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AUTHOR: 
 
 SCHILLER, FRIEDRICH 
 
 TITLE: 
 
 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY 
 
 YEARS' WAR 
 
 PLACE: 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 DA TE : 
 
 1875 
 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 
 PRESERVATION DEPARTMENT 
 
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 943.041 Goschichte des dreiosigjahr. 
 
 3ch3112 kriegs. Eng. Korrison. 
 
 Schiller, ' ^nh n nn Chii uLu ph Friedrich y^a. 
 1759-1805. 
 
 History of the thirty years' war. Tr. from 
 the German of Frederick Schiller, by A. J if 
 Morrison. New York, Harper, 1875." 
 
 iv, 370 p. 
 
 673529 
 
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 HISTORY 
 
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 THIRTY YEARS' WAR 
 
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 TRANSLATED FKOM THE OEUMAN 
 
 OF 
 
 FREDERICK SCHILLER, 
 
 BV THE 
 
 REV. A. J. W. MORIUSON, M.A. 
 
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 CO l^OOK I. 
 
 Introduction.— Geueral Effects of the Refonn.—Itevolt of 
 
 ^ Matthias. — The Emperor cedes Austria and Hungary to him. 
 
 Sj —Matthias acknowledged King of Bohemia.— the Elector 
 
 of Cologne abjures the Catholic Religion.— Consequt^nces.— 
 
 The Elector Palatine. — Dispute respecting the Succession of 
 
 Juliers.— Designs of Henry IV. of France.— Formation of the 
 
 Un^on.— The League.— Death of the Emperor Rodolph.— 
 
 Matthias succeeds him.— Troubles in Bohemia.— Cixil War. 
 
 —Ferdinand extirpates the Protestant Religion from Styi-ia. 
 
 —The Elector Palatine, Frederick V., is chosen King by the 
 
 Bohemians.— He accepts the Crown of Bohemia.— Bethlem 
 
 Gabor, Prince of Transylvania, invades Austria.— The Duke 
 
 of Bavana and the Princes of the League embrace the Cause 
 
 I , ^\ Ferdinand.— The Union arm for Frederick.— The Battle 
 
 7 *^^ Prague, and total Subjection of Bohemia . . Pag3 1-81 
 
 BOOK IL 
 
 State of the Empu-e.— Of Europe.— Mansfeld.—Chrisflan. 
 Diike of Brunswick.— Wallenstein raises an Imperial Army 
 at his own expense.— The King of Denmark defeated.— Death 
 of Mansfeld.— Edict of Restitution in 1628.— Diet at Rjitisbon. 
 —Negotiations.— Wallenstein deprived of the Command.— 
 Gustavus Adolphus.— Swedish Army.— Gustavus Adolphus 
 takes his Leave of the States at Stockholm.— Invasion by the 
 Swedes.— Their Progress in Germany.- Count Tilly takes 
 the Command of the Imperial Troops.— Treaty with France. 
 —Congress at Leipzig.— Siege and cmel Fate of Magdeburg. 
 —Firmness of the Landgrave of Cassel.— Junction of tie Sax- 
 ons with the Swedes.- Battle of Leipzig.— Consequeaces of 
 
 that Victory . . . . . 81-172 
 
 ♦ 
 
 BOOK IIL 
 
 ^ , Situation of G ustavus Adolphus after the Battle of Lei r)zi'r — 
 
 Progress of Gustiivus Adolphus.— The French invade Lon-auie. 
 —Frankfort taken.— Capitulation of Mentz.— Tilly ordered 
 .>y Ma.xunilian to protect Bavaria — Gustavis Adolphus passoi! 
 
 / 
 
^f 
 
 ( 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 the Lech .—Defeat and Death of Tilly.— Gustavus takes . 
 uich. — The Saxon Amiy invades Bohemia and takes Prague.^ 
 —Distress of the Emperor.— Secret Triumph of Wallenstein.— 
 He offers to join Gustavus Adolphus. — Wallenstein reassumea 
 the Command. — Junction of Wallenstein with the Bavarians. 
 — Gusta\Tis Adolphus defends Nuremberg. — Attacks Wallen- 
 stein's Intrenchments. — Enters Saxony.— Goes to the Succor 
 of the Elector of Saxony.— Marches against Wallenstein. — 
 Battle of Lutzen.— Death of Gustavus Adolphus. — Situation 
 of Germany after the Battle of Lutzen .... 172-2G6 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Closer Alliance between France and Sweden. — Oxenstiera 
 takes the Direction of Affairs.- Death of the Elector Palatine. 
 -—Revolt of the Swedish Officers.— Duke Bernard takes Rat- 
 isbon. — Wallenstein enters Silesia. — Forms Treasonable De- 
 signs. — Forsaken by the Army. — Retires to Egra. — His As- 
 sociates put to Death.— Wallenstein's Death.— His Charac- 
 ter 266-314 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 Battle of Nordliugen. — France enters into an Alliance 
 against Austria. — Treaty of Prague. — Saxony joins the Em- 
 peror. — Battle of Wittsbach gamed by the Swedes. — Battle of 
 Rhinefeldt gained by Bernard, Duke of Weimar. — He takes 
 Bjeysach. — His Death. — Death of Ferdmand IL — Ferdinand 
 in. succeeds him. — Celebrated Retreat of Banner in Pome- 
 mnia. — His Successes. — Death. — Torstensolm takes the Com- 
 mand. — Death of Richelieu and Louis XIII. — Swedish Vic- 
 tory at Jankowitz. — French (Jefeated at Friburg. — Battle 
 of Nordlingen gained by Turenne and Conde. — Wrangel 
 takes the Command of the Swedish Army. — Melander made 
 Commander of the Emperor's Army. — The Elector of Bavari« 
 breaks the Armistice. — He adopts the same Policy toward 
 the Emperor as France toward the Swedes. — The Weime 
 rian Cavalry go over to the Swedes. — Conquest of New Pragut 
 by Koenigsmark, and Termination of the Thirty Years 
 VVar 314-370 
 
 V 
 
 i\ 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OP TUB 
 
 THIRTY YEARS' WAR IN GERMANY. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 From the beginning of the religious wars in Germany, 
 to the peace of Munster, scarcely any thing great o, re 
 morkab e occurred in the political world Sf Europe fn 
 Which the Reformation had not an important share AU 
 the events of th,s period, if they did not originate h 
 soon beca„.e mixed up with, the question of rell'ion: 
 «nd no state was either too great or too little to fe" 
 J.rectly or indirectly more or less of its influence. 
 
 Against the reformed doctrine and its adherents, the 
 Ilouse of Austria directed, almost exclusively, the whole 
 of Its immense political power. In France, the Refor- 
 mation had enkindled a civil war, which, under four 
 
 T,^Z 7'^"'' '^""^ "'^ '''"S''"'" t" it' foundation' 
 o.ought foi-eign arm.es into the heart of the country 
 
 and for half a century rendered it the scene of the raos 
 
 mournfo disorders. It was the Reformation, too, tha 
 
 lendered the Spanish yoke intolerable to the Flemiaes 
 
 and awakened in them both the desire and the courale 
 
 to throw ofl' Its fetters, while it also principaUy furnishid 
 
 hem with the means of their emancipation. Andas 
 
 to England, all the evils with which Philip II. threatened 
 
 Jilizabeth were mainly intended in revenge for her 
 
 having taken his Protestant subjects under her prolec- 
 
 tion, and placing herself at the head of a religious.pOTty 
 
 which It was his aim and endeavor to extirpate .In 
 
 Germany, the schisms in the Church produced also a 
 
 lasting political schism, which made that country for 
 
 , 1 A 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 
- "WWPMtt^iqatfWni 
 
 / 
 
 I 
 
 }& SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 more than a century, the theater of confusion, but at 
 the same time threw up a firm barrier against political 
 oppression. It was, too, the Reformation principally, 
 that first drew the northern powers of Denmark and 
 Sweden into the political system of Europe ; and while 
 on the one hand the Protestant League was strength- 
 ened by their adhesion, it on the other was indispensa- 
 ble to their interest. States, which hitherto scarcely 
 concerned themselves with one another's existence, 
 acquired througa the Reformation an attractive center 
 of interest, and began to be united by new political 
 sympathies. And as through its influence new rela- 
 tions sprang up between citizen and citizen, and between 
 rulers and subjects, so also entire states were forced 
 by it into new and relative positions. Thus, by a 
 strange course of events, religious disputes were the 
 means of cementing a closer union among the nations 
 of Europe. 
 
 Fearful indeed, and destructive was the first move 
 ment in which this general political sympathy announced 
 itself; a desolating war of thirty years, which, from the 
 interior of Bohemia to the mouth of the Scheldt, and 
 from the banks of the Po to the coasts of the Baltic, 
 devastated whole countries, destrcyed harvests, and re- 
 duced towns and villages to ash^s ; which opened a 
 grave for many thousand combatants, and for half a 
 century smothered the glimmering sparks of civilization 
 in Germany, and threw back the improving manners ol 
 the countiy into their pristine barbarity and wildness. 
 Yet out of this fearful war Europe came forth free and 
 independent. In it she first learned to recognize her- 
 self as a community of nations ; and this intercommunion 
 of states, which originated in the thirty years' war, 
 would alone be suflficient to reconcile the philosopher to 
 its horrors. The hand of industry has slowly, but grad- 
 ually eflfaced the traces of its ravages, while its benefi- 
 cent influence still survives ; and this general sympathy 
 among the states of Europe, which gi-ew out of the 
 troubles in Bohemia, is our guarantee for the continuance 
 of that peace which wns the result of the war. As the 
 flames of destnaction found their way from the interim 
 of Bohemia. Moravia, and Austria, to kindle Germany, 
 
 SritfLLER's THIRTY YEARs' VVAR. 
 
 o 
 
 
 I ranee, and the half of Europe, so also will the torch of 
 civilization make a path for itself from the latter, to en- 
 lighten the former countries. 
 
 All this w«s effected by religion. Religion alone could 
 have rendered possible all thatrwas accomplished, but it 
 was far from being the sole motive of the war. Had not 
 private advantages and state interests been closely con- 
 nected with it, vain and powerless would have been the 
 arguments of theologians ; and theory of the people would 
 never have met with princes so willing to espouse their 
 cause, nor the new doctrines have found such numerous, 
 braye, and persevering champions. The Reformation is 
 undoubtedly owing in a gi-eat measure to the inviccible 
 power of ti-uth, or of opinions which were held as such. 
 1 he abuses m the old Church, the absurdity of many of 
 Its dogmas, the extravagance of its requisitions, nec-lsa- 
 i-ily revolted the tempers of men, already won with the 
 promise of a better light, and favorably disposed ihem 
 toward the new doctrines. The charm of independence 
 the rich plunder of monastic institutions, made the Ref- 
 ormation attractive in the eyes of princes, and teaded 
 not a little to strengthen their inward convictions. Noth- 
 ing, however, but political considerations could have 
 driven them to espouse it. Had not Charles V., in the 
 intoxication of success, made an attempt on the inde- 
 pendence of the German states, a Protestant lea^rue 
 would scarcely have rushed to arms in defence of ji-^e- 
 dom of belief : but for the ambition of the Guises, the Cal- 
 vanists in France would never have beheld a Conde or a 
 Coligny at their head. Without the exaction of the tenth 
 and the twentieth penny, the see of Rome had never 
 lost the United Netherlands. Princes fought in self- 
 defense or for aggrandizement, while religious enthusi- 
 asm recruited their armies, and opened to them the 
 treasures of their subjects. Of the multitude who 
 Hocked to their standards, such as were not lured by the 
 hope of plunder imagined they were fighting for the 
 truth, while in fact tliey were shedding their blood for 
 the personal objects of their princes. 
 
 And weU was it for the people that, on this occaiiion 
 their interests coincided with those of their prin«es. To 
 this coincidence alone were they indebted to th< ir deliver- 
 
 ' 
 
/I 
 
 '4 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 ance from popery. Well was it also for the rulers, that 
 the subject contended too for his own cause, while he 
 was fighting their battles. For1.unately at this date no 
 European sovereign was so absolute as to be able, in the 
 pursuit of his political designs, to dispense with the 
 good-will of his subjects. Yet how difficult was it to 
 gam and to set to work this good-will ! The most im. 
 pressive arguments drawn from reasons of state fall 
 powerless on the ear of the subject, who seldom under- 
 stands, and still more rarely is interested in them. In 
 such circumstances, the only course open to a prudent 
 prince is to connect the interests of the cabinet with 
 some one that sits nearer to the people's heart, if such 
 exists, or if not, to create it. 
 
 In such a position stood the greater part of those 
 princes who embraced the cause of the Reformation. 
 i^ a strange concatenation of events, the divisions of 
 the Chui-ch were associated with two circumstances, 
 without which, in all probiibility, they would have had a 
 very different conclusion. These were, the increasing 
 power of the House of Austria, which threatened the 
 liberties of Europe, and its active zeal for the old reli- 
 gion. The first aroused the princes, while the second 
 armed the people. 
 
 The abolition of a foreign jurisdiction within their own 
 territories, the supremacy in ecclesiastical matters, the 
 stopping of the treasure which had so long flowed to 
 Kome, the rich plunder of religious foundations, were 
 tempting advantages to every sovereign. Why, then it 
 may be asked, did they not operate with equal force 
 upon the princes of the House of Austria ? What pre- 
 vented this house, particularly in its German branch, 
 Irom yielding to the pressing demands of so many of its 
 subjects, and, after the example of other princes, en- 
 riching Itself at the expense of a defenceless clergy ^ It 
 is difficult to credit that a belief in the infallibility of the 
 Komish church had any greater influence on the pious 
 adherence of this house, than the opposite conviction had 
 on the revolt of the Protestant princes. In fact, several 
 cu-cumstances combined to make the Austrian princes 
 zealous- supporters of popery. Spain and Italy, from 
 which Austria derived its principal strength, were «»t> 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 b 
 
 devoted to the see of Rome with that blind obedience 
 which, ever since the days of the Gothic dynasty, had 
 been the peculiar characteristic of the Spaniard. Tluj 
 slightest approximation, in a Spanish prince, to thcs ob- 
 noxious tenets of Luther and Calvin, would have alienated 
 forever the affections of his subjects, and a defe<;tion 
 from the Pope would have cost him the kingdom. A 
 Spanish prince had no alternative but orthodoxy or 
 abdication. The same restraint was imposed upon 
 Austria by her Italian 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 readier means of shaking it oflf. la 
 regard to the latter provinces, moreover, the rival pre- 
 tensions of France, and the neighborhood of the Pope, 
 were motives sufficient to prevent the emperor from de- 
 claring in favor of a party which sti'ove to annihilate the 
 papal see, and also to induce him to show the most active 
 zeal in behalf of the old religion. These general con- 
 siderations, which must have been equally weighty with 
 every Spanish monarch, were, in the particular case oi 
 Charles V^ still further enforced by peculiar and joer- 
 sonal motives. In Italy this monarch had a formidable 
 rival in the King of France, under whose protection that 
 countiy might throw itself the instant that Charles 
 should incur the slightest suspicion of heresy. Distrust 
 on the part of the Roman Catholics, and a rupture with 
 the Church, would have been fatal also to many of his most 
 cherished designs. Moreover, when Charles was first 
 called upon to make his election between the two jmr- 
 ties, the new doctrine had not yet attained to a full and 
 commanding influence, and there still subsisted a pros- 
 pect of its reconciliation with the old. In his son and 
 successor, Philip II., a monastic education combined 
 with a gloomy and despotic disposition to generate an 
 unmitigated hostility to all innovations in religion ; a 
 feeling which the thought that his most formidiible 
 political opponents were also the enemies of his faith was 
 not cabulated to weaken. As his European possessions, 
 scattered as they were over so many countries, were on 
 all sides exposed to the seductions of foreign opinions, the 
 progress of the Reformation in other quarters conld /iot 
 
 A 2 
 

 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 well be a .-natter of indifference to him. His immediate 
 interests, therefore, urged him to attach himself devot- 
 edly to the old Church, in order to close up the sources 
 of the heretical contagion. Thus, circumstances natu- 
 rally placed this prince at the head of the league which 
 the Roman Catholics formed against the Reformers. 
 The principles which had actuated the long and active 
 reigns of Charles V. and Philip II., remained a law for 
 their successors ; and the more the breach in the Churcli 
 v/idened, the firmer became the attachment of the Span- 
 iards to Roman Catholicism. 
 
 The German line of the House of Austria was appa- 
 rently more unfettered ; but, in reality, though free froi!i 
 inahy of these restraints, it was yet confined by others. 
 Ihe possession of the imperial throne— a dignity it was 
 impossible for a Protestant to hold, (for with what con 
 sistency could an apostate from the Romish church wear 
 the crown of a Roman emperor?) bound the successors 
 ot Ferdinand I. to the see of Rome. Ferdinand him- 
 selt was, from conscientious motives, heartily attached 
 to it. Beside, the German princes of the House of 
 Austiia were not powerful enough to dispense with the 
 support of Spain, which, however, they would have foi-- 
 ieited by the least show of leaning toward the new 
 locti-ines. The imperial dignity, also, required them to 
 preseiTe the existing political system of Germany, with 
 which the UTaintenance of their own authority was 
 <;!osely bound up, but which it was the aim of the Prot- 
 estant League to destroy. If to these grounds we add 
 the mdifferenee of the Protestants to the emperor's 
 necessities and to the common dangers of the empire 
 their encroachments on the temporalities of the Church,' 
 and their aggressive violence when they became con- 
 scious of their own power, we can easily conceive how 
 so many concurring motives must have determined the 
 emperors to the side of popery, and how their own in- 
 terests came to be intimately intemoven with those of 
 the Romnn church. As its fate seemed to depend alto- 
 gether on tlie ]mrt taken by Austria, the princes -of this 
 house cnme to be regarded by nil Europe as the pillars 
 of popery. The lusti-ed, thereib -e, wliich the Protes- 
 hinu bor<' ai'.i.nst the latter, M'as turned exolusivel/ upoo 
 
 SCHIILERS THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 Austria; and the cause became gradually confounded 
 with its protector. 
 
 But this iiTeconcilable enemy of the Reformation — 
 the House of Austria— by its ambitious projects and the 
 overwhelming force which it could bring to their support, 
 endangered, in no small degree, the freedom of Europe, 
 and more especially of the German states. This cir- 
 cumstance could not fail to rouse the latter from their 
 security, and to render them vigilant in self-defense, 
 iheir ordinary resources were quite insufficient to re- 
 sist so formidable a power. Extraordinary exertions 
 were required from their subjects ; and when even these 
 proved far from adequate, they had recourse to foreign 
 assistance ; and, by means of a common league, they 
 endeavored to oppose a power which, sinijly, they were 
 unable to withstand. 
 
 But the strong political inducements which the Ger- 
 man princes had to resist the pretensions of the House 
 of Austria, naturally did not extend to their subjects. 
 It is only immediate advantages or immediate evili; that 
 set the people in action, and for these a sound poK 
 icy cannot wait. Ill, then, would it have fared with 
 these princes, if by good fortune another effectual mo- 
 tive had not offered itself, which roused the passions of 
 the people, and kindled in them an enthusiasm virhicli 
 might be directed against the political danger, as having 
 with it a common cause of alarm. 
 
 This motive was their avowed hatred of the religion 
 which Austria protected, and their enthusiastic attach- 
 ment to a doctrine which that house was endeavoring 
 to extirpate by fire and sword. Their attachment wjfs 
 ardent, their hati-ed invincible. Religious fanaticism 
 anticipates even the remotest dangers. Enthusiasm 
 never calculates its sacrifices. What the most pressing 
 danger of the state could not effect with the citizens, 
 was effected by religious zeal. For the state, or for the 
 prince, few would have drawn the sword ; but for reli- 
 gion, the merchant, the artist, the peasant, all cheerfully 
 ilew to arms. For the state, or for the prince, even 
 the smallest additional impost would have been avoided ; 
 but for religion, the people readily staked at once life] 
 fortune and all earthly hopes. It trebled the contribu 
 
B Schiller's thirty years war. 
 
 tions which flowed into the exchequer of the princes, 
 and the armies which marched to the field ; and, in the 
 ardent excitement produced in all minds by the peril to 
 which their faith was exposed, the subject felt not the 
 pressure of those burdens and privations under which, 
 iji cooler moments, he would have sunk exhausted. 
 1 he terrors of the Spanish Inquisition, and the massa- 
 cre of St. Bartholomew's, procured for the Prince of 
 Orange, the Admiral Coligny, the British Queen Eliza- 
 beth, and the Protestant princes of Germany, supplies 
 of men and money from their subjects, to a degree 
 which at present is inconceivable. 
 
 But, with all their exertions, they would have eflect- 
 ed little against a power which was an overmatch for 
 any single adversary, however powerful. At this peri- 
 od of imperfect policy, accidental circumstances alone 
 could determine distant states to afford one another a 
 mutual support. The differences of government, of 
 laws, of language, of manners, and of character, which 
 hitherto had kept whole nations and countries as it 
 were insulated, and raised a lasting barrier between 
 them, rendered one state insensible to the distresses of 
 another, save where national jealousy could indulge a ma- 
 licious joy at the reverses of a rival. This barrier the 
 Reformation destroyed. An interest more intense and 
 more immediate than national aggiandizement or patri- 
 otism, and entirely independent of private utility, began 
 to animate whole states and individual citizens ; an in- 
 terest capable of uniting numerous and distant nations, 
 even while it frequently lost its force among the subjects 
 of the same government. With the inhabitants of Ge- 
 neva, for instance, of England, of Germany, or of Hol- 
 land, the French Calvinist possessed a common point 
 of union which he had not with his own countrymen. 
 Thus, in one important particular, he ceased to be the 
 citizen of a single state, and to confine his views and 
 sympathies to his own country alone. The sphere of 
 his views became enlarged. He began to calculate his 
 own fate from that of other nations of the same religious 
 profession, and to make their cause his own. Now for 
 the first time did princes venture to bring the affairs of 
 other countries before their own councils ; for the first 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 9 
 
 
 I 
 
 time could they hope for a willing ear to their own ne- 
 cessities, and prompt assistance from others. Foreigi? 
 affairs had now become a matter of domestic policy, and 
 that aid was readily granted to the religious confederate 
 \yhich would have been denied to the mere neighbor, 
 and still more to the distant stranger. The inhabitant 
 of the Palatinate leaves his native fields to fight side by 
 side with his religious associate of France, against the 
 common enemy of their faith. The Huguenot d raws 
 his sword against the country which persecutes him, 
 and sheds his blood in defence of the liberties of Hol- 
 land. Swiss is arrayed against Swiss ; German against 
 German, to determine, on the banks of the Loire and 
 the Seine, the succession of the French crown. The 
 Dane crosses the Eider, and the Swede the Baltic, to 
 break the chains which are forged for Germany. 
 
 It is diflficult to say what would have been the fate of 
 the Reformation and the liberties of the empire, had 
 not the formidable power of Austria declared against 
 them. This, however, appears certain, that nothing so 
 completely damped the Austrian hopes of universal 
 monarchy, as the obstinate war which they had to wage 
 against the new religious opinions. Under no othei- cir- 
 cumstances could the weaker princes have roused their 
 subjects to such extraordinary exertions against the am- 
 bition of Austria, or the states themselves have united 
 so closely against the common enemy. 
 
 The power of Austria never stood higher than after 
 the victory which Charles V. gained over the Genmans 
 at Mahlberg. With the treaty of Smalcalde the free- 
 dom of Germany lay, as it seemed, prostrate forover; 
 but it revived under Maurice of Saxony, once its most 
 formidable enemy. All the fruits of the victory of 
 MOhlberg were lost again in the Congi-ess of Pfissau 
 and the Diet of Augsburg, and every scheme for civil 
 and religious oppression terminated in the concessions 
 of an equitable peace. 
 
 The Diet of Augsburg divided Germany into tw«j re- 
 ligious and two political parties, by recognizing the in- 
 dependent rights and existence of both. Hitherto the 
 Protestants had been looked on as rebels ; they were 
 henceforth to be regarded as brethren— not, inckcd, 
 
lu 
 
 SCniLLEIl'rf THIIiTV VKARs' WAR. 
 
 SCHILLKRS TIIIUTV YEARs' WAR. 
 
 11 
 
 through afiection, but necessity. By the Interim,* the 
 Confession of Augsburg was allowed temporarily to take 
 a sisterly place along side of the olden religion, though 
 only as a tolerated neighbor. To every secular state 
 was conceded the right of establishing the religion it 
 acknowledged as supreme and exclusive within its own 
 territories, and of forbidding the open profession of its 
 rival. Subjects were to be free to quit a country where 
 their own religion was not tolerated. The doctrines of 
 Luther for the first time received a positive sanction; 
 and if they were trampled under foot in Bavaria and 
 Austi-ia, they predominated in Saxony and Thuringia. 
 But the sovereigns alone were to determine what form 
 of religion should prevail within their territories ; the 
 feelings of subjects, who had no representatives in the 
 Diet, were little attended to in the pacification. In the 
 ecclesiastical territories, indeed, where the unreformed 
 religion enjoyed an undisputed supremacy, the free ex- 
 ercise of their religion was obtained for all who had pre- 
 viously embraced the Protestant doctrine ; but this in- 
 dulgence rested only on the personal guarantee of Fer- 
 dinand, King of the Romans, by whose endeavors chiefly 
 ihis peace was effected ; a guarantee which, being re- 
 jected by the Roman Catholic members of the Diet, and 
 only inserted in the treaty under their protest, could 
 not, of course, have the force of law. 
 
 If it had been opinions only that thus divided the 
 minds of men, with what indifference would all have 
 regarded the division ! But on these opinions depended 
 riches, dignities, and rights ; and it was this which so 
 deeply aggi-avated the evils of division. Of two broth- 
 ers, as it were, who had hitherto enjoyed a paternal in- 
 heritance in common, one now remained, while the 
 other was compelled to leave his father's house, and 
 hence arose the necessity of dividing the patrimony, 
 For this separation, w4iich he could not have foreseen, 
 the father had made no provision. By the beneficent 
 donations of pious ancestors the riches of the Church 
 
 * A system of theology so called, prepared by order of the Em- 
 peror Charles V. for the use of Germany, to reconcile the differ- 
 ences between the Roman Catholics and the Lutherans, vihich, 
 »'Owever, was rejected by both parties. — Flo. 
 
 
 hid been accumulating through a thousand years, and 
 these benefactors were as much the progenitors of the 
 departing brother as of him who remained. Was the 
 nght ot inheritance then to be limited to the paternal 
 house, or to be extended to blood ? The gifts had been 
 made to the church in communion with Rome, because 
 at that time no other existed— to the first-born, as it 
 were because he was as yet the only son. Was then 
 a right of primogeniture to be admitted in the Church 
 as in noble jamilies ? Were the pretensions of one 
 party to be favored by a prescription from times when 
 the claims of the other could not have come into exist- 
 ence 1 Could the Lutherans be justly excluded from 
 these possessions, to which the benevolence of their 
 forefathers had contributed, merely on the ground that, 
 Ht the date ot their foundation, the differences between 
 Luthemnism and Romanism were unknown ? Both 
 parties have disputed, and still dispute, with equal plaus- 
 ibi ity, on these points. Both alike have found it diffi- 
 cult to prove their right. Law can be applied only to 
 conceivable cases, and perhaps spiritual foundations are 
 not among the number of these, and still less where the 
 conditions of the founders generally extended to a sys- 
 tem ot doctrines ; for how is it conceivable that a perma- 
 nent endowment should be made of opinions left open 
 to change ? ^ 
 
 What law cannot decide, is usually determined by 
 might, and such was the case here.' The one ])artt 
 held firmly all that could no longer be wrested fron it, 
 the other defended what it still possessed. All the 
 bishoprics and abbeys which had been secularized before 
 the peace, remained With the Protestants ; but, by an 
 express clause, the unreformed Catholics provided that 
 none should thereafter be secularized. E^ery impro- 
 priator of an ecclesiastical foundation, who held imme- 
 diately of the empire, whether elector, bishop, or ab- 
 bot,^ forfeited his benefice and dignity the moment he 
 embraced the Protestant belief ; he was obliged, in that 
 event, instantly to resign its emoluments, and the chap- 
 ter was to proceed to a new election, exactly as if his 
 place had been vacated by death. By this sacred an- 
 chor ot the Ecclesiastical Reservation (Reservatum Ec- 
 
12 
 
 SCIIILLERS THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 l\ 
 
 SCHILLER'rf THIRTY YEARs' V.Af:. 
 
 Id 
 
 clesiasticum), which makes the temporal existence of a 
 spiritual prince entirely dependent on his fidelity to the 
 olden religion, the Roman Catholic church in Germany 
 is still held fast ; and precarious, indeed, would be its 
 situation were this anchor to give way The principle 
 of the Ecclesiastical Reservation was strongly opposed 
 by the Protestants ; and though it was at last adopted 
 into the treaty of peace, its insertion was qualified with 
 the declaration that parties had come to no final determ- 
 ination on the point. Could it, then, be more binding 
 on the Protestants than Ferdinand's guarantee in favor 
 of Protestant subjects of ecclesiastical states was upon 
 the Roman Catholics ? Thus were two important sub- 
 jects of dispute left unsettled in the treaty of peace, and 
 by them the war was rekindled. 
 
 Such was the position of things with regard to reli- 
 gious toleration and ecclesiastical property ; it was the 
 same with regard to rights and dignities. The existing 
 German system provided only for one church, because 
 one only was in existence when that system was framed. 
 The Church had now divided ; the Diet had broken into 
 two religious parties ; w^as the whole system of the em- 
 pire still exclusively to follow the one ? The emperors 
 had hitherto been members of the Romish church, be- 
 cause till now that religion had no rival. But was it his 
 connection with Rome which constituted a German em- 
 peror, or was it not rather Germany which was to be 
 i"epresented in its head ? The Protestants were now 
 spread over the whole empire, and how justly could 
 they still be represented by an unbroken line of Roman 
 Catholic emperors ? In the imperial chamber the Ger- 
 man states judge themselves, for they elect the judges ; 
 it was the very end of its institution that they should 
 do so, in order that equal justice should be dispensed 
 to all ; but would this be still possible, if the representa- 
 tives of both professions were not equally admissible to 
 a seat in the Chamber ? That one religion only existed 
 in Germany at the time of its establishment, was acci- 
 dental ; that no one estate should have the means of 
 legally oppressing another, was the essential purpose of 
 the institution. Now this object would be entirely frus- 
 trated if one religious party were to have the exclusive 
 
 power of deciding for the other. Must, then, the de- 
 sign be sacrificed, because that.which was merely^ acci- 
 dental had changed ? With great diflficulty the Prot- 
 estants at last obtained for the representatives of their 
 religion a place in the Supreme Council, but still ther© 
 was far from being a perfect equality of voices. To 
 this day no Protestant prince has been raised to tlic im 
 perial throne. 
 
 Whatever may be said of the equality which the 
 peace of Augsburg was to have established between the 
 two German churches, the Roman Catholic had unques- 
 tionably still the advantage. All that the Lutheran 
 church gained by it was toleration ; all that the Romisli 
 church conceded was a sacrifice to necessity, not an 
 ofifering to justice. Very far was it from being a peace 
 between two equal powers, but a truce between a sov- 
 ereign and unconquered rebels. From this principle 
 all the proceedings of the Roman Catholics against the 
 Protestants seemed to flow, and still continue to do so. 
 ^ To join the reformed faith was still a crime, since it was 
 to be visited with so severe a penalty as that which 
 the Ecclesiastical Reservation held suspended over the 
 apostacy of the spiritual princes. Even to the la.st, tho 
 Romish church preferred to risk the loss of everj thing 
 by force, than voluntarily to yield the smallest matter to 
 justice. The loss was accidental and might be repair- 
 ed ; but the abandonment of its pretensions, the conces- 
 sion of a single point to the Protestants, would shako 
 the foundations of the Church itself. Even in the treaty 
 ot peace this principle was not lost sight of. What- 
 ever in this peace was yielded to the Pnotestant:;, was 
 always under condition. It was expressly declared that 
 affairs were to remain on the stipulated footing only till 
 the next General Council, which was to be called with 
 the view of efl'ecting a union between the two confes- 
 sions. Then, only, when this last attempt should have 
 failed, was the religious treaty to become valid and con- 
 clusive. However little hope there might be of such a 
 reconcihation, however little perhaps the Romanists 
 themselves were in earnest with it, still it was some- 
 thing to have clogged the peace with these stipulations. 
 Thus this religious treaty, which was to pxtinguisb 
 
14 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 forever the flames of civil war, was, in fact, but a tern- 
 poraiy truce, extorted J}y force and necessity ; not dic- 
 tated by justice, nor emanating from just notions either 
 of religion or toleration. A religious treaty of this kind 
 the Roman Catholics were as incapable of granting, to 
 be candid, as, in -ti-uth, the Lutherans were unqualified 
 to receive. Far from evincing a tolerant spirit toward 
 the Roman Catholics, when it was in their power, they 
 even oppressed the Calvanists : who indeed just as little 
 deserved toleration, since they were unwilling to prac- 
 tice it. For such a peace the times were not yet ripe 
 —the minds of men not yet sufficiently enlightened. 
 How could one party expect from another what itself 
 was incapable of performing ? What each side saved 
 or gained by the treaty of Augsburg, it owed to the im- 
 posing attitude of strength which it maintained at the 
 time of its negotiation. What was won by force was 
 to be maintained also by force ; if the peace was to be per- 
 manent, the two parties to it must presei-ve the same 
 relative positions. The boundaries of the two churches 
 had been marked out with the sword ; with the sword' 
 they must be preserved, or woe to that party which should 
 be first disarmed ! A sad and fearful prospect for the 
 tranquillity of Germany, when peace itself bore so 
 threatening an aspect. 
 
 A momentary lull now pervaded the empire ; a tran 
 sitoiy bond of concord appeared to unite its scattered 
 limbs into one body, so that for a time a feeling also for 
 the common weal returned. But the division had pen- 
 etrated its inmost being, and to restore its original har- 
 mony was impossible. Carefully as the treaty of peace 
 appeared to have defined the rights of both parties, its 
 interpretation was nevertheless the subject of many dis- 
 putes. In the heat of conflict it had produced a cessa- 
 tion of hostilities ; it covered, not extinguished the fire, 
 .ind unsatisfied claims remained on either side. The 
 Romanists imagined they had lost too much, the Prot- 
 estants that they had gained too little ; and the treaty 
 which neither party could venture to violate, was inter* 
 preted by each in its own favor. 
 
 The seizure of the ecclesiastical I lenefices, the motive 
 which had so strongly tempted the majority of the Prot 
 
 ^chiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 15 
 
 \(^ 
 
 estant princes to embrace the doctrines of Luther was 
 not less powerful after than before the peace ; of those 
 whose founders did not hold their fiefs immediately of 
 the empire, such as were not already in their posses- 
 sion would It was evident soon be so. The whole of 
 Lower Germany was already secularized; and if it 
 were otherwise in Upper Germany, it was owing to the 
 vehement resistance of the Catholics, who had there the 
 preponderance. Each party, where it was the most 
 powerful, oppressed the adherents of the other ; the 
 ecclesiastical princes in particular, as the most defence- 
 less members of the empire, were incessantly torment- 
 ed by the ambition of their Protestant neighbors. 
 Ihose who were too weak to repel force by force, took 
 refhge under the wings of justice ; and the complaints 
 of spoliation were heaped up against the Protestants in 
 the Imperial Chamber, which was ready enough to our- 
 sue the accused with judgments, but found too little sup- 
 port to carry them into effect. The peace which stip- 
 ulated for complete religious toleration to the dignitaries 
 ot the empire had provided also for the subject, by en- 
 abhng him without interruption, to leave the countrv in 
 which the exercise of his religion was prohibited. But 
 trom the wrongs which tBfe violence of a sovereign m.ght 
 mflict on an obnoxious subject ; from the nameless op- 
 pressions by which he might harass and annoy the .-m- 
 grant; from the artful snares in which subtilty com- 
 omed with power might enmesh him— from these, the 
 dead ^tter of the treaty could afford him no protection. 
 Ihe Catholic subject of Protestant princes complained 
 loudly of violations of the religious peace— the Luther- 
 ans still more loudly of the oppression they experienced 
 under their Romanist suzerains. The rancor and aui- 
 inosities of theologians infused a poison into every occur- 
 rence, however inconsiderable, and inflamed the minds 
 ot the people. Happy would it have been had this 
 theological hatred exhausted its zeal upon the common 
 enemy, instead ot venting its virus on the adherents of 
 a kindred faith ! 
 
 Unanimity among the Protestants might, by preserv- 
 mg the baknce between the contending parties, have 
 prolonged the pence : hut as if to complete the confu- 
 
16 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 sion, all concord was quickly broken. The doctrines 
 which had been propagated by Zuingli in Zurich, and 
 by Calvin in Geneva, soon spread to Germany, and 
 divided the Protestants among themselves, with little 
 in unison save their common hatred to popery. The 
 Protestants of this date bore but slight resemblance to 
 those who, fifty years before, drew up the Confession ot 
 Augsburg; and the cause of the change is to be sought 
 in that Confession itself. It had prescribed a positive 
 boundary to the Protestant faith, before the newly 
 awakened spirit of inquiry had satisfied itself as to the 
 limits it ought to set ; and the Protestants seemed un- 
 wittingly to have thrown away much of the advantage 
 acquired by their rejection of popery. Commr.n coni- 
 jilaints of. the Romish hierarchy, and of ecclesiastical 
 abuses, and a common disapprobation of its dogmas, 
 formed a sufficient center of union for the Protestants ; 
 but not content with this, they sought a rallying point 
 in the promulgation of a new and positive creed, in 
 which they sought to embody the distinctions, the priv- 
 ileges, and the essence of the Church, and to this they 
 referred the convention entered into with their oppo- 
 nents. It was as professors of this creed that they had 
 acceded to the treaty ; and in The benefits of this peace 
 the advocates of the confessional one were entitled to 
 participate. In any case, therefore, the situation of its 
 adherents was embairassing. If a blind obedience were 
 yielded to the dicta of the Confession, a lasting bound 
 would be set to the spirit of inquiry ; if, on the other 
 hand, they dissented from the formulae agreed upon, 
 the point of union would be lost. Unfortunately both 
 instances occurred, and the evil results of both were 
 quickly felt. One party rigorously adhered to the 
 original symbol of faith, and the other abandoned it, only 
 to adopt another with equal exclusiveness. 
 
 Nothing could have furnished the common enemy a 
 more plausible defense of his cause than this dissension ; 
 no spectacle could have been more gi-atifying to him 
 than the rancor with which the Protestants alternately 
 persecuted each other. Who could condemn the Ro- 
 man Catholics, if they laughed at the audacity with 
 which the Reformers had presumed to announce the 
 
 n 
 
 Schiller's thirty years" war. 1 
 
 only true belief? — if from Protestants they borrowed 
 the weapons against Protestants ? — if, in the midst of 
 this clashing of opinions, they held fast to the authority 
 of their own Church, for which, in part, there spoke an 
 honorable antiquity, and a yet more honorable plurality 
 of voices ? But this division placed the Protestants in 
 still more serious embarrassments. As the covenants of 
 the treaty applied only to the partisans of the Confession, 
 their opponents, with some reason, called upon them to 
 explain who were to be recognized as the adherents of 
 that creed. The Lutherans could not, without offend- 
 ing conscience, include the Calvanists in their com- 
 munion, nor, except at the risk of converting a useful 
 friend into a dangerous enemy, could they exclude them 
 This unfortunate difference opened a way for the mach- 
 inations of the Jesuits to sow distmst betvyeen both 
 parties, and to destroy the unity of their measures. Fet- 
 tered by the double fear of their direct adversaries, and 
 of their opponents among themselves, the Protestants 
 lost forever the opportunity of placing their Church on 
 a perfect equality with the Catholic. All these diffi- 
 culties would have been avoided, and the defection of 
 the Calvanists would not have prejudiced the common 
 cause, if the point of union had been placed simply in 
 the abandonment of Romanism, instead of in the Confes- 
 sion of Augsburg. 
 
 But, however divided on other points, they concurred 
 in this — that the security which had resulted from 
 equality of power could only be maintained by the pres- 
 ervation of that balance. In the mean while, the contin- 
 ual reforms of one party, and the opposing measunjs of 
 the other, keprboth upon the watch, while the inter- 
 pretation of the religious treaty was a never-ending 
 subject of dispute. Each party maintained that every 
 step taken by its opponent was an infraction of the 
 peace, while of every movement of its own it was as- 
 serted that it was essential to its maintenance. Yet all 
 the measures of the Cathohcs did not, as their oppo- 
 nents alledged, proceed from a spirit of encroachrae nt — 
 many of them were the necessary precautions of self- 
 defense. The Protestants had shown unequivocally 
 enough what the Roinanists might expect if they v^ere 
 
18 
 
 SCHILLER S TIIIRTV YEARS WAR. 
 
 unfortunate enough to become the wenker party. The 
 greediness of the former for the property of the Church, 
 gave no reason to expect indulgence ; — their bitter ha- 
 tred left no hope of magnanimity or forbearance. 
 
 But the Protestants, hkewise, were excusable if they 
 too placed little confidence in the sincerity of the Roman 
 Catholics. By the treacherous and inhuman treatment 
 which their brethren in Spain, France, and the Nether- 
 lands had suffered ; by the disgi*aceful subterfuge of the 
 Ivomish princes, who held that the Pope had power to 
 relieve them from the obligation of the most solemn 
 oaths; and above all, by the detestable maxim, that 
 faith was not to be kept with heretics, the Roman 
 church, in the eyes of all honest men, had lost its 
 honor. No engagement, no oath, however sacred, from 
 a Roman Catholic, could satisfy a Protestant. What 
 security then could the religious peace afford, when, 
 throughout Germany, the Jesuits represented it as a 
 measure of mere temporary convenience, and in Rome 
 itself it was solemnly repudiated. 
 
 The General Council, to which reference had been 
 made in the treaty, had already been held in the city of 
 Trent ; but, as might have been foreseen, without ac- 
 commodating the religious differences, or taking a single 
 step to eflfect such accommodation, and even without 
 being attended by the Protestants. The latter, indeed, 
 were now solemnly excommunicated by it in the name 
 of the Church, whose representative the Council gave 
 itself out to be. Could, then, a secular ti-eaty, extorted, 
 moreover, by force of arms, afl'ord them adequate pro 
 lection against the ban of the Churchy a treaty, too. 
 based on a condition which the decision of the Council 
 seemed entirely to abolish ? There was then a show ol 
 right for violating the peace, if only the Romanists pos- 
 sessed the power; and, henceforward, the Protestants 
 were protected by nothing but the respect for their 
 formidable array. 
 
 Other circumstances combined to augment this dis- 
 trust. Spain, on whose support the Romanists in Ger- 
 many chiefly relied, was engaged in a bloody conflict 
 with the Flemings. By it, the flower of the Spanish 
 troops were drawn to the confines of Germany With 
 
 schiljer's thirty years' *\var. 
 
 19 
 
 what ease might they be introduced within the empire 
 if a de<:isive stroke should render their presence neces- 
 sary ! (jermaoy was at that time a magazine of war 
 tor nearly all the powers of Europe. The religiou.s wai 
 had crowded it with soldiers,'whora the peace left des- 
 titute ; its many independent princes found it easy to 
 assemble armies, and, afterward, for the sake of gain, 
 or the interests of party, hire them out to other powers. 
 With German trooj)s Philip II. waged war against the 
 Netherlands, and with German troops they defended 
 themselves. Eveiy such levy in Germany was a sub- 
 ject of alarm to the one party or the other, since it 
 might be intended for their oppression. The arrival 
 of an ambassador, an extraordinaiy legate of the I* ope, 
 M conference of princes, every unusual incident, must, 
 it was thought, be pregnant with destruction to isomo 
 party. Thus, for nearly half a century, stood Germany, 
 her hand upon the sword ; every rustle of a leaf alarmed 
 her. 
 
 Ferdinaad I., King of Hungary, and his excellent son. 
 Maximilian II., held at this memorable epoch the reins 
 of government. With a heart full of sincerity, with a 
 truly h-eroic patience, had Ferdinand brought about 
 the religious peace of Augsburg, and afterward, in the 
 Council of Trent, labored assiduously, though vainly, at 
 the ungrateful task of reconciling the two religions. 
 Abandoned by his nephew, Philip of Spain, and hard 
 pressed both in Hungary' and Transylvania by the victo- 
 rious armies of the Turks, it was not likely that this 
 emperor would entertain the idea of violating the reli 
 gious peace, and thereby destroying his own pfiinful 
 work. The heavy expenses of the perpetually recur- 
 ring war with Turkey could not be defrayed b^ the 
 meager contributions of his exhausted hereditary domin- 
 ions. He stood, therefore, in need of the assistance of 
 the whole empire ; and the religious peace alone pre- 
 served in one body the otherwise divided empire. Fi- 
 nancial necessities made the Protestant as needful tc 
 hira as the Romanist, and imposed upon him the obliga- 
 tion of treatiifg both parties with equal justice, wliich, 
 amid so many contradictory claims, was truly a colossa. 
 task. Very far, ho^yever, was the result from answer 
 
20 
 
 SCHILLER'S THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 21 
 
 ing his expectations. His indulgence of the Protestant?' 
 served only to bring upon his successors a war, which 
 death saved himself the mortification of witnessing. 
 Scarcely more fortunate was his son Maximilian, with 
 whom, perhaps, the preSsure of circumstances was 
 the only obstacle, and a longer life, perhaps, the only 
 want, to his establishing the new religion upon the im- 
 perial throne. Necessity had taught the ftither forbear- 
 ance toward the Protestants — necessity and justice 
 dictated the same course to the son. The gi-andson 
 had reason to repent that he neither listened to justice, 
 nor yielded to nec( ssity. 
 
 Maximilian left six sons, of whom the eldest, the 
 Archduke Rodolph, inherited his dominions, and as- 
 cended the imperial throne. The other brothers were- 
 put off with petty appanages. A few mesne fiefs were 
 held by a collateral branch, which had their uncle, 
 Charles of Styria, at its head ; and even these were 
 afterward, under his son, Ferdinand II., incorporated 
 with the rest of the family dominions. With this ex- 
 ception, the whole of the imposing power of Austria 
 was now wielded by a single, but unfortunately weak 
 hand. 
 
 Rodolph II. was not devoid of those virtues which 
 might have gained him the esteem of mankind, had the 
 lot of a private station fallen to him. His character was 
 mild, he loved peace and the sciences, particularly as- 
 tronomy, natural history, chemistry, and the study ol 
 antiquities. To these he applied with a passionate zeal, 
 which, at the very time when the critical posture ot 
 aflTairs demanded all his attention, and his exhausted 
 finances the most rigid economy, diverted his attention 
 from state affairs, and involved him in pernicious ex- 
 pense. His taste for astronomy soon lost itself in thos<j 
 astrological reveries to which timid and melancholy tem- 
 peraments like his are but too disposed. This, together 
 with a youth passed in Spain, opened his ears to the 
 evil counsels of the Jesuits, and the influence of the 
 Spanish court, by which at last he was wholly governed. 
 Ruled by tastes so little in accordance wn;h the dignity 
 if his station, and alarmed by ridiculous prophecies, he 
 withdrew, after the Spanish custom, from the eyes of 
 
 > 
 
 h\3 subjects, to bury himself amid his gems and an 
 tiques, in his laboratory, while the most fatal discords 
 loosened all the bands of the empire, and the flames of 
 re<)ellion b^gan to burst out round the veiy footsteps of 
 his throne. All access to his person was denied, the 
 most urgent matters were neglected. The prospect of 
 the rich inheritance of Spain was closed against him, 
 while he was trying to make up his mind to oflfer his 
 hand to the Infanta Isabella. A fearful anarchy threat- 
 ened the empire, because, though without an heir of 
 his own body himself, he could not be persuaded to 
 allow the election of a king of the Romans. The Aus- 
 trian states renounced their allegiance, Hungary and 
 Transylvania threw oflf his supremacy, and Bohijmia 
 w.as not slow in following their example. The descend- 
 ant of the once so formidable Charles V. was in perpet 
 ual danger, either of losing one part of his possessions 
 to the Turks, or another to the Protestants, and of sink- 
 ing, beyond redemption, under the formidable coalition 
 which a great monarch of Europe had formed against 
 him. The events which now took place in the interior 
 of Germany were such as usually happened when either 
 the throne was without an emperor, or the emperor 
 without a sense of his imperial dignitj^ Outraged or 
 abandoned by their head, the states of the empire were 
 left to help themselves ; and alliances among them- 
 selves must supply the defective authority of the em- 
 peror. Germany was divided into two leagues, \>'hich 
 stood in arras arrayed against each other : between both, 
 Rodolph, the despised opponent of the one, and the im- 
 potent protector of the other, remained in-esolute and 
 useless, equally unable to destroy the former cr to 
 command the latter. What had the empire to look for 
 from a prince incapable even of defending his hereditary 
 dominions against its domestic enemies ? To prevent 
 the utter ruin of the House of Austria, his own fe mily 
 combined against him ; and a powerful party threw 
 itself into the arms of his brother. Driven from his 
 hereditary dominions, nothing was now left him to lose 
 but the imperial dignity; and he was only spared this 
 last disgrace by a timely death. 
 
 At this critical moment, w len only a supple policy, 
 
22 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 united with a vigorous arm, could have maintained the 
 tranquillity of the empire, its evil genius gave it a Ro- 
 dolph for emperor. At a more peaceful period the 
 Germanic Union would have managed its own intere^s, 
 ftnd Rodolph, like so many others of his rank, might 
 have hidden his deficiencies in a mysterious obscurity. 
 But. the urgent demand for the qualities in which he 
 ^yas most deficient revealed his incapacity. The posi- 
 tion of Germany called for an emperor who, by his 
 known energies, could give weight to his resolves ; and 
 the hereditaiy dominions of Rodolph, considerable as 
 they were, were at present in a situation to occasion the 
 greatest embarrassment to the governors. 
 
 The Austrian princes, it is true, were Roman Cath- 
 olics, and in addition to that, the supporters of popeiy, 
 but their countries were far from being so. The re- 
 formed opinions had penetrated even these, and, favored 
 by Ferdinand's necessities and Maximilian's mildness, 
 had met with a rapid success. The Austrian provinces 
 exhibited in miniature what Germany did on a larger 
 J ca!e. The great nobles and the ritter class, or knights, 
 were chiefly evangelical, and in the cities the Protes- 
 ijujts had a decided preponderance. If they succeeded 
 in bringing a few of their party into the country, they 
 contrived, im perceptibly, to fill nil places of trust and the 
 magistracy with their own adherents, and to exclude 
 the Catholics. Against the numerous order of. the no- 
 bles and knights, and the deputies from the towns, the 
 voice of a few prelates was powerless ; and the un- 
 seemly ridicule and oflfensive contempt of the former, 
 soon drove them entirely from the provincial diets. Thus 
 the whole of the Austi-ian Diet had imperceptibly become 
 Protestant, and the Reformation was making rapid 
 strides toward its public recognition. The prince was 
 dependent on the states, who had it in their power to 
 grant or refuse supplies. Accordingly they availed them- 
 «elves of the financial necessities of Ferdinand and his 
 son, to extort one religious concession after another. 
 To the nobles and knights, Maximilian at last conceded 
 the free exercise of their religion, but only within their 
 own territories and castles. The intemperate enthu- 
 siasm of the Protestant preachers overstepped the bound- 
 
 SCIIILLEU'S THIRTY YEARb' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 23 
 
 nries which prudence had prescribed. In defiance of 
 the express prohibition, several oT them ventured to 
 preach publicly, not only in the towns, but in Vienna 
 itself, and the people flocked in crowds to this new doc- 
 trine, the best seasoning of which was personalit}' and 
 ubuse. Thus continued food was supplied to fanaticism, 
 und the hatred of two churches, that were such near 
 neighbors, was farther envenomed by the sting of an im- 
 pure zeal. 
 
 Among the hereditary dominions of the House of 
 Austria, Hungary and Transylvania were the most un- 
 stable, and the most dififtcult to retain. The impossi- 
 bility of holding these two countries against the neigh- 
 boring and overwhelming power of the Turks, had 
 already driven Ferdinand to the inglorious expedient of 
 recognizing, by an annual tribute, the Porte's supremacy 
 over Transylvania ; a shameful confession of weakness, 
 and a still more dangerous temptation to the turbulent 
 nobility, when they fancied they had any reason to com- 
 plain of their master. Not without conditions had the 
 Hungarians submitted to the House of Austria. They 
 asserted the elective freedom of their crown, and boldly 
 contended for all those prerogatives of their order which 
 are inseparable from this freedom of election. The 
 near neighborhood of Turkey, the facility of changing 
 masters \^itlT impunity, encouraged the magnates still 
 more in their presumption ; discontented with the Aus- 
 trian government, they threw themselves into the arms 
 of the Turks ; dissatisfied with these, they returned 
 again to their German sovereigns. The frequency and 
 rapidity of these transitions from one government to 
 another, had communicated its influence also to their 
 mode of thinking ; and as their countiy wavered be- 
 tween the Turkish and Austrian rule, so their minda 
 vacillated between revolt and submission. The mare 
 unfortunate each nation felt itscH" in being degi-aded into 
 a province of a foreign kingdom, the stronger desire did 
 they feel to obey a monarch chosen from among them- 
 selves, and thus it was always easy for an enterprising 
 noble to obfciin their support. The nearest Turkish 
 pashaw was always ready to bestow the Hungarian scep- 
 ter and crown on a rebel against Austria ; just as roady 
 
24 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 Me lurks. In th s way sever-.I nf ,h^ -ifeainst 
 
 rebollion Tn tW,.r. \u. i ' ^^ P"^ "^^n intest ue 
 ZhH^' K ^j^'^ quarter destructive wars were succee-I 
 
 fn^l .1 ' •"•"'"'^'^'J by the freedom of the statesfnd 
 nolll : Tori %r ?^' f °^''«.'-^' '^"^ ""<'«« 
 
 Co^rv "tt^^"";^ "nthusiasn.. Headed by a bold reM 
 ??rst d'^'i^T ;^lf ' Ve^"„^ T-*'« -i-d' 
 
 bet t;tb.:; '""""^ ■" "-- '--^^ --'j 'bo" hat 
 
 e-irfr'^beh'^ld tidw? "f^'!,'"'^^' *« ''™*--^ °f "'e 
 sZ viceroy" i^'w:^'"'^ '^^'*"'l"'4' Maximilian's secor^ 
 
 b"Scrdisrt's°te' iriiMf ; "ft " 
 
 listened to the overtures of tleFltlli- '^""'y- ''"'' 
 
 invited him into the n:itz^\:z^':zR^::: 
 
 Schiller's thirt^ years' war. 25 
 
 of their liberties against the oppMssion of liis own rela- 
 tive, Philip II. Mistaking the vJice of an insulated fac- 
 tion for that of the entire nation, Matthias obeyed the 
 cdl. But the event answered the expectations of the 
 men of Brabant as little as his own, and from this im- 
 prudent enterprise he retired with little credit. 
 
 Far more honorable w^as his second appearance in the 
 |)olitical world. Perceiving that his repeated rcraon 
 strances with the emperor were unavailing, he assembled 
 the archdukes, his brothers and cousins, at Presburg, 
 and consulted with them on the growing perils of their 
 house, when they unanimously assigned to him, as the 
 oldest, the duty of defending that patrimony which a 
 feeble brother was endangering. In his hands they 
 placed all their powers and rights, and vested him with 
 sovereign authority, to act at his discretion for the com- 
 mon good. Matthias immediately opened a communi- 
 cation with the Porte and the Hungarian rebels, and 
 through his skillful management succeeded in saving, by 
 a peace w^ith the Turks, the remainder of Hungary, and 
 by a treaty with the rebels, preserved the claims of 
 Austria to the lost provinces. But Rodolph, as jcmlous 
 as he had hitherto been careless of his sovereign author 
 ity, refused to ratify this treaty, which he regarded as 
 a criminal encroachment on his sovereign rights. He 
 accused the archduke of keeping up a secret understand 
 ing with the enemy, and of cherishing treasonable de 
 signs on the crown of Hungary. 
 
 The activity of Matthias was, in truth, any thing but 
 disinterested ; the conduct of the emperor only accel- 
 erated the execution of his ambitious views. Secure, 
 from motives of gi-atitude, of the devotion of tUjIliinga- 
 rians, for whom he had so lately obtained the blessings 
 of peace; assured by his agents of the favorable dispo- 
 sition of the nobles, and certain of the support of a large 
 party, even in Austria, he now ventured to assume a 
 bolder attitude, and, sword in hand, to discuss his j,Tiev- 
 ances with the emperor. The Protestants in Austria 
 and Moravia, long ripe for revolt, and now won oa er to 
 the aichduke by his promises of toleration, loudly and 
 openly espoused his cause, and their long-menaceii alii 
 ance with the Hungarian rebels was actually oflV^cted 
 
 C 
 
iiO 
 
 SCHILLER S 
 
 IRTY YEA113 WAR. 
 
 Almost nt once a fornddable conspiracy was planned and 
 matured agt.inst the eliperor. Too late did he resolve 
 to amend his past errors ; in vain did he attempt to 
 break up this latai allrance. Already the whole empire 
 was in arms ; Hungary, Austria, and Moravia had done 
 homage to Matthias, who was already on his march to 
 Bohemia to seize the emperor in his palace, and to cut 
 at once the sinews of his power. 
 
 Bohemia was not a moie peaceable possession for Aus- 
 tria than Hungary; with this difference only, that, in 
 the latter, political considerations — in the former, reli- 
 gious dissensions, fomented disorders. In Bohemia, a 
 century before the days of Luther, the first spark of 
 the religious war had been kindled: a century after 
 Luther, the first flames of the thirty years' war burst 
 out in Bohemia. The sect which owed its rise to John 
 Huss, still existed in that country ; it agreed with the 
 Romish church in ceremonies and doctrines, with the 
 single exception of the administration of the Communion, 
 in which the Hussites communicated in both kinds. 
 This privilege had been conceded to the followers of 
 Huss by the Council of Basle, in an express treaty (the 
 Bohemian Compact) ; and though it was afterward dis- 
 avowed by the popes, they nevertheless continued to 
 profit by it under the sanction of the government. As 
 the use of the cup formed the only important distinction 
 of their body, they were usually designated by the name 
 of Utraquists ; and they readily adopted an appellation 
 which reminded them of their dearly valued privilege. 
 But under this title lurked also the far stricter sects of 
 the B ohemi an and Moravian Brethren, who diflfered frotn 
 the pre#minant church in more important particulars, 
 and bore, in fact, a gieat resemblance to the German 
 Protestants. Among them both, the German and Swiss 
 opinions on religion made rapid progress; while the 
 name of Utraquists, under which they managed to dis- 
 guise the change of their principles, shielded them from 
 persecution. 
 
 In truth they had nothing in common with the Utra- 
 quists but the name ; essentially, they were altogether 
 Protestant. Confident in the strength of their party, 
 and the emperor's toleration under Maximilian, they had 
 
 SCUILLEu'd THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 27 
 
 openly avow^ed their tenets. After the example of the 
 Gennans, they drew up a Confession of their own, in 
 which Lutherans as well as Calvinists recognized their 
 own doctrines, and they sought to transfer to the new 
 Confession the privileges of the Utraquists. In this 
 they were opposed by their Roman Catholic coucitry. 
 men, and forced to rest content with the emperor's ver- 
 bal assurance of protection. 
 
 As long as Maximilian lived they enjoyed complete 
 toleration, even under the new form they had taken. 
 Under his successor the scene changed. An imperial 
 edict appeared, which deprived the Bohemian Brethren 
 of their religious freedom. Now^ these diflered in noth- 
 ing from the other Utraquists. The sentence, therefore, 
 ot their condemnation, obviously included all the parti- 
 sans of the Bohemian Confession. Accordingly, the-y all 
 combined to oppose the imperial mandate in the Diet, 
 but without being able to procure its revocation. The 
 emperor and the Roman Catholic estates took their 
 ground on the Compacts and the Bohemian Constitution ; 
 m which nothing appeared in favor of a religion which 
 had not then obtained the voice of the country. Since 
 that time, how completely had affairs changed ! What 
 then formed but an inconsiderable opinion, had novr be- 
 come the predominant religion of the country. And 
 what was it, then, but a subterfuge, to limit a newly 
 spreading religion by the terms of obsolete treat ies ? 
 The Bohemian Protestants appealed to the verbal gVLSLr- 
 antee of Maximilian, and the religious freedom of the 
 Germans, with whom they argued they ought to be on a 
 footing of equality. It was in vain— their appeal was 
 dismissed. 
 
 Such w-as the posture of affairs in Bohemia, v^hen 
 Matthias, already master of Hungary, Austria, and Mo- 
 ravia, appeared in Collin, to raise the Bohemian estates 
 ftlso against the emperor. The embarrassment of the 
 latter was now at its height. Abandoned by aU his other 
 subjects, he placed his last hopes on the Bohemians, who, 
 It might be foreseen, would take advantage of his neces- 
 sities to enforce their own demands. After an int(5rvaj 
 of many years, he once more appeared publicly in the 
 Diet; at Prague ; and to convincalhe people that he was 
 
28 
 
 scijiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 really still iu existence, orders were given that all the 
 windows should be opened in the streets through which 
 he was to pass — proof, enough how far things had gone 
 with him. The event justiHed his fears. The estates, 
 conscious of their own power, refused to take a single 
 step until their privileges were confirmed, antf religious 
 toleration fully assured to them. It w^as in vain to have 
 recourse now to the old system of evasion. The em- 
 peror's fate was in their hands, and he must yield to 
 necessity. At present, however, he only granted theii 
 other demands — religious matters he reserved for con- 
 sideration at the next Diet. 
 
 The Bohemians now took up arms in defense of the 
 emperor, and a bloody war between the two brothers 
 was on the point of breaking out. But Rodolph, who 
 feared nothing so much as remaining in this slavish de- 
 pendence on the estates, waited not for a warlike issue, 
 but hastened to effect a reconciliation with his brother 
 by more peaceable means. By a formal act of abdication 
 he resigned to Matthias, what indeed he had no chance 
 of wresting from him, Austria and the kingdom of Hun- 
 gary, and acknowledged him as his successor to the 
 crown of Bohemia. 
 
 Dearly enough had the emperor extricated himsell 
 from one difficulty, only to get immediately involved in 
 another. The settlement of the religious affairs of Bo- 
 hemia had been referred to the next Diet, which was 
 held in 1609. The reformed Bohemians demanded the 
 free exercise of their faith, as under the former emper- 
 ors ; a Consistory of their own ; the cession of the Uni- 
 versity of Prague ; and the right of electing DefenderSy 
 or Protectors of Liberty, from their own body. The an 
 swer was the same as before for the timid emperor was 
 now entirely fettered by the unreformed party. How- 
 ever often, and in however threatening language the 
 estates renewed their remobstrances, the emperor per- 
 sisted in his first declaration of granting nothing beyond 
 the old compacts. The Diet broke up withou? coming 
 to a decision ; and the estates, exasperated against the 
 emperor, arranged a general meeting at Prague, upon 
 their own authority, to right themselves. 
 
 They appeared at Prague in great force. In defiance 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 29 
 
 of the imperial prohibition, they carried on their leliber- 
 ations almost under the very eyes of the emperor. The 
 yielding compliance which he began to show, only prc»ved 
 how much they were feared, and increased their auda- 
 city. Yet on the main point he rt^mained inflexible. 
 They fulfilled their threats, and at last resolved to es- 
 tablish, by their own power, the free and universal exer- 
 cise of their rehgion, and to abandon the emperor to his 
 necessities until he should confirm this resolution. They 
 even went farther, and elected for themselves the De- 
 fenders which the emperor had refused them. Ten 
 were nominated by each of the three estates ; they also 
 determined to i*aise, as soon as possible, an armed force, 
 at the head of which Ciliint/rhurn, the chief organizer 
 of the revolt, should be placed as general defender of 
 the liberties of Bohemia. Their determination brought 
 the emperor to submission, to which he was now cc»un- 
 seled even by the Spaniards. Apprehensive lest the 
 exasperated estates should throw themselves into the 
 arms of the King of Hungary, he signed the memorable 
 Letter of Majesty for Bohemia, by which, under the 
 successors of the emperor, the people justified their 
 rebellion. 
 
 The Bohemian Confession, which the states had laid 
 before the Emperor Maximilian, was, by the Letter of 
 Majesty, placed on a footing of equality with the olden 
 profession. The Utraquists, for by this title the Bohe- 
 mian Protestants continued to designate themselves, 
 were put in possession of the University of Prague, and 
 allowed a Consistory of their own, entirely independent 
 of the archiepiscopal see of that city. All the churches 
 in the cities, villages, and market-towns, which they held 
 at the date of the letter, were secured to them ; and if 
 in addition they washed to erect others, it was permitted 
 to the nobles, and the knights, and the free cities to do 
 so. This last clause in the Letter of Majesty gave rise 
 to the unfortunate disputes which subsequently rekindled 
 the flames of war in Europe. 
 
 The Letter of Majesty erected the Protestant part 
 of Bohemia into a kind of republic. The states had 
 learned to feel the power which they gained by perse- 
 verance, unity, and harmony in their measures. The 
 
 c 2 
 
30 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 emperor now retained little more than the shadow of his 
 sovereign authority ; while, by the new dignity of the so- 
 called defenders of liberty, a dangerous stimulus was 
 given to the spirit of revolt. The example and success 
 of Bohemia afforded a tempting seduction to the other 
 hereditary dominions of Austria, and all attempted by 
 similar means to extort similar privileges. The spirit of 
 liberty spread from one province to another; and as it was 
 chiefly the disunion among the Austrian princes that had 
 enabled the Protestants so materially to improve their 
 advantages, they now hastened to effect a reconciliation 
 between the emperor and the King of Hungary. 
 
 But the reconciliation could not be sincere. The 
 wrong was too great to be forgiven, and Rodolph con- 
 tinued to nourish at heart an unextinguishable hatred of 
 Matthias. With gi-ief and indignation he brooded over 
 the thought, that the Bohemian scepter was finally to 
 descend into the hands of his enemy; and the prospect 
 was not more consoling, even if Matthias should die with- 
 out issue. In that case, Ferdinand, Archduke of Gratz, 
 whom he equally disliked, was the head of the family. 
 To exclude the latter as well as Matthias from the suc- 
 cession to the throne of Bohemia, he fell upon the 
 project of divei*ting that inheritance to Ferdinand's 
 brother, the Archduke Leopold, Bishop of Passau, who 
 among all his relatives had ever been the dearest and 
 most desei-ving. The prejudices of the Bohemians in 
 favor of the elective freedom of their crown, and their 
 attachment to Leopold's person, seemed to favor this 
 scheme, in which Rodolph consulted rather his own par- 
 tiality and vindictiveuess than the good of his house. 
 But to carry out this project, a military force was requi • 
 site, and Rodolph actually assembled an army in the 
 bishopric of Passau. The object of this force was hid- 
 den from all. An inroad, however, which, for want of 
 pay, it made suddenly and without the emperor's knowl- 
 edge into Bohemia, and the outrages which it there com- 
 mitted, stirred up the whole kingdom against him. In 
 vain he asserted his innocence to the Bohemian estates; 
 they would not believe his protestations : vainly did he 
 attempt to resti-ain the violence of the soldiejy ; thej- 
 disregarded his orders. Persuaded that the emperor's 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 3i. 
 
 object was to annul the Letter of Majesty, the Protect- 
 ors of Liberty armed the whole of Protestant Bohemia, 
 and invited Matthias into the country. After the dis- 
 persion of the force he had collected at Passau, the em- 
 peror remained helpless at Prague, where he wa.5 kept 
 shut up like a prisoner in his palace, and separated from 
 all his counselors. In the mean time Matthias entered 
 Prague amid universal rejoicings, where Rodolph was 
 soon aftenvard weak enough to acknowledge him King 
 of Bohemia. So hard a fate befell this emperor; he 
 was compelled, during his life, to abdicate in favor of his 
 enemy that very throne, of which he had been end(;avor- 
 mg to deprive him after his own death. To complete 
 his degi-adation, he was obliged, by a personal act uf re- 
 nunciation, to release his subjects in Bohemia, Silesia, 
 and Lusatia from their allegiance, and he did it vnth a 
 broken heart. All, even those he thought he had most 
 attached to his person, had abandoned him. When he 
 had signed the instrument, he threw his hat upon the 
 ground, and gnawed the pen which had rendered so 
 shameful a service. 
 
 While Rodolph thus lost one hereditary dominion 
 after another, the imperial dignity was not much better 
 maintained by him. Each of the religious parties! into 
 which Germany was divided, continued its efforts to 
 advance itself at the expense of the other, or to j^uard 
 against its attacks. The weaker the hand that held the 
 scepter, and the more the Protestants and Roman Cath- 
 olics felt they were left to themselves, the more vigi- 
 lant necessarily became their watchfulness, and the 
 greater their distrust of each other. It was enough 
 that the emperor was ruled by Jesuits, and was guided 
 by Spanish counsels, to excite the apprehension of the 
 Protestants, and to afford a pretext for hostility. The 
 inconsiderate zeal of the Jesuits, which in the pulpit 
 and by the press disputed the validity of the religious 
 peace, increased this distrust, and caused them to see a 
 dangerous design in the most indifferent measures of 
 the Roman Catholics. Every step taken in the hered-* 
 itary dominions of the emperor, for the repressiDo of 
 the reformed religion, was sure to draw the attention 
 of all the Protestants of Germany; and this powerfu 
 
32 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 support which the reformed subjects of Austria met or 
 expected to meet witli from their religious confederates 
 m the rest of Gei-many, was no small cause of the-r 
 contidence, and of the rapid success of Matthias. It 
 was the general belief of the empire, that they owed 
 the long enjoyment of the religious peace merely to the 
 difficulties in which the emperor was placed by the in- 
 ternal troubles in his dominions, and consequently they 
 were m no haste to relieve him from them. 
 
 Almost all the affairs of the Diet were neglected, 
 either through the procrastination of the emperor, oi- 
 through the fault ot the Protestant estates, who had 
 determmed to make, no provision for the common wants 
 of the empire till their own grievances were removed. 
 These grievances related principally to the miseovern- 
 ment of the emperor ; the violation of the religious trea- 
 ty, and the usurpatious presumption of the Imperial 
 Aulic Council, which in the present reign had begun to 
 extend its jurisdiction at the expense of the Imperial 
 Chamber. Formerly, in all disputes between the es- 
 tates, which coud not be settled by club-law, the em- 
 perors had decided in the last resort of themselves if 
 the case were trifling, and in conjunction with the 
 princes, if it were important; or they determined them 
 by imperial judges who followed the court. This sune 
 nor jurisdiction they had, in the end of the fifteenth 
 century, assigned to a regular and permanent tribunal 
 the Imperial Chamber of Spires, in which the estates 
 of the empire, that they might not be oppressed by the 
 arbitraiy appointment of the emperor, had reserved to 
 themselves the right of electing the assessors, and of 
 periodically reviewing its decrees. By the religious 
 peace, these rights of the estates (caUed the rights of 
 presentation and visitation) were extended also to the 
 Lutherans, so that Protestant judges had a voice in 
 Protestant causes, and a seeming equality obtained for 
 both religions m this supreme tribunal. 
 
 But the enemies of the Reformation, and of the free- 
 dom ot the estates, vigilant to take advantage of evei-y 
 incident that favored their views, soon found means to 
 neutralize the beneficial effects of this institution. A 
 supreme jurisdiction over the imperial states was grad- 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 33 
 
 ually and skillfully usurped by a private imperial tribu- 
 nal, the Aulic Council in Vienna, a court at first in- 
 tended merely to advise the emperor in the exercise of 
 his undoubted, imperial, and personal prerogatives : a 
 court, whose members being appointed and paid by )iim, 
 had no law but the interest of their master, and no 
 standard of equity but the advancement of the unre- 
 formed religion of which they were partisans. Belbro 
 the Auhc Council were now brought several suits orig- 
 inating between estates difiering in religion, and which, 
 therefore, properly belonged to the Imperial Chamber. 
 It was not surprising if the decrees of this tribunal bore 
 traces of their origin ; if the interests of the Roman church 
 and of the emperor were preferred to justice by Ro:;iian 
 Catholic judges, and the creatures of the emperor. Al- 
 though all the estates of Germany seemed to have equal 
 cause for resisting so perilous an abuse, the Protestants 
 nlone, who most sensibly felt it, and even these net all 
 at once and in a body, came forward as the defenders of 
 (jerman liberty, which the establishment of so arbitraiy 
 a tribunal had outraged in its most sacred point, the ad 
 ministration of justice. In fact, Germany would have 
 had little cause to congratulate itself upon the abolition 
 ot club-law, and in the institution of the Imperial Cham- 
 ber, if an arbitrary tribunal of the emperor was allowed 
 to interfere with the latter. The estates of the Ger- 
 man Empire would indeed have benefited little upon 
 the days of barbarism, if the Chamber of Justice, in 
 winch they sat along with the emperor as judges, and 
 lor which they had abandoned their original jninccly 
 prerogative, should cease to be a court of the last re 
 sort. But the strangest contradictions were at this date 
 to bo found in the minds of men. The name of emper- 
 or, a remnant of Roman despotism, was still associated 
 W!th an idea of autocracy, which, though it form(;d a 
 ridiculous inconsistency with the privileges of the es- 
 tates, was nevertheless argued for by Jurists, diflused 
 by the partisans of despotism, and believed by the 
 Ignorant. 
 
 To these general gi'ievances was gradually added a 
 chain of singular incidents, which, at length, converted 
 the anxiety ot the Protestants into utler distrust. J)u 
 
34 
 
 SCHILLER'S THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 
 
 ring the Spanish persecutions in the Netherlands, sev- 
 eral Protestant famihes had taken refuge in Aix-Ia- 
 Chapelle, an imperial city, and attached to the Roman 
 Catholic faith, where they settled and insensibly ex- 
 tended their adherents. Having succeeded by strata- 
 gem in introducing some of their members into the mu- 
 nicipal council, they demanded a church and the public 
 exercise of their worship, and the demand being unfo- 
 vorably received, they succeeded by violence in enfor- 
 cing it, and niso in usurping the entire government of 
 the city. To see so important a city in Protestant 
 hands wns too heavy a blow for the emperor and the 
 Roman Catholics. After all the emperor's requests 
 and commands for the restoration of the olden govern- 
 ment had proved ineffectual, the Aulic Council pro- 
 claimed the city under the ban of the empire, which, 
 however, was not put in force till the following reign. 
 
 Of yet greater importance were two other attcmpta 
 of the Protestants to extend their influence and their 
 power. The Elector Gebhard, of Cologne (born Truch- 
 scss-* of Waldburg), conceived for the young Countess 
 Agnes, of Mansfield, Canoness of Gerresheim, a passion 
 which was not unreturned. As the eyes of all Germa- 
 ny were directed to this intercourse, the brothers of the 
 countess, two zealous Calvinists, demanded satisfaction 
 tor the injured honor of their house, which, as long as 
 the elector remained a Roman Catholic prelate, could 
 not be repaired by marriage. They threatened the 
 elector they would wash out this stain in his blood find 
 their sister's, unless he either abandoned all further 
 connection with the countess, or consented to reestab- 
 lish her reputation at the altar. The elector, indiiTer- 
 ent to all the consequences of this step, listened to noth- 
 mg but the voice of love. Whether it was in conse- 
 quence of his previous inclination to the reformed doc- 
 trines, or that the charms of his mistress alone effected 
 this wonder, he renounced the Roman Catholic faith, 
 and led the beautiful Agnes to the altar. 
 
 This event was of the greatest importance. By the 
 letter of the clause reserving the ecclesiastical states 
 
 * Grr.mi Ina^^ter of the kitchrn. 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS 
 
 WAR. 
 
 35 
 
 Vrom the general operation of the religious peace, the 
 ♦jlector had, by his apostacy, forfeited all right to the 
 iemporalities of his bishopric ; and if, in any case, it v/as 
 '.mportant for the Catholics to enforce the clause, it was 
 to especially in the case of electorates. On the other 
 Jiand, the relinquishment of so high a dignity was a se- 
 vere sacrifice, and peculiarly so in the case of a tender 
 Husband, who had wished to enhance the value of his 
 heart and hand by the gii\ of a principahty. Moreover, 
 the Reser\iatum Ecclesiasticiir/i was a disputed arlicle 
 cf the treaty of Augsburg ; and all the German Prot- 
 estants w^ere aware of the extreme importance of wrest- 
 ■jig this fourth* electorate from the opjx>nents of their 
 ♦aith. The example had already been set in several 
 of the ecclesiastical benefices of Lower Germany, and 
 attended with success. Several canons of Cologne had 
 also already embraced the Protestant confession, and 
 were on the elector's side, wdiile, in the city itself, iio 
 could depend upon the support of a numerous Prot(;s- 
 tant party. All these considerations, greatly strength- 
 ened by the persuasions of his friends and relations, 
 and the promises of several German courts, determiuecl 
 the elector to retain his dominions, while he changed 
 his religion. 
 
 But it was soon api)arent that he had entered upon a 
 contest which he could not carry through. Even the 
 free toleration of the Protestant service within the ter- 
 ritories of Cologne, had already occasioned a violent 
 opposition on the part of the canons and Roman Catho- 
 lic estates of that province. The intervention of the 
 emperor, and a papal ban from Rome, wdiich anathema- 
 tized the elector as an apostate, and deprived him of all 
 his dignities, temporal and spiritual, armed his own sub- 
 jects and chapter against him. The elector assembled 
 a military force ; the chapter did the same. To insure 
 also the aid of a strong arm, they proceeded forthwith 
 to a new election, and chose the Bishop of Liege, u 
 prince of Bavaria. 
 
 A civil war now commenced, which, from the strong 
 nterests which both religious parties in Germany ce- 
 
 * Saxony, Brandenburg* and the Palatinate were already 
 Protestant. 
 
.^0 
 
 feUUILLEH's THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 cessarily felt in the conjuncture, was likely to terminate 
 in a general breaking up of the religious peace. What 
 most made the Protestants indignant, was that the Pope 
 should have presumed, by a pretended apostolic power, 
 to deprive a prince of the empire of his imperial digni- 
 ties. Even in the golden days of their spiritual domi- 
 nation, this prerogative of the Pope had been disputed ; 
 how much more likely was it to be questioned at a pe- 
 riod when his authority was entirely disowned by one 
 party, while even with the other it rested on a tottering 
 foundation. All the Protestant princes took up the 
 affair warmly against the emperor, and Henry IV. of 
 France, then King of Navarre, left no means of negoti- 
 ation untried to urge the German princes to the vigor- 
 ous assertion of their rights. The issue would decide 
 forever the liberties of Germany. Four Protestants 
 against three Koman Catholic voices in the Electoral 
 College must at once have given the preponderance to 
 the former, and forever excluded the House of Austria 
 from the imperial throne. 
 
 But the Elector Gebhard had embraced the Calvinist, 
 not the Lutheran religion ; and this circumstance alone 
 was his ruin. The mutual rancor of these two churches 
 would not permit the Lutheran estates to regard the 
 elector as one of their party, and as such to lend him 
 their effectual support. All, indee 1, had encouraged 
 and promised him assistance ; but only one appanaged 
 prince of the Palatine House, tlie Palsgr.ive John Cas- 
 imir, a zealous Calvinist, kept his word. Despite of the 
 imperial prohibition, he hastened with his little army 
 into the territories of Cologne ; but without being able 
 to effect any thing, because the elector, who was desti- 
 tute even of the first necessaries, left him totally with- 
 out help. So mucii the more rapid was the progress 
 of the newly-chosen elector, whom his Bavarian rela- 
 tions and the Spaniards from the Netherlands supported 
 with the utmost vigor. The troops of Gebhard, left by 
 their master without pay, abandoned one place after 
 another to the enemy, by whom others were compelled 
 to surrender. In his Westphalian territories, Gebhard 
 held out for some time longer, till here, too, he was 
 Ht last obliged to yield to superior force. After several 
 
 SCIIILLERS THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 3"? 
 
 Tain attempts in Holland and England to obtain means 
 for his restoration, he retired into the Chapter of Striis- 
 burg, and died dean of that cathedral; the first sacrifice 
 to the Ecclesiastical Reservation, or, rather, to the want 
 of harmony among the German Protestants. 
 
 To this dispute in Cologne was soon added another 
 in Strasburg. Several Protestant canons of Cologne, 
 who had been included in the same papal ban with the 
 elector, had tfiken refuge within this bishopric, where 
 they likewise held prebends. As the Roman Catholic 
 canons of Strasburg hesitated to allow them, as being 
 under the ban, the enjoyment of their prebends, they 
 took violent possession of their benefices, and the sup- 
 {)ort of a powerful Protestant party among the citizens 
 soon gave them the preponderance in the chapter. 
 The other canons thereupon retired to Alsace-Saverne, 
 whore, under the protection of the bishop, they esttib- 
 lished themselves as the only lawful chapter, and de- 
 nouQced that v/hicli remained in Strasburg as illegal. 
 The latter, in the mean time, had so strengthened them- 
 selves by the reception of several Protestant colleagues 
 of high rank, that they could venture, upon the death 
 of the bishop, to nominate a new Protestant bishop in 
 the person of John George, of Brandenburg. The Ro- 
 man Catholic canons, far from allowing this election, 
 nominated the Bishop of Metz, a prince of Lon-aine, to 
 that dignity, who announced his promotion by immedi- 
 ately commencing hostilities against the territories of 
 Strasburg. 
 
 That city now took up arms in defense of its Protes- 
 tant chapter and the Prince of Brandenburg, while tho 
 other party, with the assistance of the troops of Lor* 
 raine, endeavored to possess themselves of the tempo- 
 ralities of the chapter. A tedious w^ar was the conse- 
 quence, which, according to the spirit of the times, v/as 
 attended with barbarous devastations. In vain did the 
 emperor interpose with his supreme authority to ter- 
 minate the dispute ; the ecclesiastical property re- 
 mained for a long time divided between the two parties, 
 till at last the Protestant prince, for a moderate pecuni- 
 ary equivalent, renounced his claims ; and thus, in this 
 dispute also, the Rojiian church came citf victorious. 
 
 D 
 
38 
 
 eCIIILLER's TiriRTY I'E/iKS^ WAE. 
 
 ^ An occasion which, soon nfrer the adjustment of this 
 dispute, took place in Donauwerth, a free city of Suabia 
 was still more critical for the whok? of Protestant Ger- 
 many. In this once Roman Catholic city, the Protes- 
 tants, dm-mg the reigns of Ferdinand and his son, had, 
 in the usual way, become so completely predominant, 
 that the Roman Catholics were obliged to content them- 
 selves with a church in the Monastery of the Holy Cros< 
 and, for fear of offending the Protestants, were even 
 lorced to suppress the greater part of their relicrioua 
 rites. At length, a fanatical abbot of this monastery 
 ventured to defy the popular prejudices, and to arrange 
 a public procession, preceded by the cross and banned 
 tlying; hut he was soon compelled to desist from the> 
 attempt. When, a year afterward, encouraged by a 
 lavorable miperial proclamation, the same abbot at- 
 tempted to renew this procession, the citizens proceed- 
 ed to open violence. The inhabitants shut the gates 
 against the monks on tlieir return, trampled their colors 
 under foot, and followed them home with clamor and 
 abuse. An imperial citation was the consequence of 
 this act ot violence ; and as the exasperated populace 
 even threatened to assault the imperial commissaries, 
 and all attempts at an amicable adjustment were frus 
 trated by the fanaticism of the multitude, the city was 
 at last, formally placed under the ban of the empire, the 
 execution ot winch w^as intrusted to Maximilian, Duke 
 of liavaria. The citizens, formerly so insolent, were 
 seized ^ylth terror at the approach of the Bavarian army • 
 pusillanimity now possessed them, though once so full 
 of defiance, and they laid down their arms without 
 Jti-iking a blow. The total abolition of the Protestant 
 religion within the walls of the city was the punishment 
 of their rebellion ; it was deprived of its privileges, and, 
 rom a free city of Suabia, converted uito a municipal 
 town of Bavaria. * 
 
 Tw^ circumstances connected v/ith this proceeding 
 must have strongly excited tlie attention of the Protes- 
 tants, even if the interests of religion had been less 
 powerful on their minds. First of all, the sentence had 
 been pronounced by the Aulic Council, an ai-bitrary and 
 exclusively Roman Catholic tribunal, whose iurl^diction. 
 
 SCHILLER cJ THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 39 
 
 teside, had been so warmly disputed by them ; and 
 secondly, its execution had been intrusted to the Duke 
 of Bavaria, the head of another circle. These uncon- 
 stitutional steps seemed to be the harbingers of further 
 violent measures on the Roman Catholic side, the re- 
 sult, probably, of secret conferences and dangerous 
 designs, which might, })erhaps, end in the entire sub- 
 version of their religious liberty. 
 
 In circumstances where the law of force prevails, 
 and security depends upon power alone, the weakest 
 party is natuiiilly the most busy to place itself in a pos- 
 ture of defense. 'This was now the case in Germany 
 If the Roman Catholics really meditated any evil againsr 
 the Protestants in Germany, the probability <Vas thai 
 the blow would fall on the south rather than the north, 
 because, in Lower Germany, the Protestants w^ere con- 
 nected together through a long, unbroken tract of coun- 
 try, and could, therefore, easily combine for their mulual 
 support : while those in the south, detaclied from each 
 other, and surrounded on all sides by Roman Catholic 
 states, were exposed to every inroad. If, moreover, 
 as was to be expected, the Catholics availed themselves 
 of the divisions among the Protestants, and leveled their 
 attack against one of the religious parties, it was the 
 Calvinists who, fis the weaker, and as being beside ex- 
 cluded from the religious treaty, were apparently in the 
 greatest danger, and upon them w^ould probably fall the 
 first attack. 
 
 Both these circumstances took place in the donjinious 
 of the Elector Palatine, who possessed, in the Duk<^ of 
 Bavaria, a formidable neighbor, and which, by reaso:i 
 of their defection to Calvinism, received no protection 
 from the religious peace, and had little hope of succor 
 from the Lutheran stiites. No country in Germmy 
 had experienced so many revolutions in religion, in no 
 short a time, as the Palatinate. In the space of sixty 
 years, this country, an unfortunate toy in the hands of 
 its rulers, had twice adopted the doctrines of Luther, 
 and twice relinquished them for Galvanism. The Elec- 
 tor Frederick III. first abandoned the Confession of 
 Augsburg, which his eldest gon and successor, Lewis, 
 immediately reestablished. The Calvanists throughout 
 
40 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 the wliole country were deprived of their chiirchirs 
 . their preachers and even their teachers banished bo' 
 yond the frontiers; while the prince, in his Lutheran 
 zeal, persecuted thein even in his will, by appointinci 
 none but strict and orthodox Lutherans as the guardian? 
 ot his son, a minor. " But this illegal testament was dis- 
 regarded by his brother, the Count Palatine, John Cas- 
 imir, who, by the regulations of the Golden Bull as- 
 sumed the guardianship and administration of the state 
 Calvinistic teachers were given to the Elector Fred- 
 erick IV;., then only nine years of age, ^^iho were or- 
 dered, if necessary, to drive the Lutheran hereby out 
 ot the soul of their pupil with blows. If such was the 
 treatmeift ot the sovereign, that of the subjects may be 
 easily conceived. 
 
 It was under this Frederick that the Palatine court 
 exerted Itself so vigorously to unite the Protestant 
 states ot Germany in joint measures against the House 
 of Austria, and, if possible, bring about the formation of 
 a general confederacy. Beside that this court had 
 always been guided by the counsels of France, with 
 whom hatred of the House of Austria was the ruling 
 principle, a regard for his own safety urged him to se- 
 cure m time the doubtful assistance of the Lutherans 
 against a near and overwhelming enemy. Great diffi- 
 culties, however, opposed this union, because the Lu 
 therans' dislike of the Reformed was scarcely less than 
 the common aversion of both to the Romanists. An 
 attempt was first made to reconcile the t^vo professions, 
 in order to facilitate a political union ; but all tho^^o 
 attempts failed, and generally ended in both parties ad- 
 hering the more strongly to their respective opinir.ns. 
 Nothing then remained but to increase the fear anO the 
 distrust ot the Evangelicals, and in this way to impress 
 upon them the necessity of this alliance. The power 
 ot the Roman Catholics, and the magnitude of the dan- 
 ger, were exaggerated, accidental incidents were as- 
 cribed to deliberate plans, innocent actions misrepresent- 
 j ed by invidious constructions, and the whole conduct of 
 the professors of the olden religion was interpreted as the 
 result of a well-weighed and systematic plan, which, in 
 all probability, they were very fir from having concerted 
 
 kchiller's thirty years' war. 41 
 
 The Diet of Ratisbon, to which the Protestants had 
 looked forward with the hope of obtaining a renewal oi 
 the religious peace, had broken up without coming to 
 a decision, and to the former grievances of the Protes- 
 tant party, was now added the late oppression of Do 
 nauwerth. Wkh incredible speed, the union, so long 
 attempted, Avas now brought to bear. A conference 
 took place at Anhausen, in Franconia, at which >vero 
 present the Elector Frederick IV., from the Palatinate, 
 the Palsgrave of Neuberg, two raargiaves of Branden- 
 burg, the Margrave of Baden, and the Duke John 
 Frederick of Wirtemburg— Lutherans as well as Calvin- 
 ists — who, for themselves and their heirs, entered into 
 a close confederacy under the title of the Evangelical 
 Union. The purport of this union was, that the allied 
 princes should, in all matters relating to religion and 
 their civil rights, support each other with arms and 
 counsel against every aggressor, and should all stand as 
 one man ; that in case any member of the alliance should 
 be attacked, he should be assisted by the rest with an 
 armed force ; that, if necessary, the territories, towns, 
 and castles of the allied states should be open to his 
 troops ; and that, whatever conquests were made, should 
 be divided among all the confederates, in proportioa to 
 the contingent furnished by each. 
 
 The direction of the whole confederacy in time of 
 peace was conferred upon the Elector Palatine, but 
 with a limited power. To meet the necessary ex- 
 penses, subsidies were demanded, and a common I'und 
 established. Differences of religion (betwixt the Lu- 
 therans and the Calvinists) were to have no efleci: on 
 this alliance, which was to subsist for ten years: every 
 member of the Union engaged at the same time to 
 procure new members to it. The Electorate of Bran- 
 denburg adopted the alliance, that of Saxony rejected 
 it. Hesse-Cassel could not be prevailed upon to de- 
 clare itself, the dukes of Bninswick and Luueburg also 
 hesitated. But the three cities of the empire, Stras- 
 burg, Nuremberg, and Ulm, were no unimportant ac- 
 quisition for the League, which was in groat want of 
 their money, while their example, beside, might bo fol- 
 lowed b}' other imperial cities. 
 
 d2 
 
42 
 
 BCIIILLERS TIIlRTif YEARS WAR. 
 
 S(?IllLLERa THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 43 
 
 After the formation of this alliance, the confederaiH 
 states, dispirited and singly, little feared, adopted a bolder 
 language. Through Prince Christian of Anhalt, they 
 laid their common grievances and demands befoie the 
 emperor ; among which, the principal were the restora- 
 tion of Donauwerth, the abolition of the imperial court, 
 the reformation of the emperor's own administration, 
 and that of his counselors. For these remonstrances, 
 they chose the moment when the emperor had scarcely 
 recovered breath from the troubles in his hereditaiy 
 dominions — when he had lost Hungary and Austria to 
 Matthias, and had barely preserved his Bohemian throne 
 by the concession of the Letter of Majesty, and, finally, 
 when through the succession of Juliers he was already 
 threatened with the distant prospect of a new war. No 
 wonder, then, that this dilatory prince was more irres- 
 olute than ever in his decision, and that the confederates 
 took up arms before he could bethink himself. 
 
 The Roman Catholics regarded this confederacy with 
 a jealous eye ; the Union viewed them and the emperor 
 \vith the like distrust ; the emperor was equally sus 
 picious of both ; and thus, on all sides, alarm and ani 
 mosity had reached their climax. And, as if to crown 
 the whole, at this critical conjuncture, by the death of the 
 Duke John William of Juliers, a highly disputable suc- 
 cession became vacant in the territories of Juliers and 
 Cleves. 
 
 Eight competitors laid claim to this territory, the in- 
 divisibihty of which had been guarantied by solemn trea- 
 ties ; and the emperor, who seemed disposed to enter 
 upon It as a vacant fief, might be considered as the 
 ninth. Four of these, the Elector of Brandenburg, the 
 Count Palatine of Neuberg, the Count Palatine of 
 Deux Ponts, and the Margrave of Burgau, an Austrian 
 prince, claimed it as a female fief in name of four prin- 
 cesses, sisters of the late duke. Two others, the Elec- 
 tor of Saxony, of the line of Albert, and the Duke of 
 Saxony, of the line of Ernest, laid claim to it under a 
 prior right of reversion granted to them by the Emperor 
 Fredorick III., and confirmed to both Saxon houses by 
 Maxin4dian I. The pretensions of some foreign princes 
 were iittle regarded. The best right was, perhaps, on 
 
 \ 
 
 tL« side of Brandenburg and Neuberg, and between tlio 
 Cianns ot these two it was not easy to decide. Both 
 courts, as soon as the succession was vacant, proceeded 
 to take possession ; Brandenburg beginning, and Neu- 
 berg following the example. Both commenced their 
 dispute with the pen, and would probably have ended it 
 with the sword ; but the interference of the emperor 
 by proceeding to bi-ing the cause before his own cogni- 
 zance, and, during the progress of the suit, sequestratincr 
 the disputed countries, soon brought the contending par- 
 ties to an agreement, in order to avert the common 
 danger. They agi-eed to govern the duchy conjointly. 
 In vam did the emperor prohibit the estates from doin'/ 
 homage to their new masters ; in vain did he send hil 
 own relation, the Archduke Leopold, Bishop of Passau 
 and Stiasburg, into the territory of Juliers, in orde r, by 
 his presence, to sti-engthen the imperial party. The 
 whole country, with the exception of Juliers itself, had 
 submitted to the Protestant princes, and in that capital 
 the imperialists were besieged. 
 
 The dispute about the succession of Juliers was an 
 miportant one to the whole German empire, and also 
 attracted the attention of several Euronean courts. It 
 was not so much the question, who was or was not 
 to possess the Duchy of Juliers; the real question was, 
 which ot the two religious parties in Germany, the Ro- 
 man Catholic or the Protestant, was to be strengthened 
 by so important an accession — for which of the two 
 religions this tei-ritoiy was to bo lost or won. The 
 question, in short, was, whether Austria was to be 
 allowed to persevere in her usurpations, and to gratify 
 her Just of dominion by another robbery; or whether 
 the liberties of Germany, and the balance of power, 
 were to be maintained against her encroachments. The 
 disputed succession of Juliers, therefore, was matter 
 which interested all who were favorable to hberty, and 
 hostile to Austria. The Evangelical Union, Holland, 
 England, and particularly Henry IV. of France, were 
 drawn into the strife. 
 
 This monarch, the flower of whose life had been 
 8pent in opposing the House of Austria and Spain, and 
 by persevering heroism alone had surmounted the obr-ta- 
 
\{ 
 
 44 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 cles which this house had thrown be tsve en him and the 
 French throne, had been no idle spectator of the troubles 
 in Germany. This contest of the estates with the em- 
 peror was the means of giving and securing peace to 
 France. The Protestants and the Turks were the two 
 salutary weights which kept down the Austrian power 
 in the east and west: but it would rise again in all its 
 ten-ors, if once it were allowed to remove this pressure. 
 Henry IV. had before his eyes for half a lifetime, the 
 uninterrupted spectacle of Austrian ambition and Aus- 
 trian lust of dominion, which neither adversity nor pov- 
 erty of talents, though generally they check all human 
 passions, could extinguish in a bosom wherein flowed one 
 drop of the blood of Ferdinand of Arragon. Austrian am- 
 bition had destroyed for a century the peace of Europe, 
 and effected the most violent changes in the heart of its 
 most considerable states. It had deprived the fields of 
 husbandmen, the workshops of artisans, to fill the land 
 with enormous armies, and to cover the commercial sea 
 with hostile fleets. It had imposed upon the princes of 
 Europe the necessity of fettering the industry of their 
 subjects by unheard-of imposts ; and of wasting in s<ilf- 
 defense the best strength of their states, which was 
 thus lost to the prosperity of their inhabitants. For 
 Europe there was no peace, for its states no welfare, 
 for the people's happiness no security or permanence, 
 so long as this dangerous house was permitted to dis- 
 turb at pleasure the repose of the world. 
 
 -Such considerations clouded the mind of Heniy at 
 the close of his glorious career. What had it not cost 
 him to reduce to order the troubled chaos into which 
 France had been plunged by the tumult of civil war, 
 fomented and supported by this very Austria ! Every 
 great mind labors for eternity ; and what security had 
 Henry for the endurance of that prosperity which he 
 had gained for France, so long as Austria and Spain 
 formed a smgle power, which did indeed lie exhausted 
 for the present, but which required only one lucky 
 chance to be speedily reunited, and to spring up again 
 as formidable as ever / If he would bequeath to his suc- 
 cessors a firmly established throne, and a durable pros- 
 peiity to his subjects, this dangerous power must b» 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' \v.\ii. 
 
 45 
 
 forever disarmed. This was the source of that in-econ- 
 cilable- enmity which Henry had swoni to the House of 
 Austria, a hatred unextinguishable, ardent, and well- 
 fotinded as that of Hannibal against the people of Rom- 
 ulus, but ennobled by a purer origin. 
 
 The other European powers had the same induce- 
 ments to action as Heniy, but all of them had not that 
 enlightened policy, nor that disinterested courage to act 
 upon the impulse. All men, without distinction, are 
 allured by immediate advantages; great minds alone 
 are excited by distant good. So long as wisdom in its 
 projects calculates upon wisdom, or relies upon its own 
 strength, it forms none but chimerical schemes, and 
 runs a risk of making itself the laughter of the world ; 
 but it is certain of success, and may reckon upon aid 
 and admiration when it finds a place in its intellectual 
 plans for barbarism, rapacity, and superstition, and can 
 render the selfish passions of mankind the executors of i 
 its purposes. -'^ 
 
 In the first point of view, Heniy's well-known project 
 of expelling the House of Austria from all its posses- 
 sions, and dividing the spoil among the European pow- 
 ers, deserves the title of a chimera, which men have sc 
 liberally bestowed upon it ; but did it merit that appel- 
 lation in the second ? It had never entered into tho 
 head of that excellent monarch, in the case of those 
 who must be the instruments of his designs, to reckon ou 
 the sufficiency of such motives as animated himself and 
 Sully to the entei-prise. All the states whose coopera- 
 tion was necessaiy, were to be persuaded to the work by 
 the strongest motives that can set a political power in ac- 
 tion. From the Protestants in Germany nothing more was 
 required than that which, on other gi'ounds, had beer, 
 long their object — then* throwing oft' the Austrian yoke. 
 From the Flemings, a similar revolt from the Spaniards. 
 To the Pope and all the Italian republics no inducement 
 could be more powerful than the hope of driving the 
 Spaniards forever from their peninsula; for England, 
 nothing more desirable than a revolution which should 
 free it from its bitterest enemy. By this division cf the 
 Austrian conquests, every power gained either land or 
 freedom, new possessions or security for il" -Id : np^. 
 
 
 1 
 
46 
 
 Schiller's TiiiRTr years' war. 
 
 as all gained, the balance of power remained undisturb. 
 ed. 1^' ranee might magnanimously decline a share in 
 the spoil, because by the ruin of Austria it doubly prof- 
 ited, and was most powerful if it did not become mt)ra 
 powerful. Finally, upon condition of ridding Europe ol 
 their presence, the posterity of Hapsburg were to bo 
 allowed the liberty of augmenting her territories in all the 
 other known or yet undiscovered portions of the globe. 
 But the dagger of Ravaillac delivered Austria from hei 
 danger, to postpone for some centuries longer the tran- 
 quillity of Europe. 
 
 With his view directed to this project, Henry felt the 
 necessity of taking a prompt and active part in the im- 
 portant events of iho Evangelical Union, and the dis- 
 puted succession of Juliers. His emissaries were busy 
 in all the courts of Germany, and the little which they 
 publisiied or allowed to escape of the great political se- 
 crets of their master, was sufficient to win over minds 
 inflamed by so ardent a hatred to Austria, and by so 
 strong a desire ol' riggrandizement. The prudent policy 
 of Henry cemented the Union still more closely, and the 
 powerful aid which he bound himself to furnish, raised 
 the courage of the confederates into the firmest confi- 
 dence. A numerous French army, led by the king in 
 person, was to meet the troops of the Union on the banks 
 of the Rhine, and to assist in eifecting the conquest of 
 Juliers and Cleves; then, in conjunction with the Ger- 
 mans, it was to march into Italy (where Savoy, Venice, 
 and the Pope were even now ready with a powerful 
 reinforcement), and to overthrow the Spanish dominion 
 in that quarter. This victorious army was then to pene- 
 trate by Lombardy into the hereditary dominions ol 
 Hapsburg; and there, favored by a general insurrection 
 of the Protestants, destroy the power of Austria in all 
 its German territories, in Bohemia, Hungary, and Tran- 
 Fylvania. The Brabanters and Hollanders, supported 
 by French auxiliaries, would in the mean time shake oil 
 the Spanish tyranny in the Netherlands ; and thus the 
 mighty stream which, only a short time before, had so 
 fearfully overflowed its banks, threatening to overw^helm 
 in its troubled waters the liberties of Europe, would then 
 roll silent and forgotten behind the PvTenean mountains- 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 47 
 
 At other times the French had boasted of their ra- 
 pidity of action, but upon this occasion they were out 
 stripped by the Germans. An army of the confederates 
 
 , entered Alsace before Henry made his appearance there, 
 and an Austrian army, which the Bishop of Strasbiirg 
 and Passau had assembled in that quarter for an expe- 
 dition against Juhers, was dispersed. Henry IV. had 
 formed his plan as a statesman and a king, but he had 
 intrusted its execution to plunderers. Accor'^'.ing to his 
 design, no Roman Catholic state was to have cause to 
 think this preparation aimed against itself, or to make 
 the quarrel of Austria its own. Religion was in no wise 
 to be mixed up with the matter. But how could the 
 German princes forget their own purposes in furthering 
 the plans of Henry? Actuated as they were by the de- 
 sire of aggrandizement and by religious hatred, was it to 
 be supposed that they would not gratify, in every passing 
 opportunity, their ruling passions to the utmost ? Like 
 vultures they stooped upon the territories of the eccle- 
 siastical princes, and always chose those rich countries 
 for their quarters, though to reach them they must mike 
 
 . ever so wide a detour from their direct route. They 
 levied conti-ibutions as in an enemy's country, seized 
 upon the revenues, and exacted by violence what they 
 could not obtain of free-will. Not to leave the Roraan 
 Catholics in doubt as to the true objects of their expe- 
 dition, they announced, openly and intelligibly enough, 
 the fate that awaited the property of the church. So 
 little had Henry IV. and the German princes under- 
 stood each other in their plan of operations, so much had 
 the excellent king been mistaken in his instruments. It 
 is an unfailing maxim, that, if policy enjoins an act of vio- 
 lence, its execution ought never to be intrusted to the 
 violent ; and that he only ought to bo trusted with the 
 violation of order by whom it is held sacred. 
 
 Both the past conduct of the Union, which was con 
 demued even by several of the evangelical states, and 
 the apprehension of even worse treatment, aroused the 
 Roman Catholics to something beyond mere inactive 
 indignation. As to the emperor, his authority had sunk 
 too low to afl^ord them any security against such an 
 enemy. It was their union that rendered the ^onfeder- 
 
fS 
 
 SCHlLI.KR'ri THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 ates so formidable and so insolent; and another urrntt 
 must now be opposed to them. 
 
 The Bishop of Wurtzburg formed the plan of the 
 Catholic union, which was distinguished from the evan- 
 gelical by the title of the League. The objects ngreed 
 upon were nearly the same as those which constituted 
 the groundwork of the Union. Bishops formed its prin- 
 cipal members, and at its head was placed Maximilian, 
 Duke of Bavaria. As the only influential secular mem- 
 ber of the confederacy, he was intrusted with far more 
 extensive powers tlian the Protestants had committed 
 to their chief. In addition to the duke's being the sole 
 head of the League's military power, whereby their 
 operations acquired a speed and weight unattainable by 
 the Union, they had also the advantage that supplies 
 flowed in much more regiilarly from the rich prelates, 
 than the latter could obtain them from the poor evan- 
 gelical states. Without offering to the emperor, as the 
 sovereign of a Roman Catholic state, any share in their 
 confederacy, without even communicating its existence 
 to him as emperor, the League arose at once formidable 
 and threatening; with strength sufficient to crush the 
 Protestant Union, and to maintain itself under three 
 emperors. It contended, indeed, for Austria, in so far 
 as it fought against the Protestant princes ; but Austria 
 herself had soon cause to tremble before it. 
 
 The arms of the Union had, in the mean time, been 
 tolerably successful in Juliers and in Alsace ; Juliers was 
 closely blockaded, and the whole bishopric of Strasburg 
 was in their power. But here their splendid achieve- 
 ments came to an end. No French army appeared upon 
 the Rhine ; for he who was to be its leader, he who was 
 the animating soul of the whole enterprise, Heniy IV., 
 was no more ! Their supplies were on the wane ; the 
 estates refused to grant new subsidies; and the con- 
 federate free cities were offended that their money 
 should be liberally, but their advice so sparingly called 
 for. Especially were they displeased at being put to 
 expense for the expedition against Juliers, which had 
 been expressly excluded from the affairs of the Union 
 —at the united princes appropriating to themselves 
 large pensions out of the common treasure- -and, r;l)ove 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 49 
 
 all, at their refusing to give an account of its expendi- 
 ture. 
 
 The Union was thus verging to its fall at the moment 
 when the League started to oppose it in the vigor of its 
 strength. Want of supplies disabled the confederates 
 from any longer keeping the field. And yet it was dan- 
 gerous to ]j^y down their weapons in the sight of an 
 armed enemy. To secure themselves at least on o le 
 side, they hastened to conclude a peace with their old 
 enemy, the Archduke Leopold ; and both parties agreed 
 to withdraw their troops from Alsace, to exchange pris- 
 oners, and to bury all that had been done in oblivion. 
 Thus ended in nothing all these promising preparations. 
 
 The same imperious tone with which the Union, iu 
 the confidence of its strength, had menaced the Roman 
 Catholics of Germany, was now retorted by the League 
 upon themselves and their troops. The traces of their 
 march were pointed out to them, and plainly brand(;d 
 with the hard epithets they had deserved. The chap 
 ters of Wurtzburg, Bamberg, Strasburg, Mentz, Treves, 
 Cologne, and several others, had experienced their de- 
 structive presence ; to all these the damage done was to be 
 made good, the free passage by land and by water restort^d 
 (for the Protestants had even seized on the navigation 
 of the Rhine), and every thing replaced on its former 
 footing. Above all, the parties to the Union were callc^d 
 on to declare expressly and unequivocaUy its intentions. 
 It was now their turn to yield to superior strength. 
 They had not calculated on so formidable an opponent ; 
 but they themselves had taught the Roman Catholics the 
 secret of their strength. It was humiliating to their 
 pride to sue for peace, but they might think themselves 
 fortunate in obtaining it. The one party promised resti- 
 tution, the other forgiveness. All laid down their arms. 
 The storm of war once more rolled by, and a tomporaiy 
 calm succeeded. The insurrection in Bohemia then 
 broke out, which deprived the emperor of the last of his 
 hereditary dominions, but in this dispute neither the 
 Union nor the League took any share. 
 
 At length the emperor died in 1612, as little regretted 
 in his cothn as noticed on the throne. Long afterwar<i, 
 wlien the miseries of succeeding velsns had made the 
 4 E 
 
50 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 misfortunes of his forgotten, a halo spread about his 
 memory, and so fearful a night set in upon Germany, 
 that, with tears of blood, people pra^-ed for the return oi 
 such an emperor. 
 
 Rodolph never could be prevailed upon to choose s 
 successor in the emi)ire, and all awaited with anxiety tht» 
 approaching vacancy of the throne ; but, beyond all hope, 
 Matthias at once ascended it, and without opposition. 
 The Roman Catholics gave him their voices, because 
 they hoped the best from his vigor and activity ; the 
 Piotestants gave him theirs, because they hoped eveiy 
 thing from his weakness. It is not difficult to reconcile 
 this contradiction. The one relied on what he had once 
 appeared ; the other judged him by what he seemed al 
 present. 
 
 The moment of a new accession is always a day of hope ; 
 and the first Diet of a king in elective monarchies is 
 usually his severest trial. Every old grievance is brought 
 forward, and niew ones are sought out, that they "may be 
 included in the expected reform ; quite a new world is 
 expected to commence with the new king. The im- 
 portant sei-vices which, in his insurrection, their religious 
 confederates in Austria had rendered to Matthias, were 
 still fresh in the minds of the Protestant free cities, and, 
 above all, the price which they had exacted for tlieir 
 services seemed now to serve them also as a model. 
 
 It was by the favor of the Protestant estates in Aus- 
 tria and Moravia that Matthias had sought and really 
 found the way to his brother's throne ; but, hurried on 
 by his ambitious views, he never reflected that a way 
 was thus opened for the states to give laws to their 
 sovereign. This discovery soon awoke him from the in- 
 toxication of success. Scarcely had he shown himself 
 in triumph to his Austrian subjects, after his victorious 
 expedition to Bohemia, when ^ humble petition awaited 
 him which was quite sufficient to poison his whole tri- 
 umph. They required, before doing homage, unlimite(? 
 religious toleration in the cities and market-towns, per 
 feet equality of rights between Roman Catholics and 
 Protestants, and a full and equal admissibility of the lat- 
 ter to all ofifices of state. In several places, they of them- 
 selves assumed these privileges, and, reckoning m h 
 
 chiller's ruiRTY years' war. 
 
 51 
 
 change of administration, restored the Protestant reli- 
 gion where the late emperor had suppressed it. jVIat- 
 thias, it is ti'ue, had not scrupled to make use of the 
 grievances of the Pix)testants for his own ends against 
 the em|)eror ; but it was far from being his intention to 
 relieve them. By a firm and resolute tone he hoped to 
 check, at once, these presumptuous demands. He spoke 
 of his hereditfiry title to these territories, and would he ir 
 •of no stipulations before the act of homage. A like un- 
 conditional submission had been rendered by their neigh- 
 bors, the inliabitants of Styria, to the Archduke Ferdi- 
 nand, who, however, had soon reason to repent of it. 
 Warned by this example, the Austrian states persisted 
 in their refusal ; and, to avoid being compelled by foi'ce 
 to do homage, their deputies (after urging their Roman 
 Catholic colleagues to a similar resistance) immediately 
 ieft the capital, and began to levy troops. 
 
 They took steps to renew their old alliance with Hun 
 gary, drew tlie Protestant princes into their interests, 
 imd set themselves seriously to work to accomplish thei) 
 object by force of arms. 
 
 With the more exorbitant demands of the Hungarian; 
 Matthias liad not hesitated to comply. For Hungar) 
 was an elective monarchy, and the republican constitutk>r 
 of the country justified to himself their demands, and tr 
 the Roman Catholic world his concessions. In Austria 
 on the contrary, his predecessors liad exercised fa» 
 higher pi-erogatives, which he could not relinquish at th« 
 demand of the estates, without incurring the scorn o 
 Roman Catholic Europe, the enmity of Spain and Rome 
 and the contempt of his own Roman Catholic subjects 
 Hisex<;lusively Romish council, among svhich the BLshop 
 of Vienna, Melchk) Kiesel, had the chief influence, ex 
 horted him to see all the churches extorted from him by 
 the Protestants, rather than to concede one to them as a 
 matter of right. 
 
 But by ill luck this difficulty occurred at a time whim 
 the Emi)eror Rodolph was yet alive, and a spectator of 
 this scene, and who might easily have been tempted to 
 employ against his brotlier the same weapons which the 
 latter had successfully directed against him — namely, an 
 understanding with his rebellious subjects To avoif* 
 
52 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 this blow Matthias willingly availed himself of tlio olief 
 made by Mjravia, to act as mediator between him and 
 the estates of Austria. Rej)resentatives of both parties 
 met in V^ienna, when the Austrian deputies held lan<^uage 
 which would have excited surprise even in the English 
 parliament. " The Protestants," they said, " are deter- 
 mined to be not worse treated in their native country than 
 the handful of Romanists. By the help of his Protestant 
 nobles hnd Matthias reduced the emperor to submission : 
 where eighty Papists were to be found, three hundred 
 Pr3testant barons might be counted. The example of 
 Rodolph should be a warning to Matthias. He should 
 take care that he did not lose the terrestrial, in attempt- 
 ing to make conquests for the celestial." As the Mora- 
 vian states, instead of using their powers as mediators for 
 the emperor's ndvantage, finally adopted the cause of 
 their co-religionists of Austria; as the Union in Ger- 
 many came forward to afford them its most active sup- 
 port, and as Matthias dreaded reprisals on the part of 
 the emperor, he was at length compelled to make the 
 desired declaration in favor of the Evangelical Church. 
 
 This behavior of the Austrian estates toward their 
 archduke was now imitated by the Protestant estates of 
 the empire toward their emperor, and they promised 
 themselves the saiup favorable results. At his first 
 Diet at Ratisbon in 1613, when the most pressing affairs 
 tvere waiting for decision — when a general contribution 
 was indispensable for a war against Turkey, and against 
 Bethlem Gabor in Transylvania, who, by Turkish aid, 
 had forcibly usurped the sovereignty of that land, and 
 even threatened Hungary — they surprised him with an 
 entirely new demand. The Roman Catholic votes 
 were still the most numerous in the Diet ; and as eveiy 
 thing was decided by a plurality of voices, the Protes- 
 tant party, however closely united, were entirely without 
 consideration. The advantage of this majority the Ro- 
 man Catholics were now called on to relinquish ; hence- 
 forward no one religious party was to be permitted to 
 dictate to the other by means of its invariable superiority. 
 And in ti-uth, if the evangelical religion was really to be 
 represented in the Diet, it was self evident that it must 
 not be shut out from the possibility of making use of 
 
 JhiLLEr'l .HIRTY YEARS* 
 
 WAR. 
 
 53 
 
 that privilege, merely from the constitution of the Diet 
 itself. Complain*" of the judicial usurpations of the 
 Aulic Council, and of the oppression of the Protestants, 
 wccompanied this demand, and the deputies of the es- 
 tates were instructed to take no part in any general 
 deliberations till a favorable answer should be given c»n 
 this preliminary point. 
 
 The Diet was torn asunder by this dangerous division, 
 which threatened to destroy forever the unity of its 
 deliberations. Sincerely as the emperor might have 
 wished, after the example of his lather Maximilian, to 
 preserve a prudent balance between the two religions, 
 the present conduct of the Protestants seemed to leave 
 him nothing but a critical choice between the two. In 
 his present necessities a general contribution from the 
 estates was indispensable to him ; and yet he could not 
 conciliate the one party without sacrificing the support 
 of the other. Insecure as he felt his situation to be in 
 his own hereditary dominions, he could not but tremble 
 at the idea, however remote, of an open war with the 
 Protestants. But the eyes of the whole Roman Catho- 
 lic world, which were attentively regarding his conduct, 
 the remonstrances of the Roman Catholic estates, and 
 of the courts of Rome and Spain, as little permitted him 
 to favor the Protestant^at the expense of the Romish 
 religion. 
 
 So critical a situation would have paralyzed a greater 
 mind than Matthias ; and his own prudence would scarcely 
 have extricated him from his dilemma. But the inter 
 ests of the Roman Catholics were closely interwoviin 
 with the imperial authoiity ; if they suffered this to fall, 
 the ecclesiastical princes, in particular, would be with- 
 out a bulwark against the attacks of the Protestants. 
 Now, then, that they saw the emperor wavering, they 
 thought it high time to reassure his sinking cour- 
 age. They imparted to him the secret of their League, 
 and acquainted him with its whole constitution, re- 
 sources and power. Little comforting as such a revela- 
 tion must have been to the emperor, the prospect of so 
 powerful a support gave him greater boldness to oppose 
 the Prot' stants. Their demands were rejected, aod 
 the Diet \ roke up without coming to a decision. But 
 
 e2 
 
i4 
 
 sj:iiiller's thirtv years' vvaf 
 
 Matthias was the victim of this tlispute. The Protes- 
 tants refused him their supphes, and made him alone 
 suffer for the inflexibility of the Koman Catholics. 
 
 The Turks, however, appeared willino; to pinlonji the 
 cessation of hostilities, and Bethlem Gabor was left in 
 peaceable possession of Transylvania. The empire was 
 uow free from foreign enemies ; and, even at home, in 
 the midst of all these fearful disputes, peace still reigned. 
 An unexpected accident had given a singular turn to the 
 dispute as to the succession of Juliers. This duchy 
 was still ruled conjointly by the Electorate House of 
 Brandenburg, and the Palatine of Neuberg ; and a mar- 
 riage between the Prince of Neuberg and a Princess of 
 Brandenburg was to have inseparably united the interests 
 of the two houses. But the whole scheme was upset 
 by a box on the ear, which, in a drunken brawl, the 
 Elector of Brandenburg unfortunately inflicted uf)on his 
 intended son-in-law. From this moment the good un- 
 derstanding between the two houses was at an end. 
 The Prince of Neuberg embraced popeiy. The hand 
 of a princess of Bavaria rew^arded his apostacy, and the 
 strong support of Bavaria and Spain was the natural 
 result of both. To secure to the palatine the exclusive 
 possession of Juliers, the Spanish troops from the Netli- 
 eilands were marched into the jfalatinate. To rid him- 
 self of these guests, the Elector of Brandenburg called 
 the Flemings to his assistance, whom he sought to 
 propitiate by embracing the Calvanistic religion. Both 
 Spanish and Dutch armies appeared, but, as it seemed, 
 only to make conquests for themselves. 
 
 The neighboring war of the Netherlands seemed now 
 about to be decided in German ground; and what an 
 inexhaustible mine of combustibles lay here ready for it! 
 The Protestants saw with consternation the Spaniards 
 establishing themselves upon the Lower Rhine ; with 
 still greater anxiety did the Roman Catholics see the 
 Hollanders bursting through the frontiers of the empire. 
 It was in the west that the mine was expected to ex- 
 plode which had long been dug under the whole oi 
 Germany. To the west, apprehension and anxiety 
 turned ; but the spark which kindled the flame came 
 unexpectedly from the east. 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 5d 
 
 The tranquillity which Rodolph II.'s Letter of Maj- 
 tsty had established in Bohemia lasted for some time, 
 under the administration of Matthias, till the nomination 
 of a new heir to this kingdom in the person of Ferdinand 
 of Gratz. 
 
 This prince, whom we shall afterward become better 
 acquainted with under the title of Ferdinand II., Em- 
 peror of Germany, had, by the violent extirpation of the 
 Protestant religion within his hereditary dominions, 
 announced himself as an inexorable zealot for popery, 
 and was consequently looked upon by the Roman Cath- 
 olic part of Bohemia as the future pillar of their church. 
 The declining health of the emperor brought on this 
 hour rapidly ; and,yelying on so powerful a supporter, 
 the Bohemian papists began to treat the Protestants 
 with little moderation. The Protestant vassals ofEo- 
 man Catholic nobles, in particular, experienced the harsh- 
 est treatment. At length, several of the former were 
 incautious enough to speak somewhat loudly of their 
 hopes, and by threatening hints to awaken among the 
 Protestants a suspicion of their future sovereign. But 
 this mistrust would never have broken out into actual 
 violence, had the Roman Catholics confined themselves 
 to general expressions, and not by attacks on individuals 
 furnished the discontent of the people with enterprising 
 lenders. 
 
 Henry Matthias, Count Thurn, not a native of Bohe 
 mia, but proprietor of some estates in that kingdom, had. 
 by his zeal for tlie Protestant cause, and an enthusiastic 
 attachment to his newly adopted countiy, gained the 
 entire confidence of the Utraquists, which opened him 
 the way to the most important posts. He had fought 
 with great glory against the Turks, and won, by a flut- 
 tering address, the hearts of the multitude. Of a hot 
 and impetuous disposition, which loved tumult because 
 his talents shone in it — rash and thoughtless enough to 
 undertake things which cold prudence and a calmer 
 temper w^ould not have ventured upon — unscrupulous 
 enough, where the gratification of his passions w^is con- 
 cerned, to sport with the fate of thousands, and at tlie 
 same time politic enough to hold in leading-strings su(;h 
 a people as; the Bohemians then were. He had already 
 
TjG 
 
 SCIIILLEItri THIRTY YEAUs' WAR. 
 
 taken an active part in the troubles under Rodolph'g 
 administration; nnd the Letter of Majesty, which the 
 states had extorted from that emperor, ias chiefly o 
 be aid to hi3 merit. The court had intrusted to him, 
 as burgrave or castellan of Caistein, the custody of the 
 Bohemian crown and of the national charter. But the 
 noZf /^ r'^^ "/ ^T ^'"^^ something far more im- 
 of bi 7- f *^~T?T'^^^ ^!^^ «^«^« «f defender or protector 
 was rnl5d f aristocracy, by ivhich the emperor 
 
 r^vJ 1*"T?'^^3^'^^^J^"^'^ liim of this harmless 
 guaid ansh.p of the dead, to leave him his full influence 
 over the hvmg. They took from him his oftice of bm! 
 grave or constable of the castle, which had rendered 
 hnn dependent on the court, thereby opening his eyes 
 to the importance of the other whTch remained, and 
 wounded his vanity, which yet was the thing that made 
 his ambition harmless. From this moment he was act- 
 uated solely by a desn-e of revenge ; and the opportunity 
 ot gi-atitying it was not long wanting. ^ 
 
 In the royal letter which the Bohemians had extorted 
 from Rodolph 11., as well as in the German religious 
 treaty, one material article remained undetermined. 
 All the privileges granted by the latter to the Protes- 
 tants, were conceived in favor of the estates or govern- 
 nig bodies, not ot the subjects ; for only to those of the 
 ecclesiastical stales had a toleration, and that precarious 
 been conceded. The Bohemian Letter of Majestyjn 
 the same manner, spoke only of the estates and imperial 
 towns, the magistrates of which had contrived to obtain 
 equal privileges with the former. These alone were 
 free to erect churches and schools, and openly to cel- 
 ebrae hen- Protestant worship: in all other fowns, t 
 was left entirely to the government to which they be- 
 longed, to determine the religion of the inhabitants. The 
 estates of the empire had availed themselves of this 
 privilege in its fullest extent: the secular indeed with- 
 
 T. ^f ^r'^r ' 7^^'^ ]^'^ ecclesiastical, in whose case 
 the declaration of Ferdinand had limited this privileee 
 
 f ior' wi'^'l^ '^''^'T '^''^"' '^'^ ^^^'^'^ «f thit limiTa- 
 tion What was a disputed point in the religious treaty, 
 was left still more doubtful in the Letter of Majesty fh 
 the former, the construction was not doubtful, but it wa3 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAB. 
 
 57 
 
 a question how far obedience might be compulsoi-y- in the 
 latter, the interpretation was left to the states. The 
 subjects of the ecclesiastical estates in Bohemia thought 
 themselves entitled to the same rights which the declar- 
 ation of Ferdinand secured to the subjects of German* 
 bishops : they considered themselves on an equality 
 with the subjects of imperial towns, because they looke'd 
 upon the ecclesiastical property as part of the royal de- 
 mesnes. In the little town of Klostefgi'ab, subject to 
 the Archbishop of Prague ; and in Braunau, which lie- 
 longed to the abbot of that monastery, churches were 
 founded by the Protestants, and completed, notwith- 
 standing the opposition of their superiors, and the disap- 
 probation of the emperor. 
 
 In the mean time, the vigilance of the defenders had 
 somewhat relaxed, and the court thought it might ven- 
 ture on a decisive step. By the emperor's orders, the 
 church at Klostergrab was pulled down ; that at Brnu- 
 nau forcibly shut up, and the most turbulent of the 
 citizens thrown into prison. A general commotion 
 among the Protestants was the consequence of this 
 measure ; a loud outcry was everywhere raised at tliis 
 violation of the Letter of Majesty ; and Count Thurn, 
 animated by revenge, and particularly called upon by 
 his office of defender, showed himself not a little busy 
 in inflaming the minds of the people. At his instigation 
 deputies were summoned to Prague from every circle 
 in the empire, to concert the necessary measures against 
 the common danger. It was resolved to petition tlie 
 emperor to press for the hberation of the prisoners. 
 The answer of the emperor, already offensive to the 
 states, from its being addressed, not to them, but to his 
 viceroy, denounced their conduct as illegal and rebellious, 
 justified what had been done at Klostergrab and Brau- 
 nau as the result of an imperial mandate, and contained 
 some passages that might be construed into threats. 
 
 Count Thurn did not fail to augment the unfavorable 
 impression which this imperial edict made upon tihe 
 Hssembled estates. He pointed out to them the danger 
 in which all who had signed th© petition were involved, 
 and sought, by working on their resentment and f«^ars, 
 to hurry them into violent resolutions To have cour.dd 
 
58 
 
 SCHILLER S VIIIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 their immediate re^olt against the emperor, would hav« 
 been, as yet, too bold a measure. It was only step b^ 
 step that he would lead them on to this unavoidable re- 
 sult. He held it, therefore, advisable, first to direct their 
 •indignation against the emperor's counselors; and for 
 that purpose circulated a report, that the imperial proc- 
 lamation had been drawn up by the government at 
 Prague, and only signed in Vienna. Among the impe- 
 rial delegates, the chief objects of the ])opular hatred 
 were the President of the Chamber, Slawata, and Baron 
 Martmitz, who had been elected, in place of Count 
 Thurn, Burgiave of Calstein. Both had long before 
 evmced pretty openly their hostile feelings toward the 
 Protestants, by alone refusing to be present at the sit- 
 ting at which the Letter of Majesty had been inserted 
 in the Bohemian constitution. A threat was made at the 
 time to make them responsible for every violation of 
 the Letter of Majesty; and from this moment, what- 
 ever evil befell the Protestants was set down, and not 
 without reason, to their account. Of all the Roman 
 Catholic nobles, these two had treated their Protestant 
 vassals with the greatest harshness. They were ac- 
 cused of hunting them with dogs to the mass, and' of 
 endeavoring to compel them to popery by a denial of 
 the rites of baptism, marriage, and burial. Against two 
 characters so unpopular, the public indignation waa 
 easily excited, and they were marked out for a sacrifice 
 to the general indignation. 
 
 On the 23d of May, 1618, the deputies appeared 
 armed, and in great numbers, at the royal palace, and 
 torced their way into the hall where the Commission- 
 ers, Sternberg, Martinitz, Lobkowitz, and Slawata, were 
 assembled. In a threatening tone they demanded to 
 know from each of them, whether he had taken any 
 part, or had consented to, the impe:ial proclamation. 
 Sternberg received them with composure, Martinitz 
 and Slawata with tlefiance. This decided their fate ; 
 Sternberg and Lookowitz, less hated, and more feared,' 
 were led by the arm out of the room : Martinitz and 
 blawata were seized, dragged to a window, and precip- 
 itated from a height of eighty feet, into the castle trench 
 then- creatMie, the secretary Fabricius, was thrown 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 59 
 
 after them. This singular mode of execution naturally 
 excited the surprise of civilized nations. The Bohe- 
 mians justified it as a^iational custom, and saw nothing 
 remarkable in the whole aifair, excepting that any (»ne 
 should have got up again safe and sound after sucli a 
 fall. A dunghill, on which the imperial commissioners 
 chanced to be deposited, had saved them from iniury. 
 
 It was not to be expected that this summaiy mode of 
 proceeding would much increase the favor of the par- 
 ties with the emperor, but this was the very position 
 to which Count Thurn wished to bring them. If, from 
 the fear of uncertain danger, they had permitted them- 
 selves such an act of violence, the certain expectation 
 of punishment, and the now urgent necessity for their 
 own security, would plunge them still deeper into guilt. 
 By this brutal act of self-redress, no room was left for 
 irresolution or repentance, and it seemed as if a single 
 crime could be absolved only by a series of violences. 
 As the deed itself could not be undone, nothing v^as 
 left but to disarm the hand of punishment. Thirty 
 directors were appointed to organize a regular insurrec- 
 tion. They seized upon all the oflfices of state, and all 
 the imperial revenues, took into their own service the 
 royal functionaries and the soldiers, and summoned the 
 whole Bohemian nation to avenge the common cause. 
 The Jesuits, whom the common hatred accused as the 
 instigators of every previous oppression, were banished 
 the kingdom, and this harsh measure the estates found 
 it necessaiy to justify in a formal manifesto. These 
 various steps were taken for the preservation of the 
 royal authority and the laws— the language of all reb- 
 els till fortune has decided in their favor. 
 
 The emotion which the news of the Bohemian insur- 
 rection excited at the imperial court, was much less 
 lively than such intelligence deserved. The Emperor 
 Matthias was no longer the resolute spirit that formerly 
 sought out his king and master in the veiy bosom of his 
 people, and hurled him from three thrones. The con- 
 fidence and courage which had animated him in a 
 usurpation, deserted him in a legitimate self-defense. 
 The Bohemian rebels had first taken up arms, and the 
 nature of circumstances drove him to join them. But 
 
\ 
 
 GO 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 SCniLLER*3 THIRTY TEARs' WAR. 
 
 61 
 
 he could not hope to confine such a war to Bohemc* 
 In all the territories under his dominion, the Protes 
 tants were united by a dangerou% sympathy — the com 
 mon danger of their religion might suddenly combine 
 them all into a formidable republic. What could he 
 oppose to such an enemy, if the Protestant portion of 
 his subjects deserted him ? And would not both par 
 ties exhaust themselves in so ruinous a civil war ? 
 How much was at stake if he lost; and if he won,, 
 whom else would he destroy but his own subjects ? 
 
 Considerations such as these inclined the emperor 
 and his council to concessions and pacific measures, but 
 it was in this very spirit of concession that, as others 
 would have it, lay the origin of the evil. The Arch- 
 duke Ferdinand, of Gratz, congi-atulated the emperor 
 upon an event which would justify, in the eyes of all 
 Europe, the severest measures against the Bohemian 
 Protestants. "Disobedience, lawlessness, and insur- 
 rection," he said, "went always hand in hand with 
 Protestantism. Every privilege which had been con- 
 ceded to the estates by himself and his predecessor, 
 had had no other effect than to raise their demands. 
 All the measures of the heretics were aimed against 
 the imperial authority. Step by step had they advan- 
 ced from defiance to defiance up to this last aggression ; 
 in a short time they would assail all that remained to 
 be assailed, in the person of the emperor. In arms 
 
 alone was there any safety against such an enemy 
 
 peace and subordination could be only established upon 
 the ruins of their dangerous privileges ; security for the 
 Catholic beUef was to be found only in the total destruc- 
 tion of this sect. Uncertain, it was ti-ue, might be the 
 event of the war, but inevitable was the ruin if it \yer6 
 pretermitted. The confiscation of the lands of the reb- 
 els would richly indemnify them for its expenses, while 
 the terror of punishment would teach the other states 
 the wisdom of a prompt obedience in future." Were 
 the Bohemian Protestants to blame, if they armed 
 themselves in time against the enforcement of such 
 maxims ? The insurrection in Bohemia, beside, was 
 directed only against the successor of the emperor, not 
 against himself, who had done nothing to justify the 
 
 alarm of the Protestants. To exclude this prince from 
 the Bohemian throne, arras had before been taken up 
 under Matthias, though as long as this emperor lived, 
 his subjects had kept within the bounds of an apparent 
 submission. 
 
 But Bohemia was in arms, and, unarmed, the em- 
 peror dared not even offer them peace. For this pur- 
 pose, Spain- supplied gold, and promised to send troops 
 from Italy and the Netherlands. Count Bucquoi, a na- 
 tive of the Netherlands, was named generalissimo, be- 
 cause no native could be trusted, and Count Dampierre, 
 another foreigner, commanded under him. Before the 
 army took the field, the emperor endeavored to bring 
 about an amicable arrangement, by the publication of a 
 manifesto. In this he assured the Bohemians, " that 
 ho held sacred the Letter of Majesty — that he had not 
 formed any resolutions inimical to their religion or the ir 
 privileges, and that his present preparations were forced 
 upon him by their own. As soon as the nation laid 
 down their arms, he also would disband his army." 
 But this gracious letter foiled of its eflect, because the 
 leaders of the insurrection contrived to hide from the 
 people the emperor's good intentions. Instead of this, 
 ihey circulated the most alarming reports from the pul- 
 pit, and by pamphlets, and terrified the deluded popu- 
 lace with threatened horrors of another Saint Bartholo- 
 mew's that existed only in their own imagination. All 
 Bohemia, with the exception of three towns, Budweiss, 
 Krummau, and Pilsen, took part in this insurrection, 
 These three towns, inhabited principally by Romac 
 Catholics, alone had the courage, in this general revolt, 
 to hold out for the emperor, who promised them assist- 
 ance. But it could not escape Count Thurn, how dan-, 
 gerous it was to leave in hostile hands three places of 
 such importance, which would at all times keep open 
 for the imperial troops an entrance into the kingdom. 
 With prompt determination he appeared before Bud- 
 Weiss and Krummau, in the hope of terrifying them 
 into a surrender. Krummau surrendered, but all his 
 attacks were steadfastly repulsed by Budweiss. 
 
 And now, too, the emperor began to show more 
 earnestness and energy. Bucquoi and Dam])ieiTe, with 
 
 F 
 
02 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 SCHILLER S thirty YEARS WAR. 
 
 i53 
 
 two armies, fell upon the Bohemian teiritories, which 
 they treated as a hostile country. But the imperial 
 generals found the march to Prague more difficult than 
 they had expected. Every pass, every position that 
 was the least tenable, must be opened by the sword, 
 and resistance increased at each fresh step they took, 
 for the outrages of their troops, chiefly consisting of 
 Hungarians and Walloons, drove their friends to revolt 
 and their enemies to despair. But even now that his 
 troops had penetrated into Bohemia, the emperor con- 
 tinued to offer the estates peace, and to show himself 
 ready for a amicable adjustment. But the new pros- 
 pects which opened upon them raised the courage of 
 the revolters. Moravia espoused their party ; and from 
 Germany appeared to them a defender equally intrepid 
 and unexpected, in the person of Count Mansfield. 
 
 The heads of the Evangelic Union had been silent 
 but not»inactive spectatoi's of the movements in Bohe- 
 mia. Both were contending for the same cause, and 
 against the same enemy. In the fate of the Bohemians, 
 their confederates in the Ifiith might read their own ; 
 and the cause of this people was represented as of sol- 
 emn common concern of the German League. True 
 to these principles, the Unionists supported the courage 
 of the insurgents by promises of assistance ; and a for- 
 tunate accident now enabled them, beyond their hopes. 
 to fulfill them. 
 
 The instrument by which the House of Austria was 
 humbled in Germany, was Peter Ernest, Count Mans- 
 field, the son of a distinguished Austrian officer, Ernest 
 von Mansfield, who for some time had commanded with 
 repute the Spanish armj^ in the Netherlands. His first 
 campaigns in Juliers and Alsace had been made in the 
 service of this house, and under the banner of the Arch- 
 duke Leopold, against the Protestant religion and the 
 liberties of Germany. But insensibly won by the prin- 
 ciples of this religion, he abandoned a leade'r whose 
 selfishness denied him the reimbursement of the mon- 
 eys expended in his cause, and he transferred his zeal 
 and a victorious sword to the Evangelic Union. It hap- 
 pened just then that the Duke of ^'avoy, an ally of the 
 Union, demanded assistance in a war against Spain 
 
 h 
 
 1 
 
 They assigned to him their newly acquired servant, find 
 Mansfield received instructions to raise an army of four 
 thousand men in Germany, in the cause and in the pay 
 of the duke. The army was ready to march at the very 
 moment when the flames of war burst out in Bohemia, 
 and the duke, w^ho at the time did not stand in neeii of 
 its services, placed it at the disposal of the Union. 
 Nothing could be more welcome to these troops than 
 the prospect of aiiiing their confederates in Bohemifi, at 
 the cost of a third party. Mansfield received orders 
 forthwith to march with these four thousand men into 
 that kingdom ; and a pretended Bohemian commission 
 was given to blind the public as to the true author of 
 this levy. 
 
 This Mansfield now appeared in Bohemia, and, by 
 the occupation of Pilsen, strongly fortified and favorable 
 to the emperor, obtained a firm footing in the country. 
 The courage of the rebels was farther increased by 
 succors which the Silesian states dispatched to tlieir 
 assistance. Between these and the imperialists, sev- 
 eral battles were fought, far, indeed, from decisive, but 
 only on that account the more desti-uctive, which serv-_ 
 ed as the prelude to a more serious war. To check " 
 the vigor of his militaiy operations, a neji;otiation was 
 entered into with the emperor, and a disposition was 
 shown to accept the proffered mediation of Saxony. 
 But before the event could piove how httle sinc(;rity 
 there was in these proposals, the emperor was removed 
 from the scene by death. 
 
 What now had Matthias done to justify the expticta- 
 tions which he had excited by the overthrow of his pred- 
 ecessor ? Was it worth while to ascend a brother's 
 throne through guilt, and then maintain it with so littld 
 dignity, and leave it with so little renown ? As long as 
 Matthias sat on the throne, he had to atone for the im- 
 prudence by which he had gained it. To enjoy the 
 regal dignity a few years sooner, he had shackled the 
 free exercise of its prerogatives. The slender portion 
 of independence left him by the growing power of the 
 estates, was still farther lessened by tlie encroachments 
 of his relations. Sickly and childless, he saw the atten- 
 tion of the world turned to an ambitious he\r who wm 
 
04 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 impatiently anticipating his fate ; and who, by his inter- 
 lorence with the closing administration, was already 
 opening his own. 
 
 With IVIatthins, the reigning line of the German 
 House of Austria was in a manner extinct ; for of all 
 the sons of Maximilian, one only was now alive, the 
 weak and childless Archduke Albert, in the Nether^ 
 lands, who had already renounced bis claims to the 
 inheritance in favor of the line of Grtitz. The Spanish 
 house had also, in a secret bond, resigned its preten 
 sions to the Austrian possessions in behalf of the Arch- 
 duke Ferdinand, of Styria, in whom the branch of 
 Hapsburg was about to put forth now shoots, and the 
 lormer greatness of Austria to experience a revival. 
 
 The father of Ferdinand was the Archduke Charles 
 of Carniola, Carinthia, and Styria, the j^oungest brother 
 ot the Emperor Maximilian II. ; his mother a princess 
 of Bavaria. Having lost his father at twelve years of 
 age, he was intrusted by the archduchess to the guard- 
 ianship of her brother William, Duke of Bavaria, under 
 whose eyes he was instructed and educated by Jesuits 
 at the Academy of Ingolstadt. What principles he was 
 hkely to imbibe by his intercourse with a prince, who 
 trom motives of devotion had abdicated his government 
 may be easdy conceived. Care was taken to point out 
 to him, on the one hand, the weak indulgence of Max- 
 imihan's house toward the adherents of the ^ew doc- 
 trines, and the consequent troubles of their dominions • 
 on the other, the blessings of Bavaria, and the inflexible 
 religious zeal of its rulers : between these two exam- 
 ples he was left to choose for himself. 
 
 Formed in this school to be a stout champion of the 
 Jaith, and a prompt instrument of the Church, he left 
 Bavaria, alter a residence of five years, to assume the 
 government of his hereditary dominions. The estates 
 ol Carniola, Carinthia, and Styria, who, before doing 
 homage, demanded a guaranty for freedom of relifrion 
 were told that religious liberty had nothing to do with 
 their allegiance. The oath was put to them without 
 conditions, and unconditionally taken. Many years 
 however, elapsed, ere the designs which had been 
 p-anned at Ingolstadt wore ripe for execution. Before 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 65 
 
 I 
 
 ( 
 
 attempting to carry them into eflect, he sought in per- 
 son at Loretto the favor of the Virgin, and received the 
 apo-Jtolic benediction in Rome at tlie feet of Clement 
 VIII. 
 
 These designs were nothing less than the expulsion 
 oi" Protestantism from a country where it had the advan- 
 tage of numbers, and had been legally recognized by a 
 lf)rmal act of toleration, granted by his father to the no- 
 ble and knightly estates of the land. A grant so Ibr- 
 mally ratified could not be revoked without danger ; but 
 no difficulties could deter the pious pupil of the Jesuits. 
 The example of other states, both Roman Catholic and 
 l*rotestant, which within their own territories had exer 
 cised unquestioned a right of reformation, and the abuse 
 which the estates of Styria made of their religious liber- 
 ties, would serve as a justification of this violent proced- 
 ure. Under the shelter of an |rf)surd positive law, those 
 of equity and prudence might, it was thought, be safely 
 despised. In the execution of these unrighteous designs, 
 Ferdinand did, it must be owned, display no common 
 courage and perseverance. Without tumult, and, we 
 may add, without cruelty, he suppressed the Protestant 
 .service in one town after another, and in a few years., to 
 the astonishment of Germany, this dangerous work v/as 
 brought to a successful end. 
 
 But, while the Roman Catholics admired him as a 
 hero, and the champion of the Church, the Piotestatits 
 began to combine against him as against their most dan- 
 gerous enemy. And yet Matthias's intention to bequeath 
 to him the succession, met with little or no oppositiori in 
 the elective states bf Austria. Even the Bohemians 
 agreed to receive him as their future king, on very favar- 
 able conditions. It was not until afterward, when they 
 hid experienced the pernicious influence ff his councils 
 on the administration of the empai'or, that their anxiety 
 was first excited ; and then several projects, in his hand- 
 writing, which unlucky chance threw into their hands, 
 as they plainly evinced his disposition toward them, car- 
 ried their apprehensions to the utmost pitch. In particu- 
 lar, they were alarmed by a secret family compact with 
 Spain, by which, in default of heirs-male of his own body, 
 Ferdinand bequeathed to that crown the kingdom of 
 
 5 
 
 r J 
 
 / 
 
G6 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTV YEARS* WAR. 
 
 Bohemia, without first consulting the wishes of that na- 
 tion, and without regard to its right of free election. 
 The many enemies, too, which by his reforms in Styria 
 that prince had provoked among the Protestants, were 
 very prejudicial to his interests in Bohemia; and somo 
 Styrian emigrants, who had taken refuge there, bring- 
 ing with them into their adopted country hearts over- 
 fiowing with a desire of revenge, were particularly active 
 HI exciting the flame of revolt. Thus ill-affected did 
 Ferdinand find the Bohemians, when he succeeded 
 Matthias. 
 
 So bad an understauding between the nation and the 
 candidate for the throno would have raised a storm even 
 in the most peaceable succession ; how much more so 
 at the presf^nt moment, befoie the ardor of insurrection 
 had cooled ; when the nation had just recovered its dig- 
 nity, and reasserted its^rights ; when they still held 
 arms in their hands, and*tlie consciousness of unity had 
 a\yakened an enthusiastic reliance on their own strength; 
 when, by past success, by the promises of foreign assist- 
 ance, and by visionary expectations of the future, their 
 courage had been raised to an undoubting confidence. 
 Disregarding the riglits already conferred on Ferdinand, 
 the estates declared the throne vacant, and their right of 
 election entirely unfettered. All hopes of their peaceful 
 submission were at an end, and if Ferdinand wished still 
 10 wear the crown of Bohemia, he must choose between 
 purchasing it at the sacrifice of all that would make a 
 crown desirable, or winning it sword in hjmd. 
 
 But with what means was it to be won ? Turn his 
 eyes where he would, the fire of revolt was burning. 
 Silesia had already joined the insurgents in Bohemia; 
 Moravia was on the point of following its example. In 
 Upper and Lower Austria the spirit of liberty was awake, 
 as It had been under Kodolph, and the estates refused to 
 do homage. Hungary was menaced with an inroail by 
 Prince Bethlem Gabor, on the side of Transylvania; a 
 secret arnung among the Turks spread consternation 
 among the provinces to the eastward ; and, to complete 
 his perplexities, in his hereditary dominions, the Protes- 
 tants also, stimulated by the general example, were 
 Hgain raising their heads. In that qnr.jter, tle.i- num- 
 
 i 
 
 SCHILLER 3 THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 67 
 
 bers were overwhelming ; in most places they had pos- 
 session of the reven'es which Ferdinand would need 
 for the maintenance of the war. The neutral began to 
 waver, the faithful to be discouraged, the turbulent alone 
 to be animated and confident. One half of Germany en- 
 couraged the rebels, the other inactively awaited the 
 issue ; Spanish assistance was still very remote. The 
 moment which had brought him every thin^, threatened 
 also to deprive him of all. 
 
 And when he now, yielding to the stern law of ne- 
 cessity, made overtures to the Bohemian rebels, all his 
 proposals for peace were insolently rejected. Count 
 Thurn, at the head of an army, entered Moravia to 
 bring this province, which abne continued to waver, to 
 41 decision. The appearance of their friends is the sig- 
 nal of revolt for the Moravian Protestants. Brunin is 
 taken, the remainder of the country yields with free will, 
 throughout the province government and religion are 
 changed. Swelling as it flows, the torrent of rebellion 
 pours down upon Austria where a party, holding simi- 
 lav sentiments, receives it with af joyful concurrence. 
 Henceforth, there should be no more distinctions of re- 
 ligion ; equality of rights should be guarantied to all 
 Christian churches. They hear that a foreign force has 
 been invited into the country ta oppress the Bohemians. 
 Let them be sought out, and fhe enemies of liberty pur- 
 sued to the ends of the earth. Not an arm is raised in 
 defense of the archduke, and the rebels, at length, en- 
 camp before Vienna to besiege their sovereign. 
 
 Ferdinand had sent his children from Griitz, where 
 they were no longer safe, to the Tyrol ; he himself 
 awaited the insurgents in his capital. A handful of sol- 
 diers was all he could oppose to the enraged multitude, 
 these few were without pay or provisions, and therefore 
 little to be depended on. Vienna was unprepared for 
 a long siege. The party of the Protestants, ready at any 
 moment to join the Bohemians, had the preponderance 
 in the city ; those in the country had already begu q to 
 levy troops against her. Aheady, in imagination, the 
 Protestant populace saw the emperor shut up in a 
 monastery, his tenitories divided, and his children csdu- 
 cated as Protestants. Confiding in secret, and surrounded 
 
68 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 Dy public enemies, he saw the chasia every moment 
 widening to engulf his hopes and even himself. The 
 Bohemian bullets were already falling upon the imperial 
 palace, when sixteen Austrian barons forcibly entered 
 his chamber, and inveighing against him with loud and 
 bitter reproaches, endeavored to force him into a con- 
 federation with the Bohemians. One of them, seizing 
 him by the button of his doublet, demanded, in a tone of 
 menace, '• Ferdinand, wilt thou sign it?" 
 
 Who would not be pardoned had he wavered in this 
 trighttul situation ? Yet Ferdinand still remembered the 
 dignity of a Roman emperor. No alternative seemed left 
 to him but an immediate flight or submission ; laymen 
 urged him to the one, priests to the other. If he aban- 
 doned the city, it would fall into the enemy's hands; 
 with Vienna, Austria was lost; with Austria, the impe- 
 rial throne. Ferdinand abandoned not his capital, and 
 as little would he hear of conditions. 
 
 The archduke is still engaged in altercation with the 
 deputed barons, when all at once a sound of trumpets is 
 heard in the palace 'square. Terror and astonishment 
 take possession of all present ; a fearful report pervades 
 the palace ; one deputy after another disappears. Many 
 ot the nobility and citizens hastily take refuge in the 
 camp of Thurn. This sudden change is effected by a 
 regiment of D.ampierre's cuirassiers, who at that moment 
 marched into the city to defend the archduke. A body 
 ol infantry soon followed ; reassured by their appear- 
 ance, several of the Roman Catholic citizens, and even 
 the students themselves, take up arms. A report which 
 arrived just at the same time from Bohemia, made his 
 deliverance complete. The Flemish general, Bucquoi, 
 had totally defeated Count Mansfeld at Budweiss, and 
 was marching upon Prague. The Bohemians hastily 
 broke up their camp before Vienna, to protect their own 
 capital. 
 
 And now also the passes were free which the enemy 
 Qad taken possession of, in order to obstruct Ferdinand's 
 progress to his coronation at Frankfort. If the acces- 
 sion to the imperial throne was important for the plans 
 ot the King of Hungary, it was of still greater conse- 
 Suence at the present moment, when his nomination as 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEAllS WAR. 
 
 69 
 
 emperor would afford the most unsuspicious and decisive 
 proof of the dignity of his person, and of the justice of 
 his cause, while, at the same time, it would give him a 
 hope of support from the empire. But the same cabal 
 which opposed him in his hereditary dominions, labored 
 also to counteract him in his canvass for the imperial dig- 
 nity. No Austrian i)rince, they maintained, ought to 
 ascend the throne; least of all Ferdinand, the bigoted 
 persecutor of their religion, the slave of Spain and of 
 the .lesuits. To prevent this, the crown had been offered, 
 eVen during the lifetime of Matthias, to the Duke of Ba- 
 varia, and on his refusal, to the Duke of Savoy. As some 
 difficulty was experienced in settling with the latter the 
 conditions of acceptance, it was sought, at all events, to 
 delay the election till some decisive blow in Austria or 
 Boliemia should annihilate all the hopes of Ferdinand, 
 and incapacitate him from any competition for this dig- 
 nity. The members of the Union left no stone untui'ned 
 to fain over from Ferdinand the Electorate of Saxony, 
 which wnz bound to Austrian interests; they repre- 
 sented to this court the dangers with which the Protes- 
 tant religion, and even the constitution of the empire, 
 were threatened by the principles of this prince and his 
 Spanish alliance. By the elevation of Ferdinand to the 
 imperial throne, Germany, they further asserted, would 
 be involved in the private quarrels of this prince, and 
 bring upon itself the arms of Bohemift. But in spite of 
 all opposing influences, the day of election was fixed, 
 Ferdinand summoned to it as lawful king of Bohemia, 
 and his electoral vote, after a fruitless resistance! on 
 the part of the Bohemian estates, acknowledged to be 
 good. The votes of the three ecclesiastical electorates 
 were for him. Saxony was favorable to him, Brandenburg 
 made no opposition, and a decided majority declared him 
 emperor in 1619. Thus he saw the most doubtful ol 
 his crowns placed first of all on his head ; but a few days 
 after he lost that which he had reckoned among the most 
 certain of his possessions: While he was thus elected 
 emperor in Frankfort, he was in Prague deprived of the 
 Bohemian throne. 
 
 Almost all of his German hereditary dominions had in 
 the mean time enterea into a formidable league with the 
 
r 
 
 70 
 
 SCHILLER 3 flJIRTY YEARs' WaE. 
 
 Bohemians, whoso insolence now exceeded all bound?. 
 In a general Diet, the latter, on the 17th of August, 
 1619, proclaimed the emperor an enemy to the Bohe- 
 mian religion and liberties, who by his pernicious coun- 
 sels had alienated fi-om them the aflections of the lato 
 emperor, had furnished troojjs to oppress them, had 
 given their country as ti prey to foreigners, and finally, 
 in contravention of the national rights, had bequeathed 
 the crown, by a secret compnct, to Spain : they there- 
 fore declared that he had forfeited whatever title he 
 might otherwise have had to the crown, and immediately 
 proceeded to a new election. As this sentence was pro- 
 nounced by Protestants, their clioico could not well fill 
 upon a Roman Catholic prince, thouajh, to save appear- 
 ances, some voices were raised for Bavaria and Savoy. 
 But the violent religious animosities which divided the 
 evangelical and the reformed parties among the Protes- 
 tants, impeded for some time the election even of a 
 Protestant king ; t-11 at last the address and activity of 
 the Calvinists carried the day from the numerical supe- 
 riority of the Lutherans. 
 
 Among all the princes who were competitors for this 
 dignity, the Elector Palatine Frederick Y. had the best 
 grounded claims on the confidence and gratitude of the 
 Bohemians; and among them all, there was no one in 
 whose case the private interests of particular estates, and 
 the attachment of the people, seemed to be justified by 
 so many considerations of state. Frederick V. was of 
 a free and lively spirit, of great goodness of heart, and 
 regal liberality. He was the head of the Calvinistic party 
 in Germany, the leader of the Union, whose resources 
 were at his disposal, a near relation of the Duke of Ba- 
 varia, and a son-in-law of the King of Great Britain, who 
 might lend him his powerful support. All these con- 
 siderations were prominently and successfully brought 
 iorward by the Calvijiists, and Frederick V. was chosen 
 king by the Assembly at Prague, amid prayers and 
 tears of joy. 
 
 Tl\e wliolo proceedinjzs of the Diet at Prague had 
 been premeditated, and Frederick himself had taken tco 
 active a share in the matter to feel at all surprised at'the 
 offer made to him by the Bohemians. But now the im- 
 
 ( 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEAilS WAR. 
 
 71 
 
 mediate glitter of this throne dazzled him, and the mag- 
 nitude both of his elevation and his deUnquency made 
 his weak mind to tremble. After the usual manner of 
 pusillanimous spirits, he sought to confirm himself iri his 
 purpose by the opinions of others ; but these opinions 
 had no weight with him when they ran counter to his 
 own cherished wishes. Saxony and Bavaria, of waom 
 he sought advice, all his brother electors, all who com- 
 pared the magnitude of the design with his capacities 
 and resources, warned him of the danger into which ho 
 was about to rush. Even King James of England pre- 
 ferred to see his son-in-law depiived of this crown, than 
 that the sacred majesty of kings should be outraged by 
 so dangerous a precedent. But of what avail was the 
 voice of prudence against the seductive glitter of a 
 crown ? In the moment of boldest determination, when 
 they are indignantly rejecting the consecrated branch ol 
 a race which had governed them for two centuri<?s, a 
 free people throws itself into his arms. Confiding in his 
 courage, they choose him as their leader in the darger- 
 ous career of glory and liberty. To him, as to its born 
 champion, an oppressed religion looks for shelter and 
 support against its persecutors. Could he have the 
 weakness to listen to his fears, and to betray the cause 
 of religion and liberty ? This religion proclaims to hiin 
 its owm preponderance, and the weakne:?s of its rival — 
 two thirds of the power of Austria are now in arms 
 against Austria itself, while a formidable coniederacy, 
 already formed in Transylvania, would, by a hostils at- 
 tack, further distract even the weak remnant of its 
 power. Could inducements such as these fail to awaken 
 his ambition, or such hopes to animnle and inflame his 
 resolution ? 
 
 A few moments of calm consideration would have 
 sufificed to show the danger of the undertaking, and the 
 comparative Avorthlessness of the prize. But the temp- 
 tation spoke to his feelings ; the warning only to his rea- 
 son. It was his misfortune tliat his nearest and most 
 influential counselors espoused the side of his passions. 
 The aggrandizement of their master's power opened to 
 the ambition and avarice of his Palatine servants an 
 unlimited field for their gi-atification ; this anticipated 
 
72 
 
 SCillLLEu'ri TIJIRTY YEARb' WAR. 
 
 r. 
 
 triunipii ot their church kindled the ardor of the Cal- / 
 A ^ ' / r \ "^'^''; ^"^ "" "^i"^ «« ^^^'"^k as that of ^ /'ML. 
 .^.^^^.f fiT^/Y f '^'" ^^^"^'^"^ «^* *^'« counselors, vvho^ 
 aggerated his resources and his strength, as much as 
 hey underrated those of his enemies ; or the exhorta 
 ions of his preachers, who announced the effu^ons ' 
 
 W^Jr Thl T' " f"" 'T'^''''^ inspiration o 
 lioaven? Tlie dreams of astrology filled his mind with 
 
 visionary hopes ; even love couspired, with its in-e^st 
 ible fViscumtion, to complete the seduction. ''Had you '" 
 demanded the electress, "confidence enough in io'r 
 8elf to accept the hand of a king's daughtef a dim a" ' 
 
 y ou imsgu mgs about taking a c.^wn wliich is volu nt^ 
 ily offered you ? I would rather eat bread at thy Si 
 table, than feast at thy electoral board." ^ ^^ 
 
 1^ rederick accepted the Bohemian crown. The cor 
 ona ion was celebrated with unexampled pomp at P Lue' 
 
 work" "snr '"'^jl^yf^ i^« -^1-^ in honoV of itLT;^ 
 ^^olk. Silesia and Moravia, the adjoining lu-ovinces to 
 
 iiedeiick. lie reformed faith was enthroned m ill 
 
 he churches of the kingdom ; the rejoicings w^reun 
 
 bounded, then- attachment to their niw kitr L;vderc"d 
 
 on adoration. Denmark and Sweden, iSla d and 
 
 llTas^'lalr""^ '^'''' ^^^^^^ states,' acknowledged 
 liirn as lawful sovereign, and Frederick now p/e pared 
 to mamtam his new acquisition. P^epaied 
 
 of T^'aSt^l ^" ^^^'"^^ ^'^thlem Gabor 
 
 \i V u^ J?"'^* ^^^'s formidable enemy of Austri-, 
 
 and of the Roman Catholic churcli, not comen wid he 
 
 principality which, with tlie assistance of Te K he 
 
 S the exnense f ^^^^^^^^^.f aggrandizing himsel 
 knowtd.n. ^"'^"'' '^*^'^h ^^^ hesitated to ac- 
 
 knowledge him as sovereign of Transylvania. An attack 
 
 hemian Tetl^ "', "^K^f ^" ^"^^^ ^^"^^^'^^^ ^^'^^^ the Bo'! 
 
 he c.ni ^1 V? ^"'^' %''''r '''^'^ ^« ""'f« before 
 ;1 1 !• J Meantime, Bethlem G<ibor, under the 
 
 mask ot friendship, disguised the true object Tl fs war 
 
 - t' \^:r""'''''''- "^'^"""^ P^-^'"-"-^ the empero t'o^ e ' 
 
 itLfwrr'^/Ti'*^" '"^^^'^^^ P^-^tended offe of 
 assistance, and to deliver u], to him alive the leaders J 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 73 
 
 the insurrection. All at once, however, he appeared 
 in a hostile attitude in Upper Hungaiy. Before him 
 went terror, and devastation behind ; all opposition 
 yielded, and, at Presburg, he received the Hungarian 
 crown. The emperor's brother, who governed in Vi- 
 enna, ti-embled for the capital. He hastily summoned 
 (General Bucquoi to his assistance, and the retreat of 
 rhe imperialists drew the Bohemians, a second time, be- 
 fore the walls of Vienna. Keinforced by twelve tliou- 
 sand Tiansylvantans, and soon after joined by the vic- 
 torious army of Bethlem Gabor, they again menaced 
 the capital with assault ; all the countiy round Vienna 
 was laid waste, the navigation of the Danube closed, all 
 supplies cut off, .and the horrors of famine were threat- 
 ened. Ferdinand, hastily recalled to his capital by this 
 urgent danger, saw himself a second time on the brink 
 of ruin. But want of provisions, and the inclement 
 weather, finally compelled the Bohemians to go into 
 quarters, a defeat in Hungary recalled Bethlem Gabor, 
 and thus once more had fortune rescued the emperor. ' 
 In a few weeks the scene was changed, and by his 
 prudence and activity, Ferdinand improved his position 
 as rapidly as Frederick, by indolence and impolicy, 
 ruined his. The estates of Lower Austi'ia were re- 
 gained to their allegiance by a confirmation of their i)riv- 
 ileges ; and the few who still held out were decliired 
 guilty of rcsc-majcstc and high treason. During the 
 election of Frankfort, he had contrived, by personal lep- 
 resentatioBs, to win over to his cause the ecclesiastical 
 electors, and also Maximilian, J)uke of Bavaria, at Mu- 
 nich. The whole issue of the war, the fate of Fred- 
 erick and the emperor, were now dependent on the 
 part which the Union and the League should take in 
 the troubles of Bohemia. It was evidently of impor- 
 tance to all the Protestants of Germany that the King 
 of Bohemia should be supported, while it was equally 
 the interest of the Roman Catholics to prevent the ruin 
 of the emperor. If the Protestants succeeded in Bohe- 
 mia, all the Roman Catholic princes in Germany might 
 tremble for their possessions ; if thej^ failed, tlie em- 
 peror would give laws to Prctestant Germany. Thug 
 Ferdinand put the League, Frederick the Union ,n 
 
 G 
 
74 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 motion. The ties of relationship and a personal attach- 
 ment to the emperor, his brother-in-law, with whom he 
 had been educated at Ingolstadt, zeal for the Iloman 
 Catholic religion, which seemed to be in the most immi- 
 nent peril, and the suggestions of the Jesuits, combined 
 with tlil^ suspicious movements o*f the Union, moved 
 the Duke of 13avaria, and all the princes of the League, 
 to make the cause of Ferdinand their own. 
 
 According to the terms of a treaty w^th the emperor, 
 which assured to the Duke of Bavaria compensation for 
 all the expenses of the war, or the losses he might sus- 
 tain, Maximilian took, with full powers, the coiTWimnd 
 of the troops of the League, which were ordered to 
 march to the assistance of the emperor against the Bo 
 hemian rebels. The leaders of the Union, instead ol 
 delaying by every means this dangerous coalition of the 
 League with the emperor, did every thing in their 
 power to accelerate it. Could they, they thought, but 
 once drive the Roman Catholic League to take an open 
 part in the Bohemian war, they might reckon on similar 
 measures from all the members and allies of the Union. 
 Without some open step taken by the Roman Catholics 
 against the Union, no effectual confederacy of the Prot- 
 estant powers was to be looked for. They seized, there- 
 fore, the present emergency of the troubles in Bohemia 
 to demand from the Roman Catholics the abolition ot 
 their past grievances, and full security for the future ex- 
 ercise of their religion. They addressed this demand, 
 which was, moreover, couched in threatening language, 
 to the Duke of Bavaria, as the head of the Roman 
 Catholics, and they insisted on an immediate and cate- 
 gorical answer. Maximilian might decide for or against 
 them, still their point was gained ; his concession, if he 
 yielded, w^ould deprive the Roman Catholic party of 
 its most powerful protector ; his refusal would arm the 
 whole Protestant party, and render inevitable a war in 
 which they hoped to be the conquerors. Maximilian, 
 firmly attached to the opposite party fiom so many othei 
 considerations, took the demands of the Union as,a for- 
 mal declaration of hostilities, and quickened his prep- 
 arations. While Bavaria and the League were thus 
 arming in the emperor's cause, negotiations for a subsidy 
 
 SCHILLER d THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 75 
 
 (I 
 
 were opened with tne Spanish court. All the difllcal- 
 ties with which the indolent policy of that ministry met 
 this demand were happily surmounted by the impei-ial 
 ambassador at Madrid, Count Khevenhuller. In addition 
 to a subsidy of a million of florins, which, from time to 
 time, were doled out by this court, an attack upon the 
 Lower Palatinate, from the side of the Spanish Nether- 
 lands, was at the same time agreed upon. 
 
 During these attempts to draw all the Roman Cath 
 olic powers into the League, the Protestants labored 
 with equal activity to cement their confederacy. To 
 this end, it was importantto alarm the Elector of Saxony 
 and the other Evangelical powers, and acccordingly the 
 Union were diligent in propagating a rumor that the 
 preparations of the League had for their object to de- 
 prive them of the ecclesiastical foundations they- had 
 secularized. A written assurance to the contrary calmed 
 the fears of the Duke of Saxony, whom, moreover, pri- 
 vate jealousy of the Palatine, and the insinuations of his 
 chaplain, who was in the pay of Austria, and mortifica- 
 tion at having been passed over by the Bohemians in 
 the election to the throne, strongly inclined to the side 
 of Austria. The fanaticism of the Lutherans could 
 never forgive the reformed party for having drawn, as 
 they expressed it, so many fjiir provinces into the gulf 
 of Calvinism, and rejecting the Roman Antichrist only 
 t J make way for an Helvetian one. 
 
 While Ferdinand used exeij eitbit to improve the 
 unfavorable situation of his affairs, Frederick was daily 
 injuring his good cause. By his close and questiociable 
 connection with the Prince of Transylvania, the open 
 ally of the Porte, he gave oflenso to weak minds ; and 
 a general rumor accused him of furthering his own am- 
 bition at the expense of Christendom, and arming the 
 Turks against Germany. His inconsiderate zeal for the 
 Calvinistic scheme irritated the Lutherans of Bohemia, 
 his attacks on imago-worsliip incensed the papists ot 
 this kingdom against him. New and oppressive imf>osts 
 nhenated the affections of all his subjects. The disap- 
 pointed hopes of the Bohemian nobles cooled their zeal; 
 the absence of foreign succor abated their confidence. 
 Instead of devoting himself with untiring energies to th» 
 
 I 
 
70 
 
 SCHILLER d THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 affairs of his kingdom, Frederick wasted his timo In 
 amusements : instead of filling his treasury by a wise 
 economy, he squandered his revenues by a needless 
 theatrical pomp and a misplaced munificence. With a 
 light-minded carelessness, he did but gaze at himsell 
 in his new dignity, and in the ill-timed desire to enjoy 
 his crown, he forgot the more pressing duty of securino 
 it on his head. 
 
 But greatly as men had erred in their opinion of him, 
 Frederick himself had not less miscalculated his foreign 
 resources. Most of the members of the Union consid- 
 ered the affairs of Bohemia as foreign to the real object 
 of their confederacy ; others, who were devoted to him, 
 were overawed by fear of the emperor. Saxony and 
 Hesse Darmstadt had already been gained over by Fer- 
 dinand ; Lower Austria, on which side a powerful 
 diversion had been looked for, had made its submission 
 to the emperor ; and Bethlem Gabor had concluded a 
 truce with him. By its embassies, the court of Vienna 
 had induced Denmark to remain inactive, and to occupy 
 Sweden in a war with the Poles. The republic of Hol- 
 land had enough to do to defend itself against the arms of 
 the Spaniards ; Venice and Saxony remained inactive ; 
 King James of England was overreached by the artifice 
 of Spain. One friend after another withdrew; one 
 hope vanished after another — so rapidly in a few months 
 was every thing changed. 
 
 In the mean time, the leadei-s of the Union assembled 
 an army ; the emperor and the League did the same : 
 the troops of the latter were assembled under the ban- 
 ners of Maximilian at Donauwerth, those of the Union 
 at Ulm, under the Margrave of Anspach. The decisivo 
 moment seemed at length to have amved which was to 
 end these long dissensions by a vigorous blow, and irrev- 
 ocably to settle the relation of the two churches in Ger- 
 many. Anxiously on the stretch was the expectation 
 of both parties. How great then was their astonishment 
 when suddenly the intelligence of peace arrived, and 
 both armies separated without striking a blow ! 
 
 The intervention of France effected this peace, wbich 
 was equally acceptable to both parties. 1 he French 
 cabinet, no longer swayed by th'; ( ou.isels of Henr/ Kha 
 
 lb 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YE.kRS W.'.TJ. 
 
 77 
 
 Cjrreat, and whose maxims of state were, perhaps, not 
 ppplicable to the present condition of that kingdom, was 
 now far less alanned at the preponderance of Austria, 
 than of the increase which would accrue to the strength 
 of the Calvinists, if the Palatine house should be able 
 to retain the throne of Bohemia. Involved at the time 
 in a dangerous conflict with its own Calvinistic subjects, 
 it was of the utmost importance to France that the 
 Protestant faction in Bohemia should be suppressed be- 
 fore the Huguenots could copy their dangerous example. 
 in order, therefore, to facilitate the emperor's operations 
 against the Bohemians, she offered her mediation to the 
 Union and the League, and effected' this unexpected 
 treaty, of which the main article was, " That the Lnion 
 should abandon all interference in the affairs of Bohe- 
 mia, and confine the aid which they might afford to 
 Frederick V., to his Palatine territories." To this dis- 
 graceful treaty, the Union were moved by the firmness 
 of Maximilian, and the fear of being pressed at once by 
 the troops of the League, and a new imperial army 
 w^hich was on its march from the Netherlands. 
 
 The whole force of Bavaria and the League was now 
 at the disposal of the emperor to be employed against 
 the Bohemians, who, by the pacification of Ulm, were 
 abandoned to their fate. With a rapid movement, and 
 before a rumor of the proceedings at Ulm could reach 
 there, Maximilian appeared in Upper Austria, when the 
 estates, surprised and unprepared for an enemy, pur- 
 chased the emperor's pardon by an immediate and un- 
 conditional submission. In Lower Austria, the duke 
 formed a junction with the troops from the Low Coun- 
 Tries, under Bucquoi, and without loss of time the united 
 imperial and Bavarian forces, amounting to fifty thousand 
 men, entered Bohemia. All the Bohemian troops, which 
 were dispersed over Lower Austria and Moravia, were* 
 jriven before them ; every town which attempted re- 
 sistance was quickly taken by storm ; others, temfied 
 s}y the report of the punishment inflicted on these, vol- 
 untarily opened their gates ; nothing, in short, iater- 
 •upted the impetuous career of Maximilian. Thci Bo- 
 hemian army, commanded by the brave Prince Christian 
 of Anbalt, retreated to 'the neighborhood < f Prague 
 
 a 9 
 
lis 
 
 SCHILLER*3 THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 where, under the walls of the city, Maximilian offered 
 him battle. 
 
 The wretched condition in which he hoped to sur 
 prise the insurgents justified the rapidity of the duke's 
 movements, and secured him the victory. Frederick's 
 army did not amount to thiity thousand men. Eight thou- 
 sand of these were furnished by the Prince of Anhalt; 
 ten thousand were Hunjs;arians, whom Belhlem Gaboi 
 had dispatched to his assistance. An inroad of the Elec 
 tor of Saxony upon Lusatia had cut off all succors from 
 that country, and from Silesia; the pacification of Aus- 
 tria put an end to all his expectations from that qunrter ; 
 Bethlem Gabois-iiis most powerful ally, remnincd inac' 
 tive in Transylvania ; the Union had betrayed his cause 
 to the emperor. Nothing remained to him but his Bo- 
 hemians ; and they were without good-will to his cause, 
 and without unity and courage. The Bohemian mn^- 
 nates were indignant that German generals should be 
 put over their heads ; Count Mansield remained in Pil- 
 sen, at a distance from the camp, to avoid the mortifi- 
 cation of serving under Anhalt and Hohenloho. The 
 soldiers, in want of necessaries, became dispirited; and 
 the little discipline that was observed, gave occasion to 
 bitter complaints from the peasantiy. ' It was in vain 
 that Frederick made his ap{)earance in the camp, in 
 the hope of reviving the courage of the soldiers by his 
 presence, and of kindling the emulation of the nobles by 
 his example, *^ 
 
 The Bohemians had begun to intrench ihemselves 
 on the White Mountain near Prague, when they were 
 attacked by tlie imperial and Bavarian armies, on the 
 6th of November, 1G20. In the beginning of the action, 
 some advantages were gained by the cavalry of the 
 Prince of Anhalt ; but the superior numbers of the 
 •enemy soon neutralized them. The charge of the Ba- 
 varians and Walloons was irresistible. The Hungarian 
 cavahy was the first to retreat. The Bohemian infon- 
 try soon followed their example; and the Germans 
 were at^ last carried along with them iu the general 
 flight. Ten cannons, composing the whole of Freder- 
 ick's artillery, were taken by the enemy ; four thou- 
 sand Bohemians fell in the flight and on the field ; whfift 
 
 SCHILLER*S THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 79 
 
 of the imperialists and soldiers of the League only a 
 few hundred were killed. In less than an hour this 
 decisive action was over. 
 
 Frederick was seated at table in Prague, while his 
 army was thus cut to pieces. It is probable that he 
 had not expected the attack on this day, since he had 
 ordered an entertainment for it. A messenger sum- 
 moned him from table, to show him from the walls the 
 whole frightful scene. He requested a cessation of hos- 
 tilities for twenty-four hours for deliberation, but eight 
 was cfl the Duke of Bavaria would allow him. Fi-ed- 
 erick availed himself of these to fly by night from the 
 capital, with his wife, and the chief oflicers of his army. 
 This flight was so hurried, that the Prince of Anhalt 
 left behind him his most private papers, and Frederick 
 his crown. " I know now what I am," said this unfor- 
 tunate prince to those who endeavored to comfort him ; 
 " there are virtues which misfortune only can teach us, 
 and it is in adversity alone that princes learn to know 
 themselves." 
 
 Prague was not irretrievably lost when Frederick's 
 pusillanimity abandoned it. The light troops of Mans- 
 feld were still in Pilsen, and were not engaged in the 
 action. Bethlem Gabor might at any moment have 
 assumed an ofl'ensive attitude, and drawn off the em 
 peror's army to the Hungarian frontier. The defefited 
 Bohemians might rally. Sickness, famine, and tlTe 
 inclement weather, might wear out the enemy ; but all 
 these hopes disappeared before the immediate alarm. 
 Frederick dreaded the fickleness of the Bohemians, who 
 might probably yield to the temptation to purchase., by 
 the surrender of his person, the pardon of the emperor. 
 
 Thurn, and those of this party who wei*e in the sfimo 
 condemnation with him, found it equally inexpedient to 
 await their destiny within the walls of Prague. They 
 retired toward Moravia, with a view of seeking refuge 
 in Transylvania. Frederick fled to Breslau, where, 
 however, he only remained a short time. He removed 
 from thence to the court of the Elector of Brandenburg, 
 and finally took shelter in Holland. 
 
 The battle of Prague had decided the fate of Bohe- 
 mia. Prague surrendeied the next day to the victors 
 
so 
 
 Schiller's thirty years* war. 
 
 the other towns followed the example of the capital. 
 The estates did homage without conditions, and the 
 same was done by those of Silesia and Moravia. The 
 emperor allowed three months to elapse before institu- 
 ting any inquiry into the past. Reassured by this appa- 
 rent clemency, many who, at first, had fled in terror, 
 nppeared again in the capital. All at once, however, 
 the storm burst forth ; forty-eight of the most active 
 among the insurgents were arrested on the same day 
 and hour, and tried by an extraordinary commission, 
 composed of native Bohemians and Austrians. Of 
 these, twenty-seven, and of the common people an 
 immense number, expired on the scaffold. The ab- 
 senting offenders were summoned to appear to their 
 trial, and failing to do so, condemned to death, as trait- 
 ors and offenders against his Catholic Majesty, their 
 estates confiscated, and their names affixed to the gal- 
 lows. The property also of the rebels who had fallen 
 in the field was seized. This tyranny might have been 
 borne, as it afiected individuals only, and while the ruin 
 of one enriched another; but more intolerable was the 
 oppression which extended to the whole kingdom, with- 
 out exception. All the Protestant preachers w^ere ban- 
 ished from the country ; the Bohemians first, and after- 
 ward those of Germany. The Letter of Majesty Fer- 
 dinand tore with his own hand, and burnt the seal. 
 Seven years after the battle of Prague, the toleration 
 of the Protestant religion within the kingdom was en- 
 tirely revoked. But the violence which the emperor 
 allowed hi:nself against the religious privileges of his 
 subjects, he carefully abstained from exercising against 
 their political constitution ; and while he deprived them 
 of the liberty of thought, he magnanimously left them 
 the prerogative of taxing themselves. 
 
 The victory of the White Mountain put Ferdinand 
 in possession of all his dominions. It even invested him 
 with greater authority over them than his predecessors 
 enjoyed, since their allegiance had been uncondition- 
 ally pledged to him, and no Letter of Majesty now ex- 
 isted to limit his sovereignty. All his wishes were now 
 gratified, to a degree surpassing his most sanguine ex 
 pectations. 
 
 bchiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 81 
 
 It was now in his powder to dismiss his allies, and 
 disband his army. If he was just, there was an end of 
 the war — if he was both magnanimous and just, pun- 
 ishment was also at an end. The fate of Germany was 
 in his hands; the happiness and misery of millions de- 
 pended on the resolution he should take. Never was 
 so great a decision resting on a single mind ; never did 
 the bhndness of one man produce so much ruin. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 The resolution which Ferdinand now adopted, gave to 
 the war a new direction, a new scene, and new actors. 
 From a rebellion in Bohemia, and the chastisemeni of 
 rebels, the w^ar extended first to Germany, and afterward 
 to Europe. It is, therefore, necessary to take a gen- 
 eral survey of the state of affairs both in Germany find 
 the rest of Europe. 
 
 Unequally as the territory of Germany and the priv- 
 ileges of its members were divided among the Roman 
 Catholics and the Protestants, neither party could hope 
 to maintain itself against the encroachments of its ad- 
 versary otherwise than by a prudent use of its peculiar 
 advantages, and by a politic union among themselves. 
 If the Roman Catholics were the more numerous party, 
 and more favored by the constitution of the empire, the 
 Protestants, on the other hand, had the advantage of 
 possessing a more compact and populous line of territo- 
 ries, valiant princes, a warlike nobility, numerous armies, 
 flourishing free towns, the command of the sea, and 
 even at the worst, certainty of support from Roman 
 Catholic states. If the Catholics could arm Spain and 
 Italy in their favor, the republics of Venice, Holland, 
 and England opened their treasures to the Protestants, 
 while the states of the North, and the formidable power 
 t)f Turkey, stood ready to afford them prompt assist- 
 ance. Brandenburg, Saxony, and the Palatinate, oppo- 
 sed three Protestant to three Ecclesiastical votes in the 
 
82 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' wah. 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 83 
 
 Electoral College ; while to the Elector of Bohemia, as 
 to the Archduke of Austria, the possession uf the impe- 
 rial dignity was an important clieck, if the Protestants 
 properly availed themselves of it. The sword of the 
 Union might keep within its sheath the sword of the 
 League ; or if matters actually came to a war, might 
 make the issue of it doubtful. But, unfortunately, pri- 
 vate interests dissolved the band of union which should 
 liave held together the political members of the empire. 
 This critical conjuncture found none but second-rate 
 actors ou the political stage, and the decisive momenr 
 was neglected because the courageous were deficient ir> 
 power, and the powerful in sagacity, courage, and reso 
 lution. 
 
 The Elector of Saxony was placed at the head of the 
 German Protestants, by the services of his ancestor 
 Maurice, by the extent of his territories, and by the 
 influence of his electoral vote. Upon the resolution ho 
 might adopt, the fate of the contending parties seemed 
 to depend ; and John George was not insensible to the 
 advantages which this important situation procured him. 
 Equally valuable as an ally, both to the emperor and to 
 the Protestant Union, he cautiously avoided committing 
 himself to either party ; neither trusting himself by any 
 irrevocable decla^;ation entirely to the gratitude of the 
 emperor, nor renouncing the advantages which were to 
 be gained from his fears. Uninfected by the contagion 
 of religious and romantic enthusiasm which hurried sov- 
 ereign after sovereign to risk both crown and life on the 
 hazard of war, John George aspired to the more solid 
 renown of improving and advancing the interests of his 
 territories. His cotemporai'ies accused him of forsaking 
 the Protestant cause in the very midst of the storm ; of 
 tjreferring the aggrandizement of his house to the eman- 
 cipation of his country ; of exposing the whole Evangel- 
 ical or Lutheran church of Germany to ruin, rather 
 than raise an arm in defense of the lleformed or Cal- 
 vinists ; of injuring the common cause by his suspicious 
 fiiendship more seriously than the open enmity of its 
 avowed opponents. But it would have been well if his 
 accusers had imitated the wise policy of the elsctor. 
 If, despite of the prudent policy, the Saxoi^ ^^e eil) 
 
 others, groaned at the cruelties which marked the em- 
 }>eror's progress ; if all Germany was a witness how 
 Ferdinand deceived his confederates and trifled with 
 his engagements ; if even the elector hiinself at last 
 perceived this — the more shauie to tlie emperor who 
 could so basely betray such implicit confidence. 
 
 If an excessive reliance on the emperor, and the 
 hope of enlarging his territories, tied the hands of the 
 Elector of Saxony, tho weak George Wilham, Elector of 
 Brandenburg, was still more shamefully fettered by fear 
 of Austria, and of the k)ss of his dominions. What was 
 made a reproach against these princes would have pre- 
 served to the Elector Palatine his fame and his kingdom. 
 A rash confidence in his untried strength, the influence 
 of French counsels, and the temptation of a crown, had 
 seduced tliat unfortunate prince into an enterprise for 
 which he had neither adequate genius nor political ca- 
 pacity. The partition of his territories among discord- 
 ant princes enfeebled the Pahitinate, whicli, united, 
 might have made a longer resistance. 
 
 This partition of territory was equally injurious to i!lio 
 House of Hesse, in which, between Darmstadt and 
 Cassel, religious dissensions had occasioned a fatal divi- 
 sion. The line of Darmstadt, adhering to the Confes- 
 sion of Augsburg, had placed itself under the emper- 
 or's protection, who ffivored it at the expense of the 
 Calvinists of Cassel. While his religious confederates 
 were shedding their blood for their faith and their lib- 
 erties, the Landgrave of Darmstadt was won over by 
 the emi^eror's gold. But William of Cassel, every way 
 worthy of his ancestor who, a century before, had de- 
 fended the freedom of Germany against the formidable 
 Charles V., espoused the cause of danger and of honor. 
 Superior to that pusillanimity which made far more 
 powei-ful princes bow before Ferdinand's might, the 
 Landgrave WiUiam was the first to join the hero of 
 Sweden, and to set an example to the princes of Ger- 
 many which all had hesitated to begin. The boldness 
 of his resolve was equaled by the steadfastness of his 
 perseverance and the valor of his exploits. He placed 
 himself with unshrinking resolution before his bleeding 
 country, and boldly confronted the fearfnl enemy. Avhase 
 
 r 
 
HS 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 hands were still reeking from the carnage of Magde- 
 
 The Landgrave William deserves to descend to im- 
 mortality with the heroic race of Ernest. Thy day of 
 vengeance was long delayed, unfortunate John Fred- 
 erick ! Noble ! never-to-be-forgotten prince ' Slowly 
 but brightly it broke. Thy times returned, and thy 
 heroic spirit descended on thy grandson. An intrepid 
 race of princes issues from the Thuringian forests, to 
 shame, by immortal deeds, the unjust sentence which 
 robbed thee of the electoral crown — to avenge thy 
 offended shade by heaps of bloody sacrifice. The sen- 
 tence of the conqueror could deprive thee of thy terri- 
 tories, but not that spirit of patriotism which staked 
 them, nor that chivalrous courage which, a century 
 afterward, was destined to shake the throne of his de- 
 scendant. Thy vengeance and that of Germany whet- 
 ted the sacred sword, and one heroic hand after the 
 other wielded the irresistible steel. As men, they 
 achieved what as sovereigns they dared not undertake ; 
 th^ met in a glorious cause as the valiant soldiers of 
 liberty. Too weak in territory to attack the enemy 
 with their own forces, they directed foreign artillery 
 against them, and led foreign banners to victoiy. 
 
 The liberties of Germany, abandoned by the more 
 powerful states, who, howevei-, enjoyed most of the 
 prosperity accruing from them, were defended by a few 
 princes for whom they were almost without value. The 
 possession of territories and dignities deadened courage ; 
 the want of both made heroes. While Saxony, Bran- 
 denburg, and the rest drew back in terror, Anhalt, 
 Mansfeld, the Prince of Weimar, and others, were 
 shedding their blood in the field. The Dukes of Pom- 
 erania, Mecklenburg, Luneburg, and Wirtembuig, and 
 the free cities of Upper Germany, to whom the name 
 of emperor was of course a formidable one, anxiously 
 avoided a contest with such an opponent, and crouched 
 murmuring beneath his mighty arm. 
 
 Austria and Roman Catholic Germany possessed in 
 Maximilian of Bavaria a champion as prudent as he was 
 powerful. Adhering throughout the war to one fixed 
 plan, never divided between his rehgion and his political 
 
 sciiiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 H5 
 
 mterests; not the slavish dependent of Austria, w^o 
 was laboring for his advancement, and trembled befc.-o 
 her powerful protector, Maximilian earned the terri.^)- 
 ries and dignities that rewarded his exertions. T.o 
 other Roman Catholic states, which were chiefly ecc,-.- 
 siastical, too unwarlike to resist the multitudes whom t -a 
 prosperity of their territories allured, became the v> - 
 tims of the war one after another, and were content-d 
 to persecute, in the cabinet and in the pulpit, the enew-v 
 whom they could not openly oppose in the field. h% 
 of them, slaves either to Austria or Bavaria, sunk ioto 
 insignificance by the side of Maximilian ; in his Imi d 
 alone their united power could be rendered available. 
 . The formidable monarchy which Charles V. and K.s 
 son had unnaturally constructed of the Netherlano^, 
 Milan, and the two Sicilies, and their distant possessiar'a 
 m the East and West Indies, was, under Philip Hi. 
 and Philip IV., fast verging to decay. Swollen to a 
 sudden greatness by unfruitful gold, this power was 
 now sinking under a visible decline, neglecting, as it 
 did, agriculture, the natural support of states. The 
 conquests in the West Indies had reduced Spain itself 
 to poverty, while they enriched the markets of Europe ; 
 the bankers of Antwerp, Venice, and Genoa, were mak- 
 ing profit on the gold which was still buried in the 
 mines of Peru. For the sake of India, Spain had been 
 depopulated, while the treasures drawn thence were 
 wasted in the re-conquest of Holland, in the chimerical 
 project of changing the succession to the crown of 
 France, and in an unfortunate attack upon England. 
 But the pride of this court had survived its greatness, 
 as the hate of its enemies had outlived its power. Dis- 
 trust of the Protestants suggested to the ministry of 
 Philip III. the dangerous policy of his father; and the 
 reliance of the Roman Catholics in Germany on S])an. 
 ish assistance was as firm as their belief in the wonder 
 working bones of the martyrs. External splendor con- 
 cealed the inward wounds at which the life-blood of thi» 
 monarchy was oozing; and the belief -of its strength 
 survived, because it still maintained the lofty tone of its 
 golden days. Slaves in their palaces, and strangers 
 e^ en upon their own thrones, the Spanish nominal kingj 
 
 H 
 
' 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 Still gave laws to their German rv-lations ; tnougli it is 
 very doubtful if the support they afforded was worth the 
 dependence by which the emperors purchased it. The 
 fate of Europe was decided behind the Pyrenees by 
 ignorant monies or vindictive fovorites. Yet, even in its 
 debasement, a power must always be formidable, which 
 yields to none in extent ; which, from custom, if not 
 from the steadfastness of its views, adhered faithfully to 
 one system of policy ; which possessed well-disciplined 
 armies and consummate generals; which, where the 
 sword failed, did not scruple to employ the dagger ; and 
 converted even its ambassadors into incendiaries and 
 assassins. What it had lost in three quarters of the 
 globe it now sought to regain to the eastward, and all 
 Europe was at its mercy, if it could succeed in its long 
 cherished design of uniting with the hereditary domin- 
 ions of Austria all that lay between the Alps and the 
 Adriatic. 
 
 To the great alarm of the native states, this formida- 
 ble power had gained a footing in Italy, where its con- 
 tinual encroachments made the neighboring sovereigns 
 to tremble for their own possessions. The Pope him- 
 self was in the most dangerous situation; hemmed in 
 on both sides by the Spanish viceroys of Naples on the 
 one side, and that of Milan upon the other. Venice 
 was confined between the Austrian Tyrol and the Span- 
 ish territories of Milan. Savoy was surrounded by the 
 lattei-, and by France. Hence the wavering and equiv- 
 ocal policy, which, from the time of Charles V., had 
 been pursued by the Italian states. The characters 
 which the Popes held caused them perpetually to vacil- 
 Inte between two contradictory systems of policy. If 
 the successors of St. Peter found in the Spanish prin- 
 ces then- most obedient disciples, and the most steadfast 
 supporters of the papal see, yet the pnnces of the 
 states of the Church had in the'se monarchs their most 
 dangerous neighbors, and most formidable opponents. 
 If, m the one capacity, their dearest wish was the de- 
 struction of the Protestants, and the triumph of Aus- 
 tria, in the other, they had reason to bless the arms of 
 the Protestants, which disabled a dangerous enemy. 
 The one or the other sentiment prevailed, according 
 
 SCHILLER S TIIIRTi' YEARS WAR. 
 
 87 
 
 tn the love of temporal dominion, or zeal for spiritual 
 supremacy, predominated in the mind of the Pope. 
 But the policy of Rome was, on the whole, directed to 
 immediate dangers ; and it is well known how far more 
 powerful is the apprehension of losing a present good, 
 than anxiety to recover a long lost possession. And 
 thus it becomes intelligible how the Pope should first 
 csmbine with Austria for the destruction of heresy, and 
 then conspire with these very heretics for the destruc- 
 tion of Austria. Strangely blended are the threads of 
 human affairs. What would have become of the Ref- 
 Drmation, and of the liberties of Germany, if the Bishop 
 of Rome and the Prince of Rome had had but one 
 interest ? 
 
 France had lost with its great Henry all its impor- 
 tance and all its weight in the political balance of Eu- 
 rope. A turbulent minority had destroyed all the ben- 
 efits of the able administration of Henry. Incapable 
 ministers, the creatures of court intrigue, squandered 
 in a few years the treasures which Sully's economy and 
 Henry's frugality had amassed. Scarce able to main- 
 tain their ground against internal factions, they were 
 compelled to resign to other hands the helm of Euro- 
 pean affairs. The same civil war which armed Ger- 
 many against itself, excited a similar commotion in 
 France ; and Louis XIII. attained majority only to 
 wage a war with his own mother and his Protestant 
 subjects. This party, which had been kept quiet by 
 Henry's enlightened policy, now seized the opportunity 
 to take up arms, and, under the command of some ad- 
 venturous leaders, began to form themselves into a party 
 within the state, and to fix on the strong and powerful 
 town of Rochelle as the capital of their intended king- 
 dom. Too Httle of a statesman to suppress, by a pru- 
 dent toleration, this civil commotion in its birth, and too 
 little master of the resources of his kingdom to direct 
 thejn with energy, Louis XIII. was reduced to the 
 degradation of purchasing the submission of the rebels 
 by large sums of money. Though policy might incline 
 him, in one point of view, to assist the Bohemian insur- 
 gents against Austria, the son of Henry IV. was now 
 compelled to be an inactive spectator of their destruc 
 
IS 
 
 sciim.i,i;r's riiiRTy years' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 hon, happy enough if the Calvinists, in his own domin 
 ions, d,d not unseasonably bethink them of their coZd 
 
 na es beyond the Rhine. A great mind at the helm 
 of s ate would have reduced tht Protestants in France 
 
 o obedience, while it fought for the independence of 
 
 W?'-? ?i "."""^ TJ''' ''^"'"^'^ '"« system of policy 
 While the glory of France was thus upon the wane 
 
 he emancipated republic of Holland was completinTtl e 
 abnc of Its greatness. The enthusiastic courage had 
 
 0?,L1 il"'"^' ^^'f '','.«"''''"dled by the House of 
 Uiangc had converted this mercantile people into 
 nation of heroes, and had enabled them'^ to ma „t°r„ 
 their independence in a bloody war against the Spa" sb 
 
 berty o tore.gn support, these republicans were ready 
 to assist their (iennan brethren in a similar cause, and 
 ami hTll"' r ^f^'-"'- "PPosed to the same en;^: 
 n.i nf J n J of Germany was the best warrant fo,' 
 
 h.it ot Holland. But a republic which had still to bat- 
 tle for Its very existence, Avhich, with all its wonderful 
 
 ^^^A rf;"""' '^^f^''.'' "?«'<=•' for the formidable enemy 
 ^^.thm its own territories, could not be expected to 
 witadraw its troops from the necessary work of self de" 
 
 ^ZTJ° '?'''°^ "^'"" ""^ <" '"asn^^inious pob y In 
 protecting foreign states. i J '" 
 
 England, too though now united with Scotland, ,,„ 
 longer possessed under the weak James, that influe ."o 
 mthealairsofLurope which the governing mind of 
 L b^abeth had procured for it. Convinced that the vv c",- 
 die ot her dominions depended on the security of ii,l 
 P.-otes,ants this politic princess had never sweivedf«n 
 the princi,.le ot promoting every enterprise which ha 
 for Its object the diminution of the Austrian power. He • 
 successor was no less devoid of capacity to comprehend 
 
 tZ\"- "1V° '""'?"'• ^"^ ^i«^^s. While thelconom- 
 .e.l Lbzabeth spared not her treasures to suppo.t the 
 k lemmgs against Spain, and Henry IV. agahi^t e 
 League, .lames abandoned his daughter, his so^"n law 
 and h s g-andchild to the fury of his enemies. Wh ^e 
 
 kin« he'an ^",^f^'-"'"S to establish the divine right of 
 kings, he allowed his own dignity to sink into the dust- 
 
 i 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 89 
 
 while he exerted his rhetoric to prove the absoiut*' a- 
 thority of kings, he reminded the people of theirs ; jd, 
 by a useless profusion, sacrificed true royalty — th' lig- 
 pensing with his parliament, and thus silencinj the 
 voice of freedom. An innate horror at the sigh- of a 
 naked sword averted him from the most just of %<ars; 
 while his favorite Buckingham practiced on his -vseak 
 ness, and his own complacent vanity rendered him an 
 easy dupe of Spanish artifice. While his son-in-law 
 was ruined, and the inheritance of his grandson given 
 to others, this weak prince was imbibing, with satisfac- 
 tion, the incense which was oflered to him by Austria 
 and Spain. To divert his attention from the German 
 war, he was amused with the proposal of a Spanish 
 marriage for his son, and the ridiculous parent encour- 
 aged the romantic youth in the foolish project of pay- 
 ing his addresses in person to the Spanish princess. 
 But his son lost his bride, as his son-in-law lost the 
 cro>vn of Bohemia and the Palatine Electorate ; and 
 death alone saved him from the danger of closing his 
 pacific reign by a war at home, which he never had 
 courage to maintain, even at a distance. 
 
 The domestic disturbances which his misgovernuent 
 had gradually excited, burst forth under his unfortunate 
 son, and forced him, after some unimportant attempts, 
 to renounce all further participation in the Gei-maii 
 war, to extinguish within his own kingdom the rage of 
 faction. 
 
 Two illustrious monarchs, far unequal in personal rep- 
 utation, but equal in power and desire of fame, made 
 the North at this time to be respected. Under the long 
 and active reign of Christian IV., Denmark had risen 
 into importance. The personal qualifications of this 
 ])rince, .in excellent navy, a formidable army, well- 
 ordered finances, and prudent alliances, had combined 
 to give her prosperity at home and influence abroad, 
 (justavus Vasa had rescued Sweden from vassalage, 
 j-eformed it by wise laws, and had introduced, for the 
 first time, this newly organized state into the field of 
 Euroi)ean pohtics. What this great prince had merely 
 sketched in rude outline, was filled up by Gusli avua 
 Adolphus, his still greater grandson. 
 
 M- 
 
 u 
 
 o 
 
1 
 
 D() 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 SCHILLER 3 THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 91 
 
 These two kingdoms, once unnaturally united, and en- 
 feebled by their union, had been violently sei)arated at 
 the time of the Reformation, and this separation was the 
 epoch of their prosperity. Injurious as this compulsoi y 
 union had proved to both kingdoms, equally necessary 
 to each apart were neighborly friendship and harmony. 
 On both the evangehcai church leaned ; both had tho 
 same seas to protect: a common interest ought to unite 
 them against the same enemy. But the hati-ed which 
 had dissolved the union of these monarchies continued 
 long after their separation to divide the two nations. 
 The Danish kings could not abandon their pretensions 
 to the Swedish crown, nor the Swedes banish the re- 
 membrance of Danish oppression. The contiguous 
 boundaries of the two kingdoms furnislied constantly 
 materials of national quarrels, while the watchful jeal- 
 ousy of both kings, and the unavoidable collision of their 
 commercial interests in the North seas, were an inex- 
 haustible source of dispute. 
 
 Among the means of which Gustavus Vasa, the 
 Sunder of the Swedish monarchy, availed himself to 
 /Strengthen his new edilice, the Reformation had been 
 one of the principal. A fundamental law of the king- 
 dom excluded the adherents of popery from all offices 
 jf the state, and prohibited every future sovereign ot 
 Sweden from altering the religious constitution of tho 
 kingdom. But the second son and second successor 
 jf Gustavus had relapsed into popery, and his son Sigis- 
 mund, also King of Poland, had been guilty of measures 
 which menaced both the constitution and the established 
 church. Headed by Charles, Duke of Sudermania, the 
 Ihird son of Gustavus, the estates made a courageous 
 resistance, which terminated, at last, in an open civil 
 war between the uncle and nephew, and between the 
 king and the people. Duke Charles, administrator of 
 the kingdom during the absence of the king, had availed 
 himself of Sigismund's long residence in Poland, and the 
 iust displeasure of the states, to ingratiate himself with 
 the nation, and gradually to prepare his way to the 
 throne. His views were not a little forwarded by Sigis- 
 mund's imprudence. A general Diet ventured to abol- 
 sh, in favor of the Protector, the rule of primogeni 
 
 ture which Gustavus had established in the succession, 
 and placed the Duke of Sudermania on the throne, from 
 which Sigismund, with his whole posterity, were sol- 
 emnly excluded. The son of the new king (who 
 reigned under the name of Charles IX.) was Gustavus 
 Adolphus, whom, as the son of a usurper, the adherents 
 of' Sigismund refused to recognize. But if the obliga- 
 tions between monarchy and subjects are reciprocal, 
 and states are not to be ti-ansmitted, like a lifeless heir- 
 loom, from hand to hand, a nation acting with unanimity 
 must have the power of renouncing their alle^ianc*? to a 
 sovereign who has violated his obligations to them, and 
 of filling his place by a worthier object. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus had not completed his seventeenth 
 year, when the Swedish throne became vacant by the 
 death of his father. But the early maturity of his ge- 
 nius enabled the estates to abridge in his favor the legal 
 period of minority. Witli a glorious conquest over him 
 self, he commenced a reign which was to have victory 
 for its constant attendant — a career which was to begin 
 and end in success. The young Countess of Brahe, 
 the daughter of a subject, had gained his early siffec- 
 tions, and he had resolved to share with her the Swed- 
 ish throne. But, constrained by time and circumstances, 
 he made his attachment yield to the higher dutiesi of a 
 king, and heroism again took exclusive possession of a 
 heart which was not destined by nature to confine itself 
 within the limits of quiet domestic happiness. 
 
 Christian I\^. of Denmark, who had ascended the 
 throne before the birth of Gustavus, in an inroad lapon 
 Sweden, had gained some considerable advantages over 
 the father of that hero. Gustavus Adolphus hastened 
 to put an end to this destructive war, and by prudent 
 sacrifices obtained a peace, in order to turn his arms 
 against the Czar of Muscovy. The questionable fame 
 of a conqueror never tempted him to spend the blood 
 of his subjects in unjust wars; but he never shrunk 
 Irom a just one. His arms were successful against 
 Russia, and Sweden was augmented by several impor- 
 tant provinces on the east. 
 
 In the mean time, Sigismund of Poland retained against 
 the son the same sentiments of hostility w^hich the ftitKi^r 
 
no 
 
 ScniLLCIl'd THIRTY YE Alts' WAR. 
 
 8CHILLER*S THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 98 
 
 had provoked, and left no artifice untried to shake tl'o 
 alligiance of his subjects, to cool the ardor of his friends, 
 and to imbitter liis enemies. Neither the great quali- 
 ties of his rival, nor the repeated proofs of devotion 
 Which feweden gave to her loved monarch, could ex- 
 tinguish m this infatuated prince the foolish hope of rt^-- 
 gaining his lost throne. All Gustavus's overtures were 
 haughtily rejected. Unwillingly was this really peace- 
 tul king involved in a tedious war with Poland, in which 
 the whole of Livonia and Polish Prussia were succes 
 sively conquered. Though constantly victorious, Gus- 
 tavus Adolphus was always the first to hold out the hand 
 01 peace. 
 
 This contest between Sweden and Poland foils some 
 where about the beginning of the Thirty Years' War in 
 Germany, with which it is in some measure connected. 
 It was enough that Sigismund, himself a Roman Catho- 
 lie, was disputing the Swedish crown with a Protestant 
 prince, to assure him the active support of Spain and 
 Austria; while a double relationship to the emperor 
 gave him a stiU stronger claim to his protection. It was 
 his. reliance on this powerful assistance that chiefly en- 
 couraged the King of Poland to continue the war, which 
 had hitherto turned out so unfavorably for him, and the 
 courts of Madrid and Vienna failed not to encourage hira 
 by high-sounding promises. While Sieismund lost one 
 place after another in Livonia, Couiland, and Prussia, 
 he saw his ally in Germany advancing, from conquesv 
 alter conquest, to unlimited power. No wonder, then, i: 
 his aversion to peace kept pace with his losses. The 
 vehemence with wbich he nourished his chimerical 
 hopes blinded him to the artful policy of his confederates, 
 who at his expense were keeping the Swedish hero 
 employed, in order to overturn, without opposition, the 
 liberties of Germany, and then to seize on the exhaust- 
 ed North as an easy conquest. One circumstance which 
 had not been calculated on— ihe magnanimity of Gus- 
 tavus— overthrew this deceitful policy. An eight years' 
 war in Poland, so far from exhausting the power of 
 Sweden, had on'y served to mature the military genius 
 of Gustavus, to mure the Swedish army to warfare, and 
 insensibly to i.erfpct that svstem of tactics by which 
 
 ^ 
 
 they were aftenvard to peiform such wonders in Ger 
 many. 
 
 After this necessary digression on the existing circura- 
 stances of Europe, I now resume the thread of my his- 
 tory. 
 
 Ferdinand had regained his dominions, but had not 
 •indemnified himself for the expenses of recovering tbem. 
 A sum of forty millions of florins, which the confiscations 
 in Bohemia and Moravia had produced, would have suf- 
 ficed to reimburse both him and his allies ; but the 
 Jesuits and his favorites soon squandered this sum, large 
 as it was. Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria, to whose victo- 
 rious arm, principally, the emperor owed the recovery 
 of his dominions ; who, in the service of religion and the 
 emperor, had sacrificed his near relation, had the strong- 
 est claims on his gratitude ; and, moreover, in a tJMiaty 
 which, before the war, the duke had concluded with the 
 emperor, he had expressly stipulated for the reimburse- 
 ment of all expenses. Ferdinand felt the full weight of 
 the obligation imposed upon him by this treaty and by 
 these services, but he was not disposed to discharge it at 
 his own cost. His purpose was to bestow a brilliant re- 
 ward upon the duke, but without detriment to himself. 
 How could this be done better than at the expense of 
 the unfortunate prince who, by his revolt, had given tho 
 emperor a right to punish him, and whose ofl'enses might 
 be painted in colors strong enough to justify the most 
 violent measures under the appearance of law. That, 
 then, Maximilian may be rewarded, Frederick must; be 
 further persecuted and totally ruined ; and to defray the 
 expenses of the old war, a new one must be commenced. 
 But a still stronger motive combined to enforce the 
 first. Hitherto Ferdinand had been contending for ex- 
 istence alone ; he had been fulfilling no other duty than 
 that of self-defense. But now, when victoiy gave him 
 freedom to act, a higher duty occurred to him, and he 
 remembered the vow which he had made at Loretto unl 
 at Rome, to his gcneralissima, the Holy Virgin, to ex- 
 tend her worship even at tho risk of his crown and life. 
 With this object the oppression of the Protestants was 
 inseparably connected. More favorable circumstances 
 for its accomplishment could not offer than those wbich 
 
94 
 
 Schiller's thtxIty years' war. 
 
 presented themselves at the close of the Bohemian war. 
 Neither the power, nor a pretext of right, were now 
 wanting to enable him to place the Palatinate in the 
 hands of the Catholics; and the importance of this 
 change -to the Catholic interests in Germany Avould b? 
 incalculable. Thus, in rewarding tne Duke of Bavaria 
 with the spoils of his relation, he at once gratified his 
 meanest passions, and fulfilled his most exalted duties; ho 
 crushed an enemy whom he hated, and spared his ava- 
 rice a painful sacrifice, while he believed he was win 
 ning a heavenly crown. 
 
 In the emperor's cabinet the rum of Frederick had 
 been resolved upon long before fortune had decided 
 against him ; but it was only after this event that they 
 ventured to direct against him the thunders of arbitrary 
 power. A decree of the emperor, destitute of all the 
 formalities required on such occasions by the laws of 
 the empire, pronounced the elector, and three other 
 princes who had borne arms for him at Silesia and Bo- 
 hemia, as offenders against the imperial majesty, and 
 disturbers of the public peace, under the ban of the em- 
 pire, and deprived them of their titles and territories. 
 The execution of this sentence against Frederick, 
 namely, the seizure of his lands, was, in further con- 
 tempt of law, committed to Spain as sovereign of the 
 ciifcle of Burgundy, to the Duke of Bavaria and the 
 League. Had the Evangelical Union been worthy of the 
 name it bore, and of the cause which it pretended to de- 
 fend, insuperable obstacles might have prevented the 
 execution of the sentence ; but it was hopeless for a 
 power which was far from a match even for the Spanish 
 troops in the Lower Palatinate to contend against the 
 united strength of the emperor, Bavaria, and the League. 
 The sentence of proscription pronounced upon the 
 elector soon detached the free cities from the Union ; 
 and the princes quickly followed their example. Fortu- 
 nate in preserving their own dominions, they abandoned 
 the elector, their former chief, to the emperor's mercy, 
 renounced the Union, and vowed never to revive it 
 again. 
 
 But while thus ingloriously the German princes de- 
 serted the unfortunate Frederick, nnd while Bohemia, 
 
 8CII1LLERS THIRTY YEARil WAR. 
 
 95 
 
 Silesia, and Moravia submitted to the emperor, a single 
 man, a soldier of fortune, whose only treasure was hia 
 sword, Ernest Count Mansfeld, dared, in the Bohemian 
 town of Pilsen, to defy the whole power of Austria. 
 Left without assistance, after the battle of Prague, by 
 the elector, to whose service he had devoted himself, 
 and even uncertain whether Frederick would thank him 
 for his perseverance, he alone for some time held out 
 against the imperialists, till the garrison, mutinying for 
 want of pay, sold the town to the emperor. Undismayed 
 by this reverse, he immediately commenced new levies 
 in the Upper Palatinate, and enlisted the disbanded 
 troops of the Union. A new army of twenty thousand 
 men was soon assembled under his banners, the n'ore 
 formidable to the pft)vinces W'hich might be the object 
 of its attack, because it must subsist by plunder. Un- 
 certain where this swarm might light, the neighboring 
 bishops trembled for their rich possessions, which otfered 
 a tempting prey to its ravages. But, pressed by the 
 Duke of Bavaria, who now entered the Upper Palati- 
 nate, Mansfeld was compelled to retire. Eluding, by a 
 successful stratagem, the Bavarian general, Tilly, who 
 was in pursuit of him, he suddenly appeared in the 
 Lower Palatinate, and there wreaked upon the bishop- 
 rics of the Rhine the severities he had designed for those 
 of Franconia. While the imperial and Bavarian allies 
 thus overran Bohemia, the Spanish general, Spinola, had 
 penetrated with a numerous army from the Netherlands 
 into the Lower Palatinate, which, however, the pacifi- 
 cation of Ulm permitted the Union to defend. But their 
 measures were so badly concerted, that one place after 
 another fell into the hands of the Spaniards; and at last, 
 when the Union broke up, the greater part of the country 
 was in the possession of Spain. The Spanish general, 
 Corduba, who commanded these troops after the recall 
 of Spinola, hastily raised the siege of Frankenthal, when 
 Mansfeld entered the Lower Palatinate. But, instead 
 of driving the Spaniards out of this province, lie hastened 
 across the Rhine to secure for his needy troops shelter 
 and subsistence in Alsate. The open countries on which 
 this swarm of marauders threw themselves w«re con- 
 verted into frightful deserts, and only by enormous co-.v 
 
9G 
 
 SCHIJ.LER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 tributions could the cities purchase an exemption from 
 pkmder. Reinforced by this expedition, Mansfekl 
 again appeared on the Rhino to cover the Lower 
 Palatinate. 
 
 So long as such an arm fought for him, the caus6 of 
 the Elector Frederick was not irreti'ievably lost. New 
 prospects began to open, and misfortune raised up friends 
 who bad been silent during his prosperity. King James 
 of Eo»:land, who had looked on with indifierence while 
 his son-in-law lost the Bohemian crown, was aroused 
 Irom his insensibility when the very existence of his 
 daughter and grandson was at stake, and the victorious 
 eaemy ventured an attack upon the electorate. Late 
 cnouen, he at last opened his treasures, and hastened to 
 aftbrd supplies of money and troop«, first to the Union, 
 which at4hat time was defending the Lower Palatinate, 
 and afterward, when they retired, to Count Mansfeid. 
 By his means his near relation, Christian, King of Den- 
 mark, was induced to afford his active support. At the 
 same time, the approaching expiration of the truce be- 
 tvveen Spain and Holland deprived the emperor of all 
 the supplies which otherwise he might expect from the 
 side of the Netherlands. More important still was the 
 assistance which the Palatinate received from Transyl- 
 vania and Hungary. The cessation of hostilities between 
 Gubor and the emperor was scarcely at an end, when 
 this old and formidable enemy of Austria overran Hun- 
 gary anew, and caused himself to be crowned king in 
 Presburg. So rapid was his progress that, to protect 
 Austria and Hungary, Bucquoi was obliged to evacuate 
 Bohemia. This brave general met his death at the 
 siege of Neuhausel, as, shortly before, the no less valiant 
 DampieiTB had fallen before Presburg. • Gabor's march 
 into the Austrian territory was irresistible ; the old 
 Count Thurn, and several other distinguished Bohe- 
 mians, had united their hatred and then- strength with 
 this irreconcilable enemy of Austi-ia. A vigorous attack 
 on the side of Germany, while Gabor pressed the em- 
 peror on that of Hungaiy, might have retrieved the for- 
 tunes of Frederick ; but, unfortunately, the Bohemians 
 and Germans had always laid down their arms when 
 Gabor took the field; and the latter was always ex- 
 
 schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 nv 
 
 
 hausted at the very moment that the former began tt 
 recover their vigor. 
 
 Meanwhile, Frederick had not delayed to join his pro 
 rector, Mansfeid. In disguise he entered the Lowoi 
 Palatinate, of which the possession was at that time dis- 
 puted betwt^en Mansfeid and the Bavarian general, Tilly, 
 the Upper l^alatinate having been long conquered. A 
 ray of hope shone upon him as, from the wreck of the 
 Union, new fi iends came foiw^rd. A former member ot 
 the Union, George Frederick, Margrave of Baden, had 
 for some time been engaged in assembling a miiitniy 
 force, which soon amounted to a considerable army. Its 
 destination was kept a secret till he suduenly took the 
 field and joined Mansfeid. Before comniencing the war, 
 lie resigned his margraviate to his son, in the hope of 
 eluding, by this precaution, the emperor's revenge, if his 
 enterprise shoukl be unsuccessful. His neighbor, the 
 Duke of Wirteniburg, likewise began to augment his 
 military force. The cournge of the Palatinate revived, 
 and he labored as«duously to renew the Protestant 
 Union. It was now V.me for Tilly to consult for his own 
 safety, and he hastily summoned the Spanish troops, 
 under Corduba, lo his assistance. But while the enemy 
 was uniting his strength, Mansfeid and the margrave 
 separated, and the latter was defeated by the Bavarian 
 general near Wimpfen (1622). 
 
 To defend a king whom his nearest relation perse 
 cuted, and who was deserted even by his own father- 
 in-law, there had come forward an adventurer without 
 money, and whose very legitimacy was questioned. A 
 sovereign had resigned possessions over which he 
 reigned in peace to hazard the uncertain fortune of war 
 1 1 behalf of a stranger. And now another soldier of for- 
 tune, poor in territorial possessions, but rich in illustri- 
 ous ancestiy, undertook the defense of a cause which 
 the former despaired of. Christian, Duke of Brunswick, 
 idministratorof Halberstadt, seemed to have learnt from 
 Count Mansfeid the secret of keeping in the field an 
 irmy of twenty thousand men without money. Impelled 
 by youthful presumption, and influenced partly by the 
 wish of establishing his reputation at the expense of the 
 Roman Catholic priesthood, whom he cordially detested, 
 
/ 
 
 9S 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 i)9 
 
 and partly by a thirst for plunder, he assembled a con 
 siderable army in Lower Saxony, under the pretext of 
 espousing the defense of Frederick, and of the liberties 
 of Germany. " God's Friend, Priest's Foe," was the 
 motto he chose for his coinage, which was struck out of 
 church plate ; and his conduct belied one half at least of 
 the device. 
 
 The progi-ess of this banditti was, as usual, marked by 
 the most frightful devastation. Enriched by the spoils 
 of the chapters of Lower Saxony and Westphalia, they 
 gathered strength to plunder the bishoprics upon the 
 Upper Rhine. Driven thence, both by friends and foes, 
 the administrator approached the tow^n of Hoechst on 
 the Maine, which he crossed after a murderous action 
 with Tilly, wiio disputed with him the passage of the 
 river. With the loss of half his army he reached the 
 opposite bank, where he quickly collected his shattered 
 troops, and formed a junction with MansfelJ. Pursued 
 by Tilly, this united host threw itself again into Alsaca 
 to repeat their former ravages. While the Elector 
 Frederick followed, almost like a fugitive mendicant, 
 surrounded by a posse which acknowledged him as its 
 lord, and dignified itself with his name, his friends were 
 busily endeavoring to efl'ect a reconciliation between him 
 and the emperor. Ferdinand took care not to deprive 
 them of all hope of seeing the palatine restored to his 
 dominion. Full of artifice and dissimulation, he pre- 
 tended to be willing to enter into a negotiation, hoping 
 thereby to cool their ardor in the field, and to prevent 
 them from driving matters to extremity. James I., ever 
 the dupe of Austrian cunning, contributed not a little, by 
 his foolish intermeddling, to promote the emperor's 
 schemes. Ferdinand insisted that Frederick, if ho 
 would appeal to his clemency, should, first of all, lay 
 down his arms, and James considered this demand ex- 
 tremely reasonable. At his instigation the elector dis- 
 missed his only real defenders. Count Mansfeld and the 
 administrator, and in Holland awaited his own fate fron; 
 the mercy of the emperor. 
 
 Mansfeld and Duke Christian were now at a loss for 
 some new name; the cause of the elector had not so^ 
 them in motion, so his dismissal could not disarm them 
 
 %'. . 
 
 War was their object ; it was all the same to them in 
 whose cause or name it was w^aged. After some vain 
 nttempts on the part of Mansfeld to be itxeived into the 
 emii«ix)r's service, both mai-ched into LoiTaine, where 
 the excesses of their ti'oops spread terror even to the 
 heait of France. Heie they k)ng waited in vain for a 
 master willing to purchase their services ; till the Dulch, 
 pressed by the Spanish general, Spinola, offered to take 
 them into jiay. After a bloody fight at Fleui*us v/ith 
 the Spaniards, wlio attempted to intercept them, they 
 reached Holland, where their appearance compelled the 
 Spanish general forthwith to raise the siege of Bergen 
 op-Zoom. But even Holland was soon weary of these 
 unwelcome guests, and availed herself of the fii*st mo- 
 ment to get rid of tlieir dangerous assistance. Mansfeld 
 Allowed his troojTS to recruit tliemselves for new enter- 
 prises in the feitile province of East Friezeland. Duke 
 Christian, passionately enamored of the Electress Pala- 
 tine, with whom he had become acquainted in Holland, 
 and more disposed for war than ever, led back his army 
 into Lower Saxony, bearing; tli§t princess's glove in his 
 hat, and on his standards the motto, " All for God and 
 Her." Neither of these adventurers had as yet run 
 their career in this war. 
 
 All the im[)erial territories were now free from the 
 enemy ; the Union was dissolved ; the Margrave; of 
 Baden, Duke Christian, and Mansfeld driven from the 
 field, and the Palatinate overrun by the executive troops 
 of the empire. Manheim and Heidelberg were in pos- 
 session of Bavaria, and Fmnkenthal was shortly after- 
 ward ceded to the Spaniards. The palatine, in u 
 distant corner of Holland, .awaited the disgraceful per- 
 mission to appeiise, by abject submission, the vengeance 
 of the emperor ; and an Electoral Diet was at last 
 summoned to decide his fiite. That fate, however, had 
 been k)ng before decided at the court of the emperor ; 
 though, now, for the first time, were circumstances 
 favorable for giving publicity to the decision. After his 
 past measures toward the elector, Ferdinand beli(;ved 
 that a sincere reconciliation was not to be hoped for. 
 The violent course he had once begun must be com- 
 pletod successfully, or recoil upon himself. What wa» 
 
100 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR* 
 
 already lost was irrecoverable ; Frederick could never 
 hope to regain his dominions ; and a prince without ter- 
 ritory and without subjects had little chance of retaining 
 the electoral crown. Deeply as the palatine had of- 
 fended against the House of Austria, the services of 
 the Duke of Bavaria were no less meritorious. If the 
 House of Austria and the Roman Catholic church had 
 much to dread, from the resentment and religious rancor 
 of the palatine family, they had as much to hope from 
 the gratitude and religious zeal of the Bavarian. Lastly, 
 by the cession of the palatine electorate to Bavaria, th« 
 Roman Catholic religion would obtain a decisive pre- 
 ponderance in the Electoral College, and secure a per- 
 manent triumph in Germany. 
 
 The last circumstance was sufficient to win the sup 
 port of the three ecclesiastical electors to this innovation ; 
 and among the Protestants, the vote of Saxony was alone 
 of any importance. But could John George be expected 
 to dispute with the emperor a right, without which ho 
 would expose to question his own title to the electorai 
 dignity ? To a prince ^vhom descent, dignity, and pd- 
 liiical power placed at the head of the Protestant church 
 in Germany, nothing, it is true, ought to be more sacred 
 than the defense of the rights of that church against all 
 the encroachments of the Roman Catholics. But the 
 question here was not whether the interests of the 
 Protestants were to be supported against the Roman 
 Catholics, but which of two religions, equally detested — 
 the Calvinistic and the Popish, was to triumph over the 
 other ; to which of the two enemies, equally dangerous, 
 the palatinate was to be assigned ; and in this clashing of 
 opposite duties, it was natural that private hate and pri- 
 vate gain should determine the event. The born pro- 
 tector of the liberties of Germany and of the Protestant 
 religion encouraged the emperor to dispose of the pal- 
 atinate by his imperial prerogative, and to apprehend no 
 resistance on the part of Saxony to his measures on the 
 mere ground of form. If the elector was afterward dis- 
 posed to retract this consent, Ferdinand himself, by 
 driving the Evangelical preachers from Bohemia, was 
 the cause of this change of opinion ; and, in the eyes of 
 the elector, the transference of the palatine electorate 
 
 SCHILLtIRS THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 iO\ 
 
 to Bavaria ceased to be illega as soon as Ferdinand was 
 prevailed upon to cede Lu^^atia to Saxony, in consider- 
 ation of six millions of dollars, as the expenses of the war. 
 
 Thus, in defiance of all Protestant Germany, and in 
 mockery of the fundamental laws of the empire, wViich, 
 Qt his election, he had sworn to maintain, Ferdinand, at 
 Ratisbon, solemnly invested the Duke of Bavaria with 
 tne palatinate, without prejudice, as the form ran, to 
 the rights which the relations or descendants of Fred- 
 erick might afteiw^ard establish. That unfortunate prince 
 thus saw himself irrevocably driven from his possessions, 
 without having been even heard before the tribunal 
 which condemned him — a privilege which the law allows 
 to the meanest subject, and even to the most atrocious 
 criminal. 
 
 This violent step at last opened the eyes of the King 
 of i'lngland ; and as the negotiations for the marriage of 
 liis son with the Infanta of Spain were now broken oft', 
 James began seriously to espouse the cause of his son- 
 in-law. A change in the French ministiy had placed 
 Cardinal Richelieu at the head of aft*airs, and this fallen 
 kingdom soon began to feel that a great mind was at the 
 helm of state. The attempts of the Spanish viceroy in 
 Milan to gain* possession of the Valtelline, and thus to 
 form a junction with the Austrian hereditaiy dominions, 
 revived the olden dread of this power, and with it the 
 policy of Henry the Great. The marriage of the Prince 
 of Wales with Henrietta of France established a close 
 union between the two crowns ; and to this alliance, 
 Holland, Denmark, and some of the ItJilian states pres- 
 ently acceded. Its object was to expel, by force of 
 arms, Spain from the Valtelline, and to compel Austria 
 to reinstate Frederick ; but only the first of these de- 
 signs was prosecuted with vigor. James I. died, and 
 Charles I., involved in disputes with his parliament, 
 could not bestow attention on the affairs of Germany. 
 Savoy and Venice withheld their assistance ; and the 
 French minister thought it necessary to subdue the 
 Huguenots at home, before he supported the Geman 
 Protestants against the emperor. Great as were the 
 hopes which had been formed from this alliance, they 
 were yet equaled by the disappointment of the event. 
 
 I '^ 
 
 1 at* 
 
\ 
 
 102 
 
 \ 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war^\ 
 
 I 
 
 Mansfeld, deprived of all support, remained inartive 
 on iho Lower Rhine; and Duke Christian of Bruns- 
 wick, after an unsuccessful campaign, was a second time 
 driven out of Germany. A fresh in-uption of Bethlem 
 Gabor into Moravia, frustrated by the want of support 
 from the Germans, terminated, like all the rest, in a 
 formal peace with the emperor. The Union was no 
 more; uo Protestant prince was in arms; and on th© 
 frontiers of Lower Germany the Bavarian general, 
 .Tilly, at the head of a victorious army, encamped in the 
 Protestant territory. The movements of the Duke of 
 Brunswick had drawn him into this quarter, and even 
 into the circle of Lower Saxony, when he made himself 
 master of the administrator's magazines at Lippstadt. 
 The necessity of observing this enemy, and preventing 
 him from new inroads, was the pretext assigned for con- 
 tinuing Tilly's stay in the countiy. But, in truth, both 
 Mansfeld and Duke Christian had, from want of money, 
 disbanded their armies; and Count Tilly had no enemy 
 to dread. Why, then, still burden the country with his 
 presence ? 
 
 It is difficult, amid the uproar of contending parties^ 
 to distinguish the voice of truth ; but certainly it was 
 matter for alarm that the League did ndl lay down its 
 arms. The premature rejoicings of the Roman Cath- 
 olics, too, were calculated to increase apprehension. 
 The emperor and the League stood armed and victo- 
 rious in Germany, v/ithout a power to oppose them, 
 should they venture to attack the Protestant states and 
 to annul the religious treaty. Had Ferdinand been in 
 reality far from disposed to abuse his conquests, still, the 
 <Jefens»less position of the Protestants was most likely 
 to suggest the temptation. Obsolete conventions could 
 not bind a pi-ince who thought that he owed all to re- 
 ligion, and believed that a religious creed would sanctify 
 any deed, however violent. "Upper Germany was al- 
 ready overpowered. Lower Germany alone could check 
 his despotic authority. Here the Protestants still pre- 
 dominated : the church had been forcibly deprived of 
 most of its endowments, and tlie present appeared a 
 favorable moment for recovering those lost possessions. 
 4. great part of the strength of the Lower Gerraao 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS VvAR. 
 
 103 
 
 princes consisted in these chapters, and the plea of re- 
 storing its own to the church afforded an excellent pre- 
 text for weakening these princes. 
 
 Unpardonable would have been their negligence, had 
 they remained inactive in this danger. The remcMU- 
 brance of the ravages which Tilly's army had committed 
 in Lower Saxony was too recent not to arouse the 
 estates to measures of defense. With all haste, the 
 circle of Lower Saxony began to arm itself. Extraor* 
 dinary contributions were levied, troops collected, and 
 magazines filled. Negotiations for subsidies were set 
 on foot with Venice, Holland, and England. They de- 
 liberated, too, what power should be placed at the head 
 of the confederacy. The kings of the Sound and the 
 Baltic, the natural allies of this circle, would not seo 
 with indifference the emperor treating it as a conqueror, 
 and establishing himself as their neighbor on the shores 
 of the North Sea. The twofold interests of religion 
 and policy urged them to put a stop to his progress in 
 Lower Germany. Christian IV. of Denmark, as Duke 
 of Holstein, was himself a prince of the circle, and by 
 considerations equally powerful, Gustavus Adolphus of 
 Sweden was induced to join the confederacy. 
 
 These two kir^s vied with each other for the honor 
 of defending Lower Saxony, and of opposing the for- 
 midable power of Austria. Each oflered to raise a v.^ell- 
 disciplined army, and to lead it in person. His v icto- 
 rious campaigns against Moscow and Poland gave wc ight 
 to the promises of the King of Sweden. The shorciS of 
 the Baltic were full of the name of Gustavus. But the 
 fame of his rival excited the envy of the Danish nion- 
 iarch ; and the more success he promised himself in this 
 campaign, the less disposed was he to show any favor 
 CO his envied neighbor. Both laid their conditions and 
 plans before the English ministry, and Christian IV. 
 finally succeeded in outbidding his rival. Gustavus 
 Adolphus, for his own security, had demanded the ces- 
 sion of some places of strength in Germany, where he 
 himself had no territories to afford, in case of need, a 
 place of refuge for his troops. Christian IV. possessed 
 Hqlstein aud Jutland, through which, in the event o*^ 
 a defeat, he could always secure a retreat. 
 
104 SCHILLEk's TIllKTV YEAKs' WAR. 
 
 Eager to get tlie start of his competitor, the Kina « 
 Denmark hastened to tal<e the field. Anniinted gene^ 
 
 a mvof f f'V"'^''' 1''°'"'' Saxony, 'lie soon !?:,"'«,; 
 tor of m1 T *°"'^«»<' ■»«" i" motion; tlie ad.ninistra- 
 
 MeddeE '?' ''f- "'*' ^"^^' "f Brunswick and 
 Mecklenburg, entered mto an alliance with him En- 
 couraged by the hope of assistance from Entrnd and 
 f/.r'1fK'°"M ^ '° '"'■«« " *■«••'=«■ h« flattered hhnse 
 
 .erf nfTh"""" " ''■*■" """"'""y "°''^'<"^ »•"" the only ob- 
 if i .f ^ preparations was the protection of the cir- 
 cle and the mamtenance of peace^ But the ne^oM^ 
 mns with Holland, England, and even France, "he e" 
 t.aordinary exertions of the circle, and the rais n/of so 
 formidable an army, seemed to have something rSore i° 
 view than defensive operations, and to contempfate notl^ 
 mg less than the complete restoration of the elector 
 patanne and the humiliation of the dreaded povver ^l" 
 
 After negotiations, exhortations, commands, and threats 
 had m vain been employed by the emperor i, order 
 to induce the King of Denmark and the circle of Low 
 
 war Count '^r"' ^'l™''"'y '"'^"'"« t'i« "'"■■It'"- of 
 We;er mnlT, ^ "larching along the left bank of the 
 Weser, made himself master of all the passes as far as 
 Minden After an unsuccessful attack on Nieubur" ho 
 crossed the river and overran the principality of Cal^m! 
 Sn'f' Tv^^'"^ ''^ quartered his troops. The king co^- 
 
 spi ead his forces over the territories of Brunswick • l.nt 
 
 memf r no" m' '" ""'" ""^y '>y too porrfurde'tach: 
 ments, he could not engage in any enterprise of import- 
 ance. • Aware oi his opponent's superiority, he avoided a 
 o^eas^ive action as anxiously as the Teneral^f the": 
 
 With the exception of the troops from the Spanish 
 Netherlands, which had poured into the Lower Pa"uti 
 nate, the emperor had hitherto made use on!y of the 
 arms of Bavaria and the League in Gennany? Maxi^Jl! 
 .an conducted the war as Ixecutor of the ban of 1« 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEiVRS WAR. 
 
 105 
 
 IV 
 
 empire, and Tilly, who commanded the army of execu 
 tion, was in the Bavarian service. The emperor owed 
 superiority in the field to Bavaria and the League, and 
 his fortunes were in their hands. This dependence on 
 their good-will, but ill accorded with the grand scheimes 
 which the brilliant commencement of the war had led 
 the imperial cabinet to form. 
 
 However active the League had shown itself in the 
 <?mperors defense, while thereby it secured its own 
 welfare, it could not be expected that it would ent(!r as 
 readily into his views of conquest. Or, if they still con- 
 tinued to lend their armies for that purpose, it was too 
 much to be feared that they would share with the em- 
 peror nothing but general odium, while they appropri- 
 ated to themselves all advantages. A strong army under 
 his own orders could alone free him from this debfising 
 dependence upon Bavaria, and restore to him his foi*mer 
 preeminence in Germany. But the war had already 
 exhausted the imperial dominions, and they were un- 
 equal to the expense of such an armament. In these 
 circumstances, nothing could be more ^elcome to the 
 emperor than the proposal with which one of his officers 
 surprised him. 
 
 This was Count Wallenstein, an experienced ofiicer, 
 and the richest nobleman in Bohemia. From his ear- 
 liest youth he had been in the service of the House of 
 Austria; and several campaigns against the Turks, 
 Venetians, Bohemians, Hungarians, and Transylvanians 
 had established his reputation. He was present as col- 
 onel at the battle of Prague, and afterward, as major- 
 general, had defeated a Hungarian force in Moravia. 
 The emperor's gratitude was equal to his services, and 
 a large share of the confiscated estates of the Bohemiiin 
 insurgents was their reward. Possessed of iminenso 
 property, excited by ambitious views, confident in his 
 own good fortune, and still more encouraged by tli«3 ex- 
 isting state of circumstances, he offered, at his own 
 expense and that of his friends, to raise and clothe an 
 army for the emperor, and even undertook the cost of 
 maintaining it, if he were allowed to augment it to fifty 
 thousand men. The project was universally ridiculed 
 as the chimerical oflfspring of a visionary brain; but thd 
 
106 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 Schiller's TiimTV years' war. 
 
 101 
 
 offer was highly valuable, if its promises should bo but 
 partially fulfilled. Certain circles in Bohemia were as- 
 signed to him as depots, with authority to appoint his 
 own officers. In a few months he had twenty thousand 
 men under arms, with which, quitting the Austrian ter- 
 ritories, he soon afterward appeared on the frontiers of 
 Lower Saxony with thirty thousand. The emperor had 
 lent this armament nothing but his name. The reputa- 
 tion of the general, the prospect of rapid promotion, and 
 the hope of plunder, attracted to his standard adventur- 
 ers from all quarters of Germany, and even sovereign 
 princes, stimulated by the desire of glory or of gain, 
 offered to raise regiments for the service of Austria. 
 
 Now, therefore, for the first time in this war, an im- 
 perial army appeared in Germany ; which was mena- 
 cing to the Protestants, and scarcely more acceptable to 
 the Roman Catholics. Wallenstein had orders to unite 
 his army with the troops of the League, and, in conjunc- 
 tion with the Bavarian general, to attack the King of 
 Denmark. But, long jealous of Tilly's fame, he showed 
 no disposition t^ share with him the laurels of the cam- 
 paign, or, in the splendor of his rival's achievements, to 
 dim the luster of his own. His plan of operations was 
 to support the latter, but to act entirely independent of 
 him. As he had not resources, like Tilly, for supplying 
 the wants of his army, he was obliged to march his 
 troops into fertile countries which had not as yet suf- 
 fered from war. Disobeying, therefore, the order to 
 form a junction with the general of the League, ho 
 marched into the territories of Halberstadt and Magde- 
 burg, and at Dessau wiade himself master of the Elbe. 
 All the lands on either bank of this river were at his 
 command, and from them he could either attack the 
 King of Denmark in the rear, or, if prudent, enter the 
 territories of that prince. 
 
 Christian IV . was fully aware of the danger of his 
 situation between two such powerful armies. He had 
 already been joined by the administrator of Halbef stadt, 
 who had lately returned from Holland; he now also ac- 
 knowledged Mansfeld, whom previously he had refused 
 to recognize, and supported him to the best (f his abili- 
 ty. Maiiafeld amply requited this service. He alon« 
 
 f 
 
 Kept at bay the army of Wallenstein upon the Elbe, and 
 prevented its junction with that of Tilly, and a combined 
 attack on the King of Denmark. Notwithstanding the 
 enemy's superioiity, this intrepid general even appr3ach- 
 ed the bridge of Dessau, and ventured to entrench him- 
 self in presence of the imperial lines. But, attacked 
 in the rear by the whole force of the imperialists, he 
 was obliged to yield to superior numbers, and to abandon 
 his post with the loss of three thousand killed. After 
 this defeat, Mansfeld withdrew into Brandenburg, where 
 he soon recruited and reinforced his army; and sudden- 
 ly turned into Siiesia, with the view of marching thence 
 into Hungaiy ; aiid, in conjunction with Bethlem Gabor, 
 carrying the war into the heart of Austria. As the 
 Austrian dominions in that quarter were entirely de- 
 fenseless, Wallenstein received immediate orders to 
 leave the King of Denmark, and, if possible, to intercept 
 Mansfeld's progress through Silesia. 
 
 The diversion which this movement of Mansfeld had 
 made in the army of Wallenstein enabled the king to 
 detach a part of his force into Westphalia, to seize the 
 bishoprics of Munster and Osnaburg. To check this 
 movement, Tilly suddenly moved from the Weser; but 
 the operations of Duke Christian, who threatened the 
 territories of the League with an inroad in the direction 
 of Hesse, and to remove thither the seat of war, re- 
 called him as rapidly from Westphalia. In order to 
 keep open his communication with these provinces, and 
 to prevent the junction of the enemy with the Land- 
 grave of Hesse, Tilly hastily seized all the tenable posts 
 on the Werha and Fulda, and took up a strong position 
 in Minden, at the foot of the Hessian Mountains, and at 
 the confluence of these rivers with the Weser. He soon 
 made himself master of Gottingen, the key of Bruns- 
 wick and Hesse, and was meditating a similar attack 
 upon Nordheim, when the king advanced upon him with 
 his whole ai-my. After throwing into this place the ne- 
 cessary supplies for a long siege, the latter attempted to 
 open a new passage through Eichsfeld and Thuringia, 
 into the territories of the League. He had aheady 
 reached Duderstadt, when Tilly, by forced marches, 
 came up with him. As the army of Tilly, which had 
 
108 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 Schiller's 
 
 THIRTY YEARS WAK. 
 
 109 
 
 been reinforced by some of Wallenstein's regiments, 
 ■was superior in numbers to his own, the king, to avoid 
 a battle, reti-eated toward Brunswick. But Tilly in- 
 cessantly harassed his retreat, and after three days' 
 skirmishing, he was at length obliged to await the enemy 
 near the village of Lutter in Barenberg. The Danes 
 began the attack with gieat bravery, and thrice did 
 their intrepid monarch lead them in person against the 
 enemy ; but at length the superior numbers and disci- 
 pline of the imperialists prevailed, and the general of the 
 League obtained a complete victory. The Danes lost 
 sfxty standards and their whole artillery, baggage, and 
 ammunition. Several officers of distinction" and about 
 four thousand men were killed in the field of battle; and 
 several companies of foot, in the flight, who had thrown 
 themselves into the town-house of Lutter, laid down 
 their arms and surrendered to the conqueror. 
 
 The king fled with his cavalry, and soon collected the 
 wreck of his army which had survived this serious defeat. 
 Tilly pursued his victory, made himself master of the 
 Weser and Brunswick, and forced the king to retire 
 into Bremen. Rendered more cautious by defeat, the 
 latter now stood upon the defensive, and determined at 
 all events to prevent the enemy from crossing the Elbe. 
 But while he threw g.'irrisons into every tenable place, 
 he reduced his own diminished army to inactivity; and, 
 one after another his scattered troops were either de 
 feated or dispersed. The forces of the League, in com- 
 rriand of the Weser, spread themselves along the Elbe 
 and Havel, and everywhere drove the Danes before 
 them. Tilly himself, crossing the Elbe, penetrated with 
 his victorious army into Brandenbui'g, while Wallen- 
 stein entered Holstein to remove the seat of war to the 
 king's own dominions. 
 
 This general had just returned from Hungary, whither 
 he had pursued Mansfeld, without being able to obstruct 
 his march, or prevent his junction with Bethlem Gabor. 
 Constantly persecuted by fortune, but always superior 
 to his fiite, Mansfeld had made his wny against count- 
 less difficulties, through Silesia and Hungary, to Tran- 
 sylvania, where? after all, he was not very welcome. 
 Relying upon the ass'stance of England, and a powerfu 
 
 Qiversion in Lower Saxony, Gabor had again brokeri the 
 truce with the emperor. But in place of the expected di 
 version in his favor, Mansfeld had drawn upon himself the 
 whole strcpngth of Walienstein, and instead of bringing, 
 required pecuniary assistance. The want of concert in 
 the Protestant counsels cooled Gabor's ardor; and he 
 hastened, as usual, to avert the coming stornl by a speedy 
 peace. Firmly determined, however, to break it, with 
 the first ray of hope, he directed Mansfeld, in the mean 
 time, to apply for assistance to Venice. 
 
 Cut off from Germany, and unable to support the 
 weak remnant of his troops in Hungary, Mansfeld sold 
 his artillery and baggage-train, and disbanded his sol- 
 diers. With a few followers, he proceeded through 
 Bosnia and Dalmatia, toward Venice. New schemes 
 swelled his bosom, but his career was ended. Fate, which 
 had so restlessly sported with him throughout, now pre- 
 pared for him a peaceful grave in Dalmatia. Death 
 overtook him in the vicinity of Zara in 1626, and a nhort 
 time before him died the taithful companion of his for- 
 tunes, Christian, Duke of Brunswick — two men wcrthy 
 of immortality, had they but been as superior to their 
 times as they were to their adversities. 
 
 The King of Denmark, with his whole army, was 
 unable to cope with Tilly alone; much less, therefore, 
 with a shattered force could he hold his gi'ound against 
 the two imperial generals. The Danes ret'u*ed froin all 
 their posts on the Weser, the Elbe, and the Havel, and 
 the army of Walienstein poured, like a torrent, into 
 Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Holstein, and Silesia. That 
 general, too proud to act in conjunction with anolher, 
 had dispatched Tilly across the Elbe, to watch, as he 
 gave out, the motions of the Dutch in that quarter : but 
 in reality, that he might terminate the war againsi: the 
 king, and reap for himself the fruits of Tilly's conquests. 
 Christian had now lost all his fortresses in the German 
 states, with the exception of Gluckstadt; his armies 
 were defeated or dispersed ; no assistance came from Ger- 
 many; from England, littls consolation; while his con- 
 federates in Lower Saxony were at the mercy of the 
 conqueror. The Landgrave of Hess© Cassel had it>een 
 forced by Tilly, soon after the battle of Lutter, to re- 
 
 K 
 
no Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 oounce the Danish alliance. Wallenstein's formidabla 
 appemance before Berlin reduced the Elector of Bian- 
 denburg to submission, and compelled him to recognize, 
 as legitimate, Maximilian's title to the Palatiite Elector 
 ote. Ihe greater part of Mecklenburg was now over 
 run by impeml troops, and both dukes", as adherents oi 
 the King ot T)enmark, placed under the ban of the em- 
 pire, and driven from their dominions. The defense of 
 the Lrerman liberties against illegal encroachments, was 
 punished as a crime deserving the loss of all dignities 
 and territories; and yet this was but the prelude to the 
 still more crying enormities which shortly followed. 
 
 Ihe secret how Wallenstein had purposed to fulfill 
 his extravagant designs was now manifest. He liad 
 learned the lesson from Count Mansfeld ; but the scholar 
 surpassed his mastei-. On the principle that war must 
 support war, Mansfeld and the Duke of Brunswick had 
 subsisted their troops by contributions levied indisciimi- 
 nately on fiiend and enemy ; but this predatory life was 
 attended with all the inconvenience and insecurity wiiicli 
 accompany robbery. Like a fugitive banditti, they were 
 obliged to steal through exasperated and vigilant ene- 
 mies; to roam from one end of Germany to another- 
 to ^vatch their opportunity with anxiety ; and to abandon 
 the most fertile territories whenever they were defended 
 by a superior army. If Mansfeld and Duke Christian 
 had done such great things in the lace of these diffi 
 culties, what might not be expected if the obstacles 
 were removed; when the army raised was numerous 
 enough to overawe in itself the most powerful states of 
 the empire ; when the name of the emperor insuied 
 impunity to eveiy outrage ; and when, under the hiMi- 
 est authority, and at the head of an overwhelming foi'ce, 
 the same system of warfare was pursued, which these 
 two adventurers had hitherto adopted at their own risk, 
 and with only an untrained multitude ? 
 
 Wallenstein had all this in view when he made his 
 bold offer to the emperor, which now seemed extrava- 
 gant to no one. The more his army was augmented, 
 the less cause was there to fear for its subsistence, be- 
 cause It could irresistibly bear down upon the refractory 
 states • the more violent its outrages, the jnore probable 
 
 I 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. Ill 
 
 was impunity. Toward hostile states it had the plea of 
 ^ right ; toward the favorably disposed it could alledge ne- 
 cessity. The inequality, too, with which it dealt <')ut its 
 oppressions, prevented any dangerous union among the 
 states ; while the exhaustion of their territories deprived 
 them of the power of vengeance. Thus the whole of 
 Germany became a kind of magazine for the imperial 
 army, and the emperor was enabled to deal with the 
 other states as absolutely as with his own hereditary do- 
 minions. Universal was the clamor for redress before 
 the imperial throne ; but there was nothing to fear from 
 the revenge of the injured princes so long as they ap- 
 pealed for justice. The general discontent was directed 
 equally against the emperor, who had lent his name to 
 these barbarities, and the geneml who exceeded his 
 power, and openly abused the authority of his master. 
 They applied to the emperor for protection against the 
 outrages of his general ; but Wallenstein had no sooner 
 felt himself absolute in the army than he threw off his 
 obedience to his sovereign. 
 
 The exhaustion of the enemy made a speedy peace 
 probable; yet Wallenstein continued to augment the 
 imperial armies until they were at least one hundred 
 thousand men strong. Numberless commissions to 
 colonelcies and inferior commands, the regal pomp of the 
 commander-in-chief, immoderate largesses to his favor- 
 ites (for he never gave less than a thousand florins), 
 enormous sums lavished in corrupting the court at 
 Vienna — all this had been effected without burdening 
 the emperor. These immenfie sums were raised by the 
 contributions levied from the lower German provinces, 
 where no distinction was made between friend and foe; 
 and the territories of all princes were subjected to the 
 same system of marching and quartering, of extortion 
 and outrage. If credit is to be given to an extravagant 
 cotemporary statement, Wallenstein. during his jieven 
 years' command, had exacted not less than sixty thousand 
 millions of dollars from one half of Germany. The 
 greater his extortions, the greater the rewards of his 
 soldiers, and the greater the concourse to his standard, 
 for the world always follows fortune. His armies flour- 
 ished while all the states through which they passed 
 
11*^ Schiller's thirty years* war* 
 
 withered. What cared he for the detestation of the 
 people, and the complaints of princes ? His army adored 
 him, and the guilt itself enabled him to bid defiance to 
 its consequences. 
 
 It would be unjust to Ferdinand, were we to lay all 
 these irregularities to his charge. Had he foreseen 
 that he was abandoning the German states to the mercy 
 of his general, he would have been sensible how dan- 
 gerous to himself so absolute a general would prove. 
 The closer the connection became between the army 
 and the leader from whom flowed favor and fortune, the 
 more the tics which united both to the emperor were 
 relaxed. Every thing, it is true, was done in the name 
 of the latter; but Wullenstein only availed himself of 
 the supreme majesty of the emperor to crush the au- 
 thority of other states. His object was to depress the 
 princes of the empire, to destroy all gradation of rank 
 between them and the emperor, and to elevate the 
 power of the latter above all competition. If the em- 
 peror were absolute in Germany, who, then, would be 
 equal to the man intrusted with the execution of his 
 will ? The height to which Wallenstein had raised the 
 imperial authority astonished even the emperor himself; 
 but as the greatness of the master was entirely the work 
 of the sQi-vant, the creation of Wallenstein would ne- 
 cessarily sink again into nothing upon the withdrawal 
 of its creative hand. Not without an object, therefore, 
 did Wallenstein labor to poison the minds of the Ger- 
 man princes against the emperor. The moi-e violent 
 their hatred of Ferdinand, the more indispensable to the 
 emperor would become the man who alone could ren- 
 der their ill-will powerless. His design unquestionably 
 was, that his sovereign should stand in fear of no one in 
 all Germany — beside himself, the source and engine of 
 this despotic power. 
 
 As a step toward this end, Wallenstein now demand- 
 ed the cession of Mecklenburg to be held in pledge till 
 che repayment of his advances for the war. Ferdinand 
 had already created him Duke of Friedland, apparently 
 with the view of exalting his own general over Bavaria; 
 but an ordinary recompense would not satisfy Wallrn- 
 stoin's ambirion. In vain was this ]WAy deinand, whclr 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 113 
 
 I 
 
 could be gi'anted only at the expense of two princes of 
 the empire, actively resisted in the Imperial Council; 
 in vain did the Spaniards, w^ho had long been offended 
 by his pride, oppose his elevation. The powerful sup- 
 port which Wallenstein had purchased from the impe- 
 rial counselors prevailed, and Ferdinand was determined, 
 at whatever cost, to secure the devotion of so indis])en- 
 sable a minister.. For asHght offense, one of the oldest 
 German houses was expelled from their hereditary do- 
 minions, that a creature of the emperor might be en- 
 riched by their spoils (1628). 
 
 Wallenstein now began to assume the title of gener- 
 alissimo of the emperor by sea and land. Wismar was 
 taken, and a firm footing gained on the Baltic. Ships 
 were required from Poland and the Hans towns to carry 
 the war to the other side of the Baltic ; to pursue the 
 Danes into the heart of their own country, and to com- 
 pel them to a peace which might prepare the way to 
 more important conquests. The communication be- 
 tween the Lower German states and the northern 
 powers would be broken, could the emperor place him- 
 self between them, and encompass Germany, from the 
 A-driatic to the Sound (the intervening Kingdom of Po- 
 land being already dependent on him), with an unbro- 
 Ken line of territory. If such was the emperor's plan, 
 Wallenstein had a peculiar interest in its execution. 
 These possessions on the Baltic should, he intended, 
 form the first foundation of a power which had long 
 been the object of his ambition, and which should 
 enable him to throw off his dependence on the em- 
 peror. 
 
 To effect this object, it was of extreme im{3ortance 
 to gain possession of Stralsund, a town on the Baltic. 
 Its. excellent harbor, and the short passage from it to 
 the Swedish and Danish coasts, peculiarly fitted it for 
 a naval station in a war with these powers. This town, 
 the sixth of the Hanseatio Xieague, enjoyed great priv- 
 ileges under the Duke of Pomerania; and, totally inde- 
 pendent of Denmark, had taken no share in the war. 
 But neither its neutrality nor its privileges could protect 
 it against the encroacliments of Wallenstein, w4ien he 
 had once cast a longing look upon it. 
 8 K 2 
 
114 
 
 6Chilli:r's thirty years' war 
 
 The request he mnde, that Stralsund should leceive 
 on iniperi;il jjarrison, had been firmly and honorably 
 rejected by the magistracy, who also refused his con 
 ningly-demanded permission to march his troops throi-gli 
 the town. Wallenstein, thereibre, now proposed to bo 
 siege it. 
 
 The independence of Stralsund, as securing the fiee 
 navigation of the Baltic, was equally important t(i the 
 two northern kings. A common danger overcame, al 
 lust, the private jealousies which had long divided these 
 princes. In a treaty concluded at Copenhagen in 1628, 
 they bound themselves to assist Stralsund with thei» 
 combined force, and to oppose, in common, every for 
 eign power which should appear in the Baltic with hos 
 tile views. Christian IV. also threw a sufficient gar 
 rison into Stralsund, and by his personal presence ani 
 mated the courage of the citizens. Some ships of war, 
 which Sigismund, King of Poland, had sent to the as- 
 sistance of the imperial general, were sunk by the Dan- 
 ish fleet; and as Lubeck refused him the use of its 
 shipping, this imperial generalissimo of the sea had not 
 even ships enough to blockade this single harbor. 
 
 Nothing could appear more adventurous than to 
 attempt the conquest of a strongly fortified sea-port with- 
 out first blockading its harbor. Wallenstein, however, 
 who as yet had never experienced a check, wished to 
 conquer nature itself, and to perform impossibilities. 
 Stralsund, open to the sea, continued to be supplied 
 with provisions and reinforcements; j'et Wallenstein 
 maintained his blockade on the land side, and endeavor- 
 ed, by boasting menaces, to supply his want of real 
 strength. '* I will take this town," said he, "though it 
 were fastened by a chain to the heavens." The em- 
 peror himself, who might have cause to regret an enter- 
 prise which promised no very glorious result, oyfully 
 availed himself of the apparent submission and accepta- 
 ble propositions of the inhabitants, to order the general 
 to retire from the to\vn. Wallenstein despised the 
 command, and continued to harass the besieged by 
 incessant assaults. As the Danish garrison, already 
 much reduced, was unequal to "the fatigues *)f this pro- 
 longed defense, and the king wa? untbU ^f dv-^tach an? 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 11:3 
 
 further troops to their support, Stralsund, with Chris- 
 tian's ccn.sent, threw itself under the protection of the 
 King of SweJeii. The Danish commander left tho 
 town ta make way for a Swedish governor, who glori- 
 ously defended it. Here Wullenstein's good fortune 
 forsook him; and, for the first time, his pride experien- 
 ced the humiliation of relinquishing his prey, after the 
 loss of many months and of twelve thousand men. The 
 necessity to which he reduced the town of applying for 
 protection to Sweden, laid the foundation of a close alli- 
 ance between- Gustavus Adolphus and Stralsund, which 
 greatly facilitated the entrance of the Swedes into Ger- 
 many. 
 
 Hitherto invariable success had attended the arms of 
 the emperor and the League, and Christian IV., de- 
 feated in Germany, had sought refuge in his own 
 islands ; but the Baltic checked the further progress of 
 the conquerors. The want of ships not only stojiped 
 the pursuit of the king, but endangered their pre\ ious 
 acquisitions. The union of the two monarchs was most 
 to be dreaded, because, so long as it lasted, it effectually 
 prevented the emperor and his general froiii acquiring 
 n footing on the Baltic, or effecting a landing in Sweden. 
 But if they could succeed in dissolving this union, and 
 «speeiaJly in securing the friendship of the Danish king, 
 they might hope to oveipower the insulated forcr^ of 
 Sweden. The dread of the interference of foreign 
 powers, the insuboidination of the Protestants in his 
 own states, and still more the storm which was gradu- 
 ally darkening along the whole of Protestant Germiny, 
 inclined the enjperor to peace, which his general, ironi 
 opposite motives, was equally desirous to effect. Far 
 from wishing for a state of tilings which would reduce 
 limi from the meridian of greatness and glory to the ob- 
 6cui-ity of private life, he only wished to change the 
 thoatre of war, and by a partial peace to prolong the 
 genera! confusion. The friendship of Denmark, wliose 
 neighbor he had become as Archduke of Mecklenburg, 
 was most important for the success of his ambitious 
 yiews; and he resolved, even at the sacrifice of his sov- 
 ereign's interests, t;) secure its alliance. 
 
 By thfi treaty nf roj^finiuigcn. C!u-isrJa-.i TV had ex 
 
MH 
 
 Schiller's tiiirtt years' war. 
 
 |)ressly engaged not ^o conclude a separate peaco with 
 the emperor, withoat the consent of Sweden. Not- 
 wirhstanding, ^V";lllenstein's proposition was readily re- 
 ceived by hiin. In a conference jit Lubeck in 1629, 
 from which Wallenstein, with studied contempt, exclud- 
 ed the Swedish ambassadors who came to mtercede for 
 Mecklenburg, all the conquests taken by the impei'ial- 
 ists were restored to the Danes. The conditions im- 
 posed upon the king were, that he should interfere no 
 farther with the afrairs of Germany than was called for 
 by his charactei- of Duke of Hols\ein ; 'that he should 
 on no pretext harass the chapters of Lower Germany, 
 and should leave the dukes of Mecklenburg to their 
 fate. By Christian himself had these princes been 
 involved in the war with the emperor ; he now sacri- 
 ficed them, to gain the favor of the usurper of their ter- 
 ritories. Among the motives which had engaged him 
 in a war with the emperor, not the least was the res- 
 toration of his relation, the Elector Palatine — ^j-et the 
 name of that unfortunate prince was not even mention- 
 ed in the treaty ; while in one of its articles the legiti- 
 macy of the Bavarian election was expressly recognized. 
 Thus meanly and ingloriously did Christian IV. retire 
 from the field. 
 
 Ferdinand had it now in his power, for the second 
 time, to secure the tranquillity of Germany; and it do 
 pended solely on his will whether the treaty with Den 
 mark should or should not be the basis of a general 
 })eace. From every quarter arose the cry of the un- 
 fortunate, petitioning for an end of their sufferings ; the 
 cruelties of his soldiers, and the rapacity of his generals, 
 had exceeded all bounds. Germany, laid wasta by the 
 desolating bands of Mansfeld and the Duke of Bruns- 
 wick, and by the still more ten-ible hordes of Tilly and 
 Wallenstein, lay exhausted, bleeding, wasted, and sigh- 
 ing for repose. An anxious desire for peace was jfelt by 
 all the estates, and by the emperor himself; involved 
 cis he was in a war with France in Upper Italy, ex- 
 hausted by his past warfare in Germany, and apprehen- 
 sive of the day of reckoning which was approaching. 
 But unfortunately, the conditions on which alone the 
 two religious parties were Avilling respectively to sheatb 
 
 SeillLLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 117 
 
 the sW'Ord, "were irreconcilable. The Roman Catholics 
 wished to terminate the war to their own advantage; 
 the Protestants advanced equal pretensions. The em- 
 peror, instead of uniting both parties by a prudent mod- 
 eration, sided with one ; and thus Germany was again 
 plunged in the horrors ef a bloody war. 
 
 From the very close of the Bohemian troubles, Fer- 
 dinand had carried on a counter reformation in his he- 
 reditary dominions, in which, however, from regard to 
 some of the Protestant estates, he proceeded, at ;!irst, 
 with moderation. But the victories of his generals in 
 Lower Germany encouraged him to throw off all reserve. 
 Accordingly he had it intimated to all the Protestants in 
 these dominions, that they must either abandon their 
 religion or their native country — a bitter and dreadful 
 alternative, which excited the most violent commotions 
 among his Austi'ian subjects. In the Palatinate, iinme- 
 diately after the expulsion of Frederick, the Protestant 
 religion had been suppressed and its professors expelled 
 from the University of Heidelberg. 
 
 All this was but the prelude to greater changes. In 
 the Electoral Congress held at Muhlberg, the Roman 
 Catholics had demanded of the emperor that all the 
 archbishoprics, bishoprics, mediate and immediate, ab- 
 bacies and monasteries, which, since the Diet of Augs- 
 burg, had been secularized by the Protestants, should 
 be restored to the Church, in order to indemnify them 
 for the losses and sufferings in the war. To a Roman 
 Catholic prince so zealous as Ferdinand w^as, such a hint 
 was not likely to be neglected ; but he still thought it 
 would be premature to arouse the whole Protestants of 
 Germany by so decisive a step. Not a single Protestant 
 prince but would be deprived, by this revocation of the 
 religious foundations, of a peart of his lands ; for where 
 these revenues had not actually been diverted to secu- 
 lar purposes, they had been made over to the Protestant 
 church. To j;his source, iijany princes owed the chief 
 part of their revenues and importance. All, without 
 exception, would be irritated by this demand for resto- 
 ration. The religious treaty did not expressly deny 
 their right to these chapters, although it did not allow 
 it. But a possession which had now been held &n 
 
lis 
 
 BCHlLLEil's TillRTV YEARs' WAR. 
 
 nearly a century, tlie silence of four preceding emperors, 
 and the law of equity, which gave them an equal right 
 with the Eoman Catholics to the foundations of their 
 common ancestors, might be strongly pleaded by them 
 as a valid title. Beside the actual lo.^s of power and 
 siuthority, which the surrender of these foundations 
 \\iould occasion, beside the inevitable confusion which 
 would necessarily attend it, one important disadvantage 
 to which it would lead, was, that the restoration of the 
 Roman Catholic bishops would increase the strength of 
 that party in the Diet by so many additional votes. . Such 
 grievous sncritices likely to fall on the Protestants, made 
 the emperor ap]n-ehensive of a formidable oj)position ; 
 and until the military ardor should have cooled in Ger- 
 many, he had no wish to provoke a party formidable by 
 its union, and which in the Elector of Saxony had a 
 powerful leader. He resolved, therefore, to tiy the 
 experiment at first on a small scale, in order to ascer- 
 tain how it was likely to succeed on a larger one. Ac- 
 cordingly, some of the free cities in Upper Germany, 
 and the Duke of Wirtembui-g, received orders to sur- 
 render to the Roman Catholics several of the confisca- 
 ted chapters. 
 
 The state of aftairs in Saxony enaWed the emperor 
 to make some bolder experiments in that quarter. In 
 the bishoprics of Magdeburg and Halberstadt, the Prot- 
 . estant canons had not hesitated to elect bishops of their 
 own religion. Both bishoprics, with the exception of 
 the town of Magdeburg itself, were overrun by the 
 troops of Wallenstein. It happened, moreover, that 
 by the death of tl» Administrator, Duke Christian of 
 Brunswick, Halberstadt was vacant, as was Jilso the 
 urchbishopric of Magdeburg by the deposition of Chris- 
 li^an William, a priiice of the House of Brandenburg. 
 Ferdinand took advantage of the circumstance to re- 
 store the see of Halberstadt to a Roman Cathohc 
 bishop, and a prince of his o.wn house. Ho avoid a sim- 
 ilar coercion, the Chapter of Magdeburg hastened to 
 elect a son of the Elector of Saxony as archbisliop. But 
 the Pope, who with his arrogated authority iiiteiferod 
 in this matter, conferred the archbishopric of Mag.jo- 
 burg also on the Austrian prince. Thus, with alfhia 
 
 liCllILLEll'd THIRTY YEARS* 
 
 WAR. 
 
 110 
 
 pious zeal for religion, Ferdinand never lost sight of the 
 interests of his family. 
 
 At length, when the peace of Lubeck had delivered 
 the emperor from all apprehensions on the side of Den- 
 mark, and the German Protestants seemed entirely 
 powerless, the League becoming louder and more ur- 
 gent in its demands, Ferdinand, in 1629, signed the 
 Edict of Restitution (so famous by its disastrous conse- 
 quences), which he had previously laid before th(5 four 
 Roman Catholic electors for their approbation. Jn the 
 preamble, ho claimed the prerogative, in right of his 
 imperial authority, to interpret the meaning of the re- 
 ligious treaty, the ambiguities of which had already 
 caused so many disputes, and to decide as suprenHJ arbi- 
 ter and judge between the contending parties. This 
 prerogative he founded upon the practice of his ances- 
 tors, and its previous recognition even by Protestant 
 states. Saxony had actually acknowledged this right ot 
 the emperor; and it now became evident liowceeply 
 this court had injured the Protestant cause by its de- 
 pendence on the House of Austria. But though the 
 meaning of the religious treaty Wiis really ambiguous, 
 as a century of religious disputes sufficiently proved, 
 yet for the emperor, who must be either a Protestant or 
 a Roman Catholic, and therefore an interested party, to 
 assume the right of deciding between the disputants, waa 
 clearly a violation of an essential article of the pacifica- 
 tion. He could not be judge in his own cause, without 
 reducing the hberties of the empire to an empty sound. 
 And now, in virtue of this usurpation, Ferdinand de- 
 cided, "That every secularization of a religious founda- 
 tion, mediate or immediate, by the Protestants, subse- 
 quent to the date of the treaty, was contrary to Us 
 spirit, and must be revoked as a breach of it." He fur- 
 ther decided, " That, by the religious peace, Citholic 
 proprietors of estates were no further bound to their 
 Prol estant subjects than to allow them full liberty to 
 quit their lerntories." In obedience to this decision, 
 all unlawful possessors of benefices — the Protestant 
 states, in short, without exception — were ordered, under 
 pain of the ban of the empire, immediately to surrender 
 their usurped possessions to the imperial commissioners 
 
120 
 
 SCIIJLLEirri TUiRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 This sentence applied to no less than two archbish 
 opncs and twelve bishoprics, beside innumerable abba 
 cies. I he edict came like a thunderbolt on the whole 
 ot I'rotestant Germany ; dreadful even in its immediate 
 consequences ; but yet more so from the further calam- 
 ities It se^emed to threaten. The Protestants wei e now 
 Gonvmced that the suppression of their religion had 
 been resolved on by the en.peror and the League, and 
 that the overthrow ot German liberty would soon follow. 
 I heir remonstrances were unheeded: the commis- 
 sioners were named, and an army assembled to enforce 
 obedience. The edict was first put in force in Augs- 
 burg, where the treaty was concluded; the city was 
 ngain placed under the government of its bishop, and 
 SIX 1 rotestant churches in the town were closed. The 
 Duke of Wirtemburg was, in like manner, compelled 
 o sun-ender h.s abbacies. These severe measures 
 though they alarmed the Protestant states, were yeJ 
 insufficient to rouse them to an active resistance. Their 
 lear ot the emperor was too strong, and many were dis- 
 posed to quiet submission. The hope of attaining the r 
 end by gentle measures, induced the Roman Catholics 
 likewise to delay for a year tlie execution of the eS 
 and t lis saved the Protestants ; before the end of that 
 period, the success of the Swedish arms had totally 
 changed the state of affairs. ^ 
 
 Jj'jJ^'^^ ^'""^^ f Ratisbon, at which Ferdinand was 
 pi esent in person in 1630), the necessity of taking so.ne 
 measures for the immediate restoration of the genenil 
 peace to Germany, and for the removal of all grievances 
 was debated The complaints of the Roman CatS 
 were scarcely less numerous than those of the'Protes 
 tant.s however Ferdinand had flattered himself that by 
 the Ldict of Restitution he had secured the member^ 
 o the League, and its leader by the gift of the electon\ 
 dignity, and the cession of great pait of the Palat'na e 
 But the good understanding between the empero a Ld 
 he princes of the League had rapidly declined since 
 he employment of Wallenstein. Accustomed to ^he 
 law to Germany and even to sway the emperor's mvn 
 destiny the haughty Elector of Bavaria now at once ^aw 
 himself supplanted by the imperial general, a ~tTi 
 
 SCIIILLEU ri TIIIUTV VEARs' WAR. 
 
 1-21 
 
 that of the League, his ow^n importance completely uii 
 dermined. Another had now stepped in to reai» the 
 fruits of his victories, and to bury his j)ast services in 
 oblivion. Wallenstein's imperious character, whose 
 dearest triumph was in degrading the authority of 
 Maximilian, and giving an odious latitude to that of the 
 emperor, tended not a little to augment the irritation of 
 the elector. Discontented with the emperor, and dis- 
 trustful of his intentions, he had entered into an alliance 
 with France, which the other members of the League 
 were suspected of fiivoring. A fear of the emperor's 
 plans of aggi-andizement, and discontent with existing 
 evils, had extinguished among them all feelings of jrrat- 
 itude. Wallenstein's exactions had become altogether 
 intolerable. Brandenburg^estimated its losses at twenty, 
 Pomerania at ten, Hesse Cassel at seven millions of 
 dollars, and the rest in proportion. The cry for redress 
 was loud, urgent, and universal ; all prejudices Avere 
 hushed ; Roman Catholics and Protestants were united 
 on this point. The terrified emperor was assailed on all 
 sides by petitions against Wallenstein, and his ear filled 
 Virith the most fearful descriptions of his outrages. 
 Ferdinand w^as not naturally cruel. If not totally iauo- 
 cent of the atrocities which were practiced in Germany 
 under the shelter of his name, he was ignorant of their 
 extent; and he was not long in yielding to the represen 
 tations of the princes, and reduced his standing army by 
 eighteen thousand cavalry. Wliile this reduction 'took 
 place, the Swedes were actively preparing an exped tion 
 into Germany, and the greater part of the disbanded im- 
 perialists enlisted under their banners. 
 
 The emperor's concessions only encouraged the Elect- 
 or of Bavaria to bolder demands. So long as the DiJke 
 of Friedland retained the supreme command, his tri- 
 umph over the emperor was incomplete. The priocea 
 of the League were meditating a severe revenge on 
 Wallenstein for that haughtiness with which he had 
 treated them all alike. His dismissal was demaoded 
 by the whole college of electors, and even by Spain, 
 with a degree of unanimity and urgency which aston- 
 ished the emperor. The anxiety with v/hich Wallen- 
 stein's enemies pressed for his dismissal, ought to have 
 
L22 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 convinced the emperor of the importnnce of his servicps. 
 Wcillenstein, informed of the cabals which were forming 
 ngainst him in Ratisbon, lost no time in o})ening the eyes 
 of the emj)cror to the real views of the Elector of Ba- 
 varia. IIo himself appeared in Ratisbon, with a pomp 
 which threw his master into the shade, and increased 
 the hatred of his opponents. 
 
 Long was the emperor nndecided. The sacrifice de- 
 manded was a painful one. To the Duke of Friedland 
 alone he owed his preponderance; he felt how much 
 he would lose in yielding him to the indignation of the 
 princes. But at this moment, unfortunately, he was 
 under the necessity of conciliating the electors. His son 
 Ferdinand had already been chosen King of Hungary, 
 and he was endeavoring to p»cure his election as his 
 successor in the empire. For this purpose, the support 
 of Maximilian was indispensable. This consideration 
 was the weightiest, and to oblige the Elector of Bavaria 
 he scrupled not to sacrifice his most valuable servant. 
 
 At the Diet at Ratisbon, there were present ambas- 
 sadors from Franco, empowered to adjust the differences 
 which seemed to menace a war in Italy between tlio 
 emperor and their sovereign. Vincent, Duke of Man- 
 tua and Montferrat, dying without issue, his next rela- 
 tion, Charles, Duke of Nevers, had taken-possession o$ 
 this inheritance, without doing homage to the emperor 
 PS liege lord of the principality. Encouraged by tho 
 support of France and Venice, he refused to surrender 
 these territories into the hands of the imperial commis- 
 sioners, until his title to them should be decided. On 
 the other hand, Ferdinand had taken up arms at the in- 
 Bligation of the Spaniards, to whom, as possessors of 
 Milan, the near neighborhood of a vassal of France was 
 peculiarly alarming, and who welcomed this prospect of 
 making, with the assistance of the emperor, additional 
 conquests in Italy. In spite of all the exertions of Pope 
 Urban VIII. to avert a war in that country, Ferdinand 
 marched a German army across the Alps, and threw the 
 Italian states into a general consternation. His arms 
 had been successful throughout Germ.my, and exagger- 
 •ited fears revived the olden apprehension of Austria's 
 ^Tojects of universal monai-chy. AH the horrors of the 
 
 Bf;iHLLERS r/JIRTY lEARS tVAR. 
 
 123 
 
 Gori:"ian war now spread like a deluge over those favored 
 countries which the Po waters ; Mantua was taken by 
 stornr, and the surrounding districts given up to the rav- 
 ages of a lawless soldiery. The curse of Italy was Llius 
 added to the maledictions upon the emperor whicli re- 
 sounded through Germany ; and even in the Roman 
 Conclave, silent pi*ftyers were offered for the success of 
 the Protestant arms. 
 
 Alarmed by the universal hatred which this Italian 
 campaign had drawn upon him, and wearied out by the 
 urgent remonstrances of the electors, who zealously 
 supported the application of tho French ambassador, 
 the emperor promised the investiture to the new Duke 
 of Mantua. 
 
 This important service on the part of Bavaria, of 
 course, required an equivalent from France. The ad- 
 justment of the treaty gave the envoys of Richelieu, 
 during their residence in Ratisbon, the desired oppor- 
 tunity of entangling the emperor in dangerous inti-igues, 
 of inflaming the discontented princes of the League still 
 more strongly against him, and of turning to his disad- 
 vantage all the transactions of the Diet. For this pur- 
 pose Richelieu had chosen an admirable instrument in 
 Father Joseph, a Capuchin friar, who accompanied the 
 ambassadors without exciting the least suspicion. One 
 of his principal instructions was assiduously to bring 
 about the dismissal of Wallenstein. With the gereral 
 who had led it to victory, the army of Austria would 
 lose its principal strength : many armies could not com- 
 pensate for the loss of this individual. It would there- 
 fore be a master-stroke of policy, at the very moment 
 when a victorious monarch, the absolute master of his 
 operations, was arming against the emperor, to remove 
 from the head of the imperial armies the only gereral 
 who, by ability and military experience, was able to cope 
 with the French king. Father Joseph, in she interests 
 of Bavaria, undertook to overcome the irresolution oi' the 
 emperor, who was now in a manner besieged by the 
 Spaniards and the Electoral Council. *' It would be 
 expedient," he thought, " to gi'atify the electors on this 
 occasion, and thereby facihtate his son's election to the 
 Roman crown. This object once gained, Wallenstein 
 
121 
 
 SCIlILLEU'ri TIIIRTV YEARS* VVAR. 
 
 could at any time resume his former station." Th« 
 artful Capuchin was too sure of his man to touch upon 
 this gi-ound of consolation. 
 
 The voice of a monk was to Ferdinand II. the voice 
 of God. " Nothing on earth," writes his own confessor, 
 " was more sacred in his eyes than a priest. If it could 
 happen, he used to say, that an angel and a Regular 
 were to meet him at the same time and place, the 
 Kegular should receive his first, and the angel his sec- 
 ond obeisance." Wallenstein's dismissal was determin- 
 ed upon. 
 
 In return for this pious concession, the Capuchin 
 dextrously counteracted the emperor's scheme to pro- 
 cure for the King of Hungary the further dignity of 
 King of the Romans. In an express clause of* the 
 treaty just concluded, the French ministers engaged 
 m the name of their sovereign to observe a complete 
 neutrality between the emperor and his enemies ; while, 
 at the same time, Richelieu was actually negotiating 
 with the King of Sweden to declare war, and pressing 
 upon him the alliance of his master. The latter, in- 
 deed, disavowed the lie as soon as it had seiTed its pur- 
 pose, and Father Joseph, confined to a convent, must 
 atone for the alleged offense of exceeding his instnic- 
 tions. Ferdinand perceived, when too late, that he had 
 been imposed upon. "A wicked Capuchin," he was 
 heard to say, " has disarmed me with his rosary, and 
 thrust nothing less than six electoral crowns into his 
 cowl." 
 
 Artifice and trickery thus triumphed over the em- 
 peror, at the moment when he was believed to be om- 
 nipotent in Germany, and actually was so in the field. 
 With the loss of eighteen thousand men, and of a gen- 
 eral who alone was worth whole armies, he left Ratisbon 
 without gaining the end for which he had made such 
 sacrifices. Before the Swedes had vanquished him in 
 the field, Maximilian of Bavaria and Father Joseph had 
 given him a mortal blow. At this memorable Diet at 
 Ratisbon the war with Sweden was resolved upon, and 
 that of Mantua terminated. Vainly had the princes 
 present at it interceded for tho dukes of Mecklenburg ; 
 and equally fruitless had been an application by th« 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 125 
 
 English ambassadors for a pension to the Palntine 
 Frederick. 
 
 Wallenstein was at the head of an army of nearly a 
 hundred thousand men who adored him, when the sen- 
 tence of his dismissal arrived. Most of the oflficers v/ere 
 his creatures — with the common soldiers his hint was 
 law. His ambition was boundless, his pride indomitable, 
 his imperious spirit could not brook an injury unavenged. 
 One moment would now precipitate him from the height 
 of grandeur into the obscurity of a private station. To 
 execute such a sentence upon such a delinquent seemed 
 to require more address than it cost to obtain it from the 
 iudge. Accordingly, two of Wallenstei»'s most intimate 
 friends were selected as heralds of these evil tidings, 
 and instructed to soften them as much as possible, by 
 flattering assurances of the continuance of the emperor's 
 favor. 
 
 Wallenstein had ascertained the purport of their mes- 
 sage before the imperial ambassadors arrived. He had 
 time to collect himself, and his countenance exhibited an 
 external calmness, while grief and rage were storraing 
 in his bosom. He had made up his mind to obey. The 
 emperor's decision had taken him by surprise before cir- 
 cumstances were ripe, or his preparations complete, for 
 the bold measures he had contemplated. His extensive 
 estates were scattered over Bohemia and Moravia ; and, 
 by their confiscation, the emperor might at once destroy 
 the sinews of his power. He looked, therefore, to the 
 future for revenge ; and in this hope he was encouraged 
 by the predictions of an Italian astrologer, who led his 
 imperious spirit like a child in leading strings. Seni had 
 read in the stars, that his master's brilliant career w^as 
 not yet ended; and that bright and glorious prospects 
 still awaited him. It was, indeed, unnecessary to c:on- 
 sult the stars to foretell that an enemy, Gustavus Adol- 
 phus, would ere long render indispensable the services 
 of such a general as Wallenstein. 
 
 " The emperor is betrayed," said Wallenstein to the 
 messengers ; " I pity, but forgive him. It is plain that 
 >he grasping spirit of the Bavarian dictates to him. I 
 grieve that, with so much weakness, he has sacrificed 
 me ; but I will obey." He dismissed the emissaries 
 
 l2 
 
126 bcuiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 with princely presents : and in a humble letter besought 
 the continuance of the emperor's favor, and of the dig- 
 nities ho had bestowed upon him. 
 
 The murmurs of the army were univcrsnl, on hep.r- 
 ing of riie dismissal of their general ; and the gieater 
 part of his officers immediately quitted the imperial ser- 
 vice. Many followed him to his estates in Bohemia and 
 Moravia; others he attached to his interests by pensions, 
 in order to command their services when the opportunity 
 should offer. 
 
 But repose was the last thing that Walienstein con- 
 templated when he returned to. private life. In his 
 retreat he surro4inded himself with a regal pomp, which 
 seemed to mock the sentence of degiadation. Six gates 
 led to the palace he inhabited in Prague, and a hundred 
 houses were pulled down to make way for his court-yard. 
 Similar palaces were built on bis other numerous estates. 
 Gentlemen of the noblest houses contended for the 
 honor of serving him, and even imperial chamberlains 
 resigned the golden key to the emperor, to fill a similar 
 office under Walienstein. He maintained sixty pages, 
 who were instructed by the ablest masters. His ante- 
 chamber was protected by fifty life guards. His table 
 never consisted of less than one hundred covers, and his 
 seneschal was a person of distinction. When he traveled, 
 his baggage and suite accompanied him in a hundred 
 wagons, drawn by six or four horses ; his court followed 
 in sixty carriages, attended by fifty led hoi-ses. The 
 pomp of his liveries, the splendor of his equipages, and 
 the decorations of his apartments, were in keeping with 
 all the rest. Six barons and as many knights were in 
 constant attendance about his person, and ready to exe- 
 cute his slightest order. Twelve patrols went their 
 rounds about the palace, to prevent any disturbance. 
 His busy genius required silence. The noise of coaclies 
 was to be kept away from his residence, and the streets 
 leading to it were frequently blocked uj) with chains. His 
 own circle was as silent as the approaches to his palace: 
 dark, reserved, and impenetrable, he was more sparing 
 of his words than of his gifts ; while tlie Uttle that he 
 8poke was harsh and imperious. He never smiled, and 
 the coldness of his temperameiit was proof against sentv 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 Schiller's thirty years war. 127 
 
 ual seductions Ever occupied with gi-nnd scherDc^., ha 
 despised al those .die amusements in which .o manv 
 waste their lives. The correspondence he kepi up with 
 the whole oi Lurope was chietly managed by himseh 
 and, that as httle as possible might be trusfed to the 
 •silence ot others, must of the letters were wrihen by hi« 
 own hand. He was a man of largo stature, thin, i^f a 
 sallow complexion, with short, red hair, and sumll snark- 
 hng eyes. A gloomy and forbidding seriousne.^s sat 
 upon his brow ; and his magnificent present, alone re- 
 tained the trembling crowd of his dependents. 
 
 In this stately obscurity did Walienstein b.lently, but 
 not inactively, await the hour of revenue. The victo- 
 rious career of Gustavus Adolphus soon gave him a pre 
 sentiment ot its approach. Not one of his lol>y sch^emes 
 had been abandoned ; and the emperor's ing,atitud<. had 
 loosened the curb of his ambition. The dazzling splen- 
 dor of his private life bespoke high-soaring pr^^jects ; and, 
 lavish as a king, he seemed already to reckon among hi^ 
 certain possessions those which he contemplated with 
 
 After Waller.stein's dismissal, and the invasion of 
 Gustavus Adolphus, a new generalissimo was to be ap- 
 pointed ; and it now appeared advisable to unite both 
 the imperial army and that of the League under one 
 general. Maximihan of Bavaria sought this appoint- 
 ment, which would have enabled him to dictate to the 
 emperor, who, Irom a conviction of this, wished to pro- 
 cure the command for his eldest son, the King of Hun- 
 gary. At last, m order to avoid ofiense to either of tho 
 competitors, the appointment was given to Tilly, who now 
 exchanged the Bavarian for the Austrian service. The 
 imperial army in Germany, after the retirement of Wal- 
 ienstein, amounted to about forty thousand men ; ttiatof 
 the League to nearly the same number, both commanded 
 by excehent otiicers, trained by the experience of several 
 campaigns, and proud of a long series of victories. With 
 such a torce, little apprehension was felt at the invasion 
 ot the King ot Sweden, and the less so as it commanded 
 both Pomei-ania and Mecklenburg, the only countries 
 through which he could enter Germany. 
 
 Alter tho unsuccessful attempt of the King of Den- 
 
128 
 
 SCIIILLERS THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 iSCHILLER's THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 129 
 
 mark to check the emperor's progress, Gustavus A^dol. 
 phus was the only prince in Europe from whom op- 
 pressed liberty could look for protection — the only one 
 who, while he was personally qualified to conduct such 
 an enterprise, had both political motives to recommend 
 and wrongs to justify it. Before the commencement of 
 the.wnr in Lower Saxony, important political interests 
 induced him, as well as the King of Denmark, to offer 
 his services and his army for the defense of Germany ; 
 but the ofl'er of the latter had, to his own misfortune, 
 been preferred. Since that time, Wallenstein and the 
 emperor had adopted measures which iimst have been 
 equally offensive to him as a man and as a king. Impe- 
 rial troops had been dispatched to the aid of the Polish 
 king, Sigismund, to defend Prussia against the Swedes. 
 When the king complained to Wallenstein of this act of 
 hostility, he received for answer, " The emperor has 
 more soldiers than he wants for himself; he must help 
 his friends." The Swedish ambassadors had been inso- 
 lently ordered by Wallenstein to withdraw from the con- 
 ference at Lubeck ; and when, unawed by this com- 
 mand, they were courageous enough to remain, contrary 
 to the law of nations, he had threatened them with vio- 
 lence. Ferdinand had also insulted the Swedish flag, 
 and intercepted the king's dispatches to Transylvania. 
 He also threw eveiy obstacle in the way of a peace be- 
 tween Poland and Sweden, supported the pretensions 
 of Sigismund to the Swedish throne, and denied the 
 right of Gustavus to the title of king. Deigning no re- 
 gard to the repeated remonstrances of Gustavus, he 
 rather aggravated the offense by new grievances, than 
 acceded the required satisfaction. 
 
 So many personal motives, supported by important 
 considerations, both of policy and religion, and seconded 
 by pressing invitations from Germany, had their ful 
 weight with a prince, who was naturally the more jeal- 
 ous of his royal prerogative the more it was questioned, 
 who was flattered by the glory he hoped to gain as Pro- 
 tector of the Oppressed, and passionately loved war as 
 the element of his genius. But, until a ti'uce or peace 
 with Poland should set his hands free, a new and dan- 
 gerous war ^\as not to be thought of. 
 
 A 
 
 I 
 
 Cardmal Richelieu had the merit of effecting this 
 truce with Poland. This gi-eat statesman, who guided 
 the helm of Europe, while in France he repressed the 
 rage of faction and the insolence of the nobles, pursued 
 .steadily, amid the cares of a stormy administration, hi^ 
 plan ot lowermg the ascendency of the House of Aus- 
 tria. But circumstances opposed considerable obstacles 
 to the execution of his designs; and even the grefite^t 
 minds cannot, witli impunity, defy the prejudices of the 
 age. Ihe minister of a Koman Catholic king, and a 
 cardinal, he was prevented by the purple he bore liom 
 joining the enemies of that church in an open attack on 
 a power which had the address to sanctify its ambitious 
 encroachments under the name of religion. The ex- 
 ternal deference which Richeheu was obliged to pay to 
 the narrow views of his contemporaries limited his ex- 
 ertions to secret negotiations, by which he endeavored 
 to gain the hand of others to accomphsh the enlighten- 
 ed projects of his own mind. After a fmitless attempt 
 ^.o prevent the peace between Denmark and the em- 
 feror, he had recourse to Gustavus Adolphus, the hero 
 'Jt his age. No exertion was spared to bring this mon- 
 arch to a favorable decision, and, at the same time, to 
 hicihtate the execution of it. Charnasse, an tinsuspect- 
 ed agent of the cardinal, proceeded to Polish Prussia, 
 Where Gustavus Adolphus was conducting the war 
 against Sigismund, and alternately visited these princes, 
 in order to persuade them to a truce or peace. Gusta- 
 vus had been long inclined to it, and the French minis- 
 ter succeeded at last in opening the eyes of Sigismund 
 to his true interest, and to the deceitful policy of the 
 emperor. A truce for six yenrs was agreed on, Gusta- 
 vus being allowed to retain all his conquests. This 
 treaty gave him also what he had so long desired, the 
 iberty ot directing his arms against the emperor. For 
 tins the French ambassador offered him the alliance of 
 his sovereign a«d considerable subsidies. But Gustavus 
 Adolphus was justly apprehensive lest the acceptance 
 ot the assistance should make him dependent ui)on 
 I' ranee, and fetter him in his career of conquest, while 
 nn alliance with n Roman Catholic power might excite 
 'iistrust auioiig the ProicstJints 
 9 
 
130 
 
 SCHILLER'S THIRTY YEARS* WAR.' 
 
 If the war was just and necessary, the chcurastances 
 under which it was undertaken were not less promis- 
 ing;. The name of the emperor, it is true, was formid- 
 able, his resources inexhaustible, his power hitherto 
 iovincible. So dangerous a contest would have dismay- 
 ed any other than Gustavus. He saw all the obstacles 
 and dangers which opposed his undertaking; but he 
 knew also the means by which, as he hoped, they might 
 be conquered. His army, though not numerous, was 
 well disciplined, inured to hardship by a severe climate 
 and campaigns, and trained to victory in the war with 
 Poland. Sweden, though poor in inen and money, and 
 overtaxed by an eight years' war, was devoted to its 
 monarch with an enthusiasm which assured him of the 
 ready support of his subjects. In Germany, the name 
 of the emperor was at least as much hated as feared. 
 The Protestant princes only awaited the arrival of a 
 deliverer to throw olf his intolerable yoke, and openly 
 declare for the Swedes. Even the Koman Catholic 
 states would welcome an antagonist to the emperor, 
 whose opposition might control his overwhelming influ- 
 ence. The first victory gained on German ground 
 would bo decisive. It would encourage those princes 
 who still hesitated to declare themselves, strengthen the 
 cause of hffe adherents, augment his troops, and open 
 resources for the maintenance of the campaign. If the 
 greater part of the German states were impoverished 
 by oppression, the flourishing Hanse towns had escapea, 
 and they could not hesitate, by a small voluntary sacri- 
 fice, to avert the general ruin. As the imperialists 
 should be driven from the different ])rovinces, their 
 armies would diminish, since they were subsisting on 
 the countries in which they were encamped. The 
 strength, too. of the emperor had been lessened by ill- 
 timed detachments to Italy and the Netherlands: while 
 Spain, weakened by the loss of the Manilla galleons, 
 and engaged in a serious war in the Netherlands, could 
 afford him little support. Great Britain, on the other 
 hand, gave the King of Sweden hope of considerable 
 subsidies ; and France, now at peace with itself, came 
 foiAvnrd with the most favorable offers. 
 
 But the strongest pledge for the success of his under 
 
 , 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 131 
 
 triRmg Gustavus found — in himself Prudence demand- 
 ed that he should embrace all the foreign assistance he 
 could, in order to guard his enterprise from the impu- 
 tation of rashness ; but all his confidence and courage 
 were entirely derived from himself ^He was indispu- 
 tably the greatest general of his age, and the bravest 
 soldier in the army whicli he had formed. FamiUar 
 with the tactics of Greece and Rome, he had discovered 
 a more eflective system of warfare, which was adopted 
 es a model by the most eminent commanders of subse- 
 quent times. He reduced the unwieldy squadrons of 
 cavalry, and rendered their movements more light and 
 rapid ; and, with the same view, he widened the inter- 
 vals between his battalions. Instead of the usual irray 
 in a single line, he disposed his forces in two hnes, that 
 the second might advance in tlie event of the first giv- 
 ing way. 
 
 He made up for his want of cavalry, by placing infan- 
 try among the horse ; a practice which frequently de- 
 cided the victory. Europe first learned from him the 
 importance of infantry. All Germany was astonished 
 at the strict discipline which, at the first, so creditably 
 distinguished the Swedish army within their territories ; 
 all disorders were punished with the utmost severity, 
 particularly impiety, theft, gambling, and duelling. The 
 Swedish articles of war enforced frugality. In the 
 camp, the king's tent not excepted, neither silver nor 
 gold was to be seen. The general's eye looked a? vig- 
 ilantly to the morals as^to the martial bravery of his sol- 
 diers ; every regiment was ordered to form round its 
 chaplain for morning and evening prayers. In all these 
 points the lawgiver was also an example. A sincere 
 and ardent piety exalted his courage. Equally Iree 
 from the coarse infidelity which leaves the passions of 
 the barbarian without a control — and from the grovel- 
 ing superstition of Ferdinand, who humbled himself to 
 the dust before the Supreme Being, while he haught- 
 ily trampled on his fellow- creatures — in the height of 
 his success he was ever a man and a Christian — in the 
 height of his devotion, a king and a hero. The hard- 
 ships of war he shared with the meanest soldier in his 
 army; maintained a calm serenity ariid the hottest ^ury 
 
.32 
 
 SCIHLLER's thirty YiLARb' WAR. 
 
 of battle ; his glance was omnipresent, and he intrepidly 
 forgot the danger while he exposed himself to the great- 
 est peril. His natural courage, indeed, too often forgot 
 the duty of a general ; and the life of a king ended in 
 the death of a common sold'er. But such a leader was 
 followed to victory alike by the coward and the brave, 
 and his eagle glance marked every heroic deed which 
 his example had inspired. The fame of their sovereign 
 excited in the nation an enthusiastic sense of their own 
 importance ; proud of their king, the peasant in Finland 
 and Gothland joyfully contributed his pittance ; the 
 soldier willingly shed his blood ; and the lofty energy 
 which his single mind had in parted to the nation long 
 sui*vived its creator. / 
 
 The necessity of the war was acknowledged, but tho 
 best plan of conducting it was a matter of much ques- 
 tion. Even to the bold Chancellor Oxenstiern, an offen- 
 sive war appeared too daring a measure ; the resources 
 of his poor and conscientious master appeared to him 
 too slender to compete with those of a despotic sover 
 eign, who held all Germany at his command. But the 
 minister's timid sciiiples were overruled by the hero's 
 penetrating prudence. "If we await the enemy in 
 Sweden," said Gustavus, ''in the event of a defeat ev- 
 ery thing would be lost ; by a fortunate commencement 
 in Germany eveiy thing would be gained. The sea is 
 wide, and we have a long hne of coast in Sweden to 
 defend. If the enemy's fleet should escape us, or our 
 own be defeated, it would, in either case, be impossible 
 to prevent the enemy's landing. * Every thing depends 
 on the retention of Stralsund. So long as this harbor 
 is open to us, we shall both command the Baltic and 
 secure a reti-eat from Germany. But to protect this 
 port we must not remain in Sweden, but advance at 
 once into Pomerania. Let us talk no more, then, of a 
 defensive war, by which we sh auld sacrifice our great- 
 est advantages. Sweden must not be doomed to behold 
 a hostile banner ; if we are vanquished in Germany, it 
 will be time enough to follow your plan." 
 
 Gustavus resolved to cross the Baltic and attack the 
 omperor. His preparations were made with the utmost 
 expedition, and his precautionary measures were not 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 133 
 
 /I 
 
 /I 
 
 ess prudent than the resolution itself was bold and mag- 
 nannnous. Before engaging in so distant a war, it was 
 necessaiy to secure Sweden against its neighbors. At 
 a personal interview with the King of Denmark at Mar- 
 karoed, Gustavus assured himself of the friendsliip of 
 that monarch ; his frontier, on the side of Mosco\^', was 
 well guarded; Poland might be held in check from 
 Germjiny, if it betrayed any design of infringinir the 
 truce, h alkenberg, a Sv/edish ambassador, who visited 
 the courts of Holland and Germany, obtained the most 
 nattenng promises from sQveral Protestant princes, 
 though none of them yet possessed courage or self- 
 devotion enough to enter into a formal alliance with 
 him. Lubeck and Hamburg engaged to advance, him 
 money, and to accept Swedish copper in return. 
 Emissaries were also dispatched to the Princ9 of 
 1 ransylvania to excite that implacable enemy of Austi'ia 
 to arms. 
 
 In the mean time, Swedish levies were made in Ger- 
 many and the Netherlands, the reginaents increased tc 
 their full complement, new ones raised, transports pro 
 vided, a fleet fitted out, provisions, military stores,, and 
 money collected. Thirty ships of v>'ar were in a short 
 time prepared, fifteen thousand men equipped, and two 
 hundred transports were ready to convey them a<:ros8 
 the Baltic. A greater force Gustavus Adolphus was 
 unwilling to carry into Germany, and even the mainte- 
 nance of this exceeded the revenues of his kingdom. 
 But, however small his army, it was admirable in all 
 points of discipline, courage, and experience, and might 
 serve as the nucleus of a more poweiful armament, if it 
 once gained the German frontier, and its first attempts 
 were attended with success. Oxenstiern, at once tren- 
 eral and chancellor, was posted, with ten thousand men, 
 m Prussia, to protect that province against Poland. 
 Some regular troops, and a considerable body of militia, 
 which served as a nursery for the main body, remained 
 m Sweden, as a defense against a sudden invasion by 
 any treacherous neighbor. 
 
 These were the measures taken for the external de- 
 fense of the kingdom. Its internal administration was 
 provided for with equal care. The government was in- 
 
 M 
 
134 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEAE3 WAR. 
 
 \ 
 
 ti"usted to the council of state, and the fniances to tho 
 Palatine John Casimir, tlie brother-in-law ot" the king, 
 while his wife, tenderly as he was attached to her, was 
 excluded from all share in the government, for which 
 herhmited talents injaj)acitated her. He set his house 
 in oixler like a dying man. On the 20th of May, 1G30, 
 when all his measures were arranged, and all was ready 
 for his departure, the king appeared in the Diet at 
 Stockholm, to bid the states a solemn farewell. Taking 
 in his arms his daughter Christina, then only four years 
 old, who, in the cradle, hj^d been acknowledged as his 
 successor, he presented her to the states as the future 
 sovereign, exacted from them a renewal of the or.th of 
 allegiance to her, in case he should never more return-; 
 and then read the ordinances for tho government of the 
 kingdom during his absence, or the minority of his daugh- 
 ter. The whole assembly was dissolved in tears, and 
 the king himself was some time before he could attain 
 sufficient composure to deliver his farewell address to 
 the states. * 
 
 " Not lightly nor wantonly," said he, " am I about to 
 involve myself and you in this new and dangero-us war : 
 God is my witness that J do not fight to gratify my own 
 ambition. But the emperor has wronged me most 
 shamefully in the person of my ambassador. He ha& 
 supported my enemies, persecuted my friends and breth- 
 ren, trampled my religion in the dust, and even stretched 
 his revengeful arm against my crown. The oppressed 
 states of Germany call loudly for aid, which, by God'r? 
 Help, we will give them. 
 
 " I am fully sensible of the dangers to which my life 
 will be exposed. I have never yet shrunk from them, 
 /lor is it likely that I shall escape them all. Hitherto, 
 Providence has wonderfully protected me ; but I shall 
 Jit last fall in defence of my country. I commend you 
 to the protection of Heaven. Be just, be conscientious, 
 uct uprightly, and we shall meet again in eternity. 
 
 " To you, my counselors of state, I address myself 
 first. May God enlighten you, and fill you with wis- 
 dom, to promote the welfare of my people. You, too, 
 my brave nobles, I commend to the divine protection 
 Continue to prove yourselves the worthy s accessors >f 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 135 
 
 those Gothic heroes, whose bravery humblea to the 
 dust the pride of ancient Rome. To you, ministers of 
 religion, I recommend moderation and unity ; be your- 
 selves examples of the virtues which you preach, and 
 abuse not your influence over the minds of my people. 
 On you, deputies of the burgesses and the peasantry, I 
 entreat the blessing of heaven ; may your industry be 
 rewarded by a prosperous hai-vest ; your stores plente- 
 ously filled, and may you be crowned abundantly with 
 all the blessings of this life. For the prosperity of all 
 my subjects, absent and present, I olTer my warmest 
 prayers to Heaven. I bid you all a sincere — it may b;^ 
 an eternal fjirewell." 
 
 The embarkation of the t:i-oops took place at EUs'vna- 
 ben, where tho fleet lay at anclior. An innr.ense con- 
 course flocked thither to witness this magnificent spec- 
 tacle. The hearts of the spectators were agitated by 
 varied emotions, as they alternately considered the vast- 
 ness of the enterprise, and the greatness of the leader. 
 Among the superior officers who commanded in this 
 army were Gustavus Horn, the Rhinegrave Otto Lewis, 
 Henry Matthias, Count Thurn, Ottenberg, Baudissen, 
 Banner, Teufel, Tott, Mutsenfahl, Falkenberg, Knip- 
 hausen, and other distinguished names. Detained bj 
 contrary winds, the fleet did not sail till June, and on 
 the 24th of that month reached the island of Rugen in 
 Pomerania. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus was the first who landed. In tho 
 presence of his suite he knelt on the shore of Germany, 
 to return thanks to the Almighty for the safe a^-ival of 
 his fleet and his army. He lauded his troops on tho 
 islands of WoUin and Usedom ; upon his approach, the 
 imperial garrisons abandoned their entrenchments and 
 fled. He advanced rapidly on Stettin, to secure tliis 
 important place before the appearance of the imperial- 
 ists. Bogislaus XIV., Duke of Pomerania, a feeble and 
 superannuated prince, had been long tired out by the 
 outrages committed by the latter within his territories ; 
 but too weak to resist, he had contented himself with 
 murmurs. The appeai-ance of his deliverer, instead of 
 animating his courage, increased his fear and anxiety. 
 Severely as his country had suflercd from the imperial- 
 
It^G Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 ists, the risk of incurring the emperor's vengeance pre- 
 vented him from declaring openly for the Swedes. Gus- 
 tavus Adolphus, who was encamped under the walls of 
 the town, summoned the city to receive a Swedish garri* 
 son. Bogislaus appeared in person in the camp of Gus- 
 tavus, to deprecate this condition. " I come to you," said 
 Gustavus, " not as an enemy, but ft friend. I wage no war 
 against Pomerania, nor against the German empire, but 
 against the enemies of both. In my hands this duchy 
 shall be sacred ; and it shall be restored to you at the 
 conclusion of the campaign, by me, with more certainty 
 than by any other. Look to the traces of the imperial 
 force within your toiritories, and to mine in Usedom • 
 and decide whether you will have the emperor or me 
 as your friend. What have you to expect if the em- 
 peror should make himself master of your capital ? Will 
 he deal with you more leniently than I ? Or is it your 
 intention to stop my progress ? The case is pressing : 
 decide at once, and do not compel me to have recourse 
 to more violent measures." 
 
 The alternative was a painful one. On the one side, 
 the King of Sweden was befoie his gates with a formi- 
 dable army; on the other, he saw the inevitable ven- 
 geance of the emperor, and the fearful example of so 
 many German princes, who were now wandering in 
 miseiy, the victims of that revenge. The more imme- 
 diate danger decided his resolution. The gates of Stet- 
 tin were open to the king; the Swedish troops entered ; 
 and th| Austrians, who were advancing by rapid march- 
 es, anncipated. The capture of this place procured for 
 the king a firm footing in Pomerania, the command of 
 the Oder, and a magazine for his 4ioops. To prevent 
 a charge of treacheiy, Bogislaus was careful to excuse 
 this step to the emperor on the plea of necessity ; but 
 aware of Ferdinand's implacable disposition, he entered 
 into a close alliance with his new protector. By this 
 league with Pomerania Gustavus secured a poweiful 
 friend in Germany, who covered his rear, and main- 
 tained his communication with Sweden. 
 
 As Ferdinand was already the aggressor in I^russia 
 Gustavus Adolphus thought himself absolved from thf 
 usual formalities, and commenced hostilities without anj 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 137 
 
 oeclaration of war. To the other European po^x-rs 
 he justified Ills conduct in a manifesto, in which he. de- 
 tailed the grounds which had led him to take up arms. 
 Meanwhile he continued his progress in Pomerania, 
 while he saw h,s army daily increasing. The tioops 
 which had fought under Mansfeld, Duke Christian of 
 Brunswick, the King of Denmark, and Wallenstein, 
 came in crowds, both offic3rs and soldiers, to join his 
 victorious standard. '' 
 
 At the imperial court, the invasion of the Kine of 
 Sweden at first excited far less attention than it merited, 
 i he pride of Austria, exti-avagantly elated by its un- 
 heard-of successes, looked down with contempt upon a 
 prince, who, with a handful of men, came from an ob- 
 scure corner of Europe, and who owed his past suc- 
 cesses, as they imagined, entirely to the incapacity of 
 
 twfK^rT''^''^' 1 ™^ depreciatory representation 
 ^^hIch Wallenstem had artfully given of the Swedish 
 power increased the emperor's security ; for what had 
 he to tear from an enemy whom his general undertook 
 to drive with such ease from Germany ? E ven the rapid 
 progress of Gustavus Adolph.s in Pomerania could iot 
 entirely dispel this prejudice, which the mockeries of 
 the courtiei^ continued to feed. He was called in Vienna 
 the Snow King, whom the cold of the north kept to- 
 gether, but who would infallibly melt as he advanced 
 souUiward. Even the electors, assembled at Ratisbon, 
 disregarded his representations; and, influenced by an 
 abject complaisance to Ferdinand, refused him even the 
 
 and Vienna, m Mecklenburg and Pomerania, one stiong 
 town after another fell into his hands. 
 
 Notwithstanding this contempt, the emperor thoudit 
 It proper to offer to adjust his differences with Sweclen 
 by negotiation, and for that purpose sent plenipoteni:ia- 
 nes to Denmark. But their instructions showed how 
 httle he was in earnest in these proposals, for he f;till 
 contirmed to refuse to Gustavus the title of King. He 
 iK^ed by this means to throw on the king of ^eden 
 the odium of being the aggressor, and thereby to in- 
 sure the support of the states of the empire. The 
 conference at Dantzic proved, as might bo expected 
 
 M 2 
 
138 
 
 .'-. 
 
 SCHILLER S TIIIRTT YEARS WAR. 
 
 fruitless, and the animosity of both parties was increased 
 to its utmost by an intemperate correspondence. 
 
 An imperial general, Torquato Conti, who command- 
 ed in Pomerania, had, in the mean time, made a vain 
 attempt to wrest Stettin from the Swedes. The impe- 
 rialists were driven out from one place after another, 
 Damm, Stuttgard, Camin, and Wolgast, soon fell into 
 the hands of Gustavus. To revenge himself upon the 
 Duke of Pomerania, the imperial general permitted his 
 generals, upon his retreat, to exercise every barbarity 
 on the unfortunate inhabitants of Pomerania, who had 
 already suffered but too severely from his avarice. On 
 pretense of cutting oft' the resources of the Swedes, 
 the whole country was laid waste and plundered ; and 
 often when the imperialists were unable any longer 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 a more favorable light the oppo- 
 site conduct of the Swedes, and to win all hearts to 
 their humane monarch. The Swedish soldier paid for 
 all he required; no private property was injured on his 
 march. The Swedes consequently were received with 
 open arms both in town and countiy, while every im- 
 periahst that fell into the hands of the Pomeranian 
 peasantry was remorselessly murdered. Many Pome- 
 ranians entered into the service of Sweden, and the es- 
 tates of this exhausted country willingly voted the king 
 a contribution of one hundi-ed thousand florins. 
 
 Torquato Conti, who, with all his severity of charac- 
 ter, was a consummate general, endeavored to render 
 Stettin useless to the King of Sweden, as he could not 
 deprive him of it. He intrenched himself upon the 
 Oder, at Gartz, above Stettin, in order, by commanding 
 that river, to cut oft' the water communication of the 
 town with the rest of Germany. Nothing could induce 
 him to attack the King of Sweden, wiio was his supe- 
 rior in numbers, while the latter was equally cautious 
 not to storm the strong intrenchments of the imijerial- 
 ists. Torquato, too deficient in troops and money to 
 act upon the oft'ensive against the king, hoped by this 
 plan of operations to give time for Tilly to hasten to the 
 defense of Pomerania, and then, in conjurction with 
 
 ^ 
 
 SCillLLEIl's THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 139 
 
 Ihat general, to attack the Swedes. Seizing the oi^por- 
 tunily ot the temporary absence of Gustavus, he made 
 a sudden attempt upon Stettin, but the Swedes were 
 not unprepared for him. A vigorous attack of the» im- 
 perialists was firmly repulsed, and Torquato was forced 
 to retne with great loss. For tliis auspicious com- 
 inencement of the war, however, Gustavus was, it must 
 be owned, as much indebted to his good fortune as to 
 lis military talents. The imperial troops in Pomerania 
 had been greatly reduced since Wallenstein's dismissal • 
 moreover, the outrages they had committed were now 
 severely revenged upon them ; wasted and exhausted, 
 the countiy no longer aftbrded them a subsistence. All 
 discipline was at an end ; the orders of the officers were 
 disregarded, while tlieir numbers daily decreased by 
 desertion, and by a general mortality, which the piercino 
 cold of a strange climate had produced among them. "" 
 Under these circumstances, the imperial general was 
 anxious to allow liis troops the repose of wintir quan ers 
 but he had to do with an enemy to whom the climate 
 ot Germany had no winter. Gustavus had taken the 
 precaution of providing his soldiers with dresses of sheep- 
 sAin, to enable them to keep the field even in the most 
 inclement season The imperial plenipotentiaries, who 
 came to treat with him for a cessation of hostilities, re- 
 ceived this discouraging answer : - The Swedes are 
 soldiers in winter ns well as in summer, ai^d not dis- 
 posed to oppress the unfortunate peasantry. The im- 
 perialists may act as they think proper, but they need 
 not expect to remain undisturbed." Torquato Conti 
 soon after resigned a command, in which neither riches 
 nor reputation was to be gained. 
 
 In this inequality of the two armies, the advantage 
 ^vas necessarily on the side of the Swedes. The impe- 
 trji^'.^V'^T V^^^^^^'-^ntly harassed in their winter quar- 
 e s, Greifenhagen, an important place upon the Oder 
 taken by storm, and the towns of Gartz and Piritz were 
 at last abandoned by the enemy. In the whole of Pom- 
 erania Greitswald, Deurminf and Colberg alone re- 
 mained m then- hands, and these the king made great 
 preparations to besiege. The enemy (hrected f hei i 
 retreat tow.rd Brandenburg, in which nmch of e r 
 
140 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 artillery and baggage, and many prisoners, fell into the 
 hands of the pursuers. 
 
 By seizing the passes of Riebnitz and Daragarden, 
 Gustavus had opened a passage into Mecklenburg, whose 
 inhabitants were invited to return to their allegiance 
 under their legitimate sovereign, and to expel the adhe- 
 rents of WaJenstein. The imperialists, however, gained 
 the important town of Kostock by stratagem, and thus 
 prevented the farther advance of the king, who ^vas 
 unwilling to divide his forces. The exiled dukes of 
 Mecklenburg had ineffectually employed the princes 
 assembled at Ratisbon to intercede with the emperor: 
 in vain they had endeavored to soften Ferdinand, by 
 renouncing the alliance of the king, and every idea of 
 resistance. But, driven to despair by the emperor's 
 inflexibility, they openly espoused the side of Sweden, 
 and raising troops, gave the command of them to Francis 
 Charles, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg. That general made 
 himself master of several strong places on the Elbe, but 
 lost them afterward to the imperial general, Pappenheim, 
 who was dispatched to oppose him. Soon afterward, 
 besieged by the latter in the town of Ratzeburg, he was 
 compelled to surrender with all his troops. Thus ended 
 the attempt which these unfortunate princes made to 
 recover their territories ; and it was reserved for the 
 victorious arm of Gustavus Adolphus to render them 
 that brilliapt service. 
 
 The imperialists had thrown themselves into Bran- 
 denbui'g, which now became the theater of the most bar- 
 barous atrocities. These outrages were inflicted upon 
 the subjects of a prince w^ho had never injured the 
 emperor, and whom, moieover, he was at the very time 
 inciting to take up arms against the King of Sweden. 
 The sight of the disorders of their soldiers, which want 
 of money compelled them to wink at, and of authority 
 over their troops, excited the disgust even of the impe- 
 rial generals ; and, from very shame, their commander- 
 in-chief. Count Shaumburg, wished to resign. 
 
 Without a sufficient force to protect his territories, 
 and left by the emperor, in spite of the most pressing 
 remonstrances, without assistance, the Elector of Bran- 
 denburg at last issued an edict, ordering his subjects to 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' vv.ir. :141 
 
 repel force by force, and to put to death, without mercy, 
 every imperial soldier who should henceforth be detected 
 in plundering. To such a height had the violence of 
 outrage and the miseiy of the government risen, that 
 nothing was left to the sovereign but the desperate ex- 
 tremity of sanctioning private vengeance by a formal law. 
 
 The Swedes had pursued the imperialists into Bran- 
 denburg; but upon the elector's refusal to open to him 
 thr fortress of Custrin for his march, obliged the kin.? to 
 laj aside his design of besieging Frankfort on the Oiler. 
 He therefore returned to complete the conquest of Pome- 
 rania, by the capture of Demmin and Colberg. In the 
 mean time, field-marshal Tilly was advancing to the de- 
 fense of Brandenburg. 
 
 This general, who could boast, as yet, of nev€r having 
 suffered a defeat, the conqueror of Mansfeld, of Duke 
 Christian of Brunswick, of the Margrave of Baden, and 
 the King of Denmark, was now, in the Swedish mon- 
 arch, to meet an opponent worthy of his fame. De- 
 scended of a noble family in Liege, Tilly had formed his 
 military talents in the wars of the Netherlands, which 
 was then the great school for generals. He soon found 
 an opportunity of distinguishing himself under Rodolph 
 n. m Hungary, where he rapidly rose from one ste]) to 
 another. After the peace, he entered into the senice 
 of Maximilian, of Bavaria, who made him commander- 
 in-chief, with absolute powers. Here, by his excellent 
 regulations, he was the founder of the Bavarian army ; 
 ani to him, chiefly, Maximilian was indebted for his 
 superiority in the field. Upon the termination of the 
 Bohemian war, he was appointed commander of the 
 troops of the League ; and, after Wallenstein's dismissal, 
 generalissimo of the imperial aimies. Equally steru 
 toward his soldiers and implacable toward his enemies, 
 and as gloomy and impenetrable as Wallenstein, he vi^aJ 
 greatly his superior in probity and disinterestedness. 
 A bigoted zeal for religion, and a bloody spirit of perse- 
 cution, cooperated with the natural ferocity of his char- 
 acter, to make him the terror of the Protestants. A 
 strange and terrific aspect bespoke his character: of 
 low stature, thin, with hollow cheeks, a long nose, a 
 broad and wrinkled forehead, large whiskers, and a point- 
 
142 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 ed chin ; he was generally attired in a Spanish doublet 
 of green satin, with slashed sleeves, with a small, high- 
 peaked hat upon his head, surmounted by a red feather 
 which hung down to his back. His whole aspect re- 
 called to recollection the Duke of Alva, the scourge of 
 the Flemings, and his actions were far from effacing the 
 impression. Such was the general who was now to be 
 opposed to the hero of the North. 
 
 Tilly was fur from undervaluing his antagonist. " The 
 King of Sweden," said he in the Diet at Ratisbon, " is 
 nn enemy both prudent and brave, inured to war, and 
 in the flower of his age. His plans are excellent, his 
 resources considerable ; his subjects enthusiastically 
 attached to him. His army, composed of Swedes, Ger 
 mans. LUonians, Finlanders, Scots, and English, by its 
 devoted obedience to their leader, is blended into one 
 nation : he is a gamester, in playing with whom not to 
 have lost is to have won a great deal." 
 
 The progress of the King of Sweden in Brandenburg 
 and Pomerania left the new generalissimo no time to 
 lose ; and his presence was now urgently called for by 
 those who commanded in that quarter. With all expe- 
 dition, he collected the imperial troops which were dis- 
 persed over the empire ; but it required time to obtain 
 from the exhausted and impoverished provinces the ne- 
 cessary supplies. At last, about the middle of winter, 
 he appeared at the head of twenty thousand men, be- 
 fore Frankfort on the Oder, where he was joined bv 
 Schaumburg. Leaving to this general the defense ol 
 Frankfort, with a sufticient garrison, he hastened to 
 Pomerania, with a view of saving Demmin, and reliev- 
 ing Colberg, which was already hard pressed by the 
 Swedes. But even before he had left Brandenburg, 
 Demmin, which was but poorly defended by the Duke 
 of Savelli, had surrendered to the king, and Colberg, 
 after a five months' siege, was starved into a capitula- 
 tion. As the passes in Upper Pomerania were well 
 guarded, and the king's camp near Schwedt defied 
 attack, Tilly abandoned his offensive plan of operations, 
 aud retreated toward the Elbe to besiege Magdeburg. 
 
 The capture of Demmin opened to tlie king a free 
 passage into Mecklenburg; but a more important enter- 
 
 V 
 
 11 
 
 
 St'HILLERS THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 143 
 
 prise drew his arms into another quarter. Scarcely' had 
 Tilly commenced his retrograde movement, when, sud- 
 denly breaking up his camp at Schwedt, he marched 
 with his whole force against Frankfort on the Oder. 
 This town, badly fortified, was defended by a garrison 
 of eight thousand men, mostly composed of those fe- 
 rocious bands who had so cruelly ravaged Pomerania 
 and Brandenburg. It was now attacked with such im- 
 petuosity, that on the third day it was taken by storm. 
 The Swedes, assured of victory, rejected every ofier of 
 capitulation, as they were resolved to exercise the dread- 
 ful right of retaliation. For Tilly, soon after his arrival, 
 had surrounded a Swedish detachment, and, irritattid by 
 their resistance, had cut them in pieces to a man. This 
 cruelty was not forgotten by the Swedes. "New Bran- 
 denburg Quarter," they replied to the imperialists who 
 begged their lives, and slaughtered them without mercy. 
 Several thousands were either killed or taken, and many 
 were drowned in the Oder ; the rest fled to Silesia. All 
 their artillery fell into the hands of the Swedes. To 
 satisfy the rage of his troops, Gustavus Adolphus was 
 under the necessity of giving up the town for three hours 
 to plunder. 
 
 While the king was thus advancing from one concjuest 
 to another, and, by his success, encouraging the Protes- 
 tants to active resistance, the emperor proceeded to en- 
 force the Edict of Restitution, and, by his exorbitant 
 pretensions, to exhaust the patience of the states, ('om- 
 jjelled by necessity, he continued the violent course 
 which he had begun with such arrogant confidence ; 
 the difficulties into which his arbitraiy conduct had 
 plunged him, he could only extricate himself frora by 
 measures still more arbitrary. But in so complicai ed a 
 body as the German empire, despotism must always 
 create the most dangerous convulsions. With astonish- 
 ment, the princes beheld the constitution of the empiie 
 overthrown, and the state of nature to which matters 
 were again verging, suggested to them the idea of self- 
 defense, the only means of protection in such a state of 
 things. The steps openly taken by the emperor against' 
 the Lutheran church, had at last removed the veil from 
 the eyes of John George, who had been so long the dup6 
 
144 
 
 SCHILLER ri THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 of his artful policy. Ferdinand, too, had personallj 
 offended him by the exclusion of his son from the arch- 
 bishopric of Magdeburg ; and field-marshal Arnheim, his 
 new favorite and minister, spared no pains to increase 
 the resentment of his master. Arnheim had formerly 
 been an imperial general under Wallenstein, and being 
 still zealously attached to him, he was eager to avenge 
 his old benefactor and himself on the emperor, by de- 
 taching Saxony from the Austrian interests. Gustavua 
 Adolphus, supported by the Protestant states, w^ould be 
 invincible ; a consideration which already filled the em 
 peror with alarm. The example of Saxony would prob- 
 ably influence others, and the emperor's fate seemed 
 now in a manner to depend upon the elector's decision. 
 The artful favorite impressed upon his master this idea 
 of his own importance, and advised him to terrify the 
 emperor, by threatening an alliance with Sweden, and 
 thus to extort from his fears, what he had sought in vain 
 from his gratitude. The favorite", however, was far from 
 Wishing him actually to enter into the Swedish alliance, 
 out, by holding aloof from both parties, to maintain his 
 ovyn importance and independence. Accordingly, he 
 laid befoie him a plan, which only wanted a more able 
 hand to carry it into execution, and recommended him, 
 by heading the Protestant party, to erect a third power 
 ill Germany, and thereby maintain the balance between 
 Sweden and Austria. 
 
 This project was peculiarly flattering to the Saxon 
 elector, to whom the idea of being dependent upon 
 Sweden, or of longer submitting to the tyranny of the 
 emperor, wms equally hateful. "He could not, with in- 
 difference, see the control of German affairs wrested 
 from him by a foreign prince ; and incapable as he was 
 of taking u principal part, his vanity would not con- 
 descend to act a subordinate one. He resolved, there- 
 fore, to draw every possible advantage from the progress 
 of Gustavus, but to pursue, independently, his own 
 separate plans. With this view, he consulted with the. 
 Elector of Brandenburg, who, from similar causes, was 
 ready to act against the emperor, but, at the same time, 
 was jealous of Sweden. In a Diet at Torgau; having 
 ussured himself of the suppoi t of his estates, he invited 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 14£ 
 
 the Piotestant states of the empire to a genera conven- 
 tJon which took place at Leipzig, on the Cth February, 
 1 Ool. lirandenburg, Hesse Cassel, with several priuces 
 counts, states of the empire, and Protestant bishops, ^vere 
 present, either personally or by deputy, at this assembly, 
 which the chaplain to the Saxon court, Dr. Hoe of 
 Hohenegg opened with a vehement discourse from the 
 pulpit. Ihe emperor had, in vain, endeavored to pre- 
 vent this selt-appointed convention, whose object was 
 evidently to provide for its own defense, and which the 
 presence ot the Swedes in the empire rendered more 
 han usually alarming. Emboldened by the pi-ogress of 
 Gustavus Adolphus, the assembled piinces asserted iheir 
 rights, and alter a session of two months broke up, with 
 adopting a resolution which placed the emperor in no 
 slight embarrassment. Its import was to demand ol" the 
 emperor, in a general address, the revocation of the lldict 
 ot Kestitution, the withdrawal of his troops from their 
 capitals and lortresses, the suspension of all existing pro- 
 ceedings, and the abolition of abuses ; and, in the niean 
 tune, to raise an army of forty thousand men, to enable 
 them to redress their own grievances, if the emperor 
 should still refuse satisfaction. 
 
 A further incident contributed not a little to increase 
 the firmness ot the Protestant princes. The Kino- of 
 Sweden had, at last, overcome the scruples which had 
 deterred him from a closer alliance with France, and, on 
 the 13th January, 1631, concluded a formal treaty with 
 this crown. Alter a serious dispute respecting the treat- 
 inent ot the Roman Catholic princes of the empire, wliom 
 lyance took under her protection, and against whom 
 Gustavus claimed the right of retaliation, and after some 
 less important differences with regard to the title of 
 majesty which the pride of France was loth to concede 
 to the King ot Sweden, Richelieu yielded the second, 
 imd Gustavus Adolj)hus the first point, and the treaty 
 ivas signed at Beerwald in Neumaik. The contractinTr 
 oaities nmtually covenanted to defend each other with a 
 niJitaiy lorce, to protect their common friends, to restore 
 ^o their dominions the deposed princes of the empire 
 md to replace every thing, both on the frontier and in 
 Jie interior ol Germany, on the same footing on which 
 
IIG 
 
 SClHLLKRri THIRTY YEARS VVAU. 
 
 it stood before the commencement of the Avar. For 
 this end, Sweden engaged to mahitahi an army oi 
 thirty thousand men in Germany, and France agreed 
 to furnish the Swedes with an annual subsidy of four 
 hundred thousand dollars. If the arms of G'ustavu.s 
 \vere successful, he w^as to respect the Roman Catholic 
 religion and the constitution of the empire in all the 
 conquered places, and to make no attempt against 
 either. All estates and princes, whether Protestant or 
 lioman Catholic, either in Germany or in other con- 
 tries, were to be invited to become parties to the treaty; 
 neither France nor Sweden was to conclude a separate 
 peace without the knowledge and consent of the other; 
 and the treaty itself was to continue in force for five 
 years. 
 
 Great as was I lie struggle to the King of Sweden to 
 receive subsidies from France, and sacrifice his independ- 
 ence in the conduct of the war, this alliance with France 
 decided his cause in Germany. Protected, as he now 
 was, by the greatest power in Europe, the German 
 states began to feel confidence in his undertaking, for 
 the issue of which they had hitherto good reason to 
 tremble. He became truly formidable to the emperor. 
 The Roman Catholic princes, too, who, while they were 
 anxious to humble Austria, had w;itnessed his progress 
 with distrust, v»'ere less alarmed now that an alliance 
 with a Roman Catholic power insured his respect for 
 their religion. And thus, while Gustavus Adolphus 
 . protected the Pjotestant religion and the libeities of 
 Germany against the aggression of Ferdinand, France 
 secured those liberties, and the Roman Catholic religion, 
 J gainst Gustavus "himself, if the intoxication of succesrj 
 should hurry him beyond the bounds of moderation. 
 
 The King of Sweden lost no time in apprising the 
 members of the confederacy of Leipzig of the treaty 
 concluded with Fiance, and inviting them to a closer 
 union with himself. The application was seconded by 
 France, who spared no pains to win over the Elector ol 
 Saxony. Gustavus was willing to be content with secret 
 support, if the princes should deem it too bold a step, as 
 yet, to declare openly in his favor. Several princes gave 
 him hopes of his propoF:a]s being accepted on the first 
 
 
 . 
 
 «chillek's thirty years' war. m 
 
 favorable opportunity ; but the Saxon elector, full o. 
 jealousy and distrust toward the Kiusr of Sweden n„!i 
 true to tho selfish policy he had pu.lued, could "^.t be 
 prevailed upon to give a decisive answer. 
 
 Ihe resolution ofthe confederacy of Leipzig, and the 
 «lhance betwixt France and Sweden, were news equaUv 
 <] sagreeable to the emperor. A<rainst them !,« l„?^ 
 Vpyed the thunder of i,„;,erial ortiCces, an'the wan 
 o an army saved France from the full we ght of his d^s 
 
 ^rmber; nf^r ""'^.-•T''' ''''''' addressid to a 1 ,b 
 membeis of the conlederacy, strongly prohibitin-. then 
 trom enlisting troops. They reto.ted with explaSat on 
 equally vehement, justified their conduct u,>on the princ 
 
 '^ Me°antimr'thl''' '"^^.7"«'"-'' «-- P.eparat1ons 
 iUeantiine, the imperial generals, deficient both i 
 troops and money, found themselves reduced to the di 
 
 of St'™f .? "*■ '"""S ''^^' «'*«^ of the K ; 
 ^ H / / ■' *"■ f "'" ^""""^ "f f'e empire, since witU 
 n divided lorce they were not a match for either. The 
 niovements ot the Protestants called their atte. tier o 
 the mtenor of the empire, while the pro^-ess of the 
 kmg m Brandenburg, |,y threatening tKreditlrv 
 possessions ot Austrii, requh-ed them to' tuin heir an ,i 
 to that quarter. After the conquest of Frankfort, the 
 king had advanced upon Landsberg on the Warta and 
 
 /The rich archbishopric, of which Magdeburg was (he 
 capital, had long been in the possession of prinlc^of le 
 House o Brandenburg, who introduced the Protest m 
 religion mto the province. Christian William, the " 
 ndmmistiator, had, by his alliance with Denmark i" 
 cm-red the ban of the empire on which account ihe 
 chapter o avoid the emperor's .;;spleasure, had forma y 
 der^sed him. In his place they liad etected Princo 
 John August^us, the second son of the Elector of Sax- 
 ony, whom the emperor rejected, in order to confer the 
 archbishopric on his son Leopold. The K lee tor w 
 fcaxony compLamed ineflectually to the imperial comt- 
 
 mea^u':r"'pT'""'" °^ f^^^^-^-'S took'^iore ac^^>!^ 
 measures. Relying on tho att.ehment of the magis- 
 
148 
 
 fcCar.LER's THIRTY YEARs' WAR, 
 
 tracy and inhabitants of Brandenburg, and excited bj 
 chimerical hopes, he thought hiraseif able to sur nount 
 all the obstacles which the vote of the chapter, the com- 
 petition of two powerful rivals, and the Edict of Restitu- 
 tion opposed to his restoration. He went to Sweden, 
 und, by the promise of a diversion in Germany, sought 
 So obtain assistance fr( m Gustavus. He was dismissed 
 V>y that monarch not without hopes of efiectual prctec- 
 tion, but with the advice to act with caution. 
 
 Scarcely had Christian William been informed of the 
 .anding of his protector in Pomorania, than he entered 
 Magdeburg in disguise. Appearing suddenly in the 
 town council, he reminded the magistrates of the rav- 
 ages which both town and country had sufiered from 
 the imperial troops, of the pernicious designs of Ferdi- 
 nand, and the danger of the Protestant church. He 
 then informed them that the moment of deliverance 
 was at hand, and that Gustavus Adolphus offered them 
 his alliance and assistance. Magdeburg, one of the 
 most flourishing towns in Germany, enjoyed under 
 the government of its magistrates a republican freedom, 
 w^hich inspired its citizens with a brave heroism. Of 
 this they had already given proofs, in the bold defence 
 of their rights against Wallenstein, who, tempted by 
 their wealth, made on them the most extravagant de- 
 mands. Their territory had been given up to the fury 
 of his troops, though Magdeburg itself had escaped his 
 vengeance. It w^as not difficult, therefore, for the ad- 
 ministrator to gain the concurrence of men in whose 
 minds the remembrance of these outrages was still re- 
 cent. An alliance was formed between the city and the 
 King of Sweden, by wiiich Magdeburg gi-anted to the 
 king a free passage through its gates and ten'itories, 
 with liberty of enlisting soldiers within its boundaries, 
 and on the other hand, obtaining promises of eiVectual 
 protection for its religion and its privileges. 
 
 The administrator immediately collected troops and 
 commenced hostilities, before Gustavus Adolphus was 
 near enough to cooperate with him. He defeated some 
 imperial detachments in the neighborhood, made a few 
 conquests, and even surprised Halle. But the approach 
 of an imnerial army obliged him to retreat hastily, and 
 
 SCIllLLEKS 'MIlIiTV Yi'AR.s' W AK 
 
 141) 
 
 not without loss, to Magdeburg. Gustavus Adolphus, 
 though displeased with his premature measures, sent 
 Dietrich Falkenberg, an experienced officer, to direct 
 the administiator's military operations, and to assist him 
 %yith his counsel. Falkenberg was named by the ma- 
 gistrates govenior of the town during the war. The 
 prince's army was daily augmented by recruits from the 
 neighboring towns ; and he was able, for some months, to 
 maintain a petty warfare with success. 
 
 At length. Count Pappenheim, having brought his 
 expedition against the Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg to a 
 close, approached the town. Driving the troops of the 
 administrator from their intrenchments, he cut off his 
 communication with Saxony, and closdy invested the 
 place. He was soon followed by Tilly, who haughtily 
 summoned the elector forthwith to comply with the 
 Edict of Restitution, to submit to the emperor's orders, 
 and sun-ender Magdeburg. The prince's answer was 
 spirited and resolute, and obliged Tilly at once to have 
 recourse to arms. 
 
 In the mean while, the siege was prolonged by the 
 progi-ess of the King of Sweden, which called the Aus- 
 trian generals from before the place ; and the jealousy 
 of the officers, who conducted the operations in their ab- 
 sence, delayed, for some months, the fall of Magdeburg 
 On the 30th March, 1631, Tilly returned, to push the 
 siege with vigor. 
 
 The outworks were soon can-ied, and Falkenberg, 
 after withdrawing the garrisons from the points which 
 he could no longer hold, destroyed the bridge over the 
 Elbe. As his troops were barely sufficient to defend * 
 the extensive fortifications, the suburbs of Sudenburg 
 and Neustadt were abandoned to the enemy, who 
 immediately laid them in ashes. Pappenheim, rio# 
 separated from Tilly, crossed the Elbe at Schonenbeck, 
 and attacked the town from the opposite side. 
 
 The garrison, reduced by the defense of the cut- ' 
 works, scarcely exceeded two thousand infantry and a 
 few hundred horse ; a small number for so extensive 
 and irregular a fortress. To supply this deficiency, the 
 citizens were armed— a desperate expedient, which pro- 
 duced more evils than those it prevented. The citieens, 
 
 n2 
 
150 .sciiiLLP:r/s thirty years' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 at best but indiffei-cnl; soldiers, by their disunion threw 
 the town into contus on. Tlie poor complained that 
 they were exposed to every hardship and danger, while 
 rhe rich, by hiring substitutes, remained ut home m 
 j;arety. These raurnmrs broke out at. last in an open 
 mutiiiy; indillerence succeeded to zeal: weariness and 
 negligence took the place of vigilance and foresight. 
 Dissension, combined with growing scarcity, gradually 
 l)iodnced a feeling of despondence, many began to 
 tremble at the desperate nature of their undertakiug, 
 and the magnitude of the power to which they were 
 opposed. But religious zeal, an ardeut love of liberty, 
 an invincible hatred to the Austrian yoke, and the ex- 
 pectation of speedy relief, banished, as yet, the idea of 
 a surrender ; and, divided as they were in every thing 
 else, they wore united in the resolve to defend them- 
 selves to the last extremity. 
 
 Their hopes of succor were apparently well founded. 
 They knew that the confederacy of Leipzig was arming: 
 they were aware of the near approach of Gustavus 
 Adolphus. Both were alike interested in the preserva- 
 tion of Magdeburg; and a few days might bring the 
 King of Svveden before its walls. All this was also 
 known to Tilly, vv'lio, therefore, was anxious to make 
 himself speedily master of the place. With this view, 
 lie had dispatched a trumpeter with letters to the ad- 
 ministrator, the commandant, and the magistrates, ofler- 
 ing terms of capitulation ; but he received for answei-, 
 that they would rather die than sun-ender. A spirited 
 ^ sally of the citizens also convinced him that their cour- 
 age wfis as earnest as their words, while the king's 
 arrival ut Potsdam, with the incursions of the Swedes 
 us tar as Zerbst, filled him with uneasiness, but raised 
 fhe hopes of the garrison. A second trumpeter was 
 now dispatched : but the more' moderate tone of his 
 demands increased the conlidence of the besieged, and, 
 unfortunately, their negligence also. 
 
 The besiegers had now pushed their approaches as 
 tar as the ditch, and vigorously cannonaded the fortifi- 
 cations from the abandoned batteries. One tower wfis 
 entn-ely overthrown, but this did not facilitate an assault, 
 as It tell sidewise upon the wnll, qu\ not into th.e ditch. 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 151 
 
 Notwithstanding the continual bombardment, the walh 
 riad ,.ot sullered much ; and the fireballs, which we e 
 intended to set the town in flames, were prevented of 
 
 em Pnt^j;/^" '^^'""-"^ precautions adopted agnins 
 ihem. But the ammunition of the besieged was nearly 
 exi^ended, and the cannon of the town gradually cer^ed 
 to answer the fire of the imperialists.^ Bele 8 new 
 supply could be obtained, Magdeburg would be either 
 reheved or taken. The hope?of the^esieged we're on 
 the stretch, and all eyes anxiously. directed to Jidt" 
 quarter m which the Swedish bLners werr^x^ec ed 
 to appear. Gustavus Adolphus was near enou 'h to 
 reach Magdeburg within three days ; security gre">4 
 
 \lf oftnv t e t^^ rr''^'"^ ^^ ^"^^--^- ^" the 
 Jtli ot May the fire ot the imperialists was suddenly 
 
 topped, and the cannon withdrawn from several of^he 
 
 ca""" Th^:^'''-^^ ^^'""^^^ ^'^^^"^^ - the ir^JeS^ 
 
 v^s 'It Innd ^"^'T'^r'^ convinced that deliverance 
 
 ^non tl : '^^' '''^'f^"' ^"^ ^"'^'^^-^ ^«ft their posts 
 
 pon the ramparts early in the morning, to induke 
 
 emselves alter their long toils, with the^refreslSt 
 
 sleep but It was indeed a dear sleep, and had a flight- 
 till awakening. = 
 
 010 the amval of the Swedes, l,y the means which ho 
 ad hitherto adopted ; he thoiefoi-e deter.mnod to niso 
 
 1 e siege, but first to ha;;ard a general assault. This 
 Iilan, however, was attended with great difficulties as 
 .10 breach had been ellected, and tlie works were c' ;«"! 
 y injured But the council of war assembled on tWs 
 ^ccasion, declared tor an assault, citing the exarnnle of 
 
 w^mf the^f "'' "»^''-'' »••"'- emij in the Z L° 
 
 While the citizens and soldiers were reposine themi 
 
 selves. The attack was lo be made simultaneou^f on four 
 
 pom s ; the night betwixt the 9th and 10th of May was 
 
 tMnployed m the necessary preparations. Every^bln„ 
 
 was ready and awaiting the signal, which was to be given 
 
 y cannon at five o'clock in the morning. The silnal 
 
 loweve^ was not given for two hours later, during which 
 
 Pilly, who was still doubtful of success, again conSed 
 
 lie council o war. Pappenheim was ird'ired to a ack 
 
 tb« works of the new town, where the attempt wa 
 
152 
 
 SCIIILLKU S THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 favored by a sloping rampart, and a diy ditch of moderate 
 depth. The citizens and soldiers had mostly left the 
 walls, and the few who remained were overcome with 
 sleep. This general, therefore, found little difficulty in 
 mounting the wall at the head of his troops. 
 
 Falkenberg, roused by the report of nmsketry, hast- 
 ened from the towfl-house, where he was employed in 
 dispatching Tilly's second trumpeter, and hurried with 
 all the force he could hastily assemble toward the gate 
 of the new town, which was ali-eady in the possession 
 of the enemy. Beaten back, this intrepid general flew 
 to another quarter, where a second party of the enemy 
 were preparing to scale the walls. After an ineffectual 
 resistance, he fell in the commencement of the action. 
 The roaring of musketiy, the pealing of the alarm-bells, 
 and the growing tumult, apprised the" awakening citizens 
 of their danger.. Hastily aiming themselves, they rushed 
 in blind confusion against the enemy. Still some hope 
 of repulsing the besiegei-s remained; but the governor 
 being killed, their efforts were without plan and cooper- 
 ation, and at last their ammunition began to fail them. 
 In the mean while, two other gates, hitherto unattacked, 
 were stripped of their defenders, to meet the urgent 
 danger within the town. The enemy quickly availed 
 themselves of this confusion to attack these posts. The 
 resistance was nevertheless spirited and obstinate, until 
 four imperial regiments, at length, masters of the ram- 
 parts, fell upon the ganison in the rear, and completed 
 their rout. Amid the general tumult, a brave captain, 
 named Schmidt, wlio still headed a few of the more 
 resolute against the enemy, succeeded in driving them 
 to the gates; here he fell mortally wounded, and with 
 hnn exi)ired the hopes of Magdeburg. Before noon, all 
 the works were carried, and the town was in the enemy's 
 hands. 
 
 Two gates were now opened by the storming party 
 for the main body, and Tilly marched in with part of his 
 infiuitiy. Immediately occupying the principal streets, 
 he drove the citizens with pointed cannDu into their 
 dwellings, there to await their destiny. They were 
 not long held in suspense ; a woid from Tilly decided 
 the fate of jNIngdeburg. 
 
 SCHILLER S TIIJRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 153 
 
 Even a more humane general would in vain have 
 recommended mercy to such soldiers ; but Tilly never 
 made the attempt. Left by their general's silence 
 masters of the lives of all the citizens, the soldiery broke 
 into the houses to satiate their most brutal appetites. 
 The prayers of innocence excited some compassion in 
 the hearts of the Germans, but none in the rude breasts 
 of Pappenheim's Walloons. Scarcely had the sjivage 
 cruelty commenced, when the othei- gates were thrown 
 open, and the cavalry, with ,the fearful hordes of the 
 Croats, poured in upon the devoted inhabiUmts. 
 
 Here commenced a scene of horrors for which history 
 has no language — poetry no pencil. Neither innocent 
 childhood, nor helpless old age ; neither youth, sex, rank, 
 nor bsauty, could disarm the fury of the conquerors. 
 Wives were abused in the arms of their husbands, 
 daughters at the feet of their parents ; and the deft^nse- 
 less sex exposed to the double sacrifice of virtue, and 
 life. No situation, however obscure, or however sacred, 
 escaped the rapacity of the enemy. In a single church 
 fifty-three women were found beheaded. The Croats 
 atnused themselves with throwing children into the 
 flames; Pappenheim's Walloons with stabbing infants 
 at the mother's breast. Some officers of the Lefigue, 
 horror-struck at this dreadful scene, ventured to remind 
 Tilly that he had it in his power to stop the carnage. 
 " Return in an hour," was his answer ; " I will see 
 what I can do ; the soldier must have some reward for 
 his danger and toils." These horrors lasted with 
 unabated fury, till at last the smoke and flames proved a 
 check to the plunderers. To augment the confusion 
 and to divert the resistance of the inhabitants, the impe- 
 rialists had, in the commencement of the assault, fired 
 the town in several places. The wind, rising rapidly, 
 spread the flames, till the blaze became universnl. 
 Fearful, indeed, was the tumult amid clouds of smoke, 
 heaps of dead bodies, the clash of swords, the crash of 
 falling ruins, and streams of blood. The atmosphere 
 glowed ; and the intolerable heat forced at last e\en the 
 nmrderers to take refuge in their camp. In less than 
 twelve hours, this strong, populous, and flourishing citj% 
 one of the finest in Germany, was i educed to ashes. 
 
154 
 
 SCIIIl.iiER's THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 With the exception of two churches and a few house* 
 I he adininistiator, Christian William, after receivine 
 several wounds, was taken prisoner, witli three of the 
 Imrgomasters ; niost of the officei's and ma^TJstrates had 
 already met a:i enviable death. The avju-ico of the 
 of.jcers had saved four hundi-ed of the ricliest citizens 
 in the hope ot extorting from them an exorbitant ransom. 
 i>Lit this humanity was confined to the officers of the 
 L.eague, whom the ruthless barbarity of the imi)erialists 
 caused to be regarded as guardian angels. 
 
 Scarcely had 'the fury of the flames abated, when tlie 
 imperialists returned to renew the pillage amid the ruins 
 and ashes of the town. Many were su (located by the 
 smoke ; many found rich booty in the cellars, where 
 the citizens had concealed their more valuable etlects. 
 On the 13th of May, Tilly himself appeared in the town 
 after the streets had been cleared of ashes and dead 
 bodies. Horrible and revolting; to humanity was the 
 scene that presented itself. The living crawling from 
 under the dead, children wandering about with heart 
 rending cries, calling for their parents ; and infants still 
 sucking the breasts of their lifeless mothers. More than 
 SIX thousand bodies were throv/n into the Elbe to clear 
 the streets; a much greater number had been consumed 
 by the flames. The whole number of the slain was 
 reckoned at not less than thirty thousand. 
 
 The entrance of the general, which look place on the 
 ;4th, put a stop to the plunder, and saved the few who 
 had hitherto contrived to escape. About a thousand 
 people were taken out of the cathedral, where they had 
 remained thrc^e days and two nights, without food, and 
 in momentary fear of death. Tilly promised them 
 quarter, and commanded bread to be distributed among 
 them. The next day, a solemn mass was performed in 
 the cathedral, and Te Deum sung amid the discharge of 
 artillery. The imperial general rode through the streets, 
 that he might be able, as an eye-witness, to inform his 
 master that no such conquest had been made since the 
 destruction of Troy and Jerusalem. Nor was this an 
 exaggeration, whether we consider the greatness, impor 
 tance, and prosperity of the city razed, or the furv of its 
 ravagers. *^ 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARs' VYAR. 
 
 155 
 
 hi Germany, the tidings of the dreadful fate of Mag- 
 deburg caused triumphant joy lo the Roman Catholics, 
 while it spread terror and consternation among thQ 
 Protestants. Loudly ari^ generally they complained 
 against the King of Sweden, who, with a strong force, 
 and in the very neighborhood, had left an allied city to 
 Its iate. Even the most reasonable deemed his infction 
 inexplicable ; and lest he should lose, irretrievably, the 
 good-wiUofthe people for whose deliverance he had en- 
 gaged m this war, Gustavus was under the necessity of 
 publishing to the world a justification of his own conduct. 
 
 He had attacked, and, on the 16th April, carried Lands- 
 berg, when he was apprised of the danger of Magdeburg 
 He resolved immediately to march to the relief oi" that 
 tov/n ; and he moved, with all his cavalry, and ten regi- 
 ments of infantry, toward the Spree. But the position 
 which he held in Germany, made it necessary that he 
 should not move forward without securing his rear. In 
 ti-ayersing a country where he w^as surrounded by sus- 
 picious friends and dangerous enemies, and where a 
 single premature movement might cut off his communi- 
 cation with his own kingdom, the utmost vigilance and 
 caution were necessary. The Elector of Brandenburg 
 had already opened the fortress of Custrin to the flyinS 
 imperialists, and closed the gates against their pursuers! 
 It now Gustavus should fliii in his attack u])on Tillv , the 
 idector might again open his fortresses to the impi^rial- 
 >sts, and the king, with an enemy both in front and rear, 
 would be irrecoverably lost. In order to prevent this 
 contmgence, he demanded that the elector should allow 
 him to hold the fortresses of Custrin and Spandau, till 
 the siege of Magdeburg should be raised. 
 
 Nothing could be more reasonable than this demand. 
 I he services which Gustavus had lately rendered the 
 elector by expelling the imperialists from Ih-andenbure, 
 Claimed his gratitude, while the ^^ast co: duct of the 
 |5wedes m -Germany entitled them to conlidence. But 
 by tne surrender of his fortresses, the elector would, in 
 some measure, make the King of Sweden master of his 
 country; beside that, by such a step, he must at once 
 Dreak with the eini)eror, and expose hi.^ states to his 
 luture vengeance. The elector's ^^truIrs]o w-th liimse^f 
 
/ 
 
 15G SCIIlLLEIl's THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 was long and violent, but pusillanimity and self-interest 
 tor a while prevailed. Unmoved by the fate of Magde- 
 .burg, cold HI the cause of rdigion and the liberties of 
 Lrermany, he saw nothing bufliis own danger ; and this 
 anxiety was greatly stimulated by his minister, Von 
 fcchwartzenburgh, who was secretly in the pay of Aus- 
 tria. In the mean time the Swedish troops approached 
 Berhn, and the king took up his residence with the 
 elector. When he witnessed the timorous hesitation of 
 that prince he could not restrain his indignation : » Mv 
 road IS to Magdeburg," said he ; " notfor my own advan- 
 tage, but tor that of the Protestant religion. If no one will 
 stand-by me, I shall immediately retreat, conclude a peace 
 with the emperor, and return to Stockholm. I am con- 
 vinced that I erdinand will readily grant me whatever 
 conditions I may require. But if Magdeburg is once lost 
 and the emperor relieved from all fear of me, then it is 
 tor you to look to yourselves and the consequences.'' 
 ^t'LT^ threat, and perhaps, too, the aspect of the 
 Swedish army, ^yjuch was strong enough to obtain by 
 torce what was refused to entreaty, brought at last the 
 
 ttta^d^of thrs::deT.' '^'^"'^^ ^^-^^ ^^^^^-^^-^^ "^^^ 
 
 The king had now two routes to Magdebur^. one 
 westvv^rd led through an exhausted country, and 'filled 
 with the enemy s troops, who might dispute with him 
 the passage of the Elbe ; the other mori to the south- 
 ward, by Dessau and Wittenberg, where bridges wen. 
 to be found for crossing the Elbe, and where supplies 
 
 ava,i himself of the latter without the consent of the 
 Elector, whom Gustavus had good reason to distrust. 
 Before setting out on his march, therefore, he demanded 
 horn that prmce a free passage and liberty for purchas- 
 ing provisions for his troops. His application was refused 
 and no remonstrances could prevail on the elector to 
 abandon h.s system of neuti-ality. While the point was 
 still m dispute, the news of the dreadful fate of Magde- 
 burg arrived, xxaj^uc 
 
 tn.Pl!?^ ^""««"ced its fall to the Protestant princes in the 
 tone of a conqueror, and lost np t.me in making the most 
 «1 the general consternation The influence of the em- 
 
 Schiller's thirty years* 
 
 WAR. 
 
 157 
 
 peror, which had sensibly declined during the rapid pro- 
 gress of Gustavus, after this decisive blow rose higher 
 than ever ; and the change was speedily visible in the 
 imperious tone he adopted toward the Protestant states. 
 The decrees of the Confederation of Leipzig were an- 
 nulled by a proclamation, the Convention itself sup- 
 pressed by an imperial decree, and all the refractory 
 states threatened with the fate of Magdeburg. As the 
 executor of this imperial mandate, Tilly immediately 
 ordered troops to march against the Bishop of Bremen, 
 who was a member of the confederacy, and had himself 
 enlisted soldiers. The terrified bishop immediately gave 
 up his forces to Tilly, and signed the revocation of the 
 acts of the Confederation. An imperial army, which 
 had lately returned from Italy, under the command of 
 Count Furstenberg, acted in the same manner toward 
 the Administrator of Wirtemburg. The duke was c om- 
 pelled to submit to the Edict of Restitution, and all the 
 decrees of the emperor, and even to pay a monthly sub- 
 sidy of one hundred thousand dollars, for the mainte- 
 nance of the imperial troops. Similar burdens were 
 inflicted upon Ulm and Nuremberg, and the entire cir- 
 cles of Franconia and Suabia. The hand of the em- 
 peror was stretched in terror over all Germany. The 
 sudden preponderance, more in appearance, perhaps, 
 than in reality, which he had obtained by this blow, 
 carried him beyond the bounds even of the moderution 
 which he had hitherto observed, and misled him into 
 hasty and violent measures, which at last turned the 
 wavering resolution of the German princes in favor of 
 Gustavus Adolphus. Injurious as the immediate conse- 
 quences of the fall of Magdeburg were to the Protestant 
 cause, its remoter etfects were most advantageous. The 
 past surprise made way for active resentment; despair 
 inspired courage, and the German freedom rose, like a 
 phoenix, from the ashes of Magdeburg. 
 
 Among the princes of the Leipzig Confederation, the 
 Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse v.^ere 
 the most powerful; and, until they were disarmed, the 
 universal authority of the emperor Mas unconfirmed 
 Against the landgrave, therefore, Tilly first directed his 
 attack, and marched straight from Magdeburg into 
 
158 
 
 SCHILLER*^ THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 \ 
 
 Thuringia. During this march, the territories of Saxe- 
 Ernest and Schwartzburg were laid waste, and Franken- 
 hausen plundered before the very eyes of Tilly, and 
 laid in ashes with impunity. The unfortunate peasant 
 paid dear for his master's attachment to the interests of 
 Sweden. Erfurt, the key of Saxony and Franconia, 
 was threatened with a siege, but redeemed itself by a 
 voluntaiy contribution of money and provisions. Frqm 
 tlience, Tilly dispatched his emissaries to the landgrave, 
 demanding of him the immediate disbanding of his army, 
 & renunciation of the league of Leipzig, the reception 
 of imperial garrisons into his territories and fortresses, 
 with the necessary contributions, and the declaration of 
 friendship or hostility. Such was the treatment which 
 a prince of the empire was compelled to submit to from 
 a servant of the emperor. But these extravagant de- 
 mands acquired a formidable weight from the po\Ter 
 which supported them ; and the dreadful fate of Magde- 
 burg, still fresh in the memory of the landgrave, tended 
 still farther to enforce them. Admirable, therefore, 
 was the intrepidity of the landgi-ave's answer : " To 
 admit foreign troops into his capital and fortresses, the 
 landgrave is not disposed ; his troops he requires for his 
 own purposes ; as for an attack, he can defend himself 
 If General Tilly wants money or provisions, let him gc 
 to Munich, where there is plenty of both." The irrup- 
 tion of two bodies of imperial troops into Hesse Cassel 
 was the immediate result of this spirited reply, but the 
 landgrave gave them so warm a reception that they 
 could effect nothing ; and just as Tilly was preparing to 
 follow with his whole army,, to punish the unfortunate 
 countiy for the firmness of its sovereign, the movements 
 of the King of Sweden recalled him to another quarter. 
 Gustavus Adolphus had learned the fall of Magdeburg 
 with deep regret ; and the demand now made by the 
 elector, George William, in terms of their agreement, 
 for the restoration of Spandau, greatly increased this 
 feeling. The loss of Magdeburg had rather augmented 
 than lessened the reasons which made the possession of 
 this fortress so desirable ; and the nearer became the 
 necessity of a decisive battle between himself and Tilly, 
 tlie more unwilling he felt to. abandon the only placo 
 
 1 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 159 
 
 wliich, in the event of a defeat, could insure him a 
 refuge. After a vain endeavor, by entreaties and repre- 
 sentations, to bring over the. elector to his views, whose 
 coldness and lukewarmness daily increased, he gave 
 orders to his general to evacuate Spandau, but at: the 
 same time declared to the elector that he would h(;nce- 
 forth regard him as an enemy. 
 
 To give weight to this declaration, he appeared with 
 his wiiole force before Berlin. "I will not be worse 
 treated than the imperial generals," was his reply to the 
 ambassadors whom the bewildered elector dispatched 
 to his camp. " Your master has received them into his 
 territories, furnished them with all necessary supj)lies, 
 ceded to them every place which they required, and 
 yet, by all these concessions, he could not prevail upon 
 them to treat his subjects with common humanity. All 
 that I require of him is security, a moderate sum of 
 money, and provisions for my troops; in return, I promise 
 to protect his country, and to keep the war at a distance 
 from him. On these points, however, I must insist; 
 and my brother, the elector, must instantly determine 
 to have me as a friend, or to see his capital plundered." 
 This decisive tone produced a due impression ; and the 
 cannon pointed against the town put an end to the doubts* 
 of George William. In a few days, a trpaty was sifjned, 
 by which the elector engaged to furnish a monthly sub- 
 sidy of thirty thousand dollars, to leave Spandau in the 
 king's hands, and to open Custrin at all times to the 
 Swedish troops. This now open alliance of the elector 
 of Brandenburg with the Swedes excited no less dis- 
 pleasure at Vienna, than did formerly the similar pro- 
 cedure of the Duke of Pomerania ; but the changed 
 fortune whicli now attended his arms, obliged the em 
 peror to confine his resentment to words. 
 
 The king's satisfaction, on this favorable event, was 
 increased by the agreeable intelligence that GriefsAvald, 
 the only fortress which the imperialists still held in 
 Pomerania, had surrendered, and that the whole countiy 
 was now free of the enemy. He appeared once more 
 m this duchy, and was gratified at the sight of the 
 general joy which he had caused to the people. A 
 year had elapsed since Gustavus first entered Gerinanv, 
 
160 
 
 SCHILLER S TIIIRTV YEARS* WAR. 
 
 and this event was now celebrated b}^ all Pomerania as 
 a national festival. Shortly before, the Czar of Moscow 
 had sent ambassadors to congratulate him, to renew hia 
 alliance, and even to offer him troops. He had great 
 reason to rejoice at the friendly disposition of Russia, as 
 it was indispensable to his interests that Sweden itself 
 should remain undisturbed by any dangerous neighbor 
 during the war in which he himself was engaged. \Soon 
 after, his queen, Maria Eleonora, landed in Pomerania, 
 with a reinfoicement of eight thousand Swedes ; and 
 the arrival of six thousand English, under the Marquis 
 of Hamilton, requiies more particular notice, because 
 this is all that history mentions of the English durinc the 
 Thirty Years' War. ^ 
 
 During Tilly's expedition into Thuringia, Pappenheim 
 commanded in Magdeburg ; but was unable to prevent 
 the Swedes from crossing the Elbe at various points, 
 routing some imperial detachments, and seizing several 
 posts. He himself, alarmed at the approach of the 
 King of Sweden, anxiously recalled Tilly, and prevailed 
 upon him to return by rapid marches to Magdeburg. 
 Tilly encamped on this side of the river at Wolmerstadt ; 
 Gustavus on the same side, near Werben, not far from 
 '^he confluence of the Havel and the Elbe. His very 
 arrival portended no good to Tilly. The Swedes routed 
 three of his regiments, which were posted in villages at 
 some distance from the main body, carried otT half their 
 baggage, and burned the remainder. Tilly in vain ad- 
 vanced within cannon shot of the king's camp, and offered 
 him battle. Gustavus, weaker by one half than his ad- 
 versary, prudently declined it ; and his position was too 
 strong for an attack. Nothing more ensued but a dis- 
 tant cannonade, and a few skirmishes, in which the 
 Swedes had invanably the advantage. In his retreat to 
 Wolmerstadt, Tilly's army was weakened by numerous 
 desertions. /Fortune seemed to have forsaken him since 
 the carnage of Magdeburg. 
 
 The King of Sweden, on the contrary, was followed 
 by uninterrupted success. While he himself was en- 
 camped iu Werben, the whole of Mecklenburg, with 
 the exception of a few towns, was conquered by his 
 general, Tott, and tlie Duke Adolphus Frederick ; and 
 
 SCIULLEll's THIRTY YEARd' WAR. 
 
 
 lie enjoyed the satisfaction of reinstating "both dukes in 
 their dominions. He proceeded in person to Gustrow, 
 where the reinstatement was solemnly to take place, to 
 give additional dignity to the ceremony by his presence. 
 The two dukes, with their deliverer between them, end 
 attended by a splendid train of princes, made a puMlc 
 entiy into the city, which the joy of their subjects con- 
 verted into an affecting solemnity. Soon after his re- 
 turn to Werben, the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel ap- 
 peared in his camp, to conclude an offensive and defensive 
 alliance ; the first sovereign prince in Germany, who 
 voluntarily and openly declared against the emj)eror, 
 though not wholly uninfluenced by strong motives. The 
 landgrave bound himself to act against the king's enemies 
 as his own, to open to him his towns and territories, and 
 to furnish his army with provisions and necessaries. 
 The king, on the other hand, declared himself his ally 
 and protector; and engaged to conclude no peace with 
 •the emperor without first obtaining for the landgrave; a 
 full redress of grievance?. Both parties honorably per- 
 formed their agreement. Hesse Cassel adhered to the 
 Swedish alliance during the whole of this tedious war ; 
 and at the peace of Westphalia had no reason to regiet 
 the friendship of Sweden. 
 
 Tilly, from whom this bold step on the pait of the 
 .andgrave was not long concealed, dispatched Count 
 Fugger with several regiments against him; and at the 
 same time endeavored to excite his subjects to rebellion 
 by inflammatory letters. But these made as little im- 
 pression as his troops, which subsequently failed him so 
 decidedly at the battle of Breitenfeld. The estates of 
 Hesge could not for a moment hesitate between their 
 oppressor and their protector^ 
 
 ^ But the imperial general was hv more disturbed by 
 the equivocal conduct of the Elector of Saxony, who, in 
 defiance of the imperial prohibition, continued^his prep- 
 arations, and adhered to the confederation of Leipzig. 
 At this conjuncture, when the proximity of the King of 
 Sweden made a decisive battle ere long inevitable, it 
 appeared extremely dangerous to leave Saxony in arms, 
 and ready in a moment to declare for the enemy. Tiliy 
 had just received a reinforcement of twentv-five thou- 
 n o2 
 
162 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 sand veteran troops under Furstenberg, and, confident in 
 ills strcngtli, lip hoped eitiier to disarm the elector by 
 the mere terror of his arrival, or at least to conquer him 
 with little difficulty. Before quitting his camp at Wol- 
 merstadt, he commanded the elector, by a special mes- 
 senger, to open his territories to the imperial troops; 
 either to disband his own, or to join them to the imperial 
 army ; and to assist, in conjunction with himself, in driv- 
 ing the King of Sweden out of Germany. While ho 
 I'eminded him that, of all the German states, Saxony 
 had hitherto been most respected, he threatened it, in 
 case of refusal, with the most destructive ravages. 
 
 But Tilly had chosen an unfavorable moment for so 
 imperious a requisition. The ill treatment of his reli- 
 gious and political confederates, the destruction of Mag- 
 deburg, the excesses of the imperialists in Lusatia, fili 
 combined to incense the elector against the emperor. 
 The approach, too, of Gustavus Adolphus (however 
 slender his claims were to the protection of that prince) 
 tended to fortify his resolution.- He accordingly forbade 
 the quartering of the imperial soldiers in his territories, 
 and announced his firm determination to persist in his 
 warlike preparations. However surprised he should 
 be, he added, " to see an imperial army on its marcji 
 {•gainst his territor. ^s, when that army had enough to 
 do in watching the operations of the King of Svreden, 
 nevertheless, he did not expect, instead of the promised 
 and well merited rewards, to be repaid with ingratitude 
 and the ruin of his country." To Tilly's deputies, who 
 were entertained in a princely style, he gave a still plainer 
 answer, on the occasion. " Gentlemen," said he, " I 
 perceive that the Saxon confectionery, which has been 
 so long kept back, is at length to bo set upon the table. 
 But as it is usual to mix with it nuts and garnish of al 
 kinds, take care of your teeth." 
 
 Tilly instantly broke up his camp, and, with the most 
 frightful devastation, advanced upon Halle ; from this 
 place he renewed his demands on the elector, in a tone 
 still more urgent and threatening. The previous policy 
 of this prince, both from his own inclination, and the 
 persuasions of his corrupt minister, had been to promote 
 *hp' interests of the emperor, even at the expense of his 
 
 St^'HILLER's THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 IG3 
 
 own sacred obligations, and but veiy little tact had hith- 
 erto kept him inactive. All this but renders mor^aston- 
 ishing the infatuation of tlie emperor or his minister, in 
 5ibandoning, at so critical a moment, the policy they had 
 hitherto adopted, and, by extreme measures, incensing a 
 prince so easily led. Was this the very oljject which 
 Tilly had in view ? Was it his purpose to convert an 
 equivocal friend into an open edemy, and thus to relieve 
 himself fi-Qin the necessity of that indulgence in the 
 treatment of this prince, which the secret instructions 
 pf the emperor had hitherto imposed upon him ? Or was 
 It the emperor's wish, by driving the elector to open 
 hostilities, to get quit ef his obligations to him, and so 
 cleverly to break olf at once the difficulty of a i:eckoning? 
 In either case, we must be equally sui-prised at the dar- 
 ing presumption of Tilly, who hesitated not, in presence 
 <3f one formidable enemy, to provoke another; and at 
 his negligence in permitting, without opuosition, the 
 wnion of the two. . 
 
 ^The Saxon elector, rendered desperate by the entrance 
 of Tilly into his territories, threw himself, though not with • 
 out a violent struggle, under the protection of Swed<m 
 
 Immediately after dismissing Tilly's first embassy, 
 he had dispatched his field-marshal Amheur in all haste 
 to the camp of Gustavus, to solicit the prompt assistance 
 t5f that monarch whom he had so long neglected. The 
 king concealed the inward satisfaction he felt at this long 
 wished-for result. " I am sorry for the elector," siaid 
 he, with dissembled coldness, to the ambassador : *' had 
 
 he heeded ray repeated remonstrances, hiscountry would 
 never have seen the face of an enemy, and Magdeburg 
 would not have fallen. Now, when necessity leaves 
 him no alternative, he has recourse to my assistance. 
 But*ell hini, that I cannot, for the sake of the Elector 
 of Saxony, ruin my own cause, and that of my confed- 
 erates. What pledge have I for the sincerity of a 
 prince whose minister is in the pay of Austri^^ and who 
 will abandon me as soon as the emperor flaLtere him, 
 and withdraws his troops from his frontiers ? Tilly, it 
 is true, has received a strong reinforcement ; but this 
 shall not prevent me from meeting him with confidence, 
 as soon as I have covered my rear.** 
 
! 
 
 164 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YKAKtf WAR. 
 
 The Saxon minister could make no other reply to 
 these reproaches, than that it was best to bury the past 
 in oblivion. 
 
 He pressed the king to name the conditions on which 
 he would afford assistance to Saxony, and offered to 
 guaranty their acceptance. " I require," said Gusta- 
 vus, "that the effector shall cede to me the fortress of 
 Wittenberg, deliver to vfHe his eldest sons as hostages, 
 furnish my troops with three months' pay, and deliver 
 up to me the traitors among his ministry." 
 
 " Not Wittenberg alone," said the elector, when he 
 received this answer, and hurried back his minister to 
 the Swedish camp, ♦* not Wittenberg alone, but Torgau, 
 and all Saxony, shall be open to him ; my whole fam- 
 ily shall be his hostages ; and if that is insufficient, I 
 will place myself in his hands. Return and inform him 
 I am ready to deliver to him any traitors lie shall name, 
 to furnish his army with the money he requires, and to 
 renture my hfe and fortune in th« good cause." 
 
 The king had only desired to test the sincerity of the 
 elector's new sentiments. Convinced of it, he now re 
 tracted these hai-sh demands. *' The distrust," said he, 
 "which was shown to myself when advancing to the 
 relief of Magdeburg, had naturally excited mine; th(5 
 elector's present confidence demands a return: I am sat 
 isfied, provided he grants my army one month's pay ; 
 and even for this advance I hope tx) indemnify him." 
 
 Immediately upon the conclusion of the treaty, the 
 king crossed the Elbe, and next day joined the Saxons. 
 Instead of preventing this junction, Tilly had advanced 
 against Leipzig, which he summoned to* receive an im- 
 perial garrison. In hopes of speedy relief, Hans Von 
 der Pforta, the commandant, made preparations for his 
 defense, and laid the suburb toward Halle in a^ke.^. 
 But the ill condition of the fortifications made resistance 
 vain, and on the second day the gates were opened. 
 Tiliy had fixed his head-quarters in the house of a grave- 
 digger, the only one still standing in the suburb of Halle : 
 here he signed the capitulation, and here, too, he nr- 
 i-anged his attack on the King of Sweden^ TiHy grew 
 pale at the representation of the death's head and cross 
 bones, with which the proprietor liad decorated his 
 
 schiller'j3 thirty years' war. 165 
 
 house ; and, contrary to all expectation, Leipzig expe- 
 nenced moderate treatment. 
 
 Meanwhile, a council of war was held at Torgau oe- 
 tween the King of Sweden and the Elector of Saxony, 
 at which the Elector of Brandenburg was also present! 
 The resolution which should now be adopted, was to 
 decide irrevocably the fate of Germany and the Protes- 
 tant religion, the happiness of nations, and the destiny 
 ot their princes. The anxiety of suspense which, be- 
 tore every decisive resolve, oppresses even the hearts ot 
 heroes, appeared now for a moment to overshadovr the 
 great mind of Gustavus Adolphus. " If we decide upon 
 battle," said he, "the stake will be nothing less than a 
 crown and two electorates. Fortune is changeable, and 
 the inscrutable decrees of Heaven may, for our sins 
 give the victory to our enemies. My kingdom, it is 
 true, even alter the loss of my life and my army, would 
 still have a hope left. Far removed from the scene ot 
 action, defended hy a pjwerful fleet, a well-guarded 
 troiitier, and a warlike population, it would at least be 
 sate lio.u the worst consequences of a defeat. But 
 what cliances of escape are there for you, with an en- 
 emy so close at hand ?" Gustavus Adolphus displayed 
 f^^?. ^?°5®^^ diffidence of a hero, whom an overweenincr 
 belief of his own strength did not blind to the greatnesi 
 ot his danger— John George, the confidence of a v/eak 
 man, who knows that he has a hero by his side. Im- 
 patient- to rid his territories as soon as possible of the 
 oppressive presence of two armies, he burned for a bat- 
 tle, in which he had no former laurels to lose. He 
 was ready to march with his Saxons alone against Lein- 
 zig, and attack Tilly. At last, Gustavus acceded to 
 US opinion ; and it was resolved that the attack should 
 b3 made without delay, before the arrival of the i-ein- 
 lorcements which were on their way, under Altringer 
 and Tiefenbach. The united Swedish and Saxon ur- 
 mies now crossed the Mulda, while the electf»r returned 
 homeward. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 7th September, 1631, the 
 hostile armies came in sight of each other. Tilly, vrho 
 since he liad neglected the opportunity of overpowering 
 the Saxons before their union with the Swedes, was dui- 
 
16G 
 
 schillek's Tirrnri' yearij wak. 
 
 posed to await the arriTal of the reinfoi-cements, had 
 taken up a strong and advantageous position not far from 
 Leipzig, where he expected he should be able to avoid 
 the battle. But the impetuosity of Pappenheim obliged 
 him, as soon as the enemy were in motion, to alter his 
 plans, and to move to the left, in the direction of tho 
 hills which run from the village of Wahren toward Lin- 
 denthal. At the foot of these heights his army was 
 drawn up in a single line, and his artillery placed upon 
 the heights behind, from which it could sweep the whole 
 extensive plain of Breitenfeld. The Swedish and Saxon 
 army advanced in two columns, having to pass the Leber 
 near Podelwitz, in Tilly's front. 
 
 To defend the passage of this rivulet, Pappenheim ad- 
 vanced at the head of two thousand cuirassiers, though 
 after gi-eat reluctance on the part of Tilly, and with ex- 
 press orders not to commence a battle. But, in disobe- 
 dience to this command, Pappenheim attacked the van- 
 guard of the Swedes, and, aftei- a brief struggle, was 
 driven to retreat. To check the progress of the enemy,, 
 he set tire to Podelwitz, which, however, did not pre- 
 vent the two columns from advancing and forming in 
 order of battle. n 
 
 On the right, the Swedes drew up in a double line, the 
 infanti-y in the center, divided into such small battalions 
 as could be easily and rapidly manoeuvered without break- 
 ing their order ; the cavalry, upon their wings, divided, 
 in the same manner, into small squadrons, interspersed 
 with bodies of musqueteers, so as both to give an ap- 
 pearance of greater numerical force, and to annoy the 
 enemy's horse. Colonel Teufel commanded the cen- 
 ter, Gustavus Horn the left, while tho right was led 
 by the king in person, opposed to Count Pappen- 
 heim. 
 
 On the left, the Saxons formed, at a considerable dis- 
 t.ince froin the Swedes, by tho advice of Gustavus, which 
 was justified by the event. The order of battle had been 
 arranged between the elector and his field-marshal, and 
 the king was content with merely signifying his approval. 
 He was anxious, apparently, to separate the Swedish 
 prowess from that of the Saxons, and fortune did not 
 confound them. 
 
 ' 
 
 SCIIILLEltS THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 107 
 
 \ 
 
 The enemy was drawn up under the heights toward 
 the west, in one immense line, long enough to outflank 
 the Swedish army — the infantry being divided in large 
 battalions, the cavalry in equally unwieldy squadrons. 
 The artillery being on the heights behind, the range of 
 its fire was over the heads of his men. From this 
 position of his artillery, it w^as evident that Tilly's pur- 
 pose was to await rather than to attack the enemy ; since 
 this arrangement rendered it im})ossible for him to do su 
 w^ithout exposing his men to the fire of his own cannons. 
 Tilly himself commanded the center. Count Fursten- 
 berg the right wing, and Pappenheim the left. The 
 united troops of the emperor and the League, on this 
 day, did not amount to thii'ty-four thousand or thirty- 
 five thousand men ; the Swedes and Saxons were about 
 the same number. But had a million been confronted 
 with a million, it could only have rendered the action 
 more bloody, certainly not ujore important and decisive. 
 For this day Gustavus had crossed the Baltic, to court 
 danger in a distant country, and expose his crown and 
 life to the caprice of fortune. The two greatest generals 
 of the time, both hitherto invincible, were now to be 
 matched against each other in a contest which both had 
 long avoided ; and on this field of battle the hitherto un 
 tarnished laurels of one leader must droop forever. The 
 two parties in Germany had beheld the approach of this 
 day with fear and trembling; and the whole age awaited 
 with deep anxiety its issue, and posterity was cither to 
 bless or deplore it forever. 
 
 Tilly's usual intrepidity and resolution seemed to for- 
 sake him on this eventful day. He had formed no regular 
 plan for giving battle to the king, and he displayed as little 
 firmness in avoiding it. Contrary to his own judgment, 
 Pappenheim 'had forced him to action. Doubts, which 
 he had never before felt, struggled in his bosom ; gloomy 
 forebodings clouded his ever open brow ; the shadc5 of 
 Magdeburg seemed to hover over him. 
 
 A cannonade of two hours commenced the battle ; the 
 wind, which was from the west, blew thick clouds of 
 smoke and dust from the newly ploughed and parched 
 fields into the faces of the Swedes. This compelled 
 the king insensibly to wheel northward, and the rapidity 
 
Tjf' 
 
 1G8 
 
 r 
 
 SClJlLLERri THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 With which this movement was executed left no time l« 
 the enemy to prevent it. • 
 
 nn^n"fl.«^ !?'^ ^f^ ^'f ^^^S^^^'' ''^"^ ^^S'^^" ^^^^ ^''^t attach 
 upon the Swedes ; but, to avoid their hot fire, he filed 
 
 olf toward the right, and fell upon the Saxons with such 
 
 impetuosity that thoir line was broken, and the whole 
 
 army thrown mto confusion. The elector himself retired 
 
 to Lilenburg, though a few regiments still maintained 
 
 t eir ground upon the field, and by a bold stand saved 
 
 Pv« Ir r ^'''''"^'' ^^""'-^^h' Imd the confusion began 
 eie the Croats commenced plundering, and messentTers 
 were dispatched to Munich and Vienna with the nlv 
 01 the victory. 
 
 torce of his cavalry upon the right wing of the Swedes, 
 but without being able to make it u^ver. The S 
 commanded here in person, and under him General 
 lianner. Seven times did Pappenheim renew the at 
 tack, and seven times was he repulsed. He fled at 
 ast with great loss, and abandoned the field to his con- 
 queror. 
 
 ne\VJ'l """"" "'"<'• Tilly, having routed the remainder 
 ot the Siixons attacked with his victorious troops the 
 left w.ng of the Swedes. To this wing the king, as 
 soon as he perceived that the Saxons were thrown^ nto 
 
 loicement of three regiments to cover its flank, which 
 the fl,ght of the Snxons had left exposed. Gurtavu 
 Horn, who commanded here, showed the enemy's cui- 
 lass.eij a spirited resistance, which the infantry inter. 
 
 fstfd T7e"^ "•" ^''""^'r' "^ •""•-• -ateiljlly'a". 
 sisted. 1 he enemy was aheady beginning to relax tlie 
 
 v^gor of their attack, when Gustavus Adolphus appe^, id 
 
 to tormmate the contest. The left wing of the fmne 
 
 nalists had been routed; and the king's division, havfn- 
 
 DO longer any enemy to oppose, couTd now turn the"? 
 
 to the le?f 1 ^tl'f T','',''','"" "S'" "•'"§ «"<' "'"in b'^'y 
 mtill! ' """='^«'*' "'« heights on wliich the enemy's 
 
 *l"„wrc:'nn:,i."''"' "■"" "^ <^°'""y ^^^^ f"' «- <>' 
 
 SCHILLER S TJ-IRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 16d 
 
 The play of artilleiy upon their flank, and the torri 
 ble onslaugiit of the Swedes in front, threw this hitherto 
 invincible ar.my into confusion. • A sudden retreat was 
 the only course left to Tilly, but even this was to be 
 made through the midst of the enemy. The whole 
 army was in disorder, with the exception of four legi- 
 monts of veteran soldiers, who never as yet had fled 
 from the field, and were resolved not to do so now. 
 Closing their ranks, they broke through the thickest of 
 the victorious army and gained a small thicket, where 
 they opposed a new front to the Swedes, and main- 
 tained their resistance till night, when their number 
 was reduced to six hundred men. With them fled the 
 wreck of Tilly's army, and the battle was decided. 
 
 Amid the dead and the wounded Gustavus Afiolphus 
 threw himself on his knees ; and the first joy of his vic- 
 tory gushed forth in fervent prayer. He ordered his 
 cavalry to pursue the enemy as long as the darkness of 
 the night would permit. The pealing of the alarm- 
 bells set the inhabitants of all the neighboring villages in 
 motion, and utterly lost was the unhappy fugitive who 
 fell into their hands. The kiug encamped with the 
 rest of his army between the field of battle and Leipzig, 
 as it was impossible to attack the town the same night. 
 Seven thousand of the enemy were killed in the field, 
 and more than five thousand either wounded or taken 
 prisoners. Their whole artillery and camp fell into the 
 hands of the Swedes, and more than one hundred stand- 
 ards and colors were taken. Of the Saxons about two 
 housand had fallen, while the loss of the Swedes did 
 not exceed seven hundred. The rout of the imperial- 
 ists was so complete, that Tilly, on his retreat to Hillo 
 and Halberstadt, could not rally above six hundred men, 
 or Pappenheim more than fourteeen hundred — so rap- 
 idly was this formidable army dispersed, which so lately 
 was the terror of Italy and Germany. 
 
 Tilly himself owed his escape merely tocharce. 
 Exhausted by his wounds, he still refused to surrender 
 to a Swedish captain of horse, who summoned him to 
 yield ; but who, when he was on the point of putting 
 him to death, was himself stretched on the ground by a 
 timely pistol-shot. But more grievous than daneei* oi 
 
170 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 ^voiinds v/as the pain of surviving his reputation, and of 
 losing in a single day the fruits of a long lite. All former 
 victories were as nothiifg, since he had tailed in gaining 
 the one that should have crowned them all. Nothing 
 remained of all his past exploits but the general execra- 
 tion which had followed them. From this period he 
 never recovered his cheerfulness or his good fortune. 
 Even his last consolation, the hope of revenge, was de- 
 nied to him, l)y the express command of the emperor 
 not to risk a decisive battle. 
 
 The disgrace of this day is to be ascribed principally 
 to three mistakes : his planting the cannon on the hills 
 behind him, his afterward abandoning these heights, 
 and his allowing the enemy, without opposition, to form 
 in ordef of battle. l]ut how easily might those mistakes 
 have been rectified, had it not been for the cool pres- 
 ence of mind and superior genius of his adversary! 
 
 Tilly flod from Halle to Halberstadt, where he scarcely 
 allowed time for the cure of his wounds, before he hur- 
 ried toward the Weser to recruit his force by the im- 
 perial garrisons in Lower Saxony. 
 
 The Elector of Saxony had not failed, after the dan- 
 ger was over, to appear in Gustavus's camp. The king 
 thanked him for having advised a battle ; and the elector^ 
 charmed at his friendly reception, promised him, in the 
 first transports of joy, the lloman crown. Gustavus set 
 out next day for Merseburg, leaving the elector to re 
 cover Leipzig. Five thousand imperiahsts, who had 
 collected together after the defeat. d whom he met 
 on his march, were either cut in pieces or taken prison- 
 ers, of whom again the greater part entered into his 
 service. Merseburg quickly surrendered; Halle was 
 Boon after taken, whither the Elector of Saxony, after 
 making himself master of Leipzig, repaired to meet the 
 king, and to concert their future plan of operations. 
 
 The victory was gained, but only a prudent use of it 
 could render it decisive. The imperial armies were 
 totally routed. Saxony free from the enemy, and Tilly 
 had retired into Brunswick. To have followed him 
 thither would have been to renew the war in Lower 
 Saxony, which had scarcely recovered from the rava- 
 ges of the last. It was, therefore, determined to carry 
 
 SCiilLLER^ri TIIIRTV YEARS* WAR. 
 
 171 
 
 tne war into the enemy's country, which, open and de- 
 tenseless as lar as Vienna, invited attack. On their 
 right, they might fall upon the territories of the Roman 
 Catholic princes, or penetrate, on the left, into the he- 
 reditary dominions of Austria, and make the emperor 
 tremble in his palace. Both plans were resolved on , 
 and the question that now remained was to assign its 
 respective parts. Gustavus Adolphus, at the head of a 
 victorious army, had little resistance to apprehend in 
 his progress from Leipzig to Prague, Vienna, and Pres- 
 burg. As to Bohemia, Moravia, Austria, and HuniTary, 
 they had been stripped'of their defenders, while' the 
 oppressed Protestants in these countries were ripe for 
 a revolt. Ferdinand was no longer secure in his -api- 
 tal; Vienna, on the first terror of surprise, would at 
 once open its gates. The loss of his territories would 
 deprive the enemy of the resources by which alon(5 the 
 war could be maintained ; and Ferdinand would, in all 
 probability, gladly accede, on the hardest conditions, to 
 a peace which would remove a formidable enemy from 
 the heart of his dominions. This bold plan of opera- 
 tions was flattering to a conqueror, and success perhaps, 
 might have justified it. But Gustavus Adolphus, as pru- 
 dent as he was brave, and more a statesman than a con- 
 queror, rejected it, because he had a higher end in view 
 Jind would not trust the issue either to bravery or crood 
 fortune alone. '' '=* 
 
 By marching toward Bohemia, Franconia and the 
 ,VPP%.^^'P^ ^vould be left to the Elector of Saxony. 
 But iilly had already begun to recruit his sliattered 
 army trom the garrisons in Lower Saxony, and was 
 likely to be at the head of a formidable force upon the 
 Weser, and to lose no time in marching against the en- 
 emy. To so experienced a general, it would not do to 
 oppose an Arnheim, of whose military skill the battle of 
 i^eipzig had afforded but equivocal proof; and of vvdiat 
 avail would be the rapid and brilliant career of the king 
 m Bohemia and Austria, if Tilly should recover his su- 
 periority in the empire, animating the courage of the 
 Koman (.atholics, and disarming, by a new series of 
 victories, the allies and confederates of the king ^ W^hat 
 would he gain by expelling the emperor from his hered- 
 
172 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 itaiy dominions, if Tilly succeeded in conquering for 
 that emperor the rest of Germany ? Could he hope to 
 reduce the emperor more than had been done, twelve 
 years before, by the insurrection of Bohemia, which had 
 failed to shake the firmness or exhaust the resources of 
 that prince, and from which he had risen more formida- 
 ble than ever ? 
 
 Less brilliant, but more solid, were the advantages 
 which he had to expect from an incursion into the ter- 
 ritories of the League. In this quarter, his appearance 
 in arms would be decisive. At this very conjuncture, 
 the princes were assembled ift a diet at Frankfort, to 
 deliberate upon'the Edict of Restitution, where Ferdi- 
 nand employed all his artful policy to persuade the intim- 
 idated Protestants to accede to a speedy and disadvan- 
 tageous arrangement. The advance of their protector 
 could alone encourage them to a bold resistance, and 
 disappoint the emperor's designs. Gustavus Adolphus 
 hoped, by his presence, to unite the discontented princes, 
 or by the terror of his arms to detach them from the em- 
 peror's party. Here, in the center of Germany, he could 
 ^ paralyze the nerves of the imperial power, which, with- 
 out the aid of the League, must soon fall — here, in the 
 neighborhood of France, he could watch the movements 
 of a suspicious ally; and however important to his secret 
 views it was to cultivate the friendship of the Roman 
 Catholic electors, he saw the necessity of making him- 
 self first of all master of their fate, in order to establish, by 
 his magnanimous forbearance, a claim to their gratitude. 
 He accordingly chose the route to Franconia and the 
 Rhine ; and left the conquest of Bohemia to the Elector 
 of Saxony. 
 
 BOOK HL 
 
 The glorious battle of Leipzig eflfectcd a great change 
 io the conduct of Gustavus Adolphus, as well ns in the 
 opinion which both fi'iends and foes entertained of him. 
 Succpssful'y had ho confronted the greatest general *»' 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARs' WATl. 
 
 ITrf 
 
 tne age, and h:id matched the strength of his tactics and 
 the courage of his Swedes against the elite of the iiiipe- 
 riiil army, the most experienced troops in Europe. I'rora, 
 this moment he felt a firm confidence in his own powers 
 —self-confidence has always been the parent of great 
 ^-ctions. In all his subsequent operations, more bohFness 
 and decision are observable ; greater determination, even 
 amid the most unfjivorablo circumsfcmces ; a more lofty 
 tone toward his adversaries, a more dignified bearing 
 toward his allies, and, even in his clemency, something 
 of the forbearance of a conqueror. His natural coiirao^o 
 was farther heightened by the pious ardor of his imagi- 
 nation. He saw in his own cause that of heaven, and in 
 the defeat of Tilly beheld the decisive interference of 
 Providence against his enemies, and in himself the in- 
 strument of divine vengeance. Leaving his crown and 
 his country far behind, he advanced on the wings of vic- 
 tory into the heart of Germany, which for centuries had 
 seen no foreign conqueror within its bosom. The war- 
 like spirit of its inhabitants, the vigilance of its numerous 
 princes, the artful confederation of its states, the number 
 of its strong castles, its many and broad rivers, had lon<r 
 restrained the ambition of its neighbors; and frequently 
 as its extensive frontier had been attacked, its interior 
 had been free from hostile invasion. The empire had 
 hitherto enjoyed the equivocal privilege of being its own 
 enemy, though invincible from without. Even now, it 
 was merely the disunion of its members, and the intoler- 
 ance of religious zeal, that paved the way for the Swed- 
 ish invader. The bond of union between the states, 
 which alone had rendered the empire invincible, was 
 now dissolved; and Gustavus derived from Germany 
 .tself the power by which he subdued it. With as much 
 cour.}ge as prudence, he availed himself of all that the 
 tavorable moment afforded ; and equally at home in the 
 cabmet and the field, he tore asunder the web of the 
 artful policy, with as much ease as he shattered walls 
 with the thunder of his cannon. Uninterruptedly he pur- 
 sued his conquests from one end of Germany to the 
 other, without breaking the line of posts which com- 
 manded a secure reti-eat at any moment ; and whether 
 on the banks of the Rhine, or at the mouth r\ the Lech 
 
174 Schiller's thirty years war 
 
 nlike maintaining his communication with his hereditary 
 oominions. • ^ 
 
 The consternation of the emperor and the League at 
 i lily's defeat at Leipzig, was scarcely greater than the 
 surprise and embarrassment of the allies of the King of 
 Sweden at his unexpected success. It was beyond both 
 txien- expectations and their wishes. Annihilated in a 
 moment was that formidable army which, while it 
 checked his progi-ess, and set bounds to his ambition, 
 rendered him in some measure dependent on them- 
 selves. He now stood in the heart of Germany, alone, 
 without a rival, or without an adversary who was a match 
 for him. Nothing could stop his progress, or check his 
 pretensions, if the intoxication of success should tempt 
 him to abuse his victory. If formerly they had dreaded 
 the emperor's irresistible power, there was no less cause 
 now to fear every thing for the empire, from the violence 
 ot a foreign conqueror, and for the Catholic church, from 
 the religious zeal ofa Protestant king. The distrust 
 and jeak)usy of some of the combined powers, which a 
 stmnger fear of the emperor had for a time repressed, 
 now revived ; and scarcely had Gustavus Adolphus mer- 
 ited, by his courage and success, their confidence, when 
 they began covertly to circumvent all his plans. Throu^li 
 a continual struggle with the aits of enemies, and the 
 distrust of his own allies, must his victories henceforth 
 be won; yet i*esolution, penetration, and prudence made 
 their wny through all impediments. But while his suc- 
 -cess excited the jealousy of his more powerful allies, 
 France and Saxony, it gave courage to the weaker, and 
 emboldened them openly to declare their sentiments, 
 nnd join his party. Those who could neither vie with 
 Gustavus Adolphus in importance, nor suffer from his 
 ambition, expected the more from the magnanimity of 
 their powerful ally, who enriched them with the spoils 
 of their enemies, and protected them against the op- 
 pression of their stronger neighbors. His strength cov- 
 ered their weakness, and, inconsiderable in themselves, 
 they acquired weight and influence from their union 
 with the Swedish hero. This was the case with most 
 of the free cities, and particularly with the weaker 
 Protestant states. It was these that introduced the 
 
 SCHILLER'S THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 king into the heart of Germany; these covered his lear, 
 supplied his troops with necessaries, received them into 
 Iheir fortresses, while they exposed their own livens in 
 his battles. His prudent regard to their national pride, 
 his popular deportment, some brilliant acts of justice, 
 and his respect for the laws, were so many ties by 
 which he bound the German Protestants to his cause ; 
 while the crying atrocities of the imperialists, the Span- 
 iards, and the troops of Lorraine, powerfully contributed 
 to set his own conduct and that of his army in a favor- 
 able light. 
 
 If Gustavus Adolphus owed his success chiefly to his 
 own genius, at the same time, it must bo owned, he 
 was greatly favored by fortune and by circumstances. 
 Two great advantages gave him a decided superiority 
 over the enemy. While he removed the scene of war 
 into the lands of the League, drew their youth as re- 
 cruits, enriched himself with booty, and used the reve- 
 nues of their fugitive princes as his own, he at once took 
 from the enemy the means of effectual resistance, and 
 maintained an expensive war with little cost to himself. 
 And, moreover, while his opponents, the princes of the 
 League, divided among themselves, and governed by 
 different and often conflicting interests, acted without 
 unanimity, and therefore without energy ; while their 
 genemls were deficient in authority, their troops in 
 obedience, the operations of their scattered armies vath- 
 out concert ; while the general was separated from the 
 lawgiver and the statesman ; these several functions 
 were united in Gustavus Adolphus, the only source from 
 which authority flowed, the sole object to which the 
 eye of the waiiior turned ; the soul of his party, tho 
 inventor as well as the executor of his plans. In him, 
 thurefore, the Protestants had a center of unity and 
 harmony, which was altogether wanting to their oppo- 
 nents. No wonder, then, if favored by such advantages, 
 nt the head of such an army, with such a genius to 
 direct it, and guided by such political prudence, (jus' 
 tavus Adolphus was irresistible. 
 
 With the sword in one hand, and mercy in the other, 
 he traversed Germany, as a cen«]ueror, a lawgiver, aad a 
 judge, in as shovX a time nJaiost as the tourist of pleasure 
 
J 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 The keys of towns and fortresses were delivered to him, 
 as ,1 to the native sovereign. No fortress was inacces- 
 sible ; no river checked his victorious career. He con- 
 quered by the very terror of his name. The Swedish 
 standards were planted along the whole stream of the 
 Mame : the Lower Palatinate was free, the troops of 
 fepam and Lorraine had fled across the Rhine and the 
 iVloselle. 1 he Swedes and Hessians poured like a tor- 
 rent into the territories of Mentz, of Wurtzburg, and 
 Bamberg, and three fugitive bishops, at a distance from 
 then- sees suffered dearly for their unfortunate attach- 
 ment to the emperor. It was now the tuin for Maxi- 
 milian, the leader of the League, to feel in his own 
 dominions the miseries he had inflicted upon others. 
 JN either the terrible fate of his allies, nor the peaceful 
 overtures of Gustavus, who, in the midst of conquest, 
 ever held out the hand of friendship, could conquer the 
 obstinacy of this prince. The torrent of war now poured 
 into Bavaria. Like the banks of the Rhine, those of 
 tlie l.ecke and the Donau were crowded with Swedish 
 troops. Creeping into his fortresses, the defeated elector 
 abandoned to the ravages of the foe his dominions, hith- 
 erto unscathed by war, and on which the bigoted vio- 
 ence of the Bavarians seemed to invite retaliation. 
 IVlumch Itself opened its gates to the invincible mon- 
 Hich, and the fugitive palatine, Frederick V., in the 
 lorsaken residence of his rival, consoled himself for a 
 time forlhe loss of his dominions. 
 
 While Gustavus Adolphus was extending his con- 
 quests in the south, his generals and allies were gaining 
 similar tnumphs in the other provinces. Lower Saxony 
 shook off the yoke of Austria, the enemy abandoned 
 Mecklenburg, and the imperial garrisons retired from 
 the banks of the Weser and the Elbe. In Westphalia 
 and the Upper Rhine, William, Landgiave of Hesse, 
 rendered himself formidable ; the DukI of Weimar in 
 1 huringia and the French in the Electorate of Treves • 
 while to the eastward the whole kingdom of Bohemia 
 vvas conquered by the Saxons. The Turks were pre- 
 paring to attack Hungary, and in the heart of Austria a 
 dangerous insurrection was threatened. In vain did the 
 emperor look around to the courts of Europe for sup. 
 
 SCHILLER ri THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 177 
 
 port; in vain did ho summon the Spaniards to his as- 
 sistance,' for the biaveiy of the Flemings afforded them 
 ample employment beyond the Rhine ; in vain did ho 
 call upon the Roman court and the whole church to 
 come to his rescue. The offended Pope sported, in 
 l^ompous processions and idle anathemas, with the em- 
 barrassments of Ferdinand, and instead of the desired 
 subsidy he was shown the devastation of Mantau. 
 
 On all sides of his extensive monarchy hostile arms 
 surrounded him. With the states of the League, now 
 overrun by the enemy, those ramparts were thrown 
 down, behind which Austria had so Jong defended her- 
 self, and the embers of war were now smoldering upon 
 her unguarded frontiers. His most zealous allies were 
 disarmed ; Maximilian of Bavaria, his firmest support, 
 was scarce able to defend himself. His armies, weak- 
 ened by desertion and repeated defeat, and dispirited by 
 continued misfortunes, had uniearned, under beaten 
 generals, that warlike impetuosity which, as it is the 
 consequence, so it is the guaranty of success. The 
 danger was extreme, and extraordinary means alone 
 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 for the revival 
 of his former splendor, had been removed from his com- 
 mand by an envious cabal. So low had the empcsror 
 now fallen, that he was forced to make the most humili- 
 ating proposals to his injured subject and servant, and 
 meanly to press upon the imperious Duke of Friedland 
 the acceptance of the powers which no less meanly had 
 been taken from him. A new spirit began from this 
 moment to animate the expiring body of Austria ; ar d a 
 sudden change in the aspect of affairs bespoke the firm 
 hand which guided them. To the absolute King of 
 Sweden, a general equally absolute was now opposed; 
 and one victorious hero was confronted with another 
 Both armies were again to engage in the doubtful strug- 
 gle ; and the prize of victory, already almost secureil m 
 the hands of Gustavus Adolphus, was to be the obect 
 of another and a severer trial. The storm of war gath- 
 ered around Nuremberg; before its walls the hostile 
 12 
 
178 
 
 SCIJILLER'ri THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 nrraies encamped ; gazing on each other with dread mi 
 respect, longing for, and yet shrinking from, the moment 
 that was to close them together in the shock of battle. 
 J he eyes of Emope turned to the scene in curio'^ity 
 and alarm, while Nuremberg, in dismay, expected soon 
 to lend Its name to a more decisive battle than that of 
 Leipzig. Suddenly the clouds broke, and the storm 
 rolled off toward Franconia, to burst upon the plains 
 ot Saxony. Nenr Lutzen fell the thunder that had 
 menaced Nuremberg ; the victory, half lost, was pur- 
 chased by the death of the king. Fortune, which had 
 never forsaken him in his lifetime, favored the Kino- of 
 Sweden even in his death, with the rare privilege of 
 falling in the fullness of his glory and an untarnished 
 hune. By a timely death, his protecting genius rescued 
 hmi from the inevitable f-ate of man— that of forgettin^r 
 moderation in the intoxication of success, and justice in 
 the plenitude of power. It may be doubted whether, 
 had he lived longer, he would still have deserved the 
 tears which Germany shed over his gi-ave, or maintained 
 his title to the admiration with which posterity regards 
 him,— as the first and on]y just conqueror that the world 
 has produced. The untimely fall of their great leader 
 seemed to threaten the ruin of his party ; but to the 
 Power which rules the world, no loss of a single man is 
 irreparable. As the helm of war dropped from the hand 
 ot the falling hero, it was seized by two great statesmen, 
 Oxenstiern and Richelieu. Destiny still pursued its 
 relentless course, and for full sixteen years longer the 
 flames of war blazed over the ashes of the long-forgotten 
 king and soldier. . 
 
 I may now be permitted to take a cursory retrospect 
 ol Cxustavus Adolphus in his victorious career ; glance at 
 tne scene in which he alone was the great actor ; and 
 then, when Austria becomes reduced to extremity by 
 the successes of the Swedes, and by a series of disaste/s 
 IS uriven to the most humiliating and desperate expedi- 
 ents, to return to the history of the emperor. 
 
 As soon as the ])lan of operations had been con- 
 certed at Halle, between the King of Sweden and the 
 Elector of Saxony ; as soon as the alliance had been 
 concluded with the neighboring princes of AVeimar and 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 175 
 
 Anhalt, and preparations made for the recovery of the 
 bishopric of Magdeburg, the king began his march into 
 the empire. He had here no despicable foe to contend 
 with. Within the empire the emperor was still pov^er- 
 ful ; throughout Franconia, Suabia, and the Palatinate, 
 imperial garrisons were posted, with whom the posses- 
 sion of every place of importance must be disputed sword 
 m hand. On the Rhine he w^as op|X)sed by the Spaniards, 
 ivho had overrun the tenitory of the burnished Elector 
 Palatine, seized all its strong places, and w^ould every 
 where dispute WMth him the passage over that river 
 On his rear was Tilly, who was fast recruiting his force, 
 and would soon be joined by the auxiliaries from lior- 
 raine. Eveiy papist presented an inveterate foe, while 
 his connection with France did not leave him at liberty 
 to act with fi'eedom against the Roman Catholics. Gus- 
 tavus had foreseen all these obstacles, but, at the same 
 time, the means by which they were to be overcome. 
 The strength of the imperialists was broken and divided 
 among different gan-isons, while he would bring against 
 them, one by one, his whole united force. If he was to 
 be opposed by the fanaticism of the Roman Catholics, 
 and the awe in which the lesser states regarded the 
 emperor's power, he might depend on the active f;up- 
 port of the Protestants, and their hatred to Austrian op- 
 pression. The ravages of the imperialist and Spaaish 
 troops also powerfully aided him in these quarters ; 
 where the ill-treated husbandman and citizen sighed 
 alike for a deliverer, and where the mere change of 
 yoke seemed to promise a religf. Emissaries were dis- 
 patched, to gain over to the Svvedish side the princ ipal 
 free cities, particularly Nuremberg and Frankfort. The 
 first that lay in the king's march, and which he could 
 not leave unoccupied in his rear, was Erfurt. Here the 
 Protestant party, among the citizens, opened to him, 
 without a blow, the gates of the town and citadel. From 
 the inhabitants of this, as of every important place which 
 aftei-ward submitted, he exacted an oath of allegiance, 
 while he secured its possession by a sufficient gan-ison. 
 To his ally, Duke William of Weimar, he intnisted the 
 command of an army to be raised in Thuringia. He also 
 left his queen in Erfurt, and promised to increase: ita 
 
ISO 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 SCHILLER ri THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 181 
 
 II 
 
 privileges. The Swedish army now crossed the Thu- 
 ringiciii forest in two columns, by Gotha and Arnstadt, 
 and having delivered, in its march, the county of Henne- 
 herg from the imperialists, formed a junction, on the 
 third day, near Koenigshofeu, on the frontiers of Frau- 
 i!onia. 
 
 Francis, Bishop of Wurtzburg, the bitter enemy of 
 the Protestants, and the most zealous member of the 
 League, was the first to feel the indignation of Gustavus 
 Adolphus. A few threats gained for the Swedes pos- 
 session of his fortress of Koenigshofen, and with it the 
 key of the whole province. At the news of this rapid 
 conquest, dismay seized all the Roman Catholic towns 
 of the circle. The bishops of Wurtzburg and B&m- 
 berg trembled in their castles ; they already saw their 
 sees tottering, their churches profaned, and their reli- 
 ed the most frightful representations of the persecuting 
 gion degraded. The malice of his enemies had circulat- 
 spirit and the mode of warfare pursued by the Swedish 
 king and his soldiers, which neither the repeated assur- 
 ances of the king, nor the most splendid examples ol 
 humanity and toleration, ever entirely effaced. Many 
 feared to suffer at the hands of another what, in similar 
 circumstances, they were conscious of inflicting them- 
 selves. Many of.the richest Roman Catholics hastened 
 to secure by flight their property, their religion, and 
 their persons, from the sanguinary fanaticism of the 
 Swedes. The bishop himself set the example. In the 
 midst of the alarm, whii^h his bigoted zeal had caused, 
 he abandoned his dominions, and fled to Paris, to excite, 
 if possible, the French ministry against the common 
 enemy of religion. 
 
 The further progress of Gustavus Adolphus in tho 
 ecclesiastical territories, agreed with this brilliant com- 
 mencement. Schweinfurt, and soon afterward Wurtz- 
 ourg, abandoned by their imperial garrisons, suiTcnder- 
 ed; but Marienberg he was obliged to carry by storm. In 
 this place, which was believed to be impregnable, tho 
 enemy had collected a large store of provisions and am- 
 munition, all of which fell into the hands of the Swedes. 
 The king found a valuable prize in the library of the 
 Jesuits, which he sent to Upsal, while his soldiers found 
 
 a still more agi-eeable one in the prelate's well filled 
 cellars ; his treasures the bishop had in good time re- 
 moved. The w^hole bishopric followed the example Oi 
 the capital, and submitted to the Swedes. The king 
 compelled all the bishop's subjects to swear allegiance; to 
 himself; and, in the absence of the lawful sovereign, 
 appointed a regency, one half of whose members were 
 Protestants. In every Roman Catholic town which 
 Gustavus took, he opened the churches to the Protes- 
 tant people, but without retaliating on the papists the 
 cruelties which they had practiced on the former. On 
 such only as, sword in hand, refused to submit, were the 
 fearful rights of war enforced; and for the occasional 
 acts of violence committed by a few of the more lawless 
 soldiers, in the blind rage of the first attack, their humane 
 leader is not justly responsible. Those who were peace- 
 ably disposed, or defenseless, were treated with mild 
 ness. It was a sacred prmciple of Gustavus to spare the 
 blood of his enemies, as well as that of his own troops. 
 
 On the first news of the Swedish irruption, the Bishop 
 af Wurtzburg, without regarding the treaty which he had 
 entered into with the King of Sweden, had earnestly 
 pressed the general of the League to hasten to the as- 
 sistance of the bishopric. That defeated commander 
 had, in the mean time, collected on the Weser the shat- 
 tered remnant of his army, reinforced himself from the 
 gaiTisons of Lower Saxony, and efifected a junction in 
 Hesse, with Altringer and Fugger, who commanded 
 under him. Again at the head of a considerable force, 
 Tilly burned with impatience to wipe out the stain of 
 his first defeat by a splendid victory. From his camp at 
 Fulda, whither he had marched with his army, he 
 earnestly requested permission from the Duke of Bava- 
 ria to give battle to Gustavus Adolphus. But, in the 
 event of Tilly's defeat, the League had no second ai-my 
 to fall back upon, and Maximilian was too cautious to 
 risk again the fate of his party on a single battle. With 
 tears in his eyes, Tilly read the commands of his stipe- 
 rior, which compelled him to inactivity. Thus his march 
 to Franconia was delayed, and Gustavus Adolphus gained 
 time to overrun the whole bishopric. It was in vain 
 that Tilly, reinforced at Aschaffenburg by a bodi' «f 
 
 Q 
 
i^'-i Schiller's tiiirtit years' war. 
 
 twelve thousand men from Lorraine, marched v/ith an 
 ovenvhelmmg force to the relief of Wnrtzbmg? The 
 town and citadel were already in the hands of the 
 Swedes and Blaxn^ilian of Bavaria was generally blamed 
 (and not Without cause, perhaps) for having, by his s«u 
 pies, occasioned the loss of the bisho|,ric. Commanded 
 to avoid a battle, Tilly contented himself with eCking 
 on?/n f "' i"T^ "^ the enemy; but he could savf 
 
 Swedes Vnffl? •"'"'"' ^""" "'« i«ipetuosity of the 
 .Swedes. Baffled m an attempt to reinforce the weak 
 garrison of Hanan, which it was highly important to !ho 
 bwedes to gain, he crossed the Maine, neaS"enstadt 
 
 PnKte ^0'''!^ '"" "^"'^ I^-gstrasse, to proCt he 
 I aiatinate trom the conqueror. 
 
 Tilly however, was not the sole enemy whom Gus- 
 
 Sharies''D'ur;r/ '" ^.^-"^"^^ -d drov"^ before hir^. 
 thlt?^: f \ Lorrame, celebrated in the annals of 
 the time for his unsteadiness of character, his vain pro- 
 
 nc-^nst the S.'fT'r'"'^""^"^'''^ '" >-^e a weaka m 
 against the &\yedish hero, m the hope of obtaining from 
 
 the emperor the electoral dignity. Deaf to the surges 
 
 tions of a rational policy, he listened only to the dicttes 
 
 ot heated ambition , by supporting the emperor he ex- 
 
 pultui If '^T^'^' ''" '■""-'"""elieighbor! and in' the 
 pui suit ot a v sionary phantom in another country left 
 
 ovetun b: a f" T '"'""f'"' ^^'"<='^ were instantly 
 oyei 1 un by a 1- rench army. Austria williDgl y conceded tn 
 
 him, as w^el as to the other princes of tl^^^ague! the 
 
 honor of bemg ruined in her cause. Intoxicated with 
 
 vain hopes, this prince collected a force of Tevenreen 
 
 a^inTt^e"sv-Vr'"'\^, "™P°^'"^ "" '-<> '- Pe-o" 
 
 the ,Hnn,T T"!^*^' ""'y ^''"■« "' '""St attractive by 
 snarin^; twL"* "r",'' .'■■<=™""-«'"<'"ts ; and howeve^ 
 were if be !,(!!,? f^ '^Jt'' '""'^''^^ against the foe, they 
 TeTs and n . f *^'' '",'* '* "8""'=' '''« defenseless citj- 
 fend n^.ii ftf i''^' ''''""" ^^"y '""'^ «mT,moned to de- 
 end against the braveiy and the formidable discipline of 
 he Swedes. Tins splendidly attired army, however 
 made no long stand. . On the first advance of he Swed: 
 
 ^nZflm >'?"'%.^«'^«V*'"'"' ''"'J *ey were driven, 
 without difficulty, trom their cantonments in Wuru' 
 
 ! 
 
 
 SCHILLER ri TIlIllTY YEARS WAR 
 
 185 
 
 burg ; the dofeat of a few regiments occasioned a gen- 
 eral rout, and the scattered remnant sought a covert from 
 the Swedish valor in the towns beyond the Rhine, 
 lioaded with shame and ridicule, the dulie hurried home 
 by Strasburg, too fortunate in escaping, by a submissive 
 written apology, the indignation of his conqueror, v/ho 
 had tirst beaten him out of the field, and then called upon 
 him to account for his hostilities. It is related upon this 
 occasion that, in a village on the Rhine, a peasant struck 
 the horse of the duUe, as he rode past, exclaiming, 
 " Haste, sir, you must go (juicker to escape the gieat 
 King of Sweden I" 
 
 The example of his neighbors' misfortunes had taught 
 the Bishop of Bamberg prudence. To avert the plun- 
 dering of his territories, he made offers of peace, though 
 these were intended only to delay the king's course till 
 the arrival of assistance. Gustavus Adolphus, too hon- 
 orable him.self to suspect dishonesty in another, readily 
 accepted the bishop's proposals, and named the condi 
 tions on which he was willing to save his territories 
 from hostile treatment. He was the more inclined to 
 peace, as he had no time to lose in the conquest of Bam- 
 berg, and his other designs called him to the Rhme. 
 The rapidity with which he followed up these plans, cost 
 him the loss of those pecuniary supplies which, by u 
 longer residence in Franconia, he might easily have ex- 
 torted from the weak and terrified bishop. This artful 
 j)relate broke off the negotiaions the instant the storm 
 of war passed away from his own territories. No sooner 
 had Gustavus marched onward than he threw himself 
 under the protection of Tilly, and received the troops 
 of the emperor into the very towns and fortresses, which, 
 shortly before, he had shown himself ready to open to 
 the Swedes. By this stratagem, however, he only de- 
 layed, for a brief interval, the ruin of his bishopric. A 
 Swedish general, who had been left in Franconia, un- 
 dertook to punish the perfidy of the bishop; and the 
 ecclesiastical territory became the seat of war, and was 
 ravaged alike by friends and foes. 
 
 The formidable presence of the imperialists had hith- 
 erto been a check upon the Franconian states ; but their 
 letreat, and the humane conduct of the Swedish king 
 
ISi 
 
 SCIIII,I.l:ii'd TlIiRTV Yi;.Mt3 W.iR. 
 
 emboldened the nob.lity and other inhabitants of tl is 
 
 ciiciu to dec are in his favor. Nuremberg joyfullv com- 
 
 mtted ttsell to his protection ; and the Franconfan no- 
 
 \nZZTx''""' '",'"' '^'■'V"' ^y flattering proclamations, 
 iDne,raL^- '^''"''^^'^f'"^!"'. to apologize for his hostile 
 uppeaiance m their dominions. The fertility of Fian- 
 coniH and the rigorous honesty of the Swedish soldiers 
 .CO to ,i?r '^' Tu "^ i"h«Wtants, brought abund- 
 he n W.I, "TZ "' •^^. ■""«• The high estlem which 
 the Dobihty ot the circle felt for Gustavus, the respect 
 
 exlltrrr" ''"'' ^!!"^ 'I'^y '-^Savded his brilC 
 exploit,, the promises of rich booty which the service of 
 this monarch held out, greatly facilitated the recriuing 
 ot his troops ; a step whicli was made necessaiT bv de- 
 ln„n,y!.r?'"^'"^ garrisons from the main body. A"t the 
 an quarters. 
 
 The king had scarcely spent more time in conquering 
 
 now lett behind him Gustavus Horn, one of his best 
 generals with a force of eight thousand men, to com- 
 plete and retain his conquest. He himself, with his 
 w-ml T^Ar'^-^'^'^^y the late recruits, hastened '" 
 Wdid the Khine in order to secure this frontier of the 
 empire from the S«3aniards ; to disarm the ecclesiastical 
 e^ctors, and to obtain irom their fertile territories new 
 resources for the prosecution of the war. Followinf: 
 
 Ills Tiiaich, Sehgenstadt, Aschafienburg, Steinheim, the 
 whole territory on both sides of the ri'W. The "nine! 
 rial garrisons seldom awaited his approach, and neler 
 «te,npted resistance. In the mean while one of hii 
 colonels had been fortunate enough to take by surprise 
 the town and citadel of Hanau, for whose preservation 
 1 illy had shown such anxiety. Eag^- to be free of the 
 
 H.fnT'T M"" f. '^'^ imperiaists, the Count of 
 Hanau gladly placed himself under the milder yoke of 
 the King ot Sweden. *^ 
 
 (iustavus Adolphus now turned his whole attention 
 to t lanklort for it was his constant maxim to cover his 
 rear by the friendship and possession of the more im- 
 portant towns. Frankfort was among the free cities 
 
 SCniLLEU's THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 185 
 
 which, even from Saxony, he had endeavored to rre- 
 pare for his reception ; and he now called upon it, by a 
 summons from Offenbach, to allow him a free passage, 
 and to admit a Swedish garrison. Willingly would this 
 city have dispensed with the necessity of choosing be- 
 tween the King of Sweden and the emperor ; for, what- 
 ever party they might embrace, the inhabitants had i% 
 like reason to fear for their privileges and trade. The 
 emperor's vengeance would certainly fall heavily upon 
 them, if they were in a hurry to submit to the King of 
 Sweden, and afterward he should prove unable to pro- 
 tect his adherents in Germany. But still more ruinous 
 for them would be the displeasure of an irresistible con- 
 queror, who, with a formidable army, was already be- 
 fore their gates, and who might punish their opposition 
 by the ruin of their commerce and prosperity. In vain 
 did their deputies plead the danger which menaced 
 their fairs, their privileges, perhaps their constitution 
 itself, if, by espousing the party of the Swedes, they 
 were to incur the emperor's displeasure. Gustavus 
 Adolphus expressed t^ them his astonishment that, 
 when the liberties of Germany and the Protestant reli- 
 gion were at stake, the citizens of Frankfort should talk 
 of their annual fairs, and postpone, for temporal inter 
 ests, the great cause of their country and their con- 
 science. He had, he continued, in a menacing tone, 
 found the keys of eveiy town and fortress, from the 
 isle of Rugen to the Maine, and knew also where to 
 lind a key to Frankfort ; the safety of Germany, and the 
 freedom of the Protestant church, were, he assured 
 them, the sole objects of his invasion ; conscious of the 
 justice of his cause, he was determined not to allow any 
 obstacle to impede his progress. " The inhabitants of 
 Frankfort, he was well aware, wished to stretch out 
 only a finger to him, but he must have the whole hand, 
 in order to have something to gi-asp." At the head of 
 the army, he closely followed the deputies as^hey car- 
 ried back his answer, and in order of battle awaited, 
 near Saxenhausen, the decision of the council. 
 
 If Frankfort hesitated to submit to the Swedes, it was 
 solely from fear of the emperor; their own inclinations 
 did not allow them a moment to dc ubt between the op- 
 
 ^2 
 
'^^ Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 pressor of Germany and its protector. The menacmj; 
 preparations amid which Gustavus A'iolphiis now com- 
 pelled them to decide, would lessen ihe guilt of their 
 revolt in the eyes of the emperor, and by an appearance 
 ol compulsion justify the step which they wilhngly took. 
 Ihe gates were, therefore, opened to the King of Swe- 
 jflen, who marched his army through this imperial town 
 m magnificent procession, and *in admirable order. A 
 garrison of six hundred men was left in Saxenhausen ; 
 while the king himself advanced the same evening, 
 with the rest of his army, against the town of Hochst 
 in Mentz, which surrendered to him before night. 
 
 While Gustavus was thus extending his conquests 
 along the Maine, fortune ciwvned also the eflbrts of his 
 generals and allies in the north of Germany. Rostock, 
 Wismar, and Doemitz, the only strong places in the 
 Duchy of Mecklenburg which still sighed uuder the 
 yoke of the imperialists, were recovered by their legiti 
 mate sovereign, the Duke John Albeit, under the Swed- 
 ish general, Achatius Tott. In vain did the imperial 
 general, Wolf Count von Mansfeld, endeavor to recover 
 trom the Swedes the territories of Halberstadt, of which 
 they had taken possession immediately upon the victory 
 ot Leipzig; he was even compelled to leave Magdebur" 
 itself in their hands. The Swedish general, Banner 
 who with eight thousand men remained upon the Elbe 
 closely blockaded that city, and had defeated several im- 
 perial regiments which had been sent to its relief. 
 Count Mansfeld defended it in person with great reso- 
 lution ; but his garrison being too weak to oppose, for 
 nny length of time, the numerous force of the besiegers 
 ne was already about to surrender on conditions, when 
 i^appenheim advanced to his assistance, and gave em- 
 ployment elsewhere to the Swedish arms. Magdeburg, 
 however, or rather the wretched huts that peeped out 
 miserably from among the ruins of that once great 
 town, wa« afterward voluntarily abandoned by the im- 
 perialists, and immediately taken possession of by the 
 owedes. 
 
 Even Lower Saxony, encouraged by the progress of 
 the king, ventured to raise its head from the disasters 
 ot the unfortunate Danish war. They held a congress 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 187 
 
 I 
 
 at Hamburg, and resolved upon raising three regiments, 
 which they hojjed would be sufficient to free them from 
 the oppressive garrisons of the imperialists. The Bishop 
 of Bremen, a relation of Gustavus Adolphus, was not 
 content even with this ; but assembled troops of his own, 
 and terrified the unfortunate monks and priests of the 
 i:cighborhocd, but was quickly compelled by the impe- 
 rial general. Count Gronsfeld, to lay down his arms. 
 Even George, Duke of Lunenburg, formerly a colonel 
 in the emperor's service, embraced the party of Gusta- 
 vus, for whom he raised several regiments, and by oc- 
 cupying the attention of the imperialists in Lower Sax 
 ony, materially assisted him. 
 
 But more important service was rendered to the king 
 by the Landgrave William of Hesse Cassel, whose victo- 
 I'ious arms struck with terror the greater ] art of West- 
 phalia and Lower Saxony, the bishopric cf Fulda, and 
 even the electorate of Cologne. It lias been already 
 stated that immediately after the conclusion of the alli- 
 ance between the landgrave and Gustavus Adolphus at 
 • Werben, two imperial generals, Fugger and Altringer, 
 were ordered by Tilly to march into Hesse, to puaish 
 the landgi-ave for his revolt from the emperor. But this 
 prince had as firmly withstood the arms of his enemies, 
 as his subjects had the proclamations of Tilly inciting 
 them to rebellion, and the battle of Leipzig presently 
 relieved him of their presence. He availed himself of 
 their absence with courage and resolution ; in a short 
 time, Vach Minden and Hoexter surrendered to him, 
 while his rapid advance alarmed the bishoprics of Frdda, 
 Paderborn, and the ecclesiastical teriitories which bor- 
 dered on Hesse. The terrified states hastened, by a 
 speedy submission, to set limits to his progress, an(i by 
 considerable contributions to purchase exemption from 
 plunder. After these successful enterprises, the land- 
 grave united his victorious army with that of Gustavus 
 Adolphus, and concerted with him at Frankfort their 
 future plan of operations. 
 
 In this city, a number of princes and ambassadors 
 were assembled to congratulate Gustavus on his success, 
 and either to conciliate his favor or to apjiease his in- 
 dignation. Among them was the fugitive King of Foho 
 
188 
 
 SCIfil.I.ER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 ICHILLEr's THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 189 
 
 mia, the ralatiiie Frederick V., who had hastened from 
 Holland to throw hhnself into the arms of his avenger 
 and protector. Gnstavus gave him the unprofitable 
 honor of gi-eeting him as a crowned head, and endeav- 
 ored, by a respectful sympathy, to soften his sense oi 
 his misfortunes. But great as the advantages were, 
 which Frederick had promised himself from the power 
 and good fortune of his protector ; and high as were the 
 expectations ho had built on his justice and magnanimity, 
 the chance of this unfortunate prince's reinstatement 
 in his kingdom was as distant as ever. The inactivity 
 and contradictoiy politics of the English court had abated 
 the zeal of Gustavus Adolphus, and an irritability which 
 he could not always repress, made him on this occasion 
 forget the glorious vocation of protector of the oppressed, 
 in which, on his invasion of Germany, he had so loudly 
 announced himself. 
 
 The terrors qji the king's irresistible strength, and the 
 near prospect of his vengeance, had also compelleQ 
 George, Landgiave of Hesse d'Armstadt, to a timely 
 submission. His connection with the emperor, and his • 
 indifference to the 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 own strength 
 and the political situation of Germany so little, as to offer 
 himself as mediator between the contending parties, 
 Gustavus used, jestingly, to call him the peacemaker. 
 He was frequently heard to say, when at play he was 
 winning from the landgrave, " that the money afforded 
 double satisfaction, as it was imperial coin." To his 
 affinity with the Elector of Saxony, wiiom Gustavus 
 had cause to treat with forbearance, the landgrave was 
 indebted for the favorable terms he obtained from the 
 king, who contented himself with the surrender of his 
 fortress of Russelheim, and his promise of observing a 
 strict neutrality during the war. The counts of Wes- 
 terwald and Wetterau also visited the king in Frankfort, 
 to offer him their assistance against the Spaniards, and 
 to conclude an alliance, which was afterward of great 
 service to him. The town of Frankfort itself had reason 
 to rejoice at the presence of this monarch, who took 
 their commerce under his protection, and by the most 
 
 •4 
 
 '\ 
 
 \} 
 
 I 
 
 \l 
 
 1/ 
 
 effectual measures restored the fairs, which had hv,en 
 greatly mterrupted by the war. 
 
 The Swedish armv w^as now reinforced by ten thou- 
 sand Hessians, which the Landgrave of Casse com- 
 manded. Gustavus Adolphus had already invested 
 Konigstein ; Kostheim and Fliershain surrendered alter 
 
 a 
 
 short 
 
 siege ; 
 
 he was in command of the Maine ; and 
 
 transports were preparing with all speed at Hoechst., to 
 carry his troops across the Rhine. These preparations 
 filled the Elector of Mentz, Anselm Casimir, with con- 
 sternation : and he no longer doubted but that the storm 
 of war would next fall upon him. Asa partisan of the 
 emperor, and one of the most active members of the 
 League, he could expect no better treatment than his 
 confederates, the bishops of Wurtzburg and Bamberg, 
 had already experienced. The situation of his territo- 
 ries upon the Rhine made it necessary for the enemy to 
 secure them, while the fertility afforded an in-esistible 
 temptation to a necessitous arm5^ Miscalculating his 
 own strength and that of his adversaries, the elector 
 flattered himself that he was able to repel force by foi ce, 
 and weary out the valor of the Swedes by the strength 
 of his fortiesses. He ordered the fortifications of his 
 capital to be repaired with all diligence, provided it with 
 
 every necessary 
 
 for sustaining 
 
 a 
 
 lone 
 
 siege, 
 
 and 
 
 re- 
 
 ceived into the town a garrison of two thousand Span- 
 iards, under Don Philip de Sylva. To prevent the 
 approach of the Swedish transports, he endeavored to 
 close the mouth of the Maine by driving piles, and sink- 
 ing large heaps of stones and vessels. He himself, how- 
 over, accompanied by the Bishop of Worms, and cany- 
 ing with him his most precious effects, took refuge in 
 Colore, and abandoned his capital and territories to the 
 rapacity of a tyrannical garrison. But these prepara- 
 tions, which bespoke less of true courage than of weak 
 and overweening confidence, did not prevent the Swedes 
 from marching against Mentz, and making serious prep- 
 arations for an attack upon the city. While one body 
 of their ti'oops poured into the Rlieingau, routed the 
 Spanifirds who remained there, and levied contributions 
 on the inhabitants, another laid the Roman Catholic 
 towns in Westerwald and Wetteran under similar contri 
 
190 bchiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 burions. The main army had encamped at Cassel, oppo- 
 site Mentz; and Bernhard, Duke of Weimar, made him- 
 self master of the Mftusethurm and the castle of Ehren- 
 fels, on the other side of the Rhine. Gustavus was now 
 actively preparing to cross the river, and to blockado 
 the town on the land side, when the movements of Tilly 
 in Franconia suddenly called him from the siege, and 
 obtained for the elector a short repose. 
 
 The danger of Nuremberg, wdiich, during the absence 
 of Gustavus Adolphus on the Rhine, Tilly had made a 
 show of besieging, and, in the event of resistance, 
 threatened with the cruel fate of Magdeburg, occasioned 
 the king suddenly to retire from before Mentz. Lest 
 he should expose himself a second time to the reproaches 
 of Germany, and the disgrace of abandoning a confed- 
 erate city to a ferocious enemy, he hastened to its re- 
 lief by forced marches. Qn his arrival at Frankfort, 
 however, he heard of its spirited resistance, and of the 
 retreat of Tilly, and lost not a moment in prosecuting 
 his designs against Mentz. Failing in an attempt to 
 cross the Rhine at Cassel, under the cannon of the be- 
 sieged, he directed his march toward the Bergstrasse, 
 with a view of approaching the town from an opposite 
 quarter. Here he quickly made himself master of all 
 the places of importance, and at Stockstadt, betw^een 
 Gernsheim and Oppenheim, appeared a second time 
 upon the banks of the Rhine. The whole of the Berg- 
 strasse was abandoned by the Spaniards, who endeav- 
 ored obstinately to defend the other bank of the river. 
 For this purpose, they had burned or sunk all the ves- 
 sels in the neighborhood, and arranged a formidable 
 force on the banks, in case the king should attempt tho 
 passage at that place. * 
 
 On this occasion, the king's impetuosity exposed hiiri 
 to great danger of falling into the hands of the enemy. 
 In order to reconnoiter the opposite bank, he crossed 
 the river in a small boat; he had scarcely landed when 
 he was attacked by a party of Spanish horse, from whose 
 hands he only saved himself by a precipitate reti-eat. 
 Having at last, with the assistance of the neighboring 
 fishermen, succeeded in procuring a few transports, he 
 dispatched tw^o of them across (he river, bearing Count 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY PEARS WAR. 
 
 191 
 
 Brahe and three hundred Swedes. Scarcely had this 
 officer time to intrench himself on the opposite bank, 
 when he was attacked by fourteen squadrons of Spanish 
 dragoons and cuirassiers. Superior as the enemy was in 
 number, Count Brahe, with his small force, bravely de- 
 fended himself, and gained time for the king to support 
 him with fresh troops. The Spaniards at last retired 
 with the loss of six hundred men, some taking refuge 
 in Oppenheim, and others in Mentz. A lion of marble 
 on a high pillar, holding a naked sword in his paw, and 
 a helmet on his head, was erected seventy years after 
 the event, to point out to the traveler the spot where 
 the immortal monarch crossed the great river of Ger- 
 many. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus now conveyed his artillery and 
 the greater part of his ti'oops over the river, and laid 
 siege to Oppenheim, w^hich, after a brave resistance, 
 was, on the 8th December, 1631, carried by storm. 
 Five hundred Spaniards, who had so courageously do- 
 fended the place, fell indiscriminately a sacrifice to the 
 fury of the Swedes. The cwssing of the Rhine by 
 Gustavus struck terror into the Spaniards and Lor- 
 rainers, who had thought themselves protected by the 
 river from the vengeance of the Swedes. Rapid flight 
 was now their only security ; every place incapalile of 
 an effectual defense was immediately abandoned. Af- 
 ter a long train of outrages on the defenseless citizens, 
 the troops of Lon-aine evacuated Worms, which, before 
 their departure, they treated with wanton cruelty. The 
 Spaniards hastened to shut themselves up in Franken- 
 thal, where they hoped to defy the victorious arms ot 
 Gustavus Adolphus. 
 
 The king lost no time in prosecuting his designs 
 against Mentz, into which the flower of the Spanish 
 ti-oops had thrown themselves. While he advanced on 
 the left bank of the Rhine, the Landgrave of Hesse 
 Cassel moved forward on the other, reducing several 
 strong places on his march. The besieged Spaniards^ 
 though hemmed in on both sides, displayed at first a 
 bold determination, and threw, for several days, a shower 
 of bpmbs into the Swedish camp, which cost the king 
 many of his bravest soldiers. But notwithstanding, thtf 
 
192 
 
 SCHILLER tJ THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 Swedes continually gained ground, and had at last ad- 
 vanced so close to the ditch that they prepared seriously 
 tor storming the place. The courage of the besieged 
 now began to droop. They trembled before the furious 
 impetuosity of the Swedish soldiers, of wiiich Marien- 
 berg, in Wurtzbur^!:, had afforded so fearful an example, 
 riie same dreadful fate awaited Mentz, if taken by 
 storm ; and the enemy might even be easily tempted 
 to revenge the carnage of Magdebui-g on this rich and 
 magnificent residence of a Roman Catholic prince. To 
 save the town, rather than their own lives, the Spanish 
 garrison capitulated on the fourth day, and obtained from 
 the magnanimity of Gustavus a safe conduct to Luxem- 
 burg; the greater part of them, how^ever, following 
 the example of many others, enlisted in the service of 
 Sweden. 
 
 On the 13th December, 1G31, the king made his entry 
 into the conquered town, and fixed his quarters in the 
 palace of the elector. Eighty pieces of cannon fell into 
 his hands, and the citizens were obliged to redeem their 
 property from pillage, by a payment of eighty thousand 
 florins. The benefits of this redemption did not extend 
 to the Jews and the clergy, who were obliged to make 
 large and separate contributions for themselves. The 
 hbraiy of the elector was seized by the king as his 
 ^jhare, and ])resented by him to his chancellor, Oxen- 
 stiern, who intended it for the Academy of Westerrah, 
 but the vessel in which it was shipped to Sweden foun- 
 dered at sea. 
 
 After the loss of Mentz, misfortune still pursued the 
 Spaniards on the Rhine. Shortly before the capture of 
 that city, the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel had taken 
 Falkenstein and Reifenburg, and the fortress of Konig- 
 stein surrendered to the Hessians. The rhinegi-ave, 
 Otto Louis, one of the king's generals, defeated nine 
 Spanish squadrons, who were on their march for Frank- 
 enthal, and made himself master of the most important 
 towns upon the Rhine, from Boppart to Bacharach. 
 After the capture of the fortress of Braunfels, which 
 was effected by the Count of Wetterau, with the coope- 
 ration of the Swedes, the Spaniards quickly lost every 
 place in Wetterau, >vhile in the Palatinate they retained 
 
 SCHILLER S TIlIR'l Y YEARS WAR. 
 
 19S 
 
 few places beside Franker tl.al. ?jliandau and Kronwei- 
 senberg openly declared fcr the Swedes ; Spires offered 
 troops for the king's seivice; Manheim w^as gained 
 tluougli the prudence of tlie Duke Bernard of Weimar, 
 and the negligence of its governor, wlio, for this miscon- 
 <lnct, was tried before tlie council of war, at Heidelberg, 
 and beheaded. 
 
 The king had protracted the campaign into the depth 
 of winter, and the severity of the season was perhaps 
 one cause of the advantage his soldiers gained over those 
 of the enemy. But the exhausted troops now stood 
 m need of the repose of winter quarters, which, afler 
 I he surrender of Mentz, Gustavus assigned to them, in 
 its neighborhood, lie himself employed the interval 
 of inactivity in the field, which the season of the j ear 
 enjoined, in arranging with his chancellor, the aliairs 
 ot his cabinet, in treating for a neutrality with somo of 
 his enemies, and adjusting some political disputes which 
 had sprung up with a neighboring ally. He chose the 
 ciiy of Mentz for his winter quarters, and the settlement 
 of these state alfairs', and showed a gi-eater partiality 
 for this town, than seemed consistent w^itli the interests 
 of the (jerman princes, or the shortness of his visit to 
 the emj)ire. Not content with strongly fortifying it, he 
 erected, at the opposite angle which the Maine forms 
 with the Rhine, a new citadel, which was named Grus- 
 tavusburg from its founder, but which is better known 
 under the title of Pfaffenraub or Pfafienzwaug.* 
 
 While Gustavus Adolphus made himself master of the* 
 Rhine, and threatened the three neighboring electorates 
 with his victorious arms, his vigilant enemies in Paris 
 and St. Germain made use of every artifice to deprive 
 him of the support of France, and, if possible, to involve 
 him in a war with that power. By his sudden and 
 equivocal march to the Rhine he had surprised his 
 friends, and furnished his enemies with the means of 
 exciting a distrust of his intentions. After the conquest 
 of Wurtzburg, and of the greater part of Franconia, the 
 road into Bavaria and Austria lay open to him through 
 Bamberg and the Upper Palatinate ; and the expectii 
 
 * Priests' pluTider ; alkuling to the means by which ifie expensp 
 of its erection had bcrn dofrayet' 
 
 I .) 
 
 K 
 
194 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 t:on v/as ns genei-nl as it was natural, that he would nol 
 delay to attack the emperor and the Duke of Bavaria 
 in the very center of their power, and, by the reduction 
 of his two principal enemies, bring the war immediately 
 lo an end. But, to the surprise of both parties, Gus- 
 tavus left the path which general expectation had thus 
 marked out for him ; and instead of advancing to the 
 right, turned to the left to make the less important and 
 more innocent princes of the Rhine feel his 'power 
 while he gave time to his more formidable opponents 
 10 recruit their strength. Nothing but the paramount 
 design of reinstating the unfortunate palatine, Freder- 
 ick v., in the possession of his territories, by the expul- 
 sion of the Spaniards, could seem to account for this 
 strange step ; and the belief that Gustavus was about 
 to effect that restoration, silenced for a while the sus- 
 picions of his friends and the calumnies of his enemies. 
 But the Lower Palatinate was now almost entirely 
 cleared of the enemy ; and j-et Gustavus continued to 
 form new schemes of conquest on the Rliinc, and to 
 withhold the reconquered country from the palatine, its 
 rightful owner. In vain did the Knglish ambassador 
 remind him of what justice demanded, and what his 
 own solemn engajiement made a duty of honor; Gus- 
 tavus replied to these demands v>ith* bitter complaints 
 uf the inactivity of the English court, and prepared to 
 carry his victorious standard into Alsace, and even into 
 Lorraine. 
 
 A distruf^t of the Swedish monarch was now loud 
 and open, while the malice of his enemies busily circu 
 lated the most injurious reports as to his intentions 
 Richelieu, the minister of Louis XIII. , had long wit 
 nessed with anxiety the king's progress toward th^ 
 French frontier, and the suspicious temper of Louis 
 rendered him but too accessible to the evil surmisesj 
 which the occasion gave rise to. France was at this 
 time involved in a civil war with her Protestant subjects, 
 and the fear was not altogether gi-oundiess, that the ap- 
 proach of a victorious monarch of their party might 
 revive their drooping; spirit, and encourage them to n 
 more desperate resir.tancu. TlTis might be the case, 
 even if Gustavus Ado pans was far from showing a dis- 
 
 schiller's thirty years' war. 195 
 
 position to encourage them, or to act unfaithfully toward 
 his ally, the King of France. But the vindictive Bishop 
 of Wurtzburg, who was anxious to avenge the loss of 
 his dominions, by the envenomed rhetoric of the Jiisuits 
 and the active zeal of the Bavarian minister, represented 
 this dreaded alliance between the Huguenots and the 
 Swedes as an undoubted fact, and filled the timid mind 
 of Louis with the most alarming fears. Not merely 
 chimerical politicians, but many of the best informe'd 
 .Roman Catholics fully believed that the king was on 
 the point of breaking into the heart of France, to make 
 common cause with the IliigueJicts, and to oveiturn 
 the Catholic religion within the kingdom. Fanatical 
 zealots already saw him, with his army, ci-ossing the 
 Alps and detlironing the Vicegerent of Christ in Italy. 
 Such reports no doubt soon refute themselves ; yet it 
 can not be denied that Gustavus, by his manoeuveis on 
 the Rhine, gave a dangerous handle to the malice of his 
 enemies, and in some measure justified the suspicion 
 that he directed his arms not so much against the em- 
 peror and the Duke of Bavaria, as against the Roman 
 Catholic religion itself. • 
 
 The general clamor of discontent which the Jesuits 
 raised in all the Catholic courts, against the alliances be- 
 tween France and the enemy of the Church, at last 
 compelled Cardinal Richelieu to take a decisive step for 
 the security of his religion, and at once to convince the 
 Roman Catholic world of the zeal of France, and o'the^ 
 selfish i>o!icy of the ecclesiastical states of (Jermanv. 
 Convinced that the views of the King of Sweden, like 
 his own, aimed solely at the humiliation of the power 
 of Austria, he hesitated not to promise to the princes of 
 the League, oa the part of Sweden, a complete neu- 
 trality, immediately they abandoned their alliance with 
 the emperor and withdrew their troops. Whatever the 
 resolution these princes should adopt, Richelieu would 
 equally attain his object. By their separation from the 
 Austrian interest, Ferdinand would be exposed to the 
 combined attack of France and Sweden ; and Gustavus 
 Adolphus, fieed from his other enemies in Germany, 
 would be able to direct his undivided force against the 
 hereditary dominions of Austria In that event, the fall 
 
190 
 
 SCnilvi ^A^S THIRTY years' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 19'/ 
 
 of Austria was inevitable, and tliis great object of Riche- 
 lieu's policy would be gained without injury to the 
 Church.' If, on the other hand, the princes of the 
 League persisted in their opposition, and adhered to 
 the Austrian alliance, the result would indeed be more 
 doubtful, but still France would have sufficiently proved 
 to all Europe the sincerity of her attachment to the 
 Catholic cause, and performed her duty as a member of 
 the Roman Church. The princes of the League would 
 then appear the sole authors of those evils, which the 
 continuance of the war would unavoidably bring upon 
 the Roman Catholics of Germany ; they alone, by their 
 willful and obstinate adherence to the emperor, would 
 frustrate the measures employed for their i)iotectioi?, 
 involve the Church in danger, and themselves in ruin. 
 
 Richelieu pursued this plan with greater zeal, the 
 more he was embarrassed by the repeated demands of 
 the Elector of Bavaria for assistance from France ; for 
 this prince, as already stated, when he first began to 
 entertain suspicions of the emperor, entered immediatelj' 
 into a secret alliance with France, by which, in the event 
 
 •of any change in the emperor's sentiments, he lioped to 
 secure the possession of the Palatinnte. But though the 
 origin of the ti-eaty clearly showed against what enemy 
 it was directed, Maximilian now thought proper to make 
 use of it against the King of Sweden, and did not hesi- 
 tate to demand from France that assistance against her 
 
 » ally, which she had simply promised against Austria. 
 Richelieu, embarrassed by this conflicting alliance with 
 two hostile powers, had no resource left but to endeavor 
 to put a speedy termination to their hostilities; and as 
 little incUned to sacrifice Bavaria, as lie w^is disabled, by 
 his treaty with Sweden, from assisting it, he set him- 
 self, with all diligence, to bring about a neutrality, as the 
 only means of fulfilling his obligations to both. For this 
 purpose, the Marquis of Breze was sent, as his pleni- 
 potentiaiy, to the King of Sweden at Mentz, to learn 
 his sentiments on this point, and to procure from him 
 favorable conditions for the allied princes. But if Louis 
 Xin. had powerful motives for wishing for this neutral- 
 ity, Gustavus Adolphus had as grave reasons for desiring 
 the contraiy. Convinced by numerous proofs that tho 
 
 f 
 
 i 
 
 hatred of the princes of the League to the Protestant 
 religion was invincible, their aversion to the foreign 
 (X)wer of the Swedes inextinguishable, and their attach- 
 ment to the House of Austria irrevocable, he appre- 
 hended less danger from their open hostility, than irom 
 a neutrality which was so little in unison with their real 
 inclinations ; and, moreover, as he was constrained to 
 cany on the war in Germany at the expense of the 
 enemy, he manifestly sustained great loss il he dimin- 
 ished their number without increasing that of his friends. 
 It wi\s not surprising, therefore, if Gustavus evinced 
 little inclination to purchase the neutrality of the League, 
 by which he was likely to gain so little, at the exp«3Hse 
 of the advantages he had already obtained. 
 
 The conditions, accordingly, upon which he ofi'ered 
 to adopt the neutrality toward Bavaria were severe, 
 and suited to these views. He required of the whole 
 League a full and entire cessation from all hostilities ; the 
 recall of their troops from the imperial army, from the 
 conquered towns, and from all the Protestant countries ; 
 the reduction of their military force ; the exclusion of 
 the imperial armies from their territories, and from 
 supplies either of men, provisions, or ammunition. Hard 
 as the conditions were, which the victor thus imposed 
 upon the vanquished, the French mediator flattered 
 himself he should be able to induce the Elector of Ba- 
 varia to accept them. In order to give time for an accom- 
 modation, Gustavus had agreed to a cessation of Jiostilies 
 for a fortnight. But at the very time when this mon 
 arch was receiving fron the French agents repeated as 
 surances of the favorable progi-ess of the negotiation, an 
 intercepted letter from the elector to Pappenheim, the 
 imperial general in Westphalia, revealed the perfidy of 
 that prince, as having no other object in view by the 
 whole negotiation, than to gain time for his measures 
 of defense. Far from intending to fetter his military 
 operations by a truce with Sweden, the artful prince 
 hastened his prepai'cations, and employed the leisure 
 which his enemy alforded him, in making the most 
 active dispositions for resistance. The negotiatior ac- 
 cordingly failed, and served only to increase the aniraos- 
 ity of the Bavarians and the Swedes. 
 
 r2 
 
N 
 
 I9S 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 Tilly's augmented force, with which he threnteneti 
 to overrun Franconia, urgently required the king's pres- 
 ence in that, circle; but it was necessary to expel pre- 
 viously the Spaniards from the Rhine, and to cut off 
 their means of invading Germany from the Netherlands. 
 With this view, Gustavus Adoiphus had made an ofter 
 of neutrality to the Elector of Treves, Philip von Zeltern^ 
 on condition that the fortress of Hermanstein should bo 
 delivered up to him, and a free passage granted to ]ii» 
 troops through Coblentz. But unwillingly as the elector 
 had beheld the Spaniards within liis territories, he was 
 still less disposed to commit his estates to the suspicious 
 protection of a heretic, and to make the Swedish con- 
 queror master of his destinies. Too weak to maintain 
 his independence between two such powerful competi 
 tors, he took refuge in the protection of France. With 
 his usual prudence, Richelieu profited by the embarrass- 
 ments of this prince to augment the power of France, 
 and to gain for lier an important ally on the Germark 
 frontier. A numerous French army was dispatched to 
 protect the territoiy of Treves, and a French garrison 
 was received into Ehrenbreitstein. But the object 
 which had moved the elector to this bold step was not 
 completely gained, for the offended pride of Gustavus 
 Adoiphus was not appeased, till he had obtained a free 
 passage for his troops through Treves. 
 
 Pending these nei?;otiations with Treves and France,, 
 the king,'s generals had entirely cleared the territory of 
 Mentz of the Spanish garrisons, and Gustavus himself 
 completed the conquest of this district by the capture 
 of Kreutznach. To protect these conquests, the chan- 
 •ellor Oxenstiern was left with a division of the army 
 iipon the Middle Rhino, while the main body, under 
 the king himself, began its march against the enemy in 
 Franconia. 
 
 The possession of this circle had, in the mean time, 
 been disputed with variable success, between Count 
 Tilly and tlie Swedish general, Horn, v/liom Gustavus 
 had left there with eight thousand men ; and the bish- 
 opric of Bamberg, in particular, was at once tlie prize 
 and the scene of their struoffle. Called awiiV to the 
 Khnie by liis otlier projects, the king had left to hij* 
 
 BCHLLLER S TllIKTY YEARs WAR. 
 
 VJ'J 
 
 general the chastisement of the bishop, whose perfidy 
 had excited his indignation, and the activity of lioni 
 justified the choice. In a short time, he subdued the 
 greater part of the bishopric ; and the capital itself, 
 abandoned by its imperial garrison, was carried by storm. 
 The banished bishop urgently demanded assistance fi'om 
 the Elector of Bavaria, who was at length persuaded to 
 put an end to Tilly's inactivity. Fully empowered by 
 iiis master's order to restore the bishop to his posses- 
 sions, this general collected his troops, who were scat- 
 tered over the Upper Palatinate, and with an army of 
 twenty thousand men advanced upon Bamberg. Firmly 
 resolved to maintain his conquest even against this over- 
 whelming force, Horn awaited the enemy within tho 
 walls of Bamberg ; but was obliged to yield to the van- 
 guard of Tilly what he had thought to be able to dispute 
 with his whole army. A panic which suddenly seized 
 his troops, and which no presence of mind of their gen- 
 eral could check, opened the gates to the enemy, aod it 
 was with difiiculty that the troops, baggage, and artillery, 
 were saved. The reconquest of Bamberg was the fruit 
 of this victory ; but Tilly, with all his activity, was un 
 able to overtake the Swedish general, who retired in 
 good order behind the Maine. The king's appear.ince 
 in Franconia, and his junction with Gustavus Hora at 
 Kitzengen, put a stop to Tilly's conquests, and compelled 
 him to provide for his own safety by a rapid retreat. 
 
 The king made a general review of his troops at 
 Aschalfenburg. After his junction with Gustavus Horn, 
 Banner, and Duke William of Weimar, they amounted 
 to nearly forty thousand men. His progress through 
 Franconia was uninterrupted ; for Tilly, far too VNeak 
 to encounter an enemy so superior in numbers, had re- 
 treated, by rapid maiches, towaid the Danube. Bohe- 
 mia and Bavaria were now equally near to the king, and, 
 uncertain whither his victorious course might be di- 
 rected, Maximilian could form no immediate resolution. 
 The choice of the king, and the fate of both provinces, 
 now depended on the road that sLouk be left open to 
 Count Tilly. It was dangerous, jjuring the approach of 
 so f(^-midablo an enemy, to leave Bavaria undefended, 
 in order to protect Austria; still more dangerous bv 
 
200 
 
 S( :ilILTJ]R ri THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 ?=C'niLLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 201 
 
 rpceiving Tilly into Bavaria, to draw thither the vnemy 
 also, and to render it the seat of a oestructivrf war. 
 The cares of the sovereign finally overcame the scruples 
 of the statesman, and Tilly received orders, at all hazards, 
 t^cover the frontiers of Bavaria with his aimy. 
 >^Nuremberg I'eceived with triumphant joy the pro- 
 tector of the Protostunt religion and (:Jerman freedom, 
 find the enthusiasm of the citizens expressed itself on 
 his arrival in loud transports of admiration and joy. 
 Even Gustavus could not contain his astonishment', to 
 see himself in this city, which was the very center of 
 Germany, where he had never expected to be able to 
 penetrate. The noble appearance of his person, com 
 pleted the impression produced by his glorious exploits, 
 and the condescension with which he received the con- 
 gratulations of this free city won all hearts. He now 
 confirmed the alliance he had concluded with it on the 
 shores of the Baltic, and excited the citizens to zealous 
 activity and fraternal unity against the common enemy. 
 After a short stay in Nuremberg, he followed his army 
 to the Danube, and appeared unexpectedly before the 
 frontier town of Donauwerth. A numerous Bavarian 
 irarrison defended the place; and their commander, 
 Kodolph Maximilian, Duke of Saxe-Laucnburg, showed 
 at first a resolute determination to defend it till the ar- 
 rival of Tilly. But the vigor with which Gustavus 
 Adolphus prosecuted the siege, soon compelled him to 
 lake measures for a speedy and secure retreat, which, 
 amid a tremendous fire from the Swedish artillery, he 
 successfully executed. 
 
 The conquest of Donauwerth opened to the king the 
 farther side of the Danube, and now the small riv^i 
 Lech alone sejiarated him from Bavaria. The imme- 
 diate danger ol his dominions aroused all Maximilian's 
 activity; and however little he had liitherto disturbed 
 the enemy's progress to his frontier, he now determined 
 to dispute as resolutely the remainder of their course. 
 On the opposite bank of the Lech, near the small town 
 of Rain, Tilly occupied a strongly fortified camp, which, 
 surrounded by three rjj'ers, bade defiance to all attack. 
 All the bridges over the Lech were destroyed A the 
 whole course of the stieam pi-otected by strong garri 
 
 
 , 
 
 fl 
 
 sons as far as Augsburg; and that town itself, which 
 had long betrayed its impatience to follow the example 
 of Nuremberg and Frankfort, secured by a Bavarian 
 garrison, and the disarming of its inhabitants. The 
 elector himself, with all the troops he could collect, 
 threw himself into Tilly's camp, as if all his hopes ccai- 
 tred on this single point, and here the good fortune of 
 the Swedes was to sutler shipwreck forever. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus, after subduing the whole territory 
 of Augsburg, on his own side of tlie river, and opening 
 to his troops a rich supply of necessaries from that 
 quarter, soon ap})eared on the bank opposite the Bava- 
 rian intrenchments. It was now the month of March, 
 when the river, swollen by frequent rains, and the melt- 
 ing of the snow from the mountains of the Tyrol, flowed 
 full and rapid between its steep banks. Its boiling cur- 
 rent threatened the rash assailants with certain destruc- 
 tion, while from the opposite side the enemy's cannon 
 showed their murderous mouths. If, in despite of the 
 fuiy both of fire and water, they should accomplish this 
 almost impossible passage, a fresh and vigorous enemy 
 awaited the exhausted troops in an impregnable camp ; 
 and when they needed repose and refreshment they 
 must prepare for battle. With exhausted powers they 
 must ascend the hostile intrenchments, whose strength 
 seemed to bid defiance to every assault. A defeat sus 
 tained upon this shore would be attended with inevitalile 
 destruction, since the same stream which impeded thiiir 
 advance would also cut off their retreat, if fortune should 
 abandon them. 
 
 The Swedish counc.l of war, which the king now as 
 sembled, strongly urged upon him all these considera 
 tions, in order to deter him from this dangerous undeii- 
 taking. The most intrepid were appalled, and a troop 
 «)f honorable warriors, wdio had gi'ow^n gray in the field, 
 did not hesitate to express their alarm. But the king's 
 resolution was fixed. ''What!" said he to Gustavus 
 Horn, who spoke for the rest, "have we crossed the 
 Baltic, and so many great rivers of Germany, and shall 
 we now be checked by a brook like the Lech ?" Gos- 
 tavus had already, at great jjersonal risk, reconnoitred 
 the whole country, and discovered that his own side ol 
 
202 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 the river ^Yas Liglier than the other, and consequently 
 gave a considerable advantage to the Hre of the Swedish 
 artillery over that of the enemy. With great presence 
 of mind he determined to profit by this circumstance. 
 At the point where the left bank of the Lech forms an 
 angle with the right, he immediately cfiused three bat- 
 teries to be erected, from which seventy-two field -pieces 
 maintained a cross fire upon the enemy. While this 
 tremendous cannonade drove the Bavarians from the 
 opposite bank, he caused to be erected a bridge over the 
 river with all possible rapidit3\ A thick smoke, kept up 
 oy burning wood and wet straw, concealed for some 
 time the progress of the work from the enemy, wiiile 
 the continued thunder of the cannon overpowered the 
 noise of the axes. He kept alive by his own example 
 the courage of his troops, and discharged more than 
 sixty cannon with his own hand. The cannonade was' 
 returned by the Bavarians with equal vivacity for tw^o 
 hours, though with less efiect, as the Swedish batteries 
 swept the lower opposite bank, while their height served 
 as a breast-work to their own troops. In vain, there- 
 fore, did the Bavarians attempt to destroy these works; 
 the superior fire of the Swedes threw them into dis- 
 order, and the bridge was completed under their very 
 eyes. On this dreadful day, Tilly did every thing in his 
 j)ower to encourage his troops ; and no danger could 
 drive him from the bank. At length he found the 
 death which he sought, a cannon ball shattered his leg ; 
 and Altringer, his brave companion-in-arms, was, soon 
 after, dangerously wounded in the head. Deprived of 
 .'he animating presence of their two generals, the Bava 
 rians gave way at last, and Maximilian, in spite of his own 
 judgment, was driven to adopt a pusillanimous resolve 
 Overcome by the persuasions of the dying Tilly, whoso 
 wonted fii-mness was overpowered by the near approach 
 of death, he gave up his impregnable position for lost , 
 and the discovery by the Swedes of a ford, by which 
 their cavalry were on the point of passing, accelerated 
 his inglorious retreat. The same ni^lit, before a single 
 soldier of the enemy had crossed the Lech, he broke up 
 his camp, and, without giving time for the king to harass 
 Viim in his march, retreatedin good order to Neuburg 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 203 
 
 flnd Ingolstadt. AVith astonishment did Gustavus Adol- 
 phus, who comp eted the passage of the river on the 
 ol owing dny behold the hostile camp abandoned : nd 
 le e ector s flight surprised him still more, when he , aw 
 he strength of the position he had quitted. -Had I blel 
 the B.varmn,'' said he '^though a' cannon ball had ear- 
 ned away my beard and chin, never would I have aban- 
 
 S'tXt'' " ''^ '''''^ ''''' ''^' ^i-" -^ ^--4^"o 
 Bavaria now lay exposed to the conqueror; and, for 
 the first tune, the tide of war, which had hi,l eno o Iv 
 beat against Its frontier, now flowed over its lona spiled 
 and fertde fields Before, however, the king pi^ocTe el 
 to the conquest of these provinces, he deliverld the town 
 Augsburg Irom the yoke of Bavaria; exacted an o..rth 
 
 .ince, le t a garrison in the town. He then advanced 
 by rapid marches, against Ingolstadt, in order, by the 
 capture of this important Ibrtress, which the Jec^ 
 covered w.th the greater part of his army, to secure hil 
 SubT '" '"' ""^ '^'"" '^ rn-n/iooung on the 
 
 Shortly after the appearance of the Swedish king he- 
 me Ingolstadt, the vyounded Tilly, after experiencing 
 ^he caprice of unstable fortune, terminated his caree? 
 tv-ithm the walls of that town. Conquered by theTu pe- 
 rnor generalship of Gustavus AdoJphus, he lost, at ilie 
 close ot his days, all the laurels of' his earlier victor s 
 und appeased, by a series of misfortunes, the demand! 
 ot justice, and the avenging manes of Magdeburg, [n 
 his death, the imperial army and that ot" the League 
 sustained an irreparable loss; the Roman Catholic le ^ 
 gion was deprived of its most zealous defender, and 
 Maximilian of Bavaria of the most faithful of his ser^- 
 unts who sealed hi^s fidelity by his death, and even Tn 
 ais dy,ng .moments fulfilled the duties of a general. His 
 to message to the elector was an urgent advice to take 
 po. ession of Ratisbon in order to maintain the command 
 Bohen!i!r ' ' '" '^' ^^''" '^^" communication with 
 With the confidence wliich was the natural fruit ol 
 60 many victories, Gustavus Adolphus commenced the 
 
20i 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 siege of Ingolstadt, hoping to gain the town by the furj 
 of Ills first assault. But the strength of its fortificfitions, 
 and the bravery of its ganison, presented obstacles 
 gi'eater than any he had liad to encounter since the 
 battle of Breitenfeld, and the walls of Ingolstadt were 
 near putting an end to his career. While reconnoitring 
 the works, a twenty-four-pounder killed his horse undei- 
 him, and he fell to the gi-ound, while almost immediately 
 afterward another ball struck his favorite, the young 
 Margi-ave of Baden, by his side. With perfect self- 
 [K)ssession the king rose, and quieted the feai"s of his 
 troops by immediately mounting another. 
 
 The occupation of Ratisbon by the Bavarians, who, 
 by the advice of Tilly, had surprised this town by strat- 
 agem, and placed in it a strong garrison, quickly changed 
 the king's plan of operations. He had flattered himself 
 with the hope of gaining this town, which favored the 
 Protestant cause, and to find in it an ally as devoted to 
 him as Nuremberg, Augsburg, and Frankfoit. Its seiz- 
 ure by the Bavarians seemed to postpone for a long time 
 the fulfillment of his favorite project of making himself 
 master of the Danube, and cutting off his adversaries' 
 supplies from Bohemia. He suddenly raised the siege 
 of Ingoldstadt, before which he had wasted both his time 
 and his troops, and penetrated into tlie interior of Bava- 
 ria, in order to draw the elector into that quarter for the 
 defense of his territories, and thus to strip the Danube 
 of its defenders. 
 
 The whole country, as far as Munich, now lay open 
 to the conqueror. Mosburg, Landshut, and the whole 
 territory of Freysinger, submitted; nothing could resist 
 his arms. But if he met with no regular force to oppose 
 his progress, ho 1 ad to contend against a still more im- 
 })lacable enemy ir the heart of eveiy Bavarian — religious 
 limaticism. Soldiers, who did not believe in the Pope, 
 were, in this country, a new and unheard-of phenome- 
 non ; the blind zeal of the priests represented tliem to 
 the peasantry as monsters, the children of hell, and their 
 leader as Antichrist. No wonder, then, if they thought 
 themselves released from all the ties of nature and 
 humanity toward this brood of Satan, and justified in 
 committing the most savage atrocities upon thorn. Woe 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' \v.\r. 
 
 1!05 
 
 to Ihe Swedish soldier who fell into their hands ! All 
 the torments which inventive malice could devise w ere 
 exercised upon these unhappy victims ; and the sight of 
 their mangled bodies exasperated the army to a fearful 
 retaliation. Gustavus Adolphus, alone, sullied the luster 
 of his heroic character by no act of revenge ; and the 
 ftversion which the Bavarians felt toward his religion, 
 tar li-om making him depart from the obligations of hu- 
 manity toward that unfortunate people, seemed to im- 
 pose upon him the stricter duty to honor his religion by 
 a more constant clemency. 
 
 The approach of the king spread terror and cons^er 
 nation in the capital, which, stripped of its defenders, 
 and abandoned by its principal inhabitants, placed all its 
 hopes in the magnanimity of the conqueror. By an un- 
 conditional and volnntaiy surrender, it hoped to disnrm 
 his vengeance ; and sent deputies, even to Frankfort, to 
 lay at his feet the keys of the city. Strongly as the Un^ 
 might have been tempted by the inhumanity of the Ba- 
 varians, and tlie hostility of their sovereign, to make a 
 dreadful use of the rights of victQiy ; pressed, as he vras, 
 by Germans, to avenge the fate of Magdeburg on the 
 capital of its destroyer, this groat prince scorned this 
 mean revenge ; and the very helplessness of his enemies 
 disarmed his severity. Contented with the more noble 
 triumph of conducting the Palatine Frederick, with the 
 pomp of a victor, into the very palace of the prince vdio 
 liad been the chief instrument of his niin, and the 
 usurper of his territories, he heightened the brilliancy 
 ot his triumphal entry by the brighter splendor of mod- 
 eration and clemency. 
 
 The king found in Munich only a forsaken palace, for 
 the elector's ti'easures had been transported to Werfen. 
 1 he magnificence of the building astonished him ; find 
 he asked the guide, who showed the apartments, who 
 was the architect. "No other," replied he, "than the 
 elector himself." " I wish," said the kinjr, »' I had this 
 architect to send to Stockholm." " That," he was an- 
 swered, " the architect will take care to prevent." When 
 the arsenal was examined, they found nothing but car- 
 nages, stripped of their cannon. The latter had been 
 BO artfully concealed under the floor, (hnt lo tracer (•♦" 
 
 S 
 
SOB 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 them remained; and, but for the treachery of a work- 
 man, ihe deceit would not liave been detected. "Rise 
 up from the dead," said the king, "and come to judg- 
 ment." The floor was pulled up, and one hundred and 
 forty pieces of cannon discovered, some of extraordinary 
 caliber, which had been principally taken in the Palati- 
 nate and Bohemia. A treasure of thirty thousand gold 
 ducats, concealed in one of the largest, completed the 
 pleasure which the king received froi-n this valuable ac- 
 quisition. 
 
 A fir more welcome spectacle still wouM have been 
 the Bavarian army itself; for his march into the heart 
 tnf Bavaria had been undeitaken chiefly with the view of 
 luring them from their intrenchments. Tn this ex})ecta- 
 lion he was disappointed. No enemy appeared ; no en- 
 treaties, however urgent, on the part of his subjects, 
 could induce the elector to risk the remainder of his 
 army to the chances of a battle. Shut up in llatisbon, 
 he awaited the reinforcements wliich Wallcnstein w^as 
 bringing from Bohemia ; and endeavored, in the mean 
 time, to amuse his enemy and keep him inactive, by re- 
 viving the negotiation for a neutrality. But the king's 
 distrust, too often and too justly excited by his previous 
 conduct, frustrated this design ; and the intentional de 
 lay of Walienstein abandoned Bavaria to the Swedes. 
 
 Thus far had Gust ivus advanced from victor}- to vic- 
 tory, without meeting \vith an enemy able to cope with 
 him. A part of Bavaria and Suabia, the bishoprics of 
 Franconia, the Lower Palatinate, and the archbishopric 
 of Men z, lay conquered in his rear. An uninterrupted 
 career of conquest had conducted him to the threshold 
 of Austria; and the most brilliant success had fully jus- 
 tified the plan of oi)erations which he had formed after 
 the battle of Brcitenfeld. If he had not succeeded to 
 his wish in promoting a confederacy among the Protes- 
 tant states, he had, at least, disarmed or weakened tht> 
 League, carried on the war chiefly at its expense, les- 
 sened the emperor's resources, emboldened the weaker 
 states, and while he laid under contribution the allies of 
 the emperor, forced a way through their territories into 
 Austria itself. Where arms were unavailing, the great- 
 est service was rendered by the friendship c f the free 
 
 » 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 20*) 
 
 cUies, wliose afiections lie had gained, by the double ties 
 of policy and religion ; and, as long as he should main- 
 tain his supe]-iority in the lield, he might reckon on eveiy 
 thing from their zeal. By his conquests on the Rhine, 
 the Spaniards were cut olf from the Lower Palatinate, 
 even if the state of the war in the Netherlands left them 
 at liberty to interfere in the afifairs of Germany. The 
 Duke of Lorraine, too, after his unfortunate campaign, 
 had been glad to adopt a neutrality. Even the numerous 
 garrisons he had left behind him, "in his progress through 
 (ifermany, had not diminished his army ; and, fresh and 
 vigorous as when he first began his maich, he now stood 
 in the center of Bavaria, determined and prepared to 
 carry the war into the heart of Austria. ♦ 
 
 AVhile Gustavus Adolphus thus maintained his supe- 
 riority within the empire, fortune, in another quarter, 
 had been no less favorable to his ally, the Elector of 
 Saxony. By the arrangement concerted between these 
 princes at Halle, after the battle of Leipzig, the conquest 
 of Bohemia was intrusted to the Elector of Saxony, while 
 the king reserved for himself the attack upon the terri- 
 tories of the League. The first fruits which the elector 
 reaped from the battle of Breitenfeld, was the recon- 
 quest of Leipzig, which was shortly followed by the ex- 
 pulsion of the Austiiian garrisons from the entire circle. 
 Reinforcsd by the troops who deserted to him from the 
 hostile garrisons, the Saxon general, Arnheim, marclied 
 toward Lusatia, which had been overrun by an imperial 
 general, Rudolph von Tiefenbach, in order to chastise 
 the elector for embracing the cause of the enemy. Ho 
 had already commenced, in this weakly defended prov- 
 ince, the usual course of devastation, taken sevcMal 
 towns, and temfied Dresden itself by his approach, when 
 his destructive progiess was suddenly stopped, by an 
 express mandate from the emperor, to spare the posses- 
 sions of the King of Saxony. 
 
 Ferdinatid had perceived, too kite, the errors of that 
 policy, which reduced the Elector of Saxony to extrem- 
 ities, and forcibly driven this powerful monarch into an 
 alliance with Sweden. By moderation, equally ill-timed, 
 he now wished to repair, if possible, the consequences of 
 his haughtiness ; and thus committed a second error in 
 
208 sciiiLi.i:ii'rf TUiiiTY years' war. 
 
 endeuvoriiig to repair the first. To deprive bis enemy 
 of so powerl'ulan ally, he had opened, through the inter- 
 vention of Spain, a negotiation with the elector; and, in 
 order to facilitate an accommodation, Tiefenbnch was 
 ordered immediately to retire from Saxony. But these 
 concessions of the emperor, fiir from producing the de- 
 sired effect, only revealed to the elector the embarrass- 
 ment of his adversary and his own importance, and em- 
 boldened him the more to prosecute the advantnges he 
 had already obtained. How could he, moi'eover, with- 
 out becoming chargeable with the most shameful ingrati- 
 tude, abandon an ally to whom he had given the most 
 solemn assurances of fidelity, and to whom he was 
 indebted for the jncservatiou of his dominions, and even 
 ot'liia electoral dignity ? 
 
 The Saxon army, now relieved from tlie necessity of 
 marching into Lusatia, advanced toward Bohemia, where 
 a combination of favorable circumstances seemed to 
 insure them an easy victory. In this kingdom, the first 
 scene of this fatal war, the flames of dissension still 
 smoldered benenth the ashes, while the discontent of 
 the inhabitants was fomented by daily acts of oppression 
 and tyranny. On every side, this unfortunate country 
 showed signs of a mournful change. Whole districts 
 had changed their proprietors, and. groaned under the 
 nated yoke of Roman Catholic masters, whom the favor 
 of the emperor and the Jesuits had enriched with the 
 plunder and possessions of the exiled Protestants. 
 Others, taking advantage themselves of the general dis- 
 tress, had purchased, at a low rate, the confiscated 
 estates. The blood of the most eminent champions of 
 hberty had been shed upon the scaffold ; and such as by 
 a timely flight avoided that fate, were wandering id 
 miseiy far from their native land, while the obsequious 
 slaves of despotism enjoyed their patrimony. Still raoro 
 insuppoitable than the oppression of these petty tyrants, 
 was the restraint of conscience which was imposed with- 
 out distinction on all the Protestants of that kingdom. 
 No external danger, no opposition on the part of the 
 nation, not even the fearful, however steadfast, lessons of 
 past experience, could check in the .Jesuits the rage of 
 proselytism : where fair means were ineffectual, recourse 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 209 
 
 1 
 
 was had to military force to bring the deluded wanderers 
 within the pale of the Church. The inhabitants of Toa- 
 chimsthal, on the frontiers between Bohemia and Meis- 
 sen, were the chief sufferers from this violence. Two 
 imperial commissaries, accompanied by as many Jesuits, 
 and supported by fifteen musketeers, made their appear- 
 ance, in this peaceful valley, to preach the gospel to the 
 heretics. Where the rhetoric of the former was in- 
 (iffectual, the forcibly quartering the latter upon the 
 houses, and threats of banishment and fines, were tried. 
 But on this occasion, the good cause prevailed, and the 
 bold resistance of this small district compelled the em- 
 peror, disgi-acefully, to recall his mandate of conversion. 
 The example of tlie court had, however, afifbrded a pre- 
 cedent to the Roman Catholics of the empire, and 
 seemed to justify every act of oppression which tlieir 
 insolence tempted them to wreak upon the Protestants. 
 It is not surprising, then, if this persecuted party was 
 favorable to a revolution, and saw with pleasure their 
 deliverers on the frontiers. 
 
 The Saxon army was already on its march toward 
 Prague ; the imperial garrisons eveiywhere retired be- 
 fore them ; Schloechenau, Tetschen, Aussig, Leutme- 
 ritz, soon fell into the enemy's hands, and every Rortiaq^ 
 Catholic place was abandoned to plunder. Constei'na- 
 tton seized all the papists of the empire ; and conscious 
 of the outrages which they themselves had committed 
 on the Protestants, they did not venture to abide the 
 vengeful arrival of a Protestant army. All the Roman 
 Catholics, who had any thing to lose, fled hastily from 
 the country to the capital, which again they presently 
 abandoned. Prague was unprepared for an attack, and 
 was too weakly garrisoned to sustain a long siege. Too 
 late had the emperor resolved to dispatch Field-Mar- 
 shal Tiefenbach to the defense of this capital. Before 
 the imperial orders could reach the head-quarters of 
 that general, in Silesia, the Saxons were already close 
 to Prague, the Protestant inhabitants of i^hich showed 
 little zeal, while the weakness of the gamson left no 
 room to hope a long resistance. In this fearful state ot 
 embarrassment, the Roman Catholics of Brague looked 
 for security to Wallenstein, who now lived in that city 
 U s2 
 
10 
 
 Schiller's tiiiktv years' war. 
 
 as a pnvate individual. But far from lendin- his mil- 
 tary experience and the weight of his nan.et.ward 
 detense he seized the favoruble opportunity to satiate 
 h.s th.r^t for revenge. If he did not actually invite tie 
 
 out u^fil J °"^^' unprepared, the town might still hold 
 Pounf M r'"' 1°"''' ?""^ ' »"^ '>" »"P^'-ial colonel, 
 mg Its defense. But without command and authoritv 
 
 aid not dare to venture upon such a step without the 
 
 JpZi" 7^7"" "^ ''"^'"'■"^^ <=°"'^"'teJ e Duke 
 oFuedland, whose approbation might sunpiv the want 
 
 ot authority from the emperor, and to who ii tl e Bohe 
 
 Tom fu the f 'rV'""'" ''^ •■"> "•"!'-- -^i« of "e 
 ™,"i', ',".""' ,'""' extremity. He. however, artfully ex- 
 
 ment, and his long retirement from the political world- 
 
 while he weakened the resolution of the sub^ eJns b^ 
 
 on~7 1 '''^"\ ''? suggested, and painted T the 
 
 Senel,T™?'°';f- ,^* 'f '' *°.'-^'»^'"- «''<^ consternation 
 geneial and complete, he quitted the capital with hi= 
 
 le!howe1l t^r.t 1 ^ J"^ lost, because, by his departure, 
 -it showed that he despaired of its safety. His exam - 
 p-e was followed by all the Roman Cathohc nobdifv th« 
 
 ^Tr ciwn "t/rT '//"^ "'''''' and alllhe'lS;* 
 T^J.!^W ^" "'S'" t'>e Peoi)le were employed in 
 
 <v!L ''°.^'^'''' "'"' lugitivos, who scarcely recovered 
 i.om their consternation till they reached {he imperhU 
 1' ra'aue f^H '%''i"''""^' despairing of the safety of 
 
 to S'rwZl ,'■''' '"''• "."'^I'^'J '"^ ^'""" detachment 
 to idboi, where he awaited the event. 
 
 I rolound silence reigned in Prague, when the Siv 
 rrrtindlTdlf""''""-^' ''•''""'•« '^'-P-S"'o- 
 
 unA 1^1. ^ ;*=• luuiju, ro Deiiold the foreiirn armv • 
 
 csemble'd'rrf T^"^?"'' ^"''' ^•^'^^ they'advaS 
 resembled a friendly snhitution, more than a hostile re 
 
 J 
 I" 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 211 
 
 ceptioa. From the concurrent reports of these people 
 pie Snxons iearnod that the town had been desened 
 hy the ti-Giips, and that the government had fied to Bnd- 
 weiss. ihis unexpected aiui inexplicable absence of 
 resistance excited Arnheim's distrust the more, a^; th^ 
 speedy approach of the Silesian succors was no secret 
 to hiui, and as he knew that the Sitxon army was too 
 indifferently provided witli materials for undertaking a 
 
 t;tf Vf r ^'f ^""^ '''^^''' '''' ^»""^'^i-« to attempt to 
 it Jr F'T^^■^ '^''l'''- ^M^Pvehcnsive of sti-atagem, 
 he redoubled h,s vigilance ; and lie continued in this 
 
 discove!'^""'^^ Wallenstein's house-steward, whom he 
 discoveied anion- the crowd, confirmed to him this 
 intelhc^ence, - The town is ours without a bk)w^" eZ 
 churned he m ast<>nl.shment to his officers, and immedi- 
 ateiy summoned it by a trumpeter. 
 
 ?wTh ""• ""i^'f 'i ""^ f'']^"^' ^''"" shamefully abandoned 
 ^iT. rh ' ^fenders had long taken their i-esolution ; all 
 tiiat they had to do was to secure their properties md 
 ibert.es by an advantageous capitulation. No sooner 
 ^vas the treaty signed by the Saxon general, in his mas- 
 onnndr"'''' f the gates were opened, without farther 
 opposition; and uporf the. 11th of November, 1031, the 
 
 S'ni'^' V •'"* '^'"'^P^^^-^^ ^"^^■^- The electo;. 's, on 
 af er followed m person, to receive the homage of those 
 
 whom 1^ had newly taken under his protection; fori? 
 
 "wn^t' Pr!^" 1"T"^"- «f P-^-^- that the' tl'ee 
 towns ot Prague had surrendei-ed to him. Their alle- 
 
 hvThl Z '^^,^"^^f '^" ^""'-^^--hy was not to be dissol ed 
 by the step they had taken. In proportion as the pa- 
 
 ^:T ,^Pn^'!"'^"' ^^ '^^'''"^^ ^" tiie part of the Prot- 
 estants had been exaggerated, so w.i.s their sunrise 
 great at the moderation of the elector, and the discipline 
 on 1 1 '''• ^ l^^-^^'^^ Arnheim plainly evinced! 
 t.nl?f ''''''''"' ^''\ ''^'^"^^ ^«^' Wallenstein. Not con' 
 tent with sparing his estates on his march, he now 
 
 unde^'n?'"^' over his palace, in Pra.aie, to prevent te 
 p.under of any of his e/iects. The Roman Catholics of 
 
 and o7.1i Hri^'^r^ \^'^ ''f^'' ''"^'^'y ^' conscience 
 ^ct. ; I ^^'"'"^'^^s they had wrested from the Prot' 
 estants, four only were now taken tack from them 
 From this general indulgence, none ^v^r. excluded ba^ 
 
212 
 
 sciiiLLir;:'-* "'iiir.rY years vvaij. 
 
 SCHILLER ri TIIIRTY 
 
 YEARS' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 "ivlQ 
 
 the Jesuits, who were generally considered as the iiu* 
 tliors of all put grievances, and thus banished the 
 
 kingdom. 
 
 John George belied not the submission and depend- 
 ence with which tho terror of the imperial name inspir- 
 ed him ; nor did he indulge, at Prague, in a course of 
 conduct which would assuredly be retaliated upon him- 
 self in Dresden, by imperial generals, such as Tilly or 
 Wallenstein. He carefully distinguished between the, 
 enemy with whom he was at war, and the head of the 
 empire, to whom he owed obedience. He did not ven- 
 ture to touch' the household furniture of the latter, 
 while, without scruple, he appi-opriated and transported 
 to Dresden the cannon of the former. He did not take 
 up his residence in the imperial palace, but the house 
 of Lichtenstein : too modest to use the apartments of 
 one whom he had deprived of a kingdom. Had this 
 trait been related of a great man and a hero, it would 
 irresistibly excite our admiration ; but the character of 
 this prince leaves us in doubt whether this moderation 
 ought to be ascribed to a noble self-command, or to the 
 littleness of a weak mind, which even good fortune 
 could not embolden, and liberty itffelf could not strip of 
 its habituated fetters. 
 
 The surrender of Prague, which >vas quickly follow- 
 ed by that of most of the other towns, effected a great 
 and sudden change in Bohemia. Many of the Protes- 
 tant nobihty, who had hitherto been wandering about in 
 misery, now returned to their native country, and 
 Count Thurn, the famous author of the Bohemian 
 insurrection, enjoyed the triumph of returning as a con- 
 queror to the scene of his crime and his condemnation. 
 Over the veiy bridge where tho heads of his adherents, 
 exposed to view, held out a feaiful picture of the fate 
 which had threatened himself, he now made his tri- 
 umphal entry ; and to remove these ghastly objects was 
 his first care. The exiles again took possession of their 
 properties, without thinking of recompensing for the 
 purchase money the present possessors, who had mostly 
 taken to flight. Even though they had received a price 
 for their estates, they seized on every thing which had 
 once been their own ; and many had reason to rejoice 
 
 I 
 
 , 
 
 at the economy of the late ^jossessors. The lands in(/ 
 catlle had greatly improved in their hands ; the apart 
 inents were now decorated with the most costly furni- 
 ture; the cellars, which had been left empty, were 
 richly filled ; the stables supplied ; the magazines stoi-ed 
 with provisions. But distrusting the constancy of that 
 good fortune, which had so unexpectedly smiled upon 
 them, they hastened to get quit of these insecure pos 
 sessions, and to convert their immovable into transfer 
 able property. 
 
 The presence of the Saxons inspired all the Protes- 
 tants of the kingdom with courage ; and, both in the 
 countiy and the capita], crowds Hocked to the newly 
 opened Protestant churches. Many, whom fear alone 
 had retained in their adherence to popery, now openly 
 professed the new doctrine ; and many of the late con- 
 verts to Roman Catholicism gladly renounced a compul- 
 sory persuasion, to follow the earlier conviction of their 
 coilscicncd* All the moderation of the new regency 
 could not restrain the manifestation of that just dis- 
 pleasure, which this persecuted people felt against their 
 oppressors. They Hhide a fearful and cruel use of their 
 newly recovered rights ; and, in many parts of the king- 
 dom, their hatred of the religion which they had haen 
 compelled to profess, could be satiated only by the blood 
 of its adherents. 
 ^ Meantime the succors, which the imperial generals, 
 Goetz and Tiefenbach, were conducting from Silesia, 
 had entered Bohemia, where they were jomed by some 
 of Tilly's regiments, from the Upper Palatinate. In 
 order to disperse them before they should receive eny 
 further reinforcement, Arnheim advanced with part of 
 his army from Prague, and made a vigorous attack on 
 their intrenchments near Limburg on the Elbe. After 
 a severe action, not without great loss, he drove the 
 enemy from their fortified camp, and forced them, by 
 his heavy fire, to recross the Elbe, and to destroy the 
 bridge which they had built over that river. Never- 
 theless, the imperialists obtained the advantage in several 
 skirmishes, and the Croats pushed their incursions to 
 t}:e very gates of Prague. Brilliant and ja-omising aa 
 I he opening of the Bohemian campaign had been, the 
 
l-'Ii BCIIILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR, 
 
 SCHILLER b THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 215 
 
 issue by no moans satisfied the expectations of Gustavns 
 Adolphus. Instead of vigorously following up their ad 
 vantages, by forcing a passage to the Swedish army 
 through the conquered country, and then, in conjunction 
 with it, attacking the imperial power in its center, they 
 weakened themselves in a war of skirmishes, in which 
 they were not always successful, while they lost the time 
 which should have been devoted to greater undertakings. 
 But the elector's subsequent conduct betrayed the mo- 
 tives which had prevented him from pushing his advan- 
 tage over the emperor, and by consistent measures 
 promoting the plans of the King of Sweden. 
 
 The emperor had now lost the greater part of Bohe- 
 mia, and the Saxons were advancing against Austria, 
 while the Swedish monarch was rapidly moving to the 
 same point through Franconia, Suabia, and Bavaria. A 
 long war had exhausted the strength of the Austrian 
 monarchy, wasted the country, and diminished its 
 armies. The renown of its victories was no more?, as 
 well as the confidence inspired by constant success ; its 
 troops had lost the obedience and discipline to which 
 those of the Swedish monarch ow#d all their superiority 
 in the field. The confederates of the emperor were 
 disarmed, or their fidehty shaken by the danger which 
 threatened themselves. Even Maximilian of Bavaria, 
 Austria's most powerful ally, seemed disposed to yield 
 to the seductive proposition of neutrality ; while his sus- 
 picious alliance witli France had long been a subject of 
 apprehension to the emperor. The bishops of Wurtz- 
 burg and Bamberg, the elector of Mentz, and the Duke 
 of Lorraine, were either expelled from their territo- 
 ries, or threatened with immediate attack : Treves had 
 placed itself under the protection of France. The 
 bravery of the Hollanders gave full employment to the 
 Spanish arms in the Netherlands ; while Gustavus had 
 driven them from the Rhine. Poland was still fettered 
 by the truce which subsisted between that country and 
 Sweden. The Hungarian frontier was threatened by 
 the Transylvanian prince, Ragotsky, a successor ot 
 Betlilem Gabor, and the inheritor of 'his resfless mind ; 
 while the Porte was making great preparation to profit 
 l)V the ffivorablo coniunctv^rr for aecrvession. Most ot 
 
 
 the Protestant slates, encouraged by their protector's 
 success, were openly and actively declaring against the 
 emperor. All the resources which had been obtained 
 by the violent and oppressive extortions of Tilly and 
 WaJlenstein were exhausted ; ail these depots, magazir cs, 
 and r.illying-poiuts, were now lost to the emperor ; and 
 the war could no longer be carried on as before at the 
 cost of others. To complete his embaiTassment, a dan- 
 gerous insurrection broke out in the territory of the Ens, 
 where the ill-timed religious zeal of the government had 
 provoked the Protestants to resistance ; and thus fanat- 
 icism lit its torch within the empire, while a foreign 
 enemy was already on its frontier. After so long a con- 
 tinuance of good fortune, such brilliant victories and 
 extensive conquests, such fruitless elfusion of blood, the 
 emperor saw himself a second time on the brink of that 
 abj'ss into which he was so near falling at the com- 
 mencement of his reign. If Bavaria should embrace the 
 neuti-ality ; if Saxony should resist the tempting ofiers he 
 had held out; and France resolve to attack the Spanish 
 power at the same time in the Netherlands, in Italy, 
 and in Catalonia, the ruin of Austria would be complt te ; 
 the alhed powers would divide its spoils, and the political 
 system of Germany would undergo a total change. 
 
 The chain of these disasters began with the battle of 
 Breitenfeld, the unfortunate issue of which plainly re 
 vealed the long decided decline of the Austrian povrer, 
 whose weakness had hitherto been concealed under the 
 dazzling glitter of a grand name. The chief causjj ot 
 the Swedes' superiority in the field was evidently to 
 be ascribed to the unlimited power of their leader, who 
 concentrated in himself the whole strength of his party ; 
 and, unfettered in his enterprises by any higher author- 
 ity, was complete master of every favorable opportunity, 
 could control all his means to the accomplishment of bis 
 ends, and was responsible to none but himself. But 
 since Wallenstein's dismissal, and Tilly's defeat, the 
 very reverse of this course was pursued by the emperor 
 and the League. The generals wanted authority ctver 
 their troops and liberty of acting at their discretion ; the 
 soldiers were deficient in discipline and obedience; the 
 scattered corps in combined operation ; the statesi in 
 
O 1 i > 
 
 •ClIILLi:il.S TllIliTV years' WAR. 
 
 {itlachiiient to the cause ; the leaders in harmony amon" 
 lueniselvcs ; in quickness to resohe, and firmness to 
 execute. What gave the emperor's enemy so decided 
 an advantage over him was not so much their superior 
 power as their manner of using it. The League and 
 the emperor did not want means, but a mind capable of 
 directing them with energy and effect. Kven had Count 
 Tilly not lost his old renown, distrust of Bavjiria would 
 not allow the emi)eror to place the fate of Austria in 
 the hands of one wdio had never concealed his attach- 
 ment to the Bavarian elector. The urgent w^Tit which 
 1* erdmand lelr, was for a general possessed of sufficient 
 experience to form and to command an army, and will- 
 ing at the same time to dedicate his services, w^ith blind 
 devotion, to the Austrian monarchy. 
 
 This choice now occupied the attention of the em- 
 peror's privy council, and divided the opinions of its 
 members. In order to oppose one monarch to another, 
 and by the i)resence of their sovereign to animate the 
 courage of the troops, Ferdinand, in the ardor 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 olfspriij^r of despair alone, and 
 which yielded at once to calm reflection. But the situ 
 ation which his dignity, and the duties of administration 
 prevented the emperor from holding, might be filled by 
 his son, a youth of talents and bravery, and of whom the 
 subjects of Austria had already formed great expecta- 
 tions. Called by his birth to the defense of a monarchy, 
 ot whose ci-owns he wove two already, Ferdinand III., 
 Iving of Hungary and of Bohemia, united, with the natu- 
 ral digmty ot heir to the throne, the respect of the army, 
 and the attachment of the people, whose cooperation 
 was indispensable to him in the conduct of the war. 
 iNone but the beloved heir to the crown could ventuie 
 to impose new burdens on a people already severely 
 oppressed ; his personal presence with the army could 
 alone suppress the pernicious jealousies of the several 
 leaders, and, by the influence of his name, restore the 
 neglected discipline of the troops to its former rigor. 
 It so young a leader was devoid of the maturity of judg- 
 ment, prudence, and military experience; which prac- 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 r 
 
 I 
 
 SCHILLER'S THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 217 
 
 tice alone could impart, this deficiency might be supplied 
 by a judicious choice of counselors and assistants, who, 
 under the cover of his name, might be vested with su- 
 preme authority. 
 
 But plausible as were the arguments with wdiicli a 
 part of the ministry sui)ported this plan, it was met by 
 difliculties not less serious, arising from the distrust, 
 perhaps even the jealousy, of the emperor, and also 
 horn the desperate state of afl'airs. How dangerous 
 u-as it to intrust the fate of the monarchy to a youth, 
 who was himself in need of counsel and support ! How 
 hazardous to opf)ose to the greatest general of his age, 
 a tyro, whose fitness for so important a post had never 
 yet been tested by experience; whose name, as yet 
 unknown to fame, was for too j^owerless to inspire a 
 dispirited army with the assurance of future victory' ! 
 What a new burden on the country, to support the 
 state a royal leader was required to maintain, and which 
 the prejudices of the ages considered as inseparable 
 Irom his presence w^itli the army ! How serious a con- 
 sideration for the prince himself, to commence his polit- 
 ical career, with an office which must make him the 
 scourge of his people, and the oppressor of the territo 
 ries which he w^as hereafter to rule. 
 
 But not only was a general to be found for the armv ; 
 an army must also be found for the general. Since th« 
 compulsory resignation of Wallenstein, the emperor had 
 defended himself more by the assistance of Bavaria and 
 the League, than by his own armies ; and it was this 
 dependence on equivocal allies, which he was endeavor- 
 ing to escape, by the appointment of a general of his 
 own. But what possibility was there of raising an army 
 out of nothing, without the all-powerful aid of gold, an'd 
 llie inspiriting name of a victorious commander; above 
 all, an army which, by its discipline, warlike spirit, and 
 activity, should be fit to cope with the experienced 
 troops of the northern conquerer ? In all Europe, there 
 was but one man equal to this, and that one had been 
 mortally affronted. 
 
 The moment had at last arrived, when more tlian 
 ordinary satisfaction was to be done to the wounded 
 nnde ot the Duke of Friedland. Fate itself had bef*n 
 
 T 
 
218 
 
 SCIIILI.Ell's THIRTY YEARS* 
 
 WAR. 
 
 his avenger, and an unbroken chain of disasters, vvliicb 
 had assailed Austria from the day of his dismiss;ii, li;u] 
 wrung fVoni the emperor the humiliating confession, that 
 with tliis general he had lost his right arm. Every de- 
 feat of his troops opened afresh this wound ; every town 
 which he lost, revived in the mind of the deceived mon- 
 arch the memory of his own weakness and ingratitude. 
 It would have been well for him, if, in the oifended 
 ganernl, he had only lost a leader of his troops, and n 
 defender of his dominions ; but he Avas destined to fmd 
 in him an enemy, and the most dangerous of all, since 
 ho was least armed against the stroke of treason. 
 
 Removed from the theater of war, and condemned to 
 irksome inaction, while his rivals gathered laurels on the 
 field of gloiy, the haughty duke had beheld these changes 
 of fortune with affected composure, and concealed, un- 
 der a glittering and theatrical pomp, the dark designs of 
 his restless genius. Torn by burning passions within, 
 while all without bespoke calmness and indiCierenco, he 
 brooded over projects of ambition and revenge, and 
 slowly, but surely, advanced toward his end. All that 
 lie owed to the emperor was eliiiced from his mind ; 
 what he himself had done for the emperor was imprint- 
 ed in burning characters on his memoiy. To his insa- 
 tiable thirst for power, the emperor's* ingratitude was 
 welcome, as it seemed to tear in pieces the record of 
 past favors, to absolve him from every obligation toward 
 his former benefactor. In the disguise of a righteous 
 retaliation, the projects dictated by his ambition now 
 appeared to him just and pure. In proportion as the 
 external circle of his operations was narrowed, the world 
 of hope expanded before him, and his dreamy imagina- 
 tion reveled in boundless projects, which, in any mind 
 but such as his, madness alone could have given birth to. 
 His services had raised him to the proudest height which 
 it was possible for a man, by his own efforts, to attain. 
 Fortune had denied him nothing which the subject and 
 the citizen could lawfully enjoy. Till the moment of 
 his dismissal, his demands had met with no refusal, his 
 ambition had met with no check ; but the blow which, 
 at the diet of Katisbon, humbled him, showed him the 
 .iifference between original and deputed power, the 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 219 
 
 distance between the subject and his sovereign. Roused 
 from the intoxication of his own greatness by this sudden 
 reverse of foitune. ho compared the authority which he 
 had possessed, with that which had deprived him of it; 
 nud his ainbition marked the steps which it had yet 
 to surmount upon, the ladder of fortune. From the 
 moment he had so bitterly experienced the weight of 
 sovereign power, his efforts wei-e directed to attain it for 
 himself; the w^rong which he liimself had suffered 
 inade him a robber. Had he not been outraged by 
 injustice, he might have obediently moved in his orbit 
 round the majesty of the throne, satisfied with the 
 glory of being the brightest of its satellites. It was only 
 when violently Ibrced from its sphere, that his wander 
 ing star threw in disorder the system to which it Ije- 
 longed, and came in destructive collision wilh its sun. 
 
 Gustavus Adoiphus had overrun the north of Germany ; 
 one place after another was lost; and at Leipzig, the 
 flower of the Austrian army had fallen. The intelli 
 gcnce of this defeat soon reached the ears of Wallon- 
 stein, who, in the retired obscurity of a private station 
 in Prague, contemplated from a calm distance the tumult 
 of war. The news, which filled the breasts of the Ro- 
 man Catholics with dismay, announced to him l;he 
 return of greatness and good fortune. For him vras 
 Gustavus Adoiphus laboring. Scarce had the king be- 
 gun to gain reputation by his exploits, when Wallenstein 
 lost not a moment to court his friendship, and to moke 
 common cause with this successful enemy of Austria. 
 The banished Count Thurn, who had long entered the 
 service of Sweden, undertook to convey Wallenstein's 
 congi-atulations to the king, and to invite him to a close 
 alliance with the duke. Wallenstein required fifteen 
 thousand men from the king ; and with these, and the 
 troops he himself engaged to raise, he i ndertook to 
 conquer Bohemia and Moravia, to surprise V^ienna, and 
 drive his master, the emperor, before him into Italy. 
 Strong as w%as this unexpected proposition, its extrava- 
 gant promises were naturally calculated to excite suspi- 
 cion. Gustavus Adoiphus was too good a judge of merit 
 to reject with coldness the oilers of one "who might bo 
 8o importuiit a friend. But when Wallenstein, encour- 
 
220 
 
 SCIIiLLERS THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 aged by liio favoi-able reception of his first message, 
 renewed it after tlie battle of Breitenfeld, and pressed 
 for a decisive answer, the prudent monarch hesitated to 
 trust his reputation to the cliimerical projects of so 
 daring an adventurer, and to commit so large a force to 
 the honesty of a man who felt no shame in openly 
 avowing himself a traitor. lie excused himself, there- 
 fore, on the plea of the weakness of his army, which, if 
 diminished by so large a detachment, would certainl}^ 
 suffer in its march through the empire ; and thus, per 
 haps, by excess of caution, lost an opportunity of putting 
 an immediate end to the war. He afterw^ard endeavored 
 to renew the negotiation ; but the favorable moment 
 was past, and Wallenstein's offended pride never forgave 
 the first neglect. 
 
 But the king's hesitation, perhaps, only accelerated 
 the breach, which their characters made inevitable 
 sooner or later. Both framed by nature to give laws, 
 not to receive them, they could not long have coopera- 
 ted in an enterprise, which eminently demanded mutual 
 submission and sacrifices. Wallenstein was nothing 
 where he was not every thing ; he umst either act with 
 unlimited power, or not at all. So cordially, too, did 
 Gustavus dislike control, that he had almost renounced 
 his advantageous alliance with France, because it threat- 
 ened to fetter his own independent judgment. Wallen- 
 stein was lost to a party, if he could not lead : the latter 
 was, if possible, still less disposed to obey the instruc- 
 tions of another. If the pretensions of a rival w^ould bo 
 so irksome to the Duke of Friedland, in the conduct of 
 combined operations, in the division of the spoil they 
 would be insupportable. The proud monarch might 
 condescend to accept the assistance of a rebellious sub- 
 ject against the emperor, and to reward his valuable 
 services with regal munificence ; but he never could 
 so far lose sight of his own dignity, and the majesty of 
 royalty, as to bestow the recompense which the ex- 
 travagant ambition of Wallenstein demanded ; and re- 
 (juite an act of treason, hoAvever useful, with a crown. 
 In him, theieibre, even if all Europe should tacitly 
 !!cquiesrce, Wallenstein had reason to expect the most 
 (•('c dt'l !u,d roiT.VrUb'e opponent to his views on the 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 221 
 
 Bohemian crown ; and in all Europe he was the only 
 one who could enforce his opposition. Constituted dic- 
 tator in Germany by Wallenstein himself, he might turn 
 his arms against him, and consider himself bound by no 
 obligations to one who was himself a traitor. There 
 was no room for a Wallenstein under such an ally ; and 
 it was, apparently, this conviction, and not any supposed 
 .lesigns upon the imperial throne, that he alluded to, 
 when, after the death of the King of Sweden, he ex- 
 claimed, " Itis well for him and me that he is gone. The 
 German empire does not require two such leaders." 
 
 His first scheme of revenge on the House of Austria 
 had indeed failed ; but the purpose itself remained un- 
 alterable : the choice of means alone was changed. 
 What ho had failed in effecting with the King of 
 Sweden, he hoped to obtain with less difficulty ;and 
 more advantage from the Elector of Saxony. Him he 
 was as certain of being able to bend to his views, as 
 he had alw^ays been doubtful of Gustavus Adolphus. 
 Having always maintained a good understanding with 
 his old friend, Arnheim, he now made use of him tc 
 bring about an alliance with Saxony, by which he hopea 
 to render himself equally formidable to the emperor iand 
 the King of Sweden. He had reason to expect that & 
 scheme, which, if successful, would deprive the Swecish 
 juonarch of his influence in Germany, w^ould be wel- 
 comed by the Elector of Saxony, who he knew was 
 jealous of the power and offended at the lofty preten- 
 sions of Gustavus Adolphus. If he succeeded in sepa- 
 rating Saxony from the Swedish alliance, and in estab- 
 lishing, conjointly with that power, a third party in the 
 empire, the fate of the war would be placed in his hand ; 
 and by this single step he would succeed in gratifying 
 his revenge against the emperor, revenging the neglect 
 of the Swedish monarch, and on the ruin of both, rais- 
 ing the edifice of his own gi-eatness. 
 
 But whatever course he might follow in the prosecu- 
 tion of his designs, ho could not carry them into effect 
 without an army entirely devoted to him. Such a force 
 could not be secretly raised without its coming to the 
 knowledge of the imperial court, where it would natu- 
 rally excite suspicion, and thus frustrate his design in 
 

 SCUlLLEll's THIKTY YEARS* 
 
 WAR. 
 
 the very outset. From the nrmy, too, the rebellioufl 
 ])ijrj)o>es fur which it was destined must bo concealea 
 till the very moment of execution, since it could scarcely 
 be expected that they v;ould at once be prepared to 
 V:sten to the voice of a traitor, aud serve ngninst their 
 '.egitimate soveieign. AVallenstein, therefore, must 
 raise it public!}' and in name of the eiuperor, and be 
 placed at its head, with unlimited authority, by the em- 
 peror himself. But how could this be accomplished, 
 otherwise than by his being appointed to the command 
 of the army, and intrusted with full powers to conduct 
 the war ? Yet neither his pride nor his interest per- 
 mitted him to sue in person for this post, and as a sup- 
 pliant to accept from the favor of the emperor a limited 
 power, when an unlimited authority might be extorted 
 from his fears. In order to uiake himself the master of 
 the terms on which he would resume the command of 
 the army, his course w^as to wait until the post should 
 be forced upon him. This was the advice he received 
 from Arnheim, and this the end for which he labored 
 with profound policy and restless activity. 
 
 Convinced that extreme necessity would alone con- 
 quer the emperor's irresolution, and render powerless 
 the opposition of his bitter enemies, Bavaria and Spain, 
 he henceforth occupied himself in promoting the suc- 
 cess of the enemy, and in increasing the embarrass^ 
 ments of his master. It w^as apparentlj'^ by his instiga- 
 tion and advice that the Saxons, when on the route to 
 Lusatia and Silesia, had turned their march toward Bo- 
 hemia, and overnin that defenseless kingdom, where 
 their rapid conquests were partly the result of his meas- 
 ures. By the fears which he affected to entertain, he 
 paralyzed every effort at resistance ; and his precipitate 
 retreat caused the delivery of the capital to the enemy. 
 At a conference with the Saxon general, which was 
 held at Kaunitz under the pretext of negotiating form 
 peace, the seal was put to the consj)iracy, and the con- 
 quest of Bohemia was the fiist fruits of this mutual un- 
 derstanding. While Wallenstein was thus personalty 
 endeavoring to heighten the perplexities of Austria, and 
 while the rapid movements of the Swedes upon the 
 Rhine efiectually promoted liis designs, his friends srd 
 
 SCHlLLEll's THIRTY YEARS* 
 
 WAR. 
 
 223 
 
 oribed adherents in Vienna uttered loud complaints of 
 the public calamities, and represented the dismissal of 
 the general as the sole cause of all these misfortunes. 
 " Had Walionsiein conmianded, matters would never 
 have come to this," exclaimed a thousand voices ; while 
 their opinions found supporters even in the emperor's 
 privy council. 
 
 Their repeated remonstrances were not needed to 
 convince the euibarrassed emperor of his general's mer 
 its, and of his own error. His dependence on Bavtiriu 
 and the League had soon become insupportable ; but 
 hitherto this dependence permitted him not to show his 
 distrust, or irritate the elector by the recall of Wallen- 
 stein. But now, when his necessities grew every day 
 more pressing, and the weakness of Bavaria more appa- 
 rent, he could no longer hesitate to listen to the friends 
 of the duke, and to consider their overtures for his les- 
 toration to command. The immense riches Wallen- 
 stein possessed, the universal reputation he enjoyed, the 
 rapidity with which six years before he had assembled 
 an army of forty thousand men, the little expense at 
 which he had maintained this formidable force, the ac- 
 tions he had performed at its head, and, lastly, the zeal 
 and fidelity he had displayed for his master's honor, still 
 lived in the emperor's recollection, and made Wallen- 
 stein seem to him the ablest instrument to rest^j'e the 
 balance between the belligerent powers, to save Aus- 
 tria, and preserve the Catholic religion. However sen- 
 sibly the imperial pride might feel the humiliation, in 
 being forced to make so unequivocal an admission of 
 past errors and present necessity ; however painftd it 
 was to descend to humble entreaties, from the height 
 cf imperial command ; liowever doubtful the fidelity of 
 so deeply injured and implacable a character ; however 
 loudly and urgently the Sjiaiiish minister and the Elector 
 of Bavaria protested against this step, the immediate 
 pressure of necessity finally overcame ever}^ other con- 
 sideration, and the friends of the duke were empowered 
 to consult hitn on the subject, and to hold out the pros- 
 pect of his restoration. 
 
 Informed of all that was transacted in the emperor's 
 3a!):not to hi*? advantage, Wallenstein possessed sufficient 
 
224 
 
 SCHILLER ri THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 ?ciiillkr's thirty years' war. 
 
 225 
 
 self-command to conceal his inward triumph and to as- 
 sume the mask of inditierence. The moment of ven- 
 geance was at last come, and his proud heart exulted in 
 ihe prospect of repaying with interest the injuries of 
 Ihe emperor. With artful eloquence, he expatiated 
 upon the happy tranquillity of a private station, which 
 had blessed him since his retirement from a political 
 fctage. Too long, he said, had ho tasted the pleasures 
 uf ease and independence, to sacrifice to the vain phan- 
 tom of glory, the uncertain favor of princes. All his de- 
 sire of power and distinction was extinct ; tranquillity 
 and repose were now the sole object of his wishes. 
 The better to conceal his real impatience, he declined 
 the emperor's invitation to the court, but at the same 
 time, to facilitate the negotiations, came to Znaim in 
 Moravia. 
 
 At first it was proposed to limit the authority to be 
 intrusted to him, by the presence of a superior, in order, 
 by this expedient, to silence the objections of the Elector 
 of Bavaria. The imperial 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 of Hungary should remain with 
 the army, and learn the art of war under Wallenstein. 
 But the very mention of his name threatened to put a 
 periocU to the whole negotiation. " No ! never," ex- 
 claimed Wallenstein, "will I submit to a colleague in 
 my office. No — not even if it were God himself, with 
 whom I should have to share my command." But even 
 when this obnoxious point was given up. Prince Eggen- 
 berg, the emperor's minister and favorite, who had 
 always been the steady friend and zealous champion of 
 Wallenstein, and was therefore expressly sent to him, 
 exhausted his eloquence in vain to overcome the pre- 
 tended reluctance of the duke. " The emperor," he 
 admitted, " had, in Wallenstein, thrown away the most 
 costly jewel in his crown : but unwillingly and compul- 
 sorily only had he taken this step, which he had since 
 deeply repented of; while his esteem for the duke had 
 emained unaltered, his favor for him undiminished. 
 Of these sentiments he now gave the most decisive 
 proof, by reposing unlimited confidence in his fidelity 
 
 s 
 
 . 
 
 nnd c;ipnc!ty to repair the mistakes of his predecessors, 
 and to change the whole aspect of alfairs. It would be 
 great ai d noble to sacrifice his just indignation to the 
 good of his country ; dignified and worthy of him to 
 refute the evil calumny of his enemies by the double 
 Warmth of his zeal. This victory over himself," con- 
 cluded the prince, " ^iSuld crown his other unparalleled 
 services to the empire, and render him the greatest man 
 of his aee." 
 
 rl^ 
 
 These humiliating confessions and flattering assuran- 
 ces seemed at last to disarm the anger of the duke ; but 
 not before he had disburdened his heart of his reproaches 
 against the emperor, pompously dwelt upon his own ser- 
 vices, and humbled to the utmost the monarch who so- 
 licited his assistance, did he cond"5scend to listen to the 
 attractive proposals of the minister. As if he yielded 
 entirely to the force of their arguments, he condescend- 
 ed, with a haughty reluctance, to that which was the 
 most ardent wish of his heart ; and deigned to favor the 
 ambassadors with a ray of hope. But far from putting 
 an end to the emperor's embarrassments, by giving at 
 once a full and unconditional consent, he only acceded 
 to a part of his demands, that he might exalt the >aluo 
 of that which still remained, and was of most import- 
 ance, lie accepted the command, but only for three 
 months ; merely for the purpose of raising, but not of 
 leading, ao army. He wished only to show his power 
 and ability in its organization, and to display, before the 
 eyes of the emperor, the greatness of that assistance, 
 which he still retained in his hands. Convinced that 
 an army raised by his name alone, would, if deprived 
 of its creator, soon sink again into nothing, he inteaded 
 it to serve only as a decoy to draw more important 
 concessions from his master. And yet Ferdinand con- 
 cratulated himself, even in having gained so much as 
 he had. 
 
 Wallenstein did not long delay to fulfill those promises 
 which all Germany regarded as chimerical, and \>hich 
 (lustavus Adolphus had considered as extravagant. But 
 the foundation for the present enterprise had been long 
 laid, and he now only put in motion the machinery, 
 which many years had been piepai%I for the purpose. 
 "15 
 
220 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war, 
 
 Scarcely had the news spread of Wallenstein's levies, 
 when, from every quarter of the Austrian moiiarchy, 
 crowds of soldiers repaired to try their fortunes under 
 this experienced general. Many, who had before fought 
 under his standards, had been admiring eye-witnesses 
 ot his gi-eat actions, and experienced his magnanimity, 
 came forward from their retirement to share with him 
 a second time both booty and glory. The gi-eatness oi 
 the pay he promised attracted thousands; and the plen- 
 tiful supplies the soldier was likely to enjoy at the cost 
 of the peasant, was to tlie latter an inesistible induce- 
 ment rather at once to embrace the militaiy life, instead 
 of being the victim of its oppression. All the Austrian 
 provinces were compelled to assist in the equipment. 
 No class was exempt^from taxation — no dignity or privi- 
 lege from capitation. The Spanish court, ns well as 
 the King of Hungaiy, agreed to contribute a consider- 
 able sum. The ministers made large presents, while 
 Wallenstein himself advanced two hundred thousand 
 dollars from his own income to hasten the armament. 
 The poorer officers he supported out of his own rev- 
 enues ; and, by his own example, by brilliant promotions, 
 and still more brilliant promises, he induced all who 
 were able, to raise troops at their own expense. Who- 
 ever raised a corps at their own cost was to be its com 
 inander. In the appointment of officers, religion made 
 no difference. Riches, bravery, and experience were 
 more regarded than creed. By this uniform* treatment 
 of different religious sects, and still more by his.expresa 
 declaration, that his present levy had nothing todo with 
 religion, the Protestant subjects of the empire were 
 tranquilized, and reconciled to bear their share of the 
 public burclens. 'J 'he duke, at the same time, did not 
 omit to treat, in liis own name, with foreign states for 
 men and money He prevailed on the Duke of Lor 
 raine, a second tmie, to espouse the cause of the eni- 
 peior. Poland was urged to supply him with Cossacks, 
 and Italy with warlike necessaries. Before the three 
 months were expired, the army, which was assembled 
 m Moravin, amounted to no less than forty thoiM5and 
 inen, chiefly drawn fiojn tlie unconqucrcd parts of Bohc 
 ^nia, from Moravj^, Silesia, and the German provinces 
 
 SCillLLEU S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 S227 
 
 ' 
 
 of the House of Austria. What to every one had aj)- 
 peared impracticable, Wallenstein, to the astonishment 
 of all Europe, had in a short time effected. The charm 
 of his name, his treasures, and his genius, had assembled 
 thousands in arms, where before Austria had only looked 
 for hundreds. Furnished, even to superfluity, with all 
 necessaries, commanded by experienced officers, and 
 inflamed by enthusiasm which assured itself of victory, 
 this newly created army only awaited the signal of their 
 leader to show themselves, by the bravery of their 
 deeds, worthy of his choice. 
 
 The duke had fulfilled liis promise, and the troops 
 were ready to take the field ; he then retired, and left 
 to the emperor to choose a commander. I^ut it would 
 have been as easy to raise a second army like the first, 
 as to find any other commander for it than Wallenstein. 
 This promising army, the last hope of tlie emperor, 
 was nothing but an illusion, as soon as the charm was 
 dissolved which had called it into existence ; by Wal- 
 lenstein it had been raised, and, without him, it sank like 
 n creation of magic into its original nothingness. Its 
 officers were either bound to him as his debtors, or, as 
 iiis creditors, closely connected with his interests, and 
 the presei-vation of his power. The regiments he had 
 intrusted to his own relations, creatures, and favorites, 
 fie, and he alone, could discharge to the troops the ex- 
 travagant promises by which they had been lured into 
 his service. His pledged word was the only security on 
 'vhich their bold expectations rested ; a blind reliance; on 
 ids omnipotence, the only tie which hnked together in 
 one common life and soul the various impulses of theii 
 zeal. There was an end of the good fortune of each in- 
 dividual, if he retired, who alone was the voucher oi' its 
 fulfillment. 
 
 However little Wallenstein wns serious in his refusal, 
 he successfully employed this means to terrify the em- 
 jKjror into consenting to his extravagant conditions. The 
 progress of the enemy every day increased the prt^ss- 
 ure of the emperor's difficulties, while the reHiedy was 
 also close at hand ; a word from him might terminate 
 the general embarrassment. Prince Eggenberg at 
 length received orders, for the third and last time, af 
 

 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 any cost and sacrifice, fo induce his friend, Wallenstein, 
 to cHccept the command. 
 
 He found him at Znaim in Moravia, pompously sur- 
 rounded by the troops, the possessioi of which he made 
 the emperor so earnestly to long for. As a suppliant did 
 the haughty subject receive the deputy of his sovereign. 
 "He never could trust," he said, "to a restoration to 
 command, which he owed to the emperor's necessities, 
 and not to his sense of justice. He was now courted, 
 because the danger had reached its height, and safety 
 was hoped for from his arm only ; but his successful 
 services would soon cause the servant to be forgotten, 
 and the return of security would bring back renewed 
 ingratitude. If he deceived the expectations formed of 
 him, his long earned renown would be forfeited ; even 
 if he fulfilled them, his repose and happiness must be 
 sacrificed. Soon would envy be excited anew, and the 
 dependent monarch would not hesitate, a second time, 
 to make an offering of convenience to a servant whom 
 he could now dispense with. Better for him at once, 
 and voluntarily, to resign a post from which sooner or 
 ater the intrigues of his enemies would expel him. Se- 
 curity and content were to be found in the bosom of pri- 
 late life ; and nothing but the wish to oblige the em- 
 peror had induced him, reluctantly enough, to relinquish 
 for a time his blissful repose." 
 
 Tired of this long farce, the minister at last assumed 
 a serious tone, and threatened the obstinate duke with 
 the emperor's resentment, if he persisted in his refusal. 
 "Low enough had the imperial dignity," he added, 
 " stooped already : and yet, instead of exciting his mag- 
 nammity by his condescension, he had only flattered his 
 pride and increased his obstinacy. If this sacrifice had 
 been made in vain, he would not answer, but that the 
 suppliant might be converted into the sovereign, and that 
 the monarch might not avenge his injured dignity on his 
 rebellious subjects. However greatly Ferdinand may 
 have er^d, the emperor at least had a claim to obe- 
 dience ; The man might be mistaken, but the monarch 
 could not confess his eiTor. If the Duke of Friedland 
 had suffered by an unjust decree, he might yet be rec- 
 • •mpensp'l for all his los.^es ; the wound which it had 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 229 
 
 .i 
 
 itself inflicted, the hand of majesty might heal. If he 
 asked security for his person and his dignities, the eir >■ 
 peror's equity would refuse him no reasonable demand. 
 Majesty contemned, admitted not of any atonement; 
 disobedience to its commands canceled the most brill- 
 iant services. The emperor required his services, and 
 as emperor he demanded them. Whatever price Wal- 
 lenstein might set upon them, the emperor would 
 readily agree to ; but ho demanded obedience, or the 
 weight of his indignation should crush the refractory 
 servant." 
 
 Wallenstein, whose extensive possessions within the 
 Austrian monarchy Vv^ere momentarily exposed to the 
 power of the emperor, was keenly sensible that this 
 was no idle threat; yet it was not fear that at last over- 
 came his affected reluctance. This imperious tone of 
 itself was to his mind a plain proof of the weakness and 
 despah- vvliich dictated it, while the emperor's readiness 
 to yield all hs demands convinced him that he had 
 attained the summit of his wishes. He now made a 
 show of yielding to the persuasions of Eggenberg; and 
 left him, in order to write down the conditions on which 
 he accepted the command. 
 
 Not without apprehension, did the minister receive 
 the writing, in which the proudest of subjects had [)re- 
 scribed laws to the proudest of sovereigns. But how- 
 ever little confidence he had in the moderation of his 
 friend, the extravagant contents of his writing surpassed 
 even his worst expectations. Wallenstein required the 
 uncontrolled command over all the German armioH of 
 Austria and Spain, with unlimited powers to reward and 
 punish. Neither the King of Hungary, nor the emp«5ror 
 himself, were to aj)pear in the army, still less to exercise 
 any act of authority over it. No commission in the 
 army, no pension or letter of grace, was to be granted 
 oy the emperor without Wallenstein's approval. All the 
 conquests and confiscations that should take place, were 
 to be placed entirely at Wallenstein's disposal, to the 
 exclusion of eveiy other tribunal. For his ordinary pay, 
 an imperial hereditary estate was to be assigned him, 
 with another of the conquered estates within the em- 
 pire for his extraordinary expenses. Eveiy Austrian 
 
 U 
 
M" 
 
 2lii) 
 
 fc'CHlLLER^S TJIIRTV YEARs' WAR. 
 
 province was to be opened to him if he required it in 
 case ol retreat. He turtlier demanded the assurance of 
 the possession of the Duchy of Mecklenburg, in the 
 event of a future peace; and a formal and timely inti- 
 mation, it it should be deemed necessary a second time 
 to deprive him of the command. 
 
 In vain the minister entreated him to moderaro his 
 demands, which, if granted, would deprive the emperor 
 ot all authority over his own troops, and make him abso- 
 utely dependent on his general. The value placed on 
 his services had been too i)lainly manifested to prevent 
 iiim dictatmg the price at which they were to be pur- 
 chased, li the pres^sure of circumstances compelled the 
 emperor to gi-ant his demands, it was something more 
 than a mere teeling of haughtiness and desire of revengo 
 which induced the duke to make them. His plans of 
 rebellion were formed : to its success, every one of the 
 conditions lor which Wallenstein stipulated in this treaty 
 \yith the court, was indispensable. Those plans required 
 that the emperor should be deprived of all authority in 
 •i^ermany, and be placed at the mercy of his general • 
 and this object would be attained the moment Ferdi- 
 nand subscribed the required conditions. The use which 
 Wallenstein intended to make of his army (widely dif- 
 terent, indeed, from that for which it was intrusted to 
 him), brooked ndt of a divided power, and still less of an 
 authority superior to his own. To be the sole master 
 ot the will ot his troops, he must also be the sole master 
 ot their destinies : insensibly to supplant his sovereign, 
 and to transfer permanently to his own person the rights 
 ot sovereignty, which were only lent to him for a time 
 by a higher authority, he must cautiously keep the latter 
 out of the view of the army. Plence his obstinate refu- 
 sal to allow any prince of iho House of Austi-ia to be 
 present with the army. The liberty of free disposal of 
 iill the conquered and confiscated estates in the empire, 
 would also afford him fearful means of purchasing de- 
 pendents and mstruments of his plans, and of acting the 
 dictator in Germany more absolutely than ever any em- 
 peror did m time of peace. By the right to use any of 
 th« Austrian provinces as a place of refuge, in case of 
 tiPul, he had lull power to hold the emperor a prisoner 
 
 f 
 
 
 sciiuler's thirty years' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 231 
 
 Dy means of his own forces, and within his own domin- 
 ions; to exhaust the strength and resources of these 
 countries, and to undermine the power of Austria in its 
 very foundation. 
 
 Whatever might be the issue, he had equally secured 
 his own advantage, by the conditions he had extorted 
 from the emperor. If circumstances proved favorable 
 to his daring project, this treaty with the emperor facili 
 tated its execution ; if, on the contrary, the course of 
 things ran counter to it, it would at least afford him a 
 brilliant compensation for the failure of his plans. Ihn 
 how could he consider an agreement valid, which was 
 extorted from him, and based upon treason ? How" could 
 he hope to bind the emperor by a w ritten agreement, in 
 the face of a law w^hich condemned to death every one 
 who should have the presumption to impose conditions 
 upon him ? But this criminal was the most indispen- 
 sable man in the empire, and Ferdinand, well practiced 
 in dissimulation, granted him, for the present, all ho 
 required. 
 
 At last, then, the imperial army had found a command- 
 er-in-chief worthy of the name. Every other authority 
 in the army, even that of the emperor himself, ce;ised 
 from the moment Wallenstein assumed the commander's 
 baton, and every act was invahd which did not proceed 
 from him. From the banks of the Danube, to those of 
 the Weser and the Oder, was felt the life-giving dawn- 
 ing of this new star : a new spirit seemed to inspire the 
 troops of the emperor ; a new epoch of the war began. 
 The papist forms fresh hopes, the Protestant beholds 
 with anxiety the changed course of affairs. 
 
 The greater the price at which the service of the new 
 general had been purchased, the greater, justly, were 
 the expectations from those which the court of the em- 
 peror entertained. But the duke was in no huiry to 
 fulfill these expectations. Already in the vicinity of 
 Bohemia, and at the head of a formidable force, he had 
 but to show himself there, in order to overpower the 
 exhausted force of the Saxons, and brilliantly to com- 
 mence his new career by the reconquest of that kingdom. 
 But, contented with harassing the enemy with indecisive 
 skirmishes of his Croats, he abandoned the best pait of 
 
232 
 
 hcuiller's thirty years' 
 
 WAR, 
 
 that kingdom to be plundered, and moved calmly forwar(1 
 in pursuit of his own sellish plans. His design was, not 
 to conquer the Saxons, but to unite with ihem. Exclu- 
 sively occupied with this important object, he remained 
 inactive, in the hope of conquering more surely by means 
 of negotiation. He left- no expedient untried, to detacli 
 this prince from the Swedish alliance ; and Ferdinand 
 himself, ever inclined to an nccommodation with this 
 prince, approved of this proceeding. But the great debt 
 which Saxony owed to Sweden, ^vas as yet too freshly 
 remembered to allow of such an act of pertidy ; and even 
 had the elector been disposed to yield to the temptation, 
 the equivocal character of Wallenstein, and the bad 
 character of Austrian policy, precluded any reliance in 
 the integrity of its promises. Notorious already as a 
 treacherous statesman, he met not with faith upon the 
 very occasion when, perhaps, ho intended to act hon- 
 estly ; and, moreover, w^as denied, by circumstances, the 
 opportunity of proving the sincerity of his intentions, by 
 the disclosure of his real motives.* 
 
 He, therefore, unwillingly resolved to extort, by force 
 of arms, what he could not obtain by negotiation. Sud- 
 denly assembling his troops, he appeared befoi-e Prague 
 ere the Saxons had time to advance to its relief. After 
 a short resistance, the treachery of some Capuchins 
 opened the gates to one of his regiments ; and the gar- 
 rison, who had taken refuge in the citadel, soon laid 
 down their arms upon disgraceful conditions. Master 
 of the capital, he hoped to carry on more successfully 
 his negotiations at the Saxon court ; but even while he 
 was renewing his proposals to Arnheim, he did not 
 hesitate to give them weight by striking a decisive blow. 
 He hastened to seize the narrow passes between Aussig 
 and Pirna, with a view of cutting off the retreat of the 
 Saxons into their own country.; but the rapidity of Arn- 
 heim's operations fortunately extricated them from the 
 danger. After the retreat of this general, Egra and 
 Leutmeritz, the last strongholds of the Saxons, sur- 
 rendered to the conqueror : and the whole kingdom was 
 restored to its legitimate sovereign, in less time than it 
 had been lost. 
 
 Wallenstein, less occupied w^ith the interests of his 
 
 ?CIIILLEU'S THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 <«> o «3 
 
 master, than with the furtherance of his own plans, now 
 purposed to carry the war into Saxonjs and by ravaging 
 his territories, compel the elector to enter into a private 
 treaty with the emperor, or rather with himself. But, 
 however little accustomed he was to make his will bend 
 to circumstances, he now perceived the necessity of 
 postponing his favoiite scheme for a time, to a iriore 
 pressing emergency. While he was driving the Saxons 
 from Bohemia, Gustavus Adolphus hid been gaining the 
 victories, already detailed, on the Rhine and the Danube, 
 and carried the war through Franconia and Lusatia, to 
 the frontiers of Bavaria. Maximilian, defeated on the 
 Lech, and deprived by death of Count Tilly, his best 
 swpport, urgently solicited the emperor to send, with all 
 speed, the Duke of Friedland to his assistance, from 
 Bohemia, and, by the defense of Bavaria, to avert the 
 danger from Austria itself. He also made the same 
 request to Wallenstein, and entreated him, till he could 
 himself come w^ith the main force, to dispatch, in the 
 mean time, a few regiments to his aid. Ferdinand 
 seconded the request with all his influence, and one mes- 
 senger after another was sent to Wallenstein, urging him 
 to move toward the Danube. 
 
 It now appeared how completely the emperor had 
 sacrificed his authority, in surrendering to another the 
 supreme command of his troops. Indifferent to Maxi- 
 milian's entreaties, and deaf to the emperor's repeated 
 commands, Wallenstein remained inactive in Bohemia, 
 and abandoned the elector to his fate. The remem- 
 brance of the evil service which Maximilian had render- 
 ed him with the emperor, at the Diet at Ratisbon, was 
 deeply engraved on the implacable mind of the duke, and 
 the elector's late attempts to prevent his reinstatement 
 were no secret to him. The moment of revenging this 
 aflVont had now arrived, and Maximilian w^as doomed to 
 pay dearly for his folly, in provoking the most revenge- 
 ful of men. Wallenstein maintained, that Bohemia ought 
 not to be left exposed, and that Austria could not be bet- 
 ter protected than by allowing the Swedish army to 
 waste its strength before the Bavarian fortresses. Thus, 
 by the arm of the Swedes, he chastised his enemy ; and 
 while one place after another fell into their hands, ht. 
 
 v2 
 
834 sciiillrr's tiiirtv years' war. 
 
 nllowed the elector vainly to await his arrival at Ratisbon. 
 It was only when the complete subjugation of Bohemia 
 left him without excuse, and the conquests of Gustavus 
 Adolphus in Bavaria threatened Austria itself, that he 
 yielded to the pressing entreaties of the elector and the 
 emperor, and determined to effect the long expected 
 union with the former; an event, which, according to 
 the general anticipation of the Roman Catholics, would 
 decide the fate of the campaign. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus, too weak in numbers to cope 
 even with Wallenstein's force alone, naturally dreaded 
 the junction of such powerful armies, and the little 
 energy he used to jirevent it was the occasion of great 
 surprise. Apparently he reckoned too much on the 
 hatred which alienated the leaders, and seemed to ren- 
 der their effectual cooperation improbable ; when the 
 event contradicted his views, it was too late to repair his 
 error. On the first certain intelligence he received of 
 their designs, he hastened to the Upper Palatinate, for 
 the purpose of intercepting the elector : but the latter 
 had already arrived there, and the junction had been 
 effected at Egra. 
 
 This frontier town had been chosen by Wallenstein, 
 for the scene of his triumph over his former rival. Not 
 content with having seen him, as it were, a suppliant at 
 his feet, he imposed upon him the hard condition of 
 leaving his territories in his rear exposed to the enemy, 
 and declaring, by this long march to meet him, the ne- 
 cessity and distress to which he was reduced. Even to 
 this humiliation, the haughty prince patiently submitted. 
 It had cost him a severe struggle to ask for protection of 
 the man who, 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 was ready to 
 bear all the annoyances which were inseparable from 
 that resolve, and sufficiently master of himself to put up 
 with petty grievances, when an important end was in 
 view. 
 
 But whatever pains it had cost to effect this junction. 
 It was equally difficult to settle the conditions on which 
 it was to be maintained. The united army must be 
 placed under the command of one individual, if any 
 
 SCIlfLLER's TJirRTY VEARs' WAR. 255 
 
 u^!'i was to be gained by the union, and each general 
 
 h'oTer ^'' km" •'' r'^ ^" ''r "^P^^'- -th^lityo 
 niL, other. If Maximilian rested his claim on his elerfn 
 
 ral d.gmty the nobleness of his descent, and his n- 
 nndZ "' .^^\^TP"'^' Wallenstein's military re , own, 
 and the unhmited command conferred on him by the 
 
 dZrJ!' ^'r ''^ '^"'-^"^ ^^^«"S ^'^J- to it Tf if was 
 deeply humiliating to the pride of the former to seTve 
 
 under an imperial subject, the idea of inipoW laws on 
 
 so imperious a spirit flattered in the same 'ree 
 
 IZTsllnt^^^^^^^ terminated in a mutual com- 
 
 piom.se to Wallenstein's advantage. To him was as 
 signed the unlimited command. of both armies mrticu 
 hu'ly in battle, while the elector wa depdved of .H 
 
 ot tne ainiy. Ho retained only the bare ri"ht of nun 
 .sinng and rewarding his own troops, and the frL u e 
 rialisr' ' " ""' """"^ '" conjunction with the i.npe! 
 
 erals^Tl'ilTt^.T'" >'"'■'"''' ^'"'' ^'""«''' *« '^^o geu- 
 eialsat ast ventured upon an interview; but Dot until 
 
 "en "eured Z forraaht.es of a reconciliation had 
 „r„if ^*"'?'^- , According to agreement, they publiclv 
 embraced in the sight of their troops, and made im uS^ 
 professions of friendship, while in 'reality tirLTr s of 
 both were overflowing with „,„liee. Maximihan we, 
 
 inT- but f n,ni ^'^."- ■■' "."S'*^ ''^''"'"^ •"« ™al feel- 
 ings but a malicious trium))h sparkled in tlie eves of 
 Wallenstein, and the constraint which was v isVe h an 
 I..S movements, betrayed the violence oT the emoio 
 winch overpowered his proud soul. ' 
 
 1 he combined imperial and Bavarian armies amounted 
 to nearly sixty thousand men, chiefly vete.^Ds Be bre 
 
 keerthetehf "^a"'; •^""''^'' "'"^ -' in a-condl!:Z 
 Hon Iwl f 1 A,' ^^ ^'^ ""^""P' to prevent their junc- 
 tion had failed he commenced a rapid retreat into Fran 
 
 le'p'art IfThfe'n ''""''"' T' ^'''=-- -ovemen "oo 
 
 tK idon of tl,„ ™^' k" "'i'^'"" '" *"°'™ ^'' ""^n plans. " 
 me position of the combined armies between the fron 
 
li»SG Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 tiers of Saxony and Bavaria, left it for some time douot- 
 ful whether they would remove the war into the former, 
 or endeavor to drive the Swedes from the Danube, and 
 deliver Bavaria. Saxony had been stripped of troops 
 l)y Arnheim, who was pursuing his conquests in Silesia ; 
 not without a secret design, it was generally supposed, 
 of favoring the entrance of the Duke of Friedland into 
 that electorate, and of thus driving the irresolute John 
 George into peace with the emperor. Gustavus Adol- 
 phus himself, fully persuaded that Wallenstein's views 
 were directed against Saxony, hastily dispatched a strong 
 reinforcement to the assistance of his confederate, with 
 the intention, as soon as circumstances Avould allow, of 
 following with the main. body. But the movements of 
 Wallenstein's army soon led him to suspect that he 
 himself was the object of attack ; and the duke's march 
 through the Upper Palatinate placed the matter be- 
 yond a doubt. The question now was, how to provide 
 for his own security ; and the prize was no longer his 
 supremacy, but his very existence. His fertile genius 
 must now supply the means, not of conquest, but of 
 preservation. The approach of the enemy had sur- 
 prised him before he had time to concentrate his troops, 
 which were scattered all over Germany, or to summon 
 his allies to his aid. Too weak to meet the enemy in 
 the field, he had no choice left, but either to throw 
 himself into Nuremberg, and run the risk of being shut 
 up in its walls, or to sacrifice that city, and await a rein- 
 forcement under the cannon of Donauwerth. Indifler- 
 ent to danger or difficulty, while he obeyed the call of 
 humanity or honor, he chose the first without hesitation, 
 firmly resolved to bury himself with his whole army 
 under the ruins of Nuremberg, rather than to purchase 
 his own safety by the sacrifice of his confederates. 
 
 Measures w^ere immediately taken to surround the 
 city and suburbs with redoubts, and to form an in- 
 trenched camp. Several thousand workmon imme- 
 diately commenced this extensive work, and an heroic 
 determination to hazard life and property in the com 
 mon cause, animated the inhabitants of Nuremberg. A 
 trench, eight feet deep and twelve broad, surrounded 
 the whole fortification ; the lines were defended b^ 
 
 psCIflfJ.Ek ri THIRTY YEARS'* W/.fl 
 
 237 
 
 / 
 
 redoubts and bait cries, the gates by hulf-raoons. The 
 river Pegnitz, which flows through Nuremberg, divided 
 the whole camp into two semicircles, whose coramuni- 
 cation was secured by several bridges. Above three 
 hundred pieces of cannon defended the town-walls and 
 the intrenchments. The peasantry from the neighbor- 
 ing villages, and the inhabitants of Nuremberg, assisted 
 the Swedish soldiers so zealously, that on the seventh 
 day the army was able to enter the camp, and, in a fort- 
 night, this great w^ork was com[}leted. 
 
 While these operations were carried on without the 
 walls, the magistrates of Nuremberg were busily occu- 
 pied in filling the magazines with provisions and ammu- 
 nition for a long siege. Measures were taken, at the 
 same time, to secure the health of the inhabitants, which 
 was likely to be endangered by the conflux of so many 
 people; cleanliness was enforced by the strictest regu- 
 lations. In order, if necessary, to support the kiog, the 
 youth of the city were embodied and trained to arms, 
 the miUtia of the town considerably reinforced, and a 
 new regiment raised, consisting of four-and-twenty 
 iiames, according to the letters of the alphabet. Gus- 
 tavus had, in the mean time, called to his assistance his 
 allies, Duke William of Weimar, and the Landgrave ot 
 Hesse Cassel ; and ordered his generals on the Rhine, 
 in Thuringia, and Lower Saxony, 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 sixteen thousand 
 men, scarcely a third of the enemy. 
 
 The imperialists had, in the mean time, by slow 
 marchgs, advanced to Neumark, where Wallenstein 
 'nade a general review. At the sight of this formidable 
 force, he could not refrain from indulging in a childish 
 Doast : " In four days," said he, " it will be shown 
 whether I or the King of Sweden is to be master of the 
 world." Yet, notwithstanding his superiority, he did 
 nothing to fulfill his promise ; and even let slip the op- 
 portunity of crushing his enemy, when the latter had 
 the hardihood to leave his lines to meet him. '* Battles" 
 enough have been fought," was his answer to those who 
 advised him to attack the king, " it is now lime to try 
 
238 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY VEARS WAR. 
 
 another method." Wallenstein s well founded reputa 
 tion required not any of those rash enterprises on which 
 younger soldiers rush, in the hope of gaining a name. 
 Satisfied that the enemy's despair would dearly sell a 
 victory, while a defeat would irretrievably ruin the em- 
 peror's affairs, he resolved to wear out the ardor of his 
 opponent by a tedious blocl^ade, and by thus deprivin<> 
 him of every opportunity of availing himself of his im- 
 petuous bravery, take from him the very advantage 
 which had hitherto rendered him invincible. Without 
 making any attack, therefore, he erected a strong forti- 
 fied camp on the other side of the Pegnitz, and opposite 
 Nuremberg ; and, by this well chosen position, cut oil 
 from the city and the camp of Gustavus all supplies 
 from Franconia, Suabia, and Thuringia. Thus he held 
 in siege at once the city and the king, and flattered 
 himself with the hope of slowly, but surely, wearing 
 out by famine and pestilence the courage of his opponent* 
 whom he had no wish to encounter in the field. 
 
 Little aware, however, of the resources and thw 
 strength of his adversary, Wallenstein had not taken 
 sufficient precautions to avert from himself the fato 
 he was designing for others. From the whole of the 
 neighboring country, the peasantry had fled with their 
 pro|)erty ; and what little provision remained, must be 
 obstinately contested with the Swedes. The king spared 
 the magazines within tlie town, as long as it was possible 
 to provision his army from without; and these ihvuys 
 produced constant skirmishes between lh(} Croats and 
 the Swedish cavalry, of which the surrounding country 
 exhibited the most melancholy traces. The necessaries 
 ot lite must be obtained sword in hand ; and the foracrin^^ 
 parties could not venture out without a numerous esc^ort"^ 
 And when this supply failed, the town opened its mai^a- 
 zmes to the king, but Wallenstein had to support his 
 troops from a distance. A large convoy from liavaiiu 
 was on Its way to him, with an escort of a thousand men. 
 Gustavus Adolphus, having received intelligence of its 
 approach, immediately sent out a regiment of cavaliy 
 'to intercept it; and the darkness of the night favored 
 the enterprise. The whole convoy, with the town in 
 Waiich It was. fell into the hands of the Swedes; the im- 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 :39 
 
 perial escort was cut to pieces; about twelve tl >usaud 
 cattle cnrried ofl'; and a thousand wagons, loaded with 
 bread, which could not be brought $iway, were set on 
 fire. Seven regiments, which Wallenstein had sent for- 
 ward to Altdorp to cover the entrance of the long and 
 anxiously expected convoy, were attacked by. the king, 
 who had, in like manner, advanced to cover the retreat 
 of his cavaliy, and routed, after an obstinate action, being 
 driven back into the imperial camp, with the loss of four 
 hundred men. So many checks and difficulties, and so 
 firm and unexpected a resistance on the part of the king, 
 made the Duke of Friedland repent that he had de- 
 clined to hazard a battle. The strength of the Swc^dish 
 camp rendered an attack impracticable; and the armed 
 youth of Nuremberg served the king as a nursery from 
 which he could supply his loss of troops. The want of 
 provisions, which began to be felt in the imperial camp 
 as strongly as in the. Swedish, rendered it uncertaiQ 
 which party would be first compelled to give way. 
 
 Fifteen days had the two armies now remained in 
 view of each other, equally defended by inaccessible 
 intrenchments, without attempting any thing more than 
 slight attacks and unimportant skirmishes. On both 
 sides, infectious diseases, the natural consequenc:e of 
 bad food and a crowded population, had occasioned a 
 greater loss than the sword. And this evil daily increased. 
 But, at length, the long expected succors arrived in the 
 Swedish camp ; and by this strong reinforcement, the 
 king was now enabled to obey the dictates of his native 
 courage, and to break the chains which had hitherto 
 fettered him. 
 
 In obedience to his requisitions, the Duke of Weimar 
 had hastily drawn together a corps from the garrisons in 
 Lower Saxony and Thuringia, which, at Schweinfurt 
 in P\anconia, was joined by four Saxon regiments, and 
 at Kitzingen by the corps of the Rhine, which the Land- 
 grave of Hesse, and the Palatine of Birkenfeld, dispatch- 
 ed to the relief of the king. The chancellor, Oxeust ien\ 
 undertook to lead this force to its destination. After 
 being joined at Windsheim by the Duke of Weimar 
 himself, and the Swedish general, Banner, he advanced, 
 by rapid marches, to Pi uck and Eltersdorf, whei(^ ho 
 
240 
 
 SCHU>LERri THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 passed the Rednitz, and reached the Swedish camp in 
 safety. This leintbrcement amounted to nearly fifty 
 thousand men. and was attended by a train of sixty 
 pieces of cannon, and four thousand baggage wagons. 
 Gustavus now saw himself at the head of an army of 
 nearly seventy thousand strong, without reckoning the 
 militia of Nuremberg, which, in case of necessity, could 
 bring into the field about thirty thousand fighting men : 
 a formidable force, opposed to another not less formida- 
 ble. The war seemed at length compressed to the point 
 of a single battle, which was to decide its fearful issue. 
 With divided sympathies, Europe looked with anxiety 
 to this scene, where the whole strength of the two con- 
 tending parties was fearfully drawn, as it were, to a 
 focus. 
 
 If, before the arrival of the Swedish succors, a want 
 of provisions had been felt, the evil was now fearfully 
 increased to a dreadful height in beth camps, for Wallen- 
 stein had also received reinforcements from Bavaria. 
 Beside the one hundred and twenty thousand men con- 
 fronted to each other, and more than fifty thousand 
 horses, in the two armies, and beside the inhabitants of 
 Nuremberg, whoso number tar exceeded the Swedish 
 army, there were in the camp of Wjdlenstein about 
 fifteen thousand women, with as many drivers, and 
 nearly the same number in that of the Swedes. The 
 custom of the time permitted the soldier to cany his 
 family with him to the field. A number of prostitutes 
 followed the imperialists ; while, with the view of pre- 
 venting such excesses, Gustavus's care for the morals ot 
 his soldiers promoted marriages. For the rising genera- 
 tion, who had this camp for their home and country, 
 regular military schools were established, which educated 
 a race of excellent warriors, by which means the army 
 might in a manner recruit itself in the course of a long 
 campaign. No wonder, then, if these wandering nations 
 exhausted every territory in which they encamped, and 
 by their immense consumption raised the necessaries of 
 life to an exorbitant price. All the mills of Nuremberg 
 were insufficient to grind the corn required for each day ; 
 and fifteen thousand pounds of bread, Vv^hich were daily 
 delivered by the town into the Swedish camp, excited 
 
 SCIIILLEU'ti TliiKTV VEAKs' WAR. 
 
 iMl 
 
 without allaying, the hunger of the soldiers. The 
 laudable exertions of the magistrates of Nurember^^ 
 could not j)ievent the greater part of the horses fron*! 
 dying for want of foiage, while the increasing mortality 
 m the camp consigned more than one hundred men 
 tiaily to the grave. 
 
 To put an end to these distresses, Gustavus Adolphus, 
 Kilying on his numerical superiority, left his lines on the 
 twenty-fifth day, forming before the enemy in order of 
 nattle, while he cannonaded the duke's camp from three 
 batteries erected on the side of the Kednitz. But the 
 jluke remained immovable in his intrenchments, and con- 
 tented himself with answering this challenge by a distant 
 lire ol cannon and musketry. His plan was to wear out 
 the kmg by his inactivity, and by the force of tamino 
 to overcome his resolute determination ; and neither the 
 remonstrances of Maximilian, and the impatience of his 
 army, nor the ridicule of his opponent, could shake lis 
 purpose. Gustavus, deceived in his hope of forcin:; a 
 battle, and compelled by his increasing necessities, now 
 attempted impossibilities, and resolved to storm a posi- 
 tion which art and natuie had combined to render im- 
 pregnable. 
 
 Inti-usting his own camp to the militia of Nili-emberg, 
 on the fifty-eighth day of his cncami)ment (the festival 
 ot St. Bartholomew), he advanced in full order of batile, 
 and passing the Rednitz at Fnrth, easily drove the en- 
 emy's outposts before him. The main army of the im- 
 perialists was posted on the steep heights between the 
 Biber and the Rednitz, called the Old Fortress and 
 Altenberg; while the camp itself, commanded by these 
 emmences, spread out immeasurably along the plain. 
 On these heights, the whole of the artillery was f!aced. 
 Deep ti-enches surrounded inaccessible redoubts, while 
 thick barricadoes, with pointed palisades, defended the 
 approaches to the heights, froiii the summits of which, 
 Wallenstein calmly and securely discharjTed the light- 
 nings of his artillery from amid the dark thunder-clouds 
 ot smoke. A destructive fire of musketry was main- 
 tained behind the breastworks, and a hundred i)ieces of 
 cannon threatened the desperate assailant with certain 
 destruction. Against this dangerous ma Gustavus nc»w 
 16 X 
 
212 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 directed his attack ; five hundred musketeers, supported 
 by a few infantry (for a greater number could not act in 
 the narrow space), enjoyed the unenvied privDe^e of fii-st 
 throwing themsebes into the open jaws of death. The 
 assault was furious, the resist»nce o!)st!nate. Exposed 
 to the whole fiie of the enemy's aitillery, and infuriate 
 by the prospect of inevitable death, these determined 
 warriors rushed forward to storm the heights ; which, 
 i.'i an instant converted into a fiaming volcano, discharged 
 on them a shower of shot. At the same moment, the 
 heavy cavalry rushed lorward into" the openings which 
 the artiHery had made in the close ranks of the assail- 
 ants, and divided them ; till the intrepid band, conquered 
 by the strength of nature and of man, took to ilight, 
 leaving a hundred dead upon the field. To German? 
 had Gustavus yielded this post of honor. Exaspeinted 
 at their retreat, he now led on his Finlandeis to th(? 
 attack, thinking, by their northern courage, to shame 
 the cowardice of tlio Germans. But they, also, after a 
 similar hot reception, yielded to the superiority of the 
 enemy ; and a third regiment succeeded them to expe- 
 rience the same success. This was replaced by a fourth, 
 a fifth, and a sixth ; so that during a ten hours' action, 
 every regiment was brought to the attack to retire with 
 bloody loss from the contest. A thousand mangled 
 bodies covered the field ; yet Gustavus undauntedly 
 maintained tlie attack, and AVallenstein held his position 
 unshaken. 
 
 In the mean time, a sharp contest had taken place 
 between the impei-ial cavalry and the left wing of the 
 Swedes, which was posted in a thicket on the Rednit/,, 
 Vvith varying success, but with equal intrepidity and loss 
 on hmh sides. The Duke of Friedland and Prince 
 ]5ernard of Weimar had each a horse shot under them ; 
 the king himself had the sole of his boot carried oflf' by a 
 cannon ball. The combat was maintained with undi- 
 minished obstinacy, till the approach of night separated 
 the combatants. Ikit the Swedes had advanced too far 
 to retreat without hazard. While the king was seeking 
 an officer to convey to the regiments the oi-der to retreat, 
 he met Colonel Hepburn, a brave Scotchman, whose 
 native courage alone had drawn him from the camp to 
 
 souiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 243 
 
 share in th« dangers of the day. Oflfended with tho 
 Iving fn- having, not long before, preferred a younger offi- 
 cer for some })ost of danger, lie had rashly vowed never 
 again to draw his sword for the king. To him Gusta- 
 vus now addressed himself, praising his courage, and 
 requesting him to order the regiments to retreat. " Sire," 
 replied the brave soldier, " it is tlie only sei-vice I can not 
 refuse to your majesty ; for it is a hazaixJous one," and 
 immediately hastened to carry the command. One of 
 the heights above the old Ibrtrcss had, in the heat of 
 the action, been carried by tlie Duke of Weimar. It 
 commanded the hills and the whole camp. But the 
 heavy raia which fell during the night rendered it im- 
 possible to drav/ up the cannon ; and this ix>st, which 
 had been gained with so much bloodshed, wag also vol- 
 untarily abandoned. Diffident of fortune, which forsook 
 him on this decisive day, the king did not venture the 
 following morning to renew the attack with his exhausted 
 troops ; and vanquished for the first time, even becimso 
 he was n.ot victor, ho led back his troops over the lled- 
 iiitz. Two thousand dead which he left behind hitn 
 on the field, testified to the extent of his loss ; and tho 
 Duke of Friedland remained unconqucred within his 
 lines. 
 
 For fourteen days after this action, the two armies 
 still continued in front of each other, each in the hope 
 that the other weuld be the first to give way. Eveiy 
 <lay reduced their pi-ovisions, and as scarcity became 
 greater, the excesses of tlie soldiers, rendered furious, 
 exercised the wildest outrages on the peasantiy. The 
 increasing distress broke up all discipline and order in 
 the Swedish camp ; and the German regiments, in par- 
 ticular, distinguished themselves for the i"avages they 
 practiced indiscriminately on friend and foe. The weaii 
 hand of a single individual could not check excesses, 
 encoumged by the silence, if not the actual example, of 
 the inferior officers. These shameful breaches of dis- 
 cipline, on the mainteiKince of which he had hitherto 
 justly prided himself, severely pained the king; and the 
 vehemence with which he reproached the German offi- 
 cers for their negligence, bespoke the hveliness of his 
 emotion. " It is you yourselves, Germans," said he, 
 
M4 
 
 SailLLnR ri THIRTY YEARS' WAli, 
 
 I' tliJit rob your native country, and ruin your own con- 
 tcderates in the faith. As God is my judge, I abiior 
 you, I loathe you ; my heart sinks within, even wiien j 
 look upon you. Ye break my orders ; ye are the cause 
 Uiiit the world curses me, that the tears of poverty fol- 
 low me, that complaints ring in my ear—' The king, our 
 rriend, does us more harm than even our worst ene- 
 mies.' On your account I have stripped my own king- 
 dom of Its treasures, and spent upon you more than 
 torty tuns of gold ;* while from your German empire I 
 nave not received the least aid. I gave you a share of 
 all that God had given to me ; and had ye regarded ray 
 orders, I would have gladly shared with you all my 
 tuture acquisitions. Your want of discipline convinces 
 me of your evil intentions, whatever cause I might oth- 
 erwise have to applaud your bravery." 
 
 Nuremberg had exerted itself, almost beyond its 
 power, to subsist foi- eleven weeks the vast crowd which 
 was compressed within its boundaries ; but its means 
 were at length exhausted, and the king's more numer- 
 ous party was obliged to determine on a retreat. By 
 the casualties of war and sickness, Nuremberg had lost 
 more than ten thousand of its inhabitants, and Gustavus 
 Adolphus nearly t venty thousand of his soldiers. • The 
 jields around the city were trampled down, the villages 
 lay m ashes, the plundered peasantry lay faint and dy- 
 ing on the highways ; dead bodies infected the air, and 
 bad lood, the exhalations from so dense a population 
 and so many putrifying carcasses, together with the 
 heat of the Dog-days, produced a desolating pestilence, 
 which raged among men and beasts, and long after the 
 retreat ot both armies, continued to load the country 
 with misery and distress. Atiected by the general dis- 
 trust, and despairing of conquering the steady determi- 
 nation of the Duke of Friedland, the king broke up his 
 camp on the 8th September, leaving in Nuremberg a 
 sutticient garrison. He advanced in full order of battle 
 before the enemy, who remained motionless, and did 
 not attempt in the least to harass his retreat. His route 
 lay by the Aisch and Windsheira toward Neustadi; 
 »x*dolla"rs ^^ ^°^^ ^" Svv-eden amounts to one hundred thousand 
 
 SnilLLKIi fJ THIRTY Y1:AR3 WAR. 
 
 215 
 
 whore he halted five days to refresh Ji is troops, and also 
 to be near to Nuremberg, in case the enemy should 
 make an attempt upon the town. But Wallenstein, as 
 i-xnausted as himself, had only awaited the retreat of 
 tlie Swedes to commence his own. Five days after- 
 ward he broke up his camp at Zirndorf, and set it on 
 tire. A hundred columns of smoke, rising from all the 
 burning villages in the neighborhood, announced his re- 
 treat, and showed the city the fnte it had escaped. Hia 
 march, which was directed on Forschiem, was marked 
 l)y the most frightful ravages ; but he was too far ad- 
 vanced to be overtaken by the king. The latter now 
 divided his army, which the exhausted country was un- 
 able to support, and leaving one division to protect Fran 
 conia, with the other he prosecuted in person his cou 
 quests in Bavaria. 
 
 In the mean time, the imperial Bavarian army Iliad 
 marched into the bishopric of Bamberg, where the 
 Duke of Friedland a second time mustered his troops. 
 He found this force, which so lately had amounted to 
 sixty thousand men, diminished by the sword, desertion, 
 and disease, to about twenty-four thousand, and of these 
 a fourth were Bavarians. Thus had the encampmcjnts 
 before Nuremberg weakened both parties more than 
 two great battles would have done, apparently without 
 advancing the termination of the war, or satisfying, by 
 any decisive result, the expectations of Europe. The 
 king's conquests in Bavaria were, it is true, checked for 
 a time by this diversion before Nuremberg, and Austi'ia 
 itself secured against the danger of immediate invasion ; 
 but by the retreat of the king from that city, he was 
 again left at full liberty to make Bavaria the seat of war. 
 Indifferent toward the fate of that countiy, and weai-y 
 of the restraint which his union with the elector impo- 
 sed upon him, the Duke of Friedland eagerly seized the 
 opportunity of separating from this burdensome associ- 
 ate, and prosecuting, with renewed earnestness, hi? 
 favorite plans. Still adhering to his purpose of detscli 
 ing Saxony from its Swedish alliance, he selected rh? 
 country for his winter-quarters, hoping by his destructiv 
 presence to force the elector the more readily into h 
 views. 
 
 X 2 
 
2ii? SCIIILLEll's TIIIRTV Y]:ARS^ WAK. 
 
 No conjuncture ^jould be more favorable for his de- 
 signs. The Saxons had invaded Silesia, where, rein- 
 lore ed by troops from Brandenburg and Sweden, they 
 had gained several advantages over the emperor's troops. 
 Silesia would be saved by a diversion against tlie elector 
 •11 his own territories, and the attempt was the more 
 easy, as Saxony, left undefended during the war iij 
 Silesin, lay open on every side to attack. The pretext 
 of i-escumg from the enemy an hereditary dominion of 
 Austria, would silence the remonstrances of the Elector 
 ot Bavaria, and, under the mask of a patriotic zeal for 
 the emperor's interests, Maximilian might be sacrificed 
 without much difliculty. By giving up the rich country 
 iyt Bavaria to the Swedes, he hoped to be left unmolest- 
 ed by them in his enterprise against Saxony, while the 
 increasing coldness between Gustavus and the Saxon 
 court gave him little reason to a])prehend any extraor- 
 dinary zeal for the deliverance of John George. 'Thus 
 a second time abandoned by his artful protector, the 
 elector separated from Wallenstein at Bamberg, to pro- 
 tect his defenseless territory with the small remains of 
 ins troops, while the imperial army, under Wallenstein 
 directed its march through Bayreuth and Cobure to- 
 ward the Thuringian Forest. 
 
 An imperial general, Hoik, had previously been dis- 
 patched into Vogtland, to lay waste this defenseless 
 jn-ovmce with fire and sword : he was soon followed by 
 Gallas, another of the duke's generals, and an equally 
 laithtul instrument of his inhuman orders. Finally, 
 Pappenheim, too, was recalled from Lower Saxony, to 
 roiiiforco the diminished army of the duke, and to com- 
 plete the miseries of the devoted country. Ruined 
 churches, villages in ashes, harvests willfully destroyed, 
 tamihes plundered, and murdered peasants, marked the 
 progress of these bai-barians, under whose scourge the 
 whole ot Thuringia, Vogtland, and Meissen, lay defense- 
 less. \ et this was but the jirelude to greater sutfer- 
 ings, with which Wallenstein himself, at the head of 
 tiie mam army, tln-e:itened Saxony. After having left 
 behind him fearful monuments of his fury, in his march 
 through I i-anconia and Thuringia, he arrived witli his 
 whole armv m the circle of I.eip/.jg, and compelle<l the 
 
 yJC 
 
 ^Sti 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 247 
 
 city, after a short resistance, to surrender. His design 
 was to push on to Dresden, and, by the conquest of the 
 whole country, to prescribe laws to the elector. He 
 had already approached the Mulda, threatening to over- 
 power the Stixou army, which had advanced as far as 
 Torgau to meet him, when the King of Sweden's arrival 
 at Erfurt gave an unexpected check to his operations. 
 Placed between the Saxon and Swedish armies, which 
 were likely to be further reinforced by the trooj)s of 
 George, Duke of Lunenburg, from Lower Saxony, he 
 hastily retired upon Merseburg, to form a junction iheie 
 with Count Pappenheim, and to repel the further ad- 
 vance of the Swedes. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus had witnessed, with great uneasi- 
 ness, the aits employed by Spain and Austria to detach 
 liis allies from him. The more important his alliance 
 with Saxony, the more anxiety the inconstant temper 
 of John George caused him. Between himself and the 
 elector, a sincere friendship could never subsist. A 
 prince, proud of his political importance, and accus- 
 tomed to consider himself as the head of his party, 
 could not see without annoyance the interference of a 
 foreign power in the affairs of the empire; and nothing, 
 hut the extreme danger of his dominions, could over- 
 come the aversion with which he had long witnessed 
 the progress of this unwelcome intruder. The increas- 
 ing influence of tJie king in Germany, his authority with 
 the Protestant states, the unambiguous proofs which 
 he gave of his ambitious views, which were of a charac- 
 ter calculated to excite the jealousies of all the states of 
 the empire, awakened in the elector's breast a thousand 
 anxieties, which the imjjerial emissaries did not fail 
 skillfully to keep alive and cherish. Every arbitrary 
 stop on the part of the king, every demand, hovrever 
 reasonable, which he addressed to the princes of tlie 
 empire, was followed by bitter complaints from the 
 elector, which seemed to announce an approaching 
 rupture. Even the generals of the two powers, when- 
 ever the}'' were called upon to act in common, mani- 
 fested the same jealousy as divided their leaders. John 
 George's natural aversion to war, and a lingering at- 
 tachment to Austria, favored the efforts of Arnheim ; 
 
248 
 
 SCIIILLEu'ri THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 who, maintaining a constant correspondence with Wal- 
 enstem, labored incessantly to effect a private treaty 
 between his master and the emperor ; and if his repre- 
 sentations were long disregarded, still the event proved 
 tiiat they were not altogether without ollect. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus, naturally apprehensive of the 
 consequences which the defection of so powerful an 
 aLy would produce on his future prospects in Germany 
 spared no pains to avert so pernicious an event : and 
 his remonstrances liad hitherto had some efiect upon 
 the elector. But the formidable power with which 
 the emperor j^econded his seductive proposals, and the 
 miseries which, m th6 case of hesitation, he threatened 
 to accumulate upon Saxony, miglit nt length overcome 
 the^ resolution of the elector, should he be left exposed 
 to tne vengeance of his enemies ; while an indillerence 
 o the late ot so poweiful a confederate would irrepara- 
 bly destroy the confidence of the other aliies in their 
 protector. This consideration induced the king a second 
 time to yield to the pressing entreaties of the elector 
 and to sacnfice his own brilliant prospects to the safety 
 o this ally. He had already resolved upon a second 
 attack on Ingolstadt ; and the weakness of the Elector 
 ot Bavaria gave him hopes of soon forcing this exhausted 
 enemy to accede to a neutrality. An insurrection of 
 the peasantry in Upper Austria opened to him a pas- 
 sage into that country, and the capital might bo in his 
 possession, before Wallenstein could have time to ad- 
 vance to Its defense. All these views he now gave up 
 or the sake of an ally, who, neither by his services nor 
 Ins lidehty, was worthy of the sacrifi'ce ; %vho, on the 
 pressing occasions of common good, had steadily adhered 
 to ins own selfish projects ; and who was important, not 
 or the services he was expected to render, but meiely 
 lor the injuries he had it in his power to inflict. Is it 
 possible, then, to refrain from indignation, when we 
 know that, in this expedition, undertaken for the benefit 
 of such an ally, the great king was destined to terminate 
 Ins career ; 
 
 Kapidly assembling his troops in Franconia, he fol- 
 lowed the route of Wallenstein through Thuringia. 
 Uuke Bernard of Weimar, who had been dispatched to 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 249 
 
 net against Pappenheim, joined the king at Armstadt, 
 who now saw himself at the head of twenty thousand 
 veterans. At Erfurt he took leave of his queen, who 
 was not again to behold him, save in his coffin, at We'is- 
 senfels. Their anxious adieus seemed to forebode an 
 eternal separation. 
 
 He reached Naumburg on the 1st Noveir.ber, IG32, 
 before the corps, which the Duke of Friedland had dis- 
 patched for that pur])ose, could make itself master ol 
 that place. The inhabitants of the surrounding country 
 flocked in crowds to look upon the hero, the avenger, 
 the great king, who, a year before, had first appeared in 
 that quarter, like a guardian angel. Shouts of joy every- 
 where attended his progress f the people knelt before 
 him, and struggled for the honor of touching the sheath 
 ot his sword, or the hem of his garment. The modest 
 hero disliked this innocent tribute which a sincerely 
 grateful and admiring multitude paid him. '• Is it not," 
 said he, "as if this i)eople would make a god of me? 
 Our affairs prosper, indeed ; but I fear the vengesance 
 ot Heaven will punish us for this presumption, and soon 
 enough reveal to this deluded multitude my human 
 weakness and mortality !" How amiable does Gustavus 
 ^appear before us at this moment, when about to leave 
 us forever! Even in the plenitude of success, ho 
 honors an avenging JVemesis, declines that homage 
 Nvhich IS due only to the Immortal, and strengthens his 
 title to our tears, the nearer *the moment approache^^ 
 that is to call them forth ! 
 
 In the mean time, the Duke of Friedland had deter 
 mined to advance to meet the king, as far as Weissenfels, 
 and even at the hazard of a battle, to secure his winter- 
 quarters in Saxony. His inactivity before Nurembercr 
 had occasioned a suspicion that lie was unwillincr to 
 measure his powers with those of the Hero of the North, 
 and his hard-earned reputation would be at stake, if, a 
 second time, he should decline a battle. His pre^sent 
 sui)eriority in numbers, though much less than wliat it 
 was at the beginning of the siege of Nuremberg, was 
 still enough to give him hopes of victory, if he could 
 compel the king to give battle before his junction with 
 tiie baxons. But his present reliance was not so much 
 
250 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 m his numerical supeiionty, as in the predictions of his 
 astrologer 8eai, who had read in the stars that the good 
 fortune of the Swedish monarch would decline in the 
 month of November. Beside, betv/een Naumburg and 
 Weissenfeis there was also a range of narrow defiles, 
 formed by a long, mountainous ridge, and the river Saal] 
 which ran at their foot, along which the Swedes could 
 not advance without difficulty, and which might, with 
 the assistance of a few troops, be rendered almost im- 
 passable. If attacked there, the king would have no 
 choice but either to penetrate with great danger through 
 the defiles, or commence a laborious retreat through 
 Thuringia, and to expose the greater part of his army1:o 
 a march through a dcseit country, deficient in every 
 necessary for their support. But the rapidity with which 
 Gustavus Adolphus had taken possession of Naumburg 
 disappointed this plan, and it w^as nowWallenstein him- 
 self who awaited the attack. 
 
 But in this expectation he was disappointed : for the 
 king, instead of advancing to meet him at Weissenfeis, 
 made preparations for intrenching himself near Naum- 
 burg, with the intention of awaiting there the reinforce- 
 ments which the Duke of Lunenburg was bringing uj). 
 Undecided whether to advance against the king through 
 •he narrow passes between Weissenfeis and Naumburg, 
 jr to remain innctive in his camp, he called a council of 
 war, m order to have the opinion of his most expe- 
 rienced generals. None of these thought it prudent to 
 attack the king in his advantageous position. On the 
 other hand, the preparations which the latter made to 
 tortify his camp, plainly showed that it w\as not his in- 
 tention soon to abandon it. But the approach of winter 
 rendered it impossible to prolong the campaign, and by 
 u continued encampment to exhaust the strength of the 
 army, already so much in need of repose. All voices 
 were in favor of immediately terminating the campaign : 
 and, the more so, as the important city of Cologne upon 
 the Rhine was threatened by the Dutch, while the 
 progress of the enemy in Westphalia and the Lower 
 Hhine called for effective reinforcements in that quarter. 
 VVallenstein yielded to the weight of these arguments : 
 and almost convinced that, at this season, he had no 
 
 {\ 
 
 i 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 251 
 
 reason to apprehend an attack from the king, he put his 
 troops into >vinter-quarters, but so that, it' nece;ssaiy, 
 they might be rapidly -^sembled. Count Pappenheim 
 was dispatched, with great part of the army, to the 
 assistance of Cologne, with orders to take possession, on 
 I lis march, of the fortress of Moritzburg, in the teiTitory 
 ot Halle. Different corps took up their winter-quarters 
 in the neighboring towns, to watch, on all sides, the 
 motions of the enemy. Count Colleredo guarded the 
 castle of Weissenfeis, and Wallenstein himsdf encamped 
 with the remainder not far from Merseburg, between 
 b lotzgaben and the Saal, from whence he purposed to 
 march to Leipzig, and to cut off the communication be- 
 tween the Saxons and the Swedish army. 
 
 Scarcely had Gustavus Adolphus been informed of 
 I appenhemfs departure, when, suddenly breaking up 
 his camp at Naumburg, he hastened witli his whole 
 force to attack the enemy, now weakened to one half. 
 He advanced, by rapid marches, toward Weissenfeis, 
 from whence the news of his arrival quickly reached 
 the enemy, and greatly astonished the Duke of Fried- 
 land. But a speedy resolution was now necessary ; and 
 the measures of Wallenstein were soon taken. Though 
 he had little more than twelve thousand men to oppose 
 to the twenty thousand of the enemy, he might hope to 
 maintain his ground until the return of Pappenheim. " 
 who could not have advanced f^irther than Hallo, five 
 miles distant. Messengers were hastily dispatched to 
 recall Inm, while Wallenstein moved forward into the 
 wide plain between the Canal and Lutzen, where ho 
 awaited the king in full order of battle, and, by this 
 position, cut off his communication with Leipzig and the 
 Saxon auxiliaries. 
 
 Three cannon shots, fired by Count Colleredo from 
 the castle of Weissenfeis, announced the king's ap- 
 proach ; and at this concerted signal, the l-dit troops of 
 the Duke of Friedland, under the command of the Cro- 
 atian general, Isotani, moved forward to possess them- 
 selves of the villages lying upon theRippach. Their 
 weak resistance did not impede the advance of the ene- 
 my, who crossed the Rippach, near the village of that 
 n;ime, nid formed in line below Lutzen, opposite the 
 
25J 
 
 acnrLLEii'd tiiiutv yeaks' war. 
 
 imperialists. /The high road which goes from Weissen. 
 lels to Leipzi.o; is intersected between Lutzen and Mark- 
 ranstadt by the canal which extends from Zeilz tc 
 Merseburg, and unites the Elster with the Saal. On 
 this canal rested the right wing of the imperialists, and 
 the lett of the King of Sweden; but so that the cavalry 
 ot both extended themselves along the oi)posite side. 
 lo the northward, behind Lutzen, was Walienstein's 
 right wmg, and to the south of that town was posted 
 the left wmg o the Swedes ; both armies fronted the 
 high road which ran between them, and divided theii 
 order ot battle ; but the evening before the battle Wal- 
 lenstein, to the great disadvantage of his opponent, had 
 possessed himself of this highway, deepened the trenches 
 which ran along its sides, and planted them with mus- 
 keteers, so as to make the crossing of it both difficult 
 and dangerous. Behind these again was erected a bat- 
 tery ot seven large pieces of cannon, to support the fire 
 from the trenches ; and at the windmills, close behind 
 Lutzen, iourteen smaller field-pieces were ranged on 
 an eminence, from which they could sweep the greater 
 pait ot the plain The inlantry, divided into no more 
 than live unwieldly brigades, was drawn up at the dis- 
 tance of tnree hundred paces from the road, and the 
 cavalry covered the flanks. All the baggage was sent 
 . to Lutzen, that it might not impede the movements of 
 the army ; and the a«imunition-wagons alone remained 
 which were placed in rear of the line. To conceal the 
 weakness of the imperialists, all the followers of the 
 camp and sutlers were mounted, and posted on the left 
 wing, ihese arrangements were made during the 
 darkness of the night; and when the morning dawned, 
 eveiy thing was in readiness for the reception of the 
 enemy. / * 
 
 On the evening of the same day, Gustavus Adolphus 
 Jippeared on the opposite plain, and formed his troops 
 m the order of attack. His disposition was the same 
 as that which had been so successful the year before at 
 Leipzig. Small squadrons of horse were interspersed 
 among the divisions of the infantry, and troops ot" mus- 
 Keteeis placed here and there among the cavalry. I The 
 nnny was nrrangod in two lines, the Canal on the right 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 253 
 
 a.id in its rear, the high road in front, and the to^vn on 
 the left. In the center the infantry was formed, under 
 the command of Count Brahe ; the cavalry on the 
 wings; the artillery in front. To the German hero, 
 Bernard, Duke of Weimar, was intrusted the command 
 ot the German cavalry of the left wing; while, on the 
 right, the king led on the Swedes in person, in order to 
 excite the emulation of the tw^o nations to a noble com- 
 petition. The second line was formed in the same 
 manner ; and behind these was placed the reseiTe, com- 
 •nanded by Henderson, a Scotchman. 
 
 In this position they awaited the eventful dawn of 
 morning, to begin a contest, which long delay, rather 
 than the probability of decisive consequences, and the 
 picked body, rather than the number of the combatants, 
 was to render so terrible and remarkable. The strain- 
 ed expectation of Europe, so disappointed before Nu- 
 remberg, was now to be gratified on the plains of Lut- 
 zen. During the wdiole course of the war, two such 
 generals, so equally matched in renown and ability, had 
 not before been pitted against each other. Nev(!r, as 
 yet, had daring been cooled by so awful a hazard, or 
 Hope animated by so glorious a prize. Europe was 
 next day to learn who was her greatest general : to- 
 morrow, tlie leader, who had hitherto been invincible, 
 must acknowledge a victor. This morning w^as to place 
 t beyond a doubt, whether the victories of Gustavus at 
 Leipzig and on the Lech, were owning to his own mili- 
 tary genius, or to the incompetency of his opporent , 
 whether the services of Wallenstein were to vindicate 
 the emperor's choice, and justify the high price at which 
 they had been purchased. The victory was as yet 
 doubtful, but certain were the labor and the bloodshed 
 by which it must be earned. Every private, in both 
 armies, fe]t a jealous share in his leader's reputation, 
 and under every corslet beat the same emotions that 
 inflamed the bosoms of the generals. Each army knew 
 the enemy to which it was to be opposed : and the anx- 
 iety which each in vain attempted to repress, was a con 
 vmcing proof of their opponent's strength. 
 
 At last the fateful morning dawned ; but an impene- 
 li-ablo fog, which spread over the plain, delayed the at 
 
254 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 tack till noon. Kneeling in front of his lines, the king 
 olTered up his devotions ; and the whole army, at the 
 same moment dropping on their knees, burst into a 
 moving hymn, accompanied by the military music. The 
 king then mounted his horse, and, clad only in a leathern 
 doublet and surtout (for a wound he had formerly re- 
 ceived prevented' his wearing armor), rode along the 
 ranks, to animate the courage of his troops with a joyful 
 confidence, which, however, the foreboding presentiment 
 of his own bosom contradicted. " God with us!" was 
 the war-ciy of the Swedes; "Jesus Maria!" that of 
 the imperialists. About eleven the fog began to dis- 
 perse, and the enemy became visible. At the same 
 moment Lutzen was seen in flames, having been set on 
 fire by command of the duke, to prevent his being out- 
 flanked on that side. The charge was now sounded ; 
 the cavalry rushed upon the enemy, and the infantry 
 advanced against the trenches. 
 
 Received by a tremendous fire of musketry and heavy 
 artillery, these intrepid battalions maintained the attack 
 with undaunted courage, till the enemy's musketeers 
 abandoned their posts, the trenches were passed, the 
 battery carried and turned against the enemy. The^ 
 pressed forward with irresistible impetuosity ; the first 
 of the five imperial brigades was immediately routed, 
 the second soon after, and the third piit to flight. But 
 here the genius of Wallenstein opposed itself to their 
 progress. With the rapidity of lightning ho was on the 
 spot to rally his discomfited troops; and his powerful 
 word was itself suflicient to stop the flight of the fugi- 
 tives. Supported by three regiments of cavalry, the 
 vanquished brigades, forming anew, faced the enemy, 
 and pressed vigorously into the broken ranks of the 
 Swedes. A murderous conflict ensued. The nearness 
 of the enemy left no room for firearms, the fuiy of tho 
 attack no time for loading ; man was matched to man, 
 the useless musket exchanged for the sword and pike, 
 and science gave way to desperation. Overpowered by 
 numbers, the wearied Swedes at last retired beyond tho 
 trenches ; and the captured batteiy is again lost by tho 
 retreat. A thousand mangled bodies ah-eady strewed tho 
 plain, and as yet not a single step of gi-ound had been\von. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 •^wj 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 255 
 
 In the mean time the king's right wing, led by him 
 self, had fallen upon the enemy's left. The first irnpet 
 uous shock of tlie heavy Finland cuirassiers dispersecj 
 the lightly mounted Poles and Croats, who were posted 
 here, and their disorderly flight spread terror and con- 
 fusion among the rest of the cavalry. At this moment 
 notice was brought the king, that his infantry wofe re- 
 treating over the trenches, and also that his left wing, 
 exposed to a severe fire from the enemy's cannon post- 
 ed at the windmills, was beginning to give way. With 
 rapid decision he committed to General Horn the pur- 
 suit of the enemy's left, while he flew, at the head of 
 the regiment of Steinbeck, to repair the disorder of his 
 right wing. His noble charger bore him with the ve- 
 locity of lightning across the trenches, but the squadrons 
 that followed could not come on with the same speed, 
 and only a few horsemen, among whom was Francis 
 Albert, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, were able to keep up 
 with the king. He rode directly to the place where his 
 infantry were most closely pressed, and while ha was 
 reconnoitring the enemy's line for an exposed point of 
 attack, the shortness of his sight unfortunately led him 
 too close to their ranks. An imperial gefreyter,* re- 
 marking, that every one respectfully made way for him 
 as he rode along, immediately ordered a musketeer to 
 take aim at him. *'Fire at him yonder," said he, " that 
 must be a man of consequence." The soldier (^red, and 
 the king's left arm was shattered. At that moment his 
 squadron came hurrying up, and a confused cry of "tho 
 king bleeds ! the king is shot!" spread terror and con- 
 sternation through all the ranks. " It is nothing — fol- 
 low me," cried the king, collecting his whole strength ; 
 but overcome by pain, and nearly fainting, he requested 
 the Duke of Lauenburg, in French, to lead him unob- 
 served out of the tumult. While the duke proceeded 
 toward the right wing with the king, making a lorg cir- 
 cuit to keep this discouraging sight from the disordered 
 infantiy, his majesty received a second shot through the 
 back, which deprived him of his remaining strength. 
 "Brother," said he, with a dying voice, "I have enoughl 
 
 * Gefreyter, a person exemp*^ from watching duty, neaily co» 
 responding to the corporal. 
 
25G 
 
 SCHILLER d THIRTY YtlARS' WAR. 
 
 look only to your own life." At the same moment ho 
 fell from his horse pierced by several more shots ; and 
 abandoned by all his attendants, he breathed his last 
 amid the plundering hands of the Croats. His charger, 
 flying without its rider, and covered with blood, soon 
 made known to the Swedish cavalry the fall of their 
 king. ^ They rushed madly forward to rescue his sacred 
 remains from the hands of the enemy. A murderous 
 conflict ensued over the body, till his mangled remains 
 were buried beneath a heap of slain. 
 
 The mournful tidings soon ran through the Swedisli 
 army ; but, instead of destroying the courage of these 
 brave troops, it but excited it into a new, a wild, and con- 
 summg flame. Life had lessened in value, now that 
 the most sacred life of all was gone ; death had no ter- 
 rors for the lowly since the anointed head was not 
 spared. With the fury of lions the Upland, Smaiand, 
 1^'inland, East and West Gothland regiments rushed a 
 second time upon the left wing of the enemy, which, 
 already making but feeble resistance to General Horn, 
 was now entirely beaten from the field. Bernard, Duke 
 of Saxe-Weimar, gave to the bereaved Swedes a noble 
 eader in his own person ; and the spirit of Gustavus 
 led his victorious squadrons anew. The left wing quick- 
 ly formed again, and vigorously pressed the right of the 
 imperialists. The artillery at the windmills, which had 
 maintained so murderous a fire upon the Swedes, was 
 captured and turned against the enemy. The center, 
 also, of the Swedish infantry, commanded by the duke 
 and Knyphausen, advanced a second time against the 
 trenches, which they successfully passed, and retook 
 the battery of seven cannons. The attack was now re- 
 newed with redoubled fury upon the heavy battalions ot 
 the enemy's center ; their resistance became gradually 
 less, and chance conspired with Swedish valor to com- 
 plete the defeat. The imperial powder-wagons took 
 fire, and, with a tremendous explosion, grenades and 
 bombs filled the air. The enemy, now in confusion, 
 thought they were attacked in the rear, while the 
 Swedish brigades pressed them in front. Their cour- 
 age began to fail them. Their left wing was already 
 beaten, their right wavering, and their artillery in the 
 
 '%, 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 257 
 
 iniomy's hands. The battle seemed to be almost de- 
 cided ; another moment would decide the fate of the 
 day, when Pappenheim appeared on the field, with his 
 cuirassiers and dragoons; all the advantages already 
 gained were lost, and the battle was to be fought ynew 
 The order which lecalled that general to Lutzen 
 liad reached him in Halle, while his troops jveres still 
 plundering the town. It was impossible to collect the 
 scattered infantiy with that rapidity which the urfiency 
 ot the order and Pappenheim's impatience required. 
 Without waiting for it, therefore, he ordered eight regi- 
 ments of cavalry to mount; imd at their head he gfillop. 
 od at full speed for Lutzen to share in the battle. Ho 
 arrived in time to witness the flight of the imperial right 
 wing, which Gustavus Horn was driving from th^ field 
 and to be at first involved in their rout. But with rapid 
 presence of mind he rallied the flying troops, and led 
 them once more against the enemy. Carried away bv 
 liis wild bravery, and impatient to encounter the kin<T 
 who he supposed was at the head of this wing, he burst 
 turiously upon the Swedish ranks, which, exhausted by 
 victory, and mferior in numbers, were, aftpr a noble 
 iosistance, overpowered by this fresh body of ene- 
 mies. Pappenheim's unexpected appearance revived 
 the djooping courage of the imperialists, and the Duke 
 ot t riedland quickly availed himself of the favorable 
 moment to re-form his line. The closely serried bat- 
 talions oi the Swedes were, after a tremendous conflict, 
 again driven across ine trenches ; and the battery, which 
 had been twice lost, again rescued from their hands. 
 1 he whole yellow regiment, the finest of all that dis- 
 tinguished themselves in this dreadful day, lay dead on 
 he field, covering the ground almost in the same excel- 
 lent order which, when alive, they maintained with such 
 myielding courage. The same fate befell another reg'.- 
 nont of blues, which Count Piccolomini attacked with 
 he imperial cavalry, and cut down after a desperate 
 ontest. Seven times did this intrenid general renew 
 .»ie attack ; seven Iwses were shot Snder him, and he 
 ^ imselt was pierced with six musket balls ; yet he would 
 .v)t leave the field, until he was carried along in the ren- 
 e.) il rout of the whole army. Wallenstein himself was 
 17 Y i* 
 
258 
 
 SCIIILLER^S THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 seen riding through his ranks with cool intrepidity, amid 
 a shower of balls, assisting the distressed, encouraging 
 the valiant with praise, and the wavering by his fearful 
 glance. Around and close by him his men were falling 
 thick, and his own mantle was perforated by several 
 shots. But avenging destiny this day protected that 
 breast, f^)r which another weapon was reserved ; on the 
 same field where the noble Gustavus expired, Wallen- 
 stein was not allowed to terminate his guilty career. 
 
 Less fortunate ^as Pappenheim, the Telamon of the 
 army, the bravest soldier of Austria and the Church. 
 An ardent desire to encounter the king in person car- 
 ried this daring leader into the thickest of the fight, where 
 he thought his noble opponent was most surely to be met. 
 Gustavus had also expressed a wish to meet his brave 
 antagonist, but these hostile wishes remained ungrati- 
 fied ; death first brought together these two great heroes. 
 Two musket-balls pierced the bieast of Pappenheim ; 
 and his men forcibly carried him from the field. While 
 they were conveying him to the rear, a murmur reached 
 him, that he whom he had sought, lay dead upon the 
 plain. When the truth of the report was confirmed to 
 him, his look became brighter, his dying eye sparkled 
 with a last gleam of joy. " Tell the Duke of Fried- 
 Jand," said he, " that I lie without hope of life, but that 
 I die happy, since I know that the implacable enemy of 
 my religion has fallen on the same day." 
 
 With Pappenheim, the good fortune of the imperial- 
 ists departed. The cavalry of the right wing, already 
 Deaten, and only rallied by his exertions, no sooner 
 missed their victorious leader, than they gave up every 
 thing for lost, and abandoned the field of battle in spirit- 
 less despair. The right wing fell into the same confu- 
 sion, with the exception of a few regiments, which the 
 bravery of their colonels, Gotz, Terzky ,Coileredo, and 
 Piccolomini, compelled to keep their ground. The 
 Swedish infantry, with prompt determination, profited 
 by the enemy's confusion. To fill up the gaps which 
 death had made ifi the front line, tl\ey formed both lines 
 into one, and with it made the final and decisive charge. 
 A third time they crossed the trenches, and the third 
 time thev captured the battery. The sun was setting 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 i:;v9 
 
 when the two lines closed. The strife giew hotter as 
 it drew to an end ; the last efibrts of strength were mu- 
 tually exerted, and skill and courage did their utmost to 
 repan-, in these precious moment^, the fortune of the 
 day. It was in vain ; despair endows every one with 
 superhuman strength ; no one can conquer, no one; will 
 give way. The art of war seemed to exhaust its powers 
 on one side, only to unfold some new and untried master- 
 piece of skill on the other. Night and darkness at last 
 put an end to the fight, before the fury of the comba- 
 tants was exhausted ; and the contest only ceased, >vhen 
 no one could any longer find an antagonist. Both armies 
 separated, as it by tacit agreement; the truntpets 
 sounded, and each party, claiming the victory, quitted the 
 held. " * 
 
 The artillery on both sides, as the hoises could not bo 
 found, remamed all night upon the field, at once the re- 
 ward, and the evidence of victory, to him who should 
 liold It. Wallenstein, in his haste to leave Leipzig and 
 feaxony, forgot to remove his part. Not long after the 
 batt e was ended, Pappenheim's infimtiy, who had been 
 unable to follow the rapid movements of their general 
 and who amounted to six regiments, marched on tlie 
 held, but the work was done. A lew hours earlier, so 
 considerable a reinforcement would, perhaps, have de- 
 cided the day m favor of the imperialists ; and, even now, 
 by remaining on the field, they nnght have saved the 
 duke s artillery, and made a prize of that of the Swedes. 
 but they had received no orders to act; and, uncertain 
 as to the issue of the battle, they retired to Leii-zi^, 
 where they hoped to join the main body. 
 
 The Duke of Friedland had retreated thither, and was 
 iollowed on the morrow by the scattered remains of his 
 army, without artillery, without coloi-s, and almost with- 
 out arms. The Duke of Weimar, it appears, after the 
 toils ot this -bloody day, aUowed the Swedish army some 
 repose, between Lutzen and Weissenfels, near enou-h 
 to the field of battle to oppose any attempt the enemy 
 might make to recover it. Of the two armies, more 
 than nine thousand men lay dead ; a still greater number 
 were wounded, and among the imperialists, scarcely a 
 man escaped from the field uninjured. The entire plain 
 
260 
 
 SCHILLER 3 THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 from Lutzen to the Canal, was strewed with the wound- 
 ed, the dying, and the dead. Many of the principal 
 nobility had fallen on both sides. Even the Abbot of 
 Fulda, who had mingled in the combat as a spectator, 
 paid for his curiosity, and his ill-timed zeal, with Viis life. 
 History says nothing of prisoners ; a further proof of 
 the animosity of the combatants, who neither gave nor 
 took quarter. 
 
 Pappenheim died the next day of his wounds at Leip- 
 zig; an irreparable loss to the imperial army, which this 
 orave warrior had so often led on to victory. The battle 
 of Prague, where, together with Wallenstein, he was 
 present as colonel, was the beginning of his heroic career. 
 Dangerously wounded, with a few troops, he made an 
 impetuous attack on a regiment of the enemy, and lay 
 for several hours mixed with the dead upon the field, 
 beneath the weight of his horse, till he was discovered 
 by some of his own men in plundering. With a small 
 force he defeated, in three different engagements, the 
 rebels in Upper Austria, though forty thousand strong. 
 At the battle of Leipzig, he for a long time delayed the 
 defeat of Tilly by his bravery, and led the arms of tho 
 emperor, on the Elbe and the Rhine, to victory. The 
 wild, impetuous fire of his temperament, which no dan- 
 ger, however apparent, could cool, or impossibilities 
 check, made him the most powerful arm of the imperial 
 force, but unfitted him for acting at its head. The battle 
 of Leipzig, if Tilly may be believed, was lost through 
 his rash ardor. At the destruction of Magdeburg, his 
 hands were deeply steeped in blood : war rendered 
 savage and ferocious his disposition, which had been cul- 
 tivated by youthful studies and various travels. On his 
 forehead, two red streaks, like swords, were percepti- 
 ble, with which nature had marked him at his very birth. 
 Even in his later years, these became visible, as often as 
 his blood was stirred by passion ; and superstition easily 
 persuaded itself, that the future destiny of the man was 
 thus impressed upon the forehead of the child. As a 
 faithful servant of the House of Austria, he had the 
 strongest claims on the gratitude of both its lines, but 
 he did not sui*vive to enjoy the most brilliant proof ot 
 thpT regard. A messenger was already on his way from 
 
 SCHILLEll's THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 20 1 
 
 Madrid, bearing to him the order of the Golden Fleece, 
 when death overtook him at Leipzig. 
 
 Though Te Deum, in all Spanish and Austrian lands, 
 was sung in honor of a victoiy, Wallenstein himself, by 
 the haste with which he quitted Leipzig, and soon after 
 all Saxony, and by renouncing his original design of fix- 
 ing there his winter-quarters, openly confessed hit? de- 
 feat. It is true he made one more feeble attempt to 
 dispute, even in his flight, the honor of victory ,1by send- 
 ing out his Croats next morning to the field ; bul the 
 Bight of the Swedish army drawn up in order of battle 
 "immediately dispersed tl^ese flying bands, and Duke 
 Bernard, by keeping possession of the field, and soon 
 after by the capture of Leipzig, maintained indispuitably 
 his claim to the title of victor. 
 
 But it was a dear conquest, a dearer triumph ! Ir. was 
 not till the fury of the contest was over, that tho full 
 wc ght of the loss sustained was felt, and the shout of 
 triumph died away into a silent, gloomy despair. He, 
 who had led them to the charge, returned not with them : 
 there he lies upon the field which he had won, mingled 
 with the dead bodies of the common crowd. After a 
 long and almost fniitless search, the corpse of the king 
 was discovered, not far from the great stone, which, for 
 a hundred years before, had stood between Lutzen and 
 the Canal, and which, from the memorable disaster of 
 that day, still bears the name of the Stone of the Sw ede. 
 Covered with blood and wounds, so as scarcely to be 
 recognized, trampled beneath the horses' hoofs, stri pped 
 by the mde hands of plunderers of its ornaments and 
 clothes, his body was drawn from beneath a hectp of 
 dead, conveyed to Weissenfels, and there delivered up 
 to the lamentations of his soldiers, and the last embraces 
 of his queen. The first tribute had been paid to revenge, 
 and blood had atoned for the blood of the monarch ; but 
 now affection assumes its rights, and tears of grief must 
 flow for the man. The universal sorrow absorbs all 
 individual woes. The generals, still stupefied by the un- 
 expected blow, stood speechless and motionless around 
 his bier, and no one trusted himself enough to comtem- 
 plate the full extent of their loss. 
 
 The emperor, we are told by Khevenhuller, slioTvod 
 
262 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 symptoms of deep, and apparently sincere feeling, at tho 
 sight of tbe king's doublet stained with blood, which had 
 been stripped from him during the battle, and carried to 
 Vienna. " Willingly," said he, " would I have granted 
 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 nothing more than a proof of a 
 yet lingering humanity-, and which a mere regard to ap- 
 pearances and even self-love, would have extorted from 
 the most insensible, and the absence of which could exist 
 only in the most inhuman heart, has, by a Roman Cath- 
 olic writer of modem times ,ind acknowledged merit, 
 been made the subject of the highest eulogium, and 
 compared with the magnanimous tear^ of Alexander, for 
 the fall of Darius, it excites our disti-ust of the other vir- 
 tues of the writer's hero, and, what is still worse, of his 
 own ideas of moral dignity. But even such praise, 
 whatever its amount, is much for one, whose memory 
 his biographer has to clear from the suspicion of being 
 privy to the assassination of a king. 
 
 It was scarcely to be expected that the strong leaning 
 of mankind to the mai-velous, would leave to the com- 
 mon course of nature the glory of ending the career of 
 Gustavus Adolphus. The death of so formidable a 
 rival was too important an event for the emperor, not to 
 -oxcite in his bitter opponent a ready suspicion, that what 
 was so much to his interests, was also the resultof his 
 instigation. For the execution, however, of this dark 
 deed, the emperor would require the aid of a foreign 
 arm, and this it was generally believed he had found in 
 Francis Albert, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg. The rank 
 of the latter permitted him a free access to the king's 
 person, while it at the same time seemed to place hini 
 above the suspicion of so foul a deed. This prince, 
 however, was, in fact, not incapable of this atrocity, and 
 he had, moreover, sufficient motives for its commission. 
 
 Francis Albert, the youngest of four sons of Fran- 
 cis II., Duke of Laucnburg, and related, by the mother's 
 side, to the race of Vasa, had, in his early years, found 
 a most friendly reception at the Swedish court. Some 
 oftense which he had committed against Gastavus Adol- 
 phus, in the queen's chamber, was, it is said, repaid ly 
 
 SClIILLEft'ri THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 2G'J 
 
 this fieiy youth with a box on the ear; which, though 
 immediately repented of, and amply apologized for, laid 
 the foundation of an irreconcilable hate in the vindictive 
 heart of the duke. Francis Albert subsequently enttned 
 the imperial sei-vico, wliere he rose to the command ot 
 a regiment, and formed a close intimacy with Wallen- 
 stein, and condescended to be the instrument of a secret 
 negotiation with the Saxon court, w^hich did little honor 
 to his rank. Without any sufficient cause being as- 
 signed, he suddenly quitted the Austrian service, and 
 appeared in the king's camp at Nuremberg, to offer hi^ 
 services as a volunteer. By his show of zeal for the 
 Protestant cause, and prepossessing and flattering de- 
 portment, he gained the heart of the king, who, warned 
 in vain by Oxenstiern, continued to lavish his favor and 
 iViendship on this suspicious new-comer. The battlo of 
 Lutzen soon followed, in which Francis Albert, hke* an 
 evil genius, kept close to the king's side, and did not leave 
 nim till he fell. Ho owed, it was thought, his own 
 safety amid the fire of the enemy, to a green sash 
 which he wore, the color of the imperialists. He was 
 at any rate the first to convey to his friend Wallensteiu 
 the intelligence of the king's death. After the battle, 
 he exchanged the Swedish service for the Saxon ; and, 
 after the murder of Wallenstein, being charged with 
 being an accomplice of that general, he only escaped the 
 sword of justice by abjuring his faith. His last appc;ar- 
 ance in life was as commander of an imperial army in 
 Silesia, where he died of the wounds he had received 
 before Schweidnitz. It requires some effort to believe 
 in the innocence of a man, who had run through a 
 career like this, of the act^harged against him ; but. 
 however great may be the moral and physical possibiUty 
 of his committing such a crime, it must still be allowed 
 that there are no certain grounds for imputing it to him. 
 Gustavus Adolphus, it is well known, exposed himself 
 to danger like the meanest soldier in his army, and 
 where thousands fell, he, too, might naturally meet his 
 death. How it reached him, remains, indeed, buried in 
 mystery ; but here, more than any^vhere, does the max- 
 im apply, that where the ordinary course of things is 
 fully sufficient to account for the fact, the honor of 
 
i^G4 Schiller's TiiiuTr YEAfts war. 
 
 But by whatever hand he fell, his extraordinary des- 
 tmy must appear a great interposition of Prov d^ence 
 History, too often confined to the ungratefultask of 
 analyzing the uniform play of human paslns i occa 
 
 s;rJi^J'''^i'^'i ^^ '^^ appearance of even s whid. 
 strike hke a hand from heaven into the nicely adius ed 
 machinery of human plans, and carry the confemSe 
 mind to a higher order of things. Of this kind is the 
 sudden retirement of GustavSs Adolphus from e 
 scene; stopping for a time the whole movement of e 
 of humal^^^^^ and disappointing all the calculation^ 
 ot human prudence. Yesterday, the very soul, the ^i-eat 
 and animating principle of his own crLtion ; to-^ay 
 struck unpitiably to the gi-ound in the very midst of his 
 eagle flight ; untimely torn from a whole wodd ofle^ 
 
 ^Zu} frl his bereaved party disconsolate ; and the 
 pi oud edifice of his past gi-eatness sunk into runs The 
 Protestant party had identified its hopes with its' invk^ 
 
 1 om hi f '^vitlf. "T^^ ^^" ]^ "^'^ -™ t^-- 
 
 buried R„7 I "^ '^7 "^'^ ^"'^" '•^" ^««d fortune is 
 Duiied. But it was no longer the benefactor of Ger 
 
 many who feU at Lutzen: the beneficent pLt of hi" 
 career, Gustavus Adolphus had already terminated and 
 
 vZ^f Tr''' ''''''' '^^'''^ ^« -«"J^ render t; the 
 hoerties of Germany was— to die. The all-en -rossina 
 power of an individual was at an end, but many camf 
 
 oHn over'n3'rt"^^""^^^^ ^ '''' '^'^^^ --^'-c: 
 nnM^ °y.^»-P0^v6rful protector, gave place to a moro 
 noble self-exert.on on the j|^rt of the ektes ; and those 
 who were formerly the mere instruments of his a.! 
 
 now t'^t"!? f ' T^ ^^^^" '« ^^^^-^ ^«r themselves. They 
 now ooked to their own exertions for the emancipat on 
 which could not be received without danger from tTe 
 hand of the mighty ; and the Swedish powlr^nowlnca. 
 
 sSed to'the^^ "'' '''. ^^^^^^"^^^^•' ^^ '« hen;etb7th rt 
 stiicted to he more modest part of an ally. 
 
 n„f r T,^'^''*'' ""^ ^^'"^ Swedish monarch aspired un- 
 
 tl auT A'' T""""'^ '^ ^''^'' ''''^''^ GeriZy, and 
 to attain a firm footing in the center of the empire^ 
 
 SCIIILLEHS TIlLVrV YEARS WAR. 
 
 20,1 
 
 which was inconsistent with the liberties of the estates 
 His aim was the imperial crown ; and this dignity, smn 
 ported by his power, and maintained by his energy and 
 activity, would in his hands be liable to more abuse than 
 had ever been feared from the House of Austria. iJorn 
 in a foreign country, educated in the maxims of arbitrary 
 power, and by principles and enthusiasm a determined 
 enemy to popery, he was ill qualified to maintain it vio- 
 late the constitution of the German states, or to respect 
 their liberties. The coercive homage which Augsburg, 
 with many other cities, was forced to pay to the Swedish 
 crown, bespoke the conqueror, rather than the protector 
 of the empire ; and this town, prouder of the title of a 
 royal city, than of the higher dignity of the freedora of 
 the empire, flattered itself with the anticipation of be- 
 coming the capital of his future kingdom. His ill dis- 
 guised attempts upon the Electorate of Mentz, which 
 he first intended to bestow upon the Elector of Bran- 
 denburg, as the dower of his daughter Christina, and 
 afterward destined for his chancellor and friend Oxen- 
 stiern, evinced plainly what liberties he was disposed to 
 take with the constitution of the empire. His allies, the 
 Protestant princes, had claims on his gratitude, which 
 could be satisfied only at the expense of their Roman 
 Catholic neighbors, and particularly of the immediate 
 ecclesiastical chapters ; and it seems probable a plan was 
 early formed for dividing the conquered provinces (after 
 the precedent of the barbarian hordes who overran the 
 German empire), as a common spoil, among the G^er 
 man and Swedish confederates. In his treatment ot-* 
 the elector palatine, he entirely belied the magnanimity 
 of the hero, and forgot the sacred character of a j)ro- 
 tector. The })alatinate was in his hands, and the c»bli- 
 gations both of justice and honor demanded its full and 
 immediate restoration to the legitimate sovereign. But, 
 by a subtilty unworthy of a great mind, and disgraceful 
 to the honorable title of protector of the oppressed, he 
 eluded that obligation. He treated the palatinate us a 
 conquest wrested from the enemy, and thought that 
 this circumstance gave him a right to deal with it as he 
 pleased. He surrendered it to the elector as a favor, 
 not as a debt ; and that, too, as a Swedish fief, fcUevod 
 
 Z 
 
aC4 Schiller's tiiiutv VEAJfs" war. 
 
 of r^rardtr'"' "' '° '" ''""'' '^ ""-^ '"-p'-^""' 
 
 tiny must appear a great interposition of Providence 
 History, too often confined to the ungrateful task nf 
 analyzing the uniform play of human pf "ions is occ° 
 
 strike like a hand from heaven into the nicely adiusted 
 
 mr„';^"to''7hthr""H""'"r^' T^ <='»-'-y *« -"^emS « 
 mind to a higher order of things. Of this kind is the 
 
 sudden retirement of Gustavus Adolphus from the 
 
 scene; stopping for a time the whole movement of e 
 
 ^hulZ^tr' "°\^''^-Pr>oin^'"S all the calcuK^ion^ 
 ot human prudence. Yesterday, the very soul, tlie ei-eat 
 and animating principle of his own creation toSnv 
 struck unpitiably to the gi-ound in the very midst of hU 
 eagle flight; untimely torn from a whole wor d of i-e« 
 
 Uonf h'e7eft'h°"V'' ''T'"'^ '^""^^' "^ ''- «°P^<= « 
 nreudedifinlnf^ '■'''™'* party disconsolate ; and the 
 pioud edifice ot his past greatness sunk into ruins The 
 Protestant party had identified its hopes wih "ts inviT^ 
 cible leader, and scarcely can it now separate them 
 
 Du.ied. But It was no longer the benefactor of Ger 
 many who feU at Lutzen: .he beneficent part of hs 
 career, Gustavus Adolphus had already terminated and 
 
 liDerties of Germany was-to die. The all-en-ross n^ 
 power of an individual was at an end. but many camf 
 forward to essay their strength ; the equivocal Sstai^e 
 IZ °y!"-P°^verful protector, gave 'place to a more 
 
 Trnn/ f^rinerly the mere instruments of his «■,- 
 grandizement, now began to work for themselves. They 
 now ooked to their own exertions for the emancipation 
 which could not be received without danger fi4m the 
 band of the mighty ; and the Swedish powlr, now"nc.v 
 
 st^^ed to";!.'."^ ""' t'^V'^"'"''^^"'-' ^™^ henceforth re- 
 str^cted to he more modest part of an ally. 
 
 ^ni." T, '"°'' °*' "'" Swedish monarch aspired un- 
 
 .T attar^fi'" T^^^'^ " Pr" ^^i""" Gernmny, aTd 
 to attain a firm looting in the center of the empire. 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 SCHILLER S TIILITY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 205 
 
 which was inconsistent with the liberties of the estates 
 His aim was the imperial crown ; and this dignity, sun 
 ported by his power, and maintained by his ener^ and 
 activity, would in his hands be liable to more abuse than 
 had ever been feared from the House of Austria. Born 
 in a foreign countiy, educated in the maxims of arbitrary 
 power, and by principles and enthusiasm a determined 
 enemy to popery, he was ill qualified to maintain invio- 
 late the constitution of the German states, or to respect 
 their liberties. The coercive homage which Augsburg, 
 with many other cities, was forced to pay to the Swedish 
 crown, bespoke the conqueror, rather than the protector 
 of the empire; and this town, prouder of the title of a 
 royal city, than of the higher dignity of the freedora of 
 the empire, flattered itself with the anticipation of be- 
 coming the capital of his future kingdom. His ill dis- 
 guised attempts upon the Electorate of Mentz, which 
 he first intended to bestow upon the Elector of Bran- 
 denburg, as the dower of his daughter Christina, and 
 afterward destined for his chancellor and friend Oxen- 
 stiern, evinced plainly what liberties he was disposed to 
 take with the constitution of the empire. His allies, the 
 Protestant princes, had claims on his gratitude, which 
 could be satisfied only at the expense of their Roman 
 Catholic neighbors, and particularly of the immediate 
 ecclesiastical chapters; and it seems probable a plan was 
 early formed for dividing the conquered provinces (after 
 the precedent of the barbarian hordes w^ho overran the 
 German empire), as a common spoil, among the Ger 
 man and Swedish confederates. In his treatment ot* 
 the elector palatine, he entirely belied the magnanimity 
 of the hero, and forgot the sacred character of a j)io- 
 tector. The palatinate was in his hands, and the c»bli- 
 gations both of justice and honor demanded its full and 
 immediate restoration to the legitimate sovereign. But, 
 by a subtilty unworthy of a great mind, and disgraci^ful 
 to the honorable title of protector of the oppressed, he 
 eluded that obligation. He treated the palatinate as a 
 conquest wrested from the enemy, and thought that 
 this circumstance gave him a right to deal with it as he 
 pleased. He surrendered it to the elector as a favor, 
 not as a debt ; and that, too, as a Swedish fief, fcUevod 
 
 Z 
 
266 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war 
 
 by conditions wliicli diminished half its value, and de- 
 graded this unfortunate prince into a humble vassal of 
 Sweden. One of these conditions obliged the elector 
 after the conclusion of the war, to furnish, along with 
 the other pnnces, his contribution toward the mainte- 
 nance of the Swedish army, a condition which plainly 
 mdicates the fate which, in the event of the ultimate 
 success of the kin^, awaited Germany. His sudden 
 disappearance secured the liberties of Germany, and 
 saved his reputation, while it probably spared him the 
 mortification of seeing his own allies in arms against him, 
 and all the fruits of his victories torn from him by a dis- 
 advantageous peace. Saxony was already disposed to 
 abandon him, Denmark viewed his success with alarm 
 and jealousy ; and even France, the firmest and most 
 potent of his allies, terrified at the rapid growth of his 
 power, and the imperious tone which he assumed, looked 
 around at the very moment he passed the Lech for 
 toreign alliances, in order to check the progress of the 
 Goths, and restore to Europe the balance of power. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 The weak bond of union, by which Gustavus Adol- 
 phus continued to hold together the Protestant members 
 . ot the empire, was dissolved by his death ; the allies 
 were now again at liberty, and their alliance, to last, 
 must be formed anew. By the former event, if un- 
 remedied, they would lose all the a^lvantages they had 
 gained at the cost of so much bloodshed, and expose 
 themselves to the inevitable danger of becoming one 
 Qtter the other the prey of an enemy, whom, by theii 
 union alone, they had been able to oppose and to master. 
 [Neither Sweden, nor any of the states of the empire 
 was singly a match with the emperoi- and the League • 
 and, by seeking a peace under the present statue of 
 thmgs, they would necessarily be obhged to receive 
 laws trom the enemy. Union was, therefore, equally 
 indispensable, either for concluding a peace or continu 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 207 
 
 mg the war. But a peace, souglit under the pr.^sent 
 circumsmnces, could not fail to be disadvantage's to 
 the allied powers. With the death of Gustavus Adol 
 phus, the enemy had formed new hopes : anTweve;- 
 goomy might be the situation of his affairs after the 
 battle of Lutzen, still the death of his dreaded riva ^^s 
 an event too disastrous to the allie\, and too favoi^rb e 
 or the emperor, not to justify him in entertaining the 
 most brilliant expectations, and not to encourage him o 
 he prosecution of the war. Its inevitable consequence 
 or the moment at least, must be want of union^among 
 the alhes, and what might not ihe emperor and the 
 League gam from such a division of their enemies^ 
 
 p^^s^turnK^^^ r;r^^^ ^"^^^ p-pLt: ^:^' tL 
 
 piesent tui n of affairs held out to him, for any peace 
 
 deerminpr? 2 v 'P^^'^^ '"^ '"""'^P^- ^hey naturally 
 leteimmed, therefore, to continue the war, and for this 
 purpose, the maintenance of the existing union was ac- 
 knowledged to be indispensable. 
 
 we^e'to rr' ^^tr^^" '" ^" renewed? and whence 
 the wa^.7 t '^'^ necessary means for continuing 
 
 tne wai / It was not the power of Sweden hut tht 
 talents and personal inguenci of its late kingfwhich had 
 given him so ovemhel^iing an influence in LTmany so 
 great a command over the minds of men ; and^ven'he 
 had innumerable difficulties to overcome, before he could 
 
 an ate ZZ^ I''' fT ^^^" ^ ^^'^ ^^ wavering 
 aiJiance. With his death vanished all, which his ner 
 
 sonaf qualities alone had rendered practicab e ; andThe 
 nutual obligation of the states seemed to cease vv th he 
 hopes on which it had been founded. Several imoa^ 
 tiently threw off the yoke which had always been irk- 
 some ; others hastened to seize the helm which thev 
 had unwilhngly seen in the hands of Gul^avus S 
 
 w I'h Vnr^So" "'^^^"^' ^^"^ ''' -^ ^-« '"di^p'te 
 m-omiser*nP ^r^ '^^'^ '^"^P^^^' ^y '^^ seductive 
 piomises of the emperor, to abandon the alliance • 
 
 S' wTir'n'^- ^'"i ^"-^^^ ^"^-^^^ -f - ^-"-« 
 
 Sff ; ""''^ *'''* ^*'^ ''^P^s^ «f peace, upon any 
 paitl^ German princes, acknowledged no common head 
 
o 
 
 G8 
 
 SCHILLER 3 THIRTY YEARs' WAR 
 
 and no one would stoop to receive orders from another 
 Unanimity vanished alike from the cabinet and the 
 field, and their common weal was threatened with ruin, 
 by the spu'it of disunion. 
 
 Gustavus had left no male heir to the crown of Swe- 
 den : his daughter Christina, then six years old, was 
 the natural heir, ^he unavoidable weakness of a re- 
 gency suited ill with that energy and resolution, which 
 Sweden would be called upon to display in this tryinj^ 
 conjuncture. The wide-reaching mind of Gustavus 
 Adolphus had raised this unimportant, and hitherto un- 
 known kingdom, to a rank among the powers of Europe, 
 which it could not retain without the fortune and genius 
 ot its author, and from which it could not recede, with- 
 out a humiliating confession of weakness. Though the 
 German war had been conducted chiefly on the re- 
 sources of Germany, yet even the small contribution of 
 men and money, which Sweden furnished, had sufficed 
 to exhaust the finances of that poor kingdom, and the 
 peasantiy groaned beneath the imposts necessarily laid 
 upon them. The plunder gained in Germany enriched 
 only a few individuals, among the nobles and the sol- 
 diers, while Sweden itself remained poor as before. 
 For a time, it is true, the uatioiml glory reconciled the 
 subject to these burdens, and the sums exacted seemed 
 but as a loan placed at interest, in the fortunate hand 
 of Gustavus Adolphus, to be richly repaid by the grate- 
 ful monarch at the conclusion of a glorious peace. But 
 with the king's death this hope vanished, and the deluded 
 people now loudly demanded relief from their burdens. 
 
 But the spirit of Gustavus Adolphus still lived in the 
 men to whom he had confided the administration of the 
 kmgdom. However dreadful to them, and unexpected, 
 was the mtelligence of his death, it did not deprive them 
 of their manly courage ; and the spirit of ancient Rome, 
 under the mvasion of Brennus and Hannibal, animated 
 this noble assembly. The greater the price, at which 
 these hard-gamed advantages had been purchased, the 
 less readily could they reconcile themselves to renounce 
 them : not unrevenged was a king to be sacrificed. 
 Called on to choose between a doubtful and exhausting 
 war, and a profitable but disgraceful peace, the Swedish 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' \v.\n. 
 
 2G0 
 
 council of state boldly espoused tlie side of danger and 
 honor; and with agreeable surprise, men beheld this 
 venerable senate acting with all the energy and enthu- 
 siasm of youth. Surrounded with watchful enemies, 
 both within and without, and threatened on every side 
 with danger, they armed themselves against them all, 
 with equal prudence and heroism, and labored to extend 
 their kingdom, even at the moment when they had to 
 sti'uggle for its existence. 
 
 The decease of the king, and the minority of his 
 daughter Christina, renewed the claims of Poland to 
 the Swedish throne; and King Ladislaus, the son of 
 Sigismund, spared no inti'igues to gain a party in Swe 
 den. On this ground, the regency lost no time in pro- 
 claiming the young queen, and airanging the adminis- 
 tration of the regency. All the officers of the kingdom 
 were summoned to do homage to their new princess ; aJl 
 correspondence with Poland prohibited, and the e(iicts 
 of previous raonarchs against the heirs of Sigismund, 
 confirmed by a solemn act of the nation. The alliance 
 With the Czar of Muscovy was carefully renewed, in 
 order, by the arms of this prince, to keep the hostile 
 Poles in check. The death of Gustavus Adolphus had 
 put an end to the jealousy of Denmark, and removed 
 the grounds of alarm which had stood in the way of a 
 good undei-standing between the two states. The rep- 
 resentations by which the enemy sought to stir up 
 Christian IV. against Sweden were no longer listened 
 to ; and the strong wish the Danish monarch entertained 
 for the maiTiage of his son Ulrick with the young 
 princess, combined, with the dictates of a sounder pol- 
 icy, to incline, him to a neuti-ahty. At the same time, 
 England, Holland, and France came forward with the 
 gratifying assurances to the regency of continued friend- 
 ship and support, and encouraged them, with one voice, 
 to prosecute with activity the war, which hitherto had 
 been conducted with so much glory. Whatever reason 
 France might have to congiatulato itself on the death of 
 the Swedish conqueror, it was as fully sensible of the 
 expediency of maintaining the alliance with Sweclen. 
 Without exposing itself to great danger, it could not 
 allow the power of Sweden to sink in German v . W ant 
 
270 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 of resouices of its own, would either drive Sweden to 
 conclude a hasty and disadvantageous peace with Austria, 
 and then all the past efibrts to lower the ascendency of 
 this dangerous power would be thrown away ; or neces- 
 sity and despair would drive the armies to extort from 
 the Roman Catholic states the means of support, and 
 France would then be regarded as the betrayer of those 
 very states, who had placed themselves under her pow- 
 erful protection. The death of Gustavus, far from 
 breaking up the alliance between France and Sweden, 
 had only rendered it more necessary for both, and more 
 profitable for France. Now, for the first time, since he 
 was dead who had stretched his protecting arm over 
 Germany, and guarded its frontiers against the encroach- 
 ing designs of France, could the latter safely pursue its 
 designs upon Alsace, and thus be enabled to sell its aid 
 to the German Protestants at a dearer rate. 
 
 Strengthened by these alliances, secured in its inte- 
 rior, and defended from without by strong frontier gar- 
 risons and fleets, the regency did not delay an instant to 
 continue a war, by which Sweden had little of its own 
 to lose, while, if success attended hs arms, one or more 
 of the German provinces might be won, either as a con- 
 quest, or indemuilication of its expenses. Secure amid 
 its seas, Sweden, even if driven out of Germany, would 
 scarcely be exposed to greater peril, than if it voluntarily 
 retired from the contest, while the former measure was 
 as honorable, as the latter was disgraceful. The more 
 boldness the regency displayed, the more confidence 
 would they inspire among their confederates, the moro 
 respect among their enemies, and the more i^ivorablo 
 conditions might they anticipate in the event of peace. 
 If they found themselves too weak to execute the wide- 
 ranging projects of Gustavus, they at least owed it to 
 this lofty model to do their utmost, and to yield to no 
 difficulty short of absolute necessity. Alas, that motives 
 of self-interest had too gi-eatashare in this noble deter- 
 mination, to demand our unqualified admiration I For 
 those who had nothing themselves to suffer from the 
 calamities of war, but were rather to be enriched by it, 
 it was an easy matter to resolve upon its continuation ; 
 for the German empire was, in the end, to defray the 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 271 
 
 expenses ; and the provinces on which they reckoned, 
 would bo cheaply purchased with the few troops they 
 sacrificed to them, and with the generals who were placed 
 at the head of armies, composed for the mcst part of 
 Germans, and with the honorable superintendence of all 
 the operations, both military and political. 
 
 But this superintendence was irreconcilable with the 
 distance of the Swedish regency from the scene of ac- 
 tion, and with the slowness which necessarily accompa- 
 nies all the movements of a council. 
 
 To one comprehensive mind must be intrusted the 
 management of Swedish interests in Germany, and with 
 full powers to determine at discretion all questions of 
 war and peace, the necessary alliances, and the requi- 
 site levies. With dictatorial power, and with the whole 
 influence of the crown which he was to represent, must 
 this important magistrate be invested, in order to main- 
 tain its dignity, to enforce united and combined opera- 
 tions, to give eflect to his orders, and to supply the 
 place of the monarch whom he succeeded. Sach a 
 man was found in the Chancellor Oxenstiern, the first 
 minister, and what is more, the friend of the deceased 
 king, who, acquainted with all the secrets of his mister, 
 versed in the politics of Germany, and in the relations 
 of all the states of Europe, was unquestionably the fit- 
 test instrument to carry out the plans of Gustavus Adol- 
 phus in their full extent. 
 
 Oxenstiern was on his way to Upper Gerraariy, in 
 order to assemble the four upper circles, when the 
 news of the king's death reached him at Hanau. This 
 was a heavy blow both to the friend and the statesman. 
 Sweden, indeed, had lost but a king, Germany a pro- 
 tector; but Oxenstiern, the author of his fortunes, the 
 friend of his soul, and the object of his admiration. 
 Though the greatest sufferer in the general loss, ho was 
 the first who by his energy rose from the blow, ami the 
 only one quulified to repair it. His penetrating glance 
 foresaw all the obstacles which would oppose the ex- 
 ecution of his plans, the discouragement of the estates, 
 the intrigues of hostile courts, the breaking up of the 
 confederacy, the jealousy of the leaders, and the dislike 
 of princes of the empire to submit to foreign authority 
 
1 
 
 2T2 Schiller's tiurty veaRs' wak. 
 
 But even this deep insight into the existing state of 
 things, which revealed the whole extent of the evil 
 showed him also the means by which it might be over- 
 come. It was essential to revive the drooping courage 
 ot the weaker states, to meet the secret machinations 
 ot the enemy, to allay the jealousy of the more powerful 
 nllies, to rouse the friendly powers, and France in par- 
 ticular, to active assistance ; but above all, to repair the 
 rumed edifice of the German alliance, and to reunite the 
 scattered strength of the party by a close and permanent 
 bond of union. The dismay which the loss of their 
 leader occasioned the German Protestants, might as 
 readily dispose them to a closer alliance with Sweden 
 •IS to a hasty peace with the emperor; and it depended 
 entirely upon the course pursued, which of these alter- 
 natives they would adopt. Every thing might be lost 
 by the slightest sign of despondency ; nothing, but the 
 confidence which Sweden showed in herself, could kin- 
 dle among the Germans a similar feeling of self-confi- 
 dence. All the attempts of Austria to detach these 
 princes from the Swedish alliance would be unavailing 
 the moment their eyes became opened to their true 
 interests, and they were instigated to a pubhc and formal 
 breach with the emperor. 
 
 Before these measures could be taken, and the neces- 
 sary points settled between the regency and their min- 
 ister, a precious opportunity of action would, it is true, 
 be lost to the Swedish army, of which the enemy would 
 bo sure to take the utmost advantage. It was, in short, 
 «n the power of the emperor totally to ruin the Swedish 
 interest in Germany, and to this he was actually invited 
 by the prudent counsels of the Duke of Friedland. Wal- 
 lenstein advised him to proclaim a universal amnesty, 
 and to meet the Protestant states with favorable condi- 
 Uons. In the first consternation produced by the fall ot 
 Cxustavus Adolphus, such a declaration would have had 
 the most powerful effects, and, probably, would have 
 brought the wavering states back to their allegiance, 
 ^ut, blinded by this unexpected turn of fortune, and in- 
 tatuated by Spanish counsels, he anticipated a more 
 briihant issue Irom war, and, instead of listening to these 
 propositions of an accommodation, he hastened to auc 
 
 ( 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTV VKABs' WAR. 273 
 
 te til of he ecclesiastical possessions, which the I'ope 
 
 for hZ' t'.hrs '""" ""''"^'^'"}l- ^"PP'ie^. negotiated 
 tor hnn at the Saxon court, and hastily levied troops for 
 h m in Italy to be employed in Germany. The E^ec o r 
 ot Bavaria also considerably increased his military force 
 and the restless disposition of the Duke of wTine d^ 
 not permit him to remain inactive in this favorable ch in-^o 
 ot fu tune But while the enemy were thus bu«y to 
 prom by the disaster of Sweden, Oxenstiern was ^ih! 
 gent to avert its most fatal cbnsequences. 
 
 onsvTf T'f •''"'r "^"P"" «'°'""'^^' *an of the jeal- 
 w .i^l ^ 1 ?'^"'^'y P'"''^'"^' •>« 'eft Upper Germ my, 
 
 co,t ?„''"'' ''""""^ "^y """'i'''''' ="'d »"i«nces, an^d 
 sot out m person to prevent a total defection of the 
 Lower German states, or, what would have been almost 
 equally ruinous to Sweden, a private alliance among them 
 se yes. Oftended at the boldness with which the chan 
 cellor assumed the direction of affairs, and inwardly ex 
 asperated at the thought of being dictated to by Is wedkh 
 nob^man, the Elector of Saxony again meditated a dan 
 pious separation from Sweden ; Jnd the only quesr=on 
 with the '""^ ™'' '^^'"'^r ^« ^•'""'d make i?l term" 
 
 P fo it T^Z°l' *"■ P'T" '"'"^''If »' th« head of the 
 P otestants and form a third party in Germany. Simi! 
 a ideas were cherished by Duke Ulric of Brunswick 
 
 he" wT'^'f "^^"'^ ""^'" """"'y enough by foiCd^ng 
 
 nvitin Jt^^'r ■" ■■«""">"§ within his dominions, and 
 
 inviting the Lower Saxon states to Lunenburg, fot^ the 
 
 The^ E?elr Tp» ", '=rfederacy among thtmsehes 
 wWlf I ^ »™.ndenburg, ealous of the influence 
 
 which Saxony was likely to attain in Lower Germany 
 a^one manifested any zeal for the interests of the Swed s^l 
 throne which, in thought, he already destined ibr his 
 son. At the court of Saxony, Oxenstiern was no do, bt 
 honorably received ; but, notwithstanding the pei^ona 
 
 ofrontinued'f ''''r.'"- "' J^™^<'e"''urg, eSipty pS, e 
 wTZ If f'-iendship were all which he could obtain. 
 With the Duke of Brunswick he was more successful 
 
 den w^^rth'; ;•""'""' '" ''""'"« => bower tone?'Twe: 
 pen was at the time in possession of the see of Ma^rlft 
 
 .urg.^aie bidiop of which had the power ^f assemWi,^ 
 
27 \ schillkr's thirty years' war. 
 
 riie Lower Saxon circle. The chancellor now asserted 
 the rights of the crown, and by this spirited proceedinir, 
 put a stop for the present to this dangerous assembly 
 designed by the duke. The main object, however, oi 
 lus present journey and of his future endeavors, a gen- 
 eral confederacy of the Protestants, miscarried entirely, 
 and he wns obliged to content himself with some un- 
 steady alliances in the Saxon circles, and with the 
 weaker assistnnce of Upper Germany. 
 ^ As the IJavariuns wore too powerful on the Danube, 
 t.'ie assembly of the four fipper circles, which should 
 have been held at Ulm, was removed to Heilbronn, 
 where deputies of more than twelve cities of the em-' 
 pn-e, w.th a brilliant crowd of doctors, counts, and jjrinces, 
 attended. 1'he ambassadors of foreign powers likewise 
 France, England, and Holland, attended this congress 
 at which Oxenstiern appeared in person, with all the 
 splendor of the crown whose representative he was. 
 He himself opened the proceedings, and conducted the 
 deliberations. After receiving from all the assembled 
 estates assurances of unshaken fidelity, perseverance, 
 and unity, he required of them solemnly and formally 
 to declare the emperor and the League as enemies. 
 i>ut desirable as it was for Sweden to' exasperate the 
 ill-feeling between the emperor and the estates into a 
 formal rupture, the latter, on the other hand, were 
 equally indiposed to shut out the possibility of reconcili- 
 ation, by so decided a step, and to place themselves en- 
 tirely in the hands of the Swedes. They maintained 
 that any formal declaration of war was useless and su- 
 perfluous, where the act would speak for itself, and 
 tlieir firmness on this point silenced at last the chancel- 
 lor. Warmer disputes arose on the third and principal 
 article of the treaty, concerning the means of prosecu- 
 tmg the war, and the quota which the several states 
 ought to furnish for the support of the army. Oxen- 
 stiern's maxim, to throw as much as possible of the com- 
 mon burden on the states, did not suit very well with 
 their determination to give as little as possible. The 
 Swedish chancellor now experienced, what had been 
 felt by thirty emperors before him, to their cost, that of 
 uU dilficult undertakings, the most difficult was to extorl 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 275 
 
 money from the Germans. Instead of granting the ne- 
 cessary sums for the new armies to be raised, they elo- 
 ijuently dwelt upon the calamities which had befallen 
 the former, and demanded relief from the old burdens, 
 when they were requii-ed to submit to new. The irrita- 
 tion which the chancellor's demand for money raised 
 Jimong the states, gave rise to a thousand complaints; 
 and the outrages committed by the troops, in their 
 marches and quarters, were dwelt upon with a startling 
 tninuteness and ti'uth. 
 
 In the service of two .absolute monarchs, Oxenstiern 
 had but little opportunity to becom.e accustomed to tho 
 formalities and cautious proceedings of republican delib- 
 erations, or to bear opposition with patience. Rt;ady 
 to act the instant tlie necessity of action was apparent, 
 and inflexible in his resolution, when he had onee taken 
 it, he was at a loss to comprehend the inconsistency of 
 most men, who, while tlicy desire the end, are yet 
 averse to the means. Prompt and impetuous by nature, 
 he was so on this occasion from principle; for every 
 thing depended on concealing the weakness of Sweden, 
 under a firm and confident speech, and, by assuming tho 
 tone of a lawgiver, really to become so. It was nothing 
 wondeiful, therefore, if, amid these interminable dis^ 
 cussions with German doctors and deputies, he was en- 
 tirely out of his sphere, and if the inconstancy, w lich 
 distinguishes the character of the Germans in their pub- 
 lic deliberations, had driven him almost to despair. 
 Witliout respecting a custom, to which even the most 
 powerful of the emperors had been obliged to conform, 
 he rejected all written deliberations, which suited so 
 well with the national slowness of resohe. He could 
 not conceive how ten days could be spent in debating a 
 measure, which with himself was decided upon its bare 
 suggestion. Harshly, however, as he treated the states,* 
 he found them ready enough to assent to his fourth mo- 
 tion, which concerned himself. When he pointed out 
 the necessity of giving a head and a director to the new 
 confederation, that honor was unanimously assigneil tc 
 Sweden, and he himself was humbly requested to j^ive 
 to the common cause the benefit of his enlightened ex- 
 l^erience, and to take upon himself the burden of ihn 
 
27G 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 supreme command. But in order to prevent his abusing 
 the great powers thus conferred upon him, it was pro- 
 posed, not without French influence, to appoint a num- 
 ber of overseei's, in fact, under the name of assistants, 
 to control the expenditure of the common treasure, and 
 to consult with him as to the levies, marches, and quar- 
 terings of the troops. Oxenstiern long and strenuously 
 resisted this limitation of his authority, which could not 
 fail to trammel him in the execution of every enterprise 
 requiring promptitude or secrecy, and at last succeeded, 
 with difficulty, in obtaining so far a modification of it, 
 that his management in ali'airs of war was to be uncon- 
 trolled. The chancellor finally approached the delicate 
 point of the indemnification which Sweden was to ex- 
 pect, at the conclusion of the war, from the gratitude 
 of the allies, and flattered himself with the hope that 
 Pomerania, the main object of Sweden, would be as- 
 signed to her, and that he would obtain fi-om the prov- 
 inces assurances of effectual cooperation in its acquisi- 
 tion. But he could obtain nothing more than a vague 
 assurance, that in a general peace the interests of alj 
 parties would be attended to. That on this point the 
 caution of the estates was not owing to any regard for 
 the constitution of the empire, became manifest from 
 the liberality they evinced toward the chancellor, at the 
 expemse of the free cities of the empire. They were 
 ready to grant him the archbishopric of Mentz (which 
 he already held as a conquest), and only with difficulty 
 did the French ambassador succeed in preventing a step, 
 which was as impolitic as it was disgi-aceful. Though 
 on the whole, the result of the congress had fallen far 
 short of Oxenstiern's expectations, he had at least gain- 
 ed for himself and his crown his main object, namely, 
 .the direction of the whole confederacy ; he had also 
 succeeded in strengthening the bond of union between 
 the four upper circles, and obtained from the states a 
 yearly conti'ibution of two millions and a half of dollars, 
 for the maintenance of the army. 
 
 These concessions, on the pai't of the states, demand- 
 ed some return from Sweden. A few weeks after the 
 death of Gustavus Adolphus, sorrow ended the days of 
 the unfortunate elector palatine. For eight months he 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 277 
 
 had swelled the pomp of his protector's court, and ex- 
 pended on it the small remainder of his patrimony. He 
 was, at last, approaching the goal of his wishes, and the 
 prospect of a brighter future was opening, when death 
 deprived him of his protector. But what he regarded 
 as the greatest calamity, was highly favorable tc" his 
 heirs. Gustavus might venture to delay the restoration 
 of his dominions, or to load the gift with hard condi- 
 tions : but Oxenstiern, to whom the friendship of Eng- 
 land, Holland, and Brandenburg, and the good opinion 
 of the reformed states was indispensable, felt the nc^ces- 
 sity of immediately fulfilling the obligations of justice. 
 At this assembly at Heilbronn, therefore, he engag<;d to 
 surrender to Frederick's heirs the whole Palatiaate, 
 both the part already conquered, and that which remain- 
 ed to be conquered, with the exception of Manheim, 
 which the Swedes were to hold until they should be 
 indemnified for their exjienses. The chancellor did not 
 confine his liberality to the family of the palatine alone ; 
 the other allied princes received proofs, though at a later 
 period, of the gratitude of Sweden, which, however, she 
 dispensed at little cost to herself. 
 
 Impartiality, the most sacred obligation of the histo- 
 rian, here*compels us to an admission, not much to the 
 honor of the champions of German liberty. How ever 
 the Protestant princes might boast of the justice of their 
 cause, and the sincerity of their conviction, still the mo- 
 tives from which they acted were selfish enough ; and 
 the desire of stripping others of their possessions, had 
 at least as great a share in the commencement of hos 
 tilities, as the fear of being deprived of their own. Gus 
 tavus soon found that he might reckon much more or 
 these selfish motives, than on their patriotic zeal, anc 
 did not fail to avail himself of them. Each of his con- 
 federates received fiom him the promise of some pos- 
 session, either already wrested, or to be afterward taken 
 from the enemy ; and death alone prevented him from 
 fulfilling these engagements. What prudence had sug- 
 gested to the 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 the allies, and 
 promise them advantages from the conf ision which il 
 
 A A 
 
278 
 
 .SCHILLER ri TiirPvTY years' war. 
 
 Nvas his object to continue. Thus he promised to the 
 L.andgi-ave of Hesse the abbacies of Paderborn, Corvev 
 Munster, and Fulda ; to Duke Bernard, of Weimar, the 
 t ranconian bishoprics ; to the Duke of Wirtembure, the 
 ecclesiastical domains, and the Austrian counties lyina 
 within his territories, all under the title of fiefs of Swe*^ 
 den. This spectacle, so strange and so dishonorable to 
 tlie Crerman character, surprised the chancellor, who 
 tound It difficult to repress his contempt, and on ono 
 occasion exclaimed, " Let it be writ in our records, for 
 an everlasting memorial, that a German piince made 
 such a request of a Swedish nobleman, and that the 
 fcwedish nobleman granted it to the German upon Ger- 
 man ground !" ^ 
 
 After these successful measures, he was in a condi- 
 tion to take the field, and prosecute the war with fresh 
 vigor. .Soon after the victory at Lutzen, the troops of 
 Saxony and Lunenburg united with the Swedish main 
 •j'Jdy ; and the imperialists were, in a short time, totally 
 J nvcn from Saxony The united army again divided : 
 iho baxons marched toward Lusatia and Silesia, to act 
 [n conjunction with Count Thurn against the Austrians 
 .n that quarter; a part of the Swedish army was led by 
 be Duke of Weimar into Franconia, and the other by 
 George, Duke of Brunswick, into Westphalia and Lower 
 oaxony. 
 
 The conquests on the Lech and the Danube, during 
 
 bvZ'pll^^^^l'T!'''^^^^^^^^ ^^'^ ^^^» maintained 
 by the Palatme of Birkenleld, and the Swedish general 
 
 l^anner, against the Bavarians; but unable to hold their 
 ground against the victorious ,,rogress of the latter, sup- 
 ported, as they were, by the bravery and military expL- 
 nence of the imperial general, Altringer, they wire in- 
 der tae necessity of summoning the Swedish general, 
 Horn to their assistance, from Alsace. This expert 
 
 TufjTrV'f'''^ captured the towns of Benfeld, 
 jSchlettstadt, Colmar, and Hagenau, committed the de- 
 tense of them to the Rhinegi-ave Otto Louis, and hasti^ 
 
 mZ'tV. •^^^''"^.'' ^""^ combined force amounted to 
 eZZlr '"'l^^" .^^^^^S'-^^d' they could not prevent the 
 enemy from obtainmn: a sti-ono; position on the Suabian 
 
 * KClllLLER'tf THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 279 
 
 h'ontier, taking Kempten, and being joined by seven 
 regiments from Bohemia. In order to retain the com- 
 mand of the important banks of the Lech and the Dan- 
 ube, they were under the necessity of recalling the 
 Rhinegrave Otto Louis from Alsace, where he had, af- 
 ter the departure of Horn, found it difficult to defend 
 himself against the exasperated peasantry. With his 
 army he was now summoned to strengthen the army 
 on the Danube ; and as even this reinforcement was 
 insufficient, Duke Bernard of AVeimar was earnestly 
 pressed -to turn his arms into this quarter. 
 
 Duke Bernard, soon after the opening of the campaign 
 of 1633, had made himself master of the town and ter- 
 ritory of Bamberg, and was now threatening Wurtz- 
 burg. But on receiving the summons of General Horn, 
 without delay he began his march toward the Danube, 
 defeated on his way a Bavarian army under Jol n de 
 Werth, and joined the Swedes near Donauwerth. This 
 numerous force, commanded by excellent generals, now 
 threatened Bavaria with a fearful inroad. The bishopric 
 ot Eichstadt was completely overrun, and Ingolstadt was 
 on the point of being delivered up by treachery to the 
 Swedes. Altringer, fettered in his movements by the 
 express order of the Duke of Friedland, and left with- 
 out assistance from Bohemia, was unable to check the 
 progress of the enemy. The most favorable circum- 
 stances combined to further the progress of the Sw«;dish 
 arms in this quarter, when the operations of the army 
 were at once stopped by a mutiny among the officfTS. 
 
 All the previous successes in Germany v>^ere owin<r 
 iltogether to arms ; the greatness of (xustavus himself 
 A-as the work of the army, the fruit of their discipline, 
 ;heir bravery, and their persevering courage under 
 lumberless dangers and privations. However wisely 
 /lis plans were laid in the cabinet, it was to the army 
 ultimately that he was indebted for their execution ; 
 und the expanding designs of the general did but con- 
 tinually impose new burdens on the soldiers. All the 
 decisive advantages of the war had been violently gained 
 by a barbarous sacrifice of the soldiers' lives in winter 
 campaigns, forced marches, stormings, and pitched bat- 
 tles; f)r it was Gustavus's maxim never- to decUne a 
 
^80 SCIIILLEll'a 
 
 i'lURTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 queutly, they hardly received thHi nav nn^ J ' *™- 
 city of individual general? o, tl i '^^ \ ^ ^""^ ''"l'''- 
 generally swallovvefrptt Later n?? "f ^''^ '"''«' 
 mised by contributions^ o lev ed upon hf "'" '""'j 
 prov nces For ill th^ L^ j. ^^®? "P<^" the conquered 
 
 any open complaint, but after his Shtf ""PP"'^''^'' 
 were loud and universal • i,„,^ t ,,' *^ '""rmurs 
 
 ".ost dangerous Znen to ^re ! S'sl'""'' *f 
 a sense of their imnortanre '^T.! ^ superiors with 
 Mitschefal, notoriZ as , e,?i; T °'^*=^'"'' ^f"''' ""'l 
 the king's ife set th„! .'^'l'^'^'^''"' even during 
 
 nube, whic Va few f "^'^ '" ' ''^ ''""'P °" *e Da! 
 the o'ffiT^s of tSe arrnv ^^Tr "",""""! "^ '"'"°^' »" 
 selves to obey no ordeT^UU ^hlZ '"""'^ ''""'"* *^'"- 
 ing for months, and eJ;^' "et ^Sd be^rr'^'""''; 
 a gratuity, either in monefor hn 1™ Je T T' '""^ 
 according to his services. •' Immense sum, " T "''IJ' 
 
 sno::^'and^t^::rto'„ired'thr'' """'' ^™^' -^ 
 
 The soldiers' excesses nt^frfi."'??''""^ '"'^o"- 
 
 "ng-^iZhr^jdifS^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 intercepted) to sediip/A!! ' "^"^ y^''" fortunately 
 Saxony*^ fo^her the ren ""^' °° *° ^^'"« ''"'^ '» 
 Weimir, nor'tt ^tt^ '^e'prctro? hU har r "^ "^ 
 
 solence oTthe insur^entr Th"" °°'^^*° ''"=''^''^« *« *"- 
 on. were, that ceStwnHhouwIr"'*'^ "^'^'«'' 
 regiment for the oa.meT o1 atrs^C ?re'eU:;::^ 
 
 BCIlILLER'd THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 2S1 
 
 allowed to the Swedish chancellor to comply with these 
 
 theT^i'Sr^ ^" ?^^^ ^^ "^^^^^^' ^^^y announced that 
 they would pay themselves, and never more draw a 
 aword tor Sweden. 
 
 ..J^^^lt^ pressing demands, made at the very time 
 
 ow "". K^ V7 ""^'^f ""^^^ exhausted, and credit at a 
 
 ebb greatly embarrassed the chancellor. The 
 
 Jwn^^i ^T'""' '""^'^ ^^. ^^""^ ^"'^^^3^' before the con- 
 tagion should sproarJ to the other troops, and ho should 
 be deserted by all his armies at once. Amonrtho 
 
 an^hnv> ^T'f' '^'^'^ '^'' ^"^^ °»« ^^' sufficient 
 authority and mfluence with the soldiers to put An end 
 
 to th,s dispute. The Duke of Weimar was the favorite 
 
 ot the army, and his prudent moderation had won the 
 
 good-will of the soldiers, while his military exiTedence 
 
 had excited their admiration. He now undercook Z 
 
 h^rinfn?^'''''"^/^''' discontented troops; but, aware of 
 h s importance, he embraced the opportunity to make 
 advantageous stipulations for himself,\nd to make the 
 embarrassment of the chancellor subservient to his own 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus had flattered him with the prom- 
 ise of the duchy of Franconia, to be formed out of the 
 bishoprics of Wurtzburg and Bamberg, and he now 
 insisted on the performance of this pledge. He at thi 
 same time, demanded the chief command, as genera s^ 
 simo of Sweden. The abuse which the Dukf of We] 
 
 ^hn^ ".I ""'f^ ""^ ^"' influence so irritated Oxenstiern 
 that in the first moment of his displeasure, he gave him 
 his dismissal from the Swedish service. But he soo" 
 thought better of it, and determined, instead of sacrificino 
 so important a leader, to attach him to the Swedish 
 interests at any cost. He therefore granted to him the 
 b ranconian bishoprics, as a fief of the Swedish crown 
 reserving however, the two fortresses of Wurtzburg and 
 Konigshofen, which were to be garrisoned by the Swedes • 
 and also engaged, in name of the Swedish crown, to se- 
 cure these territories to the duke. His demand of die 
 
 tex^' Tir?T''^rT'' ""ft^ ^" ^^"^^ ^P^^i^u^^ P^-e- 
 tbxt. Ihe duke did not delay to display his gratitude 
 
 tor this valuable grant, and by his influence and activity 
 
 soon restored tranquillity to the army. Largo sums of 
 
 A \ 2 
 
i.'82 SCHILLER'ri THIRTY YEARrf' WAR. 
 
 money, and still more extensive estates, were divided 
 among the officers, amounting in value to about five mil- 
 lions of dollars, nnd to which they had no other right but 
 that of conquest. In the mean time, however, the op- 
 portunity for a great undertaking had been lost, and the 
 united generals divided their forces to oppose the enemy 
 in other quarters. 
 
 ^ Gustavus Horn, jifter a short inroad into the Upper 
 Palatinate, and the capture of Nettmark, directed hi3 
 march toward tlie Suabian frontier, where the imperial- 
 ists, strongly reinforced, thieatened Wirtemburir. Alarm- 
 ed at his approach, the enemy retired to the lake of Bode, 
 but only to show the Swedes the road. into a district 
 hitherto unvisiled by war. A post on the entrance to 
 Switzerland would be highly serviceable to the Swedes, 
 and the town of Kostnitz seemed pecularly well fitted 
 to be a point of communication between him and the 
 confederated cantons. Accordingly, Gustavus Horn im- 
 mediately commenced the siege of it ; but destitute of 
 artillery, for wliich he was obliged to send to Wirtem- 
 burg,he could not press the attack with sufficient vigor, to 
 prevent the enemy from tlirowing supplies into the town, 
 which the lake afforded them convenient opportunity of 
 doing. He, therefore, after an inefiectual attempt, quit- 
 ted the place and its neighborhood, and hastened to meet 
 a more threatening danger upon the Danube. 
 
 At the emperor's instigation, the cardinal infante, the 
 brother of Philip IV. of Spain, and the Viceroy of 
 Milan, had raised an army of fourteen thousand men, 
 intended to act upon the Rhine, independently of Wal- 
 lenstein, and to protect Alsace. This force now appeared 
 m Bavaria, under the command of the Duke of Feria, a 
 Spaniard ; and, that they might be directly employed 
 against the Swedes, Altringer was ordered to join them 
 with his corps. Upon the first intelligence of their ap- 
 proach, Horn had summoned to his assistance the Pals- 
 grave of Birkenfeld from the Rhine ; and beins joined 
 by him at Stockach, boldly advanced to meet the ene- 
 my's army of thirty thousand men. 
 
 The latter had taken the route across the Danube into 
 Suabia, where Gustavus Horn came so close upon them, 
 that the two aripies were only separated from each other 
 
 Schiller's tiiiriy years war. 
 
 ^J83 
 
 1 
 
 
 ny halt i German mile. But, instead of accepting the 
 otfer of battle, the imperialists moved by the Black 
 1^'orest toward Brieslau and Alsace, where they arrived 
 m time to relieve Breysack, and to arrest the victorious 
 progress of the rhinegrave. Otto Louis. The latter had, 
 shortly before, taken the forest towns, and, supported by 
 the Palatine of Birkenfeld, who had liberated the Lower 
 I alatinate and beaten the Duke of Lorraine out of the 
 |ield, had once more given the superiority to the Swed- 
 ish arms in that quarter. He was now forced to retire 
 beloi-e the superior numbers of the enemy ; but Hora 
 and Birkenfeld quickly advanced to his support, and the 
 imperialists, after a brief triumph, were a-ain expelled 
 jrom Alsace. The severity of the autumn, in which 1;his 
 liapless retreat had to be conducted, proved fatal to most 
 of the Italians ; and their leader, the Duke of Feria, died 
 ot grief at the failure of his enterprise. 
 
 In the mean time, Duke Bernard of Weimar had 
 taken up his position en the Danube, with eighteen n^gi- 
 ments of infantry and one hundred and forty squadrons 
 of horse, to cover Franconia, and to watch the move- 
 ments of the imperial Bavarian army upon that river. 
 No sooner had Altringer departed, to join the Italians 
 under Feria, than Bernard, profiting by his absence, 
 hastened across the Danube, and, with the rapidity of 
 lightning, appeared before Ratisbon. The possession 
 ot this town would insure the success of the Swedish 
 designs upon Bavaria and Austria ; it would establisl> 
 them firmly on the Danube, and provide a safe refuge ir. 
 case of defeat, while it alone could give permanence 
 to their conquests in that quarter. To defend Ratisbon 
 was the urgent advice which the dying Tilly left to the 
 electof- ; and Gustavus Adolphus had lamented it as an 
 irreparable loss, that the Bavarians had anticipated him 
 m taking possession of this place. Indescribable, there- 
 lore, was the consternation of Maximilian, when Duke 
 Bernard suddenly appeared before the town, and pi-e- 
 pared in earnest to besiege it. 
 
 The garrison consisted of not more than fifteen com- 
 panics, mostly newly raised soldiers ; although that nu ui- 
 ber was more than sufficient to weary out an enemy of 
 far superior force, if supported by well disposed and 
 
28i 
 
 S( fuller's TIlIilTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 warlike inhabitants. But this was the greatest danger 
 which the Bavarian garrison had to contend against. The 
 Protestant inhabitants of Ratisbon, equally jealous of 
 their civil and religious freedom, had unwillingly submit- 
 ted to the yoke of Bavaria, and had long looked with 
 impatience for the appearance of a deliverer. Bernard's 
 arrival before the walls filled them Avith lively joy, and 
 there was much reason to fear that they would support 
 the attempts of the besiegers without, by exciting a 
 tumult within. In this perplexity, the elector addressed 
 the most pressing entreaties to the emperor and the 
 Duke of Friedland to assist him, were it only with five 
 thousand men. Seven messengers, in succession, were 
 dispatched by Ferdinand to Wallenstein, who promised 
 immediate succors, and even announced to the elector 
 the near advance of twelve thousand men under Gallas ; 
 but at the same time forbade that general, under pain ol 
 death, to march. Meanwhile the Bavarian commandant 
 of Ratisbon, in the hope of speedy assistance, made the 
 best preparations for defense, armed the Roman Cath- 
 olic peasants, disarmed and carefully watched the Prot- 
 estant citizens, lost they should attempt Any hostile de- 
 sign against the garrison. But as no relief arrived, and 
 the enemy's artillery incessantly battered the walls, he 
 consulted his own safety, and that of the garrison, by an 
 honorable capitulation, and abandoned the Bavarian offi- 
 cials and ecclesiastics to the conqueror's mercy. 
 
 The possession of Ratisbon enlarged the projects ot 
 the duke, and Bavaria itself now appeared too narrow a 
 field for his bold designs. He determined to penetrate 
 to the frontiers of Austria, to arm the Protestant 
 peasantiy against the emperor, and restore to them 
 their religious liberty. He had already taken Stratibing- 
 en, while another Swedish army was advancing suc- 
 cessfully along the northern bank of the Danube. At 
 the head of his Swedes, bidding defiance to the severity 
 ot the weather, he reached the mouth of the Iser, which 
 he passed in the presence of the Bavarian general, Werth, 
 who was encamped on that river. Passau and Lintz 
 trembled for their fate ; the terrified emperor redoubled 
 his entreaties and commands to Wallenstein, to hasten, 
 with all speed, to the relief of the hard-pressed Bavari- 
 
 SClULLEu'd THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 285 
 
 ans. But here the victorious Bernard, of his own accord, 
 checked his career of conquest. Having in front of him 
 the river Inn, guarded by a number of strong fortresses, 
 and behind him two hostile armies, a disaflfected country, 
 and the river Iser, while his rear was covered by no 
 tenable position, and no intrenchment could be made in 
 Ihe frozen ground, and threatened by the whole force of 
 Wallenstein, who had at last resolved to march to the 
 Danube, by a timely retreat he escaped the danger of 
 being cut off from Ratisbon, and surrounded by the en- 
 emy. He hastened across the Iser to the Danube, to 
 defend the conquests he had made in the Upper Palati- 
 nate against Wallenstein, and fully resolved not to de- 
 cline a battle, if necessary, with that general. But 
 Wallenstein, who was not disposed for any grea^xploits 
 on the Danube, did not wait for his approach ; and before 
 the Bavarians could congratulate themselves on his arri- 
 val, he suddenly withdrew again into Bohemia. The 
 duke thus ended his victorious campaign, and allowed 
 his ti'oops their well earned repose in winter-quarters 
 upon an enemy's country. 
 
 While in Suabia the war was thus successfully con 
 ducted by Gustavus Horn, and on the Upper and Lower 
 Rhine by the Palatine of Birkenfeld, General Baudis- 
 sen, and the Rhinegrave Otto Louis, and by Duke Ber- 
 nard on the Danube ; the reputation of the Swedish 
 arms was as gloriously sustained in Lower Saxony and 
 Westphalia by the Duke of Lunenburg and the Land- 
 grave of Hesse Cassel. The fortress of Harael was 
 taken by Duke George, after a brave defense, ard a 
 brilliant victory obtained over the imperial general, 
 Gronsfeld, by the united Swedish and Hessian arreiies, 
 near Oldendorf. Count Wasaburg, a natural son of 
 Gustavus Adolphus, showed himself in this battle TTOr- 
 thy of his descent. Sixteen pieces of cannon, the whole 
 baggage of the imperialists, together with seventy-four 
 colors, fell into the hands of the Swedes ; three thousand 
 of the enemy perished on the field, and nearly the same 
 number were taken prisoners. The town of Osnaburg 
 surrendered to the Swedish colonel, Knyphausen, and 
 Paderborn to the Landgrave of Hesse ; while, on the 
 other hand, BUckeburg, a veiy important place for the 
 
286 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 287 
 
 Swedes, fell into the hands of the imperialists. Th 
 Swedish banners were victorious in almost eveiy quarter 
 of Germany ; and the year after the death of Gustavus, 
 loft no trace of the loss w^hich had been sustained in the 
 j)crson of that great leader. 
 
 In a review of the important events which signalized 
 the campaign of 1633, the inactivity of a man, of whom 
 the highest expectations had been formed, justly excites 
 astonishment. Among all the generals who distinguished 
 themselves in this campaign, none could be compared 
 with Wallenstoin, in experience, talents, a^nd reputation ; 
 and yet, after the battle of Lutzen, we lose sight of 
 him entirely. The fall of his great rival had left the 
 whole theater of glory open to him ; all Europe was 
 now attentively awaiting those exploits which should 
 efface the remembrance of his defeat, and still prove to 
 the world his military superiority. Nevertheless, he 
 continued inactive in Bohemia, while the emperor's 
 losses in Bavaria, Lower Saxony, and the Rhine press- 
 ingly called for his presence — a conduct equally unin- 
 telligible to friend and foe— the terror, and, at the same 
 time, the last hope of the emperor. After the defeat of 
 Lutzen he had hastened into Bohemia, where he insti- 
 tuted the strictest inquiry into the conduct of his officers 
 in that battle. Those whom the council of war declared 
 guilty of misconduct were put to death without mercy, 
 those who had behaved with bravery, rewarded With 
 princely munificence, and the memory of the dead hon- 
 ored by splendid monuments. During the winter, he 
 oppressed the imperial provinces by enormous contribu- 
 tions, and exhausted the Austrian territories by his 
 winter-quarters, which he purposely avoided taking up 
 in an enemy's country. And in the spring of 1633, in- 
 stead of being the first to open the campaign, with this 
 well chosen and well appointed army, and to make a 
 worthy display of his great abilities, he was the last who 
 appeared in the field ; and even then, it was an heredi- 
 tary province of Austria which he selected as the seat 
 of war. 
 
 Of all the Austrian provinces, Silesia was most exposed 
 to danger. Three different armies, a Swedish under 
 Count Thurn, a Saxon under Arnh«im and the Duka 
 
 i 
 
 of Lauenburg, and one of Brandenburg under Bergsdorf, 
 had, at the same time, carried the war into this coun- 
 try ; they had already taken possession of the most im- 
 portant places, and even Breslau had embraced the 
 cause of the allies. But this crowd of commanders and 
 ai mies was the very means of saving this province to 
 the emp^-ror; for the jealousy of the generals, and the 
 mutual hatred of the Saxons and the Swedes, never 
 allowed them to act with unanimity. Arnheim ana 
 Thurn contended for the chief command ; the troop» 
 of Brandenburg and Saxony combined against th& 
 Swedes, whom they looked upon as troublesome stran- 
 gers, who ought to be got rid of as soon as possible. 
 The Saxons, on the contrary, lived on a very intimate 
 footing with the imperialists, and the officers of both 
 these hostile armies often visited and entertained c;ach 
 other. The imperialists were allowed to remove their 
 property without hindrance, and many did not affe(;t to 
 conceal that they had received large sums from Vie ana. 
 Among such equivocal allies, the Swedes saw them- 
 selves sold and betrayed ; and any great enterprise was 
 out of the question, 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 was fast approaching the 
 frontiers with a formidable force. 
 
 His army amounted to forty thousand men, while to 
 oppose him the allies had only tw^enty-four thousand. 
 They, nevertheless, resolved to give him battle, and 
 marched to Munsterberg, wdiere he had formed an in- 
 trenched camp. But Wallenstein remained inactive for 
 eight days ; he then left liis inti'enchments, and marched 
 slowly and with composure to the enemy's camp. But 
 even after quitting his position, and when the enemy, 
 emboldened by his past delay, manfully prepared to re- 
 ceive him, he declined the opportunity of fighting. The 
 caution with which he avoided a battle was imputed to 
 fear; but the well established reputation of Wallenstein 
 enabled him to despise this suspicion. The vanity of 
 the allies allowed them not to see that he purposely * 
 saved them a defeat, because a victory at that time 
 W'Ji.M not have served his ow^n ends. To convince t'nem 
 
288 
 
 SCIIILLEUS THIRTY YEA Kb WAR. 
 
 uf his superior power, and that his inactivity proceeded 
 not from any fear of them, he put to death the com- 
 mander of a castle that fell into his hands, because he 
 had refused at once to surrender an untenable place. 
 
 For nine days did the two armies remain within 
 musket-shot of each other, when Count Terzky, fiom 
 the camp of the imperialists, appeared with a trumpeter 
 in that of the allies, inviting General Arnheim to a con- 
 ference. The purport was, that Wallenstein, notwith- 
 standing his superiority, was willing to agi-ee to a cessation 
 of arms for six weeks. " He was come," ho said, "to 
 conclude a lasting peace with the Swedes, and with the 
 princes of the empire, to pay the soldiers, and to satisfy 
 every one. All this was in his power ; and if the Aus- 
 trian court hesitated to confirm his agreement, he would 
 unite with the allies, and (as -he privately whispered to 
 Arnheim) hunt the emperor to the devil." At the 
 second conference, he expressed himself still more 
 plainly to Count Thurn. "All the privileges of the 
 Bohemians," he engaged, " should be confirmed anew, 
 the exiles recalled and restored to their estates, and ho 
 nimself would be the first to resign his share of them. 
 The Jesuits, as the authors of all past gi'ievances, should 
 De banished, the Swedish crown indemnified by stated 
 payments, and all the superfluous troops on both sides 
 employed against the Turks." The last article ex- 
 plained the whole mystery. " If," he continued, " he 
 should obtain the crown of Bohemia, all the exiles 
 would have reason to applaud his generosity ; perfect 
 toleration of religions should be established within the 
 kingdom, the palatine family be reinstated in its rights, 
 and he would accept the margraviate of Moravia, as a 
 compensation for Mecklenburg. The allied armies 
 would then, under his command, advance upon Vienna, 
 and, sword, in hand, compel the emperor to ratify the 
 treaty." 
 
 Thus was the veil at last removed from the schemes 
 over which he had brooded for years in mysterious 
 silence. Every circumstance now convinced him that 
 not a moment was to be lost in its execution. Nothing 
 bnt a blind confidence in the good fortune and military 
 genius of the Duke of Friedland, had induced the em- 
 
 1' 
 r 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 S'CHlLLEll's TlllRTV VEARS* WAR. 
 
 289 
 
 \ 
 
 peror, in the face of the remonsti-ances of Bavaria and 
 Spain, and at the expense of his own reputation, to con- 
 fer upon this imperious leader such an unhmited com- 
 mand. But^this belief in Wellenstein's being invincible 
 had been much weakened by his inaction, and almost 
 entirely overthrown by the defeat at Lutzen. His ene- 
 mies at the imperial court now renewed their intrigues; 
 and the emperor's disappointment at the failure of his 
 hopes, procured for their remonstrances a favorable re- 
 ception. Wallenstein's whole conduct was now re- 
 viewed with the most malicious criticism ; his ambitious 
 haughtiness, his disobedience to the emperor's orders, 
 were recalled to the recollection of that jealous prince, 
 as well as the complaints of the Austrian subjects against 
 his boundless oppression; his fidelity was questioned, 
 and alarming hints thrown out as to his secret vic$ws. 
 These insinuations, which the conduct of the duke 
 seemed but too well to justify, failed not to make a deep 
 ifhpression on Ferdinand ; but the step had been taxen, 
 and the great power with which Wallenstein had been 
 invested could not be taken from him with* t danger. 
 Insensibly to diminish that power, was the only course 
 that now remained, and, to effect this, it must in tho 
 first place be divided ; but above all, the emperor's pres- 
 ent dependence on the good-will of his general pui; an 
 end to. But even this right had been resigned in his 
 engagement with Wallenstein, and the emperor's own 
 handwriting secured him against every attenipt to unite 
 another general with him in the command, or to exer- 
 cise any immediate act of authority over the troops. 
 As this disadvantageous contract could neither be kept 
 nor broken, recourse was had to artifice. Wallenstein 
 was imperial generalissimo in Germany, but his cam- 
 mand extended no further, and he could not presume to 
 exercise any authority over a foreign army. A Spanish 
 army was accordingly raised in Milan, and marched 
 into Germany under a Spanish general. Wallenstein 
 now ceased to be indispensable because he was no lo%er 
 supreme, and, in case of necessity, the emperor was now 
 provided with the means of support even against hiitn. 
 
 The duke quickly and deeply felt whence this blow 
 came, and whither it was aimed. In vain did he ]>ro 
 1 '^ R H 
 
21)0 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 test against this violation of the compact, to the cardinal 
 infante ; the Itahan army continued its march, and hti 
 was forced to detach General Altriuger to join it witli a 
 reinforcement. He took care, indeed, so closely to fetter 
 the latter, as to prevent the Italian army from acquiring 
 any great reputation in Alsace and Suabia ; but this bold 
 step of the court awakened him from his security, and 
 warned him of the approach of danger. That he might 
 not a second time be deprived of his command, and lose 
 the fruit of all his labors, he must accelerate the accom- 
 plishment of his long meditated designs. He secured 
 the attachment of his troops by removing the doubtful 
 officers, and by his liberality to the rest. He had sacri- 
 ficed to the welfare of the army every other order in the 
 state, every consideration of justice and humanity, and 
 therefore he reckoned upon their gratitude. At the 
 very moment when he meditated an unparalleled act of 
 ingratitude against the author of his own good fortune, 
 he founded all his hopes upon the gratitude which urns 
 due to himself. 
 
 The l^Wers of the Silesian armies had no authority 
 from their principals to consent, on their own discretion, 
 to such important proposals as those of Wallenstein, and 
 they did not even feel themselves waiTanted in gi'anting, 
 for more than a fortnight, the cessation of hostilities which 
 he demanded. Before the duke disclosed his designs to 
 Sweden and Saxony, he had deemed it advisable to se- 
 cure the sanction of France to his bold undertaking. For 
 this purpose, a secret negotiation had been can-ied on 
 with the gi'eatest possible caution and distrust, by Count 
 Kinsky with Feuquieres, the French ambassador at 
 Dresden, and had terminated according to his wishes. 
 Feuquieres received orders from his court to promise 
 every assistance on the part of France, and to offer the 
 duke a considerable pecuniary aid in case of need. 
 
 But it was this excessive caution to secure himself on 
 all sides, that led to his iiiin. The French ambassador 
 with astonishment discovered that a plan, which, more 
 than any other, required secrecy, had been communi- 
 cated to the Swedes and the Saxons. And yet it wa« 
 generally known that the Saxon ministry was in the in - 
 •^ftrests of the emperor, and on the other hand, the con- 
 
 < 
 
 SCHILLER 3 THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 291 
 
 . 
 
 ditions offered to the Swedes fell too far short of their 
 expectations to be likely to be accepted. Feuquieres, 
 therefore, could not believe that the duke could be 
 serious in Calculating upon the aid of the latter, and the 
 silence of the former. He communicated accordingly 
 his doubts and anxieties to the Swedish chancellor, who 
 equally distrusted the views of Wallenstein, and disliked 
 his plans. Although it was no secret to Oxeustiern, that 
 the duke had formerly entered into a similar negotiation 
 with Gustavus Adolphus, he could not credit the possi- 
 bility of inducing a whole army to revolt, and of his ex- 
 travagant promises. So daring a design, and such im- 
 prudent conduct, seemed not to be consistent with the 
 duke's reserved and suspicious temi^r, and he was the 
 more inclined to consider the whole as the result of dis- 
 simulation and treacheiy, because he had less reason to 
 doubt his prudence than his honesty, 
 
 Oxenstiern's doubts at last affected Arnheim himself, 
 who, in full confidence in Wallenstein's sincerity, had 
 repaired to the chancellor at Gelnhausen, to persuade 
 him to lend some of his best regiments to the duke, to 
 aid him in the execution of the plan. They began to 
 suspect that the whole proposal was only a snare to dis- 
 arm the allies, and to betray the flower of their troops 
 into the hand of the emperor. Wallenstein's well 
 known character did not contitidict the suspicion, and 
 the inconsistencies in which he aftenvai-d involved 
 himself, entirely desti'oyed all confidence in his siacer- 
 itv. While he was endeavoring to dmw the Swede? 
 inro this alliance, and requiring the help of their best 
 troops, he declared to Arnheim that they must begin 
 with expelling the Swedes from the empire ; and while ^ 
 the Saxon officers, relying upon the security of the " 
 li-uce, repaired in great numbers to his camp, he made 
 an unsuccessful attempt to seize them. He was the 
 first to break the truce, which some months afterward 
 he renewed, though not without great difficulty. AU 
 confidence in his sincerity was lost : his whole conduct 
 was regarded as a tissue of deceit and low cunning, de- 
 nsed to weaken the allies and repair his own strength. 
 This indeed he actually did effect, as his own army 
 daily augmented, while that of the allies was red ucf)d 
 
2^02 Schiller's tuietv years' war. 
 
 nearly one half by desertion and bad provisions. But 
 he did not make that use of his superiority which Vi- 
 enna expected. When all men were looking for a de- 
 cisive blow to be struck, he suddenly renewed the ne- 
 gotiations; and when the truce lulled the allies into 
 security, he as suddenly recommenced hostilities. All 
 these contradictions arose out of the double and iiTecon- 
 cilable designs to ruin at once the emperor and the 
 Swedes, and to conclude a separate peace with the 
 Saxons. 
 
 Impatient at the ill success of his negotiations, he at 
 last determined to display his strength ; the more so, as 
 the pressing distress within the empire, and the growing 
 dissatisfaction of the imperial court, admitted not of his 
 making any longer delay. Before the last cessation of 
 hostilities, General Hoik, from Bohemia, had attacked 
 the circle of Meissen, laid waste every thing on his 
 route with fire and sword, driven the elector into his 
 fortresses, and taken the town of Leipzig. But the 
 truce in Bohemia put a period to his ravages, and the 
 consequences of his excesses brought him to the grave 
 at Adorf. As soon as hostilities were recommenced, 
 Wallenstein made a movement, as if he designed to 
 penetrate through Lusatia into Saxony, and circulated 
 the report that Piccolomini had already invaded that 
 country. Arnheim immediately broke up his camp in 
 Silesia, to follow him, and hasten to the assistance of 
 the electorate. By this means the Swedes were left 
 exposed, who were encamped in small force un^r 
 Count Thurn, at Steinau, on the Oder, and this was 
 exactly what Wallenstein desired. He allowed the 
 Saxon general to advance sixteen miles toward Meis- 
 sen, and then suddenly turning toward the Oder, sm-- 
 prised the Swedish army in the most complete security. 
 Their cavalry were first beaten by General Schafgotsch* 
 who was sent against them, and the infantry completely 
 surrounded at Steinau by the duke's ai-my, which fol- 
 lowed. Wallenstein gave Count Thurn half an hour to 
 deliberate whether he would defend himself with twen- 
 ty-five hundred men, against more than twenty thousand, 
 pr surrender at discretion. But there was no room for 
 deliberation. The army surrendered, and the most 
 
 schii*4.£r's thirty years* war. 
 
 « 
 
 9S 
 
 ■ 
 
 complete victoiy was obtained without bloodshed. Col- 
 ors, baggage, and artillery all fell into the hands of the 
 victors, the officers were taken into custody, the pri- 
 vates drafted into the army of Wallenstein. And now 
 at last, after a banishment of fourteen years, after num- 
 berless changes of fortune, the author of the Bohemian 
 insurrection, and the remote origin of this destnictive 
 war, the notorious Count Thurn, was in the power oJ 
 his enemies. With blood-thirsty impatience, the airival 
 of this great criminal was looked for in Vienna, v/here 
 they already anticipated the malicious triumph of sacri- 
 ficing so distinguished a victim to public justice. But to 
 deprive the Jesuits of this pletisure was a still sweeter 
 triumph to Wallenstein, and Thurn was set at liberty'. 
 Fortunately for him, he knew more than it was pnadent 
 to have divulged in Vienna, and his enemies were also 
 those of Wallenstein. A defeat might have been for- 
 given in Vienna, but this disappointment of their hopes 
 they could not pardon. " What should I have done 
 witli this madman ?" he writes, with a malicious sneer, 
 to the minister who called him to account for this un- 
 seasonable magnanimity. " Would to Heaven the ene- 
 my had no generals but such as he. At the head of the 
 Swedish army, ho will render us much better service 
 than in prison." 
 
 The victory of Steinau was followed by the capture 
 of Leignitz, Grossglogau, and even of Frankfort on the 
 Oder. Schafgotsch, who remained in Silesia to com- 
 plete the subjugation of that j)rovince, blockaded Brieg, 
 and threatened Breslau, though in vain, as that free 
 town was jealous of its privileges, and devoted to the 
 Swedes. Colonels Illo and Goetz were orderesd by 
 Wallenstein to the Warta, to push forward into Pome 
 rania, and to the coasts of the Baltic, and actually ob- 
 tained possession of Landsberg, the key of Pomerania. 
 While thus the Elector of Brandenburg and the Duke 
 of Pomerania were made to tremble for their domiaions, 
 Wallenstein himself, with the remainder of his firmy, 
 burst suddenly into Lusatia, where he took Goerlitz by 
 storm, and forced Bautzen to suirender. But his object 
 was merely to alaim the Elector of Saxony, not to fol 
 low up the advantages already obtained ; and therefor« 
 
 bb2 
 
21/4 
 
 Schiller's thirty years^ *var. 
 
 even with the sword in his hand, he continued his 
 negotiations for peace with Brandenburg and Saxony, 
 but with no better suceess than before, as the incon- 
 sistences of his conduct had destroyed all confidence in 
 his sincerity. He was therefore on the point of turning 
 his whole force in earnest against the unfortunate Saxonsy 
 and effecting his object by force of arms, when circum- 
 stances compelled him to leave these territories. The 
 :!onquests of Duke Bernard upon the Danube, which 
 threatened Austria itself with immediate danger, ur- 
 gently demanded his presence in Bavaria ; and the ex- 
 pulsion of the Saxons and Swedes from Silesia deprived 
 him of every pretext for longer resisting the imperial 
 orders, and leaving the Elector of Bavaria without as- 
 sistance. With his main body, therefore, he imme- 
 diately set out for the Upper Palatinate, and his reti-eat 
 freed Saxony forever of this fonnidable enemy. 
 
 So long as was possible, he had delayed to move to 
 the rescue of Bavaria, and on every pretext evaded the 
 commands of the emperor. He had, indeed, after 
 reiterated remonstrances, dispatched from Bohemia a 
 reinforcement of some regiments to Count Alti'inger^ 
 who was defending the Lech and the Danube against 
 Horn and Bernard, but under the express condition of 
 his acting merely on the defensive. He referred the 
 emperor and the elector, whenever they applied to him 
 for aid, to Altringer, who, as he publicly gave out, had 
 received unlimited powers ; secretly, however, he tied 
 up his hands by the strictest injunctions, and even 
 threatened him with death, if he exceeded his orders. 
 When Duke Bernard had appeared before Ratisbon, 
 and the emperor as well as the elector repeated still 
 more urgently their demand for succor, he pretended 
 he was about to dispatch General Gallas with a consid- 
 erable ai-my to the Danube ; but this movement also 
 was delayed, and Ratisbon, Saubingen, and Cham, as 
 well as the bishopric of Eichstadt, fell into the hands ot 
 tlie Swedes. When at last he could no longer neglect 
 the orders of the court, he marched slowly toward the 
 Bavarian frontier, where he recovered the town ot 
 Jham, which had been taken by the Swedes. But no 
 -ODner did he learn that on the Swedish side a diversion 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 295 
 
 was contemplated, by an inroad of tlie Saxons into 
 Bohemia, than he availed himself of the report, as a 
 pretext for immediately retreating into that kingdom. 
 Every consideration, he urged, must be postponed to 
 the defense and preservation of the hereditary dominions 
 of the emperor; and on this plea, he remained firmly 
 fixed in Bohemia, which he guarded as if it had been 
 his own property. And when the emperor laid lapon 
 him his commands to move toward the Danube, and 
 prevent the Duke of Weimar from establishing himself 
 in so dangerous a position on the frontiers of Austria, 
 Wallenstein thought proper to conclude the campa gn a 
 second time, and quartered his troops for the winter in 
 this exhausted kingdom. 
 
 Such continued insolence and unexampled contijmpt 
 of the imperial orders, as well as obvious neglect of the 
 common cause, joined to his equivocal behavior toward 
 the enemy, tended at last to convince the emperar of 
 the truth of those unfavorable reports with regard to 
 the duke, which were current through Germany. The 
 latter had, for a long time, succeeded in glozing over his 
 criminal correspondence with the enemy, and persuad- 
 ing the emperor, still prepossessed in his favor, that the 
 sole object of his secret conferences was to obtain peace 
 for Germany. But impeneti-able as he himself believed 
 his proceedings to be, in the course of his conduct 
 enough transpired to justify the insinuations with whicli 
 his rivals incessantly loaded the ear of the emperor. In 
 order to satisfy himself of the truth or falsehood of these 
 rumors, Ferdinand had already, at different times, sent 
 spies into Wallenstein's camp ; but as the duke took the 
 precaution never to commit any thing to writing, they 
 returned with nothing but conjectures. But when, at 
 last, those ministers who formerly had been his cham- 
 pions at the court, in consequence of their estates not 
 being exempted by Wallenstein from the general exac- 
 tions, joined his enemies ; when the Elector of Bavaria 
 threatened, in case of Wallenstein being any longer 
 retained in the supreme command, to unite with the 
 Swedes ; when the Spanish ambassador insisted on his 
 dismissal, and threatened, in case of refusal, to withdraw 
 the subsidies furnished by his crown, the emperor f ouna 
 
296 
 
 SCIIlLLEiiri THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 ft'HU.LER ri THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 297 
 
 himself a second time coiiii)elled to deprive him of thu 
 command. 
 
 The emperor's authoritative and direct inteiferenco 
 with the army soon convinced the duke that the com- 
 pact with himself was regarded as at an end, and that 
 his dismissal was inevitable. One of his inferior gen- 
 erals in Austria, whom he had forbidden, under pain ot 
 death, to obey the orders of the court, received tho 
 positive commands of the emperor to join the Elector of 
 Bavaria ; and Wallenstein himself was imperiously or- 
 dered to send some regiments to reinforce the army of 
 the cardinal infante, who was on his march from Italy. 
 All these measures convinced him that the plan was 
 finally arranged to disarm him by degrees, and at once, 
 when he was weak and defenseless, to complete his 
 ruin. 
 
 In self-defense, must he now hasten to carry into ex- 
 ecution the plans which he had originally formed only 
 with the view to aggrandizement. lie had delayed too 
 long, either because the favorable configuration of the 
 stars had not yet presented itself, or, as he used to say, 
 to check the impatience of his friends, because the time 
 was not yet come. The time, even now, was not come ; 
 but the pressure of circumstances no longer allowed him 
 to await the favor of the stars. The first step vv^•^s to 
 assure himself of the sentiments of his principal officers, 
 and then to try the attachment of the army, which he 
 had so long confidently reckoned on. Three of them, 
 Colonels Kinsky, Terzky, and Illo, had long been in his 
 secrets, and the two first were further united to his in- 
 terests by the ties of relationship. The same wild am- 
 bition, the same bitter hatred of the government, and 
 the hope of enormous rewards, bound them in the 
 closest manner to Wallenstein, who, to increase the" 
 number of his adherents, could stoop to the lowest 
 means. He had once advised Colonel Illo to solicit, in 
 Vienna, the title of count, and had promised to back 
 his application with his powerful mediation. But he 
 secretly WTOte to the ministry, advising them to refuse 
 his request, as to grant it would give rise to similar de- 
 mands from others, whose services and claims were 
 equal to his. On lllo's return to the camp, Wallenstein 
 
 immediately d-emanded to know the success of his mis- 
 sion; and when informed by Illo of its failure, he broke 
 out into the bitterest complaints against the court. 
 ** Thus," said he, " are our faithful services rewarded. 
 My recommendation is disregarded, and your merit de- 
 nied so trifling a reward!* Who would any longer de- 
 vote his services to so ungrateful a master ? No, for 
 my part, I am henceforth the determined foe of Aus- 
 tria." Illo agreed with him, and a close alliance was 
 ct^mentod between them. 
 
 But what was known to these three confidants of the 
 duke, was long an impenetmble secret to tlie rest ; and 
 the confidence with which Wallenstein spoke of the de- 
 votion of his ofiftcers was founded merely on the favors 
 he had lavished on them, and on their known dissatis- 
 faction with the court. But this -vague presumption 
 must be converted into certainty, before he could ven- 
 ture to lay aside the mask, or take any open step against 
 the emperor. Count Piccolomini, who had distinguish- 
 ed himself by his unparalleled bravery at Lutzen, was 
 the first whose fidelity he put to the proof. He had, 
 he thought, gained the attachment of this general by 
 large presents, and preferred him to all others, becf use 
 born under the same constellations with himself. He 
 disclosed to him that, in consequence of the emperor's 
 ingratitude, and the near approach of his own danger, 
 he had irrevocably determined entirely to abandon the 
 party of Austria, to join the enemy with the best part 
 of his army, and to make war upon the House of Aus- 
 tria, on all sides of its dominions, till he had wholly ex- 
 tirpated it. In the execution of this plan, he principally 
 reckoned on the services of Piccolomini, and had before 
 hand promised him the greatest rewards. When tho 
 latter, to conceal his amazement at this extraordinoiy 
 communication, spoke of the dangers and obstacles which 
 would oppose so hazardous an enterprise, Wallensitein 
 ridiculed his f^pars. " In such enterprises," he main- 
 tained, " nothing was difficult but the commencement. 
 The stars were propitious to him, the opportunity the 
 best that could be wished for, and some:,hing must always 
 be trusted to fortune. His resolution was taken, aiid il 
 it could not be otherwise, he would encounter the baa 
 
 \- 
 
298 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEAKs' WAR. 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 299 
 
 ard at the head of a thousand horse.'* Piccolomini was 
 careful not to excite Wallenstein's suspicions by longer 
 opposition, and yielded apparently to the force of his 
 reasoning. Such was the infiituation of the duke, that 
 notwithstanding the warnings of Count Terzky, he 
 never doubted the sincerity of this man, who lost not a 
 moment in communicating to the court at Vienna this 
 important conversation. 
 
 Preparatoiy to taking the last decisive step, he, in 
 January, 1634, called a meeting of all the commanders 
 of the army at Pilsen, whither he had marched after 
 his retreat from Bavaria. The emperor's recent orders 
 to spare his hereditary dominions from winter quarter- 
 ings, to recover Ratisbon in the middle of winter, and 
 to reduce the army by a detachment of six thousand 
 horse to the cardinal infante, were matters sufficiently 
 grave to be laid before a council of War ; and this plaus- 
 ible pretext served to conceal from the curious the real 
 object of the meeting. Sweden and Saxony received 
 invitations to be present, in order to treat with the Duke 
 of Friedland for a peace ; to the leaders of more distant 
 armies, written communications were made. Of the 
 commanders thus summoned, twenty appeared; but 
 three most influential, Gallas, Colleredo, and Altringer, 
 were absent. The ^uke reiterated his summons to 
 them, and in the mean time, in expectation of their 
 speedy arrival, proceeded to execute his designs. 
 
 It was no light task that he had to perform : a noble- 
 man, proud, brave, and jealous of his honor, was to de- 
 clare himself capable of the basest treachery, in the 
 very presence of those who had been accustomed to re- 
 gard him as the representative of majesty, the judge of 
 their actions, and the supporter of their laws, and to 
 show himself suddenly as a traitor, a cheat, and a rebel. 
 It was no easy task, either, to shake to its foundation a 
 legitimate sovereignty, strengthened by time, and conse- 
 crated by laws and religion; to dissolve^all the charms 
 of the senses and the imagination, those formidable 
 guardians of an established throne, and to attempt for- 
 cibly to uproot those invincible feelings of duty, which 
 plead so loudly and so powerfully in the breast of the 
 subject, in favor of his sovereign. But, blinded by tha 
 
 I 
 
 I- 
 
 :¥ 
 
 ! 
 
 ' 
 
 splendor of a crown, Wallenstein observed not the pre- 
 cipice that yawned beneath his feet ; and in full reliance 
 on his own sti'ength, the common case with energetic 
 and daring minds, he stopped not to consider the mag- 
 nitude and the number of the difficulties that opiwsed 
 liim. Wallenstein saw nothing bm. an army, paitly in- 
 ditterent and partly exasperated against the court, ac- 
 customed, with a blind submission, Ito do homage (o his 
 great name, to bow to him as their legislator and judge, 
 and with trembling reverence to follow his orders as the 
 decrees of tate. In the extravagant flatteries v/hich 
 were paid to his omnipotence, in the bold abuse of the 
 court government, in which a lawless soldiery indulged 
 and which the wild license of the camp excused? he 
 thought he read the sentiments of the army ; and the 
 boldness with which they were ready to censure the 
 monarch's measures passed with him for a readiness to 
 renounce their allegiance to a sovereign so little respect- 
 fid. But that which he had regarded as the lightest 
 matter, proved the most formidable obstacle with which 
 he had to contend ; the soldiers' feelings of allegiance 
 were the rock on which his hopes were wrecked. De- 
 ceived by the profound respect in which he was held by 
 these lawless bands, he ascribed the whole to his own 
 personal greatness, without distinguishing hew much he 
 owed to himself, and how much to the dignity with 
 which he was invested. All trembled before him, while 
 he exercised a legitimate authority, while obedience to 
 him was a duty, and while his consequence was sup- 
 ported by the majesty of the sovereign. Greatness, in 
 and ot itself, may excite terror and admiration ; but 
 legitimate greatness alone can inspire reverence and 
 submission ; and of this decisive advantage he deprived 
 liimselt, the instant he avowed himself a traitor 
 
 Field-Marshal Illo undertook to learn the sentiments 
 ot the officers, and to prepare them for the step which 
 vvas expected of them. He began by laying before tbem 
 the new orders of the court to the genei'al and the army ; 
 and by the obnoxious turn he skillfully gave to them, he 
 tound it easy to excite the indignation of the assembly. 
 Alter this well chosen introduction, he expatiated wii 
 much eloquence upon the merits of the army and the 
 
* «- 
 
 300 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' 
 
 WAR 
 
 ecIllLLEU S THIRTY YEARS* VVAH. 
 
 .SO- 
 
 general, and the ingratitude with which the eiiipen^ 
 was accustomed to requite them. Spanish influenci», 
 he maintained, governed the court ; the ministiy were 
 in the pay of Spain; the Duke of Friedland alone had 
 hitheito opposed this tyranny, and had thus drawn down 
 upon himself the deadly enmity of the Spaniards. To 
 remove him from the command, or to make away with 
 him entirely, he continued, had long been the end of 
 their desire ; and, until they could succeed in one oi 
 other, they endeavored to abridge his power in the field. 
 The command was to be placed in the hands of the King 
 of Hungary, for no other reason than the better to pro- 
 mote the Spanish power in Germany ; because this 
 prince, as the ready instrument of foreign counsels, 
 might be led at pleasure. It was merely with the view 
 of weakening the army, tliat the six thousand troops 
 were required for the cardinal infante ; it was solely 
 for the purpose of harassing it by a winter campaign, 
 that they were now called on, in this inhospitable sea- 
 son, to undertake the recovery of Ratisbon. The means 
 of subsistence were everywhere rendered difficult, while 
 the Jesuits and the ministiy enriched themselves with 
 the sweat of the provinces, and squandered the money 
 intended for the pay of the troops. The general, aban- 
 doned by the court, acknowledges his inability to keep 
 his engagements to the ai'my. For all the services 
 which, for two-and-twenty years, he had rendered the 
 House of Austria ; for all the difficulties with which he 
 had struggled ; for all the treasures of his own, which 
 he had expended in the imperial service, a second dis- 
 graceful dismissal awaited him. But he was resolved 
 the matter should not come to this ; he was determined 
 voluntarily to resign the command, before it nhould be 
 wrested from his hands ; and this, continued the orator, 
 is what, through me, he now makes known to his offi- 
 cers. It was now for them to say whether it would bo 
 advisable to lose such a general. Let each consider 
 who was to refund him the sums he had expended in 
 the emperor's service, and where he was now to reap 
 the reward of their bravery, when he who was theii 
 evidence removed from the scene." 
 
 A universal cry, that they would not allow their gen 
 
 t ' 
 
 eral to be taken from them, interrupted the speaker. 
 Four of the principal officers were deputed to lay be- 
 fore him the wish of the assembly, and earnestly to 
 request that he would not leave the army. The duke 
 made a show of resistance, and only yielded after the 
 second deputation. This concession on his side, seemed 
 to demand a return on theirs ; as he engaged not to quit 
 the service without the knowledge and consent of the 
 generals, he required of them, on the other hand, a 
 written promise to truly and firmly adhere to him, 
 neither to separate nor to allow themselves to be sepa- 
 rated from him, and to shed their last drop of blood in 
 his defense. Whoever should break this covenant was 
 to be regarded as a perfidious traitor, and treated liy the 
 rest as a common enemy. The express condition which 
 was added, " As lung as Wallenstein shall employ the 
 army in the emperor's service^' seemed to exclude all 
 misconception, and none of the assembled generals^ hes- 
 itated at once to accede to a demand, apparently so 
 innocent and so reasonable. 
 
 This document was publicly read before an entertain- 
 ment which Field-Marshal Illo had expressly prepared 
 for the purpose ; it was to be signed after they rose 
 trom table. The host did his utmost to stupefy his 
 guests by strong potations ; and it was not until he saw 
 them affected with the wine that he produced the pa-' 
 per for signature. Most of them wrote their names, 
 without knowing what they were subscribing ; a few 
 only, more curious or more distrustful, read the i)aper 
 over again, and discovered with astonishment that the 
 clause "as long as Wallenstein shall employ the army 
 for the emperor's service" was omitted. Illo had, in 
 fact, artfully contrived to substitute for the first another 
 copy, in which these words were wanting. The trick 
 was manifest, and many refused now to sign. Picco- 
 lomini, who had seen through the whole cheat, and had 
 been present at this scene merely with a view of ^[iving 
 information of the whole to the court, forgot himscilf so 
 far in his cups as to drink the emperor's health. But 
 Count Terzky now rose, and declared that all were per- 
 jured villains who should recede from their engagement. 
 His., menaces, tho idea of the ine\itablp lanjuir to 
 
 C c 
 
302 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' vv^ir. 
 
 which they who resisted any longer would be exposed, 
 the example of the rest, and Illo's rhetoric, at last over- 
 came their scruples ; and the paper was signed by all 
 without exception. "^ 
 
 Wallenstein had now effected his purpose ; but the 
 unexpected resistance he had met with from the com- 
 manders roused him at last from the fond illusions in 
 which he had hitherto indulged. Beside, most of the 
 names were scrawled so illegibly that some deceit was 
 evidently mtended. But instead of being recalled to his 
 discretion by this warning, he gave vent to his injured 
 pride m undignified complaints and reproaches. He as- 
 sembled the generals next day, and undertook personally 
 to confirm the whole tenor of the agreement which Ilio 
 had submitted to them the day before. After pouring 
 out the bitterest reproaches and abuse against the court*' 
 he reminded them of their opposition to the proposition 
 of the previous day, and declared that this circumstance 
 bad induced him to retract his own piomise. The gen- 
 erals withdrew in silence and confusion ; but after a 
 short consultation in the antechamber, they returned to 
 apologize for their late conduct, and offered to sign the 
 paper anew. ° 
 
 Nothing now remained but to obtain a similar assur- 
 ance from the absent generals, or, on thei/ refusal, to 
 ■ seize their persons. Wallenstein renewed his invitation 
 to them, and earnestly urged them to hasten their arri- 
 val ; but a rumor of the doings at Pilsen reached them 
 on their journey, and suddenly stopped their further 
 progress. Altringer, on pretense of sickness, remained 
 in the strong fortress of Frauenberg. Gallas made his 
 appeai-ance, but merely with the design of better quali- 
 ty ing himself as an eye-witness, to keep the emperor 
 informed o all Wallenstein's proceedings. The intelii- 
 gence which he and Piccolomini gave at once converted 
 the suspicions of the court into an alarming certainty. , 
 ^imilar disclosures, which were at the same time made 
 trom other quarters, left no room for further doubt: 
 and the sudden change of the commanders in Austria 
 and bilesia appeared to be the prelude to some impor 
 tant enterprise. The danger was pressing, and the 
 ramedy must be speedy, but the court was unwilling tc 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 :{03 
 
 proceed at once to the execution of the sentence, tiU 
 the regular forms of justice were complied with. Se^ 
 cret instructions were therefore issued to the principal 
 officers, on whose fidelity reliance could be placed, to 
 seize the persons of the Duke of Friedland and of his 
 two associates, Illo and Tei-zky, and keep them in close 
 confinement, till they should have an opportunity of 
 being heard, and of answering for their conduct ; but if 
 this could not be accomplished quietly, the public dacger 
 required that they should be taken, dead or alive. At 
 the same time. General Gallas received a patent com- 
 mission, by which these orders of the emperor were 
 made known to the colonels and oflficers, and the army 
 was released from its obedience to the traitor, and placed 
 under Lieutenant- General Gallas, till a new geneiTilis- 
 simo could be appointed. In order to bring back the 
 seduced and deluded to their duty, and not to driVe the 
 guilty to despair, a general amnesty was proclaimed in 
 regai-d to all offenses against the imperial maiesty com- 
 mitted at Pilsen. 
 
 General Gallas was not pleased with the honor which 
 was done him. He was at Pilsen, under the eye of the 
 person whose fate he was to dispose of ; in the power 
 of an enemy, who had a hundred eyes to watch his 
 motions. If Wallenstein once discovered the secret of 
 his commission, nothing could save him from the effescts 
 of his vengeance and despair. But if it was thus dan- 
 gerous to be the secret depositary of such a commission 
 how much more so to execute it ? The sentiments of 
 the generals were uncertain ; and it was at least doubt- 
 ful whether, after the step they had taken, they would 
 be ready to trust the emperor's promises, and at ojace 
 to abandon the brilliant expectations they had built upon 
 Wallenstein's enterprise. It was also hazardous to at- 
 tempt to lay hands on the person of a man who, till now, 
 had been considered inviolable; who, from long exercise 
 of supremo power, and for habitual obedience, had be- 
 conio the object of deepest respect ; who was invested 
 with every attribute of outward majesty and inwird 
 peatness ; whose very aspect inspired terror, and who 
 by a nod disposed of life and death ! To seize such a 
 man, like a common criminal, in the midst of the guards 
 
304 SCUIt.LER*a nilRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 by whom he was surrounded, and in a city apparently 
 devoted to him ; to convert the object of this deep and 
 liabitual veneration into a subject of compassion, or of 
 contempt, was a commission calculated to make even 
 the boldest hesitate. So deeply was fear and venera- 
 tion for their general engraven in the breasts of the sol- 
 diers, that even the atrocious crime of high treason could 
 not wholly eradicate these sentiments. 
 
 Gallas perceived the impossibility of executing his 
 commission under the eyes of the duke ; and his most 
 anxious wish was, before venturing on any steps, to 
 have an interview with Altringer. As the long absence 
 of the latter had already begun to excite the duke's sus- 
 j)icious, Gallas offered to repair in person to Frauen- 
 berg, and to prevail on Altringer, his relation, to return 
 with him. Wallenstein was so pleased with this proof 
 of his zeal, that he even lent him his own equipage for 
 the journey. Rejoicing at the success of his strata- 
 gem, he left Pilsen without delay, leaving to Count Pic- 
 colomini the task of watching Wallenstein's further 
 movements. He did not fail, as he went along, to make 
 use of the imperial patent, and the sentiments of the 
 troops proved more favorable than he had expected. 
 Instead of taking back his friend to Pilsen, he dis- 
 patched him to Vienna, to warn the emperor against 
 the intended attack, while he himself repaired to Upper 
 Austria, of which the safety was threatened by the near 
 approach of Duke Bernard. In Bohemia, the towns of 
 Budweiss and Tabor were again garrisoned for the em- 
 peror, and every precaution taken to oppose with energy 
 the designs of the traitor. 
 
 As Gallas did not appear disposed to return, Piccolo- 
 mini determined to put Wallenstein's credulity once 
 more to the test. He begged to be sent to bring back 
 Gallas, and Wallenstein suffered himself a second time 
 to be overreached. This inconceivable bhndness can 
 only be accounted for as the result of his pride, which 
 never retracted the opinion it had once formed of any 
 person, and would not acknowledge, even to itself, the 
 possibility of being deceived. He conveyed Count Pic- 
 colomini in his own carriage to Lintz, where the latter 
 imrnediate/.y followed the example of Gallas, and ever 
 
 sciiillkr's thirty years 
 
 V\'AR, 
 
 305 
 
 i( 
 
 ^turn" 'h^ h"!'"""'k ^^^ '^'"^ P™'"i««<3 *e duke to 
 nuie tmit capital m ts ailedance and tn ,toV \i • 
 
 —0.3, ana «bLvin, ,,^^!^ ^ ^St^^!,^ 
 
 uitely after the mtelhgence of Piccolomini's defeciion 
 All the trobps ^veL to^nssemble Lefo.^ that cUv Zf™'" 
 
 ^s^^riii^'T'^'ufeV^itrti^^ 
 
 pcetatioi, he awaited theln'.eliieJee L „ S"' T 
 suddenly received information o? the lossof VhnfT' " 
 
 the defection of his genei-als, the dese.Snf .""''"• 
 tUrk /^i:^^^ I- 1 • - , ^'-»"is, uitj ueseition ot his trnona 
 
 ^ V* 4& 
 
30t; 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 whom he had depended. But it is under such circum- 
 stances that great minds reveal themselves. Though 
 deceived in all his expectations, he refused to abandon 
 one of his designs ; he despaired of nothing, so long as 
 life remained. The time wns now come when he ab- 
 solutely required that assistance which he had so often 
 solicited from the Swedes and the Saxons, and when ali 
 doubts of the sincerity of his purposes must be dispelled. 
 And now, when Oxenstiern and Arnheim were con- 
 vinced of the sincerity of his intentions, and were aware 
 of his necessities, they no longer hesitated to embrace 
 the favorable opportunity, and to ofi'er him their pro- 
 tection. On the part of Saxony, the Duke Francis- 
 Albert of Saxe-Lauenberg was to join him with four 
 thousand men ; and Duke Bernard, and the Palatine 
 Christian of Birkenfeld, with six thousand from Sweden, 
 all chosen troops. 
 
 Wallenstein left Pilsen, with Terzky's regiment, and 
 the few who either were, or pretended to be faithful to 
 him, and hastened to Egra, on the frontiers of the king- 
 don), in order to be near the Upper Palatinate, and to 
 facilitate his junction with Duke Bernard. He was not 
 yet informed of the decree by which he was proclaimed 
 a public enemy and traitor; this thunder-stroke await- 
 ed him at Egia. He still reckoned on the army, which 
 General Schafgotsch was preparing forhim in Silesia, 
 and flattered himself with the hope that many, even of 
 those who had forsaken him, would return with the first 
 dawning of success. Even during his flight to Egia (so 
 little humility had he learned from melancholy experi- 
 ence), he was still occupied with the colossal scheme of 
 dethroning the emperor. It was under these circum- 
 stances, that one of his suite asked leave to offer him hiu 
 advice. " Under the emperor," said he, " your high- 
 ness is ceitain of being a great and respected noble ; 
 with the enemy, you are, at best, but a precarious king. 
 It is unwise to risk certainty for uncertainty. The en- 
 emy will avail thenjselves of your personal influence, 
 while the oj)portunity lasts ; but you will ever be regarded 
 with suspicion, and they will always be fearful lest you 
 should treat them as you have done the emperor. Re 
 turn, then, to your allegiance, while there is yet time. 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 30*3 
 
 ♦* And how is that to be 'done ?" said Wallenstein, iater- 
 ruptmg him. " You have forty thousand men-at-arms," 
 rejoined he (ineaning ducats, which vvei^e stamped with 
 the figure of an armed man), "t^ke them with you, and 
 go straight to the imperial court ; then declare that the 
 steps you have hitherto taken were merely designed to 
 test the fidelity of tlie emperor's servants, and of dis- 
 nnguishing the loyal from the doubtful ; and since most 
 have shown a dis|)osition to revolt, say you aie come to 
 warn his imperial majestj^ against those dangerous men 
 1 hus you will make those appear as traitors, who are 
 iabormg to repi^sentyou as a false villain. At the im- 
 perial court, a man is sui^ to be welcome with ibity 
 thousand ducats, and Friedland will be again as he wa*s 
 at the fii^t." " The advice is good," said Wallenstein, 
 after a pause, "but let the devil trust to it." 
 
 While the duke, in his retirement in Egra, was ener 
 getically pushing his negotiations with the enemy, con- 
 sultmgthe stars, and indulging in new hopes, the dagger, 
 which was to put an«nd to his existence, was unshea' hed 
 Almost under his very eyes. The imperial decree which 
 proclamied him an outlaw, had not failed of its effect ; 
 and an avenging Nen:>esis ordained that the ungralefui 
 should fall beneath the blow of ingratitude. Amon^' his 
 officers, Wallenstein had ixiiticularly distinguished^'one 
 Leslie,* an Irishman, and had made his fortune. This 
 was the man who now felt himself called on to execute 
 the sentence against him, and to earn the price of bl.x)d. 
 rso sooner had he reached Egra, in the suite of the 
 duke, than he disclosed to the commandant of the town, 
 Colonel Buttler, and to Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon, two 
 Protestant Scotchmen, the treasonable designs of the 
 duke, which tlie latter had imprudently enough commu- 
 nicated to him during the journey. In these two indi- 
 viduals he had found men capable of a determined reso- 
 lution. They were now called on to choose between 
 ti-eason and duty, bet\^een their legitimate sovereign 
 and a fugitive, abandoned rebel ; and though the latter was 
 
 ♦ Schiller is mistaken as to this point. Leslie was a Scotch- 
 cnan, and Buttler an Irishman and a papist. He died a geneig I in 
 the emperor's service, and fouiuied at Prague a convent of Irish 
 rjancjscans. whid) still exists. 
 
3JS 
 
 schilllk's THirwTY years' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 their common benefactor, the choice could not remain 
 for a moment doubtful. They were solemnly pledged 
 \u the alleL:;iance of the emperor, and this duty required 
 them to take the most inpid measures against the public 
 imemy. The opportut ity was favorable; his evil genius 
 seemed to have delivered him into the hands of ven- 
 geance. But not to encroach on the province of justice, 
 they resolved to deliver up their victim alive ; and they 
 parted with the bold resolve to take their general pris- 
 oner. This dark plot was buried in the deepest silence; 
 and Wallenstein, far from suspecting his impending ruin, 
 flattered himself that in the garrison of Egra he pos- 
 sessed his bravest and most faithful champions. 
 
 At this time he became acquainted with the imperial 
 proclamations containing his sentence, and which had 
 been published in all the camps. He now became aware 
 of the full extent of the danger which encompassed him, 
 the utter impossibility of retracing his steps, his fear- 
 fully forlorn condition, and the absolute necessity of at 
 once trusting himself to the faith and honor of the em- 
 peror's enemies. To Leslie he poured forth all the 
 anguish of his wounded spirit, and the vehemence of his 
 agitation extracted from him his last remaining secret. 
 He disclosed to this officer his intention to deliver up 
 Egi*a and Ellenbogen, the passes of the kingdom, to the 
 Palatine of Birkenfeld, and, at the same time, informed 
 him of the near approach of Duke Bernard, of whose 
 arrival he hoped to receive tidings that very night. These 
 disclosures, which Leshe immediately communicated to 
 the conspirators, made them change their original plan. 
 The urgency of the danger admitted not of half-meas- 
 ures. Egra might in «<i moment be in the enemy's 
 hands, and a sudden revolution set their prisoner at 
 liberty. To anticipate this mischance, they resolved to 
 assassinate him and his associates the following night. 
 
 In order to execute this design with less noise, it was 
 arranged that the fearful deed should be perpetrated at 
 an entertainment which Colonel Buttler should give iu 
 ihe castle of Egra. All the guests, except Wallenstein, 
 made their appearance, who, being in too gi'eat anxiety 
 of mind to enjoy company, excused himself. With re- 
 gard to him, therefore, their plan must be again rViangcd 
 
 •{frKILLLKS THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 :i09 
 
 out they resolved to execute their design against the 
 othei s. The three colonels, Illo, Terzky, and William 
 Kinsky, came in with careless confidence, and with them 
 Captain Neumann, an officer of ability, whose advice 
 Terzky sought in every intricate aflair. Previous to 
 iheir aiTival, trusty soldiers of the garrison, to whom the 
 plot had been communicated, were admitted into tho 
 castle, all the avenues leading from it guarded, and six 
 of Buttler's dragoons concealed in an apartment close to 
 the banqueting-room, who, on a concerted signal, were 
 to rush in and kill the traitors. Without suspecting the 
 danger that hung over them, the guests gnyly abandoned 
 themselves to the pleasures of tlie table, and Walien- 
 stein's health was drunk in full bumpers, not as a serv- 
 ant of tho emperor, but as a sovereign prince. The 
 wine opened their hearts, and Illo, with exultation, 
 boasted that in three days an army would arrive, such 
 as Wallenstein had never before been at the head of. 
 '* Yes," cried Neumann, '* and then he hopes to bathe 
 his hands in Atistrian blood." During this conversa- 
 tion, the dessert was brought in, and Leslie gave tho 
 concerted signal to raise the drawbridges, while he him- 
 self received the keys of the gates. In an instant the 
 hall was filled with armed men, who, with the unex- 
 pected greeting of *' Long live Ferdinand!" placed 
 themselves behind the chairs of the marked gucssts. 
 Surprised, and with a presentiment of their fate, they 
 sprang from the table. Kinsky and Terzky were killed 
 upon the spot, and before they could put themselves 
 upon their guard. Neumann, during the confusion in 
 the hall, escaped into the court, where, however, bo 
 was instantly recognized and cut down. Illo alone had 
 the presence of mind to defend himself. He placed his 
 back against a window, from whence he poured the 
 bitterest reproaches upon Gordon, and challenged him 
 to fight him fairly and honorably. After a gallant re- 
 sistance, in which he slew two of his assailants, he feK 
 to the ground, overpowered by numbers, and pierced 
 with ten wounds. The deed was no sooner accom- 
 plished, than Leslie hastened into the town to prevent 
 a tumult. The sentinels at the castle gate, seeing him 
 running and out of breath, and believing ho belonged U 
 
310 
 
 eClllLLEll'rf TIlIilTY YKARS WAR. 
 
 the rebels, hied their mnskets after him, but wlthoirt 
 effect. The firing, however, aroused the town-guard, 
 and all Leslie's presence of mind ^as requisite to allay 
 the tumult. He hastily detailed to them all the cu-- 
 cumstances of Wallenstein's conspiracy, the measures 
 which had been already taken to counteract it, the tate 
 of the four rebels, as well as that which awaited their 
 chief. Finding the troops well disposed, he exacted 
 from them a new oath of fidelity to the emperor, and to 
 live and die for the good cause. A hundred of Battler's 
 dragoons were sent from the castle into the town to 
 patrol the streets, to overawe the partisans of the duke, 
 and to prevent tumult. All the gates of Egi-a were at 
 the same time seized, and every avenue to Wallen- 
 stein's residence, which adjoined the market-place, 
 guarded by a numerous and trusty body of troops, suf 
 ficient to prevent either his escape, or his receiving any 
 assistance from without. 
 
 But before they proceeded finally to execute the deed. 
 a long conference was held among the conspirators u. 
 The castle, whether they should kill him, or content 
 themselves with making him prisoner. Besprinkled as 
 they were with the blood, and deliberating almost over 
 the verv corpses of his murdered associates, even these 
 furious "men yet shuddered at the horror of taking away 
 so illustrious a life. They saw, before their mind's eye, 
 him their leader in battle, in the days of his good lor- 
 tune, surrounded by his victorious ai-my, clothed with 
 all the pomp of militaiy greatness, and long accustomed 
 awe again seized their minds. But this transitory 
 emotion was soon effaced by the thought of the imme- 
 diate danger. They remembered the hints which Neu- 
 mann and Illo had thrown out at table, the near approach 
 of a formidable army of Swedes and Saxons, and they 
 clearly saw that the death of the traitor >vas their only 
 chance of safety. They adhered, therefore, to their 
 first resolution, and Captain Deveroux, an Irishman, 
 who had already been retained for the murderous pur- 
 pose, received decisive orders to act. 
 
 While these three officers were thus deciding upon 
 his fate in the castle of Egi-a, Wallenstein was occu- 
 pied in reading the stars with Seni. *' The danger is 
 
 
 SCllILLERd TIllllTV YEARS WAR. 
 
 Sll 
 
 net yet over," said the astrologer with prophetic spirit, 
 •' It 25," replied the duke, who would give the law even 
 to heaven. ''But," he continued with equally prophetic 
 spirit, " that thou, friend Seni, thyself shall soon be thrown 
 into prison, that also is written in the stars." The astrol- 
 oger had taken his leave, and Wallenstein had retired 
 to bed, when Captain Deveroux appeared before his 
 residence with six halberdiers, and was immediately 
 admitted by the guard, who were accustomed to see 
 him visit the general at all hours. A page, who met him 
 upon the stairs, and attempted to raise an alnrm, was 
 run through the body with a pike. In the antechamber, 
 the assassins met a servant, who had just come out of 
 the sleeping-room of his master, and had taken with him 
 the key. Putting his finger upon his mouth, the tc;rri- 
 fied domestic made a sign to them to make no noise, as 
 the duke was asleep. "■ Friend," cried Deveroux, '' it 
 is time to awake him ;" and with these words he rushed 
 against the door, which was also bolted from within, and 
 burst it open. 
 
 Wallenstein had been roused from his first sleep by 
 the report of a musket which had accidentally gone otf, 
 and had sprung to the window to call the guard. At the 
 same moment, he heard, from the adjoining building, 
 the shrieks of the countesses Terzky and Kinsky, who 
 had just learned the violent fate of their husbands. Ere 
 he had time to reflect on these terrible events, Deve- 
 roux, with the other murderers, was in his chamber. 
 The duke was in his shirt, as he had leaped out of bed, and 
 leaning on the table near the window. " Art thou the 
 villain," cried Deveroux to him, " who intends to de- 
 liver up the emperor's troops to the enemy, and to tear 
 rhe crown from the head of his majesty ? Now thou 
 must die !" He paused for a few moments, as if expecting 
 an answer ; but rage and astonishment kept Wallenstein 
 silent. Throwing his arms wide open, he received in 
 his breast the deadly blow of the halberds, and, without 
 uttering a groan, fell weltering in his blood. 
 
 The next day an express arrived from the Duke of 
 Lauenburg, announcing his approach. The messenger 
 was secured, and another in Wallenstein's livery dis- 
 patched to the duke, to decoy him into Egra. The 
 
V,V2 
 
 ULUlLLlAi :i TIIIUTY Vi:Al{is' WAR. 
 
 strMjigein succeeded, and Francis Albert fell into the 
 iiands ot the enemy. Duke Bernard of Weimar, who 
 was on h:s march toward Egra, was nearly sharinr the 
 same late. Fortunately, he heard of Wallenstein's 
 death m time to save himself, by a retreat. Ferdinand 
 shed a tear over the fate of his general, and ordered 
 three thousand masses to be said for his soul at Vienna- 
 but, at the same time, ho did not forget to reward his 
 assassins with gold chains, chamberlain's kevs. dignities 
 and estates. ... to - » 
 
 Thus did Wallenstein, at the age of fifty, terminate 
 his active and extraordinary life. To ambition he owed 
 f^oth his gieatness and his ruin ; wilh all his failings he 
 possessed great and admirable qualities, and had lie kept 
 iiimselt withui due bounds, he would have lived and 
 died without an equal. The virtues of the ruler anc 
 ot the hero, prudence, justice, firmness, and courage 
 are stnkmgly prominent features in his character • but 
 he wanted the gentler virtues of the man, wliich adorn 
 the hero, and make the ruler beloved. Terror was tho 
 tahsman with which he worked ; extr^.ue in his punish- 
 ments as in his rewards, ho knew how to keep alive the 
 zeal ol h,s followers, while no general of ancient or 
 modern times could beast of being obeyed with equal 
 alacrity. Submission to his will was more prized bv 
 him than bravery- ; for, if the soldiers work by the latter 
 It is on the former that the general depends. He con- 
 tinually kept up the obedience of his troops hy capri- 
 cious orders, and j)rofusely rewarded the readiness to 
 obey even m trifles ; because he looked rather to the act 
 itselt than its object. IJe once issued a decree, with the 
 penalty of death on disobedience, that none but red 
 sashes should be worn in the army. A captain of horc« 
 no sooner heard the order than, pulling off his gold-em- 
 broidered sash, he trampled it under foot; WallensKMn 
 on being informed of the circumstance, promoted hini 
 on the spot to the rank of colonel. His comprehensive 
 glance was always directed to the whole, and in all his 
 apparent caprice, he steadily kept in view some general 
 scope or bearing. The robberies committed by the 
 soldiers in a friendly country had led to the severest 
 orders against marauders ; and all who should be caught 
 
 SCUIILEtt's THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 3] 3 
 
 tineving wore threatened with the halter. Wallenstein 
 
 nnsel having met a straggler in the open coun ™ 
 tl e field, comiranded him to be seized without Si7 as 
 a transgressor of the law, and, in his usual voice of 1 un! 
 der, exclaimed. - Hang the fellow," against which no op- 
 position ever availed. The soldier pleaded and m-oved Zs 
 nnocence, but the irrevocable sentence had gLe ford 
 
 "' ^h"|u 1^ 'w ll T'^'' T'' '''' '"^^^^-^^^^ Wallentte ;;; 
 the gu.lry wdl have then more reason to tremb'e " 
 
 Preparations were already making to execute the se^ 
 
 tence. when the soldier, who gav^e himself up f^^ os' ' 
 
 rent h:ti;t "^^^'^^ ^^ "^^ ^^^'"^ ^^ 
 
 levenge. He fell furiously upon his judge, but was 
 overpowered by numbers, and disarmed befSi-; he couH 
 fulfill his design. -Now let him go." said the duke 
 "it wdl excite sufficient terror." ' 
 
 His munificence was supported by an immense in- 
 come, which was estimated at three millions of florins 
 yearly, without reckoning tho enormous sums which he 
 raised under the name of contributions. His liber iltv 
 and ciearness of understanding raised him above the 
 religious prejudices of his age ; and the Jesuits Jer 
 orgave him lor having seen through their system and 
 tor regarding the Pope as nothing iSore than'a bishop o 
 xvome. * 
 
 But as no one ever yet came to a fortuniite enrl who 
 rnTth' ^^-'^ 'h%^''"'-.<=''' Wallenstein also mustang 
 n ent the number of its victin.s. Through the intrigues 
 ot monks, he lost at Rafsbon the command of the army 
 and at Egra h.s hfe ; by the same arts, perhaps, belli 
 what was ot more consequence, his honorable name :Sd 
 good repute w.tli posterity. 
 
 For in justice it must be admitted, that the pens whic'i 
 have traced the history of this extraordmary man re 
 not untmgedwnh partiality, and that the treacherj of 
 the duke, an,I h,s designs upon the throne of Bohemia 
 rest not so much upon proven facts a, upon probab e 
 eonjecture. No documents have yet been brou-^ht o 
 l:ght winch disclose with historical certainty the secrw 
 motives ol his conduct; and among all his pubic and«e^ 
 attested actions, there is, perhaps", not one which co'iW 
 " I ha.- nud a , mnocent end. .Many of his most nb- 
 
 L) h 
 
s^l 
 
 iSCIIILLUR'd THIRTY YEARs' WAR. 
 
 noxious measures proved nothing but the earnest wish 
 he entertained for peace; most of the others are ex- 
 plained and justified by the well founded distrust he en- 
 tertained of the emperor, and the excusable wish of 
 maintaining his own importance. It is true that his 
 conduct toward the Elector of Bavaria, and the dictates 
 of an impl.jcable spirit, look too. like an unworthy re- 
 venge ; but still, none of his actions perhaps warrant us 
 in holding his treason to be proved. If necessity and 
 despair at last forced him to deserve the sentence which 
 had been pronounced against him while innocent, stil' 
 this, if true, will not justify that sentence. Thus Wal- 
 lonstein fell, not because he was a rebel, but he became 
 a rebel because he fell. Unfortunate in life that he 
 made a victorious party his enemy; and still more un 
 fortunate in death, that the same party survived him 
 and wrote his history. 
 
 BOOK Y. 
 
 Wallenstein's death rendered necessary the ap- 
 pomtment of a new generalissimo; and the emperor 
 yielded at last to the advice of the Spaniards to raise 
 his son Ferdinand, King of Hungary, to that ^ignity. 
 Under him. Count Gallas commanded, who perfomed 
 the functions of commander-in-chief, while the prince 
 brought to this post nothing but his name and dignity. 
 A«considerable force was soon assembled under Ferdi- 
 nand ; the Duke of Lorraine brought up a considerable 
 body of auxiliaries in person, and the cardinal infante 
 •oined him from Italy with ten thousand men. In order 
 to drive the enemy from the Danube, the new general 
 undertook the enterprise in which his predecessor had 
 failed, the siege of Ratisbon. In vain did Duke Bernard 
 of Weimar penetrate into the interior of Bavaria, with 
 a view to draw the enemy from the town ; Ferdinand 
 continued to press the siege with vigor, and the cit;^ 
 after a most obstinate resistance, was obliged to open its 
 gates to him. Donauwerth soon shared the same fate. 
 
 SCHiLLER'S THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 315 
 
 ami Nordlingen in Suabia was now invested. The loss 
 of so many of the imperial cities was severely fek by 
 the Swedish party; as the friendship of these towns 
 had so largely contributed to the success of their arms, 
 indiflerence to their fate would have been inexcusaoie! 
 [t would have been an indellible disgiace had they de- 
 serted their confederates in their need, and abandoned 
 them to the revenge of an implacable conqueror. M oved 
 by these considerations, the Swedish army, under the 
 command of Horn, and Bernnrd of Weimar, advanced 
 upon Nordlmgen, determined to relieve it, even at the 
 expense of a battle. 
 
 The undertaking was a dangerous one, for in numbers 
 the enemy was greatly superior to that of the Swedes, 
 ihere was also a further reason for avoiding a battle at 
 present ; the enemy's force was likely soon to divide 
 the Italian troops being destined for the Netherlands! 
 In the mean time, such a position might be takec up 
 as to cover Nordlingen, and cut off their supplies. All 
 these grounds were strongly urged by Gustavus Horn, 
 m the Swedish council of war; but his remonstrances 
 were disregarded by men who, intoxicated by a long 
 career of success, mistook the suggestions of prudence 
 tor the voice of timidity. Overbm-ne by the superior 
 influence of Duke Bernard, Gustavus Horn was com/ 
 polled to risk a contest, whose unfavorable issue a dark 
 foreboding seemed already to announce. The fate of 
 the battle depended upon the possession of a heght 
 which commanded the imperial camp. An attempt to 
 occupy it during the night failed, as the tedious trsins- 
 port ot the artillery through woods and hollow ways de- 
 layed the aiTival of the troops. When the Swedes 
 arrived about midnight, they found the heights in pos- 
 session of the enemyf strongly intrenched. They 
 waited, therefore, for daybreak, to carry them by storm, 
 rheir impetuous courage surmounted evoiy obstacle • 
 the intrenchments, which were in the form of a cres- 
 cent, were fortunately scaled by each of the two brig- 
 ades appointed to the service ; but as they entered at 
 the same moment, from opposite sides, they met and 
 threw each other into confusion. At this unfortunate 
 moment a barrel of powder blew up, and created the 
 
31C 
 
 SCmi.LKRS TllIKTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 greatast disorde • among the Swedes. The im])eiial 
 cav»jy charged upon their broken ranks, and the flight 
 became universal. No persuasion on the part of theii 
 general could induce the fugitives to renew the assault. 
 
 He resolved, therefore, in order to cai'iy this import- 
 ant post, to lead fresh troops to the attack. But in the 
 interim, some Spanish regiments had marched in, and 
 every attempt to gain it was repulsed by their heroic 
 intrepidity. One of the duke's own regiments advanced 
 seven times, and was as often driven back. The disad- 
 vantage of not occupying this post in time, was quickly 
 and sensibly felt. The fire of the enemy's artillery 
 from the heights caused such slaughter in the adjacent 
 wing of the Swedes, that Horn, who commanded there, 
 was forced to give orders to retire.' Instead of being 
 able to cover the retreat of his colleague, and to check 
 the pursuit of the enemy, Duke Bernard, overpowered 
 by nnmbers, was himself driven into the plain, where 
 his routed cavalry spread confusion among Horn's brig- 
 ade, and rendered the defeat complete. Almost the 
 entire infantry were killed or taken prisoners. More 
 than twelve thousand men remained dead upon the field 
 of battle ; eighty field-pieces, about four thoL^nmd wag- 
 ons, and three hundred standards and colors, fell into 
 the hands of the imperialists. Horn himself, with three 
 other generals, w^ere taken prisoners. Duke Bernard 
 with difficulty saved a feeble remnant of his army, 
 which joined him at Frankfort. 
 
 The defeat at Nordlingen, cost the Swedish chancel- 
 lor the second sleepless night* he had passed in Ger- 
 many. The consequences of this disaster were terri- 
 ble. The Swedes had lost by it at once their superi- 
 ority in the field, and with it the confidence of their con- 
 . federates, which they had gamed solely by their previ- 
 ous military success. A dangerous division threatened 
 the Protestant Confederation with ruin. Consternation 
 and terror seized upon the whole party ; while the pa- 
 pists arose with exulting triumph from the deep humil- 
 iation into which they had sunk. Suabia and the adja- 
 cent circles first felt the consequences of the defeat of 
 Nordlingen ; and Wiitemburg, in particular, was over- 
 • The (i;s; wss occasioned !)y the death cf Gustavus Adolphu» 
 
 SCHILLEll's THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 317 
 
 run by the conquering army. All the members of the 
 League of Heilbronn trembled at the prospect of the 
 
 whiu'l' TfT ' /^^'' '''*^^ ^'^"'^' ^^^ to Strasbarg, 
 while the helpless free cities awaited their fate with 
 a.arn). A little more of moderation toward the con- 
 quered, would have quickly reduced all the weaker 
 states under the emperor's authority ; but the severity 
 which was practiced even against those who voluntarily 
 surrendered, drove the rest to despair, and roused them 
 to a vigorous resistance. 
 
 In this perplexity, all looked to Oxenstiern for coynsel 
 and assistance : Oxenstiern applied for both to the Ger- 
 man states. Proops were wanted ; money likewise, to 
 raise new levies and to pay to the old the aVrears wb ch 
 W.T r^'^ fj'-^^o^ously demanding. Oxenstiern ad- 
 dressed himself to the Elector of Saxony; but he 
 shamefully abandoned the Swedish cause, to negotiate 
 or a separate peace with the emperor at Pirnaf He 
 solicited aid from the Lower Saxon states; but they 
 long wearied of the Swedish pretensions and demands 
 for money now thought only of themselves ; and George. 
 
 cf UnnL r"^ '^'/"/'"'^ ^^^^'"g ^° ^h« assistance 
 fir ^^ ^ ''^^"^' ^^'^ "'^Se to Minden, with the in- 
 tention of keeping possession of it for himself. Abandon- 
 tn Jr <-erman allies, tlie chancellor exerted him.elt 
 to obtain the assistance of foreign powers. England 
 Holland, and Venice were applied \o for troopf .nd 
 money; and, driven to the last extremity, the chance lor 
 reluctantly resolved to take the disagreeable st^p wh.ch 
 
 nro^P /' Jong avoided, and to throw himself under the 
 protection of France. 
 
 The moment had at Inst arrived whicli Richelieu had 
 long waited for with impatience. Nothing, he was 
 myare, but the impossibility of saving themsekes by Iny 
 other means, could induce the Protestant states in G.-r- 
 many to support the pretensions of France upon Alsace 
 
 ^- JLTnnT*' "'"''''!? '""'• "r '"•"™'^' the assistance 
 
 to lo wi I L h7''M"''"P'"'""^' «"'' ^'•« ^"S resolved 
 
 o ale tl r r "'•' """^ f"'' ^^"'"^'' »h« ^^s "bout 
 o take in the German war. Full of luster and dignity. 
 
 ■It I M.?Tr T" *''" f"^'"'""'^ ^'"g"- Oxenstiernfwho 
 ielt litllo roluctatico ,n bestowing Iho rights and posses 
 
 I>n2 
 
318 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR, 
 
 sions of the empire, had already ceded the forti-ess of 
 Philipsburg, and the other long coveted places. The 
 Protestants of Upper Germany now, in their own 
 names, sent a special embassy to Richelieu, requesting 
 him to take Alsace, the fortress of Breyssach, which 
 was still to be recovered from the enemy, and all the 
 places upon the Upper Rhine, which were the keys of 
 Germany, under the protection of France. What was 
 implied by French protection had been seen in the con- 
 duct of France toward the bishoprics of Mentz, Toul, 
 and .Verdun, which it had held for centuries against the 
 rightful owners. Treves was already in the possession 
 of French garrisons; Lorraine w^as in a manner con- 
 quered, as it might at any time be overrun by an army, 
 and could not, alone, and with its own strength, with- 
 stand its formidable neighbor. France now entertained 
 the hope of adding Alsace to its large and numerous 
 possessions, and, as a treaty was soon to be concluded 
 with the Dutch for the partition of the Spanish Nether- 
 lands, the prospect of making the Rhine its natural 
 boundary tow\ard Germany. Thus shamefully were the 
 rights of Germany sacrificed by the German states to 
 this treacherous and gi-asping power, which, under the 
 mask of a disinterested friendship, aimed only at its own 
 aggrandizement; and w^hile it boldly claimed the honor- 
 able title of a Protectress, was solely occupied with 
 promoting its own schemes, and advancing its own in- 
 terests amid the general confusion. 
 
 In return for these important cessions, France en 
 gaged to effect a diversion in favor of the Swedes, by 
 commencing hostilities against die Spaniards; and if 
 this should lead to an open breach with the emperor, to 
 maintain an- army upon the German side of the Rhine, 
 which was to act in conjunction with the Swedes and 
 Gemians against Austi'ia. For a war with Spain, the 
 Spaniards themselves soon afforded the desired pretext. 
 Making an inroad from the Netherlands, u\)on the city 
 of Treves, they cut in pieces the French garrison; and, 
 in open violation of the law of nations, made prisoner the 
 elector, who had placed himself under the protection of 
 France, and cairied him into Flanders. WHfen the cardi- 
 nal inf: t;t o .-IS viceroy of the Spanish Neflierlands, refused 
 
 Schiller's thirty years war. 319 
 
 satisfaction for these injuries, and delayed to restore the 
 prince to hberty, Richelieu, after the old custom, form- 
 nily proclauned war at Brussels by a herald, and the 
 war was at once opened by three different armies in 
 Milan, HI the Valteline, and in Flanders. The French 
 minister was less anxious to commence hostilities with 
 the emperor, which promised fewer advantages., and 
 threatened greater difficulties. A fourth army, how- 
 ever, was detached across the Rhine into Germany, 
 under the command of Cardinal Lavalette, which was 
 to act m conjunction with Duke Bernard, against the 
 emperor, without a previous declaration of war. 
 
 A heavier blow for the Swedes, than even the defeat 
 ot Nordlingen, was the reconciliation of the Elector of 
 Saxony with the emperor. After many fruitless at- 
 tempts both to bring about and to prevent it, it was at 
 last effected m 1634, at Pirna, and, the following year, 
 reduced into a formal treaty of peace, at Prague. 'The 
 Elector of Saxony had always viewed with jealousy the 
 pretensions of the Swedes in Germany; and his aver- 
 sion to this foreign power, which now gave laws within 
 the empire, had grown with every fresh requisition that 
 Oxenstiern was obliged to make upon the German 
 states. Ihis ill-feehng was kept alive by the Spanish 
 court, who labored earnestly to efiect a peace between 
 Saxony and the emperor. Wearied with the calamities 
 Ota long and destructive contest, which had selected 
 Saxony above all others for its theater; grieved bv the 
 miseries which both friend and foe inflicted upor. his 
 subjects; and seduced by the tempting propositions of 
 the House of Austria, the elector at last abandoned the 
 common cause ; and, caring little for the fate of his .con- 
 federates 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 to such a 
 Height, lliat ail clamorously vociferated for petM^e ; and 
 even the most disadvantageous pacification would fiavo 
 been hailed as a blessing from heaven. The plains 
 which formerly had been thronged with a h^ppy and 
 industrious population, whore nature had lavished hei 
 cho:co:;t .g-frs. and plenty a^d prosperity had reigned. 
 
320 
 
 SCHILLER 6 THIRTV YEAKs' 
 
 WAS, 
 
 s. 
 
 were now a wild and desolate wilderness. The fields, 
 jibnndoned by the industrious husbandman, lay waste 
 and uncultivated ; and no sooner had the young crops 
 given the promise of a smiling harvest, than a siniile 
 march destroyed the labors of a year, and blasted the 
 last hope of an afflicted peasantiy. Burnt cnstles, 
 wasted fields, villages in ashes, were to be seen extend- 
 ing far and wide on all sides, while the ruined peasantry 
 had no resource left but to swell the horde of incendia- 
 ries, and tearfully to retaliate upon their fellows, wlio 
 had hitherto been spared the miseries which they theu)- 
 selves had sullered. The only safeguard against op- 
 pression was to become an oppressor. The towns 
 jiToaned under the licentiousness of undisciplined and 
 Ijlundering garrisons, who seized and wasted the prop- 
 erty of the citizens, and, under the license of their po- 
 sition, comTuitted the most remorseless devastation and 
 cruelty. If the inarch of an army converted w^holo 
 provinces into deserts, if others were impoverished by 
 winter-quarters, or exhausted by contributions, these 
 still were but passing evils, and the industry of a year 
 might eftace the miseries of a few months. But there 
 was no relief for those who had a garrison w^ithin their 
 walls, or in the neighborhood ; even the change of for- 
 tune could not improve their unfortunate late, since the 
 victor trod in the; steps of the vanquished, and friends 
 were not more merciful than enemies. The neglected 
 farms, the destruction of the crops, and the numerous 
 armies which oven-an the exhausted countr}^ were 
 inevitably followed f^ scarcity and the high price of pro- 
 visions, which in the later years wa^ still further increas- 
 ed by a general failure in the crops. The crowding to- 
 gether of men in camps and quarters — want upon one 
 side, and excess on the other— occasioned contagious dis- 
 tempers, which w^ere more fatal than even the sword. 
 In this long and general confusion, all the bonds of social 
 life were broken up ; respect for the rights of their fel- 
 low-men, the fear of tfie laws, purity of morals, honor, 
 and religion, were laid aside— might ruled supreme with 
 n-on scepter. Undei- the shelter of anarchy and impu- 
 nity every vice flourished, and men became as wild as 
 the country. No station was too dignified foj- outrage. 
 
 SCII!M,Eu's THIRTV VEARS* WAR. S2} 
 
 no property too holy for rapine and avarice. In a word 
 the soldier reigned .upreino; nud that most biu^irof 
 dospots often n.ado his cvn officer feellis pol^ 
 lie leader ol an army was a fnr more important person 
 withm any country where he appeared, han its hwful 
 governor, who was frequently obliged to fly before him 
 nto h.s own castles for safety. Germany swarmed w^ 
 these petty tyrants, and the country suffered eaimlv 
 from Its enemies and its protectors^ These .vondl 
 rankled the deeper, when the unhappy victims reject 
 ed that Germany was sacrificed tothi amSn of for-' 
 oign powers, who, for their own ends, prolonged the 
 imsenes of war. Germany bled under he scoirt ^ 
 extend the conquests and influence of Sweden ; and ihe 
 IZLf- ^'^^7^ was kept alive within the empire that 
 
 But, in truth, it was not merely interested voxea 
 which opposed a peace; and if both Sweden and the 
 (.erman states were anxious, from corrupt motivt to 
 prolong the conflict, they were seconded in their vii'ws 
 by sound policy. After the defeat of Nordlingen 1 
 equitable peace was not to be expected from the mu" 
 peror; and this being the case, v^4s it not tTo g^ea a 
 sacrifice after sixteen years of war, with all its nS L 
 to abandon the contest, not only without advanrnLe bui 
 ^ven with loss ? What would avail so much bloodshed 
 .t a II was to remain as it had been ; if the^r glS 
 pretensions were neither larger nor safer; if al t Lat 
 had been won with so nfach difficulty was t^ be surren- 
 dered for a peace at any cost ? Would it not be beUer 
 o endure for two or three years more, the burd ^s 
 they had borne so long, and to reap at last some recom 
 pense for twenty years of suffering ? Neither was^^ 
 doubtful, that peace might at last be obtained onfrvora 
 ble terms, if only the Swedes and the German Prot^s 
 tants should continue united in the cabinet and in he 
 field and pursued their common interests with a rec n 
 rTd '^Pf^^^ «"^ ^««1- Their divisions alone had 
 rendered the enemy formidable, and protracted the 
 Acquisition of a lasting and general peace An^ .i 
 g.-eat evn the Elector^ SaxLy "a^bToifght upon t 
 
322 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 Protestant cause by concluding a separate treaty with 
 Austria. 
 
 He, indeed, had commenced his negotiations with the 
 emperor, even before the defeat of Nordlingen ; and the 
 unfortunate issue of that battle only accelerated their 
 conclusions. By it, all his confidence in the Swedes 
 was lost ; and it was even doubted whether they would 
 ever recover from the blow. The jealousies among 
 their generals, the insubordination of the army, and the 
 exhaustion of the Swedish kingdom, shut out any rea- 
 sonable prospect of effective assistance on their part. 
 The elector hastened, therefore, to profit by the em- 
 peror's magnanimity, who, even after the battle of Nord- 
 lingen, did not recall the conditions previously offered. 
 While Oxenstiern, who had assembled the "states ih 
 Frankfort, made further demands upon them and him 
 the emperor, on the contrary, made concessions; and 
 therefore, it required no long consideration to decide be- 
 tween them. 
 
 In the mean time, however, he was anxious to escape 
 the chaige of sacrificing the common cause and attend- 
 ing only to his own interests. All the German states, 
 and even the Swedes, were publicly invited to become 
 parties to this peace, although Saxony and the emperor 
 were the only powers who deliberated upon it, and who 
 assumed the right to give law to Germany. By this 
 self-appointed tribunal, the grievances of the Protestants 
 were discussed, their rights and privileges decided, and 
 even the fate of religions determined, without the pres- 
 ence of those who were most deeply interested in it. 
 Between them a general peace was resolved on, and it 
 was to be enforced by an imperial army of execution, 
 as a formal decree of the empire. Whoever opposed it, 
 was to be treated as a public enemy ; and thus, contrary 
 to their rights, the states were to be compelled to ac- 
 knowledge a law, in the passing of which they had no 
 share. Thus, even in form, the pacification at Prague 
 was an arbitraiy measure ; nor was it less so in its con- 
 tents. The Edict of Restitution had been the chief 
 cause of dispute between the elector and the empemr 
 and, therefore, it was first considered in their delibera- 
 tions. Without formally annulling it it was determined 
 
 i 
 
 r 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 schiij.er's thirty years' war. 32? 
 
 by the treaty of Prague, that all the ecclesiastica t do 
 mams holdmg immediately of the empire, and, arnoa 
 the mediate ones, those which had been seized by the. 
 t rotestants subsequently to the treaty at Passau, should 
 ror toity years, remain in the same position as the> hat« 
 been m before the Edict of Restitution, but without an. 
 Jormal decision of the Diet to that effect. Before the 
 expiration of this term a commission, composed of equa' 
 numbers -of both religions, should proceed to settle the 
 matter peaceably and according to law ; and if this c om 
 mission should be unable to come to a decision, eacJ 
 party should remain in i>ossession of the rights whii-h i 
 had exercised before the Edict of Restitution. TJb.s 
 arrangement, thQiefore, far from remqyingthe ground-, ot 
 dissension, only suspended the dispute for a time- and 
 this article of the treaty of Prague only covered th. em- 
 bers ot a future war. 
 
 ..3n! ^'?^''?"'' "/ Magdeburg was to remain in pos- 
 
 m that of the Archduke Leopold William. Four est.ites 
 were taken from the territory of Magdeburg, and give^ 
 to Saxony for which the Administrator of Magdeburg 
 Chnstmn W.Il.am, of Brandenburg, was etherise t. b^e 
 
 n^ t^'^v'l- T^'' ^"^^^ "'■ '^^''^-klcbu'-g, upon acced- 
 ing to this treaty, were to be iidamwledged as rightful 
 possessors of their territories, in which thi magnSty 
 ^^.n.T""J A'^^'Ph'^s had long ago reinstated thenK 
 Donauwenh recovered its liberties. The important 
 clamis of the hens of the palatine, however im^or an 
 It m,ght be for the Protestant cause not to lose this 
 e Imorate vote m the Diet, wer« passed over in corse! 
 
 «„,»";!. 1<S?™*""^"?,''H''"'S bet^veen the Luther-- 
 nns and the Calvmists. All the conquests which, in the 
 
 TfavZ f""^"""' ^f l^^" """^^ ''y ">« German'states! 
 vL7 A u^u" J","^ 'J'^ eniperor, were to be piutually 
 restored ; all which had been appropriated by the foreigj 
 powers of France and Sweden, was to be forcibly wrest- 
 ed from them by the united powers. The troops of the 
 contracting parties were to be formed into one imperial 
 army, which, supported and paid by the empire, was, 
 by iorce of arms, to cany into execution the covenanU 
 01 the treaty. 
 
324 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 As the peace of Prague was intended to serve as a 
 general law of the empire, those points, which did not 
 immediately affect the latter, formed the subject of a 
 separate treaty. By it Lnsatia was ceded to the Elect- 
 or of Saxony as a fief of Bohemia, and special articles 
 guai-antied the freedom of religion of this countiy and 
 *f Silesia. 
 
 All the Protestant states were invited to accede to the 
 II eaty of Prague, and on that condition were to benefit by 
 the amnesty. The princes of Wirtemburg and Baden, 
 whose territories the emperor was already in possession 
 of, and which he was not disposed to restore uncon- 
 ditionally ; and such vassals of Austria as had borne arms 
 against their soveteign ; and those states which, under 
 the direction of Oxenstiern, composed the council of the 
 upper German Circle, were excluded from the ti'eaty— 
 not so much with the view of continuing the war against 
 them, as of compelling them to purchase peace at a 
 dearer rate. Their temtories were to be retained in 
 pledge, till every thing should be restored to its former 
 looting. Such was the treaty of Prague. Equal jus- 
 tice, however, toward all, might perhaps have restored 
 confidence between the head of the empire and its mem- 
 bers—between the Protestants and the Roman Catho- 
 lics—between the Reformed and the Lutheran party ; 
 and the Swedes, abandoned by all their allies, would, in 
 all probability, have been driven from Germany with 
 disgrace. But this inequality strengthened, in those who 
 were more severely treated, the spirit of mistrust and 
 opposition, and made it an easier task for the Swedes 
 to keep alive the flame of war, and to maintain a party 
 m Cxermany. '' 
 
 The peace of Prague, as might have been expected, 
 was received with very various feelings throughout Ger- 
 many. .The attempt to conciliate both parties, had ren- 
 dered It obnoxious to both. The Protestants complained 
 ot the restramts imposed upon them; the Roman Cath- 
 olics thought that these hated sectai-ies had been favored 
 at the expense of the true church. In the opinion of 
 the latter, the Church had been deprived of its inalien- 
 able rights, by the concession to the Protestants of forty 
 yftnr«i undi^Jturhed possession <W the ecclesiastical bene- 
 
 
 sch.-'ller's riiiRTv years' war. 325 
 
 fices ; while the former murmured that the interests of 
 the Protestant church had been betrayed, because tol- 
 eration had not been granted to their co-religionists in 
 the Austrian dominions. But no one was so bitterly 
 reproached as the Elector of Saxony, who was publicly 
 denounced as a deserter, a traitor to religion and the 
 liberties of the empire, and a confedemte of the em[)eror. 
 In the mean time, he consoled himself with the tri- 
 umph ot seeing most of the Protestant states compelled 
 by necessity to embrace this peace. The Elector ot 
 Brandenburg, Duke William of Weimar, the princes ot 
 Anhalt. the dulros of Mecklenburg, the dukes of Bruns- 
 wick and Lunenburg, the Hanse towns, and most of the 
 imperial cities acceded to it. The Landgrave William of 
 Hesse long wavered, or affected to do so, in order to gain 
 rime, and to regulate his measures by the course of events. 
 Ue hadconnnered several fertile provinces of Westphalia 
 and derived from them principally the means o^-coiitinu- 
 ing the war; these, Ly the terms of the treaty, he was 
 bound to restore. Bernard, Duke of Weimar, whose 
 states, «s yet, existed only on paper, as a belligerent 
 power was not affected by the treaty, but as a general 
 was so materially ; and, in either view, he must equally 
 b6 disposed to reject it. His whole riches consisted iu 
 his braveiy, his possessions in his sword. War alone 
 gave him greatness and importance, and war alone could 
 realize the projects which his ambition suggested. 
 
 But of all who declaimed against the treaty of Pnigue 
 none were so loud in their clamors as the Swedes, and 
 none had so much reason for their opposition. Invited 
 to Germany by the Germans themselves, the champions 
 of the Protestant church and the freedom of the states, 
 which they had detended with so much bloodshed, and 
 with the sacred life of their king, they now saw them- 
 selves suddenly and shamefully abandoned, disappointed 
 in all their hopes, without reward and without gratitude 
 driven from the empire for which they had toiled and 
 bled, and exposed to the ridicule of the enemy by the 
 very princes who owed every thing to them. No sat-s- 
 faction, no indemnification for the expenses which thev 
 had incurred, no equivalent for the conquests which thev 
 were to leave behind them, was provided by the treaty 
 
 Ee 
 
320 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 of Prague. They were to be dismissed poorer than 
 they came, or, if they resisted, to be expelled by the 
 very powers who had invited them. The Elector of 
 Saxony at last spoke of a peeuniaiy indemnification, 
 and mentioned the small sum of two millions five hun- 
 dred thousand florins ; but the Swedes had already ex- 
 l)ended considerably more, and this disgi-aceful equiva- 
 lent in money was both contrary to their true interests, 
 and injurious to their pride. *' The electors of Bavaria 
 and Saxony," replied Oxenstiern, "have been paid for 
 their services, and which, as vassals, they were bound 
 to render the emperor, with the possession of important 
 provinces ; and shall we, who have sacrificed oar king 
 for Germany, be dismisseil with the miseiable sum oi 
 tw^o millions five hundred thousand florins?" The dis- 
 appointment of their expectations was the more severe,, 
 because the Swedes had calculated upon being recom- 
 pensed with the duchy of Pomerania, the present pos- 
 sessor of which was old and without heirs. But the 
 succession of this ten-itory was confirmed by the treaty 
 of Prague to the Elector of Brandenburg ; and all the 
 neighboring powers declared against allowing the Swedes 
 to obtain a footing within the empire. 
 
 Never, in the whole course of the war, had the pros- 
 pects of the Swedes looked more gloomy, than in the 
 year 1635, immediately after the conclusion of the treaty 
 of Prague. Many of their allies, particularly among the 
 free cities, abandoned them to benefit by the peace ; 
 others were compelled to accede to it by the victorious 
 arms of the emperor. Augsburg, subdued by famine, 
 surrendered under the severest conditions ; Wurtzburg 
 and Coburg were lost to the Austrians. The League 
 of Heilbronn was formally dissolved. Nearly the whole 
 of Upper Germany, the chief seat of the Swedish 
 power, was reduced under the emperoi-. Saxony, on 
 the strength of the treaty of Prague, demanded the 
 evacuation of Thuringia, Halberstadt, and Magdeburg. 
 Philipsburg, the militaiy depot of France, was surprised 
 by the Austrians, with all the stores it contained ; and 
 this severe loss checked the activity of France. To com- 
 plete the embarrassments of Sweden, the truce with Po- 
 land was drawing to a close. To support a war at the 
 
 SCHILLLU'S THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 327 
 
 same time with Poland and in Germany, was far bt^yond 
 the power of Sweden ; and ail that remained was to 
 choose between them. Pride and ambition declared in 
 favor of continuing the German war, at whatever sacri- 
 fices on. the side of Poland. An army, however, was 
 necessary to command the respect of Poland, and to 
 give weight to Sweden in any negotiations for a truce or 
 a peace. 
 
 The mind of Oxenstiern, firm and inexhaustible in 
 expedients, set itself manfully to meet these calamities, 
 which all combined to overwhelm Sweden ; and his 
 shrewd understanding taught him how to turn even mis- 
 fortunes to his advantage. The defection of so many 
 German cities of the empire deprived him, it is true, of 
 a great part of his former allies, but at the same time it 
 treed him from the necessity of paying any regard to 
 their interests. The more the number of his enemies 
 increased, the more provinces and magazines were 
 opened to his troops. The gross ingratitude of the 
 states, and the haughty contempt with which the em- 
 peror behaved (who did not even condescend to treat 
 directly with him about a peace), excited in him the 
 courage of despair, and a noble determination to main- 
 tain the struggle to the last. The continuance of war, 
 however unfortunate it might prove, could not render 
 the situation of Sweden worse than it now was ; and if 
 Germany was to be evacuated, it was at least bettei* and 
 nobler to do so sword in hand, and to yield to force nitlier 
 than to fear. 
 
 In the extremity in which the Swedes were now 
 placed by the desertion of their allies, they addrcissed 
 themselves to France, who met them with the greatest 
 encouragement. The interests of the two crowns were 
 closely united, and Fnince would have injured herself 
 oy allowing the Swedish power in Germany to decline, 
 rhe helpless situation of the Swedes was rather an ad- 
 ditional motive with France to cement more closely their 
 alliance, and to take a more active pjirt in the German 
 war. Since the alliance with Sweden, at BeerwaJd, in 
 1632, France had maintained the war against the em- 
 peror, by the arms of Gustavus Adolphus, without any 
 open or formal breach, by furnishing subsidies and 
 
328 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 increasing the number of his enemies. But alarmed at 
 the unexpected rapidity and success of the Swedish arms 
 1^ ranee, m anxiety to restore the balance of power, which 
 was disturbed by the preponderance of the Swedes, 
 seemed, lor a time, to have lost sight of its original de- 
 signs. She endeavored to protect the Roman Catholic 
 princes ot the empire against the Swedish conqueror, 
 by the treaties of neutrality, and when this plan failed, 
 she even meditated herself to declare war against him. 
 Jiut no sooner had the death of Gustavus Adoiphus, and 
 the desperate situation of the Swedish affairs, dispelled 
 this apprehension, than it returned with fiesh zeal to it^ 
 fii-st design, and readily afforded, in this misfortune, the 
 aid which in the hour of success she had refused. Freed 
 from the checks which the ambition and vigilance of 
 Gustavus Adoiphus placed upon her plans of aggrandize 
 ment, France availed herself of the thvorable opportu 
 nity aflorded by the defeat of Nordlingen, to obtain tho 
 entire dnection of the war, and to prescribe laws to those 
 who sued for her powerful protection. The moment 
 seemed to smile upon her boldest plans, and those whicb 
 had lomerly seemed chimerical, now appeared to be jus< 
 tified by circumstances. She now turned her whole 
 attention to the war in Germany ; and, as soon as she 
 had secured her own private ends by a treaty with the 
 Germans, she suddenly entered the political arena as an 
 active and a commanding power. While the other bel- 
 ligerent states had been exhausting themselves in a 
 tedious contest, France had been reserving its strength, 
 and maintained the contest by money alone ; but now' 
 when the state of things called for more active measures' 
 she seized the sword, and astonished Europe by the 
 boldness and magnitude of her undertakings. At the 
 «ame moment she fitted out two fleets, and sent six dif- 
 lerent armies into the field, while she subsidized a foreign 
 crown and several of the German princes. Animated by 
 this powerful cooperation, the Swedes and Germans 
 awoke fiom their consternation, and hoj)ed, sword in 
 hand, to obtain a more honorable peace than that oi 
 Frague. Abandoned by their confederates, who had 
 been reconciled to the emperor, they formed a still closer 
 alliance with France, whicli increased her support with 
 
 t^rilLLER's THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 329 
 
 m 
 
 their growing necessities, at the same time taking a more 
 active, although secret share in the German war, until, 
 at last, she threw off the mask altogether, and in her 
 own name made an unequivocal declaration of war 
 against the emperor. 
 
 . ^ To leave Sweden at full liberty to act against Austria, 
 France commenced her operations by liberating it from 
 all fear of a Polish war. By means of the Count 
 d'Avaux, its minister, an agreement was concluded be- 
 tween the two powers at Stummsdorf in Prussia, by 
 which the truce was prolonged for twenty-six ye firs, 
 though not with9ut a gi-eat sacrifice on the part of the 
 Swedes, who ceded, by a single stroke of the pen, almost 
 the whole of Polish Prussia, the dear-bought conquest 
 ot Gustavus Adoiphus. The treaty of Beerwald was, 
 with certain modifications which circumstances ren- 
 dered necessary, renewed at difi'erent times at Com- 
 l)iegne, and afterward at Wismar and Hamburg. Fra ace 
 had already come to a nipture with Spain, in May, 1635, 
 and the vigorous attack which it made upon that power 
 deprived the emperor of his most valuable auxiliaries 
 from the Netherlands. By supporting the Landgrfive 
 William of Cassel, and Duke Bernard of Weimar, the 
 Swedes wore enabled to act with more vigor upon the 
 Elbe and the Danube, and a diversion upon the Rhine 
 compelled the emperor to divide his force. 
 
 The war was now prosecuted with increasing activity. 
 By the treaty of Prague, the emperor had lessened ihe 
 number of his adversaries within the empire ; thoup-h, 
 at the same time, the zeal and activity of his foreigil 
 enemies had been augmented by it. In Germany his 
 influence was almost unlimited, for, with the exception 
 of a few states, he had rendered himself absolute mastei 
 of the German body and its resources, and was agaiu 
 enabled to act in the character of emperor and soverei,^n 
 The first fruit of his power was the elevation of his son 
 Ferdinand III., to the dignity of king of the Romans, tc 
 which he was elected by a decided majority of votes, 
 notwithstanding the opposition of Treves, and of the 
 heirs ot the Elector Palatine. But, on the other hand, 
 he had exasperated the Swedes to desperation, had 
 armed the power of France against him, and drawn its 
 
 F. e2- 
 
330 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 troops into the heart of the kingdom. France anj 
 Sweden, with their German allies, formed, from this 
 moment, one firm and compactly united power; the 
 emperor, with the German states which adhered to 
 him, were equally firm and united. The Swedes, who 
 no longer fought for Germany, but for their own lives, 
 showed no more indulgence ; relieved from the neces- 
 sity of consulting their German allies, or accounting to 
 them for the plans which they adopted, they acted with 
 more precipitation, rapidity, and boldness. Bfittles, 
 though less decisive, became more obstinate and bloody; 
 greater achievements, both in biavery and military skill, 
 were performed ; but they w'ere but insulated efforts ; 
 and being neither dictated by any consistent plan, nor 
 improved by any commanding spirit, had comparatively 
 little influence upon the course of the war. 
 
 Saxony had bound herself by the treaty of Prague, 
 to expel the Swedes from Germany. From this mo- 
 ment the banners of the Saxons and imperialists were 
 united : the former confederates were converted into 
 implacable enemies. The bishopric of Magdeburg, 
 which, by the treaty, was ceded to a prince of Saxony, 
 was still held by the Swedes, and every attempt to ac- 
 quire it by negotiation had proved inefHectual. Hostili- 
 ties commenced by the Elector of Saxony recalling all 
 •lis subjects from the army of Banner, which was en- 
 .camped upon the f^lbe. The officers, long irritated 
 by the accumulation of their arrears, obeyed the sum- 
 mons, and evacuated one quarter after another. As the 
 Saxons, at the same time, made a movement toward 
 Mecklenburg, to take DOmitz. and to drive the Swedes 
 from Pomerania and the Baltic. Banner suddenly marched 
 thither, relieved D6mitz. and totally defeated the Saxon 
 general, Baudissin, with seven thousand men, of whom 
 one thousand were slain, and about the same number 
 taken prisoners. Reinforced by the troops and artillery 
 which had hitherto been employed in Polish Prussia, 
 but which the treaty of Stummsdorf rendered unneces- 
 sary, this brave and imp-otuous general made, the fol- 
 owing year (1C36), a sudden inroad into the Electorate 
 of Saxony, where he gratified his inveterate hatred ot 
 *he Saxons by the most destructive ravages. Irritated 
 
 schillek's thirty years' war .;53l 
 
 oy the inemory of old grievances, which, durin^r their 
 common campaigns, he and the Swedes had suffered 
 frorn the haughtiness of the Saxons, and now exasper- 
 ated to tbe utmost brthe late defection of the elector 
 they wreaked upon the unfortunate inhabitants all their 
 Zr^;^ Against Austria and Bavaria the Swedish ,oV 
 diei had fought from a sense, as it were, of duty; but 
 ugainst the Saxons they contended with all the ener-v 
 of private animosity and personal revenge, detesting 
 them as deserters and traitors; lor the hatred of former 
 triends IS of all the most fierce and irreeoncihble. 'JPhe 
 powerfu diversion made by the Duke of Weimar and 
 the Landgrave ot Hesse, upon the Rhine and in West- 
 phalia, prevented the emperor from affbrdinL^ the neces- 
 sary assistance to Saxony, and left the whole Electorate 
 exposed to the destructive ravages of Banner's army 
 
 At length the elector, having formed a junction with 
 the .mpenal general, Hatzfeld, advanced against Magde- 
 burg, which Banner in vain hastened to Telieve. The 
 united army of the imperialists and the Saxons had 
 
 from the Swedes, and almost drove them to the Baltic 
 But, contiary to all expectation, Banner, who had been 
 given up as lost, attacked the allies on the 24th of Sen 
 
 l^ce 'Thf '"' f '«^^-^^-i-- - bloody battle too'k 
 p ace. The onset was terrific ; and the whole force of 
 the. enemy was directed against the right wing of the 
 Swedes, which was led Uy Banner in person. Tie 
 contest was long maintained with equal Imimosity and 
 obstinacy on botli sides. Scarcely i squadron amon^ 
 the Swedes, which did not return teii times to the 
 charge, and was as often repulsed; when at last, BuZ 
 
 ntir ?:k ' ^eft wing sustained the combat until 
 
 as y et been engaged, was prepared to renew it the next 
 morning. But the elector did not wait for a second 
 nlll r f '''''''^ T"' exhausted by the efforts of the 
 pieceding day; and, as the driver.s had fled with the 
 hoi ses his artillery was unserviceable. He accordindr 
 le reated m the night, with Count Hatzfeld, rud relink 
 SU.«hed the ground to the Swedes. About five thou- 
 
832. 
 
 SCHILLEK a THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 Schiller's thirty years* v 
 
 ' f-i 
 
 sand of the allies fell upon the field, exclusive. of those 
 who were killed in the pursuit, or who fell into the 
 hands of the exasperated peasantiy. One hundred and 
 fifty standards and colors, twenty-fliree pieces of cannon, 
 the whole baggage and silver plate of the elector, were 
 captured, and more than two thousand men taken pris- 
 oners. This brilliant victory, achieved over an enem}- 
 far superior in numbers, and in a very advantageous po- 
 sition, restored the Swedes at once to their former rep- 
 utation ; their enemies were discouraged, and their 
 friends inspired with new hopes. Banner instantly fol- 
 lowed up this decisive success, and hastily crossing* the 
 Elbe, drove the imperialists before him, through Thu- 
 ringia and Hesse, into Westphalia. He then returned, 
 and took up his winter-quarters in Saxony. 
 
 But, without the material aid furnished by the diver 
 sion upon the Rhine, and the activity there of Duke 
 Bernard and the French, these important successes 
 would have been unattainable. Duke Bernard, after the 
 defeat at NordHngei^ reorganized his broken army at 
 Wetterau ; but, abandoned by tlie confederates of the 
 League of Heilbronn, which had been dissolved by the 
 peace of Prague, and receiving little support from the 
 Swedes, ho found himself unable to maintain an army, 
 or to perform any enterprise of importance. The de- 
 feat at Nordlingen had terminated all his hopes on the 
 Duchy ofFranconia, while the weakness of the Swedes 
 destroyed the chance of retrieving his fortunes through 
 their assistance. Tired, too, of the constraint imposed 
 upon him by the imperious chancellor, he turned his 
 attention to France, who could easily supply him with 
 money, the only aid which ho required, and France 
 readily acceded to his proposals. Richelieu desired 
 nothing so much as to diminish the influence of tho 
 Swedes in the German war, and to obtain the direction 
 of it for himself. To secure this end, nothing appeared 
 more effectual than to detach from the Swedes their 
 bravest general, to win him to the interests of France, 
 and to secure for the execution of its projects the ser- 
 vices of his army. From a prince like Bernard, who 
 could not maintain himself without foreign support, 
 France had nothing to fear, since no succes?, however 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 a33 
 
 brilliant could render him i-ndependent of that crown 
 Bernard lumself c„me into France, and in October! 1C3S 
 concluded a treaty at St. Germaine en Love, no" as o 
 Swedish general, but in his own name, by which t was 
 st.pulated that he should receive for himself a 4^^^ 
 pension of one mdhon five hundred thousand, livre:, and 
 our nnllions for the support of his army, which he wm 
 
 mZ^hf ""t"" '^/ '"^''' "^ •»>« ^■"'^"^h king T^ 
 inflame his zeal, and to accelerate the conquest f.f Al- 
 sace, France did not hesitate, by a secret m-iu ,„ 
 jn^mise him that province for'hi^ services Jprtill 
 
 wh h fhf dTe ';f "'"' '"''f" "' Performi^rand 
 wnicn the duke also estimated at its real worth. But 
 
 Bernard confided in his good fortune, and in his arms 
 
 and met artifice with dissimulation. If he cou d Zee 
 
 succeed m wresting Alsace from the enemy, he did not 
 
 Bgamst a friend. He now raised an army at the exoensa 
 
 o derTofVIt'n' '" r"^""""^" """^"••'"y -"-'■« 
 oiders ot that power, but in reality without any limita- 
 tion whatever, and without having wholly abandoned ts 
 
 upirthTthf"' l^''""- H ' "^g- h- opemio": 
 "^vS > T ^'''■^''^'■'' another Fi-ench army, under 
 Cardinal Lavalette had already, in 1635, com^m need 
 hostilities against the emperor. ""k ncea 
 
 Against this force the main body of the imperialists 
 after the great victory at Nordlingen, and th"?educfi on 
 
 mind of g:.";' ^rrr''"- '?" ■"^^-^'^ -d- he "m 
 mand of Gallas, had driven them as far as Mentz cleared 
 
 nd'^FSe^n^liT' ^"A^ ^r^''^^'''^ '"-- °f M^ 
 ana jp lankenthal, ot which they were in Dosse<isinn 
 But frustrated by the vigorous resistance of the French 
 
 France^Tetdtf {"''■'^"P *"^ winter-quartef i',! 
 I ranee, he led back his exhausted troops into Ai'sace 
 
 n«ssed^he"R^' '"" T"'"^ "^ *« next campaign he 
 passed the Rhine at Breysach, and prepared to cirrv 
 the war into the interior of France. ^ HnftuaVv e7 
 tered Burgundy, penetrated into Picardv and Tohn H« 
 \V eith, a formidable general of the LeaL'e and a "ele 
 brated partisan, pushed his march into C&pale and 
 spread consternation even to the gates of Pari ' Bui 
 ^n msiimificant fortress in Francbl Comte complete" 
 
334 schili.kk's thirty years' war. 
 
 checked the progress of the imperialists; and tkey were 
 obliged, a second time, lo abandon thsir enterprise 
 
 The activity of Duke Bernard had hitherto been im- 
 Sh r\ dependence on a French general, mor^ 
 suited to the priestly robe than to the baton of command ; 
 and although, in conjunction with him, he conquered 
 Alsace Saverne, he found himself unable, in the years 
 1636 and 1637, to maintain his position upon the Rhine. 
 
 l!«/ i'T^^'u^ ^^® ^'^"'^ ^^'"^^ i« the Netherlands 
 had Recked the activity of operations in Alsace and 
 Breisgau; but in 1638 the war in that quarter t' ok a 
 
 rdw!^h'"r '"•;":, ^"^'"^^^ ^^"'" ^''' ^o^^er restraint! 
 and with unlimited command of his troops, Duke Ber- 
 nard, m the beginning of February, left his winter-quar- 
 
 UDon"ihrRh '^'''/^ Basle and unexpectedly appeared 
 upon the Rhine, where at this rude season of the year 
 
 ?° ffpn? '' w^n''^ '-^"t'^'P'-^t^d. The forest towns o 
 Laufenburg Wadschut, and Seckingen were surprised, 
 
 Zi3r^^^^\^T^^^^' ^^^ ^"»^^ «^ Savelli, the 
 impeiiul general who commanded in that quarter, hast- 
 ened by lorced marches to the relief of this important 
 
 te o? w'^'"^ '"^ 'T""^ '^'^ '''^^ ^"^ compelled the 
 rrnrv ^ J^'"^^'^ ^^'^h great loss, to retire. But, con- 
 da vyrpr/oi Tl?". ^^P^^^«^'°"' he appeared on the third 
 day after 21st February, 1638), before the imperialists, 
 in order of battle, and defeated them in a bloody engagel 
 men^ in which the four imperial generals, Sav^lli, John 
 de Werth, Enkeford, and Sperreuter, with two thou- 
 
 wLh^'^'A VT .^''?" Pnsoners. Two of these, De 
 We th and Enkeford, were afterward sent by Riche- 
 heu s orders into France, in order to flatter the vanitv 
 o the French by the sight of such distinguished pris 
 Z.nl r- ^ '^r r''^' ^*' ^"'^^^^^-^ trophiestto withdraw 
 
 ThMn^ '"""^ '/ 'Y r^""^'^^ ^'^'^'^ '^^ P"Wic distress. 
 The captured standards and colors were, witJi the same 
 
 No I'« ^ J" • '""^^T P»-°cession to the church of 
 Notre Dame, thrice exhibited before the altar, and com- 
 raitted to sacred custody. 
 
 The taking of Rhinefeldt, Roteln, and Friburg, was 
 .he immediate consequence of the duke's victory. His 
 ZaLt^ "^creased by considerable recruits, and hia 
 projects expanded m proportion as fortune favJred him. 
 
 1 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 335 
 
 The fortress of Breysach upon the Rhine was looked 
 upon as holding the command of that river, and a« the 
 key of Alsace. No place in this quarter was of more 
 importance to the emperor, and upon none had more 
 care been bestowed. To protect Breysach, was prin- 
 cipally the determination of the Italian army, under the 
 Duke of Feria; the strength of its works, and its riatu^ 
 ml defenses, bade defiance to assault, while the imperial 
 generals who commanded in that quarter had orders to 
 retain it at any cost. But the duke, trusting to his trood 
 ortune, resolved to attempt the siege. Its strength 
 rendered it impregnable ; it could, therefore, only be 
 starved into a smrender ; and this was faciliated by the 
 carelessness of the commandant, who, expecting no at- 
 tack, had been selling off his stores. As under these 
 circumstances the town could not long hold out, it must 
 be immediately relieved or victualed. Accordingly, the 
 imperial general, Goetz, rapidly advanced at the head of 
 twelve thousand men, accompanied by three thousand 
 wagons loaded with provisions, which he intended to 
 throw into the place. But he was attacked with s.uch 
 vigor by Duke Bernard at Witteweyer, that he lost his 
 wnoie force, except three thousand men. together with 
 the entire transport. A similar fiite at Ochsenfeld, neai 
 Ihann, overtook the Duke of Lorraine, who, with Hvt 
 or SIX thousand men, advanced to relieve the foitre<;s 
 After a third attempt of General Goetz for the relief of 
 Breysach had proved ineffectual, the forti-ess, reduced 
 to the greatest extremity bv famine, surrendered, after 
 a blockade of four months, on the 17th December, 1(J38, 
 to Its equally persevering and humane conqueror. 
 
 Ihe capture of Breysach opened a boundless field to 
 the ambition of the Duke of Weimar, and the romance 
 ot Ills liopes was fast approaching to reality. Far from 
 intending to surrender his conquests to France, he des- 
 tined Breysach for himself, and revealed this intention 
 by exacting allegiance from the vanquished, in his own 
 name, and not in that of any other power. Intoxicated 
 by ins past success, and excited by the boldest hopes, 
 he believed that he should be able to maintain his con- 
 quests, even against France herself. At a time when 
 every thing depended upon bravery, when even persc^nal 
 
836 
 
 SClIlLLER'ri TIIIRTV VEARs' WAll. 
 
 strength was of importance, when troops and generalj 
 were of more vahie than territories, it was natural for a 
 hero like Bernard to place confidence in his own p:)wers, 
 and, at the head of an excellent army, who under hia 
 command had proved invincible, to believe himself capa- 
 ble of accomplishing the boldest and largest designs. In 
 order to secure himself one friend among the crowd of 
 enemies whom he was about to provoke, he turned his 
 eyes upon the Landgravine Amelia of Hesse, the widow 
 of the lately deceased Landgrave William, a princess 
 whose talents were equal to her courage, and who, 
 along with her hand, would bestow valuable conquests! 
 an extensive principality, and a well disciplined army. 
 By the union of the conquests of Hesse with his own 
 upon the Rhine, and the junction of their forces, a power 
 of some importance, and perhaps a third party, might be 
 formed in Germany, which might decide the fate of the 
 war. But a premature death put a period to these ex- 
 tensive schemes. 
 
 "Courage, Father Joseph, Breysach is ours!" whis 
 pered Richelieu in the ear of the capuchin, who had long 
 held himself in readiness to ue dispatched into that 
 quarter ; so delighted was he with this joyful intelli- 
 gence. Already in imagination he held Alsace, Breis- 
 gau, and all the frontiers of Austria in that quarter, with- 
 out regard to his promise to Duke Bernard. But the 
 firm determination which the latter had unequivocally 
 shown, to keep Breysach for himself, greatly embar- 
 rasspd the cardinal, and .n. ^ Crbrts were spared to retam 
 the victorious Bernard in tlie interests of France. He 
 was invited to court, to witness the honors by which hia 
 triumph was to be commemorated; but he perceived 
 and shunned the seductive snare. The cardinal even 
 went so far as to offer him the hand of his niece in 
 man-iage ; but the proud German prince declined the 
 offer, and refused to sully the blood of Saxony by a mis- 
 alliance. He was now considered as a dangerous enemy, 
 and treated as such. His subsidies were withdrawn ; 
 and the governor of Breysach and his principal officers 
 were bribed, at least upon the event of the duke's death, 
 to take possession of ais conquests, and to secure his 
 trcofs. These intrigu 'ts were no secrrt to the duk?. 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTV YEARs' WAR. 337 
 
 and the precautions he took in the conquered place* 
 clearly bespoke his distrust of France. But this mis- 
 understanding with the French court had the most pre- 
 judicial mfluence upon his future operations. The prep 
 arations he was obliged to niake, in order to secure hia 
 conquests agamst an attack on the side of France, ccin- 
 pelled him to divide his military strength, while the 
 stoppage of his subsidies delayed his appearance in the 
 neld. It had been his intention to cross the Rhine, to 
 support the Swedes, and to act against the emperor and 
 Bavaria on the banks of the Danube. He had already 
 communicated his plan of operations to Banner, ^^ho 
 wa5 about to carry the war into the Austrian territories, 
 und had promised to relieve him so, when a sudden 
 ileath cut short his heroic career, in the thirty-sixth 
 1639) ''^^' ""^ Neuburg upon the Rhine (in July, 
 
 He died of a pestilential disorder, which, in the course 
 ot two days, had carried off nearly four hundred men in 
 his camp. The black spots which appeared upon his 
 
 u^l ^^ ""^^ "^^"'S expressions, and the advantares 
 which France was likely to reap from his sudden de- 
 cease, gave rise to a suspicion that he had been removed 
 by poison— a suspicion sufficiently refuted by the symp- 
 toms ot his disorder. In him, the allies lost their neat- 
 est general after Gustavus Adolphus, France a formida- 
 ble competitor for Alsace, and the emperor his m(»st 
 dangerous enemy. Trained to the duties of a soldier 
 and a general in the school of Gustavus Adolphus, be 
 successfully imitated his eminent model, and wanted 
 only a longer life to equal, if not to surpass it. With 
 the bravery of the soldier, he united the calm and ccol 
 penetration of the general; the persevering fortitude of- 
 the man, with the daring resolution of youth; with the 
 wild ardor of the warrior, the sober dignity of the prince, 
 the moderation of the sage, and the conscientiousness of 
 the man of honor. Discouraged by no misfortune, he 
 quickly rose again m full vigor from the severest defeats; 
 no obstacles could check his enterprise, no disappointments 
 conquer his indomitable perseverance. His genius, per- 
 haps, soared after unattainable objects; but the pru- 
 dence of such men is to be measured by a different 
 
 F F 
 
 no 
 
338 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY X EARS WAR. 
 
 J^CfllLLERS THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 339 
 
 standard from that of ordiiiaiy people. Capable of at 
 coinplishing more, he might venture to form more dar- 
 ing plans. Bernard affords, in modern history, a splen- 
 did example of those days of chivnlry, when peisonal 
 greatness had its full weight and influence, when indi- 
 vidual bravery could conquer provinces, and the heroic 
 exploits of a Genpan knight raise him even to the im- 
 perial throne. 
 
 The best part of the duke's possessions were his 
 army, which, together with Alsace, he bequeathed to 
 his brother William. But to this army, both France 
 and Sweden thought they had well grounded claims : 
 the latter, because it had been raised in name of that 
 crown, and had done homage to it; the former, because 
 it had been suppoited by its subsidies. ■ The electoral 
 prince of the Palatinate also negotiated for its services, 
 and attempted, first by his agents, and latterly in his 
 own person, to win it over to his interests, with the 
 view of employing it in the reconquest of his teiritones. 
 Even the emperor endeavored to secure it, a circum- 
 stance the less surprising, when we reflect that at this 
 time the justice of the cause was comparatively unim- 
 portant, and the extent of the recompense the main ob- 
 ject to which the soldier looked ; and when bravery, 
 like every other commodity, was disposed of to the high- 
 est bidder. But France, richer and more determined, 
 outbid all competitors: it bought over General Krlach. 
 the commander of Breysach, and the other officers, who 
 soon placed tliat fortress, with the whole army, in their 
 hands. 
 
 ^ The young palatine. Prince Charles Louis, who had 
 already made an unsuccessful campaign against the em- 
 T^eror, saw his hopes again deceived. Although intend- 
 ing to do France so ill a service, as to compete with her 
 for Bernard's army, he had the imprudence to travel 
 through that kingdom. The cardinal, who dreaded the 
 justice of the palatine's cause, was glad to seize any op- 
 portunity to frustrate his views. He accordingly caused 
 iiim to be seized at Moulin, in violation of the law of na- 
 tions, and did not set him at liberty until he learned 
 that the army of the Duke of Weimar had been secur- 
 ed. Fiance was now in posscss'on of a numerous and 
 
 well disciplined army in Germany, and from this mo- 
 lueAit began to make open war upon the emperor. 
 
 But it was no k)nger against Ferdinano II. that its 
 hostiljties were to be conducted; for that prince had 
 died in Februaiy, 1G37, in the fifty-ninth year of his 
 51 ge, Tl e war which his ambition had kindled, h.jw- 
 ever, survived hira. During a reign of eighteen years 
 he had never onoe laid aside the sword, nor tasted the 
 blessings of peace as tong as liis hand swayed the impe- 
 rial scepter. Endowed with tlie qualities of a good 
 sovereign, adorned with many of tliose virtues which 
 insui-e the happiness of a people, and by nature geiatle 
 and humane, we see him, from erroneous ideas of the 
 monarch's duty, become at once the mstrument and the 
 victim of tlie evil passions of others ; his benevolent in- 
 tentions hustrated, ni>d the friend of justice converted 
 into the oppi«ssor of mankind, the eqemy of peace, and 
 the scourge of his people. Amiable in domestic life, and 
 respectable as a sovereign, but in his policy ill advi.sed, 
 while he gained the love of his Roman Catholic sub- 
 jects, he incuri^d the execration of the Protestants. 
 History exhibits many and greater despots than Ferdi- 
 fiand IL, yet he atone has had the unfortunate celebrity 
 of kindling a thirty years' war ; but to produce its lament- 
 able consequences, his ambition must have been second- 
 ed by a kindi'ed spirit of the age, a congenial state of 
 previous circumstances, and existing seeds of discord. 
 At a less turbulent period, tl>e .spark would have foimd 
 no fuel ; and the peacefulness of the age wouJd have 
 choked t\ie voice of individual ambition ; but now the 
 flash fell upon a pile of accumulated combustibles, and 
 Europe was in frames. 
 
 His son, Ferdinand III., who, a few months bef bie 
 fcis father's death, had been raised to the dignity of 
 King of the Romans, inherited his throne, his principles, 
 and the war which lie had caused. But Ferdinand HI. 
 had been a closer witness of the sufferings of the peo- 
 ple, and the devastation of the country, and felt more 
 keenly and aidently the necessity of peace. Less in (lu- 
 enced by the Jesuits and the Spaniards, and more mod- 
 erate toward the religious views of others, he was more 
 likely than his fathoj- to listen to the voice of reason. 
 

 340 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 He did so, and ultimately restored to Europe the bles;^ 
 iiig of pence, but not till after a contest of eleven years 
 waged with sword and pen ; not till after he had expe- 
 rienced the impossibility of resistance, and necessity had 
 laid upon him its stern laws. 
 
 Fortune favored him at the commencement of his 
 reign, and his arms were victorious against the Swedes. 
 The latter, under the command of the victorious Ban- 
 ner, had, after their success at Wittstock, taken up their 
 winter-quarters in Saxony; and the campaign of 1G37 
 opened with the siege of Leipzig. The vigorous resist- 
 ance of the i^rrison, and the approach of the electoral 
 and imperial armies, saved the town, and Banner, to 
 prevent his communication with the Elbe being cut off, 
 was compelled to retreat into Torgau. But the supe- 
 rior number of the imperialists drove him even from 
 that quarter; and,. surrounded by the enemy, hemmed 
 in by rivers, and suffering from famine, he had no course 
 open to him but to attempt a highly dangerous retreat 
 into Pomerania, of which the boldness and successful 
 issue border ujwn romance. The whole array crossed 
 the Oder, at a ford near Furstenberg; and the soldiers. 
 Wading up to their necks in water, dragged the artillery 
 across, when the horses refused to draw. Banner had 
 expected to be joined by General Wrangel, on the far- 
 ther side of the Oder in Pomerania; and, in conjunc- 
 tion with him, to be able to make head against the ene- 
 my. But Wrangel did not appear ; and in his stead, he 
 , joined an imperial army posted at Landsberg with a 
 view to cut off the retreat of the Swedes. Banner now 
 saw that he had fallen into a dangerous snare, from 
 which escape appeared impossible. In his rear lay an 
 exhausted country, the imperialists and the Oder on his 
 left; the Oder, loo, guarded by the imperial general, 
 Bucheim, offered no retreat; in front, Landsberg, Cus- 
 trin, atid Warta, and a hostile army ; and on the right, 
 Poland, in which, notwithstanding the truce, little con- 
 fidence could be placed. In these circumstances, his 
 position seemed hopeless, and the imperialists were 
 aheady triumphing in the certainty of his fall. Ban- 
 ner, with just indignation, accused the French as the 
 authors of this misfortune. They h?id neglecte.l to 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 341 
 
 Aiake, according to their promise, a diversion upon the 
 jihine ; and, by their inaction, allowed the emperor to 
 combine his whole force upon the Swedes. "When 
 the day comes," cried the incensed general to ithe 
 French commissioner, who followed the camp, *'that 
 the Swedes and Germans join their arms against France, 
 we shall cross the Rhine with less ceremony." But 
 i^proaches were now useless ; what the emergency de- 
 manded was energy and resolution. In the hope of 
 drawing the enemy by stratagem from the Oder, Ban- 
 ner pretended to march toward Poland, and dispatched 
 the greater part of his baggage in this direction, with 
 his own wife, and those of the other officers. The im 
 perialists immediately broke up their camp, and hurried 
 toward the Polish frontier to block up the route ; Bu- 
 cheim left his station, and the Oder was stripped of its 
 defenders. On a sudden, and under cloud of night, 
 Banner turned toward that river, and crossed it about a 
 mile above Custrin, with his troops, baggage, and aitil- 
 leiy, without bridges or vessels, as he had done before 
 at Furstenberg. He reached Pomerania without k)ss, 
 and prepared to share with Wrangel the defense of that 
 province. 
 
 But the imperialists, under the command of Gallas, 
 entered that duchy at Ribses, and overran it by their 
 superior strength. Usedom and Wolgast were taken 
 by storm, Demmin capitulated, and the Swedes were 
 driven far into Lower Pomerania. It was, too, ma^e 
 important for them at this moment than ever, to main- 
 tain a footing in that country; for Bogislaus XIV. had 
 died that year, and Sweden must prepare to establish 
 its title to Pomerania. To prevent the Elector of Bran- 
 denburg from making good the title to that duchy, which 
 the treaty of Prague had given him, Sweden exerted 
 her utmost energies, and supported its genemls to t:he 
 extent of her ability, both with troops and money. In 
 other quarters of the kingdom the affairs of the Swedes 
 began to wear a more favorable aspect, and to recover 
 from the humiliation into which they had been thrown 
 by the inaction of France, and the desertion of their 
 allies. For, after their hasty retreat into Pomerania, they 
 had lost one place after another in Upper Saxony ; th« 
 
 F r 2 
 
 ) 
 
342 
 
 SCIIJI.LERS THlilTY YKARS VVAH. 
 
 princes of Mecklenburg, closely pressed by the troops of 
 the emperor, begun to lean to the side of Austria, and 
 evenGeorge, Duke of Lunenburg, declared against them. 
 Ehrenbreitstein was starved into a sun-ender by the Ba- 
 varian general, De Worth, and the Austi-ians possessed 
 themselves of all the works which had been thrown up 
 on the Rhine. France had been the sufferer in the 
 contest with Spain ; and the event had by no means jus- 
 tified the pompous expectations which had accompanied 
 the opening of the campaign. Eveiy place which the 
 Swedes had held in the interior of Germany was lost; 
 and only the principal towns in Pomerania still remained 
 in their hands. But a single cnmpaign raised them from 
 this state of humiliation ; and the vigorous diversion, 
 which the victorious Bernard had effected upon the 
 Rhine, gave quite a new turn to affairs. 
 
 The misunderstandings between France and Sweden 
 were now at last adjusted, and the old treaty between 
 these powers confirmed at Hamburg, with fresh advan- 
 tnges for Sweden. In Hesse the politic Landgravine 
 Amelia had, with the approbation of the states, assumed 
 the government after the death of her husband, and 
 resolutely maintained her rights against the emperor and 
 the House of Darmstadt. Meantime, the Swedish-Prot- 
 estant party, zealously attached to their religion, only 
 awaited a favorable opportunity openly to declare them- 
 selves. By artful delays, and by prolonging the nego- 
 tif|;ions with the emperor, they had succeeded in keep- 
 ing him inactive till they had concluded a secret compact 
 with France, and the victories of Duke Bernard had 
 given a favorable turn to the affairs of the Protestants. 
 They now at once threw off the mask, and renewed 
 their former alliance with the Swedish crown. The 
 Electoral Prince of the Palatinate was also stimulated by 
 the success of Bernard, to try his fortune against the 
 common enemy. Raising troops in Holland with Eng- 
 lish money, he formed a magazine at Meppen, and 
 ioined the Swedes in Westphalia. His magazine was, 
 however, quickly lost ; his army defeated near Flotha, 
 by Count Hatzfeld ; but his attempt served to occupy 
 tor some time the attention of the enemy, and thereby 
 facilitated the operations of the Swedes in other quarters 
 
 SCHILLER S THlllTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 313 
 
 Other friends began to appear, as fortune declared it. 
 their favor; and the circumstance, that the states of 
 Lo^er Saxony embraced a neutrality, was of itself no 
 inconsiderable advantage. 
 
 Under these advantages, and reinforced by fourtcjen 
 thousand fresh troops from Sweden and Livonia, Banner 
 opened, with the most favorable prospects, the campaign 
 of 1638. The imperialists, who were in possession of 
 Upper Pomerania and Mecklenburg, either abandoned 
 their positions, or deserted in crowds to the Swedes, to 
 avoid the horrors of famine, the most formidable enemy 
 in this exhausted country. The whole country between 
 the Elbe and the Oder was so desolated by the [)ast 
 marching and quarterings of the troops, that, in order to 
 support his army on its march into Saxony and Bohemia, 
 Banner was obliged to take a circuitous route fi*om 
 Lower Pomerania into Lower Saxony, and then into 
 the Electorate of Saxony thi'ough the territory of Hal- 
 berstadt. The impatience of the Lower Saxon states to 
 get rid of such troublesome guests procured hinri so 
 plentiful a supply of provisions, that he w^as provided with 
 bread in Magdeburg itself, where famine had even over- 
 come the natural antipathy of men to human flesh. His 
 approach spread consternation among the Saxons ; but 
 his views w^ere directed not against this exhausted 
 country, but against the hereditary dominions of the 
 emperor. The victories of Bernard encouraged him, 
 while the prosperity of the Austrian j)rovinces excited 
 his hopes of booty. After defeating the imperial gen- 
 eral, Salis, at Elsterberg, totally routing the Saxon army 
 at Chemnitz, and taking Pirna, he peneti'ated with iiTe- 
 sistible impetuosity into Bohemia, crossed tlie Elbe, 
 threatened Prague, took Brandeis and Leutmeritz, de- 
 feated General Hofkirchen with ten regiments, and 
 spread terror and devastation through that defenseless 
 kingdom. Booty w^as his sole object, and whatever he 
 could not carry off he destroyed. In order to remove 
 more of the corn, the ears were cut from the stalks, and 
 ihc hitter burnt. Above a thousand castles, hamlets, and 
 villajres were laid in ashes ' sometimes more than ahun- 
 lired were seen burning in one night. From Bohemia 
 a« crossed into Silesia, and it was his intention to carry 
 
241 
 
 SCUILLKli's THIRTV VEAKa' VV'AK 
 
 his ravages even into Moravia and Austria. But to pre- 
 ventlus Count Hartzfeld was summoned from We si 
 pbaha aud P.ccolomini from the Netherlands, to haiiten 
 
 b'rofhe to'tf^ '' ''''' ^""•^"'- ^''^ ^'-^'^^-^^ Leo" Td° 
 brother to the emperor, assumed the command, in order 
 
 .ni.??h"' ^7°"' f ^'^ predecessor, Gallas, and to 
 
 The^P^T^ ^Ti^^ ^""'V^^ ^« ^'^'^^^ i^ l^^d fallen. 
 Ihe lesult justified the change, and the campaign of 
 
 Swedr'^f '° '"^" '"^ ^""^^ unfortunate turn for^he 
 DoTts t T^n?^ ^^^ '"^'^ successively driven out of all their 
 posts in Bohemia, and anxious only to secure their plun- 
 
 But being followed into Saxony by the pursuing enemy, 
 and defeated atPlauen, they were obliged to take refuse 
 m Thunngm. Made masters of the field in a single 
 summer, they were as rapidly dispossessed ; but only to 
 acquire it a second time, and to huriy from one extreme 
 
 LriTfT ,^^^«^^"y«^l^«»"er,wiakened and on the 
 brmk ot destruction m its camp at Erfurt, suddenly re^ 
 covered Itself. The Duke of Lunenburg abandoned the 
 treaty of Prague, and joined Banner with the very troops 
 S '^'', y-- before, had fought against him. ^ Hesse 
 Casselsent reinforcements, and the Duke of Lon<rueviIle 
 came to his support with the army of the late Duke 
 ±5ernard. Once more numerically superior to the imne- 
 
 tTei? i;nH''T '"i""^ '^''''^ ''^"^« "^'•^•' Saalfeld Lut 
 mPnt^nnT JT^^^"^^"'' prudently declined an engage- 
 
 Whpn tl, ^ '^'«^" ^r '^'^"^' ^ l^^«^^i«» ^« ^^ forced. 
 W hen the Bavarians, at length, separated from the impe- 
 iialists, and marched toward Franconia, Banner attempt- 
 ed an attack upon this divided corps, but the attempt 
 was frustrated by the skill of the Bavarian general Von 
 Mercy, and the near approach of the main body of the 
 •mperiahsts. Both armies now moved into the exhaust- 
 ed territory of Hesse, where they formed imronched 
 camps near each other, till, at last, famine, and the se 
 Pi^^i ^^. ^^^\^^»"t«^ co^^Pelled them both to retire. 
 Piccolomini chose the fertile banks of the Weser for his 
 winter-quarters; but being outflanked by Banner, he 
 
 on d.« f '"^ ^''' '^"y '" '^'^ ^^^'^^^«' "-"d to impose 
 on Uie h ranconian sees the burden of maintaining hii 
 
 I 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 345 
 
 At this period a diet was held in Ratisbon, wnere the 
 complaints of the states were to be heard, measures 
 taken for securing the repose of the empire, and the 
 question of peace or war finally settled. The presence 
 ot the emperor, the majority of the Roman Catholic 
 voices in the electoral college, the great number of 
 bishops, and the withdrawal of several of the Protestant 
 votes, gave the emperor a complete command of the 
 dehberations of the assembly, and rendered this Diet any 
 thing but a fair representative of the opinions of the C er- 
 man empire. The Protestants, with rea^n, considered 
 It as a mere combination of Austria and its creature 
 against their party ; and it seemed to them a laudable 
 ettort to interrupt its deliberations, and to dissolve ihe 
 Diet itself. 
 
 Banner undertook this bold enterprise. His militaiy 
 reputation had sutiered by his last retreat from Bohe- 
 mia, and It stood in need of some great exploit to restore 
 its tormer luster. Without communicating his designs 
 to any one, in the depth of the winter of 1641, as soon 
 as the roads and rivers were frozen, he broke up fi-om 
 his quarters in Lunenburg. Accompanied by Marshal 
 Ouebriant, who commanded the armies of France and 
 Weimar, he took the route toward the Danube, throuah 
 Ihuringia and Vogtland, and appeared before Ratisbo'Ji. 
 ere the Diet could be apprised of his approach. The 
 consternation of the assembly was indescribable ; . d, in 
 the first alarm, the deputies prepared for flight. The 
 emperor alone declared that he would not leave ^ho 
 town, and encouraged the rest by his example. Uni. r- 
 tunately for the Swedes, a thaw came on, whidi biok " 
 up the ice upon the Danube, so that it was no longei 
 passable on foot, while no boats could cross it, on account 
 of the quantities of ice which were swept down by tbe 
 current. In order to perform something, and to humble 
 the pride of the emperor. Banner discourteously fired 
 five hundred cannon shots into the town, which, how*, 
 ever, did little mischief. Baffled in his designs, he re- 
 solved to penetrate farther into Bohemia and the de- 
 lenseiess province of jVIoravia, where a rich booty and 
 comtortable quarters awaited his troops. Guebriant, 
 however, began to fear that the purpose cf the Swedes 
 
.346 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 was to draw the anny of Bernard away from the Rhine, 
 and to cut oli' its communication with France, till it 
 should be either entirely won over, or incapacitated 
 from acting independently. He therefore separated 
 from Banner to return to tlie Maine : and the latter 
 was exposed to the whole force of the imperialists, 
 which had been secretly drawn together between Ratis- 
 bon and Ingolstadt, and was on its march against him. 
 It was now time to think of a rapid retreat, which, hav- 
 ing to be effected in the face of an army superior in 
 cavalry, and b^wixt woods and rivers, through a country 
 entirely hostile, appeared almost impracticable. He 
 hastily retired toward the Forest, intending to peneti-ate 
 through Bohemia into Saxony ; but he was obliged to 
 sacrifice three regiments at Neuburg. These, with a 
 truly Spartan courage, defended themselves for four 
 days behind an old wall, and gained time for Banner to 
 oscape. He retreated by Egra to Annaberg; Piccolo- 
 mini took a shorter route in pursuit, by Schlakenwald ; 
 find Banner succeeded, only by a single half-hour, in 
 clearing the pass of Prisnitz, and saving his whole army 
 from the imperialists. At Zwickau he was again joined 
 by Guebriant; and both generals directed their marcli 
 toward Halberstadt, after in vain attempting to defend 
 the Saal, and to prevent the passage of the imperialists. 
 Banner, at length, terminated his career at Halber- 
 stadt, in May, 1G41, a victim to vexation and disappoint- 
 ment. He sustained with gi-eat renown, though with 
 varying success, the reputation of the Swedish arms in 
 Germany, and, by a train of victories, showed himself 
 worthy ©f his gi-eat master in the art of war. He was 
 fertile in expedients, which ho planned with secrecy, 
 and executed with boldness ; cautious in the midst of 
 dangers, greater in adversity thftn in prosperity, and 
 never more formidable than when upon the brink of 
 destruction. But the virtues of the hero were united 
 with all the failings and vices which a military life 
 creates, or at least fosters. As imperious in private life 
 as he was at the head of his army, rude as his profes- 
 sion, and proud as a conqueror, he oppressed the Ger- 
 man princes no less by his haughtiness, than their coun- 
 try hj his contributions. He consoled himself far the 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 847 
 
 toils of war in voluptuousness and the pleasures of the 
 table, in which he indulged to excess, and was tlius 
 brought to an early giave. But though as much addicted 
 to pleasure as Alexander or Mohammed H., he hurried 
 from the arms of luxury into the hardest fatigues, 
 and placed himself in all his vigor at the head of his 
 ai-my, at the veiy moment his soldiers were murmuring 
 at his luxurious excesses. Nearly eighty thousand men 
 fell in the numerous battles which he fought, and about 
 six hundred hostile standards and colors, which he sent 
 to Stockholm, were the trophies of his victories. The 
 want of this great general was soon severely felt by the 
 Swedes, who feaied, with justice, that the loss would 
 not readily be replaced. The spirit of rebelHon and in- 
 subordination, which had been overawed by the im- 
 penious demeanor of this dreaded commander, awoke 
 upon his death. The officers, with an alarming una- 
 nimity, demanded payment of their arrears ; and none; of 
 the four generals who shared the command possessed 
 influence enough to satisfy these demands, or to silence 
 the malcontents. All discipline was at an end, increas- 
 ing want and the imperial citations were daily diminish- 
 ing the number of the arn)y ; the troops of France and 
 Weimar showed little zeal; those of Lunenburg forsook 
 the Swedish colors, as the princes of the House of 
 Brunswick, after the death of Duke George, had formed 
 a separate treaty with the emperor ; and at last even 
 those of Hesse quitted them, to seek better quartern in 
 Westphalia. The enemy profited by these calamitous 
 divisions; and although defeated with loss in two pitched 
 «)attles, succeeded in making considerable progress in 
 fjower Saxony. 
 
 At len^h appeared the new Swedish generalissimo, 
 with fresli troops and money. This was Bernard Tor- 
 stensohn, a pupil of Gustavus Adolphus, i.nd his most 
 •successful imitator, who had been his page during 1:he 
 Polish war. Though a martyr to the gout, and confined 
 to a litter, he surpassed all his opponents in activity ; 
 and his enterprises had wings, while his body was held 
 by the most frightful of fetters. Under hiinj, the sctme 
 of war was changed, and new maxims adopted, which 
 necessity dictated, and the issue justified. All ihe 
 
348 
 
 SCHJLLEr's TIllUTV YEARs' WAR. 
 
 countries in which the contest had hitherto raged were 
 exhausted ; while the House of Austria, safe in its more 
 distant territories, felt not the miseries of the war under 
 which the rest of Germany groaned. Torstensohn first 
 turnished them with this bitter experience, glutted his 
 fewedes on the fertile produce of Austria, and canied 
 thronT ^^^' ^° ^^^ "^'"^ footsteps of the imperial 
 
 In Silesia, the enemy had gained considerable advan 
 tages over the Swedish general, Stahlhantsch, and driven 
 him as far as Neumark. Torstensohn, who had joinde 
 the mam body of the Swedes in Lunenburg, summoned 
 him to unite with his force, and in the year 1642 hastily 
 marched into Silesia through Brandenburg, which, under 
 Its great elector, had begun to maintain an armed neu- 
 trality. Glogau was carried, sword in hand, without a 
 breach, or formal approaches : the Duke Francis Albert 
 ot Lunenburg defeated and killed at Schweidnitz ; and 
 bchweidnitz itself, with almost all the towns on that side 
 ot the Oder, taken. He now penetrated with irresistible 
 violence into the interior of Moravia, where no enemy 
 of Austi-ia had hitherto appeared ; took Olmutz, and 
 threw Vienna itself into consternation. 
 
 But, in the mean time, Piccolomini and the Archduke 
 Leopold had collected a superior force, which speedily 
 drove the Swedish conquerors from Moravia, and after 
 a fruitless attempt upon Brieg, from Silesia. Rein- 
 orced by Wrangel, the Swedes again attempted to make 
 head against the enemy, and relieved Grossglogau ; but 
 could neither bring the imperialists to an engagement, 
 nor carry into eti'ect their own views upon Bohemia. 
 Overrunning Lusatia, they took Zittau, in presence of 
 the enemy, and, after a short stay in that couotiy, 
 directed their march toward the Elbe, which they passed 
 at Torgau. Torstensohn now threatened Leipzig with 
 a siege, and hoped to raise a large supply of provisions 
 and contiibutions from that prosperous town, which for 
 ten years had been unvisited with the scourge of war. 
 
 The imperialists, under Leopold and Piccolomini, im- 
 mediately hastened by Dresden to its rehef, and Tors- 
 t^UFohn, m avoid being inclosed between this army and 
 the town, bold'y advanced to meet them in order of bat- 
 
 SCIilLLERS THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 349 
 
 th. By a strange coincidence, the two armies met i.pon 
 the very spot which, eleven years before, Gustavus Adol- 
 phus had rendered remarkable by a decisive victory; 
 and the heroism of their predecessors row kindled in 
 the Swedes a noble emulation on this consecrated ground. 
 The Swedish generals, Stahlhantsch and Wellenberg, 
 led their divisions with such impetuosity upon the left 
 wing of th« imperialists, before it was completely formed, 
 that the whole cavalry that covered it were dispersed 
 and rendered unserviceable. But the left of the Swedes 
 was threatened with a similar fate, when the victorious 
 right advanced to its assistance, took the enemy in flank 
 and rear, and divided the Austrian line. The infantry 
 on both sides stood firm as a wall, and, when their ammu- 
 nition was exhausted, maintained the combat with the 
 butt-ends of their muskets, till at last the imperialists, 
 completely suiTounded, after a contest of three hours, 
 were compelled to abandon the field. The generals on 
 - both sides had more than once to rally their flying troops ; 
 and the Archduke Leopold, with his regiment, was the 
 'first in the attack and last in flight. But this bloody vic- 
 tory cost the Swedes more than three thousand men, 
 and two of their best generals, Schlangen and Lilien- 
 hoeck. More than five thousand of the imperialists 
 were left upon the field, and nearly as many taken pris- 
 oners. Their whole artillery, consisting of forty-s;ix 
 field-pieces, the silver plat3 and portfolio of the archduke, 
 with the whole baggage of the army, fell into the hands 
 of the victors. Torstensohn, too greatly disabled byijis 
 victory to pursue the enemy, moved upon Leipzig. Tlie 
 defeated army retired into Bohemia, where its shattenjd 
 regiments reassembled. The Archduke Leopold could 
 not recover from the vexation caused by this defeat ; and 
 / the regiment of cavalry which, by its premature flight, 
 had occasioned the disaster, expei-ienced the eflects of 
 his indignation. At Rakonitz in Bohemia, in presence 
 of the whole army, he publicly declared it infamous, de- 
 prived it of its horses, arms, and ensigns, ordered its 
 standards to be torn, condemned to death several of the 
 officers, an J decimated the privates. 
 
 The surrender of Leipzig, three weeks after the bat 
 tie, was its brilliant result. The city was obliged to 
 
350 
 
 SCHILLER 3 THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 clothe the Svredish troops anew, and to purchase an ex 
 emptioa from plunder, by n contribution of three hun 
 dred thousand nx-doUars, to which all the foreign mer 
 chants, who had warehouses in the city, were to furnish 
 their quota. In the middle of winter, Torstensohn ad- 
 vanced against Freyberg, and for several weeks defied 
 the inclemency of the season, hoping by his persever- 
 ance to weary out the obstinacy of the besieged. But 
 he found that he was merely sacrificing the lives of his 
 soldiers; and at last, the approach of the imperial gen- 
 eral, Piccolomini, compelled him, with his weakened 
 army, to retire. He considered it, however, as equiva- 
 lent to a victory, to have disturbed the repose of the 
 enemy in their winter-quarters, who, by the severity of 
 the weather, sustained a loss of three thousand horses. 
 He now made a movement toward the Oder, as if with 
 the view of reinforcing himself with the garrisons of 
 Poraerania and Silesia ; but, with the rapidity of light- 
 ning, he again appeared upon the Bohemian frontier, 
 penetrated through that kingdom, and relieved Olmutz 
 in Moravia, which was hard-pressed by the imperialists.* 
 His camp at Doditschau, tsvo miles from Olmutz, com 
 manded the whole of Moravia, on which he levied heavy 
 contributions, and carried his ravages almost to the gates 
 ot Vienna. In vain did the emperor attempt to arm the 
 Hungarian nobility in defense of this province ; they 
 appealed to their privileges, and refused to serve beyond 
 the limits of their own country. Thus, the time that 
 sl^uld have been spent in active resistance was lost in 
 fruitless negotiation, and the entire province was aban- 
 doned to the ravages of the Swedes. 
 
 While Torstensohn, by his marches and his victories, 
 astonished friend and foe, the armies of the allies had 
 not been inactive in other parts of the empire. The 
 troops of Hesse, under Count Eberstein, and those of 
 Weimar, under Mareschal de Guebriant, had follen into 
 the Electorate of Cologne, in order to take up their 
 winter-quarters there. To get rid of these trouble- 
 some guests, the elector called to his assistance the im- 
 perial general, Hatzfeld, and assembled his own troops 
 under General Lamboy. The latter was attacked by 
 the allies in Januaiy, 1G42, and in a decisive action near 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 
 
 351 
 
 
 Kempen, defeated, with the loss of about two thou!;aDd 
 men killed, and about twice as many prisoners. '^Phis ' 
 important victory opened to them the whole electorate 
 and neighboring territories, so that the allies were not 
 only enabled to maintain their winter-quarters there., but 
 drew from the country large supplies of men and horses. 
 
 Guebriant left the Hessians to defend their conqtests 
 on the lower Rhine against Hatzfeld, and advanced 
 toward Thuringia, as if to second the operations of I'ors . 
 tensohn in Saxony. But instead of joining the Swedes, 
 he soon hurried back to the Rhine and the Maine, 
 from which he seemed to think he had removed farthei 
 than was expedient. But being anticipated in the Liind- 
 graviate of Baden, by the Bavarians under Mercy and 
 John de Werth,.he w^is obliged to wander about for sev- 
 eral weeks, exposed, without shelter, to the inclemtmcy 
 of the winter, and generally encamping upon the snow, 
 till he found a miserable refuge in Breisgau. He at 
 last took the field; and in the next summer, by keep- 
 ing the Bavarian army employed in Suabia, prevented 
 it from relieving Thionville, which was besieged by 
 Conde. But the superiority of the enemy soon drove 
 him back to Alsace, where he awaited a reinforce uient. 
 
 The death of Cardinal Richelieu took place in No- 
 vember, 1642, and the subsequent change in the throne 
 and in the ministry, occasioned by the death of Louis 
 XIII., had for some time withdrawn the attention of 
 France from the German war, and was the cause ol" the 
 inaction of its troops in the field. But Mazarine, the 
 inheritor, not only of Richelieu's powder, but also of his 
 principles and his projects, followed out with renewed 
 zeal the plans of his predecessor, though the French 
 subject was destined to pay dearly enough for the })o- 
 litical greatness of his country. The main strength of 
 its armies, which Richelieu had employed against the 
 Spaniards, was by Mazarine directed against the em- 
 peror ; and the anxiety with which he carried on the 
 war in Germany proved the sincei-ity of his opinion, 
 that the German army was the right arm of his king, 
 and a wall of safety around France. Immediately upon 
 the suri'ender of Thionville, he sent a considerable rein- 
 forcement to Field-Marshal Guebrijin* in Alsace: and 
 
352 bciiiller's thirty 
 
 YEARS WAR. 
 
 to encourage the troops to bear the fatigues of the (^(.t. 
 Ruin war, the celebrated victor of Rocroi, the Duke of 
 Lnguien, afterward Prince of Conde, was plared at 
 theu- head. Guebriant now fe!t liimself strong encneli 
 to appear again in Germany with repute. He hastened 
 across the Rhine with the view of procuring better 
 wmter-quarters in Sunbia, and actually made himself 
 master of Rothweil, where a Bavarian magazine fell 
 into his hands. But the place was too dearly purchased 
 tor Its worth and was again lost, even more speedily 
 than It had been taken. Guebriant received a wound- 
 in the arm, which the surgeon's unskillfulness rendered 
 mortal, and the extent of his loss was felt on the very 
 day of his death. ^ 
 
 The French army, sensibly weakened by an expedi- 
 tion undertaken at so severe a season of the year, had, 
 atter the taking of Rothweil, withdrawn into the neigh- 
 borhood of Duttlingen, where it lay in complete secu- 
 rity, without expectation of a hostile attack. In the 
 mean time, the enemy collected a considerable force, 
 with a view to prevent the French from establishing 
 themselves beyond the Rhine, and posted it so near to 
 Bavaria as to protect that quarter from their ravages. 
 Ihe imperialists, under Hatzfeld, had formed a junc- 
 tion with the Bavarians under Mercy ; and the Duke of 
 i^orraine, who during the whole course of the war, was 
 generally found everywhere except in his own duchy, 
 joined their united forces. It was resolved to force the 
 quarters of the French in Duttlingen and the neighbor- 
 ing villages, by surprise ; a favorite mode of proceeding 
 in this war, and which, being commonly accompanied 
 by confusion, occasioned more bloodshed than a regular 
 battle. On tlie present occasion, there was the more 
 to justify It, as the French soldiers, unaccustomed to 
 such enterprises, conceived themselves protected by the 
 severity of the winter against any surprise. John de 
 Werth, a master in this species of warfare, which he 
 had often put in practice against Gustavus Horn, con- 
 aucted the enterprise, and succeeded, contrary to all 
 expectation. "^ 
 
 I 'P®/"^ckwas made on a side where it was least 
 looked tor, on account of the woods and narrow passes, 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 3.-)3 
 
 ?JI!^ ""^.Tl ^'"''^ '^°''"'' ^^''^^ ^^" "PO" the same day 
 (the 24th November, 1643), concealed the approach of 
 the vanguard till it halted before Duttlingen. Tho 
 who^e of the aitillery without the place, as well as the 
 neighboring castle of Homberg, were taken without re- 
 sistance; Duttlingen itself was gradually surrounded by 
 the enemy, and all connection with the other quarters is 
 the adjacent villages silently and suddenly cut off. Tfie 
 1^ rench were vanquished without firing a cannon. The 
 cavalry owed their escape to the swiftness of their hors«»s 
 and the few minutes in advance which they had gained 
 upon their pursuers. The infantry were cut to piece's 
 or voluntarily laid down their arms. About two thou- 
 sand men were killed, and seven thousand, with twen- 
 ty-live staf!-of!icers and ninety captains, taken prisoners. 
 I his was, perhaps, the only battle, in the whole course 
 t)t the war, which produced nearly the same effect upon 
 the paity which gained and that which lost : both these 
 parties were Germans ; the French disgraced them- 
 selves. The memory of this unfortunate day, whirli 
 was renewed one hundred years after at Rosbach, was 
 indeed erased by the subsequent heroism of a Turenne 
 and Conde ; but the Germans may be pardoned, if th(;y 
 indemnified themselves for the miseries w^hich the pol- 
 icy of France had heaped upon them, by these severe 
 reflections upon her intrepidity. 
 
 Meantime, this defeat of the French was calculated 
 to prove highly disastrous to Sweden, as the whole 
 power of the emperor might now act against then, 
 while the number of their enemies was increased by a 
 formidable accession. Torstensohn had, in September, 
 ir,43, suddenly left Moravia, and moved into Silesia. 
 1 he cause of this step was a secret, and the frequent 
 changes which took place in the direction of his march 
 contributed to increase this perplexity. From Silesia, 
 after numberless circuits, he advanced toward the 
 hibe, while the imperialists-followed him into Lusatia. 
 1 hrowmg a bridge across the Elbe at Torgau, he gavo 
 out that he intended to penetrate through Meissen into 
 the Upper Palatinate in Bavaria; at Barby he also made 
 a movement, as if to pass that river, but continued to 
 move down the Elbe as far as Havei: urg, where he a.s- 
 
 *?3 (; G 'i 
 
 I 
 
354 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. 
 
 tonished his troops by informkig them that he was lead 
 mg them against the Danes in Holstein. 
 
 The partiality which Christian IV. had displayed 
 against the Swedes in his office of mediator, the jealousy 
 which led him to do all in his power to hinder the prog- 
 ress of their arms, the restraints which he laid upon 
 Jheir navigation of the Sound, and the burdens which he 
 miposed upon their commerce, had long roused the 
 mdignation of Sweden ; and, at last, when these griev- 
 ances increased daily, had determined the regency to 
 ineasures of retaliation. Dangerous as it seemed to 
 involve the nation in a new war, when, even amid its 
 conquests, it was almost exhausted by the old, the desire 
 of revenge, and the deep-rooted hatred which subsisted 
 between Danes and Swedes, prevailed over all other 
 considerations; and even the embarrassment in which 
 hostilities with Germany had plunged it, only served as 
 an additional motive to try its fortune against Denmark. 
 
 Matters were, in fact, arrived at last to that extremity, 
 that the war was prosecuted merely for the ])urpose of 
 furnishing food and employment to the troops ; that good 
 winter-quarters formed the chief subject of contention ; 
 and that success, in this point, was more valued than a 
 decisive victory. But now the ])rovinces of Germany 
 were almost all exhausted and laid waste. They weie 
 wholly destitute of provisions, horses, and men,* which 
 in Holstein were to be found in profusion. If, by this 
 movement, Torstensohn should succeed merely in re 
 cruiting his army, providing subsistence for his horses 
 and soldiers, and remounting his cavalry, all the danger 
 and difficuhy would be well repuid. Beside, it was 
 highly important, on the eve of negotiations for peace, 
 to diminish the injurious influences which Denmark 
 might exercise upon these deliberations, to delay the 
 treaty itself, which threatened to be prejudicial to the 
 Swedish interests, by sowing confusion among the par- 
 ties interested, and with a view to the amount of indem- 
 nification, to increase the number of her conquests, in 
 order to be the more sure of securing those which alone 
 she was anxious to retain. Moreover, the present state 
 ot Denmark justified even greater hopes, if only the 
 uUempt were executed with rapidity and silence. The 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 schiller\s thirty years' war. 35:) 
 
 secret was, in fact, so well kept in Stockholm, that; ths 
 Danish minister had not the slightest suspicion of it ; 
 and neither Fmnco nor Holland were let into tho 
 scheme. Actual hostilities commenced with the declar- 
 ation of war ; and Torstensohn was in Holstein before 
 even an attack was expected. The Swedish troops, 
 meeting with no resistance, quickly overran this duchy, 
 «nd made themselves masters of all its strong places, 
 except Rensburg and Gluckstadt. Another army pen- 
 etrated into Schonen, which made as littJe opposition ; 
 and nothing but the severity of the season prevented 
 the enen)y from passing the Lesser B^iltic, and carrying 
 the war into Funen and Zealand. The Danish Heet 
 was unsuccessful at Femern ; and Christian himself, 
 %vho was on board, lost his right eye by a splinter. Cut 
 olffroin all communication with the distant force of tho 
 emperor, his ally, this king was on the jwint of seeiuii 
 his whole kingdom overrun by the Swedes; and all 
 things threatened the speedy fulfillment of the old proph- 
 ecy of the famous Tycho Brahe, that in the year 1644, 
 Christian IV. should wander in the greatest misery 
 from his dominions. 
 
 But the emperor could n«t took on with indiircrence, 
 while Denmark was sacrificed to Sweden, and the latter 
 strengthened by so great an acquisition. Notwithst Hid- 
 ing great difficulties lay in the way of so long a mnrch 
 through desolated provinces, he did not hesitate to dis- 
 iiatch an army into Holstein under Count Gallas, who, 
 nfter Piccolomini's retirement, hnd i-esumed the su- 
 preme command of the troops. Gallas accordii^ly ap- 
 oeared in the duchy, took Keil, and hoped, by forming 
 a jun-ction with the Danes, to be able to shut up the 
 Swedish army in Jutland. Meantime, the Hessians, 
 and the Swedish general, Koenigsmark, were kept in 
 check by HatzfeW and the Archbishop of Bremen, the 
 son of Christian IV. ; and aftenvard the Swedes dr^iwn 
 into Saxony by an attack upon Meissen. But Torsten- 
 sohn, with his augmented army, penetrated through 
 the unoccupied pass betwixt Schleswig and Stapelholm, 
 met Gallas, and drove him along the whole course of tho 
 Elbe, as far as Bernburg, where the imperialists took 
 up an intrenchei position. Torstensohn passed the 
 
3d6 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS' WAE, 
 
 Saal, and by posting himself in the rear of the enemy 
 cut off their communication with Saxony and Bohemia. 
 Scarcity and famine began now to destroy them in great 
 numbers, and forced them to retreat to Magdeburg, 
 where, however, they were not much better off. The 
 cavalry, which endeavored to escape into Silesia, was 
 overtaken and routed by Torstensohn, near Juterbock ; 
 the rest of the army, after a vain attempt to fight its 
 way through the Swedish line, was almost wholly de- 
 stroyed near Magdeburg. From this expedition, Gallas 
 brought back only a few thousand men of all his formi- 
 dable force, and the reputation of- being a consummate 
 master in the art of ruining an army. The King oi 
 Denmark, after this unsuccessful effort to relieve him, 
 sued for peace, which he ibtained at Bremsebor in the 
 year 1645, under very unfavorable ct)nditions. 
 
 Torstensohn rapidly followed up his victory; anc/ 
 while Axel Lilienstern, one of the generals who com. 
 manded under him, overawed Saxony and Koenigs. 
 mark, subdued the whole of Bremen, he himself pene- 
 trated into Bohemia with sixteen thousand men and 
 eighty pieces of artilleiy, and endeavored a second time 
 to remove the seat of war into the hereditary dominions 
 of Austria. Ferdinand, upon this intelligence, hastened 
 m person to Prague, in order to animate the courage o, 
 the people by his presence ; and as a skillful general was 
 much required, and so little unanimity prevailed among 
 the numerous leaders, he hoped in the immediate neigh- 
 borhood of the war to be able to give more energy and 
 activity. In obedience to his orders, Hatzfeld assem- 
 bled the whole Aastiian and Bavarian force, and, con- 
 trary to his own inclination and advice, formed the em- 
 peror's last army, and the last bulwark of his states, in 
 order of battle, to meet the enemy, who were approach- 
 mg, at Jankowitz, on the 24th of Februaiy, 1645. Fer- 
 imand depended upon his cavaliy, which outnumbered 
 that of the enemy by three thousand, and upon the 
 pronnse of the Virgin Mary, who had appeared to him 
 m a dream, and given him the strongest assurances of a 
 complete victory. 
 
 The superiority of the imperialists did not intimidate 
 J orstensohn, who was not accustomed to number hii 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' 
 
 WAR. 
 
 25 i 
 
 antagonists. On the veiy first onset, the left wing; 
 which Goetz, the general of the League, had entan gled 
 in a disadvantageous position among marshes and thick- 
 ets, was totally routed ; the general, with the gi'eater 
 part of his men, killed, and almost the whole ammuni^ 
 tion of the army taken. This unfortunate commence- 
 ment decided the fate of the day. The Swedes, con 
 stantly advancing, successively can-ied all the most com- 
 manding heights. After a bloody engagement of eight 
 liours, a desperate attack on the part of the imperial 
 cavalry, and a vigorous resistance by the infantry, the 
 latter remained in possession of the field. Two thou- 
 sand Austrians were killed upon the spot, and Hatzfeld 
 himself, with three thousand men, taken prisoners. 
 Thus, on the same day, did the emperor lose his best 
 general and his last army. 
 
 This decisive victory at Jankowitz, at once exposed all 
 the Austrian territoiy to the enemy. Ferdinand hastily 
 fled to Vienna, to provide for its defense, and to sav(} his 
 family nnd his treasures. In a veiy short time, the vic- 
 torious Swedes poured, like an inundation, upon Momvia 
 and Austria. After they had subdued nearly the whole ot 
 Moravia, invested Brunn, and taken almost all the strong- 
 holds upon the Danube, and carried the intrenchments at 
 the Wolf's Bridge, near Vienna, they at last appeared 
 in sight of that capital, while the care which they had 
 taken to fortify their conquests showed that their visit 
 Was not likely to be a short one. After a long and de- 
 structive circuit through every province of Germany, the 
 stream of war had at last rolled backward to its source, 
 and the roar of the Swedish artilleiy now reminded the 
 tenified inhabitants of those balls which, twenty-seven 
 years before, the Bohemian rebels had fired into Vienna. 
 The same theater of war brought again similar acto s on 
 the scene. Torstensohn invited Ragotskv, the succes- 
 sor of Bethlem Gabor, to his assistance, as the Bohe- 
 mian rebels had solicited that of his predecessor ; Upper 
 Hungary was already inundated by his troops, and his 
 union with the Swedes was daily apprehended. The 
 Elector of Saxony, driven to despair by the Swedes 
 taking up their quarters within his territories, and 
 abandoned by the emperor, who, after the defeat at 
 
358 
 
 SCHILLER S THIKTV YEARS WARs 
 
 Jankowitz, was unable to defend himself, at lengtlj 
 adopted the last and only expedient which remained, 
 and concluded a truce with Sweden, which w^as to be 
 renewed from year to year, till a general peace. Th© 
 emperor thus lost a friend, while a new enemy was 
 appearing at his very gates, his armies dispersed, and 
 his allies in other quarters of Germany defeated. Thu 
 French army had effaced the disgrace of their defeat »l 
 Duttlingen by a brilliant campaign, and had kept the 
 whole force of Bavaria employed upon the Rhine and in 
 Suabia. Koinforced with fresh troops from France, 
 which the great Turenne, already distinguished bf his 
 victories in Italy, brought to the assistance of the Duk« 
 of Enguien, they appeared on the 4th of August, 1644, 
 before Friburg, which Mercy had lately taken, and now 
 covered with his whole army, strongly inti-enched. But 
 ngainst the steady firmness of the Bavarians, all the im- 
 petuous valor of the French was exerted in vain, and 
 Jifter a fruitless sacrifice of six thousand men, the Duk« 
 of Enguien was compelled to retreat. Mazarine sheci 
 tears over this gieat loss, which Condo, who had ns) 
 leelmg for any thing but glory, disregarded. ''A single 
 night in Paris," said he, "gives birth to more men than 
 this action has destroyed." The Bavarians, however, 
 were so disabled by this murcJferous battle, that, far from 
 being in a condition to relieve Austria from the menaced 
 dangers, they were too weak even to defend the banks 
 of the Rhine. Spires, Worms, and Manheim capitulati- 
 ed ; the strong foitress of Philipsburg was forced to sur- 
 render by famine; and, by a timely submission, Mentz 
 hastened to disarm the conquerors." 
 
 Austria and Moravia, however, were now freed from 
 Torstensohn, by a similar means of deliverance as in 
 the beginning of the war had saved them from the 
 Bohemians. ^Ragotzky, at the head of twenty-five thou- 
 sand men, Kad advanced into tlie neighborhood of th© 
 Swedish quarters upon the Danube. But these wild, 
 undisciplined hordes, instead of seconding the operations 
 of Torstensohn by any vigorous enterprise, only ravaged 
 the country, and increased the distress which, even be- 
 fore their arrival, had begun to be felt in the Swedisli 
 camp. To extort tribute from the emperor, and mor.ev 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY Y'^EARS WAR. 
 
 :!59 
 
 »nd plunder from his subjects, was the sole object that 
 had allured Ragotzky, or his predecessor, Bethlem Gn- 
 bor, into the field; and both departed as soon as they 
 had gained their end. To get rid of him, Ferdinand 
 granted the barbarian whatever he asked, and, by a 
 small sacrifice, freed his states of this formidable enemv. 
 In the mean time, the main body of the Swedes had 
 been greatly weakened by a tedious encampment betoie 
 Brunn. Torstensohn, who commanded in person, for 
 four entire months employed in vain all his knowledjrie 
 of militaiy tactics; the obstinacy of the resistance was 
 equal to that of the assault ; while despair roused the 
 courage of Souches, the commandant, a Swedish de- 
 serter, who had no hope of pardon. The ravages 
 caused by pestilence, ai'ising from famine, want of 
 cleanliness, and the use of unripe fruity during their 
 tedious and unhealthy encampment, with the sudiden 
 retreat of the Prince of Transylvania, at last compelled 
 the Swedish leader to raise the siege. As all the passes 
 upon the Danube were occupied, and his army grc^atly 
 weakened by famine and sickness, he at last rehnquished 
 his intended plan of operations against Austria and Mo- 
 ravia, and contented himself with securing a key to 
 these provinces, by leaving behind him Swedish giiiri- 
 sons in the conquered fortresses. Pie then directed his 
 march into Bohemia, whither he was followed by the 
 imperialists, under the Archduke Leopold. Such of 
 the lost places as had not been taken by the latter were 
 recovered, after his departure, by the Austrian general, 
 Bucheim ; so that, in the course of the following year, 
 the Austrian frontier was again cleared of the enemj% 
 and Vienna escaped with mere alarm. In Bohemia and 
 Silesia, too, the Swedes maintained themselves only 
 with a very variable fortune; they traversed both coun- 
 tries, without being able to hold their ground in either. 
 But if the designs of Torstensohn were not crowned 
 with all the success which they were promised at the 
 commencement, they were, nevertheless, productive of 
 the most important consequences to the Swedish party. 
 Denmark had been compelled to a peace, Saxony to a 
 ti*uce. The emperor, in the deliberations for a peace 
 oflfered gi eater concessions ; France became more man 
 
sec 
 
 SCIIIIJ.ERS TIIIRTV YKAKs' WAR. 
 
 ngeablo ; and Sweden itself bolder and more confident 
 in .3 bearing toward these two crowns. Havin" th.^, 
 
 ret ^eratZd ""^'T^' '^ ""'"""^ "' -hese adlaSt g^ 
 etned, adorned with laurels, into the tranquillity of pri- 
 vate life, and endeavored to restore his scaUered heaUh 
 lie ;^d Zr^lnT "' J-'^'-^o'- •I'e e.uperor wt re: 
 nia TiZfJ^ "^"^ "'"P''"" °° th" side ofBohe- 
 ■ontie, from sTnh ""^"T «""" '^eatened the Austrian 
 epm'a ed fmm r^'n" fr,''"' Tnrenne, who had 
 bia hnH n^ " " '*'^ direction of Sua- 
 
 Me'rcy '„e r Me^'""".,""^' ^"'^ '"""^ defeated bv 
 .LVf^' V , Mergentheim ; and the victorious Bavn 
 
 1 e i)uke o'f 'Fn" ';™*l'«'«J'"-- P-ed into Hes e B^t 
 cors from lltT'^r ^^'*''"^'^ ^^"'' <^<"'si<lerable suc- 
 fhl hI^ ? ' Koen'ngsniark from Moravia, and 
 
 my andreSra.''' ^'''"^' '° ■'"^™'' "^« <'«"-""' 
 
 .o .K^t:„!Trir7Tur™Hrr;i^'-^," 
 
 •esistanTe of the p1 """ •"'"' /»'«. >vhich the heroic 
 bloodv til? V. 1 T ?'"",'* rendered most obstinate and 
 sWn nf V '"^^ ?" ''*''"' of file great Mercy the 
 
 fecidfd ThTda";'in"tvor Jt^^ r^^^'^ «^™- 
 
 r^e tt~P-° ^ ^ S-lttlf "eVe^r^itlfj? 
 peace tZv If '''^''' ^'' ^'^ ^^^ negotiations for 
 
 "rthe 'Archluke "/' ""'*, ,*« ^-arians bei^ng reina 
 hJs% tt"ec™t:,L'ff„'e^""''"'' "■" "^'"" """S"" 
 
 SSXS- -e^p^etcrmrde^- 
 
 -a f^' -d ^z- .=K.^%r itte- 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' war. ;3G1 
 
 after reinforcing his army, which ahendy amounted to 
 twenty-four thousand men, with twelve Bavarian rei^i- 
 ments of cavahy, and eighteen regiments of infant^, 
 moved against Wrangel, in the hope of being able to 
 ovei-whehn him by his superior force before Koenigsmark 
 could join him, or the French effec> a diversion in his 
 favor. Wrangel, how 3ver, did not await him, but has- 
 tened through Upper Saxony to the Weser, where he 
 took Hoester and Paderborn. From thence he marched 
 into Hesse, in order to join Turenne, and at his camp at 
 Weimar was joined by the flying-corps of Koenigsmark. 
 But Turenne, fettered by the instructions of Mazarine, 
 who had seen with jealousy the waiJike prowess and 
 increasing power of the Swedes, excused himself on the 
 plea of a pressing necessity to defend the frontier of 
 France on the side of the Netherlands, in consequence 
 of the Flemings having failed to make the promised 
 diversion. But as Wrangel continued to press his just 
 demand, and a longer opposition might have excited dis- 
 trust on the part of the Swedes, or induce them to con- 
 clude a private treaty with Austria, Turenne at lastobtJiin- 
 ed the wished-for permission to join the Swedish army. 
 The junction took place at Giessen, and they now felt 
 themselves strong enough to meet the enemy. The lat- 
 ter had followed the Swedes into Hesse, in order to 
 intercept their commissariat, and to prevent their union 
 with Turenne. In both designs they had been unsuc- 
 cessful ; and the imperialists now saw themselves cut 
 off from the Maine, and exposed to great scarcity and 
 want from the loss of their magazines. Wrangel took 
 advantage of their weakness, to execute a plan by which 
 he hoped to give a new turn to the war. He, too, had 
 adopted the maxim of his predecessor, to cany the ^var 
 into the Austrian states. But, discouraged by the ill- 
 success of Torstensohn's enterprise, he hoped to gn'w 
 his end with more certainty by ano'ther way. He de- 
 termined to follow the course of the Danube, and to 
 break into the Austrian territories through the midst of 
 Bavaria. A similar design had been formerly conceived 
 by Gustavus Adolphus, which he had been prevented 
 cariying into effect by the approach of Wallenstem's 
 army, and the danger of Saxony. Duke Bernard, moving 
 
 Hh 
 
362 
 
 SCIllLLEKS THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 
 
 in his footsteps, and more fortunate than Gustavus, had 
 spread his victorious banners between the Iser and the 
 Inn ; but the near approach of the enemy, vastly supe- 
 rior in force, obliged him to halt in his victorious career, 
 and lead back his tioops. Wrangel now hoped to accom- 
 plish the object iit which his predecessors hud failed, 
 tlie more so, as the imperial and Bavarian army was tar 
 in his rear upon Lahn, and could only reach Bavaria by 
 a long march through Franconia and the Upper Palati- 
 nate. He moved lustily upon the Danube, defeated a 
 Bavanan corps near Donauweith, and passed that river, 
 as well as the Lech, unopposed. . But by wasting his 
 tune in the unsuccessful siege of Augsburg, he gave op- 
 portunity to the imperialists, not only to relieve that cit^', 
 but afeo to repulse him as far as Lauingen. No sooner, 
 however, had they turned toward Suabia, with a view 
 to remove the war from Bavaria, than, seizing the oppor- 
 tunity, he repassed the Lech, and guarded the passage 
 of it against the imperialists themselves. Bavaria now 
 lay open and defenseless before him ; the French and 
 Swedes quickly overran it ; and the soldiery indemnified 
 themselves for all dangers by frightful outrages, rob- 
 beries, and extortions. The arrival of the imperial troops, 
 who at last succeeded in passing the Lech at Thier- 
 haupten, only increased the misery of this country, which 
 friend and foe indiscriminately plundered. 
 
 And now, for the first time during the whole course 
 of this war, the courage of Maximilian, which for eight- 
 and-twenty years had stood unshaken amid fearful dan- 
 gers, began to weaver. Ferdinand IL, his school-com- 
 panion at Ingolstadt, and the friend of his youth, was 
 no more ; and with the death of his friend and benefac- 
 tor, the strong tie was dissolved which had linked the 
 elector to the House of Austria. To the father, habit, 
 mchnation, and gratitude had attached him ; the son was 
 a stranger to his hedrt, anc^ political interests alone could 
 preserve his fidelity to the latter prince. 
 
 Accordingly, the motives which the artifices of France 
 now put in operation, in order to detach him from the 
 Austrian alliance, and to induce him to lay down his 
 arms, were drawn entirely from political considerations. 
 It was not without a selfish object that Mazfirine had s»^ 
 
 SCIlILLElfs TfllRTY YEAKs' WAR. SQS 
 
 far overcome his jealousy of the gi-owing power of the 
 ^wedes, as to allow the French to accompany them into 
 Bavaria. His intention was to expose Bavaria to all the 
 horrors of war, in the hope that the persevering fortitude 
 ot Maximilian might be subdued by necessity and de- 
 spair, and the emperor deprived of his first and last ally. 
 Brandenburg had, under its great sovereign, embrnced 
 the neutrality ; Saxony had been forced to accede to if 
 the war with France prevented the Spaniards from' 
 taking any part in that of Germany ; tlio peace with 
 feweden had removed Denmark from the theater of v.ar- 
 and Poland had been disarmed by a long truce. If thev 
 could succeed in detaching the Elector of Bavaria also 
 trom the Austrian alliance, the emperor would be with- 
 out a hiend in Germany, and left to the mercy of the 
 allied powers. 
 
 Ferdinand III. saw his danger, and left no means un- 
 tried to avert it. But the Elector of Bavaria was unfor- 
 tunately led to believe that the Si)aniards alone were 
 disinclined to peace, and that nothing but Spanish influ- 
 once had induced the emperor so long to resist a ceissa- 
 tK)n ot hostilities. Maximilian detested the Spaniards 
 and could never forgive their having opposed his applU 
 cation for the Palatine Electorate. Could it then he 
 supposed that, in order to gratify this hated power, he 
 would see his people sacrificed, his country laid waste 
 and himself ruined, when, by a cessation of hostilities, he 
 could at once emancipate himself from all these dis- 
 tresses, procure for his people the repose of which they 
 stood so much in need, and perhaps accelerate the arri- 
 val of a general peace ? All doubts disappeared ; and 
 convinced of the necessity of this step, he thought he 
 should sufficiently discharge his obligations to the em- 
 peror, if he invited him also to share in the benefit of the 
 ti-uce. 
 
 The deputies of the three crowns, and of Bavaria, met 
 at Ulm, to adjust the conditions. But it was soon evi- 
 dent, from the instructions of the Austrian ambassador 
 that It was not the intention of the emperor to second 
 the conclusion of a truce, but if possible to prevent it 
 It WIS obviously necessary to make the terms acceptable 
 to the bwe les, who had the advantage, and had more tr. 
 
SGi sciiiller'cj thirty years' war. 
 
 hope than to fear from the continuance of the war. They 
 were the conquerors ; and yet the emperor presumed to 
 dictate to them. In the first transports of their indigna- 
 tion, the Swedish ambassadors were on the point of 
 leaving the Congress, and the French were obliged to 
 have recourse to threats in order to detain them. 
 
 The good intentions of the Elector of Bavaria, to 
 include the emperor in the benefit of the truce, having 
 been thus rendered unavailing, he felt himself justified 
 in providing for his own safety. However hard were 
 the conditions on which the truce was to be purchased, 
 lie did not hesitate to accept it on any terms. He agreed 
 to the Swedes extending their quarters in Suabia and 
 Franconia, and to his own being restricted to Bavaria and 
 the Palatinate. The conquests which he had made h 
 Suabia were ceded to the allies, who, on their part, 
 restored to him what they had taken from Bavaria. 
 Cologne and Hesse Cassel were also included in the 
 truce. After the conclusion of this treaty, upon the 14th 
 March, 1647, the French and Swedes left Bavaria, and 
 in order not to interfere with each other, took up diflfer- 
 ent quarters ; the former in Wirtemburg, the latter in 
 Upper Suabia, in the neighborhood of the lake of Bode. 
 On the extreme north of this lake, and on the most 
 southern frontier of Suabia, the Austrian town of Bre- 
 gentz, by its steep and narrow passes, seemed to defy 
 attack ; and in this persuasion, the whole peasantiy of 
 the surrounding villages had, with their property, taken 
 refuge in this natural fortress. The rich booty which 
 the store of provisions it contained gave reason to expect, 
 and the advantage of possessing a pass into the Tyrol. 
 Switzerland, and Italy, induced the Swedish general to 
 venture an attack upon this supposed impregnable post 
 and town. Meantime, Turenne, according to agree- 
 ment, marched into Wirtemburg, where he forced the 
 Landgrave of Darmstadt and the Elector of Mentz to 
 imitate the example of Bavaria, and to embrace the neu- 
 trality. 
 
 And now, at last, France seemed to have attained the 
 great object of its policy, that of depriving the emperor 
 of the support of the League, and of his Protestant allies, 
 and of dictating to him, sword in hand, the conditions o. 
 
 Schiller's thirty years' v/.\n. 303 
 
 peace. Of all his once formidable power, an army, not 
 exceeding twelve thousand, was all that remained to 
 him ; and this force he was driven to the necessity of 
 mtrusting to the command of a Calvinist, the Hessian 
 deserter Melander, as the casualties of war had stripped 
 him of his best generals. But as this war had been re- 
 mai'kable for the sudden changes of fortune it displayed ; 
 and as every calculation of state policy had been fre- 
 quently baflied by some unforeseen event, in this case 
 also the issue disappointed expectation; and after a 
 brief crisis, the fallen power of Austria rose again to a 
 formidable strength. The jealousy which France en- 
 tertained of Sweden prevented it from permitting the 
 total ruin of the emperor, or allowing the Swedes I'o ob- 
 tain such a preponderance in Germany, which might 
 have been destructive to France herself. Accordingly, the 
 French minister declined to take advantage of the dis- 
 tresses of Austria ; and the army of Turenne, separat 
 ing from that of Wrangel, retired to the frontiers of the 
 Netherlands. Wrangel, indeed, after moving from Sua- 
 bia into Franconia, taking Schweinfurt, and incorporat- 
 mg the imperial gamson of that place with his own 
 army, attempted to make his way into Bohemia, and 
 laid siege to Egi-a, the key of that kingdom. To relieve 
 this fortress, the emperor put his last army in motion, 
 and placed himself at its head. But obliged to take a 
 long circuit, in order to spare the lands of Von Schlick. 
 the president of the council of war, he protracted his 
 march ; and on his arrival Egi-a was already taken. 
 Both armies were now in sight of each other ; and a 
 decisive battle was momentarily expected, as both were 
 suffering from want, and the two camps were only sep- 
 arated from each other by the space of the inti-ench- 
 inents. But the imperialists, although superior in 
 numbers, contented themselves with keeping cloite to 
 the enemy, and harassing them by skirmishes, by fa- 
 tiguing marches, and famine, until the negotiations ^hich 
 had been opened with Bavaria were brought to a bear- 
 ing. 
 
 The neutrality of Bavaria was a wound under which 
 the imperial court writhed impatiently; and after in 
 rnin attempting to prevent it, Austria now dotermined 
 
 ir H > 
 
;S66 
 
 SCniLLEK S TinurY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 if possible, to turn it to ndvantnge. Several officers of 
 the Bavarian army had been offended by this step of 
 their master, which at once reduced them to inaction, 
 and miposed a burdensome restraint on their restless 
 disposition. Even the brave John do Werth was at the 
 head of the malcontents, and, encouraged by the em- 
 peror, he formed a plot to seduce the whole army from 
 their allegiance to the elector, and leading it over to the 
 emperor. Ferdinand did not blush to patronize this act 
 of treachery against his father's most trusty ally. He 
 formally issued a proclamation to the Bavarian troops 
 in which he recalled them to himself, reminded them 
 that they were the troops of the empire, which the 
 elector had merely commanded in name of the emperor 
 I; oitunately for Maximilian, he detected the conspiracy 
 time enough to anticipate and prevent it by the most 
 rapid and effective measures. 
 
 This disgraceful conduct of the emperor might hare 
 justified a reprisal, but Maximilian was too old a states- 
 man to listen to the voice of passion, where policy alone 
 ought to be heard. He had not derived from the truce 
 the advantages he expected. Far from tending to ac- 
 celerate a general peace, it had a pernicious influence 
 upon the negotiations at Munster and Osnaburg, and had 
 made the allies bolder in their demands. The French 
 and Swedes had indeed removed from Bavaria; hut, b*v 
 the loss of his quarters in the Suabian circle, he found 
 himself compelled either to exhaust his own territories 
 by the subsistence of his troops, or at once to disband 
 them, and to throw aside the shield and spear, at the 
 very moment when the sword alone seemed to be the 
 •ubiter of right. Before embracing either of these cer- 
 tain evils, he determined to try a third step, the unfa- 
 vorable issue of which was at least not so certain, viz.. to 
 renounce the truce and resume the war. 
 
 This resolution, and the assistance which he imme- 
 diately dispatched to the emperor in Bohemia, threat- 
 ened materially to injure the Swedes, and Wrancrel 
 was compelled in haste to evacuate that kingdom. He 
 retired through Thuringia into Westphalia and Lunen- 
 burg, in the hope of forming a junction with the French 
 ermv under Turenne, while the imperial and Bavarin.r 
 
 ^CHILLERS THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 3G7 
 
 army followed him to the Weser, under Melandei and 
 Gronsfeld. His ruin was inevitable, if the enemy sliould 
 overtake him before his junction with Turenne ; but the 
 same consideration which had just saved the emj)eror 
 now proved the salvation of the Swedes. Even amid 
 all the fury of the conquest, cold calculations of prudence 
 guided the course of the war, and the vigilance of the 
 different courts increased, as the prospect of peace ap- 
 proached. The Elector of Bavaria could not allovir the 
 emperor to obUiin so decisive a preponderance as, by 
 the sudden alteration of affairs, might delay the chances 
 of a general peace. Every change of fortune wasi im- 
 portant now, wlien a pacification was so ardently desired 
 oy all, and when the disturbance of the balance of power 
 among the contracting parties might at once annihilate 
 the work of years, destroy the fruit of long and tedious 
 negotiations, and indefinitely protract the repose of Eu- 
 rope. If France sought to restiain the Swedish crown 
 within due bounds, and measured out her assistance 
 according to her successes and defeats, the Elector of 
 Bavaria silently undertook the same task with the em- 
 peror his ally, and determined, by prudently dealing out 
 liis aid, to hold the fate of Austria in his own hands. 
 And now that the power of the emperor threatened 
 once more to attain a dangerous superiority, Maximilian 
 at once ceased to pursue the Swedes. He was also 
 afraid of reprisals from France, who had threatened to 
 direct Turenne's whole force against him, if he allowed 
 his troops to cross the Weser. 
 
 Melander, prevented by the Bavarians from fuither 
 pursuing Wrangel, crossed by Jena and Erfurt into 
 Hesse, and now appeared as a dangerous enemy in the 
 country which ho had formerly defended. If it was the 
 desire of revenge upon his former sovereign which led 
 hiui to choose Hesse for the scene of his ravage, he cer- 
 tainly had his full giatifi cation. Under this scourge, the 
 miseries of that unfortunate state reached their height. 
 But he had soon reason to regret that, in the choice of 
 his quarters, he had hstened to the dictates of revenge 
 rather than of prudence. In this exhausted country 
 his army was oppressed by want, while Winngel was 
 recru'-ting his strength, and remounting his cavalrv in 
 
368 
 
 3CHILLERS THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 
 
 Lunenburg. Too weak to maintain his wi'etched quar. 
 ters against the Swedish general, when he oi.ened the 
 campaign m the winter of 1648, and marchc^d a-ainst 
 Hesse, he was obliged to retire with disgrace, and take 
 refuge on the banks of the Danube. 
 
 France had once more disappointed the exp(3ctations 
 ot Sweden ; and the army of Turenne, disreeardinj; the 
 remonstrances of Wrangel, had remained upon the 
 ixhme. 1 he Swedish leader revenged himself by 
 drawing into his service the cavalry of Weimar, which 
 had abandoned the standard of Prance, though, by this 
 step, he farther increased the jealousy of that power, 
 lurenne received permission to join the Swedes; and 
 the last campaign of this eventful war was now opened 
 by the united armies. Driving Melander before them 
 along the Danube, they threw supplies into Egi'a, which 
 was besieged by the imperialists, and defeated the im 
 penal and Bavarian armies on the Danube, which ven- 
 tured to oppose them at Susmarshausen, where Me- 
 ander was mortally wounded. After this overthrow, 
 he Bavarian general, Gronsfeld, placed himself on the 
 laither side of the Lech, in order to guard Bavaria from 
 tlie enemy. 
 
 But Gronsfeld was not more fortunate than Tilly 
 Who, m this same position, had sacrificed his life for 
 Bavaria. Wrangel and Turenne chose the same spot 
 or passing the river, which was so gloriously marked by 
 the victory of Gus^avus Adolphus, and accomplished it 
 by the same means, too, which had favored their prede- 
 cessor. Bavaria was now a second time oveiTun, and 
 the breach of the truce punished by the severest treat- 
 ment ot Its inhabitants. Maximilian sought shelter in 
 fcalzburg, while the Swedes crossed the Iser, and forced 
 their way as fai- as the Inn. A violent and continued 
 ram, which in a few days swelled this inconsiderable 
 Btream into' a broad river, saved Austria once more from 
 the threatened danger. The enemy ten times attempt- 
 ed to lorm a bridge of boats over the Inn, and as often 
 It was desti-oyed by the current. Never, during the 
 whole course of the war, had the imperialists been in 
 60 great consternation as at present, when the enemv 
 iveie ,n the center of Bavaria, and when they had no 
 
 // 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR, 
 
 369 
 
 onger a general left who could be matched against a 
 Turenne, a Wrangel, and a Koenigsmark. At last the 
 brave Piccolomini aiTived from the Netherlands, to as- 
 sume the command of the feeble wreck of the imperi- 
 alists. By their own ravages in Bohemia, the allies had 
 rendered their subsistence in that country impracticable, 
 \ad were at last driven by scarcity to retreat into the 
 Upper Palatinate, where the news of the peace put a 
 period to their activity. 
 
 Koenigsmark, with his flying-corps, advanced toward 
 iiohemia, where Ernest Odowalsky, a disbanded cap- 
 tain, who, after being disabled in the imperial service, 
 had been dismissed without a pension, laid before him a 
 plan for surprising the lesser side of the city of Prague. 
 Koenigsmark successfully accomplished the bold enter- 
 prise, and acquired the reputation of closing the thirty 
 years' war by the last brilliant achievement. This de- 
 cisive stroke, v/hich vanquished the empeix)r's iiTesolu- 
 rion, cost the Swedes only the loss of a single nfian. 
 But 'the old town, the larger half of Prague, whicli is 
 divided into two parts by the Moldau, by its vigorous 
 resistance wearied out the efforts of the palatine, Chaidos 
 Gustavus, the successor of Christina on the throne, who 
 had arrived from Sweden with fresh troops, and had 
 assembled the whole Swedish force in Bohemia and 
 Silesia before its walls. The approach of winter at last 
 drove the besiegers into their quarters, and in the mean 
 time, the intelligence arrived that a peace had been 
 signed at Munster, on the 24th October. 
 
 The colossal labor of concluding this solemn, and ever 
 memorable and sacred ti^eaty, VA-hich is known by tlie 
 name of the peace of Westphalia ; the endless obstacles 
 which were to bo surmounted ; the contending interessts 
 which it was necessary to reconcile; the concatenation 
 of circumstances which must have cooperated to bring 
 to a favorable termination this tedious, but precious and 
 permanent work of policy ; the difficulties which beset 
 the veiy opening of the negotiations, and maintaining 
 them, when opened, during the ever-fluctuating vici.ssi- 
 tudes of the war ; finally, arranging the conditions of 
 peace, and, still more, the cariyiug them into effect ; — 
 what were the conc^itions of this peace ; what each coo' 
 24 
 
370 
 
 SCHILLER S THIRTY YEARS WAR. 
 
 tending power gained or lost, by the toils and sufferings 
 of a thirty years' war; what modification it wrought 
 upon the general system of European policy ; — these 
 are matters which must bo relinquished to another pen. 
 The history of the peace of Westphalia constitutes a 
 whole, as important as the history of the war itself. A 
 mere abridgment of it would reduce to a mere skeleton 
 one of the most interesting and characteristic monu- 
 ments of human policy and passions, and deprive it of 
 every feature calculated to fix the attention of^he pub- 
 lic, for which I ^^Tite, and of which I now respectfully 
 take my leave. 
 
 TMS Ri^n) 
 
 Harper's Catalogue. 
 
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 Schiller 
 
 story of the thirty years 
 war • 
 
 
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 JAN 2 1947 
 
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