The Danes while they waited for the Succours they had demanded from Poland, besieg'd the Fortress of Tonningen in the Duchy of Sleswic. The King of Sweden and the Duke of Holstein, before they oppos'd this Enterprize, preferr'd their Complaints to the Dyet of the Empire, and then prepar'd for driving the Danes out of the Country. The Elector of Hanover and the Duke of Zell join'd those two Princes, and the latter marching to the Relief of Tonningen had the Honor of obliging the Besiegers to abandon it, upon the report only of his Approach. This Prince therefore having nothing to do towards Tonningen, went with his Troops and rejoin'd the Elector of Hanover. They met the four thousand Men whom the King of Poland was sending to the Assistance of the Danes, but only took their Baggage and Arms, and then left them at liberty to return home.
The King of Sweden, on his part, push'd on the War against the Poles. That great Prince whom extraordinary Undertakings never startled, having already ravag'd a part of Poland, design'd a bold stroke, which was no less than dethroning the lawful King of that Country, and setting up another in his room. He had cast his eyes upon James of Poland, Son of King John Sobieski; but the King of Poland parry'd this blow, by causing the Prince James and his Brother Prince Constantine, to be carried away from an Estate of theirs near Breslau to Saxony, where they were strictly guarded like
Prisoners at the Castle of Leipsic. The Confinement of these Princes did indeed hinder either of them from being elected King; but the King of Sweden still persisted in his design of dethroning the King of Poland, on purpose to be reveng'd of that Prince for being so rash as to be the first that declar'd War against him. He caused the Election to fall upon Stanislaus Leczinski the Palatine of Posen. The Bishop of Posen officiated as Cardinal Primate in this Ceremony, and proclaim'd the new King. The King of Sweden wrote to all the Princes with whom he was at peace, to acquaint them of this new Election, and to exhort them to recognize it. The Letter he wrote to our King had no Influence over him; for he made answer, that he had recogniz'd one King of Poland already, and that as long as he liv'd he would acknowledge no other. He wrote at the same time to the King of Poland, to demand the Liberty of the two Princes. The Emperor, to whom the eldest had the Honour of being Brother-in-law, seconded the King's Demand; but the Solicitations of both had no consequence, and the Princes were not releas'd till a long time after.
The following Year the King undertook to procure a Peace between the Kings of Sweden and Poland; but as the view of such Reconciliation was to re-establish the Prince of Saxony upon the Throne of Poland, the King of Sweden would hearken to no Proposal of Peace, unless the dethron'd King would solemnly renounce the Crown. Mean time his Swedish Majesty, in order to mollify his Refusal of the King's Mediation, sent an Ambassador-Extraordinary to him to recognize him as King of Prussia. This Ambassador
was the first that ever made a public Entry at Berlin, and 'twas one of the most splendid that cou'd be, tho' all the Equipages were in Mourning by reason of the Death of the Queen.
Thus did this crafty King, by amusing those he had a mind to keep fair with, always push at his own ends. He continu'd to ravage Poland, and drove the King from thence into his Electorate of Saxony. There the Swedish Soldiers took up their Winter-Quarters, and committed such Outrages as one would not have expected from a Nation so fruitful in Heroes. The Swedish Prince signaliz'd his Entrance into Saxony by a glorious Action, which was procuring the Liberty of the two Polish Princes, who had for two Years been detain'd Prisoners with very great Severity and as little Reason. He afterwards march'd through all Saxony with the haughtiness of a Conqueror who comes to prescribe Laws to those whom he has reduc'd to his Obedience. As for King Stanislaus whom he had caus'd to be crown'd King of Poland at Warsaw, he led him about, with him as it were in Triumph. As this new King advanc'd towards the Territories of the Electorate of Brandenburg, to meet the Queen his Wife who was coming from Stetin, our Court caus'd all the Honours to be paid to him that were due to the Royal Dignity, without recognizing him all the while for King. This Complaisance of our Court won the King of Sweden's Heart. Mean time the Neighbourhood of this great Monarch, who, where-ever he march'd, carried Fire and Sword with him, gave vast uneasiness, and the Joy was as great when he manifested a Design to turn his Arms against the Muscovites, which he was put upon to do by the English. They
had for some time past suspected him to be supported under-hand by France, and they thought the best way to embroil him with that Crown was to engage him in a War with the Czar. The Person commission'd to negociate this Affair was my Lord Marlborough, who went to the King of Sweden, and soon put his Negociation in a hopeful way to succeed. He found about the King a Minister so sordid, that he was not proof against an Offer of three hundred thousand Crowns, to betray his Master into a War which could not but be fatal to him; whereas, if he had pleas'd, he might have acquir'd immortal Glory in the midst of Saxony, by rendring himself the Umpire of two of the most potent Families in Europe, then contending for the Crown of Spain. This Minister knowing his Master's ambitious Temper, propos'd no less to him than dethroning the Czar. The young Monarch full of Zeal and Courage did not imagine how impossible it was to dethrone a Prince who was retir'd behind Provinces quite deserted, and where the Snow lay so deep that 'twas difficult to distinguish whether they walk'd upon Land or Rivers. He march'd out of the Electorate of Saxony at the Head of his Troops about the end of the Year 1707. Never had People juster Reasons for giving public Marks of their Joy, than the Saxons had to see the Swedish Monarch turn his Back to them. His Troops had committed excessive Outrages in the Electorate; all the flat Country of Saxony was intirely ruin'd, and, except some great Towns such as Leipsic, where they generously enough spent part of the Money they had extorted from the poor Saxon Peasant, there was not a Hamlet but was laid waste to such a degree, that there were no hopes
of its being restor'd to its original Condition one while.
Yet if the Misfortunes of an Enemy can in any measure compensate the Losses he has occasion'd, the Saxons had all the reason in the World to be pleas'd in the Sequel. The Swedish Troops gave way every where to the Muscovites, who flush'd with former Victories, beat them to nothing.
The greatest Loss the King of Sweden sustain'd was near Pultowa. This Prince, who was more ambitious than prudent, being got too far into Muscovy, did not perceive his error till it was too late to retrieve it. The Czar had the Precaution, as he retir'd a little before into his own Dominions, to burn above forty Leagues of Country thro' which the King of Sweden was to pass to him; so that this Prince soon found himself in a very sad situation, not being able to stay in a place where there was no manner of Provision, and forc'd to engage with an Army well intrench'd and far superior to his own. But there was no avoiding it, and a Battle was fought the 8th of July 1709, when the Swedes were all either cut in pieces or taken Prisoners by the Muscovites. The King who was oblig'd by a Wound in his Heel to be carry'd in a Litter had like to have been kill'd, for one Cannon-Ball kill'd one of his Horses, and a second demolish'd his Litter. The whole Army was in pain for the King's Life; but the Officers who were near his Person snatch'd him out of danger, and advis'd him to provide for his safety. This Prince was very loth to comply with such a resolution, but finding himself oblig'd to yield to Force, retir'd to Bender, a little Town at the entrance of Moldavia, which belongs to the Turkish Empire. The King of Sweden was no sooner safe,