Lvoff from the moment of the king’s arrival was turned into a real
capital of the Commonwealth. Together with the king came the greater
part of the bishops from the whole country and all those lay senators
who had not served the enemy. The calls already issued summoned also to
arms the nobles of Rus and of the remoter adjoining provinces, they
came in numbers and armed with the greater ease because the Swedes had
not been in those regions. Eyes were opened and hearts rose at sight of
this general militia, for it reminded one in nothing of that of Great
Poland, which at Uistsie offered such weak opposition to the enemy. On
the contrary, in this case marched a warlike and terrible nobility,
reared from childhood on horseback and in the field, amidst continual
attacks of wild Tartars, accustomed to bloodshed and burning, better
masters of the sabre than of Latin. These nobles were in fresh training
yet from Hmelnitski’s uprising, which lasted seven years without
interval, so that there was not a man among them who was not as many
times in fire as he had years of life. New swarms of these were
arriving continually in Lvoff: some had marched from the Byeshchadi
full of precipices, others from the Pruth, the Dniester, and the Seret;
some lived on the steep banks of the Dniester, some on the
wide-spreading Bug; some on the Sinyuha had not been destroyed from the
face of the earth by peasant incursions; some had been left on the
Tartar boundaries;—all these hurried at the call of the king to the
city of the Lion,[3] some to march thence against an enemy as yet
unknown. The nobles came in from Volynia and from more distant
provinces, such hatred was kindled in all souls by the terrible tidings
that the enemy had raised sacrilegious hands on the Patroness of the
Commonwealth in Chenstohova.
And the Cossacks dared not raise obstacles, for the hearts were moved
in the most hardened, and besides, they were forced by the Tartars to
beat with the forehead to the king, and to renew for the hundredth time
their oath of loyalty. A Tartar embassy, dangerous to the enemies of
the king, was in Lvoff under the leadership of Suba Gazi Bey, offering,
in the name of the Khan, a horde a hundred thousand strong to assist
the Commonwealth; of these forty thousand from near Kamenyets could
take the field at once.
Besides the Tartar embassy a legation had come from Transylvania to
carry through negotiations begun with Rakotsy concerning succession to
the throne. The ambassador of the emperor was present; so was the papal
nuncio, who had come with the king. Every day deputations arrived from
the armies of the kingdom and Lithuania, from provinces and lands, with
declarations of loyalty, and a wish to defend to the death the invaded
country.
The fortunes of the king increased; the Commonwealth, crushed
altogether so recently, was rising before the eyes of all to the wonder
of ages and nations. The souls of men were inflamed with thirst for war
and retaliation, and at the same time they grew strong. And as in
spring-time a warm generous rain melts the snow, so mighty hope melted
doubt. Not only did they wish for victory, but they believed in it. New
and favorable tidings came in continually; though often untrue, they
passed from mouth to mouth. Time after time men told now of castles
recovered, now of battles in which unknown regiments under leaders
hitherto unknown had crushed the Swedes, now of terrible clouds of
peasants sweeping along, like locusts, against the enemy. The name of
Stefan Charnyetski was more and more frequent on every lip.
The details in these tidings were often untrue, but taken together they
reflected as a mirror what was being done in the whole country.
But in Lvoff reigned as it were a continual holiday. When the king came
the city greeted him solemnly, the clergy of the three rites, the
councillors of the city, the merchants, the guilds. On the squares and
streets, wherever an eye was cast, banners, white, sapphire, purple,
and gilded, were waving. The Lvoff people raised proudly their golden
lion on a blue field, recalling with self-praise the scarcely passed
Cossack and Tartar attacks.
At every appearance of the king a shout was raised among the crowds,
and crowds were never lacking.
The population doubled in recent days. Besides senators and bishops,
besides nobles, flowed in throngs of peasants also, for the news had
spread that the king intended to improve their condition. Therefore
rustic coats and horse-blankets were mingled with the yellow coats of
the townspeople. The mercantile Armenians with their swarthy faces put
up booths for merchandise and arms which the assembled nobles bought
willingly.
There were many Tartars also with the embassy; there were Hungarians,
Wallachians, and Austrians,—a multitude of people, a multitude of
troops, a multitude of different kinds of faces, many strange garments
in colors brilliant and varied, troops of court servants, hence
gigantic grooms, haiduks, janissaries, red Cossacks, messengers in
foreign costume.
The streets were filled from morning till evening with the noise of
men, now passing squadrons of a quota, now divisions of mounted nobles,
the cries of command, the shining of armor and naked sabres, the
neighing of horses, the rumble of cannon, and songs full of threatening
and curses for the Swedes.
The bells in the churches, Polish, Russian, and Armenian, were tolling
continually, announcing to all that the king was in the city, and that
Lvoff, to its eternal praise, was the first of the capitals that had
received the king, the exile.
They beat to him with the forehead; wherever he appeared caps flew
upward, and shouts of “Vivat!” shook the air. They beat with the
forehead also before the carriages of bishops, who through the windows
blessed the assembled throngs; they bowed to and applauded senators,
honoring in them loyalty to the king and country.
So the whole city was seething. At night they even burned on the square
piles of wood, at which in spite of cold and frost those men were
encamped who could not find lodgings because of the excessive
multitude.
The king spent whole days in consultation with senators. Audience was
given to foreign embassies, to deputations from provinces and troops;
methods of filling the empty treasury with money were considered; all
means were used to rouse war wherever it had not flamed up already.
Couriers were flying to the most important towns in every part of the
Commonwealth, to distant Prussia, to sacred Jmud, to Tyshovtsi, to the
hetmans, to Sapyeha, who after the storming of Tykotsin took his army
to the south with forced marches; couriers went also to Konyetspolski,
who was still with the Swedes. Where it was needful money was sent; the
slothful were roused with manifestoes.
The king recognized, consecrated, and confirmed the confederation of
Tyshovtsi and joined it himself; taking the direction of all affairs
into his untiring hands, he labored from morning till night, esteeming
the Commonwealth more than his own rest, his own health.
But this was not the limit of his efforts; for he had determined to
conclude in his own name and the name of the estates a league such that
no earthly power, could overcome,—a league which in future might serve
to reform the Commonwealth.
The moment for this had come at last.
The secret must have escaped from the senators to the nobles, and from
the nobles to the peasants, for since morning it had been said that at
the hour of services something important would happen,—that the king
would make some solemn vow, concerning, as was said, the condition of
the peasants and a confederation with heaven. There were persons,
however, who asserted that these were incredible things, without an
example in history; but curiosity was excited, and everywhere something
was looked for.
The day was frosty, clear; tiny flakes of snow were flying through the
air, glittering like sparks. The land infantry of Lvoff and the
district of Jidache, in blue half shubas, hemmed with gold, and half a
Hungarian regiment were drawn out in a long line before the cathedral,
holding their muskets at their feet in front of them; officers passed
up and down with staffs in their hands. Between these two lines a
many-colored throng flowed into the church, like a river. In front
nobles and knights, after them the senate of the city, with gilded
chains on their necks, and tapers in their hands. They were led by the
mayor, a physician noted throughout the whole province; he was dressed
in a black velvet toga, and wore a calotte. After the senate went
merchants, and among them many Armenians with green and gold skull-caps
on their heads, and wearing roomy Eastern gowns. These, though
belonging to a special rite, went with the others to represent the
estate. After the merchants came, with their banners, the guilds, such
as butchers, bakers, tailors, goldsmiths, confectioners, embroiderers,
linen-drapers, tanners, mead-boilers, and a number of others yet; from
each company representatives went with their own banner, which was
borne by a man the most distinguished of all for beauty. Then came
various brotherhoods and the common throng in coats, in sheepskins, in
horse-blankets, in homespun; dwellers in the suburbs, peasants.
Admittance was barred to no one till the church was packed closely with
people of all ranks and both sexes.
At last carriages began to arrive; but they avoided the main door, for
the king, the bishops, and the dignitaries had a special entrance
nearer the high altar. Every moment the troops presented arms; at last
the soldiers dropped their muskets to their feet, and blew on their
chilled hands, throwing out clouds of steam from their breasts.
The king came with the nuncio, Vidon; then arrived the archbishop of
Gnyezno and the bishop, Prince Chartoryski; next appeared the bishop of
Cracow, the archbishop of Lvoff, the grand chancellor of the kingdom,
many voevodas and castellans. All these vanished through the side door;
and their carriages, retinues, equerries, and attendants of every
description formed as it were a new army, standing at the side of the
cathedral.
Mass was celebrated by the apostolic nuncio, Vidon, arrayed in purple,
in a white chasuble embroidered with pearls and gold.
For the king a kneeling-stool was placed between the great altar and
the pews; before the kneeling-stool was a Turkish sofa. The church
arm-chairs were occupied by bishops and lay senators.
Many colored rays, passing through the windows, joined with the gleam
of candles, with which the altar seemed burning, and fell upon the
faces of senators in the church chairs, on the white beards, on the
imposing forms, on golden chains, on violet velvet. You would have
said, “A Roman senate!” such was the majesty and dignity of these old
men. Here and there among gray heads was to be seen the face of a
warrior senator; here and there gleamed the blond head of a youthful
lord. All eyes were fixed on the altar, all were praying; the flames of
the candles were glittering and quivering; the smoke from the censers
was playing and curling in the bright air. The body of the church was
packed with heads, and over the heads a rainbow of banners was playing,
like a rainbow of flowers.
The majesty of the king, Yan Kazimir, prostrated itself, according to
his custom, in the form of a cross, and humiliated itself before the
majesty of God. At last the nuncio brought from the tabernacle a
chalice, and bearing it before him approached the kneeling-stool, then
the king raised himself with a brighter face, the voice of the nuncio
was heard: “_Ecce Agnus Dei_ (Behold the Lamb of God),” and the king
received communion.
For a time he remained kneeling, with inclined head; at last he rose,
turned his eyes toward heaven, and stretched out both hands.
There was sudden silence in the church, so that breathing was not
audible. All divined that the moment had come, and that the king would
make some vow; all listened with collected spirit. But he stood with
outstretched arms; at last, with a voice filled with emotion, but as
far reaching as a bell, he began to speak,—
“O Great Mother of Divine humanity, and Virgin! I, Yan Kazimir, king by
the favor of Thy Son, King of kings and my Lord, and by Thy favor
approaching Thy Most Holy feet, form this, the following pact. I to-day
choose Thee my Patroness and Queen of my dominions. I commit to Thy
special guardianship and protection myself, my Polish kingdom, the
Grand Principality of Lithuania, Russia, Prussia, Mazovia, Jmud,
Livland, and Chernigov, the armies of both nations and all common
people. I beg obediently Thy aid and favor against enemies in the
present affliction of my kingdom.”
Here the king fell on his knees and was silent for a time. In the
church a deathlike stillness continued unbroken; then rising he spoke
on,—
“And constrained by Thy great benefactions, I, with the Polish people,
am drawn to a new and ardent bond of service to Thee. I promise Thee in
my own name and in the names of my ministers, senators, nobles, and
people, to extend honor and glory to Thy Son, Jesus Christ, Our
Saviour, through all regions of the Polish kingdom; to make a promise
that when, with the mercy of Thy Son, I obtain victory over the Swedes,
I will endeavor that an anniversary be celebrated solemnly in my
kingdom to the end of the world, in memory of the favor of God, and of
Thee, O Most Holy Virgin.”
Here he ceased again and knelt. In the church there was a murmur; but
the voice of the king stopped it quickly, and though he trembled this
time with penitence and emotion, he continued still more distinctly,—
“And since, with great sorrow of heart, I confess that I endure from
God just punishment, which is afflicting us all in my kingdom with
various plagues for seven years, because poor, simple tillers of the
soil groan in suffering, oppressed by the soldiery, I bind myself on
the conclusion of peace to use earnest efforts, together with the
estates of the Commonwealth, to free suffering peasants from every
cruelty, in which, O Mother of Mercy, Queen, and my Lady, since Thou
hast inspired me to make this vow, obtain for me, by grace of Thy
mercy, aid from Thy Son to accomplish what I here promise.”
These words of the king were heard by the clergy, the senators, the
nobles, and the common people. A great wail was raised in the church,
which came first from hearts of the peasants; it burst forth from them,
and then became universal. All raised their hands to heaven; weeping
voices repeated, “Amen, amen, amen!” in testimony that they had joined
their feelings and vows with the promise of the king. Enthusiasm seized
their hearts, and at that moment made them brothers in love for the
Commonwealth and its Patroness. Indescribable joy shone on their faces
like a clear flame, and in all that church there was no one who doubted
that God would overwhelm the Swedes.
After that service the king, amid the thunder of musketry and cannon
and mighty shouts of “Victory! victory! may he live!” went to the
castle, and there he confirmed the heavenly confederation together with
that of Tyshovtsi.