STANISLAUS, stan'is-las, or STAMM LAS I, Leszcynski, king of Po land: b. Lembcri-, Galicia, 20 Oct. 1677; d. 23 Feb. 1766. In 1704, being then woywode of Posnania, and general of Great Poland, he was deputed by the assembly of the states at War saw to wait upon Charles XII of Sweden. who invaded the kingdom with the view of dethron ing Augustus of Saxony. Charles immediately resolved to raise him to the throne of Poland, which he effected at an election held in July 1704. He was, however, soon after driven from Warsaw by his rival Augustus; but another change brought him back to that capital, where he was crowned, with his wife, in October 1705; and the next year Augustus was compelled fon mally to abdicate. The fatal defeat of his patron, Charles XII, at Pultava, in• 1709, again obliged him to retreat into Sweden, where he endeavored to join Charles at Bender, in dis guise; but, being detected, he was held captive in that town until 1714. He remained in ob scurity until 1725, when his daughter, the Prin cess Mary, was selected as a wife by Louis XIV, king of France. On the death of Augus tus. in 1733, an attempt was made by the French court to replace Stanislaus on the throne of Poland; but, although a party supported him and proclaimed him king, his competitor, the electoral Prince of Saxony, being aided by the emperors of Germany and Russia he was obliged to retire. He endured this, like every other
reverse of fortune, with great resignation, and at the peace of 1736, formally abdicated his claim to the kingdom of Poland, on condition of retaining the title of king, and being put in possession for life of the duchies of Lor raine and Bar. Thence forward he lived as the sovereign of a small country, and acquired the appellation of "Stanislaus the Beneficent? He not only relieved his people from excessive im posts, but, by strict economy, was able to found many useful charitable establishments, and to patronize the arts and sciences. He wrote some treatises on philosophy, morals and politics, which were published under the title of (40Euvres du Philosophe bienfaisant' (8vo. 1765). Con sult Des Reaulx, Roy Stanislas et Marie Leszcynski (Paris 1895).