Chapter I: Front Matter

EVERYMAN’S LIBRARY
EDITED BY ERNEST RHYS

BIOGRAPHY

VOLTAIRE’S HISTORY
OF CHARLES TWELFTH
INTRODUCTORY NOTE BY
RT. HON. JOHN BURNS, M.P.

THE PUBLISHERS OF _EVERYMAN’S LIBRARY_ WILL BE PLEASED TO SEND
FREELY TO ALL APPLICANTS A LIST OF THE PUBLISHED AND PROJECTED VOLUMES
TO BE COMPRISED UNDER THE FOLLOWING THIRTEEN HEADINGS:

TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION
THEOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY
HISTORY CLASSICAL
FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
ESSAYS ORATORY
POETRY & DRAMA
BIOGRAPHY
REFERENCE
ROMANCE

IN FOUR STYLES OF BINDING: CLOTH,
FLAT BACK, COLOURED TOP; LEATHER,
ROUND CORNERS, GILT TOP; LIBRARY
BINDING IN CLOTH, & QUARTER PIGSKIN

LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD.
NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.

VOLTAIRE’S
HISTORY of
CHARLES XII
KING OF
SWEDEN

Translated by
WINIFRED
TODHUNTER

LONDON: PUBLISHED
by J·M·DENT·&·SONS·L^{TD}
AND IN NEW YORK
BY E·P·DUTTON & CO

FIRST ISSUE OF THIS EDITION 1908
REPRINTED 1912

CONTENTS

PAGE
PREFATORY NOTE vii
INTRODUCTION ix
TRANSLATOR’S NOTE xxi
BOOK I
Outline of Swedish history up to the time of Charles XI--Charles’s
education--His enemies--Character-sketch of the Czar, Peter
Alexiowitz--His peculiarities--Alliance of Russia, Poland, Denmark
against Charles XII. 3
BOOK II
Sudden and extraordinary transformation in the character of Charles
XII--At the age of eighteen he carries on war with Denmark, Poland
and Russia--He concludes the war with Denmark in six weeks--Beats
an army of 80,000 Russians with 8,000 Swedes, and proceeds to
Poland--Description of Poland and its Government--Charles wins
several victories, and conquers Poland, where he makes preparations
to nominate a king. 37
BOOK III
Stanislas Leczinski chosen King of Poland--Death of the
Cardinal-Primate--Great retreat of General Schullemburg--Exploits
of the Czar--Foundation of Petersburg--Charles’s entry into
Saxony--The peace of Altranstadt--Augustus abdicates in favour of
Stanislas--General Patkul, the Czar’s plenipotentiary, is broken on
the wheel, and quartered--Charles receives the ambassadors of
foreign princes in Saxony--He also goes to Dresden to see Augustus
before his departure. 97

BOOK IV
Charles leaves Saxony--Pursues the Czar--Advances into Ukrania--His
losses and wounds, and the battle of Pultowa--The consequences of
the battle--Charles forced to escape into Turkey--His reception in
Bessarabia. 147
BOOK V
The state of the Ottoman Porte--Charles retires to Bender--His
occupations--His intrigues at the Porte--His plans--Augustus
restored--The King of Denmark attacks Sweden--All the King’s other
territories are invaded--The Czar keeps festival at Moscow--The
affair of Pruth--History of the Czarina. 187
BOOK VI
Intrigues at the Porte--The Kan of Tartary and the Pasha of Bender try
to force Charles to depart--He defends himself with forty servants
against their whole army. 229
BOOK VII
The Turks remove Charles to Demirtash--King Stanislas is seized at
the same time--Bold action of M. de Villelongue--Revolutions in the
seraglio--Battles in Pomerania--Altena is burnt by the
Swedes--Charles returns to his kingdom--His strange method of
travelling--His arrival at Stralsund--The state of Europe at that
time--The losses of King Charles--The successes of Peter the
Great--His triumphal entry into Petersburg. 267