342 VASA
bullets... He caused immense slaughter, killing Count Horn, a notable military engin-
eer, with his own hand...
Yet Jasna Gora was not saved by men. The holy place was preserved by God, and
more by miracles than by the sword. A thick mist screened the monastery from attack
... Miiller himself saw a Lady in a shining robe on the walls, priming the cannon and
tossing shells back in the direction from which they came... There were Swedes who
froze stiff whenever they put their eye to the sights of their musket, and others whose
cheeks stuck to the gunbarrel till the surgeon could cut them free ... In the monastery, a
grenade which landed and exploded in a baby's cradle did not hurt him, whilst in the
Swedish camp six gunners were blinded by one single explosion...
Before the siege began, the monks had hidden their silver in a nearby lake, thinking
that it would be safe under the ice. But a lad from one of the Polish regiments serving with
the Swedes, angling for fish through a hole, hauled up a catch of silver chalices. When
Miiller ordered everything to be handed over, the Poles refused ... In this way, dissen-
sion was sown between the commander and his Command...
Meanwhile, the winter set in, making siege operations most difficult. Miiller was furi-
ous when he saw that an unsuccessful siege was ruining his reputation ... His fine career,
established in the long wars in Germany, now fell shamefully to pieces... He launched
his last attack on Christmas Day, firing off all his guns in one salvo, and sending his entire
army to storm the walls ... But at that very moment, he suffered a fatal accident. He was
eating breakfast in a fairly distant house, and cursing Jasna Gora with blasphemies,
when suddenly an iron shot penetrated the wall, knocked all the plates, bottles, and
glasses from the table, scattered the guests, and struck him in the arm ... Miiller sent the
defenders the following letter:
'Reverend, Mighty and Noble Sirs!... What more can we do when you continue to
confront my Gracious King with faces harder than stone? We magnanimously offer
you two alternative means of salvation: either you surrender yourselves and your
fortress to the protection of His Majesty, the King of Sweden ... or else, after taking
the oath of allegiance to Him, the monks and the nobility each pay a fine of 40,000
thalers, to cover the costs and damage which this long siege has brought to the whole
kingdom. If you should accept neither of these propositions, then we will measure
your punishment to the extent of your obstinacy, which deserves the Stake of Buzyrod
or the Bull of Perillus.
Given in our camp, on 25 December, in the Year of Our Lord, 1655.. .'
At last, in the night before St. Stephen's Day, the Swedes started to drag the guns from
their emplacements, to collect their equipment together, and to direct their wagons in the
direction of Klobuck. The infantry and cavalry were the last to leave, at nine o'clock in
the morning. Miiller was making for Piotrkow... Sadowski for Kalisz, Vresovic for
Wielun, and the Duke of Hesse for Cracow. Having missed their expected morsel, they
ground their teeth in anger, and were consumed with shame.
Of course, no heretic will believe that cannon-balls were repulsed from the walls of
Jasna Gora by supernatural means... But all that I have described is true, though
Swedish chroniclers are silent about these events, suppressing at once their shame and
... the need to praise God for the successful defence...^14
Thereafter, the Republic was resuscitated. The army returned to its duty. The
tireless energy of Stefan Czarniecki began to turn the tide. The Swedes were dri-
ven from Warsaw. Their Prussian allies were persuaded to defect, and their