Charles was still near Thorn, in that part of the kingdom of Prussia which belongs to Poland; from there he had an eye on what was going on at Warsaw, and kept his powerful neighbours in awe. Prince Alexander, brother of the two Sobieskis, who had been carried off to Silesia, came to ask vengeance of him. The King was all the more ready to grant it, because he thought it easy, and that he would gain his own vengeance too. But as he was eager to give Poland a king, he proposed that Prince Alexander should take the crown, which fortune seemed bent on denying to his brother. He did not in the least expect a refusal, but Prince Alexander told him that nothing would ever persuade him to take advantage of his elder brother’s misfortune. The King of Sweden, Count Piper, all his friends, and especially the young Palatine of Posnania, Stanislas Leczinski, pressed him to accept. But he was decided. The neighbouring princes were astonished at the news, and did not know which to admire most--a king who at the age of twenty-two gave away the crown of Poland, or Prince Alexander who refused it. BOOK III 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. YOUNG Stanislas Leczinski was therefore deputed by the Assembly at Warsaw to give the King of Sweden an account of several differences that had arisen among them since Jacques had been carried off. Stanislas’ personal appearance was pleasing, full of courage and sweetness, with that frank open air which is the greatest of outward advantages, and a better seconder of a man’s words than eloquence itself. Charles was impressed by his discreet allusions to King Augustus, the Assembly, the Cardinal and the different interests which rent Poland. King Stanislas did the writer the honour of relating his conversation with the King, which took place in Latin. “How can we hold an election if the two Princes and Constantine are absent?” he inquired. “How can you get the State out of the difficulty without an election?” answered the King.