p. The other was Czar Peter of Russia. It
was unfortunate for the youthful warrior that fate had pitted him against
a greater man than himself, Peter the Great, who, while lacking his
military ability, had the other elements of a great character which were
wanting in him, prudence, cool judgment, persistence in a fixed course of
action. While the career of Charles was one of glitter and coruscation,
dazzling to men's imaginations, that of Peter was one of cool political
judgment, backed by the resources of a great country and the staying
qualities of a great mind. What would have been the outcome of Charles's
career if pitted against almost any other monarch of Russia that one
could name it is difficult to imagine. But pitted against Peter the Great
he was like a foaming billow hurling itself against an impregnable rock.

While it is not our purpose to tell the whole story of the exploits of
Charles XII., yet his life is so interesting from the point of view of
military history that a brief epitome of its remainder may be given.

After his great victories Charles remained in Saxony, entertaining the
throng of princes that sought his friendship and alliance and the crowd
of flatterers who came to shine in his reflected glory. For six years in
all he remained in Poland and Saxony, fighting and entertaining, while
Peter the Great was actively engaged in carrying out the important
purpose he had in mind, that of extending the dominion of Russia to the
shores of the Baltic and gaining an outlet on the northern seas. As an
essential part of his purpose he began to build a new city on the banks
of the Neva, to serve as a great port and centre of commerce.

It was long before Charles awakened to the fact that Peter was coming
threateningly near to the Swedish territories, and when he finally
realized the purpose of his great enemy and set out to circumvent it, he
did so without any definite plan. He decided, as Napoleon did a century
later, to plunge into the heart of the country and attack its capital
city, Moscow, trusting by doing so to bring his enemy to terms. In this
he failed as signally as Napoleon did in his later invasion.

In June, 1708, with an army of forty-three thousand men, Charles crossed
the Beresina and soon after met and defeated the Russian army near
Smolensko. He considered this his most brilliant victory, and, as we are
told by Voltaire, Peter now made overtures for peace, to which Charles,
with the arr