They Passed Near Dresden, The
Capital Of The Electorate Of Saxony, And Made Augustus Tremble In His
Palace, Tho' The Word Of The King, Which Ever Was Inviolable, Had Been
Given That He Should Enjoy Those Dominions In Peace.
During the course of this, the czar had fallen upon the frontiers of
Poland above twenty times, not like
A general, desiring to come to a
decisive battle, but like a robber, plundering, ravaging, and destroying
the defenceless country people, and immediately flying on the approach
of any troops either of Charles XII or king Stanislaus. The Swedes in
their march met several parties sent on these expeditions, but who
retired on sight of the army into woods, and were most of them either
killed or taken prisoners by detachments sent in pursuit of them by the
king of Sweden.
In their march towards Grodno they found the remains of an encampment,
several pieces of cannon and ammunition of all forts, but not one
creature to guard it, the troops to whom it belonged having all
dispersed and hid themselves. On examining the tents, they were
surprized with the sight of a very beautiful woman, who was lying on the
ground in one of them, with three others, who seemed endeavouring to
comfort her, and, by the respect they paid her, that they were her
dependents; but had all of them their garments torn and bloody, their
hair hanging in strange disorder about their ears, their flesh
discoloured with bruises and other marks of violence, and, as well as
their disconsolate superior, were spectacles of the utmost distress.
The king of Sweden himself, followed by general Hoorn, Poniatolky,
Horatio, and several others, who hardly ever lost sight of him, came
into this tent, and, being touched with so moving a scene, demanded the
Occasion; on which the prostrate lady being told who it was that spoke,
started suddenly up, and throwing herself at his feet: - Oh king! cried
she in the German language, as famous for justice as for being
invincible in war, revenge the cause of helpless innocence and
virtue! - Oh let the murderous brutal Russians find heaven's vindictive
arm in you its great vicegerent. - She was able to utter no more: the
inward agonies she sustained, on being about to relate the story of her
wrongs, became too violent for speech, and she sunk motionless on the
earth. Two of the women, assisted by some Swedes, carried her out of the
tent, as thinking the open air most proper to revive her; and she who
remained, satisfied the king's curiosity in these words:
May it please your majesty, said she, my mistress, that afflicted lady
who just now implored your royal pity, is of the noble family of the
Casselburgh, in Saxony, only daughter to the present count: her person,
before these heavy misfortunes fell upon her, was deservedly reputed one
of the most beautiful that graced the court of Dresden: her birth, her
youth, her charms, and the great fortune it was expected she would be
mistress of, attracted a great number of persons who addressed her for
marriage:
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