And Had Dorilaus, Or Even
Charlotta Herself, All Tender As She Was, And Trembling For The Hazards
She Knew He
Had been exposed to, seen him thus caressed and honoured by
the most glorious prince and greatest hero in the
World, they could
scarce have wished him to quit the post he was in, much less persuaded
him to do it.
He hitherto indeed had experienced only the happiness of a martial life,
for the fatigues, hardships, and dangers of it he as little regarded as
the intrepid and indefatigable prince he served; but now arrived the
time which was to inflict on him the worst miseries of it, and make him
almost curse a vocation he had been in his soul so much attached to.
The king of Sweden, with his usual success having passed the
Boristhenes, encountered a party of 10,000 Muscovites and 6000 Calmuck
Tartars; but they gave way on the first onset and fled into a wood,
where the king, following the dictates of his great courage more than
prudence, pursuing them, fell into an ambuscade, which, throwing
themselves between him and three regiments of horse that were with him,
hem'd him in, and now began a very unequal fight. - Many of the gallant
Swedes were cut to pieces, and the Muscovites made quite up to his
majesty: - two aid-de-camps were killed within his presence, his own
horse was shot under him, and as an equerry was presenting him with
another, both horse and man was struck dead in the same moment. - Horatio
immediately alighted in order to mount the king, who now on foot behaved
with incredible valour, in that action was surrounded and taken
prisoner, as were several others that had fought near his person. He had
the satisfaction, however, while they were disarming and tying his
hands, to see colonel Dardoff with his regiment force thro' the
Calmucks, and arrive timely enough to disengage the king, after which
the army recovering its rank, and pouring in upon the enemy, he was not
without hopes of regaining his liberty; but he was sat upon a horse and
bound fast to the saddle, and compelled, with the others that were taken
with him, to accompany the Muscovites in their flight, so was ignorant
in what manner this re-encounter ended. Soon after repairing to the
czar's quarters, these unfortunate officers of the king of Sweden were,
with some others who had before become their prize, sent under a strong
guard to Petersburgh, and thrown altogether into a miserable dungeon.
It would be impossible to describe the horrors of this place: - light
there was, but it was only so much as just served to shew to each of
these unhappy sufferers the common calamity of them all. - The roof was
arched indeed, but so low, that the shortest among them could scarce
stand upright: - no kind of furniture, not even straw to cover the damp
earthen floor, which served them for a seat by day and bed at night.
Inured as they had been to hardships, the noisomeness of this dreadful
vault killed many of them, and among the rest a young Swedish officer
named Gullinstern, one with whom Horatio had contracted a very intimate
friendship, and who, for his many excellent qualities, had been so dear
to the king, that seeing him one day greatly wounded, and in danger of
being taker, prisoner, that generous prince obliged him to mount on his
own horse, and fought on foot himself till another could be brought.
The light of this gentleman expiring in his arms, filled Horatio with so
poignant an anguish, that he wanted but little of following him; and,
indeed, had it not been for the sanguine hopes that the king would in a
short time complete the ruin of the czar, and not only restore them
liberty, but also add vengeance to it for the ill treatment they had
found in his dominions, few, if any of them, had been able to support
the miseries inflicted on them by these inhuman wretches, who, not
content with burying them in a manner alive, for the dungeon they were
in was deep underground, and allowing them no other food than bread and
water once in four and twenty hours, made savage sport at their
condition, ridiculed the conquests of their king, and spoke in the most
opprobrious terms of his royal person, which, when some of them were
unable to restrain themselves from answering in a manner befitting their
duty and love of justice, they were silenced by the most cruel stripes.
Thus were the officers of the king of Sweden, the meanest of whom were
fit to be generals in any other army, subjected to the servile taunts,
and insolent behaviour of wretches undeserving to be ranked among the
human species.
A very little time had doubtless made them all find graves among these
barbarians; scarce a day passed over without their company decreasing by
two or three, who were no sooner dead than dragged out by the heels, and
thrown like dogs into a pit without the least funeral rites. But
providence at length thought fit to send them a relief by means they
least expected.
In one of the incursions made by the Muscovites into Poland, a very
beautiful lady, whose father had been killed in asserting the cause of
Stanislaus, was made prisoner: prince Menzikoff, who commanded these
batallions, saw her, and became enamoured of her charms: she was
destitute of all friends, and in the conqueror's power, so thought it
best to yield what otherwise she found him determined to seize: in fine,
she was his mistress; and her ready compliance with his desires,
together with the love she either had or feigned to have for him,
afterward gained her an absolute ascendant over him. Every one knows the
interest he had with the czar; and he so far exerted it, as to get this
fair favourite lodged in the palace, where she was served with the same
state and respect as if she had been his wife.
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