through the treachery of the Hungarians, who in the heat of the battle deserted and went over to Bela. Almost all the foreign auxiliaries were killed on the spot; the king himself was seized, and treated with such insolence by his perfidious subjects, that he died in a short time of a broken heart; so that Bela was placed on the throne without further opposition, except from a revolt of the peasants, which was soon quelled by the Polish army.

Boleslaus, having succeeded so happily in these two enterprises, began to look upon himself as invincible; and, instead of designing only to assist Zalhaus, as he had first intended, now projected no less than the subjugation of the whole country. He had indeed a claim to the sovereignty by virtue of his descent from Mary, queen of Poland, sister to Jaroslavus; and this he endeavoured to strengthen by marrying a Russian princess himself. Having therefore assembled a very numerous and well-disciplined army, he entered the duchy of Kiovia, where he was opposed by Wulfclaus, who had Poland had usurped the sovereignty, with a vast multitude of forces. Boleslaus, however, continued to advance; Meets with and the Russian prince being intimidated by the number and good order of his enemies, deserted his own troops, and fled away privately with a slender retinue; upon which, his force dispersed themselves for want of a leader. The inhabitants of the city of Kiovia now called to their assistance Swantoflaus and Wszewold two brothers of Wisselus; but these princes acting the part of mediators, procured pardon for the inhabitants from Zaffaus their natural sovereign. With the same facility the two princes recovered all the other dominions belonging to Zaffaus; only one city venturing to stand a siege, and that was soon reduced. But in the mean time the king of Hungary dying, a revolt ensued, and the two sons of Bela were on the point of being deprived of their paternal dominions. This Boleslaus no sooner heard, than he marched directly into Hungary; where by the bare terror of his name, he re-established tranquillity, and confirmed the princes in the enjoyment of their kingdom. In the time that this was doing, Zaffaus was again driven from his territories, all the conquests that had been formerly made were lost, and Swantoflaus and Wszewold more powerful than ever. The king's vigour, however, soon disconcerted all their measures. He ravaged all those territories which composed the palatinates of Lusiac and Chelm, reduced the strong city of Wolyn, and transported the booty to Poland. The campaign was finished by a battle with Wszewold; which proved to bloody, that though Boleslaus was victorious, his army was weakened in such a manner that he could not pursue his conquests. In the winter he made numerous levies; and returning in the spring to Kiovia, reduced it, after several desperate attacks, by famine. On this occasion, instead of treating the inhabitants with cruelty, he commended their valour, and strictly prohibited his troops from pillaging or insulting them; distributing provisions among them with the utmost liberality.

This clemency procured the highest honour to the king of Poland, but his stay here produced a most terrible dilatation. Kiovia was the most dissolute, as well as the richest city, in the north; the kings, and all his soldiers gave themselves up to the pleasures of the place. Boleslaus himself affected all the imperious state of an eastern monarch, and contracted an inclination for the grossest debaucheries. The consequence had almost proved fatal to Poland. The Hungarian and Russian wars had continued for seven years, during all which time the king had never been at home excepting once for the short space of three months. In the mean time the Polish women, exasperated at hearing that their husbands had neglected them and connected themselves with the women of Kiovia, raised their slaves to the beds of their masters; and in short the whole sex conspired in one general scheme of prostitution, in order to be revenged of the infidelity of their husbands, excepting one single woman, namely, Margaret, the wife of count Nicholas of Dembowski, who preferred her fidelity in spite of all solicitations. Advice of this strange revolution was soon received at Kiovia, where it excited terrible commotions. The fiduciaries blamed the king for their dishonour; forgetting how much they had to accuse their own conduct in giving their wives such extreme provocation. The effect of these discontentments was a general defection, and Boleslaus saw himself suddenly left almost alone in the heart of Russia; the soldiers having unanimously resolved to return home to take vengeance of their wives and their gallants.

A dreadful kind of war now ensued. The women knew that they were to expect no mercy from their civil enraged husbands, and therefore persuaded their lovers to take arms in their defence. They themselves fought by the side of their gallants with the utmost fury, and fought out their husbands in the heat of battle, in order to secure themselves from all danger of punishment by their death. They were, however, on the point of being subdued, when Boleslaus arrived with the few remaining Poles, but assisted by a vast army of Russians, with whom he intended to take equal vengeance on the women, their gallants, and his own soldiers who had deserted him. This produced a carnage more dreadful than ever. The soldiers united with their former wives and their gallants against the common enemy, and fought against Boleslaus and his Russians with the fury of lions. At last, however, the fortune of the king prevailed; the rebels were totally subdued, and the few who escaped the sword were tortured to death, or died in prison.

To add to the calamities of this unhappy kingdom, religious schisms which for some time had prevailed in the contentions church of Rome found their way into Poland also; and the animosity of parties became aggravated in proportion to the frivolousness of their differences. By perverse accident the matter came at last to be a contention for wealth and power between the king and clergy. This soon gave occasion to bloodshed; and the bishop of Cracow was massacred in the cathedral, while he was performing the duties of his office. Boleslaus, while he was performing the duties of his office, was deposed by the pope, brought on the most signal vengeance of the clergy, and the Gregory VII., the pope at that time, thundered out the most dreadful anathemas against the king, released his subjects from their allegiance, deprived him of the titles of sovereignty, and laid the kingdom under a general interdict, which the archbishop of Gnesia saw punctually enforced. To this terrible sentence Boleslaus vainly opposed his authority, and recalled the spirit which had formerly rendered him so formidable to the neighbouring states. The minds of the people were blinded by superstition, so that they deemed it a less heinous crime to rise in rebellion against their sovereign than to oppose the tyranny of the holy see. Conspiracies were daily formed against the person and government of Boleslaus. The whole kingdom became a scene of confusion, so that the king could no longer continue with safety in his own dominions. He fled therefore with his son Mieczslaus, and took refuge in Hungary; but here also the holy vengeance of the clergy pursued him, nor did they cease persecuting him till he was brought to a miserable end. Authors differ widely with respect to the manner of his death. Some say that he was murdered by druids and the clergy as he was hunting; others, that he killed himself in a fit of despair; and one author tells us, that he wandered about in the woods of Hungary, lived like a savage upon wild beasts, and was at last killed and devoured by dogs. The greatest number, how- Poland, however, tell us, that being driven from place to place by the persecutions of the clergy, he was at last obliged to become a cook in a monastery at Carinthia, in which mean occupation he ended his days.

The destruction of Boleslaus was not sufficient to allay the papal resentment. It extended to the whole kingdom of Poland. Mieszko, the son of Boleslaus, was not suffered to ascend the throne; and the kingdom continued under the most severe interdict, which could be removed only by the force of gold, and the most abject concessions. Besides the tax called Peter-pence, new impositions were added of the most oppressive nature; till at length the pontiff, having satiated his avarice, and impoverished the country, contented that the brother of the deceased monarch should be raised to the sovereignty, but only with the title of duke. This prince, named Uladilasius, being of a meek disposition, with little ambition, thought it his duty to acquiesce implicitly in the will of the pope; and therefore accepted the terms offered, sending at the same time an embassy to Rome, earnestly intreating the removal of the interdict. The request was granted; but all his endeavours to recover the regal dignity proved fruitless, the pope having, in conjunction with the emperor of Germany, conferred that honour on the duke of Bohemia. This was extremely mortifying to Uladilasius, but it was abhorred in considerations of the utmost consequence to himself and his dominions. Russia took the opportunity of the late civil disturbances to throw off the yoke; and this revolt drew after it the revolt of Prussia, Pomerania, and other provinces. The smaller provinces, however, were soon reduced; but the duke had no sooner returned to Poland, than they again rebelled, and hid their families in impenetrable forests. Uladilasius marched against them with a considerable army; but was entirely defeated, and obliged to return back with disgrace. Next year, however, he had better fortune; and, having led against them a more numerous army than before, they were content to submit and deliver up the ringleaders of the revolt to be punished as the duke thought proper.

No sooner were the Pomeranians reduced, than civil dissensions took place. Sbigneus, the son of Uladilasius by a concubine, was placed at the head of an army by the discontented nobility, in order to subvert his father's government, and dispute the title of Boleslaus, the legitimate son of Uladilasius, to the succession. The war was terminated by the defeat and captivity of Sbigneus; who was at first confined, but afterwards released on condition that he should join his father in punishing the palatine of Cracow. But before this could be done, the palatine found means to effect a reconciliation with the duke; with which the young princes being displeased, a war took place between them and their father. The end of all was, that the palatine of Cracow was banished, and the princes submitted; after which, Uladilasius, having chastised the Prussians and Pomeranians who had again revolted, died in the year 1103, the 59th of his age.

Uladilasius was succeeded by his son Boleslaus III., who divided the dominions equally betwixt his brother illegitimate Sbigneus and himself. The former being dissatisfied with brother and his share, raised cabals against his brother; but a civil war was for some time prevented by the good offices of the primate; but at last Sbigneus, having privately stirred up the Bohemians, Saxons, and Moravians, against his brother, made such formidable preparations as threatened the conquest of all Poland. Boleslaus, being unprovided with forces to oppose such a formidable power, had recourse to the Russians and Hungarians; who readily embraced his cause, in expectation of turning it to their own advantage. The event was, that Generosity Sbigneus was entirely defeated; and might easily have been obliged to surrender himself at discretion, had Boleslaus generously left him in quiet possession of the duchy of Mazovia, in order to maintain himself suitably to the dignity of his birth. This kindness the ungrateful Sbigneus repaid by entering into another conspiracy; but the plot being discovered, he was seized, banished, and declared a traitor if ever he set foot again in Poland. Even this severity did not produce the desired effect: Sbigneus persuaded the Pomeranians to arm in his behalf; but he was defeated, taken prisoner, and again banished. Almost all the nobility solicited the king to put such an ungrateful traitor to death; however, that generous prince could not think of polluting his hands with the death of his brother, notwithstanding all he had yet done. Nay, he even took him back to Poland, and appointed him a maintenance suitable to his rank; but he soon had reason to repent his kindness; for his unnatural brother in a short time began to raise fresh disturbances, in consequence of which he soon met with the death which he deserved.

Boleslaus was scarce freed from the intrigues of his brother, when he found himself in greater danger than ever from the ambition of the emperor Henry IV. The emperor had attacked the king of Hungary, with whom Boleslaus was in close alliance, and from whom he had received assistance when in great distress himself. The king of Poland determined to assist his friend; and therefore made a powerful diversion in Bohemia, where he repeatedly defeated the Imperialists; upon which, the emperor collecting all his forces, ravaged Silesia, and even entered Poland, where he laid siege to the strong town of Lubuza; but was at last obliged to abandon the enterprise, after having sustained much loss. However, Henry was not discouraged, but penetrated still farther into Poland, and was laying waste all before him, when the superior skill of Boleslaus compelled him to retire, after having almost destroyed his army with fatigue and famine, without once coming to action. Enraged at this disappointment, Henry laid siege to Glogaw, in hopes of drawing the Poles to an engagement before he should be obliged to evacuate the country. The fortifications of the place were weak; but the spirit of the inhabitants supplied their deficiencies, and they gave the Imperialists a most unexpected and vigorous reception. At last, however, they were on the point of surrendering to superior force; and actually agreed to give up the place, provided they did not receive any succours during that time. Boleslaus determined, however, not to let such a brave garrison fall a sacrifice to their loyalty; and therefore prevailed on the besieged to break the capitulation rather than surrender when they were on the point of being delivered. All this was transacted with the utmost secrecy; so that the emperor advanced, without thoughts of meeting with any resistance, to take pos- session of the city; but, being received by a furious discharge of arrows and javelins, he was so incensed, that he resolved to storm the place, and give no quarter. On the approach of the army, the Imperialists were astonished to see not only the breaches filled up, but new walls, secured by a wet ditch, reared behind the old, and erected during the suspension of hostilities by the industry of the besieged. The attack, however, went on; but the inhabitants, animated by despair, defended themselves with incredible valour, and at last obliged the Imperialists to break up the siege with precipitation. Next day Boleslaus arrived, and pursued the emperor with such vigour, that he obliged him to fly with disgrace into his own country. This soon brought on a peace, which was confirmed by a marriage between Boleslaus and the emperor's sister.

Hitherto the glory of Boleslaus had equalled, or even eclipsed, that of his namesake and predecessor Boleslaus the Great; but about the year 1135 he was brought into difficulties and disgraces by his own credulity. He was imposed upon by an artful flatterer patched up by a certain Hungarian; who insinuated himself too far into his affections, that he gave him the government of Wiliscia, a strong town on the river Nida. But the traitor gave up the place to the Russians, who pillaged and burnt it; carrying the inhabitants at the same time into slavery. Boleslaus was incensed, and entered immediately upon a war with Russia, by which means he only heaped one calamity upon another. He received a deputation from the inhabitants of Halitz, to implore his assistance in favour of a young prince, who had been banished into Poland. Boleslaus marched to their relief with a choice body of troops; but as he was preparing to enter the town, he was attacked by the whole Russian army, and, after a most violent conflict, entirely defeated. By this disgrace the duke was so much afflicted, that he died in a short time, after having reigned 36 years.

Boleslaus, by his will, left his dominions equally divided among his four sons. Uladiflaus, the eldest, had the provinces of Cracow, Sirad, Lencici, Silesia, and Pomerania. Boleslaus, the second son, had for his share the palatinates of Culm and Cujava, with the duchy of Mazovia. The palatinates of Kalezha and Posenia, fell to Mieczlaus, the third son; and to Henry, the fourth son, were assigned those of Lublin and Sandomir. Casimir the youngest child, then an infant in the cradle, was entirely forgotten, and no provision made for him. There have been but very few instances where dominions were thus divided, that the princes remained satisfied with their respective shares; neither did the sons of Boleslaus long continue at peace with one another. By the will of the late duke, all the brothers were obliged to own the supremacy of Uladiflaus, who was declared duke of all Poland; they were restrained from forming alliances, declaring war, or concluding peace, without his approbation; they were obliged to take the field with certain number of troops, whenever the duke required it; and they were forbidden to meddle with the guardianship of the infant prince Casimir, his education being left entirely to the sovereign. The harmony of the princes was first disturbed by the ambition of Christina, the wife of Uladiflaus, who formed a scheme to get possession of all Poland, and deprive the younger children of the benefit of their father's will. Having obtained her husband's concurrence, she assembled the states of Poland, and made a long speech, showing the dangers which might arise from a partition of the ducal dominions among so many; and concluded with attempting to show the necessity of revoking the ratification of the late duke's will in order to ensure the obedience of the princes and the tranquillity of the republic. Many of the nobility expressed their resentment against this speech, and fully refuted every article in it; but they were all afterwards gained over, or intimidated by Uladiflaus; so that none appeared to take the part of the young princes except a noble Dane, who lost his life for so doing.

Uladiflaus now having got the nobility on his side, first drove Boleslaus out of his territories; next, he marched against Henry, and dispossessed him also, forcing both to take refuge with Mieczlaus in Posenia, where all the three brothers were besieged. Several of the nobility interposed, and used all their influence to effect a reconciliation, but in vain; for Uladiflaus was as inexorable as if he had received an injury, and therefore insisted that the besieged princes should surrender at discretion, and submit to the will of the conquerors. Thus, driven to despair, the brothers fell out, and attacked the duke's army with such impetuosity, that they obtained a complete victory, and took all his baggage and valuable effects. The brothers improved their victory, and laid siege to Cracow. The Russians, who had assisted Uladiflaus at first, now entirely abandoned him, and evacuated Poland, which obliged him to shut himself up in Cracow; but, finding the inhabitants little disposed to stand a siege, he retired into Germany in order to solicit assistance from his wife's friends. But here he found himself mistaken, and that these friends were attached to him only in his prosperity; while in the mean time the city of Cracow surrendered, the unfortunate Uladiflaus was formally deposed, and his brother Boleslaus raised to the supreme authority.

The new duke began his administration with an act of generosity to his brother, Uladiflaus, to whom he gave the duchy of Silesia, which thus was separated from Poland, and has never since been re-annexed to it. This had no other effect upon Uladiflaus than the putting him in a condition to raise fresh disturbances; for he now found means to persuade the emperor Conrad to invade Poland; but Boleslaus so harassed and fatigued his army by perpetual marches, ambuscades, and skirmishes, that he was obliged in a short time to return to his own country; and for some years Poland enjoyed a profound tranquillity.

During this interval Henry entered on a crusade; and, though he lost almost all his army in that enthusiastic undertaking, is celebrated by the superstitious writers of that age, as the bulwark of the church, and one of the greatest Christian heroes: however, in all probability, the reason of this extraordinary fame is, that he made large donations to the knights of St John of Jerusalem. Soon after the return of Henry, Poland was invaded by the emperor Frederic Barbarossa, who was persuaded to this by the solicitations of Uladiflaus and his wife Christina. The number of the Imperialists was so great, that Boleslaus and his brothers did not think proper to oppose him in the field; they contented themselves with cutting off the convoys, placing ambuscades, harassing them on their march, and keeping them in perpetual alarms by false attacks and skirmishes. With this view the three brothers divided their forces, defoliated the country before the enemy, and burnt all the towns and cities which were in no condition to stand a siege. Thus the emperor, advancing into the heart of a defoliated country where he could not subsist, was at last reduced to such a situation that he could neither go forward nor retreat, and was obliged to solicit a conference with Boleslaus. The latter was too prudent to irritate him by an unseasonable haughtiness, and therefore went to the German camp attended only by his brothers and a slight guard. This influence of confidence was so agreeable to the emperor, that a treaty was soon agreed upon, which was confirmed by a marriage between Adelaide, niece to the emperor, and Mieczslaus duke of Posenia.

Boleslaus having thus happily escaped from so great a danger, took it into his head to attempt the conquest of Prussia, for no other reason but because the inhabitants were heathens. Having unexpectedly invaded the country with a very numerous army, he succeeded in his enterprise; great numbers of infidels were converted, and many churches set up: but no sooner was Boleslaus gone, than the inhabitants returned to their old religion. Upon this Boleslaus again came against them with a formidable power; but, being betrayed by some Prussians whom he had taken into his service and raised to posts of honour, his army was led into defiles and almost entirely cut off, duke Henry was killed, and Boleslaus and Mieczslaus escaped with great difficulty.

This misfortune was quickly followed by another; for now the children of Vladislaws laid claim to all the Polish dominions which had been possessed by their father, most of which had been bestowed upon young Casimir. They were supported in their pretensions by a great number of discontented Poles, and a considerable body of German auxiliaries. Boleslaus, finding himself unable to withstand his enemies by force, had recourse to negociation, by which means he gained time to recruit his army and repair his losses. An assembly of the states was held, before which the duke so fully refuted the claims of the children of Vladislaws, that it was almost unanimously voted that they had kindled an unjust war; and to take away every pretence for renewing the civil discords of Poland, they were a second time invested with the duchy of Silesia, which for the present put an end to all disputes. After this, Boleslaus applied himself to promote, by all means, the happiness of his subjects, till his death, which happened in the year 1174.

On the death of Boleslaus, the states raised his brother Mieczslaus to the ducal throne, on account of the great opinion they had of him. But the moment that Mieczslaus ceased to be a subject, he became a tyrant, and a slave to almost every kind of vice; the consequence of which was, that in a very short time he was deposed, and his brother Casimir elected in his stead.

Casimir was a prince of the greatest justice and benevolence, insomuch that he scrupled to accept of the honour which the states had conferred upon him, lest it should be a trespass against the laws of equity. However, this scruple being soon got over, he set himself about the securing peace and tranquillity in all parts of his dominions. He redressed all grievances, suppressed exorbitant imposts, and assembled a general diet, in which it was proposed to refuse the peasants from the tyranny of the nobility; an affair of such consequence, that the duke could not enter upon it by his own authority, even though supported by the clergy. Yet it proved less difficult than had been imagined, to persuade the nobility to relinquish certain privileges extremely detrimental to natural right. They were influenced by the example of their virtuous sovereign, and immediately granted all that he required; and, to secure this declaration in favour of the peasants, the archbishop of Gnesna thundered out anathemas against those who should endeavour to regain the unjust privileges which they had now renounced; and to give a still greater weight to this decision, the acts of the diet were transmitted to Rome, where they were confirmed by the pope.

But, though the nobility in general consented to have their power somewhat retrenched, it proved matter of discontent to some, who, for this reason, immediately became the partisans of the deposed Mieczslaus. This unfortunate prince was now reduced to such indigence, that he wrote an account of his situation to his brother Casimir; which so much affected him, that in an assembly of the diet he proposed to resign the sovereignty in favour of his brother. To this the states replied in the most peremptory manner: they desired him never more to mention the subject to them, lest they should be under the necessity of deposing him and excluding his brother, who, they were determined, should never more have the dominion of Poland. Casimir, however, was so much concerned at the account of his brother's misfortunes, that he tried every method to relieve him, and even connived at the arts practised by some discontented noblemen to restore him. By a very singular generosity, he facilitated the reduction of Gnesna and Lower Poland, where Mieczslaus might have lived in peace and splendor, had not his heart been so corrupted that it could not be subdued by kindness. The consequence was, that he used all his art to wrest from his brother the whole of his dominions, and actually conquered the provinces of Mazovia and Cujava; but of these he was soon dispossessed, and only some places in Lower Poland were left him. After this he made another attempt, on occasion of a report that Casimir had been poisoned in an expedition into Russia. He surprized the city of Cracow; but the citadel refused to surrender, and his hopes were entirely blasted by the return of Casimir himself; who, with an unparallelled generosity and magnanimity, asked peace of his brother whom he had vanquished and had in a manner at his mercy.—The Conqueror's last action of this amiable prince was the conquest of Russia, which he effected rather by the reputation of his wisdom and generosity than by the force of his arms. Those barbarians voluntarily submitted to a prince so famed for his benevolence, justice, and humanity. Soon after his return he died at Cracow, lamented as the best prince in every respect who had ever filled the throne of Poland.

Casimir left one son, named Leszus, an infant; and the states, dreading the consequences of a long minority, hesitated at appointing him sovereign, considering how many competitors he must necessarily have, and and how dubious it must be whether he might be fit for the sovereignty after he had obtained it. At last, however, Lechus was nominated, chiefly through the interest he had obtained on account of the reputation of his father's virtues. The consequence of his nomination was precisely what might have been expected. Mieczslaws formed an alliance against him with the dukes of Oppeln, Pomerania, and Breslau; and having raised all the men in Lower Poland fit to bear arms, took the road to Cracow with a very numerous army. A bloody battle was fought on the banks of the river Mozgawra; in which both sides were so much weakened, that they were unable to keep the field, and consequently were forced to retire for some time in order to repair their forces. Mieczslaws was first ready for action, and therefore had the advantage; however, he thought proper to employ artifice rather than open force; and therefore having attempted in vain to corrupt the guardians of Lechus, he entered into a treaty with the duchess dowager his mother. To her he represented in the strongest manner the miseries which would ensue from her refusal of the conditions he proposed. He stipulated to adopt Lechus and Conrade, her sons, for his own; to surrender the province of Cujavia for their present support; and to declare them heirs to all his dominions. The principal nobility opposed this accommodation, but it was accepted by the duchess in spite of all their remonstrances; and Mieczslaws was once more put in possession of the capital, after having taken a solemn oath to execute punctually every article of the treaty.

It is not to be supposed, that a prince of such a perfidious disposition as Mieczslaws would pay much regard to the obligations of a simple contract. It was a maxim with him, that a sovereign is no longer obliged to keep his oath while it is neither safe nor beneficial to break it. Having therefore got all the power into his hands, he behaved in the very same manner as if no treaty with the duchess had subsisted. The duchess, perceiving herself duped, formed a strong party, and excited a general insurrection. The rebellion could not be withstood; Mieczslaws was driven out of Cracow, and on the point of being reduced to his former circumstances, when he found means to produce a variance between the duchess and palatine of Cracow; and thus once more turned the scale in his favour. The forces of Mieczslaws now became superior, and he, in consequence, regained possession of Cracow, but did not long enjoy his prosperity, falling a victim to his intemperance; so that Lechus was restored to the sovereignty in the year 1266.

The government of Lechus was the most unfortunate of any of the sovereigns of Poland. In his time the Tartars made an irruption, and committed everywhere the most cruel ravages. At last they came to an engagement with the Poles, assisted by the Russians; and, after an obstinate and dreadful conflict, obtained a complete victory. This incursion, however, terminated as precipitately as it commenced; for, without any apparent reason, they retired, just as the whole kingdom was ready to submit; but the devastations they had committed, produced a famine, which was soon followed by a plague that depopulated one of the most populous countries of the north. In this unhappy situation of affairs, death ended the misfortunes of Lechus, who was murdered by his own subjects as he was bathing. A civil war took place after his death; and the history for some time is so confused, that it is difficult to say with certainty who was his successor. During this unfortunate state of the country, the Tartars made a second irruption, laid all desolate before them, and were advancing to the capital, when they were attacked and defeated with great slaughter by the palatine of Cracow with only a handful of men. The power of the enemy, however, was not broken by this victory; for, next year, the Tartars returned, and committed such barbarities as can scarce be imagined. Whole provinces were defeated, and every one of the inhabitants massacred. They were returning, laden with spoil, when the palatine fell upon them a second time, but not with the same success as before: for, after an obstinate engagement, he was defeated, and thus all Poland was laid open to the ravages of the barbarians; the nobility fled into Hungary, and the peasants sought an asylum among rocks and impenetrable forests. Cracow, being left entirely defenceless, was soon taken, pillaged, and burnt; after which the barbarians, penetrating into Silesia and Moravia, defoliated these countries, destroying Breslau and other cities. Nor did Hungary escape the fury of their barbarity: the king gave battle to the Tartars, but was defeated with vast slaughter, and had the mortification to see his capital laid in ashes, and above 100,000 of his subjects perish by fire and sword. The arms of the Tartars were invincible; nothing could withstand the prodigious number of forces which they brought into the field, and the fury with which they fought. They fixed their head-quarters on the frontiers of Hungary; and spread their devastations on every side with a celerity and success that threatened the destruction of the whole empire, as well as of the neighbouring kingdoms.

In this dreadful situation was Poland, when Boleslaus, surnamed the Chaste, was raised to the sovereignty; but this, so far from putting an end to the troubles, only superadded a civil war to the rest of the calamities. Boleslaus was opposed by his uncle Conrade the brother of Lechus, who was provoked at becoming the subject of his own nephew. Having assembled a powerful army, he gained possession of Cracow; assumed the title of duke of Poland; and might possibly have kept possession of the sovereignty, had not his avarice and pride equally offended the nobility and peasants. In consequence of their discontents, they unanimously invited Boleslaus, who had fled into Hungary, to come and head the insurrection which now took place in every quarter. On his arrival, he knights of was joyfully received into the capital; but Conrade the Teutonic still headed a powerful party; and it is reported, that on this occasion the knights of the Teutonic order were first called into Poland, to dispute the pretensions land of Boleslaus. All the endeavours of Conrade, however, proved unsuccessful: he was defeated in two pitched battles, and forced to live in a private situation; tho' he never ceased to harass his nephew, and make fresh attempts to recover the crown. However, of the reign of Boleslaus we have little account, except that he made a vow of perpetual continency, and imposed the same on his wife; that he founded near 40 monasteries; and that he died, after a long reign, in Poland, after having adopted Lechus duke of Cujavia, and procured a confirmation of his choice by the free election of the people.

The reign of this last prince was one continued scene of foreign and domestic trouble. On his first accession he was attacked by the united forces of Ruffia and Lithuania assisted by the Tartars; whom, however, he had the good fortune to defeat in a pitched battle. By this victory the enemy were obliged to quit the kingdom; but Lechus was so much weakened, that civil dissensions took place immediately after. These increased to such a degree, that Lechus was obliged to fly to Hungary, the common resource of distressed Polish princes. The inhabitants of Cracow alone remained firm in their duty; and these brave citizens stood all the fatigue and danger of a tedious siege; till they were at last relieved by Lechus at the head of an Hungarian army, who defeated the rebels, and restored the legitimate sovereign. He had scarce reascended the throne, when the united forces of the Russians, Tartars, and Lithuanians, made a second irruption into Poland, and defoliated the country with the most savage barbarity. Their forces were now rendered more terrible than ever by their having along with them a vast number of large dogs trained to the art of war. Lechus, however, with an army much inferior, obtained a complete victory; the Poles being animated by despair, as perceiving, that, if they were conquered, they must also be devoured. Soon after this, Lechus died with the reputation of a warlike, wise, but unfortunate prince. As he died without issue, his crown was contested, a civil war again ensued; and the affairs of the state continued in a very declining way till the year 1296, when Premislaus, the duke at that time, resumed the title of king. However, they did not revive in any considerable degree till the year 1305, when Uladislaus Leszicus, who had seized the throne in 1300, and afterwards been driven out, was again restored to it. The first transaction of his reign was a war with the Teutonic knights, who had usurped the greater part of Pomerania during the late disturbances. They had been settled in the territory of Culm by Conrad, duke of Mazovia; but soon extended their dominion over the neighbouring provinces, and had even got possession of the city of Danzig, where they massacred a number of Pomeranian gentlemen in cold blood; which so much terrified the neighbouring towns, that they submitted without a stroke. The knights were commanded by the Pope himself to renounce their conquests; but they set at nought all his thunders, and even suffered themselves to be excommunicated rather than part with them. As soon as this happened, the king marched into the territories of the marquis of Brandenburg, because he had pretended to sell a right to the Teutonic knights to those countries, when he had none to them to himself. Uladislaus next entered the territory of Culm, where he laid every thing waste with fire and sword; and, being opposed by the joint forces of the marquis, the knights, and the duke of Mazovia, he obtained a complete victory after a desperate and bloody engagement. Without pursuing the blow, he returned to Poland, recruited his army, and being reinforced by a body of auxiliaries from Hungary and Lithuania, he dispersed the enemy's forces, and ravaged a second time all the dominions of the Teutonic order. Had he improved this advantage, he might easily have exterminated the whole order, or at least reduced them to so low, that they could never have occasioned any more disturbances in the state; but he suffered himself to be foiled and cajoled by the promises which they made without any design of keeping them, and concluded a treaty under the mediation of the kings of Hungary and Bohemia. In a few months he was convinced of the perfidy of the knights; for they not only refused to evacuate Pomerania as had been stipulated in the treaty, but endeavoured to extend their usurpations, for which purpose they had assembled a very considerable army. Uladislaus enraged at their treachery, took the field a third time, and gave them battle with such success, that 4000 knights were left dead on the spot, and 30,000 auxiliaries killed or taken prisoners. Yet, though the king had it once more in his power to destroy the whole Teutonic order, he satisfied himself with obtaining the territories which had occasioned the war; after which he spent the remainder of his life in peace and tranquillity.

Uladislaus was succeeded by his son Casimir III., surnamed the Great. He subdued the province called Ruffia Nigra in a single campaign. Next he turned his arms against Mazovia; and with the utmost rapidity overran the duchy, and annexed it as a province to the crown; after which, he applied himself to domestic affairs, and was the first who introduced a written code of laws into Poland. He was the most impartial judge, the most rigid observer of justice, and the most submissive to the laws, of any potentate mentioned in the history of Europe. The only vice with which he is charged is that of incontinency; but even this the clergy declared to be a venial sin, and amply compensated by his other virtues, particularly the great liberality which he showed to the clerical order.

Casimir was succeeded in 1370 by his nephew Lewis, king of Hungary; but, as the Poles looked upon him to be a foreign prince, they were not happy under his administration. Indeed a coldness between this monarch and his people took place even before he ascended the throne; for in the pacta conventa, to which the Polish monarchs were obliged to swear, a great number of unusual articles were inserted. This probably was the reason why he left Poland almost as soon as his coronation was over, carrying with him the crown, sceptre, globe, and sword of state, to prevent the Poles from electing another prince during his absence. He left the government in the hands of his mother Elizabeth; and she would have been agreeable to the people, had her capacity for government been equal to the task. At that time, however, the state of Poland was too much distracted to be governed by a woman. The country was overrun with bold robbers and gangs of villains, who committed the most horrid disorders; the kingdom was likewise invaded by the Lithuanians; the whole province of Ruffia Nigra revolted; and the kingdom was universally filled with discontent. The Poles could not bear to see their towns filled with Hungarian garrisons; and therefore sent a message to the king, telling him that they thought he had been sufficiently honoured in being elected king of Poland himself, without suffering the kingdom to be governed by a woman and his Hungarians. On this Lewis immediately raised a numerous army, with a design fully to conquer the spirit of his subjects. His first operations were directed against the Russians; whom he defeated, and again reduced to subjection. Then he turned his arms against the Lithuanians, drove them out of the kingdom, and re-established public tranquillity. However, instead of being satisfied with this, and removing the Hungarian garrisons, he introduced many more, and raised Hungarians to all the chief posts of government. His credit and authority even went so far as to get a successor nominated who was disagreeable to the whole nation, namely Sigismund marquis of Brandenburg. After the death of Lewis, however, this election was set aside; and Hedwig, daughter of Casimir the Great, was proclaimed queen.

This princess married Jagello duke of Lithuania, who was now converted to Christianity, and baptized by the name of Uladislaus. In consequence of this marriage, the duchy of Lithuania, as well as the vast provinces of Samogitia and Russia Nigra, became annexed to the crown of Poland. Such a formidable accession of power excited the jealousy of the Teutonic knights, who were sensible that Uladislaus was now bound to undertake the reduction of Pomerania, and revenge all the injuries which Poland had sustained from them for a great number of years. From his first accession therefore they considered this monarch as their greatest enemy, and endeavoured to prevent his designs against them by effecting a revolution in Lithuania in favour of his brother Andrew. The prospect of success was the greater here, as most of the nobility were discontented with the late alliance, and Uladislaus had proposed to effect a revolution in religion, which was highly disagreeable. On a sudden, therefore, two armies marched towards the frontiers of the duchy, which they as suddenly penetrated, laying waste the whole country, and seizing upon some important fortresses before the king of Poland had any notice of the matter. As soon as he received advice of these ravages, Uladislaus raised some forces with the utmost celerity, which he committed to the care of his brother Skirgello, who defeated the Teutonic knights, and soon obliged them to abandon all their conquests. In the mean time Uladislaus marched in person into the Higher Poland, which was subjected to a variety of petty tyrants, who oppressed the people, and governed with intolerable despotism. The palatine of Potsia in particular had distinguished himself by his rebellious practices; but he was completely defeated by Uladislaus, and the whole country reduced to obedience.

Having secured the tranquillity of Poland, Uladislaus visited Lithuania, attended by a great number of the clergy, in order to convert his subjects. This he effected without great difficulty; but left the care of the duchy to his brother Skirgello, a man of a cruel, haughty, and debauched turn, and who immediately began to abuse his power. With him the king sent his cousin Vitowda, a prince of a generous, brave, and amiable disposition, to be a check upon his conduct; but the barbarity of Skirgello soon obliged this prince to take refuge among the Teutonic knights, who were now become the asylum of the oppressed and discontented. For some time, however, he did not assist the knights in their designs against his country; but having applied for protection to the king, and finding him remiss in affording the necessary assistance, he at last joined in the schemes formed by the knights for the destruction of Poland. Entering Lithuania at the head of a numerous army, he took the capital, burnt part of it, and destroyed 14,000 persons in the flames, besides a great number who were massacred in attempting to make their escape. The upper part of the city, however, was vigorously defended, so that the besiegers were at last obliged to abandon all thoughts of making themselves masters of it, and to content themselves with defoliating the adjacent country. The next year Vitowda renewed his attempts upon this city, but with the same ill success; though he got possession of some places of less note. As soon, however, as an opportunity offered, he came to an accommodation with the king, who bestowed on him the government of Lithuania. During the first years of his government, he bestowed the most diligent attention upon domestic affairs, endeavouring to repair the calamities which the late wars had occasioned; but his impetuous valour prompted him at last to engage in a war with Tamerlane the Great, after his victory over Bajazet the Turkish emperor. For some time before, Vitowda had been at war with the neighbouring Tartars, and had been constantly victorious, transporting whole hordes of that barbarous people into Poland and Lithuania, where to this day they form a colony distinct in manners and dress from the other inhabitants. Uladislaus, however, dissuaded him from attacking the whole strength of the nation under such battle with a celebrated commander as Tamerlane; but Vitowda the Tartar was obstinate: he encountered an army of 400,000 Tartars under Ediga, Tamerlane's lieutenant, with only a tenth part of their number. The battle continued for a whole day; but at last Vitowda was surrounded by the numbers of his enemy, and in the utmost danger of being cut in pieces. However, he broke his way through, with prodigious slaughter on both sides; and came off at last without a total defeat, having killed a number of the enemy equal to the whole of his own army.

During the absence of Vitowda, the Teutonic knights Wars with had penetrated into Lithuania, committing every where the most dreadful ravages. On his return he attacked and defeated them, making an irruption into Livonia, to punish the inhabitants of that country for the assistance they had given to the Teutonic order. This was succeeded by a long series of wars between Poland and Prussia, in which it became necessary for Uladislaus himself to take the field. The knights had now, one way or other, got possession of Samogitia, Mazovia, Culm, Silecia, and Pomerania; so that Uladislaus resolved to punish them before they became too powerful. With this view he assembled an army composed of several different nations, with which he penetrated into Prussia, took several towns, and was advancing to Marienburg the capital of Pomerania, when he was met by the army of the Prussian knights, who determined to hazard a battle. When the engagement began, the Poles were defeated by all their auxiliaries, and obliged to stand the brunt of the battle by themselves. The courage and conduct of their king, however, so animated them, that after a most desperate battle they obtained a complete victory; near 40,000 of the enemy being killed in the field, and 30,000 taken prisoners. This terrible overthrow, however, was less fatal to the affairs of the Prussian knights than might have been expected; as Uladislaus did not improve his victory, and a peace was concluded upon easier terms than his adversaries had any reason to expect.—Some infraction of the treaty occasioned a renewal of hostilities; and Uladislaus was so much elated with victory that he would hearken to no terms, by which means the enemy were driven to the desperate resolution of burying themselves in the ruins of their capital. The siege was accordingly commenced, and both sides behaved with the greatest vigour; but at last, through the good conduct and valour of the grand master of the knights name Placan, the Polish monarch found himself obliged to grant them an advantageous peace, at a time when it was universally expected that the whole order would have been exterminated.

Uladislaus V. died in 1435, and was succeeded by his son Uladislaus VI. at that time only nine years of age. He had scarce ascended the throne when the kingdom was invaded by the Tartars, who defeated Buccearius the general of the Polish forces; and committing everywhere dreadful ravages, returned to their own country laden with booty. A few years after, the nation was involved in a war with Amurath the emperor of the Turks, who threatened to break into Hungary; and it was thought by the diet to be good policy to assist the Hungarians at this juncture, because it was impossible to know where the storm might fall after Hungary was conquered. But before all things were prepared for the young king to take the field, a strong body of auxiliaries were dispatched under the celebrated John Hunniades vaivode of Transylvania, to oppose the Turks, and likewise to support the election of Uladislaus to the crown of Hungary. This detachment surprized the Turkish army near the river Morava, and defeated Amurath with the loss of 40,000 men; after which Hunniades retook all the places which had been conquered by Amurath, the proud Sultan was forced to sue for peace, and Uladislaus was raised without opposition to the crown of Hungary. A treaty was concluded, by which the Turks promised to relinquish their designs upon Hungary, to acknowledge the king's right to that crown, and to give up all their conquests in Raseja and Servia. This treaty was sealed by mutual oaths; but Uladislaus broke it at the perfusion of the Pope's legate; who insisted, that now was the time for humbling the power of the infidels; and produced a special commission from the pope, absolving him from the oath he had taken at the late treaty. The consequence of this perfidy was, that Uladislaus was entirely defeated and killed at Varva, and the greatest part of his army cut in pieces.

Uladislaus VI. was succeeded by Casimir III. in whose reign the Teutonic knights were subdued, and obliged to yield up the territories of Culm, Mielchow, and the whole duchy of Pomerania, together with the towns of Ellbing, Marienburg, Talkmuth, Schut, and Christburgh, to the crown of Poland. On the other hand, the king restored to them all the other conquests he had made in Prussia, granted a seat in the Polish senate to the grand-master, and endowed him with other privileges, on condition that, six months after his accession, he should do homage for Prussia, and Poland, take an oath of fidelity to the king and republic.

This success raised the spirits of the Polish nation, which had drooped ever since the battle of Varva. The diet did not, however, think proper to renew the war against the Turks, but took under their protection the hospodar of Moldavia; as thinking that this province would make a convenient barrier to the Polish dominions on one side. The request of the prince who asked this protection was therefore readily granted, an oath of fidelity exacted from him and the inhabitants, and a tribute required; regular payment of which was made for a great number of years afterwards.

About this time also the crown of Bohemia becoming vacant, the people were extremely desirous of being governed by one of the princes of Poland; upon which, the barons were induced to bestow the crown upon Uladislaus, eldest son to Casimir, in opposition to the intrigues of the king of Hungary. Not satisfied with this acquisition, Uladislaus took advantage of the dissensions in Hungary, in order to unite that crown to his own; and this he also effected; by which means his power was greatly augmented, though not the felicity of his people. So many foreign expeditions had exhausted the treasury, and oppressed the peasants with taxes; the gentry were greatly diminished by a number of bloody engagements; agriculture was neglected, and the country almost depopulated. Before a proper remedy could be applied for these evils, Casimir died in 1492; much more admired, than beloved or regretted, by his subjects. It is related by the historians of this period, that in the reign of Casimir III. the deputies of the provinces first appeared at the diet, and assumed to themselves the legislative power; all laws before this time having been framed by the king in conjunction with the senate. It is observed also, that before Casimir's time, the Latin language was understood only by the clergy of Poland; in proof of which, it is alleged, that at an interview between this prince and the king of Sweden at Danzick, his Polish majesty was forced to make use of the assistance of a monk to interpret between him and the Swedish monarch. Casimir, ashamed of the ignorance shown by himself and court, published an edict, enjoining the diligent study of the Latin, which in our days is spoken as vernacular by every Polish gentleman, though very unclassically.

During the succeeding reigns of John, Albert, and Alexander, the Polish affairs fell into decline; the kingdom being harried by continual wars with the Turks and Tartars. However, they were retrieved by Sigismund I. who ascended the throne in 1507. This monarch, having reformed some internal abuses, exploits of next let about rendering the kingdom as formidable as it Sigismund had formerly been. He first quelled a rebellion which broke out in Lithuania; after which, he drove the Walachians and Moldavians out of Ruffia Nigra, and defeated the Russians in a pitched battle, with the loss of 30,000 men. In this engagement he was obliged to cause his cavalry swim across the Borithense to begin the attack, while a bridge was preparing for the infantry. These orders were executed with astonishing celerity, notwithstanding the rapidity of the stream, the steepness of the banks, and the enemy's opposition. The onset was led by the Lithuanians, who were directed rected to retreat gradually, with a view of drawing the enemy within reach of the cannon. This the Rus- sians mistook for a real flight; and as they were pur- suing with eagerness, Sigismund opened his line to the right and left, pouring in grape-shot from the artillery with dreadful success. The Russian general, and sev- eral noblemen of the first distinction, were taken pri- soners, while the whole loss of the royal army did not amount to 300 men.

After this complete victory, the king turned his arms against the Teutonic knights, who had elected the marquis of Brandenburg their grand-master; and this prince not only refused to acknowledge the sove- reignty of the crown of Poland, but even invaded the Polish territories. Sigismund marched against him, and gained possession of several important places in Brandenburg; but as he was pursuing his conquests, the marquis was reinforced by 14,000 Germans, led by the duke of Schonenburg, who ventured to lay siege to Dantzig, after having ravaged all the neigh- bouring country. The Dantzickers, however, de- fended themselves with so much spirit, that the be- lievers were soon obliged to relinquish their enterprise. In their retreat they were attacked by a strong detach- ment of Polish cavalry, who made prodigious havoc, and compelled the wretched remains to take shelter in Pomerania, where they were inhumanely butchered by the peasants. Soon after this the marquis was obli- ged to submit to the clemency of the conqueror; from whom, however, he obtained better conditions than could have been expected, or indeed than he would have got, had he not abandoned the interest of the Teutonic order, and resigned the dignity of grand- master. In order to secure him in his interest, there- fore, Sigismund granted him half the province of Prussia as a secular duke, and dependent on the crown of Poland; by which means he entirely deprived that order of the best part of their dominions, and put it quite out of their power to disturb the tranquillity of Poland any more.

The power of Sigismund had now excited the jea- lousy of the House of Austria; for which reason they took every method in their power to stir up enemies against him. By their means, the Russians, Molda- vians, and Tartars, were all excited to fall upon the Polish territories at once. The voivode of Walachia, with 50,000 men, made an irruption into the small province of Pokatol, but was entirely defeated by count Taro at the head of no more than 6000. This victory is wholly ascribed to the good conduct of the commander, who possessed himself of some eminences on the flanks of the enemy. On these he erected bat- teries; which played with such fury, as soon put their ranks in disorder; upon which the Poles attacked them sword in hand, and entirely dispersed them with the loss of 10,000 killed or taken. The count having then augmented his army with a strong body of Lithua- nians, attacked the Mucoites and Tartars, drove them entirely out of the duchy, pursued them into Russia, reduced several towns, and at last laid siege to the strong fortress of Strasadub; in which the re- gent, together with some of the best troops of Russia, were inclosed. The garrison made a gallant defense; and the fortifications were composed of beams joined together, and supported by a bulwark of earth, upon which the cannon-shot made no impression; but the count contrived a method of setting the wood on fire; by which means the regent and nobility were obliged to surrender at discretion, and Taro carried off upwards of 60,000 prisoners, with an immense booty.

In the reign of Sigismund, we may look upon the kingdom of Poland to have been at its greatest pitch of glory. This monarch possessed, in his own person, the republic of Poland, the great duchies of Lithuania, Smolensko, and Saveria, besides vast territories lying beyond the Euxine and Baltic; while his ne- phew Lewis possessed the kingdoms of Bohemia, Hun- gary, and Silesia. But this glory received a sudden check in 1548, by the defeat and death of Lewis, who perished in a battle fought with Solyman the Great, emperor of the Turks. The daughter of this prince married Ferdinand of Austria; whereby the dominions of Hungary, Bohemia, and Silesia, be- came inseparably connected with the hereditary domi- nions of the Austrian family. This misfortune is thought to have hastened the death of Sigismund; tho' being then in his 84th year, he could not have lived long by the ordinary course of nature. He did not, however, survive the news many months, but died of a lingering disorder, leaving behind him the charac- ter of the completest general, the ablest politician, the best prince, and the strongest man, in the north; of which last, indeed, some instances are related by hi- storians, that are almost incredible.

Sigismund Augustus, who succeeded his father Si. Sigismund I., proved also a very great and happy prince. At that time the most violent and bloody wars were car- rying on in Germany, and indeed through other parts of Europe, on account of religion; but Sigis- mund wisely avoided interfering in these disputes. He would not admit into his dominions any of those divines who were taxed with holding heterodox opinions, nor even allow his people the liberty of corresponding with them; yet he never persecuted, or employed any other means for the preservation of the state than those of a well-considered and regular policy. Instead of dis- puting with his subjects about speculative opinions, Sig- ismund applied himself diligently to the reforming of abuses, enforcing the laws, enriching the treasury, pro- moting industry, and redeeming the crown-lands where the titles of the possessors appeared illegal. Out of the revenue recovered in this manner he maintained a for- midable standing army, without laying any additional tax upon the subjects; and though he preferred peace, to war, he was always able to punish those that offered indignities to his crown or person. His knowledge war with in the art of war was soon tried in a contest with the Rus- sians, who had made an irruption into Livonia, en- couraged by the disputes which had subsisted between the Teutonic knights and the archbishop of Riga, coun- tin to Sigismund. The province was at that time di- vided between the knights and the prelate; and the Russians, under pretence of assailing the former, had feized great part of the dominions of latter. The arch- bishop had recourse to his kinsman the king of Poland; who, after fruitless efforts to accommodate matters, marched towards the frontiers of Livonia with an army of 100,000 men. The knights were by no means able to resist such a formidable power; and therefore, desert- ing their late allies, put themselves under the protec- tion tion of the king of Poland. The czar, John Basilides, though deserted by the knights, did not lose his courage; nay, he even insolently refused to return any answer to the proposals of peace made by Sigismund. His army consisted of 300,000 men, with whom he imagined himself able to reduce all Livonia, in spite of the utmost efforts of the king of Poland; however, having met with some checks on that quarter, he directly invaded Poland with his whole army. At first he carried everything before him; but the Poles soon made a vigorous opposition. Yet the Ruthians, though every where defeated, still continued their incursions, which Sigismund at last revenge by invading Russia in his turn. These mutual devastations and ravages at last made both parties desirous of peace, and a truce for three years was agreed on; during the continuance of which the king of Poland died, and with him was extinguished the house of Jagello, which had governed Poland for near 200 years.

On the death of Sigismund, Poland became a prey to intestine divisions; and a vast number of intrigues were set on foot at the courts of Vienna, France, Saxony, Sweden, and Brandenburg; each endeavouring to establish a prince of their own nation on the throne of Poland. The consequence of all this was, that the kingdom became one universal scene of corruption, faction, and confusion; the members of the diet consulted only their own interest, and were ready on every occasion to fall themselves to the best bidder. The Protestants had by this time got a considerable footing in the kingdom, and thus religious disputes were intermingled with political ones. One good effect, however, flowed from this confusion: for a law was passed, by which it was enacted, that no difference in religious opinions should make any contention among the subjects of the kingdom; and that all the Poles, without discrimination, should be capable of holding public offices and trusts under the government; and it was also resolved, that the future king should swear expressly to cultivate the internal tranquillity of the realm, and cherish, without distinction, their subjects of all persuasions.

While the candidates for the throne were severally attempting to support their own interest in the best manner they could, John Crafofski, a Polish gentleman of great merit, but diminutive stature, had just returned from France, whither he had travelled for improvement. His humour, wit, and diverting size, had rendered him universally agreeable at the court of France, and in a particular manner engaged the esteem of Catherine de Medicis, which the little Pole had the address to make use of for his own advantage. He owed many obligations to the duke of Anjou; whom, out of gratitude, he represented in such favourable terms, that the Poles began to entertain thoughts of making him their king. These sentiments were confirmed and encouraged by Crafofski, who returned into France by order of several leading men in Poland, and acquainted the king and queen Catharine, that nothing was wanting besides the formality of an embassy to procure the crown for the duke of Anjou, almost without opposition. Charles IX., king of France at that time, also promoted the scheme, being jealous of the duke of Anjou's popularity, and willing to have him removed to as great a distance as possible. Accordingly the parties came to an agreement; and it was stipulated that the duke of Anjou should maintain the laws, liberties, and customs of the kingdom of Poland, and of the grand duchy of Lithuania; that he should transport all Anjou's effects and annual revenues in France into Poland; that the French monarch should pay the late king Sigismund's debts; that he should maintain 100 young Polish gentlemen at his court, and so in other places; that he should send a fleet to the Baltic, to assist Poland against the Ruthians; and lastly, that Henry should marry the princess Anne, sister to the late king Sigismund; but this article Henry would not ratify till his return to Poland.

Everything being thus settled, the young king quitted France, attended by a splendid retinue, and was accompanied by the queen-mother as far as Lorraine. He was received by his subjects on the frontiers of Poland, and conducted to Cracow, where he was soon after crowned. The affections of the Poles were soon engaged by the youth and accomplishments of Henry; but scarce was he seated on the throne, when, by the death of Charles IX., he became heir to the crown of France. Of this he was informed by repeated messages from queen Catharine; he repented his having accepted the crown of Poland, and resolved to leave it for that of France. But being sensible that the Poles would oppose his departure, he kept his intentions secret, and watched an opportunity of stealing out of the palace in disguise in the night-time. The Poles, as might well have been expected, were irritated at being thus abandoned, from the mere motive of interest, by a prince whom they had loved and honoured so much. Parties were dispatched after him by different roads; and Zamofski, a nobleman who headed one of these parties, overtook him some leagues distant from Cracow. All the prayers and tears of that nobleman, however, could not prevail on Henry to return; he rode post to Vienna, and then passed into France by the way of Italy.

In the mean time the Poles were so much exasperated against Henry and his whole nation, that all the French in Cracow would have been massacred if the magistrates had not placed guards in the streets. Henry, however, had foreseen the consequences of his flight, and therefore endeavoured to apologise for his behaviour. One Danzai undertook his cause in full senate; and with great eloquence explained the king's motives for his abrupt departure. Henry also wrote to the chief nobility and clergy with his own hand. But nothing could satisfy the Poles; who now acquainted their king, that if he did not immediately return, they would be obliged to divest him of the royal dignity, and to choose another sovereign. Henry began to excuse himself on account of the wars in which he was engaged, and promised to send men of unexceptionable integrity to govern Poland till he should return; but no excuses could be accepted; and, on the 15th of July 1575, he was solemnly divested of the regal dignity in full diet, and the throne declared vacant.

After the deposition of Henry, the commotions and factions again took place. However, the contending parties were now reduced to two; one who supported the interest of Maximilian emperor of Germany; the other, who were for electing the princess Anne, and marrying her to Stephen Batori prince of Transylvania, nia. The latter prevailed through the courage of one gentleman, who, in imitation of the power assumed by the Roman tribunes, stood up in the full senate, and opposed the proclamation of Maximilian, declaring that his election was violent and illegal. In this situation of affairs, it was obvious that strength and celebrity must determine which election was legitimate; both parties wrote to the princes whose cause they had espoused, intreating them to come with all possible expedition to take possession of the throne. Batori proved the more alert; for while Maximilian was disputing about certain conditions which the Poles required for the security of their privileges, he entered Poland, married the princess, and was crowned on the 1st of May 1576.

No opposition was made to the authority of Batori except by the inhabitants of Dantzig. These adhered to the interest of Maximilian even after he was dead, and had the presumption to demand from the king an oath acknowledging their absolute freedom and independence. Batori referred them to the senate, declaring that he had no right to give up the privileges of the republic; but admonished the citizens to avoid all occasion of a civil war, which must necessarily terminate in their disadvantage. But the obstinate citizens, confirming the king's lenity into fear, shut the gates against the ambassador, seized upon the fortresses of Grebin, and published a manifesto resembling a libel upon the king and the republic. The king, incensed at these proceedings, marched against Grebin, retook the castle, and ravaged certain territories belonging to the Dantzickers; who retaliated by burning to the ground a monastery named Oliva, to prevent the Poles from taking possession of so important a situation.

Notwithstanding these outrages, Batori renewed his overtures for an accommodation: but the Dantzickers were deaf to these salutary proposals; so that he was obliged to declare them rebels, and send against them a body of troops under one Zborowski. As the number of the Polish army, however, was not considerable, the Dantzickers marched out to give him battle. They were assisted by a corps of Germans, and a resolution was formed of attacking the Poles in their camp by surprize; but the project was disconcerted by a sudden storm accompanied with dreadful thunder and lightning, which spread a panic through the army, as if it had been a judgment from heaven, and obliged the commander, John de Collen, to retire into the city.—In a short time, however, they recovered their spirits, and came to an action with the Poles; but were defeated with the loss of 8000 men killed on the spot, a great many taken prisoners, and the loss of several pieces cannon. But this check, instead abating the courage of the Dantzickers, only animated them the more, and they resolved to hold out to the last extremity. In the mean time the Czar of Muscovy, thinking the present opportunity favourable for extending his dominions, laid siege to Revel; but, not being able to make himself master of that place, he was obliged to content himself with ravaging Livonia, which he did in a dreadful manner. This did not, however, hinder Batori from laying siege to Dantzig in person, and pursuing the operations with the utmost vigour. Collen made many vigorous sallies in several of which he defeated the Poles; but happening at last to be killed, nobody was found capable of supplying his place, and the citizens were at last obliged to surrender at discretion; though not till they had obtained a promise from the elector of Saxony, and landgrave of Hesse of interposing as mediators in their behalf. The only terms which the king demanded of them were, that they should ask his pardon, disarm their troops, and rebuild the monastery of Oliva which they had destroyed; while his majesty, on the other hand, confirmed all their privileges, and granted them full liberty of adhering to the confession of Augsburg, for which they had for some time been strenuous advocates.

The war with Dantzig was no sooner ended, than the king directed his whole strength against the czar of Muscovy, who had made himself master of several important cities in Livonia. The czar behaved everywhere with the greatest cruelty, slaughtering all without distinction who were able to bear arms, and abandoning the women and children to the shocking brutality of the Tartars who served in his army. Such was the horror inspired by the perfidy and cruelty of the czar's conduct, that the inhabitants of Wonder chose rather to bury themselves in the ruins of their town, than to submit to such an inhuman enemy. For a considerable time the Russians were allowed to proceed in this manner, till the whole province of Livonia, excepting Riga and Revel, had suffered the barbarities of this insulting conqueror; but at last, in 1578, a body of forces was dispatched into the province, the towns of Wonder and Dunnenburg were surprised, and an army sent by the czar to surprise the former was defeated.

At this time the Muscovites were not the only enemies who opposed the king of Poland, and oppressed Livonia. That unhappy province was also invaded by the Swedes, who professed themselves to be enemies equally to both parties, and who were scarce inferior in cruelty to the Russians themselves. The king, however, was not daunted by the number of his adversaries; but having made great preparations, and called to his assistance Christopher prince of Transylvania, with all the standing forces of that country, he took the field in person against the Muscovites, and laid siege to Poloz, a town of great importance situated on the river Dwina. The Russians no sooner heard of the approach of the Polish army, than they resolved to put all the citizens to death, thinking by this means to strike terror into the enemy. When Batori came near the town, the most shocking spectacle presented itself; the river appeared dyed with blood, and a vast number of human bodies fastened to planks, and terribly mangled, were carried down its stream. This barbarity, instead of intimidating the Poles, irritated them to such a degree, that nothing could resist them. Finding that their cannon made little impression upon the walls of the city, which were constructed of wood, they advanced to the assault with burning torches in their hands; and would soon have reduced the fortifications to ashes, had not a violent storm of rain prevented them. The design, however, was put in execution as soon as the rain slackened; and the barbarous Russians were obliged to surrender at discretion. It reflects the highest honour on Batori, that, notwithstanding the dreadful instances of cruelty... cruelty which he had before his eyes, he would not suffer his soldiers to retaliate. Indeed the cruelties committed by the Russians on this occasion, seem almost to have authorised any revenge that could possibly have been taken. A number of Germans were committed found in the city, some expiring under the most dreadful tortures, and others dead of pains which nature could no longer support. Several of the officers had been dipped in cauldrons of boiling oil, with a cord drawn under the skin of the umbilical region, which fastened their hands behind; in which situation their eyes had been torn out from their sockets, or burnt with red-hot irons, and their faces otherwise terribly mangled. The disfigured carcases, indeed, plainly showed the barbarous treatment they had met with; and the dreadful tale was confirmed by the testimony of the few who survived. The Polish soldiers were exasperated almost to madness; so that scarce all the authority of Batori could restrain them from cutting in pieces the wretches who had been the authors of such a dreadful tragedy.

After the reduction of Polocz, Batori continued the war with great success. Two detachments from the army penetrated the enemy's country by different roads, waited all before them to the gates of Smolensko, and returned with the spoils of 2000 villages which they had pillaged and destroyed. In the mean time the Swedes and Poles thought proper to come to an accommodation; and though John king of Sweden was at that time prevented from bearing his share of the war, yet Batori reduced such a number of cities, and committed such devastations in the Russian territories, that the Czar was obliged to sue for peace; which he obtained, on condition of relinquishing Livonia, after having thrown away the lives of more than 400,000 of his subjects in attempting to conquer it.

Batori, being thus freed from a most destructive and cruel war, applied himself to the internal government of his kingdom. He regulated the Polish cavalry in such a manner, as made them become formidable to the Turks and other neighbouring nations; and this is the military establishment to which the Poles have given the name of quartiers; because, a fourth part of the revenue is employed in supporting them. Batori sent this body of cavalry towards the frontiers of Tartary, to check the incursions of those barbarians; by which means the Ukraine, a vast tract of desert country, was filled with flourishing towns and villages, and became a strong barrier against the Turks, Tartars, and Russians. The last memorable action of Batori was his attaching the Cossacks to Poland, civilizing and instructing them in the arts of war and peace. His first endeavour was to gain their affections by his liberality; for which purpose, he presented them with the city of Techtemeravia, situated on the Borithenes, which they formed into a magazine and made the residence of their chieftains. He gave them officers of all degrees, established discipline among them, altered their arms, and formed them into a regular militia, which afterwards performed eminent services to the state. All kinds of manufactures, at that time known in Poland, were likewise established among the Cossacks; the women were employed in spinning and weaving woollen cloths, while the men were taught agriculture, and other arts proper for their sex.

While Batori was employed in this manner, the Swedes broke the convention into which they had entered with Poland, and were on the point of getting possession of Riga. To this, indeed, Batori himself had given occasion, by attempting to impose the Roman religion upon the inhabitants, after having promised them entire liberty of conscience. This so irritated them, that they revolted, and were on the point of admitting a Swedish garrison into the city, when the king was informed of what was going forward. Upon this he resolved to take a most exemplary vengeance on the inhabitants of Riga; but before he could execute his intention, he died in the year 1586, the 54th of his age, and 10th of his reign.

The death of Batori involved Poland in fresh troubles. Four candidates appeared for the crown, viz. the princes Ernest and Maximilian of the house of Austria; Sigismund, prince of Sweden; and Theodore czar of Muscovy. Each of these had a separate party; but Sigismund and Maximilian managed matters so well, that in 1587 both of them were elected. The consequence of this was a civil war; in which Maximilian was defeated and taken prisoner; and thus Sigismund III. surnamed De Valois, became master of the throne of Poland without opposition. He waged a successful war with the Tartars, and was otherwise prosperous; but though he succeeded to the crown of Sweden, he found it impossible for him to retain both kingdoms, and he was formally deposed from the Swedish throne. In 1610 he conquered Russia, and placed his son on the throne; but the Polish conquests of that country have always been but for a short time. Accordingly the young prince was soon after deposed; and the Russians not only regained their liberty, but began to make encroachments on Poland itself. A very unfortunate war also took place with Sweden, which was now governed by the Great Gustavus Adolphus; the particulars of which, with the other exploits of that renowned warrior, are related under the article SWEDEN. At last Sigismund, worn out with cares and misfortunes, died in 1629.

After Sigismund's death, the affairs of Poland seemed to revive a little under Uladilas VII.; for he obliged the Russians to sue for peace, and Sweden to restore some of her conquests; but having attempted to abridge the liberty of the Cossacks, they revolted, and gave the Poles several terrible defeats. Nor was the war terminated in the lifetime of Uladilas, who died in 1648. His successor, John Casimir, concluded a peace with these dangerous enemies; but the war was soon after renewed; and while the kingdom was distracted between these enemies and the discontented of its own inhabitants, the Russians took the opportunity of invading and pillaging Lithuania. In a little after, the whole kingdom was subdued by Charles Gustavus, successor to Christina queen of Sweden.

Happily for Poland, however, a rupture took place between the courts of Sweden and Copenhagen; by which means the Poles were enabled to drive out the Swedes in 1657. This was succeeded by civil wars and contests with Russia; which so much vexed the king, that he resigned the crown in 1668. For two years after the resignation of Casimir, the kingdom was filled with confusion; but on the 17th of September 1670, one Michael Coribut Wiesniewski, collaterally descended from the house of Jagello, but in a very mean situation at that time, was chosen king. His reign continued but for three years; during which time, John Sobieski, a celebrated Polish general, gave the Turks a dreadful overthrow, tho' their army consisted of more than 300,000 men; and had this blow been pursued, the Cossacks would have been entirely subdued, and very advantageous terms might have been obtained from the Sultan. Of that vast multitude of Turks, no more than 15,000 made their escape, the rest being all either killed or taken; however, the Polish soldiers, being bound by the laws of their country only to stay a certain time in the field, they refused to pursue this signal victory, and suffered the king to make peace on any terms he could procure.

Wiesniewski died before the news of this transaction reached Cracow; and after his death, a new scene of confusion ensued, till at last the fortune of John Sobieski prevailed, and he was elected king of Poland in 1674. He was a most magnanimous and heroic prince; who, by his valour and good conduct, retrieved the affairs of Poland, and entirely checked the progress of the Turks westward. These Barbarians were everywhere defeated, as is particularly related under the article Turkey; but notwithstanding his great qualities, Poland was now so thoroughly corrupted, and pervaded by a spirit of disaffection, that the latter part of this monarch's reign was involved in troubles, through the ambition and contention of some powerful nobles.

Sobieski died in 1696; and with him fell the glory of Poland. Most violent contests took place about the succession; the recital of which would far exceed our limits. At last Frederic Augustus, elector of Saxony, prevailed; but yet, as some of the most essential ceremonies were wanting in his coronation, because the primate, who was in an opposite interest, would not perform them, he found it extremely difficult to keep his subjects in proper obedience. To add to his misfortunes, having engaged in a league with Denmark and Russia against Sweden, he was attacked with irresistible fury by Charles XII. Though Augustus had not been betrayed, as indeed he almost always was, he was by no means a match for the ferocious Swede. The particulars of this war, however, as they make great part of the exploits of that northern hero, more properly fall to be related under the article Sweden. Here, therefore, we shall only observe, that Augustus was reduced to the humiliating necessity of renouncing the crown of Poland on oath, and even of congratulating his rival Stanislaus upon his accession to the throne; but when the power of Charles was broken by his defeat at Poltowa, the fortune of Augustus again prevailed; Stanislaus was driven out; and the former being absolved from his oath by the Pope, resumed the throne of Poland.

Since that time the Polish nation hath never made any figure. Surrounded by great and ambitious powers, it hath sunk under the degeneracy of its inhabitants; so that it now scarce exists as a nation. This catastrophe took place in the following manner:

On the 5th of October 1763, died Augustus III, elector of Saxony, and king of Poland. He was succeeded by count Poniatowski, a Polish grandee, who was proclaimed September 7th 1764, by the name of Stanislaus Augustus, and crowned on the 25th of November the same year.—During the interregnum which took place between the death of Augustus III, and the election of Stanislaus, a decree had been made by the convocation-diet of Poland, with regard to the dissenters, as they were called, or dissenters from the Polish religion. By this decree they were prohibited from the free exercise of their religion, much more than they had formerly been, and totally excluded from all posts and places under the government. On this several of the European powers interposed, at the application of the dissenters, for their good offices. The courts of Russia, Prussia, Great Britain, and Denmark, made remonstrances to the diet; but, notwithstanding these remonstrances, the decree was confirmed by the coronation-diet held after the king's election.

October 6, 1766, an ordinary diet was assembled. Here declarations from the courts above mentioned were presented to his Polish majesty, requiring the re-establishment of the dissenters in their civil rights and privileges, and the peaceable enjoyment of their modes of worship secured to them by the laws of the kingdom which had been observed for two centuries. These privileges, it was alleged, had been confirmed by the treaty of Oliva, concluded by all the Northern powers, which could not be altered but by the consent of all the contracting parties. The Popish party contended strongly for a confirmation of some decrees made against the dissenters in 1717, 1723, and 1736. The deputies from the foreign powers replied, that those decrees had passed in the midst of intestine troubles, and were contradicted by the formal protestations and express declarations of foreign powers. At last, after violent contests, the matter was referred to the bishops and senators for their opinion. Upon a report from them, the diet came to a resolution, That they would fully maintain the dissenters in all the rights and prerogatives to which they were intitled by the laws of their country, particularly by the constitutions of the year 1717, &c. and by treaties; and that as to their complaints with regard to the exercise of their religion, the college of archbishops and bishops, under the direction of the prince primate, would endeavour to remove those difficulties in a manner conformable to justice and neighbourly love.—By this time, however, the court of Russia seemed determined to make her remonstrances more effectual, and a small body of Russian troops marched to within two miles of the capital of Poland.

These resolutions of the diet were by no means agreeable to the dissenters. They dated the beginning of their sufferings from the year 1747. The referring their grievances to the archbishops and bishops was looked upon as a measure the most unreasonable that could be imagined, as that body of men had always been their opposers, and in fact the authors of all the evils which had befallen them.—Shortly after matters were considered in this view, an additional body of Russians, to the number of about 15,000, entered Poland.

The dissenters, being now pretty sure of the protection of foreign powers, entered, on the 20th of March 1767, 1767, into two confederacies, at Thorn and Sluck. One of them was signed by the dissidents of Great and Little Poland, and the other by those of the Great Duchy of Lithuania. The purpose of these confederacies was, an engagement to exert themselves in the defense of their ancient privileges, and the free exercise of their religion; professing, at the same time, however, the utmost loyalty to the king, and resolving to send a deputation to him to implore his protection. They even invited those of the Catholic communion, and all true patriots, to unite with them in maintaining the fundamental laws of the kingdom, the peace of religion, and the rights of each one jointly with themselves. They claimed, by virtue of public treaties, the protection of the powers who were guarantees of their rights and liberties; namely, the empress of Russia, and the kings of Sweden, Great Britain, Denmark, and Prussia. Lastly, they protested, that they had no intention of acting to the detriment of the Roman Catholic religion, which they duly respected; and only asked the liberty of their own, and the re-establishment of their ancient rights. The three cities of Thorn, Elbing, and Dantzig, acceded to the confederacy of Thorn on the 10th of April; as did the duke and nobles of Courland to that of Sluck on the 15th of May.

The empress of Russia, and king of Prussia, in the meantime, continued to issue forth new declarations in favor of the dissidents, and the Russian troops in Poland were gradually augmented to 30,000 men. Great numbers of other confederacies were also formed in different parts of the kingdom. These at first took little part in the affairs of the dissidents: they complained only of the administration of public affairs, in which they alleged that innovations had been introduced, and were therefore for some time called confederations of malcontents. All these confederacies published manifestoes, in which they recommended to the inhabitants to quarter and treat the Russian troops as the defenders of the Polish liberties.

The different confederacies of malcontents formed in the twenty-four districts of Lithuania, united at Wilna on the 2nd of June; and that general confederacy re-established prince Radziwiłł, who had married the king's sister, in his liberty, estates, and honour, of which he had been deprived in 1764 by the states of that duchy. On the 23rd of June, prince Radziwiłł was chosen grand marshal of the general confederacy of all Poland, which then began to be called the national confederacy, and was said to be composed of 72,000 noblemen and gentlemen.

The general confederacy took such measures as appeared most proper for strengthening their party. They sent to the several waywodes of the kingdom, requiring their compliance with the following articles: 1. That all the gentlemen who had not signed the confederacy should do it immediately; 2. That all the courts of justice should submit as formerly, but not judge any of the confederates; 3. That the marshals of the crown should not pass any sentence without the participation of at least four of the confederates; and, 4. That the marshals of the crown and the treasurers should be immediately restored to the possession of their respective rights. The Catholic party in the mean time were not idle. The bishop of Cracow sent a very pathetic and zealous letter to the dietines assembled at Warsaw on the 15th of August, in which he exhorted them to arm their municios with courage, by giving them orthodox and patriotic instructions, that they might not grant the dissidents new advantages beyond those which were secured to them by the constitutions of the country, and treaties with foreign powers, &c. The pope also sent briefs to the king, the great chancellor, the noblesse, bishops of the kingdom, and to the prince primate, with such arguments and exhortations as were thought most proper to ward off the impending danger. Councils in the mean time were frequently held at the bishop of Cracow's palace, where all the prelates at Warsaw assembled.

On the 26th of September 1767 the confederacy of dissidents was united with the general confederacy of malcontents in the palace of prince Radziwiłł, who, on that occasion, expressed great friendship for the dissidents. In a few days after, the Russian troops in the capital were reinforced, and a considerable body of them was posted at about five miles distance.

On the 5th of October an extraordinary diet was held; but the affair of the dissidents met with such opposition, that it was thought necessary to adjourn the meeting till the 12th; during which interval, every expedient was used to gain over those who opposed prince Radziwiłł's plan. This was, to appoint a commission, furnished with full power to enter into conference with prince Repnin, the Russian ambassador, concerning the affairs of the dissidents. Notwithstanding all the pains taken, however, the meeting of the 12th proved exceedingly tumultuous. The bishops of Cracow and Kiow, with some other prelates, and several magnats, declared, that they would never consent to the establishment of such a commission; and at the same time spoke with more vehemence than ever against the pretensions of the dissidents. Some of the deputies answered with great warmth; which occasioned such animosities, that the meeting was again adjourned till the 16th.

On the 13th the bishops of Cracow and Kiow, the palatine of Cracow, and the staroste of Dolniski, were carried off by Russian detachments. The crime alleged against them, in a declaration published next day by prince Repnin, was, that they had been wanting in respect to the dignity of the empress of Russia, by attacking the purity of her intentions towards the republic; though she was resolved to continue her protection and alliance to the general confederacy united for preserving the liberties of Poland, and correcting all the abuses which had been introduced into government, &c.

It was probably owing to this violent proceeding of the Russians, that prince Radziwiłł's plan was at last adopted, and several new regulations were made in favor of the dissidents. These innovations, however, soon produced a civil war, which at last ended in the ruin of the kingdom. In the beginning of the year 1768, a new confederacy was formed in Podolia, a province bordering on Turkey, which was afterwards called the confederacy of Bar. The intention of it was, to abolish, by force of arms, the new constitutions, particularly those in favour of the dissidents. The members of the new confederacy likewise expressed great resentment against the carrying away of the bishop of Cracow, &c., and still detaining them in custody. Podolia was reckoned the fittest place for the purpose of the confederates, as they imagined the Russians could not attack them there without giving umbrage to the Ottoman court. Similar confederacies, however, were quickly entered into throughout the kingdom; the clergy excited all ranks of men to exert themselves in defence of their religion; and so much were their exhortations regarded, that even the king's troops could not be trusted to act against these confederates.

The empress of Russia threatened the new confederates as disturbers of the public tranquillity, and declared that her troops would act against them if they persisted. It was, however, some time before the Russian troops were considerably reinforced; nor did they at first seem inclined to act with the vigour which they might have exerted. A good many skirmishes soon happened between these two contending parties, in which the confederates were generally defeated. In one of these the latter being worsted, and hardly pressed, a number of them passed the Niester, and took refuge in Moldavia. This province had formerly belonged to Poland, but was now subject to the Grand Signior: the Russians, however, pursued their enemies into Moldavia; but in order to prevent any offence being taken by the Porte, prince Repnin wrote to the Russian resident at Constantinople, to intimate there, that the conduct of the Russian colonel who commanded the party was quite contrary to the orders of his court, and that therefore he would be turned out of his post.

Great cruelty in the mean time was exercised against the dissidents where there were no Russian troops to protect them. Towards the end of October 1769, prince Martin Lubomirski, one of the southern confederates, who had been driven out of Poland, and had taken shelter with some of his adherents among the mountains of Hungary, got a manifesto posted up on several of the churches of Cracow, in which he invited the nation to a general revolt, and assuring them of the alliance of the Ottoman Porte, with whom he pretended to have concluded a treaty. This was the beginning of hostilities between the Turks and Russians, which were not terminated but by a vast effusion of blood on both sides.

The unhappy kingdom of Poland was the first scene of this war, and in a short time was reduced to the most deplorable situation. In the end of the year 1768, the peasants of the Greek religion in the Polish Ukraine, and province of Kioz, took up arms, and committed the greatest ravages, having, as they pretended, been threatened with death by the confederates unless they would turn Roman Catholics. Against these insurgents the Russians employed their arms, and made great numbers of them prisoners. The rest took refuge among the Haidamacks; by whom they were soon joined, and in the beginning of 1769 entered the Ukraine in conjunction with them, committing every where the most horrid massacres. Here, however, they were at last defeated by the Polish troops, at the same time that several of the confederacies in Poland were severely chastised. Soon after, the Khan of the Crimean Tartars, having been repulsed with loss in an attempt on New Servia, entered the Polish territories, where he left frightful marks of his inhumanity upon some innocent and defenceless persons. This latter piece of conduct, with the cruelties exercised by the confederates, induced the Polish cossacks of Bracław and Kiozin, amounting to near 30,000 effective men, to join the Russians, in order to defend their country against these destroyers. Matters continued much in the same way during the rest of the year 1769; and in 1770, skirmishes frequently happened between the Russians and confederates, in which the latter were almost always worsted; but they took care to revenge themselves by the most barbarous cruelties on the Dissidents, wherever they could find them. In 1770, a considerable number of the confederates of Bar, who had joined the Turks, and been excessively ill used by them, came to an accommodation with the Russians, who took them under their protection on very moderate terms.—Agriculture in the mean time had been so much neglected, that the crop of 1770 was very deficient. This encouraged a number of desperadoes to associate under the denomination of confederates, who were guilty of still greater excesses than those who had been under some kind of regulation. Thus a great part of the country was at last reduced to a mere desert, the inhabitants being either exterminated, or carried off to stock the remote Russian plantations, from whence they never could return.

In the year 1771, the confederacies, which seemed to have been extinguished, sprung up afresh, and increased to a prodigious degree. This was occasioned by their having been secretly encouraged and supplied with money by France. A great number of French officers engaged as volunteers in their service; who, having introduced discipline among their troops, they acted with much greater vigour than formerly, and sometimes proved too hard for their enemies. These gleams of success proved at last their total ruin. The Russians were reinforced, and properly supported. The Austrian and Prussian troops entered the country, and advanced on different other sides; and the confederates found themselves in a short time entirely surrounded by their enemies, who seemed to have nothing left in view than an absolute conquest of the country, and sharing it among themselves.

Before matters came to this crisis, however, the confederates formed a design of assassinating the king, on account of his supposed attachment to the Dissidents. As he was returning to his palace at Warsaw, November 3, 1771, about nine in the evening, it being then very dark, and he not attended by his usual guards, the coach was suddenly attacked, at the corner of the street, by six men on horseback, the principal of whom was Koczinski, an officer among the confederates. They fired their carbines and pistols into the carriage; after which they dragged out the king, and carried him off. Soon after they were joined by 25 of their associates; and not only got clear of the city, but reached a place called Willows, five or seven English miles distant from the capital. Mean time, however, the country was alarmed; cannon were repeatedly fired as signals; and parties of Russians, sent out in quest of the king, continually alarmed the conspirators with their shouts. At last Koczinski advised them to a separation, as the only probable means of escaping the Russians; and, his advice being complied with, he by this means got the king into his own power, and that of four others only. These companions he found means to get rid of, by sending them away. away one by one to observe the motions of the pursuers. He then quitted the road, and dismounted; and, throwing himself at the king's feet, implored his pardon, and offered to save his life. After this they marched an hour and a half on foot through dismal woods and marshes, till they arrived at a hut; whence the king sent to the Russian general, and was conveyed to Warsaw early in the morning. He had received two wounds in his head, one from a ball, and the other from a sabre; and his escaping with life may be considered as a very extraordinary event.

The affairs of this unhappy country continued for some time in the same miserable way. Almost the whole of it was reduced to a mere desert; at the same time that a treaty was talked of between the three powers, for dividing the whole kingdom among them. By this treaty, it was said, that the Austrians were to have a great part of South Poland; the Russians, the Polish Ukraine, and a part of the duchy of Lithuania; and the Prussians, that part called Polish Prussia.

A partition of this kind actually did take place. The king of Prussia, partly by treaty, and partly by encroachments, founded on antiquated claims and vague pretences, possessed himself of so much of the kingdom, that the court of Petersburg thought proper to check his progress; the Austrians proceeded in the same manner; and at last the constitution of the kingdom was totally altered, by the appointing of a new assembly called a permanent council. This revolution took place on the 8th of August 1774. The council was composed of 40 members; and included three estates, the king, the senate, and the equestrian order. The members were to be chosen at the diets, by ballot, and their power to continue only from one diet to another. The king is always to be chief of the council; the senate to comprehend the great officers or ministry, and the members chosen from that body; and the equestrian order to be as nearly equal as the odd number 39 would permit. This council composes four particular departments: the first is to take cognizance of all those concerns which usually came before the marshals of the crown, or of Lithuania; the second is charged with whatever relates to the police, and all the inferior departments are to bring in their reports to it; the third comprehends the military, the whole immediate power of which is vested in the grand general, under the obligation of bringing in all his reports and accounts at stated times to be examined; the fourth have the care of correspondence with foreign powers. At this time also the revenues of the king, which before did not exceed L. 100,000, were now increased to three times that sum. The republic likewise agreed to pay his debts, amounting to upwards of L. 400,000. It bestowed on him also, in hereditary possession, four floridies, or governments of castles, with the districts belonging to them; and reimbursed him of the money he had laid out for the state. It was also agreed, that the revenues of the republic should be enhanced to 33 millions of florins (near two millions Sterling), and the army should consist of 30,000 men. Soon after the conclusion of the peace with Turkey, the emperors of Russia also made the king a present of 250,000 rubles, as a compensation for that part of his dominions which fell into her hands.

The air of this kingdom is cold in the north, but temperate in the other parts both in summer and winter, and the weather in both more settled than in many other countries. The face of the country is for the most part level, and the hills are but few. The Carpathian mountains separate it from Hungary on the south. The soil is very fruitful both in corn and pasturage, hemp and flax. Such is the luxuriance of the pastures in Podolia, that it is said one can hardly see the cattle that are grazing in the meadows. Vast quantities of corn are yearly sent down the Vistula to Dantzig, from all parts of Poland, and bought up chiefly by the Dutch. The eastern part of the country is full of woods, forests, lakes, marshes, and rivers; of the last of which, the most considerable in Poland are, the Vistula, Nieper, Nieter, Dunaj, Bog, Warta, and Memel. The metals found in this country are iron and lead, with some tin, gold, and silver; but there are no mines of the two last wrought at present. The other products of Poland are most sorts of precious stones, ocher of all kinds, fine rock-crystal; Mulcovy glass, talc, alum, saltpetre, amber, pitchoil, quicksilver, spar, sal-gem, lapis calaminaris, and vitriol. In Lesser Poland are salt-mines, which are the chief riches of the country, and bring most money into the exchequer. In the woods, which consist mostly of oak, beech, pine, and fir trees, besides the more common wild beasts, are elks, wild asses, wild oxen or uri, lynxes, wild horses, wild sheep with one horn, bisons, hyenas, wild goats, and buffaloes. In the meadows and fenny ground is gathered a kind of manna; and the kermes-berries produced in this country are used both in dying and medicine.

The inhabitants consist of nobles, citizens, and peasants. The first possess great privileges, which they enjoy partly by the indulgence of their kings, and partly by ancient custom and prescription. Some of them have the title of prince, count, or baron; but no superiority or pre-eminence on that account over the rest, which is only to be obtained by some public post or dignity. They have the power of life and death over their vassals; pay no taxes; are subject to none but the king; have a right to all mines and salt-works on their estates; to all offices and employments, civil, military, and ecclesiastic; cannot be cited or tried out of the kingdom; may choose whom they will for their king, and lay him under what restraints they please by the Pacta Conventa; and none but they and the burghers of some particular towns can purchase lands. In short, they are almost entirely independent, enjoying many other privileges and prerogatives besides those we have specified; but if they engage in trade, they forfeit their nobility.

The Polish tongue is a dialect of the Slavonic: it is neither copious nor harmonious. Many of the words have not a single vowel in them; but the High Dutch and Latin are understood and spoken pretty commonly, though incorrectly. The language in Lithuania differs much from that of the other provinces. True learning and the study of the arts and sciences have been little attended to in Poland, till of late they began to be regarded with a more favourable eye, and to be not only patronized, but cultivated by several There are two archbishops in the kingdom, viz. those of Gnesna and Laapol, and about a dozen bishops. The archbishop of Gnesna is always a cardinal, and primate of the kingdom; of which, during an interregnum, and in the king's absence, he is also regent. The prevailing religion is Popery; but there are great numbers of Lutherans, Calvinists, Greeks, who are called Dissidents, and by the laws of the kingdom were intitled to toleration; but were much oppressed till very lately. The Jews are indulged with great privileges, and are very numerous in Poland; and in Lithuania, it is said, there are a multitude of Mahometan Tartars. We may judge of the numbers of Jews in this country by the produce of their annual poll-tax, which amounts to near 57,000 rix-dollars.

There are few or no manufactures in the kingdom, if we except some linen and woollen clothes and hardwares; and the whole trade is confined to the city of Dantzig, and other towns on the Vistula or Baltic.

The kings of Poland were anciently hereditary and absolute; but afterwards became elective and limited, as we find them at this day. In the reign of Lewis, towards the end of the 14th century, several limitations were laid on the royal prerogative. In that of Casimir IV., who ascended the throne in 1446, representatives from the several palatinates were first called to the diet; the legislative power, till then, having been lodged in the states, and the executive in the king and senate. On the decease of Sigismund Augustus, it was enacted by law, "That the choice of a king for the future should perpetually remain free and open to all the nobles of the kingdom;" which law has accordingly been hitherto observed. The king, in consequence, is elected by the clergy and gentry in the plains of Wartaw; and after his election is obliged to sign an instrument, by which his power is circumcumbered within very narrow bounds; so that he is only a sort of president of the senate, which, in his absence, can meet and consult without him. The diets are either ordinary or extraordinary. The former meet every second year; the latter upon extraordinary occasions, when summoned by the king. They sit but six weeks; and one dissenting voice prevents their passing any laws, or coming to any resolution on what is proposed to them from the throne. The senate is composed of the primate, the archbishop of Lemberg, 15 bishops, 15 palatines and castellans, and 130 laymen, consisting of the great officers of state, the palatines, and castellans. Besides these officers, who are members of the senate, there are the starostas, who are a sort of governors and judges of their respective starosties or districts; but some of them have no jurisdiction. The palatines and castellans, besides being senators, are also a sort of lord-lieutenants and deputy-lieutenants in their respective palatinates. There are not only general diets, but also provincial diets, or dietines, held previous to the general diets. When the nobility enter into an association, either during an interregnum, or while the king is living, it is called a confederacy. Every third diet is held at Grodno, in Lithuania. Among the king's royal prerogatives the chief is, that he has the disposal of most of the dignities, offices, and the royal demesnes; but none of the officers are accountable to him, nor can they be displaced by him.

The king's revenue is all clear to himself, for he pays no troops, not even his own guards; but all the forces are paid by the republic, as well as the officers of state. The public revenues arise chiefly from the crown-lands, the salt-mines in the palatinate of Cracow, ancient tolls and customs, particularly those of Elbing and Dantzig, the rents of Marienburg, Dirshau, and Rogenhus, and of the government of Cracow and district of Niepolomicz.

The order of the White Eagle was instituted by Augustus II. in the year 1705. Its ensign is a cross of gold enamelled with red, and appendant to a blue ribbon. The motto, Pro fide, rege, et lege.

The standing forces of Poland are divided into the crown-army, and that of Lithuania, consisting of horse and foot, and amounting to between 20,000 and 30,000 men. These troops are mostly cantoned on the crown-lands, and in Poland are paid by a capitation or poll-tax; but in Lithuania other taxes are levied for this purpose. Most of the foot are Germans. On any sudden and imminent danger, the whole body of the nobility, with their vassals, are obliged to appear in the field on horseback; and the cities and towns furnish a certain number of foot-soldiers, with carriages, and military stores; but for want of proper arms, provisions, subordination, and discipline, and by being at liberty after a few weeks to return home, this body has proved but of little advantage to the republic. Dantzig is the only place in the Polish dominions that deserves the name of a fortress. Foreign auxiliaries are not to be brought into the kingdom, nor the national troops to march out of it, without the consent of the estates.

With regard to many of these particulars, however, it is to be observed, that we can speak only as they were before the partition-treaty between the powers abovementioned. Since that time a very considerable alteration must have taken place in many parts of the constitution; but the particulars have not yet been properly authenticated.

The Poles are personable men, and have good complexions. They are esteemed a brave, honest people, without dissimulation, and exceeding hospitable. They clothe themselves in furs in winter, and over all they throw a short cloak. No people keep grander equipages than the gentry. They look upon themselves as so many sovereign princes; and have their guards, bands of music, and keep open houses; but the lower sort of people are poor abject wretches, in the lowest state of slavery. The exercises of the gentry are hunting, riding, dancing, vaulting, &c. They reside mostly upon their estates in the country; and maintain themselves and families by agriculture, breeding of bees, and grazing.