98 A. D. COUNT MANSFELDT. Ch. 9. with immense slaughter. The battle of Prague decided the fate of Bohemia, put Ferdinand in possession of all his dominions, 1620 and invested him with an authority equal to that which any to of his predecessors had enjoyed. All his wishes were gratified; 1623. and, had he been wise, he might have maintained his ascend Maxi milian of Bavaria. Count Mansfeldt. ency in Germany. But he was blinded by his success; and so, from a rebellion in Bohemia, the war extended through Germany, and afterwards throughout Europe. The Emperor had regained his dominions by the victorious arms of Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria. To compensate this service without detriment to himself, he resolved to bestow upon him the dominions of the Count Palatine of the Rhine, who had injudiciously accepted the crown of Bohemia. Frederic must be totally ruined. He was, therefore, put under the ban of the empire, and his territories were devastated by the Spanish General Spinola, with an army of twenty-five thousand men. Apparently there was no hope for Frederic, or the Protestant cause. The only Protestant princes capable of arresting the Austrian encroachments were the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg. But the former, John George, preferred the aggrandizement of his house to the emancipation of his country, and tamely witnessed the victories of the Emperor, without raising an arm for the relief of the Protestants, of whom he was the acknowledged head. George William of Brandenburg was still more shamefully fettered by the fear of Austria; and he, too, cautiously avoided committing himself to either party. But while these two great princes ingloriously abandoned Frederic to his fate, a single soldier of fortune, whose only treasure was his sword, Ernest Count Mansfeldt, dared, in the Bohemian town of Pilsen, to defy the whole power of Austria. Undismayed by the reverses of the Elector Palatine, he succeeded in enlisting an army of twenty thousand men. With such an army, the cause of Frederic was not irretrievably lost. New prospects began to open, and his misfortunes raised up unexpected friends. James of England opened his APPOINTMENT OF WALLENSTEIN. to treasures, and Christian of Denmark offered his powerful Ch.9. support. Mansfeldt was also joined by the Margrave of A. D. Baden. The courage of the Count Palatine revived; and 1623 he labored assiduously to arouse his Protestant brethren. Meanwhile, the generals of the Emperor were on the alert; 1625. and the rising hopes of Frederic were dissipated by the victories of Tilly. The Count Palatine was again driven from his hereditary dominions, and sought refuge in Holland. stein. But though the Emperor was successful, his finances were exhausted, and he was dependent on Bavaria. Under these circumstances nothing was more welcome than the proposal of Wallenstein, an experienced officer, and the richest nobleman Wallenin Bohemia, to raise, clothe, and maintain an army for the Emperor, if he were allowed to augment it to fifty thousand men. His project was ridiculed as visionary; but the offer was not to be rejected. In a few months he had collected an army of thirty thousand. His reputation, the prospect of promotion, and the hope of plunder, attracted adventurers from all parts of Germany. Knowing that so large a body could not be held together without great resources, and having none of his own, he marched his troops into the most fertile territories, which had not yet suffered from the war, where they subsisted by contributions and plunder, speedily becoming as obnoxious to their friends as they were to their enemies. troops. Nothing shows the weakness of the Imperial power, amid all its apparent strength, than this grant to Wallenstein: for with all his heroism and success, he cannot be viewed in any other light than as a licensed robber. He was virtually His at the head of a troop of banditti, who fought for the sake of lawless plunder, and who were prepared to join any side which might present the greatest hope of gain. The genius of Schiller, both in his dramas and histories, has immortalized the name of this unprincipled hero, and has excited a strange interest in his person, his family, and his fortunes. He is represented as born to command. His acute eye, we are told, distin 100 A. D. CHARACTER OF WALLENSTEIN. Ch. 9. guished at a glance, from among the multitude, such as were competent; and he assigned to each his proper place. His 1625 very appearance excited awe and reverence; his figure was to proud, lofty, and warlike, while his bright piercing eye 1630. expressed profundity of thought, combined with gravity and mystery. His favorite study was that of the stars. He State of maintained sixty pages; his ante-chamber was defended by Wallen- fifty life guards; and his table never consisted of less than one hundred covers. Six barons and as many knights were in constant attendance upon his person. He never smiled, and the coldness of his temperament was proof against sensual seductions. Ever occupied with grand schemes, he despised those amusements in which so many waste their lives. Terror was the talisman with which he worked; and no general of ancient or modern times could boast of being obeyed with equal alacrity. stein. His suc cess. His enemies Such was the enterprising nobleman to whom the Emperor Ferdinand committed so great authority. And the success of Wallenstein apparently justified the course of the Emperor. Great in his extortions, and munificent in his rewards, crowds flocked to his standard. It is said that, in seven years, Wallenstein exacted not less than sixty millions of dollars from one half of Germany; an incredible sum, when it is recollected that the annual expenditure of the government of England at this time was less than two millions. His armies flourished, while the States through which they passed were ruined. It was his object to humble all the princes of the empire, and to make himself necessary to the Emperor, by whom he had already been created Duke of Friedland, and Generalissimo of the Imperial armies. Uninterrupted success seemed to promise the realization of his vast ambition. Germany lay bleeding at his feet, helpless and indignant. But the greatness and the insolence of Wallenstein raised up enemies against him in all parts of the empire. Fear and jealousy increased opposition, even in the ranks of the Catholics. His dismissal was demanded by the whole college GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. 101 of electors, and even by Spain. Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria, Ch. 9. felt himself eclipsed by the successful general; and was at the head of the cabals against him. The Emperor felt, at this crisis, as Ganganelli did when compelled to disband the Jesuits, that he was parting with the man to whom he owed all his supremacy. But all Germany was clamorous; and the disgrace of Wallenstein was ordained. A. D. 1630. estates. The question now was, would the ambitious chieftain, at the head of one hundred thousand devoted soldiers, regard the commands of the Emperor? This was soon answered. He Retires did. He made up his mind to obey; looking to the future to his for revenge, and feeling that he could afford to wait for it. He was a firm believer in astrology; and he had read in the stars that glorious prospects still awaited him. Wallenstein retired to his estates in Bohemia; but maintained the pomp and splendor of a Prince of the Empire. Adol Scarcely had he retired from the command of the army, before his dismissal was seen to be an error. Providence had raised up a friend to Germany in its distress, in the person of Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden. It was not for personal Gusaggrandizement that he lent his powerful arm to the Protes- tavus tant princes, who, thus far, had vainly struggled against phus. Maximilian, Tilly, and Wallenstein. Zeal for Protestantism, added to strong provocations, induced him to land in Germany with fifteen thousand men-a small body to oppose the victorious troops of the Emperor, but they were brave and highly disciplined, and devoted to their royal master. He himself was indisputably the greatest general of the age, and had the full confidence of the Protestant princes, who were ready to rally the moment he obtained any signal advantage. Henceforth Gustavus Adolphus was the hero of the war. He was more than a hero; he was a Christian, careful of the morals of his soldiers, and devoted to the interests of spiritual religion. He was frugal, yet generous; serene in the greatest danger; and magnanimous beyond all precedent 102 A. D. SACK OF MAGDEBURG. Ch. 9. in the history of kings. On the 20th of May, 1630, taking his daughter Christiana in his arms, then only four years of 1630. age, he presented her to the States as their future sovereign, and made his farewell address. "Not lightly, not wantonly," said he, "am I about to involve myself and you in this new and dangerous war. God is my witness that I do not fight to gratify my own ambition; but the Emperor has wronged me, has supported my enemies, persecuted my friends, trampled my religion in the dust, and even stretched forth his revengeful arm against my crown. The oppressed States of Germany call loudly for aid, which, by God's help, we will give them." Fall and Magde He had scarcely landed in Germany before his victorious career began. France concluded a treaty with him; and he advanced against Tilly, who now headed the Imperial armies. The tardiness of the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg sack of in rendering assistance caused the loss of Magdeburg, the burg. most important fortress of the Protestants. It was taken by assault, even while Gustavus was advancing to its relief. No pen can paint, and no imagination can conceive, the horrors which were perpetrated by the Imperial soldiers in the sack of that unfortunate place. Neither childhood nor helpless age-neither youth, beauty, sex, nor rank-could disarm the fury of the conquerors. No situation or retreat was sacred. In a single church fifty-three women were beheaded. The Croats amused themselves with throwing children into the flames. Pappenheim's Walloons stabbed infants at the breast. The city was reduced to ashes; and thirty thousand of the inhabitants were slain. Success But the loss of this important city was soon compensated of the by the battle of Leipsic, in 1631, which the King of Sweden King of Sweden. gained over the Imperial forces; and in which the Elector of Saxony at last rendered valuable aid. The rout of Tilly, hitherto victorious, was complete; and he himself escaped only by chance. Saxony was freed; while Bohemia, Moravia, Austria, and Hungary were cleared of enemies. Ferdinand |