' He was succeeded by his son, Boleflaus, who was advanced to years of maturity when he ascended the throne. His courage was never abated by any difficulties, and the severest toils of war constituted his pleasures. He had the abilities of a chief and a soldier, and knew
* Ezra iv. 7-16.
how to command and execute at the same time. He appeared magnificently in public, and whenever it was requisite of him to assume the air of a great prince; his more private conduct was softened with an air of affability; and he saw himself respected and beloved by his people, whom he treated more as a father than as a Sovereign. His renown was so great that Otho the Third came into Poland, as well to offer him his alliance, as to accomplish a vow he had made to the martyr, St. Alderbert, or Albert, Archbishop of Gnesna. The Emperor was so well satisfied with his reception, and likewise with the magnificence of Boleflaus, that he thought it incumbent on him to testify his acknowledgments to him by some honourable return that might correspond with the treatment he had received in the territories of this prince. He accordingly crowned him King of Poland, and gave him the imperial eagle, in a field gules, for his arms. The two princes afterwards confirmed their new alliance by the marriage of "Rixa, or Riche, daughter of Godfrey, Count Palatine of the Rhine, and niece of the Emperor, with Miecflaus, the son of Boleflaus.'
In subsequent times, under the provision for an elective monarchy, Russia, and France, and England, all of them, as well as other lands, furnished statesmen nominated as candidates for the throne — England in the person of Sir Philip Sydney, France in that of Henry of Vallois.
Of the political constitution of Poland in the early part of the last century, the Abbs' writes: —
' The kingdom of Poland is composed of Poland properly so called, which is divided into the Upper and Lower Poland, Royal Prussia, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the provinces of Mazovia, Polachia, Black Russia, Volhinia, Podolia, the Ukraine, and some other small provinces. The Baltic Sea, Samogitia, Livonia, and Muscovy constitute its northern bounds. The dominions of the Russian monarch and Little Tartary form its frontiers to the east.
It is bounded on the south by Moldavia and the mountains of Krapac; and its western limits are Moravia, Silesia, and the territories of the Elector of Brandenburg. It extends 260 leagues in length from west to east, and comprehends 200 leagues in breadth from south to north.
* Gnesna, which is a city in Great Poland, was formerly the capital of the kingdom, and is still the metropolitan city. Its archbishop is the head of the republic during the continuance of any interregnum, and his power is so great that he has frequently caused kings themselves to be dethroned.
' Cracow, which is situated on the Weissel, is now considered as the capital of the kingdom, since the sovereigns have fixed their residence in that city. The royal ornaments are deposited there, and it is now the place where the kings are crowned.
1 The Weissel, the Boristhenes, and the Dneister, are its principal rivers. Commerce might easily flourish in that country, since nature has supplied the inhabitants with every provision capable of facilitating navigation and traffic with Europe and Asia; but these advantages are disregarded by them. The gentry are devoted to arms alone, and the peasants are a race of miserable and unindustrious people, who are crushed under the yoke of their lords, and have no property which they can call their own.
' Poland is not strengthened by any fortified cities, and every place is entirely open and free. The Poles consider castles and fortresses as so many rocks on which their independency would be wrecked, and as the tyrannical instruments of some ambitious person, who would be desirous to load them with chains. Kaminieck, on the frontiers of Moldavia, is not considerable either for its extent or fortifications; and Dantzig, which is the strongest city in Poland, is but moderately fortified.