The Thirty ears War

The History of the Thirty Years’ Warby

Friedrich Schiller

Translated by the Rev. A. J. W. Morrison, M.A.

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Friedrich Schiller

The History of theThirty Years’ War

by

Friedrich SchillerTranslated by the Rev. A. J. W. Morrison, M.A.

Johann Cristoph Friedrich vonSchiller:

German Writer — 1759-1805.

Volume One

Preface

THE PRESENT IS the only collected edition of theprincipal works of Schiller which is accessible toEnglish readers. Detached poems or dramas havebeen translated at various times, and sometimes

by men of eminence, since the first publicationof the original works; and in several instancesthese versions have been incorporated, aftersome revision or necessary correction, into thefollowing collection; but on the other hand a largeproportion of the contents have been speciallytranslated for this edition, in which category arethe historical works which occupy this volumeand a portion of the next.

Schiller was not less efficiently qualified by na-ture for an historian than for a dramatist. He wasformed to excel in all departments of literature,and the admirable lucidity of style and sound-ness and impartiality of judgment displayed inhis historical writings will not easily by surpassed,and will always recommend them as popular ex-positions of the periods of which they treat.

Since the first publication of this edition manycorrections and improvements have been made,with a view to rendering it as acceptable as possibleto English readers.

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The History of the Thirty Years’ War

Contents

History of the Thirty Years’ War

Book I.

Introduction. — General effects of the Refor-mation. — Revolt of Matthias. — The Emperorcedes Austria and Hungary to him. — Matthiasacknowledged King of Bohemia. — The Electorof Cologne abjures the Catholic Religion. —Consequences. — The Elector Palatine. — Dis-pute respecting the Succession of Juliers. —Designs of Henry IV. of France. — Formation ofthe Union. — The League. — Death of the Em-peror Rodolph. — Matthias succeeds him. —Troubles in Bohemia. — Civil War. — Ferdinandextirpates the Protestant Religion from Styria.— The Elector Palatine, Frederick V., is chosen

King by the Bohemians. — He accepts theCrown of Bohemia. — Bethlen Gabor, Prince ofTransylvania, invades Austria. — The Duke ofBavaria and the Princes of the League embracethe cause of Ferdinand. — The Union arm forFrederick. — The Battle of Prague and totalsubjection of Bohemia.

Book II.

State of the Empire. — Of Europe. — Mansfeld.— Christian, Duke of Brunswick. — Wallensteinraises an Imperial Army at his own expense. —The King of Denmark defeated. — Death ofMansfeld. — Edict of Restitution in 1628. —Diet at Ratisbon. — Negociations. — Wallensteindeprived of the Command. — GustavusAdolphus. — Swedish Army. — GustavusAdolphus takes his leave of the States atStockholm. — Invasion by the Swedes. — Theirprogress in Germany. — Count Tilly takes the

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Command of the Imperial Troops. — Treaty withFrance. — Congress at Leipzig. — Siege andcruel fate of Magdeburg. — Firmness of theLandgrave of Cassel. — Junction of the Saxonswith the Swedes. — Battle of Leipzig. — Conse-quences of that Victory.

Book III.

Situation of Gustavus Adolphus after the Battleof Leipzig. — Progress of Gustavus Adolphus.— The French invade Lorraine. — Frankforttaken. — Capitulation of Mentz. — Tilly orderedby Maximilian to protect Bavaria. — GustavusAdolphus passes the Lech. — Defeat and Deathof Tilly. — Gustavus takes Munich. — The SaxonArmy invades Bohemia, and takes Prague. —Distress of the Emperor. — Secret Triumph ofWallenstein. — He offers to Join GustavusAdolphus. — Wallenstein re-assumes the Com-mand. — Junction of Wallenstein with the Ba-

varians. — Gustavus Adolphus defendsNuremberg. — Attacks Wallenstein’sIntrenchments. — Enters Saxony. — Goes tothe succour of the Elector of Saxony. — Marchesagainst Wallenstein. — Battle of Lutzen. —Death of Gustavus Adolphus. — Situation ofGermany after the Battle of Lutzen.

Book IV.

Closer Alliance between France and Sweden.— Oxenstiern takes the Direction of Affairs. —Death of the Elector Palatine. — Revolt of theSwedish Officers. — Duke Bernhard takesRatisbon. — Wallenstein enters Silesia. —Forms Treasonable Designs. — Forsaken by theArmy. — Retires to Egra. — His associates putto death. — Wallenstein’s death. — His Char-acter.

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Book V.

Battle of Nordlingen. — France enters into anAlliance against Austria. — Treaty of Prague. —Saxony joins the Emperor. — Battle of Wistockgained by the Swedes. — Battle of Rheinfeldgained by Bernhard, Duke of Weimar. — Hetakes Brisach. — His death. — Death ofFerdinand II. — Ferdinand III. succeeds him.— Celebrated Retreat of Banner in Pomerania.— His Successes. — Death. — Torstensohntakes the Command. — Death of Richelieu andLouis XIII. — Swedish Victory at Jankowitz. —French defeated at Freyburg. — Battle ofNordlingen gained by Turenne and Conde. —Wrangel takes the Command of the SwedishArmy. — Melander made Commander of theEmperor’s Army. — The Elector of Bavariabreaks the Armistice. — He adopts the samePolicy towards the Emperor as France towardsthe Swedes. — The Weimerian Cavalry go over

to the Swedes. — Conquest of New Prague byKoenigsmark, and Termination of the ThirtyYears’ War.

History of the Thirty Years’ War in Germany

Book I

FROM THE BEGINNING of the religious warsin Germany, to the peace of Munster,scarcely any thing great or remarkable

occurred in the political world of Europe inwhich the Reformation had not an importantshare. All the events of this period, if they didnot originate in, soon became mixed up with,the question of religion, and no state was ei-ther too great or too little to feel directly or in-directly more or less of its influence.

Against the reformed doctrine and its adher-ents, the House of Austria directed, almost ex-

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clusively, the whole of its immense politicalpower. In France, the Reformation had en-kindled a civil war which, under four stormyreigns, shook the kingdom to its foundations,brought foreign armies into the heart of thecountry, and for half a century rendered it thescene of the most mournful disorders. It wasthe Reformation, too, that rendered the Span-ish yoke intolerable to the Flemings, and awak-ened in them both the desire and the courageto throw off its fetters, while it also principallyfurnished them with the means of their eman-cipation. And as to England, all the evils withwhich Philip the Second threatened Elizabeth,were mainly intended in revenge for her hav-ing taken his Protestant subjects under herprotection, and placing herself at the head of areligious party which it was his aim and en-deavour to extirpate. In Germany, the schismsin the church produced also a lasting politicalschism, which made that country for more than

a century the theatre of confusion, but at thesame time threw up a firm barrier against po-litical oppression. It was, too, the Reformationprincipally that first drew the northern pow-ers, Denmark and Sweden, into the politicalsystem of Europe; and while on the one handthe Protestant League was strengthened bytheir adhesion, it on the other was indispens-able to their interests. States which hithertoscarcely concerned themselves with oneanother’s existence, acquired through the Ref-ormation an attractive centre of interest, andbegan to be united by new political sympathies.And as through its influence new relationssprang up between citizen and citizen, and be-tween rulers and subjects, so also entire stateswere forced by it into new relative positions.Thus, by a strange course of events, religiousdisputes were the means of cementing a closerunion among the nations of Europe.

Fearful indeed, and destructive, was the first

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movement in which this general political sym-pathy announced itself; a desolating war ofthirty years, which, from the interior of Bohemiato the mouth of the Scheldt, and from the banksof the Po to the coasts of the Baltic, devastatedwhole countries, destroyed harvests, and re-duced towns and villages to ashes; whichopened a grave for many thousand combatants,and for half a century smothered the glimmer-ing sparks of civilization in Germany, and threwback the improving manners of the country intotheir pristine barbarity and wildness. Yet outof this fearful war Europe came forth free andindependent. In it she first learned to recog-nize herself as a community of nations; and thisintercommunion of states, which originated inthe thirty years’ war, may alone be sufficient toreconcile the philosopher to its horrors. Thehand of industry has slowly but gradually ef-faced the traces of its ravages, while its benefi-cent influence still survives; and this general

sympathy among the states of Europe, whichgrew out of the troubles in Bohemia, is our guar-antee for the continuance of that peace whichwas the result of the war. As the sparks of de-struction found their way from the interior ofBohemia, Moravia, and Austria, to kindle Ger-many, France, and the half of Europe, so alsowill the torch of civilization make a path for it-self from the latter to enlighten the former coun-tries.

All this was effected by religion. Religion alonecould have rendered possible all that was ac-complished, but it was far from being the solemotive of the war. Had not private advantagesand state interests been closely connected withit, vain and powerless would have been the ar-guments of theologians; and the cry of thepeople would never have met with princes sowilling to espouse their cause, nor the new doc-trines have found such numerous, brave, andpersevering champions. The Reformation is

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undoubtedly owing in a great measure to theinvincible power of truth, or of opinions whichwere held as such. The abuses in the oldchurch, the absurdity of many of its dogmas,the extravagance of its requisitions, necessar-ily revolted the tempers of men, already half-won with the promise of a better light, andfavourably disposed them towards the new doc-trines. The charm of independence, the richplunder of monastic institutions, made the Ref-ormation attractive in the eyes of princes, andtended not a little to strengthen their inwardconvictions. Nothing, however, but political con-siderations could have driven them to espouseit. Had not Charles the Fifth, in the intoxica-tion of success, made an attempt on the inde-pendence of the German States, a Protestantleague would scarcely have rushed to arms indefence of freedom of belief; but for the ambi-tion of the Guises, the Calvinists in Francewould never have beheld a Conde or a Coligny

at their head. Without the exaction of the tenthand the twentieth penny, the See of Rome hadnever lost the United Netherlands. Princesfought in self-defence or for aggrandizement,while religious enthusiasm recruited theirarmies, and opened to them the treasures oftheir subjects. Of the multitude who flocked totheir standards, such as were not lured by thehope of plunder imagined they were fightingfor the truth, while in fact they were sheddingtheir blood for the personal objects of theirprinces.

And well was it for the people that, on thisoccasion, their interests coincided with thoseof their princes. To this coincidence alone werethey indebted for their deliverance from pop-ery. Well was it also for the rulers, that the sub-ject contended too for his own cause, while hewas fighting their battles. Fortunately at thisdate no European sovereign was so absolute asto be able, in the pursuit of his political de-

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signs, to dispense with the goodwill of his sub-jects. Yet how difficult was it to gain and to setto work this goodwill! The most impressive ar-guments drawn from reasons of state fall pow-erless on the ear of the subject, who seldomunderstands, and still more rarely is interestedin them. In such circumstances, the only courseopen to a prudent prince is to connect the in-terests of the cabinet with some one that sitsnearer to the people’s heart, if such exists, or ifnot, to create it.

In such a position stood the greater part ofthose princes who embraced the cause of theReformation. By a strange concatenation ofevents, the divisions of the Church were asso-ciated with two circumstances, without which,in all probability, they would have had a verydifferent conclusion. These were, the increas-ing power of the House of Austria, which threat-ened the liberties of Europe, and its active zealfor the old religion. The first aroused the

princes, while the second armed the people.The abolition of a foreign jurisdiction within

their own territories, the supremacy in ecclesi-astical matters, the stopping of the treasurewhich had so long flowed to Rome, the richplunder of religious foundations, were tempt-ing advantages to every sovereign. Why, then,it may be asked, did they not operate with equalforce upon the princes of the House of Austria?What prevented this house, particularly in itsGerman branch, from yielding to the pressingdemands of so many of its subjects, and, afterthe example of other princes, enriching itselfat the expense of a defenceless clergy? It is dif-ficult to credit that a belief in the infallibility ofthe Romish Church had any greater influenceon the pious adherence of this house, than theopposite conviction had on the revolt of the Prot-estant princes. In fact, several circumstancescombined to make the Austrian princes zeal-ous supporters of popery. Spain and Italy, from

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which Austria derived its principal strength,were still devoted to the See of Rome with thatblind obedience which, ever since the days ofthe Gothic dynasty, had been the peculiar char-acteristic of the Spaniard. The slightest approxi-mation, in a Spanish prince, to the obnoxioustenets of Luther and Calvin, would have alien-ated for ever the affections of his subjects, anda defection from the Pope would have cost himthe kingdom. A Spanish prince had no alter-native but orthodoxy or abdication. The samerestraint was imposed upon Austria by her Ital-ian dominions, which she was obliged to treat,if possible, with even greater indulgence; im-patient as they naturally were of a foreign yoke,and possessing also ready means of shaking itoff. In regard to the latter provinces, moreover,the rival pretensions of France, and theneighbourhood of the Pope, were motives suffi-cient to prevent the Emperor from declaring infavour of a party which strove to annihilate the

papal see, and also to induce him to show themost active zeal in behalf of the old religion.These general considerations, which must havebeen equally weighty with every Spanish mon-arch, were, in the particular case of Charles V.,still further enforced by peculiar and personalmotives. In Italy this monarch had a formidablerival in the King of France, under whose protec-tion that country might throw itself the instantthat Charles should incur the slightest suspi-cion of heresy. Distrust on the part of the Ro-man Catholics, and a rupture with the church,would have been fatal also to many of his mostcherished designs. Moreover, when Charles wasfirst called upon to make his election betweenthe two parties, the new doctrine had not yetattained to a full and commanding influence,and there still subsisted a prospect of its recon-ciliation with the old. In his son and successor,Philip the Second, a monastic education com-bined with a gloomy and despotic disposition to

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generate an unmitigated hostility to all innova-tions in religion; a feeling which the thought thathis most formidable political opponents were alsothe enemies of his faith was not calculated toweaken. As his European possessions, scatteredas they were over so many countries, were on allsides exposed to the seductions of foreign opin-ions, the progress of the Reformation in otherquarters could not well be a matter of indiffer-ence to him. His immediate interests, therefore,urged him to attach himself devotedly to the oldchurch, in order to close up the sources of theheretical contagion. Thus, circumstances natu-rally placed this prince at the head of the leaguewhich the Roman Catholics formed against theReformers. The principles which had actuatedthe long and active reigns of Charles V. and Philipthe Second, remained a law for their successors;and the more the breach in the church widened,the firmer became the attachment of the Span-iards to Roman Catholicism.

The German line of the House of Austria wasapparently more unfettered; but, in reality,though free from many of these restraints, itwas yet confined by others. The possession ofthe imperial throne — a dignity it was impos-sible for a Protestant to hold, (for with what con-sistency could an apostate from the RomishChurch wear the crown of a Roman emperor?)bound the successors of Ferdinand I. to the Seeof Rome. Ferdinand himself was, from consci-entious motives, heartily attached to it. Besides,the German princes of the House of Austria werenot powerful enough to dispense with the sup-port of Spain, which, however, they would haveforfeited by the least show of leaning towardsthe new doctrines. The imperial dignity, also,required them to preserve the existing politicalsystem of Germany, with which the mainte-nance of their own authority was closely boundup, but which it was the aim of the ProtestantLeague to destroy. If to these grounds we add

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the indifference of the Protestants to theEmperor’s necessities and to the common dan-gers of the empire, their encroachments on thetemporalities of the church, and their aggres-sive violence when they became conscious oftheir own power, we can easily conceive how somany concurring motives must have determinedthe emperors to the side of popery, and howtheir own interests came to be intimately in-terwoven with those of the Roman Church. Asits fate seemed to depend altogether on the parttaken by Austria, the princes of this house cameto be regarded by all Europe as the pillars ofpopery. The hatred, therefore, which the Prot-estants bore against the latter, was turned ex-clusively upon Austria; and the cause becamegradually confounded with its protector.

But this irreconcileable enemy of the Refor-mation — the House of Austria — by its ambi-tious projects and the overwhelming force whichit could bring to their support, endangered, in

no small degree, the freedom of Europe, andmore especially of the German States. This cir-cumstance could not fail to rouse the latter fromtheir security, and to render them vigilant inself-defence. Their ordinary resources werequite insufficient to resist so formidable a power.Extraordinary exertions were required fromtheir subjects; and when even these proved farfrom adequate, they had recourse to foreignassistance; and, by means of a common league,they endeavoured to oppose a power which, sin-gly, they were unable to withstand.

But the strong political inducements whichthe German princes had to resist the preten-sions of the House of Austria, naturally did notextend to their subjects. It is only immediateadvantages or immediate evils that set thepeople in action, and for these a sound policycannot wait. Ill then would it have fared withthese princes, if by good fortune another effec-tual motive had not offered itself, which roused

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the passions of the people, and kindled in theman enthusiasm which might be directed againstthe political danger, as having with it a com-mon cause of alarm.

This motive was their avowed hatred of thereligion which Austria protected, and their en-thusiastic attachment to a doctrine which thatHouse was endeavouring to extirpate by fire andsword. Their attachment was ardent, their ha-tred invincible. Religious fanaticism anticipateseven the remotest dangers. Enthusiasm nevercalculates its sacrifices. What the most press-ing danger of the state could not gain from thecitizens, was effected by religious zeal. For thestate, or for the prince, few would have drawnthe sword; but for religion, the merchant, theartist, the peasant, all cheerfully flew to arms.For the state, or for the prince, even the small-est additional impost would have been avoided;but for religion the people readily staked at oncelife, fortune, and all earthly hopes. It trebled

the contributions which flowed into the exche-quer of the princes, and the armies whichmarched to the field; and, in the ardent excite-ment produced in all minds by the peril to whichtheir faith was exposed, the subject felt not thepressure of those burdens and privations un-der which, in cooler moments, he would havesunk exhausted. The terrors of the SpanishInquisition, and the massacre of St.Bartholomew’s, procured for the Prince of Or-ange, the Admiral Coligny, the British QueenElizabeth, and the Protestant princes of Ger-many, supplies of men and money from theirsubjects, to a degree which at present is incon-ceivable.

But, with all their exertions, they would haveeffected little against a power which was an over-match for any single adversary, however pow-erful. At this period of imperfect policy, acci-dental circumstances alone could determinedistant states to afford one another a mutual

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support. The differences of government, of laws,of language, of manners, and of character,which hitherto had kept whole nations andcountries as it were insulated, and raised a last-ing barrier between them, rendered one stateinsensible to the distresses of another, savewhere national jealousy could indulge a mali-cious joy at the reverses of a rival. This barrierthe Reformation destroyed. An interest moreintense and more immediate than national ag-grandizement or patriotism, and entirely inde-pendent of private utility, began to animatewhole states and individual citizens; an inter-est capable of uniting numerous and distantnations, even while it frequently lost its forceamong the subjects of the same government.With the inhabitants of Geneva, for instance,of England, of Germany, or of Holland, theFrench Calvinist possessed a common point ofunion which he had not with his own country-men. Thus, in one important particular, he

ceased to be the citizen of a single state, and toconfine his views and sympathies to his owncountry alone. The sphere of his views becameenlarged. He began to calculate his own fatefrom that of other nations of the same religiousprofession, and to make their cause his own.Now for the first time did princes venture tobring the affairs of other countries before theirown councils; for the first time could they hopefor a willing ear to their own necessities, andprompt assistance from others. Foreign affairshad now become a matter of domestic policy,and that aid was readily granted to the religiousconfederate which would have been denied tothe mere neighbour, and still more to the dis-tant stranger. The inhabitant of the Palatinateleaves his native fields to fight side by side withhis religious associate of France, against thecommon enemy of their faith. The Huguenotdraws his sword against the country which per-secutes him, and sheds his blood in defence of

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the liberties of Holland. Swiss is arrayed againstSwiss; German against German, to determine,on the banks of the Loire and the Seine, thesuccession of the French crown. The Danecrosses the Eider, and the Swede the Baltic, tobreak the chains which are forged for Germany.

It is difficult to say what would have been thefate of the Reformation, and the liberties of theEmpire, had not the formidable power of Aus-tria declared against them. This, however, ap-pears certain, that nothing so completelydamped the Austrian hopes of universal mon-archy, as the obstinate war which they had towage against the new religious opinions. Un-der no other circumstances could the weakerprinces have roused their subjects to such ex-traordinary exertions against the ambition ofAustria, or the States themselves have unitedso closely against the common enemy.

The power of Austria never stood higher thanafter the victory which Charles V. gained over

the Germans at Muehlberg. With the treaty ofSmalcalde the freedom of Germany lay, as itseemed, prostrate for ever; but it revived underMaurice of Saxony, once its most formidableenemy. All the fruits of the victory of Muehlbergwere lost again in the congress of Passau, andthe diet of Augsburg; and every scheme for civiland religious oppression terminated in the con-cessions of an equitable peace.

The diet of Augsburg divided Germany intotwo religious and two political parties, by rec-ognizing the independent rights and existenceof both. Hitherto the Protestants had beenlooked on as rebels; they were henceforth to beregarded as brethren — not indeed throughaffection, but necessity. By the Interim*, theConfession of Augsburg was allowed temporarily

* A system of Theology so called, prepared by order ofthe Emperor Charles V. for the use of Germany, to rec-oncile the differences between the Roman Catholicsand the Lutherans, which, however, was rejected byboth parties — Ed.

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to take a sisterly place alongside of the oldenreligion, though only as a tolerated neighbour.To every secular state was conceded the rightof establishing the religion it acknowledged assupreme and exclusive within its own territo-ries, and of forbidding the open profession ofits rival. Subjects were to be free to quit a coun-try where their own religion was not tolerated.The doctrines of Luther for the first time re-ceived a positive sanction; and if they weretrampled under foot in Bavaria and Austria, theypredominated in Saxony and Thuringia. But thesovereigns alone were to determine what formof religion should prevail within their territo-ries; the feelings of subjects who had no repre-sentatives in the diet were little attended to inthe pacification. In the ecclesiastical territories,indeed, where the unreformed religion enjoyedan undisputed supremacy, the free exercise oftheir religion was obtained for all who had pre-viously embraced the Protestant doctrines; but

this indulgence rested only on the personalguarantee of Ferdinand, King of the Romans,by whose endeavours chiefly this peace was ef-fected; a guarantee, which, being rejected bythe Roman Catholic members of the Diet, andonly inserted in the treaty under their protest,could not of course have the force of law.

If it had been opinions only that thus dividedthe minds of men, with what indifference wouldall have regarded the division! But on theseopinions depended riches, dignities, and rights;and it was this which so deeply aggravated theevils of division. Of two brothers, as it were, whohad hitherto enjoyed a paternal inheritance incommon, one now remained, while the otherwas compelled to leave his father’s house, andhence arose the necessity of dividing the patri-mony. For this separation, which he could nothave foreseen, the father had made no provi-sion. By the beneficent donations of pious an-cestors the riches of the church had been ac-

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cumulating through a thousand years, andthese benefactors were as much the progeni-tors of the departing brother as of him who re-mained. Was the right of inheritance then tobe limited to the paternal house, or to be ex-tended to blood? The gifts had been made tothe church in communion with Rome, becauseat that time no other existed, — to the first-born, as it were, because he was as yet the onlyson. Was then a right of primogeniture to beadmitted in the church, as in noble families?Were the pretensions of one party to be favouredby a prescription from times when the claimsof the other could not have come into existence?Could the Lutherans be justly excluded fromthese possessions, to which the benevolence oftheir forefathers had contributed, merely on theground that, at the date of their foundation,the differences between Lutheranism andRomanism were unknown? Both parties havedisputed, and still dispute, with equal plausi-

bility, on these points. Both alike have found itdifficult to prove their right. Law can be appliedonly to conceivable cases, and perhaps spiri-tual foundations are not among the number ofthese, and still less where the conditions of thefounders generally extended to a system of doc-trines; for how is it conceivable that a perma-nent endowment should be made of opinionsleft open to change?

What law cannot decide, is usually determinedby might, and such was the case here. The oneparty held firmly all that could no longer bewrested from it — the other defended what itstill possessed. All the bishoprics and abbeyswhich had been secularized before the peace,remained with the Protestants; but, by an ex-press clause, the unreformed Catholics providedthat none should thereafter be secularized.Every impropriator of an ecclesiastical founda-tion, who held immediately of the Empire,whether elector, bishop, or abbot, forfeited his

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benefice and dignity the moment he embracedthe Protestant belief; he was obliged in thatevent instantly to resign its emoluments, andthe chapter was to proceed to a new election,exactly as if his place had been vacated bydeath. By this sacred anchor of the Ecclesiasti-cal Reservation, (‘Reservatum Ecclesiasticum’,)which makes the temporal existence of a spiri-tual prince entirely dependent on his fidelityto the olden religion, the Roman CatholicChurch in Germany is still held fast; and pre-carious, indeed, would be its situation were thisanchor to give way. The principle of the Ecclesi-astical Reservation was strongly opposed by theProtestants; and though it was at last adoptedinto the treaty of peace, its insertion was quali-fied with the declaration, that parties had cometo no final determination on the point. Could itthen be more binding on the Protestants thanFerdinand’s guarantee in favour of Protestantsubjects of ecclesiastical states was upon the

Roman Catholics? Thus were two importantsubjects of dispute left unsettled in the treatyof peace, and by them the war was rekindled.

Such was the position of things with regardto religious toleration and ecclesiastical prop-erty: it was the same with regard to rights anddignities. The existing German system providedonly for one church, because one only was inexistence when that system was framed. Thechurch had now divided; the Diet had brokeninto two religious parties; was the whole sys-tem of the Empire still exclusively to follow theone? The emperors had hitherto been mem-bers of the Romish Church, because till nowthat religion had no rival. But was it hisconnexion with Rome which constituted a Ger-man emperor, or was it not rather Germanywhich was to be represented in its head? TheProtestants were now spread over the wholeEmpire, and how could they justly still be rep-resented by an unbroken line of Roman Catho-

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lic emperors? In the Imperial Chamber the Ger-man States judge themselves, for they elect thejudges; it was the very end of its institution thatthey should do so, in order that equal justiceshould be dispensed to all; but would this bestill possible, if the representatives of both pro-fessions were not equally admissible to a seatin the Chamber? That one religion only existedin Germany at the time of its establishment,was accidental; that no one estate should havethe means of legally oppressing another, wasthe essential purpose of the institution. Nowthis object would be entirely frustrated if onereligious party were to have the exclusive powerof deciding for the other. Must, then, the de-sign be sacrificed, because that which wasmerely accidental had changed? With great dif-ficulty the Protestants, at last, obtained for therepresentatives of their religion a place in theSupreme Council, but still there was far frombeing a perfect equality of voices. To this day

no Protestant prince has been raised to theimperial throne.

Whatever may be said of the equality whichthe peace of Augsburg was to have establishedbetween the two German churches, the RomanCatholic had unquestionably still the advantage.All that the Lutheran Church gained by it wastoleration; all that the Romish Church con-ceded, was a sacrifice to necessity, not an offer-ing to justice. Very far was it from being a peacebetween two equal powers, but a truce betweena sovereign and unconquered rebels. From thisprinciple all the proceedings of the RomanCatholics against the Protestants seemed toflow, and still continue to do so. To join the re-formed faith was still a crime, since it was to bevisited with so severe a penalty as that whichthe Ecclesiastical Reservation held suspendedover the apostacy of the spiritual princes. Evento the last, the Romish Church preferred to riskto loss of every thing by force, than voluntarily

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to yield the smallest matter to justice. The losswas accidental and might be repaired; but theabandonment of its pretensions, the concessionof a single point to the Protestants, would shakethe foundations of the church itself. Even inthe treaty of peace this principle was not lostsight of. Whatever in this peace was yielded tothe Protestants was always under condition. Itwas expressly declared, that affairs were to re-main on the stipulated footing only till the nextgeneral council, which was to be called with theview of effecting an union between the two con-fessions. Then only, when this last attemptshould have failed, was the religious treaty tobecome valid and conclusive. However little hopethere might be of such a reconciliation, how-ever little perhaps the Romanists themselveswere in earnest with it, still it was something tohave clogged the peace with these stipulations.

Thus this religious treaty, which was to extin-guish for ever the flames of civil war, was, in

fact, but a temporary truce, extorted by forceand necessity; not dictated by justice, nor ema-nating from just notions either of religion ortoleration. A religious treaty of this kind theRoman Catholics were as incapable of grant-ing, to be candid, as in truth the Lutheranswere unqualified to receive. Far from evincing atolerant spirit towards the Roman Catholics,when it was in their power, they even oppressedthe Calvinists; who indeed just as little deservedtoleration, since they were unwilling to prac-tise it. For such a peace the times were not yetripe — the minds of men not yet sufficientlyenlightened. How could one party expect fromanother what itself was incapable of perform-ing? What each side saved or gained by thetreaty of Augsburg, it owed to the imposing at-titude of strength which it maintained at thetime of its negociation. What was won by forcewas to be maintained also by force; if the peacewas to be permanent, the two parties to it must

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preserve the same relative positions. The bound-aries of the two churches had been marked outwith the sword; with the sword they must bepreserved, or woe to that party which shouldbe first disarmed! A sad and fearful prospectfor the tranquillity of Germany, when peace it-self bore so threatening an aspect.

A momentary lull now pervaded the empire; atransitory bond of concord appeared to uniteits scattered limbs into one body, so that for atime a feeling also for the common weal re-turned. But the division had penetrated its in-most being, and to restore its original harmonywas impossible. Carefully as the treaty of peaceappeared to have defined the rights of both par-ties, its interpretation was nevertheless thesubject of many disputes. In the heat of con-flict it had produced a cessation of hostilities; itcovered, not extinguished, the fire, and unsat-isfied claims remained on either side. TheRomanists imagined they had lost too much,

the Protestants that they had gained too little;and the treaty which neither party could ven-ture to violate, was interpreted by each in itsown favour.

The seizure of the ecclesiastical benefices, themotive which had so strongly tempted the ma-jority of the Protestant princes to embrace thedoctrines of Luther, was not less powerful afterthan before the peace; of those whose foundershad not held their fiefs immediately of the em-pire, such as were not already in their posses-sion would it was evident soon be so. The wholeof Lower Germany was already secularized; andif it were otherwise in Upper Germany, it wasowing to the vehement resistance of the Catho-lics, who had there the preponderance. Eachparty, where it was the most powerful, op-pressed the adherents of the other; the eccle-siastical princes in particular, as the mostdefenceless members of the empire, were in-cessantly tormented by the ambition of their

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Protestant neighbours. Those who were tooweak to repel force by force, took refuge underthe wings of justice; and the complaints of spo-liation were heaped up against the Protestantsin the Imperial Chamber, which was readyenough to pursue the accused with judgments,but found too little support to carry them intoeffect. The peace which stipulated for completereligious toleration for the dignitaries of theEmpire, had provided also for the subject, byenabling him, without interruption, to leave thecountry in which the exercise of his religionwas prohibited. But from the wrongs which theviolence of a sovereign might inflict on an ob-noxious subject; from the nameless oppressionsby which he might harass and annoy the emi-grant; from the artful snares in which subtiltycombined with power might enmesh him —from these, the dead letter of the treaty couldafford him no protection. The Catholic subjectof Protestant princes complained loudly of vio-

lations of the religious peace — the Lutheransstill more loudly of the oppression they experi-enced under their Romanist suzerains. Therancour and animosities of theologians infuseda poison into every occurrence, however incon-siderable, and inflamed the minds of the people.Happy would it have been had this theologicalhatred exhausted its zeal upon the commonenemy, instead of venting its virus on the ad-herents of a kindred faith!

Unanimity amongst the Protestants might, bypreserving the balance between the contend-ing parties, have prolonged the peace; but as ifto complete the confusion, all concord wasquickly broken. The doctrines which had beenpropagated by Zuingli in Zurich, and by Calvinin Geneva, soon spread to Germany, and di-vided the Protestants among themselves, withlittle in unison save their common hatred topopery. The Protestants of this date bore butslight resemblance to those who, fifty years

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before, drew up the Confession of Augsburg;and the cause of the change is to be sought inthat Confession itself. It had prescribed a posi-tive boundary to the Protestant faith, before thenewly awakened spirit of inquiry had satisfieditself as to the limits it ought to set; and theProtestants seemed unwittingly to have thrownaway much of the advantage acquired by theirrejection of popery. Common complaints of theRomish hierarchy, and of ecclesiastical abuses,and a common disapprobation of its dogmas,formed a sufficient centre of union for the Prot-estants; but not content with this, they soughta rallying point in the promulgation of a newand positive creed, in which they sought toembody the distinctions, the privileges, and theessence of the church, and to this they referredthe convention entered into with their oppo-nents. It was as professors of this creed thatthey had acceded to the treaty; and in the ben-efits of this peace the advocates of the confes-

sion were alone entitled to participate. In anycase, therefore, the situation of its adherentswas embarrassing. If a blind obedience wereyielded to the dicta of the Confession, a lastingbound would be set to the spirit of inquiry; if,on the other hand, they dissented from the for-mulae agreed upon, the point of union wouldbe lost. Unfortunately both incidents occurred,and the evil results of both were quickly felt.One party rigorously adhered to the originalsymbol of faith, and the other abandoned it,only to adopt another with equal exclusiveness.

Nothing could have furnished the common en-emy a more plausible defence of his cause thanthis dissension; no spectacle could have beenmore gratifying to him than the rancour withwhich the Protestants alternately persecutedeach other. Who could condemn the RomanCatholics, if they laughed at the audacity withwhich the Reformers had presumed to an-nounce the only true belief? — if from Protes-

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tants they borrowed the weapons against Prot-estants? — if, in the midst of this clashing ofopinions, they held fast to the authority of theirown church, for which, in part, there spoke anhonourable antiquity, and a yet morehonourable plurality of voices. But this divisionplaced the Protestants in still more seriousembarrassments. As the covenants of the treatyapplied only to the partisans of the Confession,their opponents, with some reason, called uponthem to explain who were to be recognized asthe adherents of that creed. The Lutheranscould not, without offending conscience, in-clude the Calvinists in their communion, ex-cept at the risk of converting a useful friendinto a dangerous enemy, could they excludethem. This unfortunate difference opened a wayfor the machinations of the Jesuits to sow dis-trust between both parties, and to destroy theunity of their measures. Fettered by the doublefear of their direct adversaries, and of their op-

ponents among themselves, the Protestants lostfor ever the opportunity of placing their churchon a perfect equality with the Catholic. All thesedifficulties would have been avoided, and thedefection of the Calvinists would not have preju-diced the common cause, if the point of unionhad been placed simply in the abandonmentof Romanism, instead of in the Confession ofAugsburg.

But however divided on other points, they con-curred in this — that the security which hadresulted from equality of power could only bemaintained by the preservation of that balance.In the meanwhile, the continual reforms of oneparty, and the opposing measures of the other,kept both upon the watch, while the interpre-tation of the religious treaty was a never-end-ing subject of dispute. Each party maintainedthat every step taken by its opponent was aninfraction of the peace, while of every movementof its own it was asserted that it was essential

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to its maintenance. Yet all the measures of theCatholics did not, as their opponents alleged,proceed from a spirit of encroachment — manyof them were the necessary precautions of self-defence. The Protestants had shown unequivo-cally enough what the Romanists might expectif they were unfortunate enough to become theweaker party. The greediness of the former forthe property of the church, gave no reason toexpect indulgence; —their bitter hatred left nohope of magnanimity or forbearance.

But the Protestants, likewise, were excusableif they too placed little confidence in the sin-cerity of the Roman Catholics. By the treacher-ous and inhuman treatment which their breth-ren in Spain, France, and the Netherlands, hadsuffered; by the disgraceful subterfuge of theRomish princes, who held that the Pope hadpower to relieve them from the obligation of themost solemn oaths; and above all, by the de-testable maxim, that faith was not to be kept

with heretics, the Roman Church, in the eyesof all honest men, had lost its honour. No en-gagement, no oath, however sacred, from a Ro-man Catholic, could satisfy a Protestant. Whatsecurity then could the religious peace afford,when, throughout Germany, the Jesuits rep-resented it as a measure of mere temporaryconvenience, and in Rome itself it was solemnlyrepudiated.

The General Council, to which reference hadbeen made in the treaty, had already been heldin the city of Trent; but, as might have beenforeseen, without accommodating the religiousdifferences, or taking a single step to effect suchaccommodation, and even without being at-tended by the Protestants. The latter, indeed,were now solemnly excommunicated by it inthe name of the church, whose representativethe Council gave itself out to be. Could, then, asecular treaty, extorted moreover by force ofarms, afford them adequate protection against

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the ban of the church; a treaty, too, based on acondition which the decision of the Councilseemed entirely to abolish? There was then ashow of right for violating the peace, if only theRomanists possessed the power; and hencefor-ward the Protestants were protected by noth-ing but the respect for their formidable array.

Other circumstances combined to augmentthis distrust. Spain, on whose support theRomanists in Germany chiefly relied, was en-gaged in a bloody conflict with the Flemings.By it, the flower of the Spanish troops weredrawn to the confines of Germany. With whatease might they be introduced within the em-pire, if a decisive stroke should render theirpresence necessary? Germany was at that timea magazine of war for nearly all the powers ofEurope. The religious war had crowded it withsoldiers, whom the peace left destitute; its manyindependent princes found it easy to assemblearmies, and afterwards, for the sake of gain, or

the interests of party, hire them out to otherpowers. With German troops, Philip the Sec-ond waged war against the Netherlands, andwith German troops they defended themselves.Every such levy in Germany was a subject ofalarm to the one party or the other, since itmight be intended for their oppression. Thearrival of an ambassador, an extraordinarylegate of the Pope, a conference of princes, ev-ery unusual incident, must, it was thought, bepregnant with destruction to some party. Thus,for nearly half a century, stood Germany, herhand upon the sword; every rustle of a leafalarmed her.

Ferdinand the First, King of Hungary, and hisexcellent son, Maximilian the Second, held atthis memorable epoch the reins of government.With a heart full of sincerity, with a truly he-roic patience, had Ferdinand brought about thereligious peace of Augsburg, and afterwards, inthe Council of Trent, laboured assiduously,

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though vainly, at the ungrateful task of recon-ciling the two religions. Abandoned by hisnephew, Philip of Spain, and hard pressed bothin Hungary and Transylvania by the victoriousarmies of the Turks, it was not likely that thisemperor would entertain the idea of violatingthe religious peace, and thereby destroying hisown painful work. The heavy expenses of theperpetually recurring war with Turkey could notbe defrayed by the meagre contributions of hisexhausted hereditary dominions. He stood,therefore, in need of the assistance of the wholeempire; and the religious peace alone preservedin one body the otherwise divided empire. Fi-nancial necessities made the Protestant asneedful to him as the Romanist, and imposedupon him the obligation of treating both par-ties with equal justice, which, amidst so manycontradictory claims, was truly a colossal task.Very far, however, was the result from answer-ing his expectations. His indulgence of the Prot-

estants served only to bring upon his succes-sors a war, which death saved himself the mor-tification of witnessing. Scarcely more fortunatewas his son Maximilian, with whom perhapsthe pressure of circumstances was the onlyobstacle, and a longer life perhaps the onlywant, to his establishing the new religion uponthe imperial throne. Necessity had taught thefather forbearance towards the Protestants —necessity and justice dictated the same courseto the son. The grandson had reason to repentthat he neither listened to justice, nor yieldedto necessity.

Maximilian left six sons, of whom the eldest,the Archduke Rodolph, inherited his domin-ions, and ascended the imperial throne. Theother brothers were put off with petty appa-nages. A few mesne fiefs were held by a collat-eral branch, which had their uncle, Charles ofStyria, at its head; and even these were after-wards, under his son, Ferdinand the Second,

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incorporated with the rest of the family domin-ions. With this exception, the whole of the im-posing power of Austria was now wielded by asingle, but unfortunately weak hand.

Rodolph the Second was not devoid of thosevirtues which might have gained him the es-teem of mankind, had the lot of a private sta-tion fallen to him. His character was mild, heloved peace and the sciences, particularly as-tronomy, natural history, chemistry, and thestudy of antiquities. To these he applied with apassionate zeal, which, at the very time whenthe critical posture of affairs demanded all hisattention, and his exhausted finances the mostrigid economy, diverted his attention from stateaffairs, and involved him in pernicious ex-penses. His taste for astronomy soon lost itselfin those astrological reveries to which timid andmelancholy temperaments like his are but toodisposed. This, together with a youth passed inSpain, opened his ears to the evil counsels of

the Jesuits, and the influence of the Spanishcourt, by which at last he was wholly governed.Ruled by tastes so little in accordance with thedignity of his station, and alarmed by ridicu-lous prophecies, he withdrew, after the Span-ish custom, from the eyes of his subjects, tobury himself amidst his gems and antiques, orto make experiments in his laboratory, whilethe most fatal discords loosened all the bandsof the empire, and the flames of rebellion be-gan to burst out at the very footsteps of histhrone. All access to his person was denied, themost urgent matters were neglected. The pros-pect of the rich inheritance of Spain was closedagainst him, while he was trying to make uphis mind to offer his hand to the Infanta Isabella.A fearful anarchy threatened the Empire, forthough without an heir of his own body, hecould not be persuaded to allow the election ofa King of the Romans. The Austrian States re-nounced their allegiance, Hungary and

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Transylvania threw off his supremacy, andBohemia was not slow in following their ex-ample. The descendant of the once so formi-dable Charles the Fifth was in perpetual dan-ger, either of losing one part of his possessionsto the Turks, or another to the Protestants, andof sinking, beyond redemption, under the for-midable coalition which a great monarch ofEurope had formed against him. The eventswhich now took place in the interior of Ger-many were such as usually happened wheneither the throne was without an emperor, orthe Emperor without a sense of his imperialdignity. Outraged or abandoned by their head,the States of the Empire were left to help them-selves; and alliances among themselves mustsupply the defective authority of the Emperor.Germany was divided into two leagues, whichstood in arms arrayed against each other: be-tween both, Rodolph, the despised opponentof the one, and the impotent protector of the

other, remained irresolute and useless, equallyunable to destroy the former or to commandthe latter. What had the Empire to look for froma prince incapable even of defending his he-reditary dominions against its domestic en-emies? To prevent the utter ruin of the Houseof Austria, his own family combined againsthim; and a powerful party threw itself into thearms of his brother. Driven from his hereditarydominions, nothing was now left him to losebut the imperial dignity; and he was only sparedthis last disgrace by a timely death.

At this critical moment, when only a supplepolicy, united with a vigorous arm, could havemaintained the tranquillity of the Empire, itsevil genius gave it a Rodolph for Emperor. At amore peaceful period the Germanic Unionwould have managed its own interests, andRodolph, like so many others of his rank, mighthave hidden his deficiencies in a mysteriousobscurity. But the urgent demand for the quali-

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ties in which he was most deficient revealed hisincapacity. The position of Germany called foran emperor who, by his known energies, couldgive weight to his resolves; and the hereditarydominions of Rodolph, considerable as theywere, were at present in a situation to occasionthe greatest embarrassment to the governors.

The Austrian princes, it is true were RomanCatholics, and in addition to that, the support-ers of Popery, but their countries were far frombeing so. The reformed opinions had penetratedeven these, and favoured by Ferdinand’s ne-cessities and Maximilian’s mildness, had metwith a rapid success. The Austrian provincesexhibited in miniature what Germany did on alarger scale. The great nobles and the ritter classor knights were chiefly evangelical, and in thecities the Protestants had a decided preponder-ance. If they succeeded in bringing a few of theirparty into the country, they contrived imper-ceptibly to fill all places of trust and the magis-

tracy with their own adherents, and to excludethe Catholics. Against the numerous order ofthe nobles and knights, and the deputies fromthe towns, the voice of a few prelates was pow-erless; and the unseemly ridicule and offen-sive contempt of the former soon drove thementirely from the provincial diets. Thus thewhole of the Austrian Diet had imperceptiblybecome Protestant, and the Reformation wasmaking rapid strides towards its public recog-nition. The prince was dependent on the Es-tates, who had it in their power to grant or refusesupplies. Accordingly, they availed themselvesof the financial necessities of Ferdinand andhis son to extort one religious concession afteranother. To the nobles and knights, Maximilianat last conceded the free exercise of their reli-gion, but only within their own territories andcastles. The intemperate enthusiasm of theProtestant preachers overstepped the bound-aries which prudence had prescribed. In defi-

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ance of the express prohibition, several of themventured to preach publicly, not only in thetowns, but in Vienna itself, and the peopleflocked in crowds to this new doctrine, the bestseasoning of which was personality and abuse.Thus continued food was supplied to fanaticism,and the hatred of two churches, that were suchnear neighbours, was farther envenomed by thesting of an impure zeal.

Among the hereditary dominions of the Houseof Austria, Hungary and Transylvania were themost unstable, and the most difficult to retain.The impossibility of holding these two countriesagainst the neighbouring and overwhelmingpower of the Turks, had already drivenFerdinand to the inglorious expedient of rec-ognizing, by an annual tribute, the Porte’s su-premacy over Transylvania; a shameful confes-sion of weakness, and a still more dangeroustemptation to the turbulent nobility, when theyfancied they had any reason to complain of their

master. Not without conditions had the Hun-garians submitted to the House of Austria. Theyasserted the elective freedom of their crown, andboldly contended for all those prerogatives oftheir order which are inseparable from this free-dom of election. The near neighbourhood ofTurkey, the facility of changing masters withimpunity, encouraged the magnates still morein their presumption; discontented with theAustrian government they threw themselvesinto the arms of the Turks; dissatisfied withthese, they returned again to their Germansovereigns. The frequency and rapidity of thesetransitions from one government to another,had communicated its influences also to theirmode of thinking; and as their country waveredbetween the Turkish and Austrian rule, so theirminds vacillated between revolt and submission.The more unfortunate each nation felt itself inbeing degraded into a province of a foreign king-dom, the stronger desire did they feel to obey a

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monarch chosen from amongst themselves, andthus it was always easy for an enterprising nobleto obtain their support. The nearest Turkishpasha was always ready to bestow the Hungar-ian sceptre and crown on a rebel against Aus-tria; just as ready was Austria to confirm to anyadventurer the possession of provinces whichhe had wrested from the Porte, satisfied withpreserving thereby the shadow of authority, andwith erecting at the same time a barrier againstthe Turks. In this way several of these magnates,Batbori, Boschkai, Ragoczi, and Bethlen suc-ceeded in establishing themselves, one afteranother, as tributary sovereigns in Transylvaniaand Hungary; and they maintained theirground by no deeper policy than that of occa-sionally joining the enemy, in order to renderthemselves more formidable to their own prince.

Ferdinand, Maximilian, and Rodolph, who wereall sovereigns of Hungary and Transylvania, ex-hausted their other territories in endeavouring

to defend these from the hostile inroads of theTurks, and to put down intestine rebellion. Inthis quarter destructive wars were succeeded butby brief truces, which were scarcely less hurt-ful: far and wide the land lay waste, while theinjured serf had to complain equally of his en-emy and his protector. Into these countries alsothe Reformation had penetrated; and protectedby the freedom of the States, and under the coverof the internal disorders, had made a noticeableprogress. Here too it was incautiously attacked,and party spirit thus became yet more danger-ous from religious enthusiasm. Headed by a boldrebel, Boschkai, the nobles of Hungary andTransylvania raised the standard of rebellion. TheHungarian insurgents were upon the point ofmaking common cause with the discontentedProtestants in Austria, Moravia, and Bohemia,and uniting all those countries in one fearfulrevolt. The downfall of popery in these landswould then have been inevitable.

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Long had the Austrian archdukes, the broth-ers of the Emperor, beheld with silent indigna-tion the impending ruin of their house; this lastevent hastened their decision. The ArchdukeMatthias, Maximilian’s second son, Viceroy inHungary, and Rodolph’s presumptive heir, nowcame forward as the stay of the falling house ofHapsburg. In his youth, misled by a false ambi-tion, this prince, disregarding the interests ofhis family, had listened to the overtures of theFlemish insurgents, who invited him into theNetherlands to conduct the defence of their lib-erties against the oppression of his own rela-tive, Philip the Second. Mistaking the voice ofan insulated faction for that of the entire na-tion, Matthias obeyed the call. But the eventanswered the expectations of the men ofBrabant as little as his own, and from this im-prudent enterprise he retired with little credit.

Far more honourable was his second appear-ance in the political world. Perceiving that his

repeated remonstrances with the Emperor wereunavailing, he assembled the archdukes, hisbrothers and cousins, at Presburg, and con-sulted with them on the growing perils of theirhouse, when they unanimously assigned tohim, as the oldest, the duty of defending thatpatrimony which a feeble brother was endan-gering. In his hands they placed all their pow-ers and rights, and vested him with sovereignauthority, to act at his discretion for the com-mon good. Matthias immediately opened a com-munication with the Porte and the Hungarianrebels, and through his skilful managementsucceeded in saving, by a peace with the Turks,the remainder of Hungary, and by a treaty withthe rebels, preserved the claims of Austria tothe lost provinces. But Rodolph, as jealous ashe had hitherto been careless of his sovereignauthority, refused to ratify this treaty, whichhe regarded as a criminal encroachment on hissovereign rights. He accused the Archduke of

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keeping up a secret understanding with theenemy, and of cherishing treasonable designson the crown of Hungary.

The activity of Matthias was, in truth, anythingbut disinterested; the conduct of the Emperoronly accelerated the execution of his ambitiousviews. Secure, from motives of gratitude, of thedevotion of the Hungarians, for whom he hadso lately obtained the blessings of peace; as-sured by his agents of the favourable disposi-tion of the nobles, and certain of the support ofa large party, even in Austria, he now venturedto assume a bolder attitude, and, sword in hand,to discuss his grievances with the Emperor. TheProtestants in Austria and Moravia, long ripefor revolt, and now won over to the Archdukeby his promises of toleration, loudly and openlyespoused his cause, and their long-menacedalliance with the Hungarian rebels was actu-ally effected. Almost at once a formidable con-spiracy was planned and matured against the

Emperor. Too late did he resolve to amend hispast errors; in vain did he attempt to break upthis fatal alliance. Already the whole empire wasin arms; Hungary, Austria, and Moravia haddone homage to Matthias, who was already onhis march to Bohemia to seize the Emperor inhis palace, and to cut at once the sinews of hispower.

Bohemia was not a more peaceable possessionfor Austria than Hungary; with this differenceonly, that, in the latter, political considerations,in the former, religious dissensions, fomenteddisorders. In Bohemia, a century before the daysof Luther, the first spark of the religious war hadbeen kindled; a century after Luther, the firstflames of the thirty years’ war burst out inBohemia. The sect which owed its rise to JohnHuss, still existed in that country;—it agreed withthe Romish Church in ceremonies and doctrines,with the single exception of the administrationof the Communion, in which the Hussites com-

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municated in both kinds. This privilege had beenconceded to the followers of Huss by the Coun-cil of Basle, in an express treaty, (the BohemianCompact); and though it was afterwards dis-avowed by the popes, they nevertheless contin-ued to profit by it under the sanction of the gov-ernment. As the use of the cup formed the onlyimportant distinction of their body, they wereusually designated by the name of Utraquists;and they readily adopted an appellation whichreminded them of their dearly valued privilege.But under this title lurked also the far strictersects of the Bohemian and Moravian Brethren,who differed from the predominant church inmore important particulars, and bore, in fact, agreat resemblance to the German Protestants.Among them both, the German and Swiss opin-ions on religion made rapid progress; while thename of Utraquists, under which they managedto disguise the change of their principles,shielded them from persecution.

In truth, they had nothing in common withthe Utraquists but the name; essentially, theywere altogether Protestant. Confident in thestrength of their party, and the Emperor’s tol-eration under Maximilian, they had openlyavowed their tenets. After the example of theGermans, they drew up a Confession of theirown, in which Lutherans as well as Calvinistsrecognized their own doctrines, and they soughtto transfer to the new Confession the privilegesof the original Utraquists. In this they were op-posed by their Roman Catholic countrymen,and forced to rest content with the Emperor’sverbal assurance of protection.

As long as Maximilian lived, they enjoyed com-plete toleration, even under the new form theyhad taken. Under his successor the scenechanged. An imperial edict appeared, whichdeprived the Bohemian Brethren of their reli-gious freedom. Now these differed in nothingfrom the other Utraquists. The sentence, there-

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fore, of their condemnation, obviously includedall the partisans of the Bohemian Confession.Accordingly, they all combined to oppose theimperial mandate in the Diet, but without be-ing able to procure its revocation. The Emperorand the Roman Catholic Estates took theirground on the Compact and the Bohemian Con-stitution; in which nothing appeared in favourof a religion which had not then obtained thevoice of the country. Since that time, how com-pletely had affairs changed! What then formedbut an inconsiderable opinion, had now becomethe predominant religion of the country. Andwhat was it then, but a subterfuge to limit anewly spreading religion by the terms of obso-lete treaties? The Bohemian Protestants ap-pealed to the verbal guarantee of Maximilian,and the religious freedom of the Germans, withwhom they argued they ought to be on a foot-ing of equality. It was in vain — their appealwas dismissed.

Such was the posture of affairs in Bohemia,when Matthias, already master of Hungary,Austria, and Moravia, appeared in Kolin, to raisethe Bohemian Estates also against the Emperor.The embarrassment of the latter was now at itsheight. Abandoned by all his other subjects,he placed his last hopes on the Bohemians,who, it might be foreseen, would take advan-tage of his necessities to enforce their own de-mands. After an interval of many years, he oncemore appeared publicly in the Diet at Prague;and to convince the people that he was reallystill in existence, orders were given that all thewindows should be opened in the streetsthrough which he was to pass — proof enoughhow far things had gone with him. The eventjustified his fears. The Estates, conscious oftheir own power, refused to take a single stepuntil their privileges were confirmed, and reli-gious toleration fully assured to them. It was invain to have recourse now to the old system of

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evasion. The Emperor’s fate was in their hands,and he must yield to necessity. At present, how-ever, he only granted their other demands —religious matters he reserved for considerationat the next Diet.

The Bohemians now took up arms in defenceof the Emperor, and a bloody war between thetwo brothers was on the point of breaking out.But Rodolph, who feared nothing so much asremaining in this slavish dependence on theEstates, waited not for a warlike issue, but has-tened to effect a reconciliation with his brotherby more peaceable means. By a formal act ofabdication he resigned to Matthias, what in-deed he had no chance of wresting from him,Austria and the kingdom of Hungary, and ac-knowledged him as his successor to the crownof Bohemia.

Dearly enough had the Emperor extricatedhimself from one difficulty, only to get immedi-ately involved in another. The settlement of the

religious affairs of Bohemia had been referredto the next Diet, which was held in 1609. Thereformed Bohemians demanded the free exer-cise of their faith, as under the former emper-ors; a Consistory of their own; the cession ofthe University of Prague; and the right of elect-ing ‘Defenders’, or ‘Protectors’ of ‘Liberty’, fromtheir own body. The answer was the same asbefore; for the timid Emperor was now entirelyfettered by the unreformed party. However of-ten, and in however threatening language theEstates renewed their remonstrances, the Em-peror persisted in his first declaration of grant-ing nothing beyond the old compact. The Dietbroke up without coming to a decision; and theEstates, exasperated against the Emperor, ar-ranged a general meeting at Prague, upon theirown authority, to right themselves.

They appeared at Prague in great force. In de-fiance of the imperial prohibition, they carriedon their deliberations almost under the very

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eyes of the Emperor. The yielding compliancewhich he began to show, only proved how muchthey were feared, and increased their audac-ity. Yet on the main point he remained inflex-ible. They fulfilled their threats, and at last re-solved to establish, by their own power, the freeand universal exercise of their religion, and toabandon the Emperor to his necessities untilhe should confirm this resolution. They evenwent farther, and elected for themselves thedefenders which the Emperor had refusedthem. Ten were nominated by each of the threeEstates; they also determined to raise, as soonas possible, an armed force, at the head of whichCount Thurn, the chief organizer of the revolt,should be placed as general defender of the lib-erties of Bohemia. Their determination broughtthe Emperor to submission, to which he wasnow counselled even by the Spaniards. Appre-hensive lest the exasperated Estates shouldthrow themselves into the arms of the King of

Hungary, he signed the memorable Letter ofMajesty for Bohemia, by which, under the suc-cessors of the Emperor, that people justifiedtheir rebellion.

The Bohemian Confession, which the States hadlaid before the Emperor Maximilian, was, by theLetter of Majesty, placed on a footing of equalitywith the olden profession. The Utraquists, for bythis title the Bohemian Protestants continued todesignate themselves, were put in possession ofthe University of Prague, and allowed a Consistoryof their own, entirely independent of the archi-episcopal see of that city. All the churches in thecities, villages, and market towns, which they heldat the date of the letter, were secured to them;and if in addition they wished to erect others, itwas permitted to the nobles, and knights, andthe free cities to do so. This last clause in theLetter of Majesty gave rise to the unfortunate dis-putes which subsequently rekindled the flamesof war in Europe.

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The Letter of Majesty erected the Protestantpart of Bohemia into a kind of republic. TheEstates had learned to feel the power which theygained by perseverance, unity, and harmonyin their measures. The Emperor now retainedlittle more than the shadow of his sovereignauthority; while by the new dignity of the so-called defenders of liberty, a dangerous stimu-lus was given to the spirit of revolt. The exampleand success of Bohemia afforded a temptingseduction to the other hereditary dominions ofAustria, and all attempted by similar means toextort similar privileges. The spirit of libertyspread from one province to another; and as itwas chiefly the disunion among the Austrianprinces that had enabled the Protestants somaterially to improve their advantages, they nowhastened to effect a reconciliation between theEmperor and the King of Hungary.

But the reconciliation could not be sincere.The wrong was too great to be forgiven, and

Rodolph continued to nourish at heart anunextinguishable hatred of Matthias. With griefand indignation he brooded over the thought,that the Bohemian sceptre was finally to de-scend into the hands of his enemy; and theprospect was not more consoling, even ifMatthias should die without issue. In that case,Ferdinand, Archduke of Graetz, whom heequally disliked, was the head of the family. Toexclude the latter as well as Matthias from thesuccession to the throne of Bohemia, he fellupon the project of diverting that inheritanceto Ferdinand’s brother, the Archduke Leopold,Bishop of Passau, who among all his relativeshad ever been the dearest and most deserving.The prejudices of the Bohemians in favour ofthe elective freedom of their crown, and theirattachment to Leopold’s person, seemed tofavour this scheme, in which Rodolph consultedrather his own partiality and vindictiveness thanthe good of his house. But to carry out this

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project, a military force was requisite, andRodolph actually assembled an army in thebishopric of Passau. The object of this force washidden from all. An inroad, however, which, forwant of pay it made suddenly and without theEmperor’s knowledge into Bohemia, and theoutrages which it there committed, stirred upthe whole kingdom against him. In vain he as-serted his innocence to the Bohemian Estates;they would not believe his protestations; vainlydid he attempt to restrain the violence of hissoldiery; they disregarded his orders. Persuadedthat the Emperor’s object was to annul the Let-ter of Majesty, the Protectors of Liberty armedthe whole of Protestant Bohemia, and invitedMatthias into the country. After the dispersionof the force he had collected at Passau, theEmperor remained helpless at Prague, wherehe was kept shut up like a prisoner in his pal-ace, and separated from all his councillors. Inthe meantime, Matthias entered Prague amidst

universal rejoicings, where Rodolph was soonafterwards weak enough to acknowledge himKing of Bohemia. So hard a fate befell thisEmperor; he was compelled, during his life, toabdicate in favour of his enemy that very throne,of which he had been endeavouring to deprivehim after his own death. To complete his deg-radation, he was obliged, by a personal act ofrenunciation, to release his subjects inBohemia, Silesia, and Lusatia from their alle-giance, and he did it with a broken heart. All,even those he thought he had most attached tohis person, had abandoned him. When he hadsigned the instrument, he threw his hat uponthe ground, and gnawed the pen which hadrendered so shameful a service.

While Rodolph thus lost one hereditary do-minion after another, the imperial dignity wasnot much better maintained by him. Each ofthe religious parties into which Germany wasdivided, continued its efforts to advance itself

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at the expense of the other, or to guard againstits attacks. The weaker the hand that held thesceptre, and the more the Protestants and Ro-man Catholics felt they were left to themselves,the more vigilant necessarily became theirwatchfulness, and the greater their distrust ofeach other. It was enough that the Emperor wasruled by Jesuits, and was guided by Spanishcounsels, to excite the apprehension of the Prot-estants, and to afford a pretext for hostility. Therash zeal of the Jesuits, which in the pulpitand by the press disputed the validity of thereligious peace, increased this distrust, andcaused their adversaries to see a dangerousdesign in the most indifferent measures of theRoman Catholics. Every step taken in the he-reditary dominions of the Emperor, for the re-pression of the reformed religion, was sure todraw the attention of all the Protestants of Ger-many; and this powerful support which the re-formed subjects of Austria met, or expected to

meet with from their religious confederates inthe rest of Germany, was no small cause of theirconfidence, and of the rapid success of Matthias.It was the general belief of the Empire, that theyowed the long enjoyment of the religious peacemerely to the difficulties in which the Emperorwas placed by the internal troubles in his do-minions, and consequently they were in nohaste to relieve him from them.

Almost all the affairs of the Diet were ne-glected, either through the procrastination ofthe Emperor, or through the fault of the Prot-estant Estates, who had determined to makeno provision for the common wants of the Em-pire till their own grievances were removed.These grievances related principally to the mis-government of the Emperor; the violation of thereligious treaty, and the presumptuous usur-pations of the Aulic Council, which in thepresent reign had begun to extend its jurisdic-tion at the expense of the Imperial Chamber.

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Formerly, in all disputes between the Estates,which could not be settled by club law, theEmperors had in the last resort decided of them-selves, if the case were trifling, and in conjunc-tion with the princes, if it were important; orthey determined them by the advice of impe-rial judges who followed the court. This supe-rior jurisdiction they had, in the end of the fif-teenth century, assigned to a regular and per-manent tribunal, the Imperial Chamber ofSpires, in which the Estates of the Empire, thatthey might not be oppressed by the arbitraryappointment of the Emperor, had reserved tothemselves the right of electing the assessors,and of periodically reviewing its decrees. By thereligious peace, these rights of the Estates,(called the rights of presentation and visitation,)were extended also to the Lutherans, so thatProtestant judges had a voice in Protestantcauses, and a seeming equality obtained forboth religions in this supreme tribunal.

But the enemies of the Reformation and ofthe freedom of the Estates, vigilant to take ad-vantage of every incident that favoured theirviews, soon found means to neutralize the ben-eficial effects of this institution. A supreme ju-risdiction over the Imperial States was gradu-ally and skilfully usurped by a private imperialtribunal, the Aulic Council in Vienna, a courtat first intended merely to advise the Emperorin the exercise of his undoubted, imperial, andpersonal prerogatives; a court, whose membersbeing appointed and paid by him, had no lawbut the interest of their master, and no stan-dard of equity but the advancement of theunreformed religion of which they were parti-sans. Before the Aulic Council were nowbrought several suits originating between Es-tates differing in religion, and which, therefore,properly belonged to the Imperial Chamber. Itwas not surprising if the decrees of this tribu-nal bore traces of their origin; if the interests of

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the Roman Church and of the Emperor werepreferred to justice by Roman Catholic judges,and the creatures of the Emperor. Although allthe Estates of Germany seemed to have equalcause for resisting so perilous an abuse, theProtestants alone, who most sensibly felt it, andeven these not all at once and in a body, cameforward as the defenders of German liberty,which the establishment of so arbitrary a tri-bunal had outraged in its most sacred point,the administration of justice. In fact, Germanywould have had little cause to congratulate it-self upon the abolition of club-law, and in theinstitution of the Imperial Chamber, if an arbi-trary tribunal of the Emperor was allowed tointerfere with the latter. The Estates of the Ger-man Empire would indeed have improved littleupon the days of barbarism, if the Chamber ofJustice in which they sat along with the Em-peror as judges, and for which they had aban-doned their original princely prerogative, should

cease to be a court of the last resort. But thestrangest contradictions were at this date to befound in the minds of men. The name of Em-peror, a remnant of Roman despotism, was stillassociated with an idea of autocracy, which,though it formed a ridiculous inconsistency withthe privileges of the Estates, was neverthelessargued for by jurists, diffused by the partisansof despotism, and believed by the ignorant.

To these general grievances was graduallyadded a chain of singular incidents, which atlength converted the anxiety of the Protestantsinto utter distrust. During the Spanish perse-cutions in the Netherlands, several Protestantfamilies had taken refuge in Aix-la-Chapelle,an imperial city, and attached to the RomanCatholic faith, where they settled and insensi-bly extended their adherents. Having succeededby stratagem in introducing some of their mem-bers into the municipal council, they demandeda church and the public exercise of their wor-

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ship, and the demand being unfavourably re-ceived, they succeeded by violence in enforc-ing it, and also in usurping the entire govern-ment of the city. To see so important a city inProtestant hands was too heavy a blow for theEmperor and the Roman Catholics. After all theEmperor’s requests and commands for the res-toration of the olden government had provedineffectual, the Aulic Council proclaimed thecity under the ban of the Empire, which, how-ever, was not put in force till the following reign.

Of yet greater importance were two other at-tempts of the Protestants to extend their influ-ence and their power. The Elector Gebhard, ofCologne, (born Truchsess* of Waldburg,) con-ceived for the young Countess Agnes, ofMansfield, Canoness of Gerresheim, a passionwhich was not unreturned. As the eyes of allGermany were directed to this intercourse, thebrothers of the Countess, two zealous Calvin-

ists, demanded satisfaction for the injuredhonour of their house, which, as long as theelector remained a Roman Catholic prelate,could not be repaired by marriage. They threat-ened the elector they would wash out this stainin his blood and their sister’s, unless he eitherabandoned all further connexion with thecountess, or consented to re-establish her repu-tation at the altar. The elector, indifferent to allthe consequences of this step, listened to noth-ing but the voice of love. Whether it was in con-sequence of his previous inclination to the re-formed doctrines, or that the charms of his mis-tress alone effected this wonder, he renouncedthe Roman Catholic faith, and led the beauti-ful Agnes to the altar.

This event was of the greatest importance. Bythe letter of the clause reserving the ecclesias-tical states from the general operation of thereligious peace, the elector had, by his apostacy,forfeited all right to the temporalities of his bish-

* Grand-master of the kitchen.

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opric; and if, in any case, it was important forthe Catholics to enforce the clause, it was soespecially in the case of electorates. On theother hand, the relinquishment of so high adignity was a severe sacrifice, and peculiarly soin the case of a tender husband, who hadwished to enhance the value of his heart andhand by the gift of a principality. Moreover, theReservatum Ecclesiasticum was a disputed ar-ticle of the treaty of Augsburg; and all the Ger-man Protestants were aware of the extremeimportance of wresting this fourth* electoratefrom the opponents of their faith. The examplehad already been set in several of the ecclesi-astical benefices of Lower Germany, and at-tended with success. Several canons of Colognehad also already embraced the Protestant con-fession, and were on the elector’s side, while,in the city itself, he could depend upon the

support of a numerous Protestant party. Allthese considerations, greatly strengthened bythe persuasions of his friends and relations, andthe promises of several German courts, deter-mined the elector to retain his dominions, whilehe changed his religion.

But it was soon apparent that he had enteredupon a contest which he could not carry through.Even the free toleration of the Protestant servicewithin the territories of Cologne, had already oc-casioned a violent opposition on the part of thecanons and Roman Catholic ‘Estates’ of that prov-ince. The intervention of the Emperor, and a pa-pal ban from Rome, which anathematized theelector as an apostate, and deprived him of all hisdignities, temporal and spiritual, armed his ownsubjects and chapter against him. The Electorassembled a military force; the chapter did thesame. To ensure also the aid of a strong arm, theyproceeded forthwith to a new election, and chosethe Bishop of Liege, a prince of Bavaria.* Saxony, Brandenburg, and the Palatinate were

already Protestant.

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A civil war now commenced, which, from thestrong interest which both religious parties inGermany necessarily felt in the conjuncture,was likely to terminate in a general breakingup of the religious peace. What most made theProtestants indignant, was that the Pope shouldhave presumed, by a pretended apostolic power,to deprive a prince of the empire of his imperialdignities. Even in the golden days of their spiri-tual domination, this prerogative of the Popehad been disputed; how much more likely wasit to be questioned at a period when his au-thority was entirely disowned by one party,while even with the other it rested on a totter-ing foundation. All the Protestant princes tookup the affair warmly against the Emperor; andHenry IV. of France, then King of Navarre, leftno means of negotiation untried to urge theGerman princes to the vigorous assertion oftheir rights. The issue would decide for ever theliberties of Germany. Four Protestant against

three Roman Catholic voices in the ElectoralCollege must at once have given the prepon-derance to the former, and for ever excludedthe House of Austria from the imperial throne.

But the Elector Gebhard had embraced theCalvinist, not the Lutheran religion; and thiscircumstance alone was his ruin. The mutualrancour of these two churches would not per-mit the Lutheran Estates to regard the Electoras one of their party, and as such to lend himtheir effectual support. All indeed had encour-aged, and promised him assistance; but onlyone appanaged prince of the Palatine House,the Palsgrave John Casimir, a zealous Calvin-ist, kept his word. Despite of the imperial pro-hibition, he hastened with his little army intothe territories of Cologne; but without beingable to effect any thing, because the Elector,who was destitute even of the first necessaries,left him totally without help. So much the morerapid was the progress of the newly-chosen elec-

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tor, whom his Bavarian relations and the Span-iards from the Netherlands supported with theutmost vigour. The troops of Gebhard, left bytheir master without pay, abandoned one placeafter another to the enemy; by whom otherswere compelled to surrender. In hisWestphalian territories, Gebhard held out forsome time longer, till here, too, he was at lastobliged to yield to superior force. After severalvain attempts in Holland and England to ob-tain means for his restoration, he retired intothe Chapter of Strasburg, and died dean of thatcathedral; the first sacrifice to the Ecclesiasti-cal Reservation, or rather to the want of har-mony among the German Protestants.

To this dispute in Cologne was soon added an-other in Strasburg. Several Protestant canons ofCologne, who had been included in the samepapal ban with the elector, had taken refugewithin this bishopric, where they likewise heldprebends. As the Roman Catholic canons of

Strasburg hesitated to allow them, as being un-der the ban, the enjoyment of their prebends,they took violent possession of their benefices,and the support of a powerful Protestant partyamong the citizens soon gave them the prepon-derance in the chapter. The other canons there-upon retired to Alsace-Saverne, where, underthe protection of the bishop, they establishedthemselves as the only lawful chapter, and de-nounced that which remained in Strasburg asillegal. The latter, in the meantime, had sostrengthened themselves by the reception ofseveral Protestant colleagues of high rank, thatthey could venture, upon the death of the bishop,to nominate a new Protestant bishop in the per-son of John George of Brandenburg. The Ro-man Catholic canons, far from allowing this elec-tion, nominated the Bishop of Metz, a prince ofLorraine, to that dignity, who announced hispromotion by immediately commencing hostili-ties against the territories of Strasburg.

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That city now took up arms in defence of itsProtestant chapter and the Prince ofBrandenburg, while the other party, with theassistance of the troops of Lorraine, endeav-oured to possess themselves of the temporali-ties of the chapter. A tedious war was the con-sequence, which, according to the spirit of thetimes, was attended with barbarous devasta-tions. In vain did the Emperor interpose withhis supreme authority to terminate the dispute;the ecclesiastical property remained for a longtime divided between the two parties, till at lastthe Protestant prince, for a moderate pecuni-ary equivalent, renounced his claims; and thus,in this dispute also, the Roman Church cameoff victorious.

An occurrence which, soon after the adjust-ment of this dispute, took place in Donauwerth,a free city of Suabia, was still more critical forthe whole of Protestant Germany. In this onceRoman Catholic city, the Protestants, during

the reigns of Ferdinand and his son, had, inthe usual way, become so completely predomi-nant, that the Roman Catholics were obligedto content themselves with a church in theMonastery of the Holy Cross, and for fear of of-fending the Protestants, were even forced tosuppress the greater part of their religious rites.At length a fanatical abbot of this monasteryventured to defy the popular prejudices, and toarrange a public procession, preceded by thecross and banners flying; but he was soon com-pelled to desist from the attempt. When, a yearafterwards, encouraged by a favourable impe-rial proclamation, the same abbot attempted torenew this procession, the citizens proceededto open violence. The inhabitants shut the gatesagainst the monks on their return, trampledtheir colours under foot, and followed themhome with clamour and abuse. An imperial ci-tation was the consequence of this act of vio-lence; and as the exasperated populace even

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threatened to assault the imperial commissar-ies, and all attempts at an amicable adjustmentwere frustrated by the fanaticism of the multi-tude, the city was at last formally placed underthe ban of the Empire, the execution of whichwas intrusted to Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria.The citizens, formerly so insolent, were seizedwith terror at the approach of the Bavarianarmy; pusillanimity now possessed them,though once so full of defiance, and they laiddown their arms without striking a blow. Thetotal abolition of the Protestant religion withinthe walls of the city was the punishment of theirrebellion; it was deprived of its privileges, and,from a free city of Suabia, converted into a mu-nicipal town of Bavaria.

Two circumstances connected with this pro-ceeding must have strongly excited the atten-tion of the Protestants, even if the interests ofreligion had been less powerful on their minds.First of all, the sentence had been pronounced

by the Aulic Council, an arbitrary and exclu-sively Roman Catholic tribunal, whose jurisdic-tion besides had been so warmly disputed bythem; and secondly, its execution had been in-trusted to the Duke of Bavaria, the head of an-other circle. These unconstitutional stepsseemed to be the harbingers of further violentmeasures on the Roman Catholic side, the re-sult, probably, of secret conferences and dan-gerous designs, which might perhaps end inthe entire subversion of their religious liberty.

In circumstances where the law of force pre-vails, and security depends upon power alone,the weakest party is naturally the most busy toplace itself in a posture of defence. This wasnow the case in Germany. If the Roman Catho-lics really meditated any evil against the Prot-estants in Germany, the probability was thatthe blow would fall on the south rather thanthe north, because, in Lower Germany, the Prot-estants were connected together through a long

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unbroken tract of country, and could thereforeeasily combine for their mutual support; whilethose in the south, detached from each other,and surrounded on all sides by Roman Catho-lic states, were exposed to every inroad. If, more-over, as was to be expected, the Catholics availedthemselves of the divisions amongst the Prot-estants, and levelled their attack against one ofthe religious parties, it was the Calvinists who,as the weaker, and as being besides excludedfrom the religious treaty, were apparently inthe greatest danger, and upon them wouldprobably fall the first attack.

Both these circumstances took place in thedominions of the Elector Palatine, which pos-sessed, in the Duke of Bavaria, a formidableneighbour, and which, by reason of their de-fection to Calvinism, received no protection fromthe Religious Peace, and had little hope ofsuccour from the Lutheran states. No countryin Germany had experienced so many revolu-

tions in religion in so short a time as thePalatinate. In the space of sixty years this coun-try, an unfortunate toy in the hands of its rul-ers, had twice adopted the doctrines of Luther,and twice relinquished them for Calvinism. TheElector Frederick III. first abandoned the con-fession of Augsburg, which his eldest son andsuccessor, Lewis, immediately re-established.The Calvinists throughout the whole countrywere deprived of their churches, their preach-ers and even their teachers banished beyondthe frontiers; while the prince, in his Lutheranzeal, persecuted them even in his will, by ap-pointing none but strict and orthodoxLutherans as the guardians of his son, a mi-nor. But this illegal testament was disregardedby his brother the Count Palatine, JohnCasimir, who, by the regulations of the GoldenBull, assumed the guardianship and adminis-tration of the state. Calvinistic teachers weregiven to the Elector Frederick IV., then only nine

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years of age, who were ordered, if necessary, todrive the Lutheran heresy out of the soul oftheir pupil with blows. If such was the treat-ment of the sovereign, that of the subjects maybe easily conceived.

It was under this Frederick that the PalatineCourt exerted itself so vigorously to unite theProtestant states of Germany in joint measuresagainst the House of Austria, and, if possible,bring about the formation of a general confed-eracy. Besides that this court had always beenguided by the counsels of France, with whomhatred of the House of Austria was the rulingprinciple, a regard for his own safety urged himto secure in time the doubtful assistance of theLutherans against a near and overwhelmingenemy. Great difficulties, however, opposed thisunion, because the Lutherans’ dislike of theReformed was scarcely less than the commonaversion of both to the Romanists. An attemptwas first made to reconcile the two professions,

in order to facilitate a political union; but allthese attempts failed, and generally ended inboth parties adhering the more strongly to theirrespective opinions. Nothing then remained butto increase the fear and the distrust of theEvangelicals, and in this way to impress uponthem the necessity of this alliance. The powerof the Roman Catholics and the magnitude ofthe danger were exaggerated, accidental inci-dents were ascribed to deliberate plans, inno-cent actions misrepresented by invidious con-structions, and the whole conduct of the pro-fessors of the olden religion was interpreted asthe result of a well-weighed and systematic plan,which, in all probability, they were very far fromhaving concerted.

The Diet of Ratisbon, to which the Protestantshad looked forward with the hope of obtaininga renewal of the Religious Peace, had brokenup without coming to a decision, and to theformer grievances of the Protestant party was

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now added the late oppression of Donauwerth.With incredible speed, the union, so long at-tempted, was now brought to bear. A confer-ence took place at Anhausen, in Franconia, atwhich were present the Elector Frederick IV.,from the Palatinate, the Palsgrave of Neuburg,two Margraves of Brandenburg, the Margraveof Baden, and the Duke John Frederick ofWirtemburg,—Lutherans as well as Calvinists,— who for themselves and their heirs enteredinto a close confederacy under the title of theEvangelical Union. The purport of this unionwas, that the allied princes should, in all mat-ters relating to religion and their civil rights,support each other with arms and counselagainst every aggressor, and should all standas one man; that in case any member of thealliance should be attacked, he should be as-sisted by the rest with an armed force; that, ifnecessary, the territories, towns, and castles ofthe allied states should be open to his troops;

and that, whatever conquests were made,should be divided among all the confederates,in proportion to the contingent furnished byeach.

The direction of the whole confederacy in timeof peace was conferred upon the Elector Pa-latine, but with a limited power. To meet thenecessary expenses, subsidies were demanded,and a common fund established. Differences ofreligion (betwixt the Lutherans and the Calvin-ists) were to have no effect on this alliance,which was to subsist for ten years, every mem-ber of the union engaged at the same time toprocure new members to it. The Electorate ofBrandenburg adopted the alliance, that ofSaxony rejected it. Hesse-Cashel could not beprevailed upon to declare itself, the Dukes ofBrunswick and Luneburg also hesitated. Butthe three cities of the Empire, Strasburg,Nuremburg, and Ulm, were no unimportantacquisition for the league, which was in great

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want of their money, while their example, be-sides, might be followed by other imperial cit-ies.

After the formation of this alliance, the con-federate states, dispirited, and singly, littlefeared, adopted a bolder language. ThroughPrince Christian of Anhalt, they laid their com-mon grievances and demands before the Em-peror; among which the principal were the res-toration of Donauwerth, the abolition of theImperial Court, the reformation of the Emperor’sown administration and that of his counsellors.For these remonstrances, they chose the mo-ment when the Emperor had scarcely recoveredbreath from the troubles in his hereditary do-minions,—when he had lost Hungary and Aus-tria to Matthias, and had barely preserved hisBohemian throne by the concession of the Let-ter of Majesty, and finally, when through thesuccession of Juliers he was already threatenedwith the distant prospect of a new war. No won-

der, then, that this dilatory prince was moreirresolute than ever in his decision, and thatthe confederates took up arms before he couldbethink himself.

The Roman Catholics regarded this confed-eracy with a jealous eye; the Union viewed themand the Emperor with the like distrust; theEmperor was equally suspicious of both; andthus, on all sides, alarm and animosity hadreached their climax. And, as if to crown thewhole, at this critical conjuncture by the deathof the Duke John William of Juliers, a highlydisputable succession became vacant in theterritories of Juliers and Cleves.

Eight competitors laid claim to this territory,the indivisibility of which had been guaranteedby solemn treaties; and the Emperor, whoseemed disposed to enter upon it as a vacantfief, might be considered as the ninth. Four ofthese, the Elector of Brandenburg, the CountPalatine of Neuburg, the Count Palatine of Deux

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Ponts, and the Margrave of Burgau, an Austrianprince, claimed it as a female fief in name offour princesses, sisters of the late duke. Twoothers, the Elector of Saxony, of the line ofAlbert, and the Duke of Saxony, of the line ofErnest, laid claim to it under a prior right ofreversion granted to them by the EmperorFrederick III., and confirmed to both Saxonhouses by Maximilian I. The pretensions ofsome foreign princes were little regarded. Thebest right was perhaps on the side ofBrandenburg and Neuburg, and between theclaims of these two it was not easy to decide.Both courts, as soon as the succession was va-cant, proceeded to take possession;Brandenburg beginning, and Neuburg follow-ing the example. Both commenced their dis-pute with the pen, and would probably haveended it with the sword; but the interference ofthe Emperor, by proceeding to bring the causebefore his own cognizance, and, during the

progress of the suit, sequestrating the disputedcountries, soon brought the contending partiesto an agreement, in order to avert the commondanger. They agreed to govern the duchy con-jointly. In vain did the Emperor prohibit theEstates from doing homage to their new mas-ters; in vain did he send his own relation, theArchduke Leopold, Bishop of Passau andStrasburg, into the territory of Juliers, in or-der, by his presence, to strengthen the impe-rial party. The whole country, with the excep-tion of Juliers itself, had submitted to the Prot-estant princes, and in that capital the imperi-alists were besieged.

The dispute about the succession of Julierswas an important one to the whole Germanempire, and also attracted the attention of sev-eral European courts. It was not so much thequestion, who was or was not to possess theDuchy of Juliers;—the real question was, whichof the two religious parties in Germany, the

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Roman Catholic or the Protestant, was to bestrengthened by so important an accession—for which of the two religions this territory wasto be lost or won. The question in short was,whether Austria was to be allowed to perseverein her usurpations, and to gratify her lust ofdominion by another robbery; or whether theliberties of Germany, and the balance of power,were to be maintained against her encroach-ments. The disputed succession of Juliers,therefore, was matter which interested all whowere favourable to liberty, and hostile to Aus-tria. The Evangelical Union, Holland, England,and particularly Henry IV. of France, weredrawn into the strife.

This monarch, the flower of whose life hadbeen spent in opposing the House of Austriaand Spain, and by persevering heroism alonehad surmounted the obstacles which this househad thrown between him and the Frenchthrone, had been no idle spectator of the

troubles in Germany. This contest of the Es-tates with the Emperor was the means of givingand securing peace to France. The Protestantsand the Turks were the two salutary weightswhich kept down the Austrian power in the Eastand West; but it would rise again in all its ter-rors, if once it were allowed to remove this pres-sure. Henry the Fourth had before his eyes forhalf a lifetime, the uninterrupted spectacle ofAustrian ambition and Austrian lust of domin-ion, which neither adversity nor poverty of tal-ents, though generally they check all humanpassions, could extinguish in a bosom whereinflowed one drop of the blood of Ferdinand ofArragon. Austrian ambition had destroyed fora century the peace of Europe, and effected themost violent changes in the heart of its mostconsiderable states. It had deprived the fieldsof husbandmen, the workshops of artisans, tofill the land with enormous armies, and to coverthe commercial sea with hostile fleets. It had

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imposed upon the princes of Europe the ne-cessity of fettering the industry of their sub-jects by unheard-of imposts; and of wasting inself-defence the best strength of their states,which was thus lost to the prosperity of theirinhabitants. For Europe there was no peace,for its states no welfare, for the people’s happi-ness no security or permanence, so long as thisdangerous house was permitted to disturb atpleasure the repose of the world.

Such considerations clouded the mind ofHenry at the close of his glorious career. Whathad it not cost him to reduce to order thetroubled chaos into which France had beenplunged by the tumult of civil war, fomentedand supported by this very Austria! Every greatmind labours for eternity; and what securityhad Henry for the endurance of that prosperitywhich he had gained for France, so long asAustria and Spain formed a single power, whichdid indeed lie exhausted for the present, but

which required only one lucky chance to bespeedily re-united, and to spring up again asformidable as ever. If he would bequeath to hissuccessors a firmly established throne, and adurable prosperity to his subjects, this danger-ous power must be for ever disarmed. This wasthe source of that irreconcileable enmity whichHenry had sworn to the House of Austria, ahatred unextinguishable, ardent, and well-founded as that of Hannibal against the peopleof Romulus, but ennobled by a purer origin.

The other European powers had the same in-ducements to action as Henry, but all of themhad not that enlightened policy, nor that dis-interested courage to act upon the impulse. Allmen, without distinction, are allured by imme-diate advantages; great minds alone are excitedby distant good. So long as wisdom in its projectscalculates upon wisdom, or relies upon its ownstrength, it forms none but chimerical schemes,and runs a risk of making itself the laughter of

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the world; but it is certain of success, and mayreckon upon aid and admiration when it findsa place in its intellectual plans for barbarism,rapacity, and superstition, and can render theselfish passions of mankind the executors ofits purposes.

In the first point of view, Henry’s well-knownproject of expelling the House of Austria fromall its possessions, and dividing the spoil amongthe European powers, deserves the title of achimera, which men have so liberally bestowedupon it; but did it merit that appellation in thesecond? It had never entered into the head ofthat excellent monarch, in the choice of thosewho must be the instruments of his designs, toreckon on the sufficiency of such motives asanimated himself and Sully to the enterprise.All the states whose co-operation was neces-sary, were to be persuaded to the work by thestrongest motives that can set a political powerin action. From the Protestants in Germany

nothing more was required than that which,on other grounds, had been long their object,—their throwing off the Austrian yoke; from theFlemings, a similar revolt from the Spaniards.To the Pope and all the Italian republics no in-ducement could be more powerful than thehope of driving the Spaniards for ever from theirpeninsula; for England, nothing more desirablethan a revolution which should free it from itsbitterest enemy. By this division of the Austrianconquests, every power gained either land orfreedom, new possessions or security for theold; and as all gained, the balance of power re-mained undisturbed. France might magnani-mously decline a share in the spoil, because bythe ruin of Austria it doubly profited, and wasmost powerful if it did not become more power-ful. Finally, upon condition of ridding Europeof their presence, the posterity of Hapsburgwere to be allowed the liberty of augmentingher territories in all the other known or yet

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undiscovered portions of the globe. But thedagger of Ravaillac delivered Austria from herdanger, to postpone for some centuries longerthe tranquillity of Europe.

With his view directed to this project, Henryfelt the necessity of taking a prompt and activepart in the important events of the EvangelicalUnion, and the disputed succession of Juliers.His emissaries were busy in all the courts ofGermany, and the little which they publishedor allowed to escape of the great political se-crets of their master, was sufficient to win overminds inflamed by so ardent a hatred to Aus-tria, and by so strong a desire of aggrandize-ment. The prudent policy of Henry cementedthe Union still more closely, and the powerfulaid which he bound himself to furnish, raisedthe courage of the confederates into the firm-est confidence. A numerous French army, ledby the king in person, was to meet the troopsof the Union on the banks of the Rhine, and to

assist in effecting the conquest of Juliers andCleves; then, in conjunction with the Germans,it was to march into Italy, (where Savoy, Venice,and the Pope were even now ready with a pow-erful reinforcement,) and to overthrow the Span-ish dominion in that quarter. This victoriousarmy was then to penetrate by Lombardy intothe hereditary dominions of Hapsburg; andthere, favoured by a general insurrection of theProtestants, destroy the power of Austria in allits German territories, in Bohemia, Hungary,and Transylvania. The Brabanters and Holland-ers, supported by French auxiliaries, would inthe meantime shake off the Spanish tyrannyin the Netherlands; and thus the mighty streamwhich, only a short time before, had so fear-fully overflowed its banks, threatening to over-whelm in its troubled waters the liberties ofEurope, would then roll silent and forgottenbehind the Pyrenean mountains.

At other times, the French had boasted of their

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rapidity of action, but upon this occasion theywere outstripped by the Germans. An army ofthe confederates entered Alsace before Henrymade his appearance there, and an Austrianarmy, which the Bishop of Strasburg andPassau had assembled in that quarter for anexpedition against Juliers, was dispersed.Henry IV. had formed his plan as a statesmanand a king, but he had intrusted its executionto plunderers. According to his design, no Ro-man Catholic state was to have cause to thinkthis preparation aimed against itself, or to makethe quarrel of Austria its own. Religion was innowise to be mixed up with the matter. But howcould the German princes forget their own pur-poses in furthering the plans of Henry? Actu-ated as they were by the desire of aggrandize-ment and by religious hatred, was it to be sup-posed that they would not gratify, in every pass-ing opportunity, their ruling passions to theutmost? Like vultures, they stooped upon the

territories of the ecclesiastical princes, and al-ways chose those rich countries for their quar-ters, though to reach them they must make everso wide a detour from their direct route. Theylevied contributions as in an enemy’s country,seized upon the revenues, and exacted, by vio-lence, what they could not obtain of free-will.Not to leave the Roman Catholics in doubt as tothe true objects of their expedition, they an-nounced, openly and intelligibly enough, the fatethat awaited the property of the church. So littlehad Henry IV. and the German princes under-stood each other in their plan of operations, somuch had the excellent king been mistaken inhis instruments. It is an unfailing maxim, that,if policy enjoins an act of violence, its executionought never to be entrusted to the violent; andthat he only ought to be trusted with the viola-tion of order by whom order is held sacred.

Both the past conduct of the Union, whichwas condemned even by several of the evan-

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gelical states, and the apprehension of evenworse treatment, aroused the Roman Catholicsto something beyond mere inactive indignation.As to the Emperor, his authority had sunk toolow to afford them any security against such anenemy. It was their Union that rendered theconfederates so formidable and so insolent; andanother union must now be opposed to them.

The Bishop of Wurtzburg formed the plan ofthe Catholic union, which was distinguishedfrom the evangelical by the title of the League.The objects agreed upon were nearly the sameas those which constituted the groundwork ofthe Union. Bishops formed its principal mem-bers, and at its head was placed Maximilian,Duke of Bavaria. As the only influential secu-lar member of the confederacy, he was en-trusted with far more extensive powers than theProtestants had committed to their chief. Inaddition to the duke’s being the sole head ofthe League’s military power, whereby their op-

erations acquired a speed and weight unattain-able by the Union, they had also the advantagethat supplies flowed in much more regularlyfrom the rich prelates, than the latter couldobtain them from the poor evangelical states.Without offering to the Emperor, as the sover-eign of a Roman Catholic state, any share intheir confederacy, without even communicat-ing its existence to him as emperor, the Leaguearose at once formidable and threatening; withstrength sufficient to crush the ProtestantUnion and to maintain itself under three em-perors. It contended, indeed, for Austria, in sofar as it fought against the Protestant princes;but Austria herself had soon cause to tremblebefore it.

The arms of the Union had, in the meantime,been tolerably successful in Juliers and inAlsace; Juliers was closely blockaded, and thewhole bishopric of Strasburg was in their power.But here their splendid achievements came to

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an end. No French army appeared upon theRhine; for he who was to be its leader, he whowas the animating soul of the whole enterprize,Henry IV., was no more! Their supplies were onthe wane; the Estates refused to grant new sub-sidies; and the confederate free cities were of-fended that their money should be liberally,but their advice so sparingly called for. Espe-cially were they displeased at being put to ex-pense for the expedition against Juliers, whichhad been expressly excluded from the affairsof the Union — at the united princes appropri-ating to themselves large pensions out of thecommon treasure — and, above all, at their re-fusing to give any account of its expenditure.

The Union was thus verging to its fall, at themoment when the League started to oppose itin the vigour of its strength. Want of suppliesdisabled the confederates from any longer keep-ing the field. And yet it was dangerous to laydown their weapons in the sight of an armed

enemy. To secure themselves at least on oneside, they hastened to conclude a peace withtheir old enemy, the Archduke Leopold; andboth parties agreed to withdraw their troopsfrom Alsace, to exchange prisoners, and to buryall that had been done in oblivion. Thus endedin nothing all these promising preparations.

The same imperious tone with which theUnion, in the confidence of its strength, hadmenaced the Roman Catholics of Germany, wasnow retorted by the League upon themselvesand their troops. The traces of their march werepointed out to them, and plainly branded withthe hard epithets they had deserved. The chap-ters of Wurtzburg, Bamberg, Strasburg, Mentz,Treves, Cologne, and several others, had expe-rienced their destructive presence; to all thesethe damage done was to be made good, the freepassage by land and by water restored, (for theProtestants had even seized on the navigationof the Rhine,) and everything replaced on its

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former footing. Above all, the parties to theUnion were called on to declare expressly andunequivocally its intentions. It was now theirturn to yield to superior strength. They had notcalculated on so formidable an opponent; butthey themselves had taught the Roman Catho-lics the secret of their strength. It was humili-ating to their pride to sue for peace, but theymight think themselves fortunate in obtainingit. The one party promised restitution, the otherforgiveness. All laid down their arms. The stormof war once more rolled by, and a temporarycalm succeeded. The insurrection in Bohemiathen broke out, which deprived the Emperor ofthe last of his hereditary dominions, but in thisdispute neither the Union nor the League tookany share.

At length the Emperor died in 1612, as littleregretted in his coffin as noticed on the throne.Long afterwards, when the miseries of succeed-ing reigns had made the misfortunes of his reign

forgotten, a halo spread about his memory, andso fearful a night set in upon Germany, that,with tears of blood, people prayed for the re-turn of such an emperor.

Rodolph never could be prevailed upon tochoose a successor in the empire, and allawaited with anxiety the approaching vacancyof the throne; but, beyond all hope, Matthiasat once ascended it, and without opposition.The Roman Catholics gave him their voices,because they hoped the best from his vigourand activity; the Protestants gave him theirs,because they hoped every thing from his weak-ness. It is not difficult to reconcile this contra-diction. The one relied on what he had onceappeared; the other judged him by what heseemed at present.

The moment of a new accession is always aday of hope; and the first Diet of a king in elec-tive monarchies is usually his severest trial.Every old grievance is brought forward, and new

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ones are sought out, that they may be includedin the expected reform; quite a new world isexpected to commence with the new reign. Theimportant services which, in his insurrection,their religious confederates in Austria had ren-dered to Matthias, were still fresh in the mindsof the Protestant free cities, and, above all, theprice which they had exacted for their servicesseemed now to serve them also as a model.

It was by the favour of the Protestant Estatesin Austria and Moravia that Matthias had soughtand really found the way to his brother’s throne;but, hurried on by his ambitious views, he neverreflected that a way was thus opened for theStates to give laws to their sovereign. This dis-covery soon awoke him from the intoxication ofsuccess. Scarcely had he shown himself in tri-umph to his Austrian subjects, after his victori-ous expedition to Bohemia, when a humblepetition awaited him which was quite sufficientto poison his whole triumph. They required,

before doing homage, unlimited religious tol-eration in the cities and market towns, perfectequality of rights between Roman Catholics andProtestants, and a full and equal admissibilityof the latter to all offices of state. In severalplaces, they of themselves assumed these privi-leges, and, reckoning on a change of adminis-tration, restored the Protestant religion wherethe late Emperor had suppressed it. Matthias,it is true, had not scrupled to make use of thegrievances of the Protestants for his own endsagainst the Emperor; but it was far from beinghis intention to relieve them. By a firm and reso-lute tone he hoped to check, at once, these pre-sumptuous demands. He spoke of his heredi-tary title to these territories, and would hear ofno stipulations before the act of homage. A likeunconditional submission had been renderedby their neighbours, the inhabitants of Styria,to the Archduke Ferdinand, who, however, hadsoon reason to repent of it. Warned by this ex-

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ample, the Austrian States persisted in theirrefusal; and, to avoid being compelled by forceto do homage, their deputies (after urging theirRoman Catholic colleagues to a similar resis-tance) immediately left the capital, and beganto levy troops.

They took steps to renew their old alliancewith Hungary, drew the Protestant princes intotheir interests, and set themselves seriously towork to accomplish their object by force of arms.

With the more exorbitant demands of theHungarians Matthias had not hesitated to com-ply. For Hungary was an elective monarchy, andthe republican constitution of the country jus-tified to himself their demands, and to the Ro-man Catholic world his concessions. In Austria,on the contrary, his predecessors had exercisedfar higher prerogatives, which he could not re-linquish at the demand of the Estates withoutincurring the scorn of Roman Catholic Europe,the enmity of Spain and Rome, and the con-

tempt of his own Roman Catholic subjects. Hisexclusively Romish council, among which theBishop of Vienna, Melchio Kiesel, had the chiefinfluence, exhorted him to see all the churchesextorted from him by the Protestants, ratherthan to concede one to them as a matter of right.

But by ill luck this difficulty occurred at a timewhen the Emperor Rodolph was yet alive, anda spectator of this scene, and who might easilyhave been tempted to employ against hisbrother the same weapons which the latter hadsuccessfully directed against him—namely, anunderstanding with his rebellious subjects. Toavoid this blow, Matthias willingly availed him-self of the offer made by Moravia, to act as me-diator between him and the Estates of Austria.Representatives of both parties met in Vienna,when the Austrian deputies held languagewhich would have excited surprise even in theEnglish Parliament. “The Protestants,” theysaid, “are determined to be not worse treated

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in their native country than the handful ofRomanists. By the help of his Protestant nobleshad Matthias reduced the Emperor to submis-sion; where 80 Papists were to be found, 300Protestant barons might be counted. The ex-ample of Rodolph should be a warning toMatthias. He should take care that he did notlose the terrestrial, in attempting to make con-quests for the celestial.” As the Moravian States,instead of using their powers as mediators forthe Emperor’s advantage, finally adopted thecause of their co-religionists of Austria; as theUnion in Germany came forward to afford themits most active support, and as Matthias dreadedreprisals on the part of the Emperor, he was atlength compelled to make the desired declara-tion in favour of the Evangelical Church.

This behaviour of the Austrian Estates towardstheir Archduke was now imitated by the Prot-estant Estates of the Empire towards their Em-peror, and they promised themselves the same

favourable results. At his first Diet at Ratisbonin 1613, when the most pressing affairs werewaiting for decision—when a general contribu-tion was indispensable for a war against Tur-key, and against Bethlem Gabor inTransylvania, who by Turkish aid had forciblyusurped the sovereignty of that land, and eventhreatened Hungary—they surprised him withan entirely new demand. The Roman Catholicvotes were still the most numerous in the Diet;and as every thing was decided by a plurality ofvoices, the Protestant party, however closelyunited, were entirely without consideration. Theadvantage of this majority the Roman Catho-lics were now called on to relinquish; hencefor-ward no one religious party was to be permit-ted to dictate to the other by means of its in-variable superiority. And in truth, if the evan-gelical religion was really to be represented inthe Diet, it was self-evident that it must not beshut out from the possibility of making use of

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that privilege, merely from the constitution ofthe Diet itself. Complaints of the judicial usur-pations of the Aulic Council, and of the oppres-sion of the Protestants, accompanied this de-mand, and the deputies of the Estates were in-structed to take no part in any general delib-erations till a favourable answer should be givenon this preliminary point.

The Diet was torn asunder by this dangerousdivision, which threatened to destroy for everthe unity of its deliberations. Sincerely as theEmperor might have wished, after the exampleof his father Maximilian, to preserve a prudentbalance between the two religions, the presentconduct of the Protestants seemed to leave himnothing but a critical choice between the two.In his present necessities a general contribu-tion from the Estates was indispensable to him;and yet he could not conciliate the one partywithout sacrificing the support of the other.Insecure as he felt his situation to be in his

own hereditary dominions, he could not buttremble at the idea, however remote, of an openwar with the Protestants. But the eyes of thewhole Roman Catholic world, which were at-tentively regarding his conduct, the remon-strances of the Roman Catholic Estates, and ofthe Courts of Rome and Spain, as little permit-ted him to favour the Protestant at the expenseof the Romish religion.

So critical a situation would have paralysed agreater mind than Matthias; and his own pru-dence would scarcely have extricated him fromhis dilemma. But the interests of the RomanCatholics were closely interwoven with the im-perial authority; if they suffered this to fall, theecclesiastical princes in particular would bewithout a bulwark against the attacks of theProtestants. Now, then, that they saw the Em-peror wavering, they thought it high time toreassure his sinking courage. They impartedto him the secret of their League, and ac-

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quainted him with its whole constitution, re-sources and power. Little comforting as such arevelation must have been to the Emperor, theprospect of so powerful a support gave himgreater boldness to oppose the Protestants.Their demands were rejected, and the Dietbroke up without coming to a decision. ButMatthias was the victim of this dispute. The Prot-estants refused him their supplies, and madehim alone suffer for the inflexibility of the Ro-man Catholics.

The Turks, however, appeared willing to pro-long the cessation of hostilities, and BethlemGabor was left in peaceable possession ofTransylvania. The empire was now free from for-eign enemies; and even at home, in the midst ofall these fearful disputes, peace still reigned. Anunexpected accident had given a singular turnto the dispute as to the succession of Juliers.This duchy was still ruled conjointly by the Elec-toral House of Brandenburg and the Palatine of

Neuburg; and a marriage between the Prince ofNeuburg and a Princess of Brandenburg was tohave inseparably united the interests of the twohouses. But the whole scheme was upset by abox on the ear, which, in a drunken brawl, theElector of Brandenburg unfortunately inflictedupon his intended son-in-law. From this momentthe good understanding between the two houseswas at an end. The Prince of Neuburg embracedpopery. The hand of a princess of Bavaria re-warded his apostacy, and the strong support ofBavaria and Spain was the natural result of both.To secure to the Palatine the exclusive posses-sion of Juliers, the Spanish troops from the Neth-erlands were marched into the Palatinate. To ridhimself of these guests, the Elector ofBrandenburg called the Flemings to his assis-tance, whom he sought to propitiate by embrac-ing the Calvinist religion. Both Spanish andDutch armies appeared, but, as it seemed, onlyto make conquests for themselves.

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The neighbouring war of the Netherlandsseemed now about to be decided on Germanground; and what an inexhaustible mine ofcombustibles lay here ready for it! The Protes-tants saw with consternation the Spaniardsestablishing themselves upon the Lower Rhine;with still greater anxiety did the Roman Catho-lics see the Hollanders bursting through thefrontiers of the empire. It was in the west thatthe mine was expected to explode which hadlong been dug under the whole of Germany. Tothe west, apprehension and anxiety turned; butthe spark which kindled the flame came unex-pectedly from the east.

The tranquillity which Rodolph II.’s ‘Letter ofMajesty’ had established in Bohemia lasted forsome time, under the administration of Matthias,till the nomination of a new heir to this king-dom in the person of Ferdinand of Gratz.

This prince, whom we shall afterwards becomebetter acquainted with under the title of

Ferdinand II., Emperor of Germany, had, by theviolent extirpation of the Protestant religionwithin his hereditary dominions, announcedhimself as an inexorable zealot for popery, andwas consequently looked upon by the RomanCatholic part of Bohemia as the future pillar oftheir church. The declining health of the Em-peror brought on this hour rapidly; and, rely-ing on so powerful a supporter, the BohemianPapists began to treat the Protestants with littlemoderation. The Protestant vassals of RomanCatholic nobles, in particular, experienced theharshest treatment. At length several of theformer were incautious enough to speak some-what loudly of their hopes, and by threateninghints to awaken among the Protestants a sus-picion of their future sovereign. But this mis-trust would never have broken out into actualviolence, had the Roman Catholics confinedthemselves to general expressions, and not byattacks on individuals furnished the discontent

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of the people with enterprising leaders.Henry Matthias, Count Thurn, not a native of

Bohemia, but proprietor of some estates in thatkingdom, had, by his zeal for the Protestantcause, and an enthusiastic attachment to hisnewly adopted country, gained the entire con-fidence of the Utraquists, which opened himthe way to the most important posts. He hadfought with great glory against the Turks, andwon by a flattering address the hearts of themultitude. Of a hot and impetuous disposition,which loved tumult because his talents shonein it—rash and thoughtless enough to under-take things which cold prudence and a calmertemper would not have ventured upon—unscru-pulous enough, where the gratification of hispassions was concerned, to sport with the fateof thousands, and at the same time politicenough to hold in leading-strings such a peopleas the Bohemians then were. He had alreadytaken an active part in the troubles under

Rodolph’s administration; and the Letter ofMajesty which the States had extorted from thatEmperor, was chiefly to be laid to his merit. Thecourt had intrusted to him, as burgrave orcastellan of Calstein, the custody of the Bohe-mian crown, and of the national charter. Butthe nation had placed in his hands somethingfar more important—itself—with the office ofdefender or protector of the faith. The aristoc-racy by which the Emperor was ruled, impru-dently deprived him of this harmless guardian-ship of the dead, to leave him his full influenceover the living. They took from him his office ofburgrave, or constable of the castle, which hadrendered him dependent on the court, therebyopening his eyes to the importance of the otherwhich remained, and wounded his vanity, whichyet was the thing that made his ambition harm-less. From this moment he was actuated solelyby a desire of revenge; and the opportunity ofgratifying it was not long wanting.

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In the Royal Letter which the Bohemians hadextorted from Rodolph II., as well as in the Ger-man religious treaty, one material article re-mained undetermined. All the privilegesgranted by the latter to the Protestants, wereconceived in favour of the Estates or governingbodies, not of the subjects; for only to those ofthe ecclesiastical states had a toleration, andthat precarious, been conceded. The BohemianLetter of Majesty, in the same manner, spokeonly of the Estates and imperial towns, themagistrates of which had contrived to obtainequal privileges with the former. These alonewere free to erect churches and schools, andopenly to celebrate their Protestant worship; inall other towns, it was left entirely to the gov-ernment to which they belonged, to determinethe religion of the inhabitants. The Estates ofthe Empire had availed themselves of this privi-lege in its fullest extent; the secular indeedwithout opposition; while the ecclesiastical, in

whose case the declaration of Ferdinand hadlimited this privilege, disputed, not without rea-son, the validity of that limitation. What was adisputed point in the religious treaty, was leftstill more doubtful in the Letter of Majesty; inthe former, the construction was not doubtful,but it was a question how far obedience mightbe compulsory; in the latter, the interpretationwas left to the states. The subjects of the eccle-siastical Estates in Bohemia thought themselvesentitled to the same rights which the declara-tion of Ferdinand secured to the subjects of Ger-man bishops, they considered themselves onan equality with the subjects of imperial towns,because they looked upon the ecclesiasticalproperty as part of the royal demesnes. In thelittle town of Klostergrab, subject to the Arch-bishop of Prague; and in Braunau, which be-longed to the abbot of that monastery, churcheswere founded by the Protestants, and completednotwithstanding the opposition of their superi-

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ors, and the disapprobation of the Emperor.In the meantime, the vigilance of the defend-

ers had somewhat relaxed, and the courtthought it might venture on a decisive step. Bythe Emperor’s orders, the church at Klostergrabwas pulled down; that at Braunau forcibly shutup, and the most turbulent of the citizensthrown into prison. A general commotion amongthe Protestants was the consequence of thismeasure; a loud outcry was everywhere raisedat this violation of the Letter of Majesty; andCount Thurn, animated by revenge, and par-ticularly called upon by his office of defender,showed himself not a little busy in inflamingthe minds of the people. At his instigation depu-ties were summoned to Prague from every circlein the empire, to concert the necessary mea-sures against the common danger. It was re-solved to petition the Emperor to press for theliberation of the prisoners. The answer of theEmperor, already offensive to the states, from

its being addressed, not to them, but to his vice-roy, denounced their conduct as illegal and re-bellious, justified what had been done atKlostergrab and Braunau as the result of animperial mandate, and contained some pas-sages that might be construed into threats.

Count Thurn did not fail to augment theunfavourable impression which this imperialedict made upon the assembled Estates. Hepointed out to them the danger in which allwho had signed the petition were involved, andsought by working on their resentment andfears to hurry them into violent resolutions. Tohave caused their immediate revolt against theEmperor, would have been, as yet, too bold ameasure. It was only step by step that he wouldlead them on to this unavoidable result. He heldit, therefore, advisable first to direct their in-dignation against the Emperor’s counsellors;and for that purpose circulated a report, thatthe imperial proclamation had been drawn up

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by the government at Prague, and only signedin Vienna. Among the imperial delegates, thechief objects of the popular hatred, were thePresident of the Chamber, Slawata, and BaronMartinitz, who had been elected in place ofCount Thurn, Burgrave of Calstein. Both hadlong before evinced pretty openly their hostilefeelings towards the Protestants, by alone re-fusing to be present at the sitting at which theLetter of Majesty had been inserted in the Bo-hemian constitution. A threat was made at thetime to make them responsible for every viola-tion of the Letter of Majesty; and from this mo-ment, whatever evil befell the Protestants wasset down, and not without reason, to their ac-count. Of all the Roman Catholic nobles, thesetwo had treated their Protestant vassals withthe greatest harshness. They were accused ofhunting them with dogs to the mass, and ofendeavouring to drive them to popery by a de-nial of the rites of baptism, marriage, and burial.

Against two characters so unpopular the pub-lic indignation was easily excited, and they weremarked out for a sacrifice to the general indig-nation.

On the 23rd of May, 1618, the deputies ap-peared armed, and in great numbers, at theroyal palace, and forced their way into the hallwhere the Commissioners Sternberg, Martinitz,Lobkowitz, and Slawata were assembled. In athreatening tone they demanded to know fromeach of them, whether he had taken any part,or had consented to, the imperial proclamation.Sternberg received them with composure,Martinitz and Slawata with defiance. This de-cided their fate; Sternberg and Lobkowitz, lesshated, and more feared, were led by the armout of the room; Martinitz and Slawata wereseized, dragged to a window, and precipitatedfrom a height of eighty feet, into the castletrench. Their creature, the secretary Fabricius,was thrown after them. This singular mode of

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execution naturally excited the surprise of civi-lized nations. The Bohemians justified it as anational custom, and saw nothing remarkablein the whole affair, excepting that any oneshould have got up again safe and sound aftersuch a fall. A dunghill, on which the imperialcommissioners chanced to be deposited, hadsaved them from injury.

It was not to be expected that this summarymode of proceeding would much increase thefavour of the parties with the Emperor, but thiswas the very position to which Count Thurnwished to bring them. If, from the fear of un-certain danger, they had permitted themselvessuch an act of violence, the certain expectationof punishment, and the now urgent necessityof making themselves secure, would plungethem still deeper into guilt. By this brutal actof self-redress, no room was left for irresolutionor repentance, and it seemed as if a single crimecould be absolved only by a series of violences.

As the deed itself could not be undone, noth-ing was left but to disarm the hand of punish-ment. Thirty directors were appointed toorganise a regular insurrection. They seizedupon all the offices of state, and all the impe-rial revenues, took into their own service theroyal functionaries and the soldiers, and sum-moned the whole Bohemian nation to avengethe common cause. The Jesuits, whom the com-mon hatred accused as the instigators of everyprevious oppression, were banished the king-dom, and this harsh measure the Estates foundit necessary to justify in a formal manifesto.These various steps were taken for the preser-vation of the royal authority and the laws —the language of all rebels till fortune has de-cided in their favour.

The emotion which the news of the Bohemianinsurrection excited at the imperial court, wasmuch less lively than such intelligence de-served. The Emperor Matthias was no longer

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the resolute spirit that formerly sought out hisking and master in the very bosom of his people,and hurled him from three thrones. The confi-dence and courage which had animated him inan usurpation, deserted him in a legitimate self-defence. The Bohemian rebels had first takenup arms, and the nature of circumstances drovehim to join them. But he could not hope to con-fine such a war to Bohemia. In all the territo-ries under his dominion, the Protestants wereunited by a dangerous sympathy—the commondanger of their religion might suddenly com-bine them all into a formidable republic. Whatcould he oppose to such an enemy, if the Prot-estant portion of his subjects deserted him? Andwould not both parties exhaust themselves inso ruinous a civil war? How much was at stakeif he lost; and if he won, whom else would hedestroy but his own subjects?

Considerations such as these inclined the Em-peror and his council to concessions and pa-

cific measures, but it was in this very spirit ofconcession that, as others would have it, laythe origin of the evil. The Archduke Ferdinandof Gratz congratulated the Emperor upon anevent, which would justify in the eyes of allEurope the severest measures against the Bo-hemian Protestants. “Disobedience, lawless-ness, and insurrection,” he said, “went alwayshand-in-hand with Protestantism. Every privi-lege which had been conceded to the Estatesby himself and his predecessor, had had noother effect than to raise their demands. All themeasures of the heretics were aimed againstthe imperial authority. Step by step had theyadvanced from defiance to defiance up to thislast aggression; in a short time they would as-sail all that remained to be assailed, in the per-son of the Emperor. In arms alone was thereany safety against such an enemy—peace andsubordination could be only established uponthe ruins of their dangerous privileges; secu-

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rity for the Catholic belief was to be found onlyin the total destruction of this sect. Uncertain,it was true, might be the event of the war, butinevitable was the ruin if it were pretermitted.The confiscation of the lands of the rebels wouldrichly indemnify them for its expenses, whilethe terror of punishment would teach the otherstates the wisdom of a prompt obedience in fu-ture.” Were the Bohemian Protestants to blame,if they armed themselves in time against theenforcement of such maxims? The insurrectionin Bohemia, besides, was directed only againstthe successor of the Emperor, not against him-self, who had done nothing to justify the alarmof the Protestants. To exclude this prince fromthe Bohemian throne, arms had before beentaken up under Matthias, though as long asthis Emperor lived, his subjects had kept withinthe bounds of an apparent submission.

But Bohemia was in arms, and unarmed, theEmperor dared not even offer them peace. For

this purpose, Spain supplied gold, and prom-ised to send troops from Italy and the Nether-lands. Count Bucquoi, a native of the Nether-lands, was named generalissimo, because nonative could be trusted, and Count Dampierre,another foreigner, commanded under him. Be-fore the army took the field, the Emperor en-deavoured to bring about an amicable arrange-ment, by the publication of a manifesto. In thishe assured the Bohemians, “that he held sa-cred the Letter of Majesty—that he had notformed any resolutions inimical to their reli-gion or their privileges, and that his presentpreparations were forced upon him by theirown. As soon as the nation laid down their arms,he also would disband his army.” But this gra-cious letter failed of its effect, because the lead-ers of the insurrection contrived to hide fromthe people the Emperor’s good intentions. In-stead of this, they circulated the most alarm-ing reports from the pulpit, and by pamphlets,

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and terrified the deluded populace with threat-ened horrors of another Saint Bartholomew’sthat existed only in their own imagination. AllBohemia, with the exception of three towns,Budweiss, Krummau, and Pilsen, took part inthis insurrection. These three towns, inhabitedprincipally by Roman Catholics, alone had thecourage, in this general revolt, to hold out forthe Emperor, who promised them assistance.But it could not escape Count Thurn, how dan-gerous it was to leave in hostile hands threeplaces of such importance, which would at alltimes keep open for the imperial troops an en-trance into the kingdom. With prompt deter-mination he appeared before Budweiss andKrummau, in the hope of terrifying them into asurrender. Krummau surrendered, but all hisattacks were steadfastly repulsed by Budweiss.

And now, too, the Emperor began to showmore earnestness and energy. Bucquoi andDampierre, with two armies, fell upon the Bo-

hemian territories, which they treated as a hos-tile country. But the imperial generals foundthe march to Prague more difficult than theyhad expected. Every pass, every position thatwas the least tenable, must be opened by thesword, and resistance increased at each freshstep they took, for the outrages of their troops,chiefly consisting of Hungarians and Walloons,drove their friends to revolt and their enemiesto despair. But even now that his troops hadpenetrated into Bohemia, the Emperor contin-ued to offer the Estates peace, and to show him-self ready for an amicable adjustment. But thenew prospects which opened upon them, raisedthe courage of the revolters. Moravia espousedtheir party; and from Germany appeared tothem a defender equally intrepid and unex-pected, in the person of Count Mansfeld.

The heads of the Evangelic Union had beensilent but not inactive spectators of the move-ments in Bohemia. Both were contending for

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the same cause, and against the same enemy.In the fate of the Bohemians, their confeder-ates in the faith might read their own; and thecause of this people was represented as of sol-emn concern to the whole German union. Trueto these principles, the Unionists supported thecourage of the insurgents by promises of assis-tance; and a fortunate accident now enabledthem, beyond their hopes, to fulfil them.

The instrument by which the House of Aus-tria was humbled in Germany, was Peter Ernest,Count Mansfeld, the son of a distinguishedAustrian officer, Ernest von Mansfeld, who forsome time had commanded with repute theSpanish army in the Netherlands. His first cam-paigns in Juliers and Alsace had been made inthe service of this house, and under the ban-ner of the Archduke Leopold, against the Prot-estant religion and the liberties of Germany.But insensibly won by the principles of thisreligion, he abandoned a leader whose selfish-

ness denied him the reimbursement of themonies expended in his cause, and he trans-ferred his zeal and a victorious sword to theEvangelic Union. It happened just then that theDuke of Savoy, an ally of the Union, demandedassistance in a war against Spain. They assignedto him their newly acquired servant, andMansfeld received instructions to raise an armyof 4000 men in Germany, in the cause and inthe pay of the duke. The army was ready tomarch at the very moment when the flames ofwar burst out in Bohemia, and the duke, whoat the time did not stand in need of its services,placed it at the disposal of the Union. Nothingcould be more welcome to these troops thanthe prospect of aiding their confederates inBohemia, at the cost of a third party. Mansfeldreceived orders forthwith to march with these4000 men into that kingdom; and a pretendedBohemian commission was given to blind thepublic as to the true author of this levy.

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This Mansfeld now appeared in Bohemia, and,by the occupation of Pilsen, strongly fortifiedand favourable to the Emperor, obtained a firmfooting in the country. The courage of the rebelswas farther increased by succours which theSilesian States despatched to their assistance.Between these and the Imperialists, severalbattles were fought, far indeed from decisive,but only on that account the more destructive,which served as the prelude to a more seriouswar. To check the vigour of his military opera-tions, a negotiation was entered into with theEmperor, and a disposition was shown to ac-cept the proffered mediation of Saxony. Butbefore the event could prove how little sincer-ity there was in these proposals, the Emperorwas removed from the scene by death.

What now had Matthias done to justify theexpectations which he had excited by the over-throw of his predecessor? Was it worth while toascend a brother’s throne through guilt, and

then maintain it with so little dignity, and leaveit with so little renown? As long as Matthias saton the throne, he had to atone for the impru-dence by which he had gained it. To enjoy theregal dignity a few years sooner, he had shack-led the free exercise of its prerogatives. The slen-der portion of independence left him by thegrowing power of the Estates, was still fartherlessened by the encroachments of his relations.Sickly and childless he saw the attention of theworld turned to an ambitious heir who was im-patiently anticipating his fate; and who, by hisinterference with the closing administration,was already opening his own.

With Matthias, the reigning line of the Ger-man House of Austria was in a manner extinct;for of all the sons of Maximilian, one only wasnow alive, the weak and childless ArchdukeAlbert, in the Netherlands, who had already re-nounced his claims to the inheritance in favourof the line of Gratz. The Spanish House had

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also, in a secret bond, resigned its pretensionsto the Austrian possessions in behalf of theArchduke Ferdinand of Styria, in whom thebranch of Hapsburg was about to put forth newshoots, and the former greatness of Austria toexperience a revival.

The father of Ferdinand was the ArchdukeCharles of Carniola, Carinthia, and Styria, theyoungest brother of the Emperor MaximilianII.; his mother a princess of Bavaria. Having losthis father at twelve years of age, he was in-trusted by the archduchess to the guardian-ship of her brother William, Duke of Bavaria,under whose eyes he was instructed and edu-cated by Jesuits at the Academy of Ingolstadt.What principles he was likely to imbibe by hisintercourse with a prince, who from motives ofdevotion had abdicated his government, maybe easily conceived. Care was taken to pointout to him, on the one hand, the weak indul-gence of Maximilian’s house towards the ad-herents of the new doctrines, and the conse-

quent troubles of their dominions; on the other,the blessings of Bavaria, and the inflexible reli-gious zeal of its rulers; between these two ex-amples he was left to choose for himself.

Formed in this school to be a stout championof the faith, and a prompt instrument of thechurch, he left Bavaria, after a residence of fiveyears, to assume the government of his heredi-tary dominions. The Estates of Carniola,Carinthia, and Styria, who, before doing hom-age, demanded a guarantee for freedom of reli-gion, were told that religious liberty has noth-ing to do with their allegiance. The oath wasput to them without conditions, and uncondi-tionally taken. Many years, however, elapsed,ere the designs which had been planned atIngolstadt were ripe for execution. Before at-tempting to carry them into effect, he soughtin person at Loretto the favour of the Virgin,and received the apostolic benediction in Romeat the feet of Clement VIII.

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These designs were nothing less than the ex-pulsion of Protestantism from a country whereit had the advantage of numbers, and had beenlegally recognized by a formal act of toleration,granted by his father to the noble and knightlyestates of the land. A grant so formally ratifiedcould not be revoked without danger; but nodifficulties could deter the pious pupil of theJesuits. The example of other states, both Ro-man Catholic and Protestant, which within theirown territories had exercised unquestioned aright of reformation, and the abuse which theEstates of Styria made of their religious liber-ties, would serve as a justification of this vio-lent procedure. Under the shelter of an absurdpositive law, those of equity and prudencemight, it was thought, be safely despised. Inthe execution of these unrighteous designs,Ferdinand did, it must be owned, display nocommon courage and perseverance. Withouttumult, and we may add, without cruelty, he

suppressed the Protestant service in one townafter another, and in a few years, to the aston-ishment of Germany, this dangerous work wasbrought to a successful end.

But, while the Roman Catholics admired himas a hero, and the champion of the church, theProtestants began to combine against him asagainst their most dangerous enemy. And yetMatthias’s intention to bequeath to him thesuccession, met with little or no opposition inthe elective states of Austria. Even the Bohemi-ans agreed to receive him as their future king,on very favourable conditions. It was not untilafterwards, when they had experienced thepernicious influence of his councils on the ad-ministration of the Emperor, that their anxietywas first excited; and then several projects, inhis handwriting, which an unlucky chancethrew into their hands, as they plainly evincedhis disposition towards them, carried their ap-prehension to the utmost pitch. In particular,

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they were alarmed by a secret family compactwith Spain, by which, in default of heirs-maleof his own body, Ferdinand bequeathed to thatcrown the kingdom of Bohemia, without firstconsulting the wishes of that nation, and with-out regard to its right of free election. The manyenemies, too, which by his reforms in Styriathat prince had provoked among the Protes-tants, were very prejudicial to his interests inBohemia; and some Styrian emigrants, who hadtaken refuge there, bringing with them intotheir adopted country hearts overflowing witha desire of revenge, were particularly active inexciting the flame of revolt. Thus ill-affected didFerdinand find the Bohemians, when he suc-ceeded Matthias.

So bad an understanding between the nationand the candidate for the throne, would haveraised a storm even in the most peaceable suc-cession; how much more so at the present mo-ment, before the ardour of insurrection had

cooled; when the nation had just recovered itsdignity, and reasserted its rights; when theystill held arms in their hands, and the con-sciousness of unity had awakened an enthusi-astic reliance on their own strength; when bypast success, by the promises of foreign assis-tance, and by visionary expectations of the fu-ture, their courage had been raised to an un-doubting confidence. Disregarding the rightsalready conferred on Ferdinand, the Estatesdeclared the throne vacant, and their right ofelection entirely unfettered. All hopes of theirpeaceful submission were at an end, and ifFerdinand wished still to wear the crown ofBohemia, he must choose between purchasingit at the sacrifice of all that would make a crowndesirable, or winning it sword in hand.

But with what means was it to be won? Turnhis eyes where he would, the fire of revolt wasburning. Silesia had already joined the insur-gents in Bohemia; Moravia was on the point of

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following its example. In Upper and Lower Aus-tria the spirit of liberty was awake, as it had beenunder Rodolph, and the Estates refused to dohomage. Hungary was menaced with an inroadby Prince Bethlen Gabor, on the side ofTransylvania; a secret arming among the Turksspread consternation among the provinces to theeastward; and, to complete his perplexities, theProtestants also, in his hereditary dominions,stimulated by the general example, were againraising their heads. In that quarter, their num-bers were overwhelming; in most places they hadpossession of the revenues which Ferdinandwould need for the maintenance of the war. Theneutral began to waver, the faithful to be dis-couraged, the turbulent alone to be animatedand confident. One half of Germany encouragedthe rebels, the other inactively awaited the is-sue; Spanish assistance was still very remote.The moment which had brought him every thing,threatened also to deprive him of all.

And when he now, yielding to the stern law ofnecessity, made overtures to the Bohemianrebels, all his proposals for peace were inso-lently rejected. Count Thurn, at the head of anarmy, entered Moravia to bring this province,which alone continued to waver, to a decision.The appearance of their friends is the signal ofrevolt for the Moravian Protestants. Bruenn istaken, the remainder of the country yields withfree will, throughout the province governmentand religion are changed. Swelling as it flows,the torrent of rebellion pours down upon Aus-tria, where a party, holding similar sentiments,receives it with a joyful concurrence. Hence-forth, there should be no more distinctions ofreligion; equality of rights should be guaran-teed to all Christian churches. They hear thata foreign force has been invited into the coun-try to oppress the Bohemians. Let them besought out, and the enemies of liberty pursuedto the ends of the earth. Not an arm is raised in

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defence of the Archduke, and the rebels, atlength, encamp before Vienna to besiege theirsovereign.

Ferdinand had sent his children from Gratz,where they were no longer safe, to the Tyrol;he himself awaited the insurgents in his capi-tal. A handful of soldiers was all he could op-pose to the enraged multitude; these few werewithout pay or provisions, and therefore littleto be depended on. Vienna was unprepared fora long siege. The party of the Protestants, readyat any moment to join the Bohemians, had thepreponderance in the city; those in the coun-try had already begun to levy troops againsthim. Already, in imagination, the Protestantpopulace saw the Emperor shut up in a monas-tery, his territories divided, and his childreneducated as Protestants. Confiding in secret,and surrounded by public enemies, he saw thechasm every moment widening to engulf hishopes and even himself. The Bohemian bullets

were already falling upon the imperial palace,when sixteen Austrian barons forcibly enteredhis chamber, and inveighing against him withloud and bitter reproaches, endeavoured toforce him into a confederation with the Bohe-mians. One of them, seizing him by the buttonof his doublet, demanded, in a tone of menace,“Ferdinand, wilt thou sign it?”

Who would not be pardoned had he waveredin this frightful situation? Yet Ferdinand stillremembered the dignity of a Roman emperor.No alternative seemed left to him but an imme-diate flight or submission; laymen urged himto the one, priests to the other. If he abandonedthe city, it would fall into the enemy’s hands;with Vienna, Austria was lost; with Austria, theimperial throne. Ferdinand abandoned not hiscapital, and as little would he hear of condi-tions.

The Archduke is still engaged in altercationwith the deputed barons, when all at once a

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sound of trumpets is heard in the palace square.Terror and astonishment take possession of allpresent; a fearful report pervades the palace;one deputy after another disappears. Many ofthe nobility and the citizens hastily take ref-uge in the camp of Thurn. This sudden changeis effected by a regiment of Dampierre’s cuiras-siers, who at that moment marched into thecity to defend the Archduke. A body of infantrysoon followed; reassured by their appearance,several of the Roman Catholic citizens, and eventhe students themselves, take up arms. A re-port which arrived just at the same time fromBohemia made his deliverance complete. TheFlemish general, Bucquoi, had totally defeatedCount Mansfeld at Budweiss, and was march-ing upon Prague. The Bohemians hastily brokeup their camp before Vienna to protect theirown capital.

And now also the passes were free which theenemy had taken possession of, in order to ob-

struct Ferdinand’s progress to his coronationat Frankfort. If the accession to the imperialthrone was important for the plans of the Kingof Hungary, it was of still greater consequenceat the present moment, when his nominationas Emperor would afford the most unsuspiciousand decisive proof of the dignity of his person,and of the justice of his cause, while, at thesame time, it would give him a hope of supportfrom the Empire. But the same cabal whichopposed him in his hereditary dominions,laboured also to counteract him in his canvassfor the imperial dignity. No Austrian prince,they maintained, ought to ascend the throne;least of all Ferdinand, the bigoted persecutorof their religion, the slave of Spain and of theJesuits. To prevent this, the crown had beenoffered, even during the lifetime of Matthias, tothe Duke of Bavaria, and on his refusal, to theDuke of Savoy. As some difficulty was experi-enced in settling with the latter the conditions

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of acceptance, it was sought, at all events, todelay the election till some decisive blow inAustria or Bohemia should annihilate all thehopes of Ferdinand, and incapacitate him fromany competition for this dignity. The membersof the Union left no stone unturned to gain overfrom Ferdinand the Electorate of Saxony, whichwas bound to Austrian interests; they repre-sented to this court the dangers with which theProtestant religion, and even the constitutionof the empire, were threatened by the principlesof this prince and his Spanish alliance. By theelevation of Ferdinand to the imperial throne,Germany, they further asserted, would be in-volved in the private quarrels of this prince, andbring upon itself the arms of Bohemia. But inspite of all opposing influences, the day of elec-tion was fixed, Ferdinand summoned to it aslawful king of Bohemia, and his electoral vote,after a fruitless resistance on the part of theBohemian Estates, acknowledged to be good.

The votes of the three ecclesiastical electorateswere for him, Saxony was favourable to him,Brandenburg made no opposition, and a de-cided majority declared him Emperor in 1619.Thus he saw the most doubtful of his crownsplaced first of all on his head; but a few daysafter he lost that which he had reckoned amongthe most certain of his possessions. While hewas thus elected Emperor in Frankfort, he wasin Prague deprived of the Bohemian throne.

Almost all of his German hereditary domin-ions had in the meantime entered into a formi-dable league with the Bohemians, whose inso-lence now exceeded all bounds. In a generalDiet, the latter, on the 17th of August, 1619,proclaimed the Emperor an enemy to the Bo-hemian religion and liberties, who by his per-nicious counsels had alienated from them theaffections of the late Emperor, had furnishedtroops to oppress them, had given their coun-try as a prey to foreigners, and finally, in con-

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travention of the national rights, had be-queathed the crown, by a secret compact, toSpain: they therefore declared that he had for-feited whatever title he might otherwise havehad to the crown, and immediately proceededto a new election. As this sentence was pro-nounced by Protestants, their choice could notwell fall upon a Roman Catholic prince, though,to save appearances, some voices were raisedfor Bavaria and Savoy. But the violent religiousanimosities which divided the evangelical andthe reformed parties among the Protestants,impeded for some time the election even of aProtestant king; till at last the address and ac-tivity of the Calvinists carried the day from thenumerical superiority of the Lutherans.

Among all the princes who were competitorsfor this dignity, the Elector Palatine FrederickV. had the best grounded claims on the confi-dence and gratitude of the Bohemians; andamong them all, there was no one in whose case

the private interests of particular Estates, andthe attachment of the people, seemed to be jus-tified by so many considerations of state.Frederick V. was of a free and lively spirit, ofgreat goodness of heart, and regal liberality. Hewas the head of the Calvinistic party in Ger-many, the leader of the Union, whose resourceswere at his disposal, a near relation of the Dukeof Bavaria, and a son-in-law of the King of GreatBritain, who might lend him his powerful sup-port. All these considerations were prominentlyand successfully brought forward by the Cal-vinists, and Frederick V. was chosen king bythe Assembly at Prague, amidst prayers andtears of joy.

The whole proceedings of the Diet at Praguehad been premeditated, and Frederick himselfhad taken too active a share in the matter tofeel at all surprised at the offer made to him bythe Bohemians. But now the immediate glitterof this throne dazzled him, and the magnitude

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both of his elevation and his delinquency madehis weak mind to tremble. After the usual man-ner of pusillanimous spirits, he sought to con-firm himself in his purpose by the opinions ofothers; but these opinions had no weight withhim when they ran counter to his own cher-ished wishes. Saxony and Bavaria, of whom hesought advice, all his brother electors, all whocompared the magnitude of the design with hiscapacities and resources, warned him of thedanger into which he was about to rush. EvenKing James of England preferred to see his son-in-law deprived of this crown, than that the sa-cred majesty of kings should be outraged by sodangerous a precedent. But of what avail wasthe voice of prudence against the seductive glit-ter of a crown? In the moment of boldest deter-mination, when they are indignantly rejectingthe consecrated branch of a race which hadgoverned them for two centuries, a free peoplethrows itself into his arms. Confiding in his

courage, they choose him as their leader in thedangerous career of glory and liberty. To him,as to its born champion, an oppressed religionlooks for shelter and support against its perse-cutors. Could he have the weakness to listen tohis fears, and to betray the cause of religionand liberty? This religion proclaims to him itsown preponderance, and the weakness of itsrival, — two-thirds of the power of Austria arenow in arms against Austria itself, while a for-midable confederacy, already formed inTransylvania, would, by a hostile attack, fur-ther distract even the weak remnant of itspower. Could inducements such as these failto awaken his ambition, or such hopes to ani-mate and inflame his resolution?

A few moments of calm consideration wouldhave sufficed to show the danger of the under-taking, and the comparative worthlessness ofthe prize. But the temptation spoke to his feel-ings; the warning only to his reason. It was his

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misfortune that his nearest and most influen-tial counsellors espoused the side of his pas-sions. The aggrandizement of their master’spower opened to the ambition and avarice ofhis Palatine servants an unlimited field for theirgratification; this anticipated triumph of theirchurch kindled the ardour of the Calvinisticfanatic. Could a mind so weak as that ofFerdinand resist the delusions of his counsel-lors, who exaggerated his resources and hisstrength, as much as they underrated those ofhis enemies; or the exhortations of his preach-ers, who announced the effusions of their fa-natical zeal as the immediate inspiration ofheaven? The dreams of astrology filled his mindwith visionary hopes; even love conspired, withits irresistible fascination, to complete the se-duction. “Had you,” demanded the Electress,“confidence enough in yourself to accept thehand of a king’s daughter, and have you mis-givings about taking a crown which is voluntar-

ily offered you? I would rather eat bread at thykingly table, than feast at thy electoral board.”

Frederick accepted the Bohemian crown. Thecoronation was celebrated with unexampledpomp at Prague, for the nation displayed all itsriches in honour of its own work. Silesia andMoravia, the adjoining provinces to Bohemia,followed their example, and did homage toFrederick. The reformed faith was enthronedin all the churches of the kingdom; the rejoic-ings were unbounded, their attachment to theirnew king bordered on adoration. Denmark andSweden, Holland and Venice, and several of theDutch states, acknowledged him as lawful sov-ereign, and Frederick now prepared to main-tain his new acquisition.

His principal hopes rested on Prince BethlenGabor of Transylvania. This formidable enemyof Austria, and of the Roman Catholic church,not content with the principality which, withthe assistance of the Turks, he had wrested from

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his legitimate prince, Gabriel Bathori, gladlyseized this opportunity of aggrandizing himselfat the expense of Austria, which had hesitatedto acknowledge him as sovereign ofTransylvania. An attack upon Hungary andAustria was concerted with the Bohemianrebels, and both armies were to unite beforethe capital. Meantime, Bethlen Gabor, underthe mask of friendship, disguised the true ob-ject of his warlike preparations, artfully prom-ising the Emperor to lure the Bohemians intothe toils, by a pretended offer of assistance, andto deliver up to him alive the leaders of the in-surrection. All at once, however, he appearedin a hostile attitude in Upper Hungary. Beforehim went terror, and devastation behind; allopposition yielded, and at Presburg he receivedthe Hungarian crown. The Emperor’s brother,who governed in Vienna, trembled for the capi-tal. He hastily summoned General Bucquoi tohis assistance, and the retreat of the Imperial-

ists drew the Bohemians, a second time, be-fore the walls of Vienna. Reinforced by twelvethousand Transylvanians, and soon after joinedby the victorious army of Bethlen Gabor, theyagain menaced the capital with assault; all thecountry round Vienna was laid waste, the navi-gation of the Danube closed, all supplies cutoff, and the horrors of famine were threatened.Ferdinand, hastily recalled to his capital by thisurgent danger, saw himself a second time onthe brink of ruin. But want of provisions, andthe inclement weather, finally compelled theBohemians to go into quarters, a defeat in Hun-gary recalled Bethlen Gabor, and thus oncemore had fortune rescued the Emperor.

In a few weeks the scene was changed, andby his prudence and activity Ferdinand im-proved his position as rapidly as Frederick, byindolence and impolicy, ruined his. The Estatesof Lower Austria were regained to their alle-giance by a confirmation of their privileges; and

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the few who still held out were declared guiltyof ‘lese-majeste’ and high treason. During theelection of Frankfort, he had contrived, by per-sonal representations, to win over to his causethe ecclesiastical electors, and also Maximilian,Duke of Bavaria, at Munich. The whole issue ofthe war, the fate of Frederick and the Emperor,were now dependent on the part which theUnion and the League should take in thetroubles of Bohemia. It was evidently of impor-tance to all the Protestants of Germany that theKing of Bohemia should be supported, while itwas equally the interest of the Roman Catho-lics to prevent the ruin of the Emperor. If theProtestants succeeded in Bohemia, all the Ro-man Catholic princes in Germany mighttremble for their possessions; if they failed, theEmperor would give laws to Protestant Germany.Thus Ferdinand put the League, Frederick theUnion, in motion. The ties of relationship and apersonal attachment to the Emperor, his

brother-in-law, with whom he had been edu-cated at Ingolstadt, zeal for the Roman Catho-lic religion, which seemed to be in the mostimminent peril, and the suggestions of the Je-suits, combined with the suspicious movementsof the Union, moved the Duke of Bavaria, andall the princes of the League, to make the causeof Ferdinand their own.

According to the terms of a treaty with theEmperor, which assured to the Duke of Bavariacompensation for all the expenses of the war,or the losses he might sustain, Maximilian took,with full powers, the command of the troops ofthe League, which were ordered to march tothe assistance of the Emperor against the Bo-hemian rebels. The leaders of the Union, in-stead of delaying by every means this danger-ous coalition of the League with the Emperor,did every thing in their power to accelerate it.Could they, they thought, but once drive theRoman Catholic League to take an open part in

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the Bohemian war, they might reckon on simi-lar measures from all the members and alliesof the Union. Without some open step taken bythe Roman Catholics against the Union, no ef-fectual confederacy of the Protestant powers wasto be looked for. They seized, therefore, thepresent emergency of the troubles in Bohemiato demand from the Roman Catholics the abo-lition of their past grievances, and full securityfor the future exercise of their religion. Theyaddressed this demand, which was moreovercouched in threatening language, to the Dukeof Bavaria, as the head of the Roman Catholics,and they insisted on an immediate and categori-cal answer. Maximilian might decide for oragainst them, still their point was gained; hisconcession, if he yielded, would deprive theRoman Catholic party of its most powerful pro-tector; his refusal would arm the whole Protes-tant party, and render inevitable a war in whichthey hoped to be the conquerors. Maximilian,

firmly attached to the opposite party from somany other considerations, took the demandsof the Union as a formal declaration of hostili-ties, and quickened his preparations. WhileBavaria and the League were thus arming inthe Emperor’s cause, negotiations for a subsidywere opened with the Spanish court. All thedifficulties with which the indolent policy of thatministry met this demand were happily sur-mounted by the imperial ambassador at Madrid,Count Khevenhuller. In addition to a subsidyof a million of florins, which from time to timewere doled out by this court, an attack uponthe Lower Palatinate, from the side of the Span-ish Netherlands, was at the same time agreedupon.

During these attempts to draw all the RomanCatholic powers into the League, every exer-tion was made against the counter-league ofthe Protestants. To this end, it was importantto alarm the Elector of Saxony and the other

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Evangelical powers, and accordingly the Unionwere diligent in propagating a rumour that thepreparations of the League had for their objectto deprive them of the ecclesiastical foundationsthey had secularized. A written assurance tothe contrary calmed the fears of the Duke ofSaxony, whom moreover private jealousy of thePalatine, and the insinuations of his chaplain,who was in the pay of Austria, and mortifica-tion at having been passed over by the Bohe-mians in the election to the throne, stronglyinclined to the side of Austria. The fanaticismof the Lutherans could never forgive the re-formed party for having drawn, as they ex-pressed it, so many fair provinces into the gulfof Calvinism, and rejecting the Roman Anti-christ only to make way for an Helvetian one.

While Ferdinand used every effort to improvethe unfavourable situation of his affairs,Frederick was daily injuring his good cause. Byhis close and questionable connexion with the

Prince of Transylvania, the open ally of thePorte, he gave offence to weak minds; and ageneral rumour accused him of furthering hisown ambition at the expense of Christendom,and arming the Turks against Germany. Hisinconsiderate zeal for the Calvinistic schemeirritated the Lutherans of Bohemia, his attackson image-worship incensed the Papists of thiskingdom against him. New and oppressive im-posts alienated the affections of all his subjects.The disappointed hopes of the Bohemian noblescooled their zeal; the absence of foreignsuccours abated their confidence. Instead ofdevoting himself with untiring energies to theaffairs of his kingdom, Frederick wasted his timein amusements; instead of filling his treasuryby a wise economy, he squandered his revenuesby a needless theatrical pomp, and a misplacedmunificence. With a light-minded carelessness,he did but gaze at himself in his new dignity,and in the ill-timed desire to enjoy his crown,

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he forgot the more pressing duty of securing iton his head.

But greatly as men had erred in their opinionof him, Frederick himself had not less miscal-culated his foreign resources. Most of the mem-bers of the Union considered the affairs ofBohemia as foreign to the real object of theirconfederacy; others, who were devoted to him,were overawed by fear of the Emperor. Saxonyand Hesse Darmstadt had already been gainedover by Ferdinand; Lower Austria, on which sidea powerful diversion had been looked for, hadmade its submission to the Emperor; andBethlen Gabor had concluded a truce with him.By its embassies, the court of Vienna had in-duced Denmark to remain inactive, and to oc-cupy Sweden in a war with the Poles. The re-public of Holland had enough to do to defenditself against the arms of the Spaniards; Veniceand Saxony remained inactive; King James ofEngland was overreached by the artifice of

Spain. One friend after another withdrew; onehope vanished after another—so rapidly in afew months was every thing changed.

In the mean time, the leaders of the Unionassembled an army; —the Emperor and theLeague did the same. The troops of the latterwere assembled under the banners ofMaximilian at Donauwerth, those of the Unionat Ulm, under the Margrave of Anspach. Thedecisive moment seemed at length to have ar-rived which was to end these long dissensionsby a vigorous blow, and irrevocably to settle therelation of the two churches in Germany. Anx-iously on the stretch was the expectation of bothparties. How great then was their astonishmentwhen suddenly the intelligence of peace arrived,and both armies separated without striking ablow!

The intervention of France effected this peace,which was equally acceptable to both parties.The French cabinet, no longer swayed by the

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counsels of Henry the Great, and whose max-ims of state were perhaps not applicable to thepresent condition of that kingdom, was now farless alarmed at the preponderance of Austria,than of the increase which would accrue to thestrength of the Calvinists, if the Palatine houseshould be able to retain the throne of Bohemia.Involved at the time in a dangerous conflict withits own Calvinistic subjects, it was of the ut-most importance to France that the Protestantfaction in Bohemia should be suppressed be-fore the Huguenots could copy their danger-ous example. In order therefore to facilitate theEmperor’s operations against the Bohemians,she offered her mediation to the Union and theLeague, and effected this unexpected treaty, ofwhich the main article was, “That the Unionshould abandon all interference in the affairsof Bohemia, and confine the aid which theymight afford to Frederick the Fifth, to his Pa-latine territories.” To this disgraceful treaty, the

Union were moved by the firmness ofMaximilian, and the fear of being pressed atonce by the troops of the League, and a newImperial army which was on its march from theNetherlands.

The whole force of Bavaria and the League wasnow at the disposal of the Emperor to be em-ployed against the Bohemians, who by the paci-fication of Ulm were abandoned to their fate.With a rapid movement, and before a rumourof the proceedings at Ulm could reach there,Maximilian appeared in Upper Austria, whenthe Estates, surprised and unprepared for anenemy, purchased the Emperor’s pardon by animmediate and unconditional submission. InLower Austria, the duke formed a junction withthe troops from the Low Countries underBucquoi, and without loss of time the unitedImperial and Bavarian forces, amounting to50,000 men, entered Bohemia. All the Bohe-mian troops, which were dispersed over Lower

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Austria and Moravia, were driven before them;every town which attempted resistance wasquickly taken by storm; others, terrified by thereport of the punishment inflicted on these,voluntarily opened their gates; nothing in shortinterrupted the impetuous career ofMaximilian. The Bohemian army, commandedby the brave Prince Christian of Anhalt, re-treated to the neighbourhood of Prague; where,under the walls of the city, Maximilian offeredhim battle.

The wretched condition in which he hoped tosurprise the insurgents, justified the rapidityof the duke’s movements, and secured him thevictory. Frederick’s army did not amount to30,000 men. Eight thousand of these were fur-nished by the Prince of Anhalt; 10,000 wereHungarians, whom Bethlen Gabor had des-patched to his assistance. An inroad of the Elec-tor of Saxony upon Lusatia, had cut off allsuccours from that country, and from Silesia;

the pacification of Austria put an end to all hisexpectations from that quarter; Bethlen Gabor,his most powerful ally, remained inactive inTransylvania; the Union had betrayed his causeto the Emperor. Nothing remained to him buthis Bohemians; and they were without good-will to his cause, and without unity and cour-age. The Bohemian magnates were indignantthat German generals should be put over theirheads; Count Mansfeld remained in Pilsen, ata distance from the camp, to avoid the mortifi-cation of serving under Anhalt and Hohenlohe.The soldiers, in want of necessaries, becamedispirited; and the little discipline that was ob-served, gave occasion to bitter complaints fromthe peasantry. It was in vain that Frederickmade his appearance in the camp, in the hopeof reviving the courage of the soldiers by hispresence, and of kindling the emulation of thenobles by his example.

The Bohemians had begun to entrench them-

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selves on the White Mountain near Prague,when they were attacked by the Imperial andBavarian armies, on the 8th November, 1620.In the beginning of the action, some advantageswere gained by the cavalry of the Prince ofAnhalt; but the superior numbers of the en-emy soon neutralized them. The charge of theBavarians and Walloons was irresistible. TheHungarian cavalry was the first to retreat. TheBohemian infantry soon followed their example;and the Germans were at last carried along withthem in the general flight. Ten cannons, com-posing the whole of Frederick’s artillery, weretaken by the enemy; four thousand Bohemi-ans fell in the flight and on the field; while ofthe Imperialists and soldiers of the League onlya few hundred were killed. In less than an hourthis decisive action was over.

Frederick was seated at table in Prague, whilehis army was thus cut to pieces. It is probablethat he had not expected the attack on this day,

since he had ordered an entertainment for it. Amessenger summoned him from table, to showhim from the walls the whole frightful scene.He requested a cessation of hostilities fortwenty-four hours for deliberation; but eightwas all the Duke of Bavaria would allow him.Frederick availed himself of these to fly by nightfrom the capital, with his wife, and the chiefofficers of his army. This flight was so hurried,that the Prince of Anhalt left behind him hismost private papers, and Frederick his crown.“I know now what I am,” said this unfortunateprince to those who endeavoured to comforthim; “there are virtues which misfortune onlycan teach us, and it is in adversity alone thatprinces learn to know themselves.”

Prague was not irretrievably lost whenFrederick’s pusillanimity abandoned it. Thelight troops of Mansfeld were still in Pilsen, andwere not engaged in the action. Bethlen Gabormight at any moment have assumed an offen-

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sive attitude, and drawn off the Emperor’s armyto the Hungarian frontier. The defeated Bohe-mians might rally. Sickness, famine, and theinclement weather, might wear out the enemy;but all these hopes disappeared before the im-mediate alarm. Frederick dreaded the ficklenessof the Bohemians, who might probably yield tothe temptation to purchase, by the surrenderof his person, the pardon of the Emperor.

Thurn, and those of this party who were inthe same condemnation with him, found itequally inexpedient to await their destiny withinthe walls of Prague. They retired towardsMoravia, with a view of seeking refuge inTransylvania. Frederick fled to Breslau, where,however, he only remained a short time. Heremoved from thence to the court of the Electorof Brandenburg, and finally took shelter inHolland.

The battle of Prague had decided the fate ofBohemia. Prague surrendered the next day to

the victors; the other towns followed the ex-ample of the capital. The Estates did homagewithout conditions, and the same was done bythose of Silesia and Moravia. The Emperor al-lowed three months to elapse, before institut-ing any inquiry into the past. Reassured by thisapparent clemency, many who, at first, had fledin terror appeared again in the capital. All atonce, however, the storm burst forth; forty-eightof the most active among the insurgents werearrested on the same day and hour, and triedby an extraordinary commission, composed ofnative Bohemians and Austrians. Of these,twenty-seven, and of the common people animmense number, expired on the scaffold. Theabsenting offenders were summoned to appearto their trial, and failing to do so, condemnedto death, as traitors and offenders against hisCatholic Majesty, their estates confiscated, andtheir names affixed to the gallows. The prop-erty also of the rebels who had fallen in the

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field was seized. This tyranny might have beenborne, as it affected individuals only, and whilethe ruin of one enriched another; but more in-tolerable was the oppression which extendedto the whole kingdom, without exception. Allthe Protestant preachers were banished fromthe country; the Bohemians first, and after-wards those of Germany. The ‘Letter of Majesty’,Ferdinand tore with his own hand, and burntthe seal. Seven years after the battle of Prague,the toleration of the Protestant religion withinthe kingdom was entirely revoked. But what-ever violence the Emperor allowed himselfagainst the religious privileges of his subjects,he carefully abstained from interfering withtheir political constitution; and while he de-prived them of the liberty of thought, he mag-nanimously left them the prerogative of taxingthemselves.

The victory of the White Mountain putFerdinand in possession of all his dominions.

It even invested him with greater authority overthem than his predecessors enjoyed, since theirallegiance had been unconditionally pledgedto him, and no Letter of Majesty now existed tolimit his sovereignty. All his wishes were nowgratified, to a degree surpassing his most san-guine expectations.

It was now in his power to dismiss his allies,and disband his army. If he was just, there wasan end of the war — if he was both magnani-mous and just, punishment was also at an end.The fate of Germany was in his hands; the hap-piness and misery of millions depended on theresolution he should take. Never was so great adecision resting on a single mind; never did theblindness of one man produce so much ruin.

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Book II

T HE RESOLUTION WHICH Ferdinand nowadopted, gave to the war a new direction, a new scene, and new actors. From

a rebellion in Bohemia, and the chastisementof rebels, a war extended first to Germany, andafterwards to Europe. It is, therefore, necessaryto take a general survey of the state of affairsboth in Germany and the rest of Europe.

Unequally as the territory of Germany and theprivileges of its members were divided amongthe Roman Catholics and the Protestants, nei-ther party could hope to maintain itself againstthe encroachments of its adversary otherwisethan by a prudent use of its peculiar advan-tages, and by a politic union among themselves.If the Roman Catholics were the more numer-ous party, and more favoured by the constitu-tion of the empire, the Protestants, on the otherhand, had the advantage of possessing a more

compact and populous line of territories, val-iant princes, a warlike nobility, numerousarmies, flourishing free towns, the commandof the sea, and even at the worst, certainty ofsupport from Roman Catholic states. If theCatholics could arm Spain and Italy in theirfavour, the republics of Venice, Holland, andEngland, opened their treasures to the Protes-tants, while the states of the North and the for-midable power of Turkey, stood ready to affordthem prompt assistance. Brandenburg, Saxony,and the Palatinate, opposed three Protestantto three Ecclesiastical votes in the ElectoralCollege; while to the Elector of Bohemia, as tothe Archduke of Austria, the possession of theImperial dignity was an important check, if theProtestants properly availed themselves of it.The sword of the Union might keep within itssheath the sword of the League; or if mattersactually came to a war, might make the issue ofit doubtful. But, unfortunately, private inter-

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ests dissolved the band of union which shouldhave held together the Protestant members ofthe empire. This critical conjuncture foundnone but second-rate actors on the politicalstage, and the decisive moment was neglectedbecause the courageous were deficient in power,and the powerful in sagacity, courage, and reso-lution.

The Elector of Saxony was placed at the headof the German Protestants, by the services ofhis ancestor Maurice, by the extent of his terri-tories, and by the influence of his electoral vote.Upon the resolution he might adopt, the fate ofthe contending parties seemed to depend; andJohn George was not insensible to the advan-tages which this important situation procuredhim. Equally valuable as an ally, both to theEmperor and to the Protestant Union, he cau-tiously avoided committing himself to eitherparty; neither trusting himself by any irrevo-cable declaration entirely to the gratitude of the

Emperor, nor renouncing the advantages whichwere to be gained from his fears. Uninfected bythe contagion of religious and romantic enthu-siasm which hurried sovereign after sovereignto risk both crown and life on the hazard of war,John George aspired to the more solid renownof improving and advancing the interests of histerritories. His cotemporaries accused him offorsaking the Protestant cause in the very midstof the storm; of preferring the aggrandizementof his house to the emancipation of his coun-try; of exposing the whole Evangelical orLutheran church of Germany to ruin, ratherthan raise an arm in defence of the Reformedor Calvinists; of injuring the common cause byhis suspicious friendship more seriously thanthe open enmity of its avowed opponents. Butit would have been well if his accusers had imi-tated the wise policy of the Elector. If, despiteof the prudent policy, the Saxons, like all oth-ers, groaned at the cruelties which marked the

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Emperor’s progress; if all Germany was a wit-ness how Ferdinand deceived his confederatesand trifled with his engagements; if even theElector himself at last perceived this — the moreshame to the Emperor who could so basely be-tray such implicit confidence.

If an excessive reliance on the Emperor, andthe hope of enlarging his territories, tied thehands of the Elector of Saxony, the weak GeorgeWilliam, Elector of Brandenburg, was still moreshamefully fettered by fear of Austria, and ofthe loss of his dominions. What was made areproach against these princes would have pre-served to the Elector Palatine his fame and hiskingdom. A rash confidence in his untriedstrength, the influence of French counsels, andthe temptation of a crown, had seduced thatunfortunate prince into an enterprise for whichhe had neither adequate genius nor politicalcapacity. The partition of his territories amongdiscordant princes, enfeebled the Palatinate,

which, united, might have made a longer resis-tance.

This partition of territory was equally injuri-ous to the House of Hesse, in which, betweenDarmstadt and Cassel, religious dissensionshad occasioned a fatal division. The line ofDarmstadt, adhering to the Confession ofAugsburg, had placed itself under theEmperor’s protection, who favoured it at theexpense of the Calvinists of Cassel. While hisreligious confederates were shedding theirblood for their faith and their liberties, theLandgrave of Darmstadt was won over by theEmperor’s gold. But William of Cassel, every wayworthy of his ancestor who, a century before,had defended the freedom of Germany againstthe formidable Charles V., espoused the causeof danger and of honour. Superior to that pu-sillanimity which made far more powerfulprinces bow before Ferdinand’s might, theLandgrave William was the first to join the hero

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of Sweden, and to set an example to the princesof Germany which all had hesitated to begin.The boldness of his resolve was equalled by thesteadfastness of his perseverance and the valourof his exploits. He placed himself withunshrinking resolution before his bleedingcountry, and boldly confronted the fearful en-emy, whose hands were still reeking from thecarnage of Magdeburg.

The Landgrave William deserves to descendto immortality with the heroic race of Ernest.Thy day of vengeance was long delayed, unfor-tunate John Frederick! Noble! never-to-be-for-gotten prince! Slowly but brightly it broke. Thytimes returned, and thy heroic spirit descendedon thy grandson. An intrepid race of princesissues from the Thuringian forests, to shame,by immortal deeds, the unjust sentence whichrobbed thee of the electoral crown — to avengethy offended shade by heaps of bloody sacri-fice. The sentence of the conqueror could de-

prive thee of thy territories, but not that spiritof patriotism which staked them, nor that chiv-alrous courage which, a century afterwards, wasdestined to shake the throne of his descendant.Thy vengeance and that of Germany whettedthe sacred sword, and one heroic hand afterthe other wielded the irresistible steel. As men,they achieved what as sovereigns they darednot undertake; they met in a glorious cause asthe valiant soldiers of liberty. Too weak in terri-tory to attack the enemy with their own forces,they directed foreign artillery against them, andled foreign banners to victory.

The liberties of Germany, abandoned by themore powerful states, who, however, enjoyedmost of the prosperity accruing from them, weredefended by a few princes for whom they werealmost without value. The possession of territo-ries and dignities deadened courage; the wantof both made heroes. While Saxony,Brandenburg, and the rest drew back in ter-

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ror, Anhalt, Mansfeld, the Prince of Weimar andothers were shedding their blood in the field.The Dukes of Pomerania, Mecklenburg,Luneburg, and Wirtemberg, and the free citiesof Upper Germany, to whom the name of em-peror was of course a formidable one, anxiouslyavoided a contest with such an opponent, andcrouched murmuring beneath his mighty arm.

Austria and Roman Catholic Germany pos-sessed in Maximilian of Bavaria a champion asprudent as he was powerful. Adhering through-out the war to one fixed plan, never dividedbetween his religion and his political interests;not the slavish dependent of Austria, who waslabouring for his advancement, and trembledbefore her powerful protector, Maximilianearned the territories and dignities that re-warded his exertions. The other Roman Catho-lic states, which were chiefly Ecclesiastical, toounwarlike to resist the multitudes whom theprosperity of their territories allured, became

the victims of the war one after another, andwere contented to persecute in the cabinet andin the pulpit, the enemy whom they could notopenly oppose in the field. All of them, slaveseither to Austria or Bavaria, sunk into insig-nificance by the side of Maximilian; in his handalone their united power could be renderedavailable.

The formidable monarchy which Charles V.and his son had unnaturally constructed of theNetherlands, Milan, and the two Sicilies, andtheir distant possessions in the East and WestIndies, was under Philip III. and Philip IV. fastverging to decay. Swollen to a sudden great-ness by unfruitful gold, this power was nowsinking under a visible decline, neglecting, asit did, agriculture, the natural support of states.The conquests in the West Indies had reducedSpain itself to poverty, while they enriched themarkets of Europe; the bankers of Antwerp,Venice, and Genoa, were making profit on the

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gold which was still buried in the mines of Peru.For the sake of India, Spain had been depopu-lated, while the treasures drawn from thencewere wasted in the re-conquest of Holland, inthe chimerical project of changing the succes-sion to the crown of France, and in an unfortu-nate attack upon England. But the pride of thiscourt had survived its greatness, as the hate ofits enemies had outlived its power. Distrust ofthe Protestants suggested to the ministry ofPhilip III. the dangerous policy of his father; andthe reliance of the Roman Catholics in Germanyon Spanish assistance, was as firm as their be-lief in the wonder-working bones of the martyrs.External splendour concealed the inwardwounds at which the life-blood of this monarchywas oozing; and the belief of its strength sur-vived, because it still maintained the lofty toneof its golden days. Slaves in their palaces, andstrangers even upon their own thrones, theSpanish nominal kings still gave laws to their

German relations; though it is very doubtful ifthe support they afforded was worth the depen-dence by which the emperors purchased it. Thefate of Europe was decided behind the Pyreneesby ignorant monks or vindictive favourites. Yet,even in its debasement, a power must always beformidable, which yields to none in extent; which,from custom, if not from the steadfastness of itsviews, adhered faithfully to one system of policy;which possessed well-disciplined armies and con-summate generals; which, where the sword failed,did not scruple to employ the dagger; and con-verted even its ambassadors into incendiaries andassassins. What it had lost in three quarters ofthe globe, it now sought to regain to the east-ward, and all Europe was at its mercy, if it couldsucceed in its long cherished design of unitingwith the hereditary dominions of Austria all thatlay between the Alps and the Adriatic.

To the great alarm of the native states, thisformidable power had gained a footing in Italy,

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where its continual encroachments made theneighbouring sovereigns to tremble for theirown possessions. The Pope himself was in themost dangerous situation; hemmed in on bothsides by the Spanish Viceroys of Naples on theone side, and that of Milan upon the other.Venice was confined between the Austrian Tyroland the Spanish territories in Milan. Savoy wassurrounded by the latter and France. Hencethe wavering and equivocal policy, which fromthe time of Charles V. had been pursued bythe Italian States. The double character whichpertained to the Popes made them perpetuallyvacillate between two contradictory systems ofpolicy. If the successors of St. Peter found inthe Spanish princes their most obedient dis-ciples, and the most steadfast supporters of thePapal See, yet the princes of the States of theChurch had in these monarchs their most dan-gerous neighbours, and most formidable oppo-nents. If, in the one capacity, their dearest wish

was the destruction of the Protestants, and thetriumph of Austria, in the other, they had rea-son to bless the arms of the Protestants, whichdisabled a dangerous enemy. The one or theother sentiment prevailed, according as the loveof temporal dominion, or zeal for spiritual su-premacy, predominated in the mind of the Pope.But the policy of Rome was, on the whole, di-rected to immediate dangers; and it is wellknown how far more powerful is the apprehen-sion of losing a present good, than anxiety torecover a long lost possession. And thus it be-comes intelligible how the Pope should firstcombine with Austria for the destruction of her-esy, and then conspire with these very hereticsfor the destruction of Austria. Strangely blendedare the threads of human affairs! What wouldhave become of the Reformation, and of the lib-erties of Germany, if the Bishop of Rome andthe Prince of Rome had had but one interest?

France had lost with its great Henry all its

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importance and all its weight in the politicalbalance of Europe. A turbulent minority haddestroyed all the benefits of the able adminis-tration of Henry. Incapable ministers, the crea-tures of court intrigue, squandered in a fewyears the treasures which Sully’s economy andHenry’s frugality had amassed. Scarce able tomaintain their ground against internal factions,they were compelled to resign to other handsthe helm of European affairs. The same civil warwhich armed Germany against itself, excited asimilar commotion in France; and Louis XIII.attained majority only to wage a war with hisown mother and his Protestant subjects. Thisparty, which had been kept quiet by Henry’senlightened policy, now seized the opportunityto take up arms, and, under the command ofsome adventurous leaders, began to form them-selves into a party within the state, and to fixon the strong and powerful town of Rochelle asthe capital of their intended kingdom. Too little

of a statesman to suppress, by a prudent tol-eration, this civil commotion in its birth, andtoo little master of the resources of his king-dom to direct them with energy, Louis XIII. wasreduced to the degradation of purchasing thesubmission of the rebels by large sums ofmoney. Though policy might incline him, in onepoint of view, to assist the Bohemian insurgentsagainst Austria, the son of Henry the Fourthwas now compelled to be an inactive spectatorof their destruction, happy enough if the Cal-vinists in his own dominions did not unseason-ably bethink them of their confederates beyondthe Rhine. A great mind at the helm of statewould have reduced the Protestants in Franceto obedience, while it employed them to fightfor the independence of their German breth-ren. But Henry IV. was no more, and Richelieuhad not yet revived his system of policy.

While the glory of France was thus upon thewane, the emancipated republic of Holland was

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completing the fabric of its greatness. The en-thusiastic courage had not yet died away which,enkindled by the House of Orange, had con-verted this mercantile people into a nation ofheroes, and had enabled them to maintain theirindependence in a bloody war against the Span-ish monarchy. Aware how much they owed theirown liberty to foreign support, these republi-cans were ready to assist their German breth-ren in a similar cause, and the more so, as bothwere opposed to the same enemy, and the lib-erty of Germany was the best warrant for thatof Holland. But a republic which had still tobattle for its very existence, which, with all itswonderful exertions, was scarce a match for theformidable enemy within its own territories,could not be expected to withdraw its troopsfrom the necessary work of self-defence to em-ploy them with a magnanimous policy in pro-tecting foreign states.

England too, though now united with Scot-

land, no longer possessed, under the weakJames, that influence in the affairs of Europewhich the governing mind of Elizabeth had pro-cured for it. Convinced that the welfare of herdominions depended on the security of the Prot-estants, this politic princess had never swervedfrom the principle of promoting every enterprisewhich had for its object the diminution of theAustrian power. Her successor was no less de-void of capacity to comprehend, than of vigourto execute, her views. While the economicalElizabeth spared not her treasures to supportthe Flemings against Spain, and Henry IV.against the League, James abandoned hisdaughter, his son-in-law, and his grandchild,to the fury of their enemies. While he exhaustedhis learning to establish the divine right ofkings, he allowed his own dignity to sink intothe dust; while he exerted his rhetoric to provethe absolute authority of kings, he remindedthe people of theirs; and by a useless profu-

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sion, sacrificed the chief of his sovereign rights— that of dispensing with his parliament, andthus depriving liberty of its organ. An innatehorror at the sight of a naked sword avertedhim from the most just of wars; while hisfavourite Buckingham practised on his weak-ness, and his own complacent vanity renderedhim an easy dupe of Spanish artifice. While hisson-in-law was ruined, and the inheritance ofhis grandson given to others, this weak princewas imbibing, with satisfaction, the incensewhich was offered to him by Austria and Spain.To divert his attention from the German war,he was amused with the proposal of a Spanishmarriage for his son, and the ridiculous parentencouraged the romantic youth in the foolishproject of paying his addresses in person to theSpanish princess. But his son lost his bride, ashis son-in-law lost the crown of Bohemia andthe Palatine Electorate; and death alone savedhim from the danger of closing his pacific reign

by a war at home, which he never had courageto maintain, even at a distance.

The domestic disturbances which his misgov-ernment had gradually excited burst forth un-der his unfortunate son, and forced him, aftersome unimportant attempts, to renounce allfurther participation in the German war, in or-der to stem within his own kingdom the rage offaction.

Two illustrious monarchs, far unequal in per-sonal reputation, but equal in power and de-sire of fame, made the North at this time to berespected. Under the long and active reign ofChristian IV., Denmark had risen into impor-tance. The personal qualifications of this prince,an excellent navy, a formidable army, well-or-dered finances, and prudent alliances, had com-bined to give her prosperity at home and influ-ence abroad. Gustavus Vasa had rescued Swe-den from vassalage, reformed it by wise laws,and had introduced, for the first time, this

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newly-organized state into the field of Europeanpolitics. What this great prince had merelysketched in rude outline, was filled up byGustavus Adolphus, his still greater grandson.

These two kingdoms, once unnaturally unitedand enfeebled by their union, had been vio-lently separated at the time of the Reformation,and this separation was the epoch of their pros-perity. Injurious as this compulsory union hadproved to both kingdoms, equally necessary toeach apart were neighbourly friendship andharmony. On both the evangelical churchleaned; both had the same seas to protect; acommon interest ought to unite them againstthe same enemy. But the hatred which had dis-solved the union of these monarchies contin-ued long after their separation to divide the twonations. The Danish kings could not abandontheir pretensions to the Swedish crown, nor theSwedes banish the remembrance of Danishoppression. The contiguous boundaries of the

two kingdoms constantly furnished materialsfor international quarrels, while the watchfuljealousy of both kings, and the unavoidablecollision of their commercial interests in theNorth Seas, were inexhaustible sources of dis-pute.

Among the means of which Gustavus Vasa,the founder of the Swedish monarchy, availedhimself to strengthen his new edifice, the Ref-ormation had been one of the principal. A fun-damental law of the kingdom excluded the ad-herents of popery from all offices of the state,and prohibited every future sovereign of Swe-den from altering the religious constitution ofthe kingdom. But the second son and secondsuccessor of Gustavus had relapsed into pop-ery, and his son Sigismund, also king of Po-land, had been guilty of measures which men-aced both the constitution and the establishedchurch. Headed by Charles, Duke ofSudermania, the third son of Gustavus, the

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Estates made a courageous resistance, whichterminated, at last, in an open civil war betweenthe uncle and nephew, and between the Kingand the people. Duke Charles, administratorof the kingdom during the absence of the king,had availed himself of Sigismund’s long resi-dence in Poland, and the just displeasure ofthe states, to ingratiate himself with the na-tion, and gradually to prepare his way to thethrone. His views were not a little forwarded bySigismund’s imprudence. A general Diet ven-tured to abolish, in favour of the Protector, therule of primogeniture which Gustavus had es-tablished in the succession, and placed theDuke of Sudermania on the throne, from whichSigismund, with his whole posterity, were sol-emnly excluded. The son of the new king (whoreigned under the name of Charles IX.) wasGustavus Adolphus, whom, as the son of ausurper, the adherents of Sigismund refusedto recognize. But if the obligations between

monarchy and subjects are reciprocal, andstates are not to be transmitted, like a lifelessheirloom, from hand to hand, a nation actingwith unanimity must have the power of re-nouncing their allegiance to a sovereign whohas violated his obligations to them, and of fill-ing his place by a worthier object.

Gustavus Adolphus had not completed his sev-enteenth year, when the Swedish throne be-came vacant by the death of his father. But theearly maturity of his genius enabled the Es-tates to abridge in his favour the legal period ofminority. With a glorious conquest over him-self he commenced a reign which was to havevictory for its constant attendant, a career whichwas to begin and end in success. The youngCountess of Brahe, the daughter of a subject,had gained his early affections, and he had re-solved to share with her the Swedish throne.But, constrained by time and circumstances,he made his attachment yield to the higher

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duties of a king, and heroism again took exclu-sive possession of a heart which was not des-tined by nature to confine itself within the lim-its of quiet domestic happiness.

Christian IV. of Denmark, who had ascendedthe throne before the birth of Gustavus, in aninroad upon Sweden, had gained some consid-erable advantages over the father of that hero.Gustavus Adolphus hastened to put an end tothis destructive war, and by prudent sacrificesobtained a peace, in order to turn his armsagainst the Czar of Muscovy. The questionablefame of a conqueror never tempted him to spendthe blood of his subjects in unjust wars; but henever shrunk from a just one. His arms weresuccessful against Russia, and Sweden wasaugmented by several important provinces onthe east.

In the meantime, Sigismund of Poland re-tained against the son the same sentiments ofhostility which the father had provoked, and

left no artifice untried to shake the allegianceof his subjects, to cool the ardour of his friends,and to embitter his enemies. Neither the greatqualities of his rival, nor the repeated proofs ofdevotion which Sweden gave to her loved mon-arch, could extinguish in this infatuated princethe foolish hope of regaining his lost throne.All Gustavus’s overtures were haughtily re-jected. Unwillingly was this really peaceful kinginvolved in a tedious war with Poland, in whichthe whole of Livonia and Polish Prussia weresuccessively conquered. Though constantly vic-torious, Gustavus Adolphus was always the firstto hold out the hand of peace.

This contest between Sweden and Poland fallssomewhere about the beginning of the ThirtyYears’ War in Germany, with which it is in somemeasure connected. It was enough thatSigismund, himself a Roman Catholic, was dis-puting the Swedish crown with a Protestantprince, to assure him the active support of Spain

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and Austria; while a double relationship to theEmperor gave him a still stronger claim to hisprotection. It was his reliance on this powerfulassistance that chiefly encouraged the King ofPoland to continue the war, which had hith-erto turned out so unfavourably for him, andthe courts of Madrid and Vienna failed not toencourage him by high-sounding promises.While Sigismund lost one place after anotherin Livonia, Courland, and Prussia, he saw hisally in Germany advancing from conquest afterconquest to unlimited power. No wonder thenif his aversion to peace kept pace with his losses.The vehemence with which he nourished hischimerical hopes blinded him to the artful policyof his confederates, who at his expense werekeeping the Swedish hero employed, in orderto overturn, without opposition, the liberties ofGermany, and then to seize on the exhaustedNorth as an easy conquest. One circumstancewhich had not been calculated on — the mag-

nanimity of Gustavus — overthrew this deceit-ful policy. An eight years’ war in Poland, so farfrom exhausting the power of Sweden, had onlyserved to mature the military genius ofGustavus, to inure the Swedish army to war-fare, and insensibly to perfect that system oftactics by which they were afterwards to per-form such wonders in Germany.

After this necessary digression on the exist-ing circumstances of Europe, I now resume thethread of my history.

Ferdinand had regained his dominions, buthad not indemnified himself for the expenses ofrecovering them. A sum of forty millions of flor-ins, which the confiscations in Bohemia andMoravia had produced, would have sufficed toreimburse both himself and his allies; but theJesuits and his favourites soon squandered thissum, large as it was. Maximilian, Duke of Ba-varia, to whose victorious arm, principally, theEmperor owed the recovery of his dominions;

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who, in the service of religion and the Emperor,had sacrificed his near relation, had the stron-gest claims on his gratitude; and moreover, in atreaty which, before the war, the duke had con-cluded with the Emperor, he had expressly stipu-lated for the reimbursement of all expenses.Ferdinand felt the full weight of the obligationimposed upon him by this treaty and by theseservices, but he was not disposed to discharge itat his own cost. His purpose was to bestow abrilliant reward upon the duke, but without det-riment to himself. How could this be done bet-ter than at the expense of the unfortunate princewho, by his revolt, had given the Emperor a rightto punish him, and whose offences might bepainted in colours strong enough to justify themost violent measures under the appearance oflaw. That, then, Maximilian may be rewarded,Frederick must be further persecuted and to-tally ruined; and to defray the expenses of theold war, a new one must be commenced.

But a still stronger motive combined to en-force the first. Hitherto Ferdinand had beencontending for existence alone; he had beenfulfilling no other duty than that of self-defence.But now, when victory gave him freedom to act,a higher duty occurred to him, and he remem-bered the vow which he had made at Lorettoand at Rome, to his generalissima, the HolyVirgin, to extend her worship even at the riskof his crown and life. With this object, the op-pression of the Protestants was inseparably con-nected. More favourable circumstances for itsaccomplishment could not offer than thosewhich presented themselves at the close of theBohemian war. Neither the power, nor a pre-text of right, were now wanting to enable himto place the Palatinate in the hands of theCatholics, and the importance of this changeto the Catholic interests in Germany would beincalculable. Thus, in rewarding the Duke ofBavaria with the spoils of his relation, he at once

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gratified his meanest passions and fulfilled hismost exalted duties; he crushed an enemywhom he hated, and spared his avarice a pain-ful sacrifice, while he believed he was winninga heavenly crown.

In the Emperor’s cabinet, the ruin of Frederickhad been resolved upon long before fortune haddecided against him; but it was only after thisevent that they ventured to direct against himthe thunders of arbitrary power. A decree of theEmperor, destitute of all the formalities requiredon such occasions by the laws of the Empire,pronounced the Elector, and three other princeswho had borne arms for him at Silesia andBohemia, as offenders against the imperialmajesty, and disturbers of the public peace,under the ban of the empire, and deprived themof their titles and territories. The execution ofthis sentence against Frederick, namely theseizure of his lands, was, in further contemptof law, committed to Spain as Sovereign of the

circle of Burgundy, to the Duke of Bavaria, andthe League. Had the Evangelic Union been wor-thy of the name it bore, and of the cause whichit pretended to defend, insuperable obstaclesmight have prevented the execution of the sen-tence; but it was hopeless for a power whichwas far from a match even for the Spanish troopsin the Lower Palatinate, to contend against theunited strength of the Emperor, Bavaria, andthe League. The sentence of proscription pro-nounced upon the Elector soon detached thefree cities from the Union; and the princesquickly followed their example. Fortunate inpreserving their own dominions, they aban-doned the Elector, their former chief, to theEmperor’s mercy, renounced the Union, andvowed never to revive it again.

But while thus ingloriously the Germanprinces deserted the unfortunate Frederick,and while Bohemia, Silesia, and Moravia sub-mitted to the Emperor, a single man, a soldier

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of fortune, whose only treasure was his sword,Ernest Count Mansfeld, dared, in the Bohemiantown of Pilsen, to defy the whole power of Aus-tria. Left without assistance after the battle ofPrague by the Elector, to whose service he haddevoted himself, and even uncertain whetherFrederick would thank him for his perseverance,he alone for some time held out against theimperialists, till the garrison, mutinying forwant of pay, sold the town to the Emperor. Un-dismayed by this reverse, he immediately com-menced new levies in the Upper Palatinate, andenlisted the disbanded troops of the Union. Anew army of 20,000 men was soon assembledunder his banners, the more formidable to theprovinces which might be the object of its at-tack, because it must subsist by plunder. Un-certain where this swarm might light, theneighbouring bishops trembled for their richpossessions, which offered a tempting prey toits ravages. But, pressed by the Duke of Ba-

varia, who now entered the Upper Palatinate,Mansfeld was compelled to retire. Eluding, bya successful stratagem, the Bavarian general,Tilly, who was in pursuit of him, he suddenlyappeared in the Lower Palatinate, and therewreaked upon the bishoprics of the Rhine theseverities he had designed for those ofFranconia. While the imperial and Bavarian al-lies thus overran Bohemia, the Spanish gen-eral, Spinola, had penetrated with a numerousarmy from the Netherlands into the LowerPalatinate, which, however, the pacification ofUlm permitted the Union to defend. But theirmeasures were so badly concerted, that oneplace after another fell into the hands of theSpaniards; and at last, when the Union brokeup, the greater part of the country was in thepossession of Spain. The Spanish general,Corduba, who commanded these troops afterthe recall of Spinola, hastily raised the siege ofFrankenthal, when Mansfeld entered the Lower

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Palatinate. But instead of driving the Spaniardsout of this province, he hastened across theRhine to secure for his needy troops shelterand subsistence in Alsace. The open countrieson which this swarm of maurauders threwthemselves were converted into frightful deserts,and only by enormous contributions could thecities purchase an exemption from plunder.Reinforced by this expedition, Mansfeld againappeared on the Rhine to cover the LowerPalatinate.

So long as such an arm fought for him, thecause of the Elector Frederick was not irretriev-ably lost. New prospects began to open, andmisfortune raised up friends who had been si-lent during his prosperity. King James of En-gland, who had looked on with indifferencewhile his son-in-law lost the Bohemian crown,was aroused from his insensibility when thevery existence of his daughter and grandsonwas at stake, and the victorious enemy ventured

an attack upon the Electorate. Late enough, heat last opened his treasures, and hastened toafford supplies of money and troops, first to theUnion, which at that time was defending theLower Palatinate, and afterwards, when theyretired, to Count Mansfeld. By his means hisnear relation, Christian, King of Denmark, wasinduced to afford his active support. At the sametime, the approaching expiration of the trucebetween Spain and Holland deprived the Em-peror of all the supplies which otherwise hemight expect from the side of the Netherlands.More important still was the assistance whichthe Palatinate received from Transylvania andHungary. The cessation of hostilities betweenGabor and the Emperor was scarcely at an end,when this old and formidable enemy of Austriaoverran Hungary anew, and caused himself tobe crowned king in Presburg. So rapid was hisprogress that, to protect Austria and Hungary,Boucquoi was obliged to evacuate Bohemia. This

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brave general met his death at the siege ofNeuhausel, as, shortly before, the no less val-iant Dampierre had fallen before Presburg.Gabor’s march into the Austrian territory wasirresistible; the old Count Thurn, and severalother distinguished Bohemians, had unitedtheir hatred and their strength with thisirreconcileable enemy of Austria. A vigorousattack on the side of Germany, while Gaborpressed the Emperor on that of Hungary, mighthave retrieved the fortunes of Frederick; but,unfortunately, the Bohemians and Germanshad always laid down their arms when Gabortook the field; and the latter was always ex-hausted at the very moment that the formerbegan to recover their vigour.

Meanwhile Frederick had not delayed to joinhis protector Mansfeld. In disguise he enteredthe Lower Palatinate, of which the possessionwas at that time disputed between Mansfeld andthe Bavarian general, Tilly, the Upper Palatinate

having been long conquered. A ray of hopeshone upon him as, from the wreck of theUnion, new friends came forward. A formermember of the Union, George Frederick,Margrave of Baden, had for some time beenengaged in assembling a military force, whichsoon amounted to a considerable army. Its des-tination was kept a secret till he suddenly tookthe field and joined Mansfeld. Before commenc-ing the war, he resigned his Margraviate to hisson, in the hope of eluding, by this precaution,the Emperor’s revenge, if his enterprize shouldbe unsuccessful. His neighbour, the Duke ofWirtemberg, likewise began to augment hismilitary force. The courage of the Palatine re-vived, and he laboured assiduously to renewthe Protestant Union. It was now time for Tillyto consult for his own safety, and he hastilysummoned the Spanish troops, under Corduba,to his assistance. But while the enemy wasuniting his strength, Mansfeld and the

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Margrave separated, and the latter was defeatedby the Bavarian general near Wimpfen (1622).

To defend a king whom his nearest relationpersecuted, and who was deserted even by hisown father-in-law, there had come forward anadventurer without money, and whose very le-gitimacy was questioned. A sovereign had re-signed possessions over which he reigned inpeace, to hazard the uncertain fortune of warin behalf of a stranger. And now another sol-dier of fortune, poor in territorial possessions,but rich in illustrious ancestry, undertook thedefence of a cause which the former despairedof. Christian, Duke of Brunswick, administra-tor of Halberstadt, seemed to have learnt fromCount Mansfeld the secret of keeping in thefield an army of 20,000 men without money.Impelled by youthful presumption, and influ-enced partly by the wish of establishing hisreputation at the expense of the Roman Catho-lic priesthood, whom he cordially detested, and

partly by a thirst for plunder, he assembled aconsiderable army in Lower Saxony, under thepretext of espousing the defence of Frederick,and of the liberties of Germany. “God’s Friend,Priest’s Foe”, was the motto he chose for hiscoinage, which was struck out of church plate;and his conduct belied one half at least of thedevice.

The progress of these banditti was, as usual,marked by the most frightful devastation. En-riched by the spoils of the chapters of LowerSaxony and Westphalia, they gathered strengthto plunder the bishoprics upon the UpperRhine. Driven from thence, both by friends andfoes, the Administrator approached the town ofHoechst on the Maine, which he crossed aftera murderous action with Tilly, who disputedwith him the passage of the river. With the lossof half his army he reached the opposite bank,where he quickly collected his shattered troops,and formed a junction with Mansfeld. Pursued

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by Tilly, this united host threw itself again intoAlsace, to repeat their former ravages. While theElector Frederick followed, almost like a fugi-tive mendicant, this swarm of plunderers whichacknowledged him as its lord, and dignified it-self with his name, his friends were busily en-deavouring to effect a reconciliation betweenhim and the Emperor. Ferdinand took care notto deprive them of all hope of seeing the Pa-latine restored to his dominion. Full of artificeand dissimulation, he pretended to be willingto enter into a negotiation, hoping thereby tocool their ardour in the field, and to preventthem from driving matters to extremity. JamesI., ever the dupe of Spanish cunning, contrib-uted not a little, by his foolish intermeddling,to promote the Emperor’s schemes. Ferdinandinsisted that Frederick, if he would appeal tohis clemency, should, first of all, lay down hisarms, and James considered this demand ex-tremely reasonable. At his instigation, the Elec-

tor dismissed his only real defenders, CountMansfeld and the Administrator, and in Hol-land awaited his own fate from the mercy of theEmperor.

Mansfeld and Duke Christian were now at aloss for some new name; the cause of the Elec-tor had not set them in motion, so his dismissalcould not disarm them. War was their object; itwas all the same to them in whose cause orname it was waged. After some vain attemptson the part of Mansfeld to be received into theEmperor’s service, both marched into Lorraine,where the excesses of their troops spread ter-ror even to the heart of France. Here they longwaited in vain for a master willing to purchasetheir services; till the Dutch, pressed by theSpanish General Spinola, offered to take theminto pay. After a bloody fight at Fleurus withthe Spaniards, who attempted to interceptthem, they reached Holland, where their ap-pearance compelled the Spanish general forth-

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with to raise the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom. Buteven Holland was soon weary of these danger-ous guests, and availed herself of the first mo-ment to get rid of their unwelcome assistance.Mansfeld allowed his troops to recruit them-selves for new enterprises in the fertile prov-ince of East Friezeland. Duke Christian, pas-sionately enamoured of the Electress Palatine,with whom he had become acquainted in Hol-land, and more disposed for war than ever, ledback his army into Lower Saxony, bearing thatprincess’s glove in his hat, and on his standardsthe motto “All for God and Her”. Neither of theseadventurers had as yet run their career in thiswar.

All the imperial territories were now free fromthe enemy; the Union was dissolved; theMargrave of Baden, Duke Christian, andMansfeld, driven from the field, and thePalatinate overrun by the executive troops ofthe empire. Manheim and Heidelberg were in

possession of Bavaria, and Frankenthal wasshortly afterwards ceded to the Spaniards. ThePalatine, in a distant corner of Holland, awaitedthe disgraceful permission to appease, by ab-ject submission, the vengeance of the Emperor;and an Electoral Diet was at last summoned todecide his fate. That fate, however, had beenlong before decided at the court of the Emperor;though now, for the first time, were circum-stances favourable for giving publicity to thedecision. After his past measures towards theElector, Ferdinand believed that a sincere rec-onciliation was not to be hoped for. The violentcourse he had once begun, must be completedsuccessfully, or recoil upon himself. What wasalready lost was irrecoverable; Frederick couldnever hope to regain his dominions; and aprince without territory and without subjectshad little chance of retaining the electoralcrown. Deeply as the Palatine had offendedagainst the House of Austria, the services of the

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Duke of Bavaria were no less meritorious. If theHouse of Austria and the Roman Catholicchurch had much to dread from the resentmentand religious rancour of the Palatine family,they had as much to hope from the gratitudeand religious zeal of the Bavarian. Lastly, bythe cession of the Palatine Electorate to Bavaria,the Roman Catholic religion would obtain adecisive preponderance in the Electoral College,and secure a permanent triumph in Germany.

The last circumstance was sufficient to winthe support of the three Ecclesiastical Electorsto this innovation; and among the Protestantsthe vote of Saxony was alone of any importance.But could John George be expected to disputewith the Emperor a right, without which hewould expose to question his own title to theelectoral dignity? To a prince whom descent,dignity, and political power placed at the headof the Protestant church in Germany, nothing,it is true, ought to be more sacred than the

defence of the rights of that church against allthe encroachments of the Roman Catholics. Butthe question here was not whether the inter-ests of the Protestants were to be supportedagainst the Roman Catholics, but which of tworeligions equally detested, the Calvinistic andthe Popish, was to triumph over the other; towhich of the two enemies, equally dangerous,the Palatinate was to be assigned; and in thisclashing of opposite duties, it was natural thatprivate hate and private gain should determinethe event. The born protector of the liberties ofGermany, and of the Protestant religion, en-couraged the Emperor to dispose of thePalatinate by his imperial prerogative; and toapprehend no resistance on the part of Saxonyto his measures on the mere ground of form. Ifthe Elector was afterwards disposed to retractthis consent, Ferdinand himself, by driving theEvangelical preachers from Bohemia, was thecause of this change of opinion; and, in the eyes

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of the Elector, the transference of the PalatineElectorate to Bavaria ceased to be illegal, as soonas Ferdinand was prevailed upon to cede Lusatiato Saxony, in consideration of six millions ofdollars, as the expenses of the war.

Thus, in defiance of all Protestant Germany,and in mockery of the fundamental laws of theempire, which, as his election, he had sworn tomaintain, Ferdinand at Ratisbon solemnly in-vested the Duke of Bavaria with the Palatinate,without prejudice, as the form ran, to the rightswhich the relations or descendants of Frederickmight afterwards establish. That unfortunateprince thus saw himself irrevocably driven fromhis possessions, without having been evenheard before the tribunal which condemnedhim — a privilege which the law allows to themeanest subject, and even to the most atrociouscriminal.

This violent step at last opened the eyes ofthe King of England; and as the negociations

for the marriage of his son with the Infanta ofSpain were now broken off, James began seri-ously to espouse the cause of his son-in-law. Achange in the French ministry had placed Car-dinal Richelieu at the head of affairs, and thisfallen kingdom soon began to feel that a greatmind was at the helm of state. The attempts ofthe Spanish Viceroy in Milan to gain posses-sion of the Valtelline, and thus to form a junc-tion with the Austrian hereditary dominions,revived the olden dread of this power, and withit the policy of Henry the Great. The marriageof the Prince of Wales with Henrietta of France,established a close union between the twocrowns; and to this alliance, Holland, Denmark,and some of the Italian states presently acceded.Its object was to expel, by force of arms, Spainfrom the Valtelline, and to compel Austria toreinstate Frederick; but only the first of thesedesigns was prosecuted with vigour. James I.died, and Charles I., involved in disputes with

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his Parliament, could not bestow attention onthe affairs of Germany. Savoy and Venice with-held their assistance; and the French ministerthought it necessary to subdue the Huguenotsat home, before he supported the German Prot-estants against the Emperor. Great as were thehopes which had been formed from this alli-ance, they were yet equalled by the disappoint-ment of the event.

Mansfeld, deprived of all support, remainedinactive on the Lower Rhine; and Duke Chris-tian of Brunswick, after an unsuccessful cam-paign, was a second time driven out of Germany.A fresh irruption of Bethlen Gabor into Moravia,frustrated by the want of support from the Ger-mans, terminated, like all the rest, in a formalpeace with the Emperor. The Union was nomore; no Protestant prince was in arms; andon the frontiers of Lower Germany, the Bavar-ian General Tilly, at the head of a victoriousarmy, encamped in the Protestant territory. The

movements of the Duke of Brunswick had drawnhim into this quarter, and even into the circleof Lower Saxony, when he made himself mas-ter of the Administrator’s magazines atLippstadt. The necessity of observing this en-emy, and preventing him from new inroads, wasthe pretext assigned for continuing Tilly’s stayin the country. But, in truth, both Mansfeldand Duke Christian had, from want of money,disbanded their armies, and Count Tilly hadno enemy to dread. Why, then, still burden thecountry with his presence?

It is difficult, amidst the uproar of contendingparties, to distinguish the voice of truth; butcertainly it was matter for alarm that the Leaguedid not lay down its arms. The premature re-joicings of the Roman Catholics, too, were cal-culated to increase apprehension. The Emperorand the League stood armed and victorious inGermany without a power to oppose them,should they venture to attack the Protestant

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states and to annul the religious treaty. HadFerdinand been in reality far from disposed toabuse his conquests, still the defenceless posi-tion of the Protestants was most likely to sug-gest the temptation. Obsolete conventions couldnot bind a prince who thought that he owed allto religion, and believed that a religious creedwould sanctify any deed, however violent. Up-per Germany was already overpowered. LowerGermany alone could check his despotic au-thority. Here the Protestants still predominated;the church had been forcibly deprived of mostof its endowments; and the present appeared afavourable moment for recovering these lostpossessions. A great part of the strength of theLower German princes consisted in these Chap-ters, and the plea of restoring its own to thechurch, afforded an excellent pretext for weak-ening these princes.

Unpardonable would have been their negli-gence, had they remained inactive in this dan-

ger. The remembrance of the ravages whichTilly’s army had committed in Lower Saxonywas too recent not to arouse the Estates to mea-sures of defence. With all haste, the circle ofLower Saxony began to arm itself. Extraordi-nary contributions were levied, troops collected,and magazines filled. Negociations for subsidieswere set on foot with Venice, Holland, and En-gland. They deliberated, too, what power shouldbe placed at the head of the confederacy. Thekings of the Sound and the Baltic, the naturalallies of this circle, would not see with indiffer-ence the Emperor treating it as a conqueror,and establishing himself as their neighbour onthe shores of the North Sea. The twofold inter-ests of religion and policy urged them to put astop to his progress in Lower Germany. Chris-tian IV. of Denmark, as Duke of Holstein, washimself a prince of this circle, and by consider-ations equally powerful, Gustavus Adolphus ofSweden was induced to join the confederacy.

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These two kings vied with each other for thehonour of defending Lower Saxony, and of op-posing the formidable power of Austria. Eachoffered to raise a well-disciplined army, and tolead it in person. His victorious campaignsagainst Moscow and Poland gave weight to thepromises of the King of Sweden. The shores ofthe Baltic were full of the name of Gustavus.But the fame of his rival excited the envy of theDanish monarch; and the more success hepromised himself in this campaign, the less dis-posed was he to show any favour to his enviedneighbour. Both laid their conditions and plansbefore the English ministry, and Christian IV.finally succeeded in outbidding his rival.Gustavus Adolphus, for his own security, haddemanded the cession of some places ofstrength in Germany, where he himself had noterritories, to afford, in case of need, a place ofrefuge for his troops. Christian IV. possessedHolstein and Jutland, through which, in the

event of a defeat, he could always secure a re-treat.

Eager to get the start of his competitor, theKing of Denmark hastened to take the field.Appointed generalissimo of the circle of LowerSaxony, he soon had an army of 60,000 men inmotion; the administrator of Magdeburg, andthe Dukes of Brunswick and Mecklenburgh,entered into an alliance with him. Encouragedby the hope of assistance from England, andthe possession of so large a force, he flatteredhimself he should be able to terminate the warin a single campaign.

At Vienna, it was officially notified that theonly object of these preparations was the pro-tection of the circle, and the maintenance ofpeace. But the negociations with Holland, En-gland, and even France, the extraordinary ex-ertions of the circle, and the raising of so formi-dable an army, seemed to have something morein view than defensive operations, and to con-

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template nothing less than the complete resto-ration of the Elector Palatine, and the humilia-tion of the dreaded power of Austria.

After negociations, exhortations, commands,and threats had in vain been employed by theEmperor in order to induce the King of Den-mark and the circle of Lower Saxony to lay downtheir arms, hostilities commenced, and LowerGermany became the theatre of war. CountTilly, marching along the left bank of the Weser,made himself master of all the passes as far asMinden. After an unsuccessful attack onNieuburg, he crossed the river and overran theprincipality of Calemberg, in which he quar-tered his troops. The king conducted his op-erations on the right bank of the river, andspread his forces over the territories ofBrunswick, but having weakened his main bodyby too powerful detachments, he could not en-gage in any enterprise of importance. Aware ofhis opponent’s superiority, he avoided a deci-

sive action as anxiously as the general of theLeague sought it.

With the exception of the troops from theSpanish Netherlands, which had poured intothe Lower Palatinate, the Emperor had hith-erto made use only of the arms of Bavaria andthe League in Germany. Maximilian conductedthe war as executor of the ban of the empire,and Tilly, who commanded the army of execu-tion, was in the Bavarian service. The Emperorowed superiority in the field to Bavaria and theLeague, and his fortunes were in their hands.This dependence on their goodwill, but ill ac-corded with the grand schemes, which the bril-liant commencement of the war had led theimperial cabinet to form.

However active the League had shown itselfin the Emperor’s defence, while thereby it se-cured its own welfare, it could not be expectedthat it would enter as readily into his views ofconquest. Or, if they still continued to lend their

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armies for that purpose, it was too much to befeared that they would share with the Emperornothing but general odium, while they appro-priated to themselves all advantages. A strongarmy under his own orders could alone free himfrom this debasing dependence upon Bavaria,and restore to him his former pre-eminence inGermany. But the war had already exhaustedthe imperial dominions, and they were unequalto the expense of such an armament. In thesecircumstances, nothing could be more welcometo the Emperor than the proposal with whichone of his officers surprised him.

This was Count Wallenstein, an experiencedofficer, and the richest nobleman in Bohemia.From his earliest youth he had been in the ser-vice of the House of Austria, and several cam-paigns against the Turks, Venetians, Bohemi-ans, Hungarians, and Transylvanians had es-tablished his reputation. He was present ascolonel at the battle of Prague, and afterwards,

as major-general, had defeated a Hungarianforce in Moravia. The Emperor’s gratitude wasequal to his services, and a large share of theconfiscated estates of the Bohemian insurgentswas their reward. Possessed of immense prop-erty, excited by ambitious views, confident inhis own good fortune, and still more encour-aged by the existing state of circumstances, heoffered, at his own expense and that of hisfriends, to raise and clothe an army for theEmperor, and even undertook the cost of main-taining it, if he were allowed to augment it to50,000 men. The project was universally ridi-culed as the chimerical offspring of a visionarybrain; but the offer was highly valuable, if itspromises should be but partially fulfilled. Cer-tain circles in Bohemia were assigned to himas depots, with authority to appoint his ownofficers. In a few months he had 20,000 menunder arms, with which, quitting the Austrianterritories, he soon afterwards appeared on the

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frontiers of Lower Saxony with 30,000. TheEmperor had lent this armament nothing buthis name. The reputation of the general, theprospect of rapid promotion, and the hope ofplunder, attracted to his standard adventurersfrom all quarters of Germany; and even sover-eign princes, stimulated by the desire of gloryor of gain, offered to raise regiments for the ser-vice of Austria.

Now, therefore, for the first time in this war,an imperial army appeared in Germany; — anevent which if it was menacing to the Protes-tants, was scarcely more acceptable to theCatholics. Wallenstein had orders to unite hisarmy with the troops of the League, and in con-junction with the Bavarian general to attack theKing of Denmark. But long jealous of Tilly’sfame, he showed no disposition to share withhim the laurels of the campaign, or in thesplendour of his rival’s achievements to dim thelustre of his own. His plan of operations was to

support the latter, but to act entirely indepen-dent of him. As he had not resources, like Tilly,for supplying the wants of his army, he wasobliged to march his troops into fertile coun-tries which had not as yet suffered from war.Disobeying, therefore, the order to form a junc-tion with the general of the League, he marchedinto the territories of Halberstadt andMagdeburg, and at Dessau made himself mas-ter of the Elbe. All the lands on either bank ofthis river were at his command, and from themhe could either attack the King of Denmark inthe rear, or, if prudent, enter the territories ofthat prince.

Christian IV. was fully aware of the danger ofhis situation between two such powerful armies.He had already been joined by the administra-tor of Halberstadt, who had lately returned fromHolland; he now also acknowledged Mansfeld,whom previously he had refused to recognise,and supported him to the best of his ability.

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Mansfeld amply requited this service. He alonekept at bay the army of Wallenstein upon theElbe, and prevented its junction with that ofTilly, and a combined attack on the King ofDenmark. Notwithstanding the enemy’s supe-riority, this intrepid general even approachedthe bridge of Dessau, and ventured to entrenchhimself in presence of the imperial lines. Butattacked in the rear by the whole force of theImperialists, he was obliged to yield to superiornumbers, and to abandon his post with the lossof 3,000 killed. After this defeat, Mansfeld with-drew into Brandenburg, where he soon re-cruited and reinforced his army; and suddenlyturned into Silesia, with the view of marchingfrom thence into Hungary; and, in conjunctionwith Bethlen Gabor, carrying the war into theheart of Austria. As the Austrian dominions inthat quarter were entirely defenceless,Wallenstein received immediate orders to leavethe King of Denmark, and if possible to inter-

cept Mansfeld’s progress through Silesia.The diversion which this movement of

Mansfeld had made in the plans of Wallenstein,enabled the king to detach a part of his forceinto Westphalia, to seize the bishoprics ofMunster and Osnaburg. To check this move-ment, Tilly suddenly moved from the Weser; butthe operations of Duke Christian, who threat-ened the territories of the League with an in-road in the direction of Hesse, and to removethither the seat of war, recalled him as rapidlyfrom Westphalia. In order to keep open his com-munication with these provinces, and to pre-vent the junction of the enemy with theLandgrave of Hesse, Tilly hastily seized all thetenable posts on the Werha and Fulda, and tookup a strong position in Minden, at the foot ofthe Hessian Mountains, and at the confluenceof these rivers with the Weser. He soon madehimself master of Goettingen, the key ofBrunswick and Hesse, and was meditating a

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similar attack upon Nordheim, when the kingadvanced upon him with his whole army. Afterthrowing into this place the necessary suppliesfor a long siege, the latter attempted to open anew passage through Eichsfeld and Thuringia,into the territories of the League. He had al-ready reached Duderstadt, when Tilly, by forcedmarches, came up with him. As the army of Tilly,which had been reinforced by some ofWallenstein’s regiments, was superior in num-bers to his own, the king, to avoid a battle, re-treated towards Brunswick. But Tilly incessantlyharassed his retreat, and after three days’ skir-mishing, he was at length obliged to await theenemy near the village of Lutter in Barenberg.The Danes began the attack with great brav-ery, and thrice did their intrepid monarch leadthem in person against the enemy; but at lengththe superior numbers and discipline of the Im-perialists prevailed, and the general of theLeague obtained a complete victory. The Danes

lost sixty standards, and their whole artillery,baggage, and ammunition. Several officers ofdistinction and about 4,000 men were killed inthe field of battle; and several companies of foot,in the flight, who had thrown themselves intothe town-house of Lutter, laid down their armsand surrendered to the conqueror.

The king fled with his cavalry, and soon col-lected the wreck of his army which had sur-vived this serious defeat. Tilly pursued his vic-tory, made himself master of the Weser andBrunswick, and forced the king to retire intoBremen. Rendered more cautious by defeat, thelatter now stood upon the defensive; and de-termined at all events to prevent the enemy fromcrossing the Elbe. But while he threw garrisonsinto every tenable place, he reduced his owndiminished army to inactivity; and one afteranother his scattered troops were either de-feated or dispersed. The forces of the League,in command of the Weser, spread themselves

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along the Elbe and Havel, and everywhere drovethe Danes before them. Tilly himself crossingthe Elbe penetrated with his victorious armyinto Brandenburg, while Wallenstein enteredHolstein to remove the seat of war to the king’sown dominions.

This general had just returned from Hungarywhither he had pursued Mansfeld, without be-ing able to obstruct his march, or prevent hisjunction with Bethlen Gabor. Constantly per-secuted by fortune, but always superior to hisfate, Mansfeld had made his way against count-less difficulties, through Silesia and Hungaryto Transylvania, where, after all, he was not verywelcome. Relying upon the assistance of En-gland, and a powerful diversion in LowerSaxony, Gabor had again broken the truce withthe Emperor. But in place of the expected di-version in his favour, Mansfeld had drawn uponhimself the whole strength of Wallenstein, andinstead of bringing, required, pecuniary assis-

tance. The want of concert in the Protestantcounsels cooled Gabor’s ardour; and he has-tened, as usual, to avert the coming storm by aspeedy peace. Firmly determined, however, tobreak it, with the first ray of hope, he directedMansfeld in the mean time to apply for assis-tance to Venice.

Cut off from Germany, and unable to supportthe weak remnant of his troops in Hungary,Mansfeld sold his artillery and baggage train,and disbanded his soldiers. With a few follow-ers, he proceeded through Bosnia andDalmatia, towards Venice. New schemes swelledhis bosom; but his career was ended. Fate,which had so restlessly sported with himthroughout, now prepared for him a peacefulgrave in Dalmatia. Death overtook him in thevicinity of Zara in 1626, and a short time beforehim died the faithful companion of his fortunes,Christian, Duke of Brunswick — two men wor-thy of immortality, had they but been as supe-

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rior to their times as they were to their adversi-ties.

The King of Denmark, with his whole army,was unable to cope with Tilly alone; much less,therefore, with a shattered force could he holdhis ground against the two imperial generals.The Danes retired from all their posts on theWeser, the Elbe, and the Havel, and the armyof Wallenstein poured like a torrent intoBrandenburg, Mecklenburg, Holstein andSleswick. That general, too proud to act in con-junction with another, had dispatched Tillyacross the Elbe, to watch, as he gave out, themotions of the Dutch in that quarter; but inreality that he might terminate the war againstthe king, and reap for himself the fruits of Tilly’sconquests. Christian had now lost all his for-tresses in the German States, with the excep-tion of Gluckstadt; his armies were defeated ordispersed; no assistance came from Germany;from England, little consolation; while his con-

federates in Lower Saxony were at the mercy ofthe conqueror. The Landgrave of Hesse Casselhad been forced by Tilly, soon after the battleof Lutter, to renounce the Danish alliance.Wallenstein’s formidable appearance beforeBerlin reduced the Elector of Brandenburgh tosubmission, and compelled him to recognise,as legitimate, Maximilian’s title to the PalatineElectorate. The greater part of Mecklenburghwas now overrun by imperial troops; and bothdukes, as adherents of the King of Denmark,placed under the ban of the empire, and drivenfrom their dominions. The defence of the Ger-man liberties against illegal encroachments,was punished as a crime deserving the loss ofall dignities and territories; and yet this wasbut the prelude to the still more crying enor-mities which shortly followed.

The secret how Wallenstein had purposed tofulfil his extravagant designs was now manifest.He had learned the lesson from Count

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Mansfeld; but the scholar surpassed his mas-ter. On the principle that war must support war,Mansfeld and the Duke of Brunswick had sub-sisted their troops by contributions levied in-discriminately on friend and enemy; but thispredatory life was attended with all the incon-venience and insecurity which accompany rob-bery. Like a fugitive banditti, they were obligedto steal through exasperated and vigilant en-emies; to roam from one end of Germany toanother; to watch their opportunity with anxi-ety; and to abandon the most fertile territorieswhenever they were defended by a superiorarmy. If Mansfeld and Duke Christian had donesuch great things in the face of these difficul-ties, what might not be expected if the obstacleswere removed; when the army raised was nu-merous enough to overawe in itself the mostpowerful states of the empire; when the nameof the Emperor insured impunity to every out-rage; and when, under the highest authority,

and at the head of an overwhelming force, thesame system of warfare was pursued, whichthese two adventurers had hitherto adopted attheir own risk, and with only an untrainedmultitude?

Wallenstein had all this in view when he madehis bold offer to the Emperor, which nowseemed extravagant to no one. The more hisarmy was augmented, the less cause was thereto fear for its subsistence, because it could ir-resistibly bear down upon the refractory states;the more violent its outrages, the more prob-able was impunity. Towards hostile states it hadthe plea of right; towards the favourably dis-posed it could allege necessity. The inequality,too, with which it dealt out its oppressions, pre-vented any dangerous union among the states;while the exhaustion of their territories deprivedthem of the power of vengeance. Thus the wholeof Germany became a kind of magazine for theimperial army, and the Emperor was enabled

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to deal with the other states as absolutely aswith his own hereditary dominions. Universalwas the clamour for redress before the impe-rial throne; but there was nothing to fear fromthe revenge of the injured princes, so long asthey appealed for justice. The general discon-tent was directed equally against the Emperor,who had lent his name to these barbarities, andthe general who exceeded his power, and openlyabused the authority of his master. They ap-plied to the Emperor for protection against theoutrages of his general; but Wallenstein hadno sooner felt himself absolute in the army,than he threw off his obedience to his sover-eign.

The exhaustion of the enemy made a speedypeace probable; yet Wallenstein continued toaugment the imperial armies until they wereat least 100,000 men strong. Numberless com-missions to colonelcies and inferior commands,the regal pomp of the commander-in-chief, im-

moderate largesses to his favourites, (for henever gave less than a thousand florins,) enor-mous sums lavished in corrupting the court atVienna — all this had been effected withoutburdening the Emperor. These immense sumswere raised by the contributions levied from thelower German provinces, where no distinctionwas made between friend and foe; and the ter-ritories of all princes were subjected to the samesystem of marching and quartering, of extor-tion and outrage. If credit is to be given to anextravagant contemporary statement,Wallenstein, during his seven years command,had exacted not less than sixty thousand mil-lions of dollars from one half of Germany. Thegreater his extortions, the greater the rewardsof his soldiers, and the greater the concourseto his standard, for the world always follows for-tune. His armies flourished while all the statesthrough which they passed withered. Whatcared he for the detestation of the people, and

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the complaints of princes? His army adored him,and the very enormity of his guilt enabled himto bid defiance to its consequences.

It would be unjust to Ferdinand, were we tolay all these irregularities to his charge. Hadhe foreseen that he was abandoning the Ger-man States to the mercy of his officer, he wouldhave been sensible how dangerous to himselfso absolute a general would prove. The closerthe connexion became between the army, andthe leader from whom flowed favour and for-tune, the more the ties which united both tothe Emperor were relaxed. Every thing, it is true,was done in the name of the latter; butWallenstein only availed himself of the suprememajesty of the Emperor to crush the authorityof other states. His object was to depress theprinces of the empire, to destroy all gradationof rank between them and the Emperor, and toelevate the power of the latter above all compe-tition. If the Emperor were absolute in Germany,

who then would be equal to the man intrustedwith the execution of his will? The height towhich Wallenstein had raised the imperial au-thority astonished even the Emperor himself;but as the greatness of the master was entirelythe work of the servant, the creation ofWallenstein would necessarily sink again intonothing upon the withdrawal of its creativehand. Not without an object, therefore, didWallenstein labour to poison the minds of theGerman princes against the Emperor. The moreviolent their hatred of Ferdinand, the more in-dispensable to the Emperor would become theman who alone could render their ill-will pow-erless. His design unquestionably was, that hissovereign should stand in fear of no one in allGermany — besides himself, the source andengine of this despotic power.

As a step towards this end, Wallenstein nowdemanded the cession of Mecklenburg, to beheld in pledge till the repayment of his advances

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for the war. Ferdinand had already created himDuke of Friedland, apparently with the view ofexalting his own general over Bavaria; but anordinary recompense would not satisfyWallenstein’s ambition. In vain was this newdemand, which could be granted only at theexpense of two princes of the empire, activelyresisted in the Imperial Council; in vain did theSpaniards, who had long been offended by hispride, oppose his elevation. The powerful sup-port which Wallenstein had purchased from theimperial councillors prevailed, and Ferdinandwas determined, at whatever cost, to secure thedevotion of so indispensable a minister. For aslight offence, one of the oldest German houseswas expelled from their hereditary dominions,that a creature of the Emperor might be en-riched by their spoils (1628).

Wallenstein now began to assume the title ofgeneralissimo of the Emperor by sea and land.Wismar was taken, and a firm footing gained

on the Baltic. Ships were required from Polandand the Hanse towns to carry the war to theother side of the Baltic; to pursue the Danesinto the heart of their own country, and to com-pel them to a peace which might prepare theway to more important conquests. The commu-nication between the Lower German States andthe Northern powers would be broken, couldthe Emperor place himself between them, andencompass Germany, from the Adriatic to theSound, (the intervening kingdom of Poland be-ing already dependent on him,) with an unbro-ken line of territory. If such was the Emperor’splan, Wallenstein had a peculiar interest in itsexecution. These possessions on the Balticshould, he intended, form the first foundationof a power, which had long been the object ofhis ambition, and which should enable him tothrow off his dependence on the Emperor.

To effect this object, it was of extreme impor-tance to gain possession of Stralsund, a town

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on the Baltic. Its excellent harbour, and theshort passage from it to the Swedish and Dan-ish coasts, peculiarly fitted it for a naval stationin a war with these powers. This town, the sixthof the Hanseatic League, enjoyed great privi-leges under the Duke of Pomerania, and totallyindependent of Denmark, had taken no sharein the war. But neither its neutrality, nor itsprivileges, could protect it against the encroach-ments of Wallenstein, when he had once cast alonging look upon it.

The request he made, that Stralsund shouldreceive an imperial garrison, had been firmlyand honourably rejected by the magistracy, whoalso refused his cunningly demanded permis-sion to march his troops through the town,Wallenstein, therefore, now proposed to besiegeit.

The independence of Stralsund, as securingthe free navigation of the Baltic, was equallyimportant to the two Northern kings. A com-

mon danger overcame at last the private jeal-ousies which had long divided these princes.In a treaty concluded at Copenhagen in 1628,they bound themselves to assist Stralsund withtheir combined force, and to oppose in com-mon every foreign power which should appearin the Baltic with hostile views. Christian IV.also threw a sufficient garrison into Stralsund,and by his personal presence animated thecourage of the citizens. Some ships of war whichSigismund, King of Poland, had sent to the as-sistance of the imperial general, were sunk bythe Danish fleet; and as Lubeck refused himthe use of its shipping, this imperial generalis-simo of the sea had not even ships enough toblockade this single harbour.

Nothing could appear more adventurous thanto attempt the conquest of a strongly fortifiedseaport without first blockading its harbour.Wallenstein, however, who as yet had neverexperienced a check, wished to conquer nature

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itself, and to perform impossibilities. Stralsund,open to the sea, continued to be supplied withprovisions and reinforcements; yet Wallensteinmaintained his blockade on the land side, andendeavoured, by boasting menaces, to supplyhis want of real strength. “I will take this town,”said he, “though it were fastened by a chain tothe heavens.” The Emperor himself, who mighthave cause to regret an enterprise which prom-ised no very glorious result, joyfully availed him-self of the apparent submission and acceptablepropositions of the inhabitants, to order thegeneral to retire from the town. Wallensteindespised the command, and continued to ha-rass the besieged by incessant assaults. As theDanish garrison, already much reduced, wasunequal to the fatigues of this prolonged de-fence, and the king was unable to detach anyfurther troops to their support, Stralsund, withChristian’s consent, threw itself under the pro-tection of the King of Sweden. The Danish com-

mander left the town to make way for a Swed-ish governor, who gloriously defended it. HereWallenstein’s good fortune forsook him; and,for the first time, his pride experienced thehumiliation of relinquishing his prey, after theloss of many months and of 12,000 men. Thenecessity to which he reduced the town of ap-plying for protection to Sweden, laid the foun-dation of a close alliance between GustavusAdolphus and Stralsund, which greatly facili-tated the entrance of the Swedes into Germany.

Hitherto invariable success had attended thearms of the Emperor and the League, and Chris-tian IV., defeated in Germany, had sought ref-uge in his own islands; but the Baltic checkedthe further progress of the conquerors. The wantof ships not only stopped the pursuit of the king,but endangered their previous acquisitions. Theunion of the two northern monarchs was mostto be dreaded, because, so long as it lasted, iteffectually prevented the Emperor and his gen-

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eral from acquiring a footing on the Baltic, oreffecting a landing in Sweden. But if they couldsucceed in dissolving this union, and especiallysecuring the friendship of the Danish king, theymight hope to overpower the insulated force ofSweden. The dread of the interference of for-eign powers, the insubordination of the Prot-estants in his own states, and still more thestorm which was gradually darkening along thewhole of Protestant Germany, inclined theEmperor to peace, which his general, from op-posite motives, was equally desirous to effect.Far from wishing for a state of things whichwould reduce him from the meridian of great-ness and glory to the obscurity of private life,he only wished to change the theatre of war,and by a partial peace to prolong the generalconfusion. The friendship of Denmark, whoseneighbour he had become as Duke ofMecklenburgh, was most important for the suc-cess of his ambitious views; and he resolved,

even at the sacrifice of his sovereign’s interests,to secure its alliance.

By the treaty of Copenhagen, Christian IV.had expressly engaged not to conclude a sepa-rate peace with the Emperor, without the con-sent of Sweden. Notwithstanding, Wallenstein’sproposition was readily received by him. In aconference at Lubeck in 1629, from whichWallenstein, with studied contempt, excludedthe Swedish ambassadors who came to inter-cede for Mecklenburgh, all the conquests takenby the imperialists were restored to the Danes.The conditions imposed upon the king were,that he should interfere no farther with the af-fairs of Germany than was called for by his char-acter of Duke of Holstein; that he should on nopretext harass the Chapters of Lower Germany,and should leave the Dukes of Mecklenburghto their fate. By Christian himself had theseprinces been involved in the war with the Em-peror; he now sacrificed them, to gain the favour

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of the usurper of their territories. Among themotives which had engaged him in a war withthe Emperor, not the least was the restorationof his relation, the Elector Palatine — yet thename of that unfortunate prince was not evenmentioned in the treaty; while in one of its ar-ticles the legitimacy of the Bavarian election wasexpressly recognised. Thus meanly and inglo-riously did Christian IV. retire from the field.

Ferdinand had it now in his power, for thesecond time, to secure the tranquillity of Ger-many; and it depended solely on his willwhether the treaty with Denmark should orshould not be the basis of a general peace. Fromevery quarter arose the cry of the unfortunate,petitioning for an end of their sufferings; thecruelties of his soldiers, and the rapacity of hisgenerals, had exceeded all bounds. Germany,laid waste by the desolating bands of Mansfeldand the Duke of Brunswick, and by the stillmore terrible hordes of Tilly and Wallenstein,

lay exhausted, bleeding, wasted, and sighingfor repose. An anxious desire for peace was feltby all conditions, and by the Emperor himself;involved as he was in a war with France in Up-per Italy, exhausted by his past warfare in Ger-many, and apprehensive of the day of reckon-ing which was approaching. But, unfortunately,the conditions on which alone the two religiousparties were willing respectively to sheath thesword, were irreconcileable. The Roman Catho-lics wished to terminate the war to their ownadvantage; the Protestants advanced equal pre-tensions. The Emperor, instead of uniting bothparties by a prudent moderation, sided withone; and thus Germany was again plunged inthe horrors of a bloody war.

From the very close of the Bohemian troubles,Ferdinand had carried on a counter reforma-tion in his hereditary dominions, in which, how-ever, from regard to some of the Protestant Es-tates, he proceeded, at first, with moderation.

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But the victories of his generals in Lower Ger-many encouraged him to throw off all reserve.Accordingly he had it intimated to all the Prot-estants in these dominions, that they must ei-ther abandon their religion, or their nativecountry, — a bitter and dreadful alternative,which excited the most violent commotionsamong his Austrian subjects. In the Palatinate,immediately after the expulsion of Frederick,the Protestant religion had been suppressed,and its professors expelled from the Universityof Heidelberg.

All this was but the prelude to greaterchanges. In the Electoral Congress held atMuehlhausen, the Roman Catholics had de-manded of the Emperor that all thearchbishoprics, bishoprics, mediate and imme-diate, abbacies and monasteries, which, sincethe Diet of Augsburg, had been secularized bythe Protestants, should be restored to thechurch, in order to indemnify them for the

losses and sufferings in the war. To a RomanCatholic prince so zealous as Ferdinand was,such a hint was not likely to be neglected; buthe still thought it would be premature to arousethe whole Protestants of Germany by so deci-sive a step. Not a single Protestant prince butwould be deprived, by this revocation of the re-ligious foundations, of a part of his lands; forwhere these revenues had not actually beendiverted to secular purposes they had beenmade over to the Protestant church. To thissource, many princes owed the chief part oftheir revenues and importance. All, withoutexception, would be irritated by this demandfor restoration. The religious treaty did not ex-pressly deny their right to these chapters, al-though it did not allow it. But a possessionwhich had now been held for nearly a century,the silence of four preceding emperors, and thelaw of equity, which gave them an equal rightwith the Roman Catholics to the foundations

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of their common ancestors, might be stronglypleaded by them as a valid title. Besides theactual loss of power and authority, which thesurrender of these foundations would occasion,besides the inevitable confusion which wouldnecessarily attend it, one important disadvan-tage to which it would lead, was, that the resto-ration of the Roman Catholic bishops wouldincrease the strength of that party in the Dietby so many additional votes. Such grievous sac-rifices likely to fall on the Protestants, madethe Emperor apprehensive of a formidable op-position; and until the military ardour shouldhave cooled in Germany, he had no wish to pro-voke a party formidable by its union, and whichin the Elector of Saxony had a powerful leader.He resolved, therefore, to try the experiment atfirst on a small scale, in order to ascertain howit was likely to succeed on a larger one. Accord-ingly, some of the free cities in Upper Germany,and the Duke of Wirtemberg, received orders

to surrender to the Roman Catholics several ofthe confiscated chapters.

The state of affairs in Saxony enabled the Em-peror to make some bolder experiments in thatquarter. In the bishoprics of Magdeburg andHalberstadt, the Protestant canons had nothesitated to elect bishops of their own religion.Both bishoprics, with the exception of the townof Magdeburg itself, were overrun by the troopsof Wallenstein. It happened, moreover, that bythe death of the Administrator Duke Christianof Brunswick, Halberstadt was vacant, as wasalso the Archbishopric of Magdeburg by thedeposition of Christian William, a prince of theHouse of Brandenburgh. Ferdinand took ad-vantage of the circumstance to restore the seeof Halberstadt to a Roman Catholic bishop, anda prince of his own house. To avoid a similarcoercion, the Chapter of Magdeburg hastenedto elect a son of the Elector of Saxony as arch-bishop. But the pope, who with his arrogated

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authority interfered in this matter, conferredthe Archbishopric of Magdeburg also on theAustrian prince. Thus, with all his pious zealfor religion, Ferdinand never lost sight of theinterests of his family.

At length, when the peace of Lubeck had de-livered the Emperor from all apprehensions onthe side of Denmark, and the German Protes-tants seemed entirely powerless, the League be-coming louder and more urgent in its demands,Ferdinand, in 1629, signed the Edict of Resti-tution, (so famous by its disastrous conse-quences,) which he had previously laid beforethe four Roman Catholic electors for their ap-probation. In the preamble, he claimed the pre-rogative, in right of his imperial authority, tointerpret the meaning of the religious treaty,the ambiguities of which had already causedso many disputes, and to decide as supremearbiter and judge between the contending par-ties. This prerogative he founded upon the prac-

tice of his ancestors, and its previous recogni-tion even by Protestant states. Saxony had ac-tually acknowledged this right of the Emperor;and it now became evident how deeply this courthad injured the Protestant cause by its depen-dence on the House of Austria. But though themeaning of the religious treaty was really am-biguous, as a century of religious disputes suf-ficiently proved, yet for the Emperor, who mustbe either a Protestant or a Roman Catholic, andtherefore an interested party, to assume theright of deciding between the disputants, wasclearly a violation of an essential article of thepacification. He could not be judge in his owncause, without reducing the liberties of theempire to an empty sound.

And now, in virtue of this usurpation,Ferdinand decided, “That every secularizationof a religious foundation, mediate or immedi-ate, by the Protestants, subsequent to the dateof the treaty, was contrary to its spirit, and must

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be revoked as a breach of it.” He further de-cided, “That, by the religious peace, Catholicproprietors of estates were no further bound totheir Protestant subjects than to allow them fullliberty to quit their territories.” In obedience tothis decision, all unlawful possessors of ben-efices — the Protestant states in short withoutexception — were ordered, under pain of theban of the empire, immediately to surrendertheir usurped possessions to the imperial com-missioners.

This sentence applied to no less than twoarchbishoprics and twelve bishoprics, besidesinnumerable abbacies. The edict came like athunderbolt on the whole of Protestant Ger-many; dreadful even in its immediate conse-quences; but yet more so from the further ca-lamities it seemed to threaten. The Protestantswere now convinced that the suppression oftheir religion had been resolved on by the Em-peror and the League, and that the overthrow

of German liberty would soon follow. Their re-monstrances were unheeded; the commission-ers were named, and an army assembled toenforce obedience. The edict was first put inforce in Augsburg, where the treaty was con-cluded; the city was again placed under the gov-ernment of its bishop, and six Protestantchurches in the town were closed. The Duke ofWirtemberg was, in like manner, compelled tosurrender his abbacies. These severe measures,though they alarmed the Protestant states, wereyet insufficient to rouse them to an active re-sistance. Their fear of the Emperor was toostrong, and many were disposed to quiet sub-mission. The hope of attaining their end bygentle measures, induced the Roman Catho-lics likewise to delay for a year the execution ofthe edict, and this saved the Protestants; be-fore the end of that period, the success of theSwedish arms had totally changed the state ofaffairs.

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In a Diet held at Ratisbon, at which Ferdinandwas present in person (in 1630), the necessityof taking some measures for the immediate res-toration of a general peace to Germany, and forthe removal of all grievances, was debated. Thecomplaints of the Roman Catholics werescarcely less numerous than those of the Prot-estants, although Ferdinand had flattered him-self that by the Edict of Restitution he had se-cured the members of the League, and its leaderby the gift of the electoral dignity, and the ces-sion of great part of the Palatinate. But the goodunderstanding between the Emperor and theprinces of the League had rapidly declined sincethe employment of Wallenstein. Accustomed togive law to Germany, and even to sway theEmperor’s own destiny, the haughty Elector ofBavaria now at once saw himself supplanted bythe imperial general, and with that of theLeague, his own importance completely under-mined. Another had now stepped in to reap the

fruits of his victories, and to bury his past ser-vices in oblivion. Wallenstein’s imperious char-acter, whose dearest triumph was in degradingthe authority of the princes, and giving an odi-ous latitude to that of the Emperor, tended nota little to augment the irritation of the Elector.Discontented with the Emperor, and distrust-ful of his intentions, he had entered into analliance with France, which the other membersof the League were suspected of favouring. Afear of the Emperor’s plans of aggrandizement,and discontent with existing evils, had extin-guished among them all feelings of gratitude.Wallenstein’s exactions had become altogetherintolerable. Brandenburg estimated its lossesat twenty, Pomerania at ten, Hesse Cassel atseven millions of dollars, and the rest in pro-portion. The cry for redress was loud, urgent,and universal; all prejudices were hushed; Ro-man Catholics and Protestants were united onthis point. The terrified Emperor was assailed

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on all sides by petitions against Wallenstein,and his ear filled with the most fearful descrip-tions of his outrages. Ferdinand was not natu-rally cruel. If not totally innocent of the atroci-ties which were practised in Germany underthe shelter of his name, he was ignorant of theirextent; and he was not long in yielding to therepresentation of the princes, and reduced hisstanding army by eighteen thousand cavalry.While this reduction took place, the Swedeswere actively preparing an expedition into Ger-many, and the greater part of the disbandedImperialists enlisted under their banners.

The Emperor’s concessions only encouragedthe Elector of Bavaria to bolder demands. Solong as the Duke of Friedland retained the su-preme command, his triumph over the Emperorwas incomplete. The princes of the League weremeditating a severe revenge on Wallenstein forthat haughtiness with which he had treatedthem all alike. His dismissal was demanded by

the whole college of electors, and even by Spain,with a degree of unanimity and urgency whichastonished the Emperor. The anxiety with whichWallenstein’s enemies pressed for his dismissal,ought to have convinced the Emperor of theimportance of his services. Wallenstein, in-formed of the cabals which were forming againsthim in Ratisbon, lost no time in opening theeyes of the Emperor to the real views of the Elec-tor of Bavaria. He himself appeared in Ratisbon,with a pomp which threw his master into theshade, and increased the hatred of his oppo-nents.

Long was the Emperor undecided. The sacri-fice demanded was a painful one. To the Dukeof Friedland alone he owed his preponderance;he felt how much he would lose in yielding himto the indignation of the princes. But at thismoment, unfortunately, he was under the ne-cessity of conciliating the Electors. His sonFerdinand had already been chosen King of

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Hungary, and he was endeavouring to procurehis election as his successor in the empire. Forthis purpose, the support of Maximilian wasindispensable. This consideration was theweightiest, and to oblige the Elector of Bavariahe scrupled not to sacrifice his most valuableservant.

At the Diet at Ratisbon, there were presentambassadors from France, empowered to ad-just the differences which seemed to menace awar in Italy between the Emperor and their sov-ereign. Vincent, Duke of Mantua andMontferrat, dying without issue, his next rela-tion, Charles, Duke of Nevers, had taken pos-session of this inheritance, without doing hom-age to the Emperor as liege lord of the princi-pality. Encouraged by the support of France andVenice, he refused to surrender these territo-ries into the hands of the imperial commission-ers, until his title to them should be decided.On the other hand, Ferdinand had taken up

arms at the instigation of the Spaniards, towhom, as possessors of Milan, the nearneighbourhood of a vassal of France was pecu-liarly alarming, and who welcomed this pros-pect of making, with the assistance of the Em-peror, additional conquests in Italy. In spite ofall the exertions of Pope Urban VIII. to avert awar in that country, Ferdinand marched a Ger-man army across the Alps, and threw the Ital-ian states into a general consternation. His armshad been successful throughout Germany, andexaggerated fears revived the olden apprehen-sion of Austria’s projects of universal monar-chy. All the horrors of the German war nowspread like a deluge over those favoured coun-tries which the Po waters; Mantua was takenby storm, and the surrounding districts givenup to the ravages of a lawless soldiery. The curseof Italy was thus added to the maledictions uponthe Emperor which resounded through Ger-many; and even in the Roman Conclave, silent

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prayers were offered for the success of the Prot-estant arms.

Alarmed by the universal hatred which thisItalian campaign had drawn upon him, andwearied out by the urgent remonstrances of theElectors, who zealously supported the applica-tion of the French ambassador, the Emperorpromised the investiture to the new Duke ofMantua.

This important service on the part of Bavaria,of course, required an equivalent from France.The adjustment of the treaty gave the envoys ofRichelieu, during their residence in Ratisbon,the desired opportunity of entangling the Em-peror in dangerous intrigues, of inflaming thediscontented princes of the League still morestrongly against him, and of turning to his dis-advantage all the transactions of the Diet. Forthis purpose Richelieu had chosen an admi-rable instrument in Father Joseph, a Capuchinfriar, who accompanied the ambassadors with-

out exciting the least suspicion. One of his prin-cipal instructions was assiduously to bringabout the dismissal of Wallenstein. With thegeneral who had led it to victory, the army ofAustria would lose its principal strength; manyarmies could not compensate for the loss of thisindividual. It would therefore be a masterstrokeof policy, at the very moment when a victoriousmonarch, the absolute master of his operations,was arming against the Emperor, to remove fromthe head of the imperial armies the only gen-eral who, by ability and military experience, wasable to cope with the French king. Father Jo-seph, in the interests of Bavaria, undertook toovercome the irresolution of the Emperor, whowas now in a manner besieged by the Span-iards and the Electoral Council. “It would beexpedient,” he thought, “to gratify the Electorson this occasion, and thereby facilitate his son’selection to the Roman Crown. This object oncegained, Wallenstein could at any time resume

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his former station.” The artful Capuchin wastoo sure of his man to touch upon this groundof consolation.

The voice of a monk was to Ferdinand II. thevoice of God. “Nothing on earth,” writes his ownconfessor, “was more sacred in his eyes than apriest. If it could happen, he used to say, thatan angel and a Regular were to meet him atthe same time and place, the Regular shouldreceive his first, and the angel his second obei-sance.” Wallenstein’s dismissal was determinedupon.

In return for this pious concession, the Ca-puchin dexterously counteracted the Emperor’sscheme to procure for the King of Hungary thefurther dignity of King of the Romans. In anexpress clause of the treaty just concluded, theFrench ministers engaged in the name of theirsovereign to observe a complete neutrality be-tween the Emperor and his enemies; while, atthe same time, Richelieu was actually

negociating with the King of Sweden to declarewar, and pressing upon him the alliance of hismaster. The latter, indeed, disavowed the lie assoon as it had served its purpose, and FatherJoseph, confined to a convent, must atone forthe alleged offence of exceeding his instruc-tions. Ferdinand perceived, when too late, thathe had been imposed upon. “A wicked Capu-chin,” he was heard to say, “has disarmed mewith his rosary, and thrust nothing less thansix electoral crowns into his cowl.”

Artifice and trickery thus triumphed over theEmperor, at the moment when he was believedto be omnipotent in Germany, and actually wasso in the field. With the loss of 18,000 men,and of a general who alone was worth wholearmies, he left Ratisbon without gaining the endfor which he had made such sacrifices. Beforethe Swedes had vanquished him in the field,Maximilian of Bavaria and Father Joseph hadgiven him a mortal blow. At this memorable Diet

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at Ratisbon the war with Sweden was resolvedupon, and that of Mantua terminated. Vainlyhad the princes present at it interceded for theDukes of Mecklenburgh; and equally fruitlesshad been an application by the English ambas-sadors for a pension to the Palatine Frederick.

Wallenstein was at the head of an army ofnearly a hundred thousand men who adoredhim, when the sentence of his dismissal arrived.Most of the officers were his creatures: — withthe common soldiers his hint was law. His am-bition was boundless, his pride indomitable, hisimperious spirit could not brook an injuryunavenged. One moment would now precipi-tate him from the height of grandeur into theobscurity of a private station. To execute such asentence upon such a delinquent seemed torequire more address than it cost to obtain itfrom the judge. Accordingly, two ofWallenstein’s most intimate friends were se-lected as heralds of these evil tidings, and in-

structed to soften them as much as possible,by flattering assurances of the continuance ofthe Emperor’s favour.

Wallenstein had ascertained the purport oftheir message before the imperial ambassadorsarrived. He had time to collect himself, and hiscountenance exhibited an external calmness,while grief and rage were storming in his bo-som. He had made up his mind to obey. TheEmperor’s decision had taken him by surprisebefore circumstances were ripe, or his prepa-rations complete, for the bold measures he hadcontemplated. His extensive estates were scat-tered over Bohemia and Moravia; and by theirconfiscation, the Emperor might at once destroythe sinews of his power. He looked, therefore,to the future for revenge; and in this hope hewas encouraged by the predictions of an Ital-ian astrologer, who led his imperious spirit likea child in leading strings. Seni had read in thestars, that his master’s brilliant career was not

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yet ended; and that bright and glorious pros-pects still awaited him. It was, indeed, unnec-essary to consult the stars to foretell that anenemy, Gustavus Adolphus, would ere long ren-der indispensable the services of such a gen-eral as Wallenstein.

“The Emperor is betrayed,” said Wallensteinto the messengers; “I pity but forgive him. It isplain that the grasping spirit of the Bavariandictates to him. I grieve that, with so much weak-ness, he has sacrificed me, but I will obey.” Hedismissed the emissaries with princely pre-sents; and in a humble letter besought the con-tinuance of the Emperor’s favour, and of thedignities he had bestowed upon him.

The murmurs of the army were universal, onhearing of the dismissal of their general; andthe greater part of his officers immediately quit-ted the imperial service. Many followed him tohis estates in Bohemia and Moravia; others heattached to his interests by pensions, in order

to command their services when the opportu-nity should offer.

But repose was the last thing that Wallensteincontemplated when he returned to private life.In his retreat, he surrounded himself with aregal pomp, which seemed to mock the sen-tence of degradation. Six gates led to the pal-ace he inhabited in Prague, and a hundredhouses were pulled down to make way for hiscourtyard. Similar palaces were built on hisother numerous estates. Gentlemen of the no-blest houses contended for the honour of serv-ing him, and even imperial chamberlains re-signed the golden key to the Emperor, to fill asimilar office under Wallenstein. He maintainedsixty pages, who were instructed by the ablestmasters. His antichamber was protected by fiftylife guards. His table never consisted of less than100 covers, and his seneschal was a person ofdistinction. When he travelled, his baggage andsuite accompanied him in a hundred wagons,

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drawn by six or four horses; his court followedin sixty carriages, attended by fifty led horses.The pomp of his liveries, the splendour of hisequipages, and the decorations of his apart-ments, were in keeping with all the rest. Sixbarons and as many knights, were in constantattendance about his person, and ready to ex-ecute his slightest order. Twelve patrols wenttheir rounds about his palace, to prevent anydisturbance. His busy genius required silence.The noise of coaches was to be kept away fromhis residence, and the streets leading to it werefrequently blocked up with chains. His owncircle was as silent as the approaches to hispalace; dark, reserved, and impenetrable, hewas more sparing of his words than of his gifts;while the little that he spoke was harsh andimperious. He never smiled, and the coldnessof his temperament was proof against sensualseductions. Ever occupied with grand schemes,he despised all those idle amusements in which

so many waste their lives. The correspondencehe kept up with the whole of Europe was chieflymanaged by himself, and, that as little as pos-sible might be trusted to the silence of others,most of the letters were written by his own hand.He was a man of large stature, thin, of a sallowcomplexion, with short red hair, and small spar-kling eyes. A gloomy and forbidding serious-ness sat upon his brow; and his magnificentpresents alone retained the trembling crowd ofhis dependents.

In this stately obscurity did Wallenstein si-lently, but not inactively, await the hour of re-venge. The victorious career of GustavusAdolphus soon gave him a presentiment of itsapproach. Not one of his lofty schemes had beenabandoned; and the Emperor’s ingratitude hadloosened the curb of his ambition. The dazzlingsplendour of his private life bespoke high soar-ing projects; and, lavish as a king, he seemedalready to reckon among his certain possessions

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those which he contemplated with hope.After Wallenstein’s dismissal, and the inva-

sion of Gustavus Adolphus, a new generalis-simo was to be appointed; and it now appearedadvisable to unite both the imperial army andthat of the League under one general.Maximilian of Bavaria sought this appointment,which would have enabled him to dictate to theEmperor, who, from a conviction of this, wishedto procure the command for his eldest son, theKing of Hungary. At last, in order to avoid of-fence to either of the competitors, the appoint-ment was given to Tilly, who now exchangedthe Bavarian for the Austrian service. The im-perial army in Germany, after the retirementof Wallenstein, amounted to about 40,000 men;that of the League to nearly the same number,both commanded by excellent officers, trainedby the experience of several campaigns, andproud of a long series of victories. With such aforce, little apprehension was felt at the inva-

sion of the King of Sweden, and the less so as itcommanded both Pomerania and Mecklenburg,the only countries through which he could en-ter Germany.

After the unsuccessful attempt of the King ofDenmark to check the Emperor’s progress,Gustavus Adolphus was the only prince in Eu-rope from whom oppressed liberty could lookfor protection — the only one who, while hewas personally qualified to conduct such anenterprise, had both political motives to recom-mend and wrongs to justify it. Before the com-mencement of the war in Lower Saxony, im-portant political interests induced him, as wellas the King of Denmark, to offer his servicesand his army for the defence of Germany; butthe offer of the latter had, to his own misfor-tune, been preferred. Since that time,Wallenstein and the Emperor had adopted mea-sures which must have been equally offensiveto him as a man and as a king. Imperial troops

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had been despatched to the aid of the Polishking, Sigismund, to defend Prussia against theSwedes. When the king complained toWallenstein of this act of hostility, he receivedfor answer, “The Emperor has more soldiersthan he wants for himself, he must help hisfriends.” The Swedish ambassadors had beeninsolently ordered by Wallenstein to withdrawfrom the conference at Lubeck; and when,unawed by this command, they were coura-geous enough to remain, contrary to the law ofnations, he had threatened them with violence.Ferdinand had also insulted the Swedish flag,and intercepted the king’s despatches toTransylvania. He also threw every obstacle inthe way of a peace betwixt Poland and Sweden,supported the pretensions of Sigismund to theSwedish throne, and denied the right ofGustavus to the title of king. Deigning no re-gard to the repeated remonstrances ofGustavus, he rather aggravated the offence by

new grievances, than acceded the required sat-isfaction.

So many personal motives, supported by im-portant considerations, both of policy and reli-gion, and seconded by pressing invitations fromGermany, had their full weight with a prince,who was naturally the more jealous of his royalprerogative the more it was questioned, who wasflattered by the glory he hoped to gain as Pro-tector of the Oppressed, and passionately lovedwar as the element of his genius. But, until atruce or peace with Poland should set his handsfree, a new and dangerous war was not to bethought of.

Cardinal Richelieu had the merit of effectingthis truce with Poland. This great statesman,who guided the helm of Europe, while in Francehe repressed the rage of faction and the inso-lence of the nobles, pursued steadily, amidstthe cares of a stormy administration, his planof lowering the ascendancy of the House of

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Austria. But circumstances opposed consider-able obstacles to the execution of his designs;and even the greatest minds cannot, with im-punity, defy the prejudices of the age. The min-ister of a Roman Catholic king, and a Cardinal,he was prevented by the purple he bore fromjoining the enemies of that church in an openattack on a power which had the address tosanctify its ambitious encroachments under thename of religion. The external deference whichRichelieu was obliged to pay to the narrow viewsof his contemporaries limited his exertions tosecret negociations, by which he endeavouredto gain the hand of others to accomplish theenlightened projects of his own mind. After afruitless attempt to prevent the peace betweenDenmark and the Emperor, he had recourse toGustavus Adolphus, the hero of his age. No ex-ertion was spared to bring this monarch to afavourable decision, and at the same time tofacilitate the execution of it. Charnasse, an

unsuspected agent of the Cardinal, proceededto Polish Prussia, where Gustavus Adolphus wasconducting the war against Sigismund, and al-ternately visited these princes, in order to per-suade them to a truce or peace. Gustavus hadbeen long inclined to it, and the French minis-ter succeeded at last in opening the eyes ofSigismund to his true interests, and to the de-ceitful policy of the Emperor. A truce for sixyears was agreed on, Gustavus being allowedto retain all his conquests. This treaty gave himalso what he had so long desired, the liberty ofdirecting his arms against the Emperor. For thisthe French ambassador offered him the allianceof his sovereign and considerable subsidies. ButGustavus Adolphus was justly apprehensive lestthe acceptance of the assistance should makehim dependent upon France, and fetter him inhis career of conquest, while an alliance with aRoman Catholic power might excite distrustamong the Protestants.

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If the war was just and necessary, the circum-stances under which it was undertaken werenot less promising. The name of the Emperor,it is true, was formidable, his resources inex-haustible, his power hitherto invincible. So dan-gerous a contest would have dismayed any otherthan Gustavus. He saw all the obstacles anddangers which opposed his undertaking, buthe knew also the means by which, as he hoped,they might be conquered. His army, though notnumerous, was well disciplined, inured to hard-ship by a severe climate and campaigns, andtrained to victory in the war with Poland. Swe-den, though poor in men and money, and over-taxed by an eight years’ war, was devoted to itsmonarch with an enthusiasm which assuredhim of the ready support of his subjects. In Ger-many, the name of the Emperor was at least asmuch hated as feared. The Protestant princesonly awaited the arrival of a deliverer to throwoff his intolerable yoke, and openly declare for

the Swedes. Even the Roman Catholic stateswould welcome an antagonist to the Emperor,whose opposition might control his overwhelm-ing influence. The first victory gained on Ger-man ground would be decisive. It would encour-age those princes who still hesitated to declarethemselves, strengthen the cause of his adher-ents, augment his troops, and open resourcesfor the maintenance of the campaign. If thegreater part of the German states were impov-erished by oppression, the flourishing Hansetowns had escaped, and they could not hesi-tate, by a small voluntary sacrifice, to avert thegeneral ruin. As the imperialists should bedriven from the different provinces, their armieswould diminish, since they were subsisting onthe countries in which they were encamped.The strength, too, of the Emperor had been less-ened by ill-timed detachments to Italy and theNetherlands; while Spain, weakened by the lossof the Manilla galleons, and engaged in a seri-

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ous war in the Netherlands, could afford himlittle support. Great Britain, on the other hand,gave the King of Sweden hope of considerablesubsidies; and France, now at peace with itself,came forward with the most favourable offers.

But the strongest pledge for the success ofhis undertaking Gustavus found — in himself.Prudence demanded that he should embraceall the foreign assistance he could, in order toguard his enterprise from the imputation ofrashness; but all his confidence and couragewere entirely derived from himself. He was in-disputably the greatest general of his age, andthe bravest soldier in the army which he hadformed. Familiar with the tactics of Greece andRome, he had discovered a more effective sys-tem of warfare, which was adopted as a modelby the most eminent commanders of subse-quent times. He reduced the unwieldy squad-rons of cavalry, and rendered their movementsmore light and rapid; and, with the same view,

he widened the intervals between his battal-ions. Instead of the usual array in a single line,he disposed his forces in two lines, that thesecond might advance in the event of the firstgiving way.

He made up for his want of cavalry, by plac-ing infantry among the horse; a practice whichfrequently decided the victory. Europe firstlearned from him the importance of infantry.All Germany was astonished at the strict disci-pline which, at the first, so creditably distin-guished the Swedish army within their territo-ries; all disorders were punished with the ut-most severity, particularly impiety, theft, gam-bling, and duelling. The Swedish articles of warenforced frugality. In the camp, the King’s tentnot excepted, neither silver nor gold was to beseen. The general’s eye looked as vigilantly tothe morals as to the martial bravery of his sol-diers; every regiment was ordered to form roundits chaplain for morning and evening prayers.

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In all these points the lawgiver was also an ex-ample. A sincere and ardent piety exalted hiscourage. Equally free from the coarse infidelitywhich leaves the passions of the barbarian with-out a control, — and from the grovelling super-stition of Ferdinand, who humbled himself tothe dust before the Supreme Being, while hehaughtily trampled on his fellow-creature — inthe height of his success he was ever a manand a Christian — in the height of his devo-tion, a king and a hero. The hardships of warhe shared with the meanest soldier in his army;maintained a calm serenity amidst the hottestfury of battle; his glance was omnipresent, andhe intrepidly forgot the danger while he exposedhimself to the greatest peril. His natural cour-age, indeed, too often made him forget the dutyof a general; and the life of a king ended in thedeath of a common soldier. But such a leaderwas followed to victory alike by the coward andthe brave, and his eagle glance marked every

heroic deed which his example had inspired.The fame of their sovereign excited in the na-tion an enthusiastic sense of their own impor-tance; proud of their king, the peasant in Fin-land and Gothland joyfully contributed his pit-tance; the soldier willingly shed his blood; andthe lofty energy which his single mind had im-parted to the nation long survived its creator.

The necessity of the war was acknowledged,but the best plan of conducting it was a matterof much question. Even to the bold ChancellorOxenstiern, an offensive war appeared too dar-ing a measure; the resources of his poor andconscientious master, appeared to him too slen-der to compete with those of a despotic sover-eign, who held all Germany at his command.But the minister’s timid scruples were overruledby the hero’s penetrating prudence. “If we awaitthe enemy in Sweden,” said Gustavus, “in theevent of a defeat every thing would be lost, by afortunate commencement in Germany every-

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thing would be gained. The sea is wide, and wehave a long line of coast in Sweden to defend. Ifthe enemy’s fleet should escape us, or our ownbe defeated, it would, in either case, be impos-sible to prevent the enemy’s landing. Everything depends on the retention of Stralsund.So long as this harbour is open to us, we shallboth command the Baltic, and secure a retreatfrom Germany. But to protect this port, we mustnot remain in Sweden, but advance at once intoPomerania. Let us talk no more, then, of a de-fensive war, by which we should sacrifice ourgreatest advantages. Sweden must not bedoomed to behold a hostile banner; if we arevanquished in Germany, it will be time enoughto follow your plan.”

Gustavus resolved to cross the Baltic and at-tack the Emperor. His preparations were madewith the utmost expedition, and his precaution-ary measures were not less prudent than theresolution itself was bold and magnanimous.

Before engaging in so distant a war, it was nec-essary to secure Sweden against its neighbours.At a personal interview with the King of Den-mark at Markaroed, Gustavus assured himselfof the friendship of that monarch; his frontieron the side of Moscow was well guarded; Po-land might be held in check from Germany, ifit betrayed any design of infringing the truce.Falkenberg, a Swedish ambassador, who visitedthe courts of Holland and Germany, obtainedthe most flattering promises from several Prot-estant princes, though none of them yet pos-sessed courage or self-devotion enough to en-ter into a formal alliance with him. Lubeck andHamburg engaged to advance him money, andto accept Swedish copper in return. Emissarieswere also despatched to the Prince ofTransylvania, to excite that implacable enemyof Austria to arms.

In the mean time, Swedish levies were madein Germany and the Netherlands, the regiments

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increased to their full complement, new onesraised, transports provided, a fleet fitted out,provisions, military stores, and money collected.Thirty ships of war were in a short time pre-pared, 15,000 men equipped, and 200 trans-ports were ready to convey them across theBaltic. A greater force Gustavus Adolphus wasunwilling to carry into Germany, and even themaintenance of this exceeded the revenues ofhis kingdom. But however small his army, itwas admirable in all points of discipline, cour-age, and experience, and might serve as thenucleus of a more powerful armament, if it oncegained the German frontier, and its first at-tempts were attended with success. Oxenstiern,at once general and chancellor, was posted with10,000 men in Prussia, to protect that provinceagainst Poland. Some regular troops, and a con-siderable body of militia, which served as a nurs-ery for the main body, remained in Sweden, asa defence against a sudden invasion by any

treacherous neighbour.These were the measures taken for the exter-

nal defence of the kingdom. Its internal admin-istration was provided for with equal care. Thegovernment was intrusted to the Council ofState, and the finances to the Palatine JohnCasimir, the brother-in-law of the King, whilehis wife, tenderly as he was attached to her,was excluded from all share in the government,for which her limited talents incapacitated her.He set his house in order like a dying man. Onthe 20th May, 1630, when all his measures werearranged, and all was ready for his departure,the King appeared in the Diet at Stockholm, tobid the States a solemn farewell. Taking in hisarms his daughter Christina, then only fouryears old, who, in the cradle, had been acknowl-edged as his successor, he presented her to theStates as the future sovereign, exacted fromthem a renewal of the oath of allegiance to her,in case he should never more return; and then

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read the ordinances for the government of thekingdom during his absence, or the minorityof his daughter. The whole assembly was dis-solved in tears, and the King himself was sometime before he could attain sufficient compo-sure to deliver his farewell address to the States.

“Not lightly or wantonly,” said he, “am I aboutto involve myself and you in this new and dan-gerous war; God is my witness that I do not fightto gratify my own ambition. But the Emperorhas wronged me most shamefully in the per-son of my ambassadors. He has supported myenemies, persecuted my friends and brethren,trampled my religion in the dust, and evenstretched his revengeful arm against my crown.The oppressed states of Germany call loudly foraid, which, by God’s help, we will give them.

“I am fully sensible of the dangers to whichmy life will be exposed. I have never yet shrunkfrom them, nor is it likely that I shall escapethem all. Hitherto, Providence has wonderfully

protected me, but I shall at last fall in defenceof my country. I commend you to the protec-tion of Heaven. Be just, be conscientious, actuprightly, and we shall meet again in eternity.

“To you, my Counsellors of State, I addressmyself first. May God enlighten you, and fillyou with wisdom, to promote the welfare of mypeople. You, too, my brave nobles, I commendto the divine protection. Continue to prove your-selves the worthy successors of those Gothicheroes, whose bravery humbled to the dust thepride of ancient Rome. To you, ministers of re-ligion, I recommend moderation and unity; beyourselves examples of the virtues which youpreach, and abuse not your influence over theminds of my people. On you, deputies of theburgesses, and the peasantry, I entreat theblessing of heaven; may your industry be re-warded by a prosperous harvest; your storesplenteously filled, and may you be crownedabundantly with all the blessings of this life.

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For the prosperity of all my subjects, absentand present, I offer my warmest prayers toHeaven. I bid you all a sincere — it may be —an eternal farewell.”

The embarkation of the troops took place atElfsknaben, where the fleet lay at anchor. Animmense concourse flocked thither to witnessthis magnificent spectacle. The hearts of thespectators were agitated by varied emotions, asthey alternately considered the vastness of theenterprise, and the greatness of the leader.Among the superior officers who commandedin this army were Gustavus Horn, theRhinegrave Otto Lewis, Henry Matthias, CountThurn, Ottenberg, Baudissen, Banner, Teufel,Tott, Mutsenfahl, Falkenberg, Kniphausen, andother distinguished names. Detained by con-trary winds, the fleet did not sail till June, andon the 24th of that month reached the Islandof Rugen in Pomerania.

Gustavus Adolphus was the first who landed.

In the presence of his suite, he knelt on theshore of Germany to return thanks to the Al-mighty for the safe arrival of his fleet and hisarmy. He landed his troops on the Islands ofWollin and Usedom; upon his approach, theimperial garrisons abandoned their entrench-ments and fled. He advanced rapidly on Stettin,to secure this important place before the ap-pearance of the Imperialists. Bogislaus XIV.,Duke of Pomerania, a feeble and superannu-ated prince, had been long tired out by theoutrages committed by the latter within his ter-ritories; but too weak to resist, he had contentedhimself with murmurs. The appearance of hisdeliverer, instead of animating his courage, in-creased his fear and anxiety. Severely as hiscountry had suffered from the Imperialists, therisk of incurring the Emperor’s vengeance pre-vented him from declaring openly for theSwedes. Gustavus Adolphus, who was en-camped under the walls of the town, summoned

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the city to receive a Swedish garrison. Bogislausappeared in person in the camp of Gustavus, todeprecate this condition. “I come to you,” saidGustavus, “not as an enemy but a friend. I wageno war against Pomerania, nor against the Ger-man empire, but against the enemies of both.In my hands this duchy shall be sacred; and itshall be restored to you at the conclusion ofthe campaign, by me, with more certainty, thanby any other. Look to the traces of the imperialforce within your territories, and to mine inUsedom; and decide whether you will have theEmperor or me as your friend. What have youto expect, if the Emperor should make himselfmaster of your capital? Will he deal with youmore leniently than I? Or is it your intention tostop my progress? The case is pressing: decideat once, and do not compel me to have recourseto more violent measures.”

The alternative was a painful one. On the oneside, the King of Sweden was before his gates

with a formidable army; on the other, he sawthe inevitable vengeance of the Emperor, andthe fearful example of so many German princes,who were now wandering in misery, the victimsof that revenge. The more immediate dangerdecided his resolution. The gates of Stettin wereopened to the king; the Swedish troops entered;and the Austrians, who were advancing by rapidmarches, anticipated. The capture of this placeprocured for the king a firm footing inPomerania, the command of the Oder, and amagazine for his troops. To prevent a charge oftreachery, Bogislaus was careful to excuse thisstep to the Emperor on the plea of necessity;but aware of Ferdinand’s implacable disposi-tion, he entered into a close alliance with hisnew protector. By this league with Pomerania,Gustavus secured a powerful friend in Germany,who covered his rear, and maintained his com-munication with Sweden.

As Ferdinand was already the aggressor in

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Prussia, Gustavus Adolphus thought himselfabsolved from the usual formalities, and com-menced hostilities without any declaration ofwar. To the other European powers, he justi-fied his conduct in a manifesto, in which hedetailed the grounds which had led him to takeup arms. Meanwhile he continued his progressin Pomerania, while he saw his army daily in-creasing. The troops which had fought underMansfeld, Duke Christian of Brunswick, theKing of Denmark, and Wallenstein, came incrowds, both officers and soldiers, to join hisvictorious standard.

At the Imperial court, the invasion of the kingof Sweden at first excited far less attention thanit merited. The pride of Austria, extravagantlyelated by its unheard-of successes, looked downwith contempt upon a prince, who, with a hand-ful of men, came from an obscure corner ofEurope, and who owed his past successes, asthey imagined, entirely to the incapacity of a

weak opponent. The depreciatory representa-tion which Wallenstein had artfully given of theSwedish power, increased the Emperor’s secu-rity; for what had he to fear from an enemy,whom his general undertook to drive with suchease from Germany? Even the rapid progressof Gustavus Adolphus in Pomerania, could notentirely dispel this prejudice, which the mock-eries of the courtiers continued to feed. He wascalled in Vienna the Snow King, whom the coldof the north kept together, but who would in-fallibly melt as he advanced southward. Eventhe electors, assembled in Ratisbon, disre-garded his representations; and, influenced byan abject complaisance to Ferdinand, refusedhim even the title of king. But while theymocked him in Ratisbon and Vienna, inMecklenburg and Pomerania, one strong townafter another fell into his hands.

Notwithstanding this contempt, the Emperorthought it proper to offer to adjust his differ-

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ences with Sweden by negociation, and for thatpurpose sent plenipotentiaries to Denmark. Buttheir instructions showed how little he was inearnest in these proposals, for he still contin-ued to refuse to Gustavus the title of king. Hehoped by this means to throw on the king ofSweden the odium of being the aggressor, andthereby to ensure the support of the States ofthe empire. The conference at Dantzic proved,as might be expected, fruitless, and the ani-mosity of both parties was increased to its ut-most by an intemperate correspondence.

An imperial general, Torquato Conti, who com-manded in Pomerania, had, in the mean time,made a vain attempt to wrest Stettin from theSwedes. The Imperialists were driven out fromone place after another; Damm, Stargard,Camin, and Wolgast, soon fell into the hands ofGustavus. To revenge himself upon the Dukeof Pomerania, the imperial general permittedhis troops, upon his retreat, to exercise every

barbarity on the unfortunate inhabitants ofPomerania, who had already suffered but tooseverely from his avarice. On pretence of cut-ting off the resources of the Swedes, the wholecountry was laid waste and plundered; and of-ten when the Imperialists were unable anylonger to maintain a place, it was laid in ashes,in order to leave the enemy nothing but ruins.But these barbarities only served to place in amore favourable light the opposite conduct ofthe Swedes, and to win all hearts to their hu-mane monarch. The Swedish soldier paid forall he required; no private property was injuredon his march. The Swedes consequently werereceived with open arms both in town and coun-try, whilst every Imperialist that fell into thehands of the Pomeranian peasantry was ruth-lessly murdered. Many Pomeranians enteredinto the service of Sweden, and the estates ofthis exhausted country willingly voted the kinga contribution of 100,000 florins.

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Torquato Conti, who, with all his severity ofcharacter, was a consummate general, endeav-oured to render Stettin useless to the king ofSweden, as he could not deprive him of it. Heentrenched himself upon the Oder, at Gartz,above Stettin, in order, by commanding thatriver, to cut off the water communication of thetown with the rest of Germany. Nothing couldinduce him to attack the King of Sweden, whowas his superior in numbers, while the latterwas equally cautious not to storm the strongentrenchments of the Imperialists. Torquato, toodeficient in troops and money to act upon theoffensive against the king, hoped by this planof operations to give time for Tilly to hasten tothe defence of Pomerania, and then, in con-junction with that general, to attack the Swedes.Seizing the opportunity of the temporary ab-sence of Gustavus, he made a sudden attemptupon Stettin, but the Swedes were not unpre-pared for him. A vigorous attack of the Imperi-

alists was firmly repulsed, and Torquato wasforced to retire with great loss. For this auspi-cious commencement of the war, however,Gustavus was, it must be owned, as much in-debted to his good fortune as to his militarytalents. The imperial troops in Pomerania hadbeen greatly reduced since Wallenstein’s dis-missal; moreover, the outrages they had com-mitted were now severely revenged upon them;wasted and exhausted, the country no longerafforded them a subsistence. All discipline wasat an end; the orders of the officers were disre-garded, while their numbers daily decreasedby desertion, and by a general mortality, whichthe piercing cold of a strange climate had pro-duced among them.

Under these circumstances, the imperial gen-eral was anxious to allow his troops the reposeof winter quarters, but he had to do with anenemy to whom the climate of Germany hadno winter. Gustavus had taken the precaution

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of providing his soldiers with dresses of sheep-skin, to enable them to keep the field even inthe most inclement season. The imperial pleni-potentiaries, who came to treat with him for acessation of hostilities, received this discourag-ing answer: “The Swedes are soldiers in winteras well as in summer, and not disposed to op-press the unfortunate peasantry. The Imperi-alists may act as they think proper, but theyneed not expect to remain undisturbed.”Torquato Conti soon after resigned a command,in which neither riches nor reputation were tobe gained.

In this inequality of the two armies, the ad-vantage was necessarily on the side of theSwedes. The Imperialists were incessantly ha-rassed in their winter quarters; Greifenhagan,an important place upon the Oder, taken bystorm, and the towns of Gartz and Piritz wereat last abandoned by the enemy. In the wholeof Pomerania, Greifswald, Demmin, and Colberg

alone remained in their hands, and these theking made great preparations to besiege. Theenemy directed their retreat towardsBrandenburg, in which much of their artilleryand baggage, and many prisoners fell into thehands of the pursuers.

By seizing the passes of Riebnitz andDamgarden, Gustavus had opened a passageinto Mecklenburg, whose inhabitants were in-vited to return to their allegiance under theirlegitimate sovereigns, and to expel the adher-ents of Wallenstein. The Imperialists, however,gained the important town of Rostock by strata-gem, and thus prevented the farther advanceof the king, who was unwilling to divide hisforces. The exiled dukes of Mecklenburg hadineffectually employed the princes assembledat Ratisbon to intercede with the Emperor: invain they had endeavoured to soften Ferdinand,by renouncing the alliance of the king, and ev-ery idea of resistance. But, driven to despair by

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the Emperor’s inflexibility, they openly es-poused the side of Sweden, and raising troops,gave the command of them to Francis CharlesDuke of Saxe-Lauenburg. That general madehimself master of several strong places on theElbe, but lost them afterwards to the ImperialGeneral Pappenheim, who was despatched tooppose him. Soon afterwards, besieged by thelatter in the town of Ratzeburg, he was com-pelled to surrender with all his troops. Thusended the attempt which these unfortunateprinces made to recover their territories; and itwas reserved for the victorious arm of GustavusAdolphus to render them that brilliant service.

The Imperialists had thrown themselves intoBrandenburg, which now became the theatreof the most barbarous atrocities. These outrageswere inflicted upon the subjects of a prince whohad never injured the Emperor, and whom,moreover, he was at the very time inciting totake up arms against the King of Sweden. The

sight of the disorders of their soldiers, whichwant of money compelled them to wink at, andof authority over their troops, excited the dis-gust even of the imperial generals; and, fromvery shame, their commander-in-chief, CountSchaumburg, wished to resign.

Without a sufficient force to protect his terri-tories, and left by the Emperor, in spite of themost pressing remonstrances, without assis-tance, the Elector of Brandenburg at last issuedan edict, ordering his subjects to repel force byforce, and to put to death without mercy everyImperial soldier who should henceforth be de-tected in plundering. To such a height had theviolence of outrage and the misery of the gov-ernment risen, that nothing was left to the sov-ereign, but the desperate extremity of sanction-ing private vengeance by a formal law.

The Swedes had pursued the Imperialists intoBrandenburg; and only the Elector’s refusal toopen to him the fortress of Custrin for his

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march, obliged the king to lay aside his designof besieging Frankfort on the Oder. He there-fore returned to complete the conquest ofPomerania, by the capture of Demmin andColberg. In the mean time, Field-Marshal Tillywas advancing to the defence of Brandenburg.

This general, who could boast as yet of neverhaving suffered a defeat, the conqueror ofMansfeld, of Duke Christian of Brunswick, ofthe Margrave of Baden, and the King of Den-mark, was now in the Swedish monarch to meetan opponent worthy of his fame. Descended ofa noble family in Liege, Tilly had formed hismilitary talents in the wars of the Netherlands,which was then the great school for generals.He soon found an opportunity of distinguish-ing himself under Rodolph II. in Hungary,where he rapidly rose from one step to another.After the peace, he entered into the service ofMaximilian of Bavaria, who made him com-mander-in-chief with absolute powers. Here, by

his excellent regulations, he was the founderof the Bavarian army; and to him, chiefly,Maximilian was indebted for his superiority inthe field. Upon the termination of the Bohe-mian war, he was appointed commander of thetroops of the League; and, after Wallenstein’sdismissal, generalissimo of the imperial armies.Equally stern towards his soldiers and impla-cable towards his enemies, and as gloomy andimpenetrable as Wallenstein, he was greatly hissuperior in probity and disinterestedness. Abigoted zeal for religion, and a bloody spirit ofpersecution, co-operated, with the natural fe-rocity of his character, to make him the terrorof the Protestants. A strange and terrific aspectbespoke his character: of low stature, thin, withhollow cheeks, a long nose, a broad andwrinkled forehead, large whiskers, and apointed chin; he was generally attired in a Span-ish doublet of green satin, with slashed sleeves,with a small high peaked hat upon his head,

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surmounted by a red feather which hung downto his back. His whole aspect recalled to recol-lection the Duke of Alva, the scourge of theFlemings, and his actions were far from effac-ing the impression. Such was the general whowas now to be opposed to the hero of the north.

Tilly was far from undervaluing his antago-nist, “The King of Sweden,” said he in the Dietat Ratisbon, “is an enemy both prudent andbrave, inured to war, and in the flower of hisage. His plans are excellent, his resources con-siderable; his subjects enthusiastically attachedto him. His army, composed of Swedes, Ger-mans, Livonians, Finlanders, Scots and English,by its devoted obedience to their leader, isblended into one nation: he is a gamester inplaying with whom not to have lost is to havewon a great deal.”

The progress of the King of Sweden inBrandenburg and Pomerania, left the new gen-eralissimo no time to lose; and his presence was

now urgently called for by those who com-manded in that quarter. With all expedition,he collected the imperial troops which were dis-persed over the empire; but it required time toobtain from the exhausted and impoverishedprovinces the necessary supplies. At last, aboutthe middle of winter, he appeared at the headof 20,000 men, before Frankfort on the Oder,where he was joined by Schaumburg. Leavingto this general the defence of Frankfort, with asufficient garrison, he hastened to Pomerania,with a view of saving Demmin, and relievingColberg, which was already hard pressed by theSwedes. But even before he had leftBrandenburg, Demmin, which was but poorlydefended by the Duke of Savelli, had surren-dered to the king, and Colberg, after a fivemonths’ siege, was starved into a capitulation.As the passes in Upper Pomerania were wellguarded, and the king’s camp near Schwedtdefied attack, Tilly abandoned his offensive plan

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of operations, and retreated towards the Elbeto besiege Magdeburg.

The capture of Demmin opened to the king afree passage into Mecklenburg; but a more im-portant enterprise drew his arms into anotherquarter. Scarcely had Tilly commenced his ret-rograde movement, when suddenly breaking uphis camp at Schwedt, the king marched hiswhole force against Frankfort on the Oder. Thistown, badly fortified, was defended by a garri-son of 8,000 men, mostly composed of thoseferocious bands who had so cruelly ravagedPomerania and Brandenburg. It was now at-tacked with such impetuosity, that on the thirdday it was taken by storm. The Swedes, assuredof victory, rejected every offer of capitulation,as they were resolved to exercise the dreadfulright of retaliation. For Tilly, soon after his ar-rival, had surrounded a Swedish detachment,and, irritated by their obstinate resistance, hadcut them in pieces to a man. This cruelty was

not forgotten by the Swedes. “New BrandenburgQuarter”, they replied to the Imperialists whobegged their lives, and slaughtered them with-out mercy. Several thousands were either killedor taken, and many were drowned in the Oder,the rest fled to Silesia. All their artillery fell intothe hands of the Swedes. To satisfy the rage ofhis troops, Gustavus Adolphus was under thenecessity of giving up the town for three hoursto plunder.

While the king was thus advancing from oneconquest to another, and, by his success, en-couraging the Protestants to active resistance,the Emperor proceeded to enforce the Edict ofRestitution, and, by his exorbitant pretensions,to exhaust the patience of the states. Compelledby necessity, he continued the violent coursewhich he had begun with such arrogant confi-dence; the difficulties into which his arbitraryconduct had plunged him, he could only extri-cate himself from by measures still more arbi-

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trary. But in so complicated a body as the Ger-man empire, despotism must always create themost dangerous convulsions. With astonish-ment, the princes beheld the constitution ofthe empire overthrown, and the state of natureto which matters were again verging, suggestedto them the idea of self-defence, the only meansof protection in such a state of things. The stepsopenly taken by the Emperor against theLutheran church, had at last removed the veilfrom the eyes of John George, who had beenso long the dupe of his artful policy. Ferdinand,too, had personally offended him by the exclu-sion of his son from the archbishopric ofMagdeburg; and field-marshal Arnheim, hisnew favourite and minister, spared no pains toincrease the resentment of his master. Arnheimhad formerly been an imperial general underWallenstein, and being still zealously attachedto him, he was eager to avenge his old benefac-tor and himself on the Emperor, by detaching

Saxony from the Austrian interests. GustavusAdolphus, supported by the Protestant states,would be invincible; a consideration which al-ready filled the Emperor with alarm. The ex-ample of Saxony would probably influence oth-ers, and the Emperor’s fate seemed now in amanner to depend upon the Elector’s decision.The artful favourite impressed upon his masterthis idea of his own importance, and advisedhim to terrify the Emperor, by threatening analliance with Sweden, and thus to extort fromhis fears, what he had sought in vain from hisgratitude. The favourite, however, was far fromwishing him actually to enter into the Swedishalliance, but, by holding aloof from both par-ties, to maintain his own importance and inde-pendence. Accordingly, he laid before him aplan, which only wanted a more able hand tocarry it into execution, and recommended him,by heading the Protestant party, to erect a thirdpower in Germany, and thereby maintain the

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balance between Sweden and Austria.This project was peculiarly flattering to the

Saxon Elector, to whom the idea of being de-pendent upon Sweden, or of longer submittingto the tyranny of the Emperor, was equally hate-ful. He could not, with indifference, see the con-trol of German affairs wrested from him by aforeign prince; and incapable as he was of tak-ing a principal part, his vanity would not con-descend to act a subordinate one. He resolved,therefore, to draw every possible advantage fromthe progress of Gustavus, but to pursue, inde-pendently, his own separate plans. With thisview, he consulted with the Elector ofBrandenburg, who, from similar causes, wasready to act against the Emperor, but, at thesame time, was jealous of Sweden. In a Diet atTorgau, having assured himself of the supportof his Estates, he invited the Protestant Statesof the empire to a general convention, whichtook place at Leipzig, on the 6th February 1631.

Brandenburg, Hesse Cassel, with severalprinces, counts, estates of the empire, and Prot-estant bishops were present, either personallyor by deputy, at this assembly, which the chap-lain to the Saxon Court, Dr. Hoe von Hohenegg,opened with a vehement discourse from thepulpit. The Emperor had, in vain, endeavouredto prevent this self-appointed convention, whoseobject was evidently to provide for its own de-fence, and which the presence of the Swedesin the empire, rendered more than usuallyalarming. Emboldened by the progress ofGustavus Adolphus, the assembled princes as-serted their rights, and after a session of twomonths broke up, with adopting a resolutionwhich placed the Emperor in no slight embar-rassment. Its import was to demand of the Em-peror, in a general address, the revocation ofthe Edict of Restitution, the withdrawal of histroops from their capitals and fortresses, thesuspension of all existing proceedings, and the

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abolition of abuses; and, in the mean time, toraise an army of 40,000 men, to enable themto redress their own grievances, if the Emperorshould still refuse satisfaction.

A further incident contributed not a little toincrease the firmness of the Protestant princes.The King of Sweden had, at last, overcome thescruples which had deterred him from a closeralliance with France, and, on the 13th January1631, concluded a formal treaty with this crown.After a serious dispute respecting the treatmentof the Roman Catholic princes of the empire,whom France took under her protection, andagainst whom Gustavus claimed the right of re-taliation, and after some less important differ-ences with regard to the title of majesty, whichthe pride of France was loth to concede to theKing of Sweden, Richelieu yielded the second,and Gustavus Adolphus the first point, and thetreaty was signed at Beerwald in Neumark. Thecontracting parties mutually covenanted to de-

fend each other with a military force, to protecttheir common friends, to restore to their domin-ions the deposed princes of the empire, and toreplace every thing, both on the frontier and inthe interior of Germany, on the same footing onwhich it stood before the commencement of thewar. For this end, Sweden engaged to maintainan army of 30,000 men in Germany, and Franceagreed to furnish the Swedes with an annualsubsidy of 400,000 dollars. If the arms ofGustavus were successful, he was to respect theRoman Catholic religion and the constitution ofthe empire in all the conquered places, and tomake no attempt against either. All Estates andprinces whether Protestant or Roman Catholic,either in Germany or in other countries, were tobe invited to become parties to the treaty; nei-ther France nor Sweden was to conclude a sepa-rate peace without the knowledge and consentof the other; and the treaty itself was to con-tinue in force for five years.

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Great as was the struggle to the King of Swe-den to receive subsidies from France, and sacri-fice his independence in the conduct of the war,this alliance with France decided his cause inGermany. Protected, as he now was, by the great-est power in Europe, the German states beganto feel confidence in his undertaking, for the is-sue of which they had hitherto good reason totremble. He became truly formidable to theEmperor. The Roman Catholic princes too, who,though they were anxious to humble Austria,had witnessed his progress with distrust, wereless alarmed now that an alliance with a RomanCatholic power ensured his respect for their re-ligion. And thus, while Gustavus Adolphus pro-tected the Protestant religion and the libertiesof Germany against the aggression of Ferdinand,France secured those liberties, and the RomanCatholic religion, against Gustavus himself, if theintoxication of success should hurry him beyondthe bounds of moderation.

The King of Sweden lost no time in apprizingthe members of the confederacy of Leipzig ofthe treaty concluded with France, and invitingthem to a closer union with himself. The appli-cation was seconded by France, who spared nopains to win over the Elector of Saxony.Gustavus was willing to be content with secretsupport, if the princes should deem it too bolda step as yet to declare openly in his favour.Several princes gave him hopes of his propos-als being accepted on the first favourable op-portunity; but the Saxon Elector, full of jeal-ousy and distrust towards the King of Sweden,and true to the selfish policy he had pursued,could not be prevailed upon to give a decisiveanswer.

The resolution of the confederacy of Leipzig,and the alliance betwixt France and Sweden,were news equally disagreeable to the Emperor.Against them he employed the thunder of im-perial ordinances, and the want of an army

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saved France from the full weight of his dis-pleasure. Remonstrances were addressed to allthe members of the confederacy, strongly pro-hibiting them from enlisting troops. They re-torted with explanations equally vehement, jus-tified their conduct upon the principles of natu-ral right, and continued their preparations.

Meantime, the imperial generals, deficientboth in troops and money, found themselvesreduced to the disagreeable alternative of los-ing sight either of the King of Sweden, or of theEstates of the empire, since with a divided forcethey were not a match for either. The move-ments of the Protestants called their attentionto the interior of the empire, while the progressof the king in Brandenburg, by threatening thehereditary possessions of Austria, requiredthem to turn their arms to that quarter. Afterthe conquest of Frankfort, the king had ad-vanced upon Landsberg on the Warta, and Tilly,after a fruitless attempt to relieve it, had again

returned to Magdeburg, to prosecute with vigourthe siege of that town.

The rich archbishopric, of which Magdeburgwas the capital, had long been in the posses-sion of princes of the house of Brandenburg,who introduced the Protestant religion into theprovince. Christian William, the last adminis-trator, had, by his alliance with Denmark, in-curred the ban of the empire, on which accountthe chapter, to avoid the Emperor’s displeasure,had formally deposed him. In his place they hadelected Prince John Augustus, the second sonof the Elector of Saxony, whom the Emperorrejected, in order to confer the archbishopricon his son Leopold. The Elector of Saxony com-plained ineffectually to the imperial court; butChristian William of Brandenburg took moreactive measures. Relying on the attachment ofthe magistracy and inhabitants of Brandenburg,and excited by chimerical hopes, he thoughthimself able to surmount all the obstacles which

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the vote of the chapter, the competition of twopowerful rivals, and the Edict of Restitutionopposed to his restoration. He went to Sweden,and, by the promise of a diversion in Germany,sought to obtain assistance from Gustavus. Hewas dismissed by that monarch not withouthopes of effectual protection, but with the ad-vice to act with caution.

Scarcely had Christian William been informedof the landing of his protector in Pomerania,than he entered Magdeburg in disguise. Ap-pearing suddenly in the town council, he re-minded the magistrates of the ravages whichboth town and country had suffered from theimperial troops, of the pernicious designs ofFerdinand, and the danger of the Protestantchurch. He then informed them that the mo-ment of deliverance was at hand, and thatGustavus Adolphus offered them his allianceand assistance. Magdeburg, one of the mostflourishing towns in Germany, enjoyed under

the government of its magistrates a republicanfreedom, which inspired its citizens with a braveheroism. Of this they had already given proofs,in the bold defence of their rights againstWallenstein, who, tempted by their wealth,made on them the most extravagant demands.Their territory had been given up to the fury ofhis troops, though Magdeburg itself had es-caped his vengeance. It was not difficult, there-fore, for the Administrator to gain the concur-rence of men in whose minds therememberance of these outrages was still re-cent. An alliance was formed between the cityand the Swedish king, by which Magdeburggranted to the king a free passage through itsgates and territories, with liberty of enlistingsoldiers within its boundaries, and on the otherhand, obtained promises of effectual protectionfor its religion and its privileges.

The Administrator immediately collectedtroops and commenced hostilities, before

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Gustavus Adolphus was near enough to co-op-erate with him. He defeated some imperial de-tachments in the neighbourhood, made a fewconquests, and even surprised Halle. But theapproach of an imperial army obliged him toretreat hastily, and not without loss, toMagdeburg. Gustavus Adolphus, though dis-pleased with his premature measures, sentDietrich Falkenberg, an experienced officer, todirect the Administrator’s military operations,and to assist him with his counsel. Falkenbergwas named by the magistrates governor of thetown during the war. The Prince’s army wasdaily augmented by recruits from theneighbouring towns; and he was able for somemonths to maintain a petty warfare with suc-cess.

At length Count Pappenheim, having broughthis expedition against the Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg to a close, approached the town.Driving the troops of the Administrator from

their entrenchments, he cut off his communi-cation with Saxony, and closely invested theplace. He was soon followed by Tilly, who haugh-tily summoned the Elector forthwith to complywith the Edict of Restitution, to submit to theEmperor’s orders, and surrender Magdeburg.The Prince’s answer was spirited and resolute,and obliged Tilly at once to have recourse toarms.

In the meanwhile, the siege was prolonged,by the progress of the King of Sweden, whichcalled the Austrian general from before theplace; and the jealousy of the officers, who con-ducted the operations in his absence, delayed,for some months, the fall of Magdeburg. On the30th March 1631, Tilly returned, to push thesiege with vigour.

The outworks were soon carried, andFalkenberg, after withdrawing the garrisonsfrom the points which he could no longer hold,destroyed the bridge over the Elbe. As his troops

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were barely sufficient to defend the extensivefortifications, the suburbs of Sudenburg andNeustadt were abandoned to the enemy, whoimmediately laid them in ashes. Pappenheim,now separated from Tilly, crossed the Elbe atSchonenbeck, and attacked the town from theopposite side.

The garrison, reduced by the defence of theoutworks, scarcely exceeded 2000 infantry anda few hundred horse; a small number for soextensive and irregular a fortress. To supply thisdeficiency, the citizens were armed — a des-perate expedient, which produced more evilsthan those it prevented. The citizens, at bestbut indifferent soldiers, by their disunion threwthe town into confusion. The poor complainedthat they were exposed to every hardship anddanger, while the rich, by hiring substitutes,remained at home in safety. These rumoursbroke out at last in an open mutiny; indiffer-ence succeeded to zeal; weariness and negli-

gence took the place of vigilance and foresight.Dissension, combined with growing scarcity,gradually produced a feeling of despondence,many began to tremble at the desperate na-ture of their undertaking, and the magnitudeof the power to which they were opposed. Butreligious zeal, an ardent love of liberty, an in-vincible hatred to the Austrian yoke, and theexpectation of speedy relief, banished as yetthe idea of a surrender; and divided as theywere in every thing else, they were united inthe resolve to defend themselves to the last ex-tremity.

Their hopes of succour were apparently wellfounded. They knew that the confederacy ofLeipzig was arming; they were aware of the nearapproach of Gustavus Adolphus. Both were alikeinterested in the preservation of Magdeburg;and a few days might bring the King of Swedenbefore its walls. All this was also known to Tilly,who, therefore, was anxious to make himself

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speedily master of the place. With this view, hehad despatched a trumpeter with letters to theAdministrator, the commandant, and the mag-istrates, offering terms of capitulation; but hereceived for answer, that they would rather diethan surrender. A spirited sally of the citizens,also convinced him that their courage was asearnest as their words, while the king’s arrivalat Potsdam, with the incursions of the Swedesas far as Zerbst, filled him with uneasiness, butraised the hopes of the garrison. A second trum-peter was now despatched; but the more mod-erate tone of his demands increased the confi-dence of the besieged, and unfortunately theirnegligence also.

The besiegers had now pushed their ap-proaches as far as the ditch, and vigorously can-nonaded the fortifications from the abandonedbatteries. One tower was entirely overthrown,but this did not facilitate an assault, as it fellsidewise upon the wall, and not into the ditch.

Notwithstanding the continual bombardment,the walls had not suffered much; and the fireballs, which were intended to set the town inflames, were deprived of their effect by the ex-cellent precautions adopted against them. Butthe ammunition of the besieged was nearly ex-pended, and the cannon of the town graduallyceased to answer the fire of the Imperialists.Before a new supply could be obtained,Magdeburg would be either relieved, or taken.The hopes of the besieged were on the stretch,and all eyes anxiously directed towards thequarter in which the Swedish banners wereexpected to appear. Gustavus Adolphus wasnear enough to reach Magdeburg within threedays; security grew with hope, which all thingscontributed to augment. On the 9th of May, thefire of the Imperialists was suddenly stopped,and the cannon withdrawn from several of thebatteries. A deathlike stillness reigned in theImperial camp. The besieged were convinced

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that deliverance was at hand. Both citizens andsoldiers left their posts upon the ramparts earlyin the morning, to indulge themselves, aftertheir long toils, with the refreshment of sleep,but it was indeed a dear sleep, and a frightfulawakening.

Tilly had abandoned the hope of taking thetown, before the arrival of the Swedes, by themeans which he had hitherto adopted; he there-fore determined to raise the siege, but first tohazard a general assault. This plan, however,was attended with great difficulties, as nobreach had been effected, and the works werescarcely injured. But the council of war as-sembled on this occasion, declared for an as-sault, citing the example of Maestricht, whichhad been taken early in the morning, while thecitizens and soldiers were reposing themselves.The attack was to be made simultaneously onfour points; the night betwixt the 9th and 10thof May, was employed in the necessary prepa-

rations. Every thing was ready and awaiting thesignal, which was to be given by cannon at fiveo’clock in the morning. The signal, however, wasnot given for two hours later, during which Tilly,who was still doubtful of success, again con-sulted the council of war. Pappenheim was or-dered to attack the works of the new town,where the attempt was favoured by a slopingrampart, and a dry ditch of moderate depth.The citizens and soldiers had mostly left thewalls, and the few who remained were overcomewith sleep. This general, therefore, found littledifficulty in mounting the wall at the head ofhis troops.

Falkenberg, roused by the report of musketry,hastened from the town-house, where he wasemployed in despatching Tilly’s second trum-peter, and hurried with all the force he couldhastily assemble towards the gate of the newtown, which was already in the possession ofthe enemy. Beaten back, this intrepid general

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flew to another quarter, where a second partyof the enemy were preparing to scale the walls.After an ineffectual resistance he fell in the com-mencement of the action. The roaring of mus-ketry, the pealing of the alarm-bells, and thegrowing tumult apprised the awakening citizensof their danger. Hastily arming themselves, theyrushed in blind confusion against the enemy.Still some hope of repulsing the besiegers re-mained; but the governor being killed, theirefforts were without plan and co-operation, andat last their ammunition began to fail them. Inthe meanwhile, two other gates, hithertounattacked, were stripped of their defenders,to meet the urgent danger within the town. Theenemy quickly availed themselves of this con-fusion to attack these posts. The resistance wasnevertheless spirited and obstinate, until fourimperial regiments, at length, masters of theramparts, fell upon the garrison in the rear, andcompleted their rout. Amidst the general tu-

mult, a brave captain, named Schmidt, who stillheaded a few of the more resolute against theenemy, succeeded in driving them to the gates;here he fell mortally wounded, and with himexpired the hopes of Magdeburg. Before noon,all the works were carried, and the town was inthe enemy’s hands.

Two gates were now opened by the stormingparty for the main body, and Tilly marched inwith part of his infantry. Immediately occupy-ing the principal streets, he drove the citizenswith pointed cannon into their dwellings, thereto await their destiny. They were not long heldin suspense; a word from Tilly decided the fateof Magdeburg.

Even a more humane general would in vainhave recommended mercy to such soldiers; butTilly never made the attempt. Left by theirgeneral’s silence masters of the lives of all thecitizens, the soldiery broke into the houses tosatiate their most brutal appetites. The prayers

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of innocence excited some compassion in thehearts of the Germans, but none in the rudebreasts of Pappenheim’s Walloons. Scarcely hadthe savage cruelty commenced, when the othergates were thrown open, and the cavalry, withthe fearful hordes of the Croats, poured in uponthe devoted inhabitants.

Here commenced a scene of horrors for whichhistory has no language — poetry no pencil.Neither innocent childhood, nor helpless oldage; neither youth, sex, rank, nor beauty, coulddisarm the fury of the conquerors. Wives wereabused in the arms of their husbands, daugh-ters at the feet of their parents; and thedefenceless sex exposed to the double sacrificeof virtue and life. No situation, however obscure,or however sacred, escaped the rapacity of theenemy. In a single church fifty-three womenwere found beheaded. The Croats amusedthemselves with throwing children into theflames; Pappenheim’s Walloons with stabbing

infants at the mother’s breast. Some officers ofthe League, horror-struck at this dreadfulscene, ventured to remind Tilly that he had itin his power to stop the carnage. “Return in anhour,” was his answer; “I will see what I can do;the soldier must have some reward for his dan-ger and toils.” These horrors lasted with un-abated fury, till at last the smoke and flamesproved a check to the plunderers. To augmentthe confusion and to divert the resistance ofthe inhabitants, the Imperialists had, in thecommencement of the assault, fired the townin several places. The wind rising rapidly, spreadthe flames, till the blaze became universal. Fear-ful, indeed, was the tumult amid clouds ofsmoke, heaps of dead bodies, the clash ofswords, the crash of falling ruins, and streamsof blood. The atmosphere glowed; and the in-tolerable heat forced at last even the murder-ers to take refuge in their camp. In less thantwelve hours, this strong, populous, and flour-

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ishing city, one of the finest in Germany, wasreduced to ashes, with the exception of twochurches and a few houses. The Administra-tor, Christian William, after receiving severalwounds, was taken prisoner, with three of theburgomasters; most of the officers and magis-trates had already met an enviable death. Theavarice of the officers had saved 400 of the rich-est citizens, in the hope of extorting from theman exorbitant ransom. But this humanity wasconfined to the officers of the League, whomthe ruthless barbarity of the Imperialists causedto be regarded as guardian angels.

Scarcely had the fury of the flames abated,when the Imperialists returned to renew thepillage amid the ruins and ashes of the town.Many were suffocated by the smoke; manyfound rich booty in the cellars, where the citi-zens had concealed their more valuable effects.On the 13th of May, Tilly himself appeared inthe town, after the streets had been cleared of

ashes and dead bodies. Horrible and revoltingto humanity was the scene that presented it-self. The living crawling from under the dead,children wandering about with heart-rendingcries, calling for their parents; and infants stillsucking the breasts of their lifeless mothers.More than 6,000 bodies were thrown into theElbe to clear the streets; a much greater num-ber had been consumed by the flames. Thewhole number of the slain was reckoned at notless than 30,000.

The entrance of the general, which took placeon the 14th, put a stop to the plunder, and savedthe few who had hitherto contrived to escape.About a thousand people were taken out of thecathedral, where they had remained three daysand two nights, without food, and in momen-tary fear of death. Tilly promised them quarter,and commanded bread to be distributed amongthem. The next day, a solemn mass was per-formed in the cathedral, and ‘Te Deum’ sung

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amidst the discharge of artillery. The imperialgeneral rode through the streets, that he mightbe able, as an eyewitness, to inform his masterthat no such conquest had been made sincethe destruction of Troy and Jerusalem. Nor wasthis an exaggeration, whether we consider thegreatness, importance, and prosperity of the cityrazed, or the fury of its ravagers.

In Germany, the tidings of the dreadful fate ofMagdeburg caused triumphant joy to the Ro-man Catholics, while it spread terror and con-sternation among the Protestants. Loudly andgenerally they complained against the king ofSweden, who, with so strong a force, and in thevery neighbourhood, had left an allied city to itsfate. Even the most reasonable deemed his in-action inexplicable; and lest he should lose irre-trievably the good will of the people, for whosedeliverance he had engaged in this war, Gustavuswas under the necessity of publishing to theworld a justification of his own conduct.

He had attacked, and on the 16th April, car-ried Landsberg, when he was apprised of thedanger of Magdeburg. He resolved immediatelyto march to the relief of that town; and he movedwith all his cavalry, and ten regiments of infan-try towards the Spree. But the position whichhe held in Germany, made it necessary that heshould not move forward without securing hisrear. In traversing a country where he was sur-rounded by suspicious friends and dangerousenemies, and where a single premature move-ment might cut off his communication with hisown kingdom, the utmost vigilance and cau-tion were necessary. The Elector ofBrandenburg had already opened the fortressof Custrin to the flying Imperialists, and closedthe gates against their pursuers. If nowGustavus should fail in his attack upon Tilly,the Elector might again open his fortresses tothe Imperialists, and the king, with an enemyboth in front and rear, would be irrecoverably

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lost. In order to prevent this contingency, hedemanded that the Elector should allow him tohold the fortresses of Custrin and Spandau, tillthe siege of Magdeburg should be raised.

Nothing could be more reasonable than thisdemand. The services which Gustavus had latelyrendered the Elector, by expelling the Imperi-alists from Brandenburg, claimed his gratitude,while the past conduct of the Swedes in Ger-many entitled them to confidence. But by thesurrender of his fortresses, the Elector wouldin some measure make the King of Swedenmaster of his country; besides that, by such astep, he must at once break with the Emperor,and expose his States to his future vengeance.The Elector’s struggle with himself was long andviolent, but pusillanimity and self-interest forawhile prevailed. Unmoved by the fate ofMagdeburg, cold in the cause of religion andthe liberties of Germany, he saw nothing buthis own danger; and this anxiety was greatly

stimulated by his minister Von Schwartzenburgh,who was secretly in the pay of Austria. In themean time, the Swedish troops approached Ber-lin, and the king took up his residence with theElector. When he witnessed the timorous hesi-tation of that prince, he could not restrain hisindignation: “My road is to Magdeburg,” said he;“not for my own advantage, but for that of theProtestant religion. If no one will stand by me, Ishall immediately retreat, conclude a peace withthe Emperor, and return to Stockholm. I am con-vinced that Ferdinand will readily grant me what-ever conditions I may require. But if Magdeburgis once lost, and the Emperor relieved from allfear of me, then it is for you to look to yourselvesand the consequences.” This timely threat, andperhaps, too, the aspect of the Swedish army,which was strong enough to obtain by force whatwas refused to entreaty, brought at last the Elec-tor to his senses, and Spandau was deliveredinto the hands of the Swedes.

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The king had now two routes to Magdeburg;one westward led through an exhausted coun-try, and filled with the enemy’s troops, whomight dispute with him the passage of the Elbe;the other more to the southward, by Dessauand Wittenberg, where bridges were to be foundfor crossing the Elbe, and where supplies couldeasily be drawn from Saxony. But he could notavail himself of the latter without the consentof the Elector, whom Gustavus had good rea-son to distrust. Before setting out on his march,therefore, he demanded from that prince a freepassage and liberty for purchasing provisionsfor his troops. His application was refused, andno remonstrances could prevail on the Electorto abandon his system of neutrality. While thepoint was still in dispute, the news of the dread-ful fate of Magdeburg arrived.

Tilly announced its fall to the Protestantprinces in the tone of a conqueror, and lost notime in making the most of the general con-

sternation. The influence of the Emperor, whichhad sensibly declined during the rapid progressof Gustavus, after this decisive blow rose higherthan ever; and the change was speedily visiblein the imperious tone he adopted towards theProtestant states. The decrees of the Confed-eration of Leipzig were annulled by a procla-mation, the Convention itself suppressed by animperial decree, and all the refractory statesthreatened with the fate of Magdeburg. As theexecutor of this imperial mandate, Tilly imme-diately ordered troops to march against theBishop of Bremen, who was a member of theConfederacy, and had himself enlisted soldiers.The terrified bishop immediately gave up hisforces to Tilly, and signed the revocation of theacts of the Confederation. An imperial army,which had lately returned from Italy, under thecommand of Count Furstenberg, acted in thesame manner towards the Administrator ofWirtemberg. The duke was compelled to sub-

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mit to the Edict of Restitution, and all the de-crees of the Emperor, and even to pay a monthlysubsidy of 100,000 dollars, for the maintenanceof the imperial troops. Similar burdens were in-flicted upon Ulm and Nuremberg, and the en-tire circles of Franconia and Swabia. The handof the Emperor was stretched in terror over allGermany. The sudden preponderance, more inappearance, perhaps, than in reality, which hehad obtained by this blow, carried him beyondthe bounds even of the moderation which hehad hitherto observed, and misled him into hastyand violent measures, which at last turned thewavering resolution of the German princes infavour of Gustavus Adolphus. Injurious as theimmediate consequences of the fall of Magdeburgwere to the Protestant cause, its remoter effectswere most advantageous. The past surprise madeway for active resentment, despair inspired cour-age, and the German freedom rose, like a phoe-nix, from the ashes of Magdeburg.

Among the princes of the Leipzig Confedera-tion, the Elector of Saxony and the Landgraveof Hesse were the most powerful; and, until theywere disarmed, the universal authority of theEmperor was unconfirmed. Against theLandgrave, therefore, Tilly first directed his at-tack, and marched straight from Magdeburginto Thuringia. During this march, the territo-ries of Saxe Ernest and Schwartzburg were laidwaste, and Frankenhausen plundered beforethe very eyes of Tilly, and laid in ashes withimpunity. The unfortunate peasant paid dearfor his master’s attachment to the interests ofSweden. Erfurt, the key of Saxony andFranconia, was threatened with a siege, butredeemed itself by a voluntary contribution ofmoney and provisions. From thence, Tilly des-patched his emissaries to the Landgrave, de-manding of him the immediate disbanding ofhis army, a renunciation of the league ofLeipzig, the reception of imperial garrisons into

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his territories and fortresses, with the neces-sary contributions, and the declaration offriendship or hostility. Such was the treatmentwhich a prince of the Empire was compelled tosubmit to from a servant of the Emperor. Butthese extravagant demands acquired a formi-dable weight from the power which supportedthem; and the dreadful fate of Magdeburg, stillfresh in the memory of the Landgrave, tendedstill farther to enforce them. Admirable, there-fore, was the intrepidity of the Landgrave’s an-swer: “To admit foreign troops into his capitaland fortresses, the Landgrave is not disposed;his troops he requires for his own purposes; asfor an attack, he can defend himself. If GeneralTilly wants money or provisions, let him go toMunich, where there is plenty of both.” The ir-ruption of two bodies of imperial troops intoHesse Cassel was the immediate result of thisspirited reply, but the Landgrave gave them sowarm a reception that they could effect noth-

ing; and just as Tilly was preparing to followwith his whole army, to punish the unfortu-nate country for the firmness of its sovereign,the movements of the King of Sweden recalledhim to another quarter.

Gustavus Adolphus had learned the fall ofMagdeburg with deep regret; and the demandnow made by the Elector, George William, interms of their agreement, for the restoration ofSpandau, greatly increased this feeling. The lossof Magdeburg had rather augmented than less-ened the reasons which made the possessionof this fortress so desirable; and the nearer be-came the necessity of a decisive battle betweenhimself and Tilly, the more unwilling he felt toabandon the only place which, in the event of adefeat, could ensure him a refuge. After a vainendeavour, by entreaties and representations,to bring over the Elector to his views, whosecoldness and lukewarmness daily increased, hegave orders to his general to evacuate Spandau,

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but at the same time declared to the Electorthat he would henceforth regard him as an en-emy.

To give weight to this declaration, he appearedwith his whole force before Berlin. “I will not beworse treated than the imperial generals,” washis reply to the ambassadors whom the bewil-dered Elector despatched to his camp. “Yourmaster has received them into his territories,furnished them with all necessary supplies,ceded to them every place which they required,and yet, by all these concessions, he could notprevail upon them to treat his subjects withcommon humanity. All that I require of him issecurity, a moderate sum of money, and provi-sions for my troops; in return, I promise to pro-tect his country, and to keep the war at a dis-tance from him. On these points, however, Imust insist; and my brother, the Elector, mustinstantly determine to have me as a friend, orto see his capital plundered.” This decisive tone

produced a due impression; and the cannonpointed against the town put an end to thedoubts of George William. In a few days, a treatywas signed, by which the Elector engaged tofurnish a monthly subsidy of 30,000 dollars, toleave Spandau in the king’s hands, and to openCustrin at all times to the Swedish troops. Thisnow open alliance of the Elector of Brandenburgwith the Swedes, excited no less displeasure atVienna, than did formerly the similar procedureof the Duke of Pomerania; but the changed for-tune which now attended his arms, obliged theEmperor to confine his resentment to words.

The king’s satisfaction, on this favourableevent, was increased by the agreeable intelli-gence that Griefswald, the only fortress whichthe Imperialists still held in Pomerania, hadsurrendered, and that the whole country wasnow free of the enemy. He appeared once morein this duchy, and was gratified at the sight ofthe general joy which he had caused to the

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people. A year had elapsed since Gustavus firstentered Germany, and this event was now cel-ebrated by all Pomerania as a national festival.Shortly before, the Czar of Moscow had sentambassadors to congratulate him, to renew hisalliance, and even to offer him troops. He hadgreat reason to rejoice at the friendly disposi-tion of Russia, as it was indispensable to hisinterests that Sweden itself should remain un-disturbed by any dangerous neighbour duringthe war in which he himself was engaged. Soonafter, his queen, Maria Eleonora, landed inPomerania, with a reinforcement of 8000Swedes; and the arrival of 6000 English, underthe Marquis of Hamilton, requires more par-ticular notice because this is all that historymentions of the English during the Thirty Years’War.

During Tilly’s expedition into Thuringia,Pappenheim commanded in Magdeburg; butwas unable to prevent the Swedes from cross-

ing the Elbe at various points, routing someimperial detachments, and seizing several posts.He himself, alarmed at the approach of the Kingof Sweden, anxiously recalled Tilly, and pre-vailed upon him to return by rapid marches toMagdeburg. Tilly encamped on this side of theriver at Wolmerstadt; Gustavus on the sameside, near Werben, not far from the confluenceof the Havel and the Elbe. His very arrival por-tended no good to Tilly. The Swedes routedthree of his regiments, which were posted invillages at some distance from the main body,carried off half their baggage, and burned theremainder. Tilly in vain advanced within can-non shot of the king’s camp, and offered himbattle. Gustavus, weaker by one-half than hisadversary, prudently declined it; and his posi-tion was too strong for an attack. Nothing moreensued but a distant cannonade, and a few skir-mishes, in which the Swedes had invariably theadvantage. In his retreat to Wolmerstadt, Tilly’s

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army was weakened by numerous desertions.Fortune seemed to have forsaken him since thecarnage of Magdeburg.

The King of Sweden, on the contrary, was fol-lowed by uninterrupted success. While he him-self was encamped in Werben, the whole ofMecklenburg, with the exception of a few towns,was conquered by his General Tott and theDuke Adolphus Frederick; and he enjoyed thesatisfaction of reinstating both dukes in theirdominions. He proceeded in person to Gustrow,where the reinstatement was solemnly to takeplace, to give additional dignity to the ceremonyby his presence. The two dukes, with their de-liverer between them, and attended by a splen-did train of princes, made a public entry intothe city, which the joy of their subjects con-verted into an affecting solemnity. Soon afterhis return to Werben, the Landgrave of HesseCassel appeared in his camp, to conclude anoffensive and defensive alliance; the first sover-

eign prince in Germany, who voluntarily andopenly declared against the Emperor, thoughnot wholly uninfluenced by strong motives. TheLandgrave bound himself to act against theking’s enemies as his own, to open to him histowns and territory, and to furnish his armywith provisions and necessaries. The king, onthe other hand, declared himself his ally andprotector; and engaged to conclude no peacewith the Emperor without first obtaining for theLandgrave a full redress of grievances. Bothparties honourably performed their agreement.Hesse Cassel adhered to the Swedish allianceduring the whole of this tedious war; and atthe peace of Westphalia had no reason to re-gret the friendship of Sweden.

Tilly, from whom this bold step on the part ofthe Landgrave was not long concealed, des-patched Count Fugger with several regimentsagainst him; and at the same time endeavouredto excite his subjects to rebellion by inflamma-

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tory letters. But these made as little impres-sion as his troops, which subsequently failedhim so decidedly at the battle of Breitenfield.The Estates of Hesse could not for a momenthesitate between their oppressor and their pro-tector.

But the imperial general was far more dis-turbed by the equivocal conduct of the Electorof Saxony, who, in defiance of the imperial pro-hibition, continued his preparations, and ad-hered to the confederation of Leipzig. At thisconjuncture, when the proximity of the King ofSweden made a decisive battle ere long inevi-table, it appeared extremely dangerous to leaveSaxony in arms, and ready in a moment to de-clare for the enemy. Tilly had just received areinforcement of 25,000 veteran troops underFurstenberg, and, confident in his strength, hehoped either to disarm the Elector by the mereterror of his arrival, or at least to conquer himwith little difficulty. Before quitting his camp

at Wolmerstadt, he commanded the Elector, bya special messenger, to open his territories tothe imperial troops; either to disband his own,or to join them to the imperial army; and toassist, in conjunction with himself, in drivingthe King of Sweden out of Germany. While hereminded him that, of all the German states,Saxony had hitherto been most respected, hethreatened it, in case of refusal, with the mostdestructive ravages.

But Tilly had chosen an unfavourable momentfor so imperious a requisition. The ill-treatmentof his religious and political confederates, thedestruction of Magdeburg, the excesses of theImperialists in Lusatia, all combined to incensethe Elector against the Emperor. The approach,too, of Gustavus Adolphus, (however slender hisclaims were to the protection of that prince,)tended to fortify his resolution. He accordinglyforbade the quartering of the imperial soldiersin his territories, and announced his firm de-

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termination to persist in his warlike prepara-tions. However surprised he should be, headded, “to see an imperial army on its marchagainst his territories, when that army hadenough to do in watching the operations of theKing of Sweden, nevertheless he did not ex-pect, instead of the promised and well meritedrewards, to be repaid with ingratitude and theruin of his country.” To Tilly’s deputies, whowere entertained in a princely style, he gave astill plainer answer on the occasion. “Gentle-men,” said he, “I perceive that the Saxon con-fectionery, which has been so long kept back,is at length to be set upon the table. But as it isusual to mix with it nuts and garnish of allkinds, take care of your teeth.”

Tilly instantly broke up his camp, and, withthe most frightful devastation, advanced uponHalle; from this place he renewed his demandson the Elector, in a tone still more urgent andthreatening. The previous policy of this prince,

both from his own inclination, and the persua-sions of his corrupt ministers had been to pro-mote the interests of the Emperor, even at theexpense of his own sacred obligations, and butvery little tact had hitherto kept him inactive.All this but renders more astonishing the in-fatuation of the Emperor or his ministers inabandoning, at so critical a moment, the policythey had hitherto adopted, and by extrememeasures, incensing a prince so easily led. Wasthis the very object which Tilly had in view? Wasit his purpose to convert an equivocal friend intoan open enemy, and thus to relieve himself fromthe necessity of that indulgence in the treat-ment of this prince, which the secret instruc-tions of the Emperor had hitherto imposed uponhim? Or was it the Emperor’s wish, by drivingthe Elector to open hostilities, to get quit of hisobligations to him, and so cleverly to break offat once the difficulty of a reckoning? In eithercase, we must be equally surprised at the dar-

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ing presumption of Tilly, who hesitated not, inpresence of one formidable enemy, to provokeanother; and at his negligence in permitting,without opposition, the union of the two.

The Saxon Elector, rendered desperate by theentrance of Tilly into his territories, threw him-self, though not without a violent struggle, un-der the protection of Sweden.

Immediately after dismissing Tilly’s first em-bassy, he had despatched his field-marshalArnheim in all haste to the camp of Gustavus, tosolicit the prompt assistance of that monarchwhom he had so long neglected. The king con-cealed the inward satisfaction he felt at this longwished for result. “I am sorry for the Elector,”said he, with dissembled coldness, to the am-bassador; “had he heeded my repeated remon-strances, his country would never have seen theface of an enemy, and Magdeburg would not havefallen. Now, when necessity leaves him no alter-native, he has recourse to my assistance. But

tell him, that I cannot, for the sake of the Elec-tor of Saxony, ruin my own cause, and that ofmy confederates. What pledge have I for the sin-cerity of a prince whose minister is in the pay ofAustria, and who will abandon me as soon asthe Emperor flatters him, and withdraws histroops from his frontiers? Tilly, it is true, hasreceived a strong reinforcement; but this shallnot prevent me from meeting him with confi-dence, as soon as I have covered my rear.”

The Saxon minister could make no other re-ply to these reproaches, than that it was bestto bury the past in oblivion.

He pressed the king to name the conditions,on which he would afford assistance to Saxony,and offered to guarantee their acceptance. “Irequire,” said Gustavus, “that the Elector shallcede to me the fortress of Wittenberg, deliver tome his eldest sons as hostages, furnish mytroops with three months’ pay, and deliver upto me the traitors among his ministry.”

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“Not Wittenberg alone,” said the Elector, whenhe received this answer, and hurried back hisminister to the Swedish camp, “not Wittenbergalone, but Torgau, and all Saxony, shall be opento him; my whole family shall be his hostages,and if that is insufficient, I will place myself inhis hands. Return and inform him I am readyto deliver to him any traitors he shall name, tofurnish his army with the money he requires,and to venture my life and fortune in the goodcause.

The king had only desired to test the sincer-ity of the Elector’s new sentiments. Convincedof it, he now retracted these harsh demands.“The distrust,” said he, “which was shown tomyself when advancing to the relief ofMagdeburg, had naturally excited mine; theElector’s present confidence demands a return.I am satisfied, provided he grants my army onemonth’s pay, and even for this advance I hopeto indemnify him.”

Immediately upon the conclusion of the treaty,the king crossed the Elbe, and next day joinedthe Saxons. Instead of preventing this junction,Tilly had advanced against Leipzig, which hesummoned to receive an imperial garrison. Inhopes of speedy relief, Hans Von der Pforta, thecommandant, made preparations for his defence,and laid the suburb towards Halle in ashes. Butthe ill condition of the fortifications made resis-tance vain, and on the second day the gates wereopened. Tilly had fixed his head quarters in thehouse of a grave-digger, the only one still stand-ing in the suburb of Halle: here he signed thecapitulation, and here, too, he arranged his at-tack on the King of Sweden. Tilly grew pale atthe representation of the death’s head and crossbones, with which the proprietor had decoratedhis house; and, contrary to all expectation,Leipzig experienced moderate treatment.

Meanwhile, a council of war was held atTorgau, between the King of Sweden and the

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Elector of Saxony, at which the Elector ofBrandenburg was also present. The resolutionwhich should now be adopted, was to decideirrevocably the fate of Germany and the Prot-estant religion, the happiness of nations andthe destiny of their princes. The anxiety of sus-pense which, before every decisive resolve, op-presses even the hearts of heroes, appeared nowfor a moment to overshadow the great mind ofGustavus Adolphus. “If we decide upon battle,”said he, “the stake will be nothing less than acrown and two electorates. Fortune is change-able, and the inscrutable decrees of Heavenmay, for our sins, give the victory to our en-emies. My kingdom, it is true, even after theloss of my life and my army, would still have ahope left. Far removed from the scene of ac-tion, defended by a powerful fleet, a well-guarded frontier, and a warlike population, itwould at least be safe from the worst conse-quences of a defeat. But what chances of es-

cape are there for you, with an enemy so closeat hand?” Gustavus Adolphus displayed themodest diffidence of a hero, whom an overween-ing belief of his own strength did not blind tothe greatness of his danger; John George, theconfidence of a weak man, who knows that hehas a hero by his side. Impatient to rid his ter-ritories as soon as possible of the oppressivepresence of two armies, he burned for a battle,in which he had no former laurels to lose. Hewas ready to march with his Saxons aloneagainst Leipzig, and attack Tilly. At lastGustavus acceded to his opinion; and it wasresolved that the attack should be made with-out delay, before the arrival of the reinforce-ments, which were on their way, under Altringerand Tiefenbach. The united Swedish and Saxonarmies now crossed the Mulda, while the Elec-tor returned homeward.

Early on the morning of the 7th September,1631, the hostile armies came in sight of each

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other. Tilly, who, since he had neglected theopportunity of overpowering the Saxons beforetheir union with the Swedes, was disposed toawait the arrival of the reinforcements, hadtaken up a strong and advantageous positionnot far from Leipzig, where he expected heshould be able to avoid the battle. But the im-petuosity of Pappenheim obliged him, as soonas the enemy were in motion, to alter his plans,and to move to the left, in the direction of thehills which run from the village of Wahren to-wards Lindenthal. At the foot of these heights,his army was drawn up in a single line, and hisartillery placed upon the heights behind, fromwhich it could sweep the whole extensive plainof Breitenfeld. The Swedish and Saxon armyadvanced in two columns, having to pass theLober near Podelwitz, in Tilly’s front.

To defend the passage of this rivulet,Pappenheim advanced at the head of 2000 cuir-assiers, though after great reluctance on the

part of Tilly, and with express orders not to com-mence a battle. But, in disobedience to thiscommand, Pappenheim attacked the vanguardof the Swedes, and after a brief struggle wasdriven to retreat. To check the progress of theenemy, he set fire to Podelwitz, which, however,did not prevent the two columns from advanc-ing and forming in order of battle.

On the right, the Swedes drew up in a doubleline, the infantry in the centre, divided into suchsmall battalions as could be easily and rapidlymanoeuvred without breaking their order; thecavalry upon their wings, divided in the samemanner into small squadrons, interspersed withbodies of musqueteers, so as both to give anappearance of greater numerical force, and toannoy the enemy’s horse. Colonel Teufel com-manded the centre, Gustavus Horn the left,while the right was led by the king in person,opposed to Count Pappenheim.

On the left, the Saxons formed at a consider-

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able distance from the Swedes, — by the adviceof Gustavus, which was justified by the event.The order of battle had been arranged betweenthe Elector and his field-marshal, and the kingwas content with merely signifying his approval.He was anxious apparently to separate theSwedish prowess from that of the Saxons, andfortune did not confound them.

The enemy was drawn up under the heightstowards the west, in one immense line, longenough to outflank the Swedish army, — theinfantry being divided in large battalions, thecavalry in equally unwieldy squadrons. The ar-tillery being on the heights behind, the rangeof its fire was over the heads of his men. Fromthis position of his artillery, it was evident thatTilly’s purpose was to await rather than to at-tack the enemy; since this arrangement ren-dered it impossible for him to do so withoutexposing his men to the fire of his own can-nons. Tilly himself commanded the centre,

Count Furstenberg the right wing, andPappenheim the left. The united troops of theEmperor and the League on this day did notamount to 34,000 or 35,000 men; the Swedesand Saxons were about the same number. Buthad a million been confronted with a million itcould only have rendered the action morebloody, certainly not more important and deci-sive. For this day Gustavus had crossed theBaltic, to court danger in a distant country, andexpose his crown and life to the caprice of for-tune. The two greatest generals of the time, bothhitherto invincible, were now to be matchedagainst each other in a contest which both hadlong avoided; and on this field of battle the hith-erto untarnished laurels of one leader mustdroop for ever. The two parties in Germany hadbeheld the approach of this day with fear andtrembling; and the whole age awaited with deepanxiety its issue, and posterity was either tobless or deplore it for ever.

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Tilly’s usual intrepidity and resolution seemedto forsake him on this eventful day. He hadformed no regular plan for giving battle to theKing, and he displayed as little firmness inavoiding it. Contrary to his own judgment,Pappenheim had forced him to action. Doubtswhich he had never before felt, struggled in hisbosom; gloomy forebodings clouded his ever-open brow; the shade of Magdeburg seemed tohover over him.

A cannonade of two hours commenced thebattle; the wind, which was from the west, blewthick clouds of smoke and dust from the newly-ploughed and parched fields into the faces ofthe Swedes. This compelled the king insensi-bly to wheel northwards, and the rapidity withwhich this movement was executed left no timeto the enemy to prevent it.

Tilly at last left his heights, and began thefirst attack upon the Swedes; but to avoid theirhot fire, he filed off towards the right, and fell

upon the Saxons with such impetuosity thattheir line was broken, and the whole armythrown into confusion. The Elector himself re-tired to Eilenburg, though a few regiments stillmaintained their ground upon the field, andby a bold stand saved the honour of Saxony.Scarcely had the confusion began ere the Croatscommenced plundering, and messengers weredespatched to Munich and Vienna with thenews of the victory.

Pappenheim had thrown himself with thewhole force of his cavalry upon the right wingof the Swedes, but without being able to makeit waver. The king commanded here in person,and under him General Banner. Seven timesdid Pappenheim renew the attack, and seventimes was he repulsed. He fled at last with greatloss, and abandoned the field to his conqueror.

In the mean time, Tilly, having routed the re-mainder of the Saxons, attacked with his victo-rious troops the left wing of the Swedes. To this

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wing the king, as soon as he perceived that theSaxons were thrown into disorder, had, with aready foresight, detached a reinforcement ofthree regiments to cover its flank, which theflight of the Saxons had left exposed. GustavusHorn, who commanded here, showed theenemy’s cuirassiers a spirited resistance, whichthe infantry, interspersed among the squadronsof horse, materially assisted. The enemy werealready beginning to relax the vigour of theirattack, when Gustavus Adolphus appeared toterminate the contest. The left wing of the Im-perialists had been routed; and the king’s divi-sion, having no longer any enemy to oppose,could now turn their arms wherever it wouldbe to the most advantage. Wheeling, therefore,with his right wing and main body to the left,he attacked the heights on which the enemy’sartillery was planted. Gaining possession ofthem in a short time, he turned upon the en-emy the full fire of their own cannon.

The play of artillery upon their flank, and theterrible onslaught of the Swedes in front, threwthis hitherto invincible army into confusion. Asudden retreat was the only course left to Tilly,but even this was to be made through the midstof the enemy. The whole army was in disorder,with the exception of four regiments of veteransoldiers, who never as yet had fled from the field,and were resolved not to do so now. Closingtheir ranks, they broke through the thickest ofthe victorious army, and gained a small thicket,where they opposed a new front to the Swedes,and maintained their resistance till night, whentheir number was reduced to six hundred men.With them fled the wreck of Tilly’s army, andthe battle was decided.

Amid the dead and the wounded, GustavusAdolphus threw himself on his knees; and thefirst joy of his victory gushed forth in ferventprayer. He ordered his cavalry to pursue theenemy as long as the darkness of the night

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would permit. The pealing of the alarm-bellsset the inhabitants of all the neighbouring vil-lages in motion, and utterly lost was the un-happy fugitive who fell into their hands. Theking encamped with the rest of his army be-tween the field of battle and Leipzig, as it wasimpossible to attack the town the same night.Seven thousand of the enemy were killed inthe field, and more than 5,000 either woundedor taken prisoners. Their whole artillery andcamp fell into the hands of the Swedes, andmore than a hundred standards and colourswere taken. Of the Saxons about 2,000 hadfallen, while the loss of the Swedes did not ex-ceed 700. The rout of the Imperialists was socomplete, that Tilly, on his retreat to Halle andHalberstadt, could not rally above 600 men, orPappenheim more than 1,400 — so rapidly wasthis formidable army dispersed, which so latelywas the terror of Italy and Germany.

Tilly himself owed his escape merely to

chance. Exhausted by his wounds, he still re-fused to surrender to a Swedish captain ofhorse, who summoned him to yield; but who,when he was on the point of putting him todeath, was himself stretched on the ground bya timely pistol-shot. But more grievous thandanger or wounds was the pain of surviving hisreputation, and of losing in a single day thefruits of a long life. All former victories were asnothing, since he had failed in gaining the onethat should have crowned them all. Nothingremained of all his past exploits, but the gen-eral execration which had followed them. Fromthis period, he never recovered his cheerfulnessor his good fortune. Even his last consolation,the hope of revenge, was denied to him, by theexpress command of the Emperor not to risk adecisive battle.

The disgrace of this day is to be ascribed prin-cipally to three mistakes; his planting the can-non on the hills behind him, his afterwards

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abandoning these heights, and his allowing theenemy, without opposition, to form in order ofbattle. But how easily might those mistakeshave been rectified, had it not been for the coolpresence of mind and superior genius of hisadversary!

Tilly fled from Halle to Halberstadt, where hescarcely allowed time for the cure of his wounds,before he hurried towards the Weser to recruithis force by the imperial garrisons in LowerSaxony.

The Elector of Saxony had not failed, after thedanger was over, to appear in Gustavus’s camp.The king thanked him for having advised abattle; and the Elector, charmed at his friendlyreception, promised him, in the first transportsof joy, the Roman crown. Gustavus set out nextday for Merseburg, leaving the Elector to re-cover Leipzig. Five thousand Imperialists, whohad collected together after the defeat, andwhom he met on his march, were either cut in

pieces or taken prisoners, of whom again thegreater part entered into his service. Merseburgquickly surrendered; Halle was soon after taken,whither the Elector of Saxony, after makinghimself master of Leipzig, repaired to meet theking, and to concert their future plan of opera-tions.

The victory was gained, but only a prudentuse of it could render it decisive. The imperialarmies were totally routed, Saxony free fromthe enemy, and Tilly had retired intoBrunswick. To have followed him thither wouldhave been to renew the war in Lower Saxony,which had scarcely recovered from the ravagesof the last. It was therefore determined to carrythe war into the enemy’s country, which, openand defenceless as far as Vienna, invited attack.On their right, they might fall upon the territo-ries of the Roman Catholic princes, or penetrate,on the left, into the hereditary dominions ofAustria, and make the Emperor tremble in his

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palace. Both plans were resolved on; and thequestion that now remained was to assign itsrespective parts. Gustavus Adolphus, at thehead of a victorious army, had little resistanceto apprehend in his progress from Leipzig toPrague, Vienna, and Presburg. As to Bohemia,Moravia, Austria, and Hungary, they had beenstripped of their defenders, while the oppressedProtestants in these countries were ripe for arevolt. Ferdinand was no longer secure in hiscapital: Vienna, on the first terror of surprise,would at once open its gates. The loss of histerritories would deprive the enemy of the re-sources by which alone the war could be main-tained; and Ferdinand would, in all probabil-ity, gladly accede, on the hardest conditions,to a peace which would remove a formidableenemy from the heart of his dominions. Thisbold plan of operations was flattering to a con-queror, and success perhaps might have justi-fied it. But Gustavus Adolphus, as prudent as

he was brave, and more a statesman than a con-queror, rejected it, because he had a higher endin view, and would not trust the issue either tobravery or good fortune alone.

By marching towards Bohemia, Franconia andthe Upper Rhine would be left to the Elector ofSaxony. But Tilly had already begun to recruithis shattered army from the garrisons in LowerSaxony, and was likely to be at the head of aformidable force upon the Weser, and to loseno time in marching against the enemy. To soexperienced a general, it would not do to op-pose an Arnheim, of whose military skill thebattle of Leipzig had afforded but equivocalproof; and of what avail would be the rapid andbrilliant career of the king in Bohemia andAustria, if Tilly should recover his superiorityin the Empire, animating the courage of theRoman Catholics, and disarming, by a new se-ries of victories, the allies and confederates ofthe king? What would he gain by expelling the

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Emperor from his hereditary dominions, if Tillysucceeded in conquering for that Emperor therest of Germany? Could he hope to reduce theEmperor more than had been done, twelve yearsbefore, by the insurrection of Bohemia, whichhad failed to shake the firmness or exhaust theresources of that prince, and from which he hadrisen more formidable than ever?

Less brilliant, but more solid, were the ad-vantages which he had to expect from an in-cursion into the territories of the League. Inthis quarter, his appearance in arms would bedecisive. At this very conjuncture, the princeswere assembled in a Diet at Frankfort, to delib-erate upon the Edict of Restitution, whereFerdinand employed all his artful policy to per-suade the intimidated Protestants to accede toa speedy and disadvantageous arrangement.The advance of their protector could alone en-courage them to a bold resistance, and disap-point the Emperor’s designs. Gustavus

Adolphus hoped, by his presence, to unite thediscontented princes, or by the terror of hisarms to detach them from the Emperor’s party.Here, in the centre of Germany, he could pa-ralyse the nerves of the imperial power, which,without the aid of the League, must soon fall —here, in the neighbourhood of France, he couldwatch the movements of a suspicious ally; andhowever important to his secret views it was tocultivate the friendship of the Roman Catholicelectors, he saw the necessity of making him-self first of all master of their fate, in order toestablish, by his magnanimous forbearance, aclaim to their gratitude.

He accordingly chose the route to Franconiaand the Rhine; and left the conquest of Bohemiato the Elector of Saxony.

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Book III

THE GLORIOUS BATTLE of Leipzig effected agreat change in the conduct ofGustavus Adolphus, as well as in the

opinion which both friends and foes entertainedof him. Successfully had he confronted thegreatest general of the age, and had matchedthe strength of his tactics and the courage ofhis Swedes against the elite of the imperialarmy, the most experienced troops in Europe.From this moment he felt a firm confidence inhis own powers — self-confidence has alwaysbeen the parent of great actions. In all his sub-sequent operations more boldness and decisionare observable; greater determination,even amidst the most unfavourable circum-stances, a more lofty tone towards his adver-saries, a more dignified bearing towards his al-lies, and even in his clemency, something ofthe forbearance of a conqueror. His natural

courage was farther heightened by the piousardour of his imagination. He saw in his owncause that of heaven, and in the defeat of Tillybeheld the decisive interference of Providenceagainst his enemies, and in himself the instru-ment of divine vengeance. Leaving his crownand his country far behind, he advanced on thewings of victory into the heart of Germany,which for centuries had seen no foreign con-queror within its bosom. The warlike spirit ofits inhabitants, the vigilance of its numerousprinces, the artful confederation of its states,the number of its strong castles, its many andbroad rivers, had long restrained the ambitionof its neighbours; and frequently as its exten-sive frontier had been attacked, its interior hadbeen free from hostile invasion. The Empire hadhitherto enjoyed the equivocal privilege of be-ing its own enemy, though invincible from with-out. Even now, it was merely the disunion of itsmembers, and the intolerance of religious zeal,

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that paved the way for the Swedish invader. Thebond of union between the states, which alonehad rendered the Empire invincible, was nowdissolved; and Gustavus derived from Germanyitself the power by which he subdued it. Withas much courage as prudence, he availed him-self of all that the favourable moment afforded;and equally at home in the cabinet and the field,he tore asunder the web of the artful policy,with as much ease, as he shattered walls withthe thunder of his cannon. Uninterruptedly hepursued his conquests from one end of Ger-many to the other, without breaking the line ofposts which commanded a secure retreat at anymoment; and whether on the banks of theRhine, or at the mouth of the Lech, alike main-taining his communication with his hereditarydominions.

The consternation of the Emperor and theLeague at Tilly’s defeat at Leipzig, was scarcelygreater than the surprise and embarrassment

of the allies of the King of Sweden at his unex-pected success. It was beyond both their ex-pectations and their wishes. Annihilated in amoment was that formidable army which, whileit checked his progress and set bounds to hisambition, rendered him in some measure de-pendent on themselves. He now stood in theheart of Germany, alone, without a rival or with-out an adversary who was a match for him. Noth-ing could stop his progress, or check his pre-tensions, if the intoxication of success shouldtempt him to abuse his victory. If formerly theyhad dreaded the Emperor’s irresistible power,there was no less cause now to fear every thingfor the Empire, from the violence of a foreignconqueror, and for the Catholic Church, fromthe religious zeal of a Protestant king. The dis-trust and jealousy of some of the combined pow-ers, which a stronger fear of the Emperor hadfor a time repressed, now revived; and scarcelyhad Gustavus Adolphus merited, by his cour-

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age and success, their confidence, when theybegan covertly to circumvent all his plans.Through a continual struggle with the arts ofenemies, and the distrust of his own allies, musthis victories henceforth be won; yet resolution,penetration, and prudence made their waythrough all impediments. But while his suc-cess excited the jealousy of his more powerfulallies, France and Saxony, it gave courage tothe weaker, and emboldened them openly todeclare their sentiments and join his party.Those who could neither vie with GustavusAdolphus in importance, nor suffer from hisambition, expected the more from the magna-nimity of their powerful ally, who enriched themwith the spoils of their enemies, and protectedthem against the oppression of their strongerneighbours. His strength covered their weak-ness, and, inconsiderable in themselves, theyacquired weight and influence from their unionwith the Swedish hero. This was the case with

most of the free cities, and particularly with theweaker Protestant states. It was these that in-troduced the king into the heart of Germany;these covered his rear, supplied his troops withnecessaries, received them into their fortresses,while they exposed their own lives in his battles.His prudent regard to their national pride, hispopular deportment, some brilliant acts of jus-tice, and his respect for the laws, were so manyties by which he bound the German Protestantsto his cause; while the crying atrocities of theImperialists, the Spaniards, and the troops ofLorraine, powerfully contributed to set his ownconduct and that of his army in a favourablelight.

If Gustavus Adolphus owed his success chieflyto his own genius, at the same time, it must beowned, he was greatly favoured by fortune andby circumstances. Two great advantages gavehim a decided superiority over the enemy. Whilehe removed the scene of war into the lands of

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the League, drew their youth as recruits, en-riched himself with booty, and used the rev-enues of their fugitive princes as his own, he atonce took from the enemy the means of effec-tual resistance, and maintained an expensivewar with little cost to himself. And, moreover,while his opponents, the princes of the League,divided among themselves, and governed bydifferent and often conflicting interests, actedwithout unanimity, and therefore without en-ergy; while their generals were deficient in au-thority, their troops in obedience, the opera-tions of their scattered armies without concert;while the general was separated from the law-giver and the statesman; these several functionswere united in Gustavus Adolphus, the onlysource from which authority flowed, the soleobject to which the eye of the warrior turned;the soul of his party, the inventor as well as theexecutor of his plans. In him, therefore, theProtestants had a centre of unity and harmony,

which was altogether wanting to their oppo-nents. No wonder, then, if favoured by suchadvantages, at the head of such an army, withsuch a genius to direct it, and guided by suchpolitical prudence, Gustavus Adolphus was ir-resistible.

With the sword in one hand, and mercy inthe other, he traversed Germany as a conqueror,a lawgiver, and a judge, in as short a time al-most as the tourist of pleasure. The keys oftowns and fortresses were delivered to him, asif to the native sovereign. No fortress was inac-cessible; no river checked his victorious career.He conquered by the very terror of his name.The Swedish standards were planted along thewhole stream of the Maine: the Lower Palatinatewas free, the troops of Spain and Lorraine hadfled across the Rhine and the Moselle. TheSwedes and Hessians poured like a torrent intothe territories of Mentz, of Wurtzburg, andBamberg, and three fugitive bishops, at a dis-

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tance from their sees, suffered dearly for theirunfortunate attachment to the Emperor. It wasnow the turn for Maximilian, the leader of theLeague, to feel in his own dominions the mis-eries he had inflicted upon others. Neither theterrible fate of his allies, nor the peaceful over-tures of Gustavus, who, in the midst of con-quest, ever held out the hand of friendship,could conquer the obstinacy of this prince. Thetorrent of war now poured into Bavaria. Likethe banks of the Rhine, those of the Lecke andthe Donau were crowded with Swedish troops.Creeping into his fortresses, the defeated Elec-tor abandoned to the ravages of the foe his do-minions, hitherto unscathed by war, and onwhich the bigoted violence of the Bavariansseemed to invite retaliation. Munich itselfopened its gates to the invincible monarch, andthe fugitive Palatine, Frederick V., in the for-saken residence of his rival, consoled himselffor a time for the loss of his dominions.

While Gustavus Adolphus was extending hisconquests in the south, his generals and allieswere gaining similar triumphs in the other prov-inces. Lower Saxony shook off the yoke of Aus-tria, the enemy abandoned Mecklenburg, andthe imperial garrisons retired from the banksof the Weser and the Elbe. In Westphalia andthe Upper Rhine, William, Landgrave of Hesse,rendered himself formidable; the Duke ofWeimar in Thuringia, and the French in theElectorate of Treves; while to the eastward thewhole kingdom of Bohemia was conquered bythe Saxons. The Turks were preparing to at-tack Hungary, and in the heart of Austria adangerous insurrection was threatened. In vaindid the Emperor look around to the courts ofEurope for support; in vain did he summon theSpaniards to his assistance, for the bravery ofthe Flemings afforded them ample employmentbeyond the Rhine; in vain did he call upon theRoman court and the whole church to come to

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his rescue. The offended Pope sported, in pomp-ous processions and idle anathemas, with theembarrassments of Ferdinand, and instead ofthe desired subsidy he was shown the devasta-tion of Mantua.

On all sides of his extensive monarchy hos-tile arms surrounded him. With the states ofthe League, now overrun by the enemy, thoseramparts were thrown down, behind whichAustria had so long defended herself, and theembers of war were now smouldering upon herunguarded frontiers. His most zealous allieswere disarmed; Maximilian of Bavaria, his firm-est support, was scarce able to defend himself.His armies, weakened by desertion and re-peated defeat, and dispirited by continued mis-fortunes had unlearnt, under beaten generals,that warlike impetuosity which, as it is the con-sequence, so it is the guarantee of success. Thedanger was extreme, and extraordinary meansalone could raise the imperial power from the

degradation into which it was fallen.The most urgent want was that of a general;

and the only one from whom he could hope forthe revival of his former splendour, had beenremoved from his command by an envious ca-bal. So low had the Emperor now fallen, thathe was forced to make the most humiliatingproposals to his injured subject and servant,and meanly to press upon the imperious Dukeof Friedland the acceptance of the powers whichno less meanly had been taken from him. Anew spirit began from this moment to animatethe expiring body of Austria; and a suddenchange in the aspect of affairs bespoke the firmhand which guided them. To the absolute Kingof Sweden, a general equally absolute was nowopposed; and one victorious hero was con-fronted with another. Both armies were againto engage in the doubtful struggle; and the prizeof victory, already almost secured in the handsof Gustavus Adolphus, was to be the object of

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another and a severer trial. The storm of wargathered around Nuremberg; before its wallsthe hostile armies encamped; gazing on eachother with dread and respect, longing for, andyet shrinking from, the moment that was toclose them together in the shock of battle. Theeyes of Europe turned to the scene in curiosityand alarm, while Nuremberg, in dismay, ex-pected soon to lend its name to a more decisivebattle than that of Leipzig. Suddenly the cloudsbroke, and the storm rolled away fromFranconia, to burst upon the plains of Saxony.Near Lutzen fell the thunder that had menacedNuremberg; the victory, half lost, was purchasedby the death of the king. Fortune, which hadnever forsaken him in his lifetime, favoured theKing of Sweden even in his death, with the rareprivilege of falling in the fulness of his gloryand an untarnished fame. By a timely death,his protecting genius rescued him from the in-evitable fate of man — that of forgetting mod-

eration in the intoxication of success, and jus-tice in the plenitude of power. It may be doubtedwhether, had he lived longer, he would still havedeserved the tears which Germany shed overhis grave, or maintained his title to the admira-tion with which posterity regards him, as thefirst and only just conqueror that the world hasproduced. The untimely fall of their great leaderseemed to threaten the ruin of his party; but tothe Power which rules the world, no loss of asingle man is irreparable. As the helm of wardropped from the hand of the falling hero, itwas seized by two great statesmen, Oxenstiernand Richelieu. Destiny still pursued its relent-less course, and for full sixteen years longerthe flames of war blazed over the ashes of thelong-forgotten king and soldier.

I may now be permitted to take a cursory retro-spect of Gustavus Adolphus in his victoriouscareer; glance at the scene in which he alonewas the great actor; and then, when Austria

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becomes reduced to extremity by the successesof the Swedes, and by a series of disasters isdriven to the most humiliating and desperateexpedients, to return to the history of the Em-peror.

As soon as the plan of operations had beenconcerted at Halle, between the King of Swe-den and the Elector of Saxony; as soon as thealliance had been concluded with theneighbouring princes of Weimar and Anhalt,and preparations made for the recovery of thebishopric of Magdeburg, the king began hismarch into the empire. He had here no despi-cable foe to contend with. Within the empire,the Emperor was still powerful; throughoutFranconia, Swabia, and the Palatinate, impe-rial garrisons were posted, with whom the pos-session of every place of importance must bedisputed sword in hand. On the Rhine he wasopposed by the Spaniards, who had overrun theterritory of the banished Elector Palatine, seized

all its strong places, and would everywhere dis-pute with him the passage over that river. Onhis rear was Tilly, who was fast recruiting hisforce, and would soon be joined by the auxilia-ries from Lorraine. Every Papist presented aninveterate foe, while his connexion with Francedid not leave him at liberty to act with freedomagainst the Roman Catholics. Gustavus hadforeseen all these obstacles, but at the sametime the means by which they were to be over-come. The strength of the Imperialists was bro-ken and divided among different garrisons,while he would bring against them one by onehis whole united force. If he was to be opposedby the fanaticism of the Roman Catholics, andthe awe in which the lesser states regarded theEmperor’s power, he might depend on the ac-tive support of the Protestants, and their ha-tred to Austrian oppression. The ravages of theImperialist and Spanish troops also powerfullyaided him in these quarters; where the ill-

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treated husbandman and citizen sighed alikefor a deliverer, and where the mere change ofyoke seemed to promise a relief. Emissarieswere despatched to gain over to the Swedishside the principal free cities, particularlyNuremberg and Frankfort. The first that lay inthe king’s march, and which he could not leaveunoccupied in his rear, was Erfurt. Here theProtestant party among the citizens opened tohim, without a blow, the gates of the town andthe citadel. From the inhabitants of this, as ofevery important place which afterwards submit-ted, he exacted an oath of allegiance, while hesecured its possession by a sufficient garrison.To his ally, Duke William of Weimar, he in-trusted the command of an army to be raisedin Thuringia. He also left his queen in Erfurt,and promised to increase its privileges. TheSwedish army now crossed the Thuringian for-est in two columns, by Gotha and Arnstadt, andhaving delivered, in its march, the county of

Henneberg from the Imperialists, formed a junc-tion on the third day near Koenigshofen, onthe frontiers of Franconia.

Francis, Bishop of Wurtzburg, the bitter en-emy of the Protestants, and the most zealousmember of the League, was the first to feel theindignation of Gustavus Adolphus. A few threatsgained for the Swedes possession of his fortressof Koenigshofen, and with it the key of the wholeprovince. At the news of this rapid conquest,dismay seized all the Roman Catholic towns ofthe circle. The Bishops of Wurtzburg andBamberg trembled in their castles; they alreadysaw their sees tottering, their churches pro-faned, and their religion degraded. The maliceof his enemies had circulated the most fright-ful representations of the persecuting spirit andthe mode of warfare pursued by the Swedishking and his soldiers, which neither the re-peated assurances of the king, nor the mostsplendid examples of humanity and toleration,

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ever entirely effaced. Many feared to suffer atthe hands of another what in similar circum-stances they were conscious of inflicting them-selves. Many of the richest Roman Catholicshastened to secure by flight their property, theirreligion, and their persons, from the sangui-nary fanaticism of the Swedes. The bishop him-self set the example. In the midst of the alarm,which his bigoted zeal had caused, he aban-doned his dominions, and fled to Paris, to ex-cite, if possible, the French ministry against thecommon enemy of religion.

The further progress of Gustavus Adolphusin the ecclesiastical territories agreed with thisbrilliant commencement. Schweinfurt, andsoon afterwards Wurtzburg, abandoned by theirImperial garrisons, surrendered; butMarienberg he was obliged to carry by storm.In this place, which was believed to be impreg-nable, the enemy had collected a large store ofprovisions and ammunition, all of which fell into

the hands of the Swedes. The king found a valu-able prize in the library of the Jesuits, whichhe sent to Upsal, while his soldiers found a stillmore agreeable one in the prelate’s well-filledcellars; his treasures the bishop had in goodtime removed. The whole bishopric followed theexample of the capital, and submitted to theSwedes. The king compelled all the bishop’ssubjects to swear allegiance to himself; and, inthe absence of the lawful sovereign, appointeda regency, one half of whose members wereProtestants. In every Roman Catholic townwhich Gustavus took, he opened the churchesto the Protestant people, but without retaliat-ing on the Papists the cruelties which they hadpractised on the former. On such only as swordin hand refused to submit, were the fearfulrights of war enforced; and for the occasionalacts of violence committed by a few of the morelawless soldiers, in the blind rage of the firstattack, their humane leader is not justly respon-

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sible. Those who were peaceably disposed, ordefenceless, were treated with mildness. It wasa sacred principle of Gustavus to spare the bloodof his enemies, as well as that of his own troops.

On the first news of the Swedish irruption,the Bishop of Wurtzburg, without regarding thetreaty which he had entered into with the Kingof Sweden, had earnestly pressed the generalof the League to hasten to the assistance of thebishopric. That defeated commander had, in themean time, collected on the Weser the shat-tered remnant of his army, reinforced himselffrom the garrisons of Lower Saxony, and ef-fected a junction in Hesse with Altringer andFugger, who commanded under him. Again atthe head of a considerable force, Tilly burnedwith impatience to wipe out the stain of his firstdefeat by a splendid victory. From his camp atFulda, whither he had marched with his army,he earnestly requested permission from theDuke of Bavaria to give battle to Gustavus

Adolphus. But, in the event of Tilly’s defeat, theLeague had no second army to fall back upon,and Maximilian was too cautious to risk againthe fate of his party on a single battle. Withtears in his eyes, Tilly read the commands ofhis superior, which compelled him to inactiv-ity. Thus his march to Franconia was delayed,and Gustavus Adolphus gained time to over-run the whole bishopric. It was in vain that Tilly,reinforced at Aschaffenburg by a body of 12,000men from Lorraine, marched with an over-whelming force to the relief of Wurtzburg. Thetown and citadel were already in the hands ofthe Swedes, and Maximilian of Bavaria was gen-erally blamed (and not without cause, perhaps)for having, by his scruples, occasioned the lossof the bishopric. Commanded to avoid a battle,Tilly contented himself with checking the far-ther advance of the enemy; but he could saveonly a few of the towns from the impetuosity ofthe Swedes. Baffled in an attempt to reinforce

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the weak garrison of Hanau, which it was highlyimportant to the Swedes to gain, he crossed theMaine, near Seligenstadt, and took the direc-tion of the Bergstrasse, to protect the Palatinatefrom the conqueror.

Tilly, however, was not the sole enemy whomGustavus Adolphus met in Franconia, and drovebefore him. Charles, Duke of Lorraine, cel-ebrated in the annals of the time for his un-steadiness of character, his vain projects, andhis misfortunes, ventured to raise a weak armagainst the Swedish hero, in the hope of ob-taining from the Emperor the electoral dignity.Deaf to the suggestions of a rational policy, helistened only to the dictates of heated ambi-tion; by supporting the Emperor, he exasper-ated France, his formidable neighbour; and inthe pursuit of a visionary phantom in anothercountry, left undefended his own dominions,which were instantly overrun by a French army.Austria willingly conceded to him, as well as to

the other princes of the League, the honour ofbeing ruined in her cause. Intoxicated with vainhopes, this prince collected a force of 17,000men, which he proposed to lead in personagainst the Swedes. If these troops were defi-cient in discipline and courage, they were atleast attractive by the splendour of their accou-trements; and however sparing they were oftheir prowess against the foe, they were liberalenough with it against the defenceless citizensand peasantry, whom they were summoned todefend. Against the bravery, and the formidablediscipline of the Swedes this splendidly attiredarmy, however, made no long stand. On the firstadvance of the Swedish cavalry a panic seizedthem, and they were driven without difficultyfrom their cantonments in Wurtzburg; the de-feat of a few regiments occasioned a generalrout, and the scattered remnant sought a co-vert from the Swedish valour in the towns be-yond the Rhine. Loaded with shame and ridi-

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cule, the duke hurried home by Strasburg, toofortunate in escaping, by a submissive writtenapology, the indignation of his conqueror, whohad first beaten him out of the field, and thencalled upon him to account for his hostilities. Itis related upon this occasion that, in a villageon the Rhine a peasant struck the horse of theduke as he rode past, exclaiming, “Haste, Sir,you must go quicker to escape the great Kingof Sweden!”

The example of his neighbours’ misfortuneshad taught the Bishop of Bamberg prudence.To avert the plundering of his territories, hemade offers of peace, though these were in-tended only to delay the king’s course till thearrival of assistance. Gustavus Adolphus, toohonourable himself to suspect dishonesty inanother, readily accepted the bishop’s propos-als, and named the conditions on which he waswilling to save his territories from hostile treat-ment. He was the more inclined to peace, as he

had no time to lose in the conquest of Bamberg,and his other designs called him to the Rhine.The rapidity with which he followed up theseplans, cost him the loss of those pecuniary sup-plies which, by a longer residence in Franconia,he might easily have extorted from the weakand terrified bishop. This artful prelate brokeoff the negotiation the instant the storm of warpassed away from his own territories. No soonerhad Gustavus marched onwards than he threwhimself under the protection of Tilly, and re-ceived the troops of the Emperor into the verytowns and fortresses, which shortly before hehad shown himself ready to open to the Swedes.By this stratagem, however, he only delayed fora brief interval the ruin of his bishopric. A Swed-ish general who had been left in Franconia,undertook to punish the perfidy of the bishop;and the ecclesiastical territory became the seatof war, and was ravaged alike by friends andfoes.

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The formidable presence of the Imperialistshad hitherto been a check upon the FranconianStates; but their retreat, and the humane con-duct of the Swedish king, emboldened the no-bility and other inhabitants of this circle to de-clare in his favour. Nuremberg joyfully commit-ted itself to his protection; and the Franconiannobles were won to his cause by flattering proc-lamations, in which he condescended to apolo-gize for his hostile appearance in the domin-ions. The fertility of Franconia, and the rigor-ous honesty of the Swedish soldiers in theirdealings with the inhabitants, brought abun-dance to the camp of the king. The high es-teem which the nobility of the circle felt forGustavus, the respect and admiration withwhich they regarded his brilliant exploits, thepromises of rich booty which the service of thismonarch held out, greatly facilitated the recruit-ing of his troops; a step which was made neces-sary by detaching so many garrisons from the

main body. At the sound of his drums, recruitsflocked to his standard from all quarters.

The king had scarcely spent more time in con-quering Franconia, than he would have requiredto cross it. He now left behind him GustavusHorn, one of his best generals, with a force of8,000 men, to complete and retain his conquest.He himself with his main army, reinforced bythe late recruits, hastened towards the Rhinein order to secure this frontier of the empirefrom the Spaniards; to disarm the ecclesiasti-cal electors, and to obtain from their fertile ter-ritories new resources for the prosecution of thewar. Following the course of the Maine, he sub-jected, in the course of his march, Seligenstadt,Aschaffenburg, Steinheim, the whole territoryon both sides of the river. The imperial garri-sons seldom awaited his approach, and neverattempted resistance. In the meanwhile one ofhis colonels had been fortunate enough to takeby surprise the town and citadel of Hanau, for

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whose preservation Tilly had shown such anxi-ety. Eager to be free of the oppressive burdenof the Imperialists, the Count of Hanau gladlyplaced himself under the milder yoke of theKing of Sweden.

Gustavus Adolphus now turned his whole at-tention to Frankfort, for it was his constantmaxim to cover his rear by the friendship andpossession of the more important towns. Frank-fort was among the free cities which, even fromSaxony, he had endeavoured to prepare for hisreception; and he now called upon it, by a sum-mons from Offenbach, to allow him a free pas-sage, and to admit a Swedish garrison. Willinglywould this city have dispensed with the neces-sity of choosing between the King of Swedenand the Emperor; for, whatever party they mightembrace, the inhabitants had a like reason tofear for their privileges and trade. The Emperor’svengeance would certainly fall heavily uponthem, if they were in a hurry to submit to the

King of Sweden, and afterwards he should proveunable to protect his adherents in Germany.But still more ruinous for them would be thedispleasure of an irresistible conqueror, who,with a formidable army, was already before theirgates, and who might punish their oppositionby the ruin of their commerce and prosperity.In vain did their deputies plead the dangerwhich menaced their fairs, their privileges, per-haps their constitution itself, if, by espousingthe party of the Swedes, they were to incur theEmperor’s displeasure. Gustavus Adolphus ex-pressed to them his astonishment that, whenthe liberties of Germany and the Protestantreligion were at stake, the citizens of Frankfortshould talk of their annual fairs, and postponefor temporal interests the great cause of theircountry and their conscience. He had, he con-tinued, in a menacing tone, found the keys ofevery town and fortress, from the Isle of Rugento the Maine, and knew also where to find a

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key to Frankfort; the safety of Germany, andthe freedom of the Protestant Church, were, heassured them, the sole objects of his invasion;conscious of the justice of his cause, he wasdetermined not to allow any obstacle to impedehis progress. “The inhabitants of Frankfort, hewas well aware, wished to stretch out only afinger to him, but he must have the whole handin order to have something to grasp.” At thehead of the army, he closely followed the depu-ties as they carried back his answer, and in or-der of battle awaited, near Saxenhausen, thedecision of the council.

If Frankfort hesitated to submit to the Swedes,it was solely from fear of the Emperor; their owninclinations did not allow them a moment todoubt between the oppressor of Germany andits protector. The menacing preparations amidstwhich Gustavus Adolphus now compelled themto decide, would lessen the guilt of their revoltin the eyes of the Emperor, and by an appear-

ance of compulsion justify the step which theywillingly took. The gates were therefore openedto the King of Sweden, who marched his armythrough this imperial town in magnificent pro-cession, and in admirable order. A garrison of600 men was left in Saxenhausen; while theking himself advanced the same evening, withthe rest of his army, against the town of Hoechstin Mentz, which surrendered to him beforenight.

While Gustavus was thus extending his con-quests along the Maine, fortune crowned alsothe efforts of his generals and allies in the northof Germany. Rostock, Wismar, and Doemitz, theonly strong places in the Duchy of Mecklenburgwhich still sighed under the yoke of the Impe-rialists, were recovered by their legitimate sov-ereign, the Duke John Albert, under the Swed-ish general, Achatius Tott. In vain did the im-perial general, Wolf Count von Mansfeld, en-deavour to recover from the Swedes the territo-

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ries of Halberstadt, of which they had takenpossession immediately upon the victory ofLeipzig; he was even compelled to leaveMagdeburg itself in their hands. The Swedishgeneral, Banner, who with 8,000 men remainedupon the Elbe, closely blockaded that city, andhad defeated several imperial regiments whichhad been sent to its relief. Count Mansfeld de-fended it in person with great resolution; buthis garrison being too weak to oppose for anylength of time the numerous force of the be-siegers, he was already about to surrender onconditions, when Pappenheim advanced to hisassistance, and gave employment elsewhere tothe Swedish arms. Magdeburg, however, orrather the wretched huts that peeped out mis-erably from among the ruins of that once greattown, was afterwards voluntarily abandoned bythe Imperialists, and immediately taken pos-session of by the Swedes.

Even Lower Saxony, encouraged by the

progress of the king, ventured to raise its headfrom the disasters of the unfortunate Danishwar. They held a congress at Hamburg, and re-solved upon raising three regiments, which theyhoped would be sufficient to free them from theoppressive garrisons of the Imperialists. TheBishop of Bremen, a relation of GustavusAdolphus, was not content even with this; butassembled troops of his own, and terrified theunfortunate monks and priests of theneighbourhood, but was quickly compelled bythe imperial general, Count Gronsfeld, to laydown his arms. Even George, Duke ofLunenburg, formerly a colonel in the Emperor’sservice, embraced the party of Gustavus, forwhom he raised several regiments, and by oc-cupying the attention of the Imperialists inLower Saxony, materially assisted him.

But more important service was rendered tothe king by the Landgrave William of HesseCassel, whose victorious arms struck with ter-

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ror the greater part of Westphalia and LowerSaxony, the bishopric of Fulda, and even theElectorate of Cologne. It has been already statedthat immediately after the conclusion of thealliance between the Landgrave and GustavusAdolphus at Werben, two imperial generals,Fugger and Altringer, were ordered by Tilly tomarch into Hesse, to punish the Landgrave forhis revolt from the Emperor. But this prince hadas firmly withstood the arms of his enemies, ashis subjects had the proclamations of Tilly in-citing them to rebellion, and the battle of Leipzigpresently relieved him of their presence. Heavailed himself of their absence with courageand resolution; in a short time, Vach, Muendenand Hoexter surrendered to him, while his rapidadvance alarmed the bishoprics of Fulda,Paderborn, and the ecclesiastical territorieswhich bordered on Hesse. The terrified stateshastened by a speedy submission to set limitsto his progress, and by considerable contribu-

tions to purchase exemption from plunder. Af-ter these successful enterprises, the Landgraveunited his victorious army with that of GustavusAdolphus, and concerted with him at Frankforttheir future plan of operations.

In this city, a number of princes and ambas-sadors were assembled to congratulateGustavus on his success, and either to concili-ate his favour or to appease his indignation.Among them was the fugitive King of Bohemia,the Palatine Frederick V., who had hastenedfrom Holland to throw himself into the arms ofhis avenger and protector. Gustavus gave himthe unprofitable honour of greeting him as acrowned head, and endeavoured, by a respect-ful sympathy, to soften his sense of his misfor-tunes. But great as the advantages were, whichFrederick had promised himself from the powerand good fortune of his protector; and high aswere the expectations he had built on his jus-tice and magnanimity, the chance of this un-

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fortunate prince’s reinstatement in his king-dom was as distant as ever. The inactivity andcontradictory politics of the English court hadabated the zeal of Gustavus Adolphus, and anirritability which he could not always repress,made him on this occasion forget the gloriousvocation of protector of the oppressed, in which,on his invasion of Germany, he had so loudlyannounced himself.

The terrors of the king’s irresistible strength,and the near prospect of his vengeance, hadalso compelled George, Landgrave of HesseDarmstadt, to a timely submission. His connec-tion with the Emperor, and his indifference tothe Protestant cause, were no secret to the king,but he was satisfied with laughing at so impo-tent an enemy. As the Landgrave knew his ownstrength and the political situation of Germanyso little, as to offer himself as mediator betweenthe contending parties, Gustavus used jestinglyto call him the peacemaker. He was frequently

heard to say, when at play he was winning fromthe Landgrave, “that the money afforded doublesatisfaction, as it was Imperial coin.” To his af-finity with the Elector of Saxony, whomGustavus had cause to treat with forbearance,the Landgrave was indebted for the favourableterms he obtained from the king, who contentedhimself with the surrender of his fortress ofRusselheim, and his promise of observing astrict neutrality during the war. The Counts ofWesterwald and Wetteran also visited the Kingin Frankfort, to offer him their assistanceagainst the Spaniards, and to conclude an alli-ance, which was afterwards of great service tohim. The town of Frankfort itself had reason torejoice at the presence of this monarch, whotook their commerce under his protection, andby the most effectual measures restored thefairs, which had been greatly interrupted bythe war.

The Swedish army was now reinforced by ten

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thousand Hessians, which the Landgrave ofCasse commanded. Gustavus Adolphus had al-ready invested Koenigstein; Kostheim andFloersheim surrendered after a short siege; hewas in command of the Maine; and transportswere preparing with all speed at Hoechst tocarry his troops across the Rhine. These prepa-rations filled the Elector of Mentz, AnselmCasimir, with consternation; and he no longerdoubted but that the storm of war would nextfall upon him. As a partisan of the Emperor,and one of the most active members of theLeague, he could expect no better treatmentthan his confederates, the Bishops of Wurtzburgand Bamberg, had already experienced. Thesituation of his territories upon the Rhine madeit necessary for the enemy to secure them, whilethe fertility afforded an irresistible temptationto a necessitous army. Miscalculating his ownstrength and that of his adversaries, the Elec-tor flattered himself that he was able to repel

force by force, and weary out the valour of theSwedes by the strength of his fortresses. Heordered the fortifications of his capital to berepaired with all diligence, provided it with ev-ery necessary for sustaining a long siege, andreceived into the town a garrison of 2,000 Span-iards, under Don Philip de Sylva. To preventthe approach of the Swedish transports, heendeavoured to close the mouth of the Maineby driving piles, and sinking large heaps ofstones and vessels. He himself, however, accom-panied by the Bishop of Worms, and carryingwith him his most precious effects, took refugein Cologne, and abandoned his capital and ter-ritories to the rapacity of a tyrannical garrison.But these preparations, which bespoke less oftrue courage than of weak and overweeningconfidence, did not prevent the Swedes frommarching against Mentz, and making seriouspreparations for an attack upon the city. Whileone body of their troops poured into the

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Rheingau, routed the Spaniards who remainedthere, and levied contributions on the inhabit-ants, another laid the Roman Catholic townsin Westerwald and Wetterau under similar con-tributions. The main army had encamped atCassel, opposite Mentz; and Bernhard, Dukeof Weimar, made himself master of theMaeusethurm and the Castle of Ehrenfels, onthe other side of the Rhine. Gustavus was nowactively preparing to cross the river, and toblockade the town on the land side, when themovements of Tilly in Franconia suddenly calledhim from the siege, and obtained for the Elec-tor a short repose.

The danger of Nuremberg, which, during theabsence of Gustavus Adolphus on the Rhine,Tilly had made a show of besieging, and, in theevent of resistance, threatened with the cruelfate of Magdeburg, occasioned the king sud-denly to retire from before Mentz. Lest heshould expose himself a second time to the re-

proaches of Germany, and the disgrace of aban-doning a confederate city to a ferocious enemy,he hastened to its relief by forced marches. Onhis arrival at Frankfort, however, he heard ofits spirited resistance, and of the retreat of Tilly,and lost not a moment in prosecuting his de-signs against Mentz. Failing in an attempt tocross the Rhine at Cassel, under the cannon ofthe besieged, he directed his march towardsthe Bergstrasse, with a view of approaching thetown from an opposite quarter. Here he quicklymade himself master of all the places of impor-tance, and at Stockstadt, between Gernsheimand Oppenheim, appeared a second time uponthe banks of the Rhine. The whole of theBergstrasse was abandoned by the Spaniards,who endeavoured obstinately to defend theother bank of the river. For this purpose, theyhad burned or sunk all the vessels in theneighbourhood, and arranged a formidableforce on the banks, in case the king should at-

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tempt the passage at that place.On this occasion, the king’s impetuosity ex-

posed him to great danger of falling into thehands of the enemy. In order to reconnoitre theopposite bank, he crossed the river in a smallboat; he had scarcely landed when he was at-tacked by a party of Spanish horse, from whosehands he only saved himself by a precipitateretreat. Having at last, with the assistance ofthe neighbouring fishermen, succeeded in pro-curing a few transports, he despatched two ofthem across the river, bearing Count Brahe and300 Swedes. Scarcely had this officer time toentrench himself on the opposite bank, whenhe was attacked by 14 squadrons of Spanishdragoons and cuirassiers. Superior as the en-emy was in number, Count Brahe, with hissmall force, bravely defended himself, andgained time for the king to support him withfresh troops. The Spaniards at last retired withthe loss of 600 men, some taking refuge in

Oppenheim, and others in Mentz. A lion ofmarble on a high pillar, holding a naked swordin his paw, and a helmet on his head, waserected seventy years after the event, to pointout to the traveller the spot where the immor-tal monarch crossed the great river of Germany.

Gustavus Adolphus now conveyed his artil-lery and the greater part of his troops over theriver, and laid siege to Oppenheim, which, af-ter a brave resistance, was, on the 8th Decem-ber, 1631, carried by storm. Five hundred Span-iards, who had so courageously defended theplace, fell indiscriminately a sacrifice to the furyof the Swedes. The crossing of the Rhine byGustavus struck terror into the Spaniards andLorrainers, who had thought themselves pro-tected by the river from the vengeance of theSwedes. Rapid flight was now their only secu-rity; every place incapable of an effectual de-fence was immediately abandoned. After a longtrain of outrages on the defenceless citizens,

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the troops of Lorraine evacuated Worms, which,before their departure, they treated with wan-ton cruelty. The Spaniards hastened to shutthemselves up in Frankenthal, where theyhoped to defy the victorious arms of GustavusAdolphus.

The king lost no time in prosecuting his de-signs against Mentz, into which the flower ofthe Spanish troops had thrown themselves.While he advanced on the left bank of the Rhine,the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel moved forwardon the other, reducing several strong places onhis march. The besieged Spaniards, thoughhemmed in on both sides, displayed at first abold determination, and threw, for several days,a shower of bombs into the Swedish camp,which cost the king many of his bravest sol-diers. But notwithstanding, the Swedes con-tinually gained ground, and had at last ad-vanced so close to the ditch that they preparedseriously for storming the place. The courage

of the besieged now began to droop. Theytrembled before the furious impetuosity of theSwedish soldiers, of which Marienberg, inWurtzburg, had afforded so fearful an example.The same dreadful fate awaited Mentz, if takenby storm; and the enemy might even be easilytempted to revenge the carnage of Magdeburgon this rich and magnificent residence of a Ro-man Catholic prince. To save the town, ratherthan their own lives, the Spanish garrison ca-pitulated on the fourth day, and obtained fromthe magnanimity of Gustavus a safe conduct toLuxembourg; the greater part of them, however,following the example of many others, enlistedin the service of Sweden.

On the 13th December, 1631, the king madehis entry into the conquered town, and fixedhis quarters in the palace of the Elector. Eightypieces of cannon fell into his hands, and thecitizens were obliged to redeem their propertyfrom pillage, by a payment of 80,000 florins.

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The benefits of this redemption did not extendto the Jews and the clergy, who were obliged tomake large and separate contributions for them-selves. The library of the Elector was seized bythe king as his share, and presented by him tohis chancellor, Oxenstiern, who intended it forthe Academy of Westerrah, but the vessel inwhich it was shipped to Sweden foundered atsea.

After the loss of Mentz, misfortune still pur-sued the Spaniards on the Rhine. Shortly be-fore the capture of that city, the Landgrave ofHesse Cassel had taken Falkenstein andReifenberg, and the fortress of Koningsteinsurrendered to the Hessians. The Rhinegrave,Otto Louis, one of the king’s generals, defeatednine Spanish squadrons who were on theirmarch for Frankenthal, and made himself mas-ter of the most important towns upon the Rhine,from Boppart to Bacharach. After the captureof the fortress of Braunfels, which was effected

by the Count of Wetterau, with the co-opera-tion of the Swedes, the Spaniards quickly lostevery place in Wetterau, while in the Palatinatethey retained few places besides Frankenthal.Landau and Kronweisenberg openly declaredfor the Swedes; Spires offered troops for theking’s service; Manheim was gained through theprudence of the Duke Bernard of Weimar, andthe negligence of its governor, who, for thismisconduct, was tried before the council of war,at Heidelberg, and beheaded.

The king had protracted the campaign intothe depth of winter, and the severity of the sea-son was perhaps one cause of the advantagehis soldiers gained over those of the enemy. Butthe exhausted troops now stood in need of therepose of winter quarters, which, after the sur-render of Mentz, Gustavus assigned to them,in its neighbourhood. He himself employed theinterval of inactivity in the field, which the sea-son of the year enjoined, in arranging, with his

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chancellor, the affairs of his cabinet, in treat-ing for a neutrality with some of his enemies,and adjusting some political disputes which hadsprung up with a neighbouring ally. He chosethe city of Mentz for his winter quarters, andthe settlement of these state affairs, and showeda greater partiality for this town, than seemedconsistent with the interests of the Germanprinces, or the shortness of his visit to the Em-pire. Not content with strongly fortifying it, heerected at the opposite angle which the Maineforms with the Rhine, a new citadel, which wasnamed Gustavusburg from its founder, butwhich is better known under the title ofPfaffenraub or Pfaffenzwang*.

While Gustavus Adolphus made himself mas-ter of the Rhine, and threatened the threeneighbouring electorates with his victoriousarms, his vigilant enemies in Paris and St.

Germain’s made use of every artifice to deprivehim of the support of France, and, if possible,to involve him in a war with that power. By hissudden and equivocal march to the Rhine, hehad surprised his friends, and furnished hisenemies with the means of exciting a distrustof his intentions. After the conquest ofWurtzburg, and of the greater part of Franconia,the road into Bavaria and Austria lay open tohim through Bamberg and the UpperPalatinate; and the expectation was as general,as it was natural, that he would not delay toattack the Emperor and the Duke of Bavaria inthe very centre of their power, and, by the re-duction of his two principal enemies, bring thewar immediately to an end. But to the surpriseof both parties, Gustavus left the path whichgeneral expectation had thus marked out forhim; and instead of advancing to the right,turned to the left, to make the less importantand more innocent princes of the Rhine feel* Priests’ plunder; alluding to the means by which the

expense of its erection had been defrayed.

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his power, while he gave time to his more for-midable opponents to recruit their strength.Nothing but the paramount design of reinstat-ing the unfortunate Palatine, Frederick V., inthe possession of his territories, by the expul-sion of the Spaniards, could seem to accountfor this strange step; and the belief thatGustavus was about to effect that restoration,silenced for a while the suspicions of his friendsand the calumnies of his enemies. But theLower Palatinate was now almost entirelycleared of the enemy; and yet Gustavus con-tinued to form new schemes of conquest on theRhine, and to withhold the reconquered coun-try from the Palatine, its rightful owner. In vaindid the English ambassador remind him of whatjustice demanded, and what his own solemnengagement made a duty of honour; Gustavusreplied to these demands with bitter complaintsof the inactivity of the English court, and pre-pared to carry his victorious standard into

Alsace, and even into Lorraine.A distrust of the Swedish monarch was now

loud and open, while the malice of his enemiesbusily circulated the most injurious reports asto his intentions. Richelieu, the minister ofLouis XIII., had long witnessed with anxiety theking’s progress towards the French frontier, andthe suspicious temper of Louis rendered himbut too accessible to the evil surmises whichthe occasion gave rise to. France was at thistime involved in a civil war with her Protestantsubjects, and the fear was not altogethergroundless, that the approach of a victoriousmonarch of their party might revive their droop-ing spirit, and encourage them to a more des-perate resistance. This might be the case, evenif Gustavus Adolphus was far from showing adisposition to encourage them, or to act unfaith-fully towards his ally, the King of France. Butthe vindictive Bishop of Wurtzburg, who wasanxious to avenge the loss of his dominions,

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the envenomed rhetoric of the Jesuits and theactive zeal of the Bavarian minister, representedthis dreaded alliance between the Huguenotsand the Swedes as an undoubted fact, and filledthe timid mind of Louis with the most alarmingfears. Not merely chimerical politicians, butmany of the best informed Roman Catholics, fullybelieved that the king was on the point of break-ing into the heart of France, to make commoncause with the Huguenots, and to overturn theCatholic religion within the kingdom.Fanatical zealots already saw him, with his army,crossing the Alps, and dethroning the Viceregentof Christ in Italy. Such reports no doubt soonrefute themselves; yet it cannot be denied thatGustavus, by his manoeuvres on the Rhine, gavea dangerous handle to the malice of his enemies,and in some measure justified the suspicion thathe directed his arms, not so much against theEmperor and the Duke of Bavaria, as againstthe Roman Catholic religion itself.

The general clamour of discontent which theJesuits raised in all the Catholic courts, againstthe alliance between France and the enemy ofthe church, at last compelled Cardinal Richelieuto take a decisive step for the security of hisreligion, and at once to convince the RomanCatholic world of the zeal of France, and of theselfish policy of the ecclesiastical states of Ger-many. Convinced that the views of the King ofSweden, like his own, aimed solely at the hu-miliation of the power of Austria, he hesitatednot to promise to the princes of the League, onthe part of Sweden, a complete neutrality, im-mediately they abandoned their alliance withthe Emperor and withdrew their troops. What-ever the resolution these princes should adopt,Richelieu would equally attain his object. Bytheir separation from the Austrian interest,Ferdinand would be exposed to the combinedattack of France and Sweden; and GustavusAdolphus, freed from his other enemies in Ger-

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many, would be able to direct his undividedforce against the hereditary dominions of Aus-tria. In that event, the fall of Austria was inevi-table, and this great object of Richelieu’s policywould be gained without injury to the church.If, on the other hand, the princes of the Leaguepersisted in their opposition, and adhered tothe Austrian alliance, the result would indeedbe more doubtful, but still France would havesufficiently proved to all Europe the sincerityof her attachment to the Catholic cause, andperformed her duty as a member of the RomanChurch. The princes of the League would thenappear the sole authors of those evils, whichthe continuance of the war would unavoidablybring upon the Roman Catholics of Germany;they alone, by their wilful and obstinate adher-ence to the Emperor, would frustrate the mea-sures employed for their protection, involve thechurch in danger, and themselves in ruin.

Richelieu pursued this plan with greater zeal,

the more he was embarrassed by the repeateddemands of the Elector of Bavaria for assistancefrom France; for this prince, as already stated,when he first began to entertain suspicions ofthe Emperor, entered immediately into a se-cret alliance with France, by which, in the eventof any change in the Emperor’s sentiments, hehoped to secure the possession of thePalatinate. But though the origin of the treatyclearly showed against what enemy it was di-rected, Maximilian now thought proper to makeuse of it against the King of Sweden, and didnot hesitate to demand from France that assis-tance against her ally, which she had simplypromised against Austria. Richelieu, embar-rassed by this conflicting alliance with two hos-tile powers, had no resource left but to endeav-our to put a speedy termination to their hostili-ties; and as little inclined to sacrifice Bavaria,as he was disabled, by his treaty with Sweden,from assisting it, he set himself, with all dili-

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gence, to bring about a neutrality, as the onlymeans of fulfilling his obligations to both. Forthis purpose, the Marquis of Breze was sent, ashis plenipotentiary, to the King of Sweden atMentz, to learn his sentiments on this point,and to procure from him favourable conditionsfor the allied princes. But if Louis XIII. had pow-erful motives for wishing for this neutrality,Gustavus Adolphus had as grave reasons fordesiring the contrary. Convinced by numerousproofs that the hatred of the princes of theLeague to the Protestant religion was invincible,their aversion to the foreign power of the Swedesinextinguishable, and their attachment to theHouse of Austria irrevocable, he apprehendedless danger from their open hostility, than froma neutrality which was so little in unison withtheir real inclinations; and, moreover, as he wasconstrained to carry on the war in Germany atthe expense of the enemy, he manifestly sus-tained great loss if he diminished their num-

ber without increasing that of his friends. It wasnot surprising, therefore, if Gustavus evincedlittle inclination to purchase the neutrality ofthe League, by which he was likely to gain solittle, at the expense of the advantages he hadalready obtained.

The conditions, accordingly, upon which heoffered to adopt the neutrality towards Bavariawere severe, and suited to these views. He re-quired of the whole League a full and entirecessation from all hostilities; the recall of theirtroops from the imperial army, from the con-quered towns, and from all the Protestant coun-tries; the reduction of their military force; theexclusion of the imperial armies from their ter-ritories, and from supplies either of men, pro-visions, or ammunition. Hard as the conditionswere, which the victor thus imposed upon thevanquished, the French mediator flattered him-self he should be able to induce the Elector ofBavaria to accept them. In order to give time for

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an accommodation, Gustavus had agreed to acessation of hostilities for a fortnight. But atthe very time when this monarch was receivingfrom the French agents repeated assurances ofthe favourable progress of the negociation, anintercepted letter from the Elector toPappenheim, the imperial general inWestphalia, revealed the perfidy of that prince,as having no other object in view by the wholenegociation, than to gain time for his measuresof defence. Far from intending to fetter his mili-tary operations by a truce with Sweden, theartful prince hastened his preparations, andemployed the leisure which his enemy affordedhim, in making the most active dispositions forresistance. The negociation accordingly failed,and served only to increase the animosity ofthe Bavarians and the Swedes.

Tilly’s augmented force, with which he threat-ened to overrun Franconia, urgently requiredthe king’s presence in that circle; but it was

necessary to expel previously the Spaniardsfrom the Rhine, and to cut off their means ofinvading Germany from the Netherlands. Withthis view, Gustavus Adolphus had made an of-fer of neutrality to the Elector of Treves, Philipvon Zeltern, on condition that the fortress ofHermanstein should be delivered up to him,and a free passage granted to his troops throughCoblentz. But unwillingly as the Elector hadbeheld the Spaniards within his territories, hewas still less disposed to commit his estates tothe suspicious protection of a heretic, and tomake the Swedish conqueror master of his des-tinies. Too weak to maintain his independencebetween two such powerful competitors, he tookrefuge in the protection of France. With hisusual prudence, Richelieu profited by the em-barrassments of this prince to augment thepower of France, and to gain for her an impor-tant ally on the German frontier. A numerousFrench army was despatched to protect the ter-

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ritory of Treves, and a French garrison was re-ceived into Ehrenbreitstein. But the objectwhich had moved the Elector to this bold stepwas not completely gained, for the offendedpride of Gustavus Adolphus was not appeasedtill he had obtained a free passage for his troopsthrough Treves.

Pending these negociations with Treves andFrance, the king’s generals had entirely clearedthe territory of Mentz of the Spanish garrisons,and Gustavus himself completed the conquestof this district by the capture of Kreutznach. Toprotect these conquests, the chancellorOxenstiern was left with a division of the armyupon the Middle Rhine, while the main body,under the king himself, began its march againstthe enemy in Franconia.

The possession of this circle had, in the meantime, been disputed with variable success, be-tween Count Tilly and the Swedish GeneralHorn, whom Gustavus had left there with 8,000

men; and the Bishopric of Bamberg, in particu-lar, was at once the prize and the scene of theirstruggle. Called away to the Rhine by his otherprojects, the king had left to his general thechastisement of the bishop, whose perfidy hadexcited his indignation, and the activity of Hornjustified the choice. In a short time, he sub-dued the greater part of the bishopric; and thecapital itself, abandoned by its imperial garri-son, was carried by storm. The banished bishopurgently demanded assistance from the Elec-tor of Bavaria, who was at length persuaded toput an end to Tilly’s inactivity. Fully empow-ered by his master’s order to restore the bishopto his possessions, this general collected histroops, who were scattered over the UpperPalatinate, and with an army of 20,000 menadvanced upon Bamberg. Firmly resolved tomaintain his conquest even against this over-whelming force, Horn awaited the enemy withinthe walls of Bamberg; but was obliged to yield

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to the vanguard of Tilly what he had thought tobe able to dispute with his whole army. A panicwhich suddenly seized his troops, and whichno presence of mind of their general couldcheck, opened the gates to the enemy, and itwas with difficulty that the troops, baggage, andartillery, were saved. The reconquest of Bambergwas the fruit of this victory; but Tilly, with allhis activity, was unable to overtake the Swed-ish general, who retired in good order behindthe Maine. The king’s appearance in Franconia,and his junction with Gustavus Horn atKitzingen, put a stop to Tilly’s conquests, andcompelled him to provide for his own safety bya rapid retreat.

The king made a general review of his troopsat Aschaffenburg. After his junction withGustavus Horn, Banner, and Duke William ofWeimar, they amounted to nearly 40,000 men.His progress through Franconia was uninter-rupted; for Tilly, far too weak to encounter an

enemy so superior in numbers, had retreated,by rapid marches, towards the Danube.Bohemia and Bavaria were now equally near tothe king, and, uncertain whither his victoriouscourse might be directed, Maximilian could formno immediate resolution. The choice of the king,and the fate of both provinces, now dependedon the road that should be left open to CountTilly. It was dangerous, during the approach ofso formidable an enemy, to leave Bavaria un-defended, in order to protect Austria; still moredangerous, by receiving Tilly into Bavaria, todraw thither the enemy also, and to render itthe seat of a destructive war. The cares of thesovereign finally overcame the scruples of thestatesman, and Tilly received orders, at all haz-ards, to cover the frontiers of Bavaria with hisarmy.

Nuremberg received with triumphant joy theprotector of the Protestant religion and Germanfreedom, and the enthusiasm of the citizens

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expressed itself on his arrival in loud transportsof admiration and joy. Even Gustavus could notcontain his astonishment, to see himself in thiscity, which was the very centre of Germany,where he had never expected to be able to pen-etrate. The noble appearance of his person,completed the impression produced by his glo-rious exploits, and the condescension withwhich he received the congratulations of thisfree city won all hearts. He now confirmed thealliance he had concluded with it on the shoresof the Baltic, and excited the citizens to zeal-ous activity and fraternal unity against the com-mon enemy. After a short stay in Nuremberg,he followed his army to the Danube, and ap-peared unexpectedly before the frontier townof Donauwerth. A numerous Bavarian garrisondefended the place; and their commander,Rodolph Maximilian, Duke of Saxe Lauenburg,showed at first a resolute determination to de-fend it till the arrival of Tilly. But the vigour

with which Gustavus Adolphus prosecuted thesiege, soon compelled him to take measures fora speedy and secure retreat, which amidst atremendous fire from the Swedish artillery hesuccessfully executed.

The conquest of Donauwerth opened to theking the further side of the Danube, and nowthe small river Lech alone separated him fromBavaria. The immediate danger of his domin-ions aroused all Maximilian’s activity; and how-ever little he had hitherto disturbed the enemy’sprogress to his frontier, he now determined todispute as resolutely the remainder of theircourse. On the opposite bank of the Lech, nearthe small town of Rain, Tilly occupied a stronglyfortified camp, which, surrounded by three riv-ers, bade defiance to all attack. All the bridgesover the Lech were destroyed; the whole courseof the stream protected by strong garrisons asfar as Augsburg; and that town itself, which hadlong betrayed its impatience to follow the ex-

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ample of Nuremberg and Frankfort, secured bya Bavarian garrison, and the disarming of itsinhabitants. The Elector himself, with all thetroops he could collect, threw himself into Tilly’scamp, as if all his hopes centred on this singlepoint, and here the good fortune of the Swedeswas to suffer shipwreck for ever.

Gustavus Adolphus, after subduing the wholeterritory of Augsburg, on his own side of theriver, and opening to his troops a rich supply ofnecessaries from that quarter, soon appearedon the bank opposite the Bavarian entrench-ments. It was now the month of March, whenthe river, swollen by frequent rains, and themelting of the snow from the mountains of theTyrol, flowed full and rapid between its steepbanks. Its boiling current threatened the rashassailants with certain destruction, while fromthe opposite side the enemy’s cannon showedtheir murderous mouths. If, in despite of thefury both of fire and water, they should accom-

plish this almost impossible passage, a freshand vigorous enemy awaited the exhaustedtroops in an impregnable camp; and when theyneeded repose and refreshment they must pre-pare for battle. With exhausted powers theymust ascend the hostile entrenchments, whosestrength seemed to bid defiance to every as-sault. A defeat sustained upon this shore wouldbe attended with inevitable destruction, sincethe same stream which impeded their advancewould also cut off their retreat, if fortune shouldabandon them.

The Swedish council of war, which the kingnow assembled, strongly urged upon him allthese considerations, in order to deter him fromthis dangerous undertaking. The most intrepidwere appalled, and a troop of honourable war-riors, who had grown gray in the field, did nothesitate to express their alarm. But the king’sresolution was fixed. “What!” said he to GustavusHorn, who spoke for the rest, “have we crossed

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the Baltic, and so many great rivers of Germany,and shall we now be checked by a brook likethe Lech?” Gustavus had already, at great per-sonal risk, reconnoitred the whole country, anddiscovered that his own side of the river washigher than the other, and consequently gavea considerable advantage to the fire of the Swed-ish artillery over that of the enemy. With greatpresence of mind he determined to profit bythis circumstance. At the point where the leftbank of the Lech forms an angle with the right,he immediately caused three batteries to beerected, from which 72 field-pieces maintaineda cross fire upon the enemy. While this tremen-dous cannonade drove the Bavarians from theopposite bank, he caused to be erected a bridgeover the river with all possible rapidity. A thicksmoke, kept up by burning wood and wet straw,concealed for some time the progress of thework from the enemy, while the continuedthunder of the cannon overpowered the noise

of the axes. He kept alive by his own examplethe courage of his troops, and discharged morethan 60 cannon with his own hand. The can-nonade was returned by the Bavarians withequal vivacity for two hours, though with lesseffect, as the Swedish batteries swept the loweropposite bank, while their height served as abreast-work to their own troops. In vain, there-fore, did the Bavarians attempt to destroy theseworks; the superior fire of the Swedes threwthem into disorder, and the bridge was com-pleted under their very eyes. On this dreadfulday, Tilly did every thing in his power to en-courage his troops; and no danger could drivehim from the bank. At length he found thedeath which he sought, a cannon ball shatteredhis leg; and Altringer, his brave companion-in-arms, was, soon after, dangerously wounded inthe head. Deprived of the animating presenceof their two generals, the Bavarians gave way atlast, and Maximilian, in spite of his own judg-

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ment, was driven to adopt a pusillanimous re-solve. Overcome by the persuasions of the dy-ing Tilly, whose wonted firmness was overpow-ered by the near approach of death, he gave uphis impregnable position for lost; and the dis-covery by the Swedes of a ford, by which theircavalry were on the point of passing, acceler-ated his inglorious retreat. The same night,before a single soldier of the enemy had crossedthe Lech, he broke up his camp, and, withoutgiving time for the King to harass him in hismarch, retreated in good order to Neuburgh andIngolstadt. With astonishment did GustavusAdolphus, who completed the passage of theriver on the following day behold the hostilecamp abandoned; and the Elector’s flight sur-prised him still more, when he saw the strengthof the position he had quitted. “Had I been theBavarian,” said he, “though a cannon ball hadcarried away my beard and chin, never would Ihave abandoned a position like this, and laid

open my territory to my enemies.”Bavaria now lay exposed to the conqueror;

and, for the first time, the tide of war, whichhad hitherto only beat against its frontier, nowflowed over its long spared and fertile fields.Before, however, the King proceeded to the con-quest of these provinces, he delivered the townof Augsburg from the yoke of Bavaria; exactedan oath of allegiance from the citizens; and tosecure its observance, left a garrison in the town.He then advanced, by rapid marches, againstIngolstadt, in order, by the capture of this im-portant fortress, which the Elector covered withthe greater part of his army, to secure his con-quests in Bavaria, and obtain a firm footing onthe Danube.

Shortly after the appearance of the SwedishKing before Ingolstadt, the wounded Tilly, afterexperiencing the caprice of unstable fortune,terminated his career within the walls of thattown. Conquered by the superior generalship

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of Gustavus Adolphus, he lost, at the close ofhis days, all the laurels of his earlier victories,and appeased, by a series of misfortunes, thedemands of justice, and the avenging manes ofMagdeburg. In his death, the Imperial army andthat of the League sustained an irreparable loss;the Roman Catholic religion was deprived of itsmost zealous defender, and Maximilian of Ba-varia of the most faithful of his servants, whosealed his fidelity by his death, and even in hisdying moments fulfilled the duties of a general.His last message to the Elector was an urgentadvice to take possession of Ratisbon, in orderto maintain the command of the Danube, andto keep open the communication with Bohemia.

With the confidence which was the naturalfruit of so many victories, Gustavus Adolphuscommenced the siege of Ingolstadt, hoping togain the town by the fury of his first assault.But the strength of its fortifications, and thebravery of its garrison, presented obstacles

greater than any he had had to encounter sincethe battle of Breitenfeld, and the walls ofIngolstadt were near putting an end to his ca-reer. While reconnoitring the works, a 24-pounder killed his horse under him, and hefell to the ground, while almost immediatelyafterwards another ball struck his favourite, theyoung Margrave of Baden, by his side. Withperfect self-possession the king rose, and qui-eted the fears of his troops by immediatelymounting another horse.

The occupation of Ratisbon by the Bavarians,who, by the advice of Tilly, had surprised thistown by stratagem, and placed in it a stronggarrison, quickly changed the king’s plan ofoperations. He had flattered himself with thehope of gaining this town, which favoured theProtestant cause, and to find in it an ally asdevoted to him as Nuremberg, Augsburg, andFrankfort. Its seizure by the Bavarians seemedto postpone for a long time the fulfilment of his

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favourite project of making himself master ofthe Danube, and cutting off his adversaries’supplies from Bohemia. He suddenly raised thesiege of Ingolstadt, before which he had wastedboth his time and his troops, and penetratedinto the interior of Bavaria, in order to draw theElector into that quarter for the defence of histerritories, and thus to strip the Danube of itsdefenders.

The whole country, as far as Munich, now layopen to the conqueror. Mosburg, Landshut, andthe whole territory of Freysingen, submitted;nothing could resist his arms. But if he metwith no regular force to oppose his progress,he had to contend against a still more impla-cable enemy in the heart of every Bavarian —religious fanaticism. Soldiers who did not be-lieve in the Pope were, in this country, a newand unheard-of phenomenon; the blind zeal ofthe priests represented them to the peasantryas monsters, the children of hell, and their

leader as Antichrist. No wonder, then, if theythought themselves released from all the tiesof nature and humanity towards this brood ofSatan, and justified in committing the mostsavage atrocities upon them. Woe to the Swed-ish soldier who fell into their hands! All the tor-ments which inventive malice could devise wereexercised upon these unhappy victims; and thesight of their mangled bodies exasperated thearmy to a fearful retaliation. GustavusAdolphus, alone, sullied the lustre of his he-roic character by no act of revenge; and the aver-sion which the Bavarians felt towards his reli-gion, far from making him depart from the obli-gations of humanity towards that unfortunatepeople, seemed to impose upon him the stricterduty to honour his religion by a more constantclemency.

The approach of the king spread terror andconsternation in the capital, which, stripped ofits defenders, and abandoned by its principal

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inhabitants, placed all its hopes in the magna-nimity of the conqueror. By an unconditionaland voluntary surrender, it hoped to disarm hisvengeance; and sent deputies even toFreysingen to lay at his feet the keys of the city.Strongly as the king might have been temptedby the inhumanity of the Bavarians, and thehostility of their sovereign, to make a dreadfuluse of the rights of victory; pressed as he wasby Germans to avenge the fate of Magdeburgon the capital of its destroyer, this great princescorned this mean revenge; and the very help-lessness of his enemies disarmed his severity.Contented with the more noble triumph of con-ducting the Palatine Frederick with the pompof a victor into the very palace of the prince whohad been the chief instrument of his ruin, andthe usurper of his territories, he heightenedthe brilliancy of his triumphal entry by thebrighter splendour of moderation and clem-ency.

The King found in Munich only a forsakenpalace, for the Elector’s treasures had beentransported to Werfen. The magnificence of thebuilding astonished him; and he asked theguide who showed the apartments who was thearchitect. “No other,” replied he, “than the Elec-tor himself.” — “I wish,” said the King, “I hadthis architect to send to Stockholm.” “That,” hewas answered, “the architect will take care toprevent.” When the arsenal was examined, theyfound nothing but carriages, stripped of theircannon. The latter had been so artfully con-cealed under the floor, that no traces of themremained; and but for the treachery of a work-man, the deceit would not have been detected.“Rise up from the dead,” said the King, “andcome to judgment.” The floor was pulled up,and 140 pieces of cannon discovered, some ofextraordinary calibre, which had been princi-pally taken in the Palatinate and Bohemia. Atreasure of 30,000 gold ducats, concealed in

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one of the largest, completed the pleasure whichthe King received from this valuable acquisi-tion.

A far more welcome spectacle still would havebeen the Bavarian army itself; for his marchinto the heart of Bavaria had been undertakenchiefly with the view of luring them from theirentrenchments. In this expectation he was dis-appointed. No enemy appeared; no entreaties,however urgent, on the part of his subjects,could induce the Elector to risk the remainderof his army to the chances of a battle. Shut upin Ratisbon, he awaited the reinforcementswhich Wallenstein was bringing from Bohemia;and endeavoured, in the mean time, to amusehis enemy and keep him inactive, by revivingthe negociation for a neutrality. But the King’sdistrust, too often and too justly excited by hisprevious conduct, frustrated this design; andthe intentional delay of Wallenstein abandonedBavaria to the Swedes.

Thus far had Gustavus advanced from victoryto victory, without meeting with an enemy ableto cope with him. A part of Bavaria and Swabia,the Bishoprics of Franconia, the LowerPalatinate, and the Archbishopric of Mentz, layconquered in his rear. An uninterrupted careerof conquest had conducted him to the thresh-old of Austria; and the most brilliant successhad fully justified the plan of operations whichhe had formed after the battle of Breitenfeld. Ifhe had not succeeded to his wish in promotinga confederacy among the Protestant States, hehad at least disarmed or weakened the League,carried on the war chiefly at its expense, less-ened the Emperor’s resources, emboldened theweaker States, and while he laid under contri-bution the allies of the Emperor, forced a waythrough their territories into Austria itself.Where arms were unavailing, the greatest ser-vice was rendered by the friendship of the freecities, whose affections he had gained, by the

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double ties of policy and religion; and, as longas he should maintain his superiority in thefield, he might reckon on every thing from theirzeal. By his conquests on the Rhine, the Span-iards were cut off from the Lower Palatinate,even if the state of the war in the Netherlandsleft them at liberty to interfere in the affairs ofGermany. The Duke of Lorraine, too, after hisunfortunate campaign, had been glad to adopta neutrality. Even the numerous garrisons hehad left behind him, in his progress throughGermany, had not diminished his army; and,fresh and vigorous as when he first began hismarch, he now stood in the centre of Bavaria,determined and prepared to carry the war intothe heart of Austria.

While Gustavus Adolphus thus maintained hissuperiority within the empire, fortune, in an-other quarter, had been no less favourable tohis ally, the Elector of Saxony. By the arrange-ment concerted between these princes at Halle,

after the battle of Leipzig, the conquest ofBohemia was intrusted to the Elector of Saxony,while the King reserved for himself the attackupon the territories of the League. The firstfruits which the Elector reaped from the battleof Breitenfeld, was the reconquest of Leipzig,which was shortly followed by the expulsion ofthe Austrian garrisons from the entire circle.Reinforced by the troops who deserted to himfrom the hostile garrisons, the Saxon General,Arnheim, marched towards Lusatia, which hadbeen overrun by an Imperial General, Rudolphvon Tiefenbach, in order to chastise the Electorfor embracing the cause of the enemy. He hadalready commenced in this weakly defendedprovince the usual course of devastation, takenseveral towns, and terrified Dresden itself byhis approach, when his destructive progress wassuddenly stopped, by an express mandate fromthe Emperor to spare the possessions of theKing of Saxony.

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Ferdinand had perceived too late the errorsof that policy, which reduced the Elector ofSaxony to extremities, and forcibly driven thispowerful monarch into an alliance with Swe-den. By moderation, equally ill-timed, he nowwished to repair if possible the consequencesof his haughtiness; and thus committed a sec-ond error in endeavouring to repair the first. Todeprive his enemy of so powerful an ally, hehad opened, through the intervention of Spain,a negociation with the Elector; and in order tofacilitate an accommodation, Tiefenbach wasordered immediately to retire from Saxony. Butthese concessions of the Emperor, far from pro-ducing the desired effect, only revealed to theElector the embarrassment of his adversary andhis own importance, and emboldened him themore to prosecute the advantages he had al-ready obtained. How could he, moreover, with-out becoming chargeable with the most shame-ful ingratitude, abandon an ally to whom he

had given the most solemn assurances of fidel-ity, and to whom he was indebted for the pres-ervation of his dominions, and even of his Elec-toral dignity?

The Saxon army, now relieved from the ne-cessity of marching into Lusatia, advanced to-wards Bohemia, where a combination offavourable circumstances seemed to ensurethem an easy victory. In this kingdom, the firstscene of this fatal war, the flames of dissensionstill smouldered beneath the ashes, while thediscontent of the inhabitants was fomented bydaily acts of oppression and tyranny. On everyside, this unfortunate country showed signs ofa mournful change. Whole districts hadchanged their proprietors, and groaned underthe hated yoke of Roman Catholic masters,whom the favour of the Emperor and the Jesu-its had enriched with the plunder and posses-sions of the exiled Protestants. Others, takingadvantage themselves of the general distress,

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had purchased, at a low rate, the confiscatedestates. The blood of the most eminent cham-pions of liberty had been shed upon the scaf-fold; and such as by a timely flight avoided thatfate, were wandering in misery far from theirnative land, while the obsequious slaves of des-potism enjoyed their patrimony. Still more in-supportable than the oppression of these pettytyrants, was the restraint of conscience whichwas imposed without distinction on all the Prot-estants of that kingdom. No external danger,no opposition on the part of the nation, how-ever steadfast, not even the fearful lessons ofpast experience could check in the Jesuits therage of proselytism; where fair means were in-effectual, recourse was had to military force tobring the deluded wanderers within the pale ofthe church. The inhabitants of Joachimsthal,on the frontiers between Bohemia and Meissen,were the chief sufferers from this violence. Twoimperial commissaries, accompanied by as

many Jesuits, and supported by fifteen mus-keteers, made their appearance in this peace-ful valley to preach the gospel to the heretics.Where the rhetoric of the former was ineffec-tual, the forcibly quartering the latter upon thehouses, and threats of banishment and fineswere tried. But on this occasion, the good causeprevailed, and the bold resistance of this smalldistrict compelled the Emperor disgracefully torecall his mandate of conversion. The exampleof the court had, however, afforded a precedentto the Roman Catholics of the empire, andseemed to justify every act of oppression whichtheir insolence tempted them to wreak uponthe Protestants. It is not surprising, then, if thispersecuted party was favourable to a revolution,and saw with pleasure their deliverers on thefrontiers.

The Saxon army was already on its march to-wards Prague, the imperial garrisons every-where retired before them. Schloeckenau,

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Tetschen, Aussig, Leutmeritz, soon fell into theenemy’s hands, and every Roman Catholic placewas abandoned to plunder. Consternationseized all the Papists of the Empire; and con-scious of the outrages which they themselveshad committed on the Protestants, they did notventure to abide the vengeful arrival of a Prot-estant army. All the Roman Catholics, who hadanything to lose, fled hastily from the countryto the capital, which again they presently aban-doned. Prague was unprepared for an attack,and was too weakly garrisoned to sustain a longsiege. Too late had the Emperor resolved to des-patch Field-Marshal Tiefenbach to the defenceof this capital. Before the imperial orders couldreach the head-quarters of that general, inSilesia, the Saxons were already close to Prague,the Protestant inhabitants of which showedlittle zeal, while the weakness of the garrisonleft no room to hope a long resistance. In thisfearful state of embarrassment, the Roman

Catholics of Prague looked for security toWallenstein, who now lived in that city as a pri-vate individual. But far from lending his mili-tary experience, and the weight of his name,towards its defence, he seized the favourableopportunity to satiate his thirst for revenge. Ifhe did not actually invite the Saxons to Prague,at least his conduct facilitated its capture.Though unprepared, the town might still holdout until succours could arrive; and an impe-rial colonel, Count Maradas, showed seriousintentions of undertaking its defence. But with-out command and authority, and having no sup-port but his own zeal and courage, he did notdare to venture upon such a step without theadvice of a superior. He therefore consulted theDuke of Friedland, whose approbation mightsupply the want of authority from the Emperor,and to whom the Bohemian generals were re-ferred by an express edict of the court in thelast extremity. He, however, artfully excused

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himself, on the plea of holding no official ap-pointment, and his long retirement from thepolitical world; while he weakened the resolu-tion of the subalterns by the scruples which hesuggested, and painted in the strongest colours.At last, to render the consternation general andcomplete, he quitted the capital with his wholecourt, however little he had to fear from its cap-ture; and the city was lost, because, by his de-parture, he showed that he despaired of itssafety. His example was followed by all the Ro-man Catholic nobility, the generals with theirtroops, the clergy, and all the officers of thecrown. All night the people were employed insaving their persons and effects. The roads toVienna were crowded with fugitives, whoscarcely recovered from their consternation tillthey reached the imperial city. Maradas him-self, despairing of the safety of Prague, followedthe rest, and led his small detachment to Ta-bor, where he awaited the event.

Profound silence reigned in Prague, when theSaxons next morning appeared before it; nopreparations were made for defence; not a singleshot from the walls announced an intention ofresistance. On the contrary, a crowd of specta-tors from the town, allured by curiosity, cameflocking round, to behold the foreign army; andthe peaceful confidence with which they ad-vanced, resembled a friendly salutation, morethan a hostile reception. From the concurrentreports of these people, the Saxons learned thatthe town had been deserted by the troops, andthat the government had fled to Budweiss. Thisunexpected and inexplicable absence of resis-tance excited Arnheim’s distrust the more, asthe speedy approach of the Silesian succourswas no secret to him, and as he knew that theSaxon army was too indifferently provided withmaterials for undertaking a siege, and by fartoo weak in numbers to attempt to take theplace by storm. Apprehensive of stratagem, he

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redoubled his vigilance; and he continued inthis conviction until Wallenstein’s house-stew-ard, whom he discovered among the crowd, con-firmed to him this intelligence. “The town is ourswithout a blow!” exclaimed he in astonishmentto his officers, and immediately summoned itby a trumpeter.

The citizens of Prague, thus shamefully aban-doned by their defenders, had long taken theirresolution; all that they had to do was to se-cure their properties and liberties by an advan-tageous capitulation. No sooner was the treatysigned by the Saxon general, in his master’sname, than the gates were opened, without far-ther opposition; and upon the 11th of Novem-ber, 1631, the army made their triumphal en-try. The Elector soon after followed in person,to receive the homage of those whom he hadnewly taken under his protection; for it was onlyin the character of protector that the threetowns of Prague had surrendered to him. Their

allegiance to the Austrian monarchy was not tobe dissolved by the step they had taken. In pro-portion as the Papists’ apprehensions of repris-als on the part of the Protestants had been ex-aggerated, so was their surprise great at themoderation of the Elector, and the discipline ofhis troops. Field-Marshal Arnheim plainlyevinced, on this occasion, his respect forWallenstein. Not content with sparing his es-tates on his march, he now placed guards overhis palace, in Prague, to prevent the plunder ofany of his effects. The Roman Catholics of thetown were allowed the fullest liberty of con-science; and of all the churches they hadwrested from the Protestants, four only werenow taken back from them. From this generalindulgence, none were excluded but the Jesu-its, who were generally considered as the au-thors of all past grievances, and thus banishedthe kingdom.

John George belied not the submission and

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dependence with which the terror of the impe-rial name inspired him; nor did he indulge atPrague, in a course of conduct which wouldassuredly have been pursued against himselfin Dresden, by imperial generals, such as Tillyor Wallenstein. He carefully distinguished be-tween the enemy with whom he was at war,and the head of the Empire, to whom he owedobedience. He did not venture to touch thehousehold furniture of the latter, while, with-out scruple, he appropriated and transportedto Dresden the cannon of the former. He didnot take up his residence in the imperial pal-ace, but the house of Lichtenstein; too modestto use the apartments of one whom he had de-prived of a kingdom. Had this trait been relatedof a great man and a hero, it would irresistiblyexcite our admiration; but the character of thisprince leaves us in doubt whether this mod-eration ought to be ascribed to a noble self-com-mand, or to the littleness of a weak mind, which

even good fortune could not embolden, and lib-erty itself could not strip of its habituated fet-ters.

The surrender of Prague, which was quicklyfollowed by that of most of the other towns, ef-fected a great and sudden change in Bohemia.Many of the Protestant nobility, who had hith-erto been wandering about in misery, now re-turned to their native country; and CountThurn, the famous author of the Bohemian in-surrection, enjoyed the triumph of returningas a conqueror to the scene of his crime andhis condemnation. Over the very bridge wherethe heads of his adherents, exposed to view,held out a fearful picture of the fate which hadthreatened himself, he now made his trium-phal entry; and to remove these ghastly objectswas his first care. The exiles again took posses-sion of their properties, without thinking of rec-ompensing for the purchase money the presentpossessors, who had mostly taken to flight. Even

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though they had received a price for their es-tates, they seized on every thing which had oncebeen their own; and many had reason to re-joice at the economy of the late possessors. Thelands and cattle had greatly improved in theirhands; the apartments were now decorated withthe most costly furniture; the cellars, which hadbeen left empty, were richly filled; the stablessupplied; the magazines stored with provisions.But distrusting the constancy of that good for-tune, which had so unexpectedly smiled uponthem, they hastened to get quit of these inse-cure possessions, and to convert their immove-able into transferable property.

The presence of the Saxons inspired all theProtestants of the kingdom with courage; and,both in the country and the capital, crowdsflocked to the newly opened Protestantchurches. Many, whom fear alone had retainedin their adherence to Popery, now openly pro-fessed the new doctrine; and many of the late

converts to Roman Catholicism gladly re-nounced a compulsory persuasion, to follow theearlier conviction of their conscience. All themoderation of the new regency, could not re-strain the manifestation of that just displeasure,which this persecuted people felt against theiroppressors. They made a fearful and cruel useof their newly recovered rights; and, in manyparts of the kingdom, their hatred of the reli-gion which they had been compelled to pro-fess, could be satiated only by the blood of itsadherents.

Meantime the succours which the imperialgenerals, Goetz and Tiefenbach, were conduct-ing from Silesia, had entered Bohemia, wherethey were joined by some of Tilly’s regiments,from the Upper Palatinate. In order to dispersethem before they should receive any furtherreinforcement, Arnheim advanced with part ofhis army from Prague, and made a vigorous at-tack on their entrenchments near Limburg, on

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the Elbe. After a severe action, not without greatloss, he drove the enemy from their fortifiedcamp, and forced them, by his heavy fire, torecross the Elbe, and to destroy the bridgewhich they had built over that river. Neverthe-less, the Imperialists obtained the advantagein several skirmishes, and the Croats pushedtheir incursions to the very gates of Prague.Brilliant and promising as the opening of theBohemian campaign had been, the issue by nomeans satisfied the expectations of GustavusAdolphus. Instead of vigorously following uptheir advantages, by forcing a passage to theSwedish army through the conquered country,and then, with it, attacking the imperial powerin its centre, the Saxons weakened themselvesin a war of skirmishes, in which they were notalways successful, while they lost the timewhich should have been devoted to greater un-dertakings. But the Elector’s subsequent con-duct betrayed the motives which had prevented

him from pushing his advantage over the Em-peror, and by consistent measures promotingthe plans of the King of Sweden.

The Emperor had now lost the greater part ofBohemia, and the Saxons were advancingagainst Austria, while the Swedish monarch wasrapidly moving to the same point throughFranconia, Swabia, and Bavaria. A long war hadexhausted the strength of the Austrian monar-chy, wasted the country, and diminished itsarmies. The renown of its victories was no more,as well as the confidence inspired by constantsuccess; its troops had lost the obedience anddiscipline to which those of the Swedish mon-arch owed all their superiority in the field. Theconfederates of the Emperor were disarmed, ortheir fidelity shaken by the danger whichthreatened themselves. Even Maximilian ofBavaria, Austria’s most powerful ally, seemeddisposed to yield to the seductive propositionof neutrality; while his suspicious alliance with

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France had long been a subject of apprehen-sion to the Emperor. The bishops of Wurtzburgand Bamberg, the Elector of Mentz, and theDuke of Lorraine, were either expelled fromtheir territories, or threatened with immediateattack; Treves had placed itself under the pro-tection of France. The bravery of the Holland-ers gave full employment to the Spanish armsin the Netherlands; while Gustavus had driventhem from the Rhine. Poland was still fetteredby the truce which subsisted between thatcountry and Sweden. The Hungarian frontierwas threatened by the Transylvanian Prince,Ragotsky, a successor of Bethlen Gabor, andthe inheritor of his restless mind; while thePorte was making great preparation to profit bythe favourable conjuncture for aggression. Mostof the Protestant states, encouraged by theirprotector’s success, were openly and activelydeclaring against the Emperor. All the resourceswhich had been obtained by the violent and

oppressive extortions of Tilly and Wallensteinwere exhausted; all these depots, magazines,and rallying-points, were now lost to the Em-peror; and the war could no longer be carriedon as before at the cost of others. To completehis embarrassment, a dangerous insurrectionbroke out in the territory of the Ens, where theill-timed religious zeal of the government hadprovoked the Protestants to resistance; and thusfanaticism lit its torch within the empire, whilea foreign enemy was already on its frontier. Af-ter so long a continuance of good fortune, suchbrilliant victories and extensive conquests, suchfruitless effusion of blood, the Emperor saw him-self a second time on the brink of that abyss,into which he was so near falling at the com-mencement of his reign. If Bavaria should em-brace the neutrality; if Saxony should resist thetempting offers he had held out; and Franceresolve to attack the Spanish power at the sametime in the Netherlands, in Italy and in

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Catalonia, the ruin of Austria would be com-plete; the allied powers would divide its spoils,and the political system of Germany would un-dergo a total change.

The chain of these disasters began with thebattle of Breitenfeld, the unfortunate issue ofwhich plainly revealed the long decided declineof the Austrian power, whose weakness had hith-erto been concealed under the dazzling glitterof a grand name. The chief cause of the Swedes’superiority in the field, was evidently to be as-cribed to the unlimited power of their leader,who concentrated in himself the whole strengthof his party; and, unfettered in his enterprisesby any higher authority, was complete masterof every favourable opportunity, could control allhis means to the accomplishment of his ends,and was responsible to none but himself. Butsince Wallenstein’s dismissal, and Tilly’s defeat,the very reverse of this course was pursued bythe Emperor and the League. The generals

wanted authority over their troops, and libertyof acting at their discretion; the soldiers weredeficient in discipline and obedience; the scat-tered corps in combined operation; the states inattachment to the cause; the leaders in harmonyamong themselves, in quickness to resolve, andfirmness to execute. What gave the Emperor’senemy so decided an advantage over him, wasnot so much their superior power, as their man-ner of using it. The League and the Emperor didnot want means, but a mind capable of direct-ing them with energy and effect. Even had CountTilly not lost his old renown, distrust of Bavariawould not allow the Emperor to place the fate ofAustria in the hands of one who had never con-cealed his attachment to the Bavarian Elector.The urgent want which Ferdinand felt, was for ageneral possessed of sufficient experience toform and to command an army, and willing atthe same time to dedicate his services, with blinddevotion, to the Austrian monarchy.

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This choice now occupied the attention of theEmperor’s privy council, and divided the opin-ions of its members. In order to oppose onemonarch to another, and by the presence oftheir sovereign to animate the courage of thetroops, Ferdinand, in the ardour of the moment,had offered himself to be the leader of his army;but little trouble was required to overturn a reso-lution which was the offspring of despair alone,and which yielded at once to calm reflection.But the situation which his dignity, and theduties of administration, prevented the Emperorfrom holding, might be filled by his son, a youthof talents and bravery, and of whom the sub-jects of Austria had already formed great ex-pectations. Called by his birth to the defence ofa monarchy, of whose crowns he wore two al-ready, Ferdinand III., King of Hungary andBohemia, united, with the natural dignity ofheir to the throne, the respect of the army, andthe attachment of the people, whose co-opera-

tion was indispensable to him in the conductof the war. None but the beloved heir to thecrown could venture to impose new burdenson a people already severely oppressed; hispersonal presence with the army could alonesuppress the pernicious jealousies of the sev-eral leaders, and by the influence of his name,restore the neglected discipline of the troops toits former rigour. If so young a leader was de-void of the maturity of judgment, prudence, andmilitary experience which practice alone couldimpart, this deficiency might be supplied by ajudicious choice of counsellors and assistants,who, under the cover of his name, might bevested with supreme authority.

But plausible as were the arguments withwhich a part of the ministry supported this plan,it was met by difficulties not less serious, aris-ing from the distrust, perhaps even the jeal-ousy, of the Emperor, and also from the des-perate state of affairs. How dangerous was it to

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entrust the fate of the monarchy to a youth,who was himself in need of counsel and sup-port! How hazardous to oppose to the greatestgeneral of his age, a tyro, whose fitness for soimportant a post had never yet been tested byexperience; whose name, as yet unknown tofame, was far too powerless to inspire a dispir-ited army with the assurance of future victory!What a new burden on the country, to supportthe state a royal leader was required to main-tain, and which the prejudices of the age con-sidered as inseparable from his presence withthe army! How serious a consideration for theprince himself, to commence his political ca-reer, with an office which must make him thescourge of his people, and the oppressor of theterritories which he was hereafter to rule.

But not only was a general to be found for thearmy; an army must also be found for the gen-eral. Since the compulsory resignation ofWallenstein, the Emperor had defended him-

self more by the assistance of Bavaria and theLeague, than by his own armies; and it was thisdependence on equivocal allies, which he wasendeavouring to escape, by the appointment ofa general of his own. But what possibility wasthere of raising an army out of nothing, with-out the all-powerful aid of gold, and theinspiriting name of a victorious commander;above all, an army which, by its discipline, war-like spirit, and activity, should be fit to copewith the experienced troops of the northernconqueror? In all Europe, there was but oneman equal to this, and that one had been mor-tally affronted.

The moment had at last arrived, when morethan ordinary satisfaction was to be done to thewounded pride of the Duke of Friedland. Fateitself had been his avenger, and an unbrokenchain of disasters, which had assailed Austriafrom the day of his dismissal, had wrung fromthe Emperor the humiliating confession, that

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with this general he had lost his right arm. Ev-ery defeat of his troops opened afresh thiswound; every town which he lost, revived in themind of the deceived monarch the memory ofhis own weakness and ingratitude. It would havebeen well for him, if, in the offended general,he had only lost a leader of his troops, and adefender of his dominions; but he was destinedto find in him an enemy, and the most danger-ous of all, since he was least armed against thestroke of treason.

Removed from the theatre of war, and con-demned to irksome inaction, while his rivalsgathered laurels on the field of glory, thehaughty duke had beheld these changes of for-tune with affected composure, and concealed,under a glittering and theatrical pomp, the darkdesigns of his restless genius. Torn by burningpassions within, while all without bespoke calm-ness and indifference, he brooded over projectsof ambition and revenge, and slowly, but surely,

advanced towards his end. All that he owed tothe Emperor was effaced from his mind; whathe himself had done for the Emperor was im-printed in burning characters on his memory.To his insatiable thirst for power, the Emperor’singratitude was welcome, as it seemed to tearin pieces the record of past favours, to absolvehim from every obligation towards his formerbenefactor. In the disguise of a righteous re-taliation, the projects dictated by his ambitionnow appeared to him just and pure. In propor-tion as the external circle of his operations wasnarrowed, the world of hope expanded beforehim, and his dreamy imagination revelled inboundless projects, which, in any mind butsuch as his, madness alone could have givenbirth to. His services had raised him to theproudest height which it was possible for a man,by his own efforts, to attain. Fortune had de-nied him nothing which the subject and thecitizen could lawfully enjoy. Till the moment of

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his dismissal, his demands had met with norefusal, his ambition had met with no check;but the blow which, at the diet of Ratisbon,humbled him, showed him the difference be-tween original and deputed power, the distancebetween the subject and his sovereign. Rousedfrom the intoxication of his own greatness bythis sudden reverse of fortune, he comparedthe authority which he had possessed, with thatwhich had deprived him of it; and his ambitionmarked the steps which it had yet to surmountupon the ladder of fortune. From the momenthe had so bitterly experienced the weight ofsovereign power, his efforts were directed toattain it for himself; the wrong which he him-self had suffered made him a robber. Had henot been outraged by injustice, he might haveobediently moved in his orbit round the maj-esty of the throne, satisfied with the glory ofbeing the brightest of its satellites. It was onlywhen violently forced from its sphere, that his

wandering star threw in disorder the system towhich it belonged, and came in destructive col-lision with its sun.

Gustavus Adolphus had overrun the north ofGermany; one place after another was lost; andat Leipzig, the flower of the Austrian army hadfallen. The intelligence of this defeat soonreached the ears of Wallenstein, who, in theretired obscurity of a private station in Prague,contemplated from a calm distance the tumultof war. The news, which filled the breasts of theRoman Catholics with dismay, announced tohim the return of greatness and good fortune.For him was Gustavus Adolphus labouring.Scarce had the king begun to gain reputationby his exploits, when Wallenstein lost not amoment to court his friendship, and to makecommon cause with this successful enemy ofAustria. The banished Count Thurn, who hadlong entered the service of Sweden, undertookto convey Wallenstein’s congratulations to the

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king, and to invite him to a close alliance withthe duke. Wallenstein required 15,000 menfrom the king; and with these, and the troopshe himself engaged to raise, he undertook toconquer Bohemia and Moravia, to surpriseVienna, and drive his master, the Emperor,before him into Italy. Welcome as was this un-expected proposition, its extravagant promiseswere naturally calculated to excite suspicion.Gustavus Adolphus was too good a judge ofmerit to reject with coldness the offers of onewho might be so important a friend. But whenWallenstein, encouraged by the favourable re-ception of his first message, renewed it afterthe battle of Breitenfeld, and pressed for a de-cisive answer, the prudent monarch hesitatedto trust his reputation to the chimerical projectsof so daring an adventurer, and to commit solarge a force to the honesty of a man who feltno shame in openly avowing himself a traitor.He excused himself, therefore, on the plea of

the weakness of his army which, if diminishedby so large a detachment, would certainly suf-fer in its march through the empire; and thus,perhaps, by excess of caution, lost an opportu-nity of putting an immediate end to the war.He afterwards endeavoured to renew thenegociation; but the favourable moment waspast, and Wallenstein’s offended pride never for-gave the first neglect.

But the king’s hesitation, perhaps, only ac-celerated the breach, which their charactersmade inevitable sooner or later. Both framedby nature to give laws, not to receive them, theycould not long have co-operated in an enter-prise, which eminently demanded mutual sub-mission and sacrifices. Wallenstein was noth-ing where he was not everything; he must ei-ther act with unlimited power, or not at all. Socordially, too, did Gustavus dislike control, thathe had almost renounced his advantageous al-liance with France, because it threatened to

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fetter his own independent judgment.Wallenstein was lost to a party, if he could notlead; the latter was, if possible, still less dis-posed to obey the instructions of another. If thepretensions of a rival would be so irksome tothe Duke of Friedland, in the conduct of com-bined operations, in the division of the spoilthey would be insupportable. The proud mon-arch might condescend to accept the assistanceof a rebellious subject against the Emperor, andto reward his valuable services with regal mu-nificence; but he never could so far lose sightof his own dignity, and the majesty of royalty,as to bestow the recompense which the extrava-gant ambition of Wallenstein demanded; andrequite an act of treason, however useful, witha crown. In him, therefore, even if all Europeshould tacitly acquiesce, Wallenstein had rea-son to expect the most decided and formidableopponent to his views on the Bohemian crown;and in all Europe he was the only one who could

enforce his opposition. Constituted Dictator inGermany by Wallenstein himself, he might turnhis arms against him, and consider himselfbound by no obligations to one who was him-self a traitor. There was no room for aWallenstein under such an ally; and it was,apparently, this conviction, and not any sup-posed designs upon the imperial throne, thathe alluded to, when, after the death of the Kingof Sweden, he exclaimed, “It is well for him andme that he is gone. The German Empire doesnot require two such leaders.”

His first scheme of revenge on the house ofAustria had indeed failed; but the purpose it-self remained unalterable; the choice of meansalone was changed. What he had failed in ef-fecting with the King of Sweden, he hoped toobtain with less difficulty and more advantagefrom the Elector of Saxony. Him he was as cer-tain of being able to bend to his views, as hehad always been doubtful of Gustavus

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Adolphus. Having always maintained a good un-derstanding with his old friend Arnheim, henow made use of him to bring about an alli-ance with Saxony, by which he hoped to ren-der himself equally formidable to the Emperorand the King of Sweden. He had reason to ex-pect that a scheme, which, if successful, woulddeprive the Swedish monarch of his influencein Germany, would be welcomed by the Electorof Saxony, who he knew was jealous of thepower and offended at the lofty pretensions ofGustavus Adolphus. If he succeeded in sepa-rating Saxony from the Swedish alliance, andin establishing, conjointly with that power, athird party in the Empire, the fate of the warwould be placed in his hand; and by this singlestep he would succeed in gratifying his revengeagainst the Emperor, revenging the neglect ofthe Swedish monarch, and on the ruin of both,raising the edifice of his own greatness.

But whatever course he might follow in the

prosecution of his designs, he could not carrythem into effect without an army entirely de-voted to him. Such a force could not be secretlyraised without its coming to the knowledge ofthe imperial court, where it would naturallyexcite suspicion, and thus frustrate his designin the very outset. From the army, too, the re-bellious purposes for which it was destined,must be concealed till the very moment of ex-ecution, since it could scarcely be expected thatthey would at once be prepared to listen to thevoice of a traitor, and serve against their legiti-mate sovereign. Wallenstein, therefore, mustraise it publicly and in name of the Emperor,and be placed at its head, with unlimited au-thority, by the Emperor himself. But how couldthis be accomplished, otherwise than by hisbeing appointed to the command of the army,and entrusted with full powers to conduct thewar. Yet neither his pride, nor his interest, per-mitted him to sue in person for this post, and

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as a suppliant to accept from the favour of theEmperor a limited power, when an unlimitedauthority might be extorted from his fears. Inorder to make himself the master of the termson which he would resume the command of thearmy, his course was to wait until the postshould be forced upon him. This was the advicehe received from Arnheim, and this the end forwhich he laboured with profound policy andrestless activity.

Convinced that extreme necessity would aloneconquer the Emperor’s irresolution, and renderpowerless the opposition of his bitter enemies,Bavaria and Spain, he henceforth occupied him-self in promoting the success of the enemy, andin increasing the embarrassments of his mas-ter. It was apparently by his instigation and ad-vice, that the Saxons, when on the route toLusatia and Silesia, had turned their march to-wards Bohemia, and overrun that defencelesskingdom, where their rapid conquests was partly

the result of his measures. By the fears whichhe affected to entertain, he paralyzed every ef-fort at resistance; and his precipitate retreatcaused the delivery of the capital to the enemy.At a conference with the Saxon general, whichwas held at Kaunitz under the pretext ofnegociating for a peace, the seal was put to theconspiracy, and the conquest of Bohemia wasthe first fruits of this mutual understanding.While Wallenstein was thus personally endeav-ouring to heighten the perplexities of Austria,and while the rapid movements of the Swedesupon the Rhine effectually promoted his designs,his friends and bribed adherents in Vienna ut-tered loud complaints of the public calamities,and represented the dismissal of the general asthe sole cause of all these misfortunes. “HadWallenstein commanded, matters would neverhave come to this,” exclaimed a thousand voices;while their opinions found supporters, even inthe Emperor’s privy council.

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Their repeated remonstrances were notneeded to convince the embarrassed Emperorof his general’s merits, and of his own error.His dependence on Bavaria and the League hadsoon become insupportable; but hitherto thisdependence permitted him not to show his dis-trust, or irritate the Elector by the recall ofWallenstein. But now when his necessities grewevery day more pressing, and the weakness ofBavaria more apparent, he could no longer hesi-tate to listen to the friends of the duke, and toconsider their overtures for his restoration tocommand. The immense riches Wallensteinpossessed, the universal reputation he enjoyed,the rapidity with which six years before he hadassembled an army of 40,000 men, the littleexpense at which he had maintained this for-midable force, the actions he had performed atits head, and lastly, the zeal and fidelity he haddisplayed for his master’s honour, still lived inthe Emperor’s recollection, and made

Wallenstein seem to him the ablest instrumentto restore the balance between the belligerentpowers, to save Austria, and preserve the Catho-lic religion. However sensibly the imperial pridemight feel the humiliation, in being forced tomake so unequivocal an admission of past er-rors and present necessity; however painful itwas to descend to humble entreaties, from theheight of imperial command; however doubtfulthe fidelity of so deeply injured and implacablea character; however loudly and urgently theSpanish minister and the Elector of Bavariaprotested against this step, the immediate pres-sure of necessity finally overcame every otherconsideration, and the friends of the duke wereempowered to consult him on the subject, andto hold out the prospect of his restoration.

Informed of all that was transacted in theEmperor’s cabinet to his advantage, Wallensteinpossessed sufficient self-command to concealhis inward triumph and to assume the mask of

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indifference. The moment of vengeance was atlast come, and his proud heart exulted in theprospect of repaying with interest the injuriesof the Emperor. With artful eloquence, he ex-patiated upon the happy tranquillity of a pri-vate station, which had blessed him since hisretirement from a political stage. Too long, hesaid, had he tasted the pleasures of ease andindependence, to sacrifice to the vain phantomof glory, the uncertain favour of princes. All hisdesire of power and distinction were extinct:tranquillity and repose were now the sole ob-ject of his wishes. The better to conceal his realimpatience, he declined the Emperor’s invita-tion to the court, but at the same time, to facili-tate the negociations, came to Znaim in Moravia.

At first, it was proposed to limit the authorityto be intrusted to him, by the presence of asuperior, in order, by this expedient, to silencethe objections of the Elector of Bavaria. Theimperial deputies, Questenberg and

Werdenberg, who, as old friends of the duke,had been employed in this delicate mission,were instructed to propose that the King ofHungary should remain with the army, andlearn the art of war under Wallenstein. But thevery mention of his name threatened to put aperiod to the whole negociation. “No! never,”exclaimed Wallenstein, “will I submit to a col-league in my office. No — not even if it wereGod himself, with whom I should have to sharemy command.” But even when this obnoxiouspoint was given up, Prince Eggenberg, theEmperor’s minister and favourite, who had al-ways been the steady friend and zealous cham-pion of Wallenstein, and was therefore expresslysent to him, exhausted his eloquence in vain toovercome the pretended reluctance of the duke.“The Emperor,” he admitted, “had, inWallenstein, thrown away the most costly jewelin his crown: but unwillingly and compulsorilyonly had he taken this step, which he had since

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deeply repented of; while his esteem for theduke had remained unaltered, his favour forhim undiminished. Of these sentiments he nowgave the most decisive proof, by reposing un-limited confidence in his fidelity and capacityto repair the mistakes of his predecessors, andto change the whole aspect of affairs. It wouldbe great and noble to sacrifice his just indigna-tion to the good of his country; dignified andworthy of him to refute the evil calumny of hisenemies by the double warmth of his zeal. Thisvictory over himself,” concluded the prince,“would crown his other unparalleled servicesto the empire, and render him the greatest manof his age.”

These humiliating confessions, and flatteringassurances, seemed at last to disarm the angerof the duke; but not before he had disburdenedhis heart of his reproaches against the Emperor,pompously dwelt upon his own services, andhumbled to the utmost the monarch who solic-

ited his assistance, did he condescend to listento the attractive proposals of the minister. As ifhe yielded entirely to the force of their argu-ments, he condescended with a haughty reluc-tance to that which was the most ardent wishof his heart; and deigned to favour the ambas-sadors with a ray of hope. But far from puttingan end to the Emperor’s embarrassments, bygiving at once a full and unconditional consent,he only acceded to a part of his demands, thathe might exalt the value of that which still re-mained, and was of most importance. He ac-cepted the command, but only for three months;merely for the purpose of raising, but not ofleading, an army. He wished only to show hispower and ability in its organization, and to dis-play before the eyes of the Emperor, the great-ness of that assistance, which he still retainedin his hands. Convinced that an army raisedby his name alone, would, if deprived of its cre-ator, soon sink again into nothing, he intended

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it to serve only as a decoy to draw more impor-tant concessions from his master. And yetFerdinand congratulated himself, even in hav-ing gained so much as he had.

Wallenstein did not long delay to fulfil thosepromises which all Germany regarded as chi-merical, and which Gustavus Adolphus hadconsidered as extravagant. But the foundationfor the present enterprise had been long laid,and he now only put in motion the machinery,which many years had been prepared for thepurpose. Scarcely had the news spread ofWallenstein’s levies, when, from every quarterof the Austrian monarchy, crowds of soldiersrepaired to try their fortunes under this expe-rienced general. Many, who had before foughtunder his standards, had been admiring eye-witnesses of his great actions, and experiencedhis magnanimity, came forward from their re-tirement, to share with him a second time bothbooty and glory. The greatness of the pay he

promised attracted thousands, and the plenti-ful supplies the soldier was likely to enjoy atthe cost of the peasant, was to the latter an ir-resistible inducement to embrace the militarylife at once, rather than be the victim of its op-pression. All the Austrian provinces were com-pelled to assist in the equipment. No class wasexempt from taxation — no dignity or privilegefrom capitation. The Spanish court, as well asthe King of Hungary, agreed to contribute aconsiderable sum. The ministers made largepresents, while Wallenstein himself advanced200,000 dollars from his own income to hastenthe armament. The poorer officers he supportedout of his own revenues; and, by his own ex-ample, by brilliant promotions, and still morebrilliant promises, he induced all, who wereable, to raise troops at their own expense. Who-ever raised a corps at his own cost was to be itscommander. In the appointment of officers, re-ligion made no difference. Riches, bravery and

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experience were more regarded than creed. Bythis uniform treatment of different religioussects, and still more by his express declaration,that his present levy had nothing to do withreligion, the Protestant subjects of the empirewere tranquillized, and reconciled to bear theirshare of the public burdens. The duke, at thesame time, did not omit to treat, in his ownname, with foreign states for men and money.He prevailed on the Duke of Lorraine, a secondtime, to espouse the cause of the Emperor. Po-land was urged to supply him with Cossacks,and Italy with warlike necessaries. Before thethree months were expired, the army which wasassembled in Moravia, amounted to no less than40,000 men, chiefly drawn from the uncon-quered parts of Bohemia, from Moravia, Silesia,and the German provinces of the House of Aus-tria. What to every one had appeared impracti-cable, Wallenstein, to the astonishment of allEurope, had in a short time effected. The charm

of his name, his treasures, and his genius, hadassembled thousands in arms, where beforeAustria had only looked for hundreds. Fur-nished, even to superfluity, with all necessaries,commanded by experienced officers, and in-flamed by enthusiasm which assured itself ofvictory, this newly created army only awaitedthe signal of their leader to show themselves,by the bravery of their deeds, worthy of hischoice.

The duke had fulfilled his promise, and thetroops were ready to take the field; he then re-tired, and left to the Emperor to choose a com-mander. But it would have been as easy to raisea second army like the first, as to find any othercommander for it than Wallenstein. This prom-ising army, the last hope of the Emperor, wasnothing but an illusion, as soon as the charmwas dissolved which had called it into existence;by Wallenstein it had been raised, and, with-out him, it sank like a creation of magic into its

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original nothingness. Its officers were eitherbound to him as his debtors, or, as his credi-tors, closely connected with his interests, andthe preservation of his power. The regimentshe had entrusted to his own relations, crea-tures, and favourites. He, and he alone, coulddischarge to the troops the extravagant prom-ises by which they had been lured into his ser-vice. His pledged word was the only security onwhich their bold expectations rested; a blindreliance on his omnipotence, the only tie whichlinked together in one common life and soulthe various impulses of their zeal. There wasan end of the good fortune of each individual, ifhe retired, who alone was the voucher of itsfulfilment.

However little Wallenstein was serious in hisrefusal, he successfully employed this meansto terrify the Emperor into consenting to hisextravagant conditions. The progress of the en-emy every day increased the pressure of the

Emperor’s difficulties, while the remedy wasalso close at hand; a word from him might ter-minate the general embarrassment. PrinceEggenberg at length received orders, for thethird and last time, at any cost and sacrifice, toinduce his friend, Wallenstein, to accept thecommand.

He found him at Znaim in Moravia, pompouslysurrounded by the troops, the possession ofwhich he made the Emperor so earnestly to longfor. As a suppliant did the haughty subject re-ceive the deputy of his sovereign. “He nevercould trust,” he said, “to a restoration to com-mand, which he owed to the Emperor’s neces-sities, and not to his sense of justice. He wasnow courted, because the danger had reachedits height, and safety was hoped for from hisarm only; but his successful services would sooncause the servant to be forgotten, and the re-turn of security would bring back renewed in-gratitude. If he deceived the expectations formed

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of him, his long earned renown would be for-feited; even if he fulfilled them, his repose andhappiness must be sacrificed. Soon would envybe excited anew, and the dependent monarchwould not hesitate, a second time, to make anoffering of convenience to a servant whom hecould now dispense with. Better for him at once,and voluntarily, to resign a post from whichsooner or later the intrigues of his enemieswould expel him. Security and content were tobe found in the bosom of private life; and noth-ing but the wish to oblige the Emperor had in-duced him, reluctantly enough, to relinquishfor a time his blissful repose.”

Tired of this long farce, the minister at lastassumed a serious tone, and threatened theobstinate duke with the Emperor’s resentment,if he persisted in his refusal. “Low enough hadthe imperial dignity,” he added, “stooped al-ready; and yet, instead of exciting his magna-nimity by its condescension, had only flattered

his pride and increased his obstinacy. If thissacrifice had been made in vain, he would notanswer, but that the suppliant might be con-verted into the sovereign, and that the mon-arch might not avenge his injured dignity onhis rebellious subject. However greatlyFerdinand may have erred, the Emperor at leasthad a claim to obedience; the man might bemistaken, but the monarch could not confesshis error. If the Duke of Friedland had sufferedby an unjust decree, he might yet be recom-pensed for all his losses; the wound which ithad itself inflicted, the hand of Majesty mightheal. If he asked security for his person andhis dignities, the Emperor’s equity would refusehim no reasonable demand. Majesty con-temned, admitted not of any atonement; dis-obedience to its commands cancelled the mostbrilliant services. The Emperor required his ser-vices, and as emperor he demanded them.Whatever price Wallenstein might set upon

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them, the Emperor would readily agree to; buthe demanded obedience, or the weight of hisindignation should crush the refractory ser-vant.”

Wallenstein, whose extensive possessionswithin the Austrian monarchy were momen-tarily exposed to the power of the Emperor, waskeenly sensible that this was no idle threat; yetit was not fear that at last overcame his affectedreluctance. This imperious tone of itself, was tohis mind a plain proof of the weakness and de-spair which dictated it, while the Emperor’sreadiness to yield all his demands, convincedhim that he had attained the summit of hiswishes. He now made a show of yielding to thepersuasions of Eggenberg; and left him, in or-der to write down the conditions on which heaccepted the command.

Not without apprehension, did the ministerreceive the writing, in which the proudest ofsubjects had prescribed laws to the proudest of

sovereigns. But however little confidence he hadin the moderation of his friend, the extravagantcontents of his writing surpassed even his worstexpectations. Wallenstein required the uncon-trolled command over all the German armies ofAustria and Spain, with unlimited powers toreward and punish. Neither the King of Hun-gary, nor the Emperor himself, were to appearin the army, still less to exercise any act of au-thority over it. No commission in the army, nopension or letter of grace, was to be granted bythe Emperor without Wallenstein’s approval. Allthe conquests and confiscations that shouldtake place, were to be placed entirely atWallenstein’s disposal, to the exclusion of ev-ery other tribunal. For his ordinary pay, animperial hereditary estate was to be assignedhim, with another of the conquered estateswithin the empire for his extraordinary ex-penses. Every Austrian province was to beopened to him if he required it in case of re-

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treat. He farther demanded the assurance ofthe possession of the Duchy of Mecklenburg,in the event of a future peace; and a formal andtimely intimation, if it should be deemed nec-essary a second time to deprive him of the com-mand.

In vain the minister entreated him to moder-ate his demands, which, if granted, would de-prive the Emperor of all authority over his owntroops, and make him absolutely dependent onhis general. The value placed on his serviceshad been too plainly manifested to prevent himdictating the price at which they were to bepurchased. If the pressure of circumstancescompelled the Emperor to grant these demands,it was more than a mere feeling of haughtinessand desire of revenge which induced the duketo make them. His plans of rebellion wereformed, to their success, every one of the con-ditions for which Wallenstein stipulated in thistreaty with the court, was indispensable. Those

plans required that the Emperor should be de-prived of all authority in Germany, and beplaced at the mercy of his general; and thisobject would be attained, the momentFerdinand subscribed the required conditions.The use which Wallenstein intended to makeof his army, (widely different indeed from thatfor which it was entrusted to him,) brooked notof a divided power, and still less of an authoritysuperior to his own. To be the sole master ofthe will of his troops, he must also be the solemaster of their destinies; insensibly to supplanthis sovereign, and to transfer permanently tohis own person the rights of sovereignty, whichwere only lent to him for a time by a higherauthority, he must cautiously keep the latterout of the view of the army. Hence his obsti-nate refusal to allow any prince of the house ofAustria to be present with the army. The lib-erty of free disposal of all the conquered andconfiscated estates in the empire, would also

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afford him fearful means of purchasing depen-dents and instruments of his plans, and of act-ing the dictator in Germany more absolutelythan ever any Emperor did in time of peace. Bythe right to use any of the Austrian provincesas a place of refuge, in case of need, he had fullpower to hold the Emperor a prisoner by meansof his own forces, and within his own domin-ions; to exhaust the strength and resources ofthese countries, and to undermine the powerof Austria in its very foundation.

Whatever might be the issue, he had equallysecured his own advantage, by the conditionshe had extorted from the Emperor. If circum-stances proved favourable to his daring project,this treaty with the Emperor facilitated its ex-ecution; if on the contrary, the course of thingsran counter to it, it would at least afford him abrilliant compensation for the failure of his plans.But how could he consider an agreement valid,which was extorted from his sovereign, and based

upon treason? How could he hope to bind theEmperor by a written agreement, in the face of alaw which condemned to death every one whoshould have the presumption to impose condi-tions upon him? But this criminal was the mostindispensable man in the empire, andFerdinand, well practised in dissimulation,granted him for the present all he required.

At last, then, the imperial army had found acommander-in-chief worthy of the name. Everyother authority in the army, even that of theEmperor himself, ceased from the momentWallenstein assumed the commander’s baton,and every act was invalid which did not pro-ceed from him. From the banks of the Danube,to those of the Weser and the Oder, was felt thelife-giving dawning of this new star; a new spiritseemed to inspire the troops of the emperor, anew epoch of the war began. The Papists formfresh hopes, the Protestant beholds with anxi-ety the changed course of affairs.

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The greater the price at which the services ofthe new general had been purchased, thegreater justly were the expectations from thosewhich the court of the Emperor entertained.But the duke was in no hurry to fulfil theseexpectations. Already in the vicinity of Bohemia,and at the head of a formidable force, he hadbut to show himself there, in order to overpowerthe exhausted force of the Saxons, and bril-liantly to commence his new career by the re-conquest of that kingdom. But, contented withharassing the enemy with indecisive skirmishesof his Croats, he abandoned the best part ofthat kingdom to be plundered, and movedcalmly forward in pursuit of his own selfishplans. His design was, not to conquer the Sax-ons, but to unite with them. Exclusively occu-pied with this important object, he remainedinactive in the hope of conquering more surelyby means of negociation. He left no expedientuntried, to detach this prince from the Swed-

ish alliance; and Ferdinand himself, ever in-clined to an accommodation with this prince,approved of this proceeding. But the great debtwhich Saxony owed to Sweden, was as yet toofreshly remembered to allow of such an act ofperfidy; and even had the Elector been disposedto yield to the temptation, the equivocal char-acter of Wallenstein, and the bad character ofAustrian policy, precluded any reliance in theintegrity of its promises. Notorious already as atreacherous statesman, he met not with faithupon the very occasion when perhaps he in-tended to act honestly; and, moreover, was de-nied, by circumstances, the opportunity of prov-ing the sincerity of his intentions, by the dis-closure of his real motives.

He, therefore, unwillingly resolved to extort,by force of arms, what he could not obtain bynegociation. Suddenly assembling his troops,he appeared before Prague ere the Saxons hadtime to advance to its relief. After a short resis-

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tance, the treachery of some Capuchins opensthe gates to one of his regiments; and the gar-rison, who had taken refuge in the citadel, soonlaid down their arms upon disgraceful condi-tions. Master of the capital, he hoped to carryon more successfully his negociations at theSaxon court; but even while he was renewinghis proposals to Arnheim, he did not hesitateto give them weight by striking a decisive blow.He hastened to seize the narrow passes betweenAussig and Pirna, with a view of cutting off theretreat of the Saxons into their own country;but the rapidity of Arnheim’s operations fortu-nately extricated them from the danger. Afterthe retreat of this general, Egra and Leutmeritz,the last strongholds of the Saxons, surrenderedto the conqueror: and the whole kingdom wasrestored to its legitimate sovereign, in less timethan it had been lost.

Wallenstein, less occupied with the interestsof his master, than with the furtherance of his

own plans, now purposed to carry the war intoSaxony, and by ravaging his territories, compelthe Elector to enter into a private treaty withthe Emperor, or rather with himself. But, how-ever little accustomed he was to make his willbend to circumstances, he now perceived thenecessity of postponing his favourite schemefor a time, to a more pressing emergency. Whilehe was driving the Saxons from Bohemia,Gustavus Adolphus had been gaining the vic-tories, already detailed, on the Rhine and theDanube, and carried the war through Franconiaand Swabia, to the frontiers of Bavaria.Maximilian, defeated on the Lech, and deprivedby death of Count Tilly, his best support, ur-gently solicited the Emperor to send with allspeed the Duke of Friedland to his assistance,from Bohemia, and by the defence of Bavaria,to avert the danger from Austria itself. He alsomade the same request to Wallenstein, andentreated him, till he could himself come with

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the main force, to despatch in the mean time afew regiments to his aid. Ferdinand secondedthe request with all his influence, and one mes-senger after another was sent to Wallenstein,urging him to move towards the Danube.

It now appeared how completely the Emperorhad sacrificed his authority, in surrendering toanother the supreme command of his troops.Indifferent to Maximilian’s entreaties, and deafto the Emperor’s repeated commands,Wallenstein remained inactive in Bohemia, andabandoned the Elector to his fate. The remem-brance of the evil service which Maximilian hadrendered him with the Emperor, at the Diet atRatisbon, was deeply engraved on the impla-cable mind of the duke, and the Elector’s lateattempts to prevent his reinstatement, were nosecret to him. The moment of revenging thisaffront had now arrived, and Maximilian wasdoomed to pay dearly for his folly, in provokingthe most revengeful of men. Wallenstein main-

tained, that Bohemia ought not to be left ex-posed, and that Austria could not be better pro-tected, than by allowing the Swedish army towaste its strength before the Bavarian fortress.Thus, by the arm of the Swedes, he chastisedhis enemy; and while one place after anotherfell into their hands, he allowed the Electorvainly to await his arrival in Ratisbon. It wasonly when the complete subjugation of Bohemialeft him without excuse, and the conquests ofGustavus Adolphus in Bavaria threatened Aus-tria itself, that he yielded to the pressing en-treaties of the Elector and the Emperor, anddetermined to effect the long-expected unionwith the former; an event, which, according tothe general anticipation of the Roman Catho-lics, would decide the fate of the campaign.

Gustavus Adolphus, too weak in numbers tocope even with Wallenstein’s force alone, natu-rally dreaded the junction of such powerfularmies, and the little energy he used to pre-

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vent it, was the occasion of great surprise. Ap-parently he reckoned too much on the hatredwhich alienated the leaders, and seemed to ren-der their effectual co-operation improbable;when the event contradicted his views, it wastoo late to repair his error. On the first certainintelligence he received of their designs, hehastened to the Upper Palatinate, for the pur-pose of intercepting the Elector: but the latterhad already arrived there, and the junction hadbeen effected at Egra.

This frontier town had been chosen byWallenstein, for the scene of his triumph overhis proud rival. Not content with having seenhim, as it were, a suppliant at his feet, he im-posed upon him the hard condition of leavinghis territories in his rear exposed to the en-emy, and declaring by this long march to meethim, the necessity and distress to which he wasreduced. Even to this humiliation, the haughtyprince patiently submitted. It had cost him a

severe struggle to ask for protection of the manwho, if his own wishes had been consulted,would never have had the power of granting it:but having once made up his mind to it, he wasready to bear all the annoyances which wereinseparable from that resolve, and sufficientlymaster of himself to put up with petty griev-ances, when an important end was in view.

But whatever pains it had cost to effect thisjunction, it was equally difficult to settle theconditions on which it was to be maintained.The united army must be placed under the com-mand of one individual, if any object was to begained by the union, and each general wasequally averse to yield to the superior author-ity of the other. If Maximilian rested his claimon his electoral dignity, the nobleness of hisdescent, and his influence in the empire,Wallenstein’s military renown, and the unlim-ited command conferred on him by the Em-peror, gave an equally strong title to it. If it was

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deeply humiliating to the pride of the former toserve under an imperial subject, the idea ofimposing laws on so imperious a spirit, flatteredin the same degree the haughtiness ofWallenstein. An obstinate dispute ensued,which, however, terminated in a mutual com-promise to Wallenstein’s advantage. To him wasassigned the unlimited command of botharmies, particularly in battle, while the Electorwas deprived of all power of altering the orderof battle, or even the route of the army. He re-tained only the bare right of punishing and re-warding his own troops, and the free use ofthese, when not acting in conjunction with theImperialists.

After these preliminaries were settled, the twogenerals at last ventured upon an interview; butnot until they had mutually promised to burythe past in oblivion, and all the outward for-malities of a reconciliation had been settled.According to agreement, they publicly em-

braced in the sight of their troops, and mademutual professions of friendship, while in real-ity the hearts of both were overflowing withmalice. Maximilian, well versed in dissimula-tion, had sufficient command over himself, notto betray in a single feature his real feelings;but a malicious triumph sparkled in the eyesof Wallenstein, and the constraint which wasvisible in all his movements, betrayed the vio-lence of the emotion which overpowered hisproud soul.

The combined Imperial and Bavarian armiesamounted to nearly 60,000 men, chiefly veter-ans. Before this force, the King of Sweden wasnot in a condition to keep the field. As his at-tempt to prevent their junction had failed, hecommenced a rapid retreat into Franconia, andawaited there for some decisive movement onthe part of the enemy, in order to form his ownplans. The position of the combined armies be-tween the frontiers of Saxony and Bavaria, left

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it for some time doubtful whether they wouldremove the war into the former, or endeavourto drive the Swedes from the Danube, and de-liver Bavaria. Saxony had been stripped oftroops by Arnheim, who was pursuing his con-quests in Silesia; not without a secret design, itwas generally supposed, of favouring the en-trance of the Duke of Friedland into that elec-torate, and of thus driving the irresolute JohnGeorge into peace with the Emperor. GustavusAdolphus himself, fully persuaded thatWallenstein’s views were directed againstSaxony, hastily despatched a strong reinforce-ment to the assistance of his confederate, withthe intention, as soon as circumstances wouldallow, of following with the main body. But themovements of Wallenstein’s army soon led himto suspect that he himself was the object of at-tack; and the Duke’s march through the UpperPalatinate, placed the matter beyond a doubt.The question now was, how to provide for his

own security, and the prize was no longer hissupremacy, but his very existence. His fertilegenius must now supply the means, not of con-quest, but of preservation. The approach of theenemy had surprised him before he had timeto concentrate his troops, which were scatteredall over Germany, or to summon his allies tohis aid. Too weak to meet the enemy in the field,he had no choice left, but either to throw him-self into Nuremberg, and run the risk of beingshut up in its walls, or to sacrifice that city, andawait a reinforcement under the cannon ofDonauwerth. Indifferent to danger or difficulty,while he obeyed the call of humanity or honour,he chose the first without hesitation, firmly re-solved to bury himself with his whole army un-der the ruins of Nuremberg, rather than to pur-chase his own safety by the sacrifice of his con-federates.

Measures were immediately taken to sur-round the city and suburbs with redoubts, and

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to form an entrenched camp. Several thousandworkmen immediately commenced this exten-sive work, and an heroic determination to haz-ard life and property in the common cause,animated the inhabitants of Nuremberg. Atrench, eight feet deep and twelve broad, sur-rounded the whole fortification; the lines weredefended by redoubts and batteries, the gatesby half moons. The river Pegnitz, which flowsthrough Nuremberg, divided the whole campinto two semicircles, whose communication wassecured by several bridges. About three hun-dred pieces of cannon defended the town-wallsand the intrenchments. The peasantry from theneighbouring villages, and the inhabitants ofNuremberg, assisted the Swedish soldiers sozealously, that on the seventh day the army wasable to enter the camp, and, in a fortnight, thisgreat work was completed.

While these operations were carried on with-out the walls, the magistrates of Nuremberg were

busily occupied in filling the magazines withprovisions and ammunition for a long siege.Measures were taken, at the same time, to se-cure the health of the inhabitants, which waslikely to be endangered by the conflux of so manypeople; cleanliness was enforced by the strict-est regulations. In order, if necessary, to sup-port the King, the youth of the city were embod-ied and trained to arms, the militia of the townconsiderably reinforced, and a new regimentraised, consisting of four-and-twenty names,according to the letters of the alphabet. Gustavushad, in the mean time, called to his assistancehis allies, Duke William of Weimar, and theLandgrave of Hesse Cassel; and ordered his gen-erals on the Rhine, in Thuringia and LowerSaxony, to commence their march immediately,and join him with their troops in Nuremberg.His army, which was encamped within the lines,did not amount to more than 16,000 men,scarcely a third of the enemy.

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The Imperialists had, in the mean time, byslow marches, advanced to Neumark, whereWallenstein made a general review. At the sightof this formidable force, he could not refrainfrom indulging in a childish boast: “In fourdays,” said he, “it will be shown whether I orthe King of Sweden is to be master of the world.”Yet, notwithstanding his superiority, he didnothing to fulfil his promise; and even let slipthe opportunity of crushing his enemy, whenthe latter had the hardihood to leave his linesto meet him. “Battles enough have been fought,”was his answer to those who advised him to at-tack the King, “it is now time to try anothermethod.” Wallenstein’s well-founded reputationrequired not any of those rash enterprises onwhich younger soldiers rush, in the hope ofgaining a name. Satisfied that the enemy’s de-spair would dearly sell a victory, while a defeatwould irretrievably ruin the Emperor’s affairs,he resolved to wear out the ardour of his oppo-

nent by a tedious blockade, and by thus de-priving him of every opportunity of availing him-self of his impetuous bravery, take from himthe very advantage which had hitherto renderedhim invincible. Without making any attack,therefore, he erected a strong fortified camp onthe other side of the Pegnitz, and oppositeNuremberg; and, by this well chosen position,cut off from the city and the camp of Gustavusall supplies from Franconia, Swabia, andThuringia. Thus he held in siege at once thecity and the King, and flattered himself withthe hope of slowly, but surely, wearing out byfamine and pestilence the courage of his oppo-nent whom he had no wish to encounter in thefield.

Little aware, however, of the resources andthe strength of his adversary, Wallenstein hadnot taken sufficient precautions to avert fromhimself the fate he was designing for others.From the whole of the neighbouring country,

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the peasantry had fled with their property; andwhat little provision remained, must be obsti-nately contested with the Swedes. The Kingspared the magazines within the town, as longas it was possible to provision his army fromwithout; and these forays produced constantskirmishes between the Croats and the Swed-ish cavalry, of which the surrounding countryexhibited the most melancholy traces. The nec-essaries of life must be obtained sword in hand;and the foraging parties could not venture outwithout a numerous escort. And when this sup-ply failed, the town opened its magazines to theKing, but Wallenstein had to support his troopsfrom a distance. A large convoy from Bavariawas on its way to him, with an escort of a thou-sand men. Gustavus Adolphus having receivedintelligence of its approach, immediately sentout a regiment of cavalry to intercept it; andthe darkness of the night favoured the enter-prise. The whole convoy, with the town in which

it was, fell into the hands of the Swedes; theImperial escort was cut to pieces; about 1,200cattle carried off; and a thousand waggons,loaded with bread, which could not be broughtaway, were set on fire. Seven regiments, whichWallenstein had sent forward to Altdorp to coverthe entrance of the long and anxiously expectedconvoy, were attacked by the King, who had, inlike manner, advanced to cover the retreat ofhis cavalry, and routed after an obstinate ac-tion, being driven back into the Imperial camp,with the loss of 400 men. So many checks anddifficulties, and so firm and unexpected a re-sistance on the part of the King, made the Dukeof Friedland repent that he had declined tohazard a battle. The strength of the Swedishcamp rendered an attack impracticable; and thearmed youth of Nuremberg served the King asa nursery from which he could supply his lossof troops. The want of provisions, which beganto be felt in the Imperial camp as strongly as in

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the Swedish, rendered it uncertain which partywould be first compelled to give way.

Fifteen days had the two armies now remainedin view of each other, equally defended by in-accessible entrenchments, without attemptinganything more than slight attacks and unim-portant skirmishes. On both sides, infectiousdiseases, the natural consequence of bad food,and a crowded population, had occasioned agreater loss than the sword. And this evil dailyincreased. But at length, the long expectedsuccours arrived in the Swedish camp; and bythis strong reinforcement, the King was nowenabled to obey the dictates of his native cour-age, and to break the chains which had hith-erto fettered him.

In obedience to his requisitions, the Duke ofWeimar had hastily drawn together a corps fromthe garrisons in Lower Saxony and Thuringia,which, at Schweinfurt in Franconia, was joinedby four Saxon regiments, and at Kitzingen by

the corps of the Rhine, which the Landgrave ofHesse, and the Palatine of Birkenfeld, des-patched to the relief of the King. The Chancel-lor, Oxenstiern, undertook to lead this force toits destination. After being joined at Windsheimby the Duke of Weimar himself, and the Swed-ish General Banner, he advanced by rapidmarches to Bruck and Eltersdorf, where hepassed the Rednitz, and reached the Swedishcamp in safety. This reinforcement amountedto nearly 50,000 men, and was attended by atrain of 60 pieces of cannon, and 4,000 bag-gage waggons. Gustavus now saw himself at thehead of an army of nearly 70,000 strong, with-out reckoning the militia of Nuremberg, which,in case of necessity, could bring into the fieldabout 30,000 fighting men; a formidable force,opposed to another not less formidable. The warseemed at length compressed to the point of asingle battle, which was to decide its fearful is-sue. With divided sympathies, Europe looked

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with anxiety to this scene, where the wholestrength of the two contending parties was fear-fully drawn, as it were, to a focus.

If, before the arrival of the Swedish succours,a want of provisions had been felt, the evil wasnow fearfully increased to a dreadful height inboth camps, for Wallenstein had also receivedreinforcements from Bavaria. Besides the120,000 men confronted to each other, andmore than 50,000 horses, in the two armies,and besides the inhabitants of Nuremberg,whose number far exceeded the Swedish army,there were in the camp of Wallenstein about15,000 women, with as many drivers, and nearlythe same number in that of the Swedes. Thecustom of the time permitted the soldier to carryhis family with him to the field. A number ofprostitutes followed the Imperialists; while, withthe view of preventing such excesses, Gustavus’scare for the morals of his soldiers promotedmarriages. For the rising generation, who had

this camp for their home and country, regularmilitary schools were established, which edu-cated a race of excellent warriors, by whichmeans the army might in a manner recruit it-self in the course of a long campaign. No won-der, then, if these wandering nations exhaustedevery territory in which they encamped, andby their immense consumption raised the nec-essaries of life to an exorbitant price. All themills of Nuremberg were insufficient to grindthe corn required for each day; and 15,000pounds of bread, which were daily delivered,by the town into the Swedish camp, excited,without allaying, the hunger of the soldiers. Thelaudable exertions of the magistrates ofNuremberg could not prevent the greater partof the horses from dying for want of forage, whilethe increasing mortality in the camp consignedmore than a hundred men daily to the grave.

To put an end to these distresses, GustavusAdolphus, relying on his numerical superior-

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ity, left his lines on the 25th day, forming be-fore the enemy in order of battle, while he can-nonaded the duke’s camp from three batterieserected on the side of the Rednitz. But the dukeremained immoveable in his entrenchments,and contented himself with answering this chal-lenge by a distant fire of cannon and musketry.His plan was to wear out the king by his inac-tivity, and by the force of famine to overcomehis resolute determination; and neither theremonstrances of Maximilian, and the impa-tience of his army, nor the ridicule of his oppo-nent, could shake his purpose. Gustavus, de-ceived in his hope of forcing a battle, and com-pelled by his increasing necessities, now at-tempted impossibilities, and resolved to storma position which art and nature had combinedto render impregnable.

Intrusting his own camp to the militia ofNuremberg, on the fifty-eighth day of his en-campment, (the festival of St. Bartholomew,) he

advanced in full order of battle, and passing theRednitz at Furth, easily drove the enemy’s out-posts before him. The main army of the Imperi-alists was posted on the steep heights betweenthe Biber and the Rednitz, called the Old For-tress and Altenberg; while the camp itself, com-manded by these eminences, spread out im-measurably along the plain. On these heights,the whole of the artillery was placed. Deeptrenches surrounded inaccessible redoubts,while thick barricadoes, with pointed palisades,defended the approaches to the heights, fromthe summits of which, Wallenstein calmly andsecurely discharged the lightnings of his artil-lery from amid the dark thunder-clouds ofsmoke. A destructive fire of musketry was main-tained behind the breastworks, and a hundredpieces of cannon threatened the desperate as-sailant with certain destruction. Against thisdangerous post Gustavus now directed his at-tack; five hundred musketeers, supported by a

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few infantry, (for a greater number could notact in the narrow space,) enjoyed the unenviedprivilege of first throwing themselves into theopen jaws of death. The assault was furious,the resistance obstinate. Exposed to the wholefire of the enemy’s artillery, and infuriate bythe prospect of inevitable death, these deter-mined warriors rushed forward to storm theheights; which, in an instant, converted into aflaming volcano, discharged on them a showerof shot. At the same moment, the heavy cavalryrushed forward into the openings which theartillery had made in the close ranks of the as-sailants, and divided them; till the intrepidband, conquered by the strength of nature andof man, took to flight, leaving a hundred deadupon the field. To Germans had Gustavusyielded this post of honour. Exasperated at theirretreat, he now led on his Finlanders to theattack, thinking, by their northern courage, toshame the cowardice of the Germans. But they,

also, after a similar hot reception, yielded tothe superiority of the enemy; and a third regi-ment succeeded them to experience the samefate. This was replaced by a fourth, a fifth, anda sixth; so that, during a ten hours’ action, ev-ery regiment was brought to the attack to re-tire with bloody loss from the contest. A thou-sand mangled bodies covered the field; yetGustavus undauntedly maintained the attack,and Wallenstein held his position unshaken.

In the mean time, a sharp contest had takenplace between the imperial cavalry and the leftwing of the Swedes, which was posted in athicket on the Rednitz, with varying success,but with equal intrepidity and loss on bothsides. The Duke of Friedland and Prince Ber-nard of Weimar had each a horse shot underthem; the king himself had the sole of his bootcarried off by a cannon ball. The combat wasmaintained with undiminished obstinacy, tillthe approach of night separated the combat-

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ants. But the Swedes had advanced too far toretreat without hazard. While the king was seek-ing an officer to convey to the regiments theorder to retreat, he met Colonel Hepburn, abrave Scotchman, whose native courage alonehad drawn him from the camp to share in thedangers of the day. Offended with the king forhaving not long before preferred a younger of-ficer for some post of danger, he had rashlyvowed never again to draw his sword for theking. To him Gustavus now addressed himself,praising his courage, and requesting him toorder the regiments to retreat. “Sire,” repliedthe brave soldier, “it is the only service I cannotrefuse to your Majesty; for it is a hazardous one,”— and immediately hastened to carry the com-mand. One of the heights above the old fortresshad, in the heat of the action, been carried bythe Duke of Weimar. It commanded the hillsand the whole camp. But the heavy rain whichfell during the night, rendered it impossible to

draw up the cannon; and this post, which hadbeen gained with so much bloodshed, was alsovoluntarily abandoned. Diffident of fortune,which forsook him on this decisive day, the kingdid not venture the following morning to renewthe attack with his exhausted troops; and van-quished for the first time, even because he wasnot victor, he led back his troops over theRednitz. Two thousand dead which he left be-hind him on the field, testified to the extent ofhis loss; and the Duke of Friedland remainedunconquered within his lines.

For fourteen days after this action, the twoarmies still continued in front of each other,each in the hope that the other would be thefirst to give way. Every day reduced their provi-sions, and as scarcity became greater, the ex-cesses of the soldiers rendered furious, exer-cised the wildest outrages on the peasantry. Theincreasing distress broke up all discipline andorder in the Swedish camp; and the German

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regiments, in particular, distinguished them-selves for the ravages they practised indiscrimi-nately on friend and foe. The weak hand of asingle individual could not check excesses, en-couraged by the silence, if not the actual ex-ample, of the inferior officers. These shamefulbreaches of discipline, on the maintenance ofwhich he had hitherto justly prided himself,severely pained the king; and the vehemencewith which he reproached the German officersfor their negligence, bespoke the liveliness ofhis emotion. “It is you yourselves, Germans,”said he, “that rob your native country, and ruinyour own confederates in the faith. As God ismy judge, I abhor you, I loathe you; my heartsinks within me whenever I look upon you. Yebreak my orders; ye are the cause that the worldcurses me, that the tears of poverty follow me,that complaints ring in my ear — ‘The king,our friend, does us more harm than even ourworst enemies.’ On your account I have stripped

my own kingdom of its treasures, and spentupon you more than 40 tons of gold*; while fromyour German empire I have not received theleast aid. I gave you a share of all that God hadgiven to me; and had ye regarded my orders, Iwould have gladly shared with you all my fu-ture acquisitions. Your want of discipline con-vinces me of your evil intentions, whatever causeI might otherwise have to applaud your brav-ery.”

Nuremberg had exerted itself, almost beyondits power, to subsist for eleven weeks the vastcrowd which was compressed within its bound-aries; but its means were at length exhausted,and the king’s more numerous party wasobliged to determine on a retreat. By the casu-alties of war and sickness, Nuremberg had lostmore than 10,000 of its inhabitants, andGustavus Adolphus nearly 20,000 of his sol-

* A ton of gold in Sweden amounts to 100,000 rix dol-

lars.

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diers. The fields around the city were trampleddown, the villages lay in ashes, the plunderedpeasantry lay faint and dying on the highways;foul odours infected the air, and bad food, theexhalations from so dense a population, and somany putrifying carcasses, together with theheat of the dog-days, produced a desolatingpestilence which raged among men and beasts,and long after the retreat of both armies, con-tinued to load the country with misery and dis-tress. Affected by the general distress, and de-spairing of conquering the steady determina-tion of the Duke of Friedland, the king brokeup his camp on the 8th September, leaving inNuremberg a sufficient garrison. He advancedin full order of battle before the enemy, whoremained motionless, and did not attempt inthe least to harass his retreat. His route lay bythe Aisch and Windsheim towards Neustadt,where he halted five days to refresh his troops,and also to be near to Nuremberg, in case the

enemy should make an attempt upon the town.But Wallenstein, as exhausted as himself, hadonly awaited the retreat of the Swedes to com-mence his own. Five days afterwards, he brokeup his camp at Zirndorf, and set it on fire. Ahundred columns of smoke, rising from all theburning villages in the neighbourhood, an-nounced his retreat, and showed the city thefate it had escaped. His march, which was di-rected on Forchheim, was marked by the mostfrightful ravages; but he was too far advancedto be overtaken by the king. The latter now di-vided his army, which the exhausted countrywas unable to support, and leaving one divi-sion to protect Franconia, with the other heprosecuted in person his conquests in Bavaria.

In the mean time, the imperial Bavarian armyhad marched into the Bishopric of Bamberg,where the Duke of Friedland a second timemustered his troops. He found this force, whichso lately had amounted to 60,000 men, dimin-

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ished by the sword, desertion, and disease, toabout 24,000, and of these a fourth were Ba-varians. Thus had the encampments beforeNuremberg weakened both parties more thantwo great battles would have done, apparentlywithout advancing the termination of the war,or satisfying, by any decisive result, the expec-tations of Europe. The king’s conquests in Ba-varia, were, it is true, checked for a time by thisdiversion before Nuremberg, and Austria itselfsecured against the danger of immediate inva-sion; but by the retreat of the king from thatcity, he was again left at full liberty to makeBavaria the seat of war. Indifferent towards thefate of that country, and weary of the restraintwhich his union with the Elector imposed uponhim, the Duke of Friedland eagerly seized theopportunity of separating from this burdensomeassociate, and prosecuting, with renewed ear-nestness, his favourite plans. Still adhering tohis purpose of detaching Saxony from its Swed-

ish alliance, he selected that country for hiswinter quarters, hoping by his destructive pres-ence to force the Elector the more readily intohis views.

No conjuncture could be more favourable forhis designs. The Saxons had invaded Silesia,where, reinforced by troops from Brandenburghand Sweden, they had gained several advan-tages over the Emperor’s troops. Silesia wouldbe saved by a diversion against the Elector inhis own territories, and the attempt was themore easy, as Saxony, left undefended duringthe war in Silesia, lay open on every side toattack. The pretext of rescuing from the enemyan hereditary dominion of Austria, would si-lence the remonstrances of the Elector of Ba-varia, and, under the mask of a patriotic zealfor the Emperor’s interests, Maximilian mightbe sacrificed without much difficulty. By givingup the rich country of Bavaria to the Swedes,he hoped to be left unmolested by them in his

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enterprise against Saxony, while the increas-ing coldness between Gustavus and the SaxonCourt, gave him little reason to apprehend anyextraordinary zeal for the deliverance of JohnGeorge. Thus a second time abandoned by hisartful protector, the Elector separated fromWallenstein at Bamberg, to protect hisdefenceless territory with the small remains ofhis troops, while the imperial army, underWallenstein, directed its march throughBayreuth and Coburg towards the ThuringianForest.

An imperial general, Holk, had previouslybeen sent into Vogtland with 6,000 men, towaste this defenceless province with fire andsword, he was soon followed by Gallas, anotherof the Duke’s generals, and an equally faithfulinstrument of his inhuman orders. Finally,Pappenheim, too, was recalled from LowerSaxony, to reinforce the diminished army of theduke, and to complete the miseries of the de-

voted country. Ruined churches, villages inashes, harvests wilfully destroyed, familiesplundered, and murdered peasants, marked theprogress of these barbarians, under whosescourge the whole of Thuringia, Vogtland, andMeissen, lay defenceless. Yet this was but theprelude to greater sufferings, with whichWallenstein himself, at the head of the mainarmy, threatened Saxony. After having left be-hind him fearful monuments of his fury, in hismarch through Franconia and Thuringia, hearrived with his whole army in the Circle ofLeipzig, and compelled the city, after a shortresistance, to surrender. His design was to pushon to Dresden, and by the conquest of the wholecountry, to prescribe laws to the Elector. He hadalready approached the Mulda, threatening tooverpower the Saxon army which had advancedas far as Torgau to meet him, when the King ofSweden’s arrival at Erfurt gave an unexpectedcheck to his operations. Placed between the

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Saxon and Swedish armies, which were likelyto be farther reinforced by the troops of George,Duke of Luneburg, from Lower Saxony, he hast-ily retired upon Meresberg, to form a junctionthere with Count Pappenheim, and to repel thefurther advance of the Swedes.

Gustavus Adolphus had witnessed, with greatuneasiness, the arts employed by Spain andAustria to detach his allies from him. The moreimportant his alliance with Saxony, the moreanxiety the inconstant temper of John Georgecaused him. Between himself and the Elector,a sincere friendship could never subsist. Aprince, proud of his political importance, andaccustomed to consider himself as the head ofhis party, could not see without annoyance theinterference of a foreign power in the affairs ofthe Empire; and nothing, but the extreme dan-ger of his dominions, could overcome the aver-sion with which he had long witnessed theprogress of this unwelcome intruder. The in-

creasing influence of the king in Germany, hisauthority with the Protestant states, the un-ambiguous proofs which he gave of his ambi-tious views, which were of a character calcu-lated to excite the jealousies of all the states ofthe Empire, awakened in the Elector’s breast athousand anxieties, which the imperial emis-saries did not fail skilfully to keep alive andcherish. Every arbitrary step on the part of theKing, every demand, however reasonable, whichhe addressed to the princes of the Empire, wasfollowed by bitter complaints from the Elector,which seemed to announce an approachingrupture. Even the generals of the two powers,whenever they were called upon to act in com-mon, manifested the same jealousy as dividedtheir leaders. John George’s natural aversionto war, and a lingering attachment to Austria,favoured the efforts of Arnheim; who, maintain-ing a constant correspondence withWallenstein, laboured incessantly to effect a

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private treaty between his master and the Em-peror; and if his representations were long dis-regarded, still the event proved that they werenot altogether without effect.

Gustavus Adolphus, naturally apprehensiveof the consequences which the defection of sopowerful an ally would produce on his futureprospects in Germany, spared no pains to avertso pernicious an event; and his remonstranceshad hitherto had some effect upon the Elector.But the formidable power with which the Em-peror seconded his seductive proposals, and themiseries which, in the case of hesitation, hethreatened to accumulate upon Saxony, mightat length overcome the resolution of the Elec-tor, should he be left exposed to the vengeanceof his enemies; while an indifference to the fateof so powerful a confederate, would irreparablydestroy the confidence of the other allies in theirprotector. This consideration induced the kinga second time to yield to the pressing entreat-

ies of the Elector, and to sacrifice his own bril-liant prospects to the safety of this ally. He hadalready resolved upon a second attack onIngoldstadt; and the weakness of the Elector ofBavaria gave him hopes of soon forcing this ex-hausted enemy to accede to a neutrality. Aninsurrection of the peasantry in Upper Austria,opened to him a passage into that country, andthe capital might be in his possession, beforeWallenstein could have time to advance to itsdefence. All these views he now gave up for thesake of an ally, who, neither by his services norhis fidelity, was worthy of the sacrifice; who, onthe pressing occasions of common good, hadsteadily adhered to his own selfish projects; andwho was important, not for the services he wasexpected to render, but merely for the injurieshe had it in his power to inflict. Is it possible,then, to refrain from indignation, when we knowthat, in this expedition, undertaken for thebenefit of such an ally, the great king was des-

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tined to terminate his career?Rapidly assembling his troops in Franconia,

he followed the route of Wallenstein throughThuringia. Duke Bernard of Weimar, who hadbeen despatched to act against Pappenheim,joined the king at Armstadt, who now saw him-self at the head of 20,000 veterans. At Erfurthe took leave of his queen, who was not to be-hold him, save in his coffin, at Weissenfels. Theiranxious adieus seemed to forbode an eternalseparation.

He reached Naumburg on the 1st November,1632, before the corps, which the Duke ofFriedland had despatched for that purpose,could make itself master of that place. The in-habitants of the surrounding country flockedin crowds to look upon the hero, the avenger,the great king, who, a year before, had firstappeared in that quarter, like a guardian an-gel. Shouts of joy everywhere attended hisprogress; the people knelt before him, and

struggled for the honour of touching the sheathof his sword, or the hem of his garment. Themodest hero disliked this innocent tributewhich a sincerely grateful and admiring multi-tude paid him. “Is it not,” said he, “as if thispeople would make a God of me? Our affairsprosper, indeed; but I fear the vengeance ofHeaven will punish me for this presumption,and soon enough reveal to this deluded multi-tude my human weakness and mortality!” Howamiable does Gustavus appear before us at thismoment, when about to leave us for ever! Evenin the plenitude of success, he honours anavenging Nemesis, declines that homage whichis due only to the Immortal, and strengthenshis title to our tears, the nearer the momentapproaches that is to call them forth!

In the mean time, the Duke of Friedland haddetermined to advance to meet the king, as faras Weissenfels, and even at the hazard of abattle, to secure his winter-quarters in Saxony.

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His inactivity before Nuremberg had occasioneda suspicion that he was unwilling to measurehis powers with those of the Hero of the North,and his hard-earned reputation would be atstake, if, a second time, he should decline abattle. His present superiority in numbers,though much less than what it was at the be-ginning of the siege of Nuremberg, was stillenough to give him hopes of victory, if he couldcompel the king to give battle before his junc-tion with the Saxons. But his present reliancewas not so much in his numerical superiority,as in the predictions of his astrologer Seni, whohad read in the stars that the good fortune ofthe Swedish monarch would decline in themonth of November. Besides, betweenNaumburg and Weissenfels there was also arange of narrow defiles, formed by a long moun-tainous ridge, and the river Saal, which ran attheir foot, along which the Swedes could notadvance without difficulty, and which might,

with the assistance of a few troops, be renderedalmost impassable. If attacked there, the kingwould have no choice but either to penetratewith great danger through the defiles, or com-mence a laborious retreat through Thuringia,and to expose the greater part of his army to amarch through a desert country, deficient inevery necessary for their support. But the ra-pidity with which Gustavus Adolphus had takenpossession of Naumburg, disappointed thisplan, and it was now Wallenstein himself whoawaited the attack.

But in this expectation he was disappointed;for the king, instead of advancing to meet himat Weissenfels, made preparations for entrench-ing himself near Naumburg, with the intentionof awaiting there the reinforcements which theDuke of Lunenburg was bringing up. Undecidedwhether to advance against the king throughthe narrow passes between Weissenfels andNaumburg, or to remain inactive in his camp,

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he called a council of war, in order to have theopinion of his most experienced generals. Noneof these thought it prudent to attack the kingin his advantageous position. On the otherhand, the preparations which the latter madeto fortify his camp, plainly showed that it wasnot his intention soon to abandon it. But theapproach of winter rendered it impossible toprolong the campaign, and by a continued en-campment to exhaust the strength of the army,already so much in need of repose. All voiceswere in favour of immediately terminating thecampaign: and, the more so, as the importantcity of Cologne upon the Rhine was threatenedby the Dutch, while the progress of the enemyin Westphalia and the Lower Rhine called foreffective reinforcements in that quarter.Wallenstein yielded to the weight of these ar-guments, and almost convinced that, at thisseason, he had no reason to apprehend an at-tack from the King, he put his troops into win-

ter-quarters, but so that, if necessary, theymight be rapidly assembled. Count Pappenheimwas despatched, with great part of the army, tothe assistance of Cologne, with orders to takepossession, on his march, of the fortress ofMoritzburg, in the territory of Halle. Differentcorps took up their winter-quarters in theneighbouring towns, to watch, on all sides, themotions of the enemy. Count Colloredo guardedthe castle of Weissenfels, and Wallenstein him-self encamped with the remainder not far fromMerseburg, between Flotzgaben and the Saal,from whence he purposed to march to Leipzig,and to cut off the communication between theSaxons and the Swedish army.

Scarcely had Gustavus Adolphus been in-formed of Pappenheim’s departure, when sud-denly breaking up his camp at Naumburg, hehastened with his whole force to attack the en-emy, now weakened to one half. He advanced,by rapid marches, towards Weissenfels, from

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whence the news of his arrival quickly reachedthe enemy, and greatly astonished the Duke ofFriedland. But a speedy resolution was nownecessary; and the measures of Wallensteinwere soon taken. Though he had little morethan 12,000 men to oppose to the 20,000 ofthe enemy, he might hope to maintain hisground until the return of Pappenheim, whocould not have advanced farther than Halle, fivemiles distant. Messengers were hastily des-patched to recall him, while Wallenstein movedforward into the wide plain between the Canaland Lutzen, where he awaited the King in fullorder of battle, and, by this position, cut off hiscommunication with Leipzig and the Saxonauxiliaries.

Three cannon shots, fired by Count Colloredofrom the castle of Weissenfels, announced theking’s approach; and at this concerted signal,the light troops of the Duke of Friedland, un-der the command of the Croatian General

Isolani, moved forward to possess themselvesof the villages lying upon the Rippach. Theirweak resistance did not impede the advance ofthe enemy, who crossed the Rippach, near thevillage of that name, and formed in line belowLutzen, opposite the Imperialists. The high roadwhich goes from Weissenfels to Leipzig, is in-tersected between Lutzen and Markranstadt bythe canal which extends from Zeitz toMerseburg, and unites the Elster with the Saal.On this canal, rested the left wing of the Impe-rialists, and the right of the King of Sweden;but so that the cavalry of both extended them-selves along the opposite side. To the north-ward, behind Lutzen, was Wallenstein’s rightwing, and to the south of that town was postedthe left wing of the Swedes; both armies frontedthe high road, which ran between them, anddivided their order of battle; but the eveningbefore the battle, Wallenstein, to the great dis-advantage of his opponent, had possessed him-

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self of this highway, deepened the trencheswhich ran along its sides, and planted themwith musketeers, so as to make the crossing ofit both difficult and dangerous. Behind these,again, was erected a battery of seven large piecesof cannon, to support the fire from the trenches;and at the windmills, close behind Lutzen, four-teen smaller field pieces were ranged on aneminence, from which they could sweep thegreater part of the plain. The infantry, dividedinto no more than five unwieldy brigades, wasdrawn up at the distance of 300 paces from theroad, and the cavalry covered the flanks. All thebaggage was sent to Leipzig, that it might notimpede the movements of the army; and theammunition-waggons alone remained, whichwere placed in rear of the line. To conceal theweakness of the Imperialists, all the camp-fol-lowers and sutlers were mounted, and postedon the left wing, but only until Pappenheim’stroops arrived. These arrangements were made

during the darkness of the night; and when themorning dawned, all was ready for the recep-tion of the enemy.

On the evening of the same day, GustavusAdolphus appeared on the opposite plain, andformed his troops in the order of attack. Hisdisposition was the same as that which hadbeen so successful the year before at Leipzig.Small squadrons of horse were interspersedamong the divisions of the infantry, and troopsof musketeers placed here and there among thecavalry. The army was arranged in two lines,the canal on the right and in its rear, the highroad in front, and the town on the left. In thecentre, the infantry was formed, under the com-mand of Count Brahe; the cavalry on the wings;the artillery in front. To the German hero, Ber-nard, Duke of Weimar, was intrusted the com-mand of the German cavalry of the left wing;while, on the right, the king led on the Swedesin person, in order to excite the emulation of

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the two nations to a noble competition. The sec-ond line was formed in the same manner; andbehind these was placed the reserve, com-manded by Henderson, a Scotchman.

In this position, they awaited the eventfuldawn of morning, to begin a contest, which longdelay, rather than the probability of decisiveconsequences, and the picked body, rather thanthe number of the combatants, was to renderso terrible and remarkable. The strained expec-tation of Europe, so disappointed beforeNuremberg, was now to be gratified on theplains of Lutzen. During the whole course ofthe war, two such generals, so equally matchedin renown and ability, had not before been pit-ted against each other. Never, as yet, had dar-ing been cooled by so awful a hazard, or hopeanimated by so glorious a prize. Europe wasnext day to learn who was her greatest general:— to-morrow, the leader, who had hitherto beeninvincible, must acknowledge a victor. This

morning was to place it beyond a doubt,whether the victories of Gustavus at Leipzig andon the Lech, were owing to his own militarygenius, or to the incompetency of his opponent;whether the services of Wallenstein were to vin-dicate the Emperor’s choice, and justify the highprice at which they had been purchased. Thevictory was as yet doubtful, but certain werethe labour and the bloodshed by which it mustbe earned. Every private in both armies, felt ajealous share in their leader’s reputation, andunder every corslet beat the same emotions thatinflamed the bosoms of the generals. Each armyknew the enemy to which it was to be opposed:and the anxiety which each in vain attemptedto repress, was a convincing proof of theiropponent’s strength.

At last the fateful morning dawned; but animpenetrable fog, which spread over the plain,delayed the attack till noon. Kneeling in frontof his lines, the king offered up his devotions;

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and the whole army, at the same moment drop-ping on their knees, burst into a moving hymn,accompanied by the military music. The kingthen mounted his horse, and clad only in aleathern doublet and surtout, (for a wound hehad formerly received prevented his wearingarmour,) rode along the ranks, to animate thecourage of his troops with a joyful confidence,which, however, the forboding presentiment ofhis own bosom contradicted. “God with us!” wasthe war-cry of the Swedes; “Jesus Maria!” thatof the Imperialists. About eleven the fog beganto disperse, and the enemy became visible. Atthe same moment Lutzen was seen in flames,having been set on fire by command of the duke,to prevent his being outflanked on that side.The charge was now sounded; the cavalryrushed upon the enemy, and the infantry ad-vanced against the trenches.

Received by a tremendous fire of musketryand heavy artillery, these intrepid battalions

maintained the attack with undaunted cour-age, till the enemy’s musketeers abandonedtheir posts, the trenches were passed, the bat-tery carried and turned against the enemy. Theypressed forward with irresistible impetuosity;the first of the five imperial brigades was imme-diately routed, the second soon after, and thethird put to flight. But here the genius ofWallenstein opposed itself to their progress.With the rapidity of lightning he was on thespot to rally his discomfited troops; and his pow-erful word was itself sufficient to stop the flightof the fugitives. Supported by three regimentsof cavalry, the vanquished brigades, forminganew, faced the enemy, and pressed vigorouslyinto the broken ranks of the Swedes. A mur-derous conflict ensued. The nearness of theenemy left no room for fire-arms, the fury ofthe attack no time for loading; man was matchedto man, the useless musket exchanged for thesword and pike, and science gave way to des-

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peration. Overpowered by numbers, the wea-ried Swedes at last retire beyond the trenches;and the captured battery is again lost by theretreat. A thousand mangled bodies alreadystrewed the plain, and as yet not a single stepof ground had been won.

In the mean time, the king’s right wing, ledby himself, had fallen upon the enemy’s left.The first impetuous shock of the heavy Finlandcuirassiers dispersed the lightly-mounted Polesand Croats, who were posted here, and theirdisorderly flight spread terror and confusionamong the rest of the cavalry. At this momentnotice was brought the king, that his infantrywere retreating over the trenches, and also thathis left wing, exposed to a severe fire from theenemy’s cannon posted at the windmills wasbeginning to give way. With rapid decision hecommitted to General Horn the pursuit of theenemy’s left, while he flew, at the head of theregiment of Steinbock, to repair the disorder of

his right wing. His noble charger bore him withthe velocity of lightning across the trenches,but the squadrons that followed could not comeon with the same speed, and only a few horse-men, among whom was Francis Albert, Duke ofSaxe Lauenburg, were able to keep up with theking. He rode directly to the place where hisinfantry were most closely pressed, and whilehe was reconnoitring the enemy’s line for anexposed point of attack, the shortness of hissight unfortunately led him too close to theirranks. An imperial Gefreyter*, remarking thatevery one respectfully made way for him as herode along, immediately ordered a musketeerto take aim at him. “Fire at him yonder,” saidhe, “that must be a man of consequence.” Thesoldier fired, and the king’s left arm was shat-tered. At that moment his squadron came hur-rying up, and a confused cry of “the king bleeds!

* Gefreyter, a person exempt from watching duty, nearly

corresponding to the corporal.

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the king is shot!” spread terror and consterna-tion through all the ranks. “It is nothing — fol-low me,” cried the king, collecting his wholestrength; but overcome by pain, and nearlyfainting, he requested the Duke of Lauenburg,in French, to lead him unobserved out of thetumult. While the duke proceeded towards theright wing with the king, making a long circuitto keep this discouraging sight from the disor-dered infantry, his majesty received a secondshot through the back, which deprived him ofhis remaining strength. “Brother,” said he, witha dying voice, “I have enough! look only to yourown life.” At the same moment he fell from hishorse pierced by several more shots; and aban-doned by all his attendants, he breathed hislast amidst the plundering hands of the Croats.His charger, flying without its rider, and cov-ered with blood, soon made known to the Swed-ish cavalry the fall of their king. They rushedmadly forward to rescue his sacred remains from

the hands of the enemy. A murderous conflictensued over the body, till his mangled remainswere buried beneath a heap of slain.

The mournful tidings soon ran through theSwedish army; but instead of destroying thecourage of these brave troops, it but excited itinto a new, a wild, and consuming flame. Lifehad lessened in value, now that the most sa-cred life of all was gone; death had no terrorsfor the lowly since the anointed head was notspared. With the fury of lions the Upland,Smaeland, Finland, East and West Gothlandregiments rushed a second time upon the leftwing of the enemy, which, already making butfeeble resistance to General Horn, was nowentirely beaten from the field. Bernard, Dukeof Saxe-Weimar, gave to the bereaved Swedes anoble leader in his own person; and the spiritof Gustavus led his victorious squadrons anew.The left wing quickly formed again, and vigor-ously pressed the right of the Imperialists. The

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artillery at the windmills, which had maintainedso murderous a fire upon the Swedes, was cap-tured and turned against the enemy. The cen-tre, also, of the Swedish infantry, commandedby the duke and Knyphausen, advanced a sec-ond time against the trenches, which they suc-cessfully passed, and retook the battery of sevencannons. The attack was now renewed with re-doubled fury upon the heavy battalions of theenemy’s centre; their resistance became gradu-ally less, and chance conspired with Swedishvalour to complete the defeat. The imperial pow-der-waggons took fire, and, with a tremendousexplosion, grenades and bombs filled the air.The enemy, now in confusion, thought theywere attacked in the rear, while the Swedishbrigades pressed them in front. Their couragebegan to fail them. Their left wing was alreadybeaten, their right wavering, and their artilleryin the enemy’s hands. The battle seemed to bealmost decided; another moment would decide

the fate of the day, when Pappenheim appearedon the field, with his cuirassiers and dragoons;all the advantages already gained were lost, andthe battle was to be fought anew.

The order which recalled that general toLutzen had reached him in Halle, while histroops were still plundering the town. It wasimpossible to collect the scattered infantry withthat rapidity, which the urgency of the order,and Pappenheim’s impatience required. With-out waiting for it, therefore, he ordered eightregiments of cavalry to mount; and at their headhe galloped at full speed for Lutzen, to share inthe battle. He arrived in time to witness theflight of the imperial right wing, which GustavusHorn was driving from the field, and to be atfirst involved in their rout. But with rapid pres-ence of mind he rallied the flying troops, andled them once more against the enemy. Car-ried away by his wild bravery, and impatient toencounter the king, who he supposed was at

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the head of this wing, he burst furiously uponthe Swedish ranks, which, exhausted by vic-tory, and inferior in numbers, were, after anoble resistance, overpowered by this freshbody of enemies. Pappenheim’s unexpectedappearance revived the drooping courage of theImperialists, and the Duke of Friedland quicklyavailed himself of the favourable moment to re-form his line. The closely serried battalions ofthe Swedes were, after a tremendous conflict,again driven across the trenches; and the bat-tery, which had been twice lost, again rescuedfrom their hands. The whole yellow regiment,the finest of all that distinguished themselvesin this dreadful day, lay dead on the field, cov-ering the ground almost in the same excellentorder which, when alive, they maintained withsuch unyielding courage. The same fate befelanother regiment of Blues, which CountPiccolomini attacked with the imperial cavalry,and cut down after a desperate contest. Seven

times did this intrepid general renew the at-tack; seven horses were shot under him, andhe himself was pierced with six musket balls;yet he would not leave the field, until he wascarried along in the general rout of the wholearmy. Wallenstein himself was seen ridingthrough his ranks with cool intrepidity, amidsta shower of balls, assisting the distressed, en-couraging the valiant with praise, and the wa-vering by his fearful glance. Around and closeby him his men were falling thick, and his ownmantle was perforated by several shots. Butavenging destiny this day protected that breast,for which another weapon was reserved; on thesame field where the noble Gustavus expired,Wallenstein was not allowed to terminate hisguilty career.

Less fortunate was Pappenheim, the Telamonof the army, the bravest soldier of Austria andthe church. An ardent desire to encounter theking in person, carried this daring leader into

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the thickest of the fight, where he thought hisnoble opponent was most surely to be met.Gustavus had also expressed a wish to meethis brave antagonist, but these hostile wishesremained ungratified; death first brought to-gether these two great heroes. Two musket-ballspierced the breast of Pappenheim; and his menforcibly carried him from the field. While theywere conveying him to the rear, a murmurreached him, that he whom he had sought, laydead upon the plain. When the truth of the re-port was confirmed to him, his look becamebrighter, his dying eye sparkled with a lastgleam of joy. “Tell the Duke of Friedland,” saidhe, “that I lie without hope of life, but that I diehappy, since I know that the implacable enemyof my religion has fallen on the same day.”

With Pappenheim, the good fortune of the Im-perialists departed. The cavalry of the left wing,already beaten, and only rallied by his exer-tions, no sooner missed their victorious leader,

than they gave up everything for lost, and aban-doned the field of battle in spiritless despair.The right wing fell into the same confusion, withthe exception of a few regiments, which thebravery of their colonels Gotz, Terzky, Colloredo,and Piccolomini, compelled to keep theirground. The Swedish infantry, with prompt de-termination, profited by the enemy’s confusion.To fill up the gaps which death had made inthe front line, they formed both lines into one,and with it made the final and decisive charge.A third time they crossed the trenches, and athird time they captured the battery. The sunwas setting when the two lines closed. The strifegrew hotter as it drew to an end; the last effortsof strength were mutually exerted, and skill andcourage did their utmost to repair in these pre-cious moments the fortune of the day. It was invain; despair endows every one with superhu-man strength; no one can conquer, no one willgive way. The art of war seemed to exhaust its

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powers on one side, only to unfold some newand untried masterpiece of skill on the other.Night and darkness at last put an end to thefight, before the fury of the combatants wasexhausted; and the contest only ceased, whenno one could any longer find an antagonist.Both armies separated, as if by tacit agreement;the trumpets sounded, and each party claim-ing the victory, quitted the field.

The artillery on both sides, as the horses couldnot be found, remained all night upon the field,at once the reward and the evidence of victoryto him who should hold it. Wallenstein, in hishaste to leave Leipzig and Saxony, forgot to re-move his part. Not long after the battle wasended, Pappenheim’s infantry, who had beenunable to follow the rapid movements of theirgeneral, and who amounted to six regiments,marched on the field, but the work was done. Afew hours earlier, so considerable a reinforce-ment would perhaps have decided the day in

favour of the Imperialists; and, even now, byremaining on the field, they might have savedthe duke’s artillery, and made a prize of that ofthe Swedes. But they had received no orders toact; and, uncertain as to the issue of the battle,they retired to Leipzig, where they hoped to jointhe main body.

The Duke of Friedland had retreated thither,and was followed on the morrow by the scat-tered remains of his army, without artillery,without colours, and almost without arms. TheDuke of Weimar, it appears, after the toils ofthis bloody day, allowed the Swedish army somerepose, between Lutzen and Weissenfels, nearenough to the field of battle to oppose any at-tempt the enemy might make to recover it. Ofthe two armies, more than 9,000 men lay dead;a still greater number were wounded, andamong the Imperialists, scarcely a man escapedfrom the field uninjured. The entire plain fromLutzen to the Canal was strewed with the

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wounded, the dying, and the dead. Many of theprincipal nobility had fallen on both sides. Eventhe Abbot of Fulda, who had mingled in thecombat as a spectator, paid for his curiosity andhis ill-timed zeal with his life. History says noth-ing of prisoners; a further proof of the animos-ity of the combatants, who neither gave nor tookquarter.

Pappenheim died the next day of his woundsat Leipzig; an irreparable loss to the imperialarmy, which this brave warrior had so often ledon to victory. The battle of Prague, where, to-gether with Wallenstein, he was present as colo-nel, was the beginning of his heroic career.Dangerously wounded, with a few troops, hemade an impetuous attack on a regiment of theenemy, and lay for several hours mixed withthe dead upon the field, beneath the weight ofhis horse, till he was discovered by some of hisown men in plundering. With a small force hedefeated, in three different engagements, the

rebels in Upper Austria, though 40,000 strong.At the battle of Leipzig, he for a long time de-layed the defeat of Tilly by his bravery, and ledthe arms of the Emperor on the Elbe and theWeser to victory. The wild impetuous fire of histemperament, which no danger, however ap-parent, could cool, or impossibilities check,made him the most powerful arm of the impe-rial force, but unfitted him for acting at its head.The battle of Leipzig, if Tilly may be believed,was lost through his rash ardour. At the de-struction of Magdeburg, his hands were deeplysteeped in blood; war rendered savage and fe-rocious his disposition, which had been culti-vated by youthful studies and various travels.On his forehead, two red streaks, like swords,were perceptible, with which nature hadmarked him at his very birth. Even in his lateryears, these became visible, as often as his bloodwas stirred by passion; and superstition easilypersuaded itself, that the future destiny of the

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man was thus impressed upon the forehead ofthe child. As a faithful servant of the House ofAustria, he had the strongest claims on thegratitude of both its lines, but he did not sur-vive to enjoy the most brilliant proof of theirregard. A messenger was already on his wayfrom Madrid, bearing to him the order of theGolden Fleece, when death overtook him atLeipzig.

Though Te Deum, in all Spanish and Austrianlands, was sung in honour of a victory,Wallenstein himself, by the haste with whichhe quitted Leipzig, and soon after all Saxony,and by renouncing his original design of fixingthere his winter quarters, openly confessed hisdefeat. It is true he made one more feeble at-tempt to dispute, even in his flight, the honourof victory, by sending out his Croats next morn-ing to the field; but the sight of the Swedisharmy drawn up in order of battle, immediatelydispersed these flying bands, and Duke Ber-

nard, by keeping possession of the field, andsoon after by the capture of Leipzig, maintainedindisputably his claim to the title of victor.

But it was a dear conquest, a dearer triumph!It was not till the fury of the contest was over,that the full weight of the loss sustained wasfelt, and the shout of triumph died away into asilent gloom of despair. He, who had led themto the charge, returned not with them; therehe lay upon the field which he had won, mingledwith the dead bodies of the common crowd. Af-ter a long and almost fruitless search, the corpseof the king was discovered, not far from the greatstone, which, for a hundred years before, hadstood between Lutzen and the Canal, andwhich, from the memorable disaster of that day,still bears the name of the Stone of the Swede.Covered with blood and wounds, so as scarcelyto be recognised, trampled beneath the horses’hoofs, stripped by the rude hands of plunder-ers of its ornaments and clothes, his body was

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drawn from beneath a heap of dead, conveyedto Weissenfels, and there delivered up to thelamentations of his soldiers, and the last em-braces of his queen. The first tribute had beenpaid to revenge, and blood had atoned for theblood of the monarch; but now affection as-sumes its rights, and tears of grief must flowfor the man. The universal sorrow absorbs allindividual woes. The generals, still stupefied bythe unexpected blow, stood speechless andmotionless around his bier, and no one trustedhimself enough to contemplate the full extentof their loss.

The Emperor, we are told by Khevenhuller,showed symptoms of deep, and apparently sin-cere feeling, at the sight of the king’s doubletstained with blood, which had been strippedfrom him during the battle, and carried toVienna. “Willingly,” said he, “would I havegranted to the unfortunate prince a longer life,and a safe return to his kingdom, had Germany

been at peace.” But when a trait, which is noth-ing more than a proof of a yet lingering hu-manity, and which a mere regard to appear-ances and even self-love, would have extortedfrom the most insensible, and the absence ofwhich could exist only in the most inhumanheart, has, by a Roman Catholic writer of mod-ern times and acknowledged merit, been madethe subject of the highest eulogium, and com-pared with the magnanimous tears ofAlexander, for the fall of Darius, our distrust isexcited of the other virtues of the writer’s hero,and what is still worse, of his own ideas of moraldignity. But even such praise, whatever itsamount, is much for one, whose memory hisbiographer has to clear from the suspicion ofbeing privy to the assassination of a king.

It was scarcely to be expected, that the strongleaning of mankind to the marvellous, wouldleave to the common course of nature the gloryof ending the career of Gustavus Adolphus. The

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death of so formidable a rival was too importantan event for the Emperor, not to excite in hisbitter opponent a ready suspicion, that whatwas so much to his interests, was also the re-sult of his instigation. For the execution, how-ever, of this dark deed, the Emperor would re-quire the aid of a foreign arm, and this it wasgenerally believed he had found in FrancisAlbert, Duke of Saxe Lauenburg. The rank ofthe latter permitted him a free access to theking’s person, while it at the same time seemedto place him above the suspicion of so foul adeed. This prince, however, was in fact not in-capable of this atrocity, and he had moreoversufficient motives for its commission.

Francis Albert, the youngest of four sons ofFrancis II, Duke of Lauenburg, and related bythe mother’s side to the race of Vasa, had, inhis early years, found a most friendly recep-tion at the Swedish court. Some offence whichhe had committed against Gustavus Adolphus,

in the queen’s chamber, was, it is said, repaidby this fiery youth with a box on the ear; which,though immediately repented of, and amplyapologized for, laid the foundation of anirreconcileable hate in the vindictive heart ofthe duke. Francis Albert subsequently enteredthe imperial service, where he rose to the com-mand of a regiment, and formed a close inti-macy with Wallenstein, and condescended tobe the instrument of a secret negociation withthe Saxon court, which did little honour to hisrank. Without any sufficient cause being as-signed, he suddenly quitted the Austrian ser-vice, and appeared in the king’s camp atNuremberg, to offer his services as a volunteer.By his show of zeal for the Protestant cause,and prepossessing and flattering deportment,he gained the heart of the king, who, warnedin vain by Oxenstiern, continued to lavish hisfavour and friendship on this suspicious newcomer. The battle of Lutzen soon followed, in

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which Francis Albert, like an evil genius, keptclose to the king’s side and did not leave himtill he fell. He owed, it was thought, his ownsafety amidst the fire of the enemy, to a greensash which he wore, the colour of the Imperial-ists. He was at any rate the first to convey to hisfriend Wallenstein the intelligence of the king’sdeath. After the battle, he exchanged the Swed-ish service for the Saxon; and, after the murderof Wallenstein, being charged with being anaccomplice of that general, he only escaped thesword of justice by abjuring his faith. His lastappearance in life was as commander of an im-perial army in Silesia, where he died of thewounds he had received before Schweidnitz. Itrequires some effort to believe in the innocenceof a man, who had run through a career likethis, of the act charged against him; but, how-ever great may be the moral and physical pos-sibility of his committing such a crime, it muststill be allowed that there are no certain grounds

for imputing it to him. Gustavus Adolphus, it iswell known, exposed himself to danger, like themeanest soldier in his army, and where thou-sands fell, he, too, might naturally meet hisdeath. How it reached him, remains indeedburied in mystery; but here, more than any-where, does the maxim apply, that where theordinary course of things is fully sufficient toaccount for the fact, the honour of human na-ture ought not to be stained by any suspicionof moral atrocity.

But by whatever hand he fell, his extraordi-nary destiny must appear a great interpositionof Providence. History, too often confined to theungrateful task of analyzing the uniform playof human passions, is occasionally rewarded bythe appearance of events, which strike like ahand from heaven, into the nicely adjustedmachinery of human plans, and carry the con-templative mind to a higher order of things. Ofthis kind, is the sudden retirement of Gustavus

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Adolphus from the scene; — stopping for a timethe whole movement of the political machine,and disappointing all the calculations of hu-man prudence. Yesterday, the very soul, thegreat and animating principle of his own cre-ation; to-day, struck unpitiably to the groundin the very midst of his eagle flight; untimelytorn from a whole world of great designs, andfrom the ripening harvest of his expectations,he left his bereaved party disconsolate; and theproud edifice of his past greatness sunk intoruins. The Protestant party had identified itshopes with its invincible leader, and scarcelycan it now separate them from him; with him,they now fear all good fortune is buried. But itwas no longer the benefactor of Germany whofell at Lutzen: the beneficent part of his career,Gustavus Adolphus had already terminated;and now the greatest service which he couldrender to the liberties of Germany was — todie. The all-engrossing power of an individual

was at an end, but many came forward to essaytheir strength; the equivocal assistance of anover-powerful protector, gave place to a morenoble self-exertion on the part of the Estates;and those who were formerly the mere instru-ments of his aggrandizement, now began towork for themselves. They now looked to theirown exertions for the emancipation, whichcould not be received without danger from thehand of the mighty; and the Swedish power,now incapable of sinking into the oppressor,was henceforth restricted to the more modestpart of an ally.

The ambition of the Swedish monarch aspiredunquestionably to establish a power withinGermany, and to attain a firm footing in thecentre of the empire, which was inconsistentwith the liberties of the Estates. His aim wasthe imperial crown; and this dignity, supportedby his power, and maintained by his energyand activity, would in his hands be liable to

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more abuse than had ever been feared from theHouse of Austria. Born in a foreign country,educated in the maxims of arbitrary power, andby principles and enthusiasm a determinedenemy to Popery, he was ill qualified to main-tain inviolate the constitution of the GermanStates, or to respect their liberties. The coer-cive homage which Augsburg, with many othercities, was forced to pay to the Swedish crown,bespoke the conqueror, rather than the pro-tector of the empire; and this town, prouder ofthe title of a royal city, than of the higher dig-nity of the freedom of the empire, flattered it-self with the anticipation of becoming the capi-tal of his future kingdom. His ill-disguised at-tempts upon the Electorate of Mentz, which hefirst intended to bestow upon the Elector ofBrandenburg, as the dower of his daughterChristina, and afterwards destined for his chan-cellor and friend Oxenstiern, evinced plainlywhat liberties he was disposed to take with the

constitution of the empire. His allies, the Prot-estant princes, had claims on his gratitude,which could be satisfied only at the expense oftheir Roman Catholic neighbours, and particu-larly of the immediate Ecclesiastical Chapters;and it seems probable a plan was early formedfor dividing the conquered provinces, (after theprecedent of the barbarian hordes who overranthe German empire,) as a common spoil, amongthe German and Swedish confederates. In histreatment of the Elector Palatine, he entirelybelied the magnanimity of the hero, and forgotthe sacred character of a protector. ThePalatinate was in his hands, and the obligationsboth of justice and honour demanded its fulland immediate restoration to the legitimatesovereign. But, by a subtlety unworthy of a greatmind, and disgraceful to the honourable titleof protector of the oppressed, he eluded thatobligation. He treated the Palatinate as a con-quest wrested from the enemy, and thought that

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this circumstance gave him a right to deal withit as he pleased. He surrendered it to the Elec-tor as a favour, not as a debt; and that, too, as aSwedish fief, fettered by conditions which di-minished half its value, and degraded this un-fortunate prince into a humble vassal of Swe-den. One of these conditions obliged the Elec-tor, after the conclusion of the war, to furnish,along with the other princes, his contributiontowards the maintenance of the Swedish army,a condition which plainly indicates the fatewhich, in the event of the ultimate success ofthe king, awaited Germany. His sudden disap-pearance secured the liberties of Germany, andsaved his reputation, while it probably sparedhim the mortification of seeing his own alliesin arms against him, and all the fruits of hisvictories torn from him by a disadvantageouspeace. Saxony was already disposed to aban-don him, Denmark viewed his success withalarm and jealousy; and even France, the firm-

est and most potent of his allies, terrified at therapid growth of his power and the imperioustone which he assumed, looked around at thevery moment he past the Lech, for foreign alli-ances, in order to check the progress of theGoths, and restore to Europe the balance ofpower.

Book IV

THE WEAK BOND of union, by which GustavusAdolphus contrived to hold together theProtestant members of the empire, was

dissolved by his death: the allies were now againat liberty, and their alliance, to last, must beformed anew. By the former event, ifunremedied, they would lose all the advantagesthey had gained at the cost of so much blood-shed, and expose themselves to the inevitabledanger of becoming one after the other the preyof an enemy, whom, by their union alone, they

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had been able to oppose and to master. Nei-ther Sweden, nor any of the states of the em-pire, was singly a match with the Emperor andthe League; and, by seeking a peace under thepresent state of things, they would necessarilybe obliged to receive laws from the enemy.Union was, therefore, equally indispensable,either for concluding a peace or continuing thewar. But a peace, sought under the present cir-cumstances, could not fail to be disadvanta-geous to the allied powers. With the death ofGustavus Adolphus, the enemy had formed newhopes; and however gloomy might be the situ-ation of his affairs after the battle of Lutzen,still the death of his dreaded rival was an eventtoo disastrous to the allies, and too favourablefor the Emperor, not to justify him in enter-taining the most brilliant expectations, and notto encourage him to the prosecution of the war.Its inevitable consequence, for the moment atleast, must be want of union among the allies,

and what might not the Emperor and theLeague gain from such a division of their en-emies? He was not likely to sacrifice such pros-pects, as the present turn of affairs held out tohim, for any peace, not highly beneficial to him-self; and such a peace the allies would not bedisposed to accept. They naturally determined,therefore, to continue the war, and for this pur-pose, the maintenance of the existing unionwas acknowledged to be indispensable.

But how was this union to be renewed? andwhence were to be derived the necessary meansfor continuing the war? It was not the power ofSweden, but the talents and personal influenceof its late king, which had given him so over-whelming an influence in Germany, so great acommand over the minds of men; and even hehad innumerable difficulties to overcome, be-fore he could establish among the states even aweak and wavering alliance. With his death van-ished all, which his personal qualities alone had

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rendered practicable; and the mutual obliga-tion of the states seemed to cease with the hopeson which it had been founded. Several impa-tiently threw off the yoke which had always beenirksome; others hastened to seize the helmwhich they had unwillingly seen in the handsof Gustavus, but which, during his lifetime, theydid not dare to dispute with him. Some weretempted, by the seductive promises of the Em-peror, to abandon the alliance; others, op-pressed by the heavy burdens of a fourteenyears’ war, longed for the repose of peace, uponany conditions, however ruinous. The generalsof the army, partly German princes, acknowl-edged no common head, and no one wouldstoop to receive orders from another. Unanim-ity vanished alike from the cabinet and the field,and their common weal was threatened withruin, by the spirit of disunion.

Gustavus had left no male heir to the crownof Sweden: his daughter Christina, then six

years old, was the natural heir. The unavoid-able weakness of a regency, suited ill with thatenergy and resolution, which Sweden would becalled upon to display in this trying conjunc-ture. The wide reaching mind of GustavusAdolphus had raised this unimportant, andhitherto unknown kingdom, to a rank amongthe powers of Europe, which it could not retainwithout the fortune and genius of its author,and from which it could not recede, without ahumiliating confession of weakness. Though theGerman war had been conducted chiefly on theresources of Germany, yet even the small con-tribution of men and money, which Swedenfurnished, had sufficed to exhaust the financesof that poor kingdom, and the peasantrygroaned beneath the imposts necessarily laidupon them. The plunder gained in Germanyenriched only a few individuals, among thenobles and the soldiers, while Sweden itselfremained poor as before. For a time, it is true,

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the national glory reconciled the subject tothese burdens, and the sums exacted, seemedbut as a loan placed at interest, in the fortu-nate hand of Gustavus Adolphus, to be richlyrepaid by the grateful monarch at the conclu-sion of a glorious peace. But with the king’sdeath this hope vanished, and the deludedpeople now loudly demanded relief from theirburdens.

But the spirit of Gustavus Adolphus still livedin the men to whom he had confided the ad-ministration of the kingdom. However dreadfulto them, and unexpected, was the intelligenceof his death, it did not deprive them of theirmanly courage; and the spirit of ancient Rome,under the invasion of Brennus and Hannibal,animated this noble assembly. The greater theprice, at which these hard-gained advantageshad been purchased, the less readily could theyreconcile themselves to renounce them: notunrevenged was a king to be sacrificed. Called

on to choose between a doubtful and exhaust-ing war, and a profitable but disgraceful peace,the Swedish council of state boldly espousedthe side of danger and honour; and with agree-able surprise, men beheld this venerable sen-ate acting with all the energy and enthusiasmof youth. Surrounded with watchful enemies,both within and without, and threatened onevery side with danger, they armed themselvesagainst them all, with equal prudence and hero-ism, and laboured to extend their kingdom,even at the moment when they had to strugglefor its existence.

The decease of the king, and the minority ofhis daughter Christina, renewed the claims ofPoland to the Swedish throne; and KingLadislaus, the son of Sigismund, spared no in-trigues to gain a party in Sweden. On thisground, the regency lost no time in proclaim-ing the young queen, and arranging the ad-ministration of the regency. All the officers of

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the kingdom were summoned to do homage totheir new princess; all correspondence withPoland prohibited, and the edicts of previousmonarchs against the heirs of Sigismund, con-firmed by a solemn act of the nation. The alli-ance with the Czar of Muscovy was carefullyrenewed, in order, by the arms of this prince,to keep the hostile Poles in check. The death ofGustavus Adolphus had put an end to the jeal-ousy of Denmark, and removed the grounds ofalarm which had stood in the way of a goodunderstanding between the two states. The rep-resentations by which the enemy sought to stirup Christian IV. against Sweden were no longerlistened to; and the strong wish the Danishmonarch entertained for the marriage of his sonUlrick with the young princess, combined, withthe dictates of a sounder policy, to incline himto a neutrality. At the same time, England, Hol-land, and France came forward with the grati-fying assurances to the regency of continued

friendship and support, and encouraged them,with one voice, to prosecute with activity thewar, which hitherto had been conducted withso much glory. Whatever reason France mighthave to congratulate itself on the death of theSwedish conqueror, it was as fully sensible ofthe expediency of maintaining the alliance withSweden. Without exposing itself to great dan-ger, it could not allow the power of Sweden tosink in Germany. Want of resources of its own,would either drive Sweden to conclude a hastyand disadvantageous peace with Austria, andthen all the past efforts to lower the ascendancyof this dangerous power would be thrown away;or necessity and despair would drive the armiesto extort from the Roman Catholic states themeans of support, and France would then beregarded as the betrayer of those very states,who had placed themselves under her power-ful protection. The death of Gustavus, far frombreaking up the alliance between France and

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Sweden, had only rendered it more necessaryfor both, and more profitable for France. Now,for the first time, since he was dead who hadstretched his protecting arm over Germany, andguarded its frontiers against the encroachingdesigns of France, could the latter safely pur-sue its designs upon Alsace, and thus be en-abled to sell its aid to the German Protestantsat a dearer rate.

Strengthened by these alliances, secured inits interior, and defended from without bystrong frontier garrisons and fleets, the regencydid not delay an instant to continue a war, bywhich Sweden had little of its own to lose, while,if success attended its arms, one or more of theGerman provinces might be won, either as aconquest, or indemnification of its expenses.Secure amidst its seas, Sweden, even if drivenout of Germany, would scarcely be exposed togreater peril, than if it voluntarily retired fromthe contest, while the former measure was as

honourable, as the latter was disgraceful. Themore boldness the regency displayed, the moreconfidence would they inspire among their con-federates, the more respect among their en-emies, and the more favourable conditionsmight they anticipate in the event of peace. Ifthey found themselves too weak to execute thewide-ranging projects of Gustavus, they at leastowed it to this lofty model to do their utmost,and to yield to no difficulty short of absolutenecessity. Alas, that motives of self-interest hadtoo great a share in this noble determination,to demand our unqualified admiration! Forthose who had nothing themselves to sufferfrom the calamities of war, but were rather tobe enriched by it, it was an easy matter to re-solve upon its continuation; for the Germanempire was, in the end, to defray the expenses;and the provinces on which they reckoned,would be cheaply purchased with the few troopsthey sacrificed to them, and with the generals

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who were placed at the head of armies, com-posed for the most part of Germans, and withthe honourable superintendence of all the op-erations, both military and political.

But this superintendence was irreconcileablewith the distance of the Swedish regency fromthe scene of action, and with the slowness whichnecessarily accompanies all the movements ofa council.

To one comprehensive mind must be intrustedthe management of Swedish interests in Ger-many, and with full powers to determine at dis-cretion all questions of war and peace, the nec-essary alliances, or the acquisitions made. Withdictatorial power, and with the whole influenceof the crown which he was to represent, mustthis important magistrate be invested, in orderto maintain its dignity, to enforce united andcombined operations, to give effect to his or-ders, and to supply the place of the monarchwhom he succeeded. Such a man was found in

the Chancellor Oxenstiern, the first minister,and what is more, the friend of the deceasedking, who, acquainted with all the secrets ofhis master, versed in the politics of Germany,and in the relations of all the states of Europe,was unquestionably the fittest instrument tocarry out the plans of Gustavus Adolphus intheir full extent.

Oxenstiern was on his way to Upper Germany,in order to assemble the four Upper Circles,when the news of the king’s death reached himat Hanau. This was a heavy blow, both to thefriend and the statesman. Sweden, indeed, hadlost but a king, Germany a protector; butOxenstiern, the author of his fortunes, thefriend of his soul, and the object of his admira-tion. Though the greatest sufferer in the gen-eral loss, he was the first who by his energyrose from the blow, and the only one qualifiedto repair it. His penetrating glance foresaw allthe obstacles which would oppose the execu-

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tion of his plans, the discouragement of theestates, the intrigues of hostile courts, thebreaking up of the confederacy, the jealousy ofthe leaders, and the dislike of princes of theempire to submit to foreign authority. But eventhis deep insight into the existing state ofthings, which revealed the whole extent of theevil, showed him also the means by which itmight be overcome. It was essential to revivethe drooping courage of the weaker states, tomeet the secret machinations of the enemy, toallay the jealousy of the more powerful allies,to rouse the friendly powers, and France inparticular, to active assistance; but above all, torepair the ruined edifice of the German alliance,and to reunite the scattered strength of theparty by a close and permanent bond of union.The dismay which the loss of their leader occa-sioned the German Protestants, might as readilydispose them to a closer alliance with Sweden,as to a hasty peace with the Emperor; and it

depended entirely upon the course pursued,which of these alternatives they would adopt.Every thing might be lost by the slightest signof despondency; nothing, but the confidencewhich Sweden showed in herself, could kindleamong the Germans a noble feeling of self-con-fidence. All the attempts of Austria, to detachthese princes from the Swedish alliance, wouldbe unavailing, the moment their eyes becameopened to their true interests, and they wereinstigated to a public and formal breach withthe Emperor.

Before these measures could be taken, andthe necessary points settled between the re-gency and their minister, a precious opportu-nity of action would, it is true, be lost to theSwedish army, of which the enemy would besure to take the utmost advantage. It was, inshort, in the power of the Emperor totally toruin the Swedish interest in Germany, and tothis he was actually invited by the prudent

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councils of the Duke of Friedland. Wallensteinadvised him to proclaim a universal amnesty,and to meet the Protestant states withfavourable conditions. In the first consternationproduced by the fall of Gustavus Adolphus, sucha declaration would have had the most power-ful effects, and probably would have broughtthe wavering states back to their allegiance. Butblinded by this unexpected turn of fortune, andinfatuated by Spanish counsels, he anticipateda more brilliant issue from war, and, instead oflistening to these propositions of an accommo-dation, he hastened to augment his forces.Spain, enriched by the grant of the tenth ofthe ecclesiastical possessions, which the popeconfirmed, sent him considerable supplies,negociated for him at the Saxon court, and hast-ily levied troops for him in Italy to be employedin Germany. The Elector of Bavaria also con-siderably increased his military force; and therestless disposition of the Duke of Lorraine did

not permit him to remain inactive in thisfavourable change of fortune. But while theenemy were thus busy to profit by the disasterof Sweden, Oxenstiern was diligent to avert itsmost fatal consequences.

Less apprehensive of open enemies, than ofthe jealousy of the friendly powers, he left Up-per Germany, which he had secured by con-quests and alliances, and set out in person toprevent a total defection of the Lower Germanstates, or, what would have been almost equallyruinous to Sweden, a private alliance amongthemselves. Offended at the boldness withwhich the chancellor assumed the direction ofaffairs, and inwardly exasperated at the thoughtof being dictated to by a Swedish nobleman,the Elector of Saxony again meditated a dan-gerous separation from Sweden; and the onlyquestion in his mind was, whether he shouldmake full terms with the Emperor, or place him-self at the head of the Protestants and form a

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third party in Germany. Similar ideas werecherished by Duke Ulric of Brunswick, who,indeed, showed them openly enough by forbid-ding the Swedes from recruiting within his do-minions, and inviting the Lower Saxon statesto Luneburg, for the purpose of forming a con-federacy among themselves. The Elector ofBrandenburg, jealous of the influence whichSaxony was likely to attain in Lower Germany,alone manifested any zeal for the interests ofthe Swedish throne, which, in thought, he al-ready destined for his son. At the court ofSaxony, Oxenstiern was no doubt honourablyreceived; but, notwithstanding the personal ef-forts of the Elector of Brandenburg, emptypromises of continued friendship were all whichhe could obtain. With the Duke of Brunswickhe was more successful, for with him he ven-tured to assume a bolder tone. Sweden was atthe time in possession of the See of Magdeburg,the bishop of which had the power of assem-

bling the Lower Saxon circle. The chancellornow asserted the rights of the crown, and bythis spirited proceeding, put a stop for thepresent to this dangerous assembly designedby the duke. The main object, however, of hispresent journey and of his future endeavours,a general confederacy of the Protestants, mis-carried entirely, and he was obliged to contenthimself with some unsteady alliances in theSaxon circles, and with the weaker assistanceof Upper Germany.

As the Bavarians were too powerful on theDanube, the assembly of the four Upper Circles,which should have been held at Ulm, was re-moved to Heilbronn, where deputies of morethan twelve cities of the empire, with a brilliantcrowd of doctors, counts, and princes, attended.The ambassadors of foreign powers likewise,France, England, and Holland, attended thisCongress, at which Oxenstiern appeared inperson, with all the splendour of the crown

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whose representative he was. He himselfopened the proceedings, and conducted thedeliberations. After receiving from all the as-sembled estates assurances of unshaken fidel-ity, perseverance, and unity, he required ofthem solemnly and formally to declare theEmperor and the league as enemies. But de-sirable as it was for Sweden to exasperate theill-feeling between the emperor and the estatesinto a formal rupture, the latter, on the otherhand, were equally indisposed to shut out thepossibility of reconciliation, by so decided a step,and to place themselves entirely in the handsof the Swedes. They maintained, that any for-mal declaration of war was useless and super-fluous, where the act would speak for itself, andtheir firmness on this point silenced at last thechancellor. Warmer disputes arose on the thirdand principal article of the treaty, concerningthe means of prosecuting the war, and the quotawhich the several states ought to furnish for

the support of the army. Oxenstiern’s maxim,to throw as much as possible of the commonburden on the states, did not suit very well withtheir determination to give as little as possible.The Swedish chancellor now experienced, whathad been felt by thirty emperors before him, totheir cost, that of all difficult undertakings, themost difficult was to extort money from theGermans. Instead of granting the necessarysums for the new armies to be raised, they elo-quently dwelt upon the calamities occasionedby the former, and demanded relief from theold burdens, when they were required to sub-mit to new. The irritation which the chancellor’sdemand for money raised among the states,gave rise to a thousand complaints; and theoutrages committed by the troops, in theirmarches and quarters, were dwelt upon with astartling minuteness and truth.

In the service of two absolute monarchs,Oxenstiern had but little opportunity to become

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accustomed to the formalities and cautious pro-ceedings of republican deliberations, or to bearopposition with patience. Ready to act, the in-stant the necessity of action was apparent, andinflexible in his resolution, when he had oncetaken it, he was at a loss to comprehend theinconsistency of most men, who, while theydesire the end, are yet averse to the means.Prompt and impetuous by nature, he was so onthis occasion from principle; for every thingdepended on concealing the weakness of Swe-den, under a firm and confident speech, andby assuming the tone of a lawgiver, really tobecome so. It was nothing wonderful, therefore,if, amidst these interminable discussions withGerman doctors and deputies, he was entirelyout of his sphere, and if the deliberatenesswhich distinguishes the character of the Ger-mans in their public deliberations, had drivenhim almost to despair. Without respecting acustom, to which even the most powerful of the

emperors had been obliged to conform, he re-jected all written deliberations which suited sowell with the national slowness of resolve. Hecould not conceive how ten days could be spentin debating a measure, which with himself wasdecided upon its bare suggestion. Harshly, how-ever, as he treated the States, he found themready enough to assent to his fourth motion,which concerned himself. When he pointed outthe necessity of giving a head and a director tothe new confederation, that honour was unani-mously assigned to Sweden, and he himself washumbly requested to give to the common causethe benefit of his enlightened experience, andto take upon himself the burden of the supremecommand. But in order to prevent his abusingthe great powers thus conferred upon him, itwas proposed, not without French influence,to appoint a number of overseers, in fact, un-der the name of assistants, to control the ex-penditure of the common treasure, and to con-

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sult with him as to the levies, marches, andquarterings of the troops. Oxenstiern long andstrenuously resisted this limitation of his au-thority, which could not fail to trammel him inthe execution of every enterprise requiringpromptitude or secrecy, and at last succeeded,with difficulty, in obtaining so far a modifica-tion of it, that his management in affairs of warwas to be uncontrolled. The chancellor finallyapproached the delicate point of the indemni-fication which Sweden was to expect at the con-clusion of the war, from the gratitude of theallies, and flattered himself with the hope thatPomerania, the main object of Sweden, wouldbe assigned to her, and that he would obtainfrom the provinces, assurances of effectual co-operation in its acquisition. But he could ob-tain nothing more than a vague assurance, thatin a general peace the interests of all partieswould be attended to. That on this point, thecaution of the estates was not owing to any re-

gard for the constitution of the empire, becamemanifest from the liberality they evinced to-wards the chancellor, at the expense of the mostsacred laws of the empire. They were ready togrant him the archbishopric of Mentz, (whichhe already held as a conquest,) and only withdifficulty did the French ambassador succeedin preventing a step, which was as impolitic asit was disgraceful. Though on the whole, theresult of the congress had fallen far short ofOxenstiern’s expectations, he had at leastgained for himself and his crown his main ob-ject, namely, the direction of the whole confed-eracy; he had also succeeded in strengtheningthe bond of union between the four uppercircles, and obtained from the states a yearlycontribution of two millions and a half of dol-lars, for the maintenance of the army.

These concessions on the part of the States,demanded some return from Sweden. A fewweeks after the death of Gustavus Adolphus,

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sorrow ended the days of the unfortunate Elec-tor Palatine. For eight months he had swelledthe pomp of his protector’s court, and expendedon it the small remainder of his patrimony. Hewas, at last, approaching the goal of his wishes,and the prospect of a brighter future was open-ing, when death deprived him of his protector.But what he regarded as the greatest calamity,was highly favourable to his heirs. Gustavusmight venture to delay the restoration of hisdominions, or to load the gift with hard condi-tions; but Oxenstiern, to whom the friendshipof England, Holland, and Brandenburg, and thegood opinion of the Reformed States were in-dispensable, felt the necessity of immediatelyfulfilling the obligations of justice. At this as-sembly, at Heilbronn, therefore, he engaged tosurrender to Frederick’s heirs the wholePalatinate, both the part already conquered,and that which remained to be conquered, withthe exception of Manheim, which the Swedes

were to hold, until they should be indemnifiedfor their expenses. The Chancellor did not con-fine his liberality to the family of the Palatinealone; the other allied princes received proofs,though at a later period, of the gratitude ofSweden, which, however, she dispensed at littlecost to herself.

Impartiality, the most sacred obligation of thehistorian, here compels us to an admission, notmuch to the honour of the champions of Ger-man liberty. However the Protestant Princesmight boast of the justice of their cause, andthe sincerity of their conviction, still the mo-tives from which they acted were selfish enough;and the desire of stripping others of their pos-sessions, had at least as great a share in thecommencement of hostilities, as the fear of be-ing deprived of their own. Gustavus soon foundthat he might reckon much more on these self-ish motives, than on their patriotic zeal, anddid not fail to avail himself of them. Each of his

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confederates received from him the promise ofsome possession, either already wrested, or tobe afterwards taken from the enemy; and deathalone prevented him from fulfilling these en-gagements. What prudence had suggested tothe king, necessity now prescribed to his suc-cessor. If it was his object to continue the war,he must be ready to divide the spoil among theallies, and promise them advantages from theconfusion which it was his object to continue.Thus he promised to the Landgrave of Hesse,the abbacies of Paderborn, Corvey, Munster,and Fulda; to Duke Bernard of Weimar, theFranconian Bishoprics; to the Duke ofWirtemberg, the Ecclesiastical domains, and theAustrian counties lying within his territories,all under the title of fiefs of Sweden. This spec-tacle, so strange and so dishonourable to theGerman character, surprised the Chancellor,who found it difficult to repress his contempt,and on one occasion exclaimed, “Let it be writ

in our records, for an everlasting memorial, thata German prince made such a request of aSwedish nobleman, and that the Swedishnobleman granted it to the German upon Ger-man ground!”

After these successful measures, he was in acondition to take the field, and prosecute thewar with fresh vigour. Soon after the victory atLutzen, the troops of Saxony and Lunenburgunited with the Swedish main body; and theImperialists were, in a short time, totally drivenfrom Saxony. The united army again divided:the Saxons marched towards Lusatia andSilesia, to act in conjunction with Count Thurnagainst the Austrians in that quarter; a part ofthe Swedish army was led by the Duke ofWeimar into Franconia, and the other byGeorge, Duke of Brunswick, into Westphaliaand Lower Saxony.

The conquests on the Lech and the Danube,during Gustavus’s expedition into Saxony, had

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been maintained by the Palatine of Birkenfeld,and the Swedish General Banner, against theBavarians; but unable to hold their groundagainst the victorious progress of the latter,supported as they were by the bravery and mili-tary experience of the Imperial GeneralAltringer, they were under the necessity of sum-moning the Swedish General Horn to their as-sistance, from Alsace. This experienced generalhaving captured the towns of Benfeld,Schlettstadt, Colmar, and Hagenau, committedthe defence of them to the Rhinegrave OttoLouis, and hastily crossed the Rhine to form ajunction with Banner’s army. But although thecombined force amounted to more than 16,000,they could not prevent the enemy from obtain-ing a strong position on the Swabian frontier,taking Kempten, and being joined by seven regi-ments from Bohemia. In order to retain the com-mand of the important banks of the Lech andthe Danube, they were under the necessity of

recalling the Rhinegrave Otto Louis from Alsace,where he had, after the departure of Horn,found it difficult to defend himself against theexasperated peasantry. With his army, he wasnow summoned to strengthen the army on theDanube; and as even this reinforcement wasinsufficient, Duke Bernard of Weimar was ear-nestly pressed to turn his arms into this quar-ter.

Duke Bernard, soon after the opening of thecampaign of 1633, had made himself master ofthe town and territory of Bamberg, and was nowthreatening Wurtzburg. But on receiving thesummons of General Horn, without delay hebegan his march towards the Danube, defeatedon his way a Bavarian army under John deWerth, and joined the Swedes nearDonauwerth. This numerous force, commandedby excellent generals, now threatened Bavariawith a fearful inroad. The bishopric of Eichstadtwas completely overrun, and Ingoldstadt was

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on the point of being delivered up by treacheryto the Swedes. Altringer, fettered in his move-ments by the express order of the Duke ofFriedland, and left without assistance fromBohemia, was unable to check the progress ofthe enemy. The most favourable circumstancescombined to further the progress of the Swed-ish arms in this quarter, when the operationsof the army were at once stopped by a mutinyamong the officers.

All the previous successes in Germany wereowing altogether to arms; the greatness ofGustavus himself was the work of the army, thefruit of their discipline, their bravery, and theirpersevering courage under numberless dangersand privations. However wisely his plans werelaid in the cabinet, it was to the army ultimatelythat he was indebted for their execution; andthe expanding designs of the general did butcontinually impose new burdens on the sol-diers. All the decisive advantages of the war,

had been violently gained by a barbarous sac-rifice of the soldiers’ lives in winter campaigns,forced marches, stormings, and pitched battles;for it was Gustavus’s maxim never to decline abattle, so long as it cost him nothing but men.The soldiers could not long be kept ignorant oftheir own importance, and they justly de-manded a share in the spoil which had beenwon by their own blood. Yet, frequently, theyhardly received their pay; and the rapacity ofindividual generals, or the wants of the state,generally swallowed up the greater part of thesums raised by contributions, or levied uponthe conquered provinces. For all the privationshe endured, the soldier had no other recom-pense than the doubtful chance either of plun-der or promotion, in both of which he was oftendisappointed. During the lifetime of GustavusAdolphus, the combined influence of fear andhope had suppressed any open complaint, butafter his death, the murmurs were loud and

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universal; and the soldiery seized the most dan-gerous moment to impress their superiors witha sense of their importance. Two officers, Pfuhland Mitschefal, notorious as restless characters,even during the King’s life, set the example inthe camp on the Danube, which in a few dayswas imitated by almost all the officers of thearmy. They solemnly bound themselves to obeyno orders, till these arrears, now outstandingfor months, and even years, should be paid up,and a gratuity, either in money or lands, madeto each man, according to his services. “Im-mense sums,” they said, “were daily raised bycontributions, and all dissipated by a few. Theywere called out to serve amidst frost and snow,and no reward requited their incessant labours.The soldiers’ excesses at Heilbronn had beenblamed, but no one ever talked of their services.The world rung with the tidings of conquestsand victories, but it was by their hands thatthey had been fought and won.”

The number of the malcontents daily in-creased; and they even attempted by letters,(which were fortunately intercepted,) to seducethe armies on the Rhine and in Saxony. Nei-ther the representations of Bernard of Weimar,nor the stern reproaches of his harsher associ-ate in command, could suppress this mutiny,while the vehemence of Horn seemed only toincrease the insolence of the insurgents. Theconditions they insisted on, were that certaintowns should be assigned to each regiment forthe payment of arrears. Four weeks were al-lowed to the Swedish Chancellor to comply withthese demands; and in case of refusal, theyannounced that they would pay themselves,and never more draw a sword for Sweden.

These pressing demands, made at the verytime when the military chest was exhausted,and credit at a low ebb, greatly embarrassedthe chancellor. The remedy, he saw, must befound quickly, before the contagion should

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spread to the other troops, and he should bedeserted by all his armies at once. Among allthe Swedish generals, there was only one ofsufficient authority and influence with the sol-diers to put an end to this dispute. The Duke ofWeimar was the favourite of the army, and hisprudent moderation had won the good-will ofthe soldiers, while his military experience hadexcited their admiration. He now undertook thetask of appeasing the discontented troops; but,aware of his importance, he embraced the op-portunity to make advantageous stipulations forhimself, and to make the embarrassment of thechancellor subservient to his own views.

Gustavus Adolphus had flattered him with thepromise of the Duchy of Franconia, to be formedout of the Bishoprics of Wurtzburg andBamberg, and he now insisted on the perfor-mance of this pledge. He at the same time de-manded the chief command, as generalissimoof Sweden. The abuse which the Duke of

Weimar thus made of his influence, so irritatedOxenstiern, that, in the first moment of his dis-pleasure, he gave him his dismissal from theSwedish service. But he soon thought better ofit, and determined, instead of sacrificing soimportant a leader, to attach him to the Swed-ish interests at any cost. He therefore grantedto him the Franconian bishoprics, as a fief ofthe Swedish crown, reserving, however, the twofortresses of Wurtzburg and Koenigshofen,which were to be garrisoned by the Swedes; andalso engaged, in name of the Swedish crown,to secure these territories to the duke. His de-mand of the supreme authority was evaded onsome specious pretext. The duke did not delayto display his gratitude for this valuable grant,and by his influence and activity soon restoredtranquillity to the army. Large sums of money,and still more extensive estates, were dividedamong the officers, amounting in value to aboutfive millions of dollars, and to which they had

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no other right but that of conquest. In the meantime, however, the opportunity for a great un-dertaking had been lost, and the united gener-als divided their forces to oppose the enemy inother quarters.

Gustavus Horn, after a short inroad into theUpper Palatinate, and the capture of Neumark,directed his march towards the Swabian fron-tier, where the Imperialists, strongly reinforced,threatened Wuertemberg. At his approach, theenemy retired to the Lake of Constance, butonly to show the Swedes the road into a districthitherto unvisited by war. A post on the en-trance to Switzerland, would be highly service-able to the Swedes, and the town of Kostnitzseemed peculiarly well fitted to be a point ofcommunication between him and the confed-erated cantons. Accordingly, Gustavus Hornimmediately commenced the siege of it; butdestitute of artillery, for which he was obligedto send to Wirtemberg, he could not press the

attack with sufficient vigour, to prevent the en-emy from throwing supplies into the town,which the lake afforded them convenient op-portunity of doing. He, therefore, after an inef-fectual attempt, quitted the place and itsneighbourhood, and hastened to meet a morethreatening danger upon the Danube.

At the Emperor’s instigation, the CardinalInfante, the brother of Philip IV. of Spain, andthe Viceroy of Milan, had raised an army of14,000 men, intended to act upon the Rhine,independently of Wallenstein, and to protectAlsace. This force now appeared in Bavaria,under the command of the Duke of Feria, aSpaniard; and, that they might be directly em-ployed against the Swedes, Altringer was or-dered to join them with his corps. Upon thefirst intelligence of their approach, Horn hadsummoned to his assistance the Palsgrave ofBirkenfeld, from the Rhine; and being joinedby him at Stockach, boldly advanced to meet

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the enemy’s army of 30,000 men.The latter had taken the route across the

Danube into Swabia, where Gustavus Horncame so close upon them, that the two armieswere only separated from each other by half aGerman mile. But, instead of accepting the of-fer of battle, the Imperialists moved by the For-est towns towards Briesgau and Alsace, wherethey arrived in time to relieve Breysack, and toarrest the victorious progress of the Rhinegrave,Otto Louis. The latter had, shortly before, takenthe Forest towns, and, supported by the Pa-latine of Birkenfeld, who had liberated theLower Palatinate and beaten the Duke ofLorraine out of the field, had once more giventhe superiority to the Swedish arms in thatquarter. He was now forced to retire before thesuperior numbers of the enemy; but Horn andBirkenfeld quickly advanced to his support, andthe Imperialists, after a brief triumph, wereagain expelled from Alsace. The severity of the

autumn, in which this hapless retreat had tobe conducted, proved fatal to most of the Ital-ians; and their leader, the Duke of Feria, diedof grief at the failure of his enterprise.

In the mean time, Duke Bernard of Weimarhad taken up his position on the Danube, witheighteen regiments of infantry and 140 squad-rons of horse, to cover Franconia, and to watchthe movements of the Imperial-Bavarian armyupon that river. No sooner had Altringer de-parted, to join the Italians under Feria, thanBernard, profiting by his absence, hastenedacross the Danube, and with the rapidity oflightning appeared before Ratisbon. The pos-session of this town would ensure the successof the Swedish designs upon Bavaria and Aus-tria; it would establish them firmly on theDanube, and provide a safe refuge in case ofdefeat, while it alone could give permanence totheir conquests in that quarter. To defendRatisbon, was the urgent advice which the dy-

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ing Tilly left to the Elector; and GustavusAdolphus had lamented it as an irreparable loss,that the Bavarians had anticipated him in tak-ing possession of this place. Indescribable,therefore, was the consternation of Maximilian,when Duke Bernard suddenly appeared beforethe town, and prepared in earnest to besiegeit.

The garrison consisted of not more than fif-teen companies, mostly newly-raised soldiers;although that number was more than sufficientto weary out an enemy of far superior force, ifsupported by well-disposed and warlike inhab-itants. But this was not the greatest dangerwhich the Bavarian garrison had to contendagainst. The Protestant inhabitants of Ratisbon,equally jealous of their civil and religious free-dom, had unwillingly submitted to the yoke ofBavaria, and had long looked with impatiencefor the appearance of a deliverer. Bernard’s ar-rival before the walls filled them with lively joy;

and there was much reason to fear that theywould support the attempts of the besiegerswithout, by exciting a tumult within. In thisperplexity, the Elector addressed the mostpressing entreaties to the Emperor and theDuke of Friedland to assist him, were it onlywith 5,000 men. Seven messengers in succes-sion were despatched by Ferdinand toWallenstein, who promised immediatesuccours, and even announced to the Electorthe near advance of 12,000 men under Gallas;but at the same time forbade that general, un-der pain of death, to march. Meanwhile theBavarian commandant of Ratisbon, in the hopeof speedy assistance, made the best prepara-tions for defence, armed the Roman Catholicpeasants, disarmed and carefully watched theProtestant citizens, lest they should attempt anyhostile design against the garrison. But as norelief arrived, and the enemy’s artillery inces-santly battered the walls, he consulted his own

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safety, and that of the garrison, by anhonourable capitulation, and abandoned theBavarian officials and ecclesiastics to theconqueror’s mercy.

The possession of Ratisbon, enlarged theprojects of the duke, and Bavaria itself now ap-peared too narrow a field for his bold designs.He determined to penetrate to the frontiers ofAustria, to arm the Protestant peasantry againstthe Emperor, and restore to them their religiousliberty. He had already taken Straubingen,while another Swedish army was advancingsuccessfully along the northern bank of theDanube. At the head of his Swedes, biddingdefiance to the severity of the weather, hereached the mouth of the Iser, which he passedin the presence of the Bavarian General Werth,who was encamped on that river. Passau andLintz trembled for their fate; the terrified Em-peror redoubled his entreaties and commandsto Wallenstein, to hasten with all speed to the

relief of the hard-pressed Bavarians. But herethe victorious Bernard, of his own accord,checked his career of conquest. Having in frontof him the river Inn, guarded by a number ofstrong fortresses, and behind him two hostilearmies, a disaffected country, and the river Iser,while his rear was covered by no tenable posi-tion, and no entrenchment could be made inthe frozen ground, and threatened by the wholeforce of Wallenstein, who had at last resolved tomarch to the Danube, by a timely retreat heescaped the danger of being cut off fromRatisbon, and surrounded by the enemy. Hehastened across the Iser to the Danube, to de-fend the conquests he had made in the UpperPalatinate against Wallenstein, and fully re-solved not to decline a battle, if necessary, withthat general. But Wallenstein, who was not dis-posed for any great exploits on the Danube, didnot wait for his approach; and before the Ba-varians could congratulate themselves on his

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arrival, he suddenly withdrew again intoBohemia. The duke thus ended his victoriouscampaign, and allowed his troops their well-earned repose in winter quarters upon anenemy’s country.

While in Swabia the war was thus success-fully conducted by Gustavus Horn, and on theUpper and Lower Rhine by the Palatine ofBirkenfeld, General Baudissen, and theRhinegrave Otto Louis, and by Duke Bernardon the Danube; the reputation of the Swedisharms was as gloriously sustained in LowerSaxony and Westphalia by the Duke ofLunenburg and the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel.The fortress of Hamel was taken by DukeGeorge, after a brave defence, and a brilliantvictory obtained over the imperial GeneralGronsfeld, by the united Swedish and Hessianarmies, near Oldendorf. Count Wasaburg, anatural son of Gustavus Adolphus, showed him-self in this battle worthy of his descent. Six-

teen pieces of cannon, the whole baggage ofthe Imperialists, together with 74 colours, fellinto the hands of the Swedes; 3,000 of the en-emy perished on the field, and nearly the samenumber were taken prisoners. The town ofOsnaburg surrendered to the Swedish ColonelKnyphausen, and Paderborn to the Landgraveof Hesse; while, on the other hand, Bueckeburg,a very important place for the Swedes, fell intothe hands of the Imperialists. The Swedish ban-ners were victorious in almost every quarter ofGermany; and the year after the death ofGustavus, left no trace of the loss which hadbeen sustained in the person of that greatleader.

In a review of the important events which sig-nalized the campaign of 1633, the inactivity ofa man, of whom the highest expectations hadbeen formed, justly excites astonishment.Among all the generals who distinguishedthemselves in this campaign, none could be

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compared with Wallenstein, in experience, tal-ents, and reputation; and yet, after the battleof Lutzen, we lose sight of him entirely. The fallof his great rival had left the whole theatre ofglory open to him; all Europe was now atten-tively awaiting those exploits, which should ef-face the remembrance of his defeat, and stillprove to the world his military superiority. Nev-ertheless, he continued inactive in Bohemia,while the Emperor’s losses in Bavaria, LowerSaxony, and the Rhine, pressingly called forhis presence — a conduct equally unintelligibleto friend and foe — the terror, and, at the sametime, the last hope of the Emperor. After thedefeat of Lutzen he had hastened into Bohemia,where he instituted the strictest inquiry intothe conduct of his officers in that battle. Thosewhom the council of war declared guilty of mis-conduct, were put to death without mercy, thosewho had behaved with bravery, rewarded withprincely munificence, and the memory of the

dead honoured by splendid monuments. Dur-ing the winter, he oppressed the imperial prov-inces by enormous contributions, and ex-hausted the Austrian territories by his winterquarters, which he purposely avoided taking upin an enemy’s country. And in the spring of1633, instead of being the first to open the cam-paign, with this well-chosen and well-appointedarmy, and to make a worthy display of his greatabilities, he was the last who appeared in thefield; and even then, it was an hereditary prov-ince of Austria, which he selected as the seat ofwar.

Of all the Austrian provinces, Silesia was mostexposed to danger. Three different armies, aSwedish under Count Thurn, a Saxon underArnheim and the Duke of Lauenburg, and oneof Brandenburg under Borgsdorf, had at thesame time carried the war into this country;they had already taken possession of the mostimportant places, and even Breslau had em-

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braced the cause of the allies. But this crowd ofcommanders and armies was the very means ofsaving this province to the Emperor; for the jeal-ousy of the generals, and the mutual hatred ofthe Saxons and the Swedes, never allowed themto act with unanimity. Arnheim and Thurn con-tended for the chief command; the troops ofBrandenburg and Saxony combined against theSwedes, whom they looked upon as trouble-some strangers who ought to be got rid of assoon as possible. The Saxons, on the contrary,lived on a very intimate footing with the Imperi-alists, and the officers of both these hostilearmies often visited and entertained each other.The Imperialists were allowed to remove theirproperty without hindrance, and many did notaffect to conceal that they had received largesums from Vienna. Among such equivocal al-lies, the Swedes saw themselves sold and be-trayed; and any great enterprise was out of thequestion, while so bad an understanding pre-

vailed between the troops. General Arnheim,too, was absent the greater part of the time;and when he at last returned, Wallenstein wasfast approaching the frontiers with a formidableforce.

His army amounted to 40,000 men, while tooppose him the allies had only 24,000. Theynevertheless resolved to give him battle, andmarched to Munsterberg, where he had formedan intrenched camp. But Wallenstein remainedinactive for eight days; he then left hisintrenchments, and marched slowly and withcomposure to the enemy’s camp. But even af-ter quitting his position, and when the enemy,emboldened by his past delay, manfully pre-pared to receive him, he declined the opportu-nity of fighting. The caution with which heavoided a battle was imputed to fear; but thewell-established reputation of Wallenstein en-abled him to despise this suspicion. The vanityof the allies allowed them not to see that he

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purposely saved them a defeat, because a vic-tory at that time would not have served his ownends. To convince them of his superior power,and that his inactivity proceeded not from anyfear of them, he put to death the commander ofa castle that fell into his hands, because he hadrefused at once to surrender an untenableplace.

For nine days, did the two armies remainwithin musket-shot of each other, when CountTerzky, from the camp of the Imperialists, ap-peared with a trumpeter in that of the allies,inviting General Arnheim to a conference. Thepurport was, that Wallenstein, notwithstand-ing his superiority, was willing to agree to acessation of arms for six weeks. “He was come,”he said, “to conclude a lasting peace with theSwedes, and with the princes of the empire, topay the soldiers, and to satisfy every one. Allthis was in his power; and if the Austrian courthesitated to confirm his agreement, he would

unite with the allies, and (as he privately whis-pered to Arnheim) hunt the Emperor to thedevil.” At the second conference, he expressedhimself still more plainly to Count Thurn. “Allthe privileges of the Bohemians,” he engaged,“should be confirmed anew, the exiles recalledand restored to their estates, and he himselfwould be the first to resign his share of them.The Jesuits, as the authors of all past griev-ances, should be banished, the Swedish crownindemnified by stated payments, and all thesuperfluous troops on both sides employedagainst the Turks.” The last article explainedthe whole mystery. “If,” he continued, “Heshould obtain the crown of Bohemia, all theexiles would have reason to applaud his gener-osity; perfect toleration of religions should beestablished within the kingdom, the Palatinefamily be reinstated in its rights, and he wouldaccept the Margraviate of Moravia as a compen-sation for Mecklenburg. The allied armies would

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then, under his command, advance uponVienna, and sword in hand, compel the Em-peror to ratify the treaty.”

Thus was the veil at last removed from theschemes, over which he had brooded for yearsin mysterious silence. Every circumstance nowconvinced him that not a moment was to belost in its execution. Nothing but a blind confi-dence in the good fortune and military geniusof the Duke of Friedland, had induced the Em-peror, in the face of the remonstrances of Ba-varia and Spain, and at the expense of his ownreputation, to confer upon this imperious leadersuch an unlimited command. But this belief inWallenstein’s being invincible, had been muchweakened by his inaction, and almost entirelyoverthrown by the defeat at Lutzen. His enemiesat the imperial court now renewed their in-trigues; and the Emperor’s disappointment atthe failure of his hopes, procured for their re-monstrances a favourable reception.

Wallenstein’s whole conduct was now reviewedwith the most malicious criticism; his ambitioushaughtiness, his disobedience to the Emperor’sorders, were recalled to the recollection of thatjealous prince, as well as the complaints of theAustrian subjects against his boundless oppres-sion; his fidelity was questioned, and alarminghints thrown out as to his secret views. Theseinsinuations, which the conduct of the dukeseemed but too well to justify, failed not to makea deep impression on Ferdinand; but the stephad been taken, and the great power with whichWallenstein had been invested, could not betaken from him without danger. Insensibly todiminish that power, was the only course thatnow remained, and, to effect this, it must inthe first place be divided; but, above all, theEmperor’s present dependence on the good willof his general put an end to. But even this righthad been resigned in his engagement withWallenstein, and the Emperor’s own handwrit-

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ing secured him against every attempt to uniteanother general with him in the command, orto exercise any immediate act of authority overthe troops. As this disadvantageous contractcould neither be kept nor broken, recourse washad to artifice. Wallenstein was Imperial Gen-eralissimo in Germany, but his command ex-tended no further, and he could not presumeto exercise any authority over a foreign army. ASpanish army was accordingly raised in Milan,and marched into Germany under a Spanishgeneral. Wallenstein now ceased to be indis-pensable because he was no longer supreme,and in case of necessity, the Emperor was nowprovided with the means of support even againsthim.

The duke quickly and deeply felt whence thisblow came, and whither it was aimed. In vaindid he protest against this violation of the com-pact, to the Cardinal Infante; the Italian armycontinued its march, and he was forced to de-

tach General Altringer to join it with a rein-forcement. He took care, indeed, so closely tofetter the latter, as to prevent the Italian armyfrom acquiring any great reputation in Alsaceand Swabia; but this bold step of the court awak-ened him from his security, and warned him ofthe approach of danger. That he might not asecond time be deprived of his command, andlose the fruit of all his labours, he must accel-erate the accomplishment of his long meditateddesigns. He secured the attachment of histroops by removing the doubtful officers, andby his liberality to the rest. He had sacrificed tothe welfare of the army every other order in thestate, every consideration of justice and human-ity, and therefore he reckoned upon their grati-tude. At the very moment when he meditatedan unparalleled act of ingratitude against theauthor of his own good fortune, he founded allhis hopes upon the gratitude which was due tohimself.

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The leaders of the Silesian armies had no au-thority from their principals to consent, on theirown discretion, to such important proposals asthose of Wallenstein, and they did not even feelthemselves warranted in granting, for more thana fortnight, the cessation of hostilities whichhe demanded. Before the duke disclosed hisdesigns to Sweden and Saxony, he had deemedit advisable to secure the sanction of France tohis bold undertaking. For this purpose, a se-cret negociation had been carried on with thegreatest possible caution and distrust, by CountKinsky with Feuquieres, the French ambassa-dor at Dresden, and had terminated accordingto his wishes. Feuquieres received orders fromhis court to promise every assistance on the partof France, and to offer the duke a considerablepecuniary aid in case of need.

But it was this excessive caution to securehimself on all sides, that led to his ruin. TheFrench ambassador with astonishment discov-

ered that a plan, which, more than any other,required secrecy, had been communicated tothe Swedes and the Saxons. And yet it was gen-erally known that the Saxon ministry was inthe interests of the Emperor, and on the otherhand, the conditions offered to the Swedes felltoo far short of their expectations to be likely tobe accepted. Feuquieres, therefore, could notbelieve that the duke could be serious in calcu-lating upon the aid of the latter, and the si-lence of the former. He communicated accord-ingly his doubts and anxieties to the Swedishchancellor, who equally distrusted the views ofWallenstein, and disliked his plans. Althoughit was no secret to Oxenstiern, that the dukehad formerly entered into a similar negociationwith Gustavus Adolphus, he could not creditthe possibility of inducing a whole army to re-volt, and of his extravagant promises. So dar-ing a design, and such imprudent conduct,seemed not to be consistent with the duke’s

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reserved and suspicious temper, and he wasthe more inclined to consider the whole as theresult of dissimulation and treachery, becausehe had less reason to doubt his prudence thanhis honesty.

Oxenstiern’s doubts at last affected Arnheimhimself, who, in full confidence in Wallenstein’ssincerity, had repaired to the chancellor atGelnhausen, to persuade him to lend some ofhis best regiments to the duke, to aid him inthe execution of the plan. They began to sus-pect that the whole proposal was only a snareto disarm the allies, and to betray the flower oftheir troops into the hands of the Emperor.Wallenstein’s well-known character did not con-tradict the suspicion, and the inconsistenciesin which he afterwards involved himself, entirelydestroyed all confidence in his sincerity. Whilehe was endeavouring to draw the Swedes intothis alliance, and requiring the help of theirbest troops, he declared to Arnheim that they

must begin with expelling the Swedes from theempire; and while the Saxon officers, relyingupon the security of the truce, repaired in greatnumbers to his camp, he made an unsuccess-ful attempt to seize them. He was the first tobreak the truce, which some months afterwardshe renewed, though not without great difficulty.All confidence in his sincerity was lost; his wholeconduct was regarded as a tissue of deceit andlow cunning, devised to weaken the allies andrepair his own strength. This indeed he actu-ally did effect, as his own army daily augmented,while that of the allies was reduced nearly onehalf by desertion and bad provisions. But hedid not make that use of his superiority whichVienna expected. When all men were lookingfor a decisive blow to be struck, he suddenlyrenewed the negociations; and when the trucelulled the allies into security, he as suddenlyrecommenced hostilities. All these contradic-tions arose out of the double and irreconcileable

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designs to ruin at once the Emperor and theSwedes, and to conclude a separate peace withthe Saxons.

Impatient at the ill success of his negociations,he at last determined to display his strength;the more so, as the pressing distress within theempire, and the growing dissatisfaction of theImperial court, admitted not of his making anylonger delay. Before the last cessation of hos-tilities, General Holk, from Bohemia, had at-tacked the circle of Meissen, laid waste everything on his route with fire and sword, driventhe Elector into his fortresses, and taken thetown of Leipzig. But the truce in Silesia put aperiod to his ravages, and the consequences ofhis excesses brought him to the grave at Adorf.As soon as hostilities were recommenced,Wallenstein made a movement, as if he designedto penetrate through Lusatia into Saxony, andcirculated the report that Piccolomini had al-ready invaded that country. Arnheim immedi-

ately broke up his camp in Silesia, to follow him,and hastened to the assistance of the Elector-ate. By this means the Swedes were left ex-posed, who were encamped in small force un-der Count Thurn, at Steinau, on the Oder, andthis was exactly what Wallenstein desired. Heallowed the Saxon general to advance sixteenmiles towards Meissen, and then suddenlyturning towards the Oder, surprised the Swed-ish army in the most complete security. Theircavalry were first beaten by GeneralSchafgotsch, who was sent against them, andthe infantry completely surrounded at Steinauby the duke’s army which followed. Wallensteingave Count Thurn half an hour to deliberatewhether he would defend himself with 2,500men, against more than 20,000, or surrenderat discretion. But there was no room for delib-eration. The army surrendered, and the mostcomplete victory was obtained without blood-shed. Colours, baggage, and artillery all fell into

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the hands of the victors, the officers were takeninto custody, the privates drafted into the armyof Wallenstein. And now at last, after a banish-ment of fourteen years, after numberlesschanges of fortune, the author of the Bohemianinsurrection, and the remote origin of this de-structive war, the notorious Count Thurn, wasin the power of his enemies. With blood-thirstyimpatience, the arrival of this great criminal waslooked for in Vienna, where they already an-ticipated the malicious triumph of sacrificingso distinguished a victim to public justice. Butto deprive the Jesuits of this pleasure, was astill sweeter triumph to Wallenstein, and Thurnwas set at liberty. Fortunately for him, he knewmore than it was prudent to have divulged inVienna, and his enemies were also those ofWallenstein. A defeat might have been forgivenin Vienna, but this disappointment of theirhopes they could not pardon. “What should Ihave done with this madman?” he writes, with

a malicious sneer, to the minister who calledhim to account for this unseasonable magna-nimity. “Would to Heaven the enemy had nogenerals but such as he. At the head of theSwedish army, he will render us much betterservice than in prison.”

The victory of Steinau was followed by the cap-ture of Liegnitz, Grossglogau, and even of Frank-fort on the Oder. Schafgotsch, who remainedin Silesia to complete the subjugation of thatprovince, blockaded Brieg, and threatenedBreslau, though in vain, as that free town wasjealous of its privileges, and devoted to theSwedes. Colonels Illo and Goetz were orderedby Wallenstein to the Warta, to push forwardsinto Pomerania, and to the coasts of the Baltic,and actually obtained possession of Landsberg,the key of Pomerania. While thus the Elector ofBrandenburg and the Duke of Pomerania weremade to tremble for their dominions,Wallenstein himself, with the remainder of his

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army, burst suddenly into Lusatia, where hetook Goerlitz by storm, and forced Bautzen tosurrender. But his object was merely to alarmthe Elector of Saxony, not to follow up the ad-vantages already obtained; and therefore, evenwith the sword in his hand, he continued hisnegociations for peace with Brandenburg andSaxony, but with no better success than be-fore, as the inconsistencies of his conduct haddestroyed all confidence in his sincerity. He wastherefore on the point of turning his whole forcein earnest against the unfortunate Saxons, andeffecting his object by force of arms, when cir-cumstances compelled him to leave these terri-tories. The conquests of Duke Bernard uponthe Danube, which threatened Austria itselfwith immediate danger, urgently demanded hispresence in Bavaria; and the expulsion of theSaxons and Swedes from Silesia, deprived himof every pretext for longer resisting the Impe-rial orders, and leaving the Elector of Bavaria

without assistance. With his main body, there-fore, he immediately set out for the UpperPalatinate, and his retreat freed Upper Saxonyfor ever of this formidable enemy.

So long as was possible, he had delayed tomove to the rescue of Bavaria, and on every pre-text evaded the commands of the Emperor. Hehad, indeed, after reiterated remonstrances,despatched from Bohemia a reinforcement ofsome regiments to Count Altringer, who wasdefending the Lech and the Danube againstHorn and Bernard, but under the express con-dition of his acting merely on the defensive. Hereferred the Emperor and the Elector, when-ever they applied to him for aid, to Altringer,who, as he publicly gave out, had received un-limited powers; secretly, however, he tied uphis hands by the strictest injunctions, and eventhreatened him with death, if he exceeded hisorders. When Duke Bernard had appeared be-fore Ratisbon, and the Emperor as well as the

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Elector repeated still more urgently their de-mand for succour, he pretended he was aboutto despatch General Gallas with a considerablearmy to the Danube; but this movement alsowas delayed, and Ratisbon, Straubing, andCham, as well as the bishopric of Eichstaedt,fell into the hands of the Swedes. When at lasthe could no longer neglect the orders of theCourt, he marched slowly toward the Bavarianfrontier, where he invested the town of Cham,which had been taken by the Swedes. But nosooner did he learn that on the Swedish side adiversion was contemplated, by an inroad of theSaxons into Bohemia, than he availed himselfof the report, as a pretext for immediately re-treating into that kingdom. Every consideration,he urged, must be postponed to the defenceand preservation of the hereditary dominionsof the Emperor; and on this plea, he remainedfirmly fixed in Bohemia, which he guarded as ifit had been his own property. And when the

Emperor laid upon him his commands to movetowards the Danube, and prevent the Duke ofWeimar from establishing himself in so dan-gerous a position on the frontiers of Austria,Wallenstein thought proper to conclude thecampaign a second time, and quartered histroops for the winter in this exhausted king-dom.

Such continued insolence and unexampledcontempt of the Imperial orders, as well as ob-vious neglect of the common cause, joined tohis equivocal behaviour towards the enemy,tended at last to convince the Emperor of thetruth of those unfavourable reports with regardto the Duke, which were current through Ger-many. The latter had, for a long time, succeededin glozing over his criminal correspondence withthe enemy, and persuading the Emperor, stillprepossessed in his favour, that the sole objectof his secret conferences was to obtain peacefor Germany. But impenetrable as he himself

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believed his proceedings to be, in the course ofhis conduct, enough transpired to justify theinsinuations with which his rivals incessantlyloaded the ear of the Emperor. In order to sat-isfy himself of the truth or falsehood of theserumours, Ferdinand had already, at differenttimes, sent spies into Wallenstein’s camp; butas the Duke took the precaution never to com-mit anything to writing, they returned withnothing but conjectures. But when, at last,those ministers who formerly had been hischampions at the court, in consequence of theirestates not being exempted by Wallenstein fromthe general exactions, joined his enemies; whenthe Elector of Bavaria threatened, in case ofWallenstein being any longer retained in thesupreme command, to unite with the Swedes;when the Spanish ambassador insisted on hisdismissal, and threatened, in case of refusal,to withdraw the subsidies furnished by hisCrown, the Emperor found himself a second

time compelled to deprive him of the command.The Emperor’s authoritative and direct inter-

ference with the army, soon convinced the Dukethat the compact with himself was regarded asat an end, and that his dismissal was inevitable.One of his inferior generals in Austria, whomhe had forbidden, under pain of death, to obeythe orders of the court, received the positivecommands of the Emperor to join the Elector ofBavaria; and Wallenstein himself was imperi-ously ordered to send some regiments to rein-force the army of the Cardinal Infante, who wason his march from Italy. All these measuresconvinced him that the plan was finally ar-ranged to disarm him by degrees, and at once,when he was weak and defenceless, to completehis ruin.

In self-defence, must he now hasten to carryinto execution the plans which he had origi-nally formed only with the view to aggrandize-ment. He had delayed too long, either because

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the favourable configuration of the stars hadnot yet presented itself, or, as he used to say,to check the impatience of his friends, becausethe time was not yet come. The time, even now,was not come: but the pressure of circum-stances no longer allowed him to await thefavour of the stars. The first step was to assurehimself of the sentiments of his principal offic-ers, and then to try the attachment of the army,which he had so long confidently reckoned on.Three of them, Colonels Kinsky, Terzky, andIllo, had long been in his secrets, and the twofirst were further united to his interests by theties of relationship. The same wild ambition,the same bitter hatred of the government, andthe hope of enormous rewards, bound them inthe closest manner to Wallenstein, who, to in-crease the number of his adherents, could stoopto the lowest means. He had once advised Colo-nel Illo to solicit, in Vienna, the title of Count,and had promised to back his application with

his powerful mediation. But he secretly wroteto the ministry, advising them to refuse his re-quest, as to grant it would give rise to similardemands from others, whose services and claimswere equal to his. On Illo’s return to the camp,Wallenstein immediately demanded to know thesuccess of his mission; and when informed byIllo of its failure, he broke out into the bitterestcomplaints against the court. “Thus,” said he,“are our faithful services rewarded. My recom-mendation is disregarded, and your merit de-nied so trifling a reward! Who would any longerdevote his services to so ungrateful a master?No, for my part, I am henceforth the determinedfoe of Austria.” Illo agreed with him, and a closealliance was cemented between them.

But what was known to these three confidantsof the duke, was long an impenetrable secretto the rest; and the confidence with whichWallenstein spoke of the devotion of his offic-ers, was founded merely on the favours he had

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lavished on them, and on their known dissatis-faction with the Court. But this vague presump-tion must be converted into certainty, beforehe could venture to lay aside the mask, or takeany open step against the Emperor. CountPiccolomini, who had distinguished himself byhis unparalleled bravery at Lutzen, was the firstwhose fidelity he put to the proof. He had, hethought, gained the attachment of this generalby large presents, and preferred him to all oth-ers, because born under the same constella-tions with himself. He disclosed to him, that, inconsequence of the Emperor’s ingratitude, andthe near approach of his own danger, he hadirrevocably determined entirely to abandon theparty of Austria, to join the enemy with the bestpart of his army, and to make war upon theHouse of Austria, on all sides of its dominions,till he had wholly extirpated it. In the execu-tion of this plan, he principally reckoned onthe services of Piccolomini, and had beforehand

promised him the greatest rewards. When thelatter, to conceal his amazement at this extraor-dinary communication, spoke of the dangersand obstacles which would oppose so hazard-ous an enterprise, Wallenstein ridiculed hisfears. “In such enterprises,” he maintained,“nothing was difficult but the commencement.The stars were propitious to him, the opportu-nity the best that could be wished for, and some-thing must always be trusted to fortune. Hisresolution was taken, and if it could not be oth-erwise, he would encounter the hazard at thehead of a thousand horse.” Piccolomini was care-ful not to excite Wallenstein’s suspicions bylonger opposition, and yielded apparently to theforce of his reasoning. Such was the infatua-tion of the Duke, that notwithstanding thewarnings of Count Terzky, he never doubtedthe sincerity of this man, who lost not a mo-ment in communicating to the court at Viennathis important conversation.

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Preparatory to taking the last decisive step,he, in January 1634, called a meeting of all thecommanders of the army at Pilsen, whither hehad marched after his retreat from Bavaria. TheEmperor’s recent orders to spare his heredi-tary dominions from winter quarterings, to re-cover Ratisbon in the middle of winter, and toreduce the army by a detachment of six thou-sand horse to the Cardinal Infante, were mat-ters sufficiently grave to be laid before a coun-cil of war; and this plausible pretext served toconceal from the curious the real object of themeeting. Sweden and Saxony received invita-tions to be present, in order to treat with theDuke of Friedland for a peace; to the leaders ofmore distant armies, written communicationswere made. Of the commanders thus sum-moned, twenty appeared; but three most influ-ential, Gallas, Colloredo, and Altringer, wereabsent. The Duke reiterated his summons tothem, and in the mean time, in expectation of

their speedy arrival, proceeded to execute hisdesigns.

It was no light task that he had to perform: anobleman, proud, brave, and jealous of hishonour, was to declare himself capable of thebasest treachery, in the very presence of thosewho had been accustomed to regard him as therepresentative of majesty, the judge of theiractions, and the supporter of their laws, and toshow himself suddenly as a traitor, a cheat, anda rebel. It was no easy task, either, to shake toits foundations a legitimate sovereignty,strengthened by time and consecrated by lawsand religion; to dissolve all the charms of thesenses and the imagination, those formidableguardians of an established throne, and to at-tempt forcibly to uproot those invincible feel-ings of duty, which plead so loudly and so pow-erfully in the breast of the subject, in favour ofhis sovereign. But, blinded by the splendour ofa crown, Wallenstein observed not the preci-

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pice that yawned beneath his feet; and in fullreliance on his own strength, the common casewith energetic and daring minds, he stoppednot to consider the magnitude and the num-ber of the difficulties that opposed him.Wallenstein saw nothing but an army, partlyindifferent and partly exasperated against thecourt, accustomed, with a blind submission, todo homage to his great name, to bow to him astheir legislator and judge, and with tremblingreverence to follow his orders as the decrees offate. In the extravagant flatteries which werepaid to his omnipotence, in the bold abuse ofthe court government, in which a lawless sol-diery indulged, and which the wild licence ofthe camp excused, he thought he read the sen-timents of the army; and the boldness withwhich they were ready to censure the monarch’smeasures, passed with him for a readiness torenounce their allegiance to a sovereign so littlerespected. But that which he had regarded as

the lightest matter, proved the most formidableobstacle with which he had to contend; the sol-diers’ feelings of allegiance were the rock onwhich his hopes were wrecked. Deceived by theprofound respect in which he was held by theselawless bands, he ascribed the whole to his ownpersonal greatness, without distinguishing howmuch he owed to himself, and how much tothe dignity with which he was invested. Alltrembled before him, while he exercised a le-gitimate authority, while obedience to him wasa duty, and while his consequence was sup-ported by the majesty of the sovereign. Great-ness, in and of itself, may excite terror and ad-miration; but legitimate greatness alone caninspire reverence and submission; and of thisdecisive advantage he deprived himself, the in-stant he avowed himself a traitor.

Field-Marshal Illo undertook to learn the sen-timents of the officers, and to prepare them forthe step which was expected of them. He be-

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gan by laying before them the new orders ofthe court to the general and the army; and bythe obnoxious turn he skilfully gave to them,he found it easy to excite the indignation of theassembly. After this well chosen introduction,he expatiated with much eloquence upon themerits of the army and the general, and theingratitude with which the Emperor was accus-tomed to requite them. “Spanish influence,” hemaintained, “governed the court; the ministrywere in the pay of Spain; the Duke of Friedlandalone had hitherto opposed this tyranny, andhad thus drawn down upon himself the deadlyenmity of the Spaniards. To remove him fromthe command, or to make away with him en-tirely,” he continued, “had long been the endof their desires; and, until they could succeedin one or other, they endeavoured to abridgehis power in the field. The command was to beplaced in the hands of the King of Hungary, forno other reason than the better to promote the

Spanish power in Germany; because thisprince, as the ready instrument of foreign coun-sels, might be led at pleasure. It was merelywith the view of weakening the army, that thesix thousand troops were required for the Car-dinal Infante; it was solely for the purpose ofharassing it by a winter campaign, that theywere now called on, in this inhospitable sea-son, to undertake the recovery of Ratisbon. Themeans of subsistence were everywhere ren-dered difficult, while the Jesuits and the min-istry enriched themselves with the sweat of theprovinces, and squandered the money intendedfor the pay of the troops. The general, aban-doned by the court, acknowledges his inabilityto keep his engagements to the army. For allthe services which, for two and twenty years,he had rendered the House of Austria; for allthe difficulties with which he had struggled; forall the treasures of his own, which he had ex-pended in the imperial service, a second dis-

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graceful dismissal awaited him. But he was re-solved the matter should not come to this; hewas determined voluntarily to resign the com-mand, before it should be wrested from hishands; and this,” continued the orator, “is what,through me, he now makes known to his offic-ers. It was now for them to say whether it wouldbe advisable to lose such a general. Let eachconsider who was to refund him the sums hehad expended in the Emperor’s service, andwhere he was now to reap the reward of theirbravery, when he who was their evidence re-moved from the scene.”

A universal cry, that they would not allow theirgeneral to be taken from them, interrupted thespeaker. Four of the principal officers were de-puted to lay before him the wish of the assem-bly, and earnestly to request that he would notleave the army. The duke made a show of resis-tance, and only yielded after the second depu-tation. This concession on his side, seemed to

demand a return on theirs; as he engaged notto quit the service without the knowledge andconsent of the generals, he required of them,on the other hand, a written promise to trulyand firmly adhere to him, neither to separatenor to allow themselves to be separated fromhim, and to shed their last drop of blood in hisdefence. Whoever should break this covenant,was to be regarded as a perfidious traitor, andtreated by the rest as a common enemy. Theexpress condition which was added, “As longas Wallenstein shall employ the army in theEmperor’s service,” seemed to exclude all mis-conception, and none of the assembled gener-als hesitated at once to accede to a demand,apparently so innocent and so reasonable.

This document was publicly read before anentertainment, which Field-Marshal Illo hadexpressly prepared for the purpose; it was tobe signed, after they rose from table. The hostdid his utmost to stupify his guests by strong

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potations; and it was not until he saw them af-fected with the wine, that he produced the pa-per for signature. Most of them wrote theirnames, without knowing what they were sub-scribing; a few only, more curious or more dis-trustful, read the paper over again, and discov-ered with astonishment that the clause “as longas Wallenstein shall employ the army for theEmperor’s service” was omitted. Illo had, in fact,artfully contrived to substitute for the first an-other copy, in which these words were want-ing. The trick was manifest, and many refusednow to sign. Piccolomini, who had seen throughthe whole cheat, and had been present at thisscene merely with the view of giving informa-tion of the whole to the court, forgot himself sofar in his cups as to drink the Emperor’s health.But Count Terzky now rose, and declared thatall were perjured villains who should recedefrom their engagement. His menaces, the ideaof the inevitable danger to which they who re-

sisted any longer would be exposed, the ex-ample of the rest, and Illo’s rhetoric, at last over-came their scruples; and the paper was signedby all without exception.

Wallenstein had now effected his purpose; butthe unexpected resistance he had met with fromthe commanders roused him at last from thefond illusions in which he had hitherto in-dulged. Besides, most of the names werescrawled so illegibly, that some deceit was evi-dently intended. But instead of being recalledto his discretion by this warning, he gave ventto his injured pride in undignified complaintsand reproaches. He assembled the generals thenext day, and undertook personally to confirmthe whole tenor of the agreement which Illo hadsubmitted to them the day before. After pour-ing out the bitterest reproaches and abuseagainst the court, he reminded them of theiropposition to the proposition of the previousday, and declared that this circumstance had

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induced him to retract his own promise. Thegenerals withdrew in silence and confusion; butafter a short consultation in the antichamber,they returned to apologize for their late con-duct, and offered to sign the paper anew.

Nothing now remained, but to obtain a simi-lar assurance from the absent generals, or, ontheir refusal, to seize their persons. Wallensteinrenewed his invitation to them, and earnestlyurged them to hasten their arrival. But a rumourof the doings at Pilsen reached them on theirjourney, and suddenly stopped their furtherprogress. Altringer, on pretence of sickness,remained in the strong fortress of Frauenberg.Gallas made his appearance, but merely withthe design of better qualifying himself as aneyewitness, to keep the Emperor informed ofall Wallenstein’s proceedings. The intelligencewhich he and Piccolomini gave, at once con-verted the suspicions of the court into an alarm-ing certainty. Similar disclosures, which were

at the same time made from other quarters, leftno room for farther doubt; and the suddenchange of the commanders in Austria andSilesia, appeared to be the prelude to someimportant enterprise. The danger was pressing,and the remedy must be speedy, but the courtwas unwilling to proceed at once to the execu-tion of the sentence, till the regular forms ofjustice were complied with. Secret instructionswere therefore issued to the principal officers,on whose fidelity reliance could be placed, toseize the persons of the Duke of Friedland andof his two associates, Illo and Terzky, and keepthem in close confinement, till they should havean opportunity of being heard, and of answer-ing for their conduct; but if this could not beaccomplished quietly, the public danger re-quired that they should be taken dead or live.At the same time, General Gallas received apatent commission, by which these orders ofthe Emperor were made known to the colonels

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and officers, and the army was released fromits obedience to the traitor, and placed underLieutenant-General Gallas, till a new genera-lissimo could be appointed. In order to bringback the seduced and deluded to their duty,and not to drive the guilty to despair, a generalamnesty was proclaimed, in regard to all of-fences against the imperial majesty committedat Pilsen.

General Gallas was not pleased with thehonour which was done him. He was at Pilsen,under the eye of the person whose fate he wasto dispose of; in the power of an enemy, whohad a hundred eyes to watch his motions. IfWallenstein once discovered the secret of hiscommission, nothing could save him from theeffects of his vengeance and despair. But if itwas thus dangerous to be the secret depositaryof such a commission, how much more so toexecute it? The sentiments of the generals wereuncertain; and it was at least doubtful whether,

after the step they had taken, they would beready to trust the Emperor’s promises, and atonce to abandon the brilliant expectations theyhad built upon Wallenstein’s enterprise. It wasalso hazardous to attempt to lay hands on theperson of a man who, till now, had been con-sidered inviolable; who from long exercise ofsupreme power, and from habitual obedience,had become the object of deepest respect; whowas invested with every attribute of outwardmajesty and inward greatness; whose very as-pect inspired terror, and who by a nod disposedof life and death! To seize such a man, like acommon criminal, in the midst of the guardsby whom he was surrounded, and in a city ap-parently devoted to him; to convert the objectof this deep and habitual veneration into a sub-ject of compassion, or of contempt, was a com-mission calculated to make even the boldesthesitate. So deeply was fear and veneration fortheir general engraven in the breasts of the

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soldiers, that even the atrocious crime of hightreason could not wholly eradicate these senti-ments.

Gallas perceived the impossibility of execut-ing his commission under the eyes of the duke;and his most anxious wish was, before ventur-ing on any steps, to have an interview withAltringer. As the long absence of the latter hadalready begun to excite the duke’s suspicions,Gallas offered to repair in person to Frauenberg,and to prevail on Altringer, his relation, to re-turn with him. Wallenstein was so pleased withthis proof of his zeal, that he even lent him hisown equipage for the journey. Rejoicing at thesuccess of his stratagem, he left Pilsen withoutdelay, leaving to Count Piccolomini the task ofwatching Wallenstein’s further movements. Hedid not fail, as he went along, to make use ofthe imperial patent, and the sentiments of thetroops proved more favourable than he had ex-pected. Instead of taking back his friend to

Pilsen, he despatched him to Vienna, to warnthe Emperor against the intended attack, whilehe himself repaired to Upper Austria, of whichthe safety was threatened by the near approachof Duke Bernard. In Bohemia, the towns ofBudweiss and Tabor were again garrisoned forthe Emperor, and every precaution taken tooppose with energy the designs of the traitor.

As Gallas did not appear disposed to return,Piccolomini determined to put Wallenstein’scredulity once more to the test. He begged tobe sent to bring back Gallas, and Wallensteinsuffered himself a second time to be over-reached. This inconceivable blindness can onlybe accounted for as the result of his pride, whichnever retracted the opinion it had once formedof any person, and would not acknowledge, evento itself, the possibility of being deceived. Heconveyed Count Piccolomini in his own carriageto Lintz, where the latter immediately followedthe example of Gallas, and even went a step

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farther. He had promised the duke to return.He did so, but it was at the head of an army,intending to surprise the duke in Pilsen. An-other army under General Suys hastened toPrague, to secure that capital in its allegiance,and to defend it against the rebels. Gallas, atthe same time, announced himself to the dif-ferent imperial armies as the commander-in-chief, from whom they were henceforth to re-ceive orders. Placards were circulated throughall the imperial camps, denouncing the dukeand his four confidants, and absolving the sol-diers from all obedience to him.

The example which had been set at Lintz, wasuniversally followed; imprecations were show-ered on the traitor, and he was forsaken by allthe armies. At last, when even Piccolomini re-turned no more, the mist fell from Wallenstein’seyes, and in consternation he awoke from hisdream. Yet his faith in the truth of astrology,and in the fidelity of the army was unshaken.

Immediately after the intelligence ofPiccolomini’s defection, he issued orders, thatin future no commands were to be obeyed,which did not proceed directly from himself, orfrom Terzky, or Illo. He prepared, in all haste,to advance upon Prague, where he intended tothrow off the mask, and openly to declareagainst the Emperor. All the troops were to as-semble before that city, and from thence to pourdown with rapidity upon Austria. Duke Bernard,who had joined the conspiracy, was to supportthe operations of the duke, with the Swedishtroops, and to effect a diversion upon theDanube.

Terzky was already upon his march towardsPrague; and nothing, but the want of horses,prevented the duke from following him with theregiments who still adhered faithfully to him.But when, with the most anxious expectation,he awaited the intelligence from Prague, hesuddenly received information of the loss of that

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town, the defection of his generals, the deser-tion of his troops, the discovery of his wholeplot, and the rapid advance of Piccolomini, whowas sworn to his destruction. Suddenly andfearfully had all his projects been ruined — allhis hopes annihilated. He stood alone, aban-doned by all to whom he had been a benefac-tor, betrayed by all on whom he had depended.But it is under such circumstances that greatminds reveal themselves. Though deceived inall his expectations, he refused to abandon oneof his designs; he despaired of nothing, so longas life remained. The time was now come, whenhe absolutely required that assistance, whichhe had so often solicited from the Swedes andthe Saxons, and when all doubts of the sincer-ity of his purposes must be dispelled. And now,when Oxenstiern and Arnheim were convincedof the sincerity of his intentions, and were awareof his necessities, they no longer hesitated toembrace the favourable opportunity, and to of-

fer him their protection. On the part of Saxony,the Duke Francis Albert of Saxe Lauenberg wasto join him with 4,000 men; and Duke Bernard,and the Palatine Christian of Birkenfeld, with6,000 from Sweden, all chosen troops.

Wallenstein left Pilsen, with Terzky’s regi-ment, and the few who either were, or pretendedto be, faithful to him, and hastened to Egra, onthe frontiers of the kingdom, in order to be nearthe Upper Palatinate, and to facilitate his junc-tion with Duke Bernard. He was not yet in-formed of the decree by which he was pro-claimed a public enemy and traitor; this thun-der-stroke awaited him at Egra. He still reck-oned on the army, which General Schafgotschwas preparing for him in Silesia, and flatteredhimself with the hope that many even of thosewho had forsaken him, would return with thefirst dawning of success. Even during his flightto Egra (so little humility had he learned frommelancholy experience) he was still occupied

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with the colossal scheme of dethroning theEmperor. It was under these circumstances,that one of his suite asked leave to offer himhis advice. “Under the Emperor,” said he, “yourhighness is certain of being a great and re-spected noble; with the enemy, you are at bestbut a precarious king. It is unwise to risk cer-tainty for uncertainty. The enemy will availthemselves of your personal influence, while theopportunity lasts; but you will ever be regardedwith suspicion, and they will always be fearfullest you should treat them as you have donethe Emperor. Return, then, to your allegiance,while there is yet time. — “And how is that tobe done?” said Wallenstein, interrupting him:“You have 40,000 men-at-arms,” rejoined he,(meaning ducats, which were stamped with thefigure of an armed man,) “take them with you,and go straight to the Imperial Court; then de-clare that the steps you have hitherto takenwere merely designed to test the fidelity of the

Emperor’s servants, and of distinguishing theloyal from the doubtful; and since most haveshown a disposition to revolt, say you are cometo warn his Imperial Majesty against those dan-gerous men. Thus you will make those appearas traitors, who are labouring to represent youas a false villain. At the Imperial Court, a manis sure to be welcome with 40,000 ducats, andFriedland will be again as he was at the first.”— “The advice is good,” said Wallenstein, aftera pause, “but let the devil trust to it.”

While the duke, in his retirement in Egra, wasenergetically pushing his negociations with theenemy, consulting the stars, and indulging innew hopes, the dagger which was to put an endto his existence was unsheathed almost underhis very eyes. The imperial decree which pro-claimed him an outlaw, had not failed of its ef-fect; and an avenging Nemesis ordained thatthe ungrateful should fall beneath the blow ofingratitude. Among his officers, Wallenstein had

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particularly distinguished one Leslie*, anIrishman, and had made his fortune. This wasthe man who now felt himself called on to ex-ecute the sentence against him, and to earnthe price of blood. No sooner had he reachedEgra, in the suite of the duke, than he disclosedto the commandant of the town, Colonel Buttler,and to Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon, two Protes-tant Scotchmen, the treasonable designs of theduke, which the latter had imprudently enoughcommunicated to him during the journey. Inthese two individuals, he had found men ca-pable of a determined resolution. They were nowcalled on to choose between treason and duty,between their legitimate sovereign and a fugi-tive abandoned rebel; and though the latter was

their common benefactor, the choice could notremain for a moment doubtful. They were sol-emnly pledged to the allegiance of the Emperor,and this duty required them to take the mostrapid measures against the public enemy. Theopportunity was favourable; his evil geniusseemed to have delivered him into the hands ofvengeance. But not to encroach on the prov-ince of justice, they resolved to deliver up theirvictim alive; and they parted with the bold re-solve to take their general prisoner. This darkplot was buried in the deepest silence; andWallenstein, far from suspecting his impend-ing ruin, flattered himself that in the garrisonof Egra he possessed his bravest and most faith-ful champions.

At this time, he became acquainted with theImperial proclamations containing his sentence,and which had been published in all the camps.He now became aware of the full extent of thedanger which encompassed him, the utter

* Schiller is mistaken as to this point. Leslie was a

Scotchman, and Buttler an Irishman and a papist. He

died a general in the Emperor’s service, and founded,

at Prague, a convent of Irish Franciscans which still

exists.

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impossibility of retracing his steps, his fearfullyforlorn condition, and the absolute necessity ofat once trusting himself to the faith and honourof the Emperor’s enemies. To Leslie he pouredforth all the anguish of his wounded spirit, andthe vehemence of his agitation extracted fromhim his last remaining secret. He disclosed tothis officer his intention to deliver up Egra andEllenbogen, the passes of the kingdom, to thePalatine of Birkenfeld, and at the same time,informed him of the near approach of Duke Ber-nard, of whose arrival he hoped to receive tid-ings that very night. These disclosures, whichLeslie immediately communicated to the con-spirators, made them change their original plan.The urgency of the danger admitted not of halfmeasures. Egra might in a moment be in theenemy’s hands, and a sudden revolution set theirprisoner at liberty. To anticipate this mischance,they resolved to assassinate him and his associ-ates the following night.

In order to execute this design with less noise,it was arranged that the fearful deed should beperpetrated at an entertainment which Colo-nel Buttler should give in the Castle of Egra.All the guests, except Wallenstein, made theirappearance, who being in too great anxiety ofmind to enjoy company excused himself. Withregard to him, therefore, their plan must beagain changed; but they resolved to executetheir design against the others. The three Colo-nels, Illo, Terzky, and William Kinsky, came inwith careless confidence, and with them Cap-tain Neumann, an officer of ability, whose ad-vice Terzky sought in every intricate affair. Pre-vious to their arrival, trusty soldiers of the gar-rison, to whom the plot had been communi-cated, were admitted into the Castle, all theavenues leading from it guarded, and six ofButtler’s dragoons concealed in an apartmentclose to the banqueting-room, who, on a con-certed signal, were to rush in and kill the trai-

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tors. Without suspecting the danger that hungover them, the guests gaily abandoned them-selves to the pleasures of the table, andWallenstein’s health was drunk in full bumpers,not as a servant of the Emperor, but as a sover-eign prince. The wine opened their hearts, andIllo, with exultation, boasted that in three daysan army would arrive, such as Wallenstein hadnever before been at the head of. “Yes,” criedNeumann, “and then he hopes to bathe hishands in Austrian blood.” During this conver-sation, the dessert was brought in, and Lesliegave the concerted signal to raise the draw-bridges, while he himself received the keys ofthe gates. In an instant, the hall was filled witharmed men, who, with the unexpected greet-ing of “Long live Ferdinand!” placed themselvesbehind the chairs of the marked guests. Sur-prised, and with a presentiment of their fate,they sprang from the table. Kinsky and Terzkywere killed upon the spot, and before they could

put themselves upon their guard. Neumann,during the confusion in the hall, escaped intothe court, where, however, he was instantlyrecognised and cut down. Illo alone had thepresence of mind to defend himself. He placedhis back against a window, from whence hepoured the bitterest reproaches upon Gordon,and challenged him to fight him fairly andhonourably. After a gallant resistance, in whichhe slew two of his assailants, he fell to theground overpowered by numbers, and piercedwith ten wounds. The deed was no sooner ac-complished, than Leslie hastened into the townto prevent a tumult. The sentinels at the castlegate, seeing him running and out of breath,and believing he belonged to the rebels, firedtheir muskets after him, but without effect. Thefiring, however, aroused the town-guard, andall Leslie’s presence of mind was requisite toallay the tumult. He hastily detailed to themall the circumstances of Wallenstein’s con-

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spiracy, the measures which had been alreadytaken to counteract it, the fate of the four rebels,as well as that which awaited their chief. Find-ing the troops well disposed, he exacted fromthem a new oath of fidelity to the Emperor, andto live and die for the good cause. A hundred ofButtler’s dragoons were sent from the Castleinto the town to patrol the streets, to overawethe partisans of the Duke, and to prevent tu-mult. All the gates of Egra were at the sametime seized, and every avenue to Wallenstein’sresidence, which adjoined the market-place,guarded by a numerous and trusty body oftroops, sufficient to prevent either his escapeor his receiving any assistance from without.

But before they proceeded finally to executethe deed, a long conference was held amongthe conspirators in the Castle, whether theyshould kill him, or content themselves withmaking him prisoner. Besprinkled as they werewith the blood, and deliberating almost over the

very corpses of his murdered associates, eventhese furious men yet shuddered at the horrorof taking away so illustrious a life. They sawbefore their mind’s eye him their leader inbattle, in the days of his good fortune, sur-rounded by his victorious army, clothed withall the pomp of military greatness, and long-accustomed awe again seized their minds. Butthis transitory emotion was soon effaced by thethought of the immediate danger. They remem-bered the hints which Neumann and Illo hadthrown out at table, the near approach of a for-midable army of Swedes and Saxons, and theyclearly saw that the death of the traitor was theironly chance of safety. They adhered, therefore,to their first resolution, and Captain Deveroux,an Irishman, who had already been retainedfor the murderous purpose, received decisiveorders to act.

While these three officers were thus decidingupon his fate in the castle of Egra, Wallenstein

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was occupied in reading the stars with Seni.“The danger is not yet over,” said the astrologerwith prophetic spirit. “It is,” replied the Duke,who would give the law even to heaven. “But,”he continued with equally prophetic spirit, “thatthou friend Seni thyself shall soon be throwninto prison, that also is written in the stars.”The astrologer had taken his leave, andWallenstein had retired to bed, when CaptainDeveroux appeared before his residence withsix halberdiers, and was immediately admittedby the guard, who were accustomed to see himvisit the general at all hours. A page who methim upon the stairs, and attempted to raise analarm, was run through the body with a pike.In the antichamber, the assassins met a ser-vant, who had just come out of the sleeping-room of his master, and had taken with himthe key. Putting his finger upon his mouth, theterrified domestic made a sign to them to makeno noise, as the Duke was asleep. “Friend,” cried

Deveroux, “it is time to awake him;” and withthese words he rushed against the door, whichwas also bolted from within, and burst it open.

Wallenstein had been roused from his firstsleep, by the report of a musket which had ac-cidentally gone off, and had sprung to the win-dow to call the guard. At the same moment, heheard, from the adjoining building, the shrieksof the Countesses Terzky and Kinsky, who hadjust learnt the violent fate of their husbands.Ere he had time to reflect on these terribleevents, Deveroux, with the other murderers, wasin his chamber. The Duke was in his shirt, ashe had leaped out of bed, and leaning on a tablenear the window. “Art thou the villain,” criedDeveroux to him, “who intends to deliver up theEmperor’s troops to the enemy, and to tear thecrown from the head of his Majesty? Now thoumust die!” He paused for a few moments, as ifexpecting an answer; but scorn and astonish-ment kept Wallenstein silent. Throwing his

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arms wide open, he received in his breast, thedeadly blow of the halberds, and without utter-ing a groan, fell weltering in his blood.

The next day, an express arrived from theDuke of Lauenburg, announcing his approach.The messenger was secured, and another inWallenstein’s livery despatched to the Duke, todecoy him into Egra. The stratagem succeeded,and Francis Albert fell into the hands of theenemy. Duke Bernard of Weimar, who was onhis march towards Egra, was nearly sharing thesame fate. Fortunately, he heard ofWallenstein’s death in time to save himself bya retreat. Ferdinand shed a tear over the fate ofhis general, and ordered three thousand massesto be said for his soul at Vienna; but, at thesame time, he did not forget to reward his as-sassins with gold chains, chamberlains’ keys,dignities, and estates.

Thus did Wallenstein, at the age of fifty, ter-minate his active and extraordinary life. To

ambition, he owed both his greatness and hisruin; with all his failings, he possessed greatand admirable qualities, and had he kept him-self within due bounds, he would have lived anddied without an equal. The virtues of the rulerand of the hero, prudence, justice, firmness,and courage, are strikingly prominent featuresin his character; but he wanted the gentler vir-tues of the man, which adorn the hero, andmake the ruler beloved. Terror was the talis-man with which he worked; extreme in his pun-ishments as in his rewards, he knew how tokeep alive the zeal of his followers, while nogeneral of ancient or modern times could boastof being obeyed with equal alacrity. Submis-sion to his will was more prized by him thanbravery; for, if the soldiers work by the latter, itis on the former that the general depends. Hecontinually kept up the obedience of his troopsby capricious orders, and profusely rewardedthe readiness to obey even in trifles; because

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he looked rather to the act itself, than its ob-ject. He once issued a decree, with the penaltyof death on disobedience, that none but redsashes should be worn in the army. A captainof horse no sooner heard the order, than pull-ing off his gold-embroidered sash, he trampledit under foot; Wallenstein, on being informedof the circumstance, promoted him on the spotto the rank of Colonel. His comprehensiveglance was always directed to the whole, and inall his apparent caprice, he steadily kept in viewsome general scope or bearing. The robberiescommitted by the soldiers in a friendly coun-try, had led to the severest orders against ma-rauders; and all who should be caught thiev-ing, were threatened with the halter.Wallenstein himself having met a straggler inthe open country upon the field, commandedhim to be seized without trial, as a transgres-sor of the law, and in his usual voice of thun-der, exclaimed, “Hang the fellow,” against which

no opposition ever availed. The soldier pleadedand proved his innocence, but the irrevocablesentence had gone forth. “Hang then innocent,”cried the inexorable Wallenstein, “the guilty willhave then more reason to tremble.” Prepara-tions were already making to execute the sen-tence, when the soldier, who gave himself upfor lost, formed the desperate resolution of notdying without revenge. He fell furiously uponhis judge, but was overpowered by numbers,and disarmed before he could fulfil his design.“Now let him go,” said the Duke, “it will excitesufficient terror.”

His munificence was supported by an im-mense income, which was estimated at threemillions of florins yearly, without reckoning theenormous sums which he raised under thename of contributions. His liberality and clear-ness of understanding, raised him above thereligious prejudices of his age; and the Jesuitsnever forgave him for having seen through their

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system, and for regarding the pope as nothingmore than a bishop of Rome.

But as no one ever yet came to a fortunate endwho quarrelled with the Church, Wallensteinalso must augment the number of its victims.Through the intrigues of monks, he lost atRatisbon the command of the army, and at Egrahis life; by the same arts, perhaps, he lost whatwas of more consequence, his honourable nameand good repute with posterity.

For in justice it must be admitted, that thepens which have traced the history of this ex-traordinary man are not untinged with partial-ity, and that the treachery of the duke, and hisdesigns upon the throne of Bohemia, rest notso much upon proven facts, as upon probableconjecture. No documents have yet beenbrought to light, which disclose with historicalcertainty the secret motives of his conduct; andamong all his public and well attested actions,there is, perhaps, not one which could not have

had an innocent end. Many of his most obnox-ious measures proved nothing but the earnestwish he entertained for peace; most of the oth-ers are explained and justified by the well-founded distrust he entertained of the Emperor,and the excusable wish of maintaining his ownimportance. It is true, that his conduct towardsthe Elector of Bavaria looks too like an unwor-thy revenge, and the dictates of an implacablespirit; but still, none of his actions perhapswarrant us in holding his treason to be proved.If necessity and despair at last forced him todeserve the sentence which had been pro-nounced against him while innocent, still this,if true, will not justify that sentence. ThusWallenstein fell, not because he was a rebel,but he became a rebel because he fell. Unfor-tunate in life that he made a victorious partyhis enemy, and still more unfortunate in death,that the same party survived him and wrote hishistory.

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Book V

WALLENSTEIN’S DEATH rendered necessary the appointment of a new generalissimo; and the Emperor yielded

at last to the advice of the Spaniards, to raisehis son Ferdinand, King of Hungary, to thatdignity. Under him, Count Gallas commanded,who performed the functions of commander-in-chief, while the prince brought to this post noth-ing but his name and dignity. A considerableforce was soon assembled under Ferdinand; theDuke of Lorraine brought up a considerablebody of auxiliaries in person, and the CardinalInfante joined him from Italy with 10,000 men.In order to drive the enemy from the Danube,the new general undertook the enterprise inwhich his predecessor had failed, the siege ofRatisbon. In vain did Duke Bernard of Weimarpenetrate into the interior of Bavaria, with aview to draw the enemy from the town;

Ferdinand continued to press the siege withvigour, and the city, after a most obstinate re-sistance, was obliged to open its gates to him.Donauwerth soon shared the same fate, andNordlingen in Swabia was now invested. Theloss of so many of the imperial cities was se-verely felt by the Swedish party; as the friend-ship of these towns had so largely contributedto the success of their arms, indifference to theirfate would have been inexcusable. It would havebeen an indelible disgrace, had they desertedtheir confederates in their need, and aban-doned them to the revenge of an implacableconqueror. Moved by these considerations, theSwedish army, under the command of Horn,and Bernard of Weimar, advanced uponNordlingen, determined to relieve it even at theexpense of a battle.

The undertaking was a dangerous one, for innumbers the enemy was greatly superior to thatof the Swedes. There was also a further reason

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for avoiding a battle at present; the enemy’sforce was likely soon to divide, the Italian troopsbeing destined for the Netherlands. In the meantime, such a position might be taken up, as tocover Nordlingen, and cut off their supplies. Allthese grounds were strongly urged by GustavusHorn, in the Swedish council of war; but hisremonstrances were disregarded by men who,intoxicated by a long career of success, mistookthe suggestions of prudence for the voice of ti-midity. Overborne by the superior influence ofDuke Bernard, Gustavus Horn was compelledto risk a contest, whose unfavourable issue, adark foreboding seemed already to announce.The fate of the battle depended upon the pos-session of a height which commanded the im-perial camp. An attempt to occupy it during thenight failed, as the tedious transport of the ar-tillery through woods and hollow ways delayedthe arrival of the troops. When the Swedes ar-rived about midnight, they found the heights

in possession of the enemy, strongly en-trenched. They waited, therefore, for daybreak,to carry them by storm. Their impetuous cour-age surmounted every obstacle; the entrench-ments, which were in the form of a crescent,were successfully scaled by each of the two bri-gades appointed to the service; but as they en-tered at the same moment from opposite sides,they met and threw each other into confusion.At this unfortunate moment, a barrel of pow-der blew up, and created the greatest disorderamong the Swedes. The imperial cavalrycharged upon their broken ranks, and the flightbecame universal. No persuasion on the part oftheir general could induce the fugitives to re-new the assault.

He resolved, therefore, in order to carry thisimportant post, to lead fresh troops to the at-tack. But in the interim, some Spanish regi-ments had marched in, and every attempt togain it was repulsed by their heroic intrepidity.

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One of the duke’s own regiments advancedseven times, and was as often driven back. Thedisadvantage of not occupying this post in time,was quickly and sensibly felt. The fire of theenemy’s artillery from the heights, caused suchslaughter in the adjacent wing of the Swedes,that Horn, who commanded there, was forcedto give orders to retire. Instead of being able tocover the retreat of his colleague, and to checkthe pursuit of the enemy, Duke Bernard, over-powered by numbers, was himself driven intothe plain, where his routed cavalry spread con-fusion among Horn’s brigade, and rendered thedefeat complete. Almost the entire infantry werekilled or taken prisoners. More than 12,000men remained dead upon the field of battle; 80field pieces, about 4,000 waggons, and 300 stan-dards and colours fell into the hands of theImperialists. Horn himself, with three othergenerals, were taken prisoners. Duke Bernardwith difficulty saved a feeble remnant of his

army, which joined him at Frankfort.The defeat at Nordlingen, cost the Swedish

Chancellor the second sleepless night he hadpassed in Germany*. The consequences of thisdisaster were terrible. The Swedes had lost byit at once their superiority in the field, and withit the confidence of their confederates, whichthey had gained solely by their previous mili-tary success. A dangerous division threatenedthe Protestant Confederation with ruin. Con-sternation and terror seized upon the wholeparty; while the Papists arose with exulting tri-umph from the deep humiliation into whichthey had sunk. Swabia and the adjacent circlesfirst felt the consequences of the defeat ofNordlingen; and Wirtemberg, in particular, wasoverrun by the conquering army. All the mem-bers of the League of Heilbronn trembled at the

* The first was occasioned by the death of Gustavus

Adolphus.

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prospect of the Emperor’s revenge; those whocould, fled to Strasburg, while the helpless freecities awaited their fate with alarm. A little moreof moderation towards the conquered, wouldhave quickly reduced all the weaker states un-der the Emperor’s authority; but the severitywhich was practised, even against those whovoluntarily surrendered, drove the rest to de-spair, and roused them to a vigorous resistance.

In this perplexity, all looked to Oxenstiern forcounsel and assistance; Oxenstiern applied forboth to the German States. Troops were wanted;money likewise, to raise new levies, and to payto the old the arrears which the men were clam-orously demanding. Oxenstiern addressed him-self to the Elector of Saxony; but he shamefullyabandoned the Swedish cause, to negociate fora separate peace with the Emperor at Pirna. Hesolicited aid from the Lower Saxon States; butthey, long wearied of the Swedish pretensionsand demands for money, now thought only of

themselves; and George, Duke of Lunenburg,in place of flying to the assistance of UpperGermany, laid siege to Minden, with the inten-tion of keeping possession of it for himself.Abandoned by his German allies, the chancel-lor exerted himself to obtain the assistance offoreign powers. England, Holland, and Venicewere applied to for troops and money; and,driven to the last extremity, the chancellor re-luctantly resolved to take the disagreeable stepwhich he had so long avoided, and to throw him-self under the protection of France.

The moment had at last arrived whichRichelieu had long waited for with impatience.Nothing, he was aware, but the impossibility ofsaving themselves by any other means, couldinduce the Protestant States in Germany tosupport the pretensions of France upon Alsace.This extreme necessity had now arrived; theassistance of that power was indispensable, andshe was resolved to be well paid for the active

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part which she was about to take in the Ger-man war. Full of lustre and dignity, it now cameupon the political stage. Oxenstiern, who feltlittle reluctance in bestowing the rights andpossessions of the empire, had already cededthe fortress of Philipsburg, and the other longcoveted places. The Protestants of Upper Ger-many now, in their own names, sent a specialembassy to Richelieu, requesting him to takeAlsace, the fortress of Breyssach, which was stillto be recovered from the enemy, and all theplaces upon the Upper Rhine, which were thekeys of Germany, under the protection ofFrance. What was implied by French protectionhad been seen in the conduct of France towardsthe bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, whichit had held for centuries against the rightfulowners. Treves was already in the possessionof French garrisons; Lorraine was in a mannerconquered, as it might at any time be overrunby an army, and could not, alone, and with its

own strength, withstand its formidableneighbour. France now entertained the hopeof adding Alsace to its large and numerous pos-sessions, and, — since a treaty was soon to beconcluded with the Dutch for the partition ofthe Spanish Netherlands — the prospect ofmaking the Rhine its natural boundary towardsGermany. Thus shamefully were the rights ofGermany sacrificed by the German States tothis treacherous and grasping power, which,under the mask of a disinterested friendship,aimed only at its own aggrandizement; andwhile it boldly claimed the honourable title of aProtectress, was solely occupied with promot-ing its own schemes, and advancing its owninterests amid the general confusion.

In return for these important cessions, Franceengaged to effect a diversion in favour of theSwedes, by commencing hostilities against theSpaniards; and if this should lead to an openbreach with the Emperor, to maintain an army

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upon the German side of the Rhine, which wasto act in conjunction with the Swedes and Ger-mans against Austria. For a war with Spain, theSpaniards themselves soon afforded the desiredpretext. Making an inroad from the Nether-lands, upon the city of Treves, they cut in piecesthe French garrison; and, in open violation ofthe law of nations, made prisoner the Elector,who had placed himself under the protectionof France, and carried him into Flanders. Whenthe Cardinal Infante, as Viceroy of the SpanishNetherlands, refused satisfaction for these in-juries, and delayed to restore the prince to lib-erty, Richelieu, after the old custom, formallyproclaimed war at Brussels by a herald, andthe war was at once opened by three differentarmies in Milan, in the Valteline, and inFlanders. The French minister was less anx-ious to commence hostilities with the Emperor,which promised fewer advantages, and threat-ened greater difficulties. A fourth army, how-

ever, was detached across the Rhine into Ger-many, under the command of CardinalLavalette, which was to act in conjunction withDuke Bernard, against the Emperor, without aprevious declaration of war.

A heavier blow for the Swedes, than even thedefeat of Nordlingen, was the reconciliation ofthe Elector of Saxony with the Emperor. Aftermany fruitless attempts both to bring about andto prevent it, it was at last effected in 1634, atPirna, and, the following year, reduced into aformal treaty of peace, at Prague. The Elector ofSaxony had always viewed with jealousy the pre-tensions of the Swedes in Germany; and hisaversion to this foreign power, which now gavelaws within the Empire, had grown with everyfresh requisition that Oxenstiern was obligedto make upon the German states. This ill feel-ing was kept alive by the Spanish court, wholaboured earnestly to effect a peace betweenSaxony and the Emperor. Wearied with the ca-

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lamities of a long and destructive contest, whichhad selected Saxony above all others for its the-atre; grieved by the miseries which both friendand foe inflicted upon his subjects, and seducedby the tempting propositions of the House ofAustria, the Elector at last abandoned the com-mon cause, and, caring little for the fate of hisconfederates, or the liberties of Germany,thought only of securing his own advantages,even at the expense of the whole body.

In fact, the misery of Germany had risen tosuch a height, that all clamorously vociferatedfor peace; and even the most disadvantageouspacification would have been hailed as a bless-ing from heaven. The plains, which formerly hadbeen thronged with a happy and industriouspopulation, where nature had lavished herchoicest gifts, and plenty and prosperity hadreigned, were now a wild and desolate wilder-ness. The fields, abandoned by the industrioushusbandman, lay waste and uncultivated; and

no sooner had the young crops given the prom-ise of a smiling harvest, than a single marchdestroyed the labours of a year, and blasted thelast hope of an afflicted peasantry. Burntcastles, wasted fields, villages in ashes, were tobe seen extending far and wide on all sides,while the ruined peasantry had no resource leftbut to swell the horde of incendiaries, and fear-fully to retaliate upon their fellows, who hadhitherto been spared the miseries which theythemselves had suffered. The only safeguardagainst oppression was to become an oppres-sor. The towns groaned under the licentious-ness of undisciplined and plundering garrisons,who seized and wasted the property of the citi-zens, and, under the license of their position,committed the most remorseless devastationand cruelty. If the march of an army convertedwhole provinces into deserts, if others wereimpoverished by winter quarters, or exhaustedby contributions, these still were but passing

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evils, and the industry of a year might effacethe miseries of a few months. But there was norelief for those who had a garrison within theirwalls, or in the neighbourhood; even the changeof fortune could not improve their unfortunatefate, since the victor trod in the steps of thevanquished, and friends were not more merci-ful than enemies. The neglected farms, the de-struction of the crops, and the numerous armieswhich overran the exhausted country, were in-evitably followed by scarcity and the high priceof provisions, which in the later years was stillfurther increased by a general failure in thecrops. The crowding together of men in campsand quarters — want upon one side, and ex-cess on the other, occasioned contagious dis-tempers, which were more fatal than even thesword. In this long and general confusion, allthe bonds of social life were broken up; — re-spect for the rights of their fellow men, the fearof the laws, purity of morals, honour, and reli-

gion, were laid aside, where might ruled su-preme with iron sceptre. Under the shelter ofanarchy and impunity, every vice flourished,and men became as wild as the country. Nostation was too dignified for outrage, no prop-erty too holy for rapine and avarice. In a word,the soldier reigned supreme; and that mostbrutal of despots often made his own officer feelhis power. The leader of an army was a far moreimportant person within any country where heappeared, than its lawful governor, who was fre-quently obliged to fly before him into his owncastles for safety. Germany swarmed with thesepetty tyrants, and the country suffered equallyfrom its enemies and its protectors. Thesewounds rankled the deeper, when the unhappyvictims recollected that Germany was sacrificedto the ambition of foreign powers, who, for theirown ends, prolonged the miseries of war. Ger-many bled under the scourge, to extend theconquests and influence of Sweden; and the

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torch of discord was kept alive within the Em-pire, that the services of Richelieu might be ren-dered indispensable in France.

But, in truth, it was not merely interestedvoices which opposed a peace; and if both Swe-den and the German states were anxious, fromcorrupt motives, to prolong the conflict, theywere seconded in their views by sound policy.After the defeat of Nordlingen, an equitablepeace was not to be expected from the Emperor;and, this being the case, was it not too great asacrifice, after seventeen years of war, with allits miseries, to abandon the contest, not onlywithout advantage, but even with loss? Whatwould avail so much bloodshed, if all was to re-main as it had been; if their rights and preten-sions were neither larger nor safer; if all thathad been won with so much difficulty was to besurrendered for a peace at any cost? Would itnot be better to endure, for two or three yearsmore, the burdens they had borne so long, and

to reap at last some recompense for twenty yearsof suffering? Neither was it doubtful, that peacemight at last be obtained on favourable terms,if only the Swedes and the German Protestantsshould continue united in the cabinet and inthe field, and pursued their common interestswith a reciprocal sympathy and zeal. Their divi-sions alone, had rendered the enemy formi-dable, and protracted the acquisition of a last-ing and general peace. And this great evil theElector of Saxony had brought upon the Prot-estant cause by concluding a separate treatywith Austria.

He, indeed, had commenced his negociationswith the Emperor, even before the battle ofNordlingen; and the unfortunate issue of thatbattle only accelerated their conclusion. By it,all his confidence in the Swedes was lost; andit was even doubted whether they would everrecover from the blow. The jealousies amongtheir generals, the insubordination of the army,

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and the exhaustion of the Swedish kingdom,shut out any reasonable prospect of effectiveassistance on their part. The Elector hastened,therefore, to profit by the Emperor’s magnanim-ity, who, even after the battle of Nordlingen,did not recall the conditions previously offered.While Oxenstiern, who had assembled the es-tates in Frankfort, made further demands uponthem and him, the Emperor, on the contrary,made concessions; and therefore it required nolong consideration to decide between them.

In the mean time, however, he was anxious toescape the charge of sacrificing the commoncause and attending only to his own interests.All the German states, and even the Swedes,were publicly invited to become parties to thispeace, although Saxony and the Emperor werethe only powers who deliberated upon it, andwho assumed the right to give law to Germany.By this self-appointed tribunal, the grievancesof the Protestants were discussed, their rights

and privileges decided, and even the fate of re-ligions determined, without the presence ofthose who were most deeply interested in it.Between them, a general peace was resolvedon, and it was to be enforced by an imperialarmy of execution, as a formal decree of theEmpire. Whoever opposed it, was to be treatedas a public enemy; and thus, contrary to theirrights, the states were to be compelled to ac-knowledge a law, in the passing of which theyhad no share. Thus, even in form, the pacifica-tion at Prague was an arbitrary measure; norwas it less so in its contents. The Edict of Resti-tution had been the chief cause of dispute be-tween the Elector and the Emperor; and there-fore it was first considered in their deliberations.Without formally annulling it, it was determinedby the treaty of Prague, that all the ecclesiasti-cal domains holding immediately of the Empire,and, among the mediate ones, those which hadbeen seized by the Protestants subsequently

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to the treaty at Passau, should, for forty years,remain in the same position as they had beenin before the Edict of Restitution, but withoutany formal decision of the diet to that effect.Before the expiration of this term a commis-sion, composed of equal numbers of both reli-gions, should proceed to settle the matter peace-ably and according to law; and if this commis-sion should be unable to come to a decision,each party should remain in possession of therights which it had exercised before the Edictof Restitution. This arrangement, therefore, farfrom removing the grounds of dissension, onlysuspended the dispute for a time; and this ar-ticle of the treaty of Prague only covered theembers of a future war.

The archbishopric of Magdeburg remained inpossession of Prince Augustus of Saxony, andHalberstadt in that of the Archduke LeopoldWilliam. Four estates were taken from the ter-ritory of Magdeburg, and given to Saxony, for

which the Administrator of Magdeburg, Chris-tian William of Brandenburg, was otherwise tobe indemnified. The Dukes of Mecklenburg,upon acceding to this treaty, were to be ac-knowledged as rightful possessors of their ter-ritories, in which the magnanimity of GustavusAdolphus had long ago reinstated them.Donauwerth recovered its liberties. The impor-tant claims of the heirs of the Palatine, how-ever important it might be for the Protestantcause not to lose this electorate vote in the diet,were passed over in consequence of the ani-mosity subsisting between the Lutherans andthe Calvinists. All the conquests which, in thecourse of the war, had been made by the Ger-man states, or by the League and the Emperor,were to be mutually restored; all which hadbeen appropriated by the foreign powers ofFrance and Sweden, was to be forcibly wrestedfrom them by the united powers. The troops ofthe contracting parties were to be formed into

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one imperial army, which, supported and paidby the Empire, was, by force of arms, to carryinto execution the covenants of the treaty.

As the peace of Prague was intended to serveas a general law of the Empire, those points,which did not immediately affect the latter,formed the subject of a separate treaty. By it,Lusatia was ceded to the Elector of Saxony as afief of Bohemia, and special articles guaranteedthe freedom of religion of this country and ofSilesia.

All the Protestant states were invited to ac-cede to the treaty of Prague, and on that condi-tion were to benefit by the amnesty. The princesof Wurtemberg and Baden, whose territories theEmperor was already in possession of, andwhich he was not disposed to restore uncondi-tionally; and such vassals of Austria as hadborne arms against their sovereign; and thosestates which, under the direction of Oxenstiern,composed the council of the Upper German

Circle, were excluded from the treaty, — not somuch with the view of continuing the waragainst them, as of compelling them to purchasepeace at a dearer rate. Their territories were tobe retained in pledge, till every thing shouldbe restored to its former footing. Such was thetreaty of Prague. Equal justice, however, towardsall, might perhaps have restored confidence be-tween the head of the Empire and its members— between the Protestants and the RomanCatholics — between the Reformed and theLutheran party; and the Swedes, abandonedby all their allies, would in all probability havebeen driven from Germany with disgrace. Butthis inequality strengthened, in those who weremore severely treated, the spirit of mistrust andopposition, and made it an easier task for theSwedes to keep alive the flame of war, and tomaintain a party in Germany.

The peace of Prague, as might have been ex-pected, was received with very various feelings

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throughout Germany. The attempt to concili-ate both parties, had rendered it obnoxious toboth. The Protestants complained of the re-straints imposed upon them; the Roman Catho-lics thought that these hated sectaries had beenfavoured at the expense of the true church. Inthe opinion of the latter, the church had beendeprived of its inalienable rights, by the con-cession to the Protestants of forty years’ undis-turbed possession of the ecclesiastical ben-efices; while the former murmured that the in-terests of the Protestant church had been be-trayed, because toleration had not been grantedto their co-religionists in the Austrian domin-ions. But no one was so bitterly reproached asthe Elector of Saxony, who was publicly de-nounced as a deserter, a traitor to religion andthe liberties of the Empire, and a confederateof the Emperor.

In the mean time, he consoled himself withthe triumph of seeing most of the Protestant

states compelled by necessity to embrace thispeace. The Elector of Brandenburg, Duke Will-iam of Weimar, the princes of Anhalt, the dukesof Mecklenburg, the dukes of BrunswickLunenburg, the Hanse towns, and most of theimperial cities, acceded to it. The LandgraveWilliam of Hesse long wavered, or affected to doso, in order to gain time, and to regulate hismeasures by the course of events. He had con-quered several fertile provinces of Westphalia,and derived from them principally the meansof continuing the war; these, by the terms ofthe treaty, he was bound to restore. Bernard,Duke of Weimar, whose states, as yet, existedonly on paper, as a belligerent power was notaffected by the treaty, but as a general was somaterially; and, in either view, he must equallybe disposed to reject it. His whole riches con-sisted in his bravery, his possessions in hissword. War alone gave him greatness and im-portance, and war alone could realize the

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projects which his ambition suggested.But of all who declaimed against the treaty of

Prague, none were so loud in their clamours asthe Swedes, and none had so much reason fortheir opposition. Invited to Germany by theGermans themselves, the champions of theProtestant Church, and the freedom of theStates, which they had defended with so muchbloodshed, and with the sacred life of their king,they now saw themselves suddenly and shame-fully abandoned, disappointed in all theirhopes, without reward and without gratitudedriven from the empire for which they had toiledand bled, and exposed to the ridicule of theenemy by the very princes who owed every thingto them. No satisfaction, no indemnification forthe expenses which they had incurred, noequivalent for the conquests which they wereto leave behind them, was provided by the treatyof Prague. They were to be dismissed poorerthan they came, or, if they resisted, to be ex-

pelled by the very powers who had invited them.The Elector of Saxony at last spoke of a pecuni-ary indemnification, and mentioned the smallsum of two millions five hundred thousand flor-ins; but the Swedes had already expended con-siderably more, and this disgraceful equivalentin money was both contrary to their true inter-ests, and injurious to their pride. “The Electorsof Bavaria and Saxony,” replied Oxenstiern,“have been paid for their services, which, asvassals, they were bound to render the Emperor,with the possession of important provinces; andshall we, who have sacrificed our king for Ger-many, be dismissed with the miserable sum of2,500,000 florins?” The disappointment of theirexpectations was the more severe, because theSwedes had calculated upon being recom-pensed with the Duchy of Pomerania, thepresent possessor of which was old and with-out heirs. But the succession of this territorywas confirmed by the treaty of Prague to the

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Elector of Brandenburg; and all theneighbouring powers declared against allowingthe Swedes to obtain a footing within the em-pire.

Never, in the whole course of the war, hadthe prospects of the Swedes looked moregloomy, than in the year 1635, immediatelyafter the conclusion of the treaty of Prague.Many of their allies, particularly among the freecities, abandoned them to benefit by the peace;others were compelled to accede to it by thevictorious arms of the Emperor. Augsburg, sub-dued by famine, surrendered under the sever-est conditions; Wurtzburg and Coburg were lostto the Austrians. The League of Heilbronn wasformally dissolved. Nearly the whole of UpperGermany, the chief seat of the Swedish power,was reduced under the Emperor. Saxony, onthe strength of the treaty of Prague, demandedthe evacuation of Thuringia, Halberstadt, andMagdeburg. Philipsburg, the military depot of

France, was surprised by the Austrians, withall the stores it contained; and this severe losschecked the activity of France. To complete theembarrassments of Sweden, the truce with Po-land was drawing to a close. To support a war atthe same time with Poland and in Germany,was far beyond the power of Sweden; and allthat remained was to choose between them.Pride and ambition declared in favour of con-tinuing the German war, at whatever sacrificeon the side of Poland. An army, however, wasnecessary to command the respect of Poland,and to give weight to Sweden in any negotia-tions for a truce or a peace.

The mind of Oxenstiern, firm, and inexhaust-ible in expedients, set itself manfully to meetthese calamities, which all combined to over-whelm Sweden; and his shrewd understand-ing taught him how to turn even misfortunesto his advantage. The defection of so many Ger-man cities of the empire deprived him, it is true,

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of a great part of his former allies, but at thesame time it freed him from the necessity ofpaying any regard to their interests. The morethe number of his enemies increased, the moreprovinces and magazines were opened to histroops. The gross ingratitude of the States, andthe haughty contempt with which the Emperorbehaved, (who did not even condescend to treatdirectly with him about a peace,) excited in himthe courage of despair, and a noble determina-tion to maintain the struggle to the last. Thecontinuance of war, however unfortunate itmight prove, could not render the situation ofSweden worse than it now was; and if Germanywas to be evacuated, it was at least better andnobler to do so sword in hand, and to yield toforce rather than to fear.

In the extremity in which the Swedes werenow placed by the desertion of their allies, theyaddressed themselves to France, who met themwith the greatest encouragement. The interests

of the two crowns were closely united, andFrance would have injured herself by allowingthe Swedish power in Germany to decline. Thehelpless situation of the Swedes, was rather anadditional motive with France to cement moreclosely their alliance, and to take a more activepart in the German war. Since the alliance withSweden, at Beerwald, in 1632, France hadmaintained the war against the Emperor, bythe arms of Gustavus Adolphus, without anyopen or formal breach, by furnishing subsidiesand increasing the number of his enemies. Butalarmed at the unexpected rapidity and suc-cess of the Swedish arms, France, in anxiety torestore the balance of power, which was dis-turbed by the preponderance of the Swedes,seemed, for a time, to have lost sight of her origi-nal designs. She endeavoured to protect theRoman Catholic princes of the empire againstthe Swedish conqueror, by the treaties of neu-trality, and when this plan failed, she even

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meditated herself to declare war against him.But no sooner had the death of GustavusAdolphus, and the desperate situation of theSwedish affairs, dispelled this apprehension,than she returned with fresh zeal to her firstdesign, and readily afforded in this misfortunethe aid which in the hour of success she hadrefused. Freed from the checks which the am-bition and vigilance of Gustavus Adolphusplaced upon her plans of aggrandizement,France availed herself of the favourable oppor-tunity afforded by the defeat of Nordlingen, toobtain the entire direction of the war, and toprescribe laws to those who sued for her pow-erful protection. The moment seemed to smileupon her boldest plans, and those which hadformerly seemed chimerical, now appeared tobe justified by circumstances. She now turnedher whole attention to the war in Germany; and,as soon as she had secured her own private endsby a treaty with the Germans, she suddenly

entered the political arena as an active and acommanding power. While the other belliger-ent states had been exhausting themselves ina tedious contest, France had been reservingher strength, and maintained the contest bymoney alone; but now, when the state of thingscalled for more active measures, she seized thesword, and astonished Europe by the boldnessand magnitude of her undertakings. At thesame moment, she fitted out two fleets, and sentsix different armies into the field, while shesubsidized a foreign crown and several of theGerman princes. Animated by this powerful co-operation, the Swedes and Germans awoke fromthe consternation, and hoped, sword in hand,to obtain a more honourable peace than that ofPrague. Abandoned by their confederates, whohad been reconciled to the Emperor, theyformed a still closer alliance with France, whichincreased her support with their growing ne-cessities, at the same time taking a more ac-

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tive, although secret share in the German war,until at last, she threw off the mask altogether,and in her own name made an unequivocaldeclaration of war against the Emperor.

To leave Sweden at full liberty to act againstAustria, France commenced her operations byliberating it from all fear of a Polish war. Bymeans of the Count d’Avaux, its minister, anagreement was concluded between the two pow-ers at Stummsdorf in Prussia, by which thetruce was prolonged for twenty-six years,though not without a great sacrifice on the partof the Swedes, who ceded by a single stroke ofthe pen almost the whole of Polish Prussia, thedear-bought conquest of Gustavus Adolphus.The treaty of Beerwald was, with certain modi-fications, which circumstances rendered nec-essary, renewed at different times atCompiegne, and afterwards at Wismar andHamburg. France had already come to a rup-ture with Spain, in May, 1635, and the vigor-

ous attack which it made upon that power, de-prived the Emperor of his most valuable auxil-iaries from the Netherlands. By supporting theLandgrave William of Cassel, and Duke Bernardof Weimar, the Swedes were enabled to act withmore vigour upon the Elbe and the Danube,and a diversion upon the Rhine compelled theEmperor to divide his force.

The war was now prosecuted with increasingactivity. By the treaty of Prague, the Emperorhad lessened the number of his adversarieswithin the Empire; though, at the same time,the zeal and activity of his foreign enemies hadbeen augmented by it. In Germany, his influ-ence was almost unlimited, for, with the excep-tion of a few states, he had rendered himselfabsolute master of the German body and itsresources, and was again enabled to act in thecharacter of emperor and sovereign. The firstfruit of his power was the elevation of his son,Ferdinand III., to the dignity of King of the Ro-

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mans, to which he was elected by a decidedmajority of votes, notwithstanding the opposi-tion of Treves, and of the heirs of the ElectorPalatine. But, on the other hand, he had exas-perated the Swedes to desperation, had armedthe power of France against him, and drawn itstroops into the heart of the kingdom. Franceand Sweden, with their German allies, formed,from this moment, one firm and compactlyunited power; the Emperor, with the Germanstates which adhered to him, were equally firmand united. The Swedes, who no longer foughtfor Germany, but for their own lives, showedno more indulgence; relieved from the neces-sity of consulting their German allies, or ac-counting to them for the plans which theyadopted, they acted with more precipitation,rapidity, and boldness. Battles, though lessdecisive, became more obstinate and bloody;greater achievements, both in bravery and mili-tary skill, were performed; but they were but

insulated efforts; and being neither dictated byany consistent plan, nor improved by any com-manding spirit, had comparatively little influ-ence upon the course of the war.

Saxony had bound herself, by the treaty ofPrague, to expel the Swedes from Germany.From this moment, the banners of the Saxonsand Imperialists were united: the former con-federates were converted into implacable en-emies. The archbishopric of Magdeburg which,by the treaty, was ceded to the prince of Saxony,was still held by the Swedes, and every attemptto acquire it by negociation had proved ineffec-tual. Hostilities commenced, by the Elector ofSaxony recalling all his subjects from the armyof Banner, which was encamped upon the Elbe.The officers, long irritated by the accumulationof their arrears, obeyed the summons, andevacuated one quarter after another. As theSaxons, at the same time, made a movementtowards Mecklenburg, to take Doemitz, and to

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drive the Swedes from Pomerania and the Bal-tic, Banner suddenly marched thither, relievedDoemitz, and totally defeated the Saxon Gen-eral Baudissin, with 7000 men, of whom 1000were slain, and about the same number takenprisoners. Reinforced by the troops and artil-lery, which had hitherto been employed in Pol-ish Prussia, but which the treaty of Stummsdorfrendered unnecessary, this brave and impetu-ous general made, the following year (1636), asudden inroad into the Electorate of Saxony,where he gratified his inveterate hatred of theSaxons by the most destructive ravages. Irri-tated by the memory of old grievances which,during their common campaigns, he and theSwedes had suffered from the haughtiness ofthe Saxons, and now exasperated to the utmostby the late defection of the Elector, theywreaked upon the unfortunate inhabitants alltheir rancour. Against Austria and Bavaria, theSwedish soldier had fought from a sense, as it

were, of duty; but against the Saxons, they con-tended with all the energy of private animosityand personal revenge, detesting them as de-serters and traitors; for the hatred of formerfriends is of all the most fierce andirreconcileable. The powerful diversion made bythe Duke of Weimar, and the Landgrave ofHesse, upon the Rhine and in Westphalia, pre-vented the Emperor from affording the neces-sary assistance to Saxony, and left the wholeElectorate exposed to the destructive ravagesof Banner’s army.

At length, the Elector, having formed a junc-tion with the Imperial General Hatzfeld, ad-vanced against Magdeburg, which Banner invain hastened to relieve. The united army of theImperialists and the Saxons now spread itselfover Brandenburg, wrested several places fromthe Swedes, and almost drove them to the Bal-tic. But, contrary to all expectation, Banner, whohad been given up as lost, attacked the allies,

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on the 24th of September, 1636, at Wittstock,where a bloody battle took place. The onset wasterrific; and the whole force of the enemy wasdirected against the right wing of the Swedes,which was led by Banner in person. The con-test was long maintained with equal animosityand obstinacy on both sides. There was not asquadron among the Swedes, which did notreturn ten times to the charge, to be as oftenrepulsed; when at last, Banner was obliged toretire before the superior numbers of the en-emy. His left wing sustained the combat untilnight, and the second line of the Swedes, whichhad not as yet been engaged, was prepared torenew it the next morning. But the Elector didnot wait for a second attack. His army was ex-hausted by the efforts of the preceding day; and,as the drivers had fled with the horses, his ar-tillery was unserviceable. He accordingly re-treated in the night, with Count Hatzfeld, andrelinquished the ground to the Swedes. About

5000 of the allies fell upon the field, exclusiveof those who were killed in the pursuit, or whofell into the hands of the exasperated peasantry.One hundred and fifty standards and colours,twenty-three pieces of cannon, the whole bag-gage and silver plate of the Elector, were cap-tured, and more than 2000 men taken prison-ers. This brilliant victory, achieved over an en-emy far superior in numbers, and in a very ad-vantageous position, restored the Swedes atonce to their former reputation; their enemieswere discouraged, and their friends inspiredwith new hopes. Banner instantly followed upthis decisive success, and hastily crossing theElbe, drove the Imperialists before him, throughThuringia and Hesse, into Westphalia. He thenreturned, and took up his winter quarters inSaxony.

But, without the material aid furnished by thediversion upon the Rhine, and the activity thereof Duke Bernard and the French, these impor-

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tant successes would have been unattainable.Duke Bernard, after the defeat of Nordlingen,reorganized his broken army at Wetterau; but,abandoned by the confederates of the Leagueof Heilbronn, which had been dissolved by thepeace of Prague, and receiving little supportfrom the Swedes, he found himself unable tomaintain an army, or to perform any enterpriseof importance. The defeat at Nordlingen hadterminated all his hopes on the Duchy ofFranconia, while the weakness of the Swedes,destroyed the chance of retrieving his fortunesthrough their assistance. Tired, too, of the con-straint imposed upon him by the imperiouschancellor, he turned his attention to France,who could easily supply him with money, theonly aid which he required, and France readilyacceded to his proposals. Richelieu desirednothing so much as to diminish the influenceof the Swedes in the German war, and to ob-tain the direction of it for himself. To secure

this end, nothing appeared more effectual thanto detach from the Swedes their bravest gen-eral, to win him to the interests of France, andto secure for the execution of its projects theservices of his arm. From a prince like Bernard,who could not maintain himself without foreignsupport, France had nothing to fear, since nosuccess, however brilliant, could render him in-dependent of that crown. Bernard himself cameinto France, and in October, 1635, concludeda treaty at St. Germaine en Laye, not as a Swed-ish general, but in his own name, by which itwas stipulated that he should receive for him-self a yearly pension of one million five hun-dred thousand livres, and four millions for thesupport of his army, which he was to commandunder the orders of the French king. To inflamehis zeal, and to accelerate the conquest ofAlsace, France did not hesitate, by a secret ar-ticle, to promise him that province for his ser-vices; a promise which Richelieu had little in-

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tention of performing, and which the duke alsoestimated at its real worth. But Bernard con-fided in his good fortune, and in his arms, andmet artifice with dissimulation. If he could oncesucceed in wresting Alsace from the enemy, hedid not despair of being able, in case of need,to maintain it also against a friend. He nowraised an army at the expense of France, whichhe commanded nominally under the orders ofthat power, but in reality without any limita-tion whatever, and without having wholly aban-doned his engagements with Sweden. He be-gan his operations upon the Rhine, where an-other French army, under Cardinal Lavalette,had already, in 1635, commenced hostilitiesagainst the Emperor.

Against this force, the main body of the Impe-rialists, after the great victory of Nordlingen, andthe reduction of Swabia and Franconia hadadvanced under the command of Gallas, haddriven them as far as Metz, cleared the Rhine,

and took from the Swedes the towns of Metzand Frankenthal, of which they were in pos-session. But frustrated by the vigorous resis-tance of the French, in his main object, of tak-ing up his winter quarters in France, he ledback his exhausted troops into Alsace andSwabia. At the opening of the next campaign,he passed the Rhine at Breysach, and preparedto carry the war into the interior of France. Heactually entered Burgundy, while the Spaniardsfrom the Netherlands made progress in Picardy;and John De Werth, a formidable general ofthe League, and a celebrated partisan, pushedhis march into Champagne, and spread con-sternation even to the gates of Paris. But aninsignificant fortress in Franche Comte com-pletely checked the Imperialists, and they wereobliged, a second time, to abandon their enter-prise.

The activity of Duke Bernard had hithertobeen impeded by his dependence on a French

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general, more suited to the priestly robe, thanto the baton of command; and although, in con-junction with him, he conquered AlsaceSaverne, he found himself unable, in the years1636 and 1637, to maintain his position uponthe Rhine. The ill success of the French armsin the Netherlands had cheated the activity ofoperations in Alsace and Breisgau; but in 1638,the war in that quarter took a more brilliantturn. Relieved from his former restraint, andwith unlimited command of his troops, DukeBernard, in the beginning of February, left hiswinter quarters in the bishopric of Basle, andunexpectedly appeared upon the Rhine, where,at this rude season of the year, an attack waslittle anticipated. The forest towns ofLaufenburg, Waldshut, and Seckingen, weresurprised, and Rhinefeldt besieged. The Dukeof Savelli, the Imperial general who commandedin that quarter, hastened by forced marches tothe relief of this important place, succeeded in

raising the siege, and compelled the Duke ofWeimar, with great loss to retire. But, contraryto all human expectation, he appeared on thethird day after, (21st February, 1638,) beforethe Imperialists, in order of battle, and defeatedthem in a bloody engagement, in which the fourImperial generals, Savelli, John De Werth,Enkeford, and Sperreuter, with 2000 men, weretaken prisoners. Two of these, De Werth andEnkeford, were afterwards sent by Richelieu’sorders into France, in order to flatter the vanityof the French by the sight of such distinguishedprisoners, and by the pomp of military trophies,to withdraw the attention of the populace fromthe public distress. The captured standards andcolours were, with the same view, carried insolemn procession to the church of Notre Dame,thrice exhibited before the altar, and commit-ted to sacred custody.

The taking of Rhinefeldt, Roeteln, andFribourg, was the immediate consequence of

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the duke’s victory. His army now increased byconsiderable recruits, and his projects ex-panded in proportion as fortune favoured him.The fortress of Breysach upon the Rhine waslooked upon as holding the command of thatriver, and as the key of Alsace. No place in thisquarter was of more importance to the Emperor,and upon none had more care been bestowed.To protect Breysach, was the principal destina-tion of the Italian army, under the Duke of Feria;the strength of its works, and its natural de-fences, bade defiance to assault, while the Im-perial generals who commanded in that quar-ter had orders to retain it at any cost. But theduke, trusting to his good fortune, resolved toattempt the siege. Its strength rendered it im-pregnable; it could, therefore, only be starvedinto a surrender; and this was facilitated by thecarelessness of the commandant, who, expect-ing no attack, had been selling off his stores.As under these circumstances the town could

not long hold out, it must be immediately re-lieved or victualled. Accordingly, the ImperialGeneral Goetz rapidly advanced at the head of12,000 men, accompanied by 3000 waggonsloaded with provisions, which he intended tothrow into the place. But he was attacked withsuch vigour by Duke Bernard at Witteweyer,that he lost his whole force, except 3000 men,together with the entire transport. A similar fateat Ochsenfeld, near Thann, overtook the Dukeof Lorraine, who, with 5000 or 6000 men, ad-vanced to relieve the fortress. After a third at-tempt of general Goetz for the relief of Breysachhad proved ineffectual, the fortress, reduced tothe greatest extremity by famine, surrendered,after a blockade of four months, on the 17thDecember 1638, to its equally persevering andhumane conqueror.

The capture of Breysach opened a boundlessfield to the ambition of the Duke of Weimar,and the romance of his hopes was fast approach-

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ing to reality. Far from intending to surrenderhis conquests to France, he destined Breysachfor himself, and revealed this intention, by ex-acting allegiance from the vanquished, in hisown name, and not in that of any other power.Intoxicated by his past success, and excited bythe boldest hopes, he believed that he shouldbe able to maintain his conquests, even againstFrance herself. At a time when everything de-pended upon bravery, when even personalstrength was of importance, when troops andgenerals were of more value than territories, itwas natural for a hero like Bernard to placeconfidence in his own powers, and, at the headof an excellent army, who under his commandhad proved invincible, to believe himself capableof accomplishing the boldest and largest de-signs. In order to secure himself one friendamong the crowd of enemies whom he wasabout to provoke, he turned his eyes upon theLandgravine Amelia of Hesse, the widow of the

lately deceased Landgrave William, a princesswhose talents were equal to her courage, andwho, along with her hand, would bestow valu-able conquests, an extensive principality, anda well disciplined army. By the union of theconquests of Hesse, with his own upon theRhine, and the junction of their forces, a powerof some importance, and perhaps a third party,might be formed in Germany, which might de-cide the fate of the war. But a premature deathput a period to these extensive schemes.

“Courage, Father Joseph, Breysach is ours!”whispered Richelieu in the ear of the Capuchin,who had long held himself in readiness to bedespatched into that quarter; so delighted washe with this joyful intelligence. Already inimagination he held Alsace, Breisgau, and allthe frontiers of Austria in that quarter, withoutregard to his promise to Duke Bernard. But thefirm determination which the latter had un-equivocally shown, to keep Breysach for him-

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self, greatly embarrassed the cardinal, and noefforts were spared to retain the victorious Ber-nard in the interests of France. He was invitedto court, to witness the honours by which histriumph was to be commemorated; but he per-ceived and shunned the seductive snare. Thecardinal even went so far as to offer him thehand of his niece in marriage; but the proudGerman prince declined the offer, and refusedto sully the blood of Saxony by a misalliance.He was now considered as a dangerous enemy,and treated as such. His subsidies were with-drawn; and the Governor of Breysach and hisprincipal officers were bribed, at least upon theevent of the duke’s death, to take possession ofhis conquests, and to secure his troops. Theseintrigues were no secret to the duke, and theprecautions he took in the conquered places,clearly bespoke the distrust of France. But thismisunderstanding with the French court hadthe most prejudicial influence upon his future

operations. The preparations he was obliged tomake, in order to secure his conquests againstan attack on the side of France, compelled himto divide his military strength, while the stop-page of his subsidies delayed his appearancein the field. It had been his intention to crossthe Rhine, to support the Swedes, and to actagainst the Emperor and Bavaria on the banksof the Danube. He had already communicatedhis plan of operations to Banner, who was aboutto carry the war into the Austrian territories,and had promised to relieve him so, when asudden death cut short his heroic career, inthe 36th year of his age, at Neuburgh upon theRhine (in July, 1639).

He died of a pestilential disorder, which, inthe course of two days, had carried off nearly400 men in his camp. The black spots whichappeared upon his body, his own dying expres-sions, and the advantages which France waslikely to reap from his sudden decease, gave

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rise to a suspicion that he had been removedby poison — a suspicion sufficiently refuted bythe symptoms of his disorder. In him, the allieslost their greatest general after GustavusAdolphus, France a formidable competitor forAlsace, and the Emperor his most dangerousenemy. Trained to the duties of a soldier and ageneral in the school of Gustavus Adolphus, hesuccessfully imitated his eminent model, andwanted only a longer life to equal, if not to sur-pass it. With the bravery of the soldier, he unitedthe calm and cool penetration of the generaland the persevering fortitude of the man, withthe daring resolution of youth; with the wildardour of the warrior, the sober dignity of theprince, the moderation of the sage, and the con-scientiousness of the man of honour. Discour-aged by no misfortune, he quickly rose againin full vigour from the severest defeats; no ob-stacles could check his enterprise, no disap-pointments conquer his indomitable persever-

ance. His genius, perhaps, soared after unat-tainable objects; but the prudence of such men,is to be measured by a different standard fromthat of ordinary people. Capable of accomplish-ing more, he might venture to form more dar-ing plans. Bernard affords, in modern history,a splendid example of those days of chivalry,when personal greatness had its full weight andinfluence, when individual bravery could con-quer provinces, and the heroic exploits of aGerman knight raised him even to the Imperialthrone.

The best part of the duke’s possessions werehis army, which, together with Alsace, he be-queathed to his brother William. But to thisarmy, both France and Sweden thought thatthey had well-grounded claims; the latter, be-cause it had been raised in name of that crown,and had done homage to it; the former, becauseit had been supported by its subsidies. The Elec-toral Prince of the Palatinate also negociated

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for its services, and attempted, first by hisagents, and latterly in his own person, to win itover to his interests, with the view of employingit in the reconquest of his territories. Even theEmperor endeavoured to secure it, a circum-stance the less surprising, when we reflect thatat this time the justice of the cause was com-paratively unimportant, and the extent of therecompense the main object to which the sol-dier looked; and when bravery, like every othercommodity, was disposed of to the highest bid-der. But France, richer and more determined,outbade all competitors: it bought over GeneralErlach, the commander of Breysach, and theother officers, who soon placed that fortress,with the whole army, in their hands.

The young Palatine, Prince Charles Louis, whohad already made an unsuccessful campaignagainst the Emperor, saw his hopes again de-ceived. Although intending to do France so ill aservice, as to compete with her for Bernard’s

army, he had the imprudence to travel throughthat kingdom. The cardinal, who dreaded thejustice of the Palatine’s cause, was glad to seizeany opportunity to frustrate his views. He ac-cordingly caused him to be seized at Moulin, inviolation of the law of nations, and did not sethim at liberty, until he learned that the armyof the Duke of Weimar had been secured.France was now in possession of a numerousand well disciplined army in Germany, and fromthis moment began to make open war upon theEmperor.

But it was no longer against Ferdinand II. thatits hostilities were to be conducted; for thatprince had died in February, 1637, in the 59thyear of his age. The war which his ambition hadkindled, however, survived him. During a reignof eighteen years he had never once laid asidethe sword, nor tasted the blessings of peace aslong as his hand swayed the imperial sceptre.Endowed with the qualities of a good sovereign,

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adorned with many of those virtues which en-sure the happiness of a people, and by naturegentle and humane, we see him, from errone-ous ideas of the monarch’s duty, become at oncethe instrument and the victim of the evil pas-sions of others; his benevolent intentions frus-trated, and the friend of justice converted intothe oppressor of mankind, the enemy of peace,and the scourge of his people. Amiable in do-mestic life, and respectable as a sovereign, butin his policy ill advised, while he gained thelove of his Roman Catholic subjects, he incurredthe execration of the Protestants. History ex-hibits many and greater despots thanFerdinand II., yet he alone has had the unfor-tunate celebrity of kindling a thirty years’ war;but to produce its lamentable consequences,his ambition must have been seconded by akindred spirit of the age, a congenial state ofprevious circumstances, and existing seeds ofdiscord. At a less turbulent period, the spark

would have found no fuel; and the peaceful-ness of the age would have choked the voice ofindividual ambition; but now the flash fell upona pile of accumulated combustibles, and Eu-rope was in flames.

His son, Ferdinand III., who, a few months be-fore his father’s death, had been raised to thedignity of King of the Romans, inherited histhrone, his principles, and the war which hehad caused. But Ferdinand III. had been a closerwitness of the sufferings of the people, and thedevastation of the country, and felt more keenlyand ardently the necessity of peace. Less influ-enced by the Jesuits and the Spaniards, andmore moderate towards the religious views ofothers, he was more likely than his father tolisten to the voice of reason. He did so, and ul-timately restored to Europe the blessing ofpeace, but not till after a contest of eleven yearswaged with sword and pen; not till after he hadexperienced the impossibility of resistance, and

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necessity had laid upon him its stern laws.Fortune favoured him at the commencement

of his reign, and his arms were victorious againstthe Swedes. The latter, under the command ofthe victorious Banner, had, after their successat Wittstock, taken up their winter quarters inSaxony; and the campaign of 1637 opened withthe siege of Leipzig. The vigorous resistance ofthe garrison, and the approach of the Electoraland Imperial armies, saved the town, and Ban-ner, to prevent his communication with the Elbebeing cut off, was compelled to retreat intoTorgau. But the superior number of the Impe-rialists drove him even from that quarter; and,surrounded by the enemy, hemmed in by riv-ers, and suffering from famine, he had no courseopen to him but to attempt a highly dangerousretreat into Pomerania, of which, the boldnessand successful issue border upon romance. Thewhole army crossed the Oder, at a ford nearFurstenberg; and the soldiers, wading up to the

neck in water, dragged the artillery across, whenthe horses refused to draw. Banner had ex-pected to be joined by General Wrangel, on thefarther side of the Oder in Pomerania; and, inconjunction with him, to be able to make headagainst the enemy. But Wrangel did not appear;and in his stead, he found an Imperial armyposted at Landsberg, with a view to cut off theretreat of the Swedes. Banner now saw that hehad fallen into a dangerous snare, from whichescape appeared impossible. In his rear lay anexhausted country, the Imperialists, and theOder on his left; the Oder, too, guarded by theImperial General Bucheim, offered no retreat;in front, Landsberg, Custrin, the Warta, and ahostile army; and on the right, Poland, in which,notwithstanding the truce, little confidencecould be placed. In these circumstances, hisposition seemed hopeless, and the Imperialistswere already triumphing in the certainty of hisfall. Banner, with just indignation, accused the

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French as the authors of this misfortune. Theyhad neglected to make, according to their prom-ise, a diversion upon the Rhine; and, by theirinaction, allowed the Emperor to combine hiswhole force upon the Swedes. “When the daycomes,” cried the incensed General to theFrench Commissioner, who followed the camp,“that the Swedes and Germans join their armsagainst France, we shall cross the Rhine withless ceremony.” But reproaches were now use-less; what the emergency demanded was en-ergy and resolution. In the hope of drawing theenemy by stratagem from the Oder, Bannerpretended to march towards Poland, and des-patched the greater part of his baggage in thisdirection, with his own wife, and those of theother officers. The Imperialists immediatelybroke up their camp, and hurried towards thePolish frontier to block up the route; Bucheimleft his station, and the Oder was stripped of itsdefenders. On a sudden, and under cloud of

night, Banner turned towards that river, andcrossed it about a mile above Custrin, with histroops, baggage, and artillery, without bridgesor vessels, as he had done before atFurstenberg. He reached Pomerania withoutloss, and prepared to share with Wrangel thedefence of that province.

But the Imperialists, under the command ofGallas, entered that duchy at Ribses, and over-ran it by their superior strength. Usedom andWolgast were taken by storm, Demmin capitu-lated, and the Swedes were driven far into LowerPomerania. It was, too, more important for themat this moment than ever, to maintain a footingin that country, for Bogislaus XIV. had died thatyear, and Sweden must prepare to establish itstitle to Pomerania. To prevent the Elector ofBrandenburg from making good the title to thatduchy, which the treaty of Prague had givenhim, Sweden exerted her utmost energies, andsupported its generals to the extent of her abil-

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ity, both with troops and money. In other quar-ters of the kingdom, the affairs of the Swedesbegan to wear a more favourable aspect, and torecover from the humiliation into which theyhad been thrown by the inaction of France, andthe desertion of their allies. For, after their hastyretreat into Pomerania, they had lost one placeafter another in Upper Saxony; the princes ofMecklenburg, closely pressed by the troops ofthe Emperor, began to lean to the side of Aus-tria, and even George, Duke of Lunenburg, de-clared against them. Ehrenbreitstein wasstarved into a surrender by the Bavarian Gen-eral de Werth, and the Austrians possessedthemselves of all the works which had beenthrown up on the Rhine. France had been thesufferer in the contest with Spain; and the eventhad by no means justified the pompous expec-tations which had accompanied the opening ofthe campaign. Every place which the Swedeshad held in the interior of Germany was lost;

and only the principal towns in Pomerania stillremained in their hands. But a single campaignraised them from this state of humiliation; andthe vigorous diversion, which the victoriousBernard had effected upon the Rhine, gavequite a new turn to affairs.

The misunderstandings between France andSweden were now at last adjusted, and the oldtreaty between these powers confirmed at Ham-burg, with fresh advantages for Sweden. InHesse, the politic Landgravine Amelia had, withthe approbation of the Estates, assumed thegovernment after the death of her husband, andresolutely maintained her rights against theEmperor and the House of Darmstadt. Alreadyzealously attached to the Swedish Protestantparty, on religious grounds, she only awaited afavourable opportunity openly to declare her-self. By artful delays, and by prolonging thenegociations with the Emperor, she had suc-ceeded in keeping him inactive, till she had con-

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cluded a secret compact with France, and thevictories of Duke Bernard had given a favourableturn to the affairs of the Protestants. She nowat once threw off the mask, and renewed herformer alliance with the Swedish crown. TheElectoral Prince of the Palatinate was also stimu-lated, by the success of Bernard, to try his for-tune against the common enemy. Raisingtroops in Holland with English money, heformed a magazine at Meppen, and joined theSwedes in Westphalia. His magazine was, how-ever, quickly lost; his army defeated near Flotha,by Count Hatzfeld; but his attempt served tooccupy for some time the attention of the en-emy, and thereby facilitated the operations ofthe Swedes in other quarters. Other friendsbegan to appear, as fortune declared in theirfavour, and the circumstance, that the Statesof Lower Saxony embraced a neutrality, was ofitself no inconsiderable advantage.

Under these advantages, and reinforced by

14,000 fresh troops from Sweden and Livonia.Banner opened, with the most favourable pros-pects, the campaign of 1638. The Imperialistswho were in possession of Upper Pomerania andMecklenburg, either abandoned their positions,or deserted in crowds to the Swedes, to avoidthe horrors of famine, the most formidable en-emy in this exhausted country. The whole coun-try betwixt the Elbe and the Oder was so deso-lated by the past marchings and quarterings ofthe troops, that, in order to support his armyon its march into Saxony and Bohemia, Ban-ner was obliged to take a circuitous route fromLower Pomerania into Lower Saxony, and theninto the Electorate of Saxony through the ter-ritory of Halberstadt. The impatience of theLower Saxon States to get rid of such trouble-some guests, procured him so plentiful a sup-ply of provisions, that he was provided withbread in Magdeburg itself, where famine hadeven overcome the natural antipathy of men to

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human flesh. His approach spread consterna-tion among the Saxons; but his views were di-rected not against this exhausted country, butagainst the hereditary dominions of the Em-peror. The victories of Bernard encouraged him,while the prosperity of the Austrian provincesexcited his hopes of booty. After defeating theImperial General Salis, at Elsterberg, totallyrouting the Saxon army at Chemnitz, and tak-ing Pirna, he penetrated with irresistible im-petuosity into Bohemia, crossed the Elbe,threatened Prague, took Brandeis andLeutmeritz, defeated General Hofkirchen withten regiments, and spread terror and devasta-tion through that defenceless kingdom. Bootywas his sole object, and whatever he could notcarry off he destroyed. In order to remove moreof the corn, the ears were cut from the stalks,and the latter burnt. Above a thousand castles,hamlets, and villages were laid in ashes; some-times more than a hundred were seen burning

in one night. From Bohemia he crossed intoSilesia, and it was his intention to carry his rav-ages even into Moravia and Austria. But to pre-vent this, Count Hatzfeld was summoned fromWestphalia, and Piccolomini from the Nether-lands, to hasten with all speed to this quarter.The Archduke Leopold, brother to the Emperor,assumed the command, in order to repair theerrors of his predecessor Gallas, and to raisethe army from the low ebb to which it had fallen.

The result justified the change, and the cam-paign of 1640 appeared to take a most unfortu-nate turn for the Swedes. They were succes-sively driven out of all their posts in Bohemia,and anxious only to secure their plunder, theyprecipitately crossed the heights of Meissen.But being followed into Saxony by the pursu-ing enemy, and defeated at Plauen, they wereobliged to take refuge in Thuringia. Made mas-ters of the field in a single summer, they wereas rapidly dispossessed; but only to acquire it a

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second time, and to hurry from one extreme toanother. The army of Banner, weakened andon the brink of destruction in its camp at Erfurt,suddenly recovered itself. The Duke ofLunenburg abandoned the treaty of Prague,and joined Banner with the very troops which,the year before, had fought against him. HesseCassel sent reinforcements, and the Duke ofLongueville came to his support with the armyof the late Duke Bernard. Once more numeri-cally superior to the Imperialists, Banner of-fered them battle near Saalfeld; but their leader,Piccolomini, prudently declined an engage-ment, having chosen too strong a position to beforced. When the Bavarians at length separatedfrom the Imperialists, and marched towardsFranconia, Banner attempted an attack uponthis divided corps, but the attempt was frus-trated by the skill of the Bavarian General VonMercy, and the near approach of the main bodyof the Imperialists. Both armies now moved into

the exhausted territory of Hesse, where theyformed intrenched camps near each other, tillat last famine and the severity of the winter com-pelled them both to retire. Piccolomini chosethe fertile banks of the Weser for his winterquarters; but being outflanked by Banner, hewas obliged to give way to the Swedes, and toimpose on the Franconian sees the burden ofmaintaining his army.

At this period, a diet was held in Ratisbon,where the complaints of the States were to beheard, measures taken for securing the reposeof the Empire, and the question of peace or warfinally settled. The presence of the Emperor,the majority of the Roman Catholic voices inthe Electoral College, the great number of bish-ops, and the withdrawal of several of the Prot-estant votes, gave the Emperor a complete com-mand of the deliberations of the assembly, andrendered this diet any thing but a fair repre-sentative of the opinions of the German Em-

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pire. The Protestants, with reason, consideredit as a mere combination of Austria and its crea-tures against their party; and it seemed to thema laudable effort to interrupt its deliberations,and to dissolve the diet itself.

Banner undertook this bold enterprise. Hismilitary reputation had suffered by his last re-treat from Bohemia, and it stood in need of somegreat exploit to restore its former lustre. With-out communicating his designs to any one, inthe depth of the winter of 1641, as soon as theroads and rivers were frozen, he broke up fromhis quarters in Lunenburg. Accompanied byMarshal Guebriant, who commanded thearmies of France and Weimar, he took the routetowards the Danube, through Thuringia andVogtland, and appeared before Ratisbon, erethe Diet could be apprised of his approach. Theconsternation of the assembly was indescrib-able; and, in the first alarm, the deputies pre-pared for flight. The Emperor alone declared

that he would not leave the town, and encour-aged the rest by his example. Unfortunately forthe Swedes, a thaw came on, which broke upthe ice upon the Danube, so that it was nolonger passable on foot, while no boats couldcross it, on account of the quantities of ice whichwere swept down by the current. In order toperform something, and to humble the pride ofthe Emperor, Banner discourteously fired 500cannon shots into the town, which, however,did little mischief. Baffled in his designs, heresolved to penetrate farther into Bavaria, andthe defenceless province of Moravia, where arich booty and comfortable quarters awaited histroops. Guebriant, however, began to fear thatthe purpose of the Swedes was to draw the armyof Bernard away from the Rhine, and to cut offits communication with France, till it shouldbe either entirely won over, or incapacitatedfrom acting independently. He therefore sepa-rated from Banner to return to the Maine; and

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the latter was exposed to the whole force of theImperialists, which had been secretly drawntogether between Ratisbon and Ingoldstadt, andwas on its march against him. It was now timeto think of a rapid retreat, which, having to beeffected in the face of an army superior in cav-alry, and betwixt woods and rivers, through acountry entirely hostile, appeared almost im-practicable. He hastily retired towards the For-est, intending to penetrate through Bohemiainto Saxony; but he was obliged to sacrificethree regiments at Neuburg. These with a trulySpartan courage, defended themselves for fourdays behind an old wall, and gained time forBanner to escape. He retreated by Egra toAnnaberg; Piccolomini took a shorter route inpursuit, by Schlakenwald; and Banner suc-ceeded, only by a single half hour, in clearingthe Pass of Prisnitz, and saving his whole armyfrom the Imperialists. At Zwickau he was againjoined by Guebriant; and both generals directed

their march towards Halberstadt, after in vainattempting to defend the Saal, and to preventthe passage of the Imperialists.

Banner, at length, terminated his career atHalberstadt, in May 1641, a victim to vexationand disappointment. He sustained with greatrenown, though with varying success, the repu-tation of the Swedish arms in Germany, and bya train of victories showed himself worthy of hisgreat master in the art of war. He was fertile inexpedients, which he planned with secrecy, andexecuted with boldness; cautious in the midstof dangers, greater in adversity than in pros-perity, and never more formidable than whenupon the brink of destruction. But the virtuesof the hero were united with all the railings andvices which a military life creates, or at leastfosters. As imperious in private life as he was atthe head of his army, rude as his profession,and proud as a conqueror; he oppressed theGerman princes no less by his haughtiness,

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than their country by his contributions. He con-soled himself for the toils of war in voluptuous-ness and the pleasures of the table, in whichhe indulged to excess, and was thus brought toan early grave. But though as much addictedto pleasure as Alexander or Mahomet the Sec-ond, he hurried from the arms of luxury intothe hardest fatigues, and placed himself in allhis vigour at the head of his army, at the verymoment his soldiers were murmuring at hisluxurious excesses. Nearly 80,000 men fell inthe numerous battles which he fought, andabout 600 hostile standards and colours, whichhe sent to Stockholm, were the trophies of hisvictories. The want of this great general was soonseverely felt by the Swedes, who feared, withjustice, that the loss would not readily be re-placed. The spirit of rebellion and insubordi-nation, which had been overawed by the impe-rious demeanour of this dreaded commander,awoke upon his death. The officers, with an

alarming unanimity, demanded payment oftheir arrears; and none of the four generals whoshared the command, possessed influenceenough to satisfy these demands, or to silencethe malcontents. All discipline was at an end,increasing want, and the imperial citations weredaily diminishing the number of the army; thetroops of France and Weimar showed little zeal;those of Lunenburg forsook the Swedishcolours; the Princes also of the House ofBrunswick, after the death of Duke George, hadformed a separate treaty with the Emperor; andat last even those of Hesse quitted them, to seekbetter quarters in Westphalia. The enemy prof-ited by these calamitous divisions; and althoughdefeated with loss in two pitched battles, suc-ceeded in making considerable progress inLower Saxony.

At length appeared the new Swedish genera-lissimo, with fresh troops and money. This wasBernard Torstensohn, a pupil of Gustavus

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Adolphus, and his most successful imitator, whohad been his page during the Polish war.Though a martyr to the gout, and confined to alitter, he surpassed all his opponents in activ-ity; and his enterprises had wings, while hisbody was held by the most frightful of fetters.Under him, the scene of war was changed, andnew maxims adopted, which necessity dictated,and the issue justified. All the countries inwhich the contest had hitherto raged were ex-hausted; while the House of Austria, safe in itsmore distant territories, felt not the miseries ofthe war under which the rest of Germanygroaned. Torstensohn first furnished them withthis bitter experience, glutted his Swedes onthe fertile produce of Austria, and carried thetorch of war to the very footsteps of the impe-rial throne.

In Silesia, the enemy had gained consider-able advantages over the Swedish generalStalhantsch, and driven him as far as Neumark.

Torstensohn, who had joined the main body ofthe Swedes in Lunenburg, summoned him tounite with his force, and in the year 1642 hast-ily marched into Silesia through Brandenburg,which, under its great Elector, had begun tomaintain an armed neutrality. Glogau was car-ried, sword in hand, without a breach, or for-mal approaches; the Duke Francis Albert ofLauenburg defeated and killed at Schweidnitz;and Schweidnitz itself with almost all the townson that side of the Oder, taken. He now pen-etrated with irresistible violence into the inte-rior of Moravia, where no enemy of Austria hadhitherto appeared, took Olmutz, and threwVienna itself into consternation.

But, in the mean time, Piccolomini and theArchduke Leopold had collected a superiorforce, which speedily drove the Swedish con-querors from Moravia, and after a fruitless at-tempt upon Brieg, from Silesia. Reinforced byWrangel, the Swedes again attempted to make

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head against the enemy, and relievedGrossglogau; but could neither bring the Im-perialists to an engagement, nor carry into ef-fect their own views upon Bohemia. Overrun-ning Lusatia, they took Zittau, in presence ofthe enemy, and after a short stay in that coun-try, directed their march towards the Elbe,which they passed at Torgau. Torstensohn nowthreatened Leipzig with a siege, and hoped toraise a large supply of provisions and contribu-tions from that prosperous town, which for tenyears had been unvisited with the scourge ofwar.

The Imperialists, under Leopold andPiccolomini, immediately hastened by Dresdento its relief, and Torstensohn, to avoid beinginclosed between this army and the town, boldlyadvanced to meet them in order of battle. By astrange coincidence, the two armies met uponthe very spot which, eleven years before,Gustavus Adolphus had rendered remarkable

by a decisive victory; and the heroism of theirpredecessors, now kindled in the Swedes anoble emulation on this consecrated ground.The Swedish generals, Stahlhantsch andWellenberg, led their divisions with such im-petuosity upon the left wing of the Imperial-ists, before it was completely formed, that thewhole cavalry that covered it were dispersed andrendered unserviceable. But the left of theSwedes was threatened with a similar fate, whenthe victorious right advanced to its assistance,took the enemy in flank and rear, and dividedthe Austrian line. The infantry on both sidesstood firm as a wall, and when their ammuni-tion was exhausted, maintained the combatwith the butt-ends of their muskets, till at lastthe Imperialists, completely surrounded, aftera contest of three hours, were compelled toabandon the field. The generals on both sideshad more than once to rally their flying troops;and the Archduke Leopold, with his regiment,

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was the first in the attack and last in flight. Butthis bloody victory cost the Swedes more than3000 men, and two of their best generals,Schlangen and Lilienhoeck. More than 5000of the Imperialists were left upon the field, andnearly as many taken prisoners. Their wholeartillery, consisting of 46 field-pieces, the sil-ver plate and portfolio of the archduke, with thewhole baggage of the army, fell into the handsof the victors. Torstensohn, too greatly disabledby his victory to pursue the enemy, moved uponLeipzig. The defeated army retired intoBohemia, where its shattered regiments reas-sembled. The Archduke Leopold could not re-cover from the vexation caused by this defeat;and the regiment of cavalry which, by its pre-mature flight, had occasioned the disaster, ex-perienced the effects of his indignation. AtRaconitz in Bohemia, in presence of the wholearmy, he publicly declared it infamous, deprivedit of its horses, arms, and ensigns, ordered its

standards to be torn, condemned to death sev-eral of the officers, and decimated the privates.

The surrender of Leipzig, three weeks afterthe battle, was its brilliant result. The city wasobliged to clothe the Swedish troops anew, andto purchase an exemption from plunder, by acontribution of 300,000 rix-dollars, to which allthe foreign merchants, who had warehouses inthe city, were to furnish their quota. In themiddle of winter, Torstensohn advanced againstFreyberg, and for several weeks defied the in-clemency of the season, hoping by his perse-verance to weary out the obstinacy of the be-sieged. But he found that he was merely sacri-ficing the lives of his soldiers; and at last, theapproach of the imperial general, Piccolomini,compelled him, with his weakened army, to re-tire. He considered it, however, as equivalentto a victory, to have disturbed the repose of theenemy in their winter quarters, who, by theseverity of the weather, sustained a loss of 3000

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horses. He now made a movement towards theOder, as if with the view of reinforcing himselfwith the garrisons of Pomerania and Silesia; but,with the rapidity of lightning, he again appearedupon the Bohemian frontier, penetratedthrough that kingdom, and relieved Olmutz inMoravia, which was hard pressed by the Impe-rialists. His camp at Dobitschau, two miles fromOlmutz, commanded the whole of Moravia, onwhich he levied heavy contributions, and car-ried his ravages almost to the gates of Vienna.In vain did the Emperor attempt to arm theHungarian nobility in defence of this province;they appealed to their privileges, and refusedto serve beyond the limits of their own country.Thus, the time that should have been spent inactive resistance, was lost in fruitlessnegociation, and the entire province was aban-doned to the ravages of the Swedes.

While Torstensohn, by his marches and hisvictories, astonished friend and foe, the armies

of the allies had not been inactive in other partsof the empire. The troops of Hesse, under CountEberstein, and those of Weimar, underMareschal de Guebriant, had fallen into theElectorate of Cologne, in order to take up theirwinter quarters there. To get rid of thesetroublesome guests, the Elector called to hisassistance the imperial general Hatzfeldt, andassembled his own troops under GeneralLamboy. The latter was attacked by the alliesin January, 1642, and in a decisive action nearKempen, defeated, with the loss of about 2000men killed, and about twice as many prison-ers. This important victory opened to them thewhole Electorate and neighbouring territories,so that the allies were not only enabled to main-tain their winter quarters there, but drew fromthe country large supplies of men and horses.

Guebriant left the Hessians to defend theirconquests on the Lower Rhine against Hatzfeldt,and advanced towards Thuringia, as if to sec-

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ond the operations of Torstensohn in Saxony.But instead of joining the Swedes, he soonhurried back to the Rhine and the Maine, fromwhich he seemed to think he had removed far-ther than was expedient. But being anticipatedin the Margraviate of Baden, by the Bavariansunder Mercy and John de Werth, he was obligedto wander about for several weeks, exposed,without shelter, to the inclemency of the win-ter, and generally encamping upon the snow,till he found a miserable refuge in Breisgau.He at last took the field; and, in the next sum-mer, by keeping the Bavarian army employedin Suabia, prevented it from relieving Thionville,which was besieged by Conde. But the superi-ority of the enemy soon drove him back toAlsace, where he awaited a reinforcement.

The death of Cardinal Richelieu took place inNovember, 1642, and the subsequent changein the throne and in the ministry, occasionedby the death of Louis XIII., had for some time

withdrawn the attention of France from theGerman war, and was the cause of the inactionof its troops in the field. But Mazarin, the in-heritor, not only of Richelieu’s power, but alsoof his principles and his projects, followed outwith renewed zeal the plans of his predeces-sor, though the French subject was destined topay dearly enough for the political greatness ofhis country. The main strength of its armies,which Richelieu had employed against theSpaniards, was by Mazarin directed against theEmperor; and the anxiety with which he car-ried on the war in Germany, proved the sincer-ity of his opinion, that the German army wasthe right arm of his king, and a wall of safetyaround France. Immediately upon the surren-der of Thionville, he sent a considerable rein-forcement to Field-Marshal Guebriant in Alsace;and to encourage the troops to bear the fatiguesof the German war, the celebrated victor ofRocroi, the Duke of Enghien, afterwards Prince

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of Conde, was placed at their head. Guebriantnow felt himself strong enough to appear againin Germany with repute. He hastened acrossthe Rhine with the view of procuring better win-ter quarters in Suabia, and actually made him-self master of Rothweil, where a Bavarian maga-zine fell into his hands. But the place was toodearly purchased for its worth, and was againlost even more speedily than it had been taken.Guebriant received a wound in the arm, whichthe surgeon’s unskilfulness rendered mortal,and the extent of his loss was felt on the veryday of his death.

The French army, sensibly weakened by anexpedition undertaken at so severe a season ofthe year, had, after the taking of Rothweil, with-drawn into the neighbourhood of Duttlingen,where it lay in complete security, without expec-tation of a hostile attack. In the mean time, theenemy collected a considerable force, with a viewto prevent the French from establishing them-

selves beyond the Rhine and so near to Bavaria,and to protect that quarter from their ravages.The Imperialists, under Hatzfeldt, had formed ajunction with the Bavarians under Mercy; andthe Duke of Lorraine, who, during the wholecourse of the war, was generally found everywhereexcept in his own duchy, joined their unitedforces. It was resolved to force the quarters of theFrench in Duttlingen, and the neighbouring vil-lages, by surprise; a favourite mode of proceed-ing in this war, and which, being commonly ac-companied by confusion, occasioned more blood-shed than a regular battle. On the present occa-sion, there was the more to justify it, as the Frenchsoldiers, unaccustomed to such enterprises, con-ceived themselves protected by the severity of thewinter against any surprise. John de Werth, amaster in this species of warfare, which he hadoften put in practice against Gustavus Horn, con-ducted the enterprise, and succeeded, contraryto all expectation.

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The attack was made on a side where it wasleast looked for, on account of the woods andnarrow passes, and a heavy snow storm whichfell upon the same day, (the 24th November,1643,) concealed the approach of the vanguardtill it halted before Duttlingen. The whole of theartillery without the place, as well as theneighbouring Castle of Honberg, were takenwithout resistance, Duttlingen itself was gradu-ally surrounded by the enemy, and allconnexion with the other quarters in the adja-cent villages silently and suddenly cut off. TheFrench were vanquished without firing a can-non. The cavalry owed their escape to the swift-ness of their horses, and the few minutes inadvance, which they had gained upon theirpursuers. The infantry were cut to pieces, orvoluntarily laid down their arms. About 2,000men were killed, and 7,000, with 25 staff-offic-ers and 90 captains, taken prisoners. This was,perhaps, the only battle, in the whole course of

the war, which produced nearly the same ef-fect upon the party which gained, and thatwhich lost; — both these parties were Germans;the French disgraced themselves. The memoryof this unfortunate day, which was renewed 100years after at Rosbach, was indeed erased bythe subsequent heroism of a Turenne andConde; but the Germans may be pardoned, ifthey indemnified themselves for the miserieswhich the policy of France had heaped uponthem, by these severe reflections upon her in-trepidity.

Meantime, this defeat of the French was cal-culated to prove highly disastrous to Sweden,as the whole power of the Emperor might nowact against them, while the number of theirenemies was increased by a formidable acces-sion. Torstensohn had, in September, 1643,suddenly left Moravia, and moved into Silesia.The cause of this step was a secret, and thefrequent changes which took place in the di-

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rection of his march, contributed to increasethis perplexity. From Silesia, after numberlesscircuits, he advanced towards the Elbe, whilethe Imperialists followed him into Lusatia.Throwing a bridge across the Elbe at Torgau,he gave out that he intended to penetratethrough Meissen into the Upper Palatinate inBavaria; at Barby he also made a movement, asif to pass that river, but continued to move downthe Elbe as far as Havelburg, where he aston-ished his troops by informing them that he wasleading them against the Danes in Holstein.

The partiality which Christian IV. had dis-played against the Swedes in his office of me-diator, the jealousy which led him to do all inhis power to hinder the progress of their arms,the restraints which he laid upon their naviga-tion of the Sound, and the burdens which heimposed upon their commerce, had long rousedthe indignation of Sweden; and, at last, whenthese grievances increased daily, had deter-

mined the Regency to measures of retaliation.Dangerous as it seemed, to involve the nationin a new war, when, even amidst its conquests,it was almost exhausted by the old, the desireof revenge, and the deep-rooted hatred whichsubsisted between Danes and Swedes, prevailedover all other considerations; and even the em-barrassment in which hostilities with Germanyhad plunged it, only served as an additionalmotive to try its fortune against Denmark.

Matters were, in fact, arrived at last to thatextremity, that the war was prosecuted merelyfor the purpose of furnishing food and employ-ment to the troops; that good winter quartersformed the chief subject of contention; and thatsuccess, in this point, was more valued than adecisive victory. But now the provinces of Ger-many were almost all exhausted and laid waste.They were wholly destitute of provisions, horses,and men, which in Holstein were to be foundin profusion. If by this movement, Torstensohn

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should succeed merely in recruiting his army,providing subsistence for his horses and sol-diers, and remounting his cavalry, all the dan-ger and difficulty would be well repaid. Besides,it was highly important, on the eve of negotia-tions for peace, to diminish the injurious influ-ence which Denmark might exercise upon thesedeliberations, to delay the treaty itself, whichthreatened to be prejudicial to the Swedish in-terests, by sowing confusion among the partiesinterested, and with a view to the amount ofindemnification, to increase the number of herconquests, in order to be the more sure of se-curing those which alone she was anxious toretain. Moreover, the present state of Denmarkjustified even greater hopes, if only the attemptwere executed with rapidity and silence. Thesecret was in fact so well kept in Stockholm,that the Danish minister had not the slightestsuspicion of it; and neither France nor Hollandwere let into the scheme. Actual hostilities com-

menced with the declaration of war; andTorstensohn was in Holstein, before even anattack was expected. The Swedish troops, meet-ing with no resistance, quickly overran thisduchy, and made themselves masters of all itsstrong places, except Rensburg and Gluckstadt.Another army penetrated into Schonen, whichmade as little opposition; and nothing but theseverity of the season prevented the enemy frompassing the Lesser Baltic, and carrying the warinto Funen and Zealand. The Danish fleet wasunsuccessful at Femern; and Christian himself,who was on board, lost his right eye by a splin-ter. Cut off from all communication with thedistant force of the Emperor, his ally, this kingwas on the point of seeing his whole kingdomoverrun by the Swedes; and all things threat-ened the speedy fulfilment of the old prophecyof the famous Tycho Brahe, that in the year1644, Christian IV. should wander in the great-est misery from his dominions.

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But the Emperor could not look on with indif-ference, while Denmark was sacrificed to Swe-den, and the latter strengthened by so great anacquisition. Notwithstanding great difficulties layin the way of so long a march through desolatedprovinces, he did not hesitate to despatch anarmy into Holstein under Count Gallas, who,after Piccolomini’s retirement, had resumed thesupreme command of the troops. Gallas accord-ingly appeared in the duchy, took Keil, andhoped, by forming a junction with the Danes, tobe able to shut up the Swedish army in Jutland.Meantime, the Hessians, and the Swedish Gen-eral Koenigsmark, were kept in check byHatzfeldt, and the Archbishop of Bremen, theson of Christian IV.; and afterwards the Swedesdrawn into Saxony by an attack upon Meissen.But Torstensohn, with his augmented army,penetrated through the unoccupied pass betwixtSchleswig and Stapelholm, met Gallas, and drovehim along the whole course of the Elbe, as far as

Bernburg, where the Imperialists took up anentrenched position. Torstensohn passed theSaal, and by posting himself in the rear of theenemy, cut off their communication with Saxonyand Bohemia. Scarcity and famine began nowto destroy them in great numbers, and forcedthem to retreat to Magdeburg, where, however,they were not much better off. The cavalry, whichendeavoured to escape into Silesia, was over-taken and routed by Torstensohn, nearJuterbock; the rest of the army, after a vain at-tempt to fight its way through the Swedish lines,was almost wholly destroyed near Magdeburg.From this expedition, Gallas brought back onlya few thousand men of all his formidable force,and the reputation of being a consummate mas-ter in the art of ruining an army. The King ofDenmark, after this unsuccessful effort to re-lieve him, sued for peace, which he obtained atBremsebor in the year 1645, under veryunfavourable conditions.

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Torstensohn rapidly followed up his victory;and while Axel Lilienstern, one of the generalswho commanded under him, overawed Saxony,and Koenigsmark subdued the whole ofBremen, he himself penetrated into Bohemiawith 16,000 men and 80 pieces of artillery, andendeavoured a second time to remove the seatof war into the hereditary dominions of Aus-tria. Ferdinand, upon this intelligence, has-tened in person to Prague, in order to animatethe courage of the people by his presence; andas a skilful general was much required, and solittle unanimity prevailed among the numer-ous leaders, he hoped in the immediateneighbourhood of the war to be able to give moreenergy and activity. In obedience to his orders,Hatzfeldt assembled the whole Austrian andBavarian force, and contrary to his own incli-nation and advice, formed the Emperor’s lastarmy, and the last bulwark of his states, in or-der of battle, to meet the enemy, who were ap-

proaching, at Jankowitz, on the 24th of Febru-ary, 1645. Ferdinand depended upon his cav-alry, which outnumbered that of the enemy by3000, and upon the promise of the Virgin Mary,who had appeared to him in a dream, and givenhim the strongest assurances of a complete vic-tory.

The superiority of the Imperialists did not in-timidate Torstensohn, who was not accustomedto number his antagonists. On the very firstonset, the left wing, which Goetz, the generalof the League, had entangled in a disadvanta-geous position among marshes and thickets,was totally routed; the general, with the greaterpart of his men, killed, and almost the wholeammunition of the army taken. This unfortu-nate commencement decided the fate of the day.The Swedes, constantly advancing, successivelycarried all the most commanding heights. Af-ter a bloody engagement of eight hours, a des-perate attack on the part of the Imperial cav-

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alry, and a vigorous resistance by the Swedishinfantry, the latter remained in possession ofthe field. 2,000 Austrians were killed upon thespot, and Hatzfeldt himself, with 3,000 men,taken prisoners. Thus, on the same day, didthe Emperor lose his best general and his lastarmy.

This decisive victory at Jancowitz, at once ex-posed all the Austrian territory to the enemy.Ferdinand hastily fled to Vienna, to provide forits defence, and to save his family and his trea-sures. In a very short time, the victorious Swedespoured, like an inundation, upon Moravia andAustria. After they had subdued nearly thewhole of Moravia, invested Brunn, and takenall the strongholds as far as the Danube, andcarried the intrenchments at the Wolf’s Bridge,near Vienna, they at last appeared in sight ofthat capital, while the care which they hadtaken to fortify their conquests, showed thattheir visit was not likely to be a short one. After

a long and destructive circuit through everyprovince of Germany, the stream of war had atlast rolled backwards to its source, and the roarof the Swedish artillery now reminded the ter-rified inhabitants of those balls which, twenty-seven years before, the Bohemian rebels hadfired into Vienna. The same theatre of warbrought again similar actors on the scene.Torstensohn invited Ragotsky, the successor ofBethlen Gabor, to his assistance, as the Bohe-mian rebels had solicited that of his predeces-sor; Upper Hungary was already inundated byhis troops, and his union with the Swedes wasdaily apprehended. The Elector of Saxony,driven to despair by the Swedes taking up theirquarters within his territories, and abandonedby the Emperor, who, after the defeat atJankowitz, was unable to defend himself, atlength adopted the last and only expedientwhich remained, and concluded a truce withSweden, which was renewed from year to year,

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till the general peace. The Emperor thus lost afriend, while a new enemy was appearing at hisvery gates, his armies dispersed, and his alliesin other quarters of Germany defeated. TheFrench army had effaced the disgrace of theirdefeat at Deutlingen by a brilliant campaign,and had kept the whole force of Bavaria em-ployed upon the Rhine and in Suabia. Rein-forced with fresh troops from France, which thegreat Turenne, already distinguished by his vic-tories in Italy, brought to the assistance of theDuke of Enghien, they appeared on the 3rd ofAugust, 1644, before Friburg, which Mercy hadlately taken, and now covered, with his wholearmy strongly intrenched. But against thesteady firmness of the Bavarians, all the im-petuous valour of the French was exerted invain, and after a fruitless sacrifice of 6,000 men,the Duke of Enghien was compelled to retreat.Mazarin shed tears over this great loss, whichConde, who had no feeling for anything but

glory, disregarded. “A single night in Paris,” saidhe, “gives birth to more men than this actionhas destroyed.” The Bavarians, however, wereso disabled by this murderous battle, that, farfrom being in a condition to relieve Austria fromthe menaced dangers, they were too weak evento defend the banks of the Rhine. Spires,Worms, and Manheim capitulated; the strongfortress of Philipsburg was forced to surrenderby famine; and, by a timely submission, Mentzhastened to disarm the conquerors.

Austria and Moravia, however, were now freedfrom Torstensohn, by a similar means of deliv-erance, as in the beginning of the war had savedthem from the Bohemians. Ragotzky, at thehead of 25,000 men, had advanced into theneighbourhood of the Swedish quarters uponthe Danube. But these wild undisciplinedhordes, instead of seconding the operations ofTorstensohn by any vigorous enterprise, onlyravaged the country, and increased the distress

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which, even before their arrival, had begun tobe felt in the Swedish camp. To extort tributefrom the Emperor, and money and plunder fromhis subjects, was the sole object that had al-lured Ragotzky, or his predecessor, BethlenGabor, into the field; and both departed as soonas they had gained their end. To get rid of him,Ferdinand granted the barbarian whatever heasked, and, by a small sacrifice, freed his statesof this formidable enemy.

In the mean time, the main body of the Swedeshad been greatly weakened by a tedious en-campment before Brunn. Torstensohn, whocommanded in person, for four entire monthsemployed in vain all his knowledge of militarytactics; the obstinacy of the resistance was equalto that of the assault; while despair roused thecourage of Souches, the commandant, a Swed-ish deserter, who had no hope of pardon. Theravages caused by pestilence, arising from fam-ine, want of cleanliness, and the use of unripe

fruit, during their tedious and unhealthy en-campment, with the sudden retreat of thePrince of Transylvania, at last compelled theSwedish leader to raise the siege. As all thepasses upon the Danube were occupied, andhis army greatly weakened by famine and sick-ness, he at last relinquished his intended planof operations against Austria and Moravia, andcontented himself with securing a key to theseprovinces, by leaving behind him Swedish gar-risons in the conquered fortresses. He then di-rected his march into Bohemia, whither he wasfollowed by the Imperialists, under the Arch-duke Leopold. Such of the lost places as hadnot been retaken by the latter, were recovered,after his departure, by the Austrian GeneralBucheim; so that, in the course of the followingyear, the Austrian frontier was again cleared ofthe enemy, and Vienna escaped with merealarm. In Bohemia and Silesia too, the Swedesmaintained themselves only with a very vari-

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able fortune; they traversed both countries,without being able to hold their ground in ei-ther. But if the designs of Torstensohn werenot crowned with all the success which theywere promised at the commencement, theywere, nevertheless, productive of the most im-portant consequences to the Swedish party.Denmark had been compelled to a peace,Saxony to a truce. The Emperor, in the delib-erations for a peace, offered greater concessions;France became more manageable; and Swedenitself bolder and more confident in its bearingtowards these two crowns. Having thus noblyperformed his duty, the author of these advan-tages retired, adorned with laurels, into thetranquillity of private life, and endeavoured torestore his shattered health.

By the retreat of Torstensohn, the Emperorwas relieved from all fears of an irruption onthe side of Bohemia. But a new danger soonthreatened the Austrian frontier from Suabia

and Bavaria. Turenne, who had separated fromConde, and taken the direction of Suabia, had,in the year 1645, been totally defeated byMercy, near Mergentheim; and the victoriousBavarians, under their brave leader, poured intoHesse. But the Duke of Enghien hastened withconsiderable succours from Alsace,Koenigsmark from Moravia, and the Hessiansfrom the Rhine, to recruit the defeated army,and the Bavarians were in turn compelled toretire to the extreme limits of Suabia. Here theyposted themselves at the village of Allersheim,near Nordlingen, in order to cover the Bavarianfrontier. But no obstacle could check the im-petuosity of the Duke of Enghien. In person,he led on his troops against the enemy’s en-trenchments, and a battle took place, which theheroic resistance of the Bavarians renderedmost obstinate and bloody; till at last the deathof the great Mercy, the skill of Turenne, andthe iron firmness of the Hessians, decided the

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day in favour of the allies. But even this secondbarbarous sacrifice of life had little effect eitheron the course of the war, or on the negociationsfor peace. The French army, exhausted by thisbloody engagement, was still farther weakenedby the departure of the Hessians, and the Ba-varians being reinforced by the ArchdukeLeopold, Turenne was again obliged hastily torecross the Rhine.

The retreat of the French, enabled the enemyto turn his whole force upon the Swedes inBohemia. Gustavus Wrangel, no unworthy suc-cessor of Banner and Torstensohn, had, in1646, been appointed Commander-in-chief ofthe Swedish army, which, besidesKoenigsmark’s flying corps and the numerousgarrisons disposed throughout the empire,amounted to about 8,000 horse, and 15,000foot. The Archduke, after reinforcing his army,which already amounted to 24,000 men, withtwelve Bavarian regiments of cavalry, and eigh-

teen regiments of infantry, moved againstWrangel, in the hope of being able to overwhelmhim by his superior force before Koenigsmarkcould join him, or the French effect a diversionin his favour. Wrangel, however, did not awaithim, but hastened through Upper Saxony tothe Weser, where he took Hoester andPaderborn. From thence he marched intoHesse, in order to join Turenne, and at his campat Wetzlar, was joined by the flying corps ofKoenigsmark. But Turenne, fettered by the in-structions of Mazarin, who had seen with jeal-ousy the warlike prowess and increasing powerof the Swedes, excused himself on the plea of apressing necessity to defend the frontier ofFrance on the side of the Netherlands, in con-sequence of the Flemings having failed to makethe promised diversion. But as Wrangel con-tinued to press his just demand, and a longeropposition might have excited distrust on thepart of the Swedes, or induce them to conclude

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a private treaty with Austria, Turenne at lastobtained the wished for permission to join theSwedish army.

The junction took place at Giessen, and theynow felt themselves strong enough to meet theenemy. The latter had followed the Swedes intoHesse, in order to intercept their commissariat,and to prevent their union with Turenne. Inboth designs they had been unsuccessful; andthe Imperialists now saw themselves cut off fromthe Maine, and exposed to great scarcity andwant from the loss of their magazines. Wrangeltook advantage of their weakness, to execute aplan by which he hoped to give a new turn tothe war. He, too, had adopted the maxim of hispredecessor, to carry the war into the AustrianStates. But discouraged by the ill success ofTorstensohn’s enterprise, he hoped to gain hisend with more certainty by another way. Hedetermined to follow the course of the Danube,and to break into the Austrian territories

through the midst of Bavaria. A similar designhad been formerly conceived by GustavusAdolphus, which he had been prevented carry-ing into effect by the approach of Wallenstein’sarmy, and the danger of Saxony. Duke Bernardmoving in his footsteps, and more fortunatethan Gustavus, had spread his victorious ban-ners between the Iser and the Inn; but the nearapproach of the enemy, vastly superior in force,obliged him to halt in his victorious career, andlead back his troops. Wrangel now hoped toaccomplish the object in which his predeces-sors had failed, the more so, as the Imperialand Bavarian army was far in his rear upon theLahn, and could only reach Bavaria by a longmarch through Franconia and the UpperPalatinate. He moved hastily upon the Danube,defeated a Bavarian corps near Donauwerth,and passed that river, as well as the Lech, un-opposed. But by wasting his time in the unsuc-cessful siege of Augsburg, he gave opportunity

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to the Imperialists, not only to relieve that city,but also to repulse him as far as Lauingen. Nosooner, however, had they turned towardsSuabia, with a view to remove the war from Ba-varia, than, seizing the opportunity, he repassedthe Lech, and guarded the passage of it againstthe Imperialists themselves. Bavaria now layopen and defenceless before him; the Frenchand Swedes quickly overran it; and the soldieryindemnified themselves for all dangers by fright-ful outrages, robberies, and extortions. The ar-rival of the Imperial troops, who at last suc-ceeded in passing the Lech at Thierhaupten,only increased the misery of this country, whichfriend and foe indiscriminately plundered.

And now, for the first time during the wholecourse of this war, the courage of Maximilian,which for eight-and-twenty years had stoodunshaken amidst fearful dangers, began towaver. Ferdinand II., his school-companion atIngoldstadt, and the friend of his youth, was no

more; and with the death of his friend and bene-factor, the strong tie was dissolved which hadlinked the Elector to the House of Austria. Tothe father, habit, inclination, and gratitude hadattached him; the son was a stranger to hisheart, and political interests alone could pre-serve his fidelity to the latter prince.

Accordingly, the motives which the artificesof France now put in operation, in order to de-tach him from the Austrian alliance, and to in-duce him to lay down his arms, were drawnentirely from political considerations. It was notwithout a selfish object that Mazarin had so farovercome his jealousy of the growing power ofthe Swedes, as to allow the French to accom-pany them into Bavaria. His intention was toexpose Bavaria to all the horrors of war, in thehope that the persevering fortitude ofMaximilian might be subdued by necessity anddespair, and the Emperor deprived of his firstand last ally. Brandenburg had, under its great

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sovereign, embraced the neutrality; Saxony hadbeen forced to accede to it; the war with Franceprevented the Spaniards from taking any partin that of Germany; the peace with Sweden hadremoved Denmark from the theatre of war; andPoland had been disarmed by a long truce. Ifthey could succeed in detaching the Elector ofBavaria also from the Austrian alliance, theEmperor would be without a friend in Germanyand left to the mercy of the allied powers.

Ferdinand III. saw his danger, and left nomeans untried to avert it. But the Elector ofBavaria was unfortunately led to believe thatthe Spaniards alone were disinclined to peace,and that nothing, but Spanish influence, hadinduced the Emperor so long to resist a cessa-tion of hostilities. Maximilian detested theSpaniards, and could never forgive their hav-ing opposed his application for the PalatineElectorate. Could it then be supposed that, inorder to gratify this hated power, he would see

his people sacrificed, his country laid waste, andhimself ruined, when, by a cessation of hostili-ties, he could at once emancipate himself fromall these distresses, procure for his people therepose of which they stood so much in need,and perhaps accelerate the arrival of a generalpeace? All doubts disappeared; and, convincedof the necessity of this step, he thought heshould sufficiently discharge his obligations tothe Emperor, if he invited him also to share inthe benefit of the truce.

The deputies of the three crowns, and of Ba-varia, met at Ulm, to adjust the conditions. Butit was soon evident, from the instructions of theAustrian ambassadors that it was not the in-tention of the Emperor to second the conclu-sion of a truce, but if possible to prevent it. Itwas obviously necessary to make the terms ac-ceptable to the Swedes, who had the advantage,and had more to hope than to fear from thecontinuance of the war. They were the conquer-

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ors; and yet the Emperor presumed to dictateto them. In the first transports of their indigna-tion, the Swedish ambassadors were on thepoint of leaving the congress, and the Frenchwere obliged to have recourse to threats in or-der to detain them.

The good intentions of the Elector of Bavaria,to include the Emperor in the benefit of thetruce, having been thus rendered unavailing,he felt himself justified in providing for his ownsafety. However hard were the conditions onwhich the truce was to be purchased, he didnot hesitate to accept it on any terms. He agreedto the Swedes extending their quarters inSuabia and Franconia, and to his own beingrestricted to Bavaria and the Palatinate. Theconquests which he had made in Suabia wereceded to the allies, who, on their part, restoredto him what they had taken from Bavaria. Co-logne and Hesse Cassel were also included inthe truce. After the conclusion of this treaty,

upon the 14th March, 1647, the French andSwedes left Bavaria, and in order not to inter-fere with each other, took up different quar-ters; the former in Wuertemberg, the latter inUpper Suabia, in the neighbourhood of the Lakeof Constance. On the extreme north of this lake,and on the most southern frontier of Suabia,the Austrian town of Bregentz, by its steep andnarrow passes, seemed to defy attack; and inthis persuasion, the whole peasantry of thesurrounding villages had with their propertytaken refuge in this natural fortress. The richbooty, which the store of provisions it contained,gave reason to expect, and the advantage ofpossessing a pass into the Tyrol, Switzerlandand Italy, induced the Swedish general to ven-ture an attack upon this supposed impregnablepost and town, in which he succeeded. Mean-time, Turenne, according to agreement,marched into Wuertemberg, where he forcedthe Landgrave of Darmstadt and the Elector of

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Mentz to imitate the example of Bavaria, and toembrace the neutrality.

And now, at last, France seemed to have at-tained the great object of its policy, that of de-priving the Emperor of the support of theLeague, and of his Protestant allies, and of dic-tating to him, sword in hand, the conditions ofpeace. Of all his once formidable power, anarmy, not exceeding 12,000, was all that re-mained to him; and this force he was driven tothe necessity of entrusting to the command ofa Calvinist, the Hessian deserter Melander, asthe casualties of war had stripped him of hisbest generals. But as this war had been remark-able for the sudden changes of fortune it dis-played; and as every calculation of state policyhad been frequently baffled by some unfore-seen event, in this case also the issue disap-pointed expectation; and after a brief crisis, thefallen power of Austria rose again to a formi-dable strength. The jealousy which France en-

tertained of Sweden, prevented it from permit-ting the total ruin of the Emperor, or allowingthe Swedes to obtain such a preponderance inGermany, as might have been destructive toFrance herself. Accordingly, the French minis-ter declined to take advantage of the distressesof Austria; and the army of Turenne, separat-ing from that of Wrangel, retired to the fron-tiers of the Netherlands. Wrangel, indeed, af-ter moving from Suabia into Franconia, takingSchweinfurt, and incorporating the imperialgarrison of that place with his own army, at-tempted to make his way into Bohemia, andlaid siege to Egra, the key of that kingdom. Torelieve this fortress, the Emperor put his lastarmy in motion, and placed himself at its head.But obliged to take a long circuit, in order tospare the lands of Von Schlick, the presidentof the council of war, he protracted his march;and on his arrival, Egra was already taken. Botharmies were now in sight of each other; and a

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decisive battle was momentarily expected, asboth were suffering from want, and the twocamps were only separated from each other bythe space of the entrenchments. But the Impe-rialists, although superior in numbers, con-tented themselves with keeping close to theenemy, and harassing them by skirmishes, byfatiguing marches and famine, until thenegociations which had been opened with Ba-varia were brought to a bearing.

The neutrality of Bavaria, was a wound underwhich the Imperial court writhed impatiently;and after in vain attempting to prevent it, Aus-tria now determined, if possible, to turn it toadvantage. Several officers of the Bavarian armyhad been offended by this step of their master,which at once reduced them to inaction, andimposed a burdensome restraint on their rest-less disposition. Even the brave John de Werthwas at the head of the malcontents, and en-couraged by the Emperor, he formed a plot to

seduce the whole army from their allegiance tothe Elector, and lead it over to the Emperor.Ferdinand did not blush to patronize this act oftreachery against his father’s most trusty ally.He formally issued a proclamation to the Ba-varian troops, in which he recalled them to him-self, reminded them that they were the troopsof the empire, which the Elector had merelycommanded in name of the Emperor. Fortu-nately for Maximilian, he detected the con-spiracy in time enough to anticipate and pre-vent it by the most rapid and effective measures.

This disgraceful conduct of the Emperor mighthave justified a reprisal, but Maximilian was tooold a statesman to listen to the voice of pas-sion, where policy alone ought to be heard. Hehad not derived from the truce the advantageshe expected. Far from tending to accelerate ageneral peace, it had a pernicious influenceupon the negociations at Munster andOsnaburg, and had made the allies bolder in

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their demands. The French and Swedes hadindeed removed from Bavaria; but, by the lossof his quarters in the Suabian circle, he foundhimself compelled either to exhaust his ownterritories by the subsistence of his troops, orat once to disband them, and to throw asidethe shield and spear, at the very moment whenthe sword alone seemed to be the arbiter ofright. Before embracing either of these certainevils, he determined to try a third step, theunfavourable issue of which was at least not socertain, viz., to renounce the truce and resumethe war.

This resolution, and the assistance which heimmediately despatched to the Emperor inBohemia, threatened materially to injure theSwedes, and Wrangel was compelled in hasteto evacuate that kingdom. He retired throughThuringia into Westphalia and Lunenburg, inthe hope of forming a junction with the Frencharmy under Turenne, while the Imperial and

Bavarian army followed him to the Weser, un-der Melander and Gronsfeld. His ruin was in-evitable, if the enemy should overtake him be-fore his junction with Turenne; but the sameconsideration which had just saved the Em-peror, now proved the salvation of the Swedes.Even amidst all the fury of the conquest, coldcalculations of prudence guided the course ofthe war, and the vigilance of the different courtsincreased, as the prospect of peace approached.The Elector of Bavaria could not allow the Em-peror to obtain so decisive a preponderance as,by the sudden alteration of affairs, might delaythe chances of a general peace. Every changeof fortune was important now, when a pacifica-tion was so ardently desired by all, and whenthe disturbance of the balance of power amongthe contracting parties might at once annihi-late the work of years, destroy the fruit of longand tedious negociations, and indefinitely pro-tract the repose of Europe. If France sought to

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restrain the Swedish crown within due bounds,and measured out her assistance according toher successes and defeats, the Elector of Ba-varia silently undertook the same task with theEmperor his ally, and determined, by prudentlydealing out his aid, to hold the fate of Austriain his own hands. And now that the power ofthe Emperor threatened once more to attain adangerous superiority, Maximilian at onceceased to pursue the Swedes. He was also afraidof reprisals from France, who had threatenedto direct Turenne’s whole force against him ifhe allowed his troops to cross the Weser.

Melander, prevented by the Bavarians fromfurther pursuing Wrangel, crossed by Jena andErfurt into Hesse, and now appeared as a dan-gerous enemy in the country which he had for-merly defended. If it was the desire of revengeupon his former sovereign, which led him tochoose Hesse for the scene of his ravage, hecertainly had his full gratification. Under this

scourge, the miseries of that unfortunate statereached their height. But he had soon reasonto regret that, in the choice of his quarters, hehad listened to the dictates of revenge ratherthan of prudence. In this exhausted country,his army was oppressed by want, while Wrangelwas recruiting his strength, and remounting hiscavalry in Lunenburg. Too weak to maintain hiswretched quarters against the Swedish general,when he opened the campaign in the winter of1648, and marched against Hesse, he wasobliged to retire with disgrace, and take refugeon the banks of the Danube.

France had once more disappointed the ex-pectations of Sweden; and the army of Turenne,disregarding the remonstrances of Wrangel, hadremained upon the Rhine. The Swedish leaderrevenged himself, by drawing into his servicethe cavalry of Weimar, which had abandonedthe standard of France, though, by this step,he farther increased the jealousy of that power.

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Turenne received permission to join the Swedes;and the last campaign of this eventful war wasnow opened by the united armies. DrivingMelander before them along the Danube, theythrew supplies into Egra, which was besiegedby the Imperialists, and defeated the Imperialand Bavarian armies on the Danube, which ven-tured to oppose them at Susmarshausen, whereMelander was mortally wounded. After this over-throw, the Bavarian general, Gronsfeld, placedhimself on the farther side of the Lech, in or-der to guard Bavaria from the enemy.

But Gronsfeld was not more fortunate thanTilly, who, in this same position, had sacrificedhis life for Bavaria. Wrangel and Turenne chosethe same spot for passing the river, which wasso gloriously marked by the victory of GustavusAdolphus, and accomplished it by the samemeans, too, which had favoured their prede-cessor. Bavaria was now a second time overrun,and the breach of the truce punished by the

severest treatment of its inhabitants.Maximilian sought shelter in Salzburgh, whilethe Swedes crossed the Iser, and forced theirway as far as the Inn. A violent and continuedrain, which in a few days swelled this inconsid-erable stream into a broad river, saved Austriaonce more from the threatened danger. Theenemy ten times attempted to form a bridge ofboats over the Inn, and as often it was destroyedby the current. Never, during the whole courseof the war, had the Imperialists been in so greatconsternation as at present, when the enemywere in the centre of Bavaria, and when theyhad no longer a general left who could bematched against a Turenne, a Wrangel, and aKoenigsmark. At last the brave Piccolomini ar-rived from the Netherlands, to assume the com-mand of the feeble wreck of the Imperialists.By their own ravages in Bohemia, the allies hadrendered their subsistence in that country im-practicable, and were at last driven by scarcity

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to retreat into the Upper Palatinate, where thenews of the peace put a period to their activity.

Koenigsmark, with his flying corps, advancedtowards Bohemia, where Ernest Odowalsky, adisbanded captain, who, after being disabledin the imperial service, had been dismissedwithout a pension, laid before him a plan forsurprising the lesser side of the city of Prague.Koenigsmark successfully accomplished thebold enterprise, and acquired the reputation ofclosing the thirty years’ war by the last bril-liant achievement. This decisive stroke, whichvanquished the Emperor’s irresolution, cost theSwedes only the loss of a single man. But theold town, the larger half of Prague, which is di-vided into two parts by the Moldau, by its vigor-ous resistance wearied out the efforts of thePalatine, Charles Gustavus, the successor ofChristina on the throne, who had arrived fromSweden with fresh troops, and had assembledthe whole Swedish force in Bohemia and Silesia

before its walls. The approach of winter at lastdrove the besiegers into their quarters, and inthe mean time, the intelligence arrived that apeace had been signed at Munster, on the 24thOctober.

The colossal labour of concluding this solemn,and ever memorable and sacred treaty, whichis known by the name of the peace ofWestphalia; the endless obstacles which wereto be surmounted; the contending interestswhich it was necessary to reconcile; the con-catenation of circumstances which must haveco-operated to bring to a favourable termina-tion this tedious, but precious and permanentwork of policy; the difficulties which beset thevery opening of the negociations, and maintain-ing them, when opened, during the ever-fluc-tuating vicissitudes of the war; finally, arrang-ing the conditions of peace, and still more, thecarrying them into effect; what were the condi-tions of this peace; what each contending power

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gained or lost, by the toils and sufferings of athirty years’ war; what modification it wroughtupon the general system of European policy;— these are matters which must be relin-quished to another pen. The history of the peaceof Westphalia constitutes a whole, as importantas the history of the war itself. A mere abridg-ment of it, would reduce to a mere skeleton oneof the most interesting and characteristic monu-ments of human policy and passions, and de-prive it of every feature calculated to fix the at-tention of the public, for which I write, and ofwhich I now respectfully take my leave.

[End of The History of the Thirty Years’ War.]

Notes: Separate sources indicate that at thebeginning of this war there were about 15 mil-lion people in Germany, and at the end of thewar there were about 4 million. If this is not

surprising enough, war broke out again only10 years after the conclusion of this war.

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