twenty-eighth year, with the wish, apparently, of indulging her tastes or caprices at perfect liberty, she formed the singular resolution of resigning her crown and retiring into private life ; and this event took place with great solemnity in May 1654, her cousin Charles Gustavus becoming her successor by the title of CHARLES X.

The Swedes were now gradually losing much of their warlike character, and, with the view of sustaining the military reputation of his kingdom, the new monarch, after putting the finances in a better condition, resolved on a war with Poland, the sovereign of which had offended him by a reassertion of his right to the Swedish throne. At the head of the veteran bands of Adolphus, he rapidly overran that country, the terrified Casimir being compelled to take flight; but the Poles, aided by Russia, speedily rallied in defence of their national independence. Frederick III. of Denmark having at the same time taken up arms against him, Charles effected a retreat through Pomerania, invaded Holstein, and speedily subdued the whole peninsula of Jutland. The Dane was forced to conclude a humiliating peace at Roskilde, 1658; but Charles, who seems to have been bent on the entire subjugation of that country, again invaded it in the following year. In the midst of these

ambitious schemes, however, he was suddenly cut off, 1660, leaving the throne to his son CHARLES XI., then a minor. Peace was now concluded on all hands: that of Oliva terminated the feud between the Catholic and Protestant branches of the house of Vasa; the negotiation of Kardis put an end to the war with Russia; while the contest with Denmark was closed by the treaty of Copenhagen, which mainly confirmed the previous conditions of 1658. On attaining majority, Charles became a member of the triple alliance for restraining the encroachments of Louis XIV.; but being speedily detached from it by the intrigues of the latter monarch, he found himself again involved in a war with Denmark and with Holland, which was terminated in 1679, by the compact at Fontainebleau, the Swedish monarch receiving in marriage the Danish Princess Ulrica Eleanora. Charles now applied himself to the internal affairs of his government, reforming the abuses which had crept into the administration, and adjusting the imposts and burdens to which so long a period of military conflict had subjected the people. Some of these measures gave great offence to the nobility, and they attempted to remonstrate against them; but their opposition only tended

to hasten the downfall of the aristocratic order, an act being passed by the states in 1693 declaring the king absolute.* The remainder of this monarch's life was passed in the praiseworthy endeavour to establish peace in Europe, the congress of Ryswick being brought about in a great degree by his mediation. He was succeeded in 1697 by his son CHARLES XII., the extraordinary events of whose career, however, belong to the next century.

POLAND.

The reign of Sigismund III. was a uniform succession of errors, resulting from the intense religious bigotry which he carried into all his transactions. Taking advantage of troubles in Russia, his general Zolkiewski invaded that country, and succeeded in having his son Ladislaus proclaimed czar, 1610; but the Polish monarch having refused to ratify the liberal conditions then granted, the Muscovites flew to arms and expelled the invaders, allowing them, however, to retain Smolensk and other provinces, 1618. When the Bohemian insurrection broke out, which paved the way for the thirty years' war, he naturally sided with Austria, sending a force into Hungary against the Prince of Transylvania; but this interference involved Poland in hostilities with Turkey, in which General Zolkiewski was slain, 1620. In a peace concluded the following year, Moldavia was ceded to the Moslem; while the war with Sweden, carried on with little interruption since 1618, was terminated by the cession of Livonia to that country, 1629. The reign of this sovereign sowed the seeds of future calamities for Poland: the free spirit of the Reformation was stifled by his intrigues; the adherents of the Greek church, numerous in the south-eastern provinces, were exposed to much persecution; and the best interests of the country sacrificed to the endeavour, in which he was sufficiently successful, of establishing the absolute ascendency of Popery. LADISLAUS IV., 1632, was elected without opposition. Immediately after his coronation, he took arms against the Muscovites, who had invaded his frontiers, defeated them in battle, and reduced several towns. These successes led to a

*It is a striking fact, that both in Sweden and Denmark the legal establishment of despotism was brought about by the deliberate suffrages of the people, stimu lated by a hatred of the aristocracy. In each country the tyranny of this class seems to have been carried to the highest pitch, the burghers and peasants being little better than slaves; and there can be no doubt that these changes, though different from the course pursued in constitutional states, really contributed to the improvement and happiness of the people at large.

treaty in 1634, by which the terms of the truce in 1618 were confirmed; peace was also concluded with the Turks, and the suspension of hostilities with Sweden prolonged for twentysix years. The country, therefore, enjoyed tranquillity during the remainder of his reign, while his virtuous and enlightened character, and aversion to religious intolerance, seemed to promise a settlement of intestine disorders.

But the Jesuits had become too firmly established during the long administration of his father, to enable him to put a stop to their persecution of the followers of the Eastern church; and the results of this unhappy circumstance were soon apparent in an insurrection which broke out among the Cossacks of the Ukraine a short time before his death, 1648.* Under his brother and successor, JOHN CASIMIR, this rebellion raged with increased fury, 'the Cossacks, aided by the Tartars of the Crimea, committing great ravages in his dominions; and in 1654 Alexis of Muscovy sent a numerous army to their assistance. In the midst of these troubles the king had been so foolish as to protest at Stockholm against the right of Charles Gustavus to the Swedish crown; and that prince, who only wanted a pretext for invading Poland, and being moreover encouraged by some discontented noblemen, speedily made himself master of the distracted country, the king being forced to take refuge in Silesia. This acquisition might have been permanent, but for the arrogance of Charles, who, affecting to hold the territory by right of conquest, refused to convoke the diet for his election. In consequence, the people exerted themselves vigorously for the restoration of their monarch; and the Czar of Muscovy having concluded a truce with them, the Swedes were compelled to evacuate the country. The Elector of Brandenburg, who had at first aided this invasion, now made terms with John, and turned his arms against his former allies; in return for which he was declared independent of the Polish crown, 1657. Peace was at length confirmed in 1660, by which the king resigned his claims on Sweden, and matters otherwise were placed on the same footing as before the war.

Meanwhile, the Cossacks had returned to their duty on receiving ample guarantees for their religious and political liberties; and the hostilities with Muscovy, renewed in 1658, were terminated in 1667 by a treaty which deprived Poland

*This people were of Scythian origin, and dwelt on both sides of the Dnieper, below Kiev, where, distributed into military companies under a hetmann or com mander-in-chief, they had served Poland as a frontier guard against the Turks

and Tartars.

of the acquisitions she had made during the reign of Sigismund. This was one of the most unfortunate epochs in the history of that country: incessant war and pestilence depopulated the land, and thousands were driven into exile by a fanatical persecution. John Casimir having abdicated in 1668, was succeeded by MICHAEL, prince Wisniowietzki, who was reluctantly compelled to accept the crown, and whose reign was constantly disturbed by faction.* The Turks at this time invaded Poland with an immense army; and, notwithstanding prodigies of valour and military skill performed by the heroic John Sobieski, they succeeded in obtaining possession of the Ukraine, with the promise, besides, of an annual tribute of 22,000 ducats, 1672. The diet were indignant at these humiliating conditions; the war still continued; and, in 1673, Sobieski gained a brilliant victory at Choczim. Michael died the following year, and the gallant leader, who had stept in for the salvation of the country, was unanimously elected his successor, by the title of JOHN III. This truly great man now set himself to complete the work he had begun; by extraordinary exertions, he contrived to augment the military force, and, in a series of brilliant achievements, succeeded in reconquering two-thirds of the Ukraine, 1676. In 1683, he riveted the attention of all Europe by the total defeat given to the enemies of Christendom under the walls of Vienna, a blow from which the Ottomans never altogether recovered. But these efforts served but to throw a temporary splendour over the waning destinies of Poland. All the exertions made by him for the internal improvement of his kingdom were frustrated by the turbulent nobility, by means of the veto which each possessed, and whereby the most useful measures could be opposed by the dissent of a single chief. The treaty of Leopol, 1686, by which the aid of Russia was secured against the Turks and Tartars, was only purchased by considerable cessions of territory; and at the close of a stormy diet in 1688, he confessed with tears in his eyes his inability to save his country from the ruin which

*The throne of Poland was indeed no very desirable possession: the turbulent and factious character of the nobles, the almost independent jurisdiction they possessed in their respective estates, and the rivalry of the different orders, rendered the royal authority little better than nominal, while the great mass of the people were exposed to all the evils of feudal oppression and anarchy. At each recurring vacancy of the throne, the electoral diets became more ungovernable: the nobles assembled, armed and on horseback, in the order of their palatinates, and each king was compelled to grant new immunities to the privileged classes; and thus, with a show of liberty, the country actually suffered under evils more intolerable than could have been inflicted by the worst hereditary despotism.

he foresaw was but too surely overtaking her. He died in 1696, and with him the greatness of his native land may be said to have ended.

RUSSIA.

During the preceding centuries, this hitherto barbarous empire had acted a very unimportant part in European politics. In 1605, during the reign of Boris, an individual assuming to be the late king's brother Demetrius, who had been assassinated, as was supposed, by the connivance of the existing monarch, succeeded in setting himself on the throne. But he was himself slain in a popular tumult a year after, when various pretenders and impostors aspired to the sovereignty; the Swedes and Poles simultaneously invaded the country, and the latter actually succeeded in placing the crown on the head of their young prince Ladislaus, 1610. But the bigotry of the Polish ruler, who refused to confirm the conditions by which his son had gained this elevation, and the dread that their territories would be seized, roused the national spirit of the Russians; the invaders were expelled from Moscow, after a sanguinary conflict, 1613; and, in the year following, MICHAEL ROMANOF, a descendant by the female line from the house of Rurik, was placed on the throne by the unanimous consent of the whole people.

The accession of this dynasty was the true commencement of the European greatness of Russia, which henceforth began to assume a growing importance among the monarchies of Christendom. Michael, however, was obliged to purchase peace from Sweden by the cession of the whole of the Baltic coast, Archangel on the White Sea being now his only port; while Smolensk was delivered to Poland as the price of a fourteen years' truce, 1618, and which was again ceded in 1634, after a fruitless effort to recover it by force of arms. But the prudent administration of this prince more than compensated for these serious losses: he erected fortresses, invited foreign officers to enter his service, formed his army upon the European model, and gave a new impulse to trade by concluding advantageous treaties with France and England. The early years of his son and successor, ALEXIS, 1645, were disturbed by an insurrection of the nobles, in consequence of the unpopularity of the regent; but these disorders were composed when the prince attained majority, 1648. In 1654, he aided the Ukraine Cossacks in their revolt against Poland;