ng, and he assumed
the title of _John III._ He was a native noble, and was chosen for his
military talents and successes. Indeed, Poland needed a strong arm to
defend her. Her decline had already commenced, and Sobieski himself
could not avert the ruin which impended. For some time, Poland enjoyed
cessation from war, and the energies of the monarch were directed to
repair the evils which had disgraced his country. But before he could
prosecute successfully any useful reforms, the war between the Turks
and the eastern powers of Europe broke out, and Vienna was besieged by
an overwhelming army of two hundred thousand Mohammedans. The city was
bravely defended, but its capture seemed inevitable. The emperor of
Germany, Leopold, in his despair, implored the aid of Sobieski. He was
invested with the command of the allied armies of Austrians,
Bavarians, Saxons, and Poles, amounting to seventy thousand men. With
this force he advanced to relieve Vienna. He did not hesitate to
attack the vast forces encamped beneath the walls of the Austrian
capital, and obtained one of the most signal victories in the history
of war. Immense treasures fell into his hands, and Vienna and
Christendom were saved.

But the mean-spirited emperor treated his deliverer with arrogance and
chilling coldness. No gratitude was exhibited or felt. But the pope
sent him the rarest of his gifts--"the dove of pearls." Sobieski, in
spite of the ingratitude of Leopold, pursued his victories over the
Turks; and, like Charles Martel, ten centuries before, freed Europe
from the danger of a Mohammedan yoke. But he saved a serpent, when
about to be crushed, which turned and stung him for his kindness. The
dismemberment of his country soon followed the deliverance of Vienna.

He was succeeded, in 1696, by Frederic Augustus, Elector of Saxony,
whose reign was a constant succession of disasters. During his reign,
Poland was invaded and conquered by Charles XII. of Sweden. He was
succeeded by his son, Frederic Augustus II., the most beautiful,
extravagant, luxurious, and licentious monarch of his age. But he was
a man of elegant tastes, and he filled Dresden with pictures and works
of art, which are still the admiration of travellers. His reign, as
king of Poland, was exceedingly disastrous. Muscovite and Prussian
armies traversed the plains of Poland at pleasure, and extorted
whatever they pleased. Faction was opposed by faction in the field and
in the Diet. The nati