was too modeft and unaffuming to erect monuments of his-
.own glory.
The sera of John Sobieiki, fplendid in itfelf, appears more
luminous, when contrafted with the darknefs which preceded,
and followed. The reigns of his immediate predeceffor
and fucceffor were convulfed with internal commotions ;• but
the fpirit of difcord and anarchy was laid for a time by his
fcranfc-endent genius. Under his aufpices Poland feemed to
revive from the calamities which had long oppreffed her,,
and again to recover her antient' fplendour fuch is the
powerful afcendency of a great and fuperior mind. His
military talents require no other teftimony than the victory
of Chotzim, the recovery of the Ukraine, repeated defeats
of the Turks and Tartars, and the delivery of Vienna ; while
an exa£t iniight into the laws and conflitution of his country,
a manly and perfuafive eloquence, a love and protec«
tion of literature, an accurate knowlege of foreign languages,
and an uncealing habit of affability, moderation, and:
temperance, render him no lefs an objeit of our admiration
in his civil capacity •*.
But the monarch, who could allay the ferments of public
faction, could not fupprefs the domeftic diffentions of his,
own family and,the fame great prince, who kept a turbulent
people in awe, and chaftifed the moft formidable enemies,
was himfelf under the controul.of his confort, a French,
* Dr. South, in-his Account of. P,oland, . “ th,e.Sqjavanian* hemuder ita n ds,tl\e Latiiij.
thus • deicribes; John Sobieiki: “ T h e •king* “ -French, Italian, German, and- T-urkiih
. “ is a very welLfpoken princg, ¿yery -eafy .of “ languages: t ie delights much in na-
*t accefs, and extreme civil, having moil, o f, “ tural hiilpry, and in. all the parts of
“ the qualities requifite to forrp.a complete “ pbyfic. He is. wont to-, reprimand t-e
*- gentleman,. He is not. only v/ejl verfed cleygy for not admitting the modern phi-.
in all military affairs, but likewife, through “ lofophy, fuch as Le G rand’s and Carte-
'*• the means o f a French education', very “ fius’s, into the univerfities and ..ichoois,” -
‘ -opulently ilored with all polite and fcho.-, t c c . South’s..Poilhum.qus Works.,p. 24.
‘ M^di^al lam in g . Befides his own tongue,
lady,.
lady *, of exquilite beauty and elegant manners, but of p'
reftlefs intrigue, infatiable avarice, and inordinate ambition. *— .— “
This unprincipled woman fomented a fpirit of difunion
and jealoufy among her children .; and loaded her eldeft
fon with every fpecies of indignity. She formed and fup-
ported an adminiftration called, by way of deriiion, the
Jewilh junto; and introduced into the royal houlhold a narrow
pariimony unbecoming the dignity of a powerful fo-
vereign: in a word, by a fe-ries of offenfive and wicked mea-
fures, ihe loft her huiband the affe&ion of his fubjedts; and
rendered the clofe of his reign as odious, as the preceding
part had been popular and glorious.
The decline of Sobieiki’s life was clouded with affliction.
He felt himfelf a prey to a lingering difeafet; yet, inftead of
deriving any comfort from his neareft connections, he experienced
an aggravation of his diftrefs from the unnatural
contefts of his children, and the intriguing fpirit ,of his wife.
The decay of his authority, and the indecent cabals almoft
openly carrying on about the choice of his fucceffor, affe£ted
in the ftrongeft manner a-perfon of his extreme fenfibiiity:
his fubjects, inftead of lamenting, feemed eagerly to anticipate
his diffolution. Yet, even in this deplorable ftate, the
king’s equanimity, founded on religion and philofophy, did
not forfake him ; and he retained, even upon his deathbed,
that mixture of ferioufnefs and gaiety, ftrength of rea-
foning and quicknefs of repartee, Which fo ftrongly marked
his character.
He died on the x 7th of June,. 1696." Some llriking incidents,
immediately preceding his death, are tianfm.tted to
us by the chancellor Zaluiki bilhop of Plotiko, wxxo was
prefent when he expired.
■ * Marie de la Grange. See p. 190.
t His illnefs was a complication o f diforders, gout, ftone, afthma, dropfy*
B b 2 Some