to Musko to behold the Majesty of our presence to which end we have commanded Post-horses to be prepared for you by the way and when you are come to Musko you shall Address your self to our Secretary Offenasis Ulassou Written in our Majesties Camp at Thula in the year of the World 7113. Sir Thomas Smith having received his dispatches from Boris and being in his way homeward was overtaken at Archangel by an Express from Demetrius with the following Instructions and Letters Demetrius Evanowich great Lord Emperour and Great Duke of all Russia hath commanded Savarela to repair to Volgoda and then to the new Castle of Archangel or any other place where he may overtake the English Embassador Sir Thomas Smith When he hath overtaken him Savarela shall send his Interpreter Richard Finch to the Lord Embassador with notice that the Great Lord Emperour and Great Duke Demetrius Evanowich Sole Commander of Russia hath sent one of his Courtiers unto him touching his Majesties Affairs and after about two hours respite Gavarela shall himself go to the said Embassador and deliver unto him his Majesties Message as followeth DEmetrius Evanowich Great Lord Emperour and Great Duke of all Russia and many other Kingdoms Lord and Commander hath commanded thee Thomas Smith English Embassador to certisie unto James King of England Scotland France and Ireland that We are by the just Judgment of God and his strong Power come and succeeded into the place of our Father and Predecessors as also the Throne of the Great and Famous Kingdom of Uladomir Musko and the Empire of Casan Astracan and Sibiria and of all the Kingdoms of Russia Moreover we calling to minde the Correspondence Love and Amity which was between our Father the Great Lord Emperour and Great Duke Evan Vasilowich of Famous Memory as also our Brother the Great Lord Emperour and Great Duke Fedro Evanowich Sole Commander of Russia and their Sister Queen Elizabeth Queen of England In the like manner we do purpose to have Entercourse and to be in love with your Lord King James and more than hath been in former times and in token of our said Love and Amity we do intend to favour all his Subjects within our Dominions and to give unto them more liberty than they have had heretofore And you his Embassador we have commanded to be dispatched without any delay or hinderance Therefore we would have you to notifie to your Lord King James our Majesties love and as soon as God shall grant the time of our Coronation to be finisht and that we are Crowned with the Imperial Crown of our Predecessors according to our manner and worthiness then we the Great Lord Emperour and Great Duke Demetrius Evanowich of all Russia Sole Commander will send our Messengers to salute each other according to the former manner As for those Letters which Boris Gedanow sent by you we would have you deliver them back again to our Courtier Gaverela and after the delivering of our Speeches to return him to the Emperour Vnderwritten by the Chancellour Offanafie Evanowich Ulascan These and some other publike affairs being dispatched Demetrius judged it very conducible to his establishment to have the Solemnities of his Coronation speedily performed the Celebration of which were therefore appointed to succeed upon the Kalends of September for 't is then that the Russians do as the Jews of old did begin their year But Demetrius impatient of delay in that material Circumstance would have it done upon the 29th of July after his enterance into Musko upon which day he was by the Patriarch crowned with the Imperial Diadem of those Kingdoms after which he caused the Corps of Boris to be taken up out of that Sepulchre wherein he had been interred being that belonging to the Royal Family and buried without Solemnity in a private Church-yard without the Town Before the Coronation 't was judged advisable that the supposed Mother of Demetrius who had for many years been shut up in a Monastery by Boris should be sent for to Court as a reputation to the Solemnity which by Demetrius his art was improved to the utmost for upon advertisement of her being within a League of the Town he went forth in Person to meet her and being come within view of her Coach he alighted from his horse and making his Addresses to her with all imaginable Humility she received him with great demonstrations of Affection She would have come out of her Coach but he would not permit it neither could she prevail with him to come up to her protesting that as she had given him life so would he pay it her back in his Obedience that the Crown of Russia was hers and should be only born by him the better to execute her Orders And with these and some other obliging entertainments of this kind she was conducted to the Palace Demetrius following the Coach on foot bare-headed till the Empress stopping declared that unless he would get up on horse-back she would accompany him on foot Being come to the Palace she was conducted into the usual habitation of such who were Widdows of the Royal Family where being alighted she embraced Demetrius with great passion acknowledging him before all the Lords and Courtiers present to be her Son begot by Duke John Basilius evidencing the same by many particular marks and tokens which gave great credit to the Impostor if it were one His stature and proportion had a resemblance to that of the true Demetrius his hair was black and hard like his with a mark upon his nose and the right hand as the Prince also had And though the Lady might well remember the features of her own Demetrius whom she had lost but seven years before and that this in reality was not he yet she wisely dissembled the matter it being grown too far for her to contradict and besides that she lay under a double obligation to him having not only enjoyed her liberty but the satisfaction of an entire Revenge by his means upon Boris and his Family However it was she treated him with all the demonstrations of a warm and sincere Affection while he honoured and reverenced her with a more shan filial Duty so great a tenderness appearing in their caresses that their Tears of Joy were attended with a deluge from the eyes of the Lords and all others upon the â—lace And to be thus owned by the Empress in the face of the whole World gave a greater confirmation to the reality of his Birth than all his other Testimoies together there being now no room â—eft to question his Extraction confirmed by the open declaration of her that bare him 'T is to this day a controverted point in Russia whether he was an Impostor or not Common fame since his misfortune seems to render him such and Petreius in his Chronicle of Muskovy hath a Jury of Arguments to confirm it But his Testimony is not to be believed but with caution he being employed in
the Jesuite is said to have answered him after this manner My Lord though what you are pleased to propose to me be a matter of consequence not to be determined upon single Counsels yet your person hath something of magnetick in it that hurries me by secret impulsions to your service and interests which leave me no room to consider but how far I may contribute to those ends That noble Testimony you gave me of an affection for my Daughter hath gained so much credit with me that I make not the least doubt of it and in that moment you mentioned it to me I must say you spoke the desires and ambition of my soul and having cleared that to you which you are pleased to place in the first rank let me oblige you to take my advice in the conduct of your other affairs which in my judgment are more considerable You have before you an undertaking which will require all your powers and faculties for the effectual prosecutions of it you have upon you the eyes of the whole Christian World you have a potent Enemy seated upon your Throne who hath all his Engines at work for your confusion The reputation of your Courage your discretion and indeed the reality of your being the true Demetrius are all at stake and must be vindicated by an industry worthy of you else let me take the freedom to tell you you are not worthy of Marina were she meaner than she is Then as to the seasonableness of what you please to urge concerning her I must with the same freedom tell you that considering the Aids you depend upon you ought not to think of marrying in this Juncture King Sigismond hath declared himself for your supply with both men and money and who knows but that the part he may pretend in your disposal may render him more zealous for you Others while you are single will run in to your assistance every man forming to himself his hopes and expectations according to the condition of his Affairs which you must nourish by those ways and arts which may increase not diminish your Confederates I know I run a great risque in this advice It may possibly fall out that when you are ascended up to your Throne upon the necks of your Enemies and shall be seated there Triumphant in their confusions that your Appetite may change Marina may be ugly in your eye or mean in your esteem and then all those obliging promises will be forgot But leâ— that or worse if it may be be the consequence of this delay I cannot allow my self otherwise to advise you than I do And to confirm to you that my Counsel respects you not my self and that it is built upon Foundations of Honour and Integrity I doe here promise you that I will Raise all the power I am able and march in person with it for the recovery of your Kingdom I will espouse your Interests with the same fervour as if they were my own and will dye in the attempt or will cut out a passage for you to your Dominions through the heart of the Vsurper After this profession of mine let me have no more doubtings to remain in you but cheer up and intend the prosecution of your Interests Conceal and smother your passions for Marina and let the Courage which is in your Soul shine in your eyes It will like fire kindle a flame in others which being cherished as it ought will strengthen your hands and multiply your numbers I will not permit you to object any thing to this I know 't is the best way for you I will so far pretend to the power of a Father since you give me the honour to expect it as to impose upon you in this affair Thus did the wise Palatine play with the temper of this young Gallant bearing him in hand with hopes grounded upon arguments and probabilities which he could neither contradict nor in his judgment disapprove of Demetrius however pleased with the obligingness of these promises yet seemed afflicted at the delay imposed upon him but seeing no other remedy and that the enjoyment of his Mistriss depended upon his Establishment in his Throne he seemed to desire this but as relative to the other and now as awaked out of an amourous lethargy he bestirred himself with more fervour than before And reviving his considerations as to that part of his business which he would have to be acted by the Jesuites he admitted them more frequently into his presence not only declaring his conversion to their Religion but promising to reduce Muskovy under the obedience of the Pope and to make that provision for the Clergy in Colledges Monasteries and other Indowments that the whole World should be convinced of his entire Submission to the Apostolique Sea He was grown so exact a States-man as to discern that the designes of Empire are no way more properly carried on than under the Veil of Religion where the parties to be managed may find their satisfaction as well in point of Interest as Conscience The Fathers over-joyed with the hopes of so fair an accession to St. Peters Patrimony promise Mountains and assure him they will embark all the Princes of the Christian World in the Quarrel Neither were these industrious undertakers any way remiss in their endeavours Demetrius his Interests were now become theirs and a Croysado was resolved on to put more countenance on the holiness of them To this end they acquaint the Pope with the designe Solliciting his Holiness to espouse it as the concern of the Church and accordingly to order powerful supplies of his own besides vigorous Recommendations to the King and Nobility of Poland as nearest hand Demetrius also writ his Letters in reasonable good Latine which he had learned in his Cloyster and with his own hand to the then Pope Clement the eighth in the Stile of Emperour of Russia wherein bewayling his own unhappiness he besought the Aid Prayers and Counsels of his Holiness against the usurpations of Boris promising that if it pleased God to restore him to his Crowns he would not onely bring in his erring Inheritance into the Communion of the Mother-Church but by a perfect Obedience to his Holiness as the Head of the same signalize his gratitude to all Posterity He continued all this while at Sandomiria and had not yet been presented to the King which he seemed passionately to desire hoping by the advantage of a personal enterview and the telling of his own story to gain upon the inclination of that mild Prince and indeed he was not mistaken in his computation for being after some time introduced into the Kings presence by the mediation of the two Palatines of Sandomiria and Wisnioweski and received with Complements suitable to the Quality he bore he made an hansome Narrative of his Fortunes in a Stile not inferiour to the Majesty of an Emperour and yet obliging and full of deference to the King in the close whereof
Auxiliaries giving out that he would plant the Kingdom with Colonies of strange Nations This fill'd the people with dreadful Apprehensions of his Tyranny and imbarked the Lords in the same prejudice to find themselves neglected in the administration of Justice and the same managed according to the appetite and fancie of the Poles To all this he gave the Jesuites publike Churches and dwellings and to all of that Perswasion the free Exercise of it He had indeed himself been brought up in the Romish Religion which might in some measure have warranted the Profession of it in his own Chappel though Henry the Fourth of France dispensed with his former Faith upon his accession to the Crown endeavouring thereby to cure the Jealousies of the people who are no way so fervently engaged as upon the the account of Conscience But Demetrius his publike despising of the Rites of the Greek Church and his so open endeavours to introduce that of the Latins abhorr'd by the people gave the first shock to their affections and then his Habit Garb and Gesture being wholly Forein the Commonalty who see but the outside and make their judgment by that conclude his Inclinations were so too But what wrought most effectually upon those that understood best was to discern a lightness in his Behaviour bearing no proportion with so exalted a Quality as he bore in the world little Gravity and less Judgment in the manage of publike Affairs measuring concerns of a different nature by the same Standard From this short-sightedness being but newly invested in the Royalty he denounced War against the Swedes and with the same vanity writ to King Sigismund that he would arm against the Turk and Tartar before he knew the Constitution of his own Empire or by what establishment an Army was to be maintained Demetrius being Crowned Emperour his next care was the matter of his Amours those Passions were still alive in him and he had so much of the Constancie of a Lover as to invite Marina to the participation of his Greatness Upon this consideration he dispatcht a splendid Embassy into Poland with a Present of the Jewels of the Crown of an inestimable value The Palatine of Sandomiria had indeed deserved well from him but the Nobility of Muscovy abhorred the thought that the Treasure of their Empire should be havocked away upon that Negotiation which no way quadrated with their Appetite however this concern fell out so far luckily for Demetrius that it respited his fate for the Conspirators having laid their designe to be put in execution some days after the dispatch of this Embassie held it advisable to delay it till that was over lest by quitting their hands of their Great Duke the Jewels of the Crown should fall short and stay in Sandomiria They therefore directed the Embassadors who were also privy to the Confederacie to make secret Articles with George Mniseck the Palatine Marina's Father before they made their Present of the Jewels to her that she should bring them with her for her Ornament to Musko There was at the same time dispatched an Embassador to the King and Commonwealth of Poland Athanasius Rosclovius the Treasurer was made choice of for this Employment who being admitted into the Kings presence did in the Name of his Master the Great Duke present his very hearty acknowledgments to the King and Nobility for the seasonable Aids he had received from them declaring that next under God he derived all his Enjoyments from their Succours and confessed that had he not been vigorously owned by them he must have wandered about the world the pity of his Friends and the scorn of his Enemies whilst an Usurper possessed the Throne due to his Birth and in which by their kindness he was seated in perfect peace And as a Testimony of his further Gratitude he had sent his Embassadors to establish a perfect Friendship and League Offensive and Defensive betwixt the Crowns which was to extend to all the Enemies of either Nation especially the common Enemy the Turk who by the advantage of misunderstandings amongst Christian Princes got ground upon Europe And that he might be the more naturally linked to the Kingdom of Poland than the Ceremony of a League could extend to he desired the Kings permission to Marry a Lady his Vassal the Palatine of Sandomiria's Daughter His Obligations to her Father being of that nature that he knew not by what other means to contrive him a proportionable Recompence He had not only owned and received him in his Exile but engaged his Person and his Fortunes in his Quarrel and he could not stand acquitted to himself if he did not communicate to the Daughter of those Enjoyments which were derived to him by the kindness and Courage of her Father The King having fully heard the Embassador did with much Civility acknowledge the respect of the Great Duke in that Address that he wished him all happiness and did heartily congratulate the success of his Arms in the acquirement of his just rights Adding further that he did highly commend the pious resentments he was pleased to have for the sufferings of the oppressed Christians That he would willingly enter into a League with him against the Infidels but that without the consent of the Senate and Nobility of the Kingdom he could determine nothing of that Nature As to the Proposal of his Marrying the Lady Marina he should not only have his consent but his prayers also that God would render that Marriage auspicious to both Kingdoms by propagating between them a League of everlasting Friendship The King having expressed himself to this effect the Nuptials were within eight days after celebrated at Cracow in the presence of the King and a great number of the Nobility of Poland who were invited to this Royal Solemnity His Majesty delivered the Bride with his own hand to the Embassador exhorting that now she was to be transplanted into another Nation she should retain the Memory of her own Country and her Fathers house That she should do all good Offices betwixt both Nations and above all things that she should adhere to the Catholike Religion wherein she had been educated The Church-Ceremonies being finished his Majesty entertained the Bride at a Royal Feast Prince Vladislaus his Son the Princess of Sweden his Sister the Palatine of Sandomiria the Embassadors of Persia with all the Publike Ministers then at Court were invited to it where at the last Course those Jewels sent by Demetrius to his Marina and the Palatine her Father to the value of two hundred thousand Ducats were served up to the Table instead of Fruit which in so Illustrious an Assembly spoke the Magnificence of the Russ and satisfaction of the Bride to be courted at so valuable a Rate About the end of Jan. 1607 the Bride accompanied with the Embassadors of either Nation the Palatine her Father and Duke Constantine Wisnioweski and many other Persons of Quality and a splendid Train having
they might be paid their Arrears due to them from Demetrius But the Kings wisest Counsellors judged that they ought still to keep in with Demetrius and by no means to distract his Forces until Smolensko were taken for then they might march to Musko without opposition with assurance that all the Polish Forces and all the places possessed by them would of course fall into their hands It was certain that every disgrace that happened to Demetrius would advantage Zuiski for the City of Musko would not only be delivered by dispersing his Army but all the Demetrian Provinces revolt also from him which proved true as will appear hereafter For the Kings Agents having at length gained Rosinski Zlarowski and some other Chief Officers the rest began to waver which did so terrifie Demetrius that being sollicitous for his own security looking now upon the Kings Engagement as a Designe to expose him he resolved to withdraw rather than be made a Sacrifice either to his Interest or the Avarice of the Souldiery who for the satisfaction of their Arrears would he thought have delivered him up to Zuiski himself He would however first speak with Rosinski and endeavour to conserve him if possible still but to no purpose which irritated him so much that he reproached him with levity and breach of Trust This enraged Rosinski to that height that he dared to call the Emperour to his face an Impostor and the Son of a Whore These Speeches not to be suffered by a private man did so disturb the Prince that seeing himself not in a condition to revenge them or indeed to secure his own Person in his own Camp he resolved to leave it and taking Horse with only a very few of his Friends to Guard him he privately got away and fled to Caluga All the Boyarian Muskovites of his party did follow him and his Lady however left in the Camp would not stay behind The Embassadors endeavoured to detain her and to perswade her return into Poland but she like another Texena affirmed that she had not only wedded the good Fortunes of her Husband but his Adversities also The Embassadors did notwithstanding persist and earnestly press her to submit her self to the Kings Clemencie and Munificence They did at length so much that she seemed vanquished by their Reasons promising she would send Embassadours of her own to the King and gave them for the present her Letters to his Majesty wherein having congratulated his arrival in Muskovy she wished him all good Success She farther complained oâ— the sad Vicissitudes of her Fortune submitting her self and her Concerns to God from whom she did expect an end of her calamities and sorrows she added My adverse Fate hath deprived me of all I have nothing left but the justice of my Cause and my right to the Muskovitish Empire confirmed by my Inauguration and the double Oaths of all Orders of men I relinquish all to your Majesties disposal being assured of your Equity and Justice only I beg that you will treat me and my Family who will be no small support to you in the acquisition of the Muskovitish Empire according to our Dignity and your Magnificence Demetrius his flight being known the whole Camp was in an alarm and tumult Some would follow the Great Duke some would go to the King and others would continue in their Quarters till they had their Arrears The Complaints against Rosinski were high and furious by whose artifice wickedness they said Demetrius had been forced to quit the Camp whereby the Souldiers should be deprived of the reward of their Blood Labours Demetrius his Letters read publikely did extremely foment their Seditions but the presence and carriage of Marina transported them beyond all bounds She with a Courage more than Masculine and a Countenance composed of sorrow and sweetness wandered through the Camp spoke to all she met called such as she knew by their names and urged those she did not by the Charms of her looks and presence to conclude she inflamed all with her winning Discourses She tells them that their Valour and Courages were to expect their Stipend and Reward of so many Travels from Demetrius only it not being likely that the King would remunerate the Services they had done for others otherwise than with scorn and contumely She demonstrates to them the infinite Treasures of Muskovy and the Greatness of the Empire and assures them that the Great Duke would deny them nothing by whose fidelity and fortitude he should be restored to what had been so cruelly usurped from him The Souldiery being incensed with these and the like Discourses the Dumensian Cossacks immediately leave the the Camp to follow the fortunes of Demetrius Rosinski would hinder them but they persisting endeavoured to break through the Polish Horse in their way They fought and two thousand fell iâ— that Conflict on both sides After this Fight some ran into the City and some went to Demetrius to Caluga and the rest remained with their Chieftain Zarucki in the Camp Some days after happened another more grievous but less bloody Sedition begun by the Polish Horse and which threatned all with ruine The Cause of this Tumult was Marina's flight who when she had effected what she could with the Souldiers omitting nothing to reconcile them to her own and her Husbands Interest and now secure of a great part of the Army she disguised her self in mans Apparel and accompanied only with one Maid and a few Cossacks came safe to Caluga Before she parted she wrote a Letter to the Army which she left upon her Table in her Chamber wherein she tells them that she was forced to retire from amongst them to save her Honour her Fame and her Life She could suffer no longer the fast and opprobrious Language of that insolent and drunken fellow meaning Rosinski She invoked God the Avenger of wrongs minds the Souldiers of the Religion of their Vows Inveighs against the flagitious perfidy of her Adversaries and finally extolling the Fidelity and Courage of her Friends bids them not only hope for but assure themselves of all they could wish for from the Great Duke as soon as he had recovered his Empire The last word of the Letter was I part This Epistle being read was like the sounding of an Alarm all being full of tumult and horror The Souldiers ran to their Arms and in threatning Troops haste to the Generals Tent crying out Is it so Rosinski that by thy Pride and Debaucheries thou didst force the injured Marina to follow her banished Lord What Captains shall we now follow Thee perfide and betrayer of the Souldiery who being bought and deluded by the vain promises of the Kings Emissaries wouldst deceive us of our Stipend and the rewards of our Labours Restore to us our Princes and try thou first that butchery thou dost prepare for us And therewith they made several shot with their Pistols at him but he escaped that danger though he
of the Kingdom their Duke must abjure the Romish Profession and declare himself for the Greek Rites The King having received their Message and not ignorant of the wiliness and reserves of that subtle Nation was not wanting in a return sutable to the occasion He told them that he did receive this Honour conferred upon his Son with great satisfaction which should oblige him at all times to serve their Country with his best Aids and Counsels And as to the Treaty relating to its particulars he did purpose to give Zolkievius then upon the place full Instructions for the compleating of it at their own homes The Embassadors after this Answer and having been sumptuously feasted by the Prime Officers of the Court with great and mutual professions of kindnesses in so much as they seemed to be but one people were dismissed The King having by this fully weighed the state of his Affairs gathered to himself many reasons not to believe the reality of the Moscovites for else why did they elect his Son and not him but that they should be able when he had withdrawn his Forces out of their Land to practise upon the unexperience of his Son by reason of his youth and to justle him out of the Throne to which they had raised him out of necessity not choice And on the other side if the King should forbear to send him to them till he were of Age they would take occasion from this delay to transfer their Suffrage upon another He took a further Umbrage of their Designes from the refusal of the Garrison of Smolensko to surrender their City in the name of Prince Vladislaws though he were declared and proclaimed Great Duke with the usual Ceremonies their excuse was that they could not own him by so publike an Act till he had been received in the Capital City Crowned and Sworn to the maintenance of their Laws and their Protection Zolkievius had many ill-willers about the King who were not wanting to cherish these apprehensions of prejudice contracted by him against the Russians and having gained the Kings ear they instill'd new Counsels into him That this Election of his Son was an affront and an imposing upon his Majesty instead of receiving Law from him That he had by his Arms reduced them to those distresses that they must suddenly lay themselves that they must suddenly lay themselves at his feet whereas now they addressed to him by their Embassadors with Conditions not only inglorious but inconsistent with the state of his Affairs and impossible for him to subscribe to And that upon the reducing of Smolensko he might consider himself as a Conqueror and Rule that false People by such Laws as he should judge sutable to his Honour and Safety But there were others of his Council that advised the preserving of that Faith which Zolkievius had Sworn to them in his Name and by his Approbation That by confirming of that he would in one day render himself Master of a vast Empire which it might cost him some years besides a great expence of Blood and Treasure to reduce And they being an obstinate people might fall upon new Counsels and close with Demetrius whose Title would give him a trouble to resist as well upon the account of Reason as the power of his Arms. For it was upon the pretence of aiding Demetrius that he invaded their land who being restored to the Throne the King could have no more a fair colour to stay in it That his Army might by this means be paid all their Arrears as the Souldiers of Vladislaws the Great Duke out of the Treasures of Russia whereas the Kingdom of Poland if it fell to them to pay it would grow uneasie under so intolerable a burthen That the practises of the Russians might easily be eluded by seating Vladislaws upon the Throne with an able Council about him who should immediately provide pay for the Army which they would not refuse upon his first reception and while it lay in their Chief City And as to the Articles they might be well enough evaded and delayed while more Recruits were coming out of Poland But the King's mind being prepossessed as if carried on by an irresistible Fate adhered to the more violent Counsels of such as blew him up with a Punctilio of Honour not to rise from before Smolensko before he had reduced it having cost him already above a years Siege and was now upon the point of a rendition or being forced The King had raised a Battery against it but did not prosecute his matters with that quickness but that they within had time to make a deep Ditch and to raise new Ramparts in opposition to the Battery after which the Cannon began to play which indeed laid flat a great part of the Wall with two Flankers that stood next it the Assault was made but in vain they being repulsed with great loss The Russians in the mean time clamoured at this breach of the Treaty which had been celebrated with the Solemnity of an Oath and that contrary to the Law of Nations their Embassadors were detained Which the King justified upon this Reason that they refused to give order to the Governour of Smolensko to surrender the Town in their Great Dukes Name and which they excused as not within their Instructions The Affairs of Russia hung thus in suspence for some time the people not daring to do more than mutter while Zolkievius and his Army lay enquartered in their Chief City Demetrius also began to look up again having sheltered himself in Caluga while he was reinforcing his Party which was much countenanced by the return of Zarucki and Prince Kazimowski to him whose reception by King Sigismund bearing no proportion with what they proposed to themselves left him and returned again to the Service of their old Lord. But Zolkievius disdaining to be thus treated by the King contracted violent discontents in so much that taking the pretence of going to fetch the Prince to Musko he left the Army and passing by Smolensko where he but saluted the King he retired into Poland The Russians after the Generals departure understanding that the King had refused sending his Son at his intercession that the captive Zuiskius's together with their Embassadors were sent away Prisoners into Poland and that the King took upon him the Administration of the Affairs of the Empire putting new Officers into all the great places and refusing to own them as a State prepared for a Revolt to which the death of Demetrius did very effectually contribute He had a little before upon some apprehensions of infidelity in Kasimouski against him caused him to be thrown into the River Occa and drowned there which the Tartars of his Guard so far resented as to study a revenge He was of late time used to divert his Melancholy with drinking drowning at least steeping his cares in liquor and having been one day a hunting he retired himself with some of his particular
September following The Assault was contrived to be made before day-break and was carried on accordingly with less notice or indeed expectation of the Enemy than was imagined for the Souldiers had without great opposition raised three Ladders upon the Wall before it was light upon the 13th of June Potocki the Palatine of Brachlaw had his Post on the East-side of the Town Wyer with his Germans on the Kings side who both of them got up to the top of the Walls but the descent being steep into the Town and the Garrison flocking to the place rendred the dispute hot and doubtful till Bartholomew Novodwoski Captain of the Guards applying a Petar under the Kennel on the South-side towards the Boristhenes made a Breach of 30 Cubits long Dorostanski Marshal of Lithuania assaulted and entred the same in the head of the Guards and marched directly to the Market-place possessing himself of it with little resistance for the Garrison astonished with this unexpected Adventure swallowed up in their own fears instead of making any defence threw down their Arms and quitted their Stations leaving a free passage for the Besiegers to enter in on all sides upon them All was fill'd with horror and confusion the Poles enraged they had been so long a Conquering put all they met with to the Sword The poor Citizens not knowing where to hide themselves from the fury of this bloody Enemy were butchered without remorse or distinction which possessing others with despair and indignation very many of them took their Wives Children most pretious Moveables and retired with them into the great Church where was kept the Magazine of Powder and putting fire to it destroyed themselves with a more than Saguntine despair for fear of perishing Sehin Palatine and Governour of the Town with 15 more got into a little Tower upon the Wall where though all was lost he bravely defended himself telling the Enemy that he resolved to die rather than render himself unless to some Chief Officer He had been exemplary for his cruelty to such as were taken upon any Sallies which gave the Poles a particular hatred for him and he dreaded worse than death falling into their hands but word being brought to Potocki who was near that Quarter he came to the place to whom the Palatine and his fifteen Camerades yielded themselves upon Parole Prisoners of War And thus was this great City which had been the labour of almost two years taken in less than two hours time with the loss only of eight Germans The gaining of the place was justly attributed to the success of Novodwoski's Petar that attempt of scaling the Walls being wholly desperate and in which the Assailants must inevitably have perished So soon as the possession of that place was secured there was a strict Command to give Quarter only the Pillage of the Town was consigned to the Souldiers as the reward of their labours but they not agreeing in the distribution of it the Booty was ordered to be brought into one place whereby the dividend might be more equal but a fire by some accident happening consumed all that Wealth with a great part of the City There was found in the Magazines a proportion of Corn and other Military Provisions sufficient for three years longer Men were only wanting they being wasted from near 70000 to about 8000 fighting men but however had they not been more conquered by their own fears than the power of the Enemy they had certainly made good the place against this Assault The King having appeased his Army feasted them three whole days together in the solace of which and the reflection of their Victory they buried all their former regrets and discontents And he supposing he should now appear more advantageously to his own Subjects had a greater appetite of being at the Assembly than before proposing to himself that Crowned with the Palms of this Conquest he ought to shew himself in Triumph to his people adding this Error to the former as if swayed by some secret Fatality he turned his back upon his new Acquisitions to receive the flatteries and acclamations of his Polish Subjects And thus he yet again suffered the vanquished Empire of Muskovy to slip out of his hands for if he had prosecuted his Victory and had carried the Terror of his Arms and the reputation of his Success to the Imperial City where his men disputed his Interest with great courage against the multitude that oppressed them and where he had a considerable Party amongst the Russians themselves it is more than probable that he had not only kept the City in his power but by the Example of it have compelled the rest of the Provinces to receive his Dictates at pleasure But he by an ill computation of his Affairs and that unhappy cunctation which lost him his Hereditary Kingdom of Sweden lost now also the Monarchy of Muskovy For as soon as the Besieged and Besiegers at Musko had notice that he was gone it had different effects upon them The Army from without grew confident repeating their Attempts upon the Poles who looking upon themselves as exposed began to contrive for their own safety and taking a pretence from their want of pay but the true reason was a despair of Relief they demanded their dismission The Assembly of the Estates at Warsow was held with the usual Ceremony but unusual Pomp the King being received as a Conqueror with all imaginary Congratulations for the reducing of Smolensko and adding so fair a Province to their Commonwealth Zolkievius his Triumph was Memorable and Magnificent for being attended by a gallant and numerous Cavallery he was followed by Basilius Zuiski late Emperour of Muskovy who was clad in a red silk Vest and seated in a high Chariot betwixt his two Brothers that he might be seen of all men They rode thus to the Senate-house where being admitted Zolkievius presented the Captive Princes to the King and Assembly and in a grave and set Speech having magnified the Majesty of the Commonwealth and the adverse Fortune of the Prisoners made no scruple to parallel the Conquest of these Illustrious Captives to the most renowned Examples of former Ages After this the Zuiski's were confined to Goston-Castle where they were Royally treated though Basilius impatient of his Fetters and not able to support the weight of his sorrows died soon after and was privately buried betwixt Warsow and Thorn where he also reposed till the end of the War at which time his and his Brother Demetrius his Ashes who likewise died there were at the intercession of the Muskovitish Embassadors translated out of Poland to the Tomb of their Ancestors In the mean time King Sigismund to perpetuate the Memory of so great a Victory caused it to be ingraved in Tables of Marble and placed upon his Monument as followeth REGIS REGUM DEI EXERCITUM GLORIAE SIGISMUNDUS TERTIUS REX Poloniae Sueciae Exercitu Moscovitico ad Clusinum caeso Moscoviae Metropoli