There was but a few
years' difference between their ages, and the suggestion, so
promptly made, seemed to show the king that the young Englishman
was a kindred spirit, and he frequently requested him to accompany
him in his rides, and chatted familiarly with him.
"I hate this inactive life," he said one day, "and would, a
thousand times, rather be fighting the Russians than setting the
Poles by the ears; but I dare not move against them, for, were
Augustus of Saxony left alone, he would ere long set all Poland
against me. At present, the Poles refuse to allow him to bring in
reinforcements from his own country; but if he cannot get men he
can get gold, and with gold he can buy over his chief opponents,
and regain his power. If it costs me a year's delay, I must wait
until he is forced to fly the kingdom, and I can place on the
throne someone who will owe his election entirely to me, and in
whose good faith I can be secure.
"That done, I can turn my attention to Russia, which, by all
accounts, daily becomes more formidable. Narva is besieged by them,
and will ere long fall; but I can retake Narva when once I can
depend upon the neutrality of the Poles. Would I were king of
Poland as well as of Sweden. With eighty thousand Polish horse, and
my own Swedish infantry, I could conquer Europe if I wished to do
so.
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