CHARLES XII OF SWEDEN CHARLES XII.. King of Sweden. From a portrait in the Talace at Schwerin. C0PYRI6MT BY HUfKT k BLACKETT. CHARLES XII OF SWEDEN BY OSCAR BROWNING LONDON HURST AND BLACKETT, LIMITED 18. GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET 1899 AllrigfUs reteretd TO LORD CURZON, OF KEDLESTON, THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED IN MEMORY OF A LONG AND UNBROKEN FRIENDSHIP. CONTENTS. CHAPTER p^C^ I. Birth, Edocatiok, A.ccess£on, and Coronation . 1 II. The Mad Time 17 III. The Invasion of Seel.\nd 27 IV. Narva 46 V. The Battle of the Duna 58 VI. The Battle of Clissow 72 VII. Charles in Poland 86 Vlir. The Election of Stanislaus . .105 IX. The Rival Kings 118 X. The Invasion of Saxony 130 XI. Alt-Ranstadt 150 XII. The Invasion of Russia 167 XIII. Ljesna 181 XIV. Mazeppa 195 XV. Poltava 207 XVI. Charles at Bender 229 XVII. The Catastrophe of the Pruth 2-13 XVIII, Charles and the Sultan 258 IX ; ; ; ; ; ; ; f\^ what foundation stands the warrior's pride, How just his hopes let Swedish Charles decide A frame of adamant, a soul of fire, No dangers fright him, and no labom-s tire ; O'er love, o'er fear, extends his wide domain, Unconquer'd lord of pleasure and of pain No joys to him pacific sceptres yield. War sounds the trump, he rushes to the field Behold surroimding kings their pow'rs combine, And one capitulate, and one resign Peace courts his hand, but spreads her charms in vain ' Think nothing gain'd,' he cries, ' till nought remain, ' On Moscow's walls till Gothic standards fly, ' And all be mine beneath the Polar sky.' The march begins in military state, And nations on his eye suspended wait Stem Famine guards the solitary coast. And Winter barricades the realms of Frost XI ; : — He comes, nor want nor cold his course delay ; Hide, blushing Glory, hide Pultava's day The vanquish'd hero leaves his broken bands. And shows his miseries in distant lands Condemn'd a needy supplicant to wait, While ladies interpose, and slaves debate. But did not chance at length her error mend ? Did not subverted empire mark his end ? Did rival monarchs give the fatal wound ? Or hostile millions press him to the ground ? His fall was destin'd to a baiTen strand, A petty fortress, and a dubious hand ; He left the name, at which the world grew pale, To point a moral, or adorn a tale. Johnson.— Vanity of Human Wishes. XII CHARLES XII CHAPTER I. BIRTH, EDUCATION, ACCESSION, AND CORONATION. The child wlio was to be known to the world at a later period as King Charles XII. of Sweden was born in the royal palace of Stockholm on June 17, 1682, at a quarter before seven in the morning. It is said that he came into the world with his hands dripping with blood, and that his birth was accompanied by a violent storm which unroofed the houses and churches of the capital. These are probably fables, but they sum up in prophecy the after-consciousness of his career. Up to his seventh year he was left to the charge of his mother, Ulrica Eleanora, the daughter of King Frederick III. of Denmark and Norway, and the sister of Christian V., the reigning sovereign. She was a model of domestic virtues, of gentleness and piety. By her the young prince B 2 CHARLES XII was brought up to love goodness, justice, and benevolence. He learnt the German language by- joining in tbe morning and evening prayers which were said in the court tongue, and his first instruc- tion was in Bible history. In 1686, when he was in his fourth year, Charles was taken by his mother to the university town of Upsala, where she made the most diligent enquiries as to the tutor who would be most fit to direct the education of the young prince. Having chosen out three, she presented them to the boy, telling him to make his selection amongst them. He held out his little hand to a certain Norcopensis, professor of rhetoric, who fortunately enjoyed the favour of the Queen-mother, and the respect of all his colleagues. He was an oldish man,—fifty-four years of age, with grey hair,—and he has left a name in the literary history of his country as the founder of the Swedish school of Latin poetry. He was simple and old-fashioned, even in his dress, and the child may have been attracted by his kindly smile, if indeed the choice was not suggested to him. At any rate, it was successful. Boy and teacher lived together in harmony. Speedily and half playing, as Milton says, the child learnt to read and write, he acquired the rudiments of geography, history, and arithmetic, so that when six years old FROM BIRTH TO CORONATION 3 he could write letters and do sums. The mother followed the education of her son with the liveliest interest. The tasks of the day were repeated in the evening, and every Sunday Charles had to repeat the text and the argument of the weekly sermon. As a relaxation he was allowed to copy out the diary which his grandfather Charles X. had kept during his youthful travels. At the age of six years and a half Charles was removed from the care of women, and received an establishment of his own. According to the custom of those times he must have a governor to superintend his education, and for that part Erick Lindskjold was chosen, against the will of the Queen. He died, however, shortly afterwards, and was succeeded by Nils Gyldenstolpe, who like his predecessor was more acceptable to the father than to the mother. Charles XI. wrote out very precise instructions as to his son's education. His first care was to be devoted to the Bible and the truths of Christianity, and he was to be fervent in prayer. He was to learn arithmetic and the Swed- ish and German languages. In Latin his principal authors were to be Cornelius Nepos and Julius Caesar, the first to hold up to his imitation the great deeds of antiquity, and the second to instruct him in the art of war. The tutor was to make Caesar's B 2 4 CHARLES XII campaigns live again as if the boy were taking part in them. TuUy's oflSces were to teach him his duty towards his fellow-men, Livy the course of Roman history. Statecraft he was to learn from Puflfendorf, and from 'Barclai's' Argenis, a political romance written in favour of absolutism and divine right, which has received the praise of Cowper, Coleridge, and Hallam. We do not know how far these in- structions were followed out, but it is certain that during his campaigns his favourite author was Quintus Curtius, who described the wars of Alex- ander the Great. In 1693, when Charles was eleven years old, a tall, slim lad, developed beyond his years, he lost his mother, who had watched over him with tender care. She said to him on her deathbed, 'As fate has destined you to reign after your father, strive to make yourself worthy of his high fortune and to tread in the footsteps of his example. Be a good brother and a loving friend to your younger sisters, who need your help and your counsel.' In the next year the good Norcopensis, now ennobled under the name of Nordenhjelm, followed his mistress to the grave. These events brought about a change in Charles's life. Books were laid aside, the instructions of FROM BIRTH TO CORONATION 5 Polus and Gustav Cronhjelm, who succeeded as bis tutors, were disregarded, and the boy accompanied his father in riding and hunting parties. The king was glad to forget his sorrow in these strenuous exercises, and delighted in the society of his son. Yet the lad's education was far from complete. He was indeed a fervent Christian, and possessed a deep Protestant piety which he never lost. But his handwriting was very bad, and became gradually worse throughout his life. His knowledge of Swed- ish was very imperfect, and he knew Latin better than his mother tongue. It is said, however, that he was only induced to apply himself to the study of this language by the argument that if he did not he would find himself inferior to the Kings of Denmark and Poland. He was very reluctant to learn French, and absolutely refused to speak it. His governor representing to him that he ought to prepare him- self to converse with a French ambassador, he replied, 'My dear Lindskjold, I understand French and will not learn any more of it. If I ever meet the King of France I will converse with him in his own tongue, but if a French ambassador comes to Sweden, it is more fitting that he should learn Swedish for my sake than that I should learn French for his.' Yet we know that at a later period he enjoyed 6 CHARLES XII French plays, and tliat he conversed in French with the Ambassador d'Avaux and his suite. Charles now began to exhibit signs of that bodily strength and endurance which were to be the won- der of his contemporaries. He first rode on a pony when he was four years old, and took part in the exercises of the troops. He showed a precocious passion for sport ; he shot his first fox when he was seven, and his first bear before he was twelve.