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his body-guard. Like his countrymen, he did not disdain ostentation; for on the croup of his horse hung a shield of gold, embossed with scenes from his great career. Nature had gifted him with handsome features and a dignified mien.[1] Though stout, he was tall and erect; and his full flashing eye marked him at once as a man of frankness, bravery, and powers of observation. Yet along with his military air his face wore a sweetness of expression, which was indescribably attractive. Few of the Pules could have witnessed his entry without feeling that he was the fittest person to be their king.
Two days after (May 4) the Senate forsook the "szopa" and took their seat in the "kolo;" and Sobieski, rising in his place, He proposes the Prince of Condi.proposed the Prince of Condé, whose military qualities, he said, made him the proper choice of a nation which would have to struggle for its existence. This unexpected event caused an immense commotion. The vast multitude was split into the old factions of France and Austria, and for days it seemed as if there was no solution but civil war. At length (May 19) Sobieski consented to withdraw the name of Condé if the queen would consent to marry the Duke of Neuberg. Hoping against hope for the success of her party, Eleanor rejected this offer with disdain; and the Lithuanians, who were encamped on the other side of the Vistula, assumed a menacing attitude towards the Polish Pospolite. At this crisis the Bishop of Cracow, who was discharging the functions of interrex,[2] gave orders for the singing of the canticles with which the debates were accustomed to close. The familiar chant and its associations produced a dead calm in the tempestuous assembly, and at its conclusion the prelate ordered each palatinate to range itself round the banner of its Jablonowski proposes Sobieski.palatine. While his orders were being obeyed, Jablonowski, palatine of Red Russia, the home of Sobieski, took advantage of the silence to address all those within hearing. He represented Lorraine as too devoted to the empire, Neuberg as too young, Condé as too old, to command their armies with vigour. The times, he said, required a prince who was well acquainted alike with them and with their military system. He was here interrupted with loud shouts of "A Piast!" a sound which soon collected round the speaker all the surging masses of the Pospolite. The palatine continued, "Among ourselves is a man whose sacrifices for his country have caused him to be everywhere considered the first of the sons of Poland. In placing him at our head we shall do no more than consecrate his own glory; fortunate- ↑ Dr. South describes him as follows: "He is a tall, corpulent prince, large-faced, and full eyes, and goes always in the same dress with his subjects, with his hair cut round about his ears like a Monk, and wears a fur cap, extraordinarily rich with diamonds and jewels, large whiskers, and no neck-cloth."—Letter to Dr. Pococke, p. 5.
- ↑ Czartoryski, Archbishop of Guesna, had died suddenly at a banquet given by Sobieski.
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