Transcriber's Notes:
1. Page scan source:
http://www.archive.org/details/withfireandswor05siengoog

Popular Edition.

WITH FIRE AND SWORD.

BY

HENRYK SIENKIKWICZ.

Copyright, 1898, by Little, Brown, and Company.
Henryk Sienkiewicz and his Children.

BY

HENRYK SIENKIKWICZ.

AUTHORIZED AND UNABRIDGED TRANSLATION FROM
THE POLISH BY

JEREMIAH CURTIN.

BOSTON:
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
1904.

Copyright, 1890, 1898,
By Jeremiah Curtin.

All rights reserved.

University Press:
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A.

JEREMIAH CURTIN.

Washington, D.C.,
April 7, 1890.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Henryk Sienkiewicz and his Children.
From a photograph.

Map of the Polish Commonwealth.

"The falcon began to draw the hands together."
Drawn by J. Wagrez.

Vladislav IV., King of Poland.
From an engraving by Moncornet.

"He raised his eyes and began to pray aloud".
Drawn by J. Wagrez.

Bogdan Hmelnitski.
From an old engraving.

"The little knight, having discovered the whole power of his opponent, pushed on him briskly".
Drawn by Evert Van Muyden.

Yerzy Ossolinski, Chancellor of Poland.
From an engraving by Moncornet.

"Before them stood a kind of frightful-looking man, or rather an apparition".
Drawn by Evert Van Muyden.

Map of the Polish Commonwealth

INTRODUCTION.

The history of the origin and career of the two Slav States, Poland and Russia, is interesting not merely because it contains a vast number of surprising scenes and marvellous pictures of life, not merely because it gives us a kaleidoscope as it were of the acts of men, but because these acts in all their variety fall into groups which may be referred each to its proper source and origin, and each group contains facts that concern the most serious problems of history and political development.

The history of these two States should be studied as one, or rather as two parts of one history, if we are to discover and grasp the meaning of either part fully. When studied as a whole, this history gives us the life story of the greater portion of the Slav race placed between two hostile forces,--the Germans on the west, the Mongols and Tartars on the east.

The advance of the Germans on the Slav tribes and later on Poland presents, perhaps, the best example in history of the methods of European civilization. The entire Baltic coast from Lubeck eastward was converted to Christianity by the Germans at the point of the sword. The duty of rescuing these people from the errors of paganism formed the moral pretext for conquering them and taking their lands. The warrior was accompanied by the missionary, followed by the political colonist. The