Sobieski observed the enemy’s lines much thinner than before.
Many of the Turks, exhausted by the unwonted cold, had sought
their tents, not dreaming for one moment that the Poles would
dare to attack them in daylight. “This is the moment that
I waited for,” cried Sobieski to his staff, and ordered at
once a general assault. After galloping down the lines with
a few encouraging words, he alighted from his horse, and led
the infantry and his own dismounted dragoons against the
entrenchments. The Turks, whose attention was distracted by a
false attack on another side, left a weak point in his front,
and Sobieski, though somewhat bulky, was the first to scale the
parapet. He was splendidly supported by his dragoons; and the
battle now raged in the midst of the tents. The infantry might
possibly have been surrounded, had not Jablonowski, Palatine of
Russia, dashed up a steep place with the best of the cavalry, and
rushed to the rescue. ♦Rout of the Turks,♦ Sobieski was supplied
with a horse, and the Turks now began to give way on all sides.
Soliman Pacha, at the head of the janissaries, tried to retreat
in good order to the plain; but he was charged by the Lithuanians
in front and by the Poles in the rear, and his fine troops were
cut to pieces. He is said to have himself fallen by the hand
of Sobieski, who despoiled him of his jewelled scimitar.[48]
The Turks fled in confused masses to the bridge leading to the
castle; but Sobieski had provided against this by sending his
brother-in-law, Radziwill, with a large detachment to seize
it. The only retreat now left them was the steep rock on the
river-side, from which thousands precipitated themselves into
the stream; ♦And complete victory of the Poles.♦ but the Polish
cavalry dashed in after them, and completed their destruction.
The carnage lasted more than three hours, during which half the
Turkish force was slain, and a large number taken prisoners. A
remnant of the original force succeeded in escaping to Kaminiec,
among whom was the Seraskier Hussein.[49]
♦Question of the prisoners.♦ It is difficult to credit the
statement of some historians, none of whom are contemporaries,
that Sobieski put all the prisoners to the sword.[50] Such an act
would have been opposed alike to his natural disposition and to
his defensive policy. Plain facts are against it; for some days
later the commander at Kaminiec, delighted at the generous terms
which he granted to the garrison of the castle (November 13th,),
released fifty prisoners without ransom. Had such an enormity
been committed, it must certainly have reached his ears, and
would have met with a prompt revenge.
♦Joy of the Poles.♦ Immediately after the victory, the Jesuit
confessor of Sobieski erected an altar in the pavilion of the
Seraskier, and the whole army, with tears of joy, attended
a thanksgiving service. The occasion was indeed affecting,
especially to their commander. Ere long Christendom was
resounding with the praises of one who had obtained the greatest
victory over the infidel since the battle of Ascalon. Sobieski
was most anxious to follow up his success. Honour forbade him
to desert the Moldavians and Wallachians, who had come over to
him at considerable risk; and he wished to cut off from the
Turks all chance of return. ♦Their advance upon the Danube.♦ He
put his cavalry in motion towards the Danube with the hope of
encountering Caplan Pacha. But that general, on hearing of the
disaster at Kotzim, retreated in all haste, and took with him the
Turkish garrisons on the left bank of the Danube. Such was the
panic in Turkey that the Sultan, who had advanced to Silistria,
hurried back to his capital. But the victorious advance of the
Poles was stopped, as they were entering Wallachia, by the news
of the death of their king.
♦Death of Michael.♦ On the night before the battle of Kotzim
(November 10th), Michael breathed his last at Leopol. His death
was caused by disease of the kidneys, but he had hastened his
end by the gluttonous voracity of his appetite, which passed all
bounds. He is said to have devoured in a few hours a thousand
Chinese apples, presented to him by the municipality of Dantzic.
His last hours were embittered by the fruits of his pusillanimous
submission to the Turks. A few days before his death a Turkish
Aga[51] arrived, bearing the caphtan, or robe of vassalage,
which the Sultan sends to his tributaries. The king was too
ill to receive him, and he had to depart without executing his
commission.
♦His character.♦ The incapacity of Michael deserves our pity,
because the crown was thrust upon him against his will. But he
was worse than incapable. Envy and fear alternately gained the
mastery over his despicable nature. His evil genius pursued
him to the end. Such was the general exultation at the victory
of Kotzim that there was no pretence of mourning for him; and
his body was conveyed to Warsaw, almost unnoticed, beneath the
triumphal arches erected in honour of his rival.
♦Exultation in Poland.♦ Three weeks elapsed after Michael’s
death before the news of the Grand General’s victory arrived at
Warsaw (December 4th), and in the interval the Poles had given up
the army for lost. It is somewhat surprising that in a nation so
excitable the sudden revulsion of feeling did not result at once
in the proclamation of Sobieski. Madame de Sevigné,[52] writing
just after the news arrived in Paris (December 22nd), says that
there no one doubted that he would be elected. The official
journals of France speak of him as “worthy of the throne which he
had saved.” But the Grand General himself was aware what a stormy
opposition his candidature would raise among the Lithuanians. It
was thus with unfeigned sorrow that he received the orders of the
primate-interrex to bring back his victorious troops. Everything
remained to be done towards reaping the benefits of his glorious
success. The Turks were still in Kaminiec; Moldavia and Wallachia
were yet to be freed; and the Cossacks who had sent in their
submission had to be confirmed in their allegiance. ♦Return of
the Polish army.♦ He did all he could. Though his men deserted
him daily by hundreds for the more profitable field of election,
he left a garrison in Kotzim, and detached 8,000 men for the
defence of his two allies. Then, with a heavy heart, he retraced
his steps to Leopol. He was here met by deputies from the most
distant palatinates, who showered upon him their congratulations;
but he showed no disposition to proceed to Warsaw. He knew
too well the activity of his enemies in the Diet, and he was
quite content that it should appear that he had no personal
pretensions.[53]
♦Projects of the queen.♦ While her late husband was still lying
in state the queen had resumed her favourite project of retaining
the crown by a marriage with Charles of Lorraine. That prince
left the army of the Rhine and appeared upon the frontiers;
and the emperor massed troops for his support on the borders
of Little Poland. ♦Candidates.♦ Sixteen[54] other candidates
appeared in the field, but many of these were Protestant
princes, whose chances were small; and the contest seemed to
lie between Lorraine and the young Duke of Neuberg, the son of
his old antagonist. The latter, though a German prince, was
supported by Louis XIV. as the heir of the Elector Palatine, and
therefore an important ally. ♦Preparations for the election.♦ No
artifice was spared by the queen’s party to prevent the proposal
of Sobieski. The Pazes brought forward a measure in the Diet
for the exclusion of a Piast on account of the misfortunes of
the late reign; and when this was unfavourably received, they
insisted that the new king must be unmarried.[55] The Diet
refused to sanction any measures of exclusion, and wrote to
press for Sobieski’s presence. But the hero was now at Zolkiew
attending his wife in a dangerous illness, upon the origin of
which various rumours were afloat. His enemies averred that he
had poisoned her himself to secure the queen’s hand; his friends
hinted that the queen had done so to be sure of the crown at all
hazards. These speculations were set at rest by the recovery
of Madame Sobieska; but her husband still delayed to appear in
public. He wrote, however, to the Diet, strongly urging that the
threatening attitude of the Turks rendered any delay dangerous;
and it was decided on this advice that the election should not be
made by the whole Pospolite, but by a representative Diet. But
the regulation was practically ineffective; for the Diet being
held in the open air, the nobles attended as usual to watch the
conduct of their deputies.
♦The field of election.♦ The field of Wola, close to Warsaw,
was the scene of this unique spectacle. On the day when the Diet
of election met (April 20) all the orders of the state attended
a grand service at the cathedral, and then set out on horseback
for the field. In the midst of the plain was pitched the “szopa,”
or grand pavilion of the Senate, surrounded by a ditch to keep
off intruders, and carefully closed to the public. Not far off,
under the open sky, sat the “kolo” or circle of deputies from
the palatinates. Round it were ranged 100,000 of the nobility,
jealously watching each turn of their deliberations. Every
human passion found vent in this motley assemblage. Riots were
frequent, and seldom ended without effusion of blood. Each
noble was attended by as many valets as he could muster, who
were generally a worse element of disorder than their lords. To
these must be added a crowd of mercenaries from neighbouring
nations, all eagerly intriguing for their national candidate.
Long tables were set up as the head-quarters of each faction,
and at these was heard an unceasing babel of noisy tongues. In
the vacant spaces of the arena jousts were frequent, for which
each palatinate brought out a splendid cavalcade. This was the
occasion when all gratified the national craving for display.
Many a poor noble would readily sell his vote, perhaps to more
than one candidate, for the pleasure of donning a brilliant
attire. Costly furs adorned their persons, and were almost
hidden beneath a profusion of jewels. The same reckless display
of the precious metals was seen in their accoutrements. Nor
were the bishops outdone by the cavaliers. Green, broad-brimmed
hats, with yellow or red pantaloons, were the common ornaments
of the soldiers of the Church. Every kind of merchandise was
represented. The Jews, who were ordinarily interdicted from
appearing in Warsaw, made the most of the short period when
the restriction was removed. The plain around the “szopa”
was dotted with an immense multitude of tents, most of them
devoted to buying and selling, but all decorated in the most
gorgeous style. Several pavilions of superb workmanship and
oriental magnificence, containing a large suite of luxurious
chambers, attracted special attention. They were the quarters
of the Seraskier Hussein--transported entire from the camp at
Kotzim--and were now surmounted by the shield of Sobieski.
♦Absence of Sobieski.♦ Nothing more was wanting to kindle the
liveliest enthusiasm for the absent general. His name was in
every mouth, and his non-appearance caused much surprise. The
“kolo” elected as their marshal the Lithuanian Sapieha, a
personal friend of the Grand General; and when Michael Paz pushed
his hatred so far as to revive his proposal for the exclusion of
a Piast (April 15), the attempt was so invidious that a party
began to form in Sobieski’s favour, though their designs were at
first studiously concealed.
♦His arrival.♦ On the 2nd of May it was announced that Sobieski
was approaching Warsaw. His arrival on the plain created the most
unbounded enthusiasm; the Diet rose and went to meet him; and his
progress for miles resembled a triumph. Sixty-six banners--the
spoil of Kotzim--were carried before him, to be his present,
as he said, to his future king; and behind him marched a corps
of captive janissaries, who were enrolled as his body-guard.
Like his countrymen, he did not disdain ostentation; for on the
croup of his horse hung a shield of gold, embossed with scenes
from his great career. Nature had gifted him with handsome
features and a dignified mien.[56] Though stout, he was tall and
erect; and his full flashing eye marked him at once as a man of
frankness, bravery, and powers of observation. Yet along with his
military air his face wore a sweetness of expression, which was
indescribably attractive. Few of the Pules could have witnessed
his entry without feeling that he was the fittest person to be
their king.
♦He proposes the Prince of Condé.♦ Two days after (May 4) the
Senate forsook the “szopa” and took their seat in the “kolo;”
and Sobieski, rising in his place, proposed the Prince of Condé,
whose military qualities, he said, made him the proper choice of
a nation which would have to struggle for its existence. This
unexpected event caused an immense commotion. The vast multitude
was split into the old factions of France and Austria, and for
days it seemed as if there was no solution but civil war. At
length (May 19) Sobieski consented to withdraw the name of Condé
if the queen would consent to marry the Duke of Neuberg. Hoping
against hope for the success of her party, Eleanor rejected this
offer with disdain; and the Lithuanians, who were encamped on the
other side of the Vistula, assumed a menacing attitude towards
the Polish Pospolite. At this crisis the Bishop of Cracow, who
was discharging the functions of interrex,[57] gave orders
for the singing of the canticles with which the debates were
accustomed to close. The familiar chant and its associations
produced a dead calm in the tempestuous assembly, and at
its conclusion the prelate ordered each palatinate to range
itself round the banner of its palatine. ♦Jablonowski proposes
Sobieski.♦ While his orders were being obeyed, Jablonowski,
palatine of Red Russia, the home of Sobieski, took advantage of
the silence to address all those within hearing. He represented
Lorraine as too devoted to the empire, Neuberg as too young,
Condé as too old, to command their armies with vigour. The times,
he said, required a prince who was well acquainted alike with
them and with their military system. He was here interrupted with
loud shouts of “A Piast!” a sound which soon collected round the
speaker all the surging masses of the Pospolite. The palatine
continued, “Among ourselves is a man whose sacrifices for his
country have caused him to be everywhere considered the first
of the sons of Poland. In placing him at our head we shall do
no more than consecrate his own glory; fortunate to be able to
honour by one title the more the remainder of a life, of which
every day has been dedicated to the republic. We know that such
a king will maintain our nation in the rank which it occupies in
the world. Such a man as he is will never make himself a vassal
of the infidel. Poles, if we are deliberating here in peace on
the election of a king, if the most illustrious dynasties are
courting our suffrages, if our liberty remains secure, if even
we have a country left to us, to whom do we owe it? Remember the
marvels of Slobodyszcza, of Podhaic, of Kalusz, above all, of
Kotzim, and take for your king John Sobieski!”[58]
A tempest of applause followed this speech, and as it subsided
the voice of one of the castellans was heard calling upon the
Poles to elect that man whom the Turks would be most anxious to
exclude. Then from the midst of the host rose loud shouts of
“Long live King John Sobieski!” and thirteen palatinates at once
took up the cry. The regular soldiers pressed forward towards
the szopa, exclaiming, “We will all perish together, or have for
our king John Sobieski!” It was already late in the evening, but
the Polish nobility crowded round the interrex, and besought him
to take the votes. ♦He postpones the voting.♦ One voice alone
was raised against the proposition; it was that of Sobieski. He
firmly declared that he could not accept the crown if it was
offered at the fall of night, and in a manner so sudden that no
one could have time to recollect himself. “If,” said he, “there
is no other protest against the election being made this night, I
shall oppose my veto.” This disinterested advice was unwillingly
followed, and Sobieski left the plain to encounter the reproaches
of his wife.
Several writers--principally the later Polish historians, who
treat him with marked disfavour--endeavour to detect in his
conduct throughout the proceedings the signs of crafty intrigue.
♦And shows his fair dealing.♦ Yet by this last step he allowed
his enemies time to combine against him, and gave the queen’s
party a fair opportunity of reviving their scattered energies.
But such generosity is often the best policy. The succeeding
night and day (May 20th) were spent in a general effort to secure
unanimity; and the riches and influence of his brother-in-law,
Radziwill, were of much service to Sobieski in the Lithuanian
camp. But his own popularity was still more effectual. It had
ever been the privilege of the Grand General of Poland to quarter
his army where he pleased, and pay nothing for their maintenance.
Bribes had formerly been freely taken from those districts that
desired exemption,[59] but Sobieski, unwilling to exercise such
tyranny, had always quartered his army on the frontiers. This
was now remembered with gratitude. ♦His offers to the republic.♦
His promises to the republic also became the topic of admiring
conversation. He engaged to pay the pension to the queen dowager,
to redeem the crown jewels, to found a military school for the
young nobility, to build two fortresses wherever the Diet should
appoint, and to furnish the regular army with six months’ pay.
Early in the day two of the family of Paz came to register their
opposition with the interrex, but before night fell they had been
persuaded to forego it. ♦Proclamation of Sobieski.♦ The next
morning Sobieski was proclaimed king amid the acclamations of
both Principalities, and took the name of John III. The same day
a vast crowd attended him to the cathedral of St. John to return
thanks for his election.
♦Opinion of Europe.♦ Europe in general was less astonished at
his elevation than Poland. At Constantinople and at Vienna alone
the news was received with disfavour. Köprili saw less chance of
recovering his conquests; and the emperor was bitterly mortified
to see upon the throne one who had always belonged to the faction
of France. Poland was daily becoming of greater importance in
the struggle between Louis and Leopold. When the republic was
bleeding from the shocks of her barbarous neighbours, and from
a succession of internal troubles, it mattered little to these
great potentates who filled the throne; but now that she had
proved herself strong enough to withstand the dreaded Turk, and
wise enough to offer the crown to her victorious general, she
was looked upon with a respect to which she had hitherto been a
stranger. This was fully appreciated at the Papal Court. Clement
X., besides his benediction, sent assurances of friendship to
the new king; and Oliva, the general of the Jesuits, wrote his
joyful congratulations to “the pillar of the republic and the
avenger of Christendom.” It is difficult to discover how far
the court of France had a hand in his election. Its ambassador,
Forbin-Janson, bishop of Marseilles, arrived somewhat late (May
8th), and certainly brought instructions to support the Duke
of Neuberg. But he probably discovered ere long which way the
tide was setting, and, adapting himself to circumstances with a
Frenchman’s ready wit, he caused it to be supposed that he had
used his influence in favour of Sobieski. Louis XIV. followed the
same course; and in an official note of the same summer claimed
this election as one more instance of the universal triumph of
his policy.
♦Schemes of the king’s enemies.♦ The machinations of the enemies
of Sobieski did not cease with the withdrawal of their veto.
Their first move was to give notice of a law which should oblige
him to divorce his wife and marry the queen dowager. But on this
point the king was firm. “I have not yet finally promised,” said
he, “to accept the royal functions. If this is the price of your
sceptre, you need not offer it.” The proposal was soon dropped;
and Eleanor, after receiving a visit from the king, retired to
Thorn, whence she still exercised a baneful influence upon the
course of affairs. Four years later (1678) she gave her hand to
her old suitor, the Prince of Lorraine.
Whilst the Diet was drawing up the _pacta conventa_,
Sobieski discovered from an examination of his revenues that
he could not fulfil his promise of paying the army for six
months. Without delay he frankly owned his inability; and his
opponents made this a pretext for inserting in the contract
new restrictions on the military authority of the king. They
also wished to bind him to an eternal alliance with the court
of Vienna. It was soon known that the king would not yield to
these terms; and several stormy scenes took place in the Diet.
At length the obnoxious articles were struck out; and on the 5th
June the king received the instrument of his election from the
hands of the interrex.
There now remained only the ceremony of coronation--which was
a necessary prelude to the exercise of the royal functions.
♦Danger from the Turks.♦ But the steady advance of the Turks grew
daily more disquieting. Caplan Pacha had rallied the remnants
of the defeated force, and the Sultan was already marching with
a great army through Bulgaria. John saw that the delay would be
dangerous, and had the courage to disappoint the queen[60] and
the whole court by deferring the ceremony. He told the Senate
that at such a time a helmet became his forehead better than a
diadem. “I know well,” said he, “that I have been elected, not to
represent the republic, but to fight for her. I will first fulfil
my mission.” Touched by his magnanimity, the Diet resolved to
place in his hands at once all the powers of a king.
♦They invade the Ukraine.♦ Meantime the Turks, accompanied by
the Tartars, had appeared in great force before the camp at
Kotzim. The Polish commander, terrified at their numbers, soon
surrendered, and the whole garrison was put to the sword. But
instead of advancing into the heart of Poland, Köprili turned to
the right into the Ukraine, where the Muscovites, who also laid
claim to that territory, now lined the Borysthenes with 100,000
men. Hearing that he was occupied in besieging small places
in the Ukraine, John promised to render a good account of him
before the close of the campaign. He kept his word. ♦Campaign of
1674.♦ While the Turks drove the Muscovites beyond the river,
he suddenly appeared in Podolia and besieged Bar. The Sultan,
who was distracted by news of intrigues at his capital and the
advance of the Sophy upon Babylon, suddenly broke up his camp,
and made for Silistria. The Tartars disappeared at the sound of
“the Polish hurricane,” as they called Sobieski; and John was
left to deal with the hapless country which had but just suffered
from the Ottoman invasion. ♦John winters in the Ukraine.♦ He
could see no mode of protecting its peasants from the yoke of
the nobility but to place his army in winter quarters in the
neighbourhood, and to teach the cavalry by his own example what
clemency and what self-sacrifice they ought to show towards a
subject people. Resistance was only to be expected; for his
haughty hussars had never before passed a winter away from their
estates. But when they saw their king take up his abode in the
miserable town of Braclaw, where the scarcity of forage increased
the hardships of the season, the Polish cavalry submitted without
a murmur.
♦The Lithuanians desert him.♦ Not so, however, did the
Lithuanians. The king had assigned to Paz the town of Bar, the
most comfortable post on the frontiers. Yet that general did
not approve of the innovation, and taking the law into his own
hands marched home with his army. This defection was a great blow
to the king. He had begun to invest Kaminiec, and had opened
negotiations for an alliance with Muscovy. He now saw himself
obliged to narrow his plans, and to confine himself to the
defensive. The desertion of Paz aroused the strongest indignation
in Poland, and he was forced to ask the king’s pardon; but he
could not now repair the mischief. His disbanded troops were
amusing themselves with pillaging their own country,[61] and
there was no chance at present of rallying them round their
standards.
♦Campaign of 1675.♦ The winter passed without any important
success; and early in April another large Turkish army, commanded
by Ibrahim Pacha,[62] nicknamed “Schischman” from his enormous
bulk, advanced into Volhynia. John hastily quitted the Ukraine
and disposed his small forces for the defence of Russia in a
vast arc, of which Leopol was the centre. So completely was
he outnumbered that his only chance of success seemed to lie
in procuring allies. He continued to treat with the Czar, and
received at Leopol with ostentatious pomp an ambassador from the
Sophy of Persia; but he could hope little from the latter, except
the chance of terrifying the Sultan by a supposed coalition with
his Asiatic enemy.