V 
 
 aHK BBHHnl EB
 
 Dr. 
 
 NOTE. 5 
 Diet 
 publ 
 gica 
 port 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 Etymolo- 
 <rs to this 
 
 Y 
 
 d improved 
 
 OF THE 
 
 by Ci 
 
 ofYa 
 Thepeci 
 Dictionary 
 books ever 
 
 1. Comple 4 
 words m 
 Dictionar 
 part, unui 
 explanati< 
 
 wanted. 
 
 2. Accura 
 
 departme; 
 were most 
 and redui 
 which bai 
 sally ado] 
 the defin 
 
 methodica..j ~ j ., ;-. 
 
 Ksq., the Rev. Chauncey Goodrich, rrof. 
 ' Lyman, Prof. Whitney, and Prof. Oilman, 
 with the assistance and under the super- 
 intendence of Prof. Goodrich. 
 
 3. Scientific and Technical Terms. 
 In order to secure the utmost completeness 
 and accuracy of definition, this department 
 has be?n subdivided among eminent 
 Scholars and Experts, including Prof. Dana, 
 Prof. Lyman, &c. 
 
 4. Etymology. The eminent philo- 
 'logist, Dr. C. F. MAHN, has devoted five 
 years to perfecting this department. 
 
 The Volume contains 1576 pages, more than 3000 Illustrations, and is sold 
 for One Guinea. It will be found, on comparison, to be one of the cheapest 
 Volumes ever issued. Cloth, 21s. ; half-bound in calf, 30s.; calf or half-russia, 
 
 31s. fid. ; russia, 2. 
 
 To be obtained through all Booksellers. Published by 
 GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON. 
 
 most useful 
 Cheapest 
 
 ised as far 
 
 In all r *es 
 ling is r .OCR.. 
 
 has been en- 
 ISTER and Mr. 
 
 scholars. The 
 Is indicated by 
 
 are explained 
 td at the bottom 
 
 tations. Xo 
 > embody such 
 
 quotations fro . standard authors as may 
 throw light J the definitions, or pos- 
 sess any special interest of thought or 
 language. 
 
 8. The Synonyms. These are sub- 
 joined to the words to which they belong, 
 and are very complete. . 
 
 9 The Illustrations, which exceed 3000, 
 are inserted, not for the sake of ornament, 
 but to elucidate the meaning of words 
 which cannot be satisfactorily explained 
 without pictorial aid.
 
 SELL & SONS. 
 
 Dica 
 
 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, AND GENERAL BOOK 
 * ^ffiB ARY REFERENCE. With 3000 Illustrations. Tho- 
 i^ed and improved by CHACNCEY A. GOODRICH, D.D., 
 ., J^pNoAH POKTEE, D.D., of Yale College. 
 
 Inine, Qmsto, strong'y bound in cloth, 1840 pages, price 1 Us. 6<Z.; half-calf, 
 2 ; calf or half-russia, 2 2*. ; russia, 2 10s. 
 
 Besides the matter comprised in the WEBSTER'S GUINEA DICTIONARY, this 
 volume contains the following Appendices, which will show that no pains have 
 been spared to make it a complete Literary Reference-book : 
 
 A Brief ^History of the English Lan- 
 guage. " By Professor JAMES HADLET. 
 
 Principles of Pronunciation. By 
 Professor GOODRICH and W. A. WHEELEH, 
 M.A. 
 
 A Short Treatise on Orthography. 
 
 By ABTHTJE W. WEIGHT. 
 An Explanatory and Pronouncing 
 
 Vocabulary of the Names of Noted Fic- 
 titious Persons and Places, &c. By AV. A. 
 WHEELKB, M.A. 
 
 Thit valuable Work may also be had 
 separately, post Svo., 5s. 
 
 A Pronouncing Vocabulary of Scrip- 
 ture Proper Names. By W. A. WHEELEB, 
 M.A. 
 
 A Pronouncing Vocabulary of Greek 
 and Latin Proper Names. By Professor 
 THACHKR, of Yale College. 
 
 An Etymological Vocabulary of Mo- 
 dern Geographical Names. By the Rer. 
 C. H. WHEELER. 
 
 Pronouncing Vocabularies of Modern 
 
 Geographical and Biographical Names. 
 By J. THOHAS, M.D. 
 
 A Pronouncing Vocabulary of Com- 
 mon English Christian Names. 
 
 A Dictionary of Quotations. Selected 
 and translated by WILLIAM G. WEBSTER. 
 
 A List of Abbreviations, Contrac- 
 tions, and Arbitrary Signs used in Writing 
 and Printing. 
 
 A Classified Selection of Pictorial 
 
 Illustrations (70 pages). With references 
 to the text. 
 
 " For the ftudent of English etymologfcally, Wedgwood, Ed. Muller, and Mann's Webster 
 are the best dictionaries. While to the general student Main's AVebster and Craig's 
 ' Universal Dictionary ' are most useful." Atherueum. 
 
 WEBSTER'S PEOPLE'S DICTIONARY 
 
 Of the English. Language ; based on Webster's Large Dictionary, 
 and containing all English words now in use, with their pronun- 
 ciation, derivation, and meanings. In this work, intended for the 
 widest popular use, most of the et)- mological matter is omitted ; but 
 the Treatises on Pronunciation and Spelling, Li-ts of Scientific 
 Words, &c., are retained. In One Volume, large 8vo., coniaining 
 more than One Thousand Pages and Six Hundred Illustrations. 
 Cloth, 10s. 6d. ; half-calf, 15s.; calf or half-russia, 16s.; russia, I/. 
 
 This Edition contains 
 
 All Scientific Words important to Non- 
 
 Scientific Readers. 
 
 Important Phrases, with Explanations. 
 Synonyms. 
 Orthography. 
 1'ronunciation. 
 
 A Glossary of Scottish AVords and Phrase?. ' 
 Vocabularies of Scriptural, Classical, and 
 
 Geographical Proper Names. 
 A Vocabulary of Perfect and Allowable 
 
 Rhymes, &c. &c. t 
 
 LONDON: GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 3
 
 ,^,.jJ BY 
 
 DICTIONARY. 
 
 From the QUARTERLY KEYIEW, Oct., 1873. 
 
 " Seventy years passed before JOHNSON was followed "by Webster, an 
 American writer, who faced the task of the English Dictionary with -x 
 full appreciation of its requirements, leading to better practical results.'' 
 
 " His laborious comparison of twenty languages, though never pub- 
 lished, bore fruit in his own mind, and his training placed him both in 
 knowledge and judgment far in advance of Johnson as a philologist. 
 Webster's ' American Dictionary of the English Language ' was pub- 
 lished in 1828, and of course appeared at once in England, where 
 successive re-editing has as yet kept it in the highest place as a practical 
 Dictionary" 
 
 " The acceptance of an American Dictionary in England has itself 
 had immense effect in keeping up the community of speech, to break 
 which would be a grievous harm, not to English-speaking nations 
 alone, but to mankind. The result 6f this has been that the common 
 Dictionary must suit both sides of the Atlantic." .... 
 
 " The good average business-like character of Webster's Dictionary, 
 both in style and matter, made it as distinctly suited as Johnson's was 
 distinctly unsuited to be expanded and re-edited by other hands. 
 Professor Goodrich's edition of 1847 is not much more than enlarged 
 and amended, but other revisions since have so much novelty of plan 
 as to be described as distinct works." , . . . 
 
 " The American revised Webster's Dictionary of 1864, published in 
 America and England, is of an altogether higher order than these last 
 [The London Imperial and Student's]. It bears on its title-page the 
 names of Drs. Goodrich and Porter, but inasmuch as its especial im- 
 provement is in the etymological department, the care of which was 
 committed to Dr. MAHN, of Berlin, we prefer to describe it in short as 
 the Webster-Mahn Dictionary. Many other literary men, among them 
 Professors Whitney and Dana, aided in the task of compilation and 
 revision. On consideration it seems that the editors and contributors 
 have gone far toward improving Webster to the utmost that he will 
 bear improvement. The vocabulary has become almost complete, as 
 regards usual words, while the definitions keep throughout to Webster's 
 simple careful style, and the derivations are assigned with the aid of 
 good modern authorities." 
 
 " On the whole, the Webster-Mahn Dictionary as it stands, is most 
 respectable, and CERTAINLY THE BEST PEACTICAL ENGLISH 
 DICTIONARY EXTANT." 
 
 LONDON: GEORGE BELL & SON?, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, 
 
 4
 
 GEORGE BELL & SONS. 
 
 SPECIAL DICTIONARIES AND WORKS 
 OF REFERENCE. 
 
 Dr. Richardson's Philological Dictionary of the 
 
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Combining Explanation with Etymology, 
 and copiously illustrated by Quotations from the Best Authorities. 
 New Edition, with a Supplement containing additional Words and 
 further Illustrations. In 2 vols. 4to. 4 14s. 6d. Half-bound in 
 Kussia, 5 15s. 6d. Kussia, 6 12s. 
 
 The Words, with those of the same family, are traced to their 
 origin. The Explanations are deduced from the primitive meaning 
 through the various usages. The Quotations are arranged chrono- 
 logically, from the earliest period to the present time. 
 The Supplement separately. 4to. 12s. 
 
 An 8vo. edition, without^the Quotations, 15s. Half-russia, 20s. 
 Kussia, 24s. 
 
 Synonyms and Antonyms of the English Language. 
 
 Collected and Contrasted. By the late Yen. C. J. SMITH, M.A. 
 Post Svo. 5s. 
 
 Synonyms Discriminated. A Catalogue of Synonymous 
 "Words in the English Language, with their various Shades of Mean- 
 ing, &c. Illustrated by Quotations from Standard Writers. By the 
 late Ven. C. J. SMITH, M.A. Demy Svo. 16s. 
 A New Biographical Dictionary. By THOMPSON COOPER, 
 F.S.A., Editor of " Men of the Time," and Joint Editor of " Athense 
 Cantabrigienses." 1 vol. Svo. 12s. 
 
 This volume is not a mere repetition of the contents of previous works, 
 but embodies the results of many years' laborious research in rare publica- 
 tions and unpublished documents. Any note of omission which may be 
 sent to the Publishers will be duly considered. 
 " It is an important original contribution to the literature of its class by a painstaking 
 
 scholar It seems in every way admirable, and fully to justify the claims on its 
 
 behalf put forth by its editor." British Quarterly Review. 
 
 " The mass of information which it contains, especially as regards a number of authors 
 more or less obscure, is simply astonishing." Spectator. 
 
 " Comprises in 1210 pages, printed very closely in double columns, an enormous amount 
 of information." Examiner. 
 
 "Mr. Cooper takes credit to himself, and is, we think, Justified in doing so, for the great 
 care bestowed upon the work to insure accuracy as to facts and dates; and he is right 
 perhaps in saying that bis dictionary is the most comprehensive work of Us kind In the 
 English language." Pott .Vail Gazette. 
 
 A Biographical and Critical Dictionary of Painters 
 
 and Engravers. With a List of Ciphers, Monograms, and Marks. 
 By MICHAEL BBYAN. Enlarned Edition, icith numerous additions, by 
 GEOUGE STANLEY. Imperial Svo. 2 2s. 
 
 The Cottage Gardener's Dictionary. With a Supple- 
 ment, containing all the new plants and varieties now cultivated. 
 Edited by GEORGE W. JOHNSON. Post Svo. Cloth. 6s. 6d. 
 
 LONDON: GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 5
 
 STANDARD WORKS PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE ALDINE SERIES OF THE BRITISH POETS. 
 
 CHEAP EDITION. 
 
 In Pifty-two Volumes, Bound in Cloth, at Eighteenpence each 
 Volume. 
 
 Akenside, with Memoir by the Eev. 
 A. Dree, and additional Letters. Is. Ed. 
 
 Beattie, with Memoir by the Eev. 
 A. DVCB. i*. ed, 
 
 Burns, with Memoir by Sir Harris 
 NICOLAS, and additional Copyright Pieces. 
 3 vols. 4s. 6d. 
 
 Butler, with Memoir by the Kev. J. 
 
 MlTFORD. 2 VOls. 3S. 
 
 Chaucer, edited by K. Morris, with 
 Memoir by Sir HARRIS NICOLAS. 6 vols. 
 9s. 
 
 Churchill, Tooke'a Edition, revised, 
 with Memoir, by JAMES HANNAY. 2 vols. 
 
 ft. 
 
 Collins, edited, with Memoir, by W. 
 MOT THOMAS. It. 6d. 
 
 Cowper, including his Translations. 
 Kdited, with Memoir, and Additional 
 Copyright Pieces, by JOHN BECCE, F.S.A. 
 3 vols. 4s. 6d. 
 
 Dryden, with Memoir by the Eev. 
 R. HOOPER, F.S.A. Carefully revised, 
 6 VOls. 7s. 6d. 
 
 Falconer, with Memoir by the Eev. 
 J. MITFOUD. Is. 6d. 
 
 Goldsmith, with Memoir by the Eev. 
 
 J. MITFOBD. lie vised. Is. 6d. 
 
 Gray, with Notes and Memoir by the 
 Rev. JOHN MITFOUD. is. 6d. 
 
 Kirke "White, with Memoir by Sir H, 
 NICOLAS, and additional Notes. Carefully 
 revised. 1*. 61*. 
 
 Milton, with Memoir by the Eev. J 
 
 MITFOED. 3 vols. 4*. 6d. 
 
 Parnell, with Memoir by the Eev. 
 J. MITFOBD. Is. 6ci. 
 
 Pope, with Memoir by the Eev. A. 
 OTCE. 3 vols. 4. 6d. 
 
 Prior, with Memoir by the Eev. J. 
 
 MlTFOltD. 2 VOls. "3S. 
 
 Shakespeare, with .Memoir by the 
 Rev. A. DTCE. 1*. 6d. 
 
 Spenser, edited, with Memoir, by 
 J. PAYKE COLLIER. 5 vols. It. 6d. 
 
 Surrey, edited, with .; Memoir, by 
 JAMES YEOWELL. is. 6d. 
 
 Swift, with Memoir by the Eev. J 
 MITFOKD. 3 vols. 4s. 6d. 
 
 Thomson, with Memoir by Sir H 
 NICOLAS. Annotated by PETER CDNHIKG- 
 IIAM, F.S.A., and additional Poems, care- 
 fully revised. 2 vols. 3*. 
 
 Wyatt, edited, with Memoir, by 
 JAMES YEOWELL. is. gd. 
 
 Young, with Memoir by the Eev. J. 
 
 MITFOKD, and additional Poems. 2 vols. 
 3t. 
 
 Complete sets may be obtained, bound in half-morocco. 
 
 N.B. Copies of the Fine Paper Edition, with portraits, may still be had, price 5s. per 
 volume (except Collins, 3s. 6d.). 
 
 LONDON : GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
 
 GEORGE SELL & SONS. 
 
 THE ALDINE EDITION OF THE BRITISH POETS, 
 
 SUPPLEMENTAET SEBIES. 
 
 THE fifty-two volumes which have hitherto formed the well-known 
 Aldine Series, embody the works of nearly all the more popular English 
 poetical writers, -whether lyric, epic, or satiric, up to the end of the 
 eighteenth century. But since that time the wonderful fertility of English 
 literature has produced many writers equal, and in some cases far superior, 
 to the majority of their predecessors ; and the widely augmented roll of 
 acknowledged English poets now contains many names not represented 
 in the series of " Aldine Poets." 
 
 With a view of providing for this want, and of making a series which 
 has long held a high place in public estimation a more adequate represen- 
 tation of the whole body of English poetry, the Publishers have deter- 
 mined to issue a second series, which will contain some of the older poets, 
 and the works of recent writers, so far as may be practicable by arrange- 
 ment with the representatives of the poets whose works are still copyright. 
 
 One volume, or more, at a time will be issued at short intervals ; they 
 will be uniform in binding and style with the last fine paper edition of the 
 Aldine Poets, in fcap. 8vo. size, printed at the Chiswick Press. Price 
 5s. per volume. 
 
 Each volume will be edited with notes where necessary for elucidation of 
 the text; a memoir will be prefixed, and a portrait, where an authentic 
 one is accessible. 
 
 The following are ready, or in preparation. 
 
 THE POEMS OF WILLIAM BLAKB. With Memoir by W. M. Rossetti, 
 and portrait by Jeens. 
 
 THE POEMS OF SAMUEL KOGEBS. With Memoir by Edward Bell, and 
 portrait by Jeens. 
 
 THE POEMS OP THOMAS CHATTERTON. 2 vols. Edited by the Rev. 
 W. Skeat, with Memoir by Edward Bell. 
 
 THE POEMS OF SIB WALTER RALEIGH, SIR HCGH COTTON, and Selec- 
 tions from other Courtly Poets. With Introduction by the Rev. Dr. 
 Hannah, and portrait of bir W. Raleigh. 
 
 THE POEMS OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. With Memoir by W. Allinghaui, 
 and portrait by Jeens. 
 
 THH POEMS OF GEORGE HERBERT. (Complete Edition.) With Memoir 
 by the Rev. A. B. Grotart, and portrait. 
 
 THE POEMS OF JOHX KEATS. With Memoir by Lord Houghton, and 
 portrait by Jeens. 
 
 LONDON : GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GABDEF. 
 
 7
 
 STANDARD WORKS PUBLISHED BY 
 
 Jn Ten Volumes, pice 2s. Qd. each. 
 CHEAP ALDINE EDITION OF 
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S DRAMATIC WORKS, 
 
 EDITED BY S. W. SINGEE. 
 
 Uniform with the Cheap Edition of the Aldine Poets. 
 
 THE formation of numerous Shakespeare Beading Societies lias created 
 a demand for a cheap portable edition, with LEGIBLE TYPE, that shall pro- 
 vide a sound text with such notes as may help to elucidate the meaning 
 and assist in the better understanding of the author. The Publishers 
 therefore determined to reprint Mr. Singer's well-known Edition, published 
 in 10 vols., small 8vo., for some time out of print, and issue it in a cheap 
 form, uniform with the well-known Aldine Edition of British Poets. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Vol. I. The Life of Shakespeare. The Tempest. The Two Gentlemen 
 of Verona. The Merry Wives of Windsor. Measure for 
 Measure. 
 
 Vol. II. Comedy of Errors. Much Ado about Nothing. Love's Labour 
 Lost. Midsummer Night's Dream. Merchant of Venice. 
 
 Vol. III. As You Like It. Taming of the Shrew. All's Well that 
 
 Ends Well. Twelfth Night, or What You Will. 
 Vol. IV. Winter's Tale. Pericles. King John. King Richard II. 
 ; Vol. V. King Henry IV., Parts I. and II. King Henry V. 
 
 Vol. VI. King Henry VI., Parts I. II. and III. King Richard III. 
 Vol. VII. King Henry VIII. Troilus and Cressida. Coriolanus. 
 
 Vol. VIII. Titus Andronicus. Romeo and Juliet. Timon of Athens. 
 Julius Csesar. 
 
 ; Vol. IX. Macbeth. Hamlet. King Lear. 
 
 Vol. X. Othello. Antony and Cleopatra. Cymbeline. 
 
 Uniform with the above. 
 CRITICAL ESSAYS ON THE PLAYS OF SHAKESPEARE, 
 
 BY WILLIAM WATKISS LLOYD; 
 
 Giving a succinct account of the origin and source of each play, where 
 aecertainable, and careful criticisms on the subject-matter of each. 2s. 6d. 
 
 LONDON: GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 8
 
 GEORGE BELL & SONS. 
 
 POCKET VOLUMES. 
 
 A SERIES f Select Works of Favourite Authors, adapted for general reading, moderate In 
 price, compact and elegant in form, and executed in a style fitting them to be perma- 
 nently preserred. Imperial 32mo., cloth, gilt top. 
 
 Bacon's Essays. 25. Gd. 
 Burns's Poems. 3s. 
 
 Songs. 3s. 
 
 Coleridge's Poems. 3s. 
 
 C. Dibdin's Sea Songs and Ballads. 
 
 And others. 3s. 
 
 Midshipman, The. Autobiographical 
 Sketches of his own early Career, by Cap- 
 tain BASH. HALL, R.N., F.K.S. 3*. 6d. 
 
 Lieutenant and Commander. By 
 Captain BASIL HALL, R.N., F.R.S. 3*. 6d. 
 George Herbert's Poems. 2s. tid. 
 Eemains. 2s. 
 
 Works. 3s. 6d. 
 
 The Sketch Book. By WASHINGTON 
 
 IRVING. 3s. 6d. 
 
 Tales of a Traveller. By WASHING- 
 TON ISTIK*. 3s. 6d. 
 
 Charles lamb's Tales from Shak- 
 
 speare. 3s. 
 
 Longfellow's Evangeline and Voices, 
 Sea-side, and Poems on Slavery. 3*. 
 
 Milton's Paradise Lost. 3s. 
 
 Regained, & other Poems. 3s. 
 
 Robin Hood Ballads. 3s. 
 Southey's Life of Nelson. 3s. 
 
 Walton's Complete Angler. Por- 
 traits and Illustrations. 3s. 
 
 Lives of Donne, Wotton, 
 
 Hooker, &c. 3s. Gd. 
 White's Natural History of Sel- 
 borne. 3s. 6d. 
 
 Shakspeare's Plays. KEIGHTLEY'S Edition. Thirteen Volumes in cloth case, 21s. 
 
 ELZEVIR SERIES. 
 
 Small fcap. 8vo. 
 
 THESE Volumes are issued under the general title of " ELZEVIR SERIES," to distinguish 
 them from other collections. This general title has been adopted to indicate the spirit in which 
 they are prepared ; that is to say, with the greatest possible accuracy as regards text, and 
 the highest degree of beauty that can be attained in the workmanship. 
 
 They are printed at the Chiswick Press, on fine paper, with wide margins, and issued in 
 a neat cloth binding. 
 
 Longfellow's Evangeline, Voices, 
 Sea- side and Fire-side. 4s. 6d. With 
 Portrait. 
 
 Hiawatha, and The Golden 
 
 Legend. 4s. 6d. 
 
 Wayside Inn, Miles Standish, 
 
 Spanish Student. 4s. 6d. 
 
 Burns's Poetical Works. 4s. 6d. 
 With Portrait. 
 
 Songs and Ballads. 4s. 6<f. 
 
 These Editions contain all the copyright 
 pieces published in the Aldine Edition. 
 
 Cowper's Poetical Works. 2 vols., 
 
 each 4s. 6d. With Portrait. 
 Coleridge's Poems. 4s. Qd. With 
 
 Portrait. 
 
 Irving' s Sketch Book. 5s. With 
 
 Portrait. 
 
 Tales of a Traveller. 5s. 
 
 Milton's Paradise Lost. 5s. With 
 
 Portrait. 
 Regained. 5s. 
 
 Shakspeare's Plays and Poems. 
 
 Carefully edited by THOMAS KEIGHTLET. 
 In seven volumes. 5s. each. 
 
 Southey's Life of Nelson. 4s. 6<7. 
 
 With Portrait of NELSON. 
 
 Walton's Angler. 4s. 6d. With a 
 Frontispiece. 
 
 Lives of Donne, Hooker, 
 
 Herbert, &c. 5s. With Portrait. 
 
 LONDON: GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 9
 
 STANDARD WORKS PUBLISHED BY 
 
 HISTORY AND TRAVELS. 
 
 Rome and the Campagna. A Historical and Topo- 
 graphical Description of the Site, Buildings, and Neighbourhood of ancient Rome. By 
 the Rev. ROBERT BERN, late Fello* and Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge. Wilh 
 eighty engravings by jEWiir, and numerous Maps and Plans. Demy 4to. j.3 3s. 
 
 Ancient Athens; its History, Topography, and Re- 
 in AINS. By THOMAS Hwjur DYER, l,L.U., Author of " The History of the Ki.igs of 
 Rome." Super-royal 8vo. Illustrated, cloth. 1 5s. 
 
 The History of the Kings of Rome. By Dr. T. H. 
 
 DVEK, Author of the "History of tUe City of Rome;" "Pompeii: its History, 
 Antiquities," &c., with a Prefatory Dissertation on the Sources and Evidence of Early 
 Roman History. 8vo. 16*. , 
 
 The Decline of the Roman Republic. By GEORGE Lose, 
 
 M.A., Editor of " Caesar's Commentaries," "Cicero's Orations," &c. 8vo. 
 Vol. I. From the Destruction of Carthage to the End of the Jugurthiae War. 14*. 
 VoL II. To the Death of Sertorius. Us. 
 
 Vol. III. lucluding the third Mitbridatic War, the Catiline Conspiracy, and the Con- 
 sulship of C. Julius Cesar. 1 is. 
 
 VoL IV. History of Csesar's Gallic Campaigns and of contemporaneous events. Us. 
 Vol. V. From the Invasion of Italy by Julius Cxsar to his Death. 14*. 
 
 A History of England during the Early and Middle 
 
 AGES. By C. H. PEAKSON, M.A., Fallow of Oriel College, Oxford, and late Lecturer 
 in History at Trinity College, Cambridge. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. 8ro. 
 VoL I. to the Death of Coeor de Lion. 16s. VoL II. to the Death of Edward I. 14s. 
 
 Historical Maps of England. By C. H. PEARSON, M.A. 
 
 Folio. Second E-iition, revised. 31s. 6<L 
 
 An Atlas containing Five Maps of England at different periods during the Early and 
 Middle Ages. 
 
 The Footsteps of our Lord and His Apostles in 
 
 PALESTINE, SYRIA. GREECE, AND ITALY. By w. H. BAWLETT. seventh 
 
 Edition, with numerous Engravings. In one 4to. volume. Handsomely bound in 
 walnut, Is*. Cloth gilt, 10*. tki. 
 
 Forty Days in the Desert on the Track of the 
 
 ISRAELITES : or, a Journey from Cairo to Mount Sinai and Petra. By W. H. BAKT- 
 LETT. 4to. With 25 Stetl Engravings. Handsome walnut binding, 184. Cloth gilt. 
 10s. 6d. 
 
 The Nile Boat; or, Glimpses in the Land of Egypt. 
 
 By W. H. BAUTLETT. New Edition, with 33 Steel Engravings. 4to. Walnut, 18*. 
 Cloth gilt, Ids. 6J. 
 
 The Desert of the Exodus. Journeys on Foot in the 
 
 Wilderness of the Forty Years' Wanderings, undertaken in connection with the 
 Ordnance Survey of Sinai and the Palestine Exploration Fund. By E. H. PALMEB, M.A., 
 Lord Altuouer's Professor of Arabic and Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, 
 Member of the Asiatic Society, and of the Societede Paris. With .Map-, and numerous 
 Illustrations from Photographs and Drawings taken on the spot by the Sinai Survey 
 Expedition and C. F. TYBWHITT DRAKE. 2 vols. 8vo. 23*. 
 
 The History of Egypt. From the Earliest Times till its 
 
 Conquest by the Arabs, A.D. 640. By SAMUEL SHARI-H. New Edition, revised and 
 enlarged. 2 vols. Large post 8vo. With numerous Illustrations, Maps, &c. -Cloth.lSs. 
 
 LONDON: GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 10
 
 GEORGE BELL & SONS. 
 
 STANDARD WORKS. 
 
 Corpus Poetarum Latinorum. Edited by E. WALKEP, 
 
 One thick vol. 8vo. Cloth, 18*. 
 
 Containing : Catullus, Lucretius, Virgillus, Tibullus, Propertiu', Ovidius, Hi.Tutius, 
 Phaedrus, Lucanus, Persius, Juvenalis, Martialis, Sulpicia, Statius, Silius Italicus, Valerius 
 Flaccus, Calpurnius Siculus, Ausonius, and Claudianus. 
 
 Cruden's Concordance to the Old and New Testament, 
 
 or an Alphabetical and Classified Index to the Holy Bible, specially adapted for Sunday 
 School Teachers, containing nearly 54,000 references. Thoroughly revised and con- 
 densed by G. H. HAXNAY. Fcap. 2s. 
 
 Perowne (Canon). The Book of Psalms. A New 
 
 Translation, with Introductions and Notes, Critical and Explanatory. By the Rev, 
 J. J. STEWART PEROWXE, B.D, Canon Residentiary of Llandaff, and Fellow of Trinity 
 College, Cambridge. 8vo. Vol. I., Third Edition, 18s.; Vol. II., Third Edition, 16s. 
 
 Adams (Dr. E.). The Elements of the English Lan- 
 
 GttAGE. By EBKEST ADAMS, Ph.D. Thirteenth Edition. Post 8vo. 4s. 6d. 
 
 Whewell (Dr.). Elements of Morality, including Polity. 
 
 By W. WHBWELL, D.D., formerly Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. Fourth 
 Edition. In 1 vol. 8vo. 15s. 
 
 Gilbart (J. W.). The Principles and Practice of 
 
 BANKING. By the late J. W. GILBABT. New Edition, revised and adapted to the 
 present day (1871). 8vo. 16s. __, 
 
 BIOGRAPHIES BY THE LATE SIR ARTHUR HELPS, K.C.B. 
 The Life of Hernando Cortes, and the Conquest of 
 
 MEXICO. Dedicated to Thomas Carlyle. 2 vols. Crown 8vo. 15s. 
 
 The Life of Christopher Columbus, the Discoverer of 
 
 AMERICA. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 The Life of Pizarro. With Some Account of his Asso- 
 ciates in the Conquest of Peru. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 The Life of Las Casas, the Apostle of the Indies. 
 
 Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 The Life and Epistles of St. PauL By THOMAS LEWIN, 
 
 Esq., M.A., F.S.A., Trinity College, Oxford, Barrister at-Law, Author of " Fasti 
 
 Sacri," "Siege of Jerusalem," "Caesar's Invasion," "Treatise on Trusts," &c. Second 
 
 Edition, much enlarged and entirely recast. With upwards of 350 Illustrations finely 
 
 engraved on Wood, Maps, Plans, &c. In 2 vols., demy 4 to. 2 2s. 
 
 "This is one of those works which demand from critics and from the public, before 
 
 attempting to estimate its merits in detail, an unqualified tribute of admiration. The first 
 
 glance tells us that the book is one on which the leisure of a busy lifetime and the whole 
 
 resources of an enthusiastic author have been lavished without stint .... This work is a 
 
 kind of British Museum for this period and subject in small compass. It is a series of 
 
 galleries of statues, gems, coins, documents, letters, books, and relics, through which the 
 
 reader may wander at leisure, and which he may animate with his own musings and reflec- 
 
 tions. It must be remembered throughout that this delightful and Instructive collection is 
 
 the result of the devotion of a lifetime, and deserves as much honour and recognition a.? 
 
 many a museum or picture-gallery which has preserved its donor's name for generations." 
 
 Times. 
 
 LONDON : GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET. COVENT -GARDEN. 
 
 11
 
 STANDARD WORKS PUBLISHED BY 
 
 ILLUSTRATED OR POPULAR EDITIONS OF 
 STANDARD WORKS. 
 
 Dante's Divine Comedy. Translated by the Eev. HENRY 
 
 FRAN-CIS CAST. With all the Author's Copyright Emendations. Post 8vo. 7*. 6d. 
 
 Shakespeare. Shakespeare's Plays and Poems. With 
 
 Notes and Life by CHARLES KNIGHT, and 40 engravings on wood by HABVKY. Eoyal 
 8vo. Cloth. 111.5. 6d. 
 
 Fielding. Works of Henry Fielding, complete. With 
 
 Memoir of the Author by THOMAS ROSCOE, and 20 Plates by GEORGE CBVIKSUANK. 
 Medium 8vo. 14*. 
 
 Fielding. The Novels separately. With Memoir by 
 
 THOMAS ROSCOE, and Plates by GEOBGK CKUIKSHANK. Medium 8vo. 7*. 6d. 
 
 Swift. Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D. Containing 
 
 interesting and valuable passages not hitherto published. With Memoir of the Author 
 by THOMAS ROSCOE. 2 vols. Medium 8vo. 24*. 
 
 Smollett. Miscellaneous Works of Tobias Smollett. 
 
 Complete in 1 vol. With Memoir of the Author by THOMAS ROSCOE. 21 Plates by 
 GEOBGE CKUIKSHANK. Medium 8vo. 14s. 
 
 Lamb. The Works of Charles Lamb. With a Memoir 
 
 by Sir THOMAS NOON TALFOTJBD. Imp. 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 Goldsmith's Poems. Illustrated. 16mo. 2s. 6d. 
 Wordsworth's White Doe of Rylstone ; or, the Fate of 
 
 THE NORTONS. Illustrated. I6mo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 Longfellow's Poetical Works. With nearly 250 Illustra- 
 tions by BIBKET FOSTEB, TENNFEL, GODWIN, THOMAS, &c. In 1 vol. 21*. 
 
 Longfellow's Evangeline. Illustrated. 16m.o. 3s. 6d. 
 Longfellow's Wayside Inn. Illustrated. 16mo. 3s. Qd. 
 
 Washington Irving's Sketch-Book. (The Artist's Edi- 
 tion.) Illustrated with a Portrait of the Author on Steel, and 200 Exquisite Wood- 
 Engravings from the Pencils of the most celebrated American Artists. Crown 4to. 
 21*. 
 
 Adelaide Anne Procter's Legends and Lyrics. The 
 
 Illustrated Edition. With Additional Poems, and an Introduction by CHAKLES 
 DICKKNS, a Portrait by JEENS, and 20 Illustrations by Eminent Artists. Fcap. 4to. 
 Ornamental cloth. 21*. 
 
 Mrs. Gatty's Parables from Nature. A Handsomely 
 
 Illustrated Kdition ; with Notes on the Natural History, and numerous Full-page 
 Illustrations by the most eminent Artists of the present day. Fcap. 4to. 21*. Also 
 
 2 volumes, 10*. 6d. each. 
 
 The Book of Gems. Selections from the British 
 
 POETS. Illustrated with upwards of 150 Steel Engravings. Edited by S. C. HALI.. 
 
 3 vols. Handsomely bound in walnut. 21*. each. 
 
 FrEsr SERIES CHAUCER TO DRTDEN. 
 
 SECOND SERIES SwrFT TO BURNS. 
 
 THIRD SERIES WOBDSWOBTH TO TENNTSON. 
 
 LONDON : GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET. COYENT GARDEN. 
 12
 
 GEOItGE BELL & SONS. 
 
 BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG. 
 
 CAPTAIN MAERYAT'S BOOKS FOB BOYS. ' 
 
 Poor Jack. With Sixteen Illustrations after Designs by 
 
 CLABKSON STANFIELD, R.A. Twenty-second Edition. Post 8vo., 3s. 6d. Gilt, 4s. 6<J. 
 
 The Mission ; or, Scenes in Africa. With Illustrations 
 
 by JOHN GILBERT. Post 8vo., 3s. 6d. Gilt, 4s. 6cJ. 
 
 The Settlers in Canada. With Illustrations by GILBERT 
 
 and DALZIEL. Post 8vo., 35. 6d. Gilt, 4*. 6d. 
 
 The Privateer's Man. Adventures by Sea and Land 
 
 IX CIVIL AND SAVAGE LIFE, ONE HUNDRKD YEARS AGO. Illustrated 
 with Eight Steel Engravings. Post 8vo., 3*. fcl. Gilt, 4*. 6d. 
 
 Masterman Ready ; or, the Wreck of the Pacific. 
 
 Embellished with Ninety-three Engravings on Wood. Post 8vo., 3*. 6d. Gilt, 4s. 6<J. 
 
 The Pirate and Three Cutters. Illustrated with Twenty 
 
 Steel Engravings from Drawings by CLABKSOX STANFIELD, R.A. With a Memoir 
 of the Author. Post 8vo., 3s. 6<J. Gilt, 4s. 6d. 
 
 A Boy's Locker. A Smaller Edition of the above Tales, 
 
 in 12 volumes, enclosed in a compact cloth box. 21*. 
 
 Hans Christian Andersen's Tales for Children. With 
 
 Forty-eight Full-page Illustrations by Wehnert, and Fifty-seven Small Engravings 
 on Wood by W. THOMAS. A new Edition. Very handsomely bound. 6s. 
 
 Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales and Sketches. 
 
 Translated by C. C. PEACHEY, g. WABD, A. PLESNEB, &c. With 104 Illustrations by 
 Orto SPECKTEB and others. 6s. 
 
 This volume contains several tales that are in no other Edition published in this 
 country, and with the above volume it forms the most complete English Edition. 
 
 Mrs. Alfred Gatty's Presentation Box for Young 
 
 PEOPLE. Containing " Parables from Nature," " Aunt Judy's Tales," and other 
 Popular Books, 9 volumes in all, beautifully printed, neatly bound, and enclosed in 
 a cloth box. 31s. 6d. Any single volume at 3s. 6d. 
 
 Anecdotes of Dogs. By EDWARD JESSE. With Illustra- 
 tions. Post 8vo. Cloth. 6s. With Thirty-four Steel Engravings after COOPER, 
 LANDSEEB, &c. It. 64. 
 
 The Natural History of Selborne. By GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Edited by JESSE. Illustrated with Forty Engravings. Post 8vo. 5s. ; or with the 
 Plates Coloured, 7s. 6d. 
 
 A Poetry Book for Schools. Illustrated with Thirty- 
 seven highly-finished Engravings by C. VV. COPE, R.A., HELMSLET, PALMER, SKILL, 
 THOMAS, and H. WEIB. Crown 8vo. Is. 
 
 Select Parables from Nature. By Mrs. GATTY. For 
 
 the Use of Schools. Fcap. Is. 
 
 Besides being reprinted In America, selections from Mrs. Gatty's Parables have 
 been translated and published in the German, French, Italian, Russian, Danish, and 
 Swedish languages. 
 
 LONDON: GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 13
 
 STANDARD WORKS PUBLISHED BY 
 
 Containing a Description and Life-size coloured Drawing of every 
 British Plant. Edited and brought up to the Present Standard of 
 Scientific Knowledge by T. BOSWELL SYME, LL.D. F.L.S., &c. With 
 Popular Descriptions of the Uses, History, and Traditions of each 
 Plant, by Mrs. LANKESTEB, Author of " Wild Flowers Worth Notice," 
 " The British Ferns," &c. The Figures by J. E. SOWERBY, JAMES 
 SOWERBT, F.L.S., J. DE C. SOWERBY, F.L.S., and J. W. SALTEB, 
 A.L.S. In Eleven Volumes, super-royal 8vo. 
 
 " Under the editorship of T. Boswell Syme, F.L.3., assisted by Mrs. Lankcster, Sowerby's 
 English Botany,' when finished, will be exhaustive of the subject, and worthy of the 
 branch of science it illustrates. ... In turning over the charmingly executed hand- 
 coloured plates of British plants which encumber these volumes with riches, the reader 
 cannot help being struck with the beauty of many of the humblest flowering weeds we tread 
 on with careless step. We cannot dwell upon many of the individuals grouped in the 
 splendid bouquet of flowers presented in these pages, and it will be sufficient to state ihat 
 the work Is pledged to contain a figure of every wild flower indigenous to these isles." 
 Times. 
 
 " Will be the most complete Flora of Great Britain ever brought out. This great -work 
 will find a place wherever botanical science is cultivated,* and the study of our native 
 plants, with all their fascinating associations, held dear." Athenaum. 
 
 ' A clear, bold, distinctive type enables the reader to tke in at a glance the arrangemt nt 
 and divisions of every page. And Mrs. Lankester has added to the technical description by 
 the editor an extrimely interesting popular sketch, which follows in smaller type. The 
 Knglish, French, and German popular names are given, and, wherever that delicate and 
 difficult step is at all practicable, their derivation also. Medical properties, superstitions, 
 and fancies, and poetic tributes and illusions, follow. In short there is nothing more left to 
 be defired." Guardian. 
 
 " Without question, this is the standard work on Botany, and indispensable to every 
 botanist. . . . The plates are mo<t accurate and beautiful, and the entire work cannot be 
 to strongly rf commended to all who are iuterosU-d in botany." Illustrated- Netn. 
 
 Sold separately, prices as follows : 
 
 Bound cloth. Half morocco. Morocco elegant. 
 
 . d. s. d. . d. 
 
 Vol. I. (Seven Parts) .... 1 18 220 286 
 
 II. ditto ., .. 1 18 220 286 
 
 III. (Eight Parts) .... 2 3 270 2 13 6 
 
 TV. (Nine Parts) .... 2 8 0' 2 12 2 18 6 
 
 V. (Eight Parte) .... 2 3 270 2 13 6 
 
 VI. (Seven Parts) .... 1 18 220 286 
 
 VII. ditto .... 1 18 220 286 
 
 VIII. (Ten Parts^ .... 2 13 2 17 336 
 
 IX. (Seven Parts) .... 1 18 220 286 
 
 X. ditto .... 1 18 220 286 
 
 XI. (Six Parts) .... 1 13 1 17 236 
 
 Or, the Eleven Volumes, 221. Ss. in cloth ; 24Z. 12. in half-morocco; and 
 281. 3s. Gd. whole morocco. 
 
 A Supplementary Volume, containing ferns and other cryptogami, in preparation 
 by Professor SYME. 
 
 LONDON: GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 14
 
 GEORGE SELL & SONS. 
 
 LIBRARY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 "Each volume is elegantly printed in royal 8vo., and illustrated with a very large 
 
 number of well-executed engravings, printed in colours They form a complete 
 
 library of reference on the several subjects to which they are devoted, and nothing 
 more complete in their way has lately appeared." The Bookseller. 
 
 BREE'S BIRDS OF EUROPE AND THEIR EGGS, not ob- 
 served in the British Isles. With 238 beautifully coloured Plates. Five vols. si. 5.?. 
 
 COUCH'S HISTORY OF THE FISHES OF THE BRITISH 
 
 ISLANDS. With 256 carefully coIoured.Plates. Four vols. 
 
 CATTY'S (MRS. ALFRED) BRITISH SEAWEEDS. Nume- 
 
 rous coloured Illustrations. Two vols. 2/. los. 
 
 HIBBERD'S (SHIRLEY) NEW AND RARE BEAUTIFUL- 
 LEAVED PLANTS. With 64 coloured Full-page Illustrations. Executed 
 expressly for this work. One vol. if. $s. 
 
 LOWE'S NATURAL HISTORY OF BRITISH AND EXOTIC 
 FERNS. With 479 finely coloured Plates. Eight vols. 61. 6s. 
 
 LOW E'S OUR N AT IVE. FERNS. Illustrated with 79 coloured 
 Plates and 900 Wood Engravings. Two vols. a/. 2.?. 
 
 LOWE'S NATURAL HISTORY OF NEW AND RARE FERNS. 
 
 Containing Species and Varieties not included in " Ferns, British and Exotic." 
 72 coloured Plates and Woodcuts. One vol. i/. 
 
 LOWE'S NATURAL HISTORY OF BRITISH GRASSES. With 
 
 74 finely coloured Plates. One vol. i/. i*. 
 
 LOWE'S BEAUTIFUL-LEAVED PLANTS : being a description 
 of the most beautiful-leaved Plants in cultivation in this country. With 60 
 coloured Illustrations. One vol. il. is. 
 
 MORRIS' HISTORY OF BRITISH BIRDS. With 360 finely 
 
 coloured Engravings. Six vols. 61. 6s. 
 
 MORRIS' NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. With 
 
 223 beautifully coloured Engravings. Three vols. 3/. 3^. 
 
 MORRIS' BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. With 71 beautifully co- 
 loured Plates. One vol. i/. is. 
 
 MORRIS' BRITISH MOTHS. With coloured Illustrations of 
 nearly 2000 specimens. Four vols. 61. 6s. 
 
 TRIPP'S BRITISH MOSSES. With 39 coloured Plates, con- 
 taining a figure of each species. Two vols. a!. los. 
 
 WOOSTER'S ALPINE PLANTS. First Series. With 54 coloured 
 Plates. 25J. 
 
 WOOSTER'S ALPINE PLANTS. Second Series. With 54 coloured 
 Plates. 25*. . 
 
 LONDON: GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET.'COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 15
 
 STANDARD WORKS 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 GEORGE BELL & SONS 
 
 %* For List of BOHN'S LIBRARIES see the end of the Volum*.
 
 ERN BRANCH, 
 -FtiRNIA 
 
 HISTOKY 
 
 HOUSE OF AUSTRIA. 
 
 VOL. H
 
 LONDON 
 
 )! SPOTTIS WOOD 3 AND CO. 
 MV.W-STREliT SIJUAUB

 
 HOUSE OF AUSTRIA, 
 
 FKOM THE 
 
 jfouirtratum at tfje j^0uarcl)g 
 BY RHODOLPH OF HAPSBURGH, 
 
 TO TUB DEATH OF 
 
 LEOPOLD THE SECOND: 
 1218 TO 1792. 
 
 BY WILLIAM COXE, F.R.S. F.A.S. 
 
 ABCtiUEACON Ot WILTS, AND KECVOR OF BEMEIttON. 
 
 FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 LONDON: 
 HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, 
 
 1864.
 
 T> tf bo 
 c, ^>3 h 
 v ", 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 THE SECOND VOLUME. 
 
 CHAP. XXXV. 1522-1564 Ferdinand baffles the Views of Charles 
 
 to procure the Reversion of the Imperial Crown for his Son Philip. 
 Abdication of Charles, and Accession and Capitulation of Ferdinand. 
 Emancipates the Imperial Crown from its Dependence on the See 
 of Rome. Suspends the religious Disturbances in the hereditary 
 Countries. His Conduct as Emperor, in regard to religious 
 Affairs. Fruitless Attempts to obtain a Reformation of the Church, 
 and to re -unite the Catholics and Protestants. Renewal and Disso- 
 lution of the Council of Trent. Ferdinand conciliates both Sects, 
 and maintains the Peace of the Empire. Changes in the Consti- 
 tution of Germany during his Reign. Election of his Son Maxi- 
 milian as King of the Romans. Division of his Territories among 
 his three Sons, and Establishment cf the Branches of Austria, Tyrol, 
 and Styria. His Death, Character, and Issue - - Page 1 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI. 1527-1566. Situation of the House of Austria in 
 consequence of the Separation of the two Branches, and the Intro- 
 duction of the Lutheran Doctrines into Germany and the Here- 
 ditary Dominions. Birth and Education of Maximilian. His early 
 Attachment to the Lutheran Doctrines. Motives which induced 
 him not to quit the Catholic Church. The Effects of his tolerant 
 and judicious Conduct. Diet of Augsburgh. Attempts of Maxi- 
 milian to prevent the Dissensions in the Protestant Body. Progress 
 of Calvinism, and Rise of the Disputes between the Lutherans and 
 Calvinists - - - 19 
 
 CHAP. XXXVII. 1564-1574. Troubles derived from the Intro- 
 duction of the Reformation into the different Countries of Europe. 
 Rise of the Huguenot Party, and Civil Wars hi France. Massacre 
 of St. Bartholomew. Maximilian endeavours to check these Perse- 
 cutions. Introduces Regulations to prevent these Troubles from 
 spreading into Germany. Commotions in the Netherlands. Cha- 
 racter and Conduct of Philip II. Sanguinary Administration of 
 the Duke of Alva. Rise and Progress of the Rebellion. Inefllc-
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 tual Endeavours of Maximilian to mediate an Accommodation. 
 Suppression of the Troubles in the Empire, occasioned by Grum- 
 bach and his Protector the Duke of Saxe Gotha. Maximilian 
 eludes the demands of the Teutonic Knights, relative to the Reco- 
 very of Prussia and Livonia. His Connections with the Czar of 
 Muscovy. Disputes with the Pope relative to Tuscany - Page 27 
 
 CHAP. XXXVIII. 1567-1576. Affairs of Religion in the heredi- 
 tary Countries. Toleration of Maximilian towards his Protestant 
 Subjects of every Description. AiFairs of Hungary. Renewal of 
 the War with the Prince of Transylvania and the Turks. Siege of 
 Zigeth, and Death of Solyman. Conclusion of Peace with Selim 
 and the Prince of Transylvania - -43 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. 1572-1576. Rhodolph, son of Maximilian, crowned 
 King of Hungary and Bohemia. Elected King of the Romans. 
 Maximilian's Attempts to procure the Crown of Poland for one of 
 his Sons. Himself elected. Opposed by Stephen Bathori. Death, 
 Character, and Issue - - 50 
 
 CHAF. XL. 1 576-1 603. Accession of Rhodolph II. Right of Pri- 
 mogeniture established in the Succession to the Archduchy of 
 Austria. Character, Principles, and Education of Rhodolph. His 
 impolitic Endeavours to diminish the Ascendency of the Protestants 
 and restore the Catholic Religion in his own Territories and the Em- 
 pire. Schism, and mutual Persecutions among the Protestants. 
 Systematic Plan for the Depression of the Protestants. Religious 
 Troubles of Aix-la-Chapelle. Disputes Relative to the Ecclesiastical 
 Reservation. Attempt of the Elector of Cologne to retain his eccle- 
 siastical Dignity after his Renunciation of the Catholic Religion. 
 Deposed and driven into Exile. Similar Contest for the Bishopric 
 of Strasburgh. Rise and Progress of the Protestant Union under 
 the Elector Palatine. Confederacies of Heidelberg and Frank- 
 fort ..-...-62 
 
 CHAP. XLI. 1576-1609 Persecution of the Protestants in the Aus- 
 trian Dominions, and in the Empire. Execution of the Imperial 
 Ban against Aix-la-Chapelle. Donawertli deprived of its civil and 
 religious Rights. Diet of Ratisbon. Alarm of the Protestants. 
 Increase of their Confederacy - - 79 
 
 CHAP. XLII. 1576-1606. Rhodolph cedes the Frontier Garrisons 
 of Hungary to his Uncle Charles, Duke of Styria. Construction of 
 Carlstadt, and establishment of the Military Colonies against the 
 Turks. Rise and Exploits of the Uscocks. Their Depredations 
 occasion a War with the Turks. Contests in Hungary. Alliance 
 of Sigismond Bathori, Prince of Transylvania, with the House of 
 Austria. He cedes Transylvania to Ilhodolph. Subsequent Con- 
 tests for the Possession of that Principality. Exactions and Tyranny 
 of the Austrian Governors and Generals. Rebellion of Botskai. 
 Rise of the Civil Troubles in Hungary and Transylvania. State of 
 Bohemia, Austria, and the Empire. Change in the Character, Man- 
 ners, and Principles of Rhodolph - - 85 
 
 CUAP. XLI 1 1. 1606-1609 Education, Character, and early Life
 
 CONTENTS. VU 
 
 of Matthias, Brother of Rhodolph. His Disputes with Rhodolph. 
 Becomes presumptive Heir to the Austrian Territories by the Death 
 of his Brother Ernest. Intrusted with the Government of Hungary 
 and AustriaT Forms the Design of wresting the Sovereignty from 
 Rhcdolph. Concludes a Peace with the Prince of Transylvania 
 and the Turks. Attempts of Rhodolph to entail the Succession on 
 Ferdinand, Duke of Styria. Matthias invades Bohemia, and extorts 
 from his Brother the Cession of Austria and Hungary. Involved in 
 Disputes with the Protestants of Austria. Conciliates the Hun- 
 garians, and is elected King. Grants Toleration to the Protestants 
 of Austria, and receives the Homage of the States - Page 95 
 
 CHAP. XLIV. 1609-1612. Recommencement of the Troubles in 
 Bohemia. Disputes of Rhodolph with his Protestant Subjects. 
 Compelled to grant Religious Toleration. Rising Troubles in the 
 Empire. Union of the Protestants. Contested Succession of Juliers 
 and Berg. Plan of Henry IV. to humble the House of Austria. 
 Frustrated by his Assassination. Accommodation between the 
 Catholics and Protestants. Attempts of Rhodolph to transfer the 
 Succession of Bohemia to his Cousin the Archduke Leopold. Bohe- 
 mia invaded by the troops of Leopold. The States call in the As- 
 sistance of Matthias. Expulsion of Leopold, and Deposition of 
 Rhodolpb. Matthias crowned King of Bohemia. Preparations of 
 the German Electors to choose a new Chief of the Empire. Death 
 of Rhodolph - 108 
 
 CHAP. XLV. 1612-1618. Disturbed Situation of Germany during 
 the Interregnum. Matthias elected Emperor, after much Oppo- 
 sition. His Capitulation. Difficulties attending the Commence- 
 ment of his Administration, as well in the Empire as in his own 
 Dominions. Foiled in his Endeavours to obtain Succours for ex- 
 pelling the Turks from Transylvania. Makes a Peace with the 
 Sultan. Recommencement of the religious Disputes in Germany. 
 Divisions among the Protestants. Occupation of Juliers and Cleves 
 by the Dutch and Spaniards. Ineffectual Appeals made to the Em- 
 peror. Embarrassments of Matthias. Endeavours to entail the Suc- 
 cession to his Dominions on Ferdinand, Duke of Styria. Character 
 of Ferdinand. He is elected King of Hungary and Bohemia - 131 
 
 CHAP. XLVI. 1619. Rise of the religious Troubles in Bohemia. 
 Persecution of the Protestants under the Auspices of Ferdinand. 
 Character and Principles of Count Thurn. He rouses the People 
 to Rebellion. Formation of an insurgent Government and Army. 
 Conciliating Conduct of Matthias. Oilers Terms of Accommodation 
 to the Insurgents. Ferdinand seizes and imprisons Klesel, the 
 Minister of Matthias, and gains the Ascendency in the Cabinet. 
 Commencement of the Civil War in Bohemia. Military Operations. 
 Attempts to negotiate an Accommodation. Death of Matthias 144 
 
 CHAP. XLVII. 1619. Accession of Ferdinand II. Dangers and 
 Difficulties of his Situation. State of his Dominions. Affairs of 
 Bohemia. Invasion of Moravia and Austria by the Insurgents. 
 Ferdinand besieged in Vienna. His Fortitude and extraordinary
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 Escape. Elected Emperor. The Elector Palatine chosen King of 
 Bohemia. Irruption of Bethlehem Gabor and Count Thurn into 
 Austria. Second Siege of Vienna ... Page 159 
 
 CHAP. XL VI 1 1. 1619, 1620. The Siege of Vienna raised. Beth- 
 lehem Gabor proclaimed King of Hungary. Attempts of the 
 Elector Palatine to engage the Protestant Union in his Cause. 
 Ferdinand baffles the Intrigues of his Rival. Gains the Duke of 
 Bavaria, and the Catholic League. Detaches the Elector of Saxony. 
 Obtains the Support of France. Assisted by the King of Spain and 
 the Pope. Concludes a Truce with Bethlehem Gabor. The Pro- 
 testant Union refuses to interfere in the Affairs of Bohemia, and 
 enters into a Truce with the Catholics. Invasion of the Palatinate 
 and Bohemia. Battle of Prague. Flight of the Elector Palatine 
 
 169 
 
 CHAP. XLIX. 1621-1623. Re-establishment of the Austrian Go- 
 vernment in Bohemia. Rigorous Punishment of the Insurgents. 
 Plans of Ferdinand to divide the Palatine Territories. Issues the 
 Ban of the Empire against the Elector Palatine and his Adherents. 
 Dissolution of the Protestant Union. Conquest of the Palatinate. 
 Mansfeld, Christian of Brunswick, and the Margrave of Baden 
 support the Palatine Cause. The Elector induced to disavow his 
 Partisans, and to make Offers of Submission to Ferdinand. In- 
 vasion of Hungary by Bethlehem Gabor. His Accommodation 
 with Ferdinand. Transfer of the Palatine Electorate to the Duke 
 of Bavaria. Alarm of the Protestants - - 1 80 
 
 CHAP. L. 1624-1629. Hostile Views of England against the House 
 of Austria. Character and Situation of the Kings of Denmark and 
 Sweden. The King of Denmark heads the League formed by the 
 States of Lower Saxony against the Emperor. Rise of Wallenstein, 
 and Formation of an Austrian Army, independent of the Catholic 
 League. Military Operations. Defeat of the King of Denmark 
 and Successes of Tilly and Wallenstein. Irruption of Mansfeld into 
 Hungary. Hostilities of Bethlehem Gabor. Armistice. Death 
 of Mansfeld. Power and Arrogance of Ferdinand. Completes the 
 Transfer of the Palatine Electorate to the House of Bavaria. 
 Wallenstein overruns Pomerania. Attempts to form a naval Establish- 
 ment on the Baltic. Siege of Stralsund. Peace with Denmark 191 
 
 CHAP. LI. 1628-1630. Ascendency and ambitious Designs of 
 Ferdinand. Abolishes the Protestant Religion in Austria. His 
 Civil and Religious Persecutions in Bohemia. Nominates his 
 Son Ferdinand as his Successor in the Bohemian Throne. His 
 Plan to suppress the Protestant Religion in Germany. Edict ot 
 Restitution. Opposed by both Catholics and Protestants. His 
 interference in the Affairs of Italy. Diet of Ratisbon. Intrigues 
 of Cardinal Richelieu with the German Princes. Ferdinand per- 
 suaded to suspend the Edict of Restitution, to disband a Part of his 
 Army, dismiss Wallenstein, and agree to an Accommodation in regard 
 to the Affairs of Italy. Disappointed in his Attempts to procure 
 the Election of his Son as King of the Romans - 205
 
 CONTENTS. IX 
 
 CHAP. LI I. 1630,1631. Situation of Sweden. Character and Ex- 
 ploits of Gustavus Adolphus. His Invasion of Germany. Obtains 
 Possession of Pomerania, Concludes an Alliance with France. 
 Meeting of the Protestants at Leipzic. Situation and Conduct of 
 the Emperor and Empire. Tilly obtains the Command of the- 
 Imperial Forces. Repulsed in his Attempts to recover Pomerania. 
 Siege and Sack of Magdeburgh. Invasion of the Territories of 
 Hesse ..... Page 21 8 
 
 CHAP. LIII. 1631, 1632 Gustavus compels the Elector of Branden- 
 
 burgh to enter into an Alliance, and deliver up his Fortresses. Re- 
 stores the Dukes of Mecklenburgh. Concludes an Alliance with 
 the Landgrave of Hesse. Supports the Elector of Saxony against 
 Tilly. Gains the Battle of Leipzic. Narrow Escape and Retreat 
 of Tilly. Rapid Progress of Gustavus along the Maine and the 
 Rhine. Successes of his German Allies. Conquest of Bohemia by 
 the Elector of Saxony. Conduct of Ferdinand. Ineffectual Attempt 
 to detach France. Designs of Gustavus against the Catholic 
 League. Repulses Tilly, and attacks Bavaria. Passage of the 
 Leek, and Death of Tilly - 234 
 
 CHAP. LIV. 1632. Dangerous situation of Ferdinand. Restores 
 Wallenstein to the Supreme Command. Character and Conduct of 
 Wallenstein. Rapid Formation of a new Army. Military Oper- 
 ations. Wallenstein attempts to overpower or detach the Elector of 
 Saxony. Battle of Lutzen. Death and Character of Gustavus 251 
 
 CHAP. LV. 1632-1634. Transactions after the Death of Gustavus. 
 Oxenstiern intrusted with the Conduct of Affairs in Germany. 
 Forms a League of the German Princes at Heilbron. Renews the 
 Alliance with France. Military Operations of Wallenstein after the 
 Battle of Lutzen. His Disgrace and Assassination - - 268 
 
 CHAP. LVI. 1634-1637. Arrangements after the Assassination of 
 Wallenstein. Ferdinand, King of Hungary, the new Generalissimo, 
 takes Ratisbon. Routs the Confederates at the Battle of Nord- 
 lingen. Consequences of the Victory. Consternation of the Pro- 
 testant League. Firmness and Conduct of Oxenstiern. France 
 takes the principal Share in the Contest. Declares War against 
 Spain. Progress of the Imperialists. Defection of the Elector of 
 Saxony. Peace of Prague. Dissolution of the Protestant Confe- 
 deracy. Military Operations of 1635 and 1636. Electoral Diet of 
 Ratisbon. The King of Hungary chosen King of the Romans. 
 Death, Character, and Family of Ferdinand. Law of Primoge- 
 niture established in the Austrian Dominions - - 284 
 
 CHAP. LVI I. 1637-1641 Accession of Ferdinand III. Partial 
 
 Success of the Imperial Arms. Losses of the Emperor on the side 
 of the Rhine. Splendid Victories and Death of the Duke of 
 Weimar. France acquires Alsace. Declining Fortunes of Spain. 
 Revolution of Portugal. Diet of Nuremberg. Commencement of 
 Negotiations for Peace. Increasing Influence of the House of 
 Brandenburgh ...... 301 
 
 CHAP. LVIII. 164O-1648 Continuation of the War. Repeated 
 
 VOL. IL a
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 Distresses and Firmness of the Emperor. Death of Richelieu, and 
 Louis XIII. Administration and Views of Mazarin. Election of 
 the Archduke Ferdinand- as King of Hungary and Bohemia. 
 Memorable Siege of Prague. Conclusion of Peace - Page 309 
 
 CHAP. LIX. 1637-1648. Account of the Negotiations which termi- 
 nated in the Peace of Westphalia. Accommodation between Spain 
 and the United Provinces. Contents of the Treaties of Osnaburgh 
 and Munster. Remarks on the Peace ... 323 
 
 CHAP. LX. 1648-1657. Delays and Difficulties in executing the 
 Peace of Westphalia. The Archduke Ferdinand elected King of 
 the Romans. His Death. Leopold crowned King of Hungary and 
 Bohemia. The Emperor suppresses the rising Troubles in Ger- 
 many. Terminates the Contest for the Succession of Juliers and 
 Berg. Preserves the Independence of Bremen. Successes of 
 Charles Gustavus, King of Sweden, in the War against Poland. 
 Death, Character, and Family of Ferdinand III. - - 342 
 
 CHAP. LXI. 1657-1660. Accession of Leopold I. After many 
 Difficulties and great Opposition from France, he obtains the 
 Imperial Crown. Articles of his Capitulation. League of the 
 Rhine. Takes part in the War against Sweden. Progress of Hosti- 
 lities. Conquests, Reverses, and Death of Charles Gustavus. 
 Treaties of Roskild, Oliva, and Copenhagen. Affairs of Spain. 
 Peace of the Pyrenees. Marriage of Louis XIV. with the eldest 
 Infanta ....... 350 
 
 CHAP. LXII. 1660-1664 Affairs of Hungary and Transylvania. 
 
 State of the Ottoman Empire. Renewal of the Turkish War. 
 
 Discontents in Hungary. Contests of Leopold with the States. 
 
 Progress of the Turks. Leopold obtains Succours from the Empire 
 
 and Christendom. Establishment of a permanent Diet in Germany. 
 
 Defeat of the Turks at the Battle of St. Gothard. Conclusion of a 
 
 Truce .... - - 362 
 
 .''CHAP. LXIII. 1664. State of the European Powers. Comparative 
 
 | I Estimate of the Strength and Influence possessed by the Houses of 
 
 I Austria and Bourbon. State of Germany. Situation, Resources, 
 
 and Authority of Leopold .... 372 
 
 CHAP. LXIV. 1664-1679. Death of Philip IV. of Spain, and 
 Accession of Charles II. Distracted Situation of Spain under the 
 Regency of the Queen. Marringe of Leopold with Margaret 
 Theresa, the second Infanta. Louis XIV. invades the Spanish 
 Netherlands. Temporising Conduct of Leopold and the German 
 States. Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle dictated by the Triple Alliance. 
 Louis declares War against the United Provinces, in Conjunction 
 with England. Successful Invasion of Holland. Consternation of 
 the Dutch. Overthrow of the Republican Party. Heroic Exer- 
 tions of William Prince of Orange. General Alarm among the 
 European States. Leopold and the Elector of Brandenburgh assist 
 the United Provinces. Peace of Breda between England and 
 Holland. The Empire declares War against France. Military 
 Operations. Negotiations, which terminated in the Peace of 
 Nimeguen ... - 393
 
 CONTENTS. XI 
 
 CHAP. LXV. 1679-1697. Usurpations and Incroachments of Louis 
 XIV. on the Empire and Spain. Chambers of Re-union. Leopold 
 makes fruitless Remonstrances. Improves the Military System of 
 Germany. Forms defensive Associations. His Endeavours to con- 
 solidate a general League against France. Louis continues his 
 Usurpations. Invades the Netherlands. Truce of Ratisbon. 
 France attains her highest Elevation of Power and Influence. Louis 
 irritates and alarms the States of Europe by repeated Aggressions. 
 Counter Efforts of Leopold and William Prince of Orange. Dis- 
 putes for the Palatine Succession. League of Augsburgli. French 
 invasion of the Palatinate. Effects of the Revolution in England. 
 Leopold and the Empire declare War against France. Grand 
 Alliance. Rising Influence of Leopold in Germany. Leopold 
 suspends his Design to create the Ninth Electorate, and restore the 
 Electoral Privileges of Bohemia. Louis divides the Members of 
 the Grand Alliance. Detaches the Duke of Savoy, and gains 
 England and Holland. Peace of Ryswick. Remarks on the Treaty. 
 Obnoxious Clause relative to the Restoration of the Catholic Reli- 
 gion in the Countries invaded by France - - Page 409 
 
 CHAP. LXVI. 1667-1699. Revival of the Discontents in Hun- 
 gary. Conspiracies for throwing off the Austrian Yoke. Leo- 
 pold abrogates the Privileges of the Nation, and establishes a Mili- 
 tary Government. Rise and Progress of the Rebellion under 
 Tekeli. The Turks invade Hungary, and lay Siege to Vienna. 
 Formation of a Christian Army. John Sobieski, King of Poland, 
 and the Duke of Loraine, raise the "Siege. Interview of Leopold 
 and Sobieski. The Turks expelled from Hungary. Progress of 
 the Imperial Arms. Severities exercised against the Hungarians. 
 Accommodation between the Court and the Malecontents. The 
 Monarchy declared hereditary. The Venetians, Poles, and Russians 
 concur in the War against the Porte. Defeat of the Turks at 
 Zenta, by Prince Eugene. Peace of Carlovitz. Acquisitions of 
 Leopold .-----_ 437 
 
 CHAP. LXVI I. 1697-1700. Views of Leopold on the Spanish Suc- 
 cession. Different Pretenders. State of the Spanish Court. Suc- 
 cessful Intrigues of Louis XIV. at Madrid. Partition Treaties. 
 Nomination of Philip of Anjou, and Death of Charles. Accession 
 of the new Monarch - 459 
 
 CHAP. LXVIII. 1702,1703. Indignation excited at Vienna by the 
 Transfer of the Spanish Monarchy to the House of Bourbon. Leo- 
 pold prepares to assert his Claims by force of Arms. The French 
 obtain Possession of the Netherlands. Acknowledgment of Philip 
 by all the Powers in Europe except Leopold. Splendid Campaign 
 of Eugene in Italy. Change in England and Holland in favour of 
 the House of Austria. Renewal of the Grand Alliance, and general 
 Declaration of War against France and Spain. Death of William, 
 and Accession of Anne. Influence of Marlborough. Military 
 Operations of 1702. Declaration of the Elector of Bavaria in 
 favour of France. Ineffectual Descent at Cadiz, and Djstruction of 
 the Fleet at Vigo - 478
 
 Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. LXIX. 1703, 1704 Campaign of 1703, in the Netherlands, 
 
 Germany, and Italy. The Duke of Savoy and the King of Por- 
 tugal join the Grand Alliance. Disturbed Situation of Spain. 
 The Archduke Charles proclaimed, and acknowledged King. 
 Passes through Holland to England, and is escorted by an English 
 Fleet to Lisbon - Page 49O 
 
 CHAP. LXX. 1704. Critical Situation of the Emperor. Plans of 
 the French and Bavarians to invade the Austrian Territories. Suc- 
 cessful Rebellion of Ragotsky in Hungary. Leopold obtains the 
 Assistance of Great Britain. Stupendous March of Marlborough 
 from the Low Countries to the Danube. His interview with 
 Eugene and the Margrave of Baden. Defeat of the Bavarians at 
 Schellenberg. Siege of Ingoldstadt. Junction of Marlborough and 
 Eugene. Victory of Blenheim. Successful Progress of the Allies. 
 Reduction of Bavaria. Defeat of the Hungarian Rebels. Grateful 
 Letter of Leopold to Marlborough - - 50O 
 
 CHAP. LXXI. 1705. Death, Character, and Family of Leopold 513
 
 HISTORY 
 
 THE HOUSE OF AUSTRIA. 
 
 CHAP. XXXV. FERDINAND I. 1522-1564. 
 
 IN the midst of these events in Hungary and Bohemia, 
 Ferdinand became head of the empire, by the abdication of 
 his brother. 
 
 We have already related the attempts of Charles to pro- 
 cure the reversion of the imperial crown for Philip, a 
 project which both astonished and embarrassed Ferdinand, 
 who was accustomed to bend to the persevering inflexibi- 
 lity of his brother. After some difficulties he affected a 
 ready compliance, and even sent his ambassadors to solicit 
 the votes of the electors ; but at the same time he inter- 
 posed an insuperable obstacle to the transfer of the impe- 
 rial dignity, by demanding, as an indispensable condition, 
 that on the succession of Philip to the empire, his own son 
 Maximilian should be elected king of the Romans ; he also 
 secretly made overtures to Maurice of Saxony, and by his 
 means influenced the electors Palatine and Brandenburgh. 
 To avoid the appearance of public opposition, he next re- 
 ferred Charles to Maurice, as the head of the Protestant 
 body ; and on this occasion Maurice, acting with his cha- 
 racteristic address and duplicity, by affected ardour for the 
 accomplishment of the emperor's wishes, succeeded in per- 
 suading him to reserve the intended plan for a more 
 favourable opportunity. 
 
 VOL. n. B
 
 2 FERDINAND I. L CH. XXXV. 
 
 Charles, however, till the very moment of his retreat, 
 did not relinquish his favourite object ; and retained the 
 imperial crown some months after the renunciation of his 
 other dignities, with the vain hope of prevailing on his 
 brother, or at least of securing the imperial dignity for his 
 posterity ; but Ferdinand, who had been little inclined to 
 comply with the solicitations of the emperor in the pride 
 of power and victory, received with indifference the last 
 overture of an abdicated sovereign. Another attempt 
 made by Charles to procure for Philip the perpetual vica- 
 riate of Italy, was equally fruitless ; for Ferdinand, aware 
 that this office would enable the Spanish branch to appro- 
 priate the Italian fiefs, gave a peremptory refusal, replying 
 that as he intended to leave the empire entire to his suc- 
 cessors, he expected his brother would act in the same 
 manner towards him. At length, Charles, disappointed in 
 all his endeavours, by a formal deed, dated August 7th, 
 1556, resigned his claims of allegiance from the Germanic 
 body to his brother, the king of the Romans. 
 
 The voluntary abdication of an emperor being a new 
 event in the political history of Germany, some difficulties 
 arose on the manner of accepting the resignation, which 
 produced a delay of nearly two years before Ferdinand was 
 formally acknowledged and proclaimed. Although he had 
 signed, on the 15th of February, 1558, a capitulation when 
 chosen king of the Romans ; and although it was unusual 
 to exact new conditions from a king of the Romans, when 
 he succeeded to the imperial dignity ; yet the electors, on 
 this occasion, presented another capitulation for the pur- 
 pose of including the religious peace, which had been ar- 
 ranged since the election of Ferdinand. 
 
 The accession of Ferdinand was also distinguished by 
 an event which exalted the dignity of the imperial crown, 
 by rescuing it from servile dependence on the see of Rome. 
 Hitherto, a personal coronation by the pope had been con- 
 sidered as necessary to confer the title of emperor, and to 
 enable him to secure the reversion of the imperial crown 
 for another person, by the nomination of a king of the Ro- 
 mans. Maximilian had, indeed, with the consent of Julius 
 II., assumed the title of emperor elect ; but the title was of 
 no advantage, for he could not prevail on the electors to
 
 1522-1564.] POPE PAUL rv. 3 
 
 nominate his grandson Charles as his successor, because he 
 had never been crowned at Rome. Charles himself had 
 respected the privileges or prejudices of the German na- 
 tion ; and, however urgent the circumstances of the times, 
 had not attempted to obtain the appointment of Ferdinand 
 before his own coronation. 
 
 The impolitic and overbearing conduct of the aged pon- 
 tiff, Paul IV., deprived the Roman see of this honour, 
 which had frequently enabled his predecessors to interfere 
 with effect in the affairs of Germany. The first step of 
 Ferdinand, after his inauguration, was to send an embassy 
 to Rome, respectfully announcing his accession and ex- 
 pressing his wishes to receive the imperial crown from the 
 hands of the pontiff; but this submissive application was 
 contemptuously received by Paul, whose romantic imagina- 
 tion was filled with the most extravagant ideas of spiritual 
 power and pre-eminence, and who was personally offended 
 with Ferdinand for the concessions he had granted to the 
 Protestants in the religious peace. He treated the abdica- 
 tion of Charles as the act of a madman ; declared that he 
 ought to have resigned the imperial dignity to the head of 
 the church, from whom he had received it ; and annulled 
 the nomination of Ferdinand, because it was made with the 
 concurrence of electors who were tainted with heresy. He 
 therefore refused to receive his ambassador, and required 
 him to relinquish the imperial crown, and submit to a new 
 election. 
 
 On receiving the haughty message, Ferdinand acted with 
 a firmness and dignity becoming his high rank, and ordered 
 his ambassador to quit Rome within three days, if the pope 
 still refused to grant him an audience. Paul was embar 
 rassed with this unexpected firmness, and, as the means oi 
 avoiding an immediate rupture, granted the ambassador a 
 private interview, without retracting his arrogant preten- 
 sions, and promised an explanation of his conduct through 
 the intervention of a legate. This discussion, however, 
 was highly prejudicial to the arrogated supremacy of the 
 pope ; for it irritated both Catholics and Protestants, and 
 led to an examination, in consequence of which the per- 
 sonal coronation by the pope was declared unnecessary. 
 Paul dying the same year, his successor, Pias IV., made
 
 4 FERDINAND I. [CH. XXXV. 
 
 overtures of reconciliation to the emperor, and these over- 
 tures produced a new embassy, by which Ferdinand ex- 
 pressed the accustomed devotion and reverence, but omitted 
 the usual profession of obedience to the head of the church. 
 This omission was far from being grateful to the court of 
 Rome, which never willingly relinquished its slightest pre- 
 tensions, and succeeded by artifice and cajolery in per- 
 suading the imperial ambassador to introduce the word 
 obedience in his public compliment. In consequence of 
 this addition, the pope acknowledged the title of the em- 
 peror ; and Ferdinand, who was too prudent to cavil at 
 words, when he had in reality gained his object, did not 
 disavow, though he did not formally approve, the conces- 
 sion made in his name. 
 
 Soon afterwards Maximilian, eldest son of Ferdinand, 
 was elected, without the smallest difficulty, king of the 
 Romans, notwithstanding the opposition of the pope ; and, 
 in his public compliment to the head of the church, sub- 
 stituted the word obsequium for obedientiam. Thus ter- 
 minated the long dependence of the emperors on the see of 
 Rome, which had been established in ages of darkness and 
 ignorance, had been continued from respect and habit, and 
 which in all periods had involved the empire in innumer- 
 able embarrassments and calamities, without producing a 
 single real advantage. 
 
 The example of Ferdinand, in neglecting to receive the 
 crown from the pope, has been followed by his successors ; 
 from this period, the chiefs of the empire have avoided an 
 expensive and difficult journey, and are totally emancipated 
 from the most distant dependence on the see of Rome. 
 
 As emperor, Ferdinand pursued the same system of 
 policy as when king of the Romans, particularly in regard 
 to religious affairs ; and he had occasion for all his fore- 
 sight, caution, and forbearance, to prevent the religious 
 feuds from again breaking out into civil wars. Though 
 like his brother, sincerely attached to the church of Rome, 
 and anxious to prevent the diffusion of doctrines which he 
 considered as heretical, he was of a more flexible and for- 
 bearing disposition, and felt himself interested to conciliate 
 the Protestants as well as the Catholics, for the sake of 
 procuring their support against the Turks. Hence he
 
 1522-1564.] PREVENTS RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 5 
 
 acted with the most impartial justice towards both parties, 
 maintained the letter and spirit of the terms concluded by 
 his interference at Passau ; and equally resisted all the 
 encroachments, both of Catholics and Protestants. As the 
 only means of maintaining the ba'ance which existed be- 
 tween the two parties, he persevered in resisting all the 
 attempts of the Protestants to obtain the repeal of the 
 ecclesiastical reservation, and equally discountenanced the 
 efforts of the Catholics to prevent the toleration of the Pro- 
 testant doctrines in the territories of Catholic prelates. 
 
 Sensible of the mutual jealousy which reigned between 
 the Catholics and Protestants, dreading the renewal of the 
 religious warfare, and appreciating the political advantages 
 which might arise to the empire and Christianity from the 
 re-union of all parties under one system of doctrine and 
 worship, he never relaxed in his endeavours to heal the 
 schism of the church, or to obtain from the court of Rome 
 such concessions as might receive the approbation of all. 
 With this view, he procured the renewal of the conferences 
 on points of religion, and when these failed of success, he 
 pressed the Protestants, at the diet of Augsburgh, to 
 acknowledge the council of Trent. But they refused, un- 
 less the pope should agree to act as a party only, instead of 
 presiding ; unless the Protestant divines were treated on 
 the same footing as the Catholic bishops, and the council 
 held at some other town, either in or near Germany. These 
 demands, being incompatible with the Catholic principles, 
 were necessarily rejected ; and, in order to avoid any dis- 
 cussion which might offend either party, the recess was 
 framed without any mention of the proposed council, post- 
 poning the affairs of religion to a favourable occasion, 
 and confirming the treaty of Passau, and the religious 
 peace. 
 
 From these circumstances, Ferdinand seems for a time 
 to have abandoned his design of procuring the convocation 
 of a general council, till the alarming progress of the Pro- 
 testant doctrines, and the interference of Spain and France, 
 compelled him again to interfere in religious disputes. 
 
 The Protestant was now become the dominant religion 
 in Sweden and Denmark, and by the accession of Elizabeth 
 was established in England. In France, no longer con- 
 
 B 3
 
 6 FERDINAND I. [CH. XXXV. 
 
 fined to the great body of the people, it found pai'tisans 
 among the higher orders of the state, and became a bond of 
 union for all the parties in opposition to the government. 
 Its progress was favoured by the weak state of the ad- 
 ministration under Francis II., who was wholly swayed by 
 his wife, Mary queen of Scots, and by her uncles, the duke 
 of Guise, and the cardinal of Loraine ; and was still more 
 promoted under the unpopular and sanguinary administra- 
 tion of Catherine de' Medici, who at this time held the 
 reins of government, during the minority of her son, 
 Charles IX. From France and Germany it spread into 
 the Low Countries ; and all the vigilance of the inquisition, 
 and the severity of the government, scarcely sufficed to 
 prevent its introduction into Spain and Portugal. 
 
 The courts of France and Spain were more particularly 
 interested to prevent the progress of the schism ; and, 
 with that view, Philip and Henry II. had concluded the 
 treaty of Chateau Cambresis, in the same manner as 
 Francis I. and Charles suspended their own disputes, for 
 the purpose of crushing the Lutherans. A favourable 
 opportunity presenting itself on the election of pope 
 Pius IV., who was of a far less obstinate and overbearing 
 temper than his predecessor Paul, the courts of France and 
 Spain joined in requiring the convocation of a council, and 
 finally extorted his acquiescence. 
 
 The meeting of a council being now not far distant, Fer- 
 dinand endeavoured to render it subservient to his views for 
 securing the peace of Germany. For this purpose he joined 
 with France and Spain, and exerted all his influence with 
 the pope, to obtain the convocation of a new council in some 
 town of Germany, and not the resumption of the former 
 council at Trent, which, as it would occasion the confirma- 
 tion of the former decisions, would only tend still farther to 
 irritate the Protestants. He represented, also, the necessity 
 of directing its first attention to the essential point of general 
 reformation, rather than to articles of faith ; he enforced 
 the expediency of commencing the cure with the source 
 of the evil, by bringing back the ecclesiastical state to its 
 ancient constitutions, and tendered his zealous co-operation 
 as the first protector of the church. He also imparted to 
 the pope the resolutions passed by the Protestants at the
 
 1522-1 564. J HIS CONCILIATING POLICY. 7 
 
 diet of Augsburgh ; and, after expatiating on their strength 
 and union, urged the imprudence of attempting to compel 
 so powerful a body to adopt principles which they had so 
 long rejected, and the danger of again involving Christen- 
 dom in a perilous warfare. Finally, he concluded with the 
 most earnest solicitations, that the pope would at least con- 
 descend to gratify the Protestants, by permitting the mar- 
 riage of the clergy, and the administration of the com- 
 munion under both kinds ; and he enforced the demand 
 with arguments founded no less on moral principles than 
 political expediency, which must have convinced all who 
 were not blinded by prejudice, or interested to maintain 
 their errors. 
 
 This memorial was far from being grateful to the court 
 of Rome ; but its indiscreet publication by the pope ren- 
 dered Ferdinand still more popular in Germany, and re- 
 moved those suspicions, which the Protestants began to 
 entertain of his sincerity. All his endeavours, however, 
 failed in obtaining a new council ; and, after much diffi- 
 culty, he consented to the resumption of the former council 
 of Trent. This important point being arranged, the pope 
 issued the requisite bulls, and sent two cardinals, Com- 
 mendon and Delfino, as his legates, to invite the Protestants 
 to the assembly. 
 
 As the proposals and language of the pope were far 
 more mild and plausible than on preceding occasions, Fer- 
 dinand hoped to overcome their repugnance to take part in 
 the deliberations of this council, and submit to its deci- 
 sions ; and, for this purpose, he sent his own ambassadors 
 with the papal legates, to a meeting of the whole body, 
 which, with his permission, had assembled in 1560 at 
 Naumburgh, a city in Upper Saxony. But the renewal 
 of the council at Trent, which had formerly taken such a 
 decided part against the Protestants, was too disagreeable 
 a measure to be rendered palatable by any address of the 
 court of Rome. The assembly, therefore, far from being 
 inclined to submit to the council, and unite with the Ca- 
 tholics, gave proofs of the most inveterate hostility to the 
 Roman see, for they contemptuously sent back to the 
 legates, unopened, the papal briefs, which were addressed 
 to them by the usual title of " Sons," with the reply, that
 
 8 FERDINAND I. [CH. XXXV. 
 
 as they did not acknowledge the bishop of Rome as their 
 father, they could neither receive his letters nor accept the 
 title. This was but the prelude to a formal answer, which, 
 amidst the bitterest invectives, contained the declaration, 
 that they would receive no invitation from the pope to 
 repair to a council which he had no power to convoke, 
 that being the prerogative of the emperor, to whom as their 
 sovereign, they were alone amenable.* 
 
 At this meeting, the Protestants, for the purpose of 
 strengthening their union, declared their resolution to 
 adhere to the confession of Augsburgh, whatever were the 
 decrees of the council of Trent. But this very resolution 
 was a proof of that diversity of opinions which afterwards 
 occasioned as great a schism among themselves as that by 
 which they had separated from the church of Rome. Some 
 proposed to retain that confession in the original and primi- 
 tive sense, and adhere strictly to the doctrines of Luther ; 
 others, of whom the chief was the elector Palatine, to ex- 
 plain and modify those articles in such a manner as to 
 accommodate them to the doctrines of that reformed church, 
 first established by Zuingle, and afterwards systematised 
 by Calvin. So violent were the dissensions on this subject, 
 that, for some time, the elector Palatine refused to affix his 
 signature to this confession ; and, on the other side, John 
 Frederic, son of the deposed elector of Saxony, publicly 
 stigmatised the elector Palatine, although his father-in-law, 
 with the reproachful epithet of Sacramentarian, and indig- 
 nantly quitted the assembly. 
 
 Ferdinand saw, with secret satisfaction, these tokens of 
 rising disunion ; and, leaving this cause to operate, hastened 
 the meeting of the council at Trent, which, after many 
 delays and difficulties, resumed its sittings on the 15th of 
 January, 1562. It is unnecessary to dwell on the proceed- 
 ings of this memorable council ; it will be sufficient to 
 observe, that the papal party was so powerful as to prevent 
 the decision of any point contrary to the wishes and inter- 
 ests of the see of Rome ; and therefore, that, after long 
 
 * An interesting account of this transaction is given in the life of 
 the celebrated cardinal Commendon, one of the legates, written by 
 Gratiana, andtranslated by Flechier, lib. ii. ch. iii.
 
 1522-1564.] HIS RELIGIOUS POLICY 9 
 
 cavils and disputes, cabals, and intrigues, no essential re- 
 formation was suffered to take place. 
 
 Ferdinand himself stood in a delicate situation ; and, by 
 his attempts to mediate between the two parties, was ex- 
 posed to the suspicions and obloquy of both. By the Pro- 
 testants, he was accused of persecution and intolerance, 
 and even by the Catholics, whose party he saved from total 
 annihilation in Germany, he was charged with lukewarm- 
 ness to his religion, and with dishonouring the church, by 
 requiring concessions hostile to its authority, doctrines, and 
 usages. But neither obloquy nor persuasion could induce 
 him to swerve from that line of conduct which he had 
 adopted from motives of duty and interest. 
 
 At length, perceiving that the principal changes made 
 by the council were trifling, or in matters of no import, and 
 that the most essential questions were referred to the deci- 
 sion of the pope, he himself brought forward several 
 grievances, of which he required the redress. He urged 
 the council particularly to exhort the pope to examine if 
 any amendment was necessary in his own person, state, and 
 court ; " because," he observed, " the only true method to 
 obtain authority for the reformation of others, is to begin 
 by amending oneself." He required the reduction of the 
 number of cardinals to twenty-six ; the discontinuance of 
 scandalous dispensations and exemptions from common 
 law ; the abolition of pluralities and simony, and of the 
 farming of ecclesiastical offices. He proposed, that bishops 
 should be compelled to reside in their dioceses ; that no 
 fees should be demanded for the administration of the 
 sacrament ; that excommunication should be used only for 
 mortal sins and manifest irregularities ; that the prayers 
 and divine offices should be performed in the vulgar tongue ; 
 breviaries and missals corrected, and a new ritual made for 
 the use of the church ; that the clergy and monks should 
 be reformed according to ancient institutions ; the rigour 
 of fasts abated ; the communion administered under both 
 kinds ; and marriage allowed to the clergy. These articles 
 were supported by the king of Spain ; and some others, of 
 still stronger import, were added by the French monarch. 
 
 It is easy to conceive the indignation and surprise of the 
 court of Rome at these demands, made by the protector
 
 10 FERDINAND T. [CH. XXXV. 
 
 and advocate of the church ; but it is unnecessary to dwell 
 on the cavils, chicanery, and disputes, employed to defeat 
 every effort for real reformation, and which induced the 
 emperor himself to permit the dissolution of an assembly, 
 from which, according to his own expression, "nothing 
 good could be expected, even if it continued its sittings for 
 a hundred years." 
 
 Thus terminated this celebrated council, which had been 
 so long expected, and called with the hope of uniting all 
 Christendom under one system of worship and doctrine ; 
 but which, by its decrees, declared the principal errors and 
 abuses of the church of Rome articles of faith, even on 
 points hitherto problematical ; and thus set an insuperable 
 barrier between the Catholic Church and the Protestants 
 of every sect and denomination. But although these deci- 
 sions were in almost every respect contrary to the wishes 
 and expectations of Ferdinand, yet with a view to prevent 
 a new schism in the church, he did not withhold his assent 
 to its decrees, and continued his negotiations, with the 
 hope of obtaining for the subjects of his hereditary coun- 
 tries, at least the permission to administer the communion 
 under both kinds, and the marriage of priests. Notwith- 
 standing the refusal of the Protestants to accept the decrees 
 of the council, and the incessant bickerings between the 
 two parties, Ferdinand, by a strict adherence to the articles 
 of his capitulation, and by a mixture of moderation and 
 firmness, succeeded in maintaining the public peace ; and, 
 though he could not annihilate, he repressed those religious 
 feuds, which, under a less prudent sovereign, would have 
 again involved the empire in a civil war. 
 
 While all Germany had been the theatre of religious 
 discussion, the hereditary dominions of the house of Austria 
 could not escape the general contagion. In the earliest 
 period of the Lutheran dispute, the reformed doctrines 
 spread into Austria, and found numerous adherents in the 
 capital, and even in the university ; but more particularly 
 among the territorial lords, who maintained domestic priests 
 of the reformed opinions, and held a regular correspondence 
 with Luther. These innovations had not escaped the atten- 
 tion of Ferdinand, and he omitted no endeavours to check 
 their progress. He rigorously enforced the execution of
 
 1522-1564.] RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 11 
 
 the edict of the "Worms, and strictly forbade the distribution 
 of Luther's translation of the Bible. But, notwithstanding 
 all his vigilance, the Lutheran doctrines prospered no less 
 in Austria than in Germany ; and, in the space of a few 
 years, the majority of the states were either openly or 
 secretly attached to the Reformation. 
 
 The invasion of the Turks, and the other embarrass- 
 ments of Ferdinand, encouraged the Lutherans to demand 
 a public toleration ; and although their petition was not 
 formally granted, he was so desirous to obtain the support 
 of the states that he connived at their private conventicles. 
 This tacit toleration, however, occasioned a rapid increase 
 of the Protestant party ; Ferdinand, to counteract its 
 effects, prohibited the preaching of the new opinions, and 
 introduced the community of Jesuits into every part of his 
 hereditary dominions, as the most able defenders of the 
 Catholic faith. After concluding the peace of Passau, he 
 took more decided steps ; he issued a general edict, order- 
 ing all his subjects to continue in the ancient religion, and 
 pay due obedience to the Catholic church ; and in particular 
 to discontinue the administration of the sacrament under 
 two kinds. 
 
 The states, encouraged by the example and success of 
 the Protestants in Germany, made repeated attempts to 
 procure the revocation of this edict, and even at one period 
 threatened to withhold their subsidy for the support of the 
 war against the Turks. At length, Ferdinand perceiving 
 that his opposition did not retard the diffusion of the Pro- 
 testant doctrines, and aware that persecution would only 
 increase their adherents, endeavoured to prevent the formal 
 separation of his subjects from the church, by obtaining an 
 indulgence for the marriage of priests, and the reception 
 of the communion under both kinds, the two articles on 
 which the Protestants most earnestly insisted. He la- 
 boured with uncommon ardour to gain these points, first 
 from the council of Trent, and afterwards from the pope him- 
 eelf, by employing every argument which could be deduced 
 from considerations of morality and expedience. " In Bohe- 
 mia," he said, " from the days of Jacobel and Huss, no per- 
 suasion, no argument, no violence, not even arms and war, 
 have succeeded in abolishing the use of the cup in the sa-
 
 12 FERDINAND I. [CH.XXXV. 
 
 crament. In fact, the church itself permitted it, although 
 the popes revoked it by a breach of the conditions on 
 which it was granted ; and if ever there was an opportunity 
 of re-uniting the Calixtins to the church, it is in the pre- 
 sent moment, when, after an interval of one hundred and 
 forty years, the archiepiscopal see is re-established in 
 Prague, and the Calixtins have agreed to the consecration 
 of their priests, by the new prelate, and when this re-union 
 can be effected by the simple restoration of the cup." 
 
 " In the other states, Hungary, Austria, Silesia, Styria, 
 Carinthia, Carniola, Bavaria, and other parts of Germany, 
 many desire, with ardour, the same indulgence ; if this 
 concession is granted, they may be re-united to the church, 
 but if refused, they will be driven into the party of 
 the Protestants. In Hungary, things are carried to such 
 an unfortunate extremity, that the priests have been com- 
 pelled by violence to administer the sacrament under both 
 kinds. Those who have given way to this irregularity, 
 have been punished and degraded by their diocesans ; and, 
 in consequence of this persecution, the country is almost 
 deprived of priests. Hence children die, or grow up to ma- 
 turity, without baptism ; and men and women, of all ages 
 and of all ranks, live like the brutes, in the grossest igno- 
 rance of God and of religion." 
 
 For the marriage of priests, it was urged, " There is 
 such a want of ministers of the altar, that it becomes ne- 
 cessary to examine, whether divine or positive law will not 
 allow to priests the liberty of marrying. If such a permis- 
 sion cannot be granted, may not married men of learning 
 and probity be ordained, according to the custom of the 
 eastern church, or married priests be tolerated for a time, 
 provided they act according to the Catholic and Christian 
 faith ? And it may justly be asked, whether such conces- 
 sions would not be far more preferable than to tolerate, as 
 has unfortunately been done, fornication and concubinage." 
 
 On another occasion, after observing that in Germany, 
 and particularly in his hereditary countries, there was 
 scarcely a single person capable of executing the office of 
 priest, unmarried, he continues in still stronger expressions, 
 " I cannot avoid adding, what is a common observation, 
 that priests, who live in concubinage, are guilty of greater
 
 1522-1564.] HIS INTERNAL POLICY. 13 
 
 sin than those who are married ; for the last only trans- 
 gress a law which is capable of being changed, whereas the 
 first sin against a divine law, which is neither capable of 
 change nor dispensation." 
 
 These arguments made perhaps some impression on the 
 council ; but, by papal influence, the two questions were 
 left undecided, and, with the concurrence of Ferdinand, 
 referred to the decision of the pope. But although the le- 
 gate had obtained his acquiescence in the dissolution of the 
 council, by the most solemn assurances that these conces- 
 sions would be granted, the pope with difficulty consented 
 that the cup should be administered to the laity in the 
 communion, and refused to approve the marriage of priests. 
 Ferdinand instantly promulgated this concession, and perse- 
 vered in his solicitations for the other article, during the 
 short interval which elapsed before his death, on the 25th 
 of July, 1564. 
 
 As the constitution of Germany had now begun to assume 
 consistency, the reign of Ferdinand is necessarily less dis- 
 tinguished for a variety of new regulations than those of 
 the preceding emperors. The religious regulations have 
 already been detailed ; and those which he introduced, as 
 emperor were, a change in the system of the Aulic council, 
 a complete reformation of the coinage, and an improvement 
 in the institutions for the maintenance of the public peace, 
 which was greatly disturbed by the licentiousness of mili- 
 tary levies, raised without the countenance of any regular 
 government, and under the pretence of foreign service. 
 
 The first of these regulations, for the maintenance of 
 peace was, by substituting for the general diets, of which 
 the proceedings were uncertain and dilatory, diets of depu- 
 tation, which consisting only of the electors and of depu- 
 ties from the other members of the empire, were easily 
 convoked, and speedy in their decisions. The other was, 
 by increasing the power of the military chief in each circle, 
 which rendered the conduct of military affairs more prompt 
 and effectual ; a measure which was proposed under Fer- 
 dinand, but received its completion during the reign of his 
 successor. The Aulic council, instituted by Maximilian, 
 was retained and improved by Charles ; but as he sub- 
 mitted to its decisions the affairs of Italy and the Low
 
 14 FERDINAND I. [CH. XXXV. 
 
 Countries, as well as those of Germany, it was gradually 
 filled with foreign members, who introduced some changes in 
 the form of its proceedings. The states of the empire, both 
 at the conclusion of the peace of Passau and of the peace of 
 religion, had remonstrated against these innovations, and 
 Ferdinand, in the name of his brother, promised redress ; 
 and as no amelioration took place during the reign of 
 Charles, the first object of the new emperor was, to fulfil 
 his promise. With this view he purged the council of 
 foreign members, and published an ordinance relative to its 
 jurisdiction, forms of proceeding and ceremonial, which 
 still continues in force ; and from this amelioration, he has 
 often been considered as the original institutor. 
 
 In regard to the public coinage, at his accession ex- 
 tremely debased and defective, Germany owes to him an 
 edict, which has likewise formed the foundation of all 
 subsequent regulations. By this edict, the alloy, the value, 
 the title, form, and assay of the coins are regulated ; and 
 all the states are forbidden to issue money which does not 
 bear the bust, or at least the designation of the reigning 
 sovereign. 
 
 So greatly was Ferdinand beloved, and so much was the 
 jealousy entertained by the Germans of the power of his 
 illustrious house diminished by the separation of the two 
 branches, that he found no difficulty in obtaining the elec- 
 tion of his son as king of the Romans ; and, as a short time 
 before, he had been crowned at Prague as hereditary sove- 
 reign of Bohemia, and the following year at Presburgh, as 
 successor to the throne of Hungary, Ferdinand was 
 enabled to secure to his successor the three dignities, 
 which it had always been the ambition of his ancestor to 
 obtain. To prevent also those family contests which had 
 hitherto weakened his illustrious house, Ferdinand settled 
 by his testament, dated August 10th, 1555, the succession 
 to the archduchy of Austria on his eldest son alone, and 
 his posterity ; to his second son, Ferdinand, he devised the 
 Tyrol, and the exterior provinces ; to Charles, his third 
 son, Carinthia, Styria, and Carniola : he secured the fulfil- 
 ment of these bequests, by obtaining the signature of his 
 three sons to this testament. 
 
 Ferdinand died on the 25th of July, 1564, in the sixty-
 
 1522-1564.] HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER. 15 
 
 second year of his age, of a fever which was occasioned by 
 the chagrin arising from the religious troubles in his own 
 dominions, and the failure of all his attempts to heal the 
 schism of the church. 
 
 Though as Protestants it is impossible not to consider 
 Ferdinand as the great oppugner of religious truth, and the 
 principal supporter of Catholic errors, yet we cannot deny 
 him the praise of an ardent and sincere attachment to the 
 religion of his ancestors, free from bigotry and intolerance, 
 to a degree unusual in his age and family. He saw and 
 lamented the abuses of the church, and by his attempts to 
 procure a real reformation, exposed himself to the odium of 
 the Catholics ; but he left an unequivocal proof of his 
 religious sentiments in a paper annexed to his will, with 
 the hope that this last memorial of a deceased parent would 
 make a deep impression on the minds of his children. In 
 this paper, he exhorted them with paternal tenderness to 
 maintain an inflexible attachment to their religion ; and 
 corroborated his arguments by detailing the troubles and 
 calamities which he considered as derived from the intro- 
 duction of the Lutheran doctrines, and by holding forth to 
 them the prospect both of celestial and terrestrial blessings 
 as the reward of their obedience. 
 
 Ferdinand in his youth possessed uncommon beauty of 
 countenance, and, in his more advanced age, united with a 
 graceful deportment the dignity and gravity of a sovereign. 
 To the completion of his education according to the plan 
 of Erasmus, he probably owed a greater degree of taste and 
 erudition than usually falls to the lot of a monarch. Be- 
 sides the Spanish, Italian, German, and French languages, 
 he was well -acquainted with classical literature, and pos- 
 sessed a general knowledge of the arts and sciences. He 
 evinced his taste and disposition by the great delight which 
 he found in perusing the Greek writers, and the predi- 
 lection he showed for Caesar and Cicero. He was attached 
 to the society of the learned, whom he treated with freedom 
 and familiarity, patronised men of letters, and maintained 
 an intimate correspondence with Erasmus, on whom he 
 conferred marks of distinction and liberality expressive of 
 his gratitude and respect. Among others, he also em- 
 ployed and favoured the learned Busbequius, who is distin-
 
 16 FERDINAND L [CH. XXXV 
 
 guished for his embassy to Constantinople, and his excel- 
 lent account of the Turks. 
 
 In domestic life he was a model of temperance, decorum, 
 and sobriety ; and was remarkable for a placid and forgiv- 
 ing disposition. He was faithful to the marriage bed ; and 
 even after the death of a beloved wife, preserved an invio- 
 lable continence. 
 
 Bred up by Spanish priests, and led astray by the ex- 
 ample of his brother, Ferdinand gave, in the fervour of 
 youth, and the career of victory, proofs of intolerance and 
 despotism ; but, unlike Charles, he became more wise and 
 moderate as he advanced in years, varied and adapted his 
 conduct to contingencies, and gradually corrected those 
 arbitrary and persecuting principles which he had imbibed 
 in the school of Ferdinand the Catholic. The character- 
 istic qualities of Ferdinand, when matured by experience, 
 were application, vigilance, mildness, and impartiality ; 
 policy without deceit, courage without ostentation. He did 
 not possess the brilliant talents of his brother, yet neither 
 did he inherit that restless and despotic genius, which led 
 Charles to sacrifice to his own ambitious views the tran- 
 quillity and happiness of his people. Though he did not 
 attract the wonder of his age, he deserved and obtained 
 what was far more desirable, the esteem of his contem- 
 poraries and the love of his subjects. He may justly be 
 called the pacificator of Germany ; and to him may be 
 attributed the lustre of that branch of the house of Austria 
 of which he was the head. 
 
 A blind attachment to his ministers, and a facility of 
 temper easily wrought upon by ambitious or interested 
 men, were his principal foibles, and to them may be im- 
 puted that indelible stain on his memory, with which history 
 reproaches him, the assassination of Martinuzzi. In a 
 sovereign so just and moderate, so remarkable for strict 
 adherence to truth, his conduct towards the Bohemians is 
 another defect. But although this breach of his solemn, 
 engagements, and his extreme severity towards the male- 
 contents cannot be excused, they may at least be palliated 
 by the peculiar difficulties of his situation, and the turbu- 
 lent character of the people. 
 
 His wife Anne, daughter of Ladislaus, king of Hungary 

 
 1522-1564.] HIS FAMILY. 17 
 
 and Bohemia, was born in 1503, and espoused him in 1521. 
 She seems to have borne, at least by courtesy, the title of 
 queen, even before her husband became sovereign of Hun- 
 gary and Bohemia, and this privilege was derived from an 
 incident which occurred during her childhood. On the 
 coronation of her infant brother, in the cathedral of Prague, 
 Anne, who was only six years old, burst into tears, because 
 he was not crowned ; and, to appease her, Ladislaus took 
 the diadem and placed it on her head. This circumstance 
 being considered as auspicious, a sudden acclamation burst 
 forth from the nobles and deputies ; they instantly declared 
 her successor to her brother, should he die without issue, 
 and the king, on his part, promised not to give her in 
 marriage without the approbation of the states. This 
 trivial incident greatly contributed to secure the election of 
 her husband Ferdinand. 
 
 Anne was a princess equally beautiful, sensible, humble, 
 and pious, of a compassionate and forgiving temper, mo- 
 dest and decent in her attire. She paid a peculiar atten- 
 tion to the education of her children, and, instead of 
 indulging them in the luxuries of a court, had the good 
 sense to train them in habits of humility, temperance, and 
 self-control, that they might be prepared for every change 
 of fortune, and be enabled to bear want, hunger, and thirst. 
 She died in 1547, in the midst of the Bohemian rebellion ; 
 and her death was a real loss to the people, who in her had 
 frequently found a powerful mediator with Ferdinand. 
 She bore fifteen children, of whom three sons and nine 
 daughters arrived at years of maturity. 
 
 The three sons formed the lines of Austria, Tyrol, and 
 Styria. 
 
 1. Maximilian, who succeeded his father in the arch- 
 duchy of Austria, and in the empire. 
 
 2. Ferdinand, who inherited the Tyrol, and the exterior 
 provinces. His first wife was Phillippa Welseren, a wo- 
 man of great beauty and accomplishments, but being only 
 of a patrician family, the alliance was considered as de- 
 grading, and the emperor, complacent and forgiving as he 
 was in temper, was too jealous of the honour of his family 
 to ratify or approve the marriage. After some years, hit 
 daughter-in-law found means to gain admittance into his 
 
 VOL. II. C
 
 18 FERDINAND I. [CH. XXXT. 
 
 presence, and, throwing herself at his feet, her beauty and 
 attractive manners won his forgiveness. He acknowledged 
 her as his daughter-in-law ; but he was unable to oblite- 
 rate the stigma which German prejudice has affixed to dis- 
 proportionate matches ; and her children, though deemed 
 legitimate, were declared incapable of inheriting. She died 
 in 1580, leaving two sons, Andrew and Charles. Andrew 
 obtained the margraviate of Burgau, entered into holy 
 orders, became bishop of Brixen and Constance, and was 
 raised to the dignity of cardinal. He was likewise sub- 
 governor of the Netherlands. On his death, in 1600, the 
 margraviate of Burgau descended to his brother Charles, 
 who afterwards was raised to the dignity of a prince of the 
 empire, and, dying without issue, in 1619, the lands which 
 had been conferred on him reverted to the Styrian line. The 
 second wife of Ferdinand was his cutrsin, Anne Catherine, 
 daughter of William, duke of Mantua. When she became 
 a widow, she refused the hand of the emperor Matthias ; 
 and died in a nunnery, in 1621. 
 
 Charles, the third and youngest son of Ferdinand, founder 
 of the Styrian line, was born in 1540. A marriage was 
 proposed between him and the unfortunate Mary queen of 
 Scots, by her confidant Melville, who came to Innspruck 
 in 1562. He was also a candidate for the hand of Eliza- 
 beth of England, and, like other princes, was disappointed 
 by her maiden coyness, or independent spirit. He was 
 anxious to urge his suit in person, and received .the 
 strongest encouragement from the royal coquette, but the 
 prudence or pride of his brother prevented him from going, 
 like the duke of Anjou, to swell the train of his mistress, 
 by requiring the previous adjustment and ratification of 
 the articles of marriage.* He died in 1590, leaving by his 
 wife Maria, the daughter of Albert of Bavaria, several 
 daughters. His sons were: 1. Ferdinand, who, on the 
 death of Matthias, became emperor, and head of the house 
 of Austria, and king of Hungary and Bohemia. 2. Maximi- 
 lian Ernest, grand-master of the Teutonic order. 3. Leo- 
 pold, first bishop of Passau and Strasburgh, in 1519, and 
 afterwards, on quitting the ecclesiastical profession, sove- 
 reign of Tyrol and the exterior provinces, in virtue of the 
 * Rapin, vol. vii. 8vo., p. 222. 244. 299.
 
 1527-1566.] MAXIMILIAN rr. 19 
 
 family compact with his brother Ferdinand. His terri- 
 tories devolved successively on his two sons, Ferdinand 
 Charles and Sigismond Francis, both of whom dying with- 
 out male issue, all the collateral branches of the house of 
 Austria became extinct, in 1665, and the whole inherit- 
 ance reverted to the elder branch, in the person of Leopold. 
 4. Charles, bishop of Breslau and Brixen ; after the death 
 of his brother Maximilian Ernest, he became grand-master 
 of the Teutonic order. He was nominated governor of the 
 Low Countries, but died in Spain before he could assume 
 the government, in 1624.* 
 
 The daughters of Ferdinand were : 1. Elizabeth, mar- 
 ried to Sigismond Augustus, duke of Lithuania, and after- 
 wards king of Poland. 2. Maria, to William, duke of 
 Cleves. 3. Magdalen, abbess of the nunnery of Hall, in 
 the Tyrol, which her father built at her request. 4. Cathe- 
 rine, wife, first of Francis, duke of Mantua ; and, secondly, 
 of Sigismond Augustus, after the death of her sister 
 Elizabeth, but divorced for barrenness. 5. Eleonora, who 
 married William, duke of Mantua. 6. Barbara, wife of 
 Alphonso, duke of Ferrara. 7. Joanna, who espoused 
 Francis Maria de' Medici, great duke of Florence. 8. and 
 9. Margaret and Helena, who took the veil. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI. MAXIMILIAN IL 1527-1566. 
 
 BEFORE we commence the reign of Maximilian II., it is 
 necessary to review the situation of the house of Austria, 
 in consequence, of the separation of the two branches, and 
 the acquisition of Hungary and Bohemia, and to consider 
 
 * We do not deem it necessary to enter into any further account of 
 the collateral branches of Styria and Tyrol, because those branches were 
 comparatively insignificant, and because every fact of importance will 
 find its proper place in the reigns of the succeeding sovereigns. Those 
 who have taste and curiosity for these genealogical inquiries, will find 
 ample information in Gebheardi Gen. Gesch. vol. ii. p. 448 484., and 
 Pinacotheca Austriaca, p. 301 328. 
 c 2
 
 20 MAXIMILIAN II. [CH. XXXVL 
 
 the effects of the Reformation on the head of that house, as 
 well in regard to his own territories as to the empire. 
 
 By the division of the two branches, the head of the 
 German line for some time derived as little support from 
 the sovereign of Spain and the Netherlands, as if those ter- 
 ritories had been held by another family, although a do- 
 mestic connection was still maintained, and two of the 
 Austrian princes were educated in Spain, with the expec- 
 tation of being called to the succession of the monarchy, 
 should Philip die without issue. The ties of relationship 
 were outweighed by political considerations, and the sepa- 
 ration was widened by the disappointment of Philip in his 
 attempt to obtain the imperial crown, and the discordance 
 of religious sentiments between him and Maximilian. Even 
 the result of their political conduct was different ; for while 
 Ferdinand and Maximilian, by toleration, mildness, and 
 prudence, were preserving their dominions, and laying the 
 foundation of future grandeur, Philip was rashly exhaust- 
 ing his vast resources, immense treasures, and numerous 
 population, in pursuing the gigantic projects of his father. 
 
 The ill-judged division of the territories made by Fer- 
 dinand among his three sons contributed to weaken the 
 German line ; but while its influence was diminished on one 
 side by the dismemberment of these dependent provinces, 
 it obtained a more than equivalent aggrandisement by the 
 acquisition of Bohemia ; and had Maximilian secured 
 tranquil possession of Hungary, of which he was nominal 
 sovereign, he would have ranked among the greatest 
 monarchs of Europe. But, in fact, the Turks possessed 
 one half of the kingdom ; the remainder was contested by 
 the house of Zapoli ; and even that portion which he held 
 was preserved with difficulty, and agitated with endless 
 feuds ; while the perpetual wars, in which he and his 
 father were engaged for the disputed territory, exhausted 
 their resources, and fettered their exertions on the side of 
 Europe. 
 
 It is a difficult question to solve, what would have been 
 the condition of the church and of the empire, if the house 
 of Austria had not taken part against the Reformation ; at 
 the same time it cannot be denied that the wars in which 
 that house was engaged against the reformers, proved the
 
 1527-1566.] STATE OF AUSTRIA. 21 
 
 greatest obstacle to its own aggrandisement. In no other 
 cause, except that of religion, could the people have been 
 induced to make such astonishing efforts in defence of their 
 sovereigns ; and by no other bond of union would so many 
 different states have been united against so formidable an 
 adversary. Never was the house of Austria more powerful 
 than after the victory of Muhlberg, when by the destruc- 
 tion of the league of Smalkalde, the liberties of the Ger- 
 manic body appeared to be annihilated ; but these liberties 
 revived under the auspices of Maurice of Saxony, and by 
 the religious peace of Augsburgh, all the plans of Charles 
 for the oppression of civil and religious liberty were over- 
 turned, and the Protestant religion established on a per- 
 manent basis. 
 
 In the diet of Augsburgh, Germany was first divided 
 into different parties of religion and policy; and the schism 
 was consolidated because it was then first legalised. From 
 that period the members of the confession of Augsburgh 
 were placed on an equality with the Catholics ; but after 
 a contest attended with such violence and acrimony, it was 
 impossible for the two parties to coalesce : and even the 
 stipulations of the peace itself contained the seeds of future 
 animosity, by furnishing each with a pretext for explaining 
 the articles according to its interests or prejudices. The 
 Protestants had infringed the ecclesiastical reservation, by 
 procuring the election of Protestants into Catholic chap- 
 ters ; and many of the Catholic prelates contravened the de- 
 claration of Ferdinand annexed to the religious peace, by 
 withholding liberty of conscience from their Protestant sub- 
 jects. But these very dissensions were, in the present in- 
 stance, by no means disadvantageous to the head of the house 
 of Austria as chief of the empire, nor detrimental to the em- 
 pire itself. For the fermentation arising from the collision of 
 the two parties, occasioned the establishment of regulations, 
 which secured the liberty of the states, and affixed due 
 bounds to the imperial prerogative ; while the emulation 
 excited between the two sects enabled a moderate and 
 prudent emperor to draw forth unusual support from the 
 Protestants, by occasional acts of toleration, at the same 
 time that he derived due assistance from the Catholics, 
 
 C 3
 
 22 MAXIMILIAN II. |^CH. XXXVE 
 
 from principles of religious attachment. From these 
 causes Ferdinand and Maximilian obtained greater suc- 
 cours from the Protestants alone, than the whole empire 
 had ever before furnished, even when not divided by re- 
 ligious feuds. 
 
 The same causes, however, did not operate with equal 
 effect in the hereditary dominions of the house of Austria. 
 The Protestants had gained such a preponderance in the 
 states, both of Bohemia and Austria, and such influence in 
 the country, that they were rather inclined to extort than 
 to accept toleration ; and nothing but the extreme mild- 
 ness and liberality of Maximilian, joined with equal firm- 
 ness and decision, could have prevented the total extermi- 
 nation of the Catholic faith. From these circumstances 
 his authority and views were perpetually shackled ; and the 
 concessions which necessity or inclination induced him 
 to make, gave rise to the troubles which involved all 
 Europe in war, under his weaker and more bigoted suc- 
 cessors. 
 
 Maximilian II. was born on the 1st of August, 1527, 
 and educated in Spain with his cousin Philip, who was of 
 the same age, under the auspices of the emperor, Charles 
 V. But though brought up in so bigoted a court, and the 
 associate of the morose and intolerant Philip, he imbibed, 
 in his early years, and preserved through life, the most 
 winning affability 'of manners, and the most liberal spirit 
 of toleration. He principally owed these virtues and prin- 
 ciples to the instructions of his early preceptor, Wolfgang 
 Severus, a Silesian, who was secretly attached to the Lu- 
 theran doctrines. This impression was too deep to be 
 ever obliterated, and resisted all the instructions of subse- 
 quent preceptors, and all the exhortations and advice of 
 his family. As he advanced to manhood, he took a Lu- 
 theran priest into his service, under the title of secretary, 
 from whom he was accustomed to receive the communion 
 under both kinds ; and, by his intervention, entered into 
 an intimate correspondence with the chiefs of the Pro- 
 testant party, particularly with Frederic III., elector 
 Palatine, and Augustus, elector of Saxony. When he 
 had retired from Spain, he publicly evinced the most 
 decided attachment to the Lutheran principles, often, as-
 
 1527-1566.] HIS RELIGIOUS POLICY. 23 
 
 sisted at their divine service, and replied to those who en- 
 deavoured to alarm him with the apprehension of losing 
 the imperial crown, and with the anger of his family, " I 
 will sacrifice all worldly interests for the sake of salvation." 
 He for a long time resisted all the menaces of his father, 
 who threatened to disinherit him for his attachment to the 
 Protestant doctrines ; and, in a letter to the eledtor Palatine, 
 he observes, " I have so deeply offended my father, by 
 maintaining a Lutheran preacher in my service, that I am 
 apprehensive of being expelled as a fugitive, and hope to 
 find an asylum in your court. "* 
 
 Such being the religious sentiments of Maximilian, his 
 accession was dreaded by the Catholics, and hailed by the 
 Protestants. Nor were the alarms of one party and the 
 exultation of the other without foundation, for the abolition 
 of the ecclesiastical reservation, and the admission of 
 Protestant nobles into the Catholic chapters, would have 
 broken down the barrier, which was the last defence of the 
 Catholic church in Germany. But the interests of the 
 sovereign soon outweighed the inclinations of the indi- 
 vidual ; Maximilian saw the Protestants weakened by 
 schisms, and actuated by discordant views, while the Ca- 
 tholics were firmly united by a common principle, and 
 alone capable of affording him a permanent and efficient 
 support. He was aware that they would be assisted 
 by all the power of Philip II., and all the intrigues 
 and influence of the pope, and that their cause would 
 find the most strenuous adherents, even in his own family. 
 He hoped by moderate and timely concessions, to conci- 
 liate the Protestant body ; but he was sensible, that by 
 quitting the pale of the church, he should render the 
 Catholics his implacable enemies. It was likewise not the 
 least powerful motive to a prince who was so anxiously 
 attached to peace, to consider that his profession of the Pro- 
 testant doctrines would not only revive the religious 
 troubles, but induce the Catholics to raise Philip II., or 
 some powerful rival, to the imperial throne. As a father 
 who consulted the interests of his children, it is no dis- 
 credit to the feelings of Maximilian to suppose, that he was 
 
 * Vie de Commendon, p. 286.; Haberlin's Reichs Geschichte, 
 vol. vi. p. 91. 
 
 c 4
 
 24 MAXIMILIAN H. [CH. XXXVL 
 
 influenced by the dread of losing the Spanish succession, 
 which, as Philip was at this time without issue male, was 
 likely to devolve on his family ; as a son, he was probably 
 biassed by the injunctions of hia dying father; as a hus- 
 band and brother, he must have felt an unconquerable re- 
 luctance to shock the prejudices of his wife and brothers, 
 who were zealously devoted to the Catholic faith. 
 
 Influenced by these motives, Maximilian determined to 
 remain within the pale of the church ; and adopted a line 
 of conduct which reflects honour on his memory. He took 
 his father's confessor, made a public profession of the Ca- 
 tholic faith, and maintained the establishment of the 
 church ; but he never swerved from the most liberal tolera- 
 tion, and in Germany, made the religious peace, which he 
 had so great a share in promoting, the grand rule of his 
 conduct. 
 
 The transactions of the first diet, which Maximilian 
 summoned at Augsburgh, in March, 1566, sufficiently 
 evinced his prudence and policy, as by no other means 
 could he have baffled the intrigues of the pope, suspended 
 the religious feuds, and, in the midst of interminable dis- 
 cussions, persuaded the princes of the empire to furnish 
 such succours as were sufficient to preserve his dominions 
 in Hungary from being overwhelmed by the Turks. 
 
 The diet was crowded beyond all former examples, and 
 both parties met with the most decided hostility against 
 each other. The Protestants presented a bitter remon- 
 strance against the oppression of their brethren in the 
 states of the Catholic prelates ; and the Catholics equally 
 complained of the breaches of the ecclesiastical reservation, 
 and were stimulated and directed by the legate, cardinal 
 Commendon, who had been deputed by the new pope, 
 Pius V., to preserve unanimity in the Catholic body, and to 
 deter the emperor from encroaching on the prerogatives of 
 the church. Maximilian, who saw the danger of com- 
 mencing a religious discussion, prevailed on both parties to 
 open the business of the diet by voting succours against the 
 Turks, as a matter which did not admit of delay. This pro- 
 posal, if made by a sovereign of a different character, would 
 have only provoked the discussion ; yet such was the confi- 
 dence of all parties in their new chief, that they agreed to it
 
 1527-1566.] HIS RELIGIOUS POLICT. 25 
 
 without a dissenting voice, and vying in their efforts to 
 conciliate his favour, they voted succours in men and 
 money far surpassing their contingents, both for the pre- 
 sent exigency, and for the three succeeding years. To 
 this grant, the indiscreet zeal of some of the states endea- 
 voured to annex the condition that Hungary, which had 
 absorbed so much of their blood and treasure, should be 
 subject to the same taxes as the empire ; but Maximilian 
 contrived to elude this demand, without damping the ar- 
 dour of the diet, by promising the full co-operation of all 
 the forces of Hungary, whenever the empire was exposed 
 to danger. 
 
 Having gained this point, he suffered the states to re- 
 sume the discussion of religious affairs ; though with his 
 characteristic prudence, he did not irritate the minds of the 
 two sects by taking a part in the dispute. Acting as a mere 
 mediator, he transmitted their respective complaints and 
 replies to each other ; and thus showing that both had 
 equal causes of complaint, brought them to a more reason- 
 able temper, while he restrained both parties by evincing 
 his firm resolution to maintain the peace of religion. This 
 prudent impartiality was at the same time attended with 
 another advantage ; for the pope, who, from the character 
 and principles of Maximilian, dreaded great innovations in 
 religion, was conciliated by his conduct, and, at the conclu- 
 sion of the diet, remitted to him the sum of 50,000 ducats 
 as a subsidy against the Turks.* 
 
 At the same time that Maximilian laboured to preserve 
 tranquillity between the Catholics and Protestants, he en- 
 deavoured to maintain the union of the Protestant body, as 
 well from inclination as from a desire of securing the peace 
 of Germany. 
 
 Frederic III., surnamed the Pious, the first elector Pa- 
 latine of the branch of Simmern, has been already men- 
 tioned as a convert to Calvinism, and as having evinced 
 opinions contrary to the Lutheran tenets at the meeting of 
 Naumburgh. Since that period, he abolished Lutheranism, 
 expelled its priests, persecuted its adherents, and esta- 
 blished in his states that system of doctrine and worship 
 which is followed by the reformed churches of Holland 
 * Vie de Commendon, p. 289.
 
 26 MAXIMILIAN II. [CH. XXXVI. 
 
 and Switzerland. He had recently published the celebrated 
 catechism of Heidelberg, which contained the Calvinistic 
 system of worship and doctrine, and, like the confession 
 of Augsburgh, became the symbolical book and creed of 
 the Calvinists in Germany. In consequence of these in- 
 novations, the rigid Lutherans regarded Frederic with no 
 less antipathy than they did the Catholics ; and some of the 
 most rash and zealous, among whom were the elector of 
 Brandenburgh, and even his cousin Wolfgang, chief of the 
 line of Deux Fonts, urged the emperor to exert his impe- 
 rial authority in re-establishing the Lutheran worship. 
 The Catholics adroitly availed themselves of this division, 
 and Commendon captiously proposed to require from the 
 Lutherans, in the public diet, an acknowledgment whether 
 they considered the elector as a member of their confession. 
 This question greatly embarrassed the Protestants ; for they 
 could not disavow the elector without losing the support of 
 the reformed churches in France and Switzerland, and of 
 the Calvinists in Germany, and, if they acknowledged him, 
 they gave their public approbation to doctrines which they 
 had constantly stigmatised as anti-christian. The elector 
 Palatine endeavoured to j ustify his principles by public dis- 
 cussion, and appealed to the Bible and the conl'ession of 
 Augsburgh, while the Catholics and rigid Lutherans cla- 
 moured for his punishment or deposition. 
 
 Fortunately an open schism among the Protestants, and 
 a civil war in the empire, were prevented by the interven- 
 tion of the emperor. Though connected by long friendship 
 with the elector Palatine, and though averse to every spe- 
 cies of persecution, he could not approve the Calvinistic 
 doctrines ; and he considered himself bound to maintain 
 the religious peace, and to exclude all new sects who dis- 
 sented from the confession of Augsburgh. He therefore 
 yielded, in appearance at least, to the instances of the Ca- 
 tholics and rigid Lutherans ; but he contrived to prevent the 
 Catholics from interfering in the discussion. The Protest- 
 ants being thus left to settle the question themselves, were 
 too prudent to weaken their party by mutual persecution ; 
 and while they disapproved the catechism of Heidelberg, 
 they refused to exclude the elector or the Calvinists from 
 the benefits of the religious peace. To satisfy, however,
 
 1564-1 574. J ms RELIGIOUS POLICY. 27 
 
 the Catholics and rigid Lutherans, a decree was passed by 
 the diet, declaring, that no toleration should be allowed, 
 except to the Catholics and the members of the confession 
 of Augsburgh ; and although the elector Palatine refused 
 to renounce his creed, the emperor suffered him to shelter 
 himself under that system of doctrine, and thus allowed 
 the Calvinists a tacit, though not a formal toleration.* 
 
 CHAP. XXXVIL 1564-1574. 
 
 THIS was a specimen of the conduct which Maximilian 
 pursued during his whole reign, and of the means by which 
 he prevented Germany from being disturbed by religious 
 feuds, and obtained from the states repeated and unusual 
 grants of succours against the Turks. Anxious to preserve 
 the tranquillity of the empire, while the surrounding king- 
 doms were agitated by intestine dissensions or civil wars, 
 he did not confine his attention to internal policy, but 
 endeavoured to prevent the religious contests, which had 
 arisen in France and the Netherlands, from extending into 
 Germany. 
 
 In France, the Huguenots, or Protestants, had gradually 
 increased, till they became equal in numbers, influence, and 
 strength to the Catholics. The regent, Catherine de' Me- 
 dici, aggravated the troubles of the state by imprudently 
 opposing one party to the other, and alternately favouring 
 the Catholics and Protestants, in order to establish her 
 own dominion by their alternate support. This conduct 
 rousing their mutual animosities into a civil war, the whole 
 kingdom, from one extremity to the other, bore the marks 
 of desolation and carnage, which equally attended the 
 triumphs of the two parties. They were headed by chiefs, 
 many of whom cloked their ambitious designs or personal 
 enmities under the pretence of religion ; the prince of 
 Conde, with the admiral Coligny, were the directors of 
 the Huguenots, and the constable Montmorency, with the 
 
 * Vic de Commendon, passim ; Schmidt, b. x. ch. 21.
 
 28 MAXIMILIAN n. [CH. XXXTH. 
 
 duke of Guise, were at the head of the Catholics. Under 
 such able chiefs the kingdom was as much divided as if it 
 consisted of different nations ; an internal system of policy 
 was established, and armies organised on each side, and 
 the Protestants in particular, besides being in possession of 
 the principal part of the northern provinces, and the chief 
 ports on the channel, were masters of Orleans and Lyons. 
 The king of Spain assisted the Catholics, Elizabeth of 
 England the Huguenots, and the German states furnished 
 mercenaries, who seem to have acted on both sides ; but 
 the great ornament and most promising chief of the Hu- 
 guenots was Henry, the youthful king of Navarre, whose 
 court and kingdom had long afforded a refuge to the perse- 
 cuted Protestants, and whose dominions enabled him to 
 interfere with such eifect in the contests of France. 
 
 The Catholics, perceiving that they could not conquer 
 their opponents by arms, had recourse to the most horrible 
 and perfidious expedients. After lulling them into security 
 by favourable terms of peace, they endeavoured to cut off 
 the chiefs, and exterminate the whole party by a general 
 massacre, which commenced in the capital on the day of 
 St. Bartholomew, August 24th, 1572, and was to extend at 
 the same moment to every part of the kingdom. This exe- 
 crable deed, which surpasses every example of the most atro- 
 cious perfidy and savage barbarity, was not attended with 
 the effects expected by its sanguinary projectors. Admiral 
 Coligny, and some of the principal chiefs, were indeed as- 
 sassinated ; but the great bulwarks of the party, the king 
 of Navarre and the prince of Conde, saved themselves by 
 a pretended abjuration ; others escaped, and in the more 
 distant parts of the kingdom the Protestants were spared, 
 and the cruel designs of the Catholic party disappointed, by 
 the refusal of the royal officers and governors to execute 
 their orders. The Protestants, sensible that they had far 
 less to dread from the open enmity than from the secret 
 perfidy of their opponents, renewed the contest with an una- 
 nimity and resolution proportionate to their danger ; and 
 the civil war was again prosecuted with all the fury which 
 on one side arose from disappointed vengeance, and on the 
 other from just resentment, and a desire of retaliating un- 
 merited cruelties.
 
 1564-1574.] HIS RELIGIOUS POLICY. 29 
 
 Although Maximilian was father-in-law to Charles IX., 
 at whose command this massacre was perpetrated, he pub- 
 licly expressed his abhorrence of such sanguinary proceed- 
 ings. On the death of Charles, when Henry of Valois, in 
 returning from Poland to take possession of the crown, 
 passed through Vienna, he laboured to dissuade him from 
 similar acts of persecution, and made that memorable ob- 
 servation, which has been recorded so much to his honour, 
 " That no crime was greater in princes than to tyrannise 
 over the consciences of their subjects ; that, far from 
 honouring the common Father of all, by shedding the 
 blood of heretics, they incurred the divine vengeance, and, 
 while they aspired by such means to crowns in heaven, 
 they justly exposed themselves to the loss of their earthly 
 kingdoms." 
 
 While he was anxious to extend the principles of tolera- 
 tion, his sagacious mind was not insensible to the mischiefs 
 arising from the interference of the German troops in these 
 religious contests. He had often been a witness to the 
 disorders committed by these tumultuary levies in the em- 
 pire, and he was apprehensive lest, on their return, with 
 the licentiousness contracted in camps, they might continue 
 the predatory warfare to which they had been accustomed, 
 and occasion the revival of the civil and religious troubles 
 in Germany. He therefore proposed to the diet of Spire, 
 which assembled in 1570, to forbid the enrolment of Ger- 
 man troops in foreign service ; but he could not prevail on 
 the states to accede to a proposition which they considered 
 as an infringement of their liberties, and as tending to 
 damp that military ardour which was the great character- 
 istic of the Germans. Though unable to carry this point, 
 Maximilian endeavoured at least to prevent the evils attend- 
 ing this privilege, and obtained the consent of the diet to 
 the establishment of certain regulations, which prohibited 
 any prince from making such enrolments without specify- 
 ing to the emperor the numbers and quality of the levies ; 
 engaging not to employ them against the head or members 
 of the empire ; promising indemnification for the disorders 
 which they might commit in their passage ; and agreeing 
 not to disband them within the German territories. 
 
 But he was still more interested, no less as emperor than
 
 30 MAXIMILIAN II. [CH. XXXVII. 
 
 as a prince of the house of Austria, in the civil and reli- 
 gious disturbances which broke out in the Netherlands, and 
 finally produced that revolution which separated the United 
 Provinces from the Spanish dominions. 
 
 The seventeen provinces of the Low Countries which 
 Charles had inherited from the house of Burgundy, or ob- 
 tained by purchase, comprised the country formed by the 
 republic of the seven United Provinces, the nine provinces 
 of the Spanish or Austrian Netherlands, and the county of 
 Artois. Maximilian I. had formed these provinces, Franche 
 Comte and their dependencies, into a circle of the empire, 
 under the name of Burgundy ; and this arrangement was 
 ratified in 1548, by Charles, who endowed it with all the 
 privileges and rights of the other circles, and imposed, as 
 its contribution, a double electoral contingent ; but con- 
 firmed the exemption which it had before enjoyed from the 
 jurisdiction of the empire. Besides this general bond of 
 union, which connected the Netherlands with the empire, 
 each province was governed by peculiar statutes and usages, 
 and the sovereign had no right to impose taxes or make 
 laws without the consent of the respective states. 
 
 The reformed opinions, at an early period, had penetrated 
 into the Low Countries, and found a ready reception among 
 a people of an active and turbulent spirit, living under a 
 free government, and, in consequence of their local position 
 and commercial relations, intimately connected with those 
 countries which were the scene of religious innovation. 
 Charles had used the same efforts as in Spain and Germany 
 to suppress the Reformation ; he had even attempted to 
 introduce the inquisition, and exercised such severity 
 against the Protestants, that, if we may credit an historian 
 of great caution and prudence, not less than 50,000 persons, 
 during his reign, sealed their belief with their blood.* But 
 these severe measures serving only to augment the numbers 
 as well as zeal of the converts, and driving many of the 
 most industrious and opulent merchants and manufacturers 
 into exile, Charles at length ceased to enforce the execution 
 of his sanguinary edicts ; and, by the connivance of the 
 magistrates, the Protestants enjoyed a tacit toleration. 
 
 * Father Paul's History of the council of Trent. According to 
 Grotius, the number of sufferers amounted to 100,000.
 
 1564-1574.] CHARLES AXD PHILIP. 31 
 
 Such was the situation of the country when Philip as- 
 sumed the reins of government ; and the striking difference 
 between his manners, character, and principles and those 
 of his father, inspired the natives with the most alarming 
 apprehensions as well for their civil as for their religious 
 liberties. 
 
 Charles, born and educated in the Netherlands, and ac- 
 customed to the manners and language of the country, was 
 attached to his subjects from habit, and from that local 
 partiality which renders early impressions almost indelible. 
 He employed and favoured the Flemings even in his other 
 dominions, and though cold and reserved in Spain, he was 
 affable and familiar in his residence at Brussels and Ghent. 
 He was intimately acquainted with the genius and temper 
 of the people, as well as with the interests of the country, 
 and benefited them by ameliorating their constitutions, and 
 establishing laws for promoting and regulating their com- 
 merce. Although he had punished the refractory citizens 
 of Ghent, and issued the most rigorous laws against the 
 Protestants, yet he had generally respected the prejudices 
 and privileges of the people, and, in return, possessed their 
 esteem and confidence. 
 
 Philip, on the contrary, spoke scarcely any other lan- 
 guage except Spanish, and reserved all his partiality for 
 the country to which he owed his birth and education. 
 His temper was severe, gloomy, and unrelenting ; his de- 
 portment reserved and supercilious. Bred up in a kingdom 
 where the sovereign authority was almost without restraint, 
 and where the slightest deviation from the established 
 worship was regarded with the utmost horror, he fostered 
 an antipathy against the people of the Netherlands, who 
 claimed such numerous immunities and privileges, and 
 amongst whom the new opinions had made a most alarm- 
 ing progress. During his residence in the Netherlands, he 
 had made no effort to conceal this disposition ; and alien- 
 ated his subjects as well by giving his whole confidence to 
 foreigners as by drawing a considerable Spanish force into 
 the country. 
 
 The first object of Philip, after the abdication of his 
 father, was the extirpation of doctrines which he regarded 
 with horror, and the annihilation of privileges which he
 
 32 MAXIMILIAN II. [CH. XXXVII. 
 
 considered as injurious to his authority. The opposition 
 which he experienced from the prince of Orange *, count 
 Egmont f, and other considerable nobles, no less than from 
 
 * William, prince of Orange, the great founder of Belgic liberty, 
 was the representative of the ancient and illustrious family of Nassau, 
 in Germany, and son of William, count of Nassau Dillemburgh, who 
 at an early period had introduced the Reformation into his dominions. 
 William was born in 1533, and had received, in the house of his father, 
 a tincture of the Protestant doctrines ; but in his youth he had been 
 removed to the court of the emperor Charles V., who himself super- 
 intended his education, and endeavoured to bring him up in the Catho- 
 lic faith. He inherited from his father great possessions in the 
 Netherlands and in Germany ; and his inheritance was considerably 
 increased by the bequest of his uncle, Rene de Nassau, prince of 
 Orange, who, dying without issue male, left him the principality of 
 Orange, and the other possessions of the house of Chalons in France. 
 
 He was honoured with the favour of Charles V., who, notwith- 
 standing his youth, intrusted him with various important military 
 commands, and continued to distinguish him with marks of friendship 
 and affection till the very last day of his reign. These peculiar marks 
 of favour, and the influence which he possessed in the Netherlands, 
 were sufficient to draw on him the jealousy of Philip ; this jealousy 
 was increased by his supposed attachment to the Protestant religion, 
 and by the part which he took in the removal of cardinal Granvella, 
 and in opposing the introduction of foreign troops and the establish- 
 ment of the inquisition. In consequence of this dislike, Philip never 
 admitted him into his confidence ; and though he could not avoid 
 intrusting him with the government of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht, 
 which was due to his great possessions and influence in the country, 
 yet he watched all his movements with jealousy and suspicion, and 
 reduced him to a mere cipher in the council of state. 
 
 William was admirably calculated to become the chief of a party, 
 and the head of a revolution. He was remarkable for military skill, 
 and, as a general, distinguished in a high degree for those qualities 
 which are most requisite, and yet most seldom found, in civil contests: 
 an unshaken firmness in adverse circumstances, and a patient persever- 
 ance in watching for the return of favourable moments of action. 
 Though circumspect, prudent, and sagacious, he was active and enter- 
 prising ; and he possessed the rare talent of conciliating the minds of 
 men, and of infusing unanimity and spirit into a heterogeneous mass of 
 discordant parties. Aubery, Memoires pour servir a 1'Histoire de la 
 Hollande; La Pise Histoire des Princes d'Orange. 
 
 f Count Egmont, who was descended from the dukes of Guelder- 
 land, possessed scarcely less influence than the prince of Orange. 
 Though a zealous Catholic, he was a friend to toleration, and warmly 
 attached to the constitution and privileges of his country. He was 
 distinguished for his military talents, and had signalised himself at the 
 battles of St. Quintin and Gravelinesj but his connections with the
 
 1564-1574.] CRUELTY OF THE DUKE OF ALVA. 33 
 
 the people of all ranks and sects who valued their rights 
 and privileges, only stimulated his ardent and relentless 
 temper, and impelled him to prosecute his designs with still 
 greater severity and perseverance. 
 
 After various civil as well as religious innovations, cal- 
 culated to further his projects, Philip despatched a consider- 
 able army of Spanish and Italian veterans into the Nether- 
 lands, and chose a fit instrument for his cruelty and 
 vengeance in the duke of Alva, a Spanish nobleman of a 
 ferocious and implacable temper, ardently attached to the 
 Catholic religion, habituated to the severe discipline of 
 camps, accustomed to enforce implicit obedience, and highly 
 distinguished for military skill. Invested with almost 
 absolute powers, the new general acted without control ; 
 for the regent Margaret being disgusted with bearing 
 nothing but the name of a governess, and with witnessing 
 a tyranny which she could not prevent, resigned her office, 
 and left him in full possession of the sovereign authority. 
 
 Scarcely any period in the annals of modern history pre- 
 sents a more dreadful scene of horror than the administra- 
 tion of Alva. All the civil privileges of the natives were 
 abolished, and arbitrary tribunals, composed of foreigners, 
 were established, which, in contempt of all law and custom, 
 disposed, without appeal, of life, property, and liberty. 
 Neither long services nor exalted rank found protection or 
 safety. The prince of Orange, who had prudently retired 
 into Germany from the gathering storm, was deprived of 
 his property, and declared, with all his adherents, guilty of 
 high treason ; the counts of Egmont and Horn, notwith- 
 standing their known attachment to the Catholic religion, 
 were brought to the scaffold ; all who were distinguished 
 for humanity or toleration, all who had evinced the slightest 
 
 Protestants, and his defence of the constitution and liberties of the 
 country, were sufficient to eradicate all remains of gratitude from the 
 bosom of Philip, and though intrusted with the government of Artois 
 and Flanders, he was, like the prince of Orange, marked out as a 
 destined victim. 
 
 He possessed neither the firmness nor decision of the prince of 
 Orange, was deficient in sagacity and foresight, and, from the incum- 
 brance of a numerous family, was influenced rather by the hope of 
 personal advantage than by a consideration of the public good. 
 
 VOL. II. D
 
 34 MAXIMILIAN II. [CH. XXXVII. 
 
 opposition to the establishment of civil and ecclesiastical 
 tyranny, were marked as objects of vengeance. Philip, 
 released from the solemn engagements which he had con- 
 tracted as sovereign, by the dispensation of the pope, gave 
 full scope to his gloomy, malignant, and vengeful temper ; 
 and, throughout the Netherlands, nothing was heard but 
 lamentations and cries of despair ; nothing seen but con- 
 fiscation, imprisonment, exile, torture, and death.* By 
 these measures Philip seemed to have succeeded in his plan 
 of establishing an arbitrary authority on the ruins of civil 
 and religious liberty. But his success was of short dura- 
 tion, he was made sensible that usurped power, though 
 supported by a veteran army, and assisted by military skill 
 and vast resources, was insufficient to resist the desperate 
 efforts of a whole people, when directed by able leaders, 
 and inspired by the ardour of liberty and religious zeal. 
 
 The prince of Orange having retired into Germany, was 
 supported by the landgrave of Hesse, the electors of 
 Saxony and Palatine, the duke of Wirtemberg, seventeen 
 imperial cities, and by the king of Denmark; and, with 
 their assistance and support, was enabled to levy a con- 
 siderable force. A part of these troops, which had been 
 assembled under his brother Louis, penetrated as far as 
 Groningen ; but, after some trifling success, were defeated 
 by the duke of Alva, and Louis himself with difficulty 
 escaped. This defeat hastening the march of the prince, 
 whose troops had not been sufficiently ready to second the 
 operations of his brother, he made an irruption into Bra- 
 bant, as far as Tillemont. But Alva maintaining himself 
 on the defensive, and declining an engagement, the prince 
 was compelled to retreat and disband his troops for want of 
 pay and provisions. 
 
 Meanwhile the prince of Orange and the persecuted 
 inhabitants of the Netherlands claimed the protection of 
 the emperor, as members of the circle of Burgundy ; and 
 their appeal was opposed by the duke of Alva, who de- 
 manded that the prince should be given up as a rebellious 
 subject, and required the suspension of his levies in the 
 empire. Maximilian, who joined with all Europe in ex- 
 pressing his abhorrence of the cruelties which Philip 
 * Hume, vol. v. p. 67. 199.
 
 1564-1574.] HIS HCJIAXE POLICY. 35 
 
 exercised towards the people of the Netherlands, boldly 
 espoused the part of persecuted subjects against their 
 tyrannical sovereign. In 1565, he sent his brother Charles 
 into Spain, to exhort Philip, in his own name and that of 
 the empire, to terminate the sanguinary persecutions of the 
 duke of Alva, to recall the foreign troops, and adopt more 
 moderate and lenient measures, as the only means of pre- 
 venting the total loss of the Low Countries. But his bene- 
 volent application only drew from Philip an arrogant and 
 disdainful reply, accompanied with the keenest personal 
 reproaches to the archduke, who was contemptuously 
 asked, "Why the emperor, instead of making these use- 
 less representations, did not prevent the prince of Orange 
 and his brothers from levying troops in the empire ? " 
 
 At the same time the emperor made attempts in favour 
 of his intended son-in-law, Don Carlos, who had been 
 imprisoned by his father, in consequence of his supposed 
 connections with the rebels of the Low Countries, and his 
 secret inclination to the reformed doctrines. But he was 
 unable to awaken feelings of paternal affection in the 
 morose, suspicious, and bigoted bosom of Philip, who 
 coldly replied, that the imprisonment of the prince was 
 indispensable, and conformable to the advice of the greatest 
 theologians and jurists; and the subsequent fate of Don 
 Carlos proved the sincerity of his horried declaration, 
 " That he would cut off even his own hand if it contained 
 a drop of blood which savoured of heresy ! " 
 
 This conduct annihilating all hopes of reconciliation be- 
 tween Philip and his subjects, Maximilian directed his 
 attention to lessen the evils attending those enrolments 
 which he could not suppress, and to prevent the diffusion 
 of the religious troubles into the empire. The tyranny of 
 Philip, and the arbitrary measures enforced by the duke 
 of Alva, convinced the unfortunate people of the Nether- 
 lands that they had no alternative but resistance or ruin, 
 and a trifling instance of success roused them into open 
 rebellion. A body of freebooters, who had fitted out small 
 armaments by sea against the Spanish commerce, having 
 succeeded in surprising Brill, the key of Holland, thus 
 secured a place of arms for the disaffected. This event 
 was followed by a general insurrection in the neighbour-
 
 36 MAXIMILIAN II. [CH. XXXVII. 
 
 ing provinces ; the Spanish garrisons were instantly ex- 
 pelled from Flushing and Vere, and, under the direction of 
 the prince of Orange, the rebellion spread in a few months, 
 through the provinces of Holland, Zealand, Overyssel, 
 Guelderland, and Friesland. It gradually assumed strength 
 and consistency, and was first formed into a regular system 
 on the 15th of September, 1572, in a meeting of the depu- 
 ties from the revolted towns, at Dort, in which contribu- 
 tions were fixed for the maintenance of the public force, 
 the command and the principal administration intrusted to 
 the prince of Orange, and the free excercise of the reformed 
 religion established. All the attempts of Alva to crush the 
 rebellion, or conciliate the people, failing of success, Philip 
 was at length reduced to the humiliating necessity of re- 
 calling a governor who had so faithfully fulfilled his cruel 
 and impolitic orders, and of requesting the mediation of 
 the emperor, which he had before so arrogantly rejected. 
 
 Notwithstanding the repulsive manner in which the 
 former interference of Maximilian had been received, he 
 did not refuse his intercession ; and sending count Schwart- 
 zenburgh, a relation of the prince of Orange, into Holland, 
 obtained his consent to assemble a congress at Breda. But 
 his efforts were defeated by the incurable jealousy of the 
 insurgents, and still more by the inflexibility of Philip, 
 who refused to dismiss his foreign troops, or to permit a 
 general assembly of the states for the purpose of arranging 
 the civil and religious points of controversy ; nor could 
 any arguments induce him to grant even a partial and tem- 
 porary toleration of the Protestant worship. In conse- 
 quence of this obstinacy, Maximilian withdrew his media- 
 tion, and the insurgents renewed the contest with all the 
 resolution of despair. The sanguinary excesses committed 
 by the Spaniards drove the whole country, except Luxem- 
 burgh, to join in the insurrection ; and before the close of 
 Maximilian's reign, the pacification or confederacy of 
 Ghent was, on the 8th of November, 1576, arranged under 
 the auspices of the prince of Orange, by which all the pro- 
 vinces, both Catholic and Protestant, except Luxemburgh, 
 united to form a common cause for the expulsion of foreign 
 troops ; the re-establishment of the ancient constitution ; 
 the suspension of the edicts against the Protestants, and
 
 1564-1574.] WILLIAM, LORD OF GRUMBACH. 37 
 
 the restoration of all things to their pristine state before 
 the tyrannical government of the duke of Alva.* 
 
 To the vigour and firmness of Maximilian, no less than 
 to his moderation and personal address, must be attributed 
 the tranquillity in which the empire was maintained during 
 his pacific reign, notwithstanding the troubles without and 
 the dissensions within. One event, alone of sufficient 
 importance to deserve notice, disturbed the public peace, 
 and that event derived its origin from the reign of Charles. 
 
 William, lord of Grumbach, a free noble of the circle of 
 Franconia, and a feudatory of the see of Wurtzburgh, was 
 one of those brave, turbulent, and enterprising adventurers 
 with whom the empire had teemed before the abolition of 
 the right of diffidation. He had acted a considerable part 
 in the predatory wars of Albert of Brandenburgh, and had 
 extorted from Melchior Zobel, bishop of Wurtzburgh, con- 
 siderable sums of money and a valuable territory, together 
 with the independence of his fiefs, as a reward for saving 
 the domains of the see from devastation. This iniquitous 
 agreement being cancelled by Charles V., Grumbach, in 
 1553, invaded the episcopal territories, and was in conse- 
 quence declared guilty of high treason, and all his estates 
 and property confiscated. Having in vain appealed to the 
 emperor, the diet, and the imperial chamber, he procured 
 the assassination of the bishop. After wandering as a 
 fugitive from place to place, he suddenly assembled a corps 
 of predatory troops, by an enterprise no less bold than suc- 
 cessful, obtained possession of Wurtzburgh, and extorted 
 from the new bishop and chapter an indemnification for 
 the loss of his property, with a promise that they would 
 not only suspend the process against the murderers of the 
 late bishop, but would even assist him if attacked on that 
 account. 
 
 This was too glaring a violation of the public peace to 
 pass unpunished. In 1566, Ferdinand not only annulled 
 
 * Strada de Bello Belgico ; Desormeaux, Histoire d'Espagne, torn, 
 iv. passim ; Ferreras, torn. ix. p. 404-533. ; Schmidt, b. xi. ch. 2. 
 S. ; Watson's History of Philip II. vol. ii. p. 150-159. ; Kerroux, 
 Histoire de la Hollande, torn. i. p. 245-305. ; La Pise Histoire des 
 Princes d' Orange, art Guillaume IX. ; Aubery, Me'moires pour 
 servir a 1'Histoire de la Hollande, p. 1-62. 
 B 3 
 
 f* r ** 
 
 o o o
 
 MAXIMILIAN II. [CH. XXXVII. 
 
 the agreement, but issued the ban of the empire against the 
 offenders, and Grumbach took refuge under the protection 
 of John Frederic, duke of Saxe Gotha, who refused to 
 deliver him to justice. Such was the state of the affair 
 when Maximilian ascended the throne. The artful Grum- 
 bach soon obtained unbounded influence over the mind of 
 a credulous, ardent, and capricious prince, who was affected 
 by the loss of the electoral dignity and his paternal inherit- 
 ance, and easily excited his resentment against the Albert - 
 ine branch and the house of Austria. He urged him to 
 assert his rights ; represented the princes, nobles, and 
 equestrian order of the empire as ripe for revolt against 
 the tyrannical administration of the Austrian family ; and 
 promised the support of Elizabeth, queen of England, in 
 defence of the Protestant religion against the abettors of 
 popish despotism. To further his purposes he even em- 
 ployed magical incantations and secret rites. He intro- 
 duced into the palace the son of a peasant who was called 
 the seer of angels, whom he described as capable of raising 
 spirits, and drawing from their responses the knowledge of 
 future events. By his agency he deluded the infatuated 
 prince into a confidence of success ; induced him to expect 
 the death of the emperor and the elector of Saxony, with 
 the discovery of hidden treasures ; and consummated this 
 series of deceptions by an optical illusion, which exhibited 
 to his astonished eyes his own figure, habited in the 
 electoral cap and robes. 
 
 Fascinated by these arts, the duke of Saxe Gotha con- 
 sented to the assassination of Augustus, elector of Saxony, 
 as the means of recovering his paternal dominions, and 
 even raised his hopes to the imperial crown ; Grumbach at 
 length deeming his projects complete, confidently appealed 
 to the equestrian order of the empire, over whom he flat- 
 tered himself that he possessed unbounded influence. 
 
 The machinations and intrigues of this artful marauder 
 becoming daily more dangerous, Maximilian had recourse 
 to the most rigorous measures. At the diet of Augsburgh, 
 in 1566, the ban of the empire was fulminated against 
 Grumbach and all his protectors and adherents, and the 
 execution of the decree intrusted to the elector of Saxony. 
 The credulous duke, when exhorted to deliver up Grum-
 
 564-lo74.] DIFFICULTIES OF HIS SITUATION. 39 
 
 bach, resisted all the instances of the emperor, of the 
 elector Augustus, of his brother John Frederic, and of his 
 father-in-law the elector Palatine, and made preparations 
 for resistance. All arguments being fruitless, Augustus, 
 at the head of a considerable army, laid siege to Gotha, 
 and obtained possession of the place and person of the 
 duke by the voluntary surrender of the garrison, who re- 
 fused to sacrifice their lives in defence of such a traitor as 
 Grumbach. Maximilian, convinced that such disturbers 
 of the public peace ought to receive the punishment due to 
 their crimes, rejected all intercession in favour of the pri- 
 soners: Grumbach and his most guilty associates were 
 executed, the unfortunate Frederic was condemned to per- 
 petual imprisonment, and his dominions transferred to his 
 two sons, Joseph Casimir and John Ernest. His wife 
 Elizabeth devoted herself to prison with her unfortunate 
 husband, where he died after a confinement of twenty -eight 
 years.* 
 
 Nothing had more tended to disturb the peace of Ger- 
 many, and to embarrass Maximilian, than the promise ex- 
 torted from him, as well as from every new emperor at his 
 election, to recover the dismembered fiefs, and to restore 
 the imperial authority. This promise had for some time 
 been deemed a matter of form, and the fulfilment merely 
 optional, because it solely regarded the foreign depend- 
 encies ; but it could not be considered in the same light 
 when it related to territories within the empire itself, and 
 to a powerful body who held a high rank in the diet. 
 Such was the situation of the Teutonic knights who, during 
 the reign of Maximilian, came forward to claim the execu- 
 tion of this promise in the recovery of Prussia and Livonia, 
 which had been wrested from their order. 
 
 We have already alluded to the defection of Albert of 
 Brandenburgh, grand-master of the Teutonic order, from 
 the church of Rome ; his appropriation of eastern Prussia 
 as an hereditary duchy relevant from the crown of Poland ; 
 and his cession of western Prussia to Sigismond I. In con- 
 
 Barre, torn. he. p. 82.; Struvius, p. 1143-1147 ; Schmidt, 
 vli. 10. passim j and Heinrich, who has given the best and clearest 
 account of this singular transaction from authentic documents, vol. v. 
 p. 818-825. 
 
 D 4
 
 40 MAXIMILIAN II. [CII. XXXVH 
 
 sequence of this defection the Teutonic knights had elected 
 a new grand-master, transferred his residence to Marien- 
 dahl, in Franconia, and obtained from the emperor, Charles 
 V., a sentence of the imperial chamber for the restitution 
 of their dismembered territories, and the ban of the empire 
 against the new duke. Succours were frequently voted by 
 the diet for their support ; but all their attempts were ren- 
 dered fruitless by the religious troubles in Germany ; for 
 Albert, assisted by the Lutheran princes, whose doctrines 
 he had embraced, continued in quiet possession of the ap- 
 propriated territories, and even obtained from the crown of 
 Poland the extension of the investiture to the electoral 
 branch of his family. This measure still farther irritated 
 the Teutonic knights, who had never intermitted their 
 appeals to the empire ; and at the diet of Spire, in 1570, 
 the grand-master brought forward a demand requiring the 
 states to enforce the execution of the sentence pronounced 
 by their own tribunal. With a view to induce them to 
 comply with this demand, he asserted that the natives were 
 anxious to return under the dominion of their ancient mas- 
 ters ; and offered to sequestrate the contested territories 
 till the expenses of the war were repaid. He concluded 
 with declaring that if the diet would not interfere, the 
 order would risk their own blood and treasures to procure 
 themselves justice; and demanded permission for the pas- 
 sage of foreign troops through the territories of the empire. 
 Maximilian was greatly embarrassed by this appeal ; he 
 was unwilling by a public refusal to implicate the honour 
 and dignity of the empire ; but he was still more unwilling 
 cither to offend the house of Brandenburgh or the Polish 
 nation, whose good will he was desirous to conciliate, from 
 the hope of securing the crown for one of his sons, on the 
 death of Sigismond Augustus, who was without issue. He 
 foresaw, likewise, that the contest would involve the empire 
 both in a foreign and a civil war, as he was aware that the 
 house of Brandenburgh would be supported by all the 
 Protestant princes. He therefore pressed the grand-master 
 to suspend his intended hostilities ; and, being seconded by 
 the majority of the states, his persuasions were successful. 
 At the same time he did not attempt to annul the imperial 
 ban, and saved the honour of the order, as well as his own
 
 1564-1574.] TROUBLES IN LIVONIA. 41 
 
 dignity, by inserting in the recess a general declaration 
 that he would zealously co-operate with the states, not only 
 for the recovery of the dismembered provinces, but for 
 increasing and protecting the territories of the empire. 
 
 The affairs of Livonia, which was another dismembered 
 province of the Teutonic order, would likewise have em- 
 barrassed an emperor of less prudence and dexterity than 
 Maximilian. 
 
 Livonia, with Esthonia Courland, and Semigallia, was 
 conquered in the fourteenth century by the Teutonic 
 knights, and governed by a provincial master, subordinate 
 to the grand-master, resident at Marienburgh, in Prussia. 
 In 1521, the independence of Livonia, and its annexed 
 states, was purchased from Albert of Brandenburgh, by 
 the celebrated Walter of Plettenberg*, the hero of the 
 Teutonic order, who, after delivering his territories from 
 the inroads of the neighbouring nations, introduced the 
 Reformation, and was acknowledged as a prince of the em- 
 pire by Charles V. Notwithstanding the change of reli- 
 gion, the knights of Livonia maintained their union, and 
 were governed by an elective master ; but as the succes- 
 sors of Plettenberg did not inherit his talents, the country 
 became a prey to civil divisions, and was exposed to the 
 perpetual inroads of the Poles, Russians, Swedes, and 
 Danes, who were at different times called in by the con- 
 tending parties. 
 
 In this situation, Ivan Vasilievitch II., czar of Muscovy, 
 having consolidated the power established by his grand- 
 father, turned his attention to the conquest of Livonia, and 
 in a short time made himself master of a considerable part 
 of the province. The knights in vain appealed to the 
 empire, to Sweden, and to Denmark ; but deriving no 
 effectual assistance from either, Gothard Kettler, the pro- 
 vincial master, imitated the example of Albert of Branden- 
 burgh, purchased the protection of Sigismond Augustus, 
 king of Poland, by the cession of Livonia and its depend- 
 encies, and reserved to himself Courland and Semigallia, 
 as an hereditary sovereignty. Meanwhile the city of Revel, 
 
 * The duke of Rohan observes, in his Parfait Capitaine, that the 
 three great heroes of the world were Alexander, Julius Caesar, and 
 Plettenberg.
 
 42 MAXIMILIAN II. [CH. XXXVIT. 
 
 with the district of Esthonia, threw itself under the pro- 
 tection of Eric XIV., king of Sweden ; and Magnus, bishop 
 of Pilten, brother of the king of Denmark, obtained from 
 the czar of Muscovy, Wenden, and the neighbouring dis- 
 trict, with the title of king of Livonia. But this short- 
 lived sovereignty was soon annihilated, and the czar appro- 
 priated the greater part of the province. In consequence 
 of these different claims, the country became for more than 
 a century a prey to the Russians, Danes, Swedes, and 
 Poles, and was successively possessed and ravaged by each 
 party. 
 
 At the present period Maximilian was appealed to by 
 the order, as head of the empire ; and the diet, alarmed 
 at the progress of the Russians, proposed to send an em- 
 bassy for the purpose of demanding from the czar the re- 
 stitution of his conquests in a province which formed part of 
 the empire. But Maximilian, who had now a near prospect 
 of obtaining the crown of Poland, vacant by the abdication 
 of Henry of Valois, was unwilling to irritate Ivan, from 
 whose assistance he expected to derive the greatest advan- 
 tage. He therefore despatched a private deputation, not 
 to demand Livonia, but to prepare the mind of the czar for 
 the reception of the German embassy, to obtain the pro- 
 mise of his support in the affairs of Poland, and to contract 
 with him an alliance against the Turks. The effects of 
 this mission surpassed his most sanguine expectations, for 
 the czar promised his support, sent emissaries to Poland to 
 promote the election of an Austrian prince, and offered to 
 unite with the European states in an alliance against the 
 Turks, their common enemy. 
 
 Though from prudence and policy Maximilian declined 
 urging the pretensions of the empire, in regard to the 
 dismembered fiefs, no emperor was more strenuous in pre- 
 serving his rights and prerogatives against the encroach- 
 ments of the Roman see. 
 
 A dispute for precedence arising between the duke of 
 Ferrara and Cosmo de' Medici, who had recently assumed 
 the title of duke of Florence, Cosmo proposed to refer the 
 contest to the pope ; but the duke of Ferrara, knowing the 
 pope's partiality to the house of Medici, refused to abide by 
 his arbitration, and contended that the decision ought to be
 
 1567-1576.] nis FIRM ADMINISTRATION. .43 
 
 submitted to the head of the empire. Cosmo could not 
 object to the appeal ; and the pope acquiesced in the refer- 
 ence, provided Maximilian would act as a mere arbitrator, 
 and not as emperor. 
 
 Maximilian rejected this attempt to restrict his prero- 
 gative with disdain ; and while the affair was pending, the 
 pope endeavoured to terminate the dispute to his own ad- 
 vantage, by conferring on Cosmo the title of great duke. 
 This expedient aggravated instead of terminating the con- 
 test, for Maximilian, considering Florence as a fief of the 
 empire, sent ambassadors to Rome to make a solemn pro- 
 test against the conduct of the pope, in arrogating a right 
 which belonged to the emperor. These ambassadors were 
 not admitted to an audience ; and the contest seemed likely 
 to become serious, as neither party would relinquish his 
 claims ; while Cosmo himself declared his territory inde- 
 pendent, and not a fief of the empire. The pope sent Com- 
 mendon into Germany, in order to pacify the emperor ; 
 but all his efforts proved ineffectual, till Cosmo, dying in 
 1574, his son and heir, Francis Maria, purchased from the 
 emperor, whose sister he had married, the confirmation 
 of the title of Great Duke, which had been borne by his 
 father.* 
 
 CHAP. XXXVni. 1567-1576. 
 
 DURING the reign of Maximilian II., the hereditary coun- 
 tries were not the scene of great revolutions, or, as in 
 former times, agitated by internal feuds ; and the principal 
 object of his attention in Bohemia and Austria was the 
 arrangement of religious affairs, in which he followed the 
 same line of conduct, and the same prudent impartiality as 
 in Germany. 
 
 No doubt can be entertained that he was always secretly 
 and sincerely attached to the Lutheran doctrines ; and al- 
 though, from prudence and policy, he continued to profess 
 the Catholic religion, yet he endeavoured to make amends 
 
 * Muratori Vie de Commendon, ch. viii. ; Barre, torn. ix. p. 135.
 
 44 . MAXIMILIAN n. [CH. xxxvm. 
 
 for his apparent desertion of principles which he had 
 adopted from conviction, by procuring concessions from the 
 pope, or by granting the most enlarged toleration to the 
 Protestants. He first attempted to obtain permission for 
 the marriage of priests, and, failing in that endeavour, he 
 resumed the well-meant, though impracticable plan of his 
 father, to re -unite the two churches by mutual agreement. 
 Finding, however, this plan equally disagreeable to both 
 Catholics and Protestants, he finally resolved to tolerate 
 those whom he could not bring back to the church. In 
 the prosecution of this delicate design, he did not forget 
 the dignity of his station, nor lessen the value of his toler- 
 ation, by suffering it to appear as if extorted by interest or 
 fear, but as the result of his unbiassed sentiments and 
 good-will ; for, when the states of Austria endeavoured to 
 obtain toleration for the Protestants as the price of their 
 assistance against the Turks, and demanded the expulsion 
 of the Jesuits, he replied, that " he had convened them to 
 receive contributions, not remonstrances ; to expel the 
 Turks, not the Jesuits." So great, however, was their 
 confidence in his probity, and their love of his person, that 
 this answer, which from another sovereign would have 
 produced dangerous consequences, neither checked the 
 promptitude nor lessened the amount of their contributions. 
 He maintained the same regard to his dignity in Bohemia 
 and the dependent provinces, where he first essayed his 
 meditated plan of toleration. Soon after his accession, he 
 had granted a verbal protection to the ministers of the 
 Lutheran church established at Breslau ; but warned them 
 against the new sects and heresies which had recently 
 pprung up among the Protestants. In the first diet, which 
 he held in person, at Prague, in March, 1567, for obtain- 
 ing succours against the Turks, he annulled the compacts 
 which had hitherto been the great barrier of the Catholic 
 church. In consequence of this repeal, the majority of the 
 Calixtins, who were mostly burghers, or of the lower orders 
 of the people, and who enjoyed a tacit toleration under the 
 compacts, openly professed Lutheranism ; and other sects, 
 when no longer compelled to conceal their tenets, publicly 
 dissented from the hitherto established religion. Notwith- 
 standing the Catholic church enjoyed, in their full extent, all
 
 1567-1576.] HIS TOLERATION. 45 
 
 its possessions and privileges, and was still professed by the 
 principal nobility, yet the utmost concord and brotherhood 
 prevailed throughout the country, and the different sects 
 imitated the example of their sovereign, by vying in mutual 
 forbearance and good-will. This innovation is remarkable, 
 as the first proof of unlimited toleration, in a sovereign of 
 any persuasion ; and is singular, as having been granted in 
 an age of intolerance, persecution, and bigotry. 
 
 In the following year he prepared to introduce a similar 
 innovation into his Austrian dominions, and commenced 
 his reform by granting to the nobles, and equestrian order 
 of the district below the Ems, liberty of worship, accord- 
 ing to the confession of Augsburgh, in their own resi- 
 dences and domains. He would, probably, have extended 
 this indulgence to the inhabitants of towns, had he not 
 been prevented by the interference of the pope. 
 
 Pius V., who was a pontiff of an inflexible and over- 
 bearing temper, and who entertained a high opinion of the 
 papal prerogatives, was equally alarmed and offended by 
 these innovations, which threatened the total ruin of the 
 Catholic church in the Austrian territories, and deputed 
 cardinal Commendon, as his legate, to remonstrate with 
 the emperor. Maximilian, desirous to evade the inter- 
 ference of the pope, and unwilling to relinquish his plan, 
 endeavoured to prevent the legate from fulfilling his em- 
 bassy ; but the peremptory orders of the pope inducing 
 Commendon to persist, he was unable, as a Catholic prince, 
 to refuse an embassy from the head of the church. He 
 therefore received him with outward respect and cordiality; 
 but continued firm to his purpose, in spite of all the re- 
 monstrances and arguments of the cardinal, or the menaces 
 of the pope. The legate was supported by all the in- 
 fluence of the Spanish court ; and his arguments were at 
 length strengthened by the death of Elizabeth, queen of 
 Spain. Maximilian, on one side lured by the prospect of 
 seeing his eldest daughter become the wife of Philip, and, 
 on the other, alarmed at the troubles which he had reason 
 to apprehend from the enmity of the pope, and the oppo- 
 sition of the king of Spain, yielded at length to necessity 
 and interest, not conviction. He promised to live in obedi- 
 ence to the see of Rome, and not to extend his meditated
 
 46 MAXIMILIAN II. [CH. XXXVIH. 
 
 toleration in Austria ; though he still either refused or 
 avoided revoking the concessions which he had already 
 granted.* 
 
 In addition to this compliance he soon afterwards filled 
 the archbishoprics of Vienna and Gran, and several bis- 
 hoprics in Hungary, which he had probably kept open with 
 the view of promoting the progress of the Lutheran doc- 
 trines, and he permitted the legate to visit and reform the 
 churches of his hereditary dominions. But the same year, 
 and even before the cardinal had quitted his territories, he 
 extended to the nobility and equestrian order of Austria 
 above the Ems, the same toleration which he had before 
 granted to those of Austria below the Ems. To prevent, 
 however, the -progress of those numerous sects which had 
 already sprung up, Maximilian called upon the Protestants of 
 his dominions for a formulary of their worship and doctrine, 
 which, differing little from the confession of Augsburgh, 
 received his approbation. At the same time he strictly 
 fulfilled his promise to the pope, by maintaining the Ca- 
 tholic, as the dominant religion, in all its rights, possessions, 
 and privileges ; and by requiring, from the two tolerated 
 Protestant orders a solemn engagement that they would 
 strictly adhere to their formulary of faith, neither trench 
 on the revenues, nor inveigh against the doctrines of the 
 church, and not introduce their worship and tenets in the 
 states and towns immediately dependent on his own do- 
 mination. Notwithstanding the repeated instances of the 
 states, he could not be persuaded to swerve from this prin- 
 ciple, but persisted in refusing to grant toleration to the 
 towns, and in repressing, to the utmost of his power, all 
 the attempts of the burghers to introduce the illicit cele- 
 bration of the Protestant worship. 
 
 During his pacific reign, Hungary alone, of all his do- 
 minions, was visited by the scourge of war. 
 
 We have already described the uncertain situation in 
 which Hungary was left on the death of Ferdinand. Maxi- 
 
 * In the account of this transaction we have wholly relied on the 
 authority of the Vie de Commendon, ch. iv. It is, however, not diffi- 
 cult to perceive, that the author has adopted the prejudices of the 
 legate in exhibiting the conduct and motives of Maximilian in a more 
 unfavourable light than they deserve.
 
 1567-1576.] AFFAIRS OF HUNGARY. 47 
 
 milian had scarcely ascended the throne before the con- 
 tinued aggressions of John Sigismond provoked him to com- 
 mence offensive operations. In the depth of winter, Swendy, 
 a general distinguished for his military talents, marched, 
 with a considerable Austrian force, against John Sigismond, 
 and, after recovering the captured places, conquered Tokay. 
 Kovar, Erdad, and Bathor. While Maximilian was thus 
 engaged against the prince of Transylvania, he sent am- 
 bassadors to the sultan, offering to pay the arrears of the 
 tribute, and demanding the continuance of the armistice 
 concluded by his father : but Solyman sought a pretext for 
 renewing hostilities, by demanding terms too dishonourable 
 to be accepted, and made active preparations to invade 
 Hungary. Maximilian exerted all his vigour and activity 
 to resist the threatened aggression by obtaining consider- 
 able succours from the German diet, and raising levies in 
 his own hereditary countries. Advancing into Hungary, 
 he divided his forces into three bodies : one under the 
 command of Swendy, on the Teiss, kept the Transylvanians 
 in check ; a second, under the archduke Charles, secured 
 Illyria ; and the main army, amounting to 80,000 men, 
 under the emperor himself, encamped in the vicinity 01' 
 Raab, to watch the motions of the Turks. 
 
 At the commencement of the spring, in 1566, Solyman 
 again advanced at the head of his numerous multitudes. 
 On arriving at Belgrade, he received John Sigismond with 
 regal honours ; and declared that, notwithstanding his de- 
 clining age, he had again taken arms in his cause, and 
 would chastise the house of Austria, or perish under the 
 walls of Vienna. He was preparing to ascend the course 
 of the Danube, when the aggressions of the garrison of 
 Zigeth, who, in a sally, killed one of his favourite bashas, 
 induced him to direct his attention to that fortress. For- 
 tunately, this little town was strongly fortified and situated 
 in the midst of a marsh, was defended by count Zrini with 
 a small but brave garrison of 1500 men, who distinguished 
 themselves with the same intrepidity as the garrison of 
 Guntz, in resisting, for thirty-four days, all the efforts of 
 the Ottoman army. After enormous labour in forming 
 roads across the marsh, and raising lofty mounds of earth 
 for batteries ; and after twenty assaults, the Turks became
 
 48 MAXIMILIAN II. |_CII. XXXVIII. 
 
 masters of a part of the fortress, called the Old Town ; 
 but the brave governor continued to hold out till the gar- 
 rison was reduced to 600 men, and the inner fort set on 
 fire. Perceiving all further resistance to be vain, he deter- 
 mined to die with the same bravery as he had lived, and 
 inspired his troops with a similar spirit. Taking the keys 
 of the place, he armed himself with the sabre of his fore- 
 fathers, and, sallying out with the remnant of his troops, 
 found an honourable death in the midst of the enemy. 
 His followers were driven back into the fortress, and. being 
 pursued by the Turks, shared the fate of their gallant 
 leader, except a few whose bravery won the protection 
 even of the ferocious Janissaries. The Turks thus became 
 masters of the place, after the loss of 20,000 men ; but the 
 sultan did not survive to witness this success, for he died 
 on the 4th of September, 1566, in consequence of fatigue 
 and the unwholesome air of the marshes. 
 
 The grand vizier concealed the death of Solyman until 
 the arrival of the new sultan Selim, who, unwilling to 
 continue hostilities in a distant country at the commence- 
 ment of his reign, withdrew his army from Hungary, and 
 returned to Constantinople. 
 
 Meanwhile Maximilian had continued on the defensive 
 in his camp near Raab, and was unwilling for so incon- 
 siderable a fortress to risk a battle with an army far 
 superior in numbers, the loss of which would have esta- 
 blished John Sigismond on the throne of Hungary, and 
 opened the hereditary countries to the Turkish inroads. 
 Apprised of the death of Solyman, and conscious that he 
 had nothing further to apprehend, during that season, 
 from the Turks, he disbanded part of his army, threw 
 garrisons into the principal fortresses, and retired to Vienna. 
 General Swendy, whom he left with a considerable corps 
 to carry on offensive operations against the prince of 
 Transylvania, engaged in a winter campaign, and not only 
 compelled Sigismond to raise the siege of Tokay, but re- 
 took Zatmar, and captured the important and hitherto im- 
 pregnable fortress of Mongatz. 
 
 In the midst of these successes Maximilian sent an 
 embassy to Constantinople to offer terms of peace ; but, to 
 give weight to his negotiations, made the most active pre-
 
 1567-1576.] DEATH OF JOHN SIGISMOND. 49 
 
 parations for the renewal of hostilities, by procuring large 
 contributions and levies from Bohemia and Austria, and 
 far more considerable succours from the empire. Backed 
 by these preparations, his overtures found a ready recep- 
 tion ; for Selim, who was anxious to consolidate his au- 
 thority, and to turn his arms against Cyprus, readily con- 
 cluded an armistice in May, 1567, on the condition that 
 both parties, as well as the prince of Transylvania, should 
 retain the territories which they then held. This peace 
 was both honourable and advantageous to Maximilian, as 
 he lost only Zigeth and Giula, and extended his territory 
 in Hungary from the borders of Transylvania to beyond 
 the Teiss, a district important from its local situation, 
 and comprising not less than two hundred miles in ex- 
 tent.* John Sigismond, refusing to be included in this 
 peace, continued the war, and endeavoured to excite 
 an insurrection among the proud magnates of Hungary, 
 who were dissatisfied with Maximilian for his pacific in- 
 clinations, and for employing foreign troops. His intrigues 
 being discovered, and two of the most considerable con- 
 spirators arrested, he had no resource but to accept the 
 terms of peace offered by Maximilian, which were advan- 
 tageous to both parties. He engaged not to assume the 
 title of king of Hungary, except in his correspondence 
 with the Turks, and to acknowledge the emperor as king, 
 his superior and master ; in addition to Transylvania, as 
 an hereditary principality, he was to retain for life the 
 counties of Bihar and Marmarosch, with Crasna and Zol- 
 nok, and whatever territories he could recover from the 
 Turks. In return, the emperor promised to confer on him 
 one of his nieces in marriage, and to cede to him Oppelen 
 in Silesia, if expelled from Transylvania. On the death of 
 John Sigismond without issue male, Transylvania was to 
 be considered as an elective principality, dependent on the 
 crown of Hungary. 
 
 The intended marriage did not take place, for John Sigis- 
 mond dying on the 16th of March, 1571, soon after the 
 peace, all his possessions in Hungary reverted to Maxi- 
 milian. The diet of Transylvania chose Stephen Bathori, 
 
 * Forty-five and a half German miles. 
 VOL. H. E
 
 50 MAXIMILIAN H. [CH. XXXIX. 
 
 who had acted with great reputation as the general and 
 minister of John Sigismond ; and Maximilian, although he 
 had recommended another person, prudently confirmed the 
 choice, from the apprehension of again exciting a Turkish 
 war. The new waivode was accordingly confirmed, both 
 by Maximilian and the Turks, took the oath of fidelity to 
 the crown of Hungary, and continued to live on terms of 
 friendship and concord with the emperor. 
 
 Maximilian was a prince of too much probity to break 
 the armistice with Selim, notwithstanding the urgent ex- 
 hortations of the pope, the king of Spain, and the Vene- 
 tians ; when cardinal Commendon pressed him with all the 
 specious arguments by which the church of Rome at- 
 tempted to justify the breach of the most solemn engage- 
 ments with infidels, he replied, " The faith of treaties ought 
 to be considered as inviolable, and a Christian can never be 
 justified in breaking an oath." Such was his moderation, 
 that, when the Turkish fleet was defeated by the allies at 
 Lepanto, he would not permit any public mark of rejoicing, 
 lest he should appear to insult the Turks in their distress, 
 although he would not act against tjiem when victorious.* 
 In consequence of this conduct he maintained even Hun- 
 gary in a state of tranquillity, and almost the last act of 
 his reign was a renewal of the armistice with Amurath, 
 the successor of Selim, in 1576. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. 1572-1576. 
 
 MAXIMILIAN being of a delicate constitution, and declining 
 in health, employed the last years of his reign in taking 
 precautions to secure his dignities and possessions for his 
 descendants. Having first obtained the consent of the 
 Hungarian states, his eldest son Rhodolph was, in 1572, 
 crowned king of Hungary, in a diet at Presburgh, and 
 this example was not lost on those of Bohemia ; but as the 
 elective right was still not considered as abrogated, Maxi- 
 milian acted with his characteristic prudence, and adopted 
 
 * Vie de Commendon, p. 25-27.
 
 1572-1576.] HIS SON APPOINTED HIS SUCCESSOR. 51 
 
 a line of conduct which neither wounded the prejudices of 
 his subjects, nor contravened the right of hereditary suc- 
 cession established by Ferdinand. In a diet, convoked 
 with great solemnity at Prague, he himself introduced his 
 son to the states, and recommended him as their future 
 sovereign ; the states, satisfied with this appeal to their 
 choice, signified their unanimous consent, and Rhodolph, 
 was crowned on the 22nd of September, 1575, king of 
 Bohemia. 
 
 Having thus rendered his son successor to the crowns 
 of Hungary and Bohemia, he laboured to procure for him 
 the dignity of king of the Romans. He found a ready 
 assent from the states of the empire, who had suffi- 
 ciently experienced the mischiefs of contested elections, 
 and who were apprehensive that, in case of an interregnum, 
 the kings of Spain and France would aspire to the impe- 
 rial crown. The electors themselves were also inclined to 
 favour Maximilian from motives of personal friendship or 
 religious interest, and all appeared at the diet of Ratisbon, 
 except the elector Palatine, who, on account of age and 
 infirmities, deputed his son. No difficulties occurred in 
 the election of Rhodolph, but, in regard to the capitulation, 
 the zealous Protestants, at the instigation of the elector 
 Palatine, endeavoured to introduce articles which tended 
 to annihilate the Catholic religion. Of these, the principal 
 were, that the emperor should be styled the advocate of 
 the Christian church, instead of the see of Rome ; that the 
 declaration of Ferdinand should be inserted in, instead of 
 being annexed to, the religious peace ; the ecclesiastical 
 reservation abolished ; the annates and other revenues 
 taken from the pope, and applied to furnish succours 
 against the Turks. Finally, the emperor was not to assist 
 at any future election, that his presence might not influ- 
 ence the electoral suffrages. 
 
 These demands being indignantly rejected by the Catho- 
 lics, the Protestants, by the interference of Augustus of 
 Saxony, were induced to withdraw all the articles, except 
 that relative to the declaration of Ferdinand, which they 
 considered as peculiarly necessary, because the Catholic 
 prelates had rejected it as not binding, and even disputed 
 its authenticity. This contest excited the warmest dis- 
 
 K 2
 
 52 MAXIMILIAN II. [CII. XXXIX. 
 
 putes, and nearly occasioned the prorogation of the diet. 
 Maximilian, who was sensible of the justice of this de- 
 mand, endeavoured in vain to prevail on the Catholics ; 
 but failing in all his efforts, he candidly appealed to the 
 Protestants, and induced them to recede, by promising to 
 consider the declaration as a legal act of the emperor, and 
 to endeavour to procure its authentication at a future diet, 
 or at all events to exert his authority in protecting those 
 who suffered by its infringement. This point being ar- 
 ranged, the election took place without contest or delay, 
 and Rhodolph was unanimously chosen and crowned at 
 Ratisbon by the elector of Mentz, on the 1st of November, 
 1575. 
 
 Besides these dignities, which from right or prescription 
 belonged to his family, he endeavoured to procure the 
 crown of Poland, with the duchy of Lithuania*, either 
 for himself or one of his sons. On the decease of Sigis- 
 mond Augustus, in July, 1572, Maximilian, as a descendant 
 from a princess of the Jaghellon family f, offered his son 
 Ernest as a candidate ; he endeavoured to gain the Pro- 
 testant party in Poland, which being tolerated under the 
 name of dissidents J, had become predominant, and pro- 
 
 The duchy of Lithuania had at length been permanently united 
 to Poland, by Sigismond Augustus, who renounced his right of 
 inheritance, on the condition that the two countries should always 
 choose the same sovereign. On the death of Sigismond Augustus, the 
 last male of the Jaghellon line (July 7, 1572), Poland was converted 
 into a real elective monarchy, by the establishment of a law restraining 
 the sovereign from procuring the appointment of a successor during 
 his lifetime. 
 
 f His mother, Anne, daughter of Ladislaus, king of Hungary and 
 Bohemia, was grand-daughter of Cassimir, king of Poland. 
 
 f The Reformation was introduced into Poland under Sigismond I., 
 and gained ground, notwithstanding the persecution of its adherents. 
 They increased so much under Sigismond Augustus, who was himself 
 secretly attached to the new doctrines, that they not only obtained 
 liberty of worship, but were admitted, without distinction of sects, to 
 a share in the diet, and to the privileges hitherto confined to the 
 Catholics. These maxims of unlimited toleration gaining ground, the 
 members of the diet, which assembled on the decease of Sigismond 
 Augustus, entered into engagements for the reciprocal indulgence of 
 their respective tenets. To avoid invidious distinctions, all who were 
 not Catholics were designated by the name of dissidents in religion. 
 This difference of religious sentiments was to occasion no difference of
 
 1572-1576.] CHOSEN KIXG OF POLAND. 53 
 
 posed that Ernest should espouse Anne, the only unmarried 
 sister of the deceased monarch, although she had attained 
 her fiftieth year. Ernest was opposed, among other can- 
 didates, by John, king of Sweden, who had espoused Ca- 
 therine, another sister of the deceased monarch ; but the 
 prize was wrested from all by Henry, duke of Anjou, 
 brother of Charles IX., king of France, whose military 
 fame and romantic character rendered him popular in 
 Poland, and who secured his election by liberal promises 
 and bribes. 
 
 Maximilian, though thus disappointed, renewed his 
 pretensions, when Henry abandoned Poland to succeed to 
 the crown of France, vacant by the death of his brother. 
 He again proposed his son, but, contrary to his wishes and 
 expectations, was himself chosen king by a large party of 
 the principal nobles, and proclaimed by the primate : the 
 decree of election bears a just and honourable testimony to 
 his virtues and abilities, representing him as having conso- 
 lidated the tranquillity of the Christian world, which was 
 broken by seditions and divisions, and as having acquired 
 more glory, by his pacific conduct, than other princes by 
 their military exploits. 
 
 However flattered by this eulogium, the satisfaction of 
 Maximilian was not of long continuance ; for a party, 
 instigated by the Turks and by the powers hostile to the 
 aggrandisement of the house of Austria, chose Stephen 
 Bathori, waivode of Transylvania, and gave him the prin- 
 cess Anne in marriage. Maximilian was pressed by the 
 papal legate, and by his own adherents to receive the 
 crown ; but he delayed complying with their instances 
 from various motives, of which the principal were, a desire 
 to transfer the crown to his son Ernest, a dread of exciting 
 a war with the Turks, or a wish to obtain a modification of 
 the articles of the Pacta Conventa.* Meanwhile his more 
 
 civil rights ; and a clause was inserted in the Pacta Conventa, or capi- 
 tulation of the new sovereign, by which he engaged to keep peace 
 among the dissidents. Lengnich, Jus. Pub. Polon. torn. ii. p. 555. ; 
 Historia Polonias, ch. i. ; Travels in Poland, b. i. ch. 2. 
 
 * These were extremely onerous, and such as Maximilian could not 
 sign without the consent of the empire. Among other stipulations, he 
 was to engage to reside two years in the kingdom, and then not to 
 
 K 3
 
 54 MAXIMILIAN II. [CH. XXXIX. 
 
 active rival hastened into Poland, espoused the princess 
 Anne, and was crowned after signing the capitulation 
 offered to Maximilian, on the 1st of May, 1575. His 
 promptitude secured the possession of the throne, and his 
 great talents and shining qualities increased his adherents 
 even among those who had embraced the Austrian party. 
 Maximilian, however, having concluded the truce with 
 Amurath, at length endeavoured to compensate for his 
 tardiness and indecision. He signed the Pacta Conventa, 
 warmly appealed to the empire, and being secure of support 
 from the czar, endeavoured to excite the kings of Sweden 
 and Denmark against his rival, whom he stigmatised as a 
 vassal of the Turks ; but he was prevented, by death, from 
 involving himself in a war at the close of his reign, which 
 could not fail of being long and doubtful, and which it had 
 ever been his principal object to avoid. 
 
 He had long felt his health declining, and his end was 
 hastened by the anxiety and fatigue derived from mental 
 and bodily exertions. Like his great ancestor Maximilian, 
 he was fond of meditating and discoursing on the immor- 
 tality of the soul : and he met his death with the calmness 
 and resignation of a Christian. He expired at Ratisbon, 
 where he had been holding a diet, on the 12th of October, 
 1576, on the very day and hour in which the recess was 
 published, in the fiftieth year of his age, and the twelfth of 
 his reign. 
 
 Contemporary writers have left no specific description 
 of the person and features of this amiable monarch ; but 
 all agree in extolling the grace and elegance of his man- 
 ners, and the fascination of his conversation and deport- 
 ment. His life and reign exhibit the fairest and most 
 pleasing picture of the qualities of his mind. 
 
 Maximilian, by his vigour, activity, and address, gained, 
 
 quit it, except with the consent of the states. He was also required to 
 construct, at his own expense, four fortresses, to discharge the debts of 
 the late monarch, and ihe arrears of the troops, and to deposit a sum 
 of money for the pay of 10,OOO Polish horse. Considering the feeble 
 health of Maximilian, and the nature of these onerous conditions, and, 
 above all, that he could not obtain the nomination of a successor, we 
 ought not to join the biographer of Commendon, in blaming him for 
 delaying to purchase a temporary dignity at so high a price. It is 
 rather a wonder that he at last deemed it worthy of his acceptance.
 
 1572-1576.] HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER. 55 
 
 when young, the esteem and favour of Charles V., who 
 used to call him his right hand, gave him his eldest daugh- 
 ter Mary in marriage, and, before he had attained the 
 twenty-first year of his age, appointed him viceroy of Spain, 
 during his absence with Philip in Germany and the Low 
 Countries. But though instructed in the arts of govern- 
 ment by Charles, Maximilian was not swayed by his 
 example, or allured by the splendour of his achievements ; 
 for, instead of adopting those principles of dissimulation 
 and duplicity, and that unbounded ambition which dis- 
 graced the head of the empire, he distinguished himself by 
 frankness, candour, mildness, moderation, benevolence, and 
 liberality of sentiment. 
 
 He loved, cultivated, and encouraged the arts and 
 sciences, and held men of learning in the highest confidence 
 and esteem. He was remarkable for his knowledge of 
 languages, and was not unaptly compared to Mithridates, 
 for the facility with which he spoke the different tongues 
 of the various people over whom he reigned. He was, 
 besides, well read in the Latin, and conversed in it with 
 great ease, purity, and elegance. Though of a convivial 
 disposition and fond of society, his course of life was sober 
 and regular ; lively and facetious in conversation, he tem- 
 pered, without debasing, the dignity of his station, by the 
 most affable and condescending behaviour, and Henry of 
 Valois, himself a pattern of courtesy, declared, that in all 
 his travels, he had never met a more accomplished gentle- 
 man. Nor were these pleasing qualities assumed merely 
 for public occasions, and to dazzle the eyes of his courtiers; 
 for in private he was equally good and amiable ; a faithful 
 and affectionate husband, a tender parent, and a kind and 
 benevolent master. 
 
 Like our great Alfred, he was regular and systematical 
 in the distribution of his time ; and his hours were dis- 
 tinctly appropriated for prayer, business, diversion, and 
 repose. In his consultations he listened with patience and 
 complacency to the opinions of all ; and it was justly ob- 
 served by the vice-chancellor of the empire, that had he been 
 a chancellor or secretary, he would have surpassed all his 
 chancellors and secretaries, and rendered his ministers his 
 scholars. He was accessible to persons of all distinctions ; 
 * 4
 
 56 MAXIMILIAN II. [CH. XXXIX. 
 
 after his dinner, he gave a general audience to his subjects, 
 sitting or standing by the table ; addressed himself with 
 singular courtesy to the meanest persons, and possessed the 
 rare talent of never dismissing his petitioners dissatisfied. 
 He was economical without parsimony, fond of plainness 
 and simplicity no less in his apparel than in his diet, and 
 he carried his contempt of finery so far, that he never pur- 
 chased a single jewel for his personal attire. 
 
 We recite with pleasure the testimony of the Bohemian 
 ambassadors who were deputed to promote his interests with 
 the Poles, no less as a true picture of his general conduct, 
 than as a heartfelt testimony of gratitude from subjects to 
 their sovereign. "We Bohemians are as happy under his go- 
 vernment as if he were our father : our privileges, our laws, 
 our rights, liberties, and usages are protected, maintained, 
 defended, and confirmed. No less just than wise, he con- 
 fers the offices and dignities of the kingdom only on natives 
 of rank, and is not influenced by favour or artifice. He 
 introduces no innovations contrary to our immunities ; and, 
 when the great expenses which he incurs for the good of 
 Christendom render contributions necessary, he levies them 
 without violence, and with the approbation of the states. 
 But what may be almost considered as a miracle, is, the 
 prudence and impartiality of his conduct towards persons 
 of a different faith, always recommending union, concord, 
 peace, toleration, and mutual regard. He listens even to 
 the meanest of his subjects, readily receives their petitions, 
 and renders impartial justice to all." 
 
 Historians, not distinguishing between a sovereign pacific 
 from principle and reflection, or from indolence and pusil- 
 lanimity, have censured Maximilian for dilatory and in- 
 active measures, which were the effects of precaution and 
 policy ; and have turned to scorn what ought to have been 
 considered as the great glory of his reign, his unwillingness to 
 involve his subjects in foreign and distant wars. In reality, 
 his love of peac* 1 did not proceed from want of military 
 skill, or deficiency of personal courage ; as he had distin- 
 guished himself both for address and valour in the cam- 
 paign of 1544, against Francis I., and in the war of Smal- 
 kalde. It was derived from a conviction, that Germany 
 and his hereditary countries required repose and tran-
 
 1572-1576.] HIS AMIADLE CHARACTEK. 57 
 
 quillity, after a long period of contention and war ; and 
 that the preservation of peace was the only means of sooth- 
 ing those religious and political animosities which had been 
 derived from the stupendous revolutions in church and 
 state. With him, therefore, the desire of aggrandisement 
 was but a secondary consideration ; the maintenance of 
 peace, which he deemed the greatest blessing he could con- 
 fer on his people, was the ruling principle of all his actions. 
 From the adoption of this principle, Germany and the 
 dominions of the house of Austria, except Hungary, en- 
 joyed under him a series of almost uninterrupted peace ; 
 while the rest of Europe was exposed to all the evils of 
 civil commotion, religious discord, or foreign war. 
 
 No stronger proof of his great and amiable qualities can 
 be given, than the concurring testimony of the historians 
 of Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, and Austria, both Catho- 
 lics and Protestants, who vie in his praises, and in repre- 
 senting him as a model of impartiality, wisdom, and benig- 
 nity ; and it was truly said of him, what can be applied to few 
 sovereigns, that in no one instance was he impelled, either 
 by resentment or ambition, to act contrary to the strictest 
 rules of moderation and justice, or to disturb the public 
 tranquillity. Germany revived, in his favour, the surname 
 of Titus, or, the Delight of Mankind ; and if ever a Chris- 
 tian and philosopher filled the throne, that Christian and 
 philosopher was Maximilian II.* 
 
 The wife of Maximilian was Mary, daughter of Charles V., 
 who was born in 1528, and married in 1548. She was a 
 princess of exemplary life, considerable beauty, and personal 
 accomplishments ; but she forms a strong contrast with 
 her husband, from her ardent and superstitious attachment 
 
 * Oratio de Maximiliano II. a Johanne Barone de Polheim. This 
 interesting oration, from which most authors have drawn their ac- 
 counts of Maximilian, was written by a person resident in the court of 
 Vienna, and whose father attended Maximilian in Spain. Chryti 
 Saxonia, p. 629. Besides this narrative, for the reign of Maximilian 
 have been consulted the histories so often quoted : Struvius Heiss, 
 Schmidt, Heinrich, Puetter, Pfeffinger's Vitriarius, Pinacotheca 
 Austriaca, Vie de Commendon, Reisser, and \Vraxall's Intro- 
 duction to the History of France, art. House of Austria, which con- 
 tains a good delineation of the character of Maximilian, voL i. 
 p. 370-372.
 
 53 MAXIMILIAN n. LCH. xxxix. 
 
 to the Catholic faith. For this attachment she has been 
 highly praised by the Catholic writers ; she received from 
 pope Pius V. the eulogium that she was worthy of a place 
 among those women who were worshipped on earth for 
 their sanctity, and she was justly called, by Gregory XIII., 
 the firm column of the Catholic faith. On the death of 
 Maximilian, she retired into Spain, and with an inveterate 
 bigotry, congenial to the mind of her brother Philip, testi- 
 fied her joy at returning to a country where there was no 
 heretic. She soon afterwards entered into a nunnery of 
 the order of St. Clare, at Villamonte near Madrid, where 
 she terminated her days, in 1603. It is much to be re- 
 gretted, that the enlightened Maximilian should have prin- 
 cipally intrusted the religious education of his children to 
 this bigoted woman, as from the principles infused into 
 their infant minds they imbibed the spirit of intolerance 
 and persecution. Mary was the fruitful mother of sixteen 
 children, of whom three daughters and six sons attained 
 the age of maturity : 
 
 1. Anne, the eldest daughter, was born in 1549, and was 
 engaged to Don Carlos, prince of Spain ; but, after his im- 
 prisonment and death, espoused his father Philip. She 
 died in 1580, and, by bearing male issue to Philip, but off 
 the expected succession of her own family to the Spanish 
 dominions. 
 
 2. Elizabeth, born in 1554, espoused, in 1570, Charles IX., 
 king of France. She was a woman of consummate beauty 
 and unsullied purity of morals, which she preserved uncon- 
 taminated in a licentious and voluptuous court. Although 
 only twenty at the death of Charles, she rejected the offers 
 of Henry III., Philip of Spain, and of other sovereigns, and 
 faithfully fulfilled a promise which she had made to her 
 dying husband, that she would never again enter into the 
 married state. She terminated her days in 1592, in the 
 monastery of St. Mary de Angelis, at Vienna, which she 
 had built and endowed, with such a reputation for sanctity, 
 that she was supposed to have wrought miracles. 
 
 3. Margaret, who was born in 1567, and accompanied 
 her mother into Spain, from motives of religion refused the 
 hand of Philip, and, immuring herself in a convent, died in
 
 1572-1576.] HIS FAMILY. 59 
 
 1633, with a reputation for sanctity not inferior to that 
 of her sister Elizabeth. 
 
 1. Rhodolph, the eldest son of Maximilian, succeeded his 
 father. 
 
 2. Ernest, the second son, was born in 1553, and princi- 
 pally educated in Spain with his brother Rhodolph. He 
 inherited the infirm constitution, mild and pacific qualities 
 of his father, and resembled him in his knowledge of lan- 
 guages ; but he was cold and reserved, and such a prey to 
 morbid melancholy that he was scarcely ever seen to smile. 
 After being disappointed of the throne of Poland, he was 
 nominated, by his brother Rhodolph, governor of Hungary 
 and regent of Austria. He was intrusted with the govern- 
 ment of the Netherlands by Philip, who promised to confer 
 on him the sovereignty of those countries, with his daughter 
 Isabella in marriage. His endeavours to restore peace and 
 tranquillity were exerted too late ; for the United Pro- 
 vinces had already declared themselves independent, and 
 formed that union which became the foundation of their 
 republic ; and his death prevented the fulfilment of the 
 promises made by Philip. He died in 1595 of a fit of the 
 stone, to which disorder he had been long subject. 
 
 3. Matthias, who expelled his brother Rhodolph from 
 the thrones of 'Hungary and Bohemia, and succeeded him 
 in the empire, will occupy his proper place in the subse- 
 quent pages. 
 
 4. Maximilian, the fourth son, born in 1558, was, on 
 the 25th of January, 1588, elected, by a strong party, king 
 of Poland, in opposition to another party, who chose Sigis- 
 mond, son of John, king of Sweden, by the Polish princess 
 Catherine Jaghellon. Both candidates supported their 
 cause by arms, and the contest was dubious until Maxi- 
 milian was defeated and taken prisoner by the primate of 
 Poland, and purchased his liberty by renouncing his right 
 to the throne. After being guardian to Ferdinand, prince 
 of Styria, during his minority, he was, in 1595, elected 
 grand-master of the Teutonic Order ; and, on the death of 
 his uncle Ferdinand, obtained the government of the ex- 
 terior provinces. He signalised himself against the Turks, 
 and, in conjunction with the other Austrian princes, re- 
 signed his right to the succession in favour of his ward.
 
 60 MAXIMILIAN II. [CH. XXXIX. 
 
 He died on the 2nd of November, 1619, without issue, 
 and unmarried. 
 
 5. Albert, the youngest son of Maximilian, was destined 
 for the ecclesiastical profession. Being sent to Spain, ha 
 obtained, with the dignity of cardinal, the archbishopric o/ 
 Toledo, the primacy of Spain : he was also appointer 
 governor of Portugal, and soon afterwards, relinquishing 
 the ecclesiastical profession, espoused Isabella, daughter of 
 Philip, and received the Netherlands as an hereditary 
 sovereignty, in conjunction with his wife ; a measure which 
 was adopted by Philip to conciliate those whom he had 
 driven into rebellion by his tyranny and intolerance, and 
 to prevent the total loss of a territory so important to the 
 crown of Spain. 
 
 Since the pacification of Ghent, an essential change had 
 taken place in the situation of the Netherlands. Don John 
 of Austria, natural son of Charles V., whom Philip had 
 appointed governor, had ratified that confederation for the 
 sole purpose of infringing it ; but his perfidious designs 
 being discovered, the natives disowned his government, 
 and chose in his place the archduke Matthias, though 
 without throwing oif their allegiance. The war was re- 
 newed with advantage by Don John, and, after his death, 
 by his successor the celebrated Alexander Farnese, duke of 
 Parma, who detached from the league the southern, or what 
 were called the Walloon Provinces.* This defection occa- 
 sioned an attempt to revive the pacification of Ghent, by an 
 engagement called the Union of Utrecht, comprising those 
 provinces which afterwards formed the United States, be- 
 sides Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, and several considerable 
 towns of the other provinces. 
 
 The successes of the duke of Parma, joined to the inces- 
 sant disputes between the Catholics and Protestants, and 
 the repeated defections of many of the towns, convinced 
 the prince of Orange, and the chiefs of the revolt, that they 
 could not maintain their liberties without foreign assist- 
 ance. Disappointed in those hopes of support from the 
 emperor which had induced them to call in Matthias, they 
 finally threw off their allegiance to Spain, in July, 1581, 
 and conferred the sovereignty of their country on Francis, 
 * Artois, Hainault, and the other southern provinces.
 
 1572-1 576. J AFFAIRS OF THE NETHERLANDS. 61 
 
 duke of Anjou, on the condition of maintaining their civil 
 and religious rights, and carrying on the war principally 
 at the expense of France. This change was not attended 
 with the desired effects : although the duke of Anjou had 
 entered into an alliance with queen Elizabeth, the trifling 
 support which they received from France and England was 
 insufficient to enable them to resist the power of Philip, 
 and baffle the military skill and address of the duke of 
 Parma. The new sovereign, at variance with the prince 
 of Orange, and dissatisfied with the limited authority 
 allowed him by his subjects, after a perfidious attempt to 
 seize Antwerp, abandoned a short-lived sovereignty, and in 
 1584, retired ignominiously into France. The misfortunes 
 attending their disunion were aggravated by the assassina- 
 tion of the prince of Orange ; and before the close of 1594, 
 the duke of Parma was enabled to recover all the seven- 
 teen provinces, except Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht. 
 
 In this situation the states were unable to prevail on 
 Elizabeth of England, or the king of France, to accept the 
 sovereignty ; but their declining cause found a chief in 
 Maurice, eldest son of the deceased prince, who inheriting 
 the splendid qualities of his father, and succeeding to his 
 influence and power, recovered Guelderland, Groningen, 
 Overyssel, and Friesland, and, uniting them with the three 
 other states, established the republic of the Seven United 
 Provinces. 
 
 Such was the situation of the Netherlands when Albert, 
 with his wife Isabella, succeeded to the sovereignty, which 
 had been conferred on him by Philip II., and was confirmed 
 by his successor Philip III. The seventeen provinces, 
 under the name of an independent sovereignty, were 
 granted to them and to their heirs, but, in failure of their 
 issue, were to revert to Spain. They were to take an oath 
 of fidelity to the crown of Spain, to agree not to permit the 
 exercise of any other religion except the Catholic, to pre- 
 vent their subjects from trading to the Indies, to receive 
 Spanish garrisons in the principal towns, and, finally, none 
 of their descendants were to marry without the approba- 
 tion of the Spanish court. On the breach of any of these 
 conditions, the grant was declared null, and the territories 
 were to revert to their original sovereign. Such a grant,
 
 62 RHODOLPH n. [en. XL. 
 
 which was evidently intended only to cheat the revolted 
 provinces into submission, was attended with a contrary 
 effect, and they exerted themselves against Albert with the 
 same spirit as against the preceding governors. Albert, 
 however, omitted no effort to secure and enlarge his sove- 
 reignty ; he carried on the war with a skill and enterprise 
 little to be expected from his former profession and habits 
 of life, gained Calais, Ostend, and several of the towns, 
 which still adhered to the seven united provinces, and 
 completed the reduction of the country, afterwards called 
 the Spanish or Austrian Netherlands. But, not being suf- 
 ficiently supported by the court of Madrid, which found 
 full employment in its other vast projects and ambitious 
 views, he was unable to make any effectual impression on 
 the consolidated body of the new republic ; he therefore 
 discontinued a fruitless contest, and, with the permission 
 of Spain, concluded, in 1609, a truce for twelve years, in 
 which he virtually acknowledged the independence of the 
 United Provinces. He afterwards interfered in the contests 
 for the succession of Juliers, in favour of the count Pala- 
 tine of Neuburgh, and exerted himself in support of the 
 Catholic interest in Germany. 
 
 He lived long enough to see the renewal of the war with 
 the United Provinces, and died in 1621, at the time when he 
 was endeavouring to overcome the obstinacy of the Spanish 
 court, and to procure the continuation of the truce. As 
 he left no issue, the sovereignty of the Netherlands fell to 
 his wife ; and, on her death, reverted to Spain. 
 
 CHAP. XL. RHODOLPH II. 1576-1603. 
 
 ON the death of Maximilian, Rhodolph succeeded of course 
 to the empire, Bohemia, and Hungary, in consequence of 
 his prior coronation; and, for the first time since the 
 transfer of Austria to the reigning family, he, as eldest 
 son, obtained the sole possession of that archduchy ; while 
 his numerous brothers, instead of a joint share in the 
 government, were provided with annual pensions. Whe-
 
 1576-1603. J HIS EARLY HABITS AND EDUCATION. 63 
 
 ther this change, which virtually established the right of 
 primogeniture, was arranged during the reign of Maximi- 
 lian, or settled by a family compact, is uncertain ; but it 
 was of the greatest advantage to this illustrious family, the 
 aggrandisement of which preceding dismemberments had 
 contributed to retard. 
 
 Rhodolph, at his accession, was in the twenty-fifth year 
 of his age; he was, like his father, naturally mild and 
 pacific, possessed a quick apprehension and extensive capa- 
 city, evinced talents for business, and was no less distin- 
 guished for sobriety and decorum of deportment than for 
 literary acquirements. He ascended the throne at a time 
 when religious animosity had begun to subside, and when 
 tranquillity was restored throughout Germany and his 
 hereditary dominions. The prudent conduct of his father 
 had removed or lessened the principal obstacles which had 
 so greatly embarrassed his immediate predecessors ; and it 
 required no arduous exertions of body or mind, no daring 
 enterprise or complicated scheme of policy ; but the same 
 mixture of prudence, moderation, and firmness to maintain 
 the tranquillity so happily established. 
 
 The early habits of the new emperor and the defects of 
 his education frustrated all the hopes derived from these 
 happy auspices. Brought up till his twelfth year under 
 the care of his bigoted mother, he was deeply imbued with 
 her superstitious sentiments, and that tincture was strength- 
 ened instead of being weakened by his removal to the court 
 of Madrid, whither he was sent as presumptive successor 
 to the Spanish monarchy.* His education was there com- 
 pleted under the auspices of Philip by the Jesuits, who 
 possessed the art of fixing an almost indelible impression 
 on youthful minds, and whose mode of education tended 
 rather to fill and occupy, than to expand and exercise the 
 understanding ; to render their pupils sedentary and con- 
 templative ; and to inure them to the petty arts of intrigue 
 and dissimulation, rather than to fit them for the cares of 
 
 * Philip II. having for a considerable period only one daughter, 
 purposed to continue his dominions in his family, by marrying her to 
 one of the princes of the German branch. For this reason, Rhodolph 
 and his brother Ernest were educated in Spain till the birth of a son, 
 afterwards Philip III.
 
 64 RHODOLPH H. [CI1. XL. 
 
 government or the duties of active life. Hence, his mother, 
 though distant, possessed the same influence over his mind 
 when arrived at years of discretion as in the pliancy of 
 youth ; and by her means, as well as by the agency of the 
 Jesuits, he was during his whole reign rendered totally 
 subservient to the court of Madrid. Even his learning, 
 which in a person of a different character might have tended 
 to counteract this predominant influence, contributed to 
 rivet the fetters of early habit and education. His love 
 and application to the arts was not such as became an 
 enlightened sovereign, but the passion and mechanical dex- 
 terity of a mere artist. He was greatly addicted to alchemy, 
 which of all sciences tends the most, by its golden dreams, 
 to absorb and fascinate the mind ; and still more to judicial 
 astrology, which filling the imagination with vain hopes 
 and groundless fears, renders its professors the prey of 
 uncertainty, gloom, reserve, and suspicion. 
 
 Unfortunately for Rhodolph, the conduct of his father 
 had left him scarcely any alternative but open toleration, 
 or at least tacit connivance at the Protestant doctrines. 
 Although Maximilian had publicly forbidden the Protestant 
 worship to the burghers, yet towards the close of his reign 
 he suffered those of Vienna to attend divine service accord- 
 ing to the Lutheran ritual, when performed before the 
 nobles and equestrian order in the House of Assembly. 
 He even did not prohibit the private celebration of the 
 reformed worship at the houses of individuals, nor prevent 
 the burghers from repairing to the Protestant churches in 
 the neighbouring villages. The consequence of this tolera- 
 tion and forbearance gave the Protestants the ascendency 
 in the states : they deterred, by contempt and insult, the 
 Catholic prelates, and even many other members of that 
 persuasion, from appearing in the diet ; and filled the com- 
 mittees of revenue, and all the inferior departments of the 
 magistracy and administration with those of their own 
 communion. The professors of the university of Vienna, 
 except those in the class of theology, and the masters of 
 the inferior schools, were of the same persuasion. Stimu- 
 lated by the near prospect of the errors and corruptions of 
 the church, and animated by that ardour with which the 
 human mind is impelled to embrace and propagate religious
 
 1576-1603.] HIS INTOLERANCE. 65 
 
 truths, their preachers frequently passed the bounds of 
 discretion, by indulging themselves in the most bitter and 
 unqualified invectives against the established church. This 
 evil had arisen to such a height that even the tolerant 
 Maximilian at length found it necessary to interpose his 
 authority ; and almost the last act of his life was a sentence 
 of suspension against Opitz, one of the most violent of these 
 preachers, who acted as minister for the body of nobles and 
 knights at Vienna, and whose sermons drew an unusual 
 concourse of people. The death of Maximilian suspending 
 the execution of his sentence, Opitz, with his fervid elo- 
 quence, continued to rouse the passions of his numerous 
 auditors, and daily to increase the number of converts. 
 
 It is therefore but justice to Rhodolph to observe that 
 had he been more inclined to toleration, he would have 
 found it extremely difficult to restore the equilibrium be- 
 tween the two parties, or to check the progress of religious 
 truth, without the strongest exertions of authority. His 
 attempts to attain this object occasioned all the misfortunes 
 of his reign. He confirmed the toleration granted by his 
 father to the nobles and equestrian order within the bounds 
 of their own dependencies ; but, in conformity with the 
 letter of that grant, he forbade the burghers of his own 
 towns from assisting at or professing the Protestant wor- 
 ship, and at Vienna he compelled the nobles and knights 
 of that persuasion to perform divine service in an apart- 
 ment which was too small to admit any other audience 
 except their own body. At the same time he deprived 
 Opitz and two of his most ardent coadjutors of their offices, 
 and commanded that no other priest should be appointed 
 without his approbation. 
 
 The states considered these restrictions as the commence- 
 ment of a system of persecution ; after consulting their 
 own preachers and foreign universities, they refused to 
 carry the order into execution, asserting that " they were 
 bound to obey God rather than man." This act of disobe- 
 dience, which was not justified by prudence or by the 
 existing laws, furnished the emperor with a pretext for 
 measures calculated to suppress the Protestant and restore 
 the Catholic worship. He banished the deposed preachers 
 from his territories, forbade the appointment of others in 
 
 VOL. u. K
 
 66 RHODOLPH II. [CH. XL 
 
 their places, and abolished the exercise of the Protestant 
 worship in the royal towns, and even in Vienna itself. 
 
 He next adopted a regular and systematic plan to re- 
 store the preponderance of the Catholic religion. He en- 
 couraged the Catholic prelates and other members of the 
 states to resume their places in the diet, exhorted them to 
 act with concert and unanimity, and again filled the vacant 
 committees and subordinate offices of justice and revenue 
 with Catholics. He forbade any cure or benefice to be 
 conferred on any person who was not devoted to the 
 church, or academical degree or professorship to be granted 
 to any member of the university who did not sign the 
 formulary of the Catholic faith. He subjected the schools 
 to new regulations, and published new catechisms for 
 popular use ; he permitted no town to appoint a clerk or 
 secretary without the approbation of the sovereign ; ad- 
 mitted no person to the rights of burghership who had not 
 undergone a religious examination, and taken an oath of 
 submission to the Catholic priesthood. Finally, he shut 
 up many churches in the neighbourhood of Vienna which 
 were appropriated to the Protestant worship, because they 
 were frequented by the burghers. By these means the 
 preponderance of the Catholic worship was in a few years 
 restored ; and he cannot be accused of any glaring breach 
 of the religious peace or the established regulations, 
 although he may be condemned on the score of policy and 
 toleration, in thus shocking the feelings and wounding the 
 consciences of so great a majority of his subjects. 
 
 The Protestants were too well aware of his real princi- 
 ples, and his subordination to the intolerant court of Spain, 
 to be deluded by the caution with which these restrictions 
 were imposed ; and they were justly apprehensive lest 
 these reforms should prove only the prelude to the aboli- 
 tion of all religious immunities. From these causes, ag- 
 gravated at the same time by civil grievances, a revolt 
 broke out in 1595 among the peasants, attended with all 
 those excesses which usually accompany popular commo- 
 tions. It was scarcely suppressed, before a more dangerous 
 rebellion took place in Austria above the Ems, which was 
 directed and organised by the states themselves. The con- 
 sequences of this ineffectual resistance, however, only
 
 1576-1603.] HIS INTOLERANCE. 67 
 
 served to strengthen the power of the sovereign, and to 
 furnish him with a pretext for overturning the whole 
 system of the Protestant worship in every part of his 
 dominions. 
 
 Although in the present enlightened age, when the prin- 
 ciples of toleration are understood and duly appreciated, 
 and speculative points of doctrine reduced to their intrinsic 
 value, we may condemn the impolicy of'the emperor in 
 alienating so large a portion of his subjects, and leaving 
 them no alternative, except sinning against their consciences 
 or open resistance ; yet the Protestants of the age had 
 little right to censure his conduct, as they acted with the 
 same spirit of persecution in their own dominions, not only 
 against the Catholics, but even against those who equally 
 differed from the church of Rome. The schism, which, in 
 a very early period of the Reformation, had occasioned 
 such a spirit of disunion in the Protestant body, now be- 
 came an open breach, and divided them into distinct sects 
 or parties. 
 
 We have already observed, that Frederic III., elector 
 Palatine, had by force introduced Calvinism into his do- 
 minions, and had given publicity and consistence to his 
 doctrines by the catechism of Heidelberg. His eldest son 
 Louis, however, who succeeded him in the electorate, was 
 as much attached to the Lutheran principles ; and under 
 the sanction of the peace of religion, which empowered 
 every sovereign to introduce his own tenets into his terri- 
 tories, he proceeded to extirpate the Calvinistic doctrines, 
 by banishing the Calvinist teachers, and restoring the 
 Lutheran worship as ordained by the confession of Augs- 
 burgh. Louis dying in 1583, leaving his son, Frederic IV., 
 under age, his brother John Casimir, who assumed the 
 administration during the minority, in his turn drove out 
 the Lutherans, and again reinstated the followers of Calvin. 
 
 Unfortunately the palatinate was not the only theatre of 
 religious persecution among the Protestants. During the 
 reign of Christian I., the son and successor of Augustus, 
 elector of Saxony, the doctrines of Calvin found many 
 adherents even in Saxony, the seat of Lutheran orthodoxy, 
 and many powerful partisans in the court and family of the 
 elector, among whom the chancellor Krell was the most zea- 
 
 F 2
 
 68 KIIODOLPH II. [CH. XL. 
 
 lous and persevering. By his influence, joined with that of 
 the higher orders of the clergy, many changes were made in 
 the Lutheran worship, which gradually approached the 
 simple ritual of Calvin, the priests who opposed these in- 
 novations were persecuted and driven from the country, 
 and even the book of concord was abandoned as a religious 
 test. The death of the elector, who, if he did not support, 
 connived at these alterations, occasioned their suspension. 
 His relative, Frederic William, duke of Saxe Weimar, who 
 became guardian to his son, not only restored the Lutheran 
 worship, but persecuted all who adhered to the recent 
 changes, and introduced a new religious test, which all 
 who held civil or ecclesiastical offices were compelled to 
 sign under pain of banishment. The partisans of Calvinism 
 were arrested ; Krell, who was the most considerable and 
 most active, was brought to a public trial, and after a con- 
 finement of nine years, expiated his religious offences on 
 the scaffold, on the 9th of October, 1601. 
 
 Hitherto, notwithstanding all diversity of doctrine, and 
 the persecution of the Lutherans, the princes of the re- 
 formed religion had, without distinction, sheltered them- 
 selves under the confession of Augsburgh ; but the pro- 
 gress of Calvinism, and its intolerant spirit at length 
 induced the Lutherans to form a barrier of separation, and 
 to exclude the Calvinists from the peace of religion ; and, 
 by this measure, they were themselves led to the same acts 
 of persecution, which they condemned in others. Under 
 the auspices of Augustus, elector of Saxony, and Ulric, 
 duke of Wirtemberg, both strenuous partisans of the doc- 
 trine of Luther, a symbolical formulary, or creed, called 
 the Book of Concord*, had been drawn up by the Saxon 
 divines, containing an explanation of the principal points 
 of controversy, deduced from the confession and apology 
 of Augsburgh, the peace of Smalkalde, and the two cate- 
 chisms of Luther. It was published at Torgau, on the 
 25th of June, 1580f , under the signature of the three 
 
 * Concordienbuck. It might more properly be called the book of 
 discord. 
 
 f Tliis particular day was chosen by the elector of Saxony, because 
 it was the anniversary of the day the original confession of Augsburgh 
 was presented to Charles V. by the diet.
 
 1376-160.'".] RELIGIOUS DISSENSION?. 69 
 
 secular electors, Augustus of Saxony, John George of 
 Brandenburgh, and Louis, elector Palatine, twenty-two 
 princes, the same number of counts, and thirty-five imperial 
 towns. It was introduced into all the dominions of the 
 Lutheran princes ; and all priests and schoolmasters were 
 ordered to give their public assent to its doctrines, under 
 the pain of instant deprivation. 
 
 John Casimir, count Palatine of Lautern, who after- 
 wards became administrator of the palatinate during the 
 minority of his nephew, endeavoured to prevent or retard 
 the publication of this creed. His instances were inef- 
 fectually seconded by William, landgrave of Hesse Cassel, 
 and even by the ambassador of Elizabeth, queen of England ; 
 and the consequence was, a schism of the two parties, to 
 the inconceivable detriment of the whole Protestant body. 
 For had the two sects formed a system of doctrine on the 
 points in which they both agreed, in opposition to the 
 church of Rome, instead of one derived from those abstruse 
 doctrines on which they differed, we can scarcely doubt 
 that their party must have become predominant, when we 
 consider their physical strength and local situation, and 
 their numerous partisans in every part of Catholic Ger- 
 many, particularly in the dominions of the house of 
 Austria. But by this impolitic separation, and the con- 
 sequent dissensions, the equipoise which subsisted between 
 the ecclesiastical and secular electors was destroyed ; and 
 the event proved the truth of the prediction made by 
 cardinal Commendon at the first rise of the schism, that 
 the spirit of party and theological hatred, if let loose 
 among the Protestants, would of itself deliver the church 
 of Rome from the danger of that total apostacy with which 
 she was threatened in Germany. 
 
 The Jesuits, the great advisers and directors of Rhodolph, 
 took advantage of these dissensions, and with consummate 
 ingenuity, turned the arguments adduced, and the prece- 
 dents established by the Protestants against themselves. 
 They urged that the religious peace, which originally was 
 only temporary and without legal permanency, was now 
 abrogated ; for it was not applicable to the Calvinists, be- 
 cause the Lutherans themselves had disclaimed them as 
 brethren ; nor to the Lutherans, because, by adopting a 
 
 v 3
 
 70 mionoLrii n. [CH. XL. 
 
 new creed they no longer adhered to the Confession of 
 Augsburgh, which was the basis of the religious peace. 
 With the same address they brought forward the mutual 
 persecutions of the Protestants, as an argument that Ca- 
 tholic sovereigns had as much right to deprive their Pro- 
 testant subjects of religious toleration, as the Protestant 
 princes had assumed by forcibly establishing, in their re- 
 spective dominions, their own peculiar tenets. But they 
 directed their principal attention to the support of the 
 ecclesiastical reservation, as the great barrier of the Ca- 
 tholic church in Germany. 
 
 In conformity with their suggestions, the Catholic body 
 adopted a systematic plan for the gradual extirpation of 
 the Protestant tenets, which they carried into execution 
 under the popular name of a reform. The grand principle 
 of this system was, to force the Protestants to insurrection, 
 by executing strictly the letter of the peace of religion, 
 and other compacts between the Catholics and Protestants, 
 by interpreting in their own favour every stipulation which 
 was left doubtful, and by revoking every tacit concession, 
 which had been yielded from fear rather than from con- 
 viction ; and thus to make every new restriction appear 
 not an act of persecution, but a just chastisement of dis- 
 obedience and insurrection. As a part of this plan, it was 
 their purpose to lessen the authority of the imperial cham- 
 ber, by discontinuing the annual visitation, and gradually 
 to transfer religious causes before the Aulic council, which 
 was composed of Catholic members, and solely under the 
 control of the emperor. This project was carried into 
 execution with uniform consistency and perseverance by 
 the ministers who directed the counsels of the emperor, 
 and was supported by all the weight of the Spanish court 
 under Philip III., who was enabled to detach for its execu- 
 tion a part of the great military force which he maintained 
 in the Netherlands. 
 
 Numerous pretexts were soon found to carry this plan 
 into execution. Aix-la-Chapelle, at the conclusion of the 
 peace of religion, was considered as a Catholic city, but 
 contained a number of Protestant emigrants from the Low 
 Countries, who daily increasing during the persecutions of 
 Philip, at length required from the diet of Augsburgh, in
 
 1576-1603.] RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 71 
 
 1559, the free exercise of their worship. This demand 
 was refused, but the numbers, wealth, and influence of the 
 Protestants continuing to augment, they succeeded in pro- 
 curing admission into the magistracy, and renewed their 
 petitions for freedom of conscience. Not deterred by the 
 rejection of their demand, they assumed a right which they 
 could not legally obtain, and in 1580 publicly established 
 their form of worship, notwithstanding the remonstrances 
 of the duke of Juliers, the protector of the town. The 
 emperor being appealed to by the Catholic magistrates, de- 
 puted commissaries to take cognisance of the dispute and 
 suppress all innovations ; yet, notwithstanding their orders, 
 the Protestants who were grown too powerful to be con- 
 trolled, raised two of their body to the office of burgomas- 
 ters. In consequence of this contumacy, the imperial 
 commissaries required, in the name of the emperor, the 
 dismission of the burgomasters, and the keys of the town ; 
 and this rigorous proceeding occasioned an insurrection 
 among the Protestant populace. 
 
 This was the point to which the Catholics desired to 
 bring the dispute. The emperor reiterated his former 
 mandate, and the town, continuing disobedient, was block- 
 aded by the duke of Juliers and the bishop of Liege, the 
 two imperial commissaries, assisted by a corps of Spanish 
 troops, notwithstanding the instances of the electors of 
 Saxony and Brandenburgh, to whom the Protestants ap- 
 plied. The blockade, however, being raised by the spirit 
 of the inhabitants, the dispute continued in suspense until 
 the progress of events presented a more favourable oppor- 
 tunity for enforcing the ban of the empire. 
 
 The execution of the ecclesiastical reservation was ano- 
 ther cause of incessant disputes between the two sects, and 
 furnished the Catholics with endless pretexts for harassing 
 and weakening their antagonists. The Protestants had 
 gradually secularised or appropriated several prelacies, 
 some before and some since the religious peace. These 
 instances could not, however, be considered as formal 
 infringements of the ecclesiastical reservation, even had 
 that article been acknowledged by both parties ; for the 
 prelates had not themselves quitted their religion, but the 
 whole or the majority of the respective chapters becoming 
 
 r 4
 
 72 RIIODOLPII II. [CH. XL. 
 
 Protestants, had filled the vacancies with chiefs of their 
 own persuasion, and some of these elections had taken 
 place with the connivance, if not the approbation of the 
 emperor. 
 
 The Catholics had, though reluctantly, submitted to 
 these innovations ; but a change which occurred in 1577, 
 relative to the electorate of Cologne, was precisely a case 
 on which the disputes of the two parties had originally 
 occasioned the insertion of the ecclesiastical reservation in 
 the peace of religion. Gerard, count of Truchses, had 
 been chosen elector of Cologne, in opposition to a prince of 
 Saxe Lawenburgh, on the marriage and consequent resig- 
 nation of Salentine, count of Isenburgh. Being enamoured 
 of Agnes, countess of Mansfield, and canoness of Girn- 
 sheim, a lady of exquisite beauty and accomplishments, he 
 abjured the Catholic religion, and espoused his mistress ; 
 but he did not follow the example of his predecessor, in 
 resigning his electorate, and announced his resolution in a 
 public declaration, in which he observed, " Since God has 
 delivered me from the darkness of popery, and endued me 
 with the pure knowledge of his Holy Word, I am deter- 
 mined not to resign the electorate, as has been maliciously 
 reported, but to retain it during my life ; confirming at the 
 same time the chapter in all its privileges, and particularly 
 its right of election on my death, or voluntary resignation." 
 He hoped to derive support from the Protestant body, Avho 
 had never acknowledged the validity of the ecclesiastical 
 reservation ; and he expected assistance from Elizabeth of 
 England, and Henry IV. of France, and still more from 
 his own subjects, the majority of whom were Protestants. 
 
 The Catholic part of the chapter, headed by his former 
 rival, the prince of Saxe Lawenburgh, opposing his de- 
 signs, were seconded by the magistrates of Cologne. An 
 appeal was made to the emperor and to Rome, and the 
 pope issued a sentence of excommunication and deposition 
 against the elector, which was confirmed by the' emperor. 
 A civil war ensued, in which Gerard maintained the 
 advantage, till the chapter raised a powerful rival, by 
 electing Ernest, brother of William, duke of Bavaria, 
 who was supported by the pope and the emperor, and still
 
 1576-1603.] SCHISMS AMONG THE PKOTESTANTS. 73 
 
 more assisted by the forces of his brother, and by an army 
 of veterans detached from the Low Countries. 
 
 In this extremity, Gerard was urged to resign the con- 
 tested dignity, and offered an annual pension as a reward 
 for his compliance ; but he imprudently rejected this offer, 
 from the expectation of being assisted by the Protestants, 
 who had made him promises of immediate and effectual 
 support. As he had unfortunately embraced the tenets of 
 Calvin instead of those of Luther, the only German prince 
 from whom he derived assistance was John Casimir, brother 
 of the elector Palatine, a zealous Calvinist. The Lutheran 
 princes suffered their religious prejudices to outweigh their 
 political interests; and the secular electors contented them- 
 selves with a bare remonstrance against permitting the 
 pope to deprive a prince of the empire of his dignity. 
 
 Henry IV. of France, who had not yet embraced the 
 Catholic religion, saw the advantages to be derived from 
 this opportunity of securing a Protestant majority in the 
 Electoral College, and of lowering the interest of the house 
 of Austria in the empire, by raising an emperor of that 
 persuasion to the throne : he therefore despatched his chan- 
 cellor Segur to unite the Protestants in behalf of the 
 deposed elector. He urged that as the two sects differed 
 only on the single point of the Lord's Supper, it would be 
 easy to form an union of the two churches, by means of a 
 general synod ; but their answer proves how little he 
 appreciated their prejudices, and how littie they were 
 swayed by enlarged notions either of religious or political 
 interest. They replied, that the difference of sentiment 
 was far from consisting in the single point of the Lord's 
 Supper ; " the partisans of Calvin," they urged, " have 
 accumulated such numberless errors in regard to the 
 person of Christ, the communication of his merits, and the 
 dignity of human nature ; have given such forced expla- 
 nations of the Scripture, and adopted so many blasphemies, 
 that the question of the Lord's Supper, far from being the 
 principal, is become the least point of difference. An out- 
 ward union, merely for worldly purposes, in which each 
 party is suffered to maintain its peculiar tenets, can neither 
 be agreeable to God, nor useful to the church. Tin-.-'- 
 considerations induced us to insert into the formulary of
 
 74 RIIODOLPn II. [CH. XL. 
 
 concord a condemnation of the Calvinistical errors ; and to 
 declare our public decision, that false principles should not 
 be covered with the semblance of exterior union, and toler- 
 ated under pretence of the right of private judgment, but, 
 that all should submit to the word of God, as the only rule 
 to which their faith and instructions should be conform- 
 able." They concluded with declaring, that even if Henry 
 himself and the French churches were desirous of an 
 union, they must submit to sign the formulary of concord. 
 
 In addition to these motives which influenced the 
 whole Lutheran body, peculiar and personal interests 
 actuated the two branches of the house of Saxony, who 
 disputed the succession of the county of Henneberg ; and, 
 as the affair depended on the decision of the imperial 
 tribunals, they were unwilling to offend the emperor by 
 countenancing a prince whom he opposed. John Casimir, 
 being therefore afraid of drawing on himself the whole 
 force of the Catholic body, of the house of Austria and 
 Spain, seized the pretext of his brother's death, in April, 
 1584, to withdraw from the contest. The deposed elector, 
 disappointed in all his hopes, and left without assistance, 
 was driven into exile*; and Ernest, being established in 
 the electorate, abolished the exercise of the Protestant 
 worship, which his rival had tolerated. 
 
 The dispute for the electorate of Cologne gave rise to a 
 similar contest at Strasburgh. The three Protestant 
 canons of Cologne being deposed by the pope for their 
 adherence to Gerard, retired to Strasburgh, where they 
 also possessed stalls, and where Protestants were admitted 
 under the guaranty of the peace of religion. But as they 
 were considered as deprived of their benefices by the papal 
 excommunication, the Catholic part of the chapter, who 
 then formed a majority, refused to receive them. The 
 three canons, joined by the count of Mansfield, another 
 
 * He first found a temporary asylum at Delft, under Maurice, 
 prince of Orange. Maurice being unable to afford him effectual 
 support, Gerard sent his wife into England, to solicit the assistance of 
 Elizabeth. But the queen, who at first received her with great marks 
 of kindness, becoming jealous of her frequent interviews with the earl 
 of Essex, drove her from England. Her husband retired to Stras- 
 burgh, of which chapter he was dean, and died in 1601 without issue.
 
 1576-1603.] RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 7-5 
 
 Protestant, and secretly supported by the magistrates, 
 forced open the magazines of corn and wine*, and seized a 
 sufficient portion for their maintenance. The dispute 
 being referred to the arbitration of the magistrates, who 
 decided in favour of the Protestants, the Catholic party on 
 their side took possession of the money, plate, and archives, 
 retired to Saverne, the residence of the bishop, and under 
 his protection formed a separate chapter ; while the Pro- 
 testant canons took up their abode in the canonical houses, 
 and appropriated the rents in the town, and all other 
 revenues fwhich they could obtain. 
 
 Rhodfclph sent commissioners to deprive the Protestants 
 of the h'ouses and revenues which they had appropriated ; 
 but they refused to obey his injunction, and the magis- 
 trates to enforce it, because the affair had not been sub- 
 mitted to the cognisance of a competent tribunal. In this 
 situation affairs remained until the death of the bishop, in 
 April, 1592. On that event, Rhodolph proposed to put 
 the bishopric in sequestration, under the care of his uncle, 
 Ferdinand of Tyrol and Alsace ; but the Protestant canons, 
 whose number had been increased so as to form a majo- 
 rity, assembling in the chapter house, the usual place of 
 election, chose John George, margrave of Brandenburgh, 
 son of Frederic, administrator of Magdeburgh, hoping by 
 this nomination to secure the support of his powerful 
 house. At the same time the Catholics at Saverne elected 
 Charles, cardinal archbishop of Mentz, son of Charles, duke 
 of Loraine. The margrave of Brandenburgh immediately 
 levied troops, and, being countenanced by the magistrates, 
 took possession of Kochenberg and Dichstein, two strong 
 fortresses in the vicinity, and prepared to conquer the 
 other territories of the see ; on the other hand, the cardinal 
 of Loraine supported his election with an armed force, and 
 occupied Saverne and the neighbouring districts. Hosti- 
 lities ensued, and the domains of the see became the theatre 
 of a civil war, in which neither party gained the ascend- 
 ency ; and as the cardinal was supported by his father and 
 
 * As the chapters in general received the produce of their lands 
 and tithes in kind, large stores of corn and wine were accumulated in 
 the magazines, part of which was appropriated for their maintenance, 
 and the remainder sold.
 
 76 RIIODOLPH II. [CII. XL. 
 
 the Catholics, and the margrave by some of the Protestant 
 princes, as well as by Zurich and Bern, which were in 
 alliance with Strasburgh, the war seemed likely to spread 
 into Germany. All the attempts of the emperor to termi- 
 nate the dispute in his individual capacity, were frustrated 
 by the Protestants ; till at length, in 1593, he prevailed on 
 both parties to lay down their arms, and refer the cause to 
 the arbitration of three German princes of each religion. 
 This mediation, however, produced no effect, as neither 
 party would relinquish their supposed right of choosing a 
 bishop ; and, after an interval of eleven years, the dis- 
 pute was terminated in 1604 by the mediation of the duke 
 of Wirtemberg. The margrave of Brandenburgh resigned 
 his dignity, and in return was to receive from the duke 
 16,000 florins, with an annual pension of 10,000, for the 
 discharge of which the rich baillage of Oberkirchen, 
 belonging to the see, was to be sequestered in the hands of 
 the duke. At the same time a truce of fifteen years was 
 arranged between the hostile canons, by which both Pro- 
 testants and Catholics were to retain all they then pos- 
 sessed ; and the cardinal of Loraine was soon afterwards 
 duly installed. Thus for the time, though the dispute 
 could not be considered as terminated, the balance was at 
 least turned in favour of the Catholics.* 
 
 The unfortunate schism which subsisted in the Protestant 
 body, paralysed all their efforts. In the midst of all these 
 encroachments of the Catholics, instead of the promptitude 
 and decision with which their predecessors had frustrated 
 the views of Charles, scarcely the consideration even of 
 personal safety was sufficient to awaken them from their 
 indifference. A few, indeed, less influenced by religious 
 prejudices, were alarmed by the constant interference of 
 the Spanish troops, and the views which the imperial court 
 evinced by its continued innovations. Among these, the 
 most considerable was Frederic IV., elector Palatine ; but, 
 as he professed the Calvinistic doctrines, he was unable to 
 overcome the jealousy of the Lutheran chiefs, many of 
 whom continued aloof, particularly the electoral courts of 
 
 * The truce was afterwards renewed for seven years, and the contest 
 finally determined in favour of the Catholics, by the imperial rescript 
 of Ferdinand II.
 
 1576-1603.] PROTESTANT GRIEVANCES. 77 
 
 Brandenburgh and Saxony, and even Philip Louis, count 
 Palatine, head of the collateral branch of Neuburgh. 
 
 Notwithstanding this want of concord, the elector Pala- 
 tine, on the 16th January, 1594, united several of the 
 minor princes* and states, and even Frederic, duke of 
 Wirtemberg, in a confederacy, at Heilbrun, to withhold 
 the succours which the emperor demanded against the 
 Turks, until their grievances were redressed. A list of 
 those grievances, presented at the diet of Ratisbon, will 
 show that their alarms were not without foundation. They 
 enumerated the repeated attempts of the pope and his 
 nuncios to extend their ecclesiastical jurisdiction, which 
 was limited by the peace of religion ; they remonstrated 
 against the exclusion of Protestant prelates from the diet, 
 the diminution of the Protestant members in the imperial 
 chamber, and the intermission of the annual visitation. 
 They likewise complained that the emperor arrogated an 
 unconstitutional share in the decision of affairs, first, by 
 employing imperial commissaries, and afterwards by refer- 
 ring the contested points to the Aulic council, whose pro- 
 ceedings were full of partiality and injustice. Finally, 
 they inveighed against the efforts made by the pope and 
 the Catholics to calumniate and represent the confession 
 of Augsburgh as a proscribed religion. They concluded 
 with some objections which were without foundation, if not 
 frivolous, particularly to the article of the peace of reli- 
 gion, which prohibited the introduction of the Protestant 
 poctrine into places where it was not professed at that 
 period, and even the attempts of the emperor to introduce 
 the Gregorian calendar.f 
 
 * John, count Palatine of Deux-Ponts, Ernest Frederic of Baden 
 Durlach, George Frederic of Brandenburgh Auspach, and Joachim 
 Ernest, son of the elector of Brandenburgh, and administrator of 
 Magdeburgh, and the duke of Wirtemberg. 
 
 t The calendar, known by the name of the Gregorian, from pope 
 Gregory XII., by whose order it was framed, rectified the Julian 
 calendar, and introduced the new style, by striking off ten days, which 
 the current year had then advanced before the real time. This reform- 
 ation of the calendar, however correct and necessary, was adopted 
 only by the Catholic princes and states ; but opposed by all the Pro- 
 testants, because it originated from the pope. They continued to 
 adhere to the ancient mode of computation, and they added, in the
 
 78 RHODOLPH II. [CH. XL. 
 
 As they could not induce the Lutheran chiefs to unite in 
 the common cause, their efforts were of no avail ; for great 
 succours were granted to the emperor against the Turks, 
 without any promise of redress- The united princes were 
 not, however, discouraged, although deserted by the duke 
 of Wirtemberg, whom the emperor had detached, by 
 changing the tenure of his dominions from a mediate to an 
 immediate fief, and, soon after the diet of Ratisbon, their 
 number was increased by the junction of the duke of 
 Brunswick, the landgrave of Hesse, the prince of Anhalt, 
 and John, count of Nassau. Encouraged by these acces- 
 sions, they not only continued to withhold their contribu- 
 tions, but even entered into a confederacy at Frankfort, on 
 the 12th of December, 1598, which bears all the charac- 
 teristics of a defensive if not offensive alliance, and by 
 which they agreed to unite in resisting the aggressions of 
 the pope, in maintaining their civil and religious rights, 
 and in continuing to withhold their contributions till their 
 grievances were redressed. Other circumstances contri- 
 buted to strengthen their party, of which the most essential 
 was the death of John George, elector of Brandenburgh, 
 and the accession of his son, John Frederic, to their con- 
 federacy. They continued, in various meetings and nego- 
 tiations, to increase their numbers, and give consistency and 
 strength to their union ; and the activity and perseverance 
 of their chief, being seconded by the support of Henry IV., 
 they formed, on the 12th of February, 1603, the celebrated 
 offensive and defensive alliance of Heidelberg. Of this 
 alliance the principal articles were a reciprocal engagement 
 to unite in defence of their civil and religious liberties ; to 
 resist the unjust jurisdiction of the Aulic council, and the 
 
 celebrated list of grievances presented at the diet of Ratisbon, the 
 complaint, that the pope and his nuncios, aided by the Jesuits, pre- 
 sumed to change the order of times and years. 
 
 It is easy to imagine the confusion which must have arisen from the 
 use of the two calendars in an empire like Germany, where the diets 
 and other national assemblies are held on stated days, and where one 
 part of the people celebrated Easter, Whitsuntide, Christmas, and the 
 commencement of the new year, ten days before the other ; this con- 
 fusion afforded fresh matter for complaints and disputes between the 
 sovereigns and their subjects, and involved the states of the empire in 
 continual disturbances.
 
 1576-1609.] HIS IMPOLITIC INTOLERANCE. 79 
 
 resumption of the secularised property of the church. 
 The respective contingents in men and money were speci- 
 fied ; and deputies from the different princes were to form 
 a general council at Heidelberg for the conduct of their 
 affairs. They demanded succours from the king of France 
 and from the United Provinces ; and they entered into a 
 correspondence with the disaffected subjects in the Austrian 
 dominions. Still, however, the duke of Wirtemberg, the 
 electoral count of Saxony, and the count palatine of Neu- 
 burg, kept aloof, more from apprehensions of disobliging 
 the emperor, and from jealousy of a Calvinistic director, 
 than from sentiments of religion and equity ; nor could all 
 the efforts of Henry IV. overcome the repugnance, even of 
 those who had joined the union, to take decisive measures. 
 
 CHAP. XLL 1576-1609. 
 
 THE imperial court, less deterred by these threatening 
 appearances and the interference of France, than encou- 
 raged by the indecision of the united Protestants, and 
 stimulated by the incessant representations of Spain, not 
 only suppressed the Protestant worship in Austria, but 
 even attempted to annihilate the religious immunities so 
 long enjoyed by the natives of Hungary and Bohemia, and 
 pursued their designs against the Protestants in the empire 
 with a rashness bordering on infatuation. 
 
 In Bohemia, the administration of Rhodolph had com- 
 menced and for some time continued in peace ; he con- 
 ciliated his subjects, who, since the death of Louis, had not 
 been often gratified with the presence of their sovereigns, 
 by making Prague his principal residence, and from them 
 he obtained large and repeated contributions against the 
 Turks. But the same impolitic intolerance which he had 
 hitherto adopted in Germany and Austria soon subverted 
 the happiness of his government in Bohemia. Having 
 abolished the Protestant worship in Austria, the next object 
 of Rhodolph was to destroy that general liberty of con-
 
 80 EIIODOLPII II. [CH. XLI. 
 
 science in Bohemia which had been granted by his father, 
 and to restore the purity of the Catholic religion. As he 
 declined confirming the edicts of Maximilian, the compacts 
 which only tolerated the Catholics and Calixtins continued 
 in force; and he accordingly forbade all meetings of the 
 Lutherans and Calvinists, declared them incapable of hold- 
 ing official employments, abolished the schools which had 
 been founded for the instruction of their youth, and shut 
 up the Protestant churches, or provided them with Catholic 
 ministers. His next purpose was, to restrict the liberty 
 granted to the Calixtins in such a manner as to prevent 
 the Protestants from sheltering themselves under the ap- 
 pellation of Calixtins, and even to bring the Calixtins 
 themselves back to the primitive doctrines of the church. 
 In obedience to his orders or in conformity with his views, 
 the archbishop of Prague held, in 1605, a synod of his 
 clergy, in which all the decrees of the council of Trent 
 were ordered to be received, and such severe restrictions 
 were established, that, to use the expressions of the Bo- 
 hemian historian, " the way to the Catholic church, instead 
 of being opened, was shut up to the Protestants, and even 
 the Calixtins themselves were driven from the pale of the 
 church to the Lutheran profession, notwithstanding all the 
 proscriptions with which it was loaded." These innova- 
 tions spread mutual hatred and jealousy among all ranks 
 and orders, and were attended with the same discontents 
 against the sovereign as those regulations which had already 
 produced such troubles in Austria and Hungary. 
 
 While Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia, were thus driven 
 almost to insurrection, the same system was pursued among 
 the Protestants in the empire, where the imperial court no 
 longer deigned to colour its intolerant purposes with the 
 semblance of law and justice, or to hold them forth as the 
 merited chastisement of disobedience. The ban of the 
 empire, which for five years had been suspended over Aix- 
 la-Chapelle, was executed with the most rigorous and un- 
 relenting severity. The electors of Treves and Cologne, 
 the duke of Juliers, and the bishop of Liege, to whom the 
 execution of the act was intrusted, made themselves mas- 
 ters of the town, expelled the Protestants from the magis- 
 tracy, drove the two burgomasters into exile, by the impo-
 
 1576-1609.] DISTURBANCES IN BAVARIA. 81 
 
 eition of exorbitant fines, and finally abolished the exercise 
 of the Protestant religion. 
 
 Another dispute was evidently provoked by the Catho- 
 lics, for the purpose of depriving Donawerth of its civil 
 and religious liberties. Donawerth, situated in the Bava- 
 rian dominions, and formerly belonging to the Bavarian 
 house, was at the peace of religion a Protestant and impe- 
 rial city, and consequently entitled to the protection of that 
 peace. A few of the inhabitants were Catholics, and the 
 only Catholic religious establishment was a Benedictine 
 abbey within the walls, wholly subordinate to the jurisdic- 
 tion of the town. The friars enjoyed the undisturbed 
 exercise of their religion, but were not allowed to make 
 public processions, with the forms and ceremonies of their 
 church, in the streets. After various attempts of the 
 diocesan, the bishop of Wurtzburgh, to remove this restric- 
 tion, the convent submitted for almost half a century, until 
 the known views of the imperial court and the plans of the 
 Jesuits encouraged the abbot to extort that permission by 
 force which he could not obtain by persuasion. 
 
 Having succeeded in making some trifling encroach- 
 ments on the established usage, the abbot, on the 16th of 
 May, 1605, sent out a procession with torches, colours, 
 and all the other pageants of the Catholic worship ; but it 
 was stopped in the streets by order of the magistrates, the 
 colours sent back to the convent, and the remainder suffered 
 to proceed. This act was laid before the Aulic council, 
 as a breach of the peace, by the bishop of Wurtzburgh, 
 who in October obtained a citation requiring from the 
 magistrates a justification of their conduct. The abbot re- 
 ceived this citation, and kept it secret for several months, 
 till an opportunity offered for reducing the magistrates to 
 the alternative of disobeying the order or submitting 
 quietly to the infringement of their jurisdiction ; and it 
 was not delivered till the 28th of February, 1606, two 
 hours before the commencement of a funeral procession. 
 The magistrates remonstrated, and being unable to prevail 
 on the abbot, suffered the ceremony to proceed without 
 molestation,but soon afterwards sent a reply to the citation 
 of the Aulic council, proving the incontestable right of 
 
 VOL. i ; . a
 
 82 RHODOLPH II. [CH. XLI. 
 
 their jurisdiction over the convent. While this affair was 
 pending, the abbot prepared to repeat his former experi- 
 ment at the ensuing festival of St. Mark. The magistrates 
 finding all their remonstrances ineffectual, endeavoured to 
 prevent a breach of the peace by enjoining the people to 
 abstain from tumult or outrage, and to enforce the neces- 
 sity of obedience, published the citation of the Aulic 
 council. The procession passed without hindrance through 
 the town ; but, on its return, was assailed by the populace, 
 who demolished the pageants, and drove the friars and 
 their attendants through the mud and mire back to their 
 convent. This popular commotion being represented by 
 the bishop before the Aulic council in the most exagge- 
 rated colours, produced, on the 3rd of September, a new 
 citation and a new reply from the magistrates, and a com- 
 mission of inquiry, which was granted to Maximilian, duke 
 of Bavaria. The Bavarian deputies arrived at Donawerth, 
 April 23rd, 1607, two days preceding the anniversary of 
 St. Mark, when the contest was renewed by the prepara- 
 tions of the abbot to repeat the procession, and they pre- 
 sented a letter from the emperor to the magistrates, an- 
 nouncing the purport of their commission, which was to 
 prevent the Catholics from being insulted and disturbed in 
 the exercise of their worship. This concurrence of circum- 
 stances, joined to the tenor of the letter, contributed still 
 more to exasperate the populace. Notwithstanding all the 
 attempts of the magistrates, they assembled tumultuously 
 in the market-place, venting their fury in invectives against 
 the emperor, the Aulic council, and the duke of Bavaria ; 
 and the deputies, after prevailing on the abbot to relinquish 
 the procession, hastened to quit the town, where they did 
 not consider themselves in safety. The magistrates took 
 instant measures to suppress the tumult, arrested two of 
 the ringleaders, and sent a justification of their conduct, 
 with expressions of regret, to the emperor and the duke of 
 Bavaria. But notwithstanding this submission, and even 
 the testimony of the Bavarian deputies, the imperial court 
 was not inclined to relinquish so fair a pretext for the ful- 
 filment of its plans. On the 3rd of August, 1607, the ban 
 of the empire was issued against Donawerth, and the exe- 
 cution intrusted to the Duke of Bavaria, who was eager to
 
 1576-1 609. J PROCEEDINGS AGAINST THE PROTESTANTS. 83 
 
 recover possession of a place which had belonged to his 
 family. 
 
 Having disdainfully rejected repeated proposals of accom- 
 modation, he sent an army against the town, and the magis- 
 trates, unsupported and unable to resist, surrendered on 
 the condition of retaining their freedom of worship, and 
 the maintenance of their civil rights. But under the frivo- 
 lous pretence that the burghers had delayed fulfilling the 
 conditions, the Bavarian troops took possession of the town 
 in the name of their sovereign, abolished the Protestant 
 religion, and delivered the churches to the Catholics. 
 Thus, from an imperial and Protestant city, Donawerth 
 was reduced to a Catholic and provincial town.* 
 
 The Protestants were naturally roused by these illegal 
 proceedings of the Aulic council, in issuing, of its own 
 authority, the ban against an imperial city and state of the 
 empire. Their resentment was still further provoked by 
 the violation of an established rule, in not committing the 
 execution of the decree to the duke of Wirtemberg, as 
 director of the circle of Suabia, but to the duke of Bavaria, 
 a Catholic prince, and suffering him to appropriate the 
 town. Nor was the conduct of Rhodolph on this occasion 
 calculated to diminish their dissatisfaction ; for, in reply to 
 the remonstrances of the duke of Wirtemberg, he disdain- 
 fully warned him not to presume to protect a town under 
 the ban, lest he should himself incur a similar fate. 
 
 The Protestants were at length convinced that their own 
 disunion and indecision only exposed them to the aggres- 
 sions of the imaerial court and the Catholics ; and they 
 saw that the critical moment was arrived when they must 
 either resist by open force, or tamely suffer themselves to 
 be stripped of the civil and religious immunities for which 
 their ancestors had bled. They derived fresh courage and 
 strength from the death of the duke of Wirtemberg, and 
 
 * The account of this transaction, however inconsiderable in itself, 
 has been thus minutely given, as well from the importance of its con- 
 sequences as because it has been garbled and misrepresented by the 
 Catholics. Struvius, p. 1183.; Barre, torn. ix. p. 36O. ; Schmidt, 
 b. iii. ch. 15.; and particularly Heinrich, vol. vi. p. 16:5-171., who 
 has given a minute, perspicuous, and interesting account, principally 
 drawn from the reports of the process. 
 G 2
 
 84 BHODOLPH IL [CH. XLT. 
 
 the hearty attachment of his son John Frederic, and no 
 less from the junction of the count Palatine of Neuburgh, 
 who saw his claims on the succession of Juliers and Berg 
 endangered by the entrance of Spanish troops into the 
 country, and the disposition evinced by the imperial court 
 to appropriate so important a territory. 
 
 In this situation of affairs, the diet being opened at Ra- 
 tisbon, on the 12th of January, 1608, the discussions of a 
 public assembly were not calculated to allay the resent- 
 ment which the injuries and aggressions of the imperial 
 court had awakened in the breasts of the Protestants. The 
 appointment of Ferdinand, the bigoted duke of Styria, at 
 the recommendation of the court of Spain, to preside, was 
 considered as an additional insult. 
 
 The essential proposition of the emperor was the usual 
 demand of succours against the Turks, to which were 
 added, for the sake of form, four projects, for the reforma- 
 tion of justice, the public coinage, and the matricula, and 
 an invitation to consider on the means of terminating the 
 religious disputes. With a view to secure the desired suc- 
 cours, it was proposed to treat them according to the 
 order in which they stood, and this plan was warmly sup- 
 ported by the imperial party ; but the Protestants were too 
 much inflamed and too powerful to be baffled or amused by 
 this petty artifice. " Fifty years' experience," they ex- 
 claimed, " has taught us, that the imperial court always 
 presses the decision of matters interesting to itself, and, 
 having obtained its purpose, no longer cares for the re- 
 dress of grievances." They therefore declared, that they 
 would take no share in the deliberations of the diet, until 
 the illegal jurisdiction of the Aulic council was abolished, 
 Protestant assessors admitted into that tribunal, Dona- 
 werth re-established in its civil and religious rights, and 
 all processes between the Catholic clergy and the Protest- 
 ants annulled. Finally, they required, as an indispensable 
 condition, that the plurality of suffrages should no longer 
 be admitted in affairs of religion or the grant of subsidies. 
 These pretensions gave rise to vehement discussions, till 
 at length this diet, which was the most turbulent and 
 stormy since the accession of Rhodolph, separated without 
 deliberating on the affairs proposed for its consideration.
 
 1576-1606.] nuNGAKY AND TRANSYLVANIA. 85 
 
 The diet was scarcely closed, when the chiefs of the Pro- 
 testant confederacy assembled at Aschhausen, in Franco- 
 ilia ; they there established their confederacy for the term 
 of ten years, arranged their specific contingents, re-ap- 
 pointed the elector Palatine their chief, and constituted as 
 their generals prince Christian of Anhalt and the margrave 
 of Baden Durlach. In 1609, the confederacy was aug- 
 mented by the admission of Strasburgh, Nuremberg, Ulm, 
 and other imperial towns ; and the united Protestants sent 
 the prince of Anhalt, at the head of an embassy, to present 
 a list of their demands to the emperor. 
 
 CHAP. XLII. 1576-1606. 
 
 HUNGARY and Transylvania now claim our attention as the 
 ^~~Hieatre of those events which led to a more important re- 
 volution than any before recorded in the Austrian annals. 
 
 The first object of Rhodolph had been to secure his do- 
 I minions in Hungary against the Turks. In order to di- 
 minish the enormous expense of defending the distant for- 
 tresses on the side of Croatia, he transferred that country, 
 as a fief of the empire, to his uncle Charles, duke of Styria, 
 who, from the contiguity of his dominions, was better able 
 to provide for its security. Charles accordingly constructed 
 the fortress of Carlstadt, on the Kulpa, which afterwards 
 became the capital of Croatia, and a military station of the 
 highest importance. He also divided the ceded territory 
 into numerous tenures, which he conferred on freebooters 
 and adventurers of every nation, and thus formed a singular 
 species of military colony. This feudal establishment 
 gradually extended along the frontiers of Sclavonia and 
 Croatia, and not only contributed, at the time, to check 
 the incursions of the Turks, but afterwards supplied that 
 lawless and irregular, though formidable military force, 
 inured to and delighting in desultory warfare, who under 
 the names of Croats, Pandours, and other barbarous appel- 
 lations, spread such terror among the enemies of Austria 
 on the side of Europe. 
 
 G 3
 
 86 RHODOLPH II. [CH. XLII. 
 
 Another military community, which formed a part of 
 the same system, is no less remarkable for its daring enter- 
 prises and singular constitution than for being the cause of 
 a long and bloody war between the house of Austria and 
 the Turks, and the germ of those troubles which disturbed 
 the whole reign and ended in the deposition of Rhodolph. 
 
 During the reign of Ferdinand, several bodies of Chris- 
 tians, quitting the provinces which had been recently con- 
 quered by the Turks, obtained from the Austrian sove- 
 reigns a refuge at Clissa, in Dalmatia, under the condition 
 of forming themselves into a frontier militia continually in 
 arms against the infidels, and from their emigration, re- 
 ceived the name of Uscocks, which, in the language of the 
 country, signifies wanderers. They fulfilled the purpose 
 of their establishment; and, being at length expelled by 
 the Turks, received a new asylum at Senga, a ruined 
 fortress in Croatia, on the coast of the Adriatic gulph. 
 Here their numbers increasing, by the accession of Italian 
 banditti and other marauders, they were rendered more 
 formidable than before ; for they no longer confined their 
 predatory incursions to the land, but became pirates by 
 sea, and pushed their enterprises with that daring valour, 
 which, like the deeds of the American buccaneers, almost 
 surpasses belief. Their audacity increasing with success 
 and plunder, they pillaged, without distinction, the vessels 
 of all the nations who traded in the Adriatic. The Vene- 
 tians, having in vain made repeated complaints to the 
 Austrian princes, took measures to expel this nest of 
 pirates, and their endeavours produced a short though 
 fruitless war with the Styrian line, which was terminated 
 by the interference of Philip II. But the most powerful 
 and important attack against this settlement was made by 
 the Turks, who suffered still more than the Venetians from 
 their aggressions.* 
 
 * As the fate of the Uscocks is lost in the more important transac- 
 tions of the Austrian annals, we deem it necessary to gratify the cu- 
 riosity of the reader, by observing, that their depredations, and the 
 protection afforded them by Ferdinand, duke of Styria, afterwards 
 emperor, involved him in a war with the Venetians, in which his ill 
 success compelled him to purchase peace, by sacrificing this predatory 
 horde. Segna was demolished, and the Uscocks being transplanted to 
 Carlstadt, soon lost their name and distinction.
 
 1576-1606.*) WAR WITH THE TURKS. 87 
 
 Notwithstanding the armistice concluded with the sultan 
 by Maximilian, and its renewal by Rhodolph in 1584 and 
 1591, a predatory warfare had never ceased along the 
 frontiers. These contests were, however, not likely to 
 produce an open rupture ; for they were regarded, both by 
 the Austrian and Turkish courts, not as a breach of the 
 peace, but as excesses which could not be restrained, or as 
 affording an exercise for personal bravery, and an employ- 
 ment for their turbulent subjects. At length, the constant 
 aggression and the daring bravery of the Uscocks, could no 
 longer be endured with the same indifference. 
 
 Amurath, having terminated his wars with Persia, took 
 this opportunity to break the truce, which in 1591 he had 
 concluded with Rhodolph, under the pretext of extirpating 
 this band of robbers. With the connivance, if not the 
 orders of the sultan, the bashaw of Bosnia made an irruption 
 into Croatia, captured the fortresses of Wihitz and Petrina, 
 and, in the following year, resuming his operations with a 
 more considerable force, laid siege to Siseck, situated at 
 the confluence of the Kulpa and the Save, with a view to 
 open a route along the course of the Kulpa. The Austrians 
 did not tamely submit to this invasion of their territories, 
 but, assembling their forces at Carlstadt, attacked the 
 Turks before Siseck, and totally defeated them with the 
 loss of 12,000 men, among whom were the bashaw himself 
 and a nephew of the sultan. Irritated by this defeat, and 
 affected by the loss of his nephew, Amurath published a 
 formal declaration of war, and poured his numerous hordes 
 into Hungary and Croatia. The two following years were 
 passed in various sieges and engagements, attended with 
 alternate success and defeat ; but the advantage ultimately 
 rested on the side of the Turks, by the capture of Siseck 
 and Raab. 
 
 In 1595, a more favourable though temporary turn was 
 given to the Austrian affairs, by the defection of the prince 
 of Transylvania from the Turks. On the elevation of 
 Stephen Bathori to the throne of Poland, his brother 
 Christopher succeeded him as waivode of Transylvania, 
 and dying in 1582, left an infant son, Sigismond, under 
 the protection of the Porte. Sigismond, who possessed 
 the high spirit and talents of his family, had scarcely as-
 
 88 EHODOLPH H. [CH. XL1I4 
 
 sumed the reins of government, before he liberated him- 
 self from the galling yoke of the Turks, and in 159.5 con- 
 cluded an offensive alliance with the house of Austria, on 
 conditions highly honourable to both parties. He was to 
 retain Transylvania as an independent principality, the 
 part of Hungary which he still held, and Moldavia and 
 Wallachia, of which the waivodes had submitted to his 
 authority, and to receive the order of the golden fleece, 
 with the rank of a German prince. The conquests of both 
 parties were to be equally divided ; Sigismond, if driven from 
 Transylvania by the Turks, was to receive a compensation 
 from Rhodolph ; and his territories were to revert to the 
 house of Austria, in failure of heirs male. The alliance, 
 after being confirmed by the states of Hungary and Tran- 
 sylvania, was cemented by the marriage of Sigismond with 
 Christina, daughter of Charles, duke of Styria. 
 
 By this important alliance the house of Austria was de- 
 livered from an enemy who had always divided its efforts, 
 and made a powerful diversion in favour of the Turks. 
 Sigismond signalised himself by his heroic courage and 
 military skill ; uniting with the waivodes of Moldavia and 
 Wallachia, he defeated the grand vizir, Sinan, took Turgo- 
 vitch by storm, and drove the Turks back in disgrace to- 
 wards Constantinople. Assisted by this diversion, the 
 Austrians in Hungary were likewise successful, and not 
 only checked the progress of the Turks, but distinguished 
 their arms by the recovery of Gran and Vissegrad. 
 
 This turn of success roused the sultan Mahomet, the son 
 and successor of Amurath, who inherited the warlike and 
 ferocious character of his ancestors. To restore the lustre 
 of his arms, he put himself, in 1596, at the head of hia 
 forces, led them into Hungary, took Erlau and defeating 
 the Austrians under the archduke Maximilian, the lateness 
 of the season alone prevented him from carrying his arms 
 into Austria and Upper Hungary, which were exposed by 
 the loss of Raab and Erlau. As Mahomet could not a 
 second time tear himself from the seraglio, the war was 
 carried on without vigour, and the season passed rather in 
 truces than in action. But this year, though little distin- 
 guished by military events, was memorable for the cession 
 of Transylvania to Rhodolph, by the brave yet fickle Si-
 
 1576-1 GOG.] AFFAIRS OF HUNGARY. 89 
 
 gismond, in exchange for the lordships of Ratibor and Op- 
 pelen in Silesia, with an annual pension. The emperor 
 was acknowledged by the states, and the archduke Maxi- 
 milian was appointed governor ; but while he was about to 
 take possession of his charge, he was anticipated by Sigis- 
 mond, who under the influence of the same caprice which 
 had induced him to abdicate, escaped from the languor of 
 a private life, and easily regained his abandoned territory. 
 Being soon disgusted with so troublesome a government, 
 which he was unable to retain without becoming dependent 
 on the Turks or the emperor, he again resigned in 1599 
 ' his dignity to his uncle, Andrew, cardinal bishop of Wermia, 
 and retired into PolandV'where he resided with his brother- 
 in-law, the great chancellor Zamoiski. But the new prince 
 did not long enjoy his precarious sovereignty; Michael, 
 waivode of Wallachia, who, on the first abdication of Si- 
 gismond, had returned to his alliance with the sultan, was 
 once more gained by the imperial court, and, after defeating 
 the Turks, united his forces with the Austrians to expel 
 Andrew from Transylvania. Andrew being defeated, and 
 killed in his flight, Michael endeavoured to appropriate 
 Transylvania ; and a contest ensued between him and the 
 imperial general Basta, in which he was worsted. Sigis- 
 mond took advantage of these dissensions, again emerged 
 from his retreat, and appearing in Transylvania, was joy- 
 fully received and acknowledged by his subjects, by whom, 
 notwithstanding all his caprice, he was still beloved. 
 Michael, however, reuniting with Basta against a prince 
 whose presence was equally fatal to the pretensions of 
 both, Sigismond was defeated with the loss of 10,000 men. 
 To prevent a new contest for the sovereignty, the imperial 
 general procured the assassination of his dangerous co- 
 adjutor ; and on the 1st of March, 1602, Sigismond, again 
 resigning his dignity, retired to Lobcovitz, in Bohemia, 
 with an annual pension, under the protection of the em- 
 peror.* On this event Basta took possession of the country 
 without opposition, received the allegiance of the natives, 
 and, in the name of the emperor, confirmed, as before, all 
 their civil and religious privileges. 
 
 * Sigismond continued in this retreat, and closed his turbulent life 
 in tranquillity, in 1613. Isthuanfius, lib. 22, 23.
 
 90 RHODOLPH n. [CH. XLII. 
 
 His cruel and despotic administration driving the natives 
 to despair, they found a chief in Moses Tzekeli, who, with 
 other magnates, after ineffectually opposing the establish- 
 ment of the Austrian government, had sought a refuge 
 among the Turks. Tzekeli, at the head of his fellow exiles, 
 assisted by bodies of Turks and Tartars, entered the 
 country, was joined by numerous adherents, and, having 
 obtained possession of the capital and the adjacent for- 
 tresses, was elected and inaugurated prince of Transylvania. 
 His reign, however, was scarcely more permanent than that 
 of his predecessor ; for, before he could expel the Germans, 
 he was, in 1603, defeated by the new waivode of Wal- 
 lachia, and killed in the confusion of the battle. In con- 
 sequence of this disaster, his followers dispersed, and Basta 
 again recovered possession of the principality. 
 
 During these revolutions in Transylvania, Hungary had 
 been the scene of incessant warfare between the Austrians 
 and the Turks, which exhausted both parties with little 
 advantage to either. The attention of Mahomet was too 
 much occupied by frequent rebellions in his Asiatic domi- 
 nions, and by mutinies of the turbulent janissaries, to carry 
 on the war with effect ; while, on the other side, the great 
 obstacle to the progress of the imperial arms was, the want 
 of money, which rendered it necessary to disband the 
 troops at the close of every campaign. Hence the imperial 
 generals had annually a new army to form ; the troops 
 were each season to be again inured to the Turkish tactics, 
 and to the climate and diet of Hungary ; and thus were 
 lost the winter and commencement of spring, which, in the 
 marshy soil of that country, were the most proper seasons 
 for action. 
 
 Rhodolph had long lost the confidence of his Hungarian 
 subjects. He never, like the former sovereigns, assisted 
 at the diets, nor paid any attention to the interior and ex- 
 terior concerns of the country ; he neglected to fill the 
 great civil and ecclesiastical offices, or conferred them on 
 foreigners, and suffered the important charge of Palatine 
 to remain vacant. He treated the complaints and remon- 
 strances of his subjects with contempt and indifference; 
 and the German troops being free from control, filled the 
 country with devastation and pillage. While, however, he
 
 1576-1606.] RELIGIOUS PERSECUTIONS IN HUNGARY. 91 
 
 abandoned the civil and military affairs to chance, or to 
 the will of his officers, he laboured to fetter his subjects 
 with religious restrictions, and the most intolerant edicts 
 were issued against the Protestants, in various parts of the 
 kingdom. 
 
 Cassau, the seat of the government in Upper Hungary, 
 which was remarkable for the number and prosperity of 
 the Protestant inhabitants, was in a peculiar degree ex- 
 posed to these persecutions. Twenty villages, belonging 
 to the town, were occupied for the maintenance of the mi- 
 litary ; the governor Belgioso, not only prohibited the 
 exercise of the Protestant worship, under pain of death, 
 but, adding insult to cruelty, paraded the city with execu- 
 tioners in his train, and devoted to public punishment 
 those who presumed to murmur against these violations of 
 their rights. 
 
 Even in matters which did not relate to religion, the 
 conduct of Rhodolph was equally impolitic. He suffered 
 his rapacious generals to irritate the magnates, on whose 
 good-will the peace and safety of the country more de- 
 pended than on the strength of his army. Various estates, 
 appropriated by the nobles during the troubles, were re- 
 claimed by the fiscal of the crown ; count Illeshasy, a 
 Protestant, the most distinguished of these magnates in 
 authority and influence, whose great civil and military 
 services deserved a better reward, was deprived of two 
 lordships, and, when he presumed to complain, was accused 
 of high treason and driven into exile. 
 
 The disaffected increasing in numbers, soon found a 
 leader in Stephen Botskai, the principal magnate of Upper 
 Hungary, uncle of Sigismond Bathori, a noble of distin- 
 guished eloquence, enterprising spirit, and military skill. 
 When he repaired to Prague, to represent the deplorable 
 situation of his country, he was never admitted into the 
 presence of the sovereign, and scarcely even of the minis- 
 ters ; and, while he was passing hours in the antechamber, 
 was exposed to all the insults of the court minions. Such 
 contemptuous treatment naturally irritated a man of high 
 rank and independent spirit ; but his resentment was still 
 further inflamed, when, on his return, he found his estates 
 plundered and devastated by order of the governor. .Private
 
 92 RHODOLPH n. [CH. XL11. 
 
 insults and injuries, thus added to public grievances, drove 
 him into rebellion ; he appealed to his countrymen by a 
 spirited manifesto, in which he called upon them to extort 
 by force of arms that redress which was refused to their 
 remonstrances and complaints. 
 
 The people exulting in the prospect of speedy deliver, 
 ance, flocked in crowds to his standard ; he was joined by 
 numbers of heyducs, or foot soldiers, who deserted from 
 the imperial service, and soon found himself at the head of 
 a body of troops sufficient to lay under contribution the 
 estates of the Austrian partisans. On the first intelligence 
 of this revolt, Belgioso collected the troops scattered 
 in the vicinity of Cassau, and marched against him to 
 suppress the rising rebellion ; but the heyducs in his army 
 joining their brethren, the Germans were defeated with 
 great slaughter, and the capture of two generals. En- 
 couraged by this success, the inhabitants of Cassau ex- 
 pelled the Austrian troops, and surrendered the town to 
 Botskai. This loss drew general Basta from Transylvania, 
 who, uniting with Belgioso, laid siege to Cassau, but the 
 want of provisions, and the approach of Botskai, compelled 
 him to retire, while the insurgents rapidly increased in 
 numbers, and made themselves masters of several fortresses 
 in the vicinity. 
 
 The discontents in Transylvania, arising from the same 
 causes as the rebellion in Hungary, greatly contributed to 
 the success of Botskai. After the death of Tzekeli, the 
 government of Basta becoming still more cruel and in- 
 tolerant than before, the country was at once a prey to all 
 the terrors of despotism, and all the horrors of famine and 
 disease. All traces of human industry were swept away 
 from its once fertile plains and fruitful hills ; towns and 
 villages offered nothing but the spectacle of ruin and deso- 
 lation ; corn was bought at the price of gold ; horses, and 
 even domestic animals, were used as food ; and, at length, 
 the people were driven to the tombs to seek a wretched 
 sustenance from the putrid bodies of their fellow creatures. 
 The most dreadful disorders were produced by these exe- 
 crable aliments, and pestilence swept away many of those 
 who had escaped from famine and from the sword. 
 
 From these accumulated calamities the natives of Tran-
 
 1576-1606.] STATE OF HUNGARY. 93 
 
 sylvania sought a deliverance, by applying to Botskai, who 
 had been joined by the remnant of the Transylvanian 
 exiles under Bethlehem Gabor. Botskai was not tardy in 
 obeying their summons. Being in 1604 assisted by a 
 Turkish army, which the new sultan, Achmet, despatched 
 into Transylvania, he soon expelled the Austrians, and was 
 formally inaugurated sovereign. Returning into Hungary 
 in the ensuing year, he was received with regal honours by 
 the Turkish army in the plain of Rakoz. Achmet sent 
 him a club, a sabre, and a standard, and the grand vizir 
 himself placed on his head a diadem which had been worn 
 by the despots of Servia, and proclaimed him king of Hun- 
 gary and prince of Transylvania. But Botskai was too 
 disinterested or too prudent to accept the regal dignity, 
 which he could not claim without the free choice of the 
 nobles, or maintain without being dependent on the Turks ; 
 he therefore declared that he only accepted these honours 
 as proofs of the sultan's friendship, and as the means of 
 recovering the liberties and rights of his aggrieved coun- 
 trymen. He acted, however, with the same vigour and 
 activity as if he had a crown to acquire ; before the close 
 of the campaign he conquered all Upper Hungary, almost 
 to the walls of Presburgh ; at the same time the Turks 
 reduced Gran, Vissegrad, and Novigrad ; while his parti- 
 sans threatened the frontiers of Austria and Styria, and 
 made an irruption almost to Brunn, in Moravia. 
 
 Such was the deplorable state of affairs in a kingdom 
 for which the Austrian princes had maintained nearly 
 eighty years of continual contests, and drained the blood 
 and treasures of their subjects. Almost all Hungary, with 
 Transylvania, which had submitted to the sovereignty of 
 Rhodolph, was possessed either by Botskai or the Turks ; ' 
 and, in another campaign, the house of Austria would not 
 only have been deprived of the small remnant of its Hun- 
 garian possessions, but have seen the enemy in the very 
 heart of its hereditary dominions. Nor was the state of 
 those dominions such as afforded the slightest hope of re- 
 sisting for a moment these accumulated dangers. Bohemia 
 and Austria, with their dependencies, were exhausted and 
 dispirited by a long succession of bloody contests ; the 
 people groaning under a despotic and intolerant govern-
 
 94 RHODOLPH H. [CH. XLH. 
 
 ment, and indignant at the violation of their civil and 
 religious rights, were ready to hail the approach of Botskai, 
 from whom, as a Protestant prince, they expected their 
 deliverance. The empire likewise, which, in former and 
 even recent periods, had poured forth men and treasures 
 against the enemy of Christendom, was again divided by 
 religious feuds, derived from the impolicy and intolerance 
 of Rhodolph ; the Protestants, whom he had offended in the 
 same manner as he had alienated his own subjects, not only 
 withheld the contributions voted by the diet, but were now 
 forming those combinations against their chief, which re- 
 newed the civil wars of Germany. The only ally on whom 
 he was reduced to depend was the Spanish court ; but, in 
 return for their assistance, he was compelled to become the 
 dishonoured instrument of their policy, and, under their 
 impulse, to adopt measures which aggravated his distress, 
 and increased his unpopularity. 
 
 The astonishing apathy displayed by Rhodolph, in the 
 midst of calamities and disorders sufficient to have roused 
 the most stoical indifference, was derived from a change 
 which had been gradually wrought in his character, man- 
 ners, and temper. Unfortunately his love of science had 
 induced him to patronise the celebrated Tycho Brahe, 
 whose acquirements and character were exactly conform- 
 able to his own, and who dishonoured his great talents and 
 real science by a superstitious attachment to the reveries 
 of judicial astrology and alchemy. By his prognostications, 
 Rhodolph was persuaded that his life would be endangered 
 by one of his own blood. This prediction increased the 
 natural distrust of his temper, and contributed to alienate 
 him still more from his brothers and family. In order not 
 to increase the number of his fancied enemies, he evaded 
 the numerous matches which were proposed to him from 
 all quarters ; notwithstanding all the instances of his 
 mother, he declined the hand of Isabella, princess and 
 apparent heiress of Spain, and endeavoured to prevent his 
 brothers from marrying. This fear sunk so deeply into his ^ 
 mind, that he never made his appearance in public, nor 
 attended the worship of the church ; he even caused 
 covered galleries to be built, with oblique windows, that 
 he might pass from his apartments to his stables and
 
 1606-1609.] HIS INCAPACITY TO RULE. 95 
 
 gardens, without being exposed to the danger of assassi- 
 nation. While his dominions were ravaged by the Turks, 
 or desolated by civil war, while enemy on enemy was rising 
 against him, he secluded himself in his palace at Prague, 
 absorbed in gloom and suspicion, or haunted by all the 
 apprehensions which prey on weak, indolent, and super- 
 stitious minds. He sought a refuge from his terrors in his 
 favourite studies and occupations ; he spent his whole time 
 among his astrologers, chemists, painters, turners, en- 
 gravers, and mechanics, or in his botanical gardens, gal- 
 leries of antiquities and natural history ; at his easel, or in 
 his laboratories and observatory. He became hypochon- 
 driac and impatient, irritable almost to frenzy ; refused to 
 admit foreign ambassadors; drove even his confidential 
 ministers from his presence ; and strangers, who were 
 induced to visit the emperor of Germany, could not other- 
 wise gratify their curiosity than by introducing themselves 
 into his stables in the disguise of grooms. He resigned 
 himself to the sway of low-born mistresses, whom he was 
 continually changing ; and, abandoning the reins of govern- 
 ment to his ministers and generals, relieved them from all 
 fear of revision or control, by refusing to receive the re- 
 monstrances and complaints of his subjects. 
 
 CHAP. XLHL 1606-1609. 
 
 THE incapacity of Rhodolph, and the troubles which had 
 resulted from his neglect of affairs, alienated his whole 
 family, and induced Matthias, his brother and presump- 
 tive heir, to rescue his illustrious house from impending 
 destruction, by wresting the reins of government from so 
 feeble and inefficient a hand. 
 
 Matthias, the third son of Maximilian, was born in 
 1557, and, under the celebrated Busbequius, received an 
 education far different from that which his brother owed 
 to the Jesuits. He imbibed a considerable degree of learn 
 ing and a general knowledge of the arts and sciences ; but
 
 96 RHODOLPH H. [CH. XLHI. 
 
 his predominant passion was for the art of war and mili- 
 tary exercises, in which he excelled : from the instructions 
 of his enlightened preceptor, who had passed many years 
 at the court of the sultan, he acquired an intimate ac- 
 quaintance with the manners, customs, and tactics of the 
 Turks, acquisitions which were of the greatest advantage 
 to him when intrusted with the command of the imperial 
 troops in Hungary. 
 
 His active, restless, and amhitious character was so 
 incompatible with the cautious and suspicious temper of 
 his brother Rhodolph, that they lived in perpetual bicker- 
 ings. At length Matthias, whose mind panted for employ- 
 ment, entered into a secret connection with the contending 
 chiefs of the Netherlands, and, contrary to the will of his 
 brother, as well as the interests of Philip II., accepted the 
 government of the insurgent provinces. He secretly 
 quitted Vienna, in 1577, and, unexpectedly appearing at 
 Antwerp, was installed as governor-general, and the prince 
 of Orange appointed his lieutenant. But his authority 
 was of short duration ; for the chiefs of the respective fac- 
 tions only wished to rule under his name ; for the States, 
 who had called him to the government with the hope of 
 obtaining foreign assistance, were disappointed when they 
 perceived that he was not supported by his brother, or by 
 the empire, and conferred the sovereignty on Francis, duke 
 of Anjou, brother to the king of France. In 1580, Mat- 
 thias resigned his difficult sovereignty with good humour, 
 and received the public thanks of the States. Being left 
 destitute of support, and unable to return home, or repair 
 to Spain, he applied for the bishopric of Liege, through 
 the interest of the prince of Orange ; but was thwarted by 
 the interposition of the Spanish and imperial courts, and 
 obtained with difficulty the grant of a pension from the 
 States, which was ill paid and soon withdrawn. At length, 
 by the mediation of his mother, he received permission to 
 return into Austria, in 1581, yet he was not admitted into 
 the presence of the emperor, and was compelled to take up 
 his abode at Lintz, where he lived for some time in a state 
 of humiliation, neglect, and penury. This abject state 
 deeply affecting his sanguine and ardent mind, he offered 
 to resign all pretensions to the Austrian succession, for
 
 1606-1609.] MATTHIAS. 97 
 
 the petty lordship of Steyer, as an independent establish- 
 ment. On the death of Stephen Bathori, he presented 
 himself, in 1587, as a candidate for the throne of Poland, 
 but met with no encouragement, because the emperor gave 
 his whole support to his younger brother Maximilian. 
 
 At length the embarrassments of Rhodolph compelling 
 him to have recourse to the services of his humiliated 
 brother, Matthias was appointed governor of Austria. He 
 was, in 1593, intrusted with the command of the army in 
 Hungary, where he signalised himself, on different occa- 
 sions, against the Turks. 
 
 In 1595 he became, by the death of his brother Ernest, 
 the presumptive heir to Rhodolph, and from that period 
 seems to have held offices of high trust and command. 
 But the suspicion which Rhodolph had conceived from his 
 former conduct, and the jealousy arising from their dis- 
 cordant characters, was never obliterated ; while the disgust 
 which Matthias, on his part, fostered against his weak and 
 imprudent brother, was aggravated by the refusal of Rho- 
 dolph to give him a proper establishment, and permit him 
 to marry. He bore, however, these mortifications with 
 more policy or patience than seemed consistent with his 
 ardent temper, and, as administrator of Austria and go- 
 vernor of Hungary, performed essential services. At the 
 same time he was silently preparing to avail himself of 
 that crisis which he foresaw must soon arrive, from the 
 impolicy and weakness of Rhodolph ; he was careful not 
 to create alarm or provoke opposition by a premature dis- 
 closure of his plans, till circumstances imperiously called 
 for his presence. He laboured to conciliate his brothers 
 and relatives, and to obtain the confidence of the Catholics ; 
 he also acquired the good-will of the Protestants, both in 
 the empire and the Austrian territories, by affecting the 
 candour and toleration of his father ; and even when he 
 had reduced the rebellious peasants of Austria by arms, he 
 retained a claim on their gratitude, by softening the rigour 
 of the conditions which Rhodolph had imposed. 
 
 He thus increased in popularity and influence, in pro- 
 portion as Rhodolph sunk into contempt and ridicule ; and 
 when total ruin seemed to impend over the house of 
 Austria, he was pointed out, by the hopes and wishes of 
 
 VOL. u. E
 
 98 RHODOLPH H. [CH XLIH. 
 
 all, as the only prince who could avert the impending 
 calamities. At the commencement of the disastrous year 
 of 1606, he held a meeting with his brother Maximilian, 
 and his cousins Ferdinand and Maximilian Ernest, two 
 princes of the Styrian line, and on the 25th of April, 
 1606, concluded with them a secret compact, by which, in 
 consequence of the incapacity of Rhodolph, they declared 
 him the head of their house, promised their counsel and 
 assistance, and engaged to support his interests at the next 
 election of a king of the Romans. This compact was soon 
 afterwards confirmed by the archduke Albert, sovereign of 
 the Low Countries.* 
 
 Matthias, though thus far successful in the most difficult 
 part of his plan, could not avail himself of the compact 
 until he was secure on the side of Hungary. He gained 
 Illeshinsky, the prime minister of Botskai, by the offer of 
 the dignity of palatine ; and by his intervention, proposed 
 to his master the most liberal terms, from a consciousness 
 that Botskai was labouring under a mortal disorder. As 
 the favourable tenor of these conditions, and the situation 
 of both parties, did not admit of contention or delay, a 
 peace was concluded at Vienna, on the 23rd of July. Bot- 
 skai was to retain Transylvania, with the whole district of 
 Hungary beyond the Teiss, the fortresses of Tokay and 
 Zatmar, and the two provinces of Bereg and Ugotz, as an 
 hereditary sovereignty, to revert, on his death without 
 heirs, to the house of Austria. Matthias, in the name of 
 the emperor, not only granted general toleration to the 
 Protestants, whether Lutherans or Calvinists, but declared 
 them eligible to all offices and dignities. The office of pa- 
 latine was to be again restored, and all charges to be con- 
 ferred only on natives. Finally both parties agreed to 
 unite against the Turks, should they refuse to accede to 
 honourable terms of peace. 
 
 Assisted by the intervention of Botskai, Matthias after- 
 wards completed the pacification of Hungary, by con- 
 cluding a truce with the sultan for twenty years, on the 
 condition that both parties should retain possession of the 
 territories which they then held. This truce did honour 
 
 * See this curious document in Goldastus, Appendix, p. 223.
 
 1606-1609.] HIS TREATMENT OF MATTHIAS. 99 
 
 to the spirit and vigour of Matthias, as it was the first 
 instance in which the sultan had condescended to treat the 
 emperor on terms of equality, or to address him by his 
 acknowledged title. He was, however, to receive 200,000 
 dollars as a voluntary gift, which was not to be again re- 
 peated ; and thus ceased the dishonourable tribute, which 
 the two preceding princes of the house of Austria had paid 
 to the enemy of Christendom. 
 
 Although Rhodolph had entrusted Matthias with full 
 powers, and although the pacification of Vienna was neces- 
 sary as well as advantageous, he expressed himself highly 
 dissatisfied with its tenor, withheld his ratification, and even 
 summoned a diet of the empire to demand succours for 
 the prosecution of the war. This refusal was, however, of 
 the utmost disadvantage to his interests ; for Botskai dying 
 soon after the conclusion of the peace, the people of Tran- 
 sylvania refused to return under the Austrian yoke, and 
 chose Sigismond Ragotski, who was supported by the 
 Turks ; while a disaffected party in Hungary, attempting 
 to prevent the incorporation of the ceded districts, fur- 
 nished Matthias with a pretext for raising considerable 
 levies of troops. Rhodolph was doubtless induced to 
 adopt this measure from a discovery of the secret compact, 
 and a suspicion of the purposes of Matthias, which could 
 not long be concealed from so distrustful a sovereign. The 
 king of Spain had never forgiven the conduct of Matthias 
 in the Netherlands, and had watched, with a jealous eye, 
 his connections with the Protestants ; lie therefore seized 
 this opportunity to exert his influence over the timid mind 
 of the emperor ; and, by instigating him to bring forward 
 his cousin Ferdinand, of the Styrian line, as his successor, 
 obtained the co-operation of Maximilian and Albert. As 
 the first step for the execution of this plan, Rhodolph ap- 
 pointed, on the 12th of January, 1608, Ferdinand his 
 commissary to preside at the diet of Ratisbon, and en- 
 deavoured to excite the states of the empire against 
 Matthias, by a rescript which contained a bitter condemn- 
 ation of his conduct. He recapitulated all his acts of 
 disobedience, from his imprudent enterprise in the Nether- 
 lands, to the conclusion of the peace ; he not only stigma- 
 tised his real faults and ambitious purposes, but even 
 
 H 2
 
 100 RHODOLPH n. [c 
 
 inveighed against him for persecuting the Protestants, 
 charged him with fomenting rebellion, and attributed to 
 him all the disasters which were derived from the dilatory 
 conduct of the war, and his own refusal to ratify the 
 peace. He expatiated on his presumption, in concluding 
 a dishonourable peace with the Turks ; on his traitorous 
 correspondence in the empire ; accused him of endeavour- 
 ing to prevent the grant of the necessary succours against 
 the common enemy of Christendom, and concluded this 
 philippic with calling on the electors, as the pillars and 
 supporters of the empire, to prevent the diminution of the 
 imperial authority. At the same time he arrested an agent 
 who had been sent by Matthias to the Protestant princes 
 with a copy of the family compact ; and, by this discovery, 
 furnished a pretext for Ferdinand, and the other arch- 
 dukes, to publish a formal renunciation of their agreement, 
 and a protestation against the designs of Matthias. 
 
 Matthias had now no other alternative but to yield to 
 his offended brother, or to carry his purposes into execution 
 by open force. He proceeded, however, with the same 
 adroit and measured policy which he had hitherto pur- 
 sued, and gave to his disobedience the appearance of zeal 
 for the fulfilment of public engagements, concluded under 
 the authority of the emperor, and of a just resentment for 
 unmerited injuries. In February, 1608, he assembled a 
 diet of the Hungarian states at Presburgh, to which depu- 
 ties from those of Austria were invited ; and conciliated 
 the whole body of Protestants by promising to those of 
 Hungary a confirmation of their religious rights, and by 
 granting various civil privileges, which were equally ad- 
 vantageous to both Catholics and Protestants. He there- 
 fore easily obtained from the diet a ratification of the peace 
 of Vienna, and induced the states to conclude a confederacy 
 with the deputies of Austria, by which they agreed to 
 resist all who should contravene the execution of the 
 peace, and bound themselves to consider as their enemies 
 all who should injure or attack any member of the league. 
 He then repaired to Vienna, obtained the consent of the 
 Austrian states to the confederacy of Presburgh, and even 
 drew from them a grant of subsidies for the pay of 
 troops, which he was levying to quell the discontents
 
 1606-1609.] MATTHIAS'S GOOD SUCCESS. 101 
 
 in Hungary. With his usual good fortune he even suc- 
 ceeded in this object : he renewed the truce with the 
 bashaw of Buda ; by his connections with the Protestant 
 chiefs, he not only pacified the discontented nobles in Hun- 
 gary, who were on the point of placing a rival on the 
 throne, but gained even from them a considerable acces- 
 sion of strength ; and left the Transylvanians to exhaust 
 themselves by their mutual contentions. He thus freed 
 himself from enemies who would have embarrassed all his 
 operations if they had not frustrated his enterprise, and 
 was enabled to direct his whole attention to the execution 
 of a design which he had matured with such address and 
 perseverance. Having next gained the Moravians, by 
 means of the Protestant nobles, who were dissatisfied with 
 the emperor, the states of the province, in an assembly at 
 Ewanczitz, acceded to the confederacy of Presburgh. He 
 thus obtained a virtual if not a formal declaration of war 
 against his brother ; and at the same time collected troops 
 from all quarters to prosecute his advantages, and avail 
 himself of the confederacy. 
 
 The impending danger did not for some time rouse Rho- 
 dolph from his apathy, and he neglected the wise remon- 
 strances of his experienced generals to levy troops, and 
 crush the rebellion in its infancy. At length he made 
 tardy preparations for resistance, by drawing troops into 
 Moravia, and appealing to the states of the empire ; but 
 this measure contributed to ruin his declining cause ; for 
 his levies, though too feeble to render effectual assistance, 
 aggravated by their licentiousness the discontents in Mo- 
 ravia, and increased the party of his rival. As a last 
 effort, Rhodolph endeavoured to deprive Matthias of the 
 pretext, under which he cloked his designs, by sending to 
 him the cardinal bishop of Olmutz, with a promise to 
 ratify the peace of Vienna, provided he would dissolve the 
 confederacy of Presburgh, and follow the example of the 
 other archdukes in renouncing the family compact. He 
 offered pardon for all past offences, and promised to hold a 
 meeting within six months, to enter into a negotiation with 
 his brother and the states of his different dominions. 
 
 But the plans of Matthias being now matured, he did 
 not suffer himself to be amused with vague proposals. He 
 
 H S
 
 102 iraoDOLrn n. [CH. XLIH. 
 
 replied, that far from wishing to disturb, his intention was 
 to restore the peace of the house of Austria and Christen- 
 dom ; that his brother, if desirous, might ratify the treaty 
 of Vienna, at a place where he purposed to assemble the 
 principal members of the Austrian states, and where all 
 things might be arranged which related to the safety or 
 grandeur of the family. After appointing Znaim, in Mo- 
 ravia, for the rendezvous of his troops, he left Vienna at 
 the head of 10,000 men ; and, before he quitted Austria, 
 issued an appeal for the purpose of justifying his conduct, 
 and conciliating the Bohemian states. " I could not," he 
 said, " see with indifference the ruin of my illustrious 
 house. To obviate the troubles derived from the delay in 
 ratifying the peace of Vienna, I formed an union at Pres- 
 burgh between the states of Hungary and Austria, to 
 which the accession of Bohemia and its dependencies is 
 required ; and as the Moravians have already joined the 
 confederacy, I trust that the states of the kingdom, with 
 its other dependencies, will assemble at Czaslau, where I 
 shall appear on the 4th of May, to concert measures for 
 completing this necessary arrangement." 
 
 Continuing his march, he found the states of Moravia 
 assembled at Znaim, and was received with general accla- 
 mations. He halted a few days to complete the junction 
 of his forces, and when his army amounted to 25,000 men, 
 he passed the frontiers of Bohemia. In his route he was 
 met by two ambassadors from the electors of Saxony and 
 Brandenburgh, who endeavoured to suspend his progress, 
 by declaring that their sovereigns would assist the emperor 
 with their whole force, and by a deputation from the Bohe- 
 mian states, demanding an explicit declaration of his pur- 
 poses. But .these threats and entreaties had no effect on a 
 prince of so decisive and enterprising a temper, who was 
 sensible that the success of his design solely depended on 
 vigour and celerity ; he briefly replied, that he would 
 arrange the business, and declare his intentions at Czaslau. 
 
 Reaching Czaslau on the 10th of May, and finding none 
 of the Bohemian states assembled, he repeated his former 
 summons ; he was instantly obeyed by those whose lands 
 were exposed to his arms, and by those whom his presence 
 encouraged to declare their attachment to his cause. Here
 
 1606-1609.] GENERAL DIET HELD AT PRAGUE. 103 
 
 he no longer concealed his purposes ; but to those few who 
 appeared announced his resolution to demand the govern- 
 ment of Hungary, Austria, and Bohemia, and security for 
 his undisturbed succession after the death of his brother. 
 Without wasting his time in unnecessary delays or useless 
 discussions, he rapidly continued his march towards 
 Prague. 
 
 Rhodolph was awakened from his dream of indolence. by 
 the first reply of Matthias. The approach of danger in- 
 creased his alarm ; and when his brother entered Bohemia, 
 he summoned a meeting of the states at Prague. The 
 whole kingdom was instantly in motion ; for all the mem- 
 bers of the states, except count Thurn, and a few discon- 
 tented Protestants, obeyed the summons. Rhodolph, who 
 had so long secluded himself within the precincts of his 
 palace, was induced to open the assembly in person, and 
 the curiosity of the populace, who doubted the existence 
 of their sovereign, could not be gratified till the covered 
 galleries which formed the principal communications of 
 his palace were demolished, that he might be exposed to 
 public view in his passage. This meeting, consisting of 
 so many different sects, surrounded by dangers and alarms, 
 was a scene of altercation and violence. The Protestants, 
 who formed the majority, took this opportunity to extort 
 from the necessities of Rhodolph those civil and religious 
 indulgencies which they could not otherwise obtain. They 
 demanded a general toleration, which had been granted by 
 Maximilian, but not confirmed by Rhodolph, with the 
 abolition of the compacts, except the article relative to 
 the communion under two kinds, and the permission to 
 build churches, and to have their own burial grounds. 
 They required the exclusion of foreigners from civil and 
 ecclesiastical offices, that priests should not be allowed 
 to interfere in political affairs, and that the Jesuits should 
 not purchase lands without the approbation of the three 
 estates. These and other articles were subscribed by two 
 hundred lords and three hundred knights, and by all the 
 deputies of the towns, except those of Pilsen, Budweis, 
 and Kathen. A nobleman, who ventured to express his 
 disapprobation, was threatened to be hurled from the win- 
 dow ; and the subscribers bound themselves to punish 
 
 H 4
 
 104 RHODOLPH n. [CH. XLIH. 
 
 severely those who should oppose the confirmation of their 
 demands, and to embrace the party of Matthias, should 
 the emperor refuse his ratification. 
 
 In the midst of these transactions, ambassadors arrived 
 from the camp of Matthias ; they declared, that his reason 
 for entering Bohemia with an armed force was to compel 
 the weak and indolent emperor to cede to him the crown 
 of Bohemia, and retire into the Tyrol ; and promised, in 
 his name, to confirm all the privileges of the nation. Em- 
 boldened by this offer, the members of the states flocked to 
 the palace, tumultuously requiring to be admitted into the 
 presence of their sovereign. When Rhodolph appeared, 
 count Schlick, the head of the Protestant party, delivered 
 to him the articles before detailed, and requested him, in 
 the name of the states, to confirm them. Rhodolph replied, 
 that he must take some time to consult with his ministers, 
 before he could give an answer to such important points ; 
 but they pressed their demand with such vehemence, that 
 the emperor with alarm and amazement exclaimed, " What 
 must I do ? " They replied, that he must quickly declare 
 whether he would or would not consent to their request ; 
 and Rhodolph, whose situation did not admit of delay, con- 
 firmed most of the articles, but contrived to refer those 
 relating to religion to the ensuing diet. 
 
 The deputies and the populace were thus satisfied, and 
 troops, flocking from all quarters to Prague, in a few days 
 formed an army of 36,000 men. The natives, exasperated 
 against the Austrians and Hungarians for the depredations 
 which they had committed in their passage, called upon 
 the emperor to expel Matthias from the country ; but the 
 archdukes Ferdinand and Maximilian, the papal nuncio, 
 and the German princes, recommended an accommodation, 
 Rhodolph, whose spirit sunk under his calamities, con- 
 sented ; and his ambassadors met those of Matthias at 
 Dubertz, between Prague and his camp. As the deputies 
 of Matthias claimed the confirmation of his succession to 
 the crown of Bohemia, and even insisted that the adminis- 
 tration should be immediately vested in him, the conference 
 was broken off, and Matthias advanced still nearer to 
 Prague. On his approach, the inhabitants took up arms, 
 and occupied the Ziskaberg, while the rest of the troops
 
 1606-1609.] HE CONCILIATES MATTHIAS. 105 
 
 were posted on the surrounding eminences. Skirmishes 
 ensued between the irregulars on both sides ; but, as the 
 two armies were on the point of engaging, overtures were 
 again made, and accepted by Rhodolph. The same am- 
 bassadors met at Lieben, and, after a negotiation of four 
 days, finally agreed that Rhodolph should cede to Matthias 
 Hungary, Austria, and Moravia, deliver up to him the 
 Hungarian crown and regalia, and confirm the pacification 
 of Vienna ; that the states, at the request of the emperor, 
 should declare Matthias his successor to the crown of Bo- 
 hemia, should he die without issue male, under the con- 
 dition of ratifying their rights and privileges ; and that 
 Matthias should assume the title of appointed king of 
 Bohemia. At the conclusion of this agreement, the crown 
 and sceptre of Hungary being surrendered by order of 
 Rhodolph, Matthias, with great pomp, received them at the 
 head of his army. He soon afterwards quitted Bohemia, 
 and made his triumphant entry into Vienna. 
 
 Matthias found it a much easier task to wrest a sove- 
 reignty from his indolent and distrustful brother than to 
 satisfy the claims of those whom he had incited by pro- 
 mises and encouragements to revolt. His embarrassments 
 commenced with the first measures of his government. He 
 assembled, on the 12th of July, 1608, the states of Austria 
 to receive their allegiance ; but the Protestants, who 
 formed the majority, refused to comply, till he had re- 
 established the toleration which had been abolished by 
 Rhodolph, and restored many of the civil privileges, of 
 which they had been deprived. The Protestants of the 
 district above the Ems, instead of waiting for his answer, 
 re-established their worship in Lintz, Steyer, and Gemun- 
 den ; and the lord of Inzendorf, a town near the capital, 
 opened his church to the burghers. Matthias was greatly 
 perplexed by this conduct ; for he was not influenced by 
 the liberal principles of his father, nor even inclined to 
 fulfil the promises which he had lavished to purchase the 
 assistance of the Protestants. He therefore arrested the 
 lord of Inzendorf, and commanded his church to be closed ; 
 he required from the states a simple homage, unaccom- 
 panied by any capitulation; and he endeavoured to justify 
 himself by the quibbling assertion, that as the cession of
 
 106 RIIODOLPII II. [CH. XLIIL 
 
 Rhodolph had conferred on him an hereditary title, he was 
 no more obliged to enter into a capitulation than Rhodolph 
 himself. He attempted to pacify them by a vague and 
 general promise, that he would confirm all their privileges ; 
 but, at the same time, expressed his resolution to extort 
 their homage by force. 
 
 The Protestants had too recently seen the example of 
 successful rebellion in Matthias himself, to be alarmed at 
 his threats, or satisfied with his cajolery. They therefore 
 retired from Vienna to Horn, and sent a message to the 
 Catholics, warning them not to yield a separate homage ; 
 they, at the same time, ordered a levy of every fifth man, 
 occupied and provisioned several of the neighbouring for- 
 tresses, claimed the assistance of the Hungarians and Mo- 
 ravians, in virtue of the confederacy of Presburgh, and 
 leagued with the united Protestants of the empire. 
 
 Such being the serious aspect of affairs in Austria, 
 Matthias hastened to Presburgh with a view to detach the 
 Hungarians, and prevent the confederacy of Presburgh 
 from proving as fatal to himself as it had been to his 
 brother. He made a triumphant entry into the capital, 
 and carried back the sacred crown and regalia, of which 
 the kingdom had been deprived seventy years, with a 
 pomp and splendour, which were calculated to dazzle the 
 imaginations and flatter the prejudices of his subjects. 
 But the states were not to be captivated with pageants ; 
 sensible of the value of their support, they determined not 
 to grant it, except on the confirmation of those privileges, 
 which he had promised when governor ; and they digested 
 their claims into a regular capitulation which they pre- 
 sented to him for his acceptance. Tt contained a full tole- 
 ration for the Lutherans and the Calvinists, and confirmed 
 their eligibility to all offices of the state. All posts of 
 trust or honour were to be immediately taken from fo- 
 reigners, and, in future, conferred on none but natives. 
 The crown of St. Stephen, and the regalia, were to be 
 deposited at Presburgh, and guarded by laics ; a palatine 
 was to be immediately chosen from four candidates equally 
 taken by the king from Catholics and Protestants. The 
 king was to reside in Hungary, but, if absent, on important 
 occasions, the government was to be vested in the palatine
 
 1606-1609.] DIFFICULTIES OVERCOME. 107 
 
 and council of regency, chosen jointly by his majesty and 
 the states. In addition to these stipulations, the Jesuits 
 were not to be admitted into the kingdom, and the au- 
 thority of ecclesiastics was to be lessened. The foreign 
 troops were to evacuate the country, on the conclusion of 
 a peace with the Turks ; no German garrisons were to be 
 admitted into the Hungarian fortresses, except Raab and 
 Comrnora, and even in those places the commander was to 
 be a native Hungarian ; finally, war was not to be declared 
 without the consent of the states. 
 
 Conditions so hostile to the regal prerogative were far 
 from being grateful to Matthias ; but his newly acquired 
 dignities depended on his decision. His Austrian subjects 
 were in open revolt, the Moravians were inclined to join 
 them, and the least hesitation would have added the Hun- 
 garians to his enemies. Rhodolph was secretly tampering 
 with his former subjects, and was ready to recover their 
 allegiance, by the restoration of privileges which he had 
 before abolished ; above all, Matthias had reason to dread 
 the returning partiality, which, after the first impulse of 
 rebellion, subjects naturally feel for a deposed sovereign. 
 He was therefore reduced to the necessity of signing these 
 conditions, however galling to his feelings or derogatory to 
 his dignity, and to carry them into immediate execution. 
 Though reluctant, he removed the Germans from those 
 posts which were the reward of their faithful services to 
 his family, to confer them on natives, whose fidelity was 
 doubtful ; Illeshasy was elected palatine, and was the first 
 Protestant ever raised to that important office. These and 
 the other conditions being scrupulously fulfilled, Matthias 
 was unanimously elected, and on the 19th of November, 
 inaugurated in the usual forms. 
 
 This compliance produced the desired effect. The states 
 of Hungary, having secured their own privileges, were 
 unwilling to irritate Matthias, by supporting the interests 
 of others ; they, therefore, returned a repulsive answer to 
 the Austrian deputies, exhorting them to make peace with 
 their sovereign, and declaring, that their union was not 
 merely confined to the Protestants, but extended equally 
 to the Catholics. 
 
 Having thus arranged this delicate transaction, Matthias
 
 108 RHODOLPH H. [CH. XLIV. 
 
 returned to Vienna with the resolution of quelling the 
 Protestant revolt. Instigated by the papal legate, by his 
 cousin Leopold, bishop of Passau, and above all, by his 
 favourite and confidential adviser, Melchior Klesel, bishop 
 of Vienna, and encouraged by the loyalty of the Catholics, 
 who armed in support of his cause, he denounced im- 
 mediate vengeance against all the Protestants if they per- 
 sisted in their rebellion. But though he had evaded one 
 difficulty, by conciliating the Hungarians, he had not re- 
 lieved himself from all. The Moravians, who had been 
 equally applied to by the Austrian malecontents, proffered 
 their mediation, and evinced a resolution to support their 
 Protestant brethren ; and he had reason to apprehend that 
 the German Protestants would interfere in the dispute. 
 He therefore prudently accepted the mediation of the Mo- 
 ravian states, and, after some conferences, agreed, on the 
 19th of March, 1609, to the celebrated capitulation, which 
 restored to the Austrian Protestants all the religious privi- 
 leges and immunities which they had enjoyed under Maxi- 
 milian. This accommodation was followed by the general 
 homage of all the Austrian states. 
 
 CHAP. XLIV. 1609-1612. 
 
 HAVING thus relieved himself from these embarrassments, 
 Matthias returned into Hungary to keep his turbulent sub- 
 jects in awe, and was making preparations for the recovery 
 of Transylvania, when the conduct of his brother again 
 recalled him into Bohemia. 
 
 The privileges which the Protestants of Austria, Hun- 
 gary, and Moravia had obtained from Matthias, excited the 
 hopes of their brethren in Bohemia, who aspired to recover 
 all the religious immunities which had been granted by 
 Maximilian and abolished by Rhodolph. Confiding in 
 their numbers, encouraged by the degraded situation of 
 Rhodolph, and secretly abetted by Matthias, they resolved 
 to extort, by force of arms, what they could not obtain by 
 petitions and remonstrances.
 
 1609-1612.] DIET AT PUAGTJE. 109 
 
 When the troops of Matthias had evacuated Bohemia, 
 Rhodolph, in compliance with his promise, summoned a 
 diet to take into consideration the affairs of the kingdom. 
 The Protestants refused to enter upon the discussion of 
 civil affairs, until the freedom of religious worship was un- 
 equivocally granted ; but the emperor, who had not learnt 
 prudence even from adversity, replied, that he would not 
 contravene the ancient laws, which tolerated only the Ca- 
 tholics and Calixtins ; and declared that the religious 
 freedom, granted by Maximilian, was no longer in force. 
 He failed in dividing by this subterfuge the real Calixtins 
 from the Protestants ; for the former, foreseeing that their 
 privileges would expire with the exclusion of the other 
 sects, wisely declared themselves in union with the Pro- 
 testants ; but Rhodolph, encouraged by the Catholics, and 
 impelled by the baleful influence of the Jesuits, persisted 
 in rejecting their demands. 
 
 After much altercation and clamour, the diet was dis- 
 solved without coming to any conclusion. Before the sepa- 
 ration, however, the Protestants, who formed the majority, 
 indicated the meeting of a new diet, on the 4th of May, in 
 the council house of the new town of Prague, and sent 
 deputies to Matthias and the Protestant princes of Germany, 
 imploring their mediation and support. They assembled 
 at the appointed time and place, notwithstanding the pro- 
 hibition of their sovereign, conducted the proceedings in 
 the usual forms, by requiring the attendance of the great 
 officers of state, and prepared to reiterate their demands of 
 religious toleration, if not to extort the acquiescence of 
 Rhodolph by force. 
 
 An alarm being either accidentally or purposely spread, 
 that troops were advancing to disperse them, the whole party 
 was instantly in motion : and, in less than half an hour, a 
 body of 1200 horse, composed of the deputies and their re- 
 tainers, and 10,000 of the populace were in arms. This inci- 
 dent convincing the emperor of the popularity of their 
 cause, and the strength of their party, he endeavoured to 
 pacify them by vague and contradictory promises. His offers 
 inflamed instead of allaying the ferment ; the Protestants 
 proceeded to organise a system which might enable them to 
 extort the fulfilment of their demands, and which they termed
 
 110 KHODOLPH II. [CH. XLIV. 
 
 " a plan for the defence of their king and country, and the 
 preservation of their civil and religious rights." They de- 
 creed the levy of an army, of which they nominated Henry, 
 count of Thurn, and two other nobles, their generals, and 
 appointed thirty directors or deputies, representing the 
 three estates, to act as a permanent council. Finally, they 
 strengthened their cause, by concluding a confederacy with 
 the deputies who had been sent by the states of Silesia to 
 Prague, to obtain freedom of worship. 
 
 The effects of this confederacy were instantaneous ; the 
 decree was scarcely issued before the generals levied a force 
 of 3000 foot and 2000 horse, and this number was rapidly 
 increasing. The emperor, who had drawn the storm on 
 his head without the means of resistance, still persevered 
 in his infatuation, and was with difficulty induced to yield 
 to the remonstrances of his Catholic counsellors, and even 
 of the Spanish ambassador. At last the apprehension of a 
 new appeal to his brother, extorted from him what neither 
 justice nor policy could before induce him to grant ; he 
 signified his unqualified assent to all the demands of his 
 subjects, by the publication of a royal letter, or edict, bear- 
 ing date July 5. 1609. To all members of the states, who 
 received the communion under two kinds, (under which 
 general expression all Protestants were included,) he 
 granted a full toleration of religious worship, to the same 
 extent as it had been conferred by Maximilian. They were 
 to enjoy the power of building churches and founding 
 schools ; to have their own ecclesiastical consistory ; and, as 
 a security for their religious privileges, were to choose cer- 
 tain chiefs, under the title of defenders of their faith, who 
 were to be confirmed by the sovereign, and whose office 
 was to watch over the affairs of religion and prevent any 
 infringement of this edict. Finally, to preclude all possi- 
 bility of change or abrogation, a clause was annexed, de- 
 claring null all future ordinances contrary to this act, 
 issued either by the sovereign or his successors.* 
 
 The Protestants, however gratified by these concessions, 
 did not lay down their arms until they had obtained simi- 
 lar conditions for their fellow confederates, the Silesians. 
 
 Pelzel, p. 653. ; Goldastus has preserved this curious document, 
 vol. ii. append, p. 368.
 
 1609-1612.] DISCONTENT OF HIS SUBJECTS. Ill 
 
 They then endeavoured to restore tranquillity, by conclud- 
 ing an agreement with the Catholics for a general amnesty, 
 and entering into engagements for the preservation of 
 peace, which were signed by the king, and all the mem- 
 bers of the states, except two Catholic nobles, William of 
 Slavata, and Yaroslaf of Martinetz. In consequence of 
 this accommodation, the churches where the Protestant 
 worship had been performed were again opened, and even 
 in the same villages, instead of mutual jealousy and perse- 
 cution, the different sects again offered up their respective 
 devotions in mutual cordiality and forbearance. 
 
 Humbled and dishonoured in his own dominions, Rho- 
 dolph could not turn his eyes to Germany without behold- 
 ing new dangers and new humiliations, derived from the 
 same negligence and the same perverse system of policy 
 which had given rise to his recent disgraces. In the midst 
 of his contest with the Bohemians, the embassy from the 
 united Protestants reached Prague on the 20th of May, 
 1609. The prince of Anhalt laid before him the list of their 
 grievances, launched out into the bitterest expressions against 
 his indolence and the corruption and incapacity of his mi- 
 nisters, and stigmatised, with the most mortifying severity, 
 his refusal to ratify the peace with the Turks. After a 
 long and laboured invective, he required him to restore 
 Donawerth to all its civil and religious rights ; to rescind 
 the iniquitous processes of the Aulic council ; to reform 
 that tribunal, and the council of regency, by removing the 
 corrupt and inefficient members, and admitting in their 
 stead others chosen equally from the Protestants and Catho- 
 lics, who should be recommended by the electors as more 
 experienced in the affairs of the empire, and more inclined 
 to pacific measures. He concluded with a threat, that, if 
 these requests were not granted, the evangelical states 
 would, under the protection of God, take upon themselves 
 the redress of their grievances. 
 
 An equivocal and frivolous answer being returned to 
 these urgent demands, the prince obtained a second au- 
 dience. Rhodolph, contrary to his custom, opened the con- 
 ference by observing, " that he had ordered an answer to 
 be expedited, which he trusted would be satisfactory, as he
 
 112 RHODOLPH H. [CH. XLIV. 
 
 was greatly embarrassed with other affairs ; at the same 
 time he expressed the hope, that his prince would use his 
 endeavours to pacify his co-estates, and prevent a repeti- 
 tion of similar remonstrances." The prince replied in a 
 language which seldom meets the ear of a sovereign, and 
 which must have been peculiarly galling to Rhodolph, who 
 in his seclusion was surrounded only by low-born favour- 
 ites, or obsequious ministers : " As I fear," he said, " that 
 this answer will rather tend to prolong the dispute than to 
 tranquillise the united princes, I am bound in duty to re- 
 present to your imperial majesty the dangerous flame which 
 I now see bursting forth in Germany, and of which the 
 affair of Donawerth, and the contested succession of Juliers 
 and Cleves, are the principal causes ; while the Bohemian 
 commotions are far from being appeased, and a new storm 
 is gathering in Austria. Your counsellors are ill adapted 
 to extinguish this rising flame ; those counsellors who have 
 brought you into such imminent danger, and who have 
 nearly destroyed public confidence, credit, and prosperity, 
 throughout your dominions. I must likewise exhort your 
 imperial majesty to take all important affairs into consider- 
 ation yourself, entreating you to recollect the example of 
 Julius Caesar, who, had he not neglected to read the note 
 presented to him as he was going to the capitol, would not 
 have received the twenty wounds which caused his death." 
 The last remark was a thunder-stroke to the terrified ima- 
 gination of Rhodolph, who was continually disturbed by 
 astrological predictions ; nor was he tranquillised until he 
 had extorted from the prince repeated assurances, that the 
 allusion to Julius Caesar was not intended as a threat of 
 assassination, and that he was unacquainted with any plots 
 in Bohemia and Austria not already known to the public. 
 After many representations and remonstrances, the em- 
 peror at length delivered a more specific answer ; he pro- 
 mised to expedite the proceedings of the Aulic council, in 
 such a manner that the princes should have no just cause 
 of complaint, to ameliorate his administration, and to re- 
 store Donawerth to its former condition within four 
 months, or as soon as the 300,000 florins, demanded by 
 the duke of Bavaria for the reimbursement of his expenses.
 
 1609-1612.] CIVIL TROUBLES OF THE EMPIRE. 113 
 
 should be repaid.* The fulfilment of these promises, if it 
 was ever intended, was prevented by the civil troubles 
 which soon afterwards arose in the empire, and continued 
 during the remainder of Rhodolph's reign. The principal 
 cause of these troubles was the contest for the succession 
 of Cleves and Juliers, alluded to by the prince of Anhalt. 
 
 John William, duke of Cleves, Juliers, and Berg, count 
 of La Marc and Ravensberg, and lord of Ravenstein, dying 
 March 25. 1609, without issue, his succession was con- 
 tested by various claimants. The first was Joachim Fre- 
 deric, elector of Brandenburgh, in right of his deceased 
 wife, Anne, for his eldest son, Ernest. She was daughter 
 of Maria Leonora, the eldest sister of the late duke, who 
 espoused Albert, duke of Prussia, and in whose contract of 
 marriage it was stipulated that, in failure of heirs male, 
 the whole succession should revert to her and her heirs. 
 The second was Philip Louis, count palatine of Neuburgh, 
 in right of his wife Anne, second sister of the deceased 
 duke, by whom he had a son, Wolfgang Louis. The third 
 and fourth were, John, duke of Deux Ponts, and Charles 
 of Austria, margrave of Burgau, who had married Mag- 
 dalen and Isabella, the two other sisters ; but they soon 
 ceased to prosecute their claims. 
 
 The princes of the house of Saxony at the same time 
 claimed this succession on two grounds : first, in vir- 
 tue of a grant of reversion, or eventual succession to 
 Juliers and Berg, given in 1483, by Frederic in., to Al- 
 bert, head of the Albertine line, and by other grants of 
 Maximilian I., which extended the same right to the 
 Ernestine line. On the first grant Christian, elector of 
 Saxony, founded his pretensions, as lineal descendant from 
 Albert ; and, on the other, the princes of the Ernestine 
 line, who strengthened their pretensions by adducing their 
 descent from Sibilla, eldest daughter of John III., duke of 
 Cleves, wife of John Frederic, elector of Saxony, by whose 
 marriage contract the succession was to devolve on her 
 heirs, in failure of issue to her family. 
 
 These complicated pretensions were rendered still more 
 perplexed by two declarations of the emperor, Charles V. ; 
 
 * The account of this singular interview is circumstantially given 
 by Schmidt, from the documents of the times, vol. v'ai. p. 271-278. 
 VOL. II. I
 
 114 RHODOLPH It. [CH. XLIV. 
 
 the first giving the whole succession to the princes of the 
 house of Saxony, who were descended from Sibilla ; the 
 second rendering it a female fief, revertible to daughters, 
 and to their male heirs, if they were not living when the 
 succession became open ; the intricacy was increased by 
 another declaration of Ferdinand, which made the whole 
 inheritance indivisible, and established the succession ac- 
 cording to the right of primogeniture. If these territories 
 were to be considered a female fief, which seems to be in- 
 contestable, they ought to have been divided between the 
 four sisters, or their descendants; but as this was a cause 
 which was to be decided by force rather than by right, the 
 claims of the two younger sisters were lost in those of the 
 two elder, who had married into more powerful families, 
 and the house of Saxony was enabled to render valid the 
 pretensions derived from the grants of the emperors. 
 
 The elector of Brandenburgh, and the prince palatine 
 of Neuburgh, at the same time took possession of the in- 
 heritance, and mutually contested their pretensions with a 
 warmth which threatened immediate hostilities ; while the 
 elector of Saxony appealed to the emperor, and received 
 from him assurances that he would favour his claims, if 
 not a promise that he would grant the eventual investiture. 
 At the same time Rhodolph issued an edict, declaring that 
 the territories ought to be put in sequestration till the dis- 
 putes should be terminated ; he ordered the two princes to 
 evacuate the places which they had occupied, and cited 
 them, with the other claimants, to appear before his tri- 
 bunal within four months, and allege their respective 
 pretensions. 
 
 The two princes, alarmed at the very mention of a seque- 
 stration, and suspecting that the emperor either designed 
 to appropriate these fiefs himself, or to confer part of them 
 on the elector of Saxony, hastily terminated their dispute, 
 by the mediation of the landgrave of Hesse ; and, at Dort- 
 mund, on the 10th of June, 1609, entered into a treaty to 
 share the administration jointly, and to unite their forces 
 against all who should attempt to appropriate the succes- 
 sion. In consequence of this agreement, the prince Pala- 
 tine, and Ernest, prince of Brandenburgh, repaired to 
 Dusseldorf, obtained from the states of the country a con-
 
 1609-1612.] CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 115 
 
 firmAion of the treaty of Dortmund, and received the ho- 
 mage of the natives, as possessors of the territory, " with- 
 out prejudice to the rights of the other claimants." 
 
 While they secured Cleves, Wesel, Duisburgh, and 
 other places of importance, the emperor annulled the treaty 
 of Dortmund, and published a mandate, commanding the 
 states and people not to acknowledge any of the claimants 
 before he had given his award, under pain of the imperial 
 ban ; he followed this declaration, by despatching the arch- 
 duke Leopold, bishop of Passau and Strasburgh, to assume 
 the administration. Leopold being admitted into Juliers, 
 by a party hostile to the claimants, issued a writ, declaring 
 the territory under sequestration, obtained some of the 
 neighbouring towns and districts, raised troops, and made 
 preparations for defence. 
 
 The conduct of Rhodolph, in placing the sequestrated 
 territories in the hands of one of his own family, joined to 
 the known views of the Spanish court to exclude the Pro- 
 testants from a district so contiguous to the Low Countries, 
 if not to annex it to the dominions of the house of Austria, 
 changed the dispute, from an abstract question of right, 
 into a political and religious contest ; from an opposition 
 of the successful claimants against the head of the empire, 
 to a general league of the Protestant body against the 
 house of Austria and the Catholics. 
 
 The cause of the Protestants was soon supported by 
 foreign powers, but none interfered with more promptitude 
 and effect than Henry IV. Besides political interests, 
 which urged him to humble the house of Austria, he had 
 long entertained a personal antipathy against the Spanish 
 branch, whose interference in the affairs of France pro- 
 longed the troubles of the league, and nearly prevented his 
 accession to the throne. This antipathy likewise extended 
 to the German branch, as well from the connection of in- 
 terests with those of the Spanish court, as from frequent 
 attempts to suppress the Protestant cause, which he still 
 favoured, though to pacify his country he had been 
 induced to profess the Catholic faith. The weakness of 
 Rhodolph, the divisions in his family, his unpopularity no 
 less in Germany than among his own subjects, presented 
 the most favourable opportunity for the humiliation of the 
 
 i 2
 
 116 RHODOLPH n. [CH. XLIV. 
 
 German branch ; and the dispute relative to Juliers fur- 
 nished Henry with a pretext to form an alliance with the 
 Protestant states, and to pour his troops into the empire. 
 While he was thus preparing his first attack against the 
 German branch, he was no less watchful to complete the 
 execution of his great plan, by dismembering the Spanish 
 dominions ; he gained Paul V. by the offer of Naples, 
 and the duke of Savoy by that of Milan ; he secured the 
 Venetians, who were engaged in constant disputes with the 
 Styrian line, relative to the demarcation of the frontiers 
 and the depredations of the Uscocks, by the tender of 
 Sicily ; and he is said to have lured the Swiss with the 
 hopes of acquiring Alsace, Franche Comte, and the Tyrol. 
 At the same time he strengthened his cause by negotiations 
 with England and the principal Protestant states of Europe, 
 who were alarmed by the exorbitant power and domineer- 
 ing principles of Spain, and dreaded the danger which 
 might arise from the probable union of the whole house of 
 Austria. He had been long collecting funds sufficient for 
 supporting several campaigns, and at this juncture, had 
 assembled a considerable force on his frontiers, which at 
 the first signal was ready to burst into Germany.* 
 
 Henry had already formed connections with the princes 
 who composed the Protestant confederacy, and used all his 
 endeavours to excite them against the house of Austria. 
 But their well-founded jealousies presented an insuperable 
 obstacle to his design ; for, though willing to raise the 
 Protestant on the ruins of the Catholic interest, and to 
 reduce the imperial authority and prerogatives, they were 
 yet averse to engage in measures which might render them 
 and the German empire dependent on France, and place 
 over them a chief who, from his power and abilities, was 
 far more dangerous than Rhodolph. They therefore re- 
 
 * The plan of Henry IV. to reduce the house of Austria, and the 
 secrecy in which his designs were enveloped, have occasioned a variety 
 of conjectures relative to his ultimate object. Among others, it has 
 been asserted, that he had projected the formation of Europe into a 
 Christian republic, consisting of five hereditary kingdoms, France, 
 Spain, Great Britain, Sweden, and Lombardy, and other smaller 
 states. But the romantic extravagance of this plan carries with it its 
 own refutation.
 
 1609-1612.] CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 117 
 
 fused to contract any general engagement, and would only 
 agree to an alliance, of which the sole object was, to ar- 
 range the succession of Juliers. 
 
 Meanwhile the encroachments made by the emperor in- 
 creased, and the contest for the succession of Juliers fur- 
 nished new causes of alarm to the united Protestants. 
 They accordingly again assembled at Hall, on the 27th of 
 January, 1610, and arranged their celebrated union. In 
 addition to their former resolutions for procuring the 
 redress of grievances, and for maintaining their civil and 
 religious rights, they entered into specific engagements 
 relative to the succession of Juliers, by agreeing to main- 
 tain the treaty of Dortmund, expel the imperial adminis- 
 trator, terminate the sequestration, and finally, to effect 
 such an arrangement as should not be disadvantageous to 
 the Protestant interest. They received also an ambassador 
 i from the king of France, with whom they concluded an 
 alliance, by which they were to be supported by a succour 
 of 10,000 men, for the arrangement of the disputed suc- 
 cession. They at the same time deputed ambassadors to 
 secure the co-operation of England, Denmark, Venice, and 
 Switzerland ; they succeeded in gaining the concurrence of 
 the United Provinces, who were irritated against Rhodolph 
 for his repeated attempts to embroil them with the empire, 
 and bring them again under the hated yoke of Spain ; and 
 they opened a correspondence with the disaffected Aus- 
 trians, Bohemians, Moravians, and Silesians. Lastly, as 
 they were desirous to unite the whole Protestant body in a 
 common cause, they endeavoured to gain the elector of 
 Saxony, by promising that the decision of the disputed 
 succession should not be disadvantageous to the interests 
 of his house ; but this lure was of no avail, for Christian, 
 and his adherents in the empire, sent dehortatory letters to 
 several of the imperial cities to dissuade them from joining 
 in the alliance. For this refusal he was rewarded by Rho- 
 dolph, with the investiture for himself and the whole house 
 of Saxony, on the 7th of July, 1710. 
 
 During these transactions a petty war had continued in 
 the territories of Juliers, and Leopold was reduced to the 
 possession of the capital and the fort of Bredenburgh. 
 His attempts to collect troops in Alsace and his diocese of 
 
 I 3
 
 118 RIIODOLPH II. [CH. XLIV. 
 
 Strasburgh occasioned the diffusion of the war into that 
 part of Germany, and induced the neighbouring princes of 
 the Protestant union to expel his troops, and occupy Alsace 
 with the territory of Strasburgh. The war seemed likely 
 to spread on every side, and the dominions of the Catholic 
 states which lay in the march of the Protestant levies, or 
 were exposed to their incursions, became the theatre of the 
 usual devastations which accompany religious contests. 
 
 The Catholics had not, however, seen the gradual in- 
 crease of the Protestant union with indifference, for, as 
 early as the middle of 1609, a league had been formed be- 
 tween Maximilian*, duke of Bavaria., and the bishops of 
 Wurtzburgh, Passau, Constance, Augsburgh, Ratisbon, and 
 other prelates, and soon afterwards joined by the three 
 ecclesiastical electors. It was digested into a general 
 offensive and defensive alliance, in support of the Catholic 
 cause ; the respective contingents were specified, and the 
 duke of Bavaria declared the head ; but from the weak 
 and inefficient character of Rhodolph, he was neither con- 
 sulted on the stipulations, nor, as emperor, permitted to 
 nominate the chief. 
 
 These hostile appearances threatened a speedy rup- 
 ture. The Catholics were arming ; the Protestants had 
 already commenced aggressions ; the United Provinces were 
 preparing to come forward ; the march of the French troops, 
 who were ready to move at a moment's warning, would 
 have been the signal for a general war, which would have 
 desolated Germany from one extremity to the other, and 
 perhaps ruined the house of Austria, and with it the Catho- 
 lic cause. Rhodolph, pusillanimous, secluded in his palace, 
 the prey of vain imaginations and hypochondriac melan- 
 choly, was a burden to his party, disregarded in the empire, 
 and despised even by his own adherents. Matthias was 
 still at variance with his brother, and only anxious to 
 grasp the remnant of his dominions ; the other members 
 of the family, neither from talents nor situation, were 
 capable of stemming the torrent ; and the Spanish court 
 
 * William, duke of Bavaria, the most bigoted prince of his age, 
 resigned, in 1596, the government of his territories, from principles of 
 superstitious devotion, and retired to the life of a hermit. He was 
 succeeded by his son Maximilian, who afterwards distinguished him 
 felf as the champion of the Catholic cause. Falkenstein, p. 579.
 
 1609-1612.] HENRY IV. OF FRANCE ASSASSINATED. 119 
 
 maintained the most inexplicable apathy and indifference, 
 in the midst of the dangers with which it was threatened 
 from every quarter. 
 
 This impending destruction over the house of Austria, 
 and the Catholic cause was diverted by one of those in- ' 
 cidents which baffle all human foresight, and frustrate in an 
 instant the deepest designs of war or policy. On the 
 llth of May, 1610, Henry IV. fell by the stroke of an 
 obscure assassin, at the very moment when he was pre- 
 paring to head his army ; and with him fell the stupendous 
 plan, which had been matured by the labour of years, and 
 which could only be carried into execution by a prince of 
 his spirit, talents, and power. The Protestants were as- 
 tounded by the news of this fatal catastrophe : though they 
 were assisted by the Dutch and French, and did not shrink 
 from the contest, their efforts were confined to the occu- 
 pation of Alsace, the capture of Juliers, and the expulsion 
 of Leopold. The Catholics, as much encouraged as the 
 Protestants were disheartened, by the death of Henry, 
 assembled their forces with redoubled zeal ; and Rhodolph 
 having, by the intervention of Leopold, collected troops in 
 the diocese of Passau, ordered the duke of Bavaria to expel 
 the Protestants from Alsace, and replace the contested 
 territories under the sequestration. But past calamities 
 had reduced both parties to prudence and moderation ; 
 the Protestants were satisfied with having gained their 
 principal object, and the Catholics were careful not to 
 renew the horrors of civil war, for the sake of gratifying 
 the resentment or promoting the interests of Rhodolph. 
 The duke of Bavaria, therefore, neglected his mandate, 
 and concluded, on the 24th of October, a treaty of peace 
 and neutrality with the Protestants, by which they were to 
 evacuate Alsace, and repair the damages occasioned by 
 their troops ; both parties agreed to maintain no more 
 forces than were necessary for their safety, and the prin- 
 cipal object in dispute was left in suspense by the declara- 
 tion, that both might take such a share in the arrange- 
 ment of the succession of Juliers as should appear most 
 advantageous. 
 
 When we consider the weak and degraded situation 
 and the timid character of Rhodolph, we can scarcely sup- 
 
 i 4
 
 120 RHODOLPH II. [CH. XLIV. 
 
 press our surprise that he did not bury himself in his 
 native obscurity, instead of suffering an impotent resent- 
 ment to hurry him into a new danger greater than that 
 from which he had escaped. 
 
 The injuries and humiliations which he had experienced 
 from Matthias were too flagrant to be forgotten, even by 
 the most placid and forgiving temper ; but they sunk deep 
 into the mind of Rhodolph, distrustful, gloomy, and suspi- 
 cious, and brooding over his misfortunes in the solitude of 
 his palace. Frequent contentions and disputes aggravated 
 the misunderstanding, and all the efforts of his family 
 could scarcely effect an apparent and temporary accommo- 
 dation, by which Matthias agreed to humble himself before 
 his brother, to honour him as the head of his house, and to 
 receive the territories which he had wrested from him as 
 marks of favour, and as fiefs. In return, the emperor en- 
 gaged to consider him as a brother and a friend, and to 
 disband the troops which had been collected in the bishopric 
 of Passau, which he still kept on foot, notwithstanding the 
 termination of the war for the succession of Juliers. 
 
 Rhodolph had concluded this agreement only to blind 
 the vigilance of his brother, and now hoped to gratify his 
 resentment, which had increased in proportion as he had 
 been compelled to smother his feelings. As his cousin 
 Ferdinand had formerly offended him by signing the fa- 
 mily compact, and recently by his attachment to the duke of 
 Bavaria, who had disobeyed his orders, he now employed 
 Leopold as the instrument of his vengeance, and perhaps 
 intended to secure for him the succession to the crowns of 
 Bohemia and of the empire. With this view he had kept 
 on foot the troops raised in the diocese of Passau, who, 
 with those drawn by Leopold from Alsace, amounted to 
 16,000 men. He affected, indeed, to fulfil the recent 
 agreement, by commanding them to disband ; but in order 
 to afford them a pretext for invading Bohemia, he withheld 
 their pay. The troops, accordingly, under the command 
 of their leader Ramee, burst into Upper Austria, spreading 
 themselves over the country beyond the Danube, and, after 
 committing every species of devastation, passed into Bo- 
 hemia, in December, 1610 ; they then directed their march 
 along the Moldau towards Prague, making themselves
 
 1609-1612.] HE IXVADES BOHEMIA. 121 
 
 masters of Kronau, Piseck, Tabor, and Beraun, where they 
 were joined by Leopold. 
 
 This inroad spread consternation throughout Bohemia, 
 and a general suspicion prevailed that Rhodolph had called 
 in> these lawless troops to force Leopold on the nation, and 
 to annul the religious privileges which he had so reluc- 
 tantly granted. The states assembled at Prague, and the 
 emperor, whose plans were not sufficiently matured, or 
 who wanted courage to avow his intentions, called God to 
 witness that the irruption was made without his knowledge 
 or consent, recommended the adoption of vigorous mea- 
 sures, and sent a herald, commanding Leopold to retire. 
 The herald met the invaders within a day's march of the 
 capital ; but, as Leopold did not yet choose to excite suspi- 
 cion, by appearing as the principal, he was referred to 
 Ramee, who declared, that he came as a friend, not as an 
 enemy to the emperor, and would arrange an accommoda- 
 tion with the people of the capital. Continuing his march, 
 he encamped on the ensuing morning, on the White 
 Mountain, and issued a manifesto, declaring that he came 
 to defend the emperor and the states from violence. 
 
 The states of Bohemia had not suffered this army to ap- 
 proach their capital without making preparations for resist- 
 ance : before the arrival of Ramee, troops began to flock in 
 from all quarters, while the burghers of Prague flew to 
 arms. The states demanded an explanation of the mani- 
 festo, and were promised a satisfactory answer by Leopold, 
 who had paid a visit to the emperor. He repaired to the 
 camp, as if to require instructions, and returning to the 
 city, proposed that the troops should retire and evacuate 
 the towns which they had occupied, on receiving a written 
 security from the states, that they should not be attacked 
 during their march. The states accepted this proposal, 
 apparent cordiality was restored, and the camp was abun- 
 dantly supplied with provisions from the town. But while 
 suspicion was thus lulled, and while the burghers, relying 
 on the security of this engagement, were indulging them- 
 selves in the jollity of a festival, the troops, at the follow- 
 ing dawn, seized one of the gates, massacred the guard, 
 killed all whom they met, and made themselves masters of 
 the little town, notwithstanding the opposition of the
 
 122 RHODOLPH II. [CII. XLIV. 
 
 burghers, and of count Thurn, who opposed them with a 
 body of horse. Flushed with this petty success, they en- 
 deavoured to occupy that part of the capital which is 
 situated beyond the Moldau, but were repulsed with great 
 loss. 
 
 The emperor, who had hitherto continued inactive, now 
 ventured to disclose his purposes. The invading troops 
 having sworn fidelity to him as their sovereign, he pressed 
 the states to unite their forces with those of the archduke, 
 to yield the town beyond the Moldau, and demolish the 
 intrenchments which they had constructed. Unable to obtain 
 their acquiescence in this singular proposal, he furnished 
 Leopold with five pieces of heavy artillery, which were 
 instantly planted on an eminence commanding the old town. 
 
 The success of the invaders, and the conduct of Rho- 
 dolph, induced the states to have recourse to Matthias, and 
 to require assistance from the Moravians ; they also com- 
 manded a levy of troops in all the circles of Bohemia, who 
 flocked to the scene of action, bearing on their standards 
 the inscription " Against Ramee." By the orders of Mat- 
 thias, 8000 Hungarians instantly advanced by rapid 
 marches to Prague, and were joined in their progress or 
 on their arrival by the levies which were pouring in from 
 all quarters. The troops of Passau were struck with a 
 panic, and, after extorting 300,000 florins from the em- 
 peror, retired from Prague in the night ; they were at- 
 tacked in their retreat, defeated with the loss of 2000 
 men, and compelled to take refuge in Budweiss ; while 
 Leopold, disheartened by the result of his ill-fated expedi- 
 tion, hastened to hide his chagrin and disappointment at 
 Passau. 
 
 So dangerous an experiment was not to be tried with 
 impunity, particularly by a sovereign so weak, despised, 
 and pusillanimous. On the first turn of affairs he conde- 
 scended to make proposals of accommodation ; but his over- 
 tures were disdainfully rejected ; the invaders had scarcely 
 retired, before the troops under count Thurn burst into the 
 little town, and, surrounding every avenue of his palace, 
 rendered Rhodolph a state prisoner. On the 20th of March, 
 Matthias arrived, and was received by the master of the 
 horse, who, at the head of a numerous concourse of nobles,
 
 1609-1612.] HE RESIGNS HIS CROWN TO MATTHIAS. 123 
 
 congratulated him in the name of the sovereign, and the 
 three estates. After making a splendid entry into the 
 town, Matthias arranged with the leaders of his party a 
 plan to wrest from his brother the crown of Bohemia. A 
 petition was accordingly presented by the states, in which 
 they requested Rhodolph to call a diet, threatening, in case 
 of his refusal, to convene it by their own authority. The 
 humiliated emperor penetrated the meaning of this demand ; 
 but helpless, degraded, despised, deserted by all, he did not 
 attempt to retard the evil hour, and preferred a voluntary 
 resignation of the crown to a compulsory abdication. He 
 therefore summoned the diet, and sent a message, that, since 
 on account of his advanced age he was no longer capable of 
 supporting the weight of government, he entreated them 
 to crown his brother without delay, and by fixing an early 
 day for the coronation, to prevent those troubles which 
 might arise from a disputed succession. 
 
 The princes of Germany, who were attached to Rho- 
 dolph, did not see with indifference the deposition of a 
 sovereign, however weak and imprudent ; the electors of 
 Saxony and Mentz sent their ambassadors to threaten the 
 states with the vengeance of the empire, and to declare 
 that the diet would not admit the usurper of his crown 
 on the electoral bench. Although this application was re- 
 ceived with scorn and indignation by the states, yet the 
 interference of these two powerful princes was sufficient 
 to raise the hopes of Rhodolph, who in his desperate con- 
 dition grasped the slightest support ; and his hopes were 
 strengthened by the disputes which arose between Matthias 
 and the states, relative to the articles of the intended capi- 
 tulation. 
 
 The transfer of a crown is usually detrimental to the 
 prerogatives of the sovereign. The states of Bohemia did 
 not omit so favourable an opportunity as the usurpation 
 of Matthias, to attempt the recovery of all their rights, 
 however obsolete ; but, above all, the privilege of election, 
 which they had so recently lost. Matthias, having no 
 other title to the crown, consented to the restoration of 
 the elective privilege, and other rights of scarcely less im- 
 portance ; but he soon found that these were only the 
 prelude to further demands, and that he must purchase a
 
 124 RIIODOLPn II. [oil. XLIV. 
 
 crown to which he had so long aspired, on conditions 
 which reduced him to a mere cypher. They demanded 
 the right of assembling when and where they chose ; re- 
 quired the sole management of military and financial 
 affairs ; the power of removing the great officers of state ; 
 of making foreign alliances, even of entering into a confe- 
 deracy with the Hungarians and Austrians for the defence 
 of their respective immunities ; and, lastly, of being em- 
 powered to form an armed force by their own authority. 
 
 Matthias, eager as he was to obtain the crown, could 
 not submit to these articles. He did not, however, venture 
 to give a positive refusal ; for Rhodolph, by means of 
 private agents, was tampering with the principal members 
 of the states, and endeavouring to lure them with profes- 
 sions of his willingness to confirm their privileges in their 
 full latitude. Matthias therefore temporised, evaded a 
 positive promise, by agreeing to grant a general confirma- 
 tion of all their rights, and postponed his decision on the 
 specific articles until he had. an opportunity of more ma- 
 ture deliberation, and of consulting a future diet. He had 
 the satisfaction to find that this conduct was not displeasing 
 to the nation at large, and to perceive that well-wishers to 
 the country were not wanting, who dreaded the renewal of 
 former troubles, and were as unwilling to see an exorbitant 
 power lodged in the hands of the states, as in those of the 
 king. These promises were, therefore, sufficient to satisfy 
 the states, who, though they relied little on the sincerity 
 of Rhodolph, might perhaps have availed themselves of his 
 offers to extort the consent of Matthias to their demands. 
 
 The hopes of Rhodolph were thus annihilated, and the 
 short remnant of his life was nothing but a series of mor- 
 tifications and disgraces. On the return of his agents 
 from their unsuccessful mission to the Bohemian states, 
 he started from his seat, threw up the window of his 
 apartment, and exclaimed, in an agony of despair, "Prague, 
 unthankful Prague, who hast been so highly elevated 
 by me; now thou spurnest at thy benefactor. May 
 the curse and vengeance of God fall on thee and on all 
 Bohemia ! " He had, however, a still more severe morti- 
 fication to endure, before he was delivered from the 
 burden of degraded royalty. The diet having appointed
 
 1609-1612.] MATTHIAS CROWNED KING. 125 
 
 the 23rd of May for the coronation of Matthias, required 
 Rhodolph to absolve his subjects from their oath of alle- 
 giance. But Rhodolph, who had still fondly hoped by this 
 engagement to maintain a tie on the inclinations of his 
 subjects, and clung with singular pertinacity to this remnant 
 of kingly authority, received the humiliating demand with a 
 natural but fruitless indignation. He refused for a consi- 
 derable time to subscribe the instrument, and on being 
 compelled to affix his signature, in a transport of despair 
 blotted the writing, and, tearing the pen in pieces, tram- 
 pled it under his feet. 
 
 On the day appointed for the coronation, the city was 
 filled with troops, and the gates shut and guarded, to pre- 
 vent the adherents of Rhodolph from making a last attempt 
 in his favour. The three estates being assembled in the 
 hall of the palace, the chancellor read to them the follow- 
 ing act of abdication which had been extorted from Rho- 
 dolph : "In conformity with the humble request of the 
 states of our kingdom, we graciously declare the three 
 estates, as well as all the inhabitants of all ranks and con- 
 ditions, free from all subjection, duty, and obligation ; and 
 we release them from their oath of allegiance, which they 
 have taken to us as their king, with a view to prevent all 
 future dissensions and confusion. We do this for the 
 greater security and advantage of the whole kingdom of 
 Bohemia, over which we have ruled six and thirty years, 
 where we have almost always resided, and which, during 
 our administration, has been maintained in peace, and in- 
 creased in riches and splendour. We, accordingly, in virtue 
 of this present voluntary resignation, and after due reflec- 
 tion, do, from this day, release our subjects from all duty 
 and obligation." 
 
 This important instrument being read, Matthias was 
 chosen king, with all the forms of an elective monarchy, on 
 the 23rd of May, 1611, and after confirming the rights 
 and privileges of the nation, civil and religious, was 
 crowned with a splendour and magnificence which were 
 calculated to captivate the attention and dazzle the minds 
 of his new subjects. 
 
 During this solemnity, Rhodolph had retired to a favour- 
 ite villa, to avoid hearing the joyful acclamations of the
 
 126 RHODOLPH II. [CH. XLIV. 
 
 populace at the coronation of his successor. On the fol- 
 lowing day he had the mortification to receive a message 
 from Matthias, thanking him for his brotherly abdication 
 of the crown ; and, in reply, expressed his hope of fraternal 
 and amicable treatment. He was allowed more favourable 
 conditions than are usually given to deposed monarchs ; 
 and had a mind so studious and retired as his been less 
 tormented with a love of rule, he might have enjoyed more 
 happiness in his favourite occupations than when he held 
 a sceptre which he was unable to wield, and filled a throne 
 which he degraded. He was permitted to continue his 
 residence in the palace of Prague, and besides an annual 
 pension of 400,000 florins, was allowed to retain the four 
 lordships of Brandeiss, Lessa, Pardewitz, and Petzarau. 
 He was compelled to publish the imperial ban against the 
 troops of Passau, by whose assistance he had expected to 
 recover his pristine authority ; these troops being disbanded, 
 Ramee, the unfortunate instrument of his impotent resent- 
 ment, became a sacrifice to the weakness of his employer, 
 and was beheaded by the order of Leopold, whose ambi- 
 tious views he had endeavoured to promote. 
 
 Matthias having completed the necessary arrangements 
 for the government of the country during his absence, 
 spared his humiliated brother the pain of a visit, and 
 repaired to Silesia and Lusatia to receive the homage 
 of the natives, whom, like the Bohemians, Rhodolph had 
 released from their oath of allegiance. He then proceeded 
 to Vienna, and espoused Anne, daughter of his deceased 
 uncle, Ferdinand, of the line of Tyrol. * 
 
 These important events excited a deep interest in the 
 empire. They were hailed with peculiar joy by the Pro- 
 testants, who saw the triumph of their cause in the deposi- 
 tion of their great persecutor Rhodolph, in the humiliation 
 of Leopold, a Catholic and a prelate, and in the elevation 
 of Matthias, with whom they had maintained a secret and 
 intimate connection. During the progress of the revolution 
 in Bohemia, they had held several meetings ; but none was 
 
 The account of this revolution has been amply supplied by Pelzel, 
 p. 654-678. ; Schmidt, Contin. b. iii. ch. 25, 26. ; Heinrich, vol. 
 vi. p. 256-268, who has principally drawn his account from Keven- 
 huller's Authentic Annals of Ferdinand II.
 
 1609-1612.] DISLIKED BY HIS SUBJECTS. 127 
 
 more memorable than the congress at Rothenburg, which 
 displayed all the power and splendour of their union, and 
 was attended by the contracting princes in person, by com- 
 missaries from the emperor, and ambassadors from Mat- 
 thias. In this meeting, they formed regulations for the 
 maintenance of their confederacy, which, though ostensibly 
 temporary, were calculated to secure its strength and per- 
 manence. They digested articles for the levy of troops 
 and the imposition of contributions, for the formation of 
 arsenals and magazines, and the establishment of a place of 
 arms, which was to contain a regular disposable force. 
 
 Rhodolph was reduced to the humiliating necessity of 
 endeavouring to conciliate these princes whom he had so 
 long and so repeatedly offended. But all his promises of 
 redress for their grievances, and all his offers of friendship, 
 were received with contempt and derision. They answered, 
 that they had been too long duped by vague and hollow 
 promises, too long the puppets of perfidious and ambitious 
 ministers, and now expected actions, not words : Dona- 
 werth, they said, was not restored ; the iniquitous processes 
 of the Aulic council still subsisted ; the emperor had not 
 changed his weak and wicked administration, and had 
 neglected to fulfil his repeated promises. They closed their 
 invective, by expatiating on his persecution of the Protest- 
 ants, his enrolment of troops in Alsace and Passau, and his 
 illegal sequestration of the territories of Juliers. The am- 
 bassadors of Matthias experienced a far different reception, 
 when they announced the recent events in Bohemia, and 
 solicited assistance if needful. The princes expressed the 
 warmest satisfaction, promised their support, and requested, 
 for the prevention of troubles in the empire, that Rhodolph 
 might be treated with brotherly kindness, and a watchful 
 eye kept over his foreign counsellors. 
 
 Rhodolph did not experience a more favourable recep- 
 tion even from the electors, the majority of whom he con- 
 sidered as his friends. Having summoned, on the J4th of 
 December, 1711, an electoral meeting at Nuremburgh, he 
 laid before them a pathetic account of the humiliations 
 which he had experienced from his brother, and drew a 
 melancholy picture of the miseries which attend fallen 
 grandeur. He enumerated his privations and distresses,
 
 128 RHODOLPH II. [CH. XLIV. 
 
 described his revenues not only as too scanty to maintain 
 his dignity, but even to discharge his debts and furnish 
 necessary comforts ; he finally besought them to grant him 
 an establishment proportionate to his station, and not to 
 leave the chief of the empire in his old age a prey to want 
 and dishonour. 
 
 The hearts of all seem to have been steeled against the 
 distresses of Rhodolph in proportion as he needed compas- 
 sion. They refused their assent to his proposal, on the 
 ground that it was an affair which concerned the empire, 
 not the electoral college ; and after recapitulating the 
 principal complaints which had been made by the Protest- 
 ant union, declared the necessity of electing a king of the 
 Romans. A deputation, sent to Prague with this unwel- 
 come message, accompanied the delivery of their commis- 
 sion with a new philippic, which might have been better 
 spared to a sovereign already sunk almost below compas- 
 sion. The electors did not hesitate to disapprove the conduct 
 of Matthias ; but declared, " that the emperor was himself 
 the principal author of his own distresses and misfortunes ; 
 the contempt into which he had fallen, and which from him 
 reflected on the empire, was derived," they said, " from his 
 own indolence, and his obstinacy in following perverse 
 counsels. He would have escaped all his calamities, if, 
 instead of resigning himself to corrupt and interested 
 ministers, he had followed the salutary counsels of the 
 electors." They concluded with pressing him to assemble 
 a diet for the redress of grievances, and for the election of 
 a king of the Romans ; professing that it was not their 
 intention to remove the imperial crown from the Austrian 
 family, and offering to approve whomsoever of the arch- 
 dukes he should appoint. 
 
 This message was considered by the emperor as a warn- 
 ing to abdicate the imperial throne, and as a prelude to 
 the same scene which had passed in Bohemia. He was 
 not, however, yet sufficiently weaned from grandeur, to 
 yield the last remnant of his frail authority without regret ; 
 he was unwilling to nominate Matthias, and afraid to re- 
 commend another. He therefore acknowledged the neces- 
 sity of choosing a successor, and affected to acquiesce in 
 the wishes of the electors ; but he continued to evade the
 
 1609-1612.] HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER. 129 
 
 fulfilment of his promise by delay. This useless subterfuge 
 was of no avail ; for the electors, penetrating his purpose, 
 summoned, by their own authority, the dreaded assembly 
 on the 31st of May. 
 
 This was the last mortification which Rhodolph was 
 destined to endure. A constitution, enfeebled by constant 
 seclusion and melancholy, was shaken by his recent dis- 
 tresses, and the chagrin derived from this last warning of 
 the electors brought on a deep dejection, which sunk him 
 into the grave in the sixtieth year of his age, and the 
 thirty-seventh of his reign. He welcomed approaching 
 Heath^Tvith firmness, and even with joy. To the by- 
 standers, he described the exquisite pleasure which he had 
 experienced in his youth, in returning from Spain to his 
 native country ; and exclaimed, " How much more joyful 
 ought I to be, when I am about to be delivered from the 
 calamities of human nature, and transferred to a heavenly 
 country, where there is no change of time, and where no 
 sorrow can enter." 
 
 The preceding narrative sufficiently exhibits the weak- 
 ness and incapacity of Rhodolph as a sovereign, and his 
 inability to rule either in peace or war ; yet it would be 
 injustice to withhold from the view of the reader those 
 qualities and acquirements * which give a slight relief to 
 the darker shades of his character. 
 
 He was of the middling stature, pleasing countenance, 
 and his eyes sparkled with remarkable vivacity. Till the 
 unfortunate dejection of mind which clouded all his facul- 
 ties, he was elegant in his deportment, affable and unas- 
 suming in his conversation. He was wholly devoid of that 
 pride which is often inseparable from exalted dignity, and 
 when reproached by one of his brothers for his excessive 
 condescension and familiarity, he replied, "though elevated 
 
 * We do not deem it necessary to enumerate among his acquire- 
 . -^ments his deep knowledge of the occult arts and sciences. Like Roger 
 Bacon, Faust, and other learned men in times of ignorance, he had 
 the reputation of a conjuror, and was said to converse with spirits. 
 Even Kevenhuller, the historian of Ferdinand, partakes of the foolish 
 credulity of his contemporaries, and asserts that, by means of a magnet 
 and magic speculum, he could discover what happened at a distance. 
 Kevenhuller, quoted in Gebhaerdi, vol. ii. p. 463. 
 VOL. II. K
 
 ISO RHODOLPH II. [CH. XLIV. 
 
 above others by our dignity and birth, we ought not to 
 forget that we are allied to the rest of mankind by our 
 weaknesses and defects." 
 
 He possessed an extensive knowledge of languages, both 
 ancient and modern ; and his attainments in painting, in 
 the mechanical arts, and in botany, zoology, and chemistry, 
 were far from being inconsiderable. To that attachment 
 to the arts and sciences, which occasioned his failings as a 
 sovereign, his own age and country, and even science itself, 
 are indebted for considerable advantages. His court was 
 filled with artists and men eminent in every branch of 
 learning, and the very name of Kepler, whom he employed 
 in conjunction with Tychp Brahe, to construct the Ru- 
 dolphine tables, is an honour to his patronage. In a country 
 where the arts were little known and less cultivated, he 
 formed collections which vied with those of more favoured 
 climes, and many of his gems, antiques, and pictures are 
 now distinguished ornaments in the splendid cabinet of 
 Vienna. He assisted the study of natural history by his 
 extensive collections of rare and foreign animals, and 
 promoted the infant science of botany by forming gardens 
 of curious and valuable plants, and by patronising the 
 publication of works on that subject. He cultivated 
 chemistry and mineralogy with considerable effect, and 
 introduced great improvements into the arts of mining and 
 smelting. 
 
 Under his reign education was greatly ameliorated in 
 Bohemia, by the endowment of numerous schools ; and 
 the native historian boasts that it was not unusual to find 
 the burghers conversant in Virgil and Horace, and even in 
 Homer and Anacreon. He exultingly adds, the reign of 
 Rhodolph II. was a golden era for Prague ; it was the 
 classical age of his native language, and rivalled that of 
 their fevourite sovereign Charles IV.
 
 131 
 
 CHAP. XLV. MATTHIAS. 1612-1618. 
 
 THE interregnum in the empire which succeeded the death 
 of Rhodolph commenced with the most alarming appear- 
 ances of trouble and dissension, and threatened to be 
 longer and more stormy than any in recent periods. Be- 
 sides the dispute still pending between the Catholics and 
 Protestants, and the unfinished contest for the succession 
 of Juliers, other causes intervened, which were likely to 
 disturb the public peace. 
 
 The death of Frederic IV., elector palatine, had occa- 
 sioned a contest for the guardianship of his son Frederic V., 
 during his minority, between Philip Louis, count palatine 
 of Neuburgh, and John, duke of Deux Ponts, which was 
 aggravated by religious antipathy, the first being a Lu- 
 theran, and the latter a Calvinist. The dispute had been 
 suspended by the sentence of the emperor and the electoral 
 college, who awarded the regency and guardianship to the 
 duke of Deux Ponts, in conformity with the testament of 
 the deceased elector ; but the count Palatine refusing to 
 submit to this decision, the quarrel was revived with new 
 acrimony on the death of the emperor, in consequence of 
 the competition for the electoral vote, and the vicariate. 
 At the same time the imperial chamber attempted to in- 
 troduce an illegal extension of its jurisdiction, by refusing 
 to acknowledge the supreme authority of the imperial 
 vicars, or to pronounce its sentences in their name, under 
 the pretext that there was no precedent for acknowledging 
 Protestant vicars, because there had been no vicariate 
 since the peace of religion. 
 
 Notwithstanding these struggles, and the general fer- 
 ment which pervaded Germany, the interregnum for- 
 tunately passed without the slightest commotion. This 
 calm was in a great degree owing to the candour and 
 moderation of the Catholics, who set the example in con- 
 demning the illegal pretensions of the imperial chamber, 
 and in acknowledging the supreme authority of the vicars, 
 although Protestants. The contestation between the count 
 Palatine and the duke of Deux Ponts was likewise ter- 
 
 K 2
 
 132 MATTHIAS. [CH.XLV- 
 
 minated by the electoral college, which confirmed the 
 award it had before given in favour of the duke of Deux 
 Fonts, by vesting in him the electoral vote and the ad- 
 ministration of the vicariate. 
 
 Matthias, already king of Hungary and Bohemia, and 
 archduke of Austria, offered himself as a candidate for the 
 imperial dignity; but, from a concurrence of unexpected 
 circumstances, he experienced difficulties which he did not 
 foresee. The Catholic electors, who were alienated by his 
 intrigues with the Protestants, offered the imperial crown 
 to the archduke Albert, sovereign of the Netherlands, and 
 were joined by John George, who had recently succeeded 
 his brother Christian in the electorate of Saxony, and who 
 seems to have been disgusted by the conduct of Matthias 
 towards his deceased brother. Even the electors Palatine 
 and Brandenburgh, notwithstanding their recent connec- 
 tions with Matthias, did not support his nomination ; but 
 either from a dread of his power, or from a desire to 
 weaken the head of the house of Austria, offered their 
 suffrages to his brother Maximilian. In this instance, 
 however, both the archdukes acted with equal prudence 
 and policy, and, refusing the proffered dignity, joined their 
 interest in favour of Matthias. Accordingly, Matthias 
 was unanimously elected, after an interregnum of six 
 months, and signed a capitulation, which differed consider- 
 ably from those of his predecessors. Among the principal 
 articles, one restrained the emperor from employing the 
 grants of the diet for any other purpose except their 
 original destination ; another related to the amelioration 
 of the Aulic council and the imperial chamber, and the 
 revival of the visitation. But the most important was a 
 stipulation, intended to prevent the imperial crown from 
 being rendered hereditary in the Austrian family, by 
 empowering the electors to proceed by their own authority, 
 to choose a king of the Romans, if the emperor, after being 
 duly requested, should refuse to consent to an election, or 
 should not give valid reasons for his refusal.* 
 
 The spirit, talents, and exploits of Matthias filled Europe 
 with general expectations, that a strong and active go- 
 vernment would succeed the weak and indolent adminis- 
 
 Pffffcl, p. 273.
 
 1612-1618.] UNSETTLED STATE OF THE EMPIRE. 133 
 
 tration of Rhodolph II. But his conduct proved how 
 much easier it is to excite than to appease revolts ; to 
 effect a great revolution, or to acquire a crown, than to 
 re-establish institutions which have been overthrown, or to 
 exert usurped power with vigour and discretion. 
 
 The civil and religious troubles had been revived in all 
 their fury by the administration of Rhodolph ; the empire 
 was divided into three parties of Catholics, Lutherans, and 
 Calvinists, mutually animated with religious hatred, and 
 ready to take arms against each other on the most trifling 
 pretext. In Austria and Bohemia the very foundations of 
 government had been shaken by the recent revolutions ; 
 the people, encouraged by the turbulent example of Mat- 
 thias himself, and rather tempted than gratified by the 
 concessions which had been the rewards of their rebellion, 
 were wholly bent on extending their political and religious 
 immunities. In this situation, had Matthias with his talents 
 possessed the tolerant spirit of his father, he would have 
 found numerous difficulties to encounter ; we cease to 
 wonder, therefore, that he was still less capable of over- 
 coming the embarrassments with which he was surrounded 
 when we consider that he inherited no particle of a con- 
 ciliating spirit, and that the toleration of which he had 
 given proofs was the mere result of interest and policy. 
 
 Confiding in the unanimity with which he had been 
 chosen, and in his connections with the Protestants, he 
 flattered himself that he should be able to manage the diet 
 and his own states with the same facility and success as 
 his father ; but the very first act of his reign proved the 
 frail foundation on which he rested his hopes. 
 
 Although the reversion of Transylvania after the death 
 of Botskai had been secured to the house of Austria by 
 the pacification of Vienna, yet the Turks had prevented 
 the fulfilment of that stipulation, first by supporting Ga- 
 briel Bathori * , and, when he threw himself under the pro- 
 tection of Matthias, by extending their assistance to his 
 rival, Bethlehem Gaborf, who, on the 27th of October, 
 
 * Gabriel Bathori, becoming unpopular by his excesses, was driven 
 from Transylvania, and assassinated by two injured husbands, whose 
 wives he had violated Benko, p. 263. 
 
 t He is generally known under this appellation, as it is the custom 
 E 3
 
 1 34 MA.TTHIAS. [CII. XLV. 
 
 1613, was chosen by the states of Transylvania. Matthias 
 was naturally desirous to recover so important a territory, 
 and had now a favourable opportunity, as the Turks were 
 involved in intestine commotions and employed in external 
 wars on the side of Poland and in Asia. He therefore 
 summoned a diet of the empire to obtain succours for the 
 purpose of fulfilling the treaty of Vienna, and driving the 
 Turks from Moldavia and Wallachia, where they had 
 recently established their dependent chiefs ; he endea- 
 voured to conciliate the Protestants by promising in the 
 letters of convocation to reform the Aulic council and im- 
 perial chamber and re-establish the visitation, to restore 
 the privileges of Donawerth, and to redress many griev- 
 ances of which they complained. But the Protestants 
 were too intimately acquainted with his character to rely 
 on his promises, and were displeased with his revival of 
 the unpopular decree against Aix-la-Chapelle. They, 
 therefore, showed as little confidence in him as they had 
 shown in Rhodolph : they even presented the list of their 
 grievances, with claims of additional privileges, and refused 
 to take part in any discussion before those grievances were 
 redressed. The emperor, unlike his father, who had la- 
 boured to prevent all party disputes, imprudently suffered 
 the Catholics to answer this memorial, and to present a 
 counter-list of complaints against the Protestants : by 
 these means the discussions of the diet were diverted from 
 the point in question, and degenerated into reciprocal com- 
 plaints and mutual recriminations. At length, the Catho- 
 lics, joined by the elector of Saxony and his Lutheran 
 adherents, voted a succour of thirty Roman months ; yet, 
 notwithstanding all representations, and a declaration in- 
 serted in the recess, the other Protestants persisted in 
 refusing their concurrence, and the diet broke up in con- 
 fusion. 
 
 Disappointed in his hopes of obtaining succours from the 
 German diet, Matthias applied to the states of all the 
 countries under his domination, and summoned a general 
 assembly at Lintz. The temper of his subjects and the 
 
 in Hungary to place the Christian after the family name : but his real 
 name was Gabriel Bethlehem.
 
 1612-1618.] UNSETTLED STATE OF THE EMPIRE. 135 
 
 situation of his affairs rendered this step a measure of the 
 most alarming nature. The Austrians were far from being 
 grateful for the privileges granted as the price of their 
 assistance against his brother, and suspected that he only 
 waited a favourable opportunity for resuming what he had 
 conceded with such reluctance. The Protestants of Bohe- 
 mia were discontented with some recent restrictions on 
 their worship, which, if not infringements of their rights, 
 were at least a rigorous and impolitic execution of the law ; 
 they clamoured loudly for the presence of their sovereign 
 and the convocation of a diet, in which they hoped to 
 obtain a confirmation, or perhaps an extension, of their 
 privileges. The Hungarians, who had so long groaned 
 under the miseries of war, deprecated the renewal of hosti- 
 lities, and were little inclined to assist in the recovery of 
 Transylvania, or to risk the tranquillity which they now 
 enjoyed, particularly as the Turks were disposed to peace, 
 and the prince of Transylvania courted with extreme assi- 
 duity the friendship of the emperor. It might naturally 
 be expected that all these discontents would be inflamed 
 by the discussions of a public assembly, and that the meet- 
 ing would afford an opportunity to renew that general con- 
 federacy which had already been fatal to Rhodolph. 
 
 The eagerness of Matthias, however, inducing him to 
 overlook these dangers, he laid his demands before the 
 assembly. He endeavoured to give weight to his proposals 
 by displaying the ill consequences of suffering Transyl- 
 vania, with the adjacent provinces, to remain under the 
 influence or in the possession of the Turks ; and argued 
 that while the Ottoman empire was engaged in foreign and 
 domestic contests, a favourable opportunity presented itself 
 to recover possession of those countries, and to secure the 
 Austrian territories from future invasion. To these pro- 
 posals he received an answer which might have been fore- 
 seen from the temper of the assembly. The Hungarians 
 urged the necessity of maintaining peace ; the Bohemians 
 cloaked their refusal under the pretence that they could 
 not decide on so important a point as a Turkish war, with- 
 out more enlarged instructions from their constituents ; 
 and the Austrians represented that hostilities could not be 
 too anxiously avoided, and even advised their sovereign to
 
 136 MATTHIAS. [CH. XLV. 
 
 commence an immediate negotiation for an accommodation 
 with Bethlehem Gabor. 
 
 Thus baffled in all his expectations, Matthias was com- 
 pelled to relinquish his designs ; and a Turkish embassy, 
 which now for the first time arrived at Vienna, afforded an 
 honourable pretext for entering into negotiation. He, 
 therefore, renewed the truce with the sultan Achmet for 
 twenty years, with additional explanatory articles ; to save 
 his honour no mention was made of Transylvania, and thus 
 the right of Bethlehem Gabor was tacitly acknowledged. 
 
 While Matthias was engaged in securing a temporary 
 tranquillity in his own dominions, the unceasing enmity of 
 the Catholics and Protestants produced new disturbances 
 in Germany. The first dispute was derived from the 
 revival of the ban against Aix-la-Chapelle, and the esta- 
 blishment of Mulheim, a Protestant town in the duchy of 
 Berg, and in the vicinity of Cologne. 
 
 Notwithstanding the exclusion of the Protestants from 
 the magistracy of Aix-la-Chapelle and the banishment of 
 their chiefs, their party was far from being reduced ; for 
 in the midst of the troubles which agitated the latter part 
 of the reign of Rhodolph, they revived the contests with 
 the Catholics, took up arms, expelled the Jesuits, and again 
 established their own magistracy. During the interregnum 
 a temporary accommodation was effected by the award of 
 the duke of Deux Ponts, as administrator of the vicariate ; 
 but both parties appealing to the new emperor, he annulled 
 on the 20th of February, 1614, the award, revived the ban 
 against the Protestants, and intrusted its execution to the 
 archduke Albert and the elector of Cologne. 
 
 The dispute relative to Mulheim was another conse- 
 quence of religious animosity. This town was a Protestant 
 settlement, formed under the auspices of the princes pos- 
 sessors of the succession of Juliers, on the right bank of 
 the Rhine, opposite Cologne, as an asylum for the refugees 
 from all quarters. It was strongly fortified, endowed with 
 extensive privileges, and, what peculiarly served in these 
 times of trouble to attract inhabitants, enjoyed freedom of 
 religious worship. The establishment of this fortress 
 giving the Protestants a military post of great importance, 
 and enabling them to interrupt and appropriate the com-
 
 1612-1618.] RENEWAL OP RELIGIOUS QUARRELS. 137 
 
 merce of the Rhine, produced an appeal from the inhabit- 
 ants of Cologne, who complained of this settlement as an 
 infringement of their compacts with the ancient dukes of 
 Cleves and Juliers. In consequence of this appeal, the 
 emperor issued an imperial mandate, requiring the princes 
 possessors to demolish the fortifications, and the Protest- 
 ants to suspend their buildings : this act was to be carried 
 into complete execution within thirty days. 
 
 But neither of these acts would have been carried into 
 execution had not the Protestant union been divided and 
 weakened by the disputes which at this time arose between 
 the two princes possessors. The treaty of Dortmund being 
 merely a temporary expedient to exclude the other claim- 
 ants, gave rise to new contests as soon as the contracting 
 parties were relieved from the fear of external aggression ; 
 as each endeavoured to enlarge his acquisitions, and to 
 grasp at a greater share in the administration. Several 
 attempts to effect an accommodation were made by the 
 Protestants, and as the means of uniting their interests, 
 a marriage was arranged between the prince Palatine and 
 the daughter of the elector of Brandenburgh ; but these 
 expedients were frustrated by new altercations, and at 
 length the quarrel was rendered personal by a blow which 
 the prince received from the elector while in a state of 
 intoxication. This insult was too dishonourable to admit 
 of reconciliation : the prince embraced the Catholic religion 
 and espoused the daughter of the duke of Bavaria, in order 
 to secure the support of the Catholics and the court of 
 Spain ; the elector likewise sacrificed his religion to politi- 
 cal interests, and turned Calvinist, with a view to obtain 
 assistance from the prince of Orange and the United 
 States. Both parties, with that spirit of intolerance which 
 now actuated all religious sects, endeavoured to introduce 
 their new tenets, not only in the contested territories, but 
 in their hereditary dominions ; and the prince Palatine, in 
 particular, revoked the privileges with which Mulheim had 
 been endowed, and began to demolish the fortifications, 
 notwithstanding the interposition of the elector of Bran- 
 denburgh. 
 
 This unfortunate division again rendered the dispute for 
 the succession a religious quarrel; and, as both princes
 
 138 MATTHIAS. [CH. XLV. 
 
 held joint possession, the contest ripened into immediate 
 hostilities. The Dutch troops under the prince of Orange, 
 advancing to support the elector, gained possession of 
 Juliers, Emerich, Rees, Goch, and Calcar. On the other 
 hand, the prince Palatine surprised Dusseldorf, while 
 Spinola advancing with 30,000 Spanish troops from the 
 Netherlands, executed the imperial ban and edict against 
 Aix-la-Chapelle and Mulheim, and, descending the Rhine, 
 captured Duisburgh, Orsoy, and Wesel, with other for- 
 tresses of less importance. 
 
 The Spaniards and Dutch mutually avoiding any en- 
 gagement which might tend to disturb their neutrality, 
 appeared as if by tacit connivance to divide the territories 
 which they were called in to protect. The princes posses- 
 sors, therefore, became jealous of their new allies, and at 
 length by the mediation of France, England, and the 
 German states, effected, on the 12th of November, 1614, 
 an accommodation at Santen, by which the foreign troops 
 were to quit the country, and the contested territories were 
 to be divided into two equal parts and assigned by lot, 
 although the administration was to continue in their joint 
 names.* But their new allies refusing to yield the places 
 which they occupied, both parties appealed to the emperor ; 
 the Catholics against the aggressions of the Dutch, and 
 the Protestants against the Spaniards. This appeal pro- 
 duced no effect ; for Matthias, apprehensive of a civil war 
 in Germany, while his own dominions were in a state of 
 ferment, prudently refused to support either party ; and 
 the contested territories remained in the possession of the 
 foreign troops during the remainder of his reign. 
 
 Although Matthias has been censured for this apparent 
 apathy, so different from his former activity and vigilance, 
 it is easy to find a justification of his conduct, in his own 
 
 * The division in the first instance was, on one side, the duchy of 
 Cleves, the counties of La Mark and Ravensberg, and the lordship of 
 Ilavenstein, with some other lands and fiefs situated in Brabant and 
 Flanders ; and, on the other, the duchies of Juliers and Berg. By a 
 subsequent division in 1630, Cleves, La Mark, and Ravensberg fell to 
 Brandenburgh, and Juliers, Berg, and Ravenstein to the house 
 of Neuburgh. History of the Succession of Juliers and Berg 
 pp. 77, 78.
 
 1612-1618.] CIVIL AND DOMESTIC TROUBLES. 139 
 
 personal situation and the rising discontents in his terri- 
 tories. Advancing in years, and burdened with increasing 
 infirmities, he was without the prospect of issue. His next 
 brother and presumptive heir, Maximilian, was unmarried, 
 and in his fifty-ninth year ; his third brother, Albert, was 
 fifty-eight, and, though married, was without children. 
 The whole hope of preserving the German branch rested 
 on Ferdinand, head of the Styrian line, the only prince 
 who had issue male, and who was likely to continue the 
 succession, as his brothers were all ecclesiastics. It became 
 therefore, a matter not only of policy, but even of neces- 
 sity, to entail the hereditary countries on this prince, and 
 to procure for him the reversion of the imperial crown ; 
 because the succession was likely to be contested by 
 Philip III., king of Spain, as descended from Anne, 
 daughter of Maximilian, and his contrary claims could not 
 fail to produce the most fatal dissensions between the two 
 branches, and threatened the ruin of the Austrian family. 
 
 Maximilian was the first who came forward to obviate 
 these dangers. He offered to resign his own claims to 
 Ferdinand, procured the resignation of his brother Albert, 
 and in a memorial presented to Matthias on the 19th of 
 February, 1616, traced the requisite steps for the accom- 
 plishment of this desirable purpose. " The succession," he 
 observed, " is two-fold ; the first in the throne of the em- 
 pire, the second in those of Hungary and Bohemia. In 
 regard to the first, it would not be difficult to secure, if 
 not all, at least a majority of the electors. The ecclesias- 
 tical electors are already inclined to forward the recom- 
 mendation of the emperor ; and the elector of Saxony is 
 much influenced by the elector of Mentz ; it would, how- 
 ever, be proper for the emperor himself to make to him a 
 personal application, not only to secure his concurrence, 
 but to prevail on him to use his interest with his co- 
 electors, that the nomination of a king of the Romans 
 should be committed to the emperor, reserving the right of 
 election. The emperor must next endeavour to gain the 
 two remaining secular electors, and though he may not 
 succeed, still he will have a majority on his side, and the 
 title of the new king of the Romans will be equally as 
 valid as the appointment of Ferdinand L, notwithstanding
 
 140 MATTHIAS. [CH. Xl/V. 
 
 the protest of the elector of Saxony, But, above all, it is 
 absolutely necessary, for the attainment of this object, that 
 the emperor should arm, as I have before advised, on the 
 occasion of the contest for the succession of Juliers. 
 
 " In regard to the succession of the hereditary countries, 
 no time should be lost. All attempts should be made, 
 first, to gain the chiefs of the Catholics, and afterwards 
 those of the Protestants ; for this point of the succession 
 being settled, the reversion of the imperial dignity may 
 next be attempted with effect." He concluded by strongly 
 recommending secrecy and silence, as the only means of 
 preventing a disappointment. 
 
 Notwithstanding the necessity of the case, Maximilian 
 experienced the greatest obstacles from the disinclination 
 of Matthias, who, besides fostering a personal dislike of 
 Ferdinand, had been too conversant in plots and revolu- 
 tions not to dread the fate of Rhodolph ; and his repug- 
 nance was increased by bishop Klesel, his confidential 
 minister, who urged him not to give himself a master. He 
 could not reject the memorial, but submitted it to the con- 
 sideration of a committee, composed of Klesel, two of his 
 own ministers, and two counsellors of Ferdinand and 
 Maximilian. Although this committee approved the plan, 
 and recommended its adoption, Matthias still found a pre- 
 text for delay, by requiring a previous and formal renun- 
 ciation from Albert, and the approbation of the court of 
 Spain ; and while he evinced no apparent dissent from the 
 opinion of the committee, he took no step to carry their 
 advice into execution. 
 
 Maximilian, penetrating the views of his brother, vented 
 his indignation against Klesel, to whom he attributed the 
 delay. He was not, however, deterred by these obstacles, 
 but exerted himself with new vigour to procure the fulfil- 
 ment of his design, and obtained the formal resignation of 
 his brother Albert. He next applied to the Spanish 
 court, from whom he experienced considerable difficulty ; 
 for although Philip was desirous to prevent dissensions 
 between the two branches of his house, and was favour- 
 ably disposed towards Ferdinand, who had given such no- 
 torious proofs of zeal for the Catholic faith, yet he was too 
 interested a prince to follow even his own inclinations,
 
 1612-1618.] DIFFICULTIES OF APPOINTING A SUCCESSOR. 141 
 
 without the prospect of advantage. Philip, therefore, de- 
 murred, until he had obtained from all the princes of the 
 German branch a public declaration, that, in failure of 
 male issue, the females of the Spanish should be preferred 
 to those of the German branch, and from Ferdinand a 
 secret engagement for the eventual cession of the Tyrol, 
 and the exterior provinces of Austria. 
 
 All the objections of Matthias were thus removed ; but, 
 during these negotiations, the design was disclosed by the 
 publication of the memorial, which was probably done with 
 the connivance of Matthias, or at least of his ininister, and 
 nearly defeated the designs of Maximilian to the imperial 
 crown. A general alarm was excited among the Protes- 
 tants. Frederic, elector Palatine, who had recently attained 
 his majority, and was desirous of distinguishing himself as 
 the head of the anti-Austrian party, endeavoured to ani- 
 mate his co-estates, by representing it as a breach of the 
 golden bull, an infringement of the constitution, and as a 
 plan to deprive the electoral college of their right of elec- 
 tion, and enable the emperor to force upon them a prince 
 of the most despotic and intolerant spirit. These repre- 
 sentations produced a considerable sensation in the empire, 
 and even influenced the elector of Saxony, the creature of 
 the house of Austria ; and the Protestant party evinced a 
 design of choosing their future chief from another family. 
 
 The intrigues of the elector Palatine occasioned a revo- 
 lution in the mind of Matthias, which all the representa- 
 tions of Maximilian could not effect. He saw the pretexts 
 which he had alleged for the purpose of delay at length 
 removed ; and he began to apprehend that any new demur 
 on his part would occasion the loss of the imperial crown, 
 if not those of Hungary and Bohemia, to his family. He, 
 therefore, prosecuted the plan of Maximilian with his cha- 
 racteristic ardour. Pie first turned his attention to his 
 own dominions, and proposed Ferdinand to the states of 
 Bohemia, in a manner which left the right of election, or 
 hereditary succession, equally undecided. Repairing to 
 Prague, accompanied by Maximilian and Ferdinand, he 
 addressed the diet in a speech, in which he observed, " As 
 I and my brothers are without children, I deem it neces- 
 sary, for the advantage of Bohemia, and to prevent future
 
 142 MATTHIAS. [CH. XLV. 
 
 contests, that my cousin Ferdinand should be proclaimed 
 and crowned king ; I therefore request you to fix a day 
 for the confirmation of this appointment." This proposi- 
 tion was opposed by count Thurn, and a few chiefs of the 
 Protestant party, who endeavoured to excite the alarm of 
 the Protestants, by expatiating on the intolerance of Fer- 
 dinand ; but their representations, though true, produced 
 little effect. The states, from a dread of civil troubles, or 
 from deference to Matthias, readily accepted Ferdinand, 
 with all his defects; and, on the 10th of June, 1616, he 
 was duly crowned by the metropolitan archbishop of 
 Prague, after confirming the privileges of the kingdom in 
 the usual forms, and promising not to interfere in the go- 
 vernment during the life of Matthias. 
 
 When we consider the known character and conduct of 
 Ferdinand, we are unable to account for the little opposi- 
 tion which he experienced from the Protestants. He was 
 son of the archduke Charles, by Maria, a princess of Ba- 
 varia, and was born in 1578, at Gratz, the capital of Styria. 
 On the death of his father, he was brought up under the 
 guardianship of his two cousins, the archdukes Ernest and 
 Maximilian, who were both zealous for the Catholic faith, 
 and he completed his education at the university of Ingolc 
 stadt, under the care of the Jesuits, and of his uncle William, 
 the fifth duke of Bavaria, a prince who was imbued with 
 all the fanaticism of his family, and who equalled the most 
 devout hermit in acts of mortification and self-abasement. 
 Ferdinand possessed eminent talents, and a quick compre- 
 hension ; but these talents were perverted by his monastic 
 education, and it was only owing to native energy that he 
 did not degenerate into another Rhodolph. From these 
 circumstances his mind received an early and irremediable 
 bias ; he displayed an unremitting partiality to his teachers, 
 passed whole days in their society, and was often heard to 
 declare that, had he been as free as his brothers, he would 
 have entered into the order of Jesuits. From their in- 
 structions he derived that inflexible bigotry and intoler- 
 ance, and that hostility to the Protestants, which, at this 
 period, formed the great characteristics of their order. He 
 frequently expressed a resolution to live with his family in 
 banishment, to beg his bread from door to door, to submit
 
 1612-1618.] HIS INTOLERANCE. 143 
 
 to every insult and calamity, to lose even his life, rather 
 than suffer the true church to be injured. When he as- 
 sumed the reins of government, he proved that these de- 
 clarations were not the effusions of idle enthusiasm. He 
 refused to confirm the privileges which his father Charles 
 had granted to his Protestant subjects, and sent his com- 
 missaries to eject their preachers from the archducal do- 
 mains ; these commissaries being expelled, he collected 
 troops to enforce the execution of his orders. In the in- 
 terim he made a pilgrimage to Loretto, and bound himself 
 by the most solemn vows, before the miraculous image, 
 not to rest till he had extirpated all heresy in his domi- 
 nions ; at Rome he was consecrated by the hands of 
 Clement VIII. and his resolutions were strengthened by 
 the exhortations of the pontiff. 
 
 Animated with a new spirit of intolerance, he returned 
 in 1598 to his dominions. The first act of his government 
 was a new order for the banishment of all the Protestant 
 preachers and schoolmasters, and, in opposition to the re- 
 monstrances of the states, he carried this rigorous measure 
 into execution by force. He supplied the place of the 
 Protestant seminaries, by founding two convents of Ca- 
 puchins at Gratz and Bruck, and colleges of Jesuits at 
 Gratz, Laybach, and Clagenfurth. Although two thirds 
 of his subjects were Protestants, he ordered all who would 
 not embrace the Catholic faith, to quit his dominions ; and 
 supplied the places of those who preferred banishment to 
 the desertion of their faith, by introducing numbers of 
 Catholics from Wallachia and the neighbouring provinces. 
 To complete the expulsion of heresy, his commissaries, 
 accompanied by an escort, passed from town to town, and 
 from village to village, restoring the ancient temples to the 
 Catholics, and demolishing the new churches and school- 
 houses, which had been erected by the Protestants. Not- 
 withstanding the severity of these measures, he met with 
 little opposition ; and he experienced no obstacle to his 
 designs, except a slight and ineffectual remonstrance of 
 the states, and a trifling insurrection of the peasants in 
 Carinthia and the miners of Carniola. 
 
 Trifling, however, as was the opposition made against 
 Ferdinand by the Protestants of Bohemia, he experienced
 
 144 MATTHIAS. [CH. XLVI. 
 
 still less in Hungary, being chosen successor to Matthiu.s, 
 and solemnly crowned at Presburgh. His interests seemed 
 scarce likely to meet more obstacles even in the empire ; 
 for, after his coronation in Bohemia, in 1618, Matthias, 
 repairing to Dresden, gained the elector of Saxony, and 
 thus secured the majority of the electoral suffrages, and 
 nothing was wanting to complete his elevation but the 
 assembling an electoral diet. 
 
 CHAP. XLVI. 1619. 
 
 THE auspicious appearances which had favoured the ele- 
 vation of Ferdinand were soon changed, and the first 
 symptoms of those troubles, which commenced in the 
 Austrian territories and afterwards overspread all Europe, 
 appeared in Bohemia. Ferdinand had not long received 
 the crown before the Protestants perceived that the alarms 
 derived from his principles and former conduct were not 
 without foundation ; for, from that moment, a new spirit 
 seemed to animate the counsels of the sovereign, and 
 various acts of hostility to their doctrines, evinced his 
 baneful influence. Slavata and Martinetz, the two nobles 
 who had proved their zeal for the Catholic faith by refus- 
 ing to sign the peace of religion, were introduced into the 
 council of regency, honoured with an unusual degree of 
 confidence, and displayed their attachment to their future 
 sovereign by persecuting their Protestant vassals. The 
 zealous Catholics followed the example, and exulted in the 
 prospect of a change of government which was likely to 
 restore their ascendency ; the Jesuits presumptuously pro- 
 claimed the new influence and favour which they had 
 attained ; and one of the confidential ministers of Fer- 
 dinand himself did not scruple to point out the future 
 objects of their vengeance, and to declare, that the re- 
 storation of tranquillity could only be effected by execu- 
 tions and confiscations, and by the revocation of the royal 
 edict which had been extorted by force. These threats 
 and rumours were aggravated by fear and religious anti-
 
 1619.] MATTHEW HENRY HEADS THE PROTESTANTS. 145 
 
 pathy ; and the Protestants looked forward to the com- 
 mencement of the new reign as an era no less pregnant 
 with horrors than the abominable massacre of St. Bartho- 
 lomew. In the midst of this ferment the disclosure of the 
 treaty with Spain contributed to add civil to religious 
 grievances; the illegal engagement for the eventual transfer 
 of the crown to the Spanish branch, without even the know- 
 ledge of the states, alarmed a great part of the Catholics, 
 who were no less tenacious of their elective rights than the 
 Protestants of their religious privileges. In this situation 
 it was impossible to restrain so turbulent a people as the 
 Bohemians, animated with all the fury of political and 
 religious animosity, and in count Thurn appeared another 
 Ziska, who was capable of rousing, directing, and organ- 
 ising an insurrection. 
 
 Matthew Henry, count of Thurn, a native of Goritz, 
 was descended from an illustrious family. He embraced 
 at an early period the Lutheran doctrines, and on the 
 death of his father transferred his residence to Bohemia, 
 where he inherited considerable estates. He acquired 
 great reputation by his military services against the Turks, 
 gained the affections of his adopted countrymen by zeal 
 for their civil and religious liberties, and to the distin- 
 guished part which he acted during the reign of Rhodolph 
 was attributed the publication of the royal edict. Such 
 services could not fail to endear him still more to the 
 Protestants, and such extensive influence to render him 
 respectable to the crown ; his importance to both was 
 evinced by his appointment to the custody of the regalia, 
 as burgrave of Carlstein, and his nomination to the charge 
 of the chief defender of religion, allowed by the royal 
 edict. Affable, liberal, eloquent and popular, he was cal- 
 culated to become the leader of a party. He possessed an 
 enthusiastic warmth of temper, which gave to all his 
 speeches and actions the appearance of undissembled truth 
 and unaffected sincerity, and he united to these specious 
 and dangerous qualities distinguished military talents, a 
 daring spirit of enterprise, a deep acquaintance with the 
 human heart, and energy and skill to impel or govern its 
 movements. Brought up in the midst of civil and religious 
 feuds, he was inured to the arts of intrigue, and delighted in 
 
 VOL. n. L
 
 1 16 MATTHIAS. [CII. XLVI. 
 
 troubles and commotions, which afforded full exercise to 
 his restless spirit, and full scope to his eminent abilities. 
 Such a man was destined to become the scourge or the 
 glory of his age, the ruin or the safeguard of his country. 
 
 The character, talents, and influence of Thurn rendered 
 him highly inimical to Ferdinand, while the active part 
 which he had taken in opposing his election added per- 
 sonal antipathy to the dislike naturally arising from dis- 
 cordant characters and principles. These causes occasioned 
 his abrupt dismission from the burgraviate of Carlstein, 
 which impelled him into inveterate hostility against the 
 court, while it increased his influence among the people, 
 who regarded him as a martyr to their cause. He secretly 
 and silently prepared the means of gratifying at once his 
 vengeance and ambition, and securing the liberties and 
 religion of his adopted country from the dangers with 
 which they were threatened. He laboured with success 
 in increasing his Bohemian adherents, and strengthened 
 his cause by forming connections with the discontented 
 Protestants of Austria and Hungary, and with the mem- 
 bers of the Protestant union in the empire. 
 
 The impolicy and intolerance of the court soon fur- 
 nished him with an opportunity to inflame a trivial discus- 
 sion into open hostilities. It is a misfortune attending 
 religious disputes in a peculiar degree, in which all parties 
 act and reason on such discordant principles, that no public 
 instrument can be worded in terms sufficiently clear and 
 explicit to prevent all occasions of cavil. This was the 
 case of the royal edict, which seems by the spirit to grant 
 liberty of worship with the privilege of constructing 
 churches and schools only to the Calixtine or Protestant 
 members of the states, whether nobles, knights, or towns. 
 But an explanatory clause in general terms, instead of 
 rendering the meaning more specific, only made it more 
 doubtful * , and furnished the towns and vassals of eccle- 
 
 * This clause is as follows : " If any of the united states of the 
 kingdom, who take the communion under both kinds, should want to 
 erect more churches, places of worship, or schools, whether in towns, 
 villages, or elsewhere, this may be done, without let or hindrance by 
 the nobles and knights, as also by the inhabitants of Prague and
 
 1619.] DETERMINED ENERGY OP THE PROTESTANTS. 147 
 
 siastics and lay Catholics with a pretext for claiming the 
 same privilege. In consequence of this interpretation, the 
 Protestant inhabitants of the town of Brunau and of Clos- 
 tergraben, a village in the vicinity of Prague, began to 
 erect churches, and to perform divine service according to 
 the Protestant ritual. The archbishop of Prague and the 
 abbot of Brunau, to whom the respective places belonged, 
 considering these acts as an infringement of their feudal 
 rights, obtained a prohibition from the government. The 
 Protestants, however, instead of obeying the order, were 
 encouraged by the defenders of their religion to persevere ; 
 and these and other prohibitions of the sovereign induced 
 the Protestant states of Bohemia and its dependencies to 
 enter into a formal confederacy for the security and de- 
 fence of their rights and privileges. They followed this 
 engagement by a petition for redress in the affair of Brunau 
 and Clostergraben ; and at the same time renewed their 
 compacts and treaties with some of the Protestant princes 
 of Germany. 
 
 Encouraged by this confederacy, the Protestants pro- 
 ceeded with new vigour, and the churches were completed, 
 notwithstanding Matthias himself expressed his disappro- 
 bation to count Thurn, and declared their conduct an in- 
 fraction of the royal edict. But though he was disposed 
 to connive at this disobedience, Ferdinand was not inclined 
 to the same acquiescence, and soon after his coronation, an 
 order, obtained by his influence, was issued by the court, com- 
 manding the surrender or demolition of the newly con- 
 structed churches. The archbishop instantly executed the 
 order at Clostergraben ; but at Brunau the people opposed 
 their abbot, and sent deputies to Matthias, requesting the 
 revocation of his mandate. Instead, however, of obtaining 
 redress, their deputies were arrested, and an imperial com- 
 mission despatched to shut up the church, and suppress the 
 Protestant worship in Brunau. 
 
 These acts, of which numerous precedents had been 
 
 Kuttenburgh, and all other towns." From the context it is erident 
 that this permission was confined to the Calixtine, or rather Protestant 
 members of the states, and therefore the general phrase, " all other 
 towns," ought to be referred only to those towns which were member-, 
 of the states, instead of the towns in general. 
 
 i 2
 
 148 MATTHIAS. [CH. XLVT. 
 
 given in Germany and in the Austrian territories, might 
 at any other time have produced a trifling dispute, which 
 would have soon sunk into oblivion ; but amidst the general 
 ferment, and in the powerful hands of count Thurn, they 
 became the instrument which excited an insurrection, and 
 occasioned the Thirty Years' War. As one of the defenders 
 of religion, he persuaded his colleagues that this prohibition 
 was a breach of the royal edict ; and prevailed on them to 
 summon at Prague a meeting of six delegates from each 
 circle, to take the affair into consideration. The assembly 
 met on the 6th of March, 1618, and was attended by a nu- 
 merous concourse of people, who were attracted by curiosity 
 or impelled by the spirit of party. The delegates, roused 
 by the eloquence of count Thurn, were easily induced to 
 declare the suspension of the Protestant worship and the 
 demolition of the church a breach of the royal edict ; and 
 to draw up a petition to the emperor, demanding redress, 
 and requiring the liberation of the imprisoned deputies 
 from Brunau. The assembly separated, after fixing a day 
 for a new meeting, to receive the answer of the emperor ; 
 and the delegates who had been wrought upon by Thurn, 
 in returning to their respective circles, contributed to in- 
 flame the public mind, by spreading reports among their 
 countrymen, that the court, in imitation of Rhodolph, had 
 adopted a systematic plan for the extermination of the Pro- 
 testant worship, and were prepared to call in foreign troops 
 for its execution. 
 
 These alarms were in a great degree corroborated by the 
 manner and terms in which the answer was conveyed ; for 
 the court, if it had not then formed a regular plan of hos- 
 tility against the Protestants, certainly evinced a resolution 
 to continue and extend its restrictions. The emperor 
 affected to consider the affair in dispute as a mere pretext 
 for an invasion of his authority. He acknowledged that 
 the churches had been shut up and the refractory deputies 
 imprisoned by his order, and that the Protestant delegates 
 had exceeded the privileges granted by the royal edict, in 
 protecting vassals of other lords, contrary to his express 
 commands. He charged the delegates also with disobe- 
 dience and revolt, and with spreading injurious reports that
 
 1619.] PROGRESS OF RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 149 
 
 he was about to call in foreign troops for the invasion of 
 Bohemia. He observed, that he did not expect such pro- 
 ceedings from those who had abused his lenity, under the 
 sanction of the royal edict, and as it became him as sove- 
 reign to extinguish the sparks before they burst forth into 
 flame, he declared that he would act towards the disobedient 
 according to their demerits. He concluded, with forbidding 
 all further assemblies, all interference with the vassals of 
 Brunau, or those of any other lord, and all such attempts to 
 excite commotions till he himself should repair to Bohemia, 
 or give his final decision. This answer, if its tone and 
 spirit had been calculated to satisfy the Protestants, could 
 not fail to irritate them still more by the manner in which 
 it was delivered ; for it was not addressed to the delegates, 
 who had presented the petition, and were again assembled, 
 but to the council of regency, of which two members were 
 Slavata and Martinetz *, the nobles so peculiarly unpopular 
 among the Protestants. 
 
 This impolitic step did not escape the penetration of 
 count Thurn, and furnished him with another opportunity 
 of exerting his consummate skill in exciting popular indig- 
 nation. Before the answer was communicated he had 
 already wrought upon the feelings of the delegates ; but, 
 after their attendance in the council chamber, whither 
 they had repaired to receive the communication, he again 
 addressed them, roused their anger almost to fury against 
 the obnoxious nobles, whose persecutions he depicted in the 
 most glowing colours, and concluded with representing them 
 as the authors of the insulting answer which they had drawn 
 up themselves, and sent to Vienna for the formal signature 
 of the emperor. Moved by this powerful appeal to their 
 passions, the delegates with their retainers assembled in 
 arms on the following morning, for the purpose of making 
 a reply to the answer of the court. Thurn did not suffer 
 the enthusiasm which he had inspired to subside ; taking 
 the chiefs of the delegation apart, he repeated his former 
 accusations, represented that Bohemia could enjoy no free- 
 
 * The council of regency consisted of ten members, seven Catholics 
 and three Protestants ; but, either by accident or design, six of the 
 number were absent at their country seats, among whom were the 
 throe Protestants. 
 
 L 3
 
 150 MATTHIAS. [CH. XL VI. 
 
 dom of worship while Slavata and Martinetz continued in 
 power ; and urged, that now was the time to deliver them- 
 selves from two such deadly enemies to their religion and 
 liberties. The voices of a few who ventured to remonstrate, 
 being drowned in clamour, they burst into the council 
 chamber, where the four regents, the burgrave of Prague, 
 Diepold of Lobcowitz, grand prior of St. Mary's, and the 
 two obnoxious nobles were sitting. 
 
 One of the delegates advancing assailed the whole council 
 with the most bitter reproaches ; but he was interrupted by 
 another, Kolon of Feltz, who exclaimed, " We have no 
 complaint against the burgrave and the lord of Lobcowitz ; 
 our business is with Slavata and Martinetz, the persecutors 
 of the Protestants." He then addressed the obnoxious 
 nobles, and demanded, whether they knew who had drawn 
 up the answer, or whether they were themselves its authors. 
 The burgrave interposed, urging, that the affair was im- 
 proper for disclosure, as a secret of state, and endeavoured 
 to soothe them by persuasion and exhortation. His attempts, 
 however, were fruitless ; another delegate exclaimed, " Let 
 us follow the ancient custom of Bohemia, and hurl them 
 from the window 1" The impulse was instantly given ; the 
 burgrave and the grand prior were led out of the room, and 
 Martinetz instantly precipitated into the ditch of the castle. 
 The delegates who had been driven to the brink of rebel- 
 lion, without adverting to the consequences of their conduct, 
 recoiled with horror, and turned round to each other with 
 looks of confusion and dismay. Their chief alone preserved 
 his resolution and presence of mind ; his penetrating eye 
 saw their emotion, and he recalled their scattered spirits, 
 by exclaiming, " Noble lords, another object waits your 
 vengeance!" In an instant their passions were again 
 roused ; this appeal inspired the conspirators with all their 
 former resolution, and they completed their atrocious act, 
 by throwing from the window Slavata, and Fabricius the 
 secretary, who was no less unpopular. Thus terminated 
 this singular event, which is rendered still more extraordi- 
 nary by the wonderful escape of the intended victims. 
 Though precipitated from a height of eighty feet, and fired 
 at from the windows, their fall was broken by the water or 
 mud of the moat, and they made their escape almost unhurt.
 
 1619.] PROGRESS OF RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 151 
 
 one by crossing the Moldau, the others by obtaining refuge 
 in a neighbouring dwelling. 
 
 Thurn having thus led his associates into the commission 
 of an outrage which precluded all hope of accommodation, 
 now laboured to convince his whole party that the vengeance 
 of the emperor would make no distinction of persons, and that 
 their only safety consisted in unanimous and open resistance. 
 He rode through the streets, accompanied by his colleagues, 
 haranguing the crowd of all ranks and conditions, who had 
 flocked from all quarters, on this memorable occasion. " I 
 do not," he exclaimed, " propose myself as your chief, but 
 as your companion, in that peril which will lead us to 
 happy freedom or glorious death. The die is thrown, it is 
 too late to recall what is past ; your safety depends alone 
 on unanimity and courage, and if you hesitate to burst 
 asunder your chains, you have no alternative but to perish 
 by the hands of the executioner." His address raised a 
 thunder of applause, and was attended with an instanta- 
 neous effect ; those Protestants who disapproved the outrage, 
 considering themselves as involved in the common danger, 
 united in the rebellion for common safety, and even many 
 of the Catholics, detesting the arbitrary principles of Fer- 
 dinand, joined with the adherents of count Thurn, as the 
 only means of preserving their civil rights. 
 
 Their measures were not, as generally happens in popu- 
 lar commotions, tardy and fluctuating ; but vigorous, 
 prompt, and decisive. Two days being spent in arranging 
 their plans, the whole body met on the third, and, with all 
 the forms of the diet, revived the confederacy which had 
 enabled them to give law to Rhodolph. They elected thirty 
 directors, chosen equally from the three estates, for the 
 administration of affairs, issued orders for the levy of troops, 
 and appointed count Thurn their commander. They ex- 
 pelled the archbishop of Prague and the abbot of Brunau, 
 drove out the Jesuits, and appealed to their co-estates of 
 Moravia, Silesia, andLusatia, as well as to the Hungarians, 
 and to the Protestants of the empire. They concluded with 
 drawing up a public apology for their conduct, and sent it 
 with a respectful letter to the emperor. 
 
 That part which relates to their outrage against the 
 council of regency, deserves to be recited as an instance of 
 
 i 4
 
 152 MATTHIAS. [CII. XLVL 
 
 the customs of Bohemia, and as a proof of the art with 
 which they attempted to colour their designs. " They had 
 thrown from the window," they said, " the two ministers 
 who had been the enemies of the state, together with their 
 creature and flatterer Fabricius, in conformity with an 
 ancient custom prevalent throughout all Bohemia, as well 
 as in the capital. This custom," they argued, " was justified 
 by the example of Jezebel in Holy Writ, who was thrown 
 from a window for persecuting the people of God ; a.nd was 
 common among the Romans, and all other nations of anti- 
 quity, who hurled the disturbers of the public peace from 
 rocks and precipices." 
 
 Matthias, who had reluctantly sent the fatal answer 
 which had been the pretext of the mischief, was thunder- 
 struck with the intelligence of this revolt. He was well 
 acquainted with the temper of his subjects, with the ascend- 
 ency of the Protestants in every part of his dominions, and 
 the general dislike against Ferdinand, which prevailed as 
 well in Germany as in the Austrian territories ; he also 
 recollected with terror the ferocious resistance of the Bohe- 
 mians, in defence of their religion, during the Hussite wars. 
 He was therefore justly apprehensive of aggravating the 
 mischief by severity; and as his subjects had not yet 
 thrown off their allegiance, he hoped by lenity to bring 
 them back to a sense of their duty. In these sentiments 
 he was encouraged by the advice of cardinal Klesel, who, 
 though a zealous Catholic, was yet a prudent minister, and 
 saw no less than his master the danger of recurring to 
 force. But these benevolent sentiments were far from 
 finding a place in the bosom of Ferdinand ; the Jesuits 
 had instilled into his mind the maxim, that Protestantism 
 and rebellion were inseparably united ; that claims of 
 religious freedom were only pretexts for seizing civil 
 rights, and usurping civil authority ; and the enthusiastic 
 fervour with which he had devoted himself to the cause of 
 the church made him rather court than shun dangers in 
 asserting its honour and authority. He delivered on this 
 occasion a memorial, of which we give the substance, as a 
 singular proof of his character, and as displaying the prin- 
 ciples on which he now and afterwards acted. 
 
 After observing that all attempts would be fruitless to
 
 1619.] FERDINAND'S MEMORIAL TO THE PROTESTANTS. 153 
 
 bring back to reason a people whom God had struck with 
 judicial blindness, he continued, " Since the introduction of 
 heresy into Bohemia, we see nothing but tumults, disobe- 
 dience, and rebellion. While the Catholics and the sove- 
 reign have displayed only lenity and moderation, these 
 sects have become stronger, more violent, and more inso- 
 lent ; having gained all their objects in religious affairs, 
 they turn their jyms against the civil government, and 
 attack the supreme authority itself, under the pretence of 
 conscience. Not content with confederating themselves 
 against their sovereign, they have usurped the power of 
 taxation, and have made alliances with foreign states, par- 
 ticularly with the Protestant princes of Germany, in order 
 to deprive him of the very means of reducing them to 
 obedience. They have left nothing to the sovereign but 
 his palaces and the convents ; and, after their recent out- 
 rages against his ministers, and the usurpation of the regal 
 revenues, no object remains for their vengeance and rapa- 
 city but the persons of the sovereign and his successor, and 
 the whole house of Austria. 
 
 " If sovereign power emanates from God, these atrocious 
 deeds must proceed from the devil, and therefore must 
 draw down divine punishment. Neither can God be 
 pleased with the conduct of the sovereign in conniving at 
 or acquiescing in all the demands of the disobedient. 
 Nothing now remains for him but to submit to be lorded 
 by his subjects, or to free himself from this disgraceful 
 slavery before his territories are formed into a republic. 
 The rebels have at length deprived themselves of the only 
 plausible argument, which their preachers have inces- 
 santly thundered from the pulpit, that they were contending 
 for religious freedom ; and the emperor and the house of 
 Austria have now the fairest opportunity to convince the 
 world, that their sole object is only to deliver themselves 
 from slavery, and restore their legal authority. They are 
 secure of divine support ; every sovereign, both ecclesiastic 
 and secular, who is desirous to maintain his own dignity, 
 must favour their cause ; and they have only the alternative 
 of a war, by which they may regain their power, or a peace, 
 which is far more dishonourable and dangerous than war. 
 If successful, the forfeited property of the rebels will defray
 
 154 MATTHIAS. [CH. XL VI. 
 
 the expense of their armaments ; and if the event of hos- 
 tilities be unfortunate, they can only lose, with honour and 
 with arms in their hands, the rights and prerogatives, 
 which are and will be wrested from them with shame and 
 dishonour. It is better not to reign than to be the slave of 
 subjects ; it is far more desirable and glorious to shed our 
 blood at the foot of the throne, than to be driven from it 
 like criminals and malefactors." 
 
 Ferdinand was supported in his opinion by the arch- 
 duke Maximilian, and no less by the Spanish court, with 
 whom he had recently entered into a family compact, of 
 which the object was to afford mutual assistance in fur- 
 thering the aggrandisement of the Austrian family, and 
 the maintenance of the Catholic religion. Matthias, how- 
 ever, was not hurried away by the ardour of Ferdinand, 
 nor induced to abandon his pacific designs, though with a 
 view to give weight to his proposals, he made levies in his 
 hereditary countries, and obtained a considerable subsidy 
 and troops from Spain. By these means he soon assem- 
 bled a corps of 10,000 men, of which he intrusted the com- 
 mand to general Dampierre, who had already distinguished 
 himself in the war against the Venetians ; and 8000 
 Spanish troops were advancing from the Netherlands, 
 under the command of the count de Bucquoy, a pupil of 
 Spinola. At the same time Matthias endeavoured to pre- 
 vent the German princes from assisting the Bohemians, 
 by prohibiting all levies of troops for their support in the 
 empire. With this force he hoped to awe his subjects, 
 while he proffered them the most favourable terms. He 
 declared that he never intended to infringe the royal 
 edict ; that he was only induced to arm because they had 
 armed ; that, if they would abandon their hostile prepara- 
 tions, he would likewise disband his forces, confirm the 
 royal edict, and give full security for the maintenance of 
 their civil and religious privileges. Having followed 
 these proposals with others still more pacific, he sent two 
 of his ministers to Prague, with a view to conciliate the 
 insurgent chiefs, and displayed the utmost earnestness to 
 effect an accommodation. 
 
 The known character and principles of Ferdinand pre- 
 vented the Protestants from accepting these conditions,
 
 1619.] HOSTILITIES COMMENCED. 155 
 
 and his conduct proved their apprehensions to be not un- 
 founded. Enraged at being disappointed of his expected 
 vengeance against the Protestants, he turned his whole re- 
 sentment against Klesel, to whose advice and influence he 
 attributed the lenity of the emperor. By the assistance of 
 Maximilian, whom Klesel had equally offended, he, on the 
 20th of July, 1618, caused him to be arrested in the midst 
 of the court, stripped of his cardinal's robes, and conveyed 
 in a covered carriage, under an escort, to a castle in the 
 Tyrol. When the outrage was committed, he repaired 
 with Maximilian to the royal apartment, to communicate 
 the intelligence to Matthias, who was confined with the 
 gout, and endeavoured to justify the deed by representing 
 the cardinal as a weak and wicked minister, whose views 
 were to divide and ruin the house of Austria. The em- 
 peror at first received the account with emotions too 
 powerful for utterance ; but, oppressed with age and infir- 
 mity, he felt that he had given himself a master, and, from 
 a dread of being driven from the throne, no less than from 
 a sense of his incapacity, he submitted with sullen indig- 
 nation to the insult.* 
 
 Having thus removed the only minister who was willing 
 or able to oppose his views, Ferdinand pursued his designs 
 without control. He led himself 5000 men to awe the 
 Moravians, while Dampierre was ordered with his army to 
 invade Bohemia ; and nothing was heard in the court, or 
 among his adherents, but boasts and exultations, that the 
 rebellious peasants would soon be overpowered by the dis- 
 ciplined troops of Spain, and the injuries and dishonour 
 of the church avenged ; but he soon experienced the diffi- 
 culty of subjugating a warlike people, directed by able 
 chiefs and animated by a zeal for religion and liberty. 
 
 The directors had not beheld the preparations of the 
 court with indifference, and did not suffer their adversaries 
 to obtain a footing in the country before they commenced 
 hostilities. Almost every town in the kingdom joining in 
 the insurrection, as early as July, count Thurn found hlm- 
 
 * Kevenhuller informs us, that his emotion at first choked his utter- 
 ance ; but, on recovering from the first impulse, he thrust the bed 
 clothes into his mouth, and nearly suffocated himself, to avoid speak- 
 ing. Schmidt, 'oL ix. p. 79.
 
 156 MATTHIAS. [CH. XLVl. 
 
 self at the head of 10,000 men. His first object was, to 
 secure Budweis, Pilsen, and Krummau, the only towns 
 which continued faithful to the emperor ; he took Krum- 
 mau by assault, but was foiled at Budweis by the despe- 
 rate resistance of the inhabitants and imperial garrison. 
 Called from the siege by the invasion of Dampierre, who 
 advanced towards the capital, he defeated the imperial 
 troops, first at Czaslau, and afterwards at Lomnitz. Buc- 
 quoy, who approached on the side of Neuhaus to join 
 Dampierre, was not more successful than his colleague ; 
 he found obstacles in every pass, and every defile ; and the 
 excesses of his troops increased the number of his enemies, 
 even among those who had hitherto preserved their 
 loyalty. 
 
 The courage of the Bohemians was raised by the junc- 
 tion of the Silesians and Lusatians, and still more by a 
 timely succour from the Protestant league of Germany, 
 which they considered as the harbinger of future support ; 
 for that antipathy to Ferdinand which had driven the 
 Bohemians into rebellion, had at the same time rapidly ex- 
 tended its influence among the Protestants of the empire. 
 As the means of preventing a civil war, Matthias endea- 
 voured to obtain the dissolution both of the Protestant 
 union and the Catholic league, which he foresaw would 
 only divide Germany into two parties, whose hostility 
 would endanger the imperial authority. He obtained the 
 assent of the Catholics, on the 14th of May, 1618 ; but his 
 efforts only induced the Protestants to renew their union 
 for three years. Their chief, the elector Palatine, whose 
 youthful ambition was inflamed by his recent marriage 
 with Elizabeth, daughter of James, king of England, took 
 advantage of the unpopularity of Ferdinand, and of the 
 troubles arising in every part of the Austrian dominions. 
 The insurrection of Bohemia presented to him a favourable 
 opportunity of at once aggrandising himself and humbling 
 a prince against whom he fostered a deep-rooted antipathy. 
 He entered into a secret league with the elector of Bran- 
 denburgh, of which the object was, to secure for himself 
 the throne of Bohemia ; he hoped to obtain the connivance 
 or acquiescence of the Catholics, by placing a Catholic 
 prince on the imperial throne ; and he flattered himself
 
 1619.] CONTINUED HOSTILITIES. 157 
 
 with the support of the future emperor, who might owe so 
 high a dignity to his influence and exertions. 
 
 Maximilian, duke of Bavaria, a prince no less distin- 
 guished for civil and military talents than zeal for the 
 Catholic faith, was the sovereign whom he fixed upon for 
 the destined dignity, and he hoped to secure his nomina- 
 tion without difficulty, as, besides the influence of Maxi- 
 milian among the Catholics, the vote of his brother, the 
 elector of Treves, in addition to those of Bohemia, Pala- 
 tine, and Brandenburgh, would form a majority in the 
 electoral college. Frederic himself repaired to Munich, 
 and used every argument to obtain his concurrence ; but 
 he failed of success, as the duke foresaw that such a pro- 
 ject would draw on him the resentment of* the house of 
 Austria, to which he was allied by blood and friendship, 
 and would exalt the Protestant interest in the empire to 
 the detriment of his own party. 
 
 Though thus unexpectedly disappointed, the elector 
 Palatine, instead of relinquishing his project, made a simi- 
 lar proposal to Charles Emanuel, duke of Savoy, whose 
 ambitious spirit and dislike of the Spanish court afforded 
 him a better prospect of success. The wily duke was well 
 aware of the danger attending such an elevation, but fore- 
 seeing in this plan an opportunity of drawing the atten- 
 tion of Spain to Germany, he encouraged his ardour by 
 an affected acquiescence in his views. In consequence of 
 this connection, the elector Palatine, and with him the 
 Protestant union, found more ready means than their own 
 resources afforded for interfering in the affairs of Bohemia. 
 By the subsidies of Savoy a corps of 4000 troops was 
 levied in the empire, under the name of the union, of 
 which the disposition was intrusted to the elector Palatine. 
 This corps was raised and commanded by count Mansfeld*, 
 who had served with distinction in the wars of the house 
 of Austria, but, either from disappointment or from attach- 
 ment to the reformed religion, had entered into the ser- 
 vice of the union, led a detachment to the assistance of 
 the duke of Savoy in his Italian wars, and, at the conclu- 
 sion of the peace, obtained a commission, which was likely 
 
 * Natural son of Ernest, count Mansfeld, who had commanded the 
 Spanish army in the Netherlands.
 
 158 MATTHIAS. [CH.XLVT. 
 
 to favour the Protestant cause, and gratify his own re- 
 sentment. 
 
 The members of the union had watched with jealous 
 attention the conduct of the imperial court toward the 
 Bohemians, whose cause they considered as their own. 
 While they were offering their mediation, and exhorting 
 the emperor to pacify the rising troubles, the elector Pala- 
 tine issued his orders, and Mansfeld burst into Bohemia. 
 Being joined by numbers of the natives, he laid siege to 
 Pilsen, next to Prague, the most important fortress of the 
 kingdom, and remarkable for the warlike spirit of the inha- 
 bitants, and their attachment to their sovereign. After an 
 obstinate resistance, the fortress surrendered, and Mansfeld 
 thus obtained a place of arms, where he could wait for 
 reinforcements, or from whence he could push forwards to 
 join count Thurn. This success checked the operations of 
 the imperialists : Dampierre was compelled to retreat into 
 Austria, and Bucquoy was driven back to Budweis, where 
 he intrenched himself, in order to preserve so important a 
 post, the last remnant of the Austrian possessions in 
 Bohemia. 
 
 During these operations Matthias had endeavoured to 
 obtain effectual succours from the Austrians and the Catho- 
 lics of the empire. He convoked the states' at Vienna ; 
 but, in reply to all his proposals, he received only demands 
 for a redress of grievances, and was reproached for under- 
 taking a war against the Bohemians without their consent. 
 He met with no better success even from the Catholics of 
 the empire. They dreaded a contest with the Protestants, 
 and deprecated the renewal of the civil war in Germany ; 
 and therefore the duke of Bavaria and the elector of 
 Mentz joined with the Protestants in recommending an 
 accommodation. Matthias, had he not been inclined, had 
 no other choice but to accede to this proposal, and accepted 
 the arbitration of the electors of Mentz, Bavaria, Saxony, 
 and Palatine. The repugnance of Ferdinand was over- 
 ruled, and even the chiefs of the insurgents were awed by 
 a strong party in the country, who were already wearied 
 by the calamities of war, and dreaded the uncertain event 
 of a contest. Pilsen was first proposed for the intended 
 congress ; but, after much difficulty and many delays, Egra
 
 1619 ] HIS DEATH. 159 
 
 was fixed upon for the meeting, which was to be opened on 
 the 14th of April, 1619. 
 
 At the moment when all parties had been induced or 
 compelled to enter into a negotiation, the death of Mat- 
 thias frustrated all these well-meant efforts for the restora- 
 tion of peace. His health had been long declining, but 
 the recent outrage committed on his confidential minister, 
 and the overbearing conduct of Ferdinand, joined to the 
 disturbances in Bohemia, deeply affected his mind, and re- 
 duced him to a state of despondency. He brooded over his 
 degraded situation, and was frequently heard to exclaim, 
 that the conduct of his brother and cousin had inflicted on 
 'him greater injuries than all the misfortunes of his reign. 
 He received, also, an irrecoverable shock from the death 
 of his wife, whom he tenderly loved, and whose dissolu- 
 tion was hastened by grief for his humiliations and suf- 
 ferings. This severe loss overcame a mind already droop- 
 ing under disease, disappointment, and affliction, and soon 
 exhausted the feeble remains of life. He died on the 20th 
 of March, 1619, deeply regretting his own treatment of 
 his brother Ehodolph, lamenting the ingratitude of Ferdi- 
 nand, and presaging the calamities in which his bigotry 
 and despotism were likely to involve his own territories and 
 the empire.* 
 
 CHAP. XL VH. FERDINAND II. 1619. 
 
 ON the death of Matthias, Ferdinand had attained his 41st 
 year. He became legitimate sovereign of Hungary and 
 Bohemia in consequence of his prior coronation, and arch- 
 duke of Austria, by the decease of Maximilian, and the 
 renunciation of Albert ; he was, in his own right, duke of 
 Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, and, in conjunction with 
 his two brothers, Leopold and Charles, he inherited the 
 joint possession, but in reality the paramount authority, in 
 
 ' For the affairs of Bohemia have been principally consulted Pelzel, 
 the native historian ; and, for the other parts of the reign of Matthias, 
 Struvius, Heiss, Schmidt, and Heinrich.
 
 160 FERDINAND II. [CH. XLV1I. 
 
 the Tyrol and exterior provinces. He was likewise a 
 candidate for the imperial throne ; and the powerful sup- 
 port of Spain, joined with the interest of his family, seemed 
 likely to crown his claims with undisputed success. 
 
 Had he succeeded to an uncontested possession of all 
 these territories and dignities, he would have almost rivalled 
 the power of Charles V., the greatest sovereign of his 
 house. But of all these possessions and honours he seemed 
 at the moment of his accession scarcely capable of retain- 
 ing the most inconsiderable ; for in every part of his ex- 
 tensive dominions his authority was either secretly under- 
 mined or openly annihilated ; wherever he turned his eyes 
 lie saw nothing but the flames of rebellion, or the sparks 
 glowing beneath the embers, and ready to burst into con- 
 flagration. 
 
 The prospects of Ferdinand were scarcely more encou- 
 raging in the empire. He was opposed by the great body 
 of the Protestant union, who had supported his rebellious 
 subjects, and who seized so favourable an opportunity as 
 that which now presented itself to establish the prepon- 
 derance of their party. They had two votes in the 
 electoral college : they were not without hopes of detach- 
 ing the elector of Saxony by the common interests of reli- 
 gion, and were preparing to place a Protestant prince on the 
 Bohemian throne, and thus to obtain an additional suffrage. 
 They were countenanced by the united provinces, and by 
 the Protestant powers of the north ; they relied on the 
 interest which France was likely to feel for the depression 
 of the house of Austria, to secure her assistance, and they 
 expected that James I. would support his son-in-law, the 
 elector Palatine. 
 
 All Bohemia, except Budweis, was in the power of the 
 insurgents ; the Silesians and Lusatians had joined the 
 insurrection, and the Moravians only waited an oppor- 
 tunity to unite in the same cause. Hungary was agitated 
 by discontents, which all the efforts of the Palatine could 
 scarcely repress ; and the disaffected eagerly looked for- 
 ward to the support of Bethlehem Gabor, who was in con- 
 federacy with the Bohemians, and preparing to invade the 
 country. In the Styrian territories the Protestants, who 
 had been reduced to silence by the dread of banishment
 
 1619.] HIS IMPOLITIC ADMINISTRATION. 161 
 
 and proscription, were eager to disavow their forced con- 
 version, and to follow the successful example of the Bohe- 
 mians. The natives of Upper Austria had entered into 
 the confederacy, and, by possessing themselves of the 
 passes, at once cut off the communication of Ferdinand 
 with Bohemia, and afforded the insurgents an advantage to 
 invade the last remnant of his possessions. The Protest- 
 ants of the lower district were animated by a similar 
 spirit ; they refused to swear allegiance, and were only 
 prevented from breaking out into open rebellion by the 
 strength of the Catholics, the presence of the sovereign, 
 and a dread of the force under Dampierre. 
 
 Duly appreciating the deplorable situation of his affair?, 
 Ferdinand endeavoured to pacify or divide the insurgents 
 by offers of accommodation. On the very day succeeding 
 the emperor's death, he despatched one of his ministers to 
 Prague, with a letter announcing his accession, and a pro- 
 mise to fulfil all the engagements which he had made at 
 his coronation ; at the same time he gave orders to Buc- 
 quoy to abstain from hostilities and propose a truce. But 
 in this important and critical step he consulted his own 
 feelings and pride rather than his interests ; by the same 
 letter he re-established the obnoxious council of regency ; 
 and, instead of addressing his proposals to the directorial 
 government, he sent them through the medium of that 
 council which had already become so unpopular, and had 
 furnished the pretext for the insurrection. 
 
 The insurgents considered this conduct as a proof of hi* 
 inveterate hostility, and as an evidence that he was deter- 
 mined to erase with the sword what necessity compelled 
 him to sign with the pen ; and, aware that the proposed 
 truce would give him time to assemble his forces, received 
 his proposals with silent contempt. He made subsequent 
 advances in more conciliating terms, but with no better 
 success, for the insurgents were determined to admit no 
 conciliation which was extorted by necessity, but to ex- 
 clude from the throne a sovereign whom the absolution of 
 the pope would deliver from the most solemn engagements, 
 and from whose inveterate bigotry their civil and religious 
 privileges would be exposed to continual infringements. 
 
 They fulfilled their design with the same vigour and 
 
 VOL. II. M
 
 162 FERDINAND H. [CH. XLVII. 
 
 celerity which they had hitherto displayed. While Mans- 
 feld remained in the neighbourhood of Budweis to watch 
 the motions of Bucquoy, Thurn, with 16,000 men, marched 
 into Moravia. His arrival was the signal of revolt ; on 
 the 6th of June, the natives rose, the capital opened its 
 gates, the Austrian government was abolished, the Pro- 
 testant worship established, and the country placed under 
 an administration similar to that of Bohemia. With his 
 forces greatly augmented by this revolution, Thurn burst 
 into Upper Austria, where he experienced a similar recep- 
 tion, and pushed his march to the gates of Vienna. As he 
 was unprovided with heavy artillery, he did not attempt t\ 
 commence a siege ; but, occupying the suburbs, he block- 
 aded the town, and hoped by the aid of the malecontents 
 within, to obtain without bloodshed possession of the 
 capital and the person of the sovereign. So certain did he 
 seem of success, and so confident that the rigours of a 
 blockade would hasten the crisis in his favour, that he even 
 digested a plan for the government of the country. 
 
 Ferdinand had seen this storm approach without the 
 faintest prospect of shelter or assistance. All his offers to 
 conciliate the natives of Upper Austria were received with 
 the same contempt as those which he had tendered to the 
 Bohemians. Although the states of the lower district 
 were at this time assembled at Vienna, the Catholics were 
 unable to carry any resolution in his favour, and the Pro- 
 testants evinced their determination to join the insurgents. 
 The rapid and unexpected irruption of Thurn had pre- 
 cluded all hopes of relief from those troops which were 
 still in arms under Bucquoy and Dampierre in Austria and 
 Bohemia ; the garrison was weak, and discontented for 
 want of pay and provisions ; while a numerous party within 
 the walls held a correspondence with the enemy, and only 
 waited the signal for insurrection. At the same time he 
 was destitute of all expectations of external assistance . 
 the sovereigns of Spain and Poland, with whom he waa 
 connected by blood and interest, were too distant to afford 
 him relief; and even the frail dependence which he might 
 have placed on the Catholics of Germany was frustrated 
 by their mutual jealousies and divisions. 
 
 Ferdinand was sensible that the surrender of Vienna
 
 1619.] BESIEGED IN VIENNA. 163 
 
 would occasion the loss of Austria, and with it the loss ot 
 the imperial crown. He therefore sent his family into the 
 Tyrol, and prepared to maintain his capital, and meet his 
 impending fate with a firmness from which we cannot 
 withhold our admiration. The Jesuits had implanted their 
 maxims in the heart of a hero ; and he found a support in 
 that religious fervour with which he was animated. He 
 threw himself at the foot of the crucifix, poured forth his 
 petitions to the Saviour of all, and rose with the full con- 
 viction of divine assistance.* Notwithstanding all the 
 remonstrances of his ministers, all the terrors of his 
 situation ; notwithstanding the total failure of his hopes 
 from human relief, and all the entreaties of the ministers 
 of that religion to which he was devoted, he persisted in 
 his resolution of encountering the vengeance of an enraged 
 multitude, and burying himself under the ruins of the 
 palace, which had been the seat of his ancestors. 
 
 He found full employment for all his resolution ; his 
 dangers increased from day to day, from hour to hour ; the 
 walls of his palace were battered by the Bohemian cannon ; 
 he heard on every side the cries of vengeance, and ex- 
 clamations ; " Let us shut him up in a convent, bring up 
 his children in the Protestant religion, and put his evil 
 counsellors to the sword!" At length the crisis of his 
 fate arrived : sixteen Protestant members of the states 
 burst into his apartment, and with threats and reproaches, 
 clamorously demanded his permission to join the insur- 
 
 * We have seldom an opportunity of discovering the secret thoughts 
 of sovereigns on great and trying occasions, we therefore gratify the 
 reader with an account given by Ferdinand himself to his confessor, 
 Bartholomew Valerius, who entered his private cabinet at the moment 
 when he had concluded his devotions. " I have reflected," he said, 
 " on the dangers which threaten me and my family, both at home and 
 abroad. With an enemy in the suburbs, sensible that the Protestants 
 are plotting my ruin, I implored that help from God which I cannot 
 expect from man. I had recourse to my Saviour, and said, Lord 
 Jesus Christ, thou Redeemer of mankind, thou to whom all hearts are 
 opened, knowest that I seek thy honour, not my own. If it be thy 
 will that in this extremity I should be overcome by my enemies, and 
 be made the sport and contempt of the world, I will drink of the bitter 
 cup. Thy will be done 1 I had scarcely spoken these words, before I 
 was inspired with new hope, and felt a full conviction that God would 
 frustrate the designs of my enemies." De Luca, p. 335. 
 M 2
 
 164 FERDINAND II. [CH. XLVII. 
 
 gents. But at this awful moment a sudden sound of 
 trumpets announced the arrival of succours. The deputies, 
 thunder-struck with the alarm, hastened from the palace, 
 and with the chiefs of their party sought safety in con- 
 cealment, or took refuge in the camp of the besiegers. 
 
 This succour, which had so unexpectedly saved their 
 sovereign, was a corps of only 500 horse, which had been 
 detached from Krems by Dampierre, and secretly descend^ 
 ing the Danube, had entered the only gate which was not 
 guarded by the vigilance of the enemy. Their appearance 
 operated like magic ; their numbers were exaggerated by 
 fear or exultation ; and rumours were instantly spread that 
 further reinforcements were approaching. The malecon- 
 tents shrunk away in silence or fled from the city ; and 
 those whom fear had hitherto deterred hastened to display 
 their loyalty. Six hundred students flew to arms ; the 
 example was followed by fifteen hundred burghers, addi- 
 tional succours arrived, and, in a few hours, all appearance 
 of danger and discontent had subsided. Nor did the good 
 fortune of Ferdinand end with his deliverance : for in the 
 midst of his exultation, news arrived that Bucquoy had 
 defeated and dissipated the army of Mansfeld ; and on the 
 22nd of June, Thurn was suddenly recalled by the de- 
 puties from the blockade of Vienna, to secure the capital 
 of Bohemia. 
 
 Relieved from immediate danger, Ferdinand left the 
 government of his dominions to his brother, the archduke 
 Leopold, and hastened into Germany to secure the crown 
 of the empire, on the acquisition of which the recovery of 
 his own territories principally depended ; because, without 
 that dignity, he could not expect assistance from the Ca- 
 tholics in the empire, or maintain that influence in foreign 
 courts, which was necessary for the suppression of the 
 rebellion in his own territories. 
 
 Fortunately the refusal of the duke of Bavaria to receive 
 the imperial crown, left the Catholics no other alternative 
 than to accept Ferdinand; and while their views were 
 fixed on him, the Protestant party was weakened and 
 divided. The elector of Saxony, from motives of inter- 
 est, strengthened by political jealousy and religious anti- 
 pathy, maintained his wonted adherence to the house of
 
 1619.] STAtE OF PROTESTANT EUROPE. 165 
 
 Austria, and rejected all the solicitations of the elector 
 Palatine, and the instances of the Protestant body. The 
 elector Palatine himself was unable to infuse unanimity 
 into the Protestant union ; and could not bring forward 
 any candidate whose influence or power might render him 
 a dangerous competitor. He had proffered the imperial 
 crown to the dukes of Bavaria and Savoy, but from both 
 had only received a positive or evasive refusal. 
 
 Besides the trifling assistance which he could expect 
 from the Protestants of the empire, he had less reason to 
 rely even on those who were most interested to promote 
 his aggrandisement. James I. was unwilling to offend the 
 court of Spain, who lured him with the prospect of a 
 match between the infanta and his son Charles ; Denmark 
 and Sweden were too jealous of each other to act in concert, 
 and too much employed in their own contests to engage 
 in foreign wars ; the united provinces, agitated by intes- 
 tine commotions and religious factions, found sufficient em- 
 ployment in guarding and consolidating their newly- 
 acquired independence. Above all, the situation of France 
 annihilated all hopes of efficient assistance in humbling 
 the house of Austria, With Henry IV., that kingdom 
 had lost its weight in the balance of Europe; a stormy 
 minority had annihilated all the benefits derived from 
 his vigorous and economical administration ; Mary de' 
 Medici, the queen-mother, to whom the regency was 
 intrusted, was governed by Eleonora Galigai, a mean 
 Italian, and her husband Concini, who was raised to the 
 title of Marechal d'Ancre. These obscure foreigners, op- 
 posed by the great nobles of the kingdom, and embarrassed 
 by the insurrections of the Huguenots, purchased the 
 support of Spain by concluding in 1612 a double marriage, 
 between the young king and the infanta Anne, the prince 
 of Asturias and the princess Elizabeth. Louis XIII., on 
 attaining his majority, was anxious to free himself from the 
 control of his mother and her upstart favourites. He at 
 length found a deliverer in de Luines, one of the pages of 
 his court, who procured the assassination of d'Ancre, and 
 the execution of his wife ; and for that service was re- 
 warded with a dukedom, and the supreme direction of 
 affairs. The young favourite, however, was too weak to 
 
 M 3
 
 166 FERDINAND H. [CH. XLVIL 
 
 suppress the contending factions, or curb the powerful 
 nobles ; he therefore followed the example of his predeces- 
 sor, submitted himself to the guidance of the king of 
 Spain, and in compliance with his views, promoted the 
 interest of Ferdinand in the empire. 
 
 In consequence of these untoward circumstances, Fre- 
 deric endeavoured to delay the election, hoping that the 
 formal exclusion of Ferdinand from the throne of Bohemia 
 would prove fatal to his cause. But his attempts were 
 overruled by the rest of the electoral college : the day of 
 election was fixed, and Ferdinand invited to assist as legi- 
 timate king of Bohemia, notwithstanding all the remon- 
 strances of the insurgent states. He was accordingly 
 unanimously chosen and crowned emperor, on the 9th of 
 September ; the elector of Brandenburgh not venturing to 
 irritate him by a fruitless opposition, and even the elector 
 Palatine himself avoiding the publication of his own defeat, 
 by not making a useless protest. 
 
 The capitulation signed by Ferdinand was only distin- 
 guished by two additional articles of little importance; 
 the first relating to the exercise of the vicarial authority, 
 the other to the constitution of the Aulic council. 
 
 The exclusion of the Bohemian ambassadors, and the 
 certainty that Ferdinand would be raised to the imperial 
 dignity, only induced the insurgents to hasten the execu- 
 tion of their plan for ejecting him from the throne. A 
 general diet of the states of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, 
 and Lusatia assembled at Prague, soon after the depar- 
 ture of Ferdinand from Vienna. Having formed a con- 
 federacy for the maintenance of their civil and religious 
 privileges, they were joined by the Protestants of Upper 
 and Lower Austria, as well as by many of the discontented 
 magnates of Hungary, and were encouraged by assurances 
 of immediate support from Bethlehem Gabor. They then 
 proceeded to draw up a list of their grievances, in which 
 they urged that the election of Ferdinand had been infor- 
 mal, that he had broken his coronation oath, by interfering 
 in the government during the life of Matthias, had com- 
 menced the war by his own authority, and sent foreign 
 troops to devastate their country ; finally, that he had in- 
 fringed their right of election, by entering into engage-
 
 1619.] DISPUTES FOR THE IMPERIAL CROWN. 167 
 
 ments, without the consent of the states, to transfer the 
 eventual succession of the crown to the Spanish princes, 
 and thus to reduce them under a foreign, hateful, and de- 
 spotic yoke. On these grounds they declared that Ferdinand 
 had forfeited his dignity, and, in virtue of their supposed 
 right of election, proceeded to nominate a new sovereign. 
 
 On this important article, they were, however, less una- 
 nimous than on the point of exclusion. The Catholics 
 being too weak and inconsiderable to take any essential 
 share in the election, the remainder of the states were 
 divided between the choice of a Lutheran or Calvinist 
 sovereign. The Lutherans were the most numerous, the 
 Calvinists the most active and artful, and supported by 
 the Picards, or Bohemian brethren, a remnant of the an- 
 cient Hussites. The Calvinists suffered the Lutherans to 
 offer the crown to the elector of Saxony, who, they were 
 aware, would refuse the proffered dignity ; and he had no 
 sooner declined it than they turned the choice of the 
 states in favour of the elector Palatine, who was nomin- 
 ated with only six dissenting voices, two days before Fer- 
 dinand was raised to the imperial throne. To give an 
 appearance of greater weight to the new election, the states 
 of Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia were allowed to parti- 
 cipate in the choice, a right before often claimed, but never 
 admitted. 
 
 Although Frederic had anxiously laboured to secure this 
 dignity, and had previously resolved to accept it, yet he had 
 no sooner gained his object, than he hesitated to encounter 
 the dangers with which the crown was surrounded. He 
 sought advice and encouragement from those with whom 
 he was connected by blood or interest. He was earnestly 
 dissuaded by his mother, by the electors of Saxony and 
 Brandenburgh, by the duke of Bavaria, and, above all, by 
 his father-in-law, the king of England, who declared, that 
 he would not patronise revolted subjects against their law- 
 ful sovereign, and would neither acknowledge his title nor 
 afford him support. On the other hand, the wavering 
 resolutions of Frederic were strengthened by his uncles, 
 Maurice, prince of Orange, and the duke of Bouillon, by 
 his favourite counsellor, Christian of Anlialt, by the ma- 
 jority of the Protestant league, and by Bethelem Gabor,
 
 168 FERDINAND II. [CH. XL VII. 
 
 with whom he had entered into the closest connections. 
 He was urged at the same time by the instances of the 
 Calvinistic clergy, who represented the proffered crown as 
 the gift of Providence, and as a pledge of Divine support ; 
 and he was assailed by all the arts and persuasion of a wife 
 whom he adored, and who, feeling the pride of royal blood, 
 was indignant at being the consort of a simple elector. In- 
 fluenced by these motives, Frederic accepted the fatal gift, 
 and as he signed the act of election with a trembling hand, 
 he bedewed it with his tears ; affording at once a proof of 
 his weakness, and an omen of the miseries which he was 
 about to draw on himself, on his family, and on Europe. 
 
 He left the government of his electorate to the duke of 
 Deux Fonts, tore himself from the embraces of his mother, 
 and accompanied by his consort and family, commenced 
 his journey to his new kingdom. He was met by the Bo- 
 hemian deputies at Egre, where he confirmed all the pri- 
 vileges which had been granted by former sovereigns. He 
 then proceeded to the capital, and, as the archbishop of 
 Prague refused to assist at the coronation, he was crowned 
 with a pomp and magnificence surpassing all former ex- 
 amples, by the Calixtine administrator, who had been pur- 
 posely appointed vicar of the archiepiscopal see. 
 
 His reign opened under the brightest auspices. The 
 Protestants exulted in the happy prospect of living under 
 a sovereign of their own communion ; the people of every 
 denomination and every sect were enraptured at their 
 deliverance from the odious yoke of Ferdinand, and the 
 restoration of all their valued privileges. Their love rose 
 almost to admiration, when they regarded a monarch to 
 whom they owed these benefits, endeared to them by their 
 own voluntary election, and whose popular manners, and 
 affable demeanour, formed a striking contrast to the preced- 
 ing sovereigns of the house of Austria, none of whom, ex- 
 cept the reserved and gloomy Rhodolph, had deigned to 
 reside at Prague. Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Venice, 
 and many of the German princes, acknowledged his title, 
 and the cause of his rival seemed hastening to its decline. 
 
 During the absence of Ferdinand in Germany, the Pro- 
 testants of Hungary had thrown off their allegiance, and 
 called in the assistance of Bethlehem Gabor. The Tran-
 
 1619, 1620.] SECOND SIEGE OF VIENNA. 169 
 
 sylvanian prince, bursting into Hungary, had captured 
 Cassau, Tiernau, Nietra, Neuhasel, and other fortresses, 
 dispersed the imperial forces under Homonai, and after 
 despatching 18,000 men to reinforce count Thurn in Mo- 
 ravia, had advanced with rapid marches towards Presburgh. 
 The danger of this invasion compelled the archduke Leo- 
 pold to recall Bucquoy, who, after defeating Mansfeld, had 
 captured Piseck, and pushed as far as Tabor ; and Thurn, 
 who was thus delivered from his apprehensions for Bo- 
 hemia, again bursting into Austria, advanced towards the 
 capital. During these events Gabor obtained possession of 
 Presburgh by treachery, secured the sacred crown, and 
 called an assembly of the states, who, under his auspices, 
 united in the grand confederacy against Ferdinand. Se- 
 cure of Presburgh, and a considerable part of the kingdom, 
 he continued his march into Austria, and joining count 
 Thurn, their united forces amounted to 60,000 men. They 
 instantly attacked Bucquoy, who, with 18,000 men, had 
 maintained the head of the bridge over the Danube against 
 Thurn, drove him from the entrenchments, and would have 
 forced their way into the capital, had not the imperial 
 general broken down the bridge in his retreat. 
 
 CHAP. XLVIIL 1619, 1620. 
 
 IN this anxious moment Ferdinand returned from Ger- 
 many, to behold his capital again exposed to all the dangers 
 of a siege, and to encounter difficulties as great as those 
 from which he had recently escaped. He was, however, 
 again delivered by a new instance of good fortune, scarcely 
 less extraordinary than the former. The town already suf- 
 fered greatly from want of provisions ; but this difficulty 
 was felt in a still higher degree by the besieging army, and 
 their distresses were aggravated by the extreme severity of 
 the season. In this situation, Bucquoy and Dampierre, by 
 a bold and successful enterprise, descended on the lower 
 bank of the Danube, and defeated a Hungarian corps at 
 Haimburgh ; while Homonai, returning from Poland at the
 
 170 FEKDIXAND II. [dl. XLVHI. 
 
 head of a hasty levy of Cossacs, dispersed a body which 
 had been left at Cassau, under Ragotsky, to cover Upper 
 Hungary. Bethlehem Gabor, who thus saw his communi- 
 cation with Hungary and Transylvania in danger of being 
 cut off, and whose troops were exhausted by the severities 
 of the season, and with the want of provisions, was com- 
 pelled to relinquish the final object of his expedition. In 
 his return, however, he added Oldemburgh to the places 
 which already acknowledged his authority, was proclaimed 
 king of Hungary by the majority of his party, and the 
 adherents of Ferdinand were proscribed and banished. 
 Thurn at the same time retired into Bohemia, to distribute 
 his troops into quarters ; and the operations of this cam- 
 paign, which had been so fertile in great and unexpected 
 events, were closed by the recapture of Piseck, by Mans- 
 feld. Thus the emperor, notwithstanding the opportune 
 deliverance of his capital, again saw himself excluded from 
 every town of Bohemia, except Budvveis, and the greater 
 part of Hungary in the possession of his enemies. 
 
 While the allies or adherents of Frederic had thus dis- 
 membered the states of the emperor, the members of the 
 Protestant union assembled at Nuremberg, and were joined 
 by deputies from many of the imperial towns, and even 
 from the states of the two Austrias. The meeting of so 
 numerous a party, whose decision might fix the balance, 
 occupied the attention of the contending sovereigns. Fre- 
 deric had no sooner received the crown than he repaired t 
 Nuremberg, to secure the support of that union, of which 
 he was the head ; and the emperor himself sent an agent, 
 hoping, by promising a redress of grievances, to prevent 
 them from joining his enemies. But the influence of Fre- 
 deric, as head of the union, joined with the common in- 
 terest of religion, outweighed these offers; a disdainful 
 answer was returned to his proposal, in which, after re- 
 capitulating the frequent breaches of his promises, they 
 required him, as a proof of his sincerity, to command the 
 Catholic league to disarm, and offered on their side to 
 follow the example. They also urged him to give peace to 
 Bohemia ; and concluded with the declaration, that they 
 would not suffer the new king to be molested in his here- 
 ditary territories.
 
 1619, 1620.] DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED. 171 
 
 Although Frederic had thus defeated the attempt of the 
 emperor, he was yet anxious to draw the union into a more 
 hearty support of his cause, and to entangle their affairs 
 with those of Bohemia. But he at first found a consider- 
 able obstacle to his views. Though the princes were 
 desirous to support him, the deputies of the towns were 
 not guided by a policy sufficiently enlarged to appreciate 
 the advantage of seating a Protestant on the throne of 
 Bohemia, and they were, as on former occasions, dissatis- 
 fied with the burdens of frequent contributions for the 
 support of the union. At length the military preparations 
 of the Catholic league convinced them that they were 
 threatened with a common danger. They therefore joined 
 with the princes to demand from Maximilian, duke of Ba- 
 varia, as head of the Catholic league, the present redress 
 of all their grievances, with security for the future, and 
 the discontinuance of all military preparations, and required 
 a prompt and unequivocal answer. The suspicions which 
 gave rise to this demand, were justified by the conduct of 
 the Catholics, who, instead of replying, accelerated their 
 preparations, and convened a meeting of their party at 
 Wurtzburgh. The Protestants, therefore, on their side, 
 were not less active ; they exerted themselves to cut off 
 the passage of those troops who were marching from the 
 Netherlands and Alsace to the assistance of Ferdinand ; 
 and an army under the margrave of Anspach, general of the 
 union, advanced to Ulm to watch the motions of the duke 
 of Bavaria. Frederic deeming himself thus secure of im- 
 mediate support from his party, returned to Bohemia with 
 the full assurance, that the next campaign would crush the 
 hopes and baffle the efforts of his rival. 
 
 But the firm temper and active policy of Ferdinand 
 raised him above the difficulties by which he seemed to be 
 overwhelmed. Soon after his coronation at Frankfort, he 
 obtained a promise of assistance from the three ecclesias- 
 tical electors, who could not withhold their support from a 
 prince whom they had raised to the throne, and who was 
 the champion of their religion. He gained a still more 
 important acquisition, by securing the alliance of the duke 
 of Bavaria, the only prince of the Catholic party, who from 
 his military skill and political experience, was capable of
 
 172 FERDINAND II. [CH. XLVI1I. 
 
 taking the lead in the present situation of affairs. He re- 
 paired in person to Munich, and availed himself of the in- 
 timacy derived from their common education, the ties of 
 blood, the authority of his abdicated father-in-law *, and 
 the jealousy which had long subsisted between the Bava- 
 rian and Palatine branches ; he overcame the scruples 
 which Maximilian advanced, apparently with a view to 
 enhance the price of his services, and purchased his assist- 
 ance by the most liberal concessions. He yielded to him 
 the full and absolute direction of all military and political 
 operations, agreed to indemnify him for the expenses of 
 the war, for which he pledged a part of his dominions, and 
 promised an equivalent from his own territories, for all 
 the losses which Maximilian might incur in his cause. He 
 also lured the duke with the promise of sharing the spoils of 
 the Palatine, and the prospect of the electoral dignity, which 
 the line of Bavaria was once supposed to have possessed, 
 and still claimed. In virtue of this agreement, Maximi- 
 lian was to assist him Avith his own force, and his influence 
 procured the hearty co-operation of the Catholic league. 
 Ferdinand also obtained from the pope a grant of the 
 tenths of all ecclesiastical property in Spain, Italy, and the 
 Netherlands, and a monthly subsidy of 20,000 zecchines. 
 
 While Ferdinand was thus employed in uniting his own 
 party, he laboured to weaken and divide the Protestants. 
 To the elector of Saxony he represented the contest as a 
 civil not a religious affair, and he corroborated this asser- 
 tion by solemn declarations from the Catholic electors and 
 the duke of Bavaria, who, in the name of their whole 
 body, protested that their views were not hostile to the 
 Protestant religion, or directed to procure the restoration 
 of the confiscated property of the church. He held up also 
 the former bait of the succession of Juliers, and lured him 
 with other temptations. His representations found a ready 
 ear from a prince who was weak enough to be displeased 
 with a loss of a crown which he had not courage to accept, 
 and who fostered against the elector Palatine an here- 
 ditary jealousy for his superior influence among the Pro- 
 testants, and an incurable animosity arising from their 
 
 * Ferdinand espoused the daughter of his uncle William, the abdi- 
 cated duke of Bavaria.
 
 1619. 1620.] SEEKS FOREIGN ALLIANCES. 173 
 
 discordant sentiments in religion. The defection of the 
 elector was of the greatest advantage to the cause of Fer- 
 dinand ; for he drew after him the landgrave of Hesse, 
 with other Lutheran princes and states, and his example 
 contributed to discourage and embarrass the remainder. 
 
 Ferdinand applied also with equal success to the court 
 of France ; he there described his contest with the elector 
 Palatine, not as a political affair, but as a dispute which 
 involved the honour and interest of the church ; and he did 
 not fail to avert to the power and restless spirit of the 
 Huguenots, and to expatiate on the assistance which they 
 had constantly derived from the Palatine family. All 
 these arguments were backed by the court of Spain, who 
 swayed the due de Luines, the all-powerful minister of 
 Louis XIII., and by his means the young king was induced 
 to abandon that system of political enmity which his pre- 
 decessors had adopted against the house of Austria. By 
 the same predominant influence of Spain, he fixed the king 
 of England in his pacific resolutions, and notwithstanding 
 all the clamours of the nation, and the remonstrances of 
 the parliament, prevented him from taking any other part 
 than sending 4000 troops into Holland, that the same 
 number might be spared by the states for the defence of 
 the Palatinate. 
 
 Notwithstanding the advantages which he derived from 
 the interposition of Spain, Ferdinand yet found great diffi- 
 culty in persuading the court of Madrid to adopt such 
 vigorous measures as were suited to the extremity of his 
 situation. Though they readily furnished a subsidy of 
 1,000,000 florins in addition to 8000 auxiliaries, the duke 
 of Uzeda, who governed the Spanish counsels, refused to 
 take a part which might render his sovereign a principal in 
 the war ; because the truce concluded with the united 
 provinces being nearly expired, Spain might be compelled 
 to renew it on disadvantageous terms, or be at once in- 
 volved in hostilities with the German princes and the new 
 republic. His opinion was supported by the confessor, 
 who possessed an uncontrolled influence over the weak and 
 bigoted mind of Philip III. For a long time all the ar- 
 guments and remonstrances of Ferdinand failed of success, 
 till at length his ambassador, Kevenhuller, demanded an
 
 174 FERDINAND II. [ Cn - 
 
 audience of the king, and declared that his master, if not 
 assisted by Spain, would abandon Bohemia to the Palatine, 
 Hungary to Bethlehem Gabor, the Friuli to the Venetians, 
 and would himself unite with the Protestants to obtain a 
 compensation by the conquest of the Spanish dominions in 
 Italy and the Netherlands. These threats, however ro- 
 mantic, produced the desired effect ; Philip, by almost the 
 only act of authority which he ventured to exercise during 
 his reign, in opposition to his ministers, ordered Spinola 
 to march from the Netherlands with 24,000 men against 
 the Palatinate. 
 
 At the same time Ferdinand opened a negotiation with 
 Bethlehem Gabor, concluded with him a truce till the 
 ensuing autumn, and secured himself for a time from an 
 active enemy, whose attacks might have endangered the 
 remnant of his dominions, and diverted his arms from 
 Bohemia. 
 
 The good effects of this well-combined system of policy 
 were soon visible. In the spring, the Protestant union 
 and Catholic league respectively assembled their forces ; 
 the Protestants at Ulm, under the margrave of Anspach, 
 the Catholics under the duke of Bavaria in the neighbour- 
 hood of Guntzburgh. While the vicinity of these powerful 
 armies held Europe in suspense, and while all were ex- 
 pecting an engagement which was to become the prelude 
 to a civil war in Germany, the French court, in compliance 
 with their promises to Ferdinand, despatched the due 
 d'Angouleme as their ambassador, to mediate an accom- 
 modation. The Protestants, disappointed of the expected 
 assistance from France, dreading the strength of their op- 
 ponents, alarmed by the approach of Spinola, and divided 
 among themselves, agreed to terms of peace, which were 
 highly advantageous to the emperor, on the 3rd of July, 
 1620. Both parties promised mutually to abstain from hos- 
 tilities ; the union engaged not to support Frederic as king 
 of Bohemia, the league not to attack the Palatinate. The 
 Catholics were thus enabled to assist the arms of Ferdi- 
 nand in Bohemia ; and the Palatinate was left open to the 
 invasion of the Spaniards or the emperor, or to any of his 
 allies, except the Catholic league. 
 
 This treaty produced an immediate effect in Lower Aus-
 
 1619, 1620.] FURTHER HOSTILITIES. 175 
 
 tria. The majority of the Protestant states, deprived of 
 all hope of assistance from their brethren in the empire, 
 and awed by a corps of Polish Cossacs, were reduced to 
 submission. They united with the Catholics to do homage 
 to the emperor, on receiving the confirmation of the reli- 
 gious privileges, granted to them by Matthias ; and the 
 refractory members were proscribed and treated as guilty 
 of high treason. 
 
 Ferdinand now concentrated his attacks against the 
 elector Palatine ; and, after exhorting him to abandon 
 his usurped title, gave orders to the duke of Bavaria to 
 expel him from Bohemia. Dampierre, with a body of 
 troops, was detached to the frontiers of Hungary to ob- 
 serve Bethlehem Gabor ; another corps was drawn from 
 Poland to awe the Silesians, while the elector of Saxony 
 reduced Lusatia, and cut off the resources which Frederic 
 might have drawn from that province as well as from the 
 German empire. While these troops were devastating the 
 dependent provinces, the grand attack was led by the duke 
 of Bavaria, assisted by the counsels of John Tzerclas, af- 
 terwards count of Tilly, who had greatly distinguished 
 himself in the wars of Hungary. Delivered from all ap- 
 prehensions of the Protestant union by the truce of Ulm, 
 he led 25,000 men into Upper Austria, and taking the in- 
 surgents unprepared, reduced them to unconditional sub- 
 mission. He pursued his success with equal celerity; 
 uniting near Weidhofen with Bucquoy, he found himself 
 at the head of 50,000 men. He divided these troops into 
 two bodies ; with the Germans he entered Bohemia on the 
 side of Budweis, while Bucquoy, with the Spanish and 
 Italian veterans, reduced Kummau, Budweis, and Prakatitz, 
 and their forces joined under the walls of Piseck. Without 
 a moment's delay they summoned this important fortress 
 to surrender ; and while the governor was deliberating 
 on the terms of capitulation, the Walloons and Cossacs 
 scaled the ramparts, put the garrison to the sword, plun- 
 dered and burnt the town, and gratified their thirst of 
 blood by massacring the defenceless inhabitants. Their 
 fury spared neither sex nor age, nor was awed by the 
 sacred asylum of the altar ; the carnage was only arrested 
 by the personal interference of the duke of Bavaria, and
 
 176 FERDINAND II. [CII. XLVIII. 
 
 Bucquoy. This dreadful example struck terror into the 
 neighbouring towns, Strakonitz, Winterburgh, Schutten- 
 hofen, Klattau, and other places, hastened to avert a si- 
 milar fate, by submitting to the imperial arms. 
 
 The situation of Frederic was now most alarming. 
 He was deserted by the Protestant union, hemmed in on 
 every side by the imperial troops, or the allies of the em- 
 peror ; and his Palatinate was overrun by Spinola at the 
 head of 20,000 Spaniards, even in the sight of that army, 
 and that union, on which he had relied for its defence. 
 Within his newly-acquired kingdom, his only foreign 
 force consisted of 8GOO Hungarian horse, a small corps 
 of Germans under Hohenlohe, and the army of Mansfeld, 
 which, receiving no pay either from the duke of Savoy or 
 the union, was reduced to subsist on plunder. His chief 
 hopes, therefore, rested on his new subjects ; but their 
 enthusiasm and loyalty had also subsided. They soon 
 perceived that his popular and affable manners were sup- 
 ported by no firmness or energy of mind ; and the mag- 
 nates, who had revelled in imagination in the enjoyment 
 of Austrian governments and English treasures, were dis- 
 couraged by the failure of all their expectations. He had 
 alienated the affections of his Lutheran and Catholic sub- 
 jects, by removing the altars, images, bells, and ornaments 
 of the churches, and by endeavouring to reduce their di- 
 vine service to the naked simplicity of the Calvinistic 
 worship. He had offended Thurn and Mansfeld, the two 
 great champions of his cause, by giving the chief com- 
 mand to the prince of Anhalt and Hohenlohe, and by 
 placing his confidence on his own adherents. The ex- 
 cesses and devastations of his troops, as well as those of 
 Mansfeld, had provoked the peasants, who rose to defend 
 their possessions, and were scarcely persuaded to disperse 
 by promises of indemnification. During this invasion, 
 however, Frederic seemed to be absorbed in the rejoicings 
 attending his elevation ; infatuated by his first success, 
 he neglected the necessary cares for the preservation of 
 his crown, to figure in balls and pageants, the celebration 
 of public ceremonies, and other useless efforts for the ac- 
 quisition of popularity. 
 
 After an ineffectual attempt to rouse the burghers of
 
 1619, 1620.] HIS SUCCESSES AGAINST FREDERIC. 177 
 
 Prague, and obtain a supply of money, the increasing 
 danger induced Frederic to repair to the main army, which, 
 under the prince of Anhalt, had remained at Pritznitz, with 
 the hope of animating his troops and fixing the indecision 
 of his generals by his presence. Here, however, he expe- 
 rienced new mortifications ; the army, which did not exceed 
 22,000 men, without supplies of clothing or pay, was dis- 
 contented and discouraged, and the generals and officers 
 differed in opinion ; some, among whom was the intrepid 
 count Thurn, were anxious to risk a battle ; others, yield- 
 ing to the sentiments of their commander-in-chief, were 
 desirous to protract the campaign till the approach of 
 winter by defensive operations. These difficulties and the 
 arguments of the prince of Anhalt induced Frederic to 
 make proposals for arranging an accommodation. But the 
 duke of Bavaria was too sensible of his own advantages 
 and the necessity of crushing a distressed enemy by vigour 
 and decision, to waste the important moment. He refused 
 to enter into a negotiation except the elector would pre- 
 viously relinquish his crown, and exerting all his efforts 
 to force the prince of Anhalt to an engagement, succes- 
 sively forced him back to Rokytzan, Rakonitz, and Aun- 
 host, and finally drove him under the walls of Prague. 
 His celerity and decision increased the divisions and dis- 
 tress of the Bohemian chiefs, while the troops in their dis- 
 orderly retreat, gave way to every species of licentiousness, 
 and clamoured against the foreign generals, whom they 
 accused of betraying them. They took post on the White 
 Mountain, as the last resource for the defence of the capi- 
 tal, and behind its ravines and declivities began to construct 
 intrenchments, in order to defy the assaults of the enemy. 
 The duke of Bavaria, however, did not allow them time to 
 prepare for defence ; he resolved to drive them from their 
 last refuge before they had recovered from the confusion of 
 a retreat, and while his own troops were warm in the 
 pursuit. He reached the vicinity of Prague on the morn- 
 ing of the 8th of November, 1620, and ere noon had 
 reconnoitred their position and commenced his attack. 
 His troops overcame all obstacles ; the Hungarian cavalry 
 was instantly defeated and dispersed: and although the 
 VOL. n. N
 
 178 FEUDINAND H. [CH. XLVIII. 
 
 Moravians, under the prince of Anhalt and the young 
 count Thurn, balanced the fortune of the day by their 
 heroic resistance, the victory was decided in favour of the 
 imperialists within the short space of an hour. With the 
 loss of only three hundred men, they took all the artillery, 
 a hundred standards, left 4000 of the enemy dead on the 
 field, and drove 1000 into the Moldau ; and thus, at one 
 blow, dissipated the short-lived hopes of Frederic, and de- 
 cided the fate of Bohemia. 
 
 Before this battle the unfortunate prince had returned 
 to Prague for the purpose of rousing the burghers and col- 
 lecting reinforcements ; but at the important moment on 
 which his destiny was suspended, instead of rushing into 
 the foremost ranks, and animating his troops by sharing 
 their dangers, he indulged his characteristic love of show 
 and conviviality, and was sitting at table with his whole 
 court, at an entertainment which he gave to the English 
 ambassador. Before the engagement the prince of Anhalt 
 requested him to send all the troops within the city, and 
 represented to him the necessity of encouraging his army 
 by his presence ; but Frederic, with an inconceivable in- 
 fatuation, declined quitting his company before the close of 
 the entertainment. In the beginning of the combat ano- 
 ther messenger was despatched on the same errand, and 
 with the same success ; it was not till repeated couriers 
 announced the misfortune of the day, that the thoughtless 
 or pusillanimous prince could be prevailed on to quit the 
 table. Having at length mounted his horse, he rode to the 
 gate leading to the White Mountain ; but, finding it shut, 
 he climbed the rampart, and saw with his own eyes the 
 defeat of the army on which he had placed his hopes of 
 success, and the terrible carnage of those who bled in his 
 defence. After ordering the gate to be opened to admit 
 the fugitives, he immediately returned to the palace, and 
 was overtaken in his way by the prince of Anhalt and the 
 count of Hohenlohe, who had withdrawn from a hopeless 
 contest. By their advice a messenger was despatched to 
 the duke of Bavaria, requesting a truce for twenty-four 
 hours ; but Maximilian granted only eight, under the con- 
 dition that Frederic should immediately, by a letter, re- 
 nounce his pretensions to the crown of Bohemia ; and the
 
 1619, 1620.] FREDERIC EVACUATES PRAGUE. 179 
 
 desponding prince made no difficulty in acceding to this 
 demand, as he had resolved to depart from Prague. 
 
 Although the officers were too much astounded amidst 
 the confusion and dismay of the route to make preparations 
 for defending the city, the burghers, deriving courage from 
 despair, repaired in a body to Frederic, and endeavoured 
 to infuse that spirit into their sovereign which they felt 
 themselves, by offering to defend the ramparts to the last 
 extremity. He thanked them for this proof of their affec- 
 tion, but advised them to make the best capitulation in 
 their power, and announced his resolution to quit Prague 
 before break of day. The citizens conjured him to stay; 
 they exclaimed that they had still strength sufficient to 
 withstand a siege, and offered to maintain as large a body 
 of troops as could be collected within the walls. The 
 young counts Thurn and Schlemmendorf represented to 
 him that seventeen battalions were still entire : " the sol- 
 diers," they said, " who have escaped from the engagement 
 only wait the beat of the drum to return to their standards; 
 above eight thousand Hungarians are lying at Brandeiss, 
 the gallant Mansfeld is in the rear of the enemy, and still 
 possesses the strong fortresses of Tabor and Pilsen, The 
 courage of the Bohemians is not yet exhausted ; the recol- 
 lection of the heroic acts of their ancestors in the Hussite 
 wars will rouse them to similar deeds of glory." But these 
 resources, which, in the hands of his firm and able rival 
 would have become insuperable obstacles to the progress of 
 an enemy, were lost on the weak and pusillanimous Fre- 
 deric, who was overwhelmed by the tide of misfortune. 
 His timid imagination was terrified by the confusion of the 
 defeat ; and the desponding prince pictured to himself the 
 Bohemians as ready to deliver him to their incensed sove- 
 reign as a sacrifice to secure their own safety. In the first 
 impulse of alarm, he prepared to carry away the crown and 
 regalia ; but his terrors increasing every moment, he left 
 them in the market-place, and consulted only his personal 
 safety by quitting the town during the night. Accompa- 
 nied by his wife and children, his generals Anhalt and 
 Hohenlohe, and count Thurn, with some of his principal 
 ?dherents, he hastened from the scene of danger to Breslau, 
 and from thence took refuge at Berlin. 
 
 M 2
 
 180 
 CHAP. XLIX. 1621-1623. 
 
 THE victory of the White Mountain was followed by a 
 rapid series of the most fortunate events. The citizens of 
 Prague, deserted by their elected sovereign, had no other 
 alternative than to submit themselves to the mercy of the 
 emperor, and on the following day opened their gates to the 
 conqueror. All the indulgence they could obtain was an 
 exemption from plunder ; the states who were immediately 
 convened, took an unconditional oath of allegiance, dis- 
 solved their confederacy, and surrendered their arms. 
 These arrangements being completed, the duke of Bavaria 
 delivered the reins of government to prince Charles of 
 Lichtenstein, in obedience to the appointment of the em- 
 peror ; and after leaving a garrison in the town under the 
 command of Tilly, returned triumphantly to Munich, laden 
 with the spoils of the unfortunate kingdom. 
 
 Three months elapsed without the slightest act of seve- 
 rity against the insurgents of Bohemia. Many lulled into 
 security by this doubtful calm, emerged from their hiding 
 places, and the greater part remained quiet at Prague, 
 though secretly warned of their danger even by Tilly himself, 
 who was no pattern of lenity or forbearance. But in an 
 evil hour all the fury of the tempest burst upon their 
 heads. Forty of the principal insurgents were arrested in 
 the night of the 21st of January, 1621, and after being 
 imprisoned four months, and tried before an imperial com- 
 mittee of inquiry, twenty-three were publicly executed, 
 their property confiscated, and the remainder either ba- 
 nished or condemned to perpetual imprisonment. A sen- 
 tence of proscription and confiscation of goods was pub- 
 lished against count Thurn, and twenty-seven of the other 
 chiefs, who had fled from the country. Nor were these 
 examples confined only to those who had been openly con- 
 cerned in the rebellion ; for a mandate of more than in- 
 quisitorial severity was issued, commanding all landholders 
 who had participated in the insurrection to confess their 
 delinquencies, and threatening the severest vengeance if 
 they were afterwards convicted. This dreadful order 
 spread general consternation : not only those who . had 
 shared in the insurrection acknowledged their guilt, but 
 even thoinnownt were driven by terror to self-accusation;
 
 1621-1623.] HIS ABUSE OF POWER. 181 
 
 and above seven hundred nobles and knights, almost the 
 whole body of landholders,- placed their names on this list 
 of proscription. By a mockery of the very name of mercy, 
 the emperor granted to these unfortunate victims their 
 lives and honours, which they were declared to have for- 
 feited by their own confession ; but gratified his vengeance 
 and rapacity by confiscating the whole or part of their pro- 
 perty, and thus reduced many of the most loyal and ancient 
 families to ruin, or drove them to seek a refuge from their 
 misfortunes in exile or death.* 
 
 Had justice and moderation guided the sentiments of 
 Ferdinand, the Avar might now have been terminated with 
 honour and safety. He might have gratified his allies, 
 and reimbursed his expenses with the confiscated property 
 of the rebels, and might have converted the elector Pala- 
 tine from an enemy into a friend and dependent, by restor- 
 ing him to the quiet possession of his hereditary territories. 
 The fate of Germany and the tranquillity of Europe de- 
 pended on his nod, and never did a more important decision 
 rest on the will of a single individual ; never did the blind- 
 ness and intolerance of a single man produce such an 
 extent of mischief and calamity. 
 
 Ferdinand, though firm, patient, and resigned in adver- 
 sity, was stern, vengeful, and overbearing in prosperity. 
 He was urged by many motives of resentment, policy, and 
 zeal to complete the ruin of the elector Palatine, and he 
 did not possess sufficient magnanimity to resist the tempta- 
 tion. Having squandered away the confiscated property 
 among his Jesuits and favourites, he had still many allies 
 and adherents whose fidelity he was desirous to reward ; 
 he was anxious to recover Upper Austria, which he had 
 mortgaged to the duke of Bavaria, as a pledge for the 
 
 * Pelzel, p. 731742. Several native and Catholic writers endea- 
 vour to extenuate the cruelty of Ferdinand, by declaring that he was 
 with difficulty induced to make these dreadful examples ; and was over- 
 borne by the representations of his ministers and the Jesuits. Admitting 
 this fact, it is no exculpation of his conduct to assert that he acted un- 
 justly by the advice of his ministers. Hut the preceding and subse- 
 quent transactions, as well as the general character, the relentless 
 disposition, and the deep-rooted prejudices of Ferdinand, furnish ample 
 evidence that he wanted no external impulse to commit acts of perse- 
 cution and cruelty against the Protestants. 
 
 N 3
 
 .82 FERDINAND II. [CH. XLIX. 
 
 xpenses of the war ; he wished to regain possession of 
 
 jusatia, and he was bound in honour to satisfy the elector 
 
 f Saxony for his opportune assistance. The spoils of the 
 
 unfortunate elector were sufficient to fulfil all these objects ; 
 
 ut he was influenced by another motive, which, to such a 
 
 urious zealot, was irresistible. The principle which he 
 
 lad imbibed from the Jesuits, that Protestantism and rebel- 
 
 tion were inseparable, was more deeply than ever imprinted 
 
 on his mind ; he considered his recent and wonderful 
 
 escape as a proof of divine interposition, and he burned for 
 
 an opportunity of evincing his gratitude, by fulfilling the 
 
 vow which he had made to the "Virgin atLoretto, and since 
 
 repeatedly renewed. 
 
 By dividing the territories of the elector Palatine among 
 his Catholic allies, he extended the profession of his faith ; 
 by transferring the electorate to the duke of Bavaria, he 
 obtained an additional Catholic suffrage in the electoral 
 college, and reduced the Protestants to only two votes ; he 
 thus at once gratified his vengeance and his interest, and 
 fulfilled what he deemed the most sacred and indispensable 
 of all duties. 
 
 These motives overbearing all considerations of justice 
 i nd prudence, Ferdinand published the ban of the empire, 
 >f his own authority, against the elector Palatine and his 
 adherents the prince of Anhalt, the count of Hohenlohe, 
 and the duke of Jaegendorf. The execution of this informal 
 sentence he intrusted to the archduke Albert, as possessor 
 of the circle of Burgundy, and to the duke of Bavaria, 
 commanding the former to occupy the Lower, and the latter 
 the Upper Palatinate. This vigorous act was instantly 
 followed by the most decisive effects ; for the Protestants 
 were terrified by the prospect of sharing the fate of the 
 unfortunate 'elector. The members of the union now felt 
 the fatal consequences of their own indecision and want of 
 foresight ; they had suffered their chief to be driven from 
 a throne which might have served as an insuperable barrier 
 against the Catholic body and the house of Austria ; their 
 army had tamely looked on, while Spinola was subjugating 
 the Palatinate ; they had no other alternative than to submit 
 to the will of that chief whom they had braved and insulted, 
 and were compelled to purchase an uncertain and temporary
 
 1621-1623.] BAD SUCCESS OF THE PROTESTANTS. 183 
 
 safety by the dereliction of those objects which during 
 twelve years they had laboured to attain. Threatened at 
 once by Spinola and the duke of Bavaria, and confounded 
 by the growing power of the emperor, they vied in aban- 
 doning a confederacy which exposed them to his vengeance. 
 On the 12th of April, 1621, they concluded at Mentz a 
 treaty of neutrality, by which they promised not to inter- 
 fere in the affairs of the Palatinate, agreed to disband their 
 troops within a month, and to enter into no new confederacy 
 to the disadvantage of the emperor. This dishonourable 
 treaty was followed by the dissolution of the union, which, 
 on its expiration, was not renewed. 
 
 During these events, Spinola, having completed the re- 
 duction of the Lower Palatinate, was occupied in the siege 
 of Frankendahl, which was on the point of surrendering, 
 and its capture must have been followed by the submission 
 of Heidelberg and Manheim. The duke of Bavaria had 
 been still more successful in the Upper Palatinate, and had 
 rapidly subjugated the whole province, together with the 
 district of Cham. 
 
 The elector Palatine, deserted by the Protestant union, 
 and almost abandoned by his relatives the kings of England 
 and Denmark, owed the first revival of his hopes of restor- 
 ation to Mansfeld, an illegitimate adventurer, with no other 
 resources than plunder and devastation. Christian of Bruns- 
 wick, administrator of Halberstadt, distinguished indeed by 
 illustrious birth, but equally an adventurer, and equally 
 destitute of territory or resources, espoused his cause, as 
 well from ties of affinity* as from a chivalrous attachment 
 to his beautiful consort ; and George Frederic, margrave 
 of Baden, even abdicated his dignity to devote himself to 
 his support. 
 
 Mansfeld had continued to maintain possession of Pilsen 
 and Tabor ; and, by the march of Bucquoy against Beth- 
 lehem Gabor, and the diminution of the forces under Tilly 
 for the conquest of the Upper Palatinate, had been enabled, 
 with only 8000 men, to resist all the efforts of the impe- 
 
 * Elizabeth, the mother of Christian, was daughter of Christian 1 1. 
 of Denmark, and sister of Anne, the wife of James I., mother of the 
 electress Palatine. Christian is said to have worn a scarf, or favour, 
 with the motto, " For God and far her." 
 
 v 4
 
 184 FEKD1XAND II. [CII. XLIX. 
 
 rialists, to capture several fortresses, and spread alarm to 
 the gates of Prague. But destitute of resources, with no 
 other authority than the respect inspired by his superior 
 talents, proscribed by the emperor, a price fixed on his 
 head, and every avenue apparently closed by the enemy, he 
 could not long maintain his position against the skill of 
 Tilly and the strength of a powerful monarchy. Tilly 
 being reinforced with 5000 men, the elector of Saxony 
 advancing to Egra, and his followers yielding Pilsen by 
 treachery, Mansfeld abandoned the posts which he had so 
 bravely maintained, and suddenly passing into the Upper 
 Palatinate, entrenched himself at Roszkopf, a strong post on 
 the Prignitz, in the vicinity of Nuremberg. He was closely 
 followed and surrounded by the army of Tilly, and seemed 
 on the point of being overpowered by superior forces. But 
 his firm spirit was not subdued, nor his fertile genius ex- 
 hausted. He lulled his vigilant antagonist by feigned pro- 
 posals for surrender, and, on the 4th of October, 1621, 
 while the terms were adjusting, suddenly breaking from 
 his confined situation in the night, pushed, by forced 
 marches, into the Lower Palatinate. Here he found a 
 more favourable field of action ; for Spinola being recalled 
 with the greater part of the Spanish forces, had left the 
 remainder to Gonzales de Cordova, who, after reducing 
 several minor fortresses, was pressing the siege of Frank- 
 endahl. The name of the brave adventurer drew to his 
 standard multitudes of the troops, who had been disbanded 
 by the Protestant union, and he was joined by a party of 
 English, who had been sent for the defence of the Palatinate. 
 Finding himself at the head of 20,000 men, he cleared the 
 country in his passage, relieved Frankendahl, and provided 
 for the safety of Heidelberg and Manheim. Unable, how- 
 ever, to subsist, in a district so recently the seat of war, he 
 turned into Alsace, where he increased his forces ; from 
 thence he invaded the neighbouring bishoprics of Spire 
 and Strasburgh, levying heavy contributions, and giving 
 up the rich domains of those sees to the devastations of his 
 troops. 
 
 Encouraged by this gleam of hope, the elector Palatine 
 quitted his asylum in Holland, passed in disguise through 
 Loraine and Alsace, joined Mansfeld, and gave his name
 
 1621-1623.] PROGRESS OF HOSTILITIES. 185 
 
 and countenance to this predatory army. Animated by his 
 presence, Mansfeld crossed the Rhine at Germesheim. 
 effected a junction with the margrave of Baden Durlach, 
 and captured Sinzheim, Eppingen, and Ladenburgh. On 
 the other hand, Christian of Brunswick levied a predatory 
 army, after the example of Mansfeld, pillaged the rich sees 
 of Lower Saxony, and returning from his incursion en- 
 riched with plunder, and strengthened by an accession of 
 force, took the route through the Upper Palatinate to unite 
 with Mansfeld. At the same time the duke of Wirtemberg, 
 the landgrave of Hesse, and other Protestant princes, began 
 to arm, and hopes were even entertained of the revival 
 of the Protestant union. 
 
 Tilly, who had followed Mansfeld from Bohemia, had in 
 vain endeavoured to prevent his junction with the mar- 
 grave of Baden. Defeated at Mingelsheim by Mansfeld, 
 on the 29th of April, 1622, he had been reduced to the 
 defensive, and in this situation saw a powerful combination 
 rising on every side against the house of Austria. He 
 waited therefore for an opportunity of attacking those 
 enemies singly, whom he could not resist when united, and 
 that opportunity was presented by the separation of the 
 margrave of Baden from Mansfeld, and his attempt to 
 penetrate into Bavaria. Tilly suddenly drew together the 
 Spanish troops, and with this accession of force, defeated, 
 on the 6th of May, the margrave at Wimpfen, with the loss 
 of half his army, and took his whole train of artillery and 
 military chest. Leaving Mansfeld employed in the siege 
 of Ladenburgh, he next directed his attention to Christian 
 of Brunswick, routed him on the 20th of June, at Hoechst, 
 as he was crossing the Main, pursued him till his junction 
 with Mansfeld, and drove their united forces beyond the 
 Rhine, again to seek a refuge and subsistence in Alsace. 
 
 These successes revived the cause of Ferdinand ; the 
 margrave of Baden retired from the contest ; the duke of 
 "VVirtemberg and the other Protestant princes suspended 
 their armaments ; and although Mansfeld and Christian of 
 Brunswick laid siege to Saverne, and evinced a resolution 
 to maintain the contest to the last extremity, yet the elector 
 Palatine again gave way to that weakness which had already 
 lost him a crown. The king of England, who had been
 
 186 FEKDINAND II. [CH. XLIX. 
 
 lured with the hope of procuring the restitution of the 
 Palatinate, through the mediation of Spain, had opened a 
 negotiation with the emperor, in conjunction with the king 
 of Denmark. This overture presented to Ferdinand a 
 favourable opportunity of consummating his vengeance, 
 and of procuring, without risk, the unconditional submis- 
 sion of the elector Palatine. He therefore affected to 
 listen to the instances of Spain, while he amused the king 
 of England with equivocal promises and vague offers of 
 reconciliation ; at the same time he refused to debase his 
 dignity as sovereign, by treating with a prince who was 
 yet in arms, and who countenanced adventurers proscribed 
 by the ban of the empire. These lures were irresistible to 
 a prince like James, so tenacious of the honour of sovereigns, 
 so averse to war, and so vain of his talents as a negotiator. 
 By his exhortations Frederic was easily prevailed upon to 
 disavow his intrepid defenders, to dismiss them from his 
 service, to retire again into Holland, and wait the mercy of 
 the emperor. By this disavowal, Mansfeld and Christian 
 were left without a name to countenance their operations ; 
 and after various negotiations, feigned or real, for entering 
 into the service of the emperor. Spain, and France, they 
 accepted the overtures of the prince of Orange, and forced 
 their way through the Spanish army which attempted to 
 oppose their passage, to join at Breda the troops of the 
 United Provinces. 
 
 The places in Alsace and the bishopric of Spire, which 
 had been occupied by the enemy, were recovered by the 
 archduke Leopold ; and Tilly, having completed the con- 
 quest of the Palatinate by the capture of Heidelberg and 
 Manheim, directed his attacks against the forces which 
 Mansfeld and Christian of Brunswick had again assembled. 
 
 After a short continuance in Holland, Mansfeld, in 
 November, had led his predatory army into the rich pro- 
 vince of East Friesland, conquered the principal fortresses, 
 and extorted enormous contributions from the duke, who was 
 in alliance with Spain. On the other hand, Christian passing 
 into Lower Saxony, persuaded the states of the circle to col- 
 lect an army of observation amounting to 12,000 men, and 
 intrust him with the command; and he soon increased 
 this army to almost double that number, by the usual
 
 1621-1623.J PROGRESS OF HOSTILITIES. 187 
 
 incitements of pillage and plunder. These levies attracting 
 the attention of the emperor, his threats, together with the 
 advance of Tilly, compelled the Saxon states to dismiss 
 Christian and his army. Thus left a second time without 
 authority, he pushed towards Westphalia, with the hope 
 of joining Mansfeld, and renewing hostilities in the Pala- 
 tinate ; his design was however anticipated by Tilly, who 
 overtook him at Loen, in the district of Munster, and 
 defeated him with the loss of 6000 killed, and 4000 pri- 
 soners, in August, 1623. The victorious general then 
 turned towards East Friesland, but Mansfeld, who had 
 hitherto maintained himself in that country, avoided an 
 unequal contest, by disbanding his troops, and withdrawing 
 into Holland, in January, 1624. 
 
 During the war in Bohemia, Bethlehem Gabor had been 
 encouraged by the promises of the Turks, by the instances 
 of count Thurn and the duke of Jaegendorf, and by the 
 support of a party among the Hungarian nobles, to assume 
 the title of king, and break the truce which he had recently 
 concluded with Ferdinand. In October, 1619, he sent a 
 reinforcement of horse into Bohemia, and prepared to in- 
 vade the hereditary countries. Dampierre, who was left 
 to observe his motions, was killed in an attempt to surprise 
 Presburgh, and his troops dispersed on the loss of their 
 general. The defeat at Prague, and still more the pusilla- 
 nimous flight of the elector, enabled Ferdinand to detach a 
 part of his forces to resist the aggressions of the Transyl- 
 vanian prince ; and Bucquoy, after reducing Moravia, com- 
 pelled him to retreat to Cassau. Presburgh, Moder, Ro- 
 sen dorf, Tirnau, Altenburgh, with the isle of Schut, were 
 either taken by force or surrendered to the imperial arms ; 
 while a detachment sent into Lower Hungary reduced 
 Guntz and Oedemburgh, with other places of less import- 
 ance. Bucquoy pursuing his success, laid siege to Neu- 
 hasel ; but in his career of victory was killed in a sally, on 
 the 10th of July, 1621, and his troops, discouraged by the 
 loss of their able commander, retreating towards Commora, 
 were soon reduced by sickness and desertion to 8000 men. 
 
 In consequence of this retreat, Bethlehem Gabor resum- 
 ing offensive operations, recovered Tirnau, and laid siege 
 to Presburgh ; and he was here joined by the young count
 
 188 FEllDINAXD II. [CH.XLIX. 
 
 Thurn, and by the duke of Jaegendorf, who had made them- 
 selves masters of the towns of Glatz and Troppau, in Silesia. 
 His detachments burst into Upper Hungary and Moravia, 
 where they levied contributions and devastated the coun- 
 try, and his partisans spreading themselves on both sides 
 of the Danube, made incursions even to the walls of Viennn. 
 Encouraged by this success, he purposed to carry his arms 
 into Bohemia, where he hoped to rouse the adherents of 
 Frederic, and he flattered himself with the co-operation of 
 the German princes. But his plans were frustrated by the, 
 bravery and perseverance of the governor of Presburgh, by 
 the failure of the promised succours from the Turlae and 
 the German princes, and still more by his disputes with 
 the duke of Jaegendorf, and the defection of the Hungarian 
 magnates. He accordingly made overtures of accommoda- 
 tion, which were readily accepted by the emperor, who was 
 anxious to turn his forces against the adherents of the 
 elector Palatine in Germany. Both parties being equally 
 desirous of a respite, a treaty was concluded without delay, 
 at Niclasburgh in Moravia, on the 26th of January, 1622. 
 Bethlehem renounced his pretensions to Hungary, and 
 restored the sacred crown, with all his conquests ; and 
 Ferdinand purchased these cessions by yielding to him, for 
 life, seven provinces of Upper Hungary, contiguous to 
 Transylvania, with the town of Cassau, and the principali- 
 ties of Ratibor and Oppelen in Silesia, and by conferring 
 on him the rank of a prince of the German empire. In 
 consequence of this peace, Ferdinand soon afterwards held 
 a diet at Presburgh, where he restored the sacred regalia 
 with the utmost pomp and solemnity; and had the satisfac- 
 tion to see the crown of Hungary placed on the head of his 
 empress Eleonora, daughter of Vincento I., duke of Mantua, 
 whom he had recently espoused. Sensible of the great 
 advantages resulting from the pacification of Hungary, he 
 even departed from his usual principles, and not only con- 
 ciliated his subjects by granting them a general amnesty, 
 with the confirmation of their civil and religious rights, 
 but even by approving the choice of a Protestant Palatine. 
 The immediate effects of this pacification were the reco- 
 very of Glatz and Troppau. 
 
 Fortunately for Ferdinand, this peace, by delivering him
 
 1621-1623.] HOLDS A DIET AT KATISBON. 189 
 
 from a dangerous enemy in the heart of his own territories, 
 enabled him to combat the new and alarming confederacy 
 which was forming against him, in consequence of his 
 illegal conduct towards- the Protestants, and the elector 
 Palatine in particular. 
 
 Having despoiled the elector Palatine of all his do- 
 minions, and delivered himself from his enemies in Ger- 
 many, Ferdinand had proceeded to carry his plans into 
 execution, by transferring the electoral dignity to the duke 
 of Bavaria, and dividing the conquered territories among 
 his adherents. In the fulfilment of this project, however, 
 he had reason to expect the greatest difficulties, from the 
 opposition of the whole Protestant body, from the collateral 
 branches of the Palatine house, from his adherent the 
 elector of Saxony, the kings of Denmark and England, and 
 even from the king of Spain, who was unwilling to offend 
 the English court, with whom he was then negotiating a 
 marriage between the infanta and the prince of Wales. 
 But Ferdinand was not daunted by these obstacles ; he 
 gained the elector of Saxony, by promising him the reve- 
 nues, and perhaps the cession of Lusatia ; and the landgrave 
 of Hesse Darmstadt, by offering to favour his pretensions to 
 the succession of Marburgh, which he was contesting with 
 the landgrave of Hesse Cassel ; he also persuaded the court 
 of Spain to acquiesce in a transfer which was calculated to 
 strengthen the Catholic cause, and benefit the house of 
 Austria. Having thus gained those whose opposition was 
 most likely to frustrate his design, he paid little regard to 
 the feeble threats of James, and to the remonstrances of the 
 king of Denmark, who was sufficiently employed in his 
 contests with Sweden ; he despised the efforts of the Pro- 
 testant body, when not supported by the elector of Saxony, 
 and he endeavoured to quiet the clamours of the Palatine 
 house, by promising them a. portion of the spoils. 
 
 His measures being thus prepared, he summoned, on the 
 25th of February, 1623, a meeting of the electors and 
 princes who were most devoted to his cause at Ratisbon, 
 and, in concurrence with the majority of this irregular 
 assembly, transferred the Palatine electorate, with all its 
 honours, privileges, and offices to Maximilian, duke of 
 Bavaria. To keep up, however, the hopes of the elector
 
 190 FERDINAND II. [CH. XL1X. 
 
 Palatine and his adherents, and not to drive his family and 
 connections to desperation, the whole extent of the plan 
 was not developed : the partition of his territories was de- 
 ferred, the transfer of the electorate was made only for the 
 life of Maximilian, and the rights of the sons and collateral 
 heirs of the unfortunate elector were expressly reserved. 
 Against this transfer, Wolfgang William, duke of Neu- 
 burgh, as head of the collateral line of the Palatine house, 
 made the warmest remonstrances, and he was seconded by 
 the elector of Brandenburgh. The elector of Saxony also, 
 in order to avoid the appearance of deserting the cause of 
 his religion, presented a protest, but previously apprised 
 the emperor that his opposition was merely for the sake of 
 form. With the same insincerity the Spanish ambassador 
 quitted the assembly, that his presence might not be consi- 
 dered as an approbation of the transfer. In the ensuing 
 year another electoral assembly was held at Nuremberg, in 
 which Maximilian was formerly installed on the electoral 
 bench ; the elector of Saxony, having been gratified with 
 the mortgage of Lusatia as a compensation for his expenses, 
 seized this opportunity to revoke his feigned protest, and 
 the single dissenting voice of the elector of Brandenburgh 
 was disregarded. 
 
 The Protestants who had seen the ruin of the elector 
 Palatine with the most cruel indifference, were thunder- 
 struck with the transfer of his electorate to a Catholic, and 
 the purposed division of his territories. Their alarms were 
 increased by the dreadful persecution of the Protestants 
 which now commenced in the Austrian territories, and the 
 forcible introduction of the Catholic religion into the Pala- 
 tinate ; they were convinced that the emperor had formed 
 a systematic design for the depression of their party, by 
 the resolution which he did not conceal, to recover the sees 
 and ecclesiastical property appropriated since the peace of 
 religion, and their fears led them justly to apprehend that 
 his designs would not terminate with this resumption. 
 They could not behold with indifference the close connec- 
 tion between the German and Spanish branches of the 
 house of Austria ; they were alarmed by the vast and am- 
 bitious projects of Olivarez, the all-powerful minister of 
 Philip IV. ; and they considered the recent occupation of
 
 1624-1629.] PROTESTANTS SEEK FOREIGN SUPPORT. 191 
 
 the small but important district of the Valteline, by their 
 joint forces, as a step towards opening a direct communica- 
 tion between the Austrian territories and the Spanish 
 dominions in Italy, and preparing for the subjugation of 
 Germany and of Europe. Their own union was dissipated ; 
 while the emperor and the Catholic league continued in 
 arms ; and the troops of Tilly, which, instead of being dis- 
 banded, were suffered to spread over the country as far as 
 the "Weser, convinced them that more dangerous projects 
 were yet in agitation. 
 
 CHAP. L. 1624-1629. 
 
 THE first combination derived from this alarm arose in 
 Lower Saxony, of which the princes and states possessed 
 the principal portion of the ecclesiastical property, and were 
 therefore most exposed to the aggressions of the emperor. 
 Their great object was, to procure foreign support, and 
 they found several of the European powers no less eager 
 than themselves to oppose the aggrandisement of the house 
 of Austria. 
 
 An essential change had taken place in the counsels of 
 England. The intended marriage between the prince of 
 Wales and the Spanish infanta having been broken off by 
 the influence of Buckingham, that haughty minister had 
 exerted all his influence over the mind of his timid master, 
 to impel him to vigorous measures for effecting the restora- 
 tion of his son-in-law, instead of trusting to delusive nego- 
 tiations. An alliance was formed with France, and a treaty 
 of marriage concluded between the prince of Wales and 
 the princess Henrietta ; Mansfeld was employed and des- 
 patched with an army of 14,000 men, for the re- conquest 
 of the Palatinate, and, although this expedition was frus- 
 trated by the refusal of France, and the repugnance of the 
 united states to allow the troops a passage through their 
 territories, the British cabinet stimulated Sweden and Den- 
 mark to support the states of Lower Saxony, and offered to 
 assist with subsidies and troops.
 
 192 FERDINAND II. [CH. L. 
 
 The court of France, which under Richelieu had revived 
 the political system of Henry IV., was no less inclined to 
 oppose the views of the house of Austria from policy than 
 England from resentment. Richelieu had already pre- 
 vented the partition of the Genoese territories between 
 Spain and the duke of Savoy ; and, by an armed mediation, 
 obtained the evacuation of the Valteline. Anxious, how- 
 ever, to restore the royal authority, by suppressing the 
 powerful party of the Huguenots, he did not venture to 
 engage in a foreign war, while a domestic enemy remained 
 unsubdued ; but he omitted neither lures nor intrigues, and 
 spared neither promises nor money, to inflame the spirit 
 which he saw rising in Germany. 
 
 Above all, the two northern sovereigns were most capa- 
 ble from their situation, and most interested by religion 
 and policy, to oppose the extension of the imperial authority 
 in the north of Germany. Both were also stimulated by 
 personal antipathy against Ferdinand. Gustavus Adolphus 
 was offended by the assistance which he had afforded to his 
 rival, Sigismond, king of Poland, who had been driven 
 from the throne of Sweden by his father, and had since 
 incessantly disturbed his government by private cabals or 
 open attacks. Christian IV. was influenced by various 
 motives equally urgent ; by his relationship * to the elector 
 Palatine, by his apprehensions that Ferdinand would resume 
 the sees of Bremen and Verden, which he designed for the 
 younger branches of his own family, and by the permission 
 of the imperial court to the counts of Schaumburgh to 
 assume the title and arms of the duchy of Sleswick, which 
 their ancestors had possessed, and which was still contested 
 with the house of Oldenburgh. f Although their mutual 
 
 * Elizabeth, the mother of the elector, was daughter of Anne, sister 
 of Christian. 
 
 f The counties of Holstein and Sleswick had been held by the counts 
 of Schaumburgh, as fiefs of the crown of Denmark. On the extinction 
 of the direct male line, by the death of Adolphus in 1459, Christian I., 
 king of Denmark, had claimed these territories as reverted to his 
 crown ; but as several of the collateral branches yet existed, he endea- 
 voured to render his claims valid, by submitting himself to the choice 
 of the states. Being accordingly chosen count of Holstein and Sleswick, 
 be either forced or persuaded the collAeral branches of the house of 
 Schaumburgh to be satisfied with a sum of money. Holstcia was
 
 1624-1629.] THE PROTESTANT LEAGUE. 193 
 
 jealousies prevented them from uniting in the same cause, 
 yet they both aspired to head the proposed confederacy, 
 and held forth every encouragement to rouse the Protestant 
 states of the empire. 
 
 The whole of the year 1624 was spent in negotiations 
 and contests between the rival sovereigns for the direction 
 of the league. The king of Denmark was supported by all 
 the credit of his brother-in-law, the king of England ; he 
 derived great advantage from his own connection with the 
 circle of Lower Saxony, as count of Oldenburgh and duke 
 of Holstein ; and his continental territories formed a sup- 
 port for his intended operations ; he was besides of ma- 
 ture age, distinguished for prudence and policy, and had 
 acquired considerable fame by his military exploits. On 
 the other hand, Gustavus Adolphus, notwithstanding his 
 great civil and military talents, could not rival the supe- 
 rior reputation and influence of his competitor, and as he 
 possessed no territories in Germany, he required, as the 
 condition of his assistance, the previous cession of some 
 important fortresses on the Baltic, a demand which natu- 
 rally excited the umbrage of the German states. These 
 considerations giving the preponderance to Christian IV., 
 Gustavus Adolphus withdrew from the contest. 
 
 The result of this intricate negotiation was soon after- 
 wards displayed by a meeting of the states of Lower 
 Saxony, at Segeburgh, on the 25th of March, 1625. They 
 entered into a confederacy, in the usual terms, for the 
 preservation of their religion and liberties, and settled the 
 specific contingents and contributions for the intended ar- 
 maments. Finally, they chose Christian, king of Denmark, 
 as head of their league, in the place of the duke of Bruns- 
 wick, who adhered to the emperor. Although Tilly re- 
 monstrated against this confederacy, as a breach of the 
 Germanic constitution, his interference stimulated instead 
 of abating their ardour ; for within two months they held 
 
 erected into a duchy in his favour, by the emperor Frederic III., and 
 these territories had since continued in the possession of the royal line 
 of Denmark. The representatives of the family of Schaumhurgh toi k 
 this opportunity to revive their claims, and being Catholics, obtained 
 the support of the emperor Suhm's Geschichte Daennemarks, p. 111- 
 117. ; Hansen's Sleswic, passim. 
 VOL. II. O
 
 194 FERDINAND H. [CH. L. 
 
 a new meeting at Brunswick, in which they greatly aug- 
 mented their former contingents. 
 
 Christian, having assembled his own forces and those of 
 the confederacy, published a declaration, that his sole pur- 
 pose was to secure the peace and liberties of the circle of 
 Lower Saxony. In consequence of subsidiary treaties, or 
 private engagements, he expected considerable succours in 
 men and money from England and the United Provinces ; 
 he hoped also to be joined by Mansfeld and Christian of 
 Brunswick, who, with their usual success and celerity, 
 were collecting a new predatory army on the side of 
 France and the Low Countries. The banks of the Weser 
 instantly became the theatre of war ; and after a campaign 
 which was principally confined to posts, the advantage re- 
 mained on the side of Tilly, who made himself master of 
 Hameln and Minden, besides other towns of less conse- 
 quence, crossed the Weser, and pushed his troops into the 
 principality of Calemberg, and the territories of Hildesheim 
 and Brunswick. 
 
 The emperor, who had kept a watchful eye on the pro- 
 gress of this new confederacy, was now in a delicate situ- 
 ation. He had hitherto carried on the war in the empire 
 principally with the Bavarian forces and those of the 
 league ; Tilly, the instrument of all the recent victories, 
 commanded in the name of the duke of Bavaria, as charged 
 with the execution of the sentence against the elector 
 Palatine : all military orders emanated from the court of 
 Munich ; and the whole conduct of affairs was rendered 
 subservient to the advantage and purposes of the league, 
 not to the views and aggrandisement of the house of 
 Austria. Ferdinand was anxious to emancipate himself 
 from this dependence ; but as he had no other army to 
 resist the rising combination, except that of the league, he 
 was sensible that the least ill success, or the defection of 
 the Catholics, would raise a new host of enemies, and re- 
 duce him to still greater difficulties than those which he 
 had before experienced. When he considered the ex- 
 hausted state of his treasury, and the disturbed situation 
 of his hereditary countries, the difficulty of assembling and 
 maintaining an efficient army appeared insurmountable. 
 But Mansfeld had set the example, in raising and sup- 
 porting a military force without revenues, without terri-
 
 1624-1629.] WALLENSTEIN. 195 
 
 tory, and without authority ; and, fortunately for Ferdi- 
 nand, an individual now came forward with talents equal 
 to Mansfeld, and capable of copying and extending his 
 plan. This individual was the celebrated Wallenstein. 
 
 Albert Wenceslaus Eusebius Waldstein, commonly called 
 Wallenstein, descended from an illustrious family of Bohe- 
 mia, and son of William, lord of Waldstein and Hermenetz, 
 was born at Prague, in 1583. He was designed for a 
 learned education, but his turbulent and refractory spirit, 
 repelling all the shackles of school discipline, obliged his 
 father to place him as a page in the family of Charles, mar- 
 grave of Burgau, who held his petty court at Inspruck.* 
 In early youth he displayed that self-confidence and ardour 
 of imagination, which are often an earnest, and no less 
 often the cause of future greatness. He had been educated 
 by his parents in the Protestant religion, but in conse- 
 quence of a providential escape in falling from a window, 
 he was induced to embrace the Catholic faith. He after- 
 wards travelled through Holland, England, France, Spain, 
 and Italy, and made a considerable stay at Padua, where he 
 first displayed an inclination for science. He there dili- 
 gently applied himself to the study of history and the ma- 
 thematics, and particularly devoted himself to judicial 
 astrology, which is so captivating to an ardent mind, and 
 which inflamed his romantic imagination with predictions 
 of future greatness. 
 
 On his return to Bohemia, he was inclined to embrace 
 the military profession; but his straitened circumstances 
 and want of connections prevented the accomplishment of 
 his wishes. Having, however, improved his fortune by 
 espousing a rich and aged Moravian widow, he was en- 
 abled to attract attention, and to give full scope to his 
 military genius. During the war of the Friuli, between 
 Ferdinand, when archduke of Styria, and the Venetians, he 
 levied a small corps of horse at his own expense, and with 
 the rank of colonel led them to the siege of Gradiska, 
 where he acquired by his liberality the love of his soldiers, 
 and by his activity the notice of Ferdinand. At the con- 
 clusion of the war he repaired to Vienna, and being a 
 
 * Charles was son of the archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol, by Philipjia 
 Welseren. 
 
 c 9
 
 196 FERDINAND II. [CH. L. 
 
 widower, increased his influence at the court by espousing 
 the daughter of Charles, count of Harrach, one of the 
 imperial ministers. Adhering to the royal cause in the 
 troubles of Bohemia, he was banished and deprived of his 
 estates by the predominant party. After having endea- 
 voured to suppress the rising rebellion in Moravia, he 
 raised at his own expense a regiment of 1000 cuirassiers, 
 with the rank of major-general, took an active share in the 
 subsequent war, and signalised himself in particular in the 
 defeat of Mansfeld, and at the battle of Prague. On the 
 triumph of Ferdinand he was rewarded for his eminent 
 services, and, besides recovering his estates, received a 
 considerable gratification from the confiscated property of 
 the insurgents.* 
 
 Such were the character and actions of this extraordi- 
 nary man, when the circumstances and situation of his 
 sovereign enabled him to act a part which has not been 
 surpassed by any subject in ancient or modern times. Am- 
 bitious of distinction, full of confidence in his happy destiny, 
 relying on the fertility of his resources, and master of a 
 plan which he had duly weighed and meditated, he offered 
 the emperor to levy, equip, pay, and maintain an army of 
 50,000 men, provided he was intrusted with the absolute 
 command, and permitted to appoint his officers. 
 
 Such a plan, proposed by a single individual, who, 
 though possessed of great talents, was known to be a man 
 of fervid imagination, was treated by the imperial minis- 
 ters as the wandering of a heated brain. But the emperor 
 had himself experienced too many extraordinary events, to 
 consider a project as impracticable because it was vast and 
 difficult; he no doubt augured favourably of the result, 
 from the example and success of Mansfeld, and from the 
 fertile genius and activity of Wallenstein. He therefore 
 readily accepted the proposal, appointed particular districts 
 in Bohemia for the commencement of the levies ; and, to 
 give greater authority to his new general, honoured him 
 with the dignity of duke of Friedland. The success fully 
 answered his most sanguine hopes. Wallenstein soon col- 
 lected 22,000 men in the appointed districts, and, in his 
 
 * Pelzel, passim ; Heinrich, vol. \L p. 458. ; Schmidt, vol. ix. p. 
 273. ; Schiller's Thirty Years' War.
 
 1624-1629.] WALLENSTEIN'S SUCCESSES. 197 
 
 march to the frontiers of Lower Saxony, augmented their 
 number to 30,000. The hope of advancement, and a thirst 
 for pillage, attracted adventurers from all quarters ; even 
 sovereign princes offered to levy troops for the service of 
 the house of Austria ; and in a short time this army was 
 augmented to an amount far beyond the stipulated number. 
 Being ordered to join Tilly in Lower Saxony, Wallen- 
 stein advanced by rapid marches to Gottingen, as if to 
 effect the intended junction ; but, suddenly turning to- 
 wards the Elbe, he secured a passage at Dessau, and 
 flushed his troops with the plunder of the rich districts of 
 Grubenhagen, Halberstadt, and Magdeburgh. The states 
 of Lower Saxony, thus hemmed in by the imperialists and 
 the army of the league, seeing their territories exposed to 
 the incursions of the enemy, made overtures for peace; 
 and a congress was opened at Brunswick, in November, 
 1625, under the mediation of the electors of Saxony and 
 Brandenburgh. They were, however, persuaded to try 
 again the event of war, by the king of Denmark, whb, be- 
 sides his subsidiary treaties with England and Holland, 
 had now concluded an offensive league with Bethlehem 
 Gabor, and formed connections with the malecontents in the 
 Austrian states. On the rupture of the congress the cam- 
 paign opened. The king, joined by Mansfeld and Chris- 
 tian of Brunswick, found himself at the head of 60,000 
 men, and hastened to commence offensive operations. He 
 detached Mansfeld to keep Wallenstein in check, drew 
 Tilly from the Weser, by sending a corps into the terri- 
 tories of Osnabruck, and endeavoured to push forward a 
 considerable force through Brunswick, in order to occupy 
 Hesse and the Palatinate, and separate tire armies of Tilly 
 and Wallenstein. But his design, however well laid, was 
 frustrated by the vigilance and activity of his antagonist. 
 Though embarrassed by the excursion into Osnabruck, 
 Tilly soon discovered the real point of attack, hastened to 
 the confluence of the Weser and the Fulda, took Minden 
 and Gottingen, and thus covered Hesse and the Palatinate. 
 Baffled in his attempt to capture Nordheim, by the ap- 
 proach of the king, he fell back to Gottingen ; but being 
 reinforced with 10,000 men from the army of Wallenstein, 
 he prevented the attempt of the Danish monarch to pene- 
 o 3
 
 198 FERDINAND H. [CH. L. 
 
 trate through Thuringia, by Duderstaclt, and driving him 
 from post to post, totally defeated him at Lutter, near 
 WolfenbutteL on the 27th of August, 1626. The king 
 having 5000 of his men killed, 2000 made prisoners, having 
 lost half his officers, and the whole of his artillery and 
 baggage, effected a difficult and arduous retreat through 
 Wolfenbuttel to Holstein. Tilly followed his victory by 
 inundating the territories of Lunenburgh with his troops ; 
 while the king, though joined by a reinforcement of 8000 
 English and Dutch, was reduced to the defensive, and 
 scarcely able to maintain himself on his own frontiers. 
 
 On the other side the fortune of Ferdinand equally pre~ 
 vailed. Mansfeld confiding too much on his own intrepidity 
 and success, had imprudently attacked the intrenchments 
 of Wallenstein, at the bridge of Dessau. Though repulsed 
 with great loss, he rose with new vigour from his de- 
 feat. He fell back into the Mark of Brandenburgh, where 
 he raised fresh levies, and collected the remnant of his 
 forces. Being strengthened by 5000 Danes under the 
 duke of Saxe Weimar, he made a sudden push into Silesia, 
 defeated the imperialists at Oppeln, in June, and forced a 
 passage into Moravia, by capturing Ratibor, Jaegendorf, and 
 Troppau. He left the duke of Weimar with 5000 men to se- 
 cure those important posts, and descending along the Wag, 
 routed another imperial corps in the vicinity of Presburgh. 
 In September he was joined by Bethlehem Gabor, whom 
 his approach encouraged to recommence hostilities ; at the 
 same time the bashaw of Buda made an irruption with 
 30,000 men into Lower Hungary, captured various fort- 
 resses in the district of Gran, and laid siege to Novigrad, 
 while the malecontents in Upper Austria flew to arms. 
 
 Meanwhile, Wallenstein, unable to prevent or retard the 
 march of Mansfeld, followed him with 30,000 men, and 
 appeared in Hungary soon after his junction with Beth- 
 lehem Gabor. The two armies remained some time on the 
 defensive ; but disease and the effects of the climate made 
 greater ravages among them than the sword. At length 
 Bethlehem Gabor, discouraged by the defeat of the king 
 of Denmark, and apprehensive of drawing on himself the 
 whole force of the emperor, concluded a new truce, and 
 the bashaw of Buda seemed inclined to follow his example
 
 1624-1629.] DEATH OF MANSFELD AND CHRISTIAN. 199 
 
 The insurgents of Austria, who by foreign assistance might 
 have become dangerous, were soon suppressed by count 
 Pappenheim.* Mansfeld, thus abandoned to his fate, and 
 seeing his troops daily diminishing by the effects of disease, 
 disbanded his army, sold his artillery and military stores to 
 the bashaw of Buda, and with only twelve officers, passed 
 through Bosnia, with a view to reach the territories of 
 Venice, and again return to the scene of action. But in 
 his route, a fever, derived from the effects of the climate, 
 and aggravated by chagrin, terminated his extraordinary 
 career at Zara. Thus was Ferdinand delivered from an 
 irreconcilable enemy, who without subjects or revenues, 
 had found inexhaustible resources in his own genius; who, 
 though often defeated, was never dismayed nor discouraged ; 
 who had risen with new vigour from every depression, and 
 for seven years had always baffled the designs, and even 
 endangered the safety of the house of Austria, f 
 
 This campaign proved no less fatal to his friend and 
 companion in arms, Christian of Brunswick, who died in 
 his 29th year at Wolfenbuttel, not in the field where he 
 had so often courted danger, but a victim to a slow and pain- 
 ful disease, which, without diminishing his spirit or activity, 
 gradually sunk him into the grave.J 
 
 * Godfrey Henry, count of Pappenheim, was son of Weiten of 
 Pappenheim, vice-marshal and count of the Germanic empire. He 
 was born in 1 594, received a learned education, and was distinguished 
 for his progress in letters, and, like Wallenstein, travelled through dif- 
 ferent countries of Europe. The military ardour of the times, however, 
 seized the young student, and his first essay in arms was as a captain 
 of cavalry in the regiment raised by the count of Herberstorff, who had 
 espoused his mother. He joined the Bavarian army at Lintz, and was 
 soon raised to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He distinguished him- 
 self at the battle of Prague, where he received twenty wounds, and was 
 left for dead on the field ; after an almost miraculous escape, he reco- 
 vered from his wounds, and as his exploits had conciliated the favour 
 of his superiors, was raised to more important commands. He is said 
 to have been born with the mark of two swords in saltire (the arms of 
 the vice-marshal of the empire) in his forehead Histoire de Gustave 
 Adolphe, torn. ii. p. 82. 
 
 f Struvius, p. 1251. note 72. ; Schmidt, vol. ix. p. 289. 
 
 ^ His death was attributed to poison ; but, on opening his body, 
 the cause of his disease was discovered to be a tape-worm, several ells 
 in length. Struvius, p. 1251. note 68. 
 o 4
 
 200 FERDINAND II. [CH. L. 
 
 Wallenstein having delivered Hungary, turned against 
 the corps left by Mansfeld on the frontiers of Silesia, of 
 which the command, by the death of the duke of Weimar, 
 had devolved on the younger count. Thurn recovered the 
 fortresses which they had garrisoned, and following them 
 into the Mark of Brandenburgh, compelled the elector to 
 revoke his protest against the transfer of the palatine 
 electorate. 
 
 The hereditary countries of the house of Austria being 
 thus delivered from external invasion, and the internal 
 commotions suppressed, Ferdinand had no obstacle to pre- 
 vent him from dissolving the confederacy, which had a 
 second time endangered his safety. The king of Denmark, 
 unable to cope with Tilly alone, was still less capable of 
 resisting the united attacks of Tilly and Wallenstein. By 
 their concerted and well-directed eiforts, all Lower Saxony 
 was overrun, and every member of the circle either ex- 
 posed to proscription or reduced to submission. The ter- 
 ritories of the king of Denmark then became the theatre 
 of war ; he was driven from place to place, and from post 
 to post, the troops which he ventured to bring into the field 
 were scattered in all directions, and, before the close of 
 1628, Gluckstadt was the only fortress which remained in 
 his possession, of the whole country stretching from the 
 Elbe to the extremity of Jutland. 
 
 During this series of misfortunes, the king had been 
 induced to make proposals of peace, and the elector Pala- 
 tine offers of submission ; even the Catholic body, who had 
 hitherto so constantly supported the emperor, began to be 
 jealous of his power and success, and evinced a resolution 
 to procure the restoration of peace, and to free themselves 
 from the burden of supporting the imperial army. But 
 Ferdinand was too much flushed with success to listen to 
 the dictates of prudence and justice ; he therefore received 
 the proposals of the king of Denmark and the deposed 
 elector with contempt, and required from them concessions 
 too exorbitant to be complied with by any sovereign, how- 
 ever humiliated. He found means also, not only to quiet 
 the clamours of the Catholic body, but even to render their 
 interference subservient to his purposes. A meeting of 
 the Catholic states took place at Wurtzburgh, to deliberate
 
 1624-1629.] y SUCCESS OF HIS ARMS. 201 
 
 on the means of restoring peace to Germany, and putting 
 a stop to the devastations of both armies ; but the emperor 
 availing himself of the jealousy of some, the timidity of 
 others, and the animosity of all against the Protestants, 
 rendered their deliberations fruitless, and their attempts 
 ended in a deputation, entreating him to set bounds to the 
 oppressions of Wallenstein's army. The electors likewise, 
 who assembled at Mulhausen in September, 1627, for the 
 attainment of these objects, far from effecting their pur- 
 pose, were by the same means rendered totally subservient 
 to the wishes of Ferdinand, and all their resolutions pro- 
 duced only general representations against the licentious 
 conduct of the imperial forces, and a request that he would 
 raise no more levies, but on the first opportunity disband 
 all useless troops. They faintly indeed recommended the 
 conclusion of peace with Denmark ; but with respect to 
 the elector Palatine, they declared that, as author of the 
 troubles, he should renounce the crown of Bohemia and 
 the electoral dignity, and that the emperor should indemnify 
 himself for the expenses of the war by the confiscation of 
 the whole or a part of the palatine dominions. Should 
 the elector refuse to submit to these conditions, they an- 
 nounced their resolution to unite with the emperor against 
 him and all his adherents. Finally, at the instigation of 
 Ferdinand, the Catholics reclaimed the restitution of all 
 ecclesiastical benefices which had been appropriated by the 
 Protestants since the treaty of Passau in opposition to the 
 ecclesiastical reservation. 
 
 Ferdinand being now too powerful to apprehend any 
 opposition from the adherents of the elector Palatine, ren- 
 dered the transfer of his electorate permanent, by entailing 
 it on all the princes of the Bavarian house. At the same 
 time he conferred on the elector of Bavaria, as an imperial 
 fief, the Upper Palatinate, with that part of the Lower Pala- 
 tinate which lay on the right bank of the Rhine, and thus 
 recovered Upper Austria, which had been retained till this 
 time by the new elector ; but he was obliged to accompany 
 the grant with the promise of an indemnification, should 
 the house of Bavaria be despoiled of this acquisition at a 
 future peace. 
 
 While his troops kept the circle of Lower Saxony in awe,
 
 202 FERDINAND II. [CH. L. 
 
 Ferdinand availed himself of so favourable an opportunity 
 to diminish the Protestant interest, and procure for his 
 family the rich benefices which had been wrested from the 
 church since the peace of Passau. The see of Halber- 
 stadt becoming vacant by the death of Christian of Bruns- 
 wick, he compelled the chapter to choose his son Leopold 
 William, who had been recently elevated to the sees of 
 Strasburgh and Passau, on the resignation of his brother 
 Leopold. The archbishopric of Magdeburgh being also 
 considered as vacant by the proscription of the adminis- 
 trator Christian William of Brandenburgh, the terror of 
 Wallenstein's arms induced the canons to declare the see 
 escheated to Augustus, son of the elector of Saxony, who 
 had before been chosen coadjutor or successor. But this 
 choice being contrary to the views of the emperor, he per- 
 suaded the pope to annul the nomination, and appoint 
 Leopold William archbishop. He endeavoured to secure 
 the transfer, by forbidding the elector of Saxony to accept 
 the appointment of his son, although after some contesta- 
 tion he gratified him, by allowing the prince a temporary 
 possession of the see and revenues in the name and under 
 the authority of the archduke. He also procured for Leo- 
 pold William the papal nomination to the rich abbey of 
 Hirtzcheld, which he wrested from the landgrave of Hesse, 
 and to the archbishopric of Bremen. 
 
 The victories which had hitherto crowned the arms of 
 Ferdinand were, however, far from either gratifying or 
 bounding his ambition. Indignant at being checked in his 
 progress by the Baltic, he resolved to occupy its shores, 
 and acquire a naval force, as well to prevent the northern 
 powers from opening a new way into Germany, as to pur- 
 sue the king of Denmark into his isles. He was also 
 eager to dethrone Gustavus Adolphus, and to restore the 
 crown of Sweden to Sigismond, king of Poland, his brother- 
 in-law and ally, who was connected with him by the double 
 interest of blood and religion. For this purpose he had 
 endeavoured to obtain the assistance of the fleet belonging 
 to the Hanseatic towns, and, with the concurrence of Spain, 
 offered to Lubec the monopoly of the Spanish trade, and 
 great commercial privileges in Germany. Baffled in this 
 attempt by the refusal of Lubec, which was too wise to
 
 1624-1629.] SIEGE OF STRALSUND. 203 
 
 contribute to its own ruin by concurring in the ruin of 
 others, the next view of the emperor was, to form a naval 
 force of his own, and appropriate all the ports from Kiel 
 to Colberg. For this purpose, as well as for rewarding 
 past services, he put, on the 21st of April, 1628, the two 
 dukes of Mecklenburgh under the ban of the empire, trans- 
 ferred their territories to Wallenstein, and appointed him his 
 generalissimo by land, and admiral of the Baltic Sea. 
 
 Wallenstein, whose romantic imagination was never 
 startled by the grandeur or difficulty of a project, exerted 
 himself with his characteristic ardour to fulfil the views of 
 his master. He made Wismar, the principal port of his new 
 territory, his great maritime station, and, by borrowing or 
 hiring ships from every quarter, soon assembled a force of 
 fifteen sail. He then invaded the duchy of Pomerania, 
 although the duke had given no plea for hostility, under 
 the pretext of securing the reversion of that duchy to the 
 empire, of which it was a fief. He took the isle of Use- 
 dom, made himself master of the different ports on that 
 part of the Baltic, and suddenly laid siege to Stralsund, a 
 Hanseatic town, remarkable for the capacity and excellence 
 of its harbour, and the extent of its commerce, and which, 
 from its situation and navy, would greatly facilitate his 
 meditated attacks against Denmark and Sweden. Finally 
 he occupied the isle of Rugen, with a view to hasten its 
 reduction, and exclude foreign succours. 
 
 The views which the emperor had displayed for esta- 
 blishing himself on the shores of the Baltic, allayed the 
 long-pending jealousies between Sweden and Denmark, 
 and induced the two sovereigns to form a temporary union 
 against the common danger. As early as 1626 they con- 
 cluded a treaty for the protection of Stralsund, and a 
 Danish garrison was admitted into the place. This garri- 
 son, assisted by the inhabitants, by repeated succours from 
 the other Hanseatic towns, and by the fleets of Denmark 
 and Sweden, baffled all the attacks of Wallenstein, although 
 he made assault after assault, and used the most extraor- 
 dinary exertions to realise his proud and impious threat, 
 that "he would reduce Stralsund, even if bound to 
 heaven with chains of adamant ! " His perseverance would 
 have finally succeeded ; the garrison, worn out by these
 
 204 FERDINAND H. [CH. L. 
 
 continued attacks, must have surrendered had not the in- 
 babitants thrown themselves under the protection of Gus- 
 tavus Adolphus, who replaced the Danes with Swedish 
 troops. In consequence of this reinforcement, at the time 
 when the imperialists were exhausted by fatigue and 
 thinned by the sword, Wallenstein indignantly relinquished 
 his enterprise ; but endeavoured to save his honour, and 
 secure some compensation for his failure, by the capture of 
 Rostock. 
 
 Meanwhile the king of Denmark, reduced to the last 
 extremity, exerted himself with all the vigour of despair. 
 He was too weak to recover his losses by land ; but he 
 fully availed himself of his superiority by sea, annihilated 
 the newly-created imperial navy, and by bold and sudden 
 descents on the shores of the Baltic, greatly harassed 
 Wallenstein, and contributed to prolong the siege of Stral- 
 sund. These gleams of success were, however, merely 
 temporary. Christian, deserted or feebly supported by his 
 allies, at length yielded to the clamours of his subjects, and 
 renewed his overtures for peace. He found a more ready 
 acquiescence than before from Ferdinand, whose lofty 
 views were somewhat changed with the situation of his 
 affairs. The emperor now discovered the vanity of his 
 attempts to form a navy, and contest the mastery of the sea 
 with a maritime nation. Notwithstanding the succours 
 which he had furnished to the king of Poland against Gus- 
 tavus Adolphus, he saw his ally reduced to the necessity of 
 concluding a humiliating peace ; and he was apprehensive 
 lest Sweden should unite with Denmark for their common 
 defence. Embarrassed likewise in a war for the succession 
 of Mantua, he was sensible that it would require his whole 
 power and attention to reduce the Protestant body and free 
 himself from the trammels of the Catholic league, which 
 began to display symptoms of jealousy and disaffection. 
 Above all, Wallenstein, his all-powerful general, who dic- 
 tated no less to his sovereign than to Germany, was anxious 
 to secure the possession of his new dominions, by persuad- 
 ing the king of Denmark to sacrifice the dukes of Mechlen- 
 burgh. A congress was accordingly opened at Lubec, in 
 May, 1629, under the mediation of the elector of Branden- 
 burgh. Notwithstanding some difficulties derived from
 
 1628-1630.] TREATY OP LTJBEC. 205 
 
 the loftj pretensions of the emperor, the influence of 
 Wallenstein procured though not more honourable at least 
 more favourable terms than had at first been offered to the 
 king of Denmark. He was to receive all his conquered 
 dominions ; to agree not to interfere in the affairs of the 
 empire, except when his interests as duke of Holstein were 
 concerned ; to renounce all his pretensions to the arch- 
 bishoprics and bishoprics which he designed to secure for 
 his family ; and his unfortunate allies, the dukes of Meck- 
 lenburgh and the elector Palatine,. were tacitly abandoned 
 to their fate, by being passed over without any mention in 
 the treaty. 
 
 It is likewise a remarkable circumstance attending this 
 negotiation, that the ambassadors of Sweden, who had re- 
 paired to the congress, were refused admission by the im- 
 perial general, and even the title of king withheld from 
 their sovereign ; an insult which it was scarcely prudent to 
 offer in the midst of unbounded success, and which Ferdi- 
 nand had afterwards ample reason to repent. 
 
 CHAP. LI. 1628-1630. 
 
 ON the conclusion of the treaty of Lubec, Ferdinand had a 
 second time an opportunity of restoring tranquillity to 
 Germany. Not a single enemy remained in arms ; the 
 Protestants were awed into submission ; he might have 
 quieted the alarms of the Catholics, by showing that his 
 object was not rule and dominion, but the restoration of 
 the Catholic church and the vindication of his own autho- 
 rity : and he might have satisfied the friends of the elector 
 Palatine, by restoring to him a portion of his dominions. 
 But the unbounded success of his arms, the implicit obe- 
 dience which followed his decrees, the instigations of the 
 Spanish court, filled him with presumption, and induced 
 him to form the wildest plans of conquest and dominion. 
 It is impossible to produce specific documents of all his 
 designs ; yet, to judge from the declamations of the Jesuits, 
 the discourses of Wallenstein, the observations of the Spa- 
 nish ambassadors, and the general tenor of his own conduct,
 
 206 FERDINAND II. [CH. LI. 
 
 his intentions were evidently directed to extirpate the 
 Protestant doctrines by the assistance of the Catholics, and 
 then to reduce the Catholics themselves to dependence. 
 He was likewise anxious to aid the Spaniards in recovering 
 the United Provinces, and he hoped, by opening a commu- 
 nication through the Valteline with their dominions in 
 Lombardy, to give law to Europe by the weight of their 
 united forces. 
 
 He imagined that no power was capable of making any 
 effectual opposition to his designs. Charles I., king of Eng- 
 land, was embarrassed by the fatal disputes with his par- 
 liament, and involved at once in hostilities with France and 
 Spain. The court of France, besides the contest with 
 England, and disputes with Spain relative to the succession 
 of Mantua, was still involved in a civil war with the 
 Huguenots. The Dutch were awed without by the united 
 forces of Austria and Spain, and divided within by civil 
 and religious commotions. The Turks, hitherto the con- 
 stant and formidable enemy of the house of Austria, were 
 agitated by intestine troubles, and, far from being able to 
 counteract the projects of Ferdinand, deemed themselves 
 fortunate in escaping an attack. Bethlehem Gabor, who 
 had so frequently carried terror to the walls of Vienna, 
 sinking under a fatal disorder, and satisfied with securing 
 the dominions which he had acquired in a more active 
 season of life, concluded, in 1628, a peace, on terms which 
 seemed to ensure its duration. In the north, Ferdinand 
 had reduced the king of Denmark to submission ; he had 
 found a faithful ally in Sigismond, king of Poland ; and, in 
 the career of victory, he cannot perhaps be accused of 
 overweening confidence, in despising the efforts of Gusta- 
 vus Adolphus, whose exploits, however remarkable, had 
 been confined to a narrow and distant theatre, and whose 
 troops and revenue, in regard to number or amount, could 
 scarcely deserve a comparison with the vast resources and 
 numerous armies of the head of the house of Austria, and 
 the chief of the empire. 
 
 Such being the condition of the European powers, and 
 such the situation and views of Ferdinand, he scarcely 
 waited for the conclusion of peace with Denmark before he 
 hastened the execution of his extensive designs. The
 
 1628-1630.] HIS RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE. 207 
 
 object which he had most at heart, from interested as well 
 as religious motives, was the extirpation of the Protestant 
 doctrines. In all his territories except Hungary, where he 
 was restrained by the vicinity of Bethlehem Gabor and by 
 the fear of Turkish interference, he proceeded without 
 compunction, not only to the revocation of the privileges 
 granted by his predecessors to the Protestants, which he 
 had not confirmed, but even of those which had received 
 his own unqualified approbation. 
 
 In Austria he abolished by force the Protestant worship 
 in the district above the Ems, where he was not bound by 
 formal engagements ; even in the lower district, where he 
 had solemnly ratified the religious rights granted by Mat- 
 thias, he acted with the same rigorous severity, imposed 
 successive restrictions on the Protestants, and finally com- 
 pleted their proscription by a general mandate, dated April 
 10th, 1628, prohibiting all Lutheran books ; annulling all 
 baptisms, marriages, and other religious acts performed by 
 Protestant preachers ; expelling all Protestants from civil 
 offices ; and obliging all persons, of every rank and condi- 
 tion, to receive instruction only from Catholic priests, and 
 attend the Catholic worship. 
 
 But it was in Bohemia, so long exposed to his antipathy 
 as the seat of religious liberty, and where three fourths of 
 the natives were Protestants, that he acted with a rigour 
 and cruelty which surpassed all the horrors of the inquisi- 
 tion itself. He commenced his persecutions by ejecting the 
 preachers, schoolmasters, and professors, and delivering the 
 churches to monks, whom he collected indiscriminately 
 from all quarters of Europe. He then prohibited all persons 
 who were not Catholics from exercising any trade or handi- 
 craft, laid the severest fines on those who preserved even 
 in secret the slightest remnant of their former worship, 
 declared Protestant marriages and baptisms null, wills 
 made by Protestants invalid, and even drove the poor, the 
 sick, and the distressed from the almshouses and hospitals. 
 Then began a series of persecutions, from the recollection 
 of which the mind recoils with horror. In the capital the 
 Protestant burghers were expelled with their wives and 
 children, and the poorer orders compelled to become Ca- 
 tholics. The other towns, and even the remotest villages,
 
 208 FERDINAND II. [CH. LI. 
 
 were visited by missionary deputations of Jesuits and 
 Capuchin friars, accompanied by a military force, and were 
 abandoned to every species of monkish barbarity and mili- 
 tary licentiousness. Those who were enabled to seek a 
 refuge in exile were comparatively fortunate. The slightest 
 degree of persecution inflicted on those who remained was, 
 to imprison the men, give up their houses to pillage, and 
 expose their wives and children to all the outrages of the 
 soldiery. Some were massacred without mercy ; some 
 hunted and driven like wild beasts to the woods and 
 mountains, some dragged to processions and masses with 
 every species of insult and cruelty, and those who ventured 
 to oppose these enormities were racked and mutilated, or 
 put to death with tortures too shocking for humanity to 
 describe. 
 
 In the midst of these horrors Ferdinand himself repaired 
 to Prague to nominate and crown his son as his successor. 
 After affecting to display his clemency, by confirming to 
 the states their power of taxation and other civil privileges, 
 he abolished their right to elect a king, forbade the use of 
 the Bohemian tongue in all public transactions, and set the 
 seal to all the enormities which had been perpetrated under 
 his authority, by abrogating the royal edict of toleration. 
 He formally restored the order of the clergy to their rank 
 in the states, from which they had been expelled during 
 the Hussite wars ; finally, he consummated his vengeance 
 against the Protestants, by declaring that he would tolerate 
 no religion except the Catholic ; and he banished all those 
 who within a specified time refused to return to the bosom 
 of the church. By this act of persecution he drove 30,000 
 families, with all their servants and retainers, from the 
 kingdom, including the most learned, the richest, and most 
 industrious portion of the community, and thus inflicted ou 
 Bohemia a wound from which it has never recovered. 
 
 It is a tribute of justice to sound policy, as well as to 
 humanity, to finish this picture by introducing the reflec- 
 tions of the native historian, who, being a Catholic and a 
 subject of the house of Austria, cannot be suspected of 
 exaggeration or partiality. " The records of history scarcely 
 furnish a similar example of such a change as Bohemia 
 underwent during the reign of Ferdinand II. In 1620, the
 
 1628-1630.] DISTRESSED CONDITION OF UOHEMIA. 209 
 
 monks, and a few of the nobility only excepted, the whole 
 country was entirely Protestant ; at the death of Ferdinand 
 it was, in appearance at least, Catholic. Till the battle of 
 the White Mountain the states enjoyed more exclusive 
 privileges than the parliament of England ; they enacted 
 laws, imposed taxes, contracted alliances, declared war and 
 peace, and chose or confirmed their kings ; but all these 
 they now lost. Previous to that period the Bohemians were 
 considered as a warlike nation, and had often won military 
 fame ; the annals of history recorded, ' The Bohemians 
 took the field ; the Bohemians stormed the fortifications ; 
 the Bohemians gained the victory ;' but they are now 
 blended with other people, they are no longer distinguished 
 as a nation in the field of battle, and no historian has con- 
 signed their posterity to glory. Till this fatal period the 
 Bohemians were daring, undaunted, enterprising, emulous 
 of fame ; now they have lost all their courage, their national 
 pride, their enterprising spirit. They fled before the Swedes 
 like sheep, or suffered themselves to be trampled under 
 foot. Their courage lay buried on the White Mountain. 
 Individuals still possessed personal valour, military ardour, 
 and a thirst of glory, but, blended with other nations, they 
 resembled the waters of the Moldau which join those of the 
 Elbe. These united streams bear ships, overflow lands, 
 and overturn rocks ; yet the Elbe only is mentioned, and 
 the Moldau forgotten. The Bohemian language, which 
 was used in all the courts of justice, and was in high esti- 
 mation among the nobles, fell into contempt ; the German 
 was introduced, became the general language among the 
 nobles and citizens, and was used by the monks in their 
 sermons ; the inhabitants of the towns began to be ashamed 
 of their native tongue, which was confined to the villages, 
 and called the language of peasants. The arts and sciences, 
 so highly cultivated and esteemed under Rhodolph, sunk 
 beyond recovery. During the period which immediately 
 followed the banishment of the Protestants, Bohemia 
 scarcely produced one man who became eminent in any 
 branch of learning. The Caroline university was under 
 the direction of the Jesuits, or suppressed ; by order of the 
 pope all promotions were stopped, and no academical 
 honours conferred. A few patriots, both among the clergy 
 VOL. IL r
 
 210 FERDINAND H. [CH. LI. 
 
 and laity, murmured openly, though ineffectually ; others 
 sighed in secret over the downfall of literature. The 
 greater part of the schools were conducted by Jesuits, and 
 other monkish orders, and nothing taught therein but bad 
 Latin. It cannot be denied, that several of the Jesuits 
 were men of great learning and science ; but their system 
 was, to keep the people in ignorance ; agreeably to this 
 principle, they gave their scholars only the rind, and kept 
 to themselves the pulp of literature. With this view they 
 travelled from town to town as missionaries, and went from 
 house to house, examining all books, which the landlord 
 was compelled, under pain of eternal damnation, to produce. 
 The greater part they confiscated and burnt, so that a Bo- 
 hemian and a rare book are synonymous terms. They thus 
 endeavoured to extinguish the ancient literature of the 
 country, laboured to persuade the students that, before the 
 introduction of their order into Bohemia, nothing but 
 ignorance prevailed, and carefully concealed the learned 
 labours, and even the names of our ancestors. Such was 
 their despotism, that the collections and writings of the 
 patriotic Balbinus, on the literature of the ancient Bohe- 
 mians, could not be published till after the extinction of 
 their order. In a word, from this period the history of 
 Bohemia ceases, and the history of every nation in Bohemia 
 begins." 
 
 A sovereign, who could thus act in his own dominions, 
 did not want inclination to pursue the same measures in 
 Germany. He could not, however, venture to drive the 
 Protestants to desperation, by overturning at once the 
 whole fabric of their system, or to alienate both Catholics 
 and Protestants, by any glaring act of authority ; but he 
 imitated the insidious policy which had been traced by the 
 Jesuits, and adopted by Rhodolph, with equal art and 
 address, and with more vigour and perseverance. Like 
 Rhodolph, he availed himself of the terms in which several 
 articles of the peace of religion had been framed ; assuming 
 as a judge and supreme arbitrator the right of interpreting 
 its meaning, and deciding contested points, he declared the 
 Ecclesiastical Reservation valid, and the annexed declara- 
 tion of Ferdinand I. null. On thes principles he published 
 his celebrated Edict of Restitution, d*ated the 6th of March,
 
 1628-1G30.] PERSECUTIONS OF THE PROTESTANTS. 211 
 
 1629, in which he enjoined the restoration of all ecclesias- 
 tical property secularised since the peace of Passau, and 
 ordered the Protestants to relinquish to the Catholics all 
 benefices which they had appropriated contrary to the 
 peace of Passau and the Ecclesiastical Reservation. He 
 also authorised Catholic prelates to use every means for 
 the extirpation of the Protestant doctrines in their territo- 
 ries, and confined the benefits of the religious peace only 
 to the Catholics and the members of the Confession of 
 Augsburgh, excluding all other sects, particularly the Cal- 
 vinists, by name. He concluded with denouncing the ban 
 of the empire against all opposers of this ordinance, and 
 commanding the states without distinction to assist in its 
 execution. 
 
 No Protestant prince could venture to resist the execu- 
 tion of a decree supported by the powerful army of 
 "Wallenstein. Although the elector of Saxony and others 
 presumed to make remonstrances, their remonstrances were 
 treated with neglect, and the elector alone was suifered to 
 retain the benefices appropriated by his family. In Lower 
 Saxony the dukes of Brunswick were stripped of all the 
 property which they had obtained from the see of Hilde- 
 sheim; at Halberstadt and Magdeburgh the Protestant 
 canons were ejected ; the archbishopric of Bremen was 
 annexed, by the nomination of the pope, to the vast pos- 
 sessions of the church already heaped on the son of Ferdi- 
 nand. The same innovations were introduced into Suabia, 
 Franconia, and Westphalia. All the convents and eccle- 
 siastical property without distinction were restored to the 
 Catholics, and the Protestant religion excluded from Augs- 
 burgh, Ulm, Ratisbon, and the other imperial towns of those 
 circles. Many of the Catholic prelates also, hastening to 
 avail themselves of the authority conferred on them by the 
 emperor, used every exertion to exterminate the Protestant 
 religion in their territories. 
 
 The resumption of this vast property, which, besides 
 convents and other inferior benefices, consisted of two 
 archbishoprics and twelve bishoprics *, was adopted as a 
 
 Magdeburgh and Bremen ; the bishoprics of Minden, Halber- 
 xtadt, Verden, Lubec, Ratzeburgh, Meissen, Merseburgh, Nauui- 
 burgh, Braudenburgh, Havelbergh, Lebus, and Camin, 
 
 r
 
 212 FERDINAND II. [CH. LI. 
 
 prelude to the total extermination of the Protestants. 
 Their ruin was however suspended, and the projects of the 
 emperor checked by the Catholics themselves, at whose 
 instigation the edict had been issued. They began now to 
 be alarmed at the enormous power which they had contri- 
 buted to raise ; they were offended by seeing the convents 
 conferred on the Jesuits instead of being restored to the 
 original possessors ; and they were at length convinced 
 that all the spoils of the Protestants would be monopolised 
 by the emperor for his family and dependents, and afford 
 the means of reducing them in their turn to submission. 
 Above all they were indignant at the licentiousness and 
 depredations of the imperial army, which was augmented 
 instead of being diminished on the conclusion of the peace, 
 and was scattered over the empire, levying enormous con- 
 tributions, and preying alike on friends and foes. The feel- 
 ings of the high-born princes were wounded by the pride 
 of its upstart commander, who assumed the authority and 
 surpassed the state of a sovereign ; and who unequivocally 
 developed his own designs, and the views of his master, by 
 repeated declarations, that the electors must be reduced to 
 the condition of Spanish grandees, and the bishops to the 
 rank of chaplains to the emperor. Their alarms at this 
 critical juncture were increased by an attempt of the em- 
 peror to procure the dismission of their troops who were 
 stationed in Franconia and Suabia, a measure which they 
 with reason considered as the first step to the dissolution of 
 their league. 
 
 These sentiments, though common to all, made the 
 deepest impression on the duke of Bavaria, the rival of 
 Wallenstein in fame, talents, and influence. He was dis- 
 gusted with his rapid rise and superior ascendency ; his 
 jealousy was roused by the formation of an independent 
 army, which far overbalanced the forces of the league, and 
 by the attempts of the emperor to reduce that league, from 
 which he derived his authority. He considered the transfer 
 of the electorate, and the territorial gifts which he had 
 received, as a compensation not more than adequate to his 
 great services and expenses ; and, like Maurice of Saxony, 
 he was alienated by the evident intention of the emperor 
 to reduce the value -of that dignity to which he had been
 
 1528-1630.] LEAGUE AGAINST HIM. 213 
 
 raised. These considerations absorbed all sentiments of 
 gratitude, friendship, and affinity ; and even overbore his 
 zeal for the Catholic faith. He therefore caballed with 
 cardinal Richelieu, and the other enemies of the house of 
 Austria, and consolidated the first opposition which hum- 
 bled the domineering spirit and checked the designs of 
 Ferdinand. At his instigation, the members of the league 
 assembled at Heidelberg, in March, 1629, and requested 
 the emperor to convoke a diet for the restoration of peace, 
 and for remedying the evils occasioned by his army. In 
 reply to his demand, requiring the dismission of their 
 troops, in the circles of Franconia and Suabia, they expa- 
 tiated on the great services which they had rendered to the 
 house of Austria ; and concluded with the spirited declara- 
 tion, " Till we have received an indemnification, or a 
 pledge for the payment of our expenses, we will neither 
 disband a single soldier, nor relinquish a foot of territory r , 
 ecclesiastical or secular, DEMAND IT WHO WILL!"* 
 
 It is a singular proof of the presumption and infatuation 
 which accompanied the despotism of the emperor, that at 
 the very moment when he was preparing to crush the Pro- 
 testants, and when symptoms of discontent had appeared 
 among the Catholics, he should have sent the flower of his 
 troops on foreign expeditions. Besides a considerable force 
 which he despatched to the assistance of Sigismond, king 
 of Poland, and another corps against the united provinces, 
 he interfered in the war which had taken place in Italy for 
 the succession of Mantua. 
 
 On the death of Vincent II., duke of Mantua, in 1627, 
 without issue, the succession to the duchy devolved on 
 Charles, duke of Nevers, descended from a collateral branch 
 of the family of Gonzaga, who had been acknowledged by the 
 deceased duke as his heir, and had taken undisputed posses- 
 sion of the territories. But the succession was claimed by 
 Ferdinand, duke of Guastalla, a representative of a more 
 distant collateral branch, and the Montferrat by Emanuel, 
 duke of Savoy, in consequence of his descent from a princess 
 of Montferrat. As the king of Spain was unwilling to 
 see a territory contiguous to Milan possessed by a vassal 
 and dependent of France, he supported the duke of Gua- 
 
 * Heinrich, vol. vi. p. 500. ; Falkcnstein, vol. ii. p. 648. 
 
 T 3
 
 214 FERDINAND IL [CH. 1.1. 
 
 stalla, and at the same time concluded a treaty with the 
 duke of Savoy for the purpose of dividing the Montferrat. 
 Accordingly the Spanish troops laid siege to Casale 1 ; while 
 those of Savoy overran the remainder of the duchy. At 
 the same time the emperor ordered the Mantuan territories 
 to be put under sequestration, and published the ban of the 
 empire against the duke of Nevers, for refusing to deliver 
 the duchy to the imperial commissaries. 
 
 The duke of Mantua, who was feebly supported by 
 Venice, would have been unable to make effectual resist- 
 ance, had he not found a powerful protector in the king of 
 France. Louis himself crossed the Alps with an army of 
 25,000 men, raised the siege of Casale, compelled the duke 
 of Savoy to enter into an accommodation, to cede his pre- 
 tensions for the district of Trino, and to give temporary 
 possession of Suza and St. Francois to the French. 
 
 Such was the situation of affairs when Ferdinand inter- 
 fered in the contest. In the spring of 1629, he sent an 
 army of 30,000 men, who forced their way through the 
 country of the Orisons and the Valteline, and spread 
 general alarm throughout Italy ; and in July the following 
 year, took Mantua by storm, and expelled the duke from 
 his territories. 
 
 Towards the close of this transaction, the emperor com- 
 plied with the request of the Catholic league, by assembling 
 an electoral diet at Ratisbon, at which he presided in per- 
 son. From this diet he hoped to draw succours against 
 the adherents of the elector Palatine, for the prosecution 
 of the Mantuan war, and for opposing Gustavus Adolphus, 
 who was now preparing to carry his arms into Germany ; 
 but his great and principal object was, to obtain the elec- 
 tion of his son as king of the Romans. He therefore ac- 
 companied these demands with a conciliating offer to pro- 
 vide means for remedying the disorders arising from the 
 licentiousness of his troops, and for the restoration of in- 
 ternal peace. But his hopes were disappointed. The 
 disposition of the German princes, and the meeting of this 
 diet, presented a favourable opportunity for his enemies to 
 interfere with effect. Nor was this opportunity lost on 
 cardinal Richelieu, who having firmly established his 
 power, and restored the vigour of the royal authority by
 
 1628-1630.] FRANCE INTRIGUES AGAINST HIM. 215 
 
 the subjugation of the Huguenots, turned his whole atten- 
 tion to fulfil the grand plan of Henry IV. for humbling 
 the house of Austria. He accordingly sent Leon Brulart 
 as ambassador to the diet, for the ostensible object of 
 accommodating the dispute relative to Mantua, but for the 
 real purpose of carrying on his intrigues with the German 
 princes, and influencing the emperor ; he joined in the 
 embassy the celebrated Capuchin friar, father Joseph, the 
 confidant of his secrets, the soul of his plans ; who, under 
 the cowl of a monk, and the exterior of sanctity, concealed 
 the most consummate address, and spirit of intrigue not 
 inferior to his own. The object of this agent was to obtain 
 the reduction of the imperial army, and the dismission of 
 Wallenstein, and frustrate the design of Ferdinand to pro- 
 cure the election of his son ; for the fulfilment of these 
 purposes he was empowered to make any promise or con- 
 cession, however extravagant. He intrigued with both 
 Catholics and Protestants, and had little difficulty in in- 
 fluencing princes who were already alienated from their 
 chief; but he found the most active and most devoted co- 
 adjutor in the duke of Bavaria, who employed all his 
 influence among the Catholics, and by whose intervention 
 the whole conduct of the diet was directed. 
 
 Ferdinand had flattered himself with such a ready and 
 unequivocal submission on the part of the diet, and deemed 
 himself so secure of his son's election, that the imperial 
 laureat was suffered to print a congratulatory ode. He 
 was therefore surprised and confounded, when, instead of 
 a complete acquiescence, the diet replied to his demands 
 by expatiating on the dreadful excesses of his troops, and 
 by requiring a prompt remedy to so insufferable a griev- 
 ance, as a preliminary to the discussion of any business. 
 The duke of Bavaria even declared, that their delibera- 
 tions could not be free while the emperor maintained an 
 army of 150,000 men ; and these remonstrances were fol- 
 lowed by positive and unequivocal demands for the reduc- 
 tion of his troops, and the dismission of Wallenstein. This 
 opposition on the part of the Catholics revived the spirit 
 of the Protestants ; the whole body, particularly the elector 
 of Saxony, made the strongest remonstrances against the 
 edict of restitution, and their instances were supported by 
 
 v 4
 
 216 FERDINAND n. [CU. LI. 
 
 the duke of Bavaria and the majority of the Catholics. 
 The duke proposed a suspension of the edict for forty 
 years; some of the Catholics even required its abrogation; 
 others urged the necessity of granting indulgence to the 
 Protestants, to prevent them from uniting with the king of 
 Sweden, or assisting the enemies of the empire. 
 
 These instances for the suspension or abrogation of an 
 edict which Ferdinand had not deigned to mention to the 
 diet, for the reduction of an army to which he owed his 
 independence, and for the dismission of a general whom he 
 himself had raised, and whose talents and influence were 
 now more than ever necessary, inflicted a deep wound on 
 his proud and inflexible spirit. He was inclined himself, 
 and he was instigated by Wallenstein, to resist such imperi- 
 ous demands, to pour his forces into Bavaria, and after 
 punishing the refractory chief of the Catholics, to extort 
 the obedience of the rest. But the absence of his best 
 troops in Italy rendered this a dangerous if not impracti- 
 cable attempt, and reduced him in a great degree to his 
 former dependence on the Catholics. He was besides, in 
 consequence of his other disappointments, more anxious 
 than ever to secure the election of his son. Of this 
 anxiety the duke of Bavaria and the agents of France 
 adroitly availed themselves. On one side the duke assailed 
 him with representations that he could only obtain the 
 suffrages of the electors by acquiescing in the just demands 
 of the Catholics, and granting indulgences to the Pro- 
 testants. On the other, father Joseph insidiously repre- 
 sented that Wallenstein, though dismissed, might soon be 
 restored to the command, and the deficiency of the troops 
 supplied by fresh levies; he likewise employed all those 
 blandishments, exerted all that subtlety for which he was 
 remarkable, and omitted neither promises nor cajolery to 
 calm the fears and blind the suspicions of the emperor. 
 His arts, covered with the most exemplary severity of 
 manners, and the outward appearance of sanctity, over- 
 came the repugnance of a prince whose only vulnerable 
 side was religion, and who respected even the habit of a 
 monk. 
 
 Ferdinand, who hoped at a more favourable opportunity 
 to resume his ascendency, and despised the power of the
 
 1628-1630.] WALLENSTEIN RESIGNS HIS COMMAND. 17 
 
 king of Sweden, yielded to these insidious counsels. He 
 instantly dismissed 18,000 of his Lest cavalry, and agreed 
 to suspend the edict against the Protestants till the en- 
 suing February, when a meeting was to be held at Frank- 
 fort for effecting a compromise. These concessions were 
 matters of little difficulty ; but it was a far more deli- 
 cate and dangerous task to obtain the resignation of a 
 proud and imperious general, at the head of a numerous 
 army, independent of control, and flushed with success, 
 adored by troops who looked up to him alone for their pay 
 and subsistence, and revered by his officers, whose hopes 
 and fortunes depended on his nod. Even Ferdinand trem- 
 bled at the fatal consequences which might attend the 
 refusal of Wallenstein ; he employed two of his most inti- 
 mate friends to execute the unwelcome commission, and 
 accompanied the request with every proof and every ex- 
 pression of regret, respect, and gratitude. 
 
 His apprehensions were fortunately without foundation ; 
 for this great and singular man disappointed alike the 
 fears of his friends and the hopes of his enemies. He 
 was persuaded by a favourite astrologer, who could alone 
 bend his intractable mind, that the stars prognosticated 
 future grandeur, that his present disgrace would be only 
 temporary. This augury produced its full effect on the 
 romantic temper of Wallenstein ; he received the imperial 
 messengers with mildness and composure ; he laid before 
 them an astrological calculation, and observed, " By these 
 signs I knew your message ; the ascendant of the duke 
 of Bavaria is superior to that of the emperor ; I there- 
 fore cannot attach any blame to his conduct, though I 
 regret that he should have so easily sacrificed me. I 
 will obey." He dismissed the envoys with presents, wrote 
 a submissive letter, supplicating the future favour and 
 countenance of his sovereign, and retired with dignity to a 
 private station. 
 
 Besides these sacrifices the agents of France, by the in- 
 tervention of the electors, extorted from the emperor his 
 consent to an accommodation of the affair of Mantua. 
 Ferdinand agreed to grant the investiture of Mantua and 
 Montferrat to the duke of Nevers ; a trifling compensation 
 was to be made to the dukes of Savoy and Guastalla for
 
 21S FERDINAND II. [CU. LIT. 
 
 their claims ; and in return the ambassadors of France 
 entered into the most solemn engagements not to afford 
 either counsel or assistance to the enemies of the emperor 
 and empire. 
 
 After having completed these sacrifices, Ferdinand was 
 still more disappointed than before by the failure of his 
 efforts to procure the election of his son. The electors 
 having gained their objects, not only postponed the intended 
 nomination, but evinced a design to choose the elector of 
 Bavaria. Ferdinand, thus duped and deceived in every 
 instance, abruptly terminated the diet, as well to hide his 
 own disappointment as to put a stop to the intrigues of his 
 enemies. He had soon, however, the additional mortifica- 
 tion to see the ambassadors of France disavowed, to witness 
 the public breach of those engagements on which he had 
 placed his principal reliance ; and he had even reason to 
 suspect that the same hand which had signed the treaty 
 with him, had at the same moment signed a convention 
 with Gustavus Adolphus. He equally felt for the decep- 
 tion, and for the manner in which it was effected, under 
 the guise of religious faith and private friendship ; and 
 was frequently heard to exclaim, " A Capuchin friar has 
 disarmed me with his rosary, and covered six electoral caps 
 with his cowl." 
 
 CHAP. LII. 1630, 1631. 
 
 THE resentment which Ferdinand felt for his recent dis- 
 appointment would probably have urged him to gratify his 
 vengeance against the elector of Bavaria and the Catholics, 
 had not a new enemy called forth all his attention. This 
 enemy was Gustavus Adolphus. 
 
 Since the time of Gustavus Vasa, Sweden had been 
 agitated by intestine commotions, and its foreign wars con- 
 fined to the neighbouring powers of the north. Eric, the 
 eldest son of Gustavus, was dethroned by his brother John, 
 who having espoused Catherine Jaghellon, a princess ot 
 Poland, in compliance with her instances endeavoured to
 
 1630, 1631.] GUSTAVUS ADOLI>HUS. 219 
 
 restore the Catholic religion. This attempt exciting 
 general discontent, the Protestants found a protector in 
 Charles, the youngest brother ; a civil war was prevented 
 only by the interposition of the senate, and John, in his 
 turn, was compelled to yield to Charles the principal share 
 in the administration of affairs. Such was the situation 
 of the country when John died, leaving two sons, Sigis- 
 mond, who had been chosen king of Poland during the 
 lifetime of his father, and John, who was brought up a 
 Protestant, and had resided in Sweden. Charles was 
 therefore enabled to retain and increase his influence during 
 the long and frequent absences of his nephew, till the 
 bigoted attempts of Sigismond to change the religion of 
 the country at length roused the whole nation, and occa- 
 sioned his exclusion from the throne. He was formally 
 deposed by the diet, the crown conferred on Charles, and 
 the duchy of Ostrogothia given to John, who resigned his 
 pretensions. 
 
 This revolution occasioned a war between the nephew 
 and uncle ; and Charles during his whole reign found 
 constant employment in defending on one side his crown 
 against Sigismond, and on the other in resisting the attacks 
 of Russia and Denmark. On his death in 1611, his son Gus- 
 tavus Adolphus ascended the throne, in the midst of a war 
 with the three powers. Although only eighteen, he had 
 evinced such great civil and military talents, joined with a 
 prudence above his years, that the states abrogated the law 
 which declared the king a minor till his twenty-fourth year, 
 and liberated him from the tutelage of his mother and the 
 other guardians appointed by the will of his father. The 
 prudence and vigour of the young monarch soon justified 
 this extraordinary confidence. He directed his first atten- 
 tion to the Danes, who had obtained possession of Calmar 
 and Elfsborg, and even threatened Stockholm itself; he 
 baffled all their attempts to penetrate into the heart of 
 Sweden, recovered some of the fortresses which they had 
 captured, and finally purchased peace by the payment of a 
 sum of money, and the cession of his obsolete pretensions 
 to the sterile district of Lapland. 
 
 Thus relieved from his most dangerous enemy, he next 
 attacked the Russians, and procured, in 1617, from Michael
 
 220 FERDINAND II. LCH. LII. 
 
 Feodorovitch an honourable peace for forty years, and an 
 ample compensation for his sacrifices to Denmark, by the 
 acquisition of Finland, Carelia, and Ingria, which, in ad- 
 dition to Esthonia, conquered by his father, excluded the 
 Russians from the shores of the Baltic. These successes 
 enabled him to concentrate his whole force for the prose- 
 cution of the war against his cousin Sigismond, king of 
 Poland, who rejected with disdain all his proposals of 
 peace, and spared neither private intrigues nor open force 
 to recover possession of the throne from which he had 
 been expelled. In this war, the youthful hero gave full 
 scope to those great and splendid talents which had dawned 
 during his contests with Denmark and Russia, and found 
 an ample theatre for the perfection of his military skill, 
 for inuring his troops to that strict and ready obedience to 
 discipline, and that patient endurance of hardships, and 
 inspiring them with that irresistible intrepidity, which 
 ought to be the characteristics of a soldier. By a series of 
 successful enterprises, he overran the greater part of Li- 
 vonia and Prussian Poland ; and reduced Sigismond to the 
 necessity of concluding a truce for six years, during which 
 he was to retain all his conquests. 
 
 As a zealous Protestant, Gustavus considered it a sacred 
 duty to prevent the depression of his religion ; as a so- 
 vereign he was interested to check the overgrown power 
 of the house of Austria. These motives were strength- 
 ened by the personal resentment which he felt for the sup- 
 port afforded by Ferdinand to the king of Poland, for his 
 refusal to grant him the title of king, and his contemptuous 
 exclusion of the Swedish ambassadors from the congress 
 of Lubec. To these motives of religion and interest, were 
 added an ardent thirst for glory, and a desire to raise his 
 country to that rank and influence among the powers of 
 Europe from which it had been long excluded by its re- 
 moteness, internal dissensions, and incessant wars with the 
 neighbouring states. 
 
 Soon after the commencement of his reign he endea- 
 voured to form a connection with the Protestant powers of 
 Germany ; and offered his assistance both during the trou- 
 bles relative to the succession of Berg and Juliers, which 
 had revived under the reign of Matthias, and at the com-
 
 1630, 1631.] GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. 221 
 
 mencement of the contest in Bohemia. Although his over- 
 tures were declined, he never lost sight of this great object, 
 and became a candidate with the king of Denmark for 
 heading the confederacy of the Protestants in Lower 
 Saxony. Disgusted with the preference given to his com- 
 petitor, he took no part in the subsequent contest, till 
 Christian was driven from his continental territories in 
 Germany, and the emperor manifested a design of becom- 
 ing master of the Baltic. He then forgot his former dis- 
 appointment, entered into an alliance with Denmark, and 
 sent succours to the relief of Stralsund, when besieged by 
 Wallenstein. 
 
 His character, designs, resources, and military talents, 
 had not escaped the vigilant eye of Richelieu ; and that 
 great minister selected him as the only agent capable of 
 fulfilling his plan for humbling the house of Austria. By 
 the powerful mediation of France, the conclusion of the 
 truce with Poland was accelerated, and Gustavus was en- 
 couraged by promises of support, to become the champion 
 of the Protestant cause. These offers were too agreeable 
 to the views of Gustavus to be neglected ; but he declined 
 making any engagement which was likely to shackle his 
 independent spirit, or compromise his honour. His reso- 
 lution was strengthened by the conduct of the French 
 court, who refused to treat with him on terms of equality ; 
 he therefore contented himself with general promises and 
 professions, waiting till success had given him a claim to 
 the co-operation, not to the protection of France. 
 
 He applied to the Protestant states of Germany, but his 
 overtures were received only by a few of the minor princes ; 
 while the elector* of Saxony, and even his brother-in-law, 
 the elector of Brandenburgh, suffered their jealousy of his 
 talents and ascendency, and their dread of the authority 
 and power of the emperor, to outweigh their interests. He 
 was not, however, discouraged by these unpromising ap- 
 pearances ; for he was aware that success would gain ad- 
 herents, and he relied on the advantages which he could 
 
 * John George I. was elector of Saxony, and George William 
 elector of Brandenburgh, who is chiefly known in history as the father 
 of Frederic William, the great elector. Gustavus had espoused his 
 sister, Mary Eleonora.
 
 222 FERDINAND II. [CH. L1I 
 
 derive from the dissensions between the emperor and the 
 Catholic league. From these motives he accelerated his 
 preparations, made levies in every quarter of Europe, and 
 took into his service the officers and soldiers whom the 
 emperor had been compelled to disband. He also obtained 
 promises of support from England, the United Provinces, 
 and the Hanseatic league ; he held an interview with the 
 king of Denmark, in order to terminate their personal 
 rivalry, and secure his neutrality ; and he omitted no pre- 
 caution to ensure the safety of his dominions, by stationing 
 a force sufficient to protect the frontiers from the aggressions 
 of the neighbouring powers. Finally he assembled the 
 states of Sweden, to obtain their consent and support, and 
 to entail the succession on his only child Christiana. 
 
 In a speech with which he opened the meeting, he de- 
 tailed the motives of his enterprise, and proved that he 
 was not about to engage in a war of conquest or ambition, 
 but to vindicate his own honour as well as that of the na- 
 tion, and to protect his religion. After hinting at tho 
 dangers he expected to encounter, and presaging that he 
 should meet his fate in the field of battle, he added, " If 
 it be the will of heaven that I should fall in the defence of 
 liberty, my country, and mankind, I pay the tribute with 
 thankful acquiescence. It is my duty as a sovereign to 
 obey the King of kings without murmuring, and cheerfully 
 to resign the authority delegated to me for his all-wise 
 purposes. I shall yield up my last breath with a firm per- 
 suasion, that Providence will support my subjects, because 
 they are faithful and virtuous ; and that my ministers, ge- 
 nerals, and senators, will punctually discharge their duty to 
 my child, because they love justice, respect me, and feel for 
 their country!" The sentiments and spirit of this speech 
 drew tears from all who were present : the assembly, im- 
 pelled by the enthusiasm which it inspired, instantly an- 
 nounced the warmest approbation of his proposals, voted 
 the desired succours in men and money, and declared their 
 resolution to sacrifice their fortunes and lives in support of 
 their beloved monarch. 
 
 The fleet destined for this memorable expedition was 
 assembled at Elfsnaben. A force of 15,000 men was col- 
 lected, and, after being detained a short time by contrary
 
 1630, 1631.] GUSTAVUS INVADES GERMANY. 223 
 
 winds, Gustavus took his departure amidst the tears and 
 acclamations of a vast multitude, who were drawn together 
 by a spectacle so extraordinary and so flattering to a war- 
 like nation. He landed on the 24th of June, 1630, on 
 Ruden, an islet in the mouth of the bay, formed between 
 the isles of Usedom and Rugen ; and, first setting his foot 
 on the German soil, prostrated himself in the presence of 
 his army, to return thanks to Heaven for the safety of his 
 voyage. He instantly made himself master of the isles of 
 Rugen, Usedom, and Wollin, to secure his communication 
 with Sweden ; and on the 20th of July advanced without 
 delay to occupy Stettin, the capital of Pomerania, which 
 commanded the course of the Oder, and, if possessed by 
 the imperialists, would have arrested his further progress. 
 He overcame the feigned or real hesitation of the aged 
 duke, and obtained not only his consent to receive a 
 Swedish garrison, but bis accession to an offensive and 
 defensive treaty, by which he was to conclude no alliance 
 without the approbation of the king of Sweden, and the 
 forces of Pomerania were to unite with the Swedes. And 
 as the duke was without issue, the treaty was worded in 
 such a manner as to secure the possession of the duchy to 
 the Swedes, at least until the close of the war, although the 
 elector of Brandenburgh was the presumptive heir. As 
 the duke dreaded the vengeance of the emperor, the king 
 allowed him to introduce a clause into the treaty, stating 
 that this engagement was solely to protect his territories 
 from the devastations of the imperial troops, who, after 
 pillaging and wasting his duchy, had left him defenceless, 
 and not to separate the bonds which connected him with 
 the emperor and empire. 
 
 Fortunately for Gustavus his promptitude was crowned 
 with success ; for only two days after he obtained posses- 
 sion of Stettin, Conti, the imperial commander in Pome- 
 rania, advanced with a force of 17,000 men; but, finding 
 himself anticipated by the Swedes, threw garrisons into 
 Gart and Grieffenhagen, and, intrenching himself under 
 the walls of Gartz, became master of the upper course of 
 the Oder. After an ineffectual attempt to draw him from 
 bis post, Gustavus did not venture a battle till he had se- 
 cured his rear. Being reinforced by troops from Sweden
 
 224 FERDINAND II. [CH. LIT. 
 
 and by English auxiliaries, he left a corps for the defence 
 of Stettin, and expelled the imperialists from the principal 
 posts of Pomerania, except Demin, Griefswald, and Col- 
 berg, which he closely blockaded. He even affected to 
 make an irruption into Mecklenburgh, pushed on to Stral- 
 sund, captured Damgard and Ribnitz, the keys of the 
 duchy, and defeated an imperial corps near Demin. All 
 these enterprises did not induce the imperial general to 
 abandon his important position ; he sent, however, various 
 detachments to embarrass the operations of the Swedes, 
 continued to succour Colberg, and availed himself of the 
 king's absence to make an attempt on Stettin, which only 
 failed from the wonderful promptitude and intrepidity of 
 the Swedish troops. Had he been properly supported, he 
 would have greatly embarrassed the operations of the king, 
 if he had not frustrated his enterprise at its commence- 
 ment ; but left to combat alone with such an antagonist as 
 Gustavus, seeing his troops gradually diminish from sick- 
 ness and desertion, and in the midst of a country drained 
 by their devastations ; while the Swedish army was conti- 
 nually increasing, and supplied with every necessary from 
 the ports of the Baltic, he resigned in disgust, and was re- 
 placed by count Schaumburgh. 
 
 The new general having sent a part of his forces into 
 winter quarters, Gustavus, whose troops were hardened by 
 a northern sky, and defied the severities of a German win- 
 ter, resumed his design of expelling the imperialists from 
 the post which they had so long maintained. Sending a 
 flotilla up the Oder, to cut off the communication between 
 Gartz and Grieffenhagen, he attacked Grieffenhagen, and 
 compelled the garrison to retire in the night. Master of 
 this important post, he pushed across the river against 
 Gartz, but found it deserted by the imperialists, who, after 
 setting fire to the place, retired towards Frankfort and 
 Landsberg. He followed them with his characteristic ce- 
 lerity, harassed them in their retreat into the Mark of 
 Brandenburgh ; he would probably have gained Frank- 
 fort, and from thence pushed his successes at once into the 
 heart of Germany, had he been joined as he expected by 
 the elector of Brandenburgh ; but that prince, from the mo- 
 tives already mentioned, from resentment for the occupa-
 
 1630,1631.] TREATY BETWEEN FRANCE AND AUSTRIA. 225 
 
 tion of Pomerania, and from the influence of his ministers, 
 who were bribed by the emperor, after allowing a passage 
 to the imperial troops, refused him entrance into Custrin. 
 Gustavus, irritated by this conduct, occupied the town of 
 New Brandenburgh, levied heavy contributions, and suf- 
 fered his troops to overspread the country, and imitate the 
 devastations of the imperialists. 
 
 The successes of Gustavus, and the favourable aspect of 
 his affairs, now enabled him to negotiate with France on 
 terms of equality, and soon led to the conclusion of a 
 treaty, which was signed in his camp at Barwalde, on the 
 13th of January, 1631. 
 
 The intent of this treaty was declared to be for the 
 defence of the common friends of the two monarchs ; for 
 establishing the security of the ocean and the Baltic, and 
 the liberty of commerce ; for protecting the injured states 
 of the empire ; and for procuring the demolition of the forts 
 erected on the shores of both seas, and in the country of 
 the Grisons. To fulfil these purposes, the king of Sweden 
 was to receive an annual subsidy of 1,200,000 livres* from 
 France, in return for which he was to maintain at his own 
 expense, and under his own direction, an army of 30,000 
 infantry and 6000 horse. At once to save the honour of 
 France and conciliate the Catholics, it was further stipu- 
 lated that Gustavus should grant a neutrality to the duke 
 of Bavaria, and the other members of the league who did 
 not unite with the emperor, and, if successful, he was to 
 make no change in the state of religion. The duration of 
 the treaty was for six years ; and, as a compensation for 
 past expenses, the king was to receive, exclusive of the 
 annual subsidy, an immediate advance of 300,000 livres. 
 
 Gustavus had accompanied his invasion by publishing a 
 manifesto, recapitulating his personal grievances against 
 the emperor, and appealing to the Protestant body to sup- 
 port a cause in which they were equally interested. Such 
 however was the dread inspired by the power of Ferdinand, 
 and such the jealousy entertained by their two chiefs, the 
 electors of Saxony and Brandenburgh, against Gustavus, 
 that the only Protestant princes who declared in his favour 
 
 * Equal to 50.000/. sterling. 
 VOL. n. Q
 
 226 FERDINAND II. [CH.LII. 
 
 were one of the dukes of Saxe Lauenburgh, and the deposed 
 administrator of Magdeburgh. 
 
 A meeting of the Protestant states was however held at 
 Leipzic, which, notwithstanding all the prohibitions and 
 remonstrances of the emperor, continued its sittings from 
 the commencement of February to the month of April. The 
 elector of Saxony, under whose auspices the meeting as- 
 sembled, took this opportunity to resume the predominance 
 of his house in the Protestant body, and persuaded his co- 
 estates not to become subservient to either of the contend- 
 ing parties, but to adopt a line of conduct which would 
 enable them to dictate to both. At his proposal they 
 required from the emperor the immediate abolition of the 
 edict of restitution, and announced their resolution to 
 employ force, if necessary, ; n preventing the passage and 
 quartering of troops, levying men and contributions, and 
 the devastations, excesses, and plunder committed contrary 
 to the capitulation and the laws of the empire. To fulfil 
 this declaration they entered into a resolution to raise a 
 force of 40,000 men, and to form a permanent council for 
 the direction of their affairs. In order not to appear as the 
 aggressors, or give jealousy to the Catholics, they accom- 
 panied the publication of these resolutions with a letter 
 addressed both to the emperor and the Catholic league, 
 declaring that their levy was not intended for hostile pur- 
 poses, but to preserve the peace, laws, and constitution of 
 the empire. Although they declined all the overtures of 
 Gustavus, and did not even mention his invasion, their 
 conduct was of the highest disadvantage to the cause of the 
 emperor ; for they cut off the resources which had hitherto 
 enabled him to maintain his army ; and they were about to 
 raise a considerable army which contributed to embarrass 
 and suspend his movements, and was ready to declare 
 against him on the first favourable opportunity. 
 
 It is a matter of astonishment that the imperial forces 
 who first checked the efforts of Gustavus, should not have 
 been supported ; and that with so small an army he should 
 have been suffered gradually to establish himself in Pome- 
 rania, particularly when we consider the character of Fer- 
 dinand, who was not of a temper to abandon his advantages 
 without a contest, or suffer his troops to continue inactive.
 
 1630, 1631.] HI8 EMBARRASSED SITUATION. 227 
 
 But our astonishment must subside, when we reflect on the 
 proceedings and temper of the diet of Ratisbon. At the 
 very moment when the king of Sweden was expelling the 
 imperialists from Pomerania, Wallenstein was absent at 
 Ratisbon, endeavouring to awe his enemies by his presence, 
 and to suspend his fall ; and his officers, left without con- 
 trol, acted without order or concert. The emperor, occu- 
 pied in baffling the intrigues of the Catholics, or in eluding 
 their demands, was duped by the insidious promises of the 
 French agents, and the counsels of the duke of Bavaria. 
 His deception was increased by the contemptuous idea he 
 was taught to entertain of the king of Sweden, whom 
 Wallenstein boasted that he would whip back with rods to 
 his country, like a truant school-boy, and whom the cour- 
 tiers call a king of snow, who would melt as he advanced 
 towards a southern climate. At the very time likewise 
 when Ferdinand had most occasion for an increase of troops, 
 and the services of a skilful commander, his inconsiderate 
 eagerness to obtain the election of his son, the promises of 
 France, and the clamours both of Catholics and Protestants, 
 induced him to reduce his forces, and dismiss the only 
 general who possessed skill and resources equal to the 
 exigency. In consequence of this imprudent acquiescence, 
 the troops whom he disbanded enlisted under Gustavus, and 
 the best officers entered into foreign service, or withdrew 
 from Wallenstein into retirement. France broke her pro- 
 mised neutrality to support Gustavus, and the Catholics 
 viewed with indifference, if they did not exult in the dis- 
 tress of the emperor. To add to these difficulties a contest 
 ensued for the vacant command, which was claimed by the 
 duke of Bavaria, while the emperor wished to confer it on 
 his son Ferdinand ; and after a delay, which at this import- 
 ant juncture suspended the military operations, a compro- 
 mise was effected, by which it was conferred on the Bava- 
 rian general Tilly, whose active services and military skill 
 qualified him for so arduous a post. The embarrassments 
 of the emperor were augmented by the rising spirit among 
 the Protestants, who, recovering from their dread of that 
 power which had driven them to the brink of ruin, renewed 
 their meetings, and clamoured for the revocation of the 
 edict of restitution. 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 FERDINAND II. L CH " Ln - 
 
 The diet, indeed, issued a declaration of war against 
 Gustavus, but made no adequate preparations for the pro- 
 secution of hostilities ; and the emperor, instead of oppo- 
 sing him with an efficient army, sent a letter, threatening 
 to attack him with his whole force, if he did not instantly 
 retire from Germany. Such a mission appeared ridiculous 
 to the Swedish hero ; and he evinced the contempt in 
 which he held his antagonist, by a derisory and allegorical 
 reply, " That he would despatch an answer as soon as he 
 had recovered from a wound given him by an eagle." * 
 
 While the king of Sweden had succeeded in expelling 
 the imperialists from the greater part of Pomerania, some 
 of the lesser German princes had ventured to take arms, 
 and avenge the injuries which they had suffered from the 
 tyrannical conduct of the emperor. Francis Charles, of the 
 house of Saxe Lauenburgh, assembled a corps of troops in 
 the neighbourhood of Hamburgh, captured a few posts on 
 the Elbe, and threw himself into Ratzeburgh, the residence 
 of his brother, from whence he hoped to make irruptions, 
 if not to establish himself in Mecklenburgh. But his 
 enterprise was soon crushed; for the imperial general 
 Pappenheim followed him at the head of 6000 men, 
 blockaded Ratzeburgh, and took him prisoner in his attempt 
 to escape. 
 
 A similar enterprise deprived the emperor of the import- 
 ant post of Magdeburgh, which had preserved its attach- 
 ment to its former administrator, and had resisted the 
 attempts even of Wallenstein to introduce an imperial garri- 
 son. Before the Swedish invasion, Christian William, the 
 ex-administrator, had repaired to Sweden, and obtained 
 from Gustavus Adolphus a sum of money, and promises of 
 support. He returned in disguise to Magdeburgh, and 
 found little difficulty in rousing the people, and inducing 
 the magistrates to enter into a formal treaty with Gustavus, 
 soon after his landing in Pomerania. He obtained the 
 command of a force raised by the magistrates, and drove 
 the imperialists from various posts in the neighbourhood of 
 the town. His troops increasing by new levies, and being 
 assisted by the skill of the Swedish general Falkenberg, 
 who had been sent by Gustavus, he prosecuted his advan- 
 Alluding to the imperial eagles.
 
 1630, 1631.] PROGRESS OF HOSTILITIES. 229 
 
 tages, and for several months maintained with success a 
 petty warfare against the imperialists. 
 
 Ferdinand at length perceiving that he had been duped 
 by France, and that Gustavus was not so contemptible an 
 adversary as he had been taught to imagine, omitted no 
 effort to resume the advantages which he had lost. He 
 secured himself on the side of Hungary, recovered the 
 ceded provinces, and baffled the intrigues of Gustavus by 
 acknowledging George Ragotski, who had been chosen 
 prince of Transylvania on the death of Bethlehem Gabor. 
 He repressed his indignation at the conduct of the duke of 
 Bavaria and the Catholic league ; persuaded them to reject 
 the neutrality offered by Gustavus, and to consider his 
 cause as their own. He at the same time prepared to draw 
 his veteran troops from Italy; and, notwithstanding the 
 remonstrances of Spain, entered into negotiations for ter- 
 minating the dispute relative to the succession of Mantua. 
 
 While these events were passing, Tilly had commenced 
 the campaign by assembling the forces of the league to 
 the amount of 20,000 men, and in February hastened to 
 unite them with the remnant of the imperialists, who under 
 Schaumburgh occupied the Mark of Brandenburgh. But 
 he found the imperial army reduced to 8000 men, without 
 clothes, pay, provisions, or ammunition, unable to draw 
 resources from a country which they had rendered a desert 
 by their excesses, and desponding from their recent defeats. 
 Advancing to Frankfort he received the intelligence that 
 Gustavus, after leaving a corps of observation on the 
 frontiers of Brandenburgh, had returned, as if with an 
 intention to penetrate into the duchy of Mecklenburgh, 
 and laid siege to Demin. He therefore left a garrison of 
 8000 men in Frankfort, took New Brandenburgh by storm, 
 put the Swedish garrison to the sword, and hastened to 
 cover Mecklenburgh. But on his route he received the 
 mortifying intelligence that Demin had surrendered from 
 the pusillanimity of the governor, after a siege of only three 
 days, and that Colberg had likewise submitted to the Swe- 
 dish arms. He had the additional mortification to discover 
 that the threatened attack of Mecklenburgh had been only 
 a feint, and that Gustavus, after drawing him from the 
 Oder, had returned towards Brandenburgh, left a corps tp 
 
 Q3
 
 230 FERDINAND U. [CH. LI1. 
 
 cover his march in the strong intrenched post of Schwedt, 
 and directed his attack against Frankfort. Tilly hastened 
 to save a place which was the key of Brandenburgh, and 
 protected the hereditary countries. But although he pushed 
 forward with his usual celerity, he was again anticipated 
 by the superior promptitude of the Swedish monarch, before 
 he could arrive near the scene of action. Frankfort was 
 carried by assault, and the greater part of the unfortunate 
 garrison suffered the fate of the Swedes at New Branden- 
 burgh. The loss of Frankfort was instantly followed by 
 the surrender of Landsberg ; the remnant of the imperialists 
 was driven in disorder into Silesia, and the posts on the 
 frontiers were occupied by the Swedes. In consequence of 
 these sinister events, Tilly, unable to maintain himself in 
 the vicinity of the Oder, fell back toward Magdeburgh, to 
 restore the lustre of his arms by the acquisition of so im- 
 portant a post, to draw the Swedes from the Austrian 
 territories, and to wreak his vengeance on the inhabitants, 
 who had been the first in Germany to declare against the 
 emperor. 
 
 Pappenheim, after his successful enterprise against the 
 duke of Saxe Lauenburgh, had driven the forces of the 
 administrator from the posts which they wrested from the 
 imperialists, and gradually confined them to the walls and 
 fortifications of Magdeburgh. In this situation Tilly ar- 
 rived with the main army ; and the garrison, exhausted and 
 reduced by the preceding attacks, were still less able to 
 resist this augmentation of force. They abandoned the 
 suburbs to the imperialists, broke down the bridge over the 
 Elbe, and armed the burghers. Their situation became 
 hourly more deplorable ; the people were divided by intes- 
 tine feuds ; the lower orders clamoured against the exemp- 
 tion of the higher from military duties ; the garrison was 
 continually diminished by hardships and the sword ; yet 
 the burghers were urged to reject the repeated overtures of 
 Tilly, and to tempt their impending fate, by the exhorta- 
 tions of their administrator, the sermons of their preachers, 
 and the prospect of immediate assistance from the king of 
 Sweden and the Protestant league. 
 
 Gustavus had not seen with indifference the distresses 
 and danger of the only state of Germany which had volun-
 
 1630, 1631.] SIEGE OF MAGDEBURGH. 231 
 
 tarily espoused his cause, and a town which he was bound 
 by every motive of religion and policy to save from the 
 hands of the enemy. After the capture of Landsberg, he 
 wrote to the inhabitants, exhorting them to hold out, 
 and promised them speedy support. He hastened to 
 fulfil his promise ; yet, too prudent to advance against 
 Tilly without a chain of posts to secure his rear, and 
 to which he could retreat in order to avoid a battle, 
 he applied to the elector of Brandenburgh for the tempo- 
 rary cession of Custrin and Spandau. But notwithstand- 
 ing the danger of a place so important as Magdeburgh 
 to the Protestant cause, the jealousy and repugnance of the 
 elector were only overcome by the dread of an immediate 
 attack, and the advance of the Swedish army towards 
 Berlin. After some delay Spandau was yielded on the 4th 
 of May, until the siege of Magdeburgh was raised, and the 
 return of the king secured ; and Gustavus exulted in the 
 prospect of carrying relief to those who had already suf- 
 fered so much in his cause. At this critical juncture, when 
 the delay of a single day was fatal, he experienced a new 
 check from the refractory spirit of the elector of Saxony, 
 whom no arguments, no motives of religion or policy, could 
 induce to grant him possession of Dessau, and a passage 
 through his territories, or even to afford the smallest supply. 
 Gustavus was unable to repress his indignation at this im- 
 politic or pusillanimous obstinacy ; and exclaimed, " If 
 these people will perish, let them perish! I will retreat 
 into Pomerania, and there wait till these half-witted poli- 
 ticians are driven to the very brink of the precipice, and 
 compelled to implore my assistance. Is it possible they 
 can calmly see their neighbour's house in flames, without 
 assisting to extinguish the conflagration ! This unfortunate 
 city must then perish, and with it perhaps the last remnant 
 of German liberty ! " 
 
 This presage was but too fully verified. During these 
 tedious negotiations Tilly had pressed the siege ; and, 
 taking advantage of a moment of repose and security, 
 carried the town by assault on the 10th of May. All the 
 horrors ever exercised against a captured place were re- 
 peated and almost surpassed on this dreadful event, which, 
 notwithstanding all the subsequent disorders, and the lapse 
 
 a 4
 
 232 FERDINAND II. [CH. LIT. 
 
 of time, is still fresh in the recollection of its inhabitants 
 and of Germany. Neither age, beauty, nor innocence, 
 neither infancy nor decrepitude, found refuge or compas- 
 sion from the fury of the licentious soldiery ; no retreat 
 was sufficiently obscure to escape their rapacity and ven- 
 geance ; no sanctuary sufficiently sacred to repress their 
 lust and cruelty. Infants were murdered before the eyes 
 of their parents, daughters and wives violated in the arms 
 of their fathers and husbands. Some officers of the league, 
 recoiling from this terrible scene, flew to Tilly, and suppli- 
 cated him to put a stop to the carnage ; but the barbarian 
 replied, " Stay yet an hour, let the soldier have some com- 
 pensation for his dangers and fatigues." The troops left 
 to themselves, after sating their passions, and almost ex- 
 hausting their cruelty, in three hours of pillage and mas- 
 sacre, set fire to the town, and the flames were in an instant 
 spread by the wind to every quarter of the place. Then 
 opened a scene which surpassed all the former horrors ; 
 those who had hitherto escaped, or were forced by the 
 flames from their hiding places, experienced a more dread- 
 ful fate ; numbers were driven into the Elbe, others mas- 
 sacred with every species of savage barbarity ; the wombs 
 of pregnant women ripped up, and infants thrown into the 
 fire, or impaled on pikes and suspended over the flames. 
 History has no terms, poetry no language, painting no 
 colours, to depict all the horrors of the scene. In less than 
 ten hours the most rich, most flourishing, and most populous 
 town of Germany was reduced to ashes ; the cathedral, a 
 single convent, and a few miserable huts, were all that 
 were left of its numerous buildings ; and scarcely more 
 than a thousand souls, all that remained of thirty thousand 
 inhabitants. The Swedish general Falkenberg was killed 
 at the first entrance of the enemy ; the administrator 
 wounded and taken prisoner ; and the few soldiers who 
 escaped from the carnage were compelled to enter into the 
 imperial service.* 
 
 After an interval of two days, when the soldiers were 
 fatigued, if not sated with devastation and slaughter, and 
 when the flames had begun to subside, Tilly entered the 
 
 * Accounts of the wonderful escape of two individuals, a priest and 
 a fisherman, are given in the Histoire de Gustave Adolphe, torn, iii., 
 p. 157-174.
 
 1630, 1631.] SACK OF MAGDEBURGH. 233 
 
 town in triumph. To make room for his passage, the 
 streets were cleared, and six thousand carcasses thrown 
 into the Elbe. He ordered the pillage to cease, pardoned 
 the scanty remnant of the inhabitants who had taken re- 
 fuge in the cathedral, and surrounded by flames and carnage, 
 had remained three days without food or refreshment under 
 all the terrors of impending fate. After hearing a Te 
 Deum in the midst of military pomp, he paraded the streets; 
 and though even his unfeeling heart seemed touched with 
 the horrors of the scene, he could not refrain from the 
 savage exultation of boasting to the emperor, and com- 
 paring the assault of Magdeburgh to the sack of Troy and 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 This dreadful example diffused as much exultation 
 among the Catholics as terror and dismay among the Pro- 
 testants ; the league, in a general assembly at Dinkespuhl, 
 announced the most hostile disposition against the Pro- 
 testants, and declared their resolution to support the chief 
 of the empire. Ferdinand, exulting in this favourable 
 aspect of his affairs, hastened to take advantage of the 
 sensation produced by the capture of Magdeburgh. He had 
 already commanded the confederates of Leipzic to dissolve 
 their union, he now determined to enforce the execution of 
 that mandate which they had hitherto contemned, and an- 
 nounced his resolution to prosecute his designs against the 
 Protestants, by summoning a diet of deputation at Frank- 
 fort, in the ensuing August, for fulfilling the edict of 
 restitution. The peace of Chierasco, which he had re- 
 cently concluded, and by which he restored the duchy of 
 Mantua to its sovereign, and relinquished the Valteline, 
 gave him an opportunity of adding his veteran forces, 
 amounting to 24,000 men, to that army which under Tilly 
 had spread terror throughout Germany. Their march 
 was instantly commenced under the command of the prince 
 of Furstemberg ; they passed the Alps, and in their route 
 through Suabia and Franconia forced the duke of Wir- 
 temberg, with the other members of the confederacy, to 
 renounce their alliance, to obey the edict of restitution, to 
 pay heavy contributions, to give up the levies which they 
 had recently made for their own defence, and to assist in 
 the prosecution of the war against Gustavus Adolphua.
 
 234 FERDINAND II. [oil. LIII. 
 
 On the other hand, Tilly having extorted a similar sub- 
 mission from the archbishop of Bremen, had left Pappen- 
 heim with a corps of observation at Magdeburgh, and 
 directed his attack against the landgrave of Hesse, one of 
 the most zealous partisans of the Protestant cause. He 
 pushed his march through Thuringia, marking his foot- 
 steps with his usual devastation and pillage, occupied Er- 
 furth, and from Mulhausen sent an insulting message to 
 the landgrave, commanding him to receive imperial gar- 
 risons in two of his principal fortresses, to supply the 
 imperial army with pay, ammunition, and provisions, and 
 to disband or give up the levies which he had assembled 
 in consequence of the confederacy of Leipzic. A posi- 
 tive and contemptuous refusal from the landgrave galled 
 his haughty and presumptuous mind ; he declared his reso- 
 lution to inflict on every town of the landgraviate a more 
 dreadful vengeance than he had inflicted on Magdeburgh, 
 and to render the country more solitary and waste than a 
 desert. He followed these menaces by inundating the sur- 
 rounding district with his troops ; but was prevented from 
 fulfilling his threats by the progress of Gustavus.* 
 
 CHAP. LIU. 1631, 1632. 
 
 THE Swedish monarch felt the most poignant sorrow at 
 the capture of Magdeburgh, and published a narrative for 
 the justification of his conduct in the eyes of Europe. At 
 the very moment when the loss of that important fortress 
 enabled the imperialists to carry the war into Mecklen- 
 burgh, and when the fate of that unfortunate city spread 
 terror throughout Germany, he was still further embar- 
 rassed by the conduct of the elector of Brandenburgh, who 
 clamoured for the restitution of Spandau, in conformity 
 with the recent agreement. In this critical dilemma, 
 threatened by equal danger, whether he advanced or re- 
 ceded, Gustavus acted with his characteristic vigour and 
 
 Schiller's Thirty Years' War Puffendorf Struvius Barre 
 Schmidt Harte's Life of Gustavus Vie de Gustave Adolphe.
 
 1631, 1632.] GUSTAVUS'S WARLIKE TALENTS. 235 
 
 integrity ; he replied that he would fulfil his engagement 
 by delivering up the fortress, but from that moment would 
 treat the elector as his enemy. On the very day therefore 
 in which he yielded Spandau, he appeared at the head of 
 his army before Berlin, and after a short parley, on the 
 1 1th of June, 1631, extorted from the elector the surrender 
 of Spandau, Brandenburgh, and Ratenou, a free passage 
 through Custrin, and a monthly contribution of 30,000 
 crowns. 
 
 Thus relieved from his difficulties on the side of Bran- 
 denburgh, he hastened back to Stettin to attack Griefswald, 
 the only post in Pomerania which was now held by the 
 imperialists ; and he had the satisfaction to hear in his 
 journey that the place had already surrendered. After 
 leaving a sufficient number of troops to protect the fron- 
 tiers of Pomerania, he assembled the principal part of his 
 army in the neighbourhood, pushed towards the Elbe, cap- 
 tured Tangermund, and threatened Magdeburgh. Being 
 checked by the approach of Tilly, he reduced Havelberg, 
 and fell back to Werben, at the confluence of the Elbe and 
 the Havel, a post which from its strength enabled him to 
 defy all the eiforts of the imperialists, and from its position 
 to cover Mecklenburgh, to secure his communications with 
 the Baltic, and deprive his antagonist of all the advantages 
 derived from the possession of Magdeburgh and the com- 
 mand of the Elbe. While he remained in this situation, 
 his queen landed at Wolgast with a reinforcement of 8000 
 Swedes ; and the marquis of Hamilton with 6000 English 
 volunteers in the isle of Usedom. The English were sent 
 to make a diversion on the side of Silesia; while the Swedes, 
 joined by a corps under the dukes of Mecklenburgh, re- 
 covered the whole of that duchy, except Wismar and Ros- 
 tock ; and the king himself had the satisfaction of formally 
 reinstating the dukes in their lawful possessions. Soon 
 afterwards he concluded an offensive and defensive alliance 
 with the landgrave of Hesse, which was the model of all 
 his subsequent engagements with the princes of the empire. 
 On one side, he promised to defend the landgrave against 
 all his enemies, and to procure the restitution of those fiefs 
 which had been confiscated during the Bohemian troubles. 
 On the other, the landgrave agreed to contract no alliance
 
 236 FERDINAND II. [dl. LIH. 
 
 without the consent of Gustavus, to consign to him the 
 supreme command of the Hessian troops, or in his absence 
 to share the command with a Swedish general ; to admit 
 Swedish garrisons into his principal towns, till the con- 
 clusion of peace, and to supply the army with provisions. 
 
 The advance of Gustavus on the side of Magdeburgh 
 convinced Tilly of his imprudence in turning his arms 
 against the Protestants, instead of carrying the war into 
 Mecklenburgh. Leaving therefore a corps in Hesse, under 
 Fugger, he hastened to cover Magdeburgh, and dislodge 
 the king. A successful attack made by Gustavus on his 
 vanguard, in the neighbourhood of Wolmerstadt, rousing 
 him almost to fury, he made repeated assaults on the 
 Swedish camp with his usual impetuosity, but was as often 
 repulsed, from the strength of the post, the intrepidity of 
 the Swedes, and the skill and promptitude of their monarch. 
 Such a failure in the midst of success could not fail to 
 irritate the presumptuous mind of Tilly, who had been 
 hitherto considered as unrivalled in the art of war, and 
 who constantly boasted that he had gained seven pitched 
 battles, without experiencing a single check. His concern 
 was heightened by the effect which it produced among his 
 troops, who, disheartened by the failure of a chief hitherto 
 considered as invincible, deserted in crowds to secure their 
 booty in retreat, or to join the standard of Gustavus. 
 
 To revive the spirits of his soldiers by new plunder, as 
 well as to restore the lustre of his arms by the subjugation 
 of a less powerful enemy, Tilly turned against the elector 
 of Saxony, whose equivocal and wavering inclinations pre- 
 vented him from joining either the king of Sweden or the 
 emperor. After a haughty summons, commanding him to 
 renounce the confederacy of Leipzic, and unite his troops 
 with those of the emperor, Tilly fell back to Eisleben, 
 united with the corps which had been led from Italy by 
 Furstemberg, and at the head of 40,000 men advanced to 
 Halle, from whence he sent a hostile reply to a respectful 
 refusal of the elector, which he concluded with this declara- 
 tion, " By your disobedience you have frustrated the good 
 effects of your boasted services to the emperor and the 
 Germanic body, and must be answerable for all the evils 
 which may fall on Saxony or elsewhere. Your formal re-
 
 1631, 1632.] PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE. 237 
 
 fusal has left me no other alternative than to compel you 
 to pay that obedience which you owe to the emperor and 
 empire. Reflect on it; grant my army a passage; fur- 
 nish me with provisions and necessaries ; join your own 
 troops with mine, and be assured that the king of Sweden 
 will soon be driven away. Send back my herald instantly 
 with your answer ; time presses ; my troops are impatient, 
 and no delay can be granted." He did not even wait for 
 the answer to this threatening message ; but, devastating 
 the surrounding country, advanced towards Leipzic, and 
 within three days compelled it to surrender. 
 
 The approach of danger awakening the elector from his 
 dreams of independence, he assembled his forces at Torgau, 
 sent Arnheim*, his favourite general and confidential coun- 
 sellor, with full powers to the Swedish camp, and after an 
 affected demur on the side of Gustavus, concluded, on the 
 1st of September, 1631, an offensive and defensive alliance 
 on terms similar to those of the league recently concluded 
 with the landgrave of Hesse. The danger being too immi- 
 nent to admit of delay, the king passed the Elbe at Witten- 
 berg, and within four days after the conclusion of the treaty, 
 the two armies, uniting at Duben on the Moldau, advanced 
 towards Leipzic to give battle to the imperialists, the very 
 day on which the town had surrendered. 
 
 Tilly flattered himself that he should be able to over- 
 whelm the Saxons before the elector had vanquished his 
 repugnance to the king of Sweden ; he was therefore 
 equally surprised and confounded with the sudden junction 
 and rapid advance of the combined forces. After fluctuat- 
 ing for some time between the resolution of giving battle 
 or waiting for a reinforcement of 10,000 men, which he 
 expected from Silesia, he advanced, agitated with doubts 
 and presages to Breitenfield, determined to receive the 
 enemy, who on the following morning, September 7th, 
 appeared defiling by the village of Podehvitz. 
 
 This was the first time in which the two armies were 
 opposed to each other in the field, and as they were nearly 
 
 * Arnheim had served with great applause under Wallenstein, whose 
 favour he had obtained ; but, on the dismission of his chief, and part 
 of the army, had entered into the service of the elector of Saxony, 
 whose confidence he soon acquired in an eminent degree.
 
 238 FERDINAND II. [CH. Mil. 
 
 equal in numbers, and commanded by chiefs who had equal 
 pretensions to military fame, the contest was no less to 
 prove the tactics and skill of the respective generals and 
 the bravery of their troops than to decide the fate of Ger- 
 many and of Christendom. The army of Tilly was formed 
 in a single line, without any body of reserve ; the infantry 
 in the centre, and the cavalry on the wings, at the foot of 
 the range of eminences which skirt the plain to the north 
 of Leipzic, between Breitenfeld and Podelwitz. The in- 
 fantry and cavalry were ranged in large masses of great 
 depth, the artillery placed on the eminences behind, from 
 whence it commanded the plain. The allies formed before 
 the village of Podelwitz ; the Saxons occupied an eminence 
 on the left beyond the road leading to Podelwitz, the in- 
 fantry in the centre, and the cavalry on the wings, and 
 were headed by Arnheim, under the nominal command of 
 the elector. "With a considerable interval the Swedes were 
 posted on the right in two lines, each with its reserve, and 
 the artillery distributed along the front of each. Unlike 
 the cumbrous masses of the imperialists, the infantry, who 
 occupied the centre, was formed in small battalions, six 
 deep ; and the cavalry on the wings in squadrons inter- 
 mixed with platoons of infantry. This expedient was 
 adopted by the king to render his small horses capable of 
 resisting the shock of the strong and ponderous cavalry of 
 the imperialists ; and for that purpose the musqueteers 
 were ordered to withhold their fire till the enemy had ad- 
 vanced within pistol shot, that they might check them at 
 the moment of the charge. 
 
 The event of this battle and the greatness of the stake 
 called forth all the skill and resources of the two com- 
 manders, neither of whom had before witnessed a defeat, 
 and the conduct of the two chiefs seemed to presage the 
 fate of the day. Gustavus, though elate and confident, 
 evinced by his dispositions and behaviour the utmost cool- 
 ness and self-command ; Tilly, on the contrary, though 
 equally intrepid and more experienced, seemed bereft of 
 his usual decision and presence of mind. The carnage and 
 horrors which accompanied the sack of Magdeburgh forced 
 themselves on his recollection, and he shuddered with 
 terror, when he observed on the outward walls of the house
 
 1631, 1632.] DEFEAT OF TILLY. 239 
 
 in which he signed the capitulation of Leipzic, the painted 
 figures of bones and skulls.* Such an impression at such 
 a moment sunk deep in an ardent and superstitious mind ; 
 and Tilly, after hesitating whether he should give battle or 
 remain on the defensive, commenced his march full of per- 
 turbation, presages, and dismay. From this cause rather 
 than from presumption he took little precaution to harass 
 the march, or prevent the formation of the allies ; and 
 when he saw them advance in consummate order and regu- 
 larity, he seemed struck with astonishment ; he leant his 
 head on his hands, and for a considerable time remained 
 absorbed in thought. 
 
 His native intrepidity, however, vanquished this depres- 
 sion of spirits, he gave the signal for battle by the discharge 
 of three pieces of cannon, and the thunder of the artillery 
 instantly resounded from wing to wing. After a furious 
 cannonade of two hours the imperialists advanced to the 
 charge, .and their right soon broke and dispersed the 
 greater part of the Saxon troops. This successful onset 
 was considered as the omen of victory, and couriers were 
 despatched with the joyful intelligence to Munich and 
 Vienna. At this moment, however, the battle had com- 
 menced on the other wing. Pappenheim, witli the cavalry, 
 charged the right of the Swedes ; but his troops, mowed 
 down by the destructive fire of the musqueteers, after re- 
 peated shocks gave way, and abandoned the field in confu- 
 sion. During these movements the king sent a prompt 
 reinforcement to assist the remnant of the Saxon troops, 
 who still maintained their ground, and, by gradually ad- 
 vancing, gained the flank of the imperialists. On the 
 repulse of Pappenheim, with that intuitive sagacity which 
 seizes the critical moment of action, he pushed forward, 
 mounted the heights on which the imperial artillery was 
 posted, turned it against their own army, and attacked 
 their infantry in flank and rear, while it was warmly en- 
 gaged in front. The consequence of this charge was the 
 instant and inevitable defeat of the imperialists, who fled 
 
 * This house belonged to a grave-digger, and as it was the only ha- 
 bitation in the suburbs not destroyed, it was appropriated for the head- 
 quarters of the general. Mr. Harte observes, that he saw these 
 paintings.
 
 240 FERDINAND H. [OH. LIII. 
 
 in every direction. Four regiments alone, the veteran 
 bands of Tilly, who had been always accustomed to victory, 
 disdained to stain their honour by flight ; they closed their 
 ranks, cut their way through the victorious army, gained 
 the wood of Linchel, and, obstinately refusing quarter, 
 maintained their ground till they were reduced to six 
 hundred, who retreated under cover of the night. The 
 brave and skilful Pappenheim was seven times wounded, 
 stripped and left for dead on the field, and owed his life 
 to the care of a peasant, who conveyed him the following 
 morning to Fulda. Tilly himself was exposed to the most 
 imminent danger. After displaying distinguished proofs 
 of heroism, he headed the remnant of his veterans, who 
 were making their retreat. Surrounded by the enemy, he 
 was attacked by a Swedish officer, who, from his extraor- 
 dinary stature was called Frederic the Long ; and although 
 he had received three balls, besides several other wounds, 
 he nobly refused to surrender. At the moment when he 
 was sinking under the blows of so powerful an adversary, 
 he was rescued by Maximilian of Saxe Lauenburgh, who 
 shot his antagonist, and conveyed the imperial general, 
 overwhelmed with pain and chagrin, to Halle.* When a 
 little recovered he continued his retreat to Halberstadt, 
 and even at that distance from the scene of his misfortune 
 could scarcely collect 2000 men to his standard. Thus 
 terminated this memorable battle ; 7000 Austrians were 
 left on the field, 5000 taken prisoners, and all the baggage 
 and artillery lost ; on the side of the Swedes only 700 were 
 killed, and 2000 of the Saxons. 
 
 The loss of this battle has been attributed to the unskil- 
 ful conduct of Tilly, who drew up his troops in unwieldy 
 masses, without a reserve, and placed his artillery in a 
 situation which rendered it equally useless whether his 
 troops advanced or retreated. But it was still more owing 
 to the new tactics of the king, whose troops were formed 
 and armed for vigorous, rapid, and decisive movements, 
 and who possessed a considerable advantage over the im- 
 perialists by the use of a new species of field artillery, 
 which, being formed with boiled leather, was more light 
 
 * Struvius, p. 1274.
 
 1631, 1632.] PROGRESS OF GUSTAVT7S. 241 
 
 and manageable than metal, and less liable to heat in con- 
 tinued firings. 
 
 Gustavus had now the choice of two systems of opera- 
 tion ; one of directing the war against the hereditary 
 countries of the emperor, the other of penetrating into the 
 heart of Germany, reviving the Protestant confederacy, 
 and crushing the Catholic league. Though victorious, his 
 situation was extremely critical, as on his decision de- 
 pended not only the prosecution of his designs, but even 
 his own security. He had penetrated into the heart of an 
 empire, which, however disturbed by intestine commotions, 
 had never seen beyond its frontiers the footsteps of a 
 foreign enemy, which had hitherto been preserved from 
 external attacks by the vigilance and union of its princes, 
 the natural strength of the country, the martial spirit of 
 the people, and the number of its fortresses. His progress 
 had been promoted as much by civil and religious troubles 
 as by his own skill and energy ; and it was no less neces- 
 sary to keep open the communication with his dominions 
 on the banks of the Maine, the Rhine, and the Danube, 
 than on those of the Elbe and the Oder. The number of 
 garrisons requisite to maintain this necessary communica- 
 tion could not, however, be supplied from his own troops, 
 without diminishing his army, and exposing himself to 
 the danger of losing, in the prosecution of his success, all 
 that he had gained by his victories. He was likewise ad- 
 vanced to such a distance from his own territories, that it 
 was necessary to render the war the support of itself, and 
 to draw the resources for the maintenance of an army con- 
 tinually increasing, from the contributions of his allies, or 
 the territories of the enemy which had hitherto escaped 
 devastation. He was sensible that his astonishing success 
 had confounded his allies as well as his enemies ; he knew 
 that France would be as anxious to check his progress as 
 to humiliate the house of Austria, and if he looked to the 
 greater German princes, he saw them no less jealous of his 
 ascendancy than of the overgrown power of the emperoi', 
 particularly the elector of Saxony, whose weak, suspicious, 
 and fluctuating character was likely at every moment to 
 deceive his expectations. He could therefore only depend 
 for support on the smaller princes and states, who did not 
 
 \oi~ n. K
 
 242 FERDINAND II. [CH. LIH. 
 
 envy his ascendancy, and looked up to him for protection 
 and reward ; and these, from their situation, could only 
 assist him against the Catholic league. Thus, by means 
 of the Germans, he was enabled to conquer Germany : these 
 minor states protected, his rear, maintained his communica- 
 tions, opened to him their fortresses, supplied his army 
 with provisions, and lavished their blood in his cause. For 
 these reasons he sent the elector of Saxony to achieve the 
 conquest of Bohemia; while he himself revived and re- 
 united the scattered parts of the Protestant confederacy, 
 and led his victorious troops against the Catholic league, 
 to cut off the resources of the house of Austria in the 
 empire. 
 
 His march rather resembled the tranquil progress of a 
 sovereign receiving the homage of his subjects than that 
 of a general through a hostile country. At Erfurth he 
 formed an alliance with the dukes of Saxe Weimar, the 
 most powerful princes of Thuringia, and left to them, and 
 to the landgrave of Hesse, the conduct of the war in that 
 part of Germany. He then directed his course towards the 
 Maine, received the voluntary submission of Schweinfurth, 
 took Wurtzburgh by storm, drove the bishop into exile, 
 and laid his see under contribution. From thence entering 
 the electorate of Mentz, he continued his course down the 
 Maine, captured Aschaffenburgh and Hanau, with the 
 fortresses on both sides of the river ; and, after expel- 
 ling the diet of deputation, which had been assembled 
 at Frankfort for the purpose of enforcing the edict of re- 
 stitution, was received in that centre of imperial authority 
 with all the honours of a sovereign, and all the gratitude 
 due to a deliverer. In this course he dispersed without a 
 blow the forces of the duke of Loraine*, who, in order to 
 liberate himself from his dependence on France, had 
 
 * The duchy of Loraine, which formerly was a part of the kingdom 
 of Loraine, had been a constant source of contests between the kings 
 of France and Germany, until it was acknowledged as a dependence on 
 Germany. It continued to be connected with the empire until the 
 male line became extinct in Charles III. (1431), when his eldest 
 daughter and heiress Isabella conveyed it to Ren6, duke of Anjou, ti- 
 tular king of Naples, and duke of Bar, who thus united the duchies of 
 Loraine and Bar. From this transfer of the duchy to a prince of the 
 blood royal of France, the connection of Loraine with the empire was
 
 1631, 1632.] GTJSTAVUS'S GERMAN ALLIES. 243 
 
 espoused the cause of the emperor, and advanced with 
 12,000 men to join Tilly; while the Spaniards, alarmed 
 by his progress, retired from the palatinate, leaving gar- 
 risons in Heidelberg, Frankendahl, and Oppenheim. 
 
 gradually dissolved, and its sovereigns became wholly dependent on the 
 crown of France. 
 
 Charles III., or, as he is generally called, IV., duke of Loraine, the 
 prince mentioned in the text, was son of Francis, count of Vaudemont, 
 brother of Henry, duke of Loraine. He was born in 1604, and edu- 
 cated at Paris. He was brought up to the church, and received two 
 abbies, and other ecclesiastical preferment ; but his volatile character 
 and martial propensities soon induced him to abandon the ecclesiastical 
 profession for that of arms. As early as his sixteenth year, he entered 
 into the Bavarian service, and was present at the battle of Prague. As 
 his uncle Henry, the last duke, was without issue male, he espoused 
 his daughter Nicola, to secure the inheritance ; and on the death of 
 Henry, in 1624, took joint possession in his own name and that of his 
 wife. But desirous to obtain those territories ia his own right, his 
 father claimed and took possession of them as the next male heir, and 
 then resigned them to him ; he accordingly excluded his wife from 
 the joint regency, and received in his own name the homage of the 
 states. The position of Loraine rendering its possession of great ad- 
 vantage to France in an attack against the Spanish Netherlands, or the 
 empire, cardinal Richelieu endeavoured to secure so important a terri- 
 tory, either by reducing him to the state of a vassal, or expelling him 
 as an enemy, and he found endless pretexts to colour his designs from 
 the independent, capricious, and enterprising character of the duke. 
 He first secured an entrance into Loraine, by building a citadel at 
 Verdun, and soon afterwards deprived him of the duchy of Bar, be- 
 cause he had not received the investiture as a fief of France, and had 
 excluded his wife from the joint regency. 
 
 These designs of the French court, naturally irritating a prince of 
 such an ambitious and enterprising spirit, he entered into alliances with 
 Charles I. of England and the duke of Savoy. He gave protection 
 to Gaston, duke of Orleans, when expelled by the all-powerful mi- 
 nister, promoted a match between him and his sister Margaret, formed 
 secret connections with the emperor, received an imperial garrison in 
 Moyenvic, and began to assemble an army. These preparations and 
 connections giving still further pretexts for aggression, afforded the 
 king of France an opportunity to lead an army to the frontiers of Lo- 
 rqinc, and to obtain possession of Marsal, Moyunvic, Sttmai, Clermont, 
 and Jametz. These humiliations irritating the duke still more, betook 
 advantage of the civil troubles in France to endeavour to liberate him- 
 self from his dependence ; he declared openly in favour of the em- 
 peror, took possession of the towns in Alsace which had received French 
 garrisons, and led, as mentioned in the text, a considerable force to 
 join Tilly against Gustavus Adolphus, 
 M. -2
 
 244 FERDINAND II. [CH. LIII. 
 
 Continuing his march, Gusta> us crossed the Rhine near 
 Oppenheim, at the head of a small corps, in the very face 
 of the Spanish troops, and on the opposite bank erected a 
 column, as a memorial of his first passage. His conquests 
 along the Rhine were scarcely less rapid than those along 
 the Maine ; he took Oppenheim, Mentz, Worms, Spire, and 
 all the principal fortresses in the vicinity of the river, from 
 Bacharac to Strasburgh, opened a passage into Alsace, by 
 the capture of Weissemburgh and Landau, and into the 
 Palatinate, by making himself master of Manheim and 
 Wimpfen, two important posts on the Neckar and the 
 Rhine. He expelled the elector of Mentz from his terri- 
 tories, forced the elector of Treves to recede from his alli- 
 ance with the emperor, and prepared to carry his arms 
 into the electorate of Cologne. Not only the princes and 
 states in his passage sought his friendship, but even those 
 who were more distant. On one side he formed an alliance 
 with the city of Strasburgh ; on the other with Bremen, Lu- 
 beck, Lunenburgh, and Brunswick ; Nuremberg and Ulm 
 claimed his protection. He entered into similar connections 
 with the counts of Nassau Solms, and the other feudal 
 lords of Wetteravia, with the dukes of Brunswick * and 
 the archbishop of Bremen. 
 
 While Gustavus thus made himself master of the coun- 
 tries watered by the Maine and the Rhine, his generals and 
 allies were equally successful. The dukes of Mecklen- 
 burgh, assisted by the Swedish troops, recovered possession 
 of Wisinar. Rostock, and Domitz, and expelled the impe- 
 rialists from their duchy. Charles, duke of Saxe Lauen- 
 burgh, who had purchased his liberty by changing his 
 religion, and by promising not to bear arms against the 
 emperor, forgot at once his conversion and his promise, 
 raised troops in the name of Gustavus, strengthened the 
 army of the Swedish general Todt, and enabled him to 
 secure Stade, the key of the Elbe. Horn occupied the 
 bishopric of Bamberg ; Banner drove the imperialists from 
 the, ruins of Magdeburgh, and, joined by 10,000 men, whom 
 
 * The house of Brunswick was at this period divided into two 
 branches, Brunswick Wolfenbuttel, of which Frederic Ulric was the 
 head, and Brunswick Lunenburgh, of which William, duke of Zell and 
 Hanover, possessed the principal territories.
 
 1631, 1632.] CONQUEST OF BOHEMIA. 245 
 
 Bernard*, duke of Saxe Weimar, levied in Thuringia, 
 captured Nordheim, Gottingen, Goslar, and Duderstadt ; 
 while the landgrave of Hesse laid the bishoprics of Fuldu 
 and Paderborn under contribution, and spread terror into 
 Westphalia. By these conquests and alliances Gustavus 
 became master of the courses of the Elbe, the Weser, the 
 Maine, and the Upper Rhine, commanded a vast tract of 
 country, and occupied a continued chain of fortresses, 
 stretching through the heart of Germany, from the Baltic 
 to the frontiers of Switzerland. 
 
 While Gustavus and his allies were thus rapidly ex- 
 tending their arms through the heart of Germany, the 
 elector of Saxony achieved the conquest of Bohemia. Be- 
 fore the battle of Leipzic, Goertz and Teuffenbach led 
 the remnant of the imperialists from Frankfort into Silesia, 
 collected the troops scattered on all sides, and, at the head 
 of 10,000 men, overran the greater part of Lusatia. They 
 even sent their partisans as far as Dresden, placed garri- 
 sons in the principal towns, and would have maintained 
 themselves against the Saxon army, had not Ferdinand 
 commanded them to retire into Silesia, from the hope of 
 again detaching the elector. This retreat being however 
 considered by the elector as a proof of weakness or fear, he 
 declined all the pressing overtures of the imperial court. 
 The Saxon army, under the command of Arnheim, pene- 
 trated into Bohemia, took without opposition Aussig, Leut- 
 meritz, Schlan, Melnick, and Teschen, where the imperial- 
 ists had formed considerable magazines, and occupied the 
 whole district contiguous to Lusatia and Saxony, with in- 
 considerable loss. 
 
 The natives making no opposition to a Protestant prince 
 in behalf of their intolerant despot, the Saxon troops ad- 
 vanced to Prague ; the governor and the principal nobles 
 retired in haste, and the capital capitulated through the me- 
 diation of count Thurn, who accompanied the Saxon army 
 on the sole condition that the citizens should be secured 
 from pillage and the quartering of the troops, and that no 
 
 * Bernard, afterwards so much celebrated as generalissimo of the 
 Swedish forces, was seventh and youngest son of John, duke of Saxc 
 Weimar, and third in the line of descent from the elector John Fre- 
 deric I., deposed by Charles V. 
 
 K 3
 
 246 FERDINAND n. [CH. LIIL 
 
 injury should be done to the Catholics. Thurn had the sa- 
 tisfaction of returning in triumph over the bridge which he 
 had before traversed as a fugitive, and where the heads of 
 twelve of his companions announced to him the fate from 
 which he had escaped. By his direction they were taken 
 down, wrapped in a covering of black satin, and interred 
 with all the honours which could be paid to martyrs for 
 their religion and country. The presence of the Saxon 
 army revived the dormant spirit of the Protestants ; the 
 Lutheran preachers were reinstated, the principal churches, 
 schools, and universities restored, the Jesuits banished, and 
 the Protestants again gratified with all their former privi- 
 leges. Many even returned from exile to recover their 
 confiscated property, and those who had been driven by 
 persecution into the pale of the Catholic church joyfully 
 renounced their restrained conversion, and publicly pro- 
 fessed the religion which they had been compelled to ab- 
 jure. An irruption of the imperial troops on the side of 
 Nymberg was repulsed by Arnheim ; and before the close 
 of the year the whole country fell under the power of the 
 Saxons. 
 
 The elector did not attempt to prosecute his success by 
 carrying his arms into Austria, but considering his posses- 
 sion of Bohemia as only temporary, retaliated on the par- 
 tisans of Ferdinand the excesses of the imperial troops in 
 Germany. He not only appropriated the artillery and im- 
 plements of war, but sent to Dresden fifty waggons laden 
 with the choicest specimens of those collections which it 
 had been the great business of Rhodolph to form. His 
 soldiers followed his example ; the houses of the rich Ca- 
 tholic burghers were plundered, and themselves driven into 
 exile ; the same excesses extended throughout the country, 
 and if we may credit the Bohemian historian, scarcely a 
 nail or a fragment of the cumbrous metals escaped their 
 rapacity. 
 
 During these events Gustavus gave a short repose to his 
 troops. At Mentz he received ambassadors from the kings 
 of France and England ; he was also visited by the elector 
 Palatine, to whom the success of the Swedes had given a 
 gleam of hope, and whom he received with regal honours. 
 
 The fatal defeat of Leipzic, and the rapid series of
 
 1631, 1632.] CONDUCT OF FERDINAND. 247 
 
 disasters by which it was followed, did not shake the firm- 
 ness of Ferdinand ; he used his utmost exertions, both by 
 representations with his allies and levies in his own coun- 
 tries, to strengthen the discomfited army, which, under Tilly, 
 was driven to a distant part of the empire. Ever watchful 
 to improve the least favourable circumstance, he likewise 
 availed himself of the jealousy which the progress of the 
 Swedes had excited in France, to weaken a connection 
 which had been of such essential service to Gustavus. He 
 found an active agent for his purpose in the bishop of 
 Wurtzburgh, who, after his expulsion from his diocese, 
 had repaired to Paris. This artful prelate laboured to 
 identify the Catholic cause with that of the house of 
 Austria, and represented the views of Gustavus not as di- 
 rected against the emperor alone, but to render his own 
 religion predominant on the ruins of the ancient worship. 
 Assisted by the other agents and partisans of Ferdinand, 
 he endeavoured to justify these assertions by attributing to 
 Gustavus the wildest plans of conquest and dominion. 
 Besides incorporating Poland and Hungary with Sweden, 
 and aspiring to the throne of Germany, he represented his 
 approach to the Rhine as the prelude to an irruption into 
 France to revive the Huguenot cause. He urged also that 
 it ill became a king, who prided himself on the title of 
 Most Christian, and gloried in hi* attachment to the Ca- 
 tholic faith, to unite in alliance with a heretic, who had 
 already expelled so many prelates from their sees, and who, 
 like another Alaric, at the head of his Goths and Vandals, 
 intended to pass the Alps, and dethrone the head of Christ- 
 endom. At the same time the duke of Bavaria represented 
 the danger to which he was himself exposed, as head of the 
 league, and claimed by every consideration of honour and 
 religion that support to which he was entitled by positive 
 engagements with France, should his dominions or electoral 
 dignity be endangered. 
 
 These representations made a deep impression on the 
 timid and superstitious mind of Louis XIII., and would 
 have greatly embarrassed a minister less determined than 
 Richelieu. He, however, imposed silence on the clamorous 
 bishop, overcame the scruples of his master, and declared 
 that the alliance with the elector of Bavaria was to gua- 
 
 K 4
 
 248 FERDINAND II. [en. LIU* 
 
 rantee him against the house of Austria, not to furnish 
 him with succours against the king of Sweden, with whom 
 France had formed a more ancient and specific connection. 
 To avoid the appearance of oppressing the Catholic reli- 
 gion, and to save the honour of France, he proposed to 
 mediate a treaty of neutrality between Gustavus and the 
 Catholics, by which the expelled bishops were to be re- 
 stored to their sees ; but the other conditions were calcu- 
 lated to separate the Catholics from the emperor, and 
 reduce their forces to such a degree as to deprive them of 
 the means of affording him assistance. 
 
 This neutrality, with the concurrence of Gustavus, was 
 offered to the Catholics. But the elector of Bavaria and 
 the other members of the league, were now convinced that 
 their own safety depended on that of the emperor ; and 
 that, by suffering the house of Austria to be depressed, they 
 were concurring to render themselves dependent on France 
 and Sweden. They were therefore not inclined to accept 
 a neutrality on the proffered conditions; and, even during 
 the negotiation, the elector of Bavaria despatched consider- 
 able sums of money to Pappenheim, the imperial general in 
 Lower Saxony, and ordered Tilly to attack the posts on the 
 Maine. These circumstances being known to Gustavus, by 
 means of intercepted letters, afforded him and the court of 
 France a pretext for invading the territories of the house 
 of Austria through those of the Catholic league. He pre- 
 pared to expel the Spanish garrisons from the fortresses on 
 the Rhine and in the Lower Palatinate, as a prelude to his 
 design of penetrating into Bavaria, and from thence pushing 
 his arms into the Austrian territories. 
 
 While he was executing this plan, his attention was 
 called to another quarter by the movements of Tilly. 
 After the battle of Leipzic, Tilly had fallen back towards 
 the Weser, united with the corps under Aldringer and 
 Fugger, and drawn reinforcements from the- garrisons in 
 Lower Saxony. He intended to make an effort for the 
 relief of Wurtzburgh ; but while he marched toAschaf* 
 fenburgh, to effect a junction with the duke of Loraine, 
 and secure provisions and magazines, the town fell into 
 the hands of the king of Sweden. He was soon afterwards 
 abandoned by the duke of Loraine, whom the approach of
 
 1631, 1632.] GUSTAVUS REPULSES TILLY. 249 
 
 the Swedes, and an invasion by France had compelled to 
 retire to his own country, and the imperial army was so 
 much weakened by fatigues, by the inclemency of the sea- 
 son, and by diseases derived from unwholesome provisions, 
 that after remaining an idle spectator of the conquests of 
 Gustavus, he distributed the remnant of his dispirited 
 troops into winter quarters, in the vicinity of Nordlingeii 
 and the country bordering on the Danube.* 
 
 His army being refreshed by a short repose, reinforced 
 with recruits, and supplied with clothing, provisions, and 
 ammunition, in March, 1632, he resumed his former acti- 
 vity, invaded the bishopric of Bam berg with 20,000 men, 
 took the capital, drove Horn, the Swedish general, from the 
 country, and directed his march towards Schweinfurth, to 
 secure that important post on the Maine. The rapid ad- 
 vance of Gustavus, who, after leaving his troops on the 
 Rhine, under Oxenstiern, to make head against the Spa- 
 niards, had concentrated the forces under Horn, Banner, 
 and the duke of Saxe Weimar, at Aschaffenburgh, com- 
 pelled Tilly to retire : he fell back into the neighbourhood 
 of Erlang, ravaging the country, and threatening Nurem- 
 berg with the same fate as Magdeburgh. The advance of 
 the king, however, saved the city ; for the imperial general, 
 continuing his retreat, crossed the Danube into Bavaria, 
 and took post behind the Leek, where he was joined by the 
 elector. 
 
 As an imperial army was at this time assembling in 
 Bohemia, Gustavus was anxious to engage the Bavarians 
 before the two bodies could effect a junction. He there- 
 fore continued his march, took Donawerth by storm, and 
 invested Ingolstadt. Foiled, however, by the resistance 
 of the garrison, he returned to Donawerth, crossed the 
 Danube, and prepared to attack the Bavarians, in opposi- 
 tion to the advice of his most skilful generals, and not- 
 
 * The conduct of Tilly has been attributed by some authors to his 
 own discouragement, in consequence of his recent defeat, and by others 
 to the secret orders of the elector of Bavaria not to risk an engage- 
 ment ; but if we may give credit to his letters, which were published 
 by the elector, in vindication of his conduct, the inactivity of Tilly was 
 derived only from the causes mentioned in the text. Schmidt, vol. x. 
 p. 76.
 
 250 FERDINAND II. [CH. LIIT. 
 
 withstanding the strength of their position, which was 
 equally defended by nature and art. A bend of the Leek 
 near Rain, enabled him to avail himself of his well organ- 
 ised artillery ; and, after a desperate conflict, he, on the 5th 
 of April, succeeded in constructing a bridge and forcing 
 a passage. Tilly, at the head of his veterans, exerted 
 every effort to prevent the passage, but received a mortal 
 wound by the shot of a falconet. Aldringer, the second 
 in command, was soon afterwards desperately wounded ; 
 and the elector, deprived of both his generals, retreated 
 under the walls of Ingolstadt. Here Tilly died, at the age 
 of seventy-three ; a general successful in all his under- 
 takings till the fatal battle of Leipzic, and confessedly the 
 first soldier of his age, till his fame was eclipsed by the 
 skill and prowess of Gustavus. His enemies cannot with- 
 hold from him the praise of heroic intrepidity, sobriety, 
 and continence unusual in his profession, and such an un- 
 common degree of disinterestedness, that he died poor, 
 notwithstanding all his opportunities of acquiring riches ; 
 but his warmest admirers cannot conceal his unrelenting 
 spirit ; and the excesses committed under his auspices, or 
 by his orders, have rendered his very name proverbial for 
 barbarity and devastation. 
 
 On the retreat of the Bavarian army, Augsburgh fell 
 into the hands of the Swedes, the Protestant religion was 
 re-established, the Catholic magistrates expelled, and the 
 city took an oath of allegiance to Gustavus and to the 
 crown of Sweden. Having secured this post, the king 
 proceeded to invest Ingolstadt, and opened a correspond- 
 ence with the inhabitants of Ratisbon, to secure possession 
 of two places which would have rendered him master of 
 the Danube, and enabled him to carry his attacks into Aus- 
 tria ; but the elector of Bavaria anticipated his designs, by 
 throwing a garrison into Ratisbon ; and it was the honour 
 of Ingolstadt to give the first proof that the arms of Gus- 
 tavus were not invincible. Foiled in his attempts on In- 
 golstadt, Gustavus reduced the whole country between the 
 Inn and the Leek, and entered Munich in triumph, accom- 
 panied by the elector Palatine, who thus enjoyed a mo- 
 mentary exultation in visiting the abandoned capital of his 
 bitterest enemy.
 
 251 
 
 CHAP. LIV. 1632. 
 
 FROM the fatal battle of Leipzic a rapid series of disasters 
 had disclosed the weakness of the Austrian empire, the as- 
 cendancy of which had been as much owing to the disunion 
 of its antagonists as to its own intrinsic force and resources. 
 The presence of a chief, who, like Gustavus, united in him- 
 self all the qualifications of the statesman and the soldier, 
 who gave strength and consistency to his plans, and infused 
 vigour and unanimity into the heterogeneous body of the 
 Protestants, occasioned a change no less astonishing than 
 decisive. The numerous forces who had given law to the 
 empire and to Italy had disappeared, or were reduced to a 
 weak and discouraged remnant, which owed its existence to 
 the other occupations of the enemy. The princes of the 
 Protestant body who had been humbled at the feet of Fer- 
 dinand, and despoiled without mercy of their dignities and 
 possessions, had risen with new power, while the Catholics 
 were either wavering or become the prey of the conqueror. 
 The elector of Treves was compelled to throw himself 
 under the protection of France ; the bishops of Wurtz- 
 burgh and Bamberg, and the elector of Mentz, were driven 
 from their territories, and the elector of Cologne threatened 
 with a similar fate. Loraine, by the forced or voluntary 
 retreat of the sovereign *, had been appropriated by 
 
 * Charles returning unsuccessful from his enterprise against Gus- 
 tavus, with the scanty remnant of his forces, was again exposed to all 
 the vengeance of the French court, which in the interval had sup- 
 pressed the civil troubles, and again invaded Loraine. He was enticed 
 into the French camp, rendered almost a prisoner, and reduced to the 
 necessity of surrendering Nancy, his capital, and disavowing the mar- 
 riage of his sister, though he was suffered to retain his revenues. The 
 duchy of Bar was at the same time declared re-united to the crown of 
 France. 
 
 After effecting his escape, and resigning his territories to his brother 
 Nicholas Francis, cardinal bishop of Toul, Charles assembled thirteen 
 companies of cavalry, and repaired to join the imperial army in Alsace. 
 His brother, to secure his title to Loraine, espoused his cousin Claude, 
 the sister of the duchess Nicola ; but being arrested by the French 
 court, under the pretence that their marriage was contracted without 
 its consent, they made their escape, leaving their territories in the pos- 
 session of France, and took refuge at Vienna. The duchess Nicola
 
 252 FERDINAND II. [cil. LIV. 
 
 France ; the Spaniards retained only three fortresses of all 
 their acquisitions in the Palatinate, and were almost ex- 
 cluded from the banks of the Rhine; and the elector of 
 Bavaria seemed to have no other alternative than to desert 
 Ferdinand, or share the ruin of that house and that cause 
 which he had so well defended. A victorious monarch 
 was in the heart of Germany, at the head of an army, if 
 not more numerous, at least braver and better disciplined 
 than any in Europe, master of the whole country from the 
 Baltic to the frontiers of France, and in the pride of con- 
 quest preparing to carry his arms into the heart of the Aus- 
 trian dominions. Bohemia was occupied by the elector of 
 Saxony, nothing was likely to oppose his advance to 
 Vienna ; throughout the territories, which yet owned the 
 
 was conveyed to Paris, and though her husband had divorced her, and 
 even espoused another wife, she nobly refused to sanction any measure 
 in opposition to his interests and those of his brother. 
 
 Charles passed the remainder of his life sometimes as a fugitive, 
 sometimes in prison, sometimes as an ephemeral sovereign, continually 
 making and breaking alliances, maintaining a predatory army, which 
 he occasionally sold to all, though he principally exerted his military 
 talents in the service of the house of Austria. The same versatility 
 distinguished his private as his public life. After divorcing his wife, 
 and espousing the widow of the prince of Cantecroix, of whom 
 he formerly had been enamoured, he recalled his first duchess, and 
 then again dismissed her to renew his connection with the princess. 
 He endeavoured, likewise, to obtain a divorce from his second wife, 
 and afterwards entered into various contracts of marriage with 
 different mistresses. He contracted himself with Isabella, countess of 
 Ludre, a canoness of Poussai, and soon afterwards abandoned her for 
 a banker's daughter of Nancy, called La Croisette. He again espoused, 
 for the sake of form, the princess of Cantecroix, on her death-bed, and 
 concluded his numerous connections by marrying in his sixty-first 
 year, a short time before his death (which happened in 1675), Maria 
 Louisa, countess of Aspremont, who was only thirteen. His capricious 
 and volatile conduct was well characterised in an epigrammatic epi- 
 taph : 
 
 " Ci-git un pativre due sans terre, 
 
 Qui fut, jusqu'a ses derniers jours, 
 
 1'eu fidele dans ses amours, 
 
 Kt moins fidele dans ses jjuerres. 
 II donna lihrcment sa foi, 
 
 Tour a tour a chaque couronne 
 
 Kt se fit une etroite loi 
 
 De ne la garder a personnel
 
 1632.] AVALLENSTEIN RESTORED. 253 
 
 authority of Ferdinand, the concealed Protestants only- 
 waited the approach of a foreign force to throw off the re- 
 straints under which they groaned, and a dangerous revolt 
 took place among the peasants of the district above the 
 Ems. The ascendency of the Swedes had cut off all hopes 
 of maintaining, as before, the war at the expense either of 
 allies or enemies, and his own territories being exhausted 
 by so ruinous a contest, he saw himself again driven to the 
 brink of a precipice more dangerous than that from which 
 he had been rescued at the commencement of his reign. 
 
 Under the first impulse of desperation, Ferdinand an- 
 nounced a resolution to take the field himself; but he was 
 easily dissuaded by his ministers from adopting an expe- 
 dient, which would have been rendered fruitless by his 
 own want of military experience. The next alternative 
 was to confer the command on his son, the archduke Fer- 
 dinand, who had been recently crowned king of Hungary, 
 and had evinced a spirit and talents above his years. But 
 besides the danger of opposing a general of the age of 
 twenty-three to the matured experience of Gustavus, it re- 
 quired little reflection to discover, that without an army 
 and without the means of inspiring an army with confi- 
 dence, it was of little use to nominate a commander. In 
 this extremity Ferdinand saw no other resource than ap- 
 plying to Wallenstein, whom he had dismissed with such re- 
 luctance, whose genius, skill, and services, his recent 
 reverses had taught him to appreciate ; and the haughty 
 emperor did not hesitate to abase himself before his still 
 more haughty subject. 
 
 Wallenstein, though deeply affected by his dismission, had 
 retired from his command with the full confidence that his 
 ruling star had not yet attained its zenith, and his fertile 
 genius had devised the means to render his restoration to 
 power almost inevitable. He was followed into his retreat by 
 the principal officers of his army, whom his immense riches 
 enabled him to attach to his person, and who looked up to 
 him for present support, as well as future advancement. 
 He took up his principal residence at Prague, where he 
 built a magnificent palace, and lived in a style of splendour 
 more resembling a king in his glory than a subject in dis- 
 grace. The six gates of this magnificent habitation were
 
 254 FERDINAND II. [CH. LIV. 
 
 guarded by sentinels ; fifty halberdiers clothed in sump- 
 tuous uniforms waited in his ante-chamber ; a patrol of 
 twelve watchmen perambulated the apartments and the en- 
 virons, to prevent the slightest noise or disturbance; and 
 sometimes even the neighbouring streets were barricaded 
 to exclude the tumult of carriages, or the concourse of foot 
 passengers. Six barons, and as many knights attended 
 his person ; four gentlemen ushers presented those who 
 were admitted to the honour of an audience ; sixty pages, 
 belonging to the most illustrious families, were entertained 
 at his expense, and instructed by the ablest masters in the 
 whole circle of the arts and sciences. His steward of the 
 household was a baron of the highest rank, and even the 
 chamberlain of the emperor quitted the court to exercise 
 that office in his establishment. His table was served 
 with more than regal pomp and delicacy, and daiiy at- 
 tended by a hundred guests ; his gardens were equal to 
 the splendour of his palace, and his stables were furnished 
 with marble mangers, each of which was supplied with the 
 living stream, by means of artificial fountains. When he 
 travelled, his numerous suites were conveyed in twelve 
 coaches of state, and fifty carriages, as many waggons bore 
 his plate and equipage, and the cavalcade was accompanied 
 by fifty grooms on horseback, with fifty led horses richly 
 caparisoned.* 
 
 His recent disgrace and increasing anxiety to recover his 
 former authority, had totally changed the disposition of his 
 mind, and robbed him of that freedom, openness, and affa- 
 bility which distinguished his early career. In the midst 
 of splendour and magnificence Wallenstein lived in a state 
 of gloom, solitude, and impenetrable taciturnity, absorbed 
 in dreams of past grandeur, or projects of future ambition 
 and vengeance, maintaining with his own hand an extensive 
 and regular correspondence with every part of Europe, 
 and with all the great actors on the scene of affairs. To 
 complete the portrait of so singular a character, in person 
 
 * These accounts of his regal magnificence would appear incredible, 
 were they not authenticated by contemporary authors, particularly by 
 Dr. Carve, who was chaplain to colonel Devereux, one of his favour- 
 ites, and afterwards his assassin, in his itinerary, which was published 
 in Latin at Mentz. See Schiller, who in his Thirty Years' War has 
 drawn an animated description of the retirement of Wallenstein.
 
 1632.] CHARACTER OF WALLENSTEIN. 255 
 
 he was tall and thin, his complexion sallow, his hair red 
 and short, his eyes small and sparkling, his gait and man- 
 ner indicative of sullenness and distrust, and the few 
 words which broke his habitual silence were uttered in a 
 harsh and disagreeable tone of voice. He was sudden, 
 fierce, and ungovernable in his anger, implacable in his re- 
 sentment, capricious and fanciful in his commands, extra- 
 vagant equally in rewards and punishments. He was an 
 enemy to flattery, and insensible to temptation ; quick in 
 discovering merit, and ready to reward it. In his depend- 
 ants he encouraged a spirit of rashness and enterprise; he 
 termed high and magnificent resolutions the effects of a 
 well-qualified soul ; a prompt action, a new thought, an 
 unusual audacity, were the surest ways to secure his fa- 
 vour. He was grand and lofty in his ideas, impassioned 
 for glory, and disdained dissimulation, or any vice which 
 evinced baseness and timidity of character. Despising 
 riches, except as the agent of his greatness, he was un- 
 bounded in his liberalities, and was accustomed to say, 
 that no gold was equal to the weight of a valiant soldier, 
 that great hopes followed great rewards, and the greatest 
 recompences produced both the best troops and most skilful 
 officers. 
 
 On the advance of the Saxons to Prague, Wallenstein re- 
 fused to take any share in opposing the enemy, and, by his 
 advice and conduct, hastened the surrender of the city. 
 Under the guise of indifference, he exerted all his activity 
 to turn the misfortunes of his sovereign to his own ad- 
 vantage ; he maintained a mysterious correspondence with 
 his former dependant Arnheim, and even with Gustavus ; 
 and he watched, with peculiar assiduity and attention, all 
 the movements of the court of Vienna, where, besides se- 
 veral of the ministers who were his creatures or partisans, 
 his liberality had gained almost every agent in every 
 sphere, who was capable of furnishing intelligence, or pro- 
 moting his views. 
 
 While the remembrance of his former services was yet 
 fresh in the public recollection, while his liberality and mag- 
 nificence were the theme of general applause, his numerous 
 partisans beset the emperor, and pointed him out as the. 
 only man who was capable of saving the house of Austria.
 
 256 FERDINAND II. [dl. LIV. 
 
 Ferdinand, who since the death of Tilly, had no com- 
 mander able to cope with Gustavus, was easily induced to 
 employ a general who had rendered him such essential ser- 
 vices, and to whose dismission he had consented with un- 
 feigned regret. 
 
 Wallenstein had learnt by experience the difficulty of 
 maintaining such an elevation as that to which he was 
 about to be raised, and adopted every expedient to prevent 
 a second dismission. Amidst all his eagerness for com- 
 mand he affected an indifference and reluctance, which en- 
 abled him to enhance his terms, and impose more effectual 
 shackles on his sovereign. Notwithstanding the invitation 
 of the emperor, he refused to repair to court, but advanced 
 to Znaim in Moravia, with a view to facilitate his ar- 
 rangements. He indignantly rejected the proposal to com- 
 mand under the archduke Ferdinand, with the impious 
 declaration, that he would not serve under God himself; and 
 after a long negotiation, which was conducted by the inter- 
 vention of his friend the prince of Eggenberg, he affected 
 to yield to threats and entreaties, and offered to raise troops 
 in ihe same manner as on the former occasion ; but he re- 
 fused to take the command for a longer period than three 
 months, which he deemed a sufficient time to form and dis- 
 cipline an army. 
 
 This promise was soon fulfilled ; the greater part of the 
 officers had followed him in his retreat, or were dependent 
 on his bounty, and the very magic of his name brought 
 together thousands of veterans, who had either served 
 under his standards, or were anxious to share his glory and 
 his munificence. He hastened his levies by granting rank 
 to the rich who exerted their influence in raising troops, 
 and for the same purpose advanced money to the poorer 
 officers, with whose courage and talents he was acquainted. 
 He even conferred commissions equally on persons of all 
 persuasions, and tranquillised the consciences of the Pro- 
 testants, by representing the war against Gustavus as a 
 civil not a religious contest. For the formation and main- 
 tenance of this force the pope and the court of Spain sup- 
 plied considerable subsidies. Wallenstein lavished his own 
 private fortune ; persons of all conditions and ranks were 
 induced to furnish liberal contributions, and every effort
 
 1632.] WALLENSTEIN GENERALISSIMO. 257 
 
 was made, as well in Italy as in the Austrian territories, 
 to replace the arms and accoutrements lost in the recent 
 battle. By these means he assembled an army with a ra- 
 pidity which astonished even those who had witnessed his 
 former exertions, and before the close of three months was 
 at the head of 40,000 men, well disciplined and better ap- 
 pointed than the troops which had been dispersed at the 
 fatal defeat of Leipzic. 
 
 Having now fulfilled his promise, he announced his in- 
 tention of resigning the command, and affected an eager- 
 ness to return to his dignified retreat, far from the dan- 
 gers of war and the jealousies of a court. But the singular 
 good fortune which had attended his early career did 
 not fail him in this instance. Either by accident or de- 
 sign, he fulfilled his engagement at the very moment which 
 was best calculated to complete all his views ; for, as 
 Gustavus was advancing on the wings of conquest, from 
 the banks of the Rhine to those of the Danube, the last 
 hope of the house of Austria and the Catholic cause seemed 
 to rest on his exertions. His proposals were therefore 
 equivalent to commands ; and we scarcely wonder that 
 Ferdinand should purchase the services of his general, on 
 conditions which reduced him to a greater dependence than 
 ever sovereign had before been reduced. Notwithstanding 
 the remonstrances of the elector of Bavaria and the Spanish 
 court, Wallenstein was to be declared generalissimo of the 
 imperial and Spanish forces in the empire, with unbounded 
 authority ; the emperor and his son Ferdinand engaged 
 never to enter his camp ; he was to be intrusted with the 
 nomination of all officers, and the distribution of rewards 
 and punishments ; and no pardon or safe conduct was to be 
 valid, even though signed by the emperor, without his 
 confirmation. He was to be free from all restriction in 
 levying contributions ; to dispose of the confiscated pro- 
 perty of the enemy, without being subjected to the control 
 of the imperial chamber or any other tribunal ; no peace 
 or truce was to be valid without his privity, if not his con- 
 sent ; and his demands for money and provisions were to 
 be promptly complied with. Finally, he was to receive a 
 remuneration for his expenses, either from the spoils of the 
 enemy or the hereditary countries of the emperor, to be 
 
 VOL. II. S
 
 253 FERDINAND II. [CH. LIV. 
 
 guarantied in the possession of Mecklenburgh, by a specific 
 article in the imperial capitulation ; he was to be allowed 
 a place of retreat in the hereditary countries if pressed by 
 the enemy ; and, on the re-conquest of Bohemia, the em- 
 peror promised to reside at Prague. 
 
 These conditions being accepted, Wallenstein assumed 
 the command, and prepared to commence his operations. 
 Sensible that the Protestants began to be jealous of Gus- 
 tavus, he opened a negotiation, by the connivance of Fer- 
 dinand, with the elector of Saxony, and made the most 
 liberal concessions to a prince, whose defection would draw 
 after him the majority of his party. These overtures being 
 frustrated by the jealousy and apprehension which the 
 character of Ferdinand naturally inspired, no less than by 
 the exhortations of Gustavus, Wallenstein led his army to 
 Prague, procured its speedy surrender, by allowing the 
 Saxon garrison to retire with their plunder, though without 
 the honours of war; and a second attempt to negotiate 
 being equally fruitless, he dislodged the Saxons from all 
 their posts in Bohemia. He remained inactive at Leutme- 
 ritz, notwithstanding all the exhortations and commands of 
 the emperor, under the pretence of covering and securing 
 Bohemia, but in reality with a secret satisfaction, wit- 
 nessing the devastations committed in the territories of 
 that rival, the elector of Bavaria, who had procured his 
 first disgrace, and opposed his recent appointment. At 
 length, when the progress of Gustavus endangered Austria 
 itself, he left 8000 men as a corps of observation at Leut- 
 meritz, and advanced to effect a junction with the elector 
 of Bavaria at Egra, a post from whence he awed Saxony, 
 and menaced Nuremberg, which formed a place of arms 
 for the Swedish attack on Bavaria. This skilful move- 
 ment instantly reduced the king to the defensive, and 
 compelled him to combat for his security, not as he had 
 hitherto done, for conquest and glory. The feigned move- 
 ments of Wallenstein, on various quarters, kept Gustavus 
 in continual ahrm, obliged him to distribute his forces for 
 the defence of the Maine, and the posts in Suabia ; and 
 finally to abandon his designs on Bavaria and Austria, and 
 with an army, scarcely amounting to 12,000 men, to hasten 
 to the defence of Nuremberg. 
 
 Wallenstein held an interview with the elector of Ba-
 
 1632.] BOAST OP WALLENSTEIN. 259 
 
 vana at Lutitz, a town in the vicinity of Egra, on the con- 
 fines of the Upper Palatinate, where, under the guise of 
 affected condescension, he exulted in his superiority over 
 his humiliated rival. Their united forces were put in mo- 
 tion ; and Wallenstein, finding himself at the head of a 
 spirited and well-appointed army of 60,000 men, could not 
 refrain from giving a public testimony of his joy, at the 
 advantage which he had already gained over the Swedish 
 hero. In the pride of his heart he boasted, that a few days 
 would decide whether Wallenstein or Gustavus was to 
 command the world. To fulfil this boast he advanced to- 
 wards Nuremberg, with the hope of crushing the inferior 
 forces of Gustavus ; but finding him strongly intrenched, 
 and the numerous inhabitants in arms ready to defend their 
 city, he dreaded the courage, skill, and tactics of the king, 
 when driven to desperation, and took post at the village of 
 Zirndorf, on the Preignitz, with the resolution to reduce 
 him to risk a battle, or abandon his post. Awed by the 
 presence of his illustrious antagonist, he lowered that 
 presumptive tone which had been derived from his for- 
 mer success ; justifying his conduct by the remark, " That 
 the imperial generals had too often staked the fortune of 
 their master on the uncertain fate of battles, and that he 
 was now determined to wage war on different principles." 
 Influenced by these motives, "Wallenstein, with a force 
 more than triple in number, remained eight weeks within 
 sight of the Swedish camp, without risking any enterprise 
 beyond the feints and assaults of irregular warfare. In this 
 situation he continued, notwithstanding all the importuni- 
 ties of the duke of Bavaria, and the clamours of the sol- 
 diers ; and thus allowed Gustavus to draw his scattered 
 corps from Bavaria, Suabia, Franconia, and Lower Saxony, 
 and to collect reinforcements from his allies. These troops, 
 under the standards of the duke of Saxe Weimar, Banner, 
 and the landgrave of Hesse, gradually united, and were led 
 to the Swedish camp by the chancellor Oxenstiern, who 
 equally served his sovereign in policy and in arms. Al- 
 though Gustavus braved the imperialists by repeated offer?* 
 of battle, yet Wallenstein was neither provoked by insults 
 nor encouraged by the advance of reinforcements, to ri?k 
 an engagement. He strengthened his post with intrench- 
 
 s 2
 
 260 VERDIXAND II. [CH. LIV. 
 
 ments, till it resembled a fortress rather than a camp ; and 
 in this situation calmly bore all the extremities derived 
 from want of provisions and supplies, and saw his troops 
 moulder away from confinement and hardships, hoping that 
 the superior distress of the king would compel him first to 
 decamp, and leave Nuremberg to its fate. 
 
 But Gustavus bore these difficulties with no less firm- 
 ness, and even endeavoured to dislodge his antagonist from 
 that position which he could neither provoke nor allure 
 him to abandon. Intrusting the defence of his own camp 
 to the citizens of Nuremberg, he, on the 24th of August, 
 led his army against the enemy. The irresistible impulse 
 of his troops burst through intrenchments which nature 
 and art seemed to have equally contributed to render im- 
 pregnable. Regiment after regiment was led on to the 
 attack ; nor did the king order a retreat till 3000 of his 
 best troops had fallen, and every part of his army had shared 
 in the danger and the loss of a conflict, which Wallenstein 
 represented in his account to the emperor as the most des- 
 perate he had ever witnessed. After this engagement both 
 armies remained watching each other for a fortnight, and 
 Wallenstein had the sterile honour, if it might be so 
 termed, of seeing the king first abandon his position. But 
 the prize for which he had borne these difficulties eluded 
 his grasp, for Nuremberg was secured by a Swedish gar- 
 rison, and he too much dreaded the tactics of the king to 
 molest his retreat. Thus terminated a struggle, in which 
 the two armies, for seventy-two days, vied in supporting all 
 the miseries of famine, hardship, and sickness, and which 
 was far more fatal to both than the most bloody engage- 
 ment known in modern warfare. Nuremberg lost 10,000 
 of its inhabitants ; the king scarcely fewer than 20,000 of 
 his troops ; and Wallenstein led back his army, which at 
 first amounted to 60,000 men. reduced to half its number. 
 
 Though this part of the campaign was distinguished by 
 no brilliant action or important acquisition, Wallenstein 
 cannot be robbed of the honour of having first set bounds 
 to the progress of Gustavus, of having saved Bavaria, re- 
 covered Bohemia, and secured Austria. 
 
 On quitting Nuremberg, the Swedish monarch detached 
 a part of his forces under the duke of Saxe Weimar to 
 cover Franconia and his posts on the Main, which were
 
 1632.] WALLENSTEIN ATTACKS THE ELECTOR. 261 
 
 now peculiarly exposed to the attacks of the imperialists, 
 while with the remainder he returned towards the Danube, 
 to pursue his designs against Bavaria and Austria. But 
 Wallenstein, instead of following him into Bavaria, which 
 would have drawn the war into the hereditary states, pur- 
 sued the judicious plan by which he had already gained 
 such advantages without risk, and directed his attacks 
 against the elector of Saxony, either to detach or over- 
 come an ally so necessary to the king of Sweden. He suf- 
 fered the elector of Bavaria to hasten to the defence of his 
 own territories, and occupy the attention of Gustavus, and 
 strengthened his diminished army by reinforcements from 
 the neighbouring garrisons. He then detached Gallas and 
 Hoik, with 10,000 men, through the Voigtland, towards the 
 Elbe, to open and secure his communications with Bohe- 
 mia, and advanced himself into Franconia, either to attack 
 the Swedish posts, or to prevent the duke of Saxe Weimar 
 from anticipating his designs, by joining the elector of 
 Saxony and the duke of Brunswick, who were posted at 
 Torgau and Wittemberg. 
 
 After overrunning the territories of Culmbach and Bam- 
 berg, he suddenly directed his course through the Voigt- 
 land to Weida, sent Gallas with a part of his detachment 
 into Bohemia, to assist in making head against Arnheim ; 
 and, recalling Hoik with the remainder, marched to Leip- 
 zic, which he took after a siege of only three days. Having 
 made himself master of Weissenfels, Merseburgh, Naum- 
 burgh, and the neighbouring places on the Saal, he con- 
 tinued to advance against the elector. He had already 
 reached Eilenburgh, midway to Torgau, when he was ac- 
 quainted with the approach of Pappenheim, who, during 
 the recent events, had gained considerable advantages in 
 Lower Saxony, by a rapid and well-conducted march had 
 eluded the duke of Saxe Weimar, and effected a passage 
 through Hesse. Their two armies, uniting at Merseburgh, 
 amounted to above 40,000 men ; with this force Wallen- 
 stein hoped to maintain himself on the Saal and the Elster, 
 to capture Erfurth and Weimar, with the other places 
 commanding the passes of Thuringia, and prevent a junc- 
 tion between the Swedes and Saxons till he had over- 
 whelmed the latter by the superiority of his force. 
 
 s 3
 
 262 FERDINAND H. [CH. LIV. 
 
 To prevent the ruin or defection of his ally, Gustavus 
 suspended his conquests in Bavaria. Leaving a corps to 
 oppose the elector, he effected a junction with the duke of 
 Saxe Weimar at Arnstad, directed his rapid march through 
 the forest of Thuringia, and, ascending the course of the 
 Saal, advanced at the head of 20,000 men to Naumburgh, 
 to form a junction with the Saxon army, or at least with 
 that of the duke of Brunswick. On his sudden approach, 
 Wallenstein sent courier after courier to recall Gallas, fell 
 back from Weissenfels, detached Pappenheim to reduce 
 Mauriceburgh, the citadel of Hall, which was defended by 
 a corps of Swedish veterans, and prepared to retire behind 
 the Elster, in order to maintain the position between Leip- 
 zic and Hall, where he hoped still to prevent the junction 
 of the Swedes and the allies. But in this intention he was 
 baffled by the promptitude of the king, who hastening to 
 attack him in his retreat, and while weakened by the de- 
 parture of the corps under Pappenheim, came in sight of 
 the imperialists at Lutzen, a town on the high road, mid- 
 way between Leipzic and Weissenfels. The evening being 
 far advanced, the Swedes fatigued by a long march in miry 
 ground, and impeded by a morass, which was only passable 
 over by a single bridge, the king deferred his attack, and 
 permitted his troops to repose till the morning, although 
 the night was spent in skirmishes between the irregulars of 
 both armies. 
 
 Wallenstein passed this awful interval with the same 
 anxiety as he had before felt in the presence of his great 
 antagonist. Aware that a retreat in the night, before so 
 skilful and vigilant an adversary, would be attended with 
 tfce utmost danger, if not the ruin of his army, that his 
 name would be irretrievably disgraced by giving way be- 
 fore a far inferior force *, he condescended to call a council 
 of war, and applied to his favourite astrologer, the confi- 
 dant of all his secrets, and the director of his plans. His 
 
 * Many authors have supposed after the authority of Kevenhuller, 
 that the forces of Wallenstein did not exceed 12,000 men. Such a 
 supposition is disproved by the accounts of other contemporary writers, 
 and by the amount of his forces before his retreat from Weissenfels. 
 From a comparison of various authorities, we may justly estimate his 
 force at 30,000 men, exclusive of the corps under Pappenheim.
 
 1632.] BATTLE OF LUTZEN. 263 
 
 officers unanimously advised him to accept the combat, 
 should the Swedes venture to attack a force superior in 
 strength and position ; but his resolution was more decid- 
 edly fixed by the opinion of his astrologer, who declared 
 that during the month of November the stars were unpro- 
 pitious to Gustavus. In conformity with this advice, Wal- 
 lenstein determined to maintain his position, made the 
 concerted signals for the recall of Pappenheim, and em- 
 ployed the remainder of the night in widening the 
 trenches* on both sides of the high road in front of his 
 army, throwing up redoubts, and taking measures to 
 strengthen his position. On the ensuing dawn he drew up 
 his army, and ordered mass to be celebrated throughout 
 his whole camp ; after encouraging his soldiers, by sug- 
 gesting every motive of hope, honour, and greatness, he 
 quitted his coach, mounted a bay genet, and prepared to 
 receive the attack, which was every moment expected to 
 commence. 
 
 Fortunately for Wallenstein the morning of this impor- 
 tant day, the 6th of November, was lowering and overcast, 
 and an impenetrable fog suspended the movements of both 
 parties till an hour before mid-day. When the gloom dis- 
 persed, the two armies were discovered in order of battle on 
 each side of the high road which skirts the extensive plain 
 of Lutzen. The king adopting the same order as at the 
 battle of Leipzic, drew up his troops in two lines, inter- 
 mixing platoons of musketeers with his cavalry. On the 
 other side, Wallenstein appears to have formed his in one 
 line, according to the prevailing tactics of the times, the 
 cavalry on the wings, and four ponderous squares of in- 
 fantry in the centre ; the trenches in his front were lined 
 with musketeers, and flanked with cannon, and the rest of 
 his artillery was distributed principally along his centre and 
 on his right flank, to bear obliquely on the centre and left of 
 the enemy. The wings of both armies were supported on one 
 side on the Flussgraben, and on the other stretched to Lutzen, 
 which was occupied by the imperialists. The cannonade and 
 skirmishing commenced with the dawn, but from the dark- 
 ness of the fog it was eleven before the king could put his 
 
 * As the country was open, these trenches were dug as fences for the 
 corn fields. 
 
 4
 
 264 FERDINAND II. [CH. LIV. 
 
 army in motion. After a public prayer, he gave out the 
 fortieth psalm, " God is our refuge and strength," which 
 was sung by the whole army, accompanied by all the mili- 
 tary music, and then led forward his troops. The Swedish 
 infantry first advanced against the imperial musketeers, 
 posted along the trenches, but were received with such a 
 galling fire that they gave way. In this extremity the 
 king himself leaped from his horse, flew to their head, and 
 seizing a pike, encouraged them by his voice and gestures 
 to renew the combat ; at the same time Wallenstein ad- 
 vanced to animate his men, fresh reinforcements crowded 
 to the point of attack, and the two parties, encouraged by 
 their respective chiefs, fought with unparalleled despera- 
 tion. The Swedes, though frequently repulsed, as fre- 
 quently returned to the assault ; and at length the imperial 
 infantry were driven from the trench back on their own 
 cavalry. The king seized the moment of this confusion to 
 lead on the cavalry of his right, crossed the ditch, and 
 charged the imperialists. But while the battle was thus 
 in suspense on the right, he was informed that his left had 
 given way before the fire of the imperial army, and was 
 threatened by the approach of Pappenheim, whom the 
 delay occasioned by the fog had allowed time to advance. 
 He instantly galloped to that wing to restore the combat, 
 but in hurrying before his troops to examine the situation 
 of the enemy, accompanied by the duke of Saxe Lauen- 
 burgh and by three attendants, he fell in with a party of 
 imperial horse. At this moment his arm was shattered by 
 a ball, and he soon afterwards received a mortal wound in 
 the breast. He instantly fell from the saddle, exclaiming, 
 " My God! my God!"* and his horse, galloping along the 
 
 * The accounts of the king's death are so confused and contradictory, 
 that we have not descended to particulars. The few circumstances 
 mentioned in the text are principally drawn from the contemporary 
 Gnaldo, because he received his account from the only one of the king's 
 pages who was present with him, and escaped with life. We must not, 
 however, withhold the remark, that his death, like that of his descendant 
 Charles XII., was attributed to treachery, and that the duke of Saxe 
 Lauenburgh, who was with him at the moment he fell, was accused of 
 the crime. But we can scarcely doubt that he received his death from 
 a hostile hand, when we consider how lavishly he exposed his person, 
 that, contrary to the custom of the times, he was without a cuirass,
 
 1632.] DEATH OF GUSTAVUS. 265 
 
 front of the lines, conveyed the intelligence of his loss to 
 his troops. 
 
 The duke of Saxe Weimar, who succeeded to the com- 
 mand, spread a report that the king was not killed, but 
 taken prisoner; and the hope of rescuing their beloved 
 leader roused the soldiers to deeds of almost supernatural 
 heroism. The right wing broke and dispersed the left of 
 the imperialists ; the left was equally irresistible ; the in- 
 fantry bore down the imperial infantry by the force and 
 unity of the charge, and the confusion and loss were height- 
 ened by the explosion of some powder-waggons. At this 
 moment, when victory had declared for the Swedes, Pappen- 
 heim reached the field, and burst on their exhausted ranks 
 with eight fresh regiments of cavalry. The shock was no 
 less desperate than the preceding conflict, until the intrepid 
 Pappenheim received a mortal wound, and was carried off 
 the field. His troops, discouraged by this event, gave a 
 sudden cry, "Pappenheim is killed, and the battle lost!" 
 and, notwithstanding all the exertions of Wallenstein and 
 his officers, the confusion became irreparable. The return 
 of the fog, and the approach of evening, having suspended 
 the combat, Wallenstein retired during the night, leaving 
 the field to the enemy, with all his artillery. The number 
 of killed was nearly equal on both sides ; and the Swedes 
 were not apprised of the extent of their advantages, but 
 were deliberating on a retreat, when the ensuing morning 
 saw them masters of the field. Their victory was dearly 
 purchased by the loss of their beloved monarch. His 
 
 that at the moment of his fall he was surrounded by the enemy, and 
 *.hat two of his pages shared his fate. Besides the only foundation for 
 the charge against the duke of Saxe Lauenburgli rests on his returning 
 safe from the battle, on his having recently quitted the imperial for the 
 Swedish service, and having, soon after this event, returned to the impe- 
 rialists, which was a circumstance far from uncommon at that time. 
 As an additional proof, it has been also asserted, that the fatal wound 
 was given to the king in the back ; but this is not the fact ; for the 
 buff waistcoat which the king wore in the engagement, and which is 
 still preserved in the arsenal at Vienna (where I examined it myself), 
 is only perforated in the front. For a further account of the king's 
 death, the reader is referred to Gualdo's Wars, b. iv. ; Harte's Life of 
 Gustavus Adolphus ; Struvius, p. 1281, 1282., who has collected from 
 different authors various passages relating to the death of the king ; 
 and particularly to the Histoire de Gustave Adolphe.
 
 2C6 FERDINAND II. [CH. LIV. 
 
 body, \vhich was discovered stripped, mangled, and covered 
 with gore, under a heap of slain, was conveyed to Naum- 
 burgh, and afterwards to Wolgast, from whence it was 
 transported to Stockholm. 
 
 Thus fell Gustavus Adolphus, in the thirty-eighth year 
 of his age, one of the greatest monarchs who ever adorned 
 a throne. As an individual, he was religious without bi- 
 gotry or affectation, temperate, and a pattern of conjugal 
 fidelity and domestic affection. Though unable to conquer 
 at all times a constitutional warmth of temper*, he pos- 
 sessed all the social virtues, and the conciliation of cour- 
 tesy in so high a degree, that no individual was ever ad- 
 mitted to his converse without being charmed, or left his 
 presence dissatisfied. To all these amiable qualities he 
 united the learning of a scholar, and the accomplishments 
 of a gentleman. As a statesman, he was firm, sagacious, 
 and provident, embracing equally the grand features and 
 minute details of the most extensive plans. As a general, 
 he surpassed his contemporaries in his knowledge of all 
 the branches of the military art, in a bold, inventive, and 
 fertile genius. His intuitive sagacity, undisturbed presence 
 of mind, and extensive foresight, were warmed and ani- 
 mated by an intrepidity more than heroic. No commander 
 was ever more ready to expose his person to dangers, or 
 more willing to share the fatigues and hardships of his 
 troops ; he was accustomed to say, " Cities are not taken 
 by keeping in tents ; as scholars, in the absence of the 
 master, shut their books, so my troops, without my pre- 
 sence, would slacken their blows." Like many other great 
 men, he was a predestinarian, from a pious submission to 
 the inevitable decrees of an all-wise Providence : to those 
 
 * The chancellor Oxenstiern, who knew his master well, said of him 
 to Whitelocke, " If any fault might be imputed to that king, it was that 
 sometimes he would be very choleric. It was his temper. He was 
 wont to say to me, ' You are too phlegmatic ; and if somewhat of my 
 heat was not mingled with your phlegm, my affairs would not succeed 
 so well as they do.' To whom, with his leave, I would answer ; ' Sir, 
 if my phlegmatic temper did not mingle some coolness with your heat, 
 your affairs would not be so prosperous as they are." At which an- 
 swer the king would laugh heartily, and give me my freedom of speak- 
 ing fully to him." Whitelocke's Journal, vol. i. p. 347.
 
 1632.] DEATH OF THE ELECTOR PALATINE. 267 
 
 who urged him to spare his person, he replied, " My hour 
 is written in heaven, and cannot be reversed on earth."* 
 
 Gustavus created a new system of tactics, and formed an 
 army which was without a parallel for its excellent disci- 
 pline and for its singular vigour, precision, and unity in 
 action. He conquered, not by dint of numbers, or the im- 
 pulse of a fortunate rashness, but by the wisdom, and pro- 
 foundness of his combinations, by his irresistible yet bridled 
 spirit of enterprise, by that confidence and heroism which 
 he infused into his troops. Since the days of Alexander, 
 the progress of no conqueror had been equally rapid; since 
 the time of Caesar, no individual had united, in so consum- 
 mate a degree, all the qualities of the gentleman, the states- 
 man, and the soldier. 
 
 The death of Gustavus was soon followed by that of the 
 elector Palatine, who was considered as the original cause 
 of the war. After suffering every extremity of disgrace 
 and poverty which could befal an exiled prince, after wan- 
 dering from country to country, and seeking in vain an 
 asylum from court to court, his last hopes of restoration 
 had centered in Gustavus. On the victory of Leipzic, he 
 had shared the triumphs of the Swedish hero, and had once 
 more enjoyed the flattering though empty honours of a 
 sovereign. But from some cause, which we have not been 
 able to ascertain, his restoration had been hitherto delayed, 
 although the greater part of his territory was gradually con- 
 quered by the Swedes. He was waiting at Mentz, in the 
 hourly expectation that the first decisive success of his pro- 
 tector would be the prelude to his complete restoration ; 
 he saw this darling hope frustrated by the fatal event of 
 the battle of Lutzen, and the shock of this melancholy in- 
 telligence was too powerful for a frame worn out by chagrin 
 and anxiety, and at this moment labouring under a fever, 
 derived from the mingled emotions of hope and fear. He 
 died in the thirty-ninth year of his age, the victim of im- 
 prudent ambition. Happy for himself, his family, and for 
 Europe, had he not mingled in the storm which he was 
 unable to direct, or involved himself in dangers which he 
 wanted firmness and constancy to bear ; but had confined 
 
 Gualdo, p. 73.
 
 268 FERDINAND n. [en. LV. 
 
 himself to his proper sphere, the calm enjoyment of do- 
 mestic life, and the tranquil rule of a small but hereditary 
 sovereignty. 
 
 CHAP. LV. 1632-1634. 
 
 THE death of Gustavus was received with the highest ex- 
 ultation by the Catholics, and considered as a singular mark 
 of God's immediate interposition. The court of Spain in 
 particular testified the most extravagant joy ; the rejoicings 
 at Madrid were continued twelve days, and so many bon- 
 fires were made, that the police interposed to check the 
 excessive consumption of fuel * ; at Vienna also Te Deum 
 was sung for what was termed a victory. Amidst the ge- 
 neral joy, Ferdinand received the intelligence of this event 
 with moderation and magnanimity. Far from giving way 
 to exultation, he expressed concern at the death of so great 
 a man, and wished that he had rather returned in peace to 
 .his own country. When the buff waistcoat, which the 
 king had worn in the battle, and which was perforated by 
 the fatal ball, was presented to him, he turned with great 
 emotion from the melancholy trophy, and expressed the 
 strongest compassion and regret. This concern may be 
 perhaps compared to the tears of Caesar over the head of 
 Pompey ; but, whether feigned or real, it proves that Ferdi- 
 nand possessed the generosity to acknowledge the talents 
 and admire the virtues of his great antagonist. 
 
 Whatever were the private sentiments of Ferdinand, the 
 death of Gustavus seemed likely to produce the most fa- 
 vourable change in his affairs as well as in the situation of 
 Germany. The Protestant princes, by their union alone, 
 had been enabled to resist his power ; and their weight and 
 influence had been less derived from the strength of 
 Sweden, than from the talents of Gustavus. The bond of 
 
 For an anecdote of the extreme scarcity of fuel at Madrid, see 
 Cumberland's interesting memoirs, p. 382. ; where he mentions, that he 
 burnt, in the only fire-place in his house, carved and gilt remnants of 
 old carriages, which he purchased from a coach-maker.
 
 1632-1634.] LADISLAUS OF POLAND. 269 
 
 that union was now broken ; the spirit which had animated 
 their confederacy was fled. It was probable that the dis- 
 cordant mass, when left without a head, would be dissolved 
 by its own weakness ; that the German princes who had 
 reluctantly submitted even to the ascendancy of Gustavus, 
 would burst the bonds which had hitherto kept them 
 united ; and that the different generals, many of whom 
 were Germans, would not willingly obey the orders of a 
 foreign senate or plenipotentiary. Sweden itself was in a 
 situation apparently too weak and precarious to continue 
 the direction of the Protestant league. Christina, the 
 daughter and heiress of Gustavus, was in her seventh year ; 
 the crown was claimed by Ladislaus, who had recently 
 succeeded his father Sigismond in the throne of Poland ; 
 the country was burthened with taxes for the maintenance 
 of the war, and the people, no longer dazzled by the fame 
 of Gustavus, clamoured for the restoration of peace. Such 
 being the state of the discordant parts, which had hitherto 
 composed this formidable league, Ferdinand cannot be 
 deemed too sanguine if he indulged a hope of recovering 
 his former power, more especially as Denmark might again 
 contest the superiority of the north, and Ladislaus, who 
 was of a warlike and ambitious temper, was eager to invade 
 Sweden, in order to recover the crown of his ancestors. 
 
 The senate of Sweden, however, acted on this occasion 
 with a firmness and policy unusual in a deliberative body. 
 Convinced that under such an apparent depression they 
 could not obtain either a safe or honourable peace, they 
 formed the resolution to continue the war ; they proclaimed 
 the young queen, and interdicted all allusion to the claims 
 of Ladislaus, under the penalty of high treason ; they ap- 
 pointed a council of regency, voted ample succours in men 
 and money, and consigned the sole conduct of the war, with 
 the superintendence of German affairs, to the chancellor 
 Oxenstiern, who by his great civil and military talents was 
 capable of supplying, if any individual could supply, the 
 place of Gustavus. 
 
 Christian of Denmark was lured with the hope of uniting 
 the three northern crowns, by the marriage of his son with 
 the young queen, and instead of attacking Sweden, courted 
 the continuance of her friendship ; while Ladislaus, in the
 
 270 FERDINAND II. [CH. LV. 
 
 midst of his preparations for war, was reduced to the neces- 
 sity of defending his own dominions against an irruption of 
 the Russians. A change equally favourable to Sweden 
 took place in the sentiments of the court of France, which 
 had beheld with a jealous eye the progress of Gustavus, 
 and had seen with dissatisfaction his plan of parcelling out 
 the dominions of the Catholic princes, and acquiring terri- 
 tories in Germany. Delivered from an ally, who, instead 
 of being the agent of his views, was become a curb on liis 
 designs, Richelieu now saw that no private individual to 
 whom the conduct of affairs might be intrusted could 
 maintain himself without the support of France ; he was 
 sensible that by continuing to assist the Swedish and Pro- 
 testant party in the empire, he should employ the arms and 
 reduce the ascendancy of the house of Austria, and prevent 
 the interference of the emperor and Spain in those civil 
 troubles which still agitated his own country. 
 
 These favourable circumstances did not escape so able 
 a politician as Oxenstiern ; he availed himself of the exten- 
 sive knowledge which he had acquired of the German na- 
 tion, and the characters and interests of its princes, to 
 unite, by the dread of common danger, those whom success 
 would have speedily divided. He convinced them, that 
 however powerful when in union, they must, if single, sub- 
 mit to the law of that chief whom they had braved and 
 humiliated, and he did not fail to dwell on the intolerant 
 principles of Ferdinand, and his antipathy to the Protestant 
 doctrines. By these motives, he restrained their impatience 
 to free themselves from foreign dependence ; and of all the 
 princes and states who had been connected with Gustavus, 
 the elector of Saxony, and Frederic Ulric, duke of Bruns- 
 wick, were alone induced, by a desire of superiority, or 
 jealousy of Sweden, to show even the appearance of dis- 
 satisfaction. 
 
 The first object of Oxenstiern was to renew the alliances 
 with the German princes, and instead of partial treaties, to 
 fulfil a plan, sketched by the deceased monarch, for uniting 
 them in one general engagement. In April, 1633, he sum- 
 moned at Heilbron a meeting of the states composing the 
 four circles of Suabia, Franconia, the Upper and Lower 
 Rhine, where he appeared with a pomp and dignity becom-
 
 J632-1634.] CHANCELLOR OXENSTIERN. 271 
 
 ing the crown which he represented, and the high charge 
 which he had assumed. The occupation of the principal 
 places in those circles by the Swedish troops, the influence 
 of France, England, and Holland, the presents and pro- 
 mises which Oxenstiern lavished among the German 
 princes, enabled him to counteract the public exhortations 
 and private intrigues of the elector of Saxony ; he obtained 
 the assent of the assembly to a league, in which they agreed 
 to unite with Sweden in carrying on the war, until the li- 
 berties and religion of Germany were secured, the deposed 
 princes re-established, and a compensation made to Sweden 
 for her expenses. He likewise succeeded in gaining the 
 most difficult, though most essential point, that he, as 
 plenipotentiary of Sweden, should be entrusted with the 
 direction of the war and all affairs relating to the common 
 cause ; though his authority was shackled by the institution 
 of a council chosen by the states of the league, with which 
 he was to deliberate, and by various regulations which 
 were secretly suggested by the French ambassador. 
 
 To strengthen his cause, and still further to conciliate 
 England and Holland, as well as the German princes, the 
 first act of Oxenstiern's administration was the restitution 
 of Charles Louis, son of the unfortunate Frederic, both in 
 the electorate and in that part of his paternal dominions 
 which had been recovered by the Swedes ; the Palatine 
 ambassadors were accordingly admitted into the assembly 
 of Heilbron, and in a subsequent meeting at Frankfort, 
 convened for the purpose of confirming these regulations. 
 He at the same time renewed the alliance with France and 
 obtained the accession of the elector of Brandenburgh, with 
 many members of the circles of Lower Saxony and West- 
 phalia, to the league of Heilbron. But all his endeavours 
 to conquer the jealousy of the elector of Saxony were fruit- 
 less; for that prince, still more disgusted with his popularity 
 and influence than with the ascendancy of Gustavus, se- 
 cretly thwarted all the views of the Swedish plenipoten- 
 tiary, and began to enter into private negotiations for 
 renewing his connections with the imperial court. 
 
 On the side of the Swedes, the death of the sovereign, 
 and on that of the imperialists, the humiliation of a defeat, 
 occasioned a temporary suspension of hostilities. To avoid
 
 272 FERDINAND II. [CH. LV. 
 
 an attack from the fresh troops, under the elector of Saxony 
 and the duke of Brunswick, Wallenstein had abandoned 
 Saxony, and fallen back into Bohemia ; and he advised the 
 emperor to conciliate the Protestant princes, by publishing 
 a general amnesty, and proposing favourable terms of ac- 
 commodation. But this wise counsel, which would have 
 produced an essential effect in the present views of the 
 Protestant princes, and the situation of the emperor's af- 
 fairs, was lost on Ferdinand, who considered the death 
 of Gustavus as more advantageous than a victory, and was 
 resolved to prosecute hostilities with fresh vigour, for the 
 fulfilment of all the designs for which he had commmenced 
 and carried on the war. His infatuation was encouraged 
 by the exhortations of the Jesuits, and by the influence of 
 the king of Spain, from whom he received considerable 
 subsidies, with the promise of additional succours. 
 
 The consequence of this decision was the renewal of 
 hostilities ; but the event did not answer the expectations 
 which Ferdinand had conceived from the situation of 
 Sweden. The spirit of the departed hero still seemed to 
 direct his generals, and animate his soldiers ; the Swedes, 
 masters of the most important military posts, and most fer- 
 tile territories in Germany, gained advantages which sup- 
 ported the fame they had acquired under the guidance of 
 Gustavus. Before the close of the year following his death, 
 they occupied the whole Lower Palatinate, reduced almost 
 all Alsace*, except Brisach, drove the imperialists from 
 the circles of Westphalia and Lower Saxony, and conquered 
 the greater part of Silesia. The gallant Bernard of Saxe 
 Weimar, who was entrusted with the principal command, 
 resumed the plan of his great master for carrying the war 
 into the hereditary countries ; assisted by the troops which 
 had conquered Alsace, he captured, Neuburgh Ingolstadt, 
 Ratisbon, Straubingen, and Cham, and once more threat- 
 ened Bohemia and Austria with invasion. 
 
 Wallenstein has been accused by superficial observers for 
 not striking a decisive blow when the career of glory was 
 opened to him by the death of his great antagonist. But 
 
 Many of the towns of Alsace, which had received French garri- 
 sons, had heen occupied by the duke of Loraine, on his junction with 
 the imperialists
 
 1632-1634.] WALLEXSTEIN AGAIN TAKES THE FIELD. 273 
 
 his army was considerably exhausted by the efforts of the 
 preceding campaign ; he had lost his bravest troops, with all 
 his artillery in the recent battle, and the rest of his forces 
 were dispirited by their defeat. On the contrary, the Swedes 
 were indeed deprived of their chief, but they had still gene- 
 rals who had been bred in his school, had imbibed his 
 principles, who had been the instruments and companions 
 of his victories, and were capable of extending and com- 
 pleting his plans. That disciplined army, which had hum- 
 bled the house of Austria, still existed, and occupied the 
 chief posts and communications of Germany ; and that 
 part of it which had given the recent blow to the imperial 
 cause, though diminished, was yet inspired by the confi- 
 dence of victory, eager to avenge its loss, and might be 
 joined by the fresh troops of Saxony and Brunswick, who 
 had not shared in the engagement. 
 
 On returning into Bohemia, Wallenstein endeavoured to 
 diminish the impression made by the defeat of Lutzen ; he 
 executed seventeen officers for cowardice, and defamed 
 fifty others by attaching their names to the gallows. He 
 gave a still greater effect to this instance of severity, by 
 rewarding the bravery or skill of those who had distin- 
 guished themselves with his accustomed munificence. He 
 bestowed on Octavius Piccolomini, who had signalised 
 himself in the engagement, 10,000 dollars, presented se- 
 veral of the generals with his medal set with diamonds, 
 and recompensed general Hoik, whose estates had been 
 confiscated by his sovereign the king of Denmark, for en- 
 tering into the imperial service, with the choice of four 
 estates in Bohemia, each of which contained from sixteen 
 to eighteen villages. 
 
 He passed the winter in giving repose to his troops, col- 
 lecting magazines, procuring artillery, and filling with new 
 levies the vacancies which the fatigues and losses of the 
 last campaign had occasioned in his regiments. In May he 
 took the field, and assembled his army between Pilsen and 
 Egra ; but still finding his forces unable to cope with the 
 enemy, he amused the Saxons and Swedes with feigned ne- 
 gotiations for peace, and induced them to suspend their 
 operations by successive armistices. Having increased his 
 army, he detached general Hoik, on the side of Egra, with 
 
 VOL. II. T
 
 274 FERDINAND IT. [CH. LV 
 
 TOGO men to watch the movements of the duke of Weimar, 
 and directed his march towards Konigsgratz, on the fron- 
 tiers of Silesia. 
 
 After new and ineffectual attempts to detach the elector 
 of Saxony, he suddenly passed into Silesia, and would have 
 captured Schweidnitz, had it not been promptly succoured 
 by the allies. He then made a feint as if to enter Saxony, 
 directed his march towards Leutmeritz, and sent Gallas, 
 with 10,000 men, to threaten Dresden ; having thus drawn 
 Arnheim from Silesia, he suddenly returned in October, 
 1633, surprised a corps of 5000 Swedes under counts Thurn 
 and Duval at Steinau, on the banks of the Oder, and re- 
 duced them to purchase their safety by the cession of all 
 the places which they held in Silesia. He fulfilled this 
 agreement, set count Thurn at liberty, and suffered Duval 
 to escape. The consequence of these skilful movements 
 was the capture of Great Glogau Lignitz and Wohlau 
 in Silesia, Frankfort and Landzberg in the Mark of 
 Brandenburgh, and Gorlitz and Bautzen in Lusatia. He 
 now revived his favourite plan, to attack the very root of 
 the Swedish power, by carrying his arms into Mecklen- 
 burgh and Pomerania, and once more occupying the shores 
 of the Baltic. To secure his rear and facilitate his commu- 
 nications with the Austrian territories, he likewise resumed 
 his design of either detaching the electors of Saxony and 
 Brandenburgh, or conquering their dominions, hoping that, 
 while awed by the vicinity of his army, they would more 
 readily agree to conditions of peace. 
 
 But while he was pursuing this safe and prudent system, 
 his conduct afforded his enemies, at the imperial court, an 
 opportunity of forming an intrigue which terminated in his 
 ruin. 
 
 It was natural that Ferdinand should be anxious to re- 
 lieve himself from the shackles in which he was bound by 
 Wallenstein, as soon as he had secured those advantages 
 which he had so dearly purchased. Hence he lent a more 
 ready ear to the representations of his enemies, and con- 
 sented to various expedients which gradually tended to 
 reduce the overgrown power of his haughty subject. 
 With this view he approved the levy of a Spanish force in 
 the Milanese, and brought it into Germany, first under the
 
 1632-1634.] GENERAL GALLAS SENT TO RATISBON. 275 
 
 command of the cardinal infant, and afterwards under 
 that of the duke of Feria ; he justified the formation of 
 a separate corps, independent of Wallenstein, by urging that 
 his authority, as generalissimo in Germany, did not extend 
 to troops raised in another country ; and he likewise en- 
 deavoured to weaken his forces, by requiring him to send 
 a detachment to co-operate with this Spanish army. 
 
 The conduct of Wallenstein gave effect to the intrigues of 
 his enemies ; for, instead of submitting to these encroach- 
 ments, he arrogantly remonstrated against such flagrant 
 breaches of the agreement which had been the price of his 
 services. His apparent inactivity, his frequent negotia- 
 tions with the Saxons, and even with the Swedes, were 
 represented by his enemies as a traitorous correspondence ; 
 and his liberation of count Thurn, in opposition to the in- 
 stances of the court, could not fail of being galling to a so- 
 vereign, who, like Ferdinand, was so little inclined to show 
 mercy to a Protestant and a rebel. These impressions, 
 strengthened by the monks and Jesuits, whom Wallenstein 
 had offended by sarcasms on their indolence, bigotry, and 
 rapacity, were still further increased by the elector of Ba- 
 varia, between whom and Wallenstein existed every motive 
 of personal and political enmity, and by the court of Spain, 
 which had seen with such indignation his restoration to 
 authority. 
 
 The progress of the enemy on the side of the Danube 
 contributed to accelerate a crisis which, from the disposi- 
 tion of the court and the general, could not be far distant. 
 At the instances of the duke of Bavaria, the emperor com- 
 manded Wallenstein to hasten to the relief of Ratisbon, 
 when besieged by the duke of Weimar. Though indignant 
 at commands which were a breach of his engagement, 
 though unwilling to relinquish his darling project of con- 
 quering the north of Germany, especially for the sake of 
 succouring a rival against whom he suffered his personal 
 antipathy to influence his military operations, he did not 
 venture to resist, but he attempted to elude the repeated 
 orders of his sovereign. Though he detached general 
 Gallas with 10,000 men, he strictly enjoined him to main- 
 tain himself on the defensive. When new and reiterated 
 commands at length induced him to commence his march, 
 
 1 2
 
 276 FERDINAND II. [CH. LV. 
 
 his movements were so tardy that Ratisbon, Straubingen, 
 and Cham were taken by the duke of Weimar before he 
 approached the scene of action. Even these losses did not 
 overcome his repugnance to succour Bavaria ; for, after a 
 weak attempt to recover Cham, he hastily measured back 
 his march to Pilsen, on receiving intelligence that the 
 Saxons had besieged Frankfort, and again threatened to 
 penetrate into Silesia ; and he soon afterwards closed the 
 campaign, by distributing his troops into winter quarters 
 in Bohemia and Moravia. This contemptuous obstinacy 
 promoted the views of his enemies. The duke of Bavaria 
 and the court of Spain redoubled their instances to procure 
 his downfall : the duke threatened to make a separate 
 peace, and the Spaniards to withdraw their subsidies ; 
 while the Jesuits exerted their characteristic ingenuity to 
 bring forward every fretful expression, every mark of dis- 
 obedience, every negotiation with the enemy, as proofs of 
 a systematic design to usurp the crown of Bohemia, formed 
 from the very moment of his first dismission. 
 
 These repeated imputations, rendered plausible by the 
 pride and obstinacy of Wallenstein, could not fail to make 
 a deep impression ; and if Ferdinand was before inclined 
 to lessen the overgrown authority of his general, he was 
 now determined to deliver himself from so dangerous a 
 subject. As an abrupt dismission was too critical an ex- 
 periment to be tried on a general at the head of an army 
 which he had himself created, and which was entirely at 
 his devotion, Ferdinand endeavoured to disarm his power, 
 by weakening and dividing his forces. He ordered him to 
 send part of his troops to Passau, to despatch 6000 horse 
 into the Low Countries, to march with the remainder to 
 the siege of Ratisbon, and after the recovery of that fort- 
 ress, to take up his winter quarters in the territories of the 
 enemy. 
 
 These intrigues had not escaped the vigilance of Wal- 
 lenstein ; but, with his usual presumption, he despised the 
 efforts of his enemies, till these last orders convinced him 
 that they began to take effect. The most natural expe- 
 dient to be adopted in this situation was, to alarm the em- 
 peror with the apprehension that the army would disband, 
 and the officers follow him into his retreat, in the same
 
 1 632-1634.] WALLENSTEIX RESIGNS. 277 
 
 manner as on the former occasion ; and to this expedient 
 Wallenstein had recourse. He instantly repaired to Pilsen, 
 and summoned the colonels of his army. He represented 
 to them that his enemies at court had persuaded the em- 
 peror to remove him from his command, after he had 
 served the house of Austria thirty years with such fidelity 
 and success, after he had gained so many advantages, and 
 delivered the emperor from such imminent danger : " For 
 my part," he added, " I am determined to resign my com- 
 mand before I am dismissed, and only feel for the fate of 
 my brave and worthy soldiers, the companions of my vic- 
 tories, and the sharers of my dangers, who are going to be 
 separated from each other, and ordered to march, in the 
 midst of a severe winter, from those comfortable quarters 
 which I had provided for them. I regret still more that I 
 cannot confer upon them the rewards of their valour, 
 which they so eminently deserve, and I promised to bestow, 
 promises which I hoped to fulfil in the next campaign." 
 
 After this artful address he retired. His brother-in-law 
 Tersky, with three of his confidential officers, then easily 
 prevailed upon the others to intercede with him not to 
 resign his command, and drew from them a promise to sup- 
 port him at the risk of their lives and fortunes, by sub- 
 scribing the following memorial. 
 
 " We the underwritten generals and colonels, having 
 been informed that his highness Albert duke of Mecklen- 
 burgh, Friedland, Sagan, and Great Glogau, has resolved 
 to resign his command of generalissimo, on account of the 
 calumnious imputations against him at the court of Vienna, 
 and because the emperor refuses to supply the army with 
 subsistence ; we, taking into mature consideration the de- 
 triment which will accrue from his resignation, not only to 
 his imperial majesty, but also to the general welfare of the 
 state, as well as to the imperial army, which will be utterly 
 ruined; and since we are convinced that our sole expec- 
 tations depend on our commander-in-chief, to whom we 
 have hitherto been true and obedient in all dangers, and 
 who from his kind affection to us is alone both able and 
 willing to reward our faithful services ; we therefore cannot 
 but apprehend and testify our concern, lest his resignation 
 should be followed by the immediate ruin of the army. 
 
 T S
 
 278 FERDINAND DT. [CH. LV. 
 
 For the purpose of preventing this misfortune, we have 
 unanimously deputed field-marshal Illo, and the four brave 
 generals, Morvald, Predau, Losy, and Hinnersam, to his 
 highness the duke of Friedland, to entreat him not to 
 resign his command, and assure him that we will bind our- 
 selves, our fortunes, and lives, and all the troops under our 
 command. This true and sincere love towards our dear 
 father finally prevailed upon him to accede to our request, 
 and to promise not to abandon the army without our 
 knowledge and consent. In gratitude for this favour, we 
 on our parts do freely bind ourselves by oath to remain 
 true and faithful to him, and shed the last drop of our 
 blood in his service. We also most solemnly swear that 
 we will, at the risk of our lives, punish all those who at- 
 tempt to swerve from this promise, or break this oath ; and 
 we therefore subscribe our names to this writing, without 
 reservation or deceit. Given at Pilsen, Feb. 12. 1634." * 
 
 This paper was signed by fifty of the principal officers ; 
 but, as his impending disgrace was now known to the 
 chiefs of the army, he was deserted by Gallas, the second in 
 command, as well as by Aldringer, and other officers of 
 high rank, who declined appearing at Pilsen. 
 
 Octavius Piccolomini, who, according to some historians, 
 was present, and signed the paper, but, according to others, 
 had likewise, under various pretences, declined appearing 
 at Pilsen, was the person who gave the first notice of these 
 proceedings to the emperor. He arrived at Vienna in the 
 middle of the night, awakened Ferdinand, informed him 
 of what had recently passed, and exaggerated the account 
 by adding, that the whole army had risen in rebellion, that 
 the troops quartered in the environs of Vienna were pre- 
 paring to attack the city ; that many conspirators were 
 collected within the walls, ready at a moment's warning to 
 pillage the town, and massacre the whole imperial family. 
 Ferdinand, alarmed at the intelligence, ordered the arrest 
 
 * This document, which has been strangely garbled, mangled and 
 misrepresented, is given from Pelzel, as the authority, which seems to 
 be most authentic, without being partial to Wallenstein. Pelzel, p. 777. 
 The substance, as given by Gualdo, tallies in general with the decla- 
 ration in the text, though it is more favourable to Wallenstein, p. 222.
 
 1632-1634.] WALLENSTEIN OFFERS TO JOIN THE SWEDE8.279 
 
 of Wallenstein, deprived him of the command, conferred 
 it on Gallas, and intrusted to Piccolomini the arduous task 
 of seizing his person, either dead or alive. Piccolomini in- 
 stantly returned into Bohemia, while Gallas assembled the 
 greater part of the troops, represented to them the pro- 
 scription of Wallenstein, and without the smallest diffi- 
 culty took possession of Prague, Budweiss, Leutmeritz, and 
 Tabor. 
 
 During this interval, "Wallenstein waited the effect of 
 the declaration signed by his officers, and sent his cousin 
 to Vienna to justify his conduct. He was soon, however, 
 apprised of the fatal change which had taken place ; and, 
 though at first not acquainted with the tenor of the orders 
 issued against him, he found that his representations were 
 without effect, and that he had every thing to apprehend from 
 the vengeance of his enemies, and the displeasure of his so- 
 vereign. Pride, disappointed ambition, and a natural anxiety 
 for his own safety, drove him into that rebellion of which 
 he had before been only accused. After extorting new 
 promises of attachment from his officers, and publishing a 
 declaration that he had never entertained the slightest 
 thought injurious to his sovereign and the Catholic reli- 
 gion, he despatched a force under Tersky to seize Prague, 
 and sent couriers to the duke of Saxe Weimar, at Cham, 
 offering to surrender Pilsen and Egra, and join the Swedes 
 and Saxons with the best part of his army. But such were 
 the subterfuges which he had before employed to deceive 
 his antagonists, that at the very moment when his defec- 
 tion would have been of the utmost importance, he was not 
 believed.* The duke, surprised at this unexpected propo- 
 sal, considered it as a new artifice, and instead of accepting 
 the offer, sent back the messenger with plausible excuses. 
 
 Wallenstein, thus disappointed on one side by the sus- 
 picions which his former duplicity had inspired, was soon 
 
 * This reluctance of the Swedish generals to accept the first offers of 
 Wallenstein, joined to the extreme caution which they evinced to the 
 very last moment, have sadly puzzled those who criminate the whole 
 conduct of Wallenstein ; and no wonder ; for they are the most irrefra- 
 gable proofs that he had entered into no previous conspiracy, and that 
 his treason was only the effect of his danger and resentment at the mo- 
 ment of his proscription. 
 
 I 4
 
 280 FERDINAND II. [OH. LV. 
 
 confounded with the intelligence on the other, that he had 
 been anticipated in his design to seize Prague, and was 
 deserted by his officers and a part of his army, that he and 
 his adherents were declared traitors, and the command 
 transferred to Gallas. Baffled, abandoned, proscribed, he 
 was driven to desperation ; he sent Francis Albert of 
 Saxe Lauenburgh with new and pressing instances to the 
 duke of Weimar, despatched a courier to Oxenstiern at 
 Frankfort, and another to the Saxon general Arnheim, and 
 removed 40,000 ducats to Pirna, as a place of safety. He 
 quitted Pilsen, accompanied by colonel Butler, to whom he 
 had given a regiment of dragoons, and in whom he placed 
 implicit confidence, and, escorted by the regiment of Ter- 
 sky, hastened to Egra. Here he hoped to maintain himself 
 till he had concluded his arrangements with the Saxons 
 and Swedes, as the place was strongly fortified, and the 
 governor, Gordon, a native of Scotland, was a man whose 
 gratitude he imagined he had secured by raising him from 
 the rank of a common soldier. Seldom, however, a dis- 
 graced favourite experiences a faithful attachment ; and it 
 was the fate of Wallenstein to be betrayed by those whom 
 lie had most served, and in whom he most implicitly 
 trusted. To Gordon, Butler, and Leslie, another officer 
 on whom he had likewise conferred his bounties, he expa- 
 tiated on his injuries with all the bitterness of disappoint- 
 ment, developed his plans of vengeance, and urged them to 
 espouse his cause. They affected compliance, but one or 
 all had been gained by the imperial court ; and as an at- 
 tempt to seize his person was equally impracticable and 
 dangerous, surrounded as he was by his friends and adhe- 
 rents, in the midst of troops devoted to his cause, they 
 resolved to assassinate him and his immediate partisans, as 
 the only means to prevent his escape, or disconcert his 
 projects. 
 
 Having strengthened their party by gaining three cap- 
 tains, Devereux, Burke, and Geraldine, Gordon, on the 
 25th of February, invited to an entertainment in the castle, 
 generals Tersky, Illo, and Kinsky, with Nieman, the secre- 
 tary of Wallenstein. At the close of the evening, Ge- 
 raldine and Devereux, with fourteen determined men, were 
 posted in two adjoining apartments, and Burke, with a party
 
 1632-1634.] WALLENSTEIN ASSASSINATED. 281 
 
 of an hundred, paraded the streets to prevent any sudden 
 tumult. Towards the close of the repast, when the guests 
 were heated with wine, a dispute was purposely com- 
 menced by the conspirators, and the noise which it occa- 
 sioned was the signal for the execution of their design. 
 Two doors being opened on each side of the room, Burke 
 and Devereux entered at the head of their respective par- 
 ties, crying, "Long live Ferdinand the Second!" The 
 table was overturned in an instant ; Gordon and his asso- 
 ciates seized the candles, and held them aloft. Illo darted 
 to his sword, but received a halbert through his neck as 
 he was attempting to draw it ; Kinsky was slain after a 
 short but manly resistance ; Tersky, who had time to seize 
 his sword, killed three of his assailants before he fell ; and 
 Nleman was/massacred as he descended the stairs. 
 
 The enterprise was now begun ; but the assassination of 
 the chief, the most difficult and dangerous part, yet re- 
 mained to be executed. Devereux, seizing a halbert, 
 exclaimed, " I will have the honour of putting Wallenstein 
 to death ; " and leading thirty fresh soldiers, hurried with 
 Gordon to his apartments. The sentinels, who knew 
 Gordon, suffered them to pass ; but, as they entered the 
 pofch, a musket belonging to one of the party was dis- 
 charged by accident. The dread of discovery gave wings 
 to their impatience : they hurried up stairs, killed a cham- 
 berlain, who, awakened by the report of the musket, op- 
 posed their passage, and burst open the door of the cham- 
 ber. They found Wallenstein, roused by the tumult, 
 standing in his shirt at the window, which he had already 
 forced open, and calling for assistance. As he advanced 
 towards them, Devereux demanded, " Are you the traitor 
 who is going to deliver the imperial troops to the enemy, 
 and tear the crown from the head of the emperor?" Re- 
 ceiving no answer, he exclaimed, "You must die!" and 
 offered a few moments for prayer. Disdaining likewise to 
 reply, Wallenstein stretched out his arms, and without 
 uttering a single word, received the halbert in his body. 
 
 This deed was scarcely perpetrated before the alarm was 
 spread through the town ; the soldiers seized their arms, 
 and flocked in troops to defend the life or avenge the death 
 of their general. Fortunately the effects of this sudden
 
 282 FERDINAND II. [CH. LV. 
 
 impulse were prevented by the promptitude and coolness of 
 Gordon. He addressed them with firmness and modera- 
 tion, expatiated on the supposed treasons of Wallenstein, 
 and read the directions of the emperor for securing his 
 person either alive or dead. The effect of this address 
 was instantaneous: the troops, perceiving on one hand 
 their hopes annihilated by the death of their chief, and on 
 the other dreading the vengeance of their sovereign, were 
 alarmed at their dangerous situation ; and a faint though 
 unanimous cry of " Long live the emperor ! " proclaimed 
 their return to obedience. The duke of Saxe Lauenburgh, 
 on returning from his mission, was made prisoner ; and the 
 duke of Weimar, who at length had advanced towards 
 Egra, only escaped the same fate by his own caution, and 
 the strength of his escort. 
 
 Butler and Devereux instantly repaired to Vienna, and 
 imparted the welcome intelligence to the emperor. The 
 assassination of this formidable chief became the signal 
 for the punishment of his adherents. Several were taken 
 up at Prague, and privately put to death ; others were pub- 
 licly executed ; and at Pilsen seven colonels, and seventeen 
 persons, of inferior condition, were beheaded. Thus, while 
 his partisans were terrified by the severity of these punish- 
 ments, the number of executions contributed to spread a 
 more general belief of the danger and extent of his treasons. 
 On the other hand, those who had betrayed him, or contri- 
 buted to his fall, were amply rewarded. Gordon received 
 the confiscated estates of Tersky ; and the princely posses- 
 sions of Wallenstein were divided among Piccolomini, 
 Gallas, Aldringer, and Leslie. 
 
 To justify the assassination of a general who had twice 
 delivered the house of Austria from destruction, the court 
 of Vienna published an apology for its conduct, in a writing 
 which was called " A circumstantial and authentic narra- 
 tive of the treacherous conspiracy of Wallenstein and his 
 adherents." In this paper, which was drawn up with 
 Jesuitical ingenuity, it was not deemed a sufficient justifi- 
 cation to deduce his treachery from the moment when his 
 treason really began, but from the very period of his first 
 dismission. He was charged with plots which carry their 
 own refutation in their very extravagance. He was ac-
 
 1632-1634.] CHARACTER OF WALLENSTEIN. 283 
 
 cused of having formed a systematic plan to annihilate 
 both branches of the house of Austria ; and after satisfying 
 himself with the kingdom of Bohemia, he was said to have 
 adopted the system attributed to Henry IV. for the divi- 
 sion and dismemberment of the hereditary and Spanish 
 territories. In proof of these accusations, every overture 
 to the enemy, and every subterfuge which he had employed 
 to dupe and divide his antagonists, was made a part of his 
 treasonable correspondence ; every violent expression, and 
 doubtless more than one broke from him in the transports 
 of resentment, was registered ; and these proofs were 
 attempted to be corroborated by the testimony of those 
 who were his avowed and bitter enemies ; who were richly 
 rewarded for becoming his accusers ; who had taken part 
 in his assassination, or profited by his fall. 
 
 In justice to this arrogant, ambitious, eccentric, and im- 
 placable, but great and injured man, we have deemed it our 
 duty to strip his cause of its false colouring and specious 
 exaggerations, and to describe his conduct as it appeared 
 on a candid and unimpassioned review. Though at last 
 driven into treason by pride, indignation, ill-requited ser- 
 vice, and self-defence, it was, during the greater part of 
 his splendid career, his honour and his boast to raise the 
 authority and glory of Austria, and to become the sole in- 
 strument and supporter of her power. He was far superior 
 to his sovereign in true policy, in liberality of sentiment, 
 in religious toleration ; and these qualities (the want of 
 which occasioned all the misfortunes of Ferdinand) became 
 the theme of accusation in a bigoted and tyrannical court. 
 His crime was that of being too powerful, of contemning 
 the prejudices and passions of those on whom he was de- 
 pendent, and of an overweening confidence in his own 
 good fortune and superior abilities. These were his fail- 
 ings as a courtier ; as a general he deserves a high rank in 
 a martial age, and a period of great men. He does not, 
 like his royal antagonist, astonish us by daring efforts, and 
 splendid enterprises ; but, though he did not want fire 
 when necessary, his distinguishing characteristics were ex- 
 treme vigilance and presence of mind, profound judgment 
 and unshaken perseverance; and it is the greatest eulogium 
 we can pay to his character and talents as a soldier to add,
 
 284 FERDINAND II. [CH. LVI. 
 
 that he was the only general who checked the progress or 
 defeated the designs of Gustavus Adolphus.* 
 
 CHAP. LVI. 1634-1637. 
 
 THE vigilance of the court, the activity of Gallas, and 
 above all the popularity of the young king of Hungary, 
 who succeeded to the command, prevented the ill effects 
 which were apprehended from the assassination of Wallen- 
 stein ; for a mutiny of the troops in Silesia, and an insur- 
 
 * Numerous publications have been written on the supposed conspi- 
 racy of Wallenstein ; and the circumstance which has most contributed 
 to keep alive the accusation against him is the romantic nature of his 
 history, which has given such scope to fancy and conjecture. The 
 most singular of these works is the " Conjuration de Wallenstein," by 
 Sarazin, a Frenchman, who resided in Germany at the time, which has 
 become highly popular, from the point and brilliancy of the style. It 
 has contributed to throw an air of romance over his hero, and like the 
 singular work of his countryman, the Abbe St. Real, on the supposed 
 conspiracy of the marquis de Bedmar against Venice, has given to a 
 shadow all the substance of reality. 
 
 Some curious accounts of Wallenstein's adventures and death are given 
 in the itinerary of Carve, chaplain to Devereux, who was present at 
 Egra at the time of his assassination. This work, which is extremely 
 scarce, has furnished Harte with the principal materials for his account 
 of Wallenstein, vol. ii. p. 35-57. But as the former work is too fan- 
 ciful to be considered as history, the accounts of Carve are to be re- 
 ceived with caution, as they must have been derived from Devereux, 
 and the other principal actors in this scene, who were interested to jus- 
 tify the assassination of their chief. The most sober, candid, and 
 rational account of Wallenstein, is to be found in Gualdo, particularly in 
 b. 8. Pelzel has also given an impartial narrative, principally derived 
 from the archives of Prague, p. 772. Schiller, in his History of the 
 Thirty Years War, has drawn an animated picture of this singular 
 man, which if it does not carry conviction from its truth, must please 
 by its force and eloquence. The most remarkable is the narrative al- 
 luded to in the text, which was published by the court, under the title 
 of " Ausfuerlicher und gruendlicher Bericht der Friedlaendischen und 
 seiner Adherenten Prodition, und was es damit fur eine Bischaffenheit 
 gehabt, &c. in offenen druck gegeben aus sonderbare der Roem. Kais. 
 Majest. Befehl." This document has been followed by most historians, 
 even while they affected to doubt its authenticity ; and those who have 
 been most inclined to do justice to Wallenstein have suffered their judg- 
 ment to be biassed by this artful narrative.
 
 1634-1637.] PROTESTANTS MEET AT FRANKFORT. 285 
 
 rection among the peasants, the only consequences of this 
 dangerous expedient, were soon suppressed. 
 
 Still, however, the affairs of the emperor wore an un- 
 favourable aspect. The states of Lower Saxony had joined 
 the confederation formed by the four circles of the Rhine ; 
 Westphalia was on the point of acceding, and in March, 
 1634, Oxenstiern held a meeting of the Protestants at 
 Frankfort, with a design to allay all jealousies, and unite 
 the whole body against the house of Austria. The duke 
 of Weimar, at the head of 10,000 men, posted at Ratisbon, 
 kept the Bavarians in check ; the French possessed Loraine, 
 the Swedes the greater part of Alsace, and the rhingrave 
 Otho, after defeating the imperialists at Warweil, had 
 taken Philipsburgh, Neuburgh, and Friburgh in the Bris- 
 gau, and straitened Rheinfelden. In Suabia, Horn moving 
 from Ravensburg, his winter quarters, captured Biberach, 
 Kempten, and Memmingen, and, after routing a corps of 
 Bavarians at Wangen, advanced to the vicinity of Augs- 
 burgh. From this situation of the armies, General Banner 
 and the Saxons might have renewed the invasion of Bohemia, 
 while Weimar, Horn, and the rhingrave, uniting in the 
 heart of Bavai-ia, attacked the most vulnerable part of the 
 hereditary countries, with a force far superior to any which 
 the Austrians could oppose. 
 
 Notwithstanding these inauspicious appearances, Fer- 
 dinand was induced by various motives to turn the princi- 
 pal effort of the war on the side of Bavaria, which Wal- 
 lenstein, no less from prudence than caprice, had always 
 avoided. By the recent acquisition of Cham and Strau- 
 bingen, the Bavarians had opened a passage over the 
 Danube ; the cardinal infant of Spain had collected a con- 
 siderable force in the Milanese for the defence of the Low 
 Countries, and in his passage was empowered to make a 
 diversion, or co-operate with the imperial army. Ferdinand 
 relied also on the secret influence which he had acquired in 
 the venal court of Saxony by means of Wallenstein's in- 
 trigues, and on the disgust of the elector of Brandenburgh, 
 who was disappointed in his expectation of obtaining the 
 young queen Christina in marriage for his son, and irritated 
 by his exclusion from Pomerania. He was still more 
 encouraged by the divisions which subsisted between the
 
 286 FERDINAND II. [CH. LVI. 
 
 Germans, the Swedes, and the French, the growing anti- 
 pathy of the two great ministers, Oxenstiern and Richelieu, 
 and the rivalry and altercation which pervaded the com- 
 bined armies. 
 
 By vigour and decision the emperor hastened the disso- 
 lution of a confederacy, which in all its parts exhibited 
 such symptoms of weakness and decay; and it seemed as if 
 that regularity of design, and promptitude of action, which 
 had given such astonishing success to the Swedes, was 
 suddenly transferred to the imperialists. The new gene- 
 ralissimo took the field early in the spring, assisted by the 
 counsels of Gallas and Piccolomini. He assembled his 
 army at Prague, and leaving 10,000 men under Colloredo, 
 to observe the motions of the enemy in Lusatia and Silesia, 
 advanced rapidly by Egra towards the Danube, joined the 
 Bavarians and the forces of the Catholic league under the 
 duke of Loraine, passed the river at Straubingen with 
 30,000 men, and invested Ratisbon. While the Swedish and 
 German generals were wasting the time in contentions for 
 the supreme command, or discussing plans of operation, he 
 vigorously pressed the siege, and reduced the place to sur- 
 render on the 26th of July, 1631, at the moment when 
 they suspended their rivalry and moved to its relief.* 
 
 An irruption of the Swedes and Saxons into Bohemia 
 gave only a momentary check to his career, while it in- 
 creased the infatuation of the enemy. Secure that their 
 divisions would not allow them to act in concert, and rely- 
 ing on the secret jealousies of the Saxon court, the imperial 
 commander detached only 10,000 men to protect Bohemia, 
 and pursued his plan of driving the enemy from the Danube. 
 By a rapid march he anticipated the movements of his anta- 
 
 * Count Thurn, the origin of the insurrection in Bohemia, and 
 the bitterest enemy of Ferdinand, bore a principal share in the defence 
 of Ratisbon, and by some is said to have been the commandant. But 
 as he had fallen into disgrace with Oxenstiern since his defeat at 
 Steinau, he was so sunk from the height of reputation, which he had 
 attained as a popular leader, and the chief of an insurrection, that he 
 was suffered even by the imperialists to escape with the rest of the 
 garrison. From this period his name seldom occurs in history, and all 
 my efforts have not been sufficient to trace the subsequent events of 
 his life, or the time of his death. Schmidt, vol. x. p. 185. ; Pelzel, 
 p. 786. ; Falkenstein, p. 678.
 
 J 634-1 637.] BATTLE OF NORDLUSGEN. 287 
 
 gonists, took Donawerth by storm, and invested Nordlingen, 
 the great support of their hostile operations in Suabia and 
 Franconia. The same divisions among the enemy still 
 favouring his operations, the junction of the Spaniards 
 augmented his army to 40,000 men, and he made a vigor- 
 ous but fruitless assault to carry the town by storm, before 
 his antagonists recovered from their infatuation. 
 
 At length when the apprehension of common danger, 
 and the sense of disgrace, had again allayed the feuds of 
 Weimar and Horn, their tardiness, disputes, and indecision 
 allowed the youthful hero to add another laurel to his 
 military crown. On their advance he recalled his detach- 
 ments, drew his artillery from the trenches, formed his 
 troops, and occupied the posts commanding his position. 
 By these precautions, by the advantages of ground, the 
 superiority of numbers, the skill of his officers, and the 
 bravery of his soldiers, he on the 6th of September, re- 
 pulsed the desperate attacks of the enemy. When ex- 
 hausted by the combat they began to retreat, he pressed on 
 their rear, broke their diminished ranks, and, after a con- 
 flict of eight hours, gained a complete victory, with the 
 loss of only 2000 men. Eight thousand Swedes were 
 killed on the field ; more were slain in the flight, 4000 
 were made prisoners ; the whole baggage, with eighty 
 pieces of artillery, fell into the hands of the imperialists, 
 besides numerous standards and other trophies. Horn, 
 after courting death in every shape, and receiving several 
 wounds, was captured, with three other generals, and the 
 duke of Weimar himself narrowly escaped a similar fate. 
 
 In a conflict where all contended for the palm of glory, 
 the most distinguished were John de Wert, and the duke 
 of Loraine, who with his own hand took the standard 01 
 Weimar. The king of Hungary and the cardinal infant 
 exposed themselves to danger with all the ardour of youth- 
 ful heroism, and vied in displaying the characteristic 
 bravery of the Austrian family. To use the simple ex- 
 pression of a contemporary warrior, " they won immortal 
 glory in this battle ; to the wonder of all men were always 
 amidst the musket shot void of fear, nor could they be 
 drawn from thence by any representation, but replied, let 
 such princes as are afraid keep themselves within their
 
 288 FERDINAND II. [CH. LVI. 
 
 royal palaces, and not come to an army." Nor did they 
 less distinguish themselves by moderation and humanity 
 after the victory, than by gallantry in the hour of danger ; 
 they received the captives with the utmost respect and 
 compassion ; endeavoured, by their conduct to Horn, to 
 alleviate the sense of his misfortune ; and the cardinal 
 infant repairing to a petty hovel, relinquished his own 
 quarters to accommodate the Swedish commander. 
 
 The victory of Nordlingen produced scarcely less 
 rapid and important advantages to the house of Austria, 
 than the victory of Leipizc had given to the Swedes ; by 
 the total rout of the confederates, the destruction of their 
 infantry, and the capture of so many generals, the Swedes 
 lost the reputation of their arms ; while the conquerors 
 succeeded to the fame and fortune from which they had 
 fallen, and in their turn became the objects of admiration 
 and terror. 
 
 On the surrender of Nordlingen, which yielded the fol- 
 lowing day, the cardinal infant took the route of Aschaffen- 
 burgh and Cologne, to defend the Netherlands against 
 France. Part of the Bavarians were left to clear the banks 
 of the Danube, the Leek, and the Iller ; the duke of Lo- 
 raine directed his march through the Brisgau, with a view 
 to recover his duchy ; the troops of the Catholic league, 
 under de Wert, burst into the Upper Palatinate, and a 
 part of the imperialists, under Piccolomini, swept the 
 banks of the Main. The king of Hungary, after driving 
 the forces of the rhingrave, with the remnant of the dis- 
 comfited army, across the Rhine, took Heilbron, the focus 
 of the confederacy, and established his winter quarters in 
 Wirtemberg, as well to awe the states in the neighbouring 
 circles, as to prepare for the recovery of Alsace and Lo- 
 raine in the ensuing campaign. 
 
 On the rapid advance of the victorious army, the con- 
 federates assembled at Frankfort were overwhelmed with 
 consternation. They accused the Swedes as the authors of 
 all the misfortunes which they either felt or dreaded ; and 
 the union displayed the same symptoms of dissolution as 
 that of Smalkalde after the defeat of Muhlberg. The con- 
 tentions among the officers were likewise increased by 
 their ill success, and the remnant of the army which had
 
 1634-1637.] POLICY OF RICHELIEU. 289 
 
 escaped from Nordlingen, with the troops of the rhin- 
 grave, and those drawn in haste from Alsace to the vicinity 
 of Frankfort, were driven to mutiny by the cabals of their 
 chiefs, and the want of pay and provisions. In the midst 
 of this general dismay, Oxenstiern alone stood firm ; but 
 all his efforts could not allay those discords which had been 
 the cause of the recent misfortune. The confederates, who 
 were most exposed to danger, conducted their deliberations 
 with all the tardiness of fear and indecision ; the others 
 pursuing their own particular views, held an insidious neu- 
 trality, or entered into negotiations for peace. Holland 
 and England were too distant or too lukewarm to afford 
 him support, and Austria disdainfully rejected all overtures 
 of accommodation. In this desperate emergency, he 
 adopted the only but mortifying alternative now remaining, 
 of allowing France to obtain the direction of the war, and 
 a share in the spoils. As he had already withdrawn the 
 garrisons from the towns on the Rhine and in Alsace, he 
 made a merit of necessity, and offered to cede Philipsburgh 
 with that part of Alsace which was held by the Swedes, 
 except Benfeld*, provided France would augment her sub- 
 sidy, and act as a principal in the war against the house of 
 Austria. 
 
 This was the opportunity which had been long expected 
 by Richelieu. After employing his power and great talents 
 in subduing his own enemies and restoring the tranquillity 
 of the country, in humbling the branches of the royal 
 family, and fixing his authority in the timid mind of the 
 king, he laboured with the same spirit and perseverance to 
 complete his system of external policy, and establish the 
 future prosperity and splendour of that people, whose rights 
 he had violated, and whom he ruled with a rod of iron. 
 He therefore listened to the proposals of Oxenstiern ; but 
 profited by the distress of the Swedes, to render their as- 
 sistance subservient to his grand principle of operation, 
 which was, to direct his chief efforts against the Spanish 
 territories, with the view of gaining a footing in Italy, ap- 
 propriating Franche Comte, and extending the French 
 
 Benfeld was a small, but important town, affording an entrance 
 into Alsace, from its position on the 111, which runs through the centre 
 of that country, dividing it in its whole length. 
 
 VOL. II. U
 
 290 FERDINAND IT. [CH. LV1. 
 
 frontier on the side of the Netherlands. He proposed en- 
 gagements to Oxenstiern, which were calculated to relieve 
 the Swedes from impending ruin, without affording them 
 the means of recovering their former ascendency. He sent 
 an immediate largess to pacify the mutinous soldiers, and 
 permitted 6000 French troops to join the remnant of the 
 army under Weimar ; but he firmly refused to engage in the 
 war as a principal against the emperor. After long dis- 
 cussions, he concluded with the Swedish chancellor a treaty 
 of offensive and defensive alliance. Besides a continuation 
 of the former subsidy, France granted 500,000 livres, to 
 enable the Swedes again to put their army in motion ; 
 agreed to declare war against Spain ; to furnish a corps of 
 12,000 men, which was to be placed under the control of 
 the German directory ; and to supply additional forces, 
 who were to act on the Rhine, as occasion might require. 
 In return, France, under the terms of protection and de- 
 posit, was to retain possession of all Alsace, except Ben- 
 feld, with the towns of Philipsburgh and Spire, till the 
 conclusion of a peace, reserving the rights of the inhabit- 
 ants and the authority of the empire. The confederates 
 were to grant a neutrality to any Catholic prince of Ger- 
 many who should claim the protection of France ; they 
 were also to assist in the conquest of Brisac, and the fort- 
 resses on the Upper Rhine as far as Constance, and in the 
 recovery of Philipsburgh, which, during the negotiation, 
 had been surprised by the imperialists. 
 
 This agreement, at first privately arranged between the 
 French and Swedish ministers, was submitted, in March, 
 1636, to the confederates of Heilbron, and it required all 
 the influence of Oxenstiern and all the interest of France 
 to obtain their acquiescence in so dishonourable a treaty, 
 which delivered the keys of Germany into the hands of a 
 foreign power so ambitious and enterprising as France, and 
 enabled her to dictate to that empire which had once given 
 law to Europe. 
 
 The difficulties and delays occasioned by these negotia- 
 tions suspending the military operations of the confederacy, 
 the emperor pursued the advantages which he had derived 
 from the decisive victory of Nordlingen. While the king 
 of Hungary remained at Heilbron, treating with the
 
 1631-1637.] PEACE CONCLUDED AT PRAGUE. 291 
 
 princes and states, who were willing to submit, Bavaria 
 was delivered from the enemy; Ulm, Augsburgh, and 
 Memmingen surrendered ; and John de Wert, after reduc- 
 ing the whole Palatinate, except Heidelberg, and taking 
 Spire, joined the duke of Loraine in an attempt to recover 
 his dominions, where his partisans, from their numerous 
 castles and small posts, incessantly harassed the French 
 army under La Force. 
 
 Another fruit of this important victory was the reconcilia- 
 tion with Saxony. The elector, who had long waited for 
 a favourable opportunity to desert his allies, had been de- 
 terred from accepting reiterated offers of peace, by the 
 superiority of the Swedish arms in his vicinity, or had de- 
 murred from a desire to obtain more advantageous terms. 
 The battle of Nordlingen having removed his apprehen- 
 sions, as well as lessened his hope of dictating his own con- 
 ditions, he listened to the proposals of Ferdinand, who on 
 his part relinquished some of his prejudices and interests, 
 and tacitly abandoned the edict of restitution in favour of 
 the Lutherans, to detach a prince, the bond of the Protest- 
 ant union. 
 
 Preliminaries were signed soon after the battle of Nord- 
 lingen, and on the 30th of May, 1635, formed into a defini- 
 tive peace, which was concluded at Prague. The members 
 of the Confession of Augsburgh were allowed to possess in 
 perpetuity all the mediate ecclesiastical property secular- 
 ised since the pacification of Passau, and to retain all the 
 immediate* property seized since the llth of November, 
 1627, or for ever, unless a new and amicable arrange- 
 ment should take place within ten years. The worship of 
 the Confession of Augsburgh was to be tolerated only 
 among the free nobility, or in those imperial cities which 
 were not bound by a previous arrangement with the em- 
 peror, and likewise among the natives of Silesia ; but from 
 this toleration were formally excluded Bohemia and the 
 other possessions of the house of Austria in the empire. 
 A general amnesty was granted to all who acceded to this 
 treaty, with the restitution of all conquests made since the 
 
 * Mediate property meant that which was subject to any sovereign 
 or state, and included in their territories. Immediate property de- 
 pended solely on the emperor and empire, 
 u 2
 
 292 FERDINAND II. [oil. LV1. 
 
 lauding of Gustavus Adolphus. From this clause were, 
 however, excepted the dukes of Wirtemberg, the prince of 
 Baden and the landgrave of Hesse, as well as the subjects 
 of the house of Austria, who had taken up arms against 
 their sovereign. Finally, the two contracting parties, with 
 all who should accede to the treaty, were to unite their 
 arms in expelling foreigners from the empire. The elector 
 of Saxony was to retain Lusatia as a fief relevant from the 
 crown of Bohemia, and the archbishopric of Magdeburgh 
 was assigned to his second son, with the exception of four 
 bailiwicks, which were ceded to the elector himself. The 
 bishopric of Halberstadt was to remain in the possession of 
 the archduke Leopold. The proscription against the elector 
 Palatine continued in force ; but his widow was to receive 
 her jointure from the elector of Bavaria, and his sons a 
 princely establishment, whenever they should return to 
 their duty. With the hope of regaining the elector of 
 Brandenburgh, a clause was introduced, securing to him 
 the eventual succession of Pomerania. 
 
 This treaty bears evident marks of that bigotry and po- 
 litical jealousy, which actuated both the contracting par- 
 ties ; for Ferdinand was unwilling to make any concession 
 which was not extorted by necessity, and he unfortunately 
 found in the elector the same antipathy against the Cal- 
 viuists, and the same aversion to the Palatine family, with 
 which he himself was animated. Hence both parties con- 
 curred in excluding the Calvinists from the peace, and the 
 Palatine family, with their adherents from the amnesty ; 
 and by a subterfuge, which equally accorded with the prin- 
 ciples of both, avoided the very mention of the general 
 term Protestants in the treaty.* 
 
 The Lutheran princes and states rejected the proffered 
 conditions with indignation ; but their repugnance was 
 speedily overcome by the terror of the imperial arms, the 
 influence and example of the elector, and above all by 
 
 Nothing, perhaps, proves more the inaccuracy with which history 
 is generally written, than the account given of this celebrated treaty ; 
 for even the best informed authors have described the toleration esta- 
 blished by it, as applying to the whole Protestant body. On the 
 contrary, this treaty, like the peace of Passau, was confined to the 
 members of the Confession of Augsburgh, or Lutherans.
 
 1634-1637.] INTRIGUES OF RICHELIEU. 293 
 
 their desire to relieve themselves from a ruinous contest. 
 Frankfort, the seat of imperial power, and the first city of 
 the empire, set the example on the 14th of July, 1635 ; be- 
 fore the close of September, the confederacy of Heilbron 
 was dissolved, and all the members successively acceded, 
 except those who were formally or tacitly excluded. By 
 this fortunate accommodation Ferdinand gained such a pre- 
 ponderance, that the Swedes would have been speedily 
 crushed, and his authority fully re-established, had not 
 France taken a new and active part in the war. 
 
 Richelieu had been long preparing to turn the principal 
 strength of France against Spain. He formed a league with 
 the dukes of Savoy and Parma, for the attack of the Mi- 
 lanese, arid entered into an alliance with the United Pro- 
 vinces, for the conquest and partition of the Netherlands. 
 The occupation of Treves, in February, 1635, and the 
 seizure of the elector * by the Spanish forces, gave him 
 a plausible pretext for a declaration of war. Two fleets 
 were immediately equipped, and four armies put in motion 
 The first, of 26,000 men, was to act in the Netherlands, 
 with the prince of Orange ; the second, of 14,000, in Italy ; 
 the third, of 4000, under the celebrated duke of Rohan, 
 was sent from Alsace to secure the Valteline, and cut off 
 the communication between the Spanish and Austrian ter- 
 ritories, and another under La Force was ready to act on 
 the side of the Rhine. 
 
 Yet notwithstanding these vast preparations, the strug- 
 gles of the Swedes to keep alive the war in Germany, and 
 the intrigues of Richelieu to turn the Dutch and the powers 
 of Italy against Spain, the exertions of the house of Aus- 
 tria for a time triumphed over all his efforts. 
 
 In Italy the Spaniards easily resisted an army, whose 
 operations were impeded by misintelligence between the 
 duke of Savoy, and Crequi, the French commander ; and 
 not only baffled all attempts to penetrate into the Milanese, 
 but even carried the war into the territories of the duke 
 of Parma, compelled him to quit the alliance of France, 
 
 In consequence of the treaty with the United Provinces, and the 
 occupation of Treves by a French garrison, a detachment of Spanish 
 troops from Luxemburgh surprised that city, and transported the 
 elector to Brussels, from whence he was sent a prisoner to Vienna. 
 
 u 3
 
 294 FERDINAND II. [CH. LVI. 
 
 and to give up the fortress of Sabionetta. On this side, 
 therefore, the only advantage gained by the enemy, was 
 the occupation of the Valteline by Rohan, who, with the 
 assistance of the Grisons, maintained possession of this im- 
 portant pass against the Spaniards and Austrians. 
 
 In the Netherlands the victory of Avein gained in May, 
 1635, enabled the French to effect a junction with the 
 Dutch troops under the prince of Orange, to capture Tirle- 
 rnont and Diest, and spread terror as far as Brussels. But 
 here, as in Italy, their plans were disconcerted by national 
 jealousy, or the effects of personal pique between Richelieu 
 and the prince of Orange. Their progress was impeded 
 by the obstinate resistance of Louvain, and the judicious 
 measures of the cardinal infant, till a succour of 10,000 
 men detached from the imperial army, under Piccolomini, 
 turned the scale. The united forces were compelled to 
 raise the siege ; the Spaniards recalled the prince of Orange 
 to cover Holland, by surprising the fort of Skenk ; the 
 French commanders led back the remnant of their army, 
 reduced to half its number, between the Rhine and the 
 Waal ; and Richelieu had the mortification to see a preda- 
 tory corps ravaging Picardy with fire and sword, and pre- 
 parations made for the invasion of France. 
 
 On the Rhine the emperor and his allies secured a pas- 
 sage by the surprise of Philipsburgh and Worms ; the 
 duke of Loraine, assisted by the forces of the Catholic 
 league, roused the spirit of his partisans, and regaining a 
 footing in his territories ; while Gallas took Gustavus- 
 burgh, blockaded Mentz, drove back Weimar with a French 
 army under the cardinal de la Valette, and united with the 
 duke to expel the French from Loraine. Louis himself 
 was necessitated to head his troops, and exact the services 
 of bis feudal dependants ; and he secured the fidelity of 
 Weimar, who was negotiating with the emperor, by the 
 enormous subsidy of 4,000,000 livres, and the cession of 
 Alsace, as an hereditary sovereignty. Yet with all these 
 exertions and sacrifices, the French with difficulty retained 
 their footing in Loraine, and could not prevent the impe- 
 rialists from establishing themselves on the frontiers of 
 Franche Comte" and Upper Alsace. 
 
 The splendid success of the imperial arms seemed to
 
 1634-1637.] LOUIS ATTACKS THE SPANIARDS. 29 
 
 augur that France would be visited with the same evils 
 which she had inflicted on Spain and Germany, and that 
 the war would be closed with the humiliation of that power 
 by whose intrigues it had been fomented and continued. 
 In the ensuing year, three attacks were at once made on 
 the French territories ; the two principal on the side of 
 Alsace and Picardy, the third against Guienne, where 
 the inhabitants were in a state of ferment and disaffection. 
 The Spaniards, enabled by the inactivity of the Dutch, to 
 pour their principal forces into Picardy, took la Capelle, 
 Roie, and le Catelet, surprised Corbie, and pushed a pre- 
 datory corps almost to the gates of Paris. John de Wert, 
 the active general of the Catholic league, compelled the 
 burghers of Liege to enter into an accommodation with the 
 emperor, reduced Coblentz, and invested Ehrenbreitstein, 
 which surrendered after an obstinate blockade. Gallas 
 having taken Mentz, crossed the Rhine at Brisac, joined the 
 duke of Loraine, succoured Dole in Franche Comte, which 
 was besieged by a body of troops under the prince of Conde, 
 and bursting into Burgundy, laid siege to St. Jean de 
 Losne, at the confluence of the Euse and the Saone. 
 
 These alarming irruptions spread such consternation in 
 Paris, that many of the inhabitants sought safety in flight ; 
 the royal family were about to retire to Orleans ; even the 
 firmness of Richelieu was overcome, and he is said to have 
 meditated his resignation. But he rose from this tempo- 
 rary despondency, displayed all the energy of his genius, 
 and collected with incredible rapidity an army of 50,000 
 men. With this force the king himself advanced against 
 the Spaniards, drove them beyond the Somme, and reco- 
 vered Corbie ; at the same time succours were thrown into 
 St. Jean de Losne, which had made a desperate resistance, 
 and the imperialists, exhausted by a tedious siege and the 
 inclemency of the season, withdrew their shattered forces 
 from the frontier of France. On the side of Guienne the 
 campaign began at too late a period to be attended with any 
 essential effect ; the Spaniards who had crossed the Pyre- 
 nees, were awed by the presence of the due d'Epernon, 
 and reduced to retreat after capturing the petty fortress 
 of St. Jean de Leus, with other posts of less importance. 
 
 While the emperor turned his principal efforts against 
 v 4
 
 296 FERDINAND II. [CH. LA I. 
 
 France, the Swedes rose from their depression, and again 
 contested the ascendency in the north of Germany. 
 Though the senate of Sweden were disheartened by the 
 desertion of the German princes, though even Oxenstiern 
 himself meditated the evacuation of Germany, Banner, the 
 pupil and emulator of Gustavus, at the head of only 
 12,000 men, discontented and mutinous, maintained a de- 
 fensive war against all the forces of Saxony, seconded by a 
 considerable corps of imperialists. He retarded, though he 
 could not prevent the reduction of Magdeburgh, Werben, 
 and Stargard, and, without risking an engagement, re- 
 treated skilfully and gradually, disputing every foot of 
 ground till he reached Pomerania. But the power which 
 still kept up the war in the west of Germany found means 
 to revive the conflagration in the north. After many 
 delays and disputes arising from the opposition of Oxen- 
 stiern and the Swedish senate to the encroaching and 
 interested conduct of Richelieu, the dread of common 
 danger produced a temporary union. By the influence of 
 France, assisted by the mediation of England and Holland, 
 the truce with Poland was prolonged for twenty years, for 
 which Sweden restored her conquests in Russia ; and soon 
 afterwards the French court renewed the former subsidiary 
 alliance for three years. Assisted by the reinforcements 
 drawn from Prussia in consequence of this truce, Banner 
 resumed offensive operations. He totally defeated the 
 Saxons and imperialists at Witstoch, cleared Pomerania 
 and Brandenburgh, drove the imperialists back into Fran- 
 conia, took Erfurth and Naumburgh, penetrated into the 
 heart of Misnia, defeated the Saxons in various encounters, 
 reduced Torgau, besieged Leipzic, and before the close of 
 the year, prepared to make Saxony the support of bis 
 attack against the hereditary countries. 
 
 During this interval the French court again roused the 
 landgrave of Hesse Cassel, enabled him by a new subsi- 
 diary treaty to oppose the forces of the emperor, and by his 
 assistance prevented the subjugation of Westphalia till the 
 efforts of Banner restored the preponderance of Sweden. 
 
 In the midst of these military operations, all things pro- 
 claimed the returning ascendency of Ferdinand in Germany, 
 and proved the advantages which he had derived from has
 
 1634-1637.] DEATH OF FEHDINAND. 297 
 
 reconciliation with the two chief Protestant princes, the 
 electors of Saxony and Branclenburgh. An electoral diet 
 was assembled at Ratisbon, by the emperor in person, on 
 the loth of September, 1636, for the ostensible purpose of 
 restoring peace, for which some vague negotiations had 
 been opened under the mediation of the pope and the king 
 of Denmark, and congresses appointed at Hamburgh and 
 Cologne ; but with the real view of procuring the election 
 of his son Ferdinand as king of the Romans. Some at- 
 tempts were made by the Protestants to hasten the nego- 
 tiations, by requiring that Ferdinand, though elected, 
 should not be crowned till after the termination of hosti- 
 lities ; and by the English ambassador in favour of the 
 unfortunate princes of the Palatine house. But the supe- 
 rior influence of the emperor overruled all opposition ; the 
 benefits of the armistice were offered only to the duke of 
 "Wirtemberg, on the most rigorous terms, and the instances 
 for the restoration of the prince Palatine evaded by requir- 
 ing impracticable conditions. The alarms of the diet were 
 excited by an artful rumour that the king of France 
 fostered designs on the imperial crown, in case of an 
 interregnum, which from the declining health of the em- 
 peror, was soon likely to happen, and Ferdinand was 
 elected with only the fruitless protest of the Palatine 
 family, and the dissenting voice of the elector of Treves, 
 who was still in custody at Vienna. His capitulation con- 
 tained no stipulation of importance, except a few tempo- 
 rary regulations occasioned by the war, with the declara- 
 tion, that the exclusion of the elector of Treves should 
 not operate on any future occasion. He was accordingly 
 acknowledged by all the powers of Europe, except France 
 and Sweden. 
 
 The emperor did not long survive this happy event. 
 He died on the 15th of February, 1637, soon after his re- 
 turn to Vienna, in the fifty-ninth year of his age, of a de- 
 cline, derived from incessant anxiety and continual fatigues 
 of body and mind. 
 
 When we review the awful period of his reign, pregnant 
 with such extraordinary events and stupendous revolu- 
 tions, we cannot but admire, in Ferdinand II., the great 
 qualities which have distinguished the greatest men of
 
 29S FERDINAND II. [CH. LVT. 
 
 every age nnd nation ; penetration and sagacity, unbroken 
 perseverance, irresistible energy of character, resignation 
 and fortitude in adversity, and a mind never enervated by 
 success. But these great qualities were sullied and dis- 
 graced by the most puerile superstition, inveterate bigotry, 
 and unbounded ambition. In many features of his public 
 character, Ferdinand resembled his relative Philip II. ; in 
 his talents for the cabinet no less than in his incapacity for 
 the field ; in elevation of mind as well as in bigotry, per- 
 secution and cruelty ; in fortitude in adverse, and arro- 
 gance in prosperous circumstances. But it is a satisfaction 
 to record, that in his private character he differed essen- 
 tially from the gloomy tyrant of Spain. He was a good 
 and affectionate father, a faithful and tender husband, an 
 affable and indulgent master ; he was easy of access to the 
 meanest of his subjects ; compassionate and forgiving, 
 where his religious prejudices were not concerned. From a 
 principle of superstitious humility, he admitted into his 
 presence the poor of all descriptions ; and even beggars, 
 who were suspected of being infected with the plague, 
 were not repulsed. He purchased the liberty of many 
 Christian slaves from their Asiatic or African masters, 
 gave public entertainments to the needy, at which he as- 
 sisted in person, and appointed advocates, at his own ex- 
 pense, to plead the cause of the indigent and the helpless 
 in the courts of justice. 
 
 As the virtues of his amiable predecessor and uncle, 
 Maximilian IL, were principally derived from early habits 
 and education ; so the failings of Ferdinand may be attri- 
 buted to the early impressions which he received from 
 his mother, and his uncle William of Bavaria, and to 
 the prejudices instilled into him by the Jesuits, which 
 strengthened with his years, and grew up with his growth. 
 Had he not been influenced by the narrow and jaun- 
 diced views of superstition and bigotry, he might have 
 maintained the peace and happiness of his hereditary do- 
 minions ; might have ruled the empire not as the head of a 
 sect or the chief of a party, but as the sovereign and friend 
 of all ; and might have saved Germany and Europe from 
 thirty years of anarchy, persecution, and terror, devastation 
 and carnage. In fine, the defects of education, and erroneous
 
 1634-1637.] CHARACTER OF FERDINAND. 299 
 
 principles, rendered him the misfortune of his family, the 
 enemy of his country, and the scourge of his age.* 
 
 A prince of so superstitious a character as Ferdinand 
 was not likely to be sparing in his benefactions to the 
 clergy. He endowed many religious establishments, and 
 enriched others : for the Jesuits he founded sixteen col- 
 leges, and convents for the Barnabites, Capuchins, Camala- 
 dunes, Paulines, barefooted Carmelites, reformed Augustins, 
 Benedictines of Montferrat, Servites, and Irish Francis- 
 cans. He settled an annual pension of 24,000 florins on 
 the archbishopric of Prague ; the twenty-eighth part of the 
 produce of the gold and silver mines in Hungary on the 
 archbishopric of Gran, and 40,000 florins annually on the 
 Austrian prelates. He founded also four bishoprics in 
 Bohemia, many schools for the education of the clergy, 
 numerous hospitals and almshouses, and gave great presents 
 to the secular clergy of the hereditary countries. 
 
 When we consider that his ordinary revenue did not 
 exceed 5,400,000 florins f, and reflect on the enormous ex- 
 penses of his wars, and the charges of his splendid esta- 
 blishment, it is scarcely necessary to observe that not- 
 withstanding the sums he drew from the confiscated pro- 
 perty of his adversaries and rebel subjects, these benefac- 
 tions contributed to exhaust his resources, to load him with 
 pecuniary embarrassments, and often to retard or prevent 
 the success of his military operations. 
 
 Ferdinand was twice married, first to Maria Anne, 
 daughter of William, duke of Bavaria ; and, secondly, to 
 Eleonora, daughter of Vincent, duke of Mantua. He had 
 no children by his second wife, and his surviving issue by 
 his first were : 
 
 1. Ferdinand Ernest, who succeeded him. 
 
 2. Leopold William, born in 1604, and devoted to the 
 
 * Besides occasional references to other works, we have consulted 
 for the narrative of his reign, the English translation of Gualdo, His- 
 toria delle Guerre di Ferdinando II., 1647; Kevenhuller, Annales 
 Ferdinand! II. ; Struvius; Heiss ; Schmidt; Heinrich ; Gebhaerdi ; 
 de Luca ; Puetter ; Schiller's History of the Thirty Years' War ; 
 Pfeffel ; Pelzel and Windisch ; Daniel, Histoire de France ; le Vassor, 
 Ilistoire de Louis XIII.; Memoires de Montglat ; Puffendorf; 
 Complete History of Europe. 
 
 | Nearly 540,OOOt sterling. De Luca, vol. ii. p. 332.
 
 300 FERDINAND II. [CH. LVI. 
 
 ecclesiastical profession. He was educated by the Jesuits, 
 and, like his father, imbibed from them a singular degree of 
 superstition and bigotry. He acquired a taste for the arts 
 and botany, and made collections of paintings, curiosities, 
 and rare plants ; but from a principle of mortification he 
 denied himself the indulgence of smelling to his flowers, and 
 from rigid notions of continence, shunned even his own 
 sisters. From this turn of mind he obtained from his fa- 
 ther the surname of the Angel ; and the courtiers at Vienna 
 believed, or affected to believe, that his prayers contained 
 a peculiar sanctity. The son of an emperor was not 
 likely to want preferment, and accordingly ecclesiastical 
 benefices were heaped upon him at an early age. Before 
 he had attained his eleventh year he was nominated bishop 
 of Strasburgh and Passau, and abbot of the rich founda- 
 tions of Maurbach and Neiders. About his sixteenth year 
 he received from the pope an appointment to the sees of 
 Bremen Halberstadt and Magdeburgh, of which he was 
 deprived by the Swedish invasion, and renounced all, ex- 
 cept Halberstadt, in the peace with the elector of Saxony. 
 He was appointed bishop of Olmutz, grand master of the 
 Teutonic order, and finally nominated successor to the see 
 of Breslau. 
 
 Neither his sanctity, nor the disorders of a weak frame 
 prevented him from occasionally exchanging the crosier 
 for the sword ; for he appears with distinction among the 
 great military characters in the reign of his brother. On 
 the death of Ferdinand III., the crown of the empire was 
 offered to him by the electors, who opposed his nephew 
 Leopold ; but he refused it from attachment to the inter- 
 ests of his house, and became a guardian to the children of 
 his deceased brother. He at length relinquished the career 
 of politics and arms, which he had reluctantly entered, and 
 hastened to that retirement which had been the object of 
 his early and constant wishes. He died in 1662. 
 
 The two daughters of Ferdinand were: 1. Mary Anne. 
 She was first betrothed to Gabriel Bethlehem, prince of 
 Transylvania ; but refusing to espouse him because he 
 would not embrace the Catholic faith, she married, in 1635, 
 Maximilian, elector of Bavaria. 2. Cecilia Renata, was
 
 1637-1641.] TESTAMENT OF FERDINAND 301 
 
 wife of Ladislaus, king of Poland, and died at Vilna. a 
 widow, in 1644. 
 
 "We have before observed that, on the death of Maximi- 
 lian II., the archduchy of Austria was assigned solely to 
 the emperor Rhodolph, the right of primogeniture virtually, 
 if not formally introduced, and the younger children pro- 
 vided with pensions or estates, instead of obtaining a share 
 in the administration. Ferdinand, however, seems to have 
 been the first who formally established the right of primo- 
 geniture in all his hereditary territories. By his testament, 
 dated May 10th, 1621, he ordered that all his Austrian 
 dominions should devolve on his eldest male descendant, 
 and fixed the majority at eighteen years. The younger 
 brothers were to receive each an annual salary of 45,000 
 florins, with a lordship as a place of residence in one of the 
 hereditary countries ; and to each of the daughters he as- 
 signed a portion of 75,000 florins. 
 
 But these regulations could only affect the archduchy 
 of Austria and the Styrian dominions, which Ferdinand 
 inherited from his father Charles ; as the Tyrol, and the 
 exterior provinces in Alsace and Brisgau, were the joint 
 property of him and his two brothers, Charles and Leopold. 
 This divided inheritance occasioned disputes, not only be- 
 tween the brothers, but likewise gave rise to claims from 
 the Spanish branch, till after much difficulty the king of 
 Spain was induced to relinquish his pretensions, and pri- 
 mogeniture was likewise established in the succession of 
 these territories. Ferdinand, in 1624, consigned to his 
 only surviving brother Leopold, the possession of the Tyrol, 
 with the exterior provinces, to revert, in failure of issue 
 male, to the elder branch. 
 
 CHAP. LVII. FERDINAND III. 1637-1641. 
 
 As the faintest gleam of light, to those who have been long 
 surrounded with storms and hurricanes, seems to presage 
 a returning calm, so the death of a bigoted emperor, and 
 the accession of a tolerant prince, gave hopes that peace
 
 302 FERDINAND III. QCH. LVII. 
 
 would be speedily restored to Germany. But after so long 
 and dreadful a contest it was no easy task to re-establish 
 tranquillity ; for the ravages of the war had impressed the 
 deepest antipathy on the minds of the contending parties, 
 and the varied and contradictory connections of eighteen 
 years, had left an endless variety of jarring interests to 
 accommodate and disentangle. The new monarch, unable to 
 obtain any terms of peace, but such as would have disho- 
 noured the memory of his father, injured the interests of his 
 house, and endangered the Catholic cause, was compelled to 
 continue a contest entailed on him with his inheritance, and 
 of which he had seen and deplored the fatal effects. 
 
 The death of Bogeslaus, the aged duke of Pomerania, in 
 March, 1637, enabled the new emperor to prosecute the 
 war in the north with increased advantages. As the 
 Swedes, in virtue of the compulsory treaty concluded by 
 the deceased duke with Gustavus Adolphus, refused to 
 surrender Pomerania, the elector of Brandenburgh made a 
 common cause with Austria, for the recovery of a territory 
 to which he was entitled to succeed, united his forces with 
 the imperialists, and increased their means of attack against 
 the Swedes, by yielding his principal fortresses, or com- 
 manding his garrisons to swear allegiance to the emperor. 
 Accordingly Gallas advancing from Wirtemberg, united 
 with Hasfeldt and Goertz, who had been assisted by the 
 troops of Westphalia and Luneburgh, and forced Banner 
 to retire into Pomerania ; while a corps of Saxons and im- 
 perialists cleared Lusatia and the march of Brandenburgh, 
 drove the troops of Wrangel beyond the Wartha, and 
 retook Landsberg. Banner, endeavouring to divert the war 
 into the hereditary countries, by bursting through the 
 Mark into Silesia, Gallas suddenly penetrated into Pome- 
 rania, near Tribsees, surprised the troops of Wrangel, who 
 were left for the defence of the duchy, and reduced all the 
 places west of the Oder, except Anclam, Stettin, and Stral- 
 sund. The return of Banner alone saved Lower Pomerania ; 
 and the imperial general, after leaving garrisons in the con- 
 quered places, as well as in the isles of Usedom and Wollin, 
 cantoned his troops in Saxony. 
 
 The preponderance of Austria in the south of Germany 
 was at the same time increased by the decease of William,
 
 1637-1641.] AFFAIRS OF ITALY. 303 
 
 landgrave of Hesse, who died in September, 1637, at the 
 very moment when he had arranged a league between 
 France, Sweden, and the United Provinces, for the restor- 
 ation of the Palatine family. Leaving an only son, William, 
 in the eighth year of his age, he committed the regency to 
 his wife Elizabeth ; but this disposition was opposed by 
 his relative George, of the collateral branch of Hesse 
 Darmstadt, who was a zealous partisan of the house of 
 Austria. This event, and the contest which ensued for 
 the administration, not only frustrated the league, which 
 had been the result of the landgrave's negotiations, but 
 diminished the number of Ferdinand's opponents, and de- 
 prived the enemy of an active adherent, who, from the 
 local position of his territories, had essentially contributed 
 to their ascendency on the side of the Rhine. 
 
 The deaths of the dukes of Savoy and Mantua, together 
 with the contests for the government of their dominions, 
 during the minority of theii successors, who were both 
 infants, occasioned a similar change in the affairs of Italy, 
 and suspended the alliance which had been the great sup- 
 port of France in the war beyond the Alps. Mary, the 
 regent duchess of Mantua, abandoned the French, and ex- 
 erted her influence in favour of the Spaniards. The em- 
 peror annulled the will of the duke of Savoy, which con- 
 signed the regency to his duchess Christina, and supported 
 the claims of cardinal Maurice, and prince Thomas of 
 Carignan, brothers of the deceased prince, one in the ser- 
 vice, and the other an adherent of Spain. These princes, 
 assisted by the Spanish army from the Milanese, and 
 favoured by the people, conquered the principal part of 
 Piemont, surprised Turin, and laid siege to the citadel. 
 
 The Grisons also, apprehensive of drawing the war into 
 their territories, and irritated by the interference of the 
 French in their civil and religious affairs, forced the duke 
 of Rohan to quit the Valteliue, and renewed the treaty 
 with the two branches of the house of Austria, which 
 again opened a free passage for their troops between Ger- 
 many and Italy. 
 
 During these events a feeble attempt was made by 
 Charles Louis and Rupert, sons of the unfortunate elector 
 Palatine, to recover their lost honours and inheritance.
 
 304 FERDINAND HI. [CH. LVII. 
 
 Having obtained a scanty supply of money from the king of 
 England, they collected 4000 men, penetrated in May, 1638, 
 into Westphalia, where they were joined by a corps of 
 Swedish cavalry, and being supplied with artillery from 
 Minden, laid siege to Lemgau, the capital of the county of 
 La Lippe. But this enterprise was crushed in its infancy 
 by the imperial general Hasfeldt, who, advancing against 
 them with a superior force, overtook them in their retreat 
 to Minden on the 7th of October, and defeated them after 
 an obstinate engagement of two days. Their little army 
 was dispersed, their whole artillery taken, the prince Palatine 
 escaped with difficulty, and prince Rupert, with many of the 
 officers, were made prisoners.* 
 
 The success of the imperial arms in the north of Ger- 
 many, and of the Spaniards in Italy, was however balanced 
 by still greater losses in other quarters. While the prince 
 of Orange in the Netherlands reduced Breda, a French 
 army, penetrating into Hainault, took Landrecies, Mau- 
 beuge, Damvilliers, Ivoy, with various smaller posts, and 
 recovered La Chapelle, the last remnant of the Spanish 
 conquests in Picardy. In the neighbourhood of the Upper 
 Rhine, the duke of Weimar again emerged from his tem- 
 porary eclipse, threw off his dependence on Sweden, treated 
 with France on terms of equality, and laid the foundation 
 of an hereditary sovereignty. Assisted by the subsidies and 
 succours of France, he continued to extend his conquests 
 over the remaining part of Alsace, defeated John de Wert, 
 and drove the imperialists from the greater part of their 
 posts. With the co-operation of the duke of Longueville, 
 he routed the duke of Loraine on the frontiers of his own 
 duchy, dispersed the troops of Franche Comte, and reduced 
 the greater part of the country. 
 
 Like Mansfeld, increasing his army with mercenary 
 levies of Germans and Swiss, he affected to distribute his 
 troops into quarters, in the bishopric of Basle ; but in the 
 heart of winter he suddenly appeared on the Rhine, surprised 
 Lamfenburgh, Waldshut, and Seckingen, and laid siege to 
 Rheinfelden. Defeated!, with great slaughter by the im- 
 
 This prince was afterwards well known in English history, for his 
 exertions during the civil wars. 
 
 f In this defeat, the duke of Rohan, who, after his expulsion from
 
 1637-1641.] SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF BRISAC. 305 
 
 perial general Savelli, he again attacked the victorious 
 troops, when reposing in the confidence of success, and 
 gained a complete victory, with the capture of the two 
 generals Savelli and John de Wert. The surrender of 
 Rheinfelden and Rottelen was the fruit of this victory ; his 
 force increased with his good fortune, and he laid siege to 
 Brisac, the key of Alsace and the Brisgau. The imperial 
 generals obeyed the orders of their sovereign, by exerting 
 every effort to save so important a fortress ; the whole 
 summer was spent in the most bloody combats ; but nothing 
 could resist the skill and impetuosity of the Saxon hero, 
 and the place surrendered on the 7th of December, after 
 suffering such extremities of famine and distress, that 
 guards were set over the burial places to prevent the inha- 
 bitants from devouring the putrid carcasses of the dead. 
 Favoured by the possession of Brisac, the duke distributed 
 his troops into quarters beyond the Rhine, and prepared 
 for the execution of more important enterprises on the 
 return of spring. 
 
 At the same time Banner had recovered Pomerania, and 
 drove the imperialists beyond the Elbe. Strengthened by 
 the arrival of 14,000 men from Sweden, he concerted with 
 Weimar a plan for carrying the war again into the Austrian 
 territories by a joint attack, one on the side of Bohemia, the 
 other on that of Bavaria. He passed the Elbe at Lawen- 
 burgh, took his course through the territories of Magde- 
 burgh and Halberstadt, crossed the Saal at Hall, made 
 himself master of Kemnitz and Marienburgh, and besieged 
 Freyberg. After twice defeating the Saxons, who ad- 
 vanced to its relief, he abandoned an enterprise which 
 would have occupied his forces at a time when celerity and 
 decision were necessary, reduced Pirna, and penetrated 
 into Bohemia, along the northern bank of the Elbe, at the 
 head of 40,000 men. He published a proclamation calling 
 on the Protestants to unite against their enemies the Ca- 
 tholics, and after routing, on the 20th of May, 1639, a corps 
 of imperialists at Brandeiss, and making their generals 
 Montecuculi and Hoffkirch prisoners, advanced to the walls 
 
 the Valteline had joined his friend, the duke of Weimar, to escape the 
 persecutions of Richelieu, was mortally wounded in leading a whig of 
 the array. 
 
 VOL. II. X
 
 306 FERDINAND III. [dl. LVII. 
 
 of Prague ; but, not being joined by the Protestants, and 
 unprovided with battering artillery, he again fell back be- 
 hind the Elbe, dispersed his detachments over the country 
 to the north of that river, and like another Tilly, spread 
 devastation from the frontiers of Saxony to the borders of 
 Moravia. 
 
 He chose this position to wait till the duke of "Weimar 
 could co-operate on the side of Bavaria ; but his designs 
 were frustrated by one of those events which baffle all 
 human combinations. The duke drew his troops from 
 their quarters early in the year, and laid siege to Thann, 
 almost the only place remaining unconquered in Alsace. 
 The resistance of the inhabitants protracted the siege till 
 late in the spring, and at the moment when he was prepar- 
 ing to co-operate with the Swedes, a fever, derived from 
 excessive fatigue, terminated his brilliant career at Neu- 
 burgh, in the 35th year of his age, and thus delivered the 
 house of Austria from the most dangerous of its enemies, 
 and deprived the Swedes of their most active and skilful 
 supporter.* 
 
 The duke having bequeathed his army, with Alsace and 
 his other conquests, to his brothers, his bequest was opposed 
 by various competitors : the emperor, the Swedes, the 
 young prince Palatine, and France, contested the acquisi- 
 tion of a well appointed army, and the possession of Alsace. 
 At length the superior address, vigour, and good fortune of 
 Richelieu, prevailed over the other competitors : the bro- 
 thers of the deceased hero were bribed to relinquish their 
 claims ; the young Palatine, who was hastening through 
 France in disguise, was put under a temporary arrest ; the 
 army was persuaded to enter into French pay, under the 
 command of Longueville ; the generals induced to receive 
 French garrisons in their respective fortresses ; and Alsace, 
 of which a part only had been reluctantly ceded by Riche- 
 lieu, fell entire under the dominion of France. 
 
 While these intrigues kept the enemy inactive on the 
 Rhine, Ferdinand amused Banner with feigned negotia- 
 
 History of Ernest the Pious, and Bernard the great duke of 
 Saxe Weimar. It is a sufficient eulogium of the military talents of 
 Bernard, that Tuienne acknowledged him as one of his masters in the 
 art of war.
 
 1637-1641.] PROGRESS OF HOSTILITIES. 307 
 
 tions, till he had drawn together a considerable force from 
 Westphalia, the Rhine, and from Hungary. He then 
 threw off the mask, and in February, 1640, the archduke 
 Leopold, to whom the command was intrusted, attacking 
 the quarters of the Swedes, expelled them from Bohemia 
 and Silesia. 
 
 On the departure of the Austrians towards Bohemia, the 
 French recovered the ascendency. The duke of Longue- 
 ville, descending the Rhine, captured Alzey, Oppenheim, 
 Bingen, and Creutznach, drove the Bavarians into Wirtem- 
 berg, crossed at Bacharach, and renewed the war in the 
 circle of Westphalia. The regent of Hesse, who amused 
 the court of Vienna with illusory negotiations till she had 
 established her government, was encouraged to declare 
 openly against the house of Austria, and to conclude a 
 treaty, by which she agreed to furnish 5000 men to the 
 allies. Her example was followed by the dukes of Bruns- 
 wick, who were alienated by the demands of the imperial 
 court for the restoration of their conquests in the see of 
 Hildesheim, and, who, entering into the confederacy against 
 the emperor, supplied 4000 auxiliaries. These forces and 
 those of France, joining with Banner at Erfurth, saved the 
 Swedish army, which had been driven back into Thuringia, 
 by the united troops of Austria and Bavaria, and advanced 
 against the archduke Leopold, who was posted at Saalfeld. 
 But, after fruitless endeavours to bring the imperialists to 
 an engagement, they were, in December, 1641, reduced, by 
 the judicious dispositions of the archduke, to fall back be- 
 hind the Weser, and the imperialists approached the Rhine. 
 The Bavarians took quarters in Suabia, the Austrians in 
 Wirtemberg, Franconia, and the Upper Palatinate, while 
 Banner retired into Brunswick, and Guebriant, who had 
 succeeded to the command of the Weimarian troops on the 
 death of Longueville, drew back towards the French 
 frontier. 
 
 The joy of the emperor at this success, was, however, 
 considerably diminished by the unfortunate situation of 
 Spain. Her fleets had been repeatedly defeated by the 
 Dutch and French ; in the Netherlands she had lost the 
 important town of Arras, the key of Artois, and in Pie- 
 mout, deserted by the princes of Savoy, who threw theui- 
 x 2
 
 308 FERDINAND III. [CH. LVII. 
 
 selves under the protection of France, her troops had been 
 expelled from all their conquests. The natives of Por- 
 tugal, also irritated by repeated oppressions, threw off, in 
 1640, the detested yoke of Spain. A plot, arranged and 
 matured in silence, astounded the court of Madrid, by 
 its sudden explosion, and in an instant placed John duke 
 of Braganza on the throne. At the same time the Catalans 
 were driven to revolt by the violation of their privileges 
 and the licentiousness of the soldiery quartered on their 
 frontier, and the spirit of disaffection began to spread into 
 the contiguous provinces. 
 
 During these events the states and princes of Germany, 
 whose dominions had been so long visited by the dreadful 
 scourge of war, clamoured for the cessation of hostilities, 
 and at length extorted from the emperor the convocation 
 of a general diet, to deliberate on the means of restoring 
 peace, a measure which had been adopted since the acces- 
 sion of Ferdinand II. The diet assembled at Ratisbon, 
 and Ferdinand presided in person ; but instead of giving 
 way to the clamour for peace, which would only encourage 
 the enemy, and lead to the imposition of more onerous 
 terms, he endeavoured to unite the whole Germanic body 
 in a declaration of war against France and Sweden, and 
 to obtain a considerable augmentation of the ordinary 
 contingents. He indeed succeeded in persuading the diet 
 to make the peace of Prague the basis of the future accom- 
 modation, and to continue the exclusion of the Palatine 
 family from the amnesty ; but he was unable to unite the 
 whole empire in hostilities, or to obtain the proposed 
 augmentation of the supplies ; for the circles of Austria 
 and Bavaria alone furnished the stipulated demand of a 
 hundred and twenty Roman months, while all the other 
 circles contributed only sixty. All his influence likewise 
 could not prevent the transfer of the congress from Co- 
 logne and Hamburgh to Munster and Osnaburgh, which 
 were more under the influence of France and the Pro- 
 testants, nor the mortifying concession that all the states of 
 the empire should send deputies to that assembly. 
 
 The opposition which occasioned these disappointments 
 was principally derived from the defection of the dukes of 
 Brunswick, and the influence of Frederic William the new
 
 1640-1648.] ATTACK UPON RAT1SBON. 309 
 
 elector of Brandenburgh, who emancipated himself from 
 the dependence in which his father had been held by the 
 court of Vienna, and, at the early age of eighteen, dis- 
 played that consummate policy, independent spirit, and 
 vigour of character, which established the grandeur of his 
 house. The weight of the emperor was also diminished 
 by the introduction of a maxim, now become universally 
 prevalent among the German jurists, that the elective head 
 of Germany was not to be considered as succeeding to the 
 powers and rights of Constantine or Justinian ; but that 
 the empire was an aristocratic body, the splendour and 
 authority of which resided in the states, and not solely in 
 the chief. This principle was first exhibited in a system- 
 atic form by Chemnitz, chancellor of Stettin, in a work* 
 published at the instigation of the Swedish government ; 
 and it was too flattering to the Germanic states, not to 
 obtain a favourable reception. It marks an era in the 
 German law, which distinguished the great decline of the 
 imperial authority, the consequent diminution of the splen- 
 dour and weight of the empire, and the increasing influence 
 of foreign powers over its component states. 
 
 CHAP. LVHL 1640-1648. 
 
 IN the midst of Ferdinand's endeavours to unite the states 
 of Germany against the French and Swedes, and his pre- 
 parations to carry hostilities beyond the Rhine, Banner 
 nearly succeeded in dispersing the diet, and diverted the 
 torrent of war into the hereditary countries. He quitted 
 his quarters in the depth of winter, at the head of 15,000 
 men, and after uniting at Erfurth with 6000 French under 
 Guebriant, he rapidly directed his march by Hof, Amer- 
 back, and Schwendorf, cutting off the imperial troops 
 scattered in his route, and reached the neighbourhood of 
 Eatisbon in the middle of January, 1641. 
 
 This sudden irruption exposed the emperor and the diet 
 
 * De Ratione Status in Imperio nostro Romano Gcrmanico. For 
 an account of this work, see Tuetter's Development, b. vi. ch. 7. 
 
 x 3
 
 310 FERDINAND ni. [CH. LVHL 
 
 to the most imminent danger. Ferdinand narrowly es- 
 caped being taken in his way to the chace, by a detach- 
 ment which passed the Danube on the ice, while a corps 
 advancing to the very walls of Ratisbon, insulted the em- 
 pire and its chief by a distant cannonade. The firmness 
 of the emperor alone prevented the dissolution of the diet ; 
 he declared his resolution to defend the city to the last 
 extremity, and by his presence and exertions restrained 
 the deputies and ambassadors, who were preparing to take 
 their departure. The advance of reinforcements, and a 
 sudden thaw, relieved him from his perilous situation ; and 
 the confederate generals, unable to agree in their plans of 
 operation, separated their armies, Banner carrying the 
 war into Bohemia, and Guebriant returning towards the 
 Rhine. 
 
 These delays gave time to the imperialists to collect their 
 forces, and avenge the insult offered to the emperor and 
 the diet. Piccolomini, to whom the command was in- 
 trusted, harassed the Swedes in their march through the 
 mountainous passes which skirt the frontier of Bohemia, 
 followed them into Saxony, and though they were rejoined 
 at Zwicka by the French, drove them back to Halberstadt, 
 where Banner fell a sacrifice* to his own intemperance, 
 and the fatigues of this arduous expedition. During the 
 contests which ensued for his army, the imperial general 
 pursued his advantages ; he cleared Lusatia and Silesia, 
 pressed the retreat of the confederates into the duchy of 
 
 * This distinguished commander died in his forty-first year. His 
 death, like that of the duke of Weimar, was attributed to poison ; but 
 was the consequence of chagrin, and the incessant fatigues of the cam- 
 paign, as well as intemperance, and indulgence in pleasure, to which 
 he had at all times addicted himself, particularly since his marriage 
 with a beautiful princess of Baden, whom he had recently espoused in 
 a kind of amorous frenzy. The victories of Banner were attested by 
 six hundred standards which decorate the arsenal of Stockholm. 
 
 Torstenson, who succeeded him in the command, was also the 
 pupil of Gustavus, and equally emulated the exploits of his great 
 master. He is a singular instance of the power of a vigorous mind 
 over bodily infirmity. Though crippled by the gout, and reduced to 
 the necessity of being always conveyed in a litter, he was the most 
 active and enterprising of the Swedish generals ; and it was truly said 
 of him, that while his body was confined to earth, his mind was free as 
 air, and his enterprises had wings.
 
 _./" /Zxn> / 
 
 1640-1648.] BATTLE OF BREITENFELD. 311 
 
 Luneburgh, and closed his brilliant campaign, by fixing his 
 winter quarters in Luneburgh and Hesse. 
 
 Torstenson, the new Swedish commander, with a rein- 
 forcement of 8000 men, joined the confederate troops in 
 the duchy of Luneburgh, and by his presence prevented 
 the desertion or dispersion of the army. While Guebriant 
 crossed the Rhine at Wesel, defeated a corps of imperialists 
 under Lamboy at Kempen, on the 7th of January, 1642, 
 and overran the electorate of Cologne, the Swedes again 
 directed their attack against the hereditary countries. Tor- 
 stenson traversed the territories of Brandenburgh, burst 
 into Silesia, took Great Glogau by storm, and defeated a 
 corps of imperialists under Albert of Saxe Lauemburgh. 
 He followed this success by capturing Schweidnitz, pushed 
 into Moravia, reduced Neustadt, Littau, and Olmutz, laid 
 siege to Brieg, and even spread terror to the gates of 
 Vienna. 
 
 Fortunately, the resistance of Brieg enabled the im- 
 perialists again to repel the invasion. The archduke Leo- 
 pold and Piccolomini assembled their forces, and drew them 
 into the hereditary countries ; they drove Torstenson 
 through Moravia and Silesia into Saxony, and on the 2nd 
 of November, 1642, the two armies encountered in the 
 plain of Breitenfeld, on the very spot where Gustavus had 
 gained the memorable victory of Leipzic, which opened 
 to him the centre of Germany. The place and the occa- 
 sion, with all its concomitant circumstances, called forth 
 the emulation and bravery of the contending hosts. The 
 imperialists were flushed with hope derived from recent 
 success, and panted to vindicate their fame on the very 
 ground which had witnessed their former disgrace ; the 
 Swedes, driven to desperation, were stimulated by every 
 consideration of safety and honour, to emulate the heroic 
 deeds of those over whose graves they were contending. 
 The battle was fought with all the fury inspired by these 
 motives ; and after a long and bloody conflict, the im- 
 perialists were totally routed, with the loss of 10,000 
 killed and prisoners. Leipzic immediately surrendered, 
 and Torstenson, after sending a detachment under Konings- 
 mark to clear Franconia, resumed his design of invading 
 the Austrian territories. On the 28th of December, he 
 x 4
 
 312 FERDINAND III. [CH. LVIII. 
 
 laid siege to Freyberg, to open a way into Bohemia, and 
 summoned the French army under Guebriant to concur in 
 the enterprise. 
 
 At this period disasters as alarming as those which hung 
 over the emperor, hastened the decline of the Spanish 
 monarchy, and contributed to diminish the weight of the 
 house of Austria. 
 
 Olivarez, the enterprising and all-powerful minister of 
 Philip IV., had formed the design of recovering Portugal 
 in the same manner as it was lost, by a secret conspiracy, 
 of which the bishop of Braga, and some Portuguese mag- 
 nates were the agents, and of reviving the civil troubles in 
 France, by supporting y the discontented nobles against 
 Richelieu. But this plan failed of success. The conspi- 
 racy in Portugal was discovered and defeated ; the new 
 monarch, John IV., was confirmed by the cortes of the 
 realm, and acknowledged by all the powers of Europe, ex- 
 cept the emperor and the pope. In France, the duke of 
 Orleans supported by the discontented nobles, and Cinq 
 Mars, the favourite of the king, entered into a secret treaty 
 with Spain, with the concurrence of the queen, and ob- 
 tained the acquiescence of Louis himself in the dismission 
 of the minister. But the very means which where em- 
 ployed to further this design, prevented its success. The 
 inroad of the Spanish troops from the Netherlands alarmed 
 the king ; the conspirators, jealous of each other and of 
 Spain, did not act with concert and decision ; the minister 
 recovered that ascendency which he derived from his su- 
 perior talents in times of danger, and obliged the reluctant 
 monarch to abandon the conspirators to his vengeance. 
 The duke of Orleans was disgraced, Cinq Mars brought 
 to the scaffold, and the duke of Bouillon purchased his life 
 by yielding Sedan, the focus of the conspiracy. In Spain, 
 the Catalans acknowledged the sovereignty of France ; the 
 veteran troops refused to execute the orders of the minister, 
 and Philip himself, who repaired to Saragossa to encourage 
 the army by his presence, witnessed from the windows of 
 his palace the devastation of Arragon. The capture of 
 Callioure and Perpignan, in September, 1642, completed 
 the reduction of Roussillon, and opened a direct communi- 
 cation between the revolted province and France. In the
 
 1640-1648.] DEATH OF RICHELIEU AND LOUIS XHI. 313 
 
 midst of these reverses the Spanish government suffered a 
 fatal loss by the premature death of the cardinal infant, 
 whose skill and valour had balanced all the efforts of the 
 French during two arduous campaigns, and whose eulogium 
 was proclaimed by the exultation of the enemy, and the 
 regret of his countrymen. 
 
 During these events, Richelieu, who had triumphed on 
 the verge of the grave, closed, on the 4th of December, 
 1642, his splendid administration, and his death was fol- 
 lowed by that of Louis XIII., on the 14th of May, 1643. 
 The helm of government was left in the hands of cardinal 
 Mazarin, an Italian priest, and the regency vested in the 
 queen mother, Anne of Austria. 
 
 Under the regency of a Spanish princess, and the admi- 
 nistration of a foreigner, whose power was not established 
 by time or talents, the house of Austria naturally expected 
 to regain its wonted ascendency ; but this gleam of hope 
 seemed only to mock its transient expectations. The spirit 
 of Richelieu still impelled the machine, which his genius 
 had set in motion ; Mazarin extorted from the queen the 
 sacrifice of her personal and national feelings to the inte- 
 rest of that country over which she was called to rule, and 
 the Spanish power in the Netherlands received, on the. 
 12th of May, 1643, an irretrievable blow in the memorable 
 defeat at Rocroi, the first fruits of the skill and courage of 
 the duke of Enghein, who afterwards so highly illustrated 
 the name of Conde. At the moment also, when France 
 was bereft of the directing genius of Richelieu, Spain was 
 deprived of Olivarez. The unfortunate issue of all his 
 schemes, the discontent occasioned by the burdens of a 
 long war, the loss of Portugal, the dismemberment of 
 Roussillon, and the rebellion of Catalonia, raised against 
 the great but unfortunate minister a host of foes. The 
 queen, the grandees, the council of state, united in request- 
 ing his dismission ; the timid and reluctant king was as- 
 sailed by all, who, from habit or situation, retained an 
 influence over his mind ; the discontented were joined even 
 by the family and friends of the minister, whom he had 
 alienated by adopting an illegitimate son ; the emperor him- 
 self had the weakness to expostulate with Philip, and insist 
 on his disgrace. The credit of Olivarez sunk under these
 
 314 FERDINAND in. [CH. LVHI. 
 
 repeated attacks, and Philip unwillingly dismissed the only 
 minister in whom he placed implicit confidence, or who 
 could govern his wavering and voluptuous mind, at a 
 juncture when his genius and talents might have restored 
 the declining fortunes of Spain. 
 
 The emperor was equally prevented from availing him- 
 self of the changes in France by the deplorable state of his 
 own affairs. After the fatal battle of Breitenfeld, the 
 archduke collected the scattered remnant of the forces in 
 Bohemia, and endeavoured to remove the sense of their 
 disgrace, by inflicting a severe and exemplary punishment 
 on those to whom he attributed the defeat. He disarmed 
 the regiment of Madelon, tore their standards, decimated 
 the soldiers, and ordered the commander to be decapitated. 
 His presence being necessary in the Netherlands, to supply 
 the place of the cardinal infant, the chief command was 
 given to Gallas ; but this appointment occasioned great 
 discontent among the officers and troops, and induced those 
 active and experienced generals, Piccolomini and Hasfeldt, 
 to enter into the service of Spain and Bavaria. While the 
 imperialists were reduced to inactivity by these dissensions, 
 and by their endeavours to recruit and discipline the army, 
 the Swedes pursued their operations with their accustomed 
 vigour and decision. Torstenson continued the siege of 
 Freyberg, notwithstanding the inclemencies of the season ; 
 but when the imperialists threw succours into the place, he 
 again abandoned an enterprise which could only produce 
 unnecessary delay, drew reinforcements from Lower Saxony 
 and Pomerania, and after insulting Prague and the imperial 
 army, took the route of Chrudim and Leutomischl to Mo- 
 ravia, where his troops still maintained a footing. Having 
 relieved Olmutz, which was besieged by the imperialists, 
 he reduced Cremsier, took post at Dobitschau, arid laid the 
 whole country under contribution as far as the Danube. 
 
 Thus was the emperor involved in the utmost distress, 
 at the very moment which seemed to afford him the most 
 favourable prospect of changing the fortune of the war. 
 But he met the storm with an undaunted countenance, and 
 called forth the scanty resources which were now left, to 
 increase his adherents in Germany, and turn the tide of 
 hostilities into the territories of the enemy. He effected a
 
 1640-1648.] , ENDEAVOURS TO RETRIEVE HIS AFFAIRS. 315 
 L *~M. \T^*-JiL _ 
 
 reconciliation with the dukes of Brunswick, by restoring 
 Wolfembuttel, and the other fortresses in their territories 
 occupied by his troops. He opened also a negotiation with 
 Christian IV., king of Denmark, and found little difficulty 
 in gaining a prince ardent for military glory, and interested 
 to diminish the power of the Swedes. A secret treaty 
 seems to have been arranged, and while the emperor was 
 recruiting his forces, and recovering his own dominions, the 
 king of Denmark was to make a diversion by invading 
 Sweden. 
 
 These designs, however, did not escape the vigilance of 
 the Swedish government. The senate resolved to antici- 
 pate the intended attack, by commencing hostilities ; and 
 this resolution was taken so secretly that it was not sus- 
 pected till the moment of execution. On the receipt of a 
 private order, Torstenson abruptly quitted Moravia, in 
 September, 1643, traversed Silesia, crossed the Elbe at 
 Torgau, and threatened the Upper Palatinate. After keep- 
 ing all parties in suspense, he suddenly directed his march to 
 Havelberg, burst into Holstein with the impetuosity of a 
 torrent, and finding the country unprepared for resistance, 
 in less than six weeks made himself master of the whole 
 peninsula except Gluckstadt and Krempe. While one 
 Swedish army thus subjugated the Cimbric Chersonesus, 
 another under Horn * invaded Skone, Bleckingen, and 
 Halland ; and a fleet was prepared to wrest from the Danes 
 their naval superiority in the Baltic. To rescue the king 
 of Denmark from impending ruin, the emperor, whose ter- 
 ritories were relieved from the presence of the enemy, col- 
 lected all his forces in Bohemia, and in the depth of winter 
 despatched the flower of his army towards Holstein under 
 Gallas, enjoining him to imitate the rapid movements of 
 the Swedes, notwithstanding the inclemency of the season, 
 and the length of the march. 
 
 Suspending our account of these operations in the fur- 
 thest extremity of Germany, we turn our attention to 
 France, where the administration of Mazarin had begun 
 to attain strength and consistency. With a less lofty and 
 commanding genius, though with more patience and plia- 
 
 This general had been recently exchanged for John de Wert, who 
 was taken in the battle of Rheinfelden.
 
 316 FERDINAND III. [CH. LV1II. 
 
 bility of temper, the new minister pursued the general plan 
 of his predecessor ; but from principle as well as necessity, 
 he made greater exertions on the side of Germany, as the 
 Bavarians and the troops of Loraine at this time threat- 
 ened to carry the war into France 
 
 After the defeat of Lamboy, Guebriant hastened into 
 Saxony to support the Swedes. On the victory of Briet- 
 enfeld, he declined concurring in the attack on the Austrian 
 territories, from the principle now adopted by the French 
 court, of confining their efforts to maintain the advan- 
 tages on the side of the Rhine. He turned accordingly 
 towards the Maine, captured Lohr and Aschaffenburgh ; 
 but was attacked in his progress by the Bavarians, assisted 
 by the duke of Loraine *, and driven into the Brisgau. 
 Here he remained during the winter, struggling with 
 famine and every species of distress, and afterwards retired 
 into Alsace to refresh and recruit his troops. Being rein- 
 forced by a part of that army which had gained the vic- 
 tory of Rocroy, he re-crossed the Rhine, and pushed 
 towards Rothweil, to secure the magazines of the enemy, 
 and force his way into Bavaria. Though he was killed 
 during the siege, the place was soon reduced to surrender, 
 and Rantzau, who succeeded him in the command, led the 
 army towards the Danube. Here, however, their progress 
 was checked ; the Bavarian general Mercy suddenly col- 
 lecting his forces, surprised the French, who were scat- 
 tered in quarters in the neighbourhood of Duttlingen, and 
 obtained a victory which almost annihilated their army. 
 Rantzau with most of his officers were captured, 6000 
 men made prisoners, and all the baggage and artillery fell 
 into the hands of the conquerors. 
 
 Although the danger which threatened Bavaria and 
 Austria was arrested by this signal victory, yet the intrigues 
 of France excited a new enemy on the side of Hungary, 
 by gaining Ragotskyf, prince of Transylvania, and obtain- 
 
 * This extraordinary man, to recover possession of his dominions 
 had duped even the jealousy of Richelieu, by a feigned treaty ; and 
 after passing the winter at the French court, had equally surprised his 
 friends and enemies, by joining the Spaniards in the Low Countries. 
 After assisting in the operations of one campaign in that country, he 
 again made Germany the scene of his exploits. 
 
 f On the death of Bethlehem Gabor, Ferdinand II. attempting to
 
 KJ40-1648.] ATTACKED BY RAGOTSKY. 317 
 
 ing a promise of support from the Turks. Ragotsky de- 
 clared against the emperor in the spring of 1644, at the 
 very moment when the French army was expected to 
 appear on the frontier of Austria. He took Cassau, Neu- 
 sohl, Chemnitz, and other places ; and, with a predatory 
 army, which rapidly increased to 60,000 men, advanced as 
 far as Eperies, where he published an incendiary proclama- 
 tion exciting the Hungarians against their sovereign. As 
 the flower of the imperial forces were employed in the dis- 
 tant war of Jutland, this sudden irruption threatened the 
 most alarming consequences. But Ferdinand met the 
 danger with equal prudence and firmness. He published 
 a dignified answer to the incendiary proclamation ; drew 
 together 10,000 veteran troops, who checked the numerous 
 but lawless hordes of the enemy; he at the same time re- 
 newed the truce with the Turks for twenty years ; and the 
 prince of Transylvania, disappointed of the expected as- 
 sistance from France and the Porte, fell back towards his 
 own frontiers. 
 
 The emperor had scarcely escaped from these dangers 
 before he was threatened with new perils from the attacks 
 of the Swedes. At the commencement of the year, Gallas 
 had rapidly advanced to the assistance of the king of Den- 
 mark, left Hatsfeldt * with a strong detachment to join the 
 
 re-annex Transylvania to Hungary, in conformity with ancient com- 
 pacts, the natives opposed this incorporation, and were supported by 
 the Turks. They first assigned the government to Catherine of 
 Brandenburgh, widow of their deceased sovereign, and afterwards to 
 his brother-in-law Stephen Bethlehem ; but as neither possessed suffi- 
 cient influence to govern so turbulent a people, they elected George 
 Ragotsky, a native noble, cousin of Bethlehem Gabor, and one of the 
 most distinguished generals of Sigismond Ragotsky, who had for a 
 short time (1630) possessed this precarious dignity, before the election 
 of Bethlehem Gabor. Ferdinand opposed the election of Ragotsky, 
 and sent the palatine Esterhusv with a corps of troops to awe the 
 natives ; but the new prince being supported by a body of Turks 
 Ferdinand, who was then embarrassed by the attack of Gustavus 
 Adolphus, withdrew from a fruitless contest, acknowledged Ragotsky 
 as sovereign of Transylvania, and deemed himself fortunate in re- 
 covering the seven provinces of Hungary, formerly ceded to Beth- 
 lehem Gabor, with most of the fortresses, except Mongatch Benko, 
 
 lib. iv. ch. 4. ; Windisch, p. 408. 414. 
 
 * On the disgrace of Gallas, Hatsfeldt and Piccolomini again en- 
 tered the imperial service.
 
 318 FERDINAND III. [CH. LVIII. 
 
 archbishop of Bremen against a Swedish corps under Kon- 
 ingsmark, united with a Danish force in Holstein, and 
 hoped to shut up the Swedes in the narrow bounds of the 
 Cimbric peninsula. But Torstenson anticipated his de- 
 sign by occupying the pass of Rendsburgh, drove him 
 beyond the frontier of Holstein, where he was abandoned 
 by the Danes, compelled him to fall back to Magde- 
 burgh, and though he was joined by the Saxons, reduced 
 him to the most deplorable distress. Leaving Konings- 
 mark to complete the reduction of these harassed and 
 discouraged troops, who had taken refuge at Yutterbuck, 
 he pushed forward to the defenceless frontier of Bohemia ; 
 and Gallas, reduced to desperation, was totally defeated on 
 the 23rd of November, 1644, in an attempt to cut his way 
 through the enemy. 
 
 While this remnant of the imperial army was dissipated 
 at Yutterbuck, Torstenson seized Preisnitz, and advanced 
 into Bohemia. His approach spread universal alarm ; the 
 emperor and the archduke Leopold hastened to Prague, to 
 make preparations for resisting the progress of the in- 
 vaders ; Gallas was dismissed, the fugitives collected ; a 
 succour of 4000 men obtained from the elector of Bavaria ; 
 different bodies drawn together under Montecuculi, Goertz, 
 and other generals, and the command intrusted to Hats- 
 feldt, who took post between Budweiss and Tabor. After 
 various feints and marches the two armies came to an en- 
 gagement at Yankovitz, on the 16th of March, 1645, in 
 which, notwithstanding the utmost efforts of valour and 
 skill, the imperialists were again defeated with the loss of 
 8000 men, their commander captured, and many of their 
 principal officers killed or made prisoners. The hereditary 
 countries were laid open to the conqueror ; Leipnitz, Pil- 
 gram, Iglau, were reduced ; Moravia submitted, the Swedes 
 secured the command of the Danube by the capture of 
 Crems, Stein, Thiernstein, and Korn Neuberg, and even 
 obtained possession of the works which covered the head 
 of the bridge at Vienna. The emperor, who had hastened 
 from Prague to defend his capital, retired to Ratisbon ; the 
 empress, with the principal nobles, took refuge at Gratz, 
 and preparations were made at Vienna for withstanding a 
 siege, and defending the last bulwark of the Austrian
 
 1640-1648. J ILL SUCCESS OF HIS ALLIES. 319 
 
 empire, in the safety of which, as at the accession of Fer- 
 dinand II., the very existence of the family was involved. 
 To add to the distresses, Ragotsky again burst into the 
 northern part of Hungary at the head of 25,000 men, sent 
 his son with 8000 to Brunn, which Torstenson was besieg- 
 ing ; and detached 6000 to join a corps under the Swedish 
 general Douglas, which spread such an alarm to Presburgh, 
 that the sacred crown and regalia were removed. 
 
 While the emperor was thus pressed by an enemy in 
 sight of his capital, his allies were reduced to desert his un- 
 fortunate cause. Koningsmark, after dispersing the army 
 under Gallas, captured Bremen and Verden, Leipsic, Tor- 
 gau, and Meissen ; forced the elector of Saxony to consent 
 to a suspension of arms, which finally terminated in a 
 peace ; and hastened to rejoin Torstenson in the heart of 
 Moravia. The defection of Saxony was accompanied by 
 that of the Danes, who had shared the misfortunes of the 
 preceding campaign. In addition to repeated defeats by 
 land, their navy had been routed in an action between the 
 isles of Aland and Femeren, and Christian, on the 13th of 
 August, 1645, was reduced to sign a peace dictated by 
 Sweden under the mediation of France. In return for the 
 restoration of his dominions, he abandoned the alliance with 
 Austria, left Bremen and Verden in the possession of the 
 Swedes, ceded to them the isles of Oesel and Gothland, and 
 pledged the province of East Gothland for thirty years. 
 The emperor found also a new enemy in the elector of 
 Treves. Liberated for the purpose of attending the con- 
 gresses opened at Osnaburgh and Munster, he had no 
 sooner recovered his freedom than he renounced a treaty 
 which he had signed from compulsion, was restored by the 
 French army to his see and dominions; and thus the 
 power and influence of France were extended along the 
 banks of the Rhine, from the Alps almost to the frontier of 
 the United Provinces. 
 
 The elector of Bavaria, the brother and most powerful 
 ally of the emperor, was doomed to share his misfortunes. 
 After the defeat of Duttlingen, the French army had in 
 vain risked an engagement for the recovery of Friburgh, 
 which was captured by Mercy, and had suifered a consi- 
 derable check at Mariendalil the ensuing spring. But the
 
 320 FERDINAND III. [CH. LVHI. 
 
 activity of the French court soon retrieved this disgrace. 
 Turenne being joined at Spire by the duke of Enghien 
 with 6000 men, their united troops advanced towards 
 Feuchtwang, where Mercy was posted. The movements 
 of the French generals brought on another battle in the 
 vicinity of Nordlingen, on the 3rd of August, 1648 ; both 
 parties suffered nearly equal loss ; but the fortune of the 
 day was turned against the Bavarians by the death of 
 Mercy, who was killed by a musket shot. John de Wert, 
 on whom the command devolved, retreated beyond the 
 Danube ; Nordlingen, with the neighbouring places, sur- 
 rendered, and the Bavarian frontier was laid open to the 
 victorious enemy. 
 
 Ferdinand met his accumulated calamities with a mag- 
 nanimity equal to his father. On the fatal battle of Yan- 
 kovitz, the archduke Leopold and Gallas, the recollection 
 of whose misfortunes was lost in those of his successors, 
 collected the scattered remnant of the army, raised new 
 levies, and assembled a sufficient force to restrain the in- 
 cursions of the Swedes to the northern bank ot'the Danube. 
 Ferdinand also lessened the number of his enemies by 
 taking advantage of the bickerings between Ragotsky and 
 the Swedish commander, and, after a short negotiation, 
 purchased an accommodation with Ragotsky, by yielding to 
 him the temporary possession of the provinces which Beth- 
 lehem Gabor had held in Hungary, and the fortresses of 
 Tokay and Regetz.* 
 
 This peace produced an instant change in the desperate 
 fortune of the emperor. He drew a part of his forces from 
 Hungary, and repaid the service rendered by the elector of 
 Bavaria, after the battle of Yutterbuck. The archduke 
 Leopold and Gallas led a strong corps of cavalry into Ba- 
 varia, joined de Wert, drove the French under the cannon 
 of Philipsburgh, and assisted in recovering the places cap- 
 tured after the action at Nordlingen. The Bavarians were 
 quartered in Suabia to cover their own country; and the 
 archduke returned into Bohemia to resume his operations 
 against the Swedes, who during these events had been 
 
 * These provinces were Zatmar, Zabatsch, Ugots, Bereg, Zemplin, 
 Bervel, and Abaiwar; Benko, vol i. p. 276. ; Windisch, p. 413. ; 
 Novotny, p. 209. ; Palrna Notitia Rerum Hungar. v. iii. p. 174.
 
 1640-1 648. J PROGRESS OF HOSTILITIES. 32! 
 
 wasting their principal efforts against Brunn, but bad ex- 
 tended their ravages over the whole country beyond the 
 Danube. The troops drawn from Hungary, the new levies, 
 and the assistance of the Bavarians, enabled the archduke 
 to resume offensive operations with superior force. He 
 drove Torstenson back into Bohemia, where the Swedish 
 general quitted the service, and was succeeded by Wrangel, 
 who had likewise been bred in the school of Gustavus. 
 
 The new commander, unable to maintain himself against 
 the increasing force and energy of his antagonist, retreated 
 in the commencement of 1646, from Bohemia through 
 Misnia and Thuringia, towards Hesse, to save his harassed 
 army by a junction with the French. Turenne was to 
 have crossed the Rhine to his support at Baccharac ; but 
 some delays intervening, the Austrians, who closely fol- 
 lowed the Swedes, united with the Bavarians, placed them- 
 selves between the two armies, and hoped to overwhelm 
 them separately. Wrangel, however, disconcerted their 
 design by occupying the strong post at Ameniburgh, where 
 he resisted all their attacks, till the resources and prompti- 
 tude of Turenne again diverted the war from the frontier 
 of France. He deceived the imperialists, by directing his 
 course towards the United Provinces, crossed the Rhine at 
 Wesel on bridges prepared by the prince of Orange, and 
 then turning towards the Maine, effected a junction with 
 the Swedes at Giessen. Thier united forces reached the 
 Maine by a masterly march, before the imperialists were 
 prepared to obstruct their passage ; captured Aschaffen- 
 burgh ; crossed the Neckar in sight of the archduke ; took 
 Schorndorf, Dunkesbuhl, and Nordlingen ; traversed the 
 Danube and the Leek, reduced Rain, laid siege to Augs- 
 burgh, and forced the elector of Bavaria himself to take 
 refuge at Branau. 
 
 Though astounded by the wonderful boldness and rapi- 
 dity of this expedition, the archduke displayed skill and 
 resources which proved him worthy of his great antago- 
 nists. He advanced by Wurtsburgh and Bamberg, through 
 the Upper Palatinate, towards Ratisbon, drew reinforce- 
 ments from Austria and Bohemia, crossed the Danube at 
 Straubingen, and approached the Leek. He speedily mis-.l 
 the siege of Augsburgh, kept the enemy in check till the 
 
 VOL. II. V
 
 322 FERDINAND in. [CH. LVJIT. 
 
 close of the campaign, and forced them to take up winter 
 quarters in the vicinity of the lake of Constance. 
 
 Although the archduke had delivered the Bavarian ter- 
 ritories, the elector, wearied with the continuance of hos- 
 tilities, and afflicted with the devastation of his country, 
 prevailed on the emperor to open negotiations, at least for 
 the conclusion of a temporary armistice. A congress was 
 accordingly formed at Ulm, by the Imperial, Swedish, and 
 Bavarian plenipotentiaries. As the unexpected conclusion 
 of a peace between Spain and the United Provinces, on the 
 19th of March, 1647, rendered it necessary for France to 
 turn a greater part of her force to the side of the Nether- 
 lands, she omitted no lure to conciliate the elector, and at 
 length obtained his signature to a separate armistice. He 
 yielded to the Swedes, Memmingen and Uberlingen ; to the 
 French, Heilbron, Lawingen, Gundelfingen, and Hochstedt, 
 and in return received Donawerth, Rain, and the other 
 places which had been occupied by the enemy. This ac- 
 commodation was followed by the separation of the confede- 
 rates. A few days after the signature, the French under 
 Turenne took the route towards the Low Countries, and in 
 their way reducing the landgrave of Hesse Darmstadt, de- 
 tached the only remaining ally of the emperor. At the 
 same time the Swedes, disappointed in their hopes of mak- 
 ing Bavaria again the scene of war and plunder, turned, in 
 July, 1647, towards the Maine, took Schweinfurth, and, 
 directing their march to Bohemia, reduced Egra. 
 
 The emperor, so unexpectedly abandoned by his allies, 
 called forth all his resources. He himself superintended 
 the new levies, and as many of his best generals were either 
 captured or had fallen in the contest, and others were em- 
 ployed in distant quarters, he intrusted the command to 
 Melander, a Calvinist, who from disgust had quitted the 
 service of Hesse. The new general hastened to relieve 
 T^gra ; but arrived only to witness its capture. To appease 
 the discontents in the army which arose from the religion 
 of the general, the emperor himself assumed the command, 
 and took post near the Swedes. The vicinity of the two 
 armies produced continual skirmishes, and Ferdinand him- 
 self was in the utmost danger of being surprised by a de- 
 tachment, which penetrating by night into his camp, killed
 
 1640-1648.] PROGRESS OF HOSTILITIES. 323 
 
 the sentinels at the door of his tent. He succeeded, however, 
 in keeping the enemy in check till the return of Bavaria to 
 his alliance afforded him the means of resuming offensive 
 operations. 
 
 On the defection of the elector, Ferdinand attempted to 
 seduce his army from their allegiance ; he claimed their 
 services as troops of the empire, and gained John de Wert, 
 with the principal generals, who were dissatisfied with the 
 conclusion of the armistice. The elector discovered the plot, 
 and forced de Wert to take refuge under the Austrian protec- 
 tion. But he had little reason to congratulate himself on his 
 neutrality ; for instead of accelerating, it retarded a peace, 
 by inducing the French to rise in their demands, and en- 
 couraging the Swedes to insist on the entire restitution of 
 the palatine dominions, as well as the electorate. He 
 therefore overlooked the affront which had been offered to 
 him by the emperor, and broke the armistice with the same 
 precipitation as he had concluded it. In September, he 
 published a manifesto against the Swedes, renewed his 
 connection with the emperor by the treaty of Passau, sent 
 a part of his troops to assist the imperialists, and de- 
 spatched the remainder to recover the fortresses which had 
 been yielded to the Swedes. The consequences of this 
 change were as important as instantaneous. Wrangel, in 
 danger of being overwhelmed by superior numbers, re- 
 treated with precipitation from Bohemia to effect a junction 
 with Koningsmark, the French, and Hessians. He was 
 followed by Melander, who, after harassing his retreat as 
 far as Weimar, was induced to ravage Hesse, either from 
 personal revenge, or at the instigation of the elector of 
 Bavaria, and thus gave him an opportunity to save his 
 army, and take quarters in Brunswick and Luneburgh. 
 
 During these events the emperor had availed himself of 
 the temporary expulsion of the Swedes from Bohemia, to 
 declare his son Ferdinand successor to the crown, and 
 readily obtained the confirmation of the states. In 1647, 
 he made a similar application to the diet of Hungary ; con- 
 ciliated the Protestants by removing the restrictions laid 
 on their worship, restoring ninety of their churches, and 
 restraining, by the strictest penalties, the insults or per- 
 secutions of the zealous Catholics. By these prudent con- 
 
 T 2
 
 324 FKRDINAND III. [CH. LVIU. 
 
 cessions he secured the elevation of the young prince, who 
 was crowned on the 16th of July, at Presburgh, in oppo- 
 sition to all the intrigues of Ragotsky, and even while a 
 foreign army was hovering on the frontiers. 
 
 On the return of spring, Wrangel and Turenne rejoined 
 and directed their march towards the Danube, behind which 
 the imperialists under Melander were posted. In May, 1 647, 
 they passed at Lawenburgh, pursued Melander, who retired 
 towards the Leek, and attacked him in his march near Sust- 
 marshausen. The imperialists were defeated, Melander 
 himself was killed, and the total ruin of the army was 
 only prevented by the skill of Montecuculi, and the courage 
 of LTlric duke of "Wirtemberg, who with a part of the 
 cavalry covered the retreat. The victors gained the pas- 
 sage of the Leek, drove the imperialists successively be- 
 yond the Iser and the Inn, spread^ themselves over the 
 whole country, levying contributions on every side, and 
 would have carried the war into Bohemia, had they not 
 been checked by an inundation of the Inn. The delay 
 occasioned by this accident enabled Piccolomini, who was 
 called to the command, to draw reinforcements from Aus- 
 tria and Bohemia, to enter Bavaria with an army of 22,000 
 men, and again to drive the confederates beyond the 
 Danube. On the close of the season, Turenne took up 
 quarters on the Neckar and the Maine, and the Swedes in 
 the neighbouring parts of Franconia. 
 
 Though this success diverted the imminent danger which 
 threatened Bavaria and Austria, the cause of the emperor 
 was far from being prosperous in other quarters. The 
 imperial general Lamboy, who headed the troops in the 
 electorate of Cologne, was defeated by the Hessians and 
 Swedes under Koningsmark, with the loss of 5000 men ; at 
 the same time Wirtemberg, who commanded another 
 Swedish corps, levied heavy contributions in Silesia, and 
 not only maintained himself against all the efforts of 
 Montecuculi, but repeatedly reinforced the garrison of 
 Olmutz, and even pushed his parties as far as the frontier 
 of Austria. 
 
 But an enterprise, equally brilliant and decisive, was the 
 surprise of Prague by Koningsmark, who in the preceding 
 campaigns had given various proofs of his talents for de-
 
 1640-1648.] PRAGUE BES1EOKD. 325 
 
 sultory warfare. During the campaign in Bavaria, he was 
 detached by "Wrangel to make a diversion in Bohemia, 
 which, by the march of reinforcements to Piccolomini, was 
 left almost defenceless. From the information of an officer, 
 named Ottoalsky, who had recently quitted the imperial 
 service, he formed the design of surprising the Bohemian 
 capital. Having industriously spread reports of his inten- 
 tion to attack Pilsen, he pushed forwards a corps of 1200 
 cavalry, accompanied by Ottoalsky, which took possession 
 of Rakonitz, and blocked up all the avenues to Prague. 
 Koningsmark following with the remainder of his forces, 
 left his artillery and baggage at Rakonitz, mounted his 
 infantry on horses which he collected in the vicinity, and 
 reached the neighbourhood of Prague in the evening of 
 July 26. 1648. Concealing his troops in a wood till the 
 advance of night, he approached the walls unobserved, 
 near the gate of Strohof : his dispositions were already 
 made for the attack ; an hundred musketeers followed by 
 thirty pioneers, formed the vanguard ; these were sup- 
 ported by two hundred select troops, and the march was 
 closed by the rest of the infantry and the cavalry. As he 
 drew near the wall, he beard the cries of the patrol, and 
 the bells of a neighbouring convent. Struck with these 
 signals of apparent alarm, he suspected that his design was 
 discovered, and was on the point of ordering a retreat ; but 
 was prevented by the declaration of Ottoalsky, that the 
 sounding of the bells was only the usual call to matins, 
 lie suffered the patrol to finish its round, and then gave 
 the signal for the attack. The troops led by Ottoalsky 
 mounted the wall, killed the sentinel, rushed to the neigh- 
 bouring gate, put the guard to the sword, lowered the 
 drawbridge to admit the cavalry, and the Little Town was 
 in the possession of the Swedes before the citizens sus- 
 pected the approach of an enemy. Koningsmark instantly 
 occupied the bridge which connects the Little with the Old 
 Town, and seized a tower at its further extremity ; but as 
 the alarm was already given, and as the garrison of the Old 
 Town consisted of 800 men, with 10,000 armed burghers, 
 he did not venture to risk the loss of the advantage he 
 had already gained, but made himself master of the citadel 
 and arsenal, which were both in the Little Town.
 
 326 FJSKDLSfAND HI. [CH. LVIII. 
 
 Fortunately the active and intrepid count Colloredo, 
 commandant of Prague, made his escape during the tumult 
 of the assault, and crossed the Moldau to the Old Town. 
 He disciplined the burghers, who assembled on the first 
 alarm, secured the principal avenues, and recalled 2000 
 men who had recently marched to Glatz. Though pro- 
 vided with only two small pieces of artillery, and reduced 
 to strip an armourer's shop to arm the burghers and 
 students, he resisted all the attacks of the Swedes. The 
 danger was increased by the arrival of Wirtemberg, the 
 Swedish general from Silesia, with a considerable force and 
 artillery, who taking post on the Ziskaberg, on the 4th of 
 August, opened five batteries, mounted with forty pieces of 
 cannon, against the New Town. The two pieces of the 
 garrison were soon silenced ; but the great superiority of 
 the enemy served only to stimulate the burghers to new 
 exertions ; they maintained their posts, though armed only 
 with muskets, spits, and flails, and successfully repulsed 
 repeated assaults of the besiegers. 
 
 As the cavalry suffered for want of forage, a single 
 regiment was left in the town, and Buckheim led the re- 
 mainder towards Budweiss, to form a junction with a corps 
 of troops collected under general Goltsch, to introduce rein- 
 forcements and supplies. Wirtemberg, following the im- 
 perialists, defeated them near the castle of Hlubocka ; and, 
 after wasting the circles of Bechin and Prachin, returned to 
 resume the operations of the siege. Fortunately in this 
 interval, Conti, an experienced engineer, had repaired to 
 the place, and under his skilful direction a new wall, with 
 additional bastions, was raised on the side of the New 
 Town, and the deficiency of artillery supplied by the con- 
 struction of mines. At the same time provisions and 
 forage were procured by the activity of Goltsch, and the 
 town was placed in a far better state of defence than at 
 the commencement of the siege. 
 
 This change induced Wirtemberg to suspend his attacks 
 until the arrival of Charles Gustavus*, prince palatine of 
 Deux Ponts, who had been appointed generalissimo of the 
 
 * Son of John, duke of Deux Ponts, by Catherine, sister of Gus- 
 tavus Adolphus, and afterwards, on the abdication of Christina, king 
 of Sweden.
 
 1640-1648.] HEROIC DEFEXCE OF PRAGUE. 327 
 
 Swedish army, and brought a reinforcement of 10,000 
 men. The siege was renewed, and the attacks were 
 pressed on both sides of the city with redoubled vigour; 
 batteries were opened on every point which commanded 
 the place ; in a few days numerous breaches were made 
 sufficiently large to admit a waggon, and the artillery was 
 advanced within pistol shot of the walls. The resources 
 of Conti appeared to augment with the danger, and he 
 brought into activity the means which he had before de- 
 vised for opposing the attacks of the enemy ; they were 
 entangled with harrows and crows' feet in the ditches ; 
 wherever they advanced, the intrenchments seemed to 
 multiply behind the breaches, and they had no sooner 
 effected a lodgment than it was blown up with mines. 
 The inhabitants, under the guidance of their skilful chief, 
 emulated the deeds of their ancestors, and compensated for 
 their rebellion, at the commencement of the war, by their 
 bravery and loyalty at jts close. Amidst the general dis- 
 play of personal valour, the students distinguished them- 
 selves by acts of heroism ; and even the very monks, 
 forming themselves into companies, exchanged the cross 
 for the sword. Repeated summons being rejected, the 
 Swedes concentrated their whole force, and made a des- 
 perate effort to carry the place by storm. Their mines 
 having cleared the breaches, 4000 men steadily advanced 
 to the assault, but had no sooner gained the wall, and were 
 pressing forwards, than a mine was sprung, which swal- 
 lowed up 500 ; they were attacked in the midst of their 
 confusion and dismay, and, after a contest of five hours, 
 the remnant were with difficulty disengaged by a body of 
 reserve. Such was the dread inspired by the desperate 
 valour of the besieged, that the assailants made only an- 
 other feeble effort, and, on the approach of succours under 
 Goltsch, raised the siege ; the prince Palatine and Wirtem- 
 berg took the route of Brandeiss, and Koningsmark was 
 left with his troops and artillery to maintain possession of 
 the Little Town. 
 
 This was the last event of this memorable, long, and 
 bloody war, for, on the following day, October 25th, the 
 inhabitants of Prague received the joyful intelligence of 
 
 v 4
 
 328 FERDINAND HI. [CH. L1X. 
 
 the signature of the armistice, which soon after gave peace 
 to Germany. 
 
 The emperor rewarded the bravery and loyalty of the 
 burghers, by raising many of those who had distinguished 
 themselves to the rank of knighthood, by conferring nu- 
 merous privileges on the town, and by commanding, under 
 severe penalties, that all memory of their former disobe- 
 dience should be buried in oblivion. 
 
 CHAP. LIX. 1637-1648. 
 
 FOR the sake of maintaining a due connection, we have 
 hitherto carried on the account of the military operations 
 in a continued narrative ; we now trace the progress of the 
 negotiations. 
 
 Sensible that the separation of France from Sweden was 
 the only means of procuring more advantageous terms of 
 peace, the emperor and Spain exerted all their address to 
 divide the two allies ; and for that purpose proposed sepa- 
 rate congresses, of which the proceedings were to be en- 
 tirely distinct ; and appointed, as the places of meeting, 
 Cologne and Hamburgh, which, from their distance, ren- 
 dered a reciprocal communication slow and difficult. This 
 artifice was too palpable to escape the penetration of the 
 French and Swedish ministry; and as the means of main- 
 taining their union, and securing the advantages for which 
 they had prosecuted the war, France, in 1 638, sent ambas- 
 sadors to Hamburgh, where the Swedish and imperial 
 plenipotentiaries were assembled. The two powers re- 
 newed their alliance, and entered into an engagement not 
 to conclude a separate accommodation. But as it was 
 necessary that two places should be appointed for the 
 negotiation, as well to save the honour of the pope, who 
 was one of the mediators, as to prevent disputes between 
 the Catholics and Protestants, the diet of Ratisbon, at the 
 instigation of France, selected Munster and Osnaburgh, 
 which, from their position and contiguity, were not liable to 
 the same objection as Cologne and Hamburgh. 
 
 Ferdinand having reluctantly consented to this arrange-
 
 1 637-1648.] NEGOTIATIONS FOR PF.ACE. 329 
 
 ment, his ambassador at Hamburgh concluded with the 
 French and Swedish plenipotentiaries, under the name of 
 preliminaries, a convention for settling the ceremonial and 
 proceedings of the congresses. Munster was to be the place 
 of negotiation for the empire, Spain, France, and the Ca- 
 tholics, under the mediation of the pope; Osnaburgh, for the 
 empire, Sweden, and the Protestants, under the mediation 
 of the king of Denmark ; and all the princes of Germany, 
 as allies of France and Sweden, were to be admitted. The 
 two congresses were considered as one, and a free com- 
 munication was to be maintained between the two towns, 
 which were left under the guard of their own magistrates 
 and burghers, and freed from their allegiance to the em- 
 peror and empire. Finally, the congresses were to be 
 opened on the 26th of March, 1642. 
 
 These conditions, though concluded by the imperial 
 ambassador, and sanctioned by a recess of the diet, were 
 far from being agreeable to Ferdinand. He saw his design 
 of separating France and Sweden by a feigned negotiation 
 disappointed, and he deeply felt the mortification of being 
 reduced to admit the refractory princes to Ihe congress, 
 and a share in the peace. He therefore disavowed his 
 ambassador, and rejected the convention as equally dis- 
 honourable to himself and to the empire. A new ambas- 
 sador sent to Hamburgh to obtain a modification of these 
 conditions, was not received by the two powers ; and the 
 emperor temporised till the unfortunate battle of Brieten- 
 feld reduced him to accept the terms which he had before 
 rejected, and to consent that the llth of June, 1643, should 
 be fixed for the opening of the congress. Still, however, 
 his hopes of more favourable events, the aversion of Spain 
 to enter into negotiation, and above all the deaths of 
 Richelieu and Louis XIII., delayed the intended meeting 
 till September ; and the French ministers did not make 
 their appearance till the following spring. 
 
 Never did Europe witness such an era in politics as this 
 celebrated congress, whether we consider the constellation 
 of diplomatic talents which shone on this occasion, the 
 importance of the different interests, and the parties con- 
 cerned, which, except England, comprised all the great, 
 and almost all the minor powers of Europe. In this as-
 
 330 FERDINAND III. [CH. LIX. 
 
 sembly were represented the emperor and empire, separately 
 and collectively ; Spain, France, and Sweden ; the new- 
 king of Portugal, and the new republic of the United 
 Provinces ; Savoy, Tuscany, Loraine, Mantua, and the 
 Swiss Cantons, besides the pope, the king of Denmark, and 
 Venice, as mediators. 
 
 Excessive demands on one side, and on the other the 
 disinclination of Spain to peace, and the hopes of the 
 emperor, that by the prosecution of hostilities he should 
 obtain more favourable terms, retarded, or reduced the 
 proceedings of the congress to mere disputes on forms and 
 etiquette. At length the series of disasters, which com- 
 menced with the unfortunate battle of Jankovitz, induced 
 him to negotiate with earnestness and sincerity. In June, 
 1645, the ministers at length commenced their operations 
 by delivering specific propositions. But the demands of 
 France, Sweden, and their allies, were so exorbitant, and 
 the pretensions of the Catholics and Protestants so con- 
 tradictory, that, during the two following years, the nego- 
 tiation varied with the fluctuations of the war. 
 
 While the congress was employed in these discussions, 
 Spain was visited with new disasters. The duke of Modena 
 withdrew from her alliance, and two revolutions in Naples, 
 the first under the fisherman Massaniello, the second under 
 the romantic duke of Guise, threatened the loss of her 
 power in Italy. Deeming it therefore impossible to main- 
 tain the contest at once against all his enemies, Philip 
 opened a separate negotiation with the United Provinces, 
 alarmed them with a proposal of ceding the Netherlands to 
 France, lured them with commercial privileges, and gained 
 the prince of Orange with the offer of territorial acquisi- 
 tion. A peace was accordingly concluded, on the 30th of 
 June, 1648, by which Spain acknowledged the indepen- 
 dence of the new republic, permitted the states to retain 
 their conquests in the Netherlands, with their colonial 
 acquisitions, acquiesced in shutting up the navigation of 
 the Scheld, and conceded several commercial privileges in 
 the trade of the East and West Indies.* 
 
 * Among the commercial stipulations of this treaty was the follow- 
 ing clause : " The Spaniards shall keep the navigation to the East 
 Indies in the same manner as they hold it at present, without being
 
 1637-1648.] STATE OF CONTENDING PARTIES. 331 
 
 This treaty would have probably encouraged the emperor 
 to prolong hostilities, with the hopes of being assisted by 
 the forces of Spain, had not the events of the ensuing 
 year effected a change in the sentiments of all parties. 
 The firmness of Ferdinand was shaken by the incursions 
 of the Swedes into the hereditary countries, the devasta- 
 tions of Turenne and Wrangel, and the spirit of revolt 
 which again made its appearance in Austria. The Catholic 
 states of Germany were exhausted of men and money, 
 and anxious to deliver their territories from the exactions 
 of the imperial troops their protectors, as well as of their 
 enemies the Swedes. An unfortunate campaign exposed 
 them to ruin ; if the emperor's arms should again prove 
 successful, they dreaded lest the destruction of the Pro- 
 testant liberties should be followed by the extinction of 
 their own ; and therefore were anxious for the termination 
 of so long and ruinous a war. Nor were the Swedes less 
 desirous to procure a peace : their finances were exhausted, 
 and their armies dwindled to a few native regiments ; 
 while the far greater part of their forces under their 
 standards were Germans, connected by no ties but those of 
 discipline, and ready to desert on the smallest reverse. 
 Even France herself was interested to hasten the con- 
 clusion of hostilities. The evils of a minority began to 
 
 at liberty to extend it further ; as also, the inhabitants of these Low 
 Countries shall abstain from frequenting the places which the Casti- 
 lians possess in the East Indies." This clause afterwards gave birth to 
 incessant disputes between Charles VI., as sovereign of the Nether- 
 lands, and the maritime powers. Charles having, in 1722, erected a 
 company at Ostend, for the purpose of carrying on a direct trade to the 
 East Indies, this establishment was opposed by the United Provinces, 
 as trenching on the articles of this treaty, and by both the maritime 
 powers, as an infringement of the barrier treaty, which confirmed that 
 of Munster. The Dutch contending, according to the spirit of the 
 treaty, that the stipulation, relative to the East Indies, interdicted all 
 commerce from the Low Countries with that quarter of the world ; the 
 court of Vienna, according to the letter, urging that this stipulation 
 regarded only the Spaniards. It must be confessed that the former 
 interpretation is the most reasonable and just ; because throughout the 
 king of Spain is engaged as sovereign of the Netherlands; and bo- 
 cause, at the conclusion of this treaty, it was impossible to provide for 
 a case which could not be foreseen, the separation of the Netherlands 
 from the crown of Spain.
 
 332 FERDINAND in. L CH ' LIX - 
 
 be felt ; the flame of civil discord had already burst forth ; 
 the war with Spain still continued, and the peace which 
 the court of Madrid had just concluded with the United 
 Provinces, rendered an accession of force indispensably 
 necessary to maintain the advantages already gained on 
 the side of the Low Countries. 
 
 All parties being influenced by these motives, the em- 
 peror resisted the solicitations of Spain to continue the 
 war ; France and Sweden relaxed in their demands ; and 
 the terms of peace were finally signed at Osnaburgh, on 
 the 6th of August, 1648, and at Munster on the 8th of 
 September. 
 
 The emperor and empire renounced all claims to the 
 bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, which France had 
 appropriated in 1552, reserving the metropolitan rights of 
 the elector of Treves ; and also to the city of Pignerol, 
 which the duke of Savoy had yielded in 1632 by the treaty 
 of St. Germain. The emperor, in his own name, and in 
 behalf of his family and the empire, ceded the full sove- 
 reignty of Upper and Lower Alsace, with the prefecture 
 of Haguenau, or the ten towns*, and their dependencies. 
 But by one of those contradictions, which are common in 
 treaties, when both parties wish to preserve their respective 
 claims, another article was introduced, binding the king of 
 France to leave the ecclesiastics and immediate nobility of 
 those provinces, in the immediacy which they had hitherto 
 possessed with regard to the Roman empire, and not to 
 pretend to any sovereignty over them, but to remain con- 
 tent with such rights as belonged to the house of Austria. 
 Yet this was again contradicted by a declaration, that this 
 exception should not derogate from the supreme sovereignty 
 before yielded to the king of France. As the means of 
 securing the advantages derived from these acquisitions, 
 France obtained the introduction of a clause, that no fort 
 should be raised on the German banks of the Rhine, from 
 Basle to Philipsburgh. 
 
 In return for this cession in Alsace, which belonged to 
 
 * Haguenau, Schelestadt, Weissemburgh, Colmar, Landau, Oberen- 
 liciin, Kosheim, Munster in the Val de St. Gregoire, Kaiserberg, and 
 Turingheim.
 
 1637-1648.] TERMS OP THE TREATY. 333 
 
 the archduke Ferdinand, France promised him a compen- 
 sation of 3,000,000 livres. 
 
 Sweden acquired Upper Pomerania, and the isle of 
 Rugen with Stettin, Gartz, Damme, Golnau, the isle of 
 Wollin, Peine, Schweine, and Divenau, in Lower Pomer- 
 ania ; Wismar in the duchy of Mecklenburgh ; the arch- 
 bishopric of Bremen secularised and converted into a duchy ; 
 the bishopric of Verden converted into a principality ; the 
 whole to be held as a fief of the empire, with three de- 
 liberative voices in the diet. In failure of issue male to 
 the house of Brandenburgh, all Pomerania was to devolve 
 on the crown of Sweden. As an indemnification for the 
 expense of maintaining an army till the articles of the 
 peace were carried into execution, 5,000,000 crowns were 
 to be levied on the circles of the empire, Austria, Bavaria, 
 and Burgundy excepted. 
 
 The elector of Brandenburgh was indemnified for the 
 part of Pomerania ceded to the Swedes, with the arch- 
 bishopric of Magdeburgh secularised under the title of a 
 duchy, and the bishoprics of Halberstadt, Minden, and 
 Camin as secular principalities, with four voices in the diet. 
 
 The house of Brunswick Luneburgh was gratified for 
 the loss of the archbishoprics of Magdeburgh and Bremen, 
 and the bishopric of Halberstadt and Ratzeburgh, to which 
 some of that family had been appointed coadjutors or suc- 
 cessors, with the convents of Walkenried and Groningen, 
 and by vesting the succession to the bishopric of Osna- 
 burgh alternately in a Catholic bishop and a younger 
 prince of the house of Hanover. 
 
 The dukes of Mecklenburgh received, in return for 
 Wismar, the bishoprics of Schwerin and Ratzeburgh, con- 
 verted into secular principalities, and two commanderies of 
 the order of St. John, with two voices in the diet. 
 
 The Lower Palatinate was restored to Charles Louis, 
 son of the unfortunate elector Palatine, with all his pa- 
 ternal possessions, except the Upper Palatinate, and the 
 county of Cham, which were confirmed to the elector of 
 Bavaria ; and an eighth electorate, with the office of great 
 treasurer, was established in his favour. If the Bavarian 
 line became extinct, this new electorate was to be sup- 
 pressed, and the palatine family restored to the electorate
 
 334 FERDINAND III. [CH. L1X. 
 
 which had been granted to the house of Bavaria, and the 
 possession of the Upper Palatinate and county of Cham. 
 
 William, landgrave of Hesse Cassel, obtained the princely 
 abbey of Hirschfeld as a secular domain.* 
 
 The other princes and states of the empire, who had 
 been proscribed or troubled in their lawful rights, were 
 restored to all the possessions, rights, and prerogatives 
 which they had enjoyed before the troubles of Bohemia 
 in 1619. 
 
 The Helvetic confederacy was exempted from the juris- 
 diction of the empire. 
 
 The affairs of the empire may be subdivided into the 
 two heads of religious and civil regulations. 
 
 The religious affairs, which had been the principal cause 
 of the war, were the primary objects of the negotiation, 
 and comprised in the treaty of Osnaburgh alone ; the civil 
 regulations were arranged jointly with France and Sweden, 
 and inserted in both treaties. 
 
 In regard to religion, the treaty of Passau, and the reli- 
 gious peace of 1555, were confirmed. The spiritual au- 
 thority of the pope and the Catholic prelates over the 
 Protestants was suspended till a final accommodation of all 
 disputes should take place, or in other words be abolished. 
 The Calvinists were included in the religious peace under 
 the denomination of "Reformed," which they had assumed, 
 and admitted to the same privileges as the Lutherans. A 
 general equality was to be maintained among the princes 
 and states of the empire, whether Catholics, Lutherans, or 
 Calvinists. The dispute concerning the ecclesiastical re- 
 servation was finally settled by the declaration, that all 
 ecclesiastical benefices, mediate or immediate, should re- 
 main in or be restored to the same state as on the first of 
 January, 1624, which was termed "the definitive year." 
 But in regard to the dominions of the elector Palatine, 
 the margrave of Baden, and the duke of Wirtemberg, 
 
 * He Was the only prince who acquired any accession of territory, 
 without a particular claim for satisfaction or indemnity. He owed 
 this entirely to the gratitude and support of the Swedes, his father, 
 William V., being the first among the German princes who joined 
 Gustavus Adolphus, and on his death in 1637, his mother continued 
 firm to that alliance during bis minority.
 
 1637-1648.] TERMS OF THE TREATY. 335 
 
 1618 was fixed as the definitive year, on account of the 
 changes in civil and ecclesiastical affairs, introduced by the 
 imperialists and Spaniards during their invasion of the 
 palatinate. The article of the ecclesiastical reservation, 
 was recapitulated almost in the same words as in the peace 
 of religion, but, instead of being confined to the Catholics, 
 was extended to the members of the Confession of Augs- 
 burg ; by the stipulation that, if an incumbent of an eccle- 
 siastical office, whether Catholic or Protestant, should 
 change his religion, he should be considered as having 
 vacated his office, and another person of the same religion 
 be appointed in his place. 
 
 All other princes and states, immediate members of the 
 empire, and possessing sovereign power, were allowed to 
 change their religion, or reform the public worship of their 
 dominions, in all cases not limited by the treaty, or by 
 compacts with their subjects. Unfortunately, however, the 
 disputes subsisting among the Protestants occasioned the 
 introduction of a clause to explain this right of reforma- 
 tion, by which a Lutheran or Calvinist prince, possessor of 
 territorial sovereignty, or patron of any church, who should 
 change his religion, or acquire a territory of which the 
 subjects enjoyed the public exercise of a different religion, 
 was allowed to retain preachers for his own residence and 
 court, and permit his subjects to embrace the same per- 
 suasion, but was not to make any innovation in the esta- 
 blished worship. Although no similar regulation was 
 mentioned, or even necessary in regard to the Catholics, 
 and although this clause is specifically described as a con- 
 vention between the two Protestant sects, yet the Catholics 
 afterwards availed themselves of this article to arrogate 
 the same privileges as the Lutherans and Calvinists con- 
 ceded to each other. 
 
 The subjects of either church, differing from their lord 
 or sovereign, possessed in the definitive year of ecclesias- 
 tical property, or enjoying the free exercise of their religion, 
 were still to retain that property, and enjoy that toleration 
 in perpetuity, or till a final arrangement of religious dis- 
 putes. Even Catholic subjects of a state which adhered to 
 the confession of Augsburg, or members of the confession 
 of Augsburg, subjects of Catholic states, who did not enjoy
 
 336 FERDINAND III. [CB. LTX. 
 
 the public or private exercise of their worship, in the 
 definitive years, or who, after the peace, should embrace a 
 different religion from their territorial lord, were to be 
 tolerated, and not prevented from performing their devo- 
 tions in their own houses, or even assisting at the public 
 exercise of their worship, in places where it was tolerated 
 in the vicinity. They were also permitted to provide for 
 the education of their children, either by sending them to 
 foreign schools of their own persuasion, or by entertaining 
 preceptors in their houses ; and they were to enjoy the 
 same rights and privileges, personal, civil, and commercial, 
 sis their fellow-subjects. But this toleration was in a great 
 degree rendered dependent on the will of the sovereign, by 
 the addition, that all subjects, who in the definitive year did 
 not possess the free exercise of their worship, and should 
 be inclined to change their place of residence, or should be 
 dismissed from their sovereign on the same account, should, 
 in the first case, be allowed five, and in the last three 
 years, to dispose of, or carry away their goods and property, 
 
 The point for which the Protestants had long labo 
 was also terminated in their favour. No decree of th 
 was to pass by a majority of suffrages, but by amicable ac- 
 commodation ; first, in all causes of religion, secondly, in 
 all other affairs where the states could not be considered as 
 a single body, and, thirdly, in all cases in which the Catho- 
 lics and Protestants should divide into two parties. In 
 regard to the mode of voting public impositions, the ques- 
 tion was referred to the ensuing diet. Diets of deputation 
 likewise were to be composed of equal numbers of the two 
 religions ; and, in extraordinary commissions, the officers 
 or commissaries were to be all Protestants, if the affair 
 concerned the Protestants ; all Catholics, if the Catholics ; 
 and an equal number of each, if it concerned both religions. 
 Finally, the dignity of the Protestant body was secured by 
 guarantying to their beneficiaries, who were entitled to seats 
 in the diet, or in the college of princes, a peculiar bench 
 between the Catholic ecclesiastics and the secular members, 
 with the distinction of " Postulated " annexed to their re- 
 spective dignities. 
 
 With respect to the Aulic Council and Imperial Chamber, 
 the amendment of the abuses which had been the early and
 
 
 T637-1648.] TERMS OF THE TREATY. 237 
 
 constant theme of complaint among the Protestants, was 
 referred to the ensuing diet ; but, in the present instance, a 
 few general regulations were established, tending to secure 
 to the Protestants the impartial administration of justice, 
 and an equal share in those tribunals. 
 
 The rights of the pope, in regard to Catholic sees and 
 benefices, were guaranteed ; and the privileges of present- 
 ation, which belonged to the emperor, were confirmed, 
 both with regard to Catholic and Protestant benefices, with 
 the sole restriction that he was to replace Catholic with 
 Catholic, and Protestant with Protestant ecclesiastics. 
 Finally, all dubious expressions were to be interpreted 
 and decided by a full diet, or settled by amicable accom- 
 modation between the states of both persuasions. 
 
 As insuperable difficulties occurred, relative to the re- 
 storation of Donawerth to its liberties and privileges, the 
 consideration of an affair which so warmly interested both 
 parties was referred to the ensuing diet.* 
 
 The civil regulations established and limited the prero- 
 gatives of the emperor, as elective head of Germany, and 
 Defined the Germanic body as a grand union, combining for 
 common good, and bound by those principles and regula- 
 tions which constitute the public law of the empire. The 
 electors, princes, and states, were confirmed in all their 
 prerogatives and privileges, particularly the right of suf- 
 frage in all deliberations on the affairs of the empire, in 
 framing or interpreting laws, making war or peace, and 
 concluding alliances. In all other respects, each sovereign ~~" 
 and state was at liberty to conclude alliances with foreign ^, 
 powers, or perform every act of sovereignty, not contrary 
 to the public law and the interests of the general associa- 
 tion. The imperial towns also were to possess the same 
 deliberative voice in the diets of the empire, as in the par- 
 ticular diets of the circles. 
 
 Other regulations were proposed, tending to circumscribe 
 the prerogatives of the emperor, and diminish the influence 
 of the house of Austria. These were, to establish regular 
 sessions of the diets ; to prevent the election of a king of 
 
 * To prevent any further reference on this subject, we shall only 
 observe that Donawerth was never reinstated in its former privilege* 
 and liberties, but has continued subject to the house of Bavaria. 
 
 VOL. II.
 
 338 FERDINAND III. [CH. LIX. 
 
 the Romans during the life of the emperor, or at least to 
 exclude the family of the reigning sovereign ; to introduce 
 a perpetual capitulation, and to prevent the proscription of 
 any prince or state without the consent of the diet. But, 
 by the influence of Ferdinand, the decision of these points 
 was referred to future consideration. 
 
 Other stipulations, merely temporary, were admitted to 
 hasten the conclusion of hostilities, or promote the execution 
 of the treaties. The emperor and the empire agreed to 
 grant no succours to Spain in defence of the circle of Bur- 
 gundy, though its connection with the empire was still to 
 be maintained after the peace. A similar stipulation was 
 introduced in regard to the duke of Loraine, and it was 
 agreed that the discussion relative to the state of his terri- 
 tories should be referred to arbitrators, or settled in the 
 treaty between France and Spain. On the same principle, 
 the dukes of Savoy and Modena, and the other allies of 
 France, were not to be exposed to any detriment on the 
 part of the emperor, for the war which they carried on 
 against Spain in Italy. 
 
 As the protests of the pope and the king of Spain were 
 foreseen, a particular clause, expressed in the strongest and 
 most precise terms, established these treaties as a perpetual 
 law and pragmatic sanction, and declared null and inef- 
 fectual all opposition made by any ecclesiastic or secular 
 prince, either within or without the empire. Temporary 
 regulations were likewise introduced for securing and ac- 
 celerating the execution of the treaties, such as making 
 the stipulated restitutions and satisfactions, disbanding the 
 troops, and restoring the captured fortresses ; but of these 
 \ve spare the reader a minute detail, after the extended 
 account we have given of the essential and permanent 
 articles. 
 
 The peace was concluded under the guaranty of all the 
 contracting parties, and by the sole mediation of the re- 
 public of Venice ; for that of Denmark had been termi- 
 nated by the war with Sweden, and the pope, after taking 
 a share in an early stage of the negotiation, had withdrawn 
 his interference, irom unwillingness to acquiesce in the 
 secularisation of the ecclesiastical property, and the con- 
 cessions granted to the Protestants. The principal con-
 
 1G37-1648.] TERMS OF THE TREATY. 339 
 
 tracting parties were allowed to include their allies, if nomi- 
 nated within a certain period, and received by common 
 consent ; and the different powers, specified under the 
 sanction of this article, comprised all the European states, 
 except the pope and the Turkish sultan. 
 
 Although compelled to desert Spain by imperious neces- 
 sity, and to agree to conditions which militated against his 
 rights as emperor, no less than against the interests of his 
 family, Ferdinand displayed the spirit of a sovereign in all 
 cases which regarded his own religious principles, or the 
 government of his hereditary states. Notwithstanding all 
 the instances of the Swedes, and the solicitations of the 
 Protestant body, he refused to include his rebellious sub- 
 jects in an unlimited amnesty ; and would not relinquish a 
 tittle of that right which was confirmed to the other 
 princes, of re-establishing his own religion in his own ter- 
 ritories, except the concessions which had been already 
 made in the peace of Prague. He allowed the dukes and 
 princes of Silesia, with the town of Breslau, the same 
 exercise of their religion which they had enjoyed before 
 the war ; and permitted the construction of three Protes- 
 tant churches, without the towns of Schweidnitz, Jauer, 
 and Glogau. As to the other Protestant nobles of Silesia 
 and Austria above the Ems, he only agreed not to force 
 them to emigrate, or prevent them from assisting at the 
 exercise of their worship in places beyond the bounds of 
 the Austrian territories. Those who had emigrated from 
 his dominions, particularly from Bohemia, during the war, 
 were allowed to return, on the condition of submitting to 
 the laws, and conforming to the established rules relative to 
 religion ; and those only were restored to their confiscated 
 property, who had taken up arms since 1630, and were 
 considered and termed, not disobedient subjects, but adhe- 
 rents of France and Sweden. He also maintained the 
 honour and rights of his family by refusing to admit the 
 ministers of Portugal into the congress, as well as by pro- 
 testing against the nomination of John king of Portugal in 
 the treaty, and he renewed his declaration, frequently made 
 in the course of the negotiation, that he acknowledged no 
 other king of Portugal than Philip of Spain. 
 
 We close our account of the negotiation with a few re- 
 z 2
 
 340 FERDINAND III. [CH. LIX. 
 
 marks on this celebrated treaty, which forms an era in the 
 political state of Europe. 
 
 The Catholics undoubtedly derived advantages from the 
 restoration of that ecclesiastical property which had been 
 confiscated before 1624, and from the uncontroverted esta- 
 blishment of the ecclesiastical reservation. Their pride 
 was also gratified by the preference given to the Catholic 
 as the dominant religion ; by the reference continually 
 made to some future re-union of the church ; and by the 
 terms in which the concessions were granted to the Pro- 
 testants, not as matters of justice and right, but of tolera- 
 tion and favour. Yet, although none lost any portion of 
 their hereditary possessions, the weight of their body, and 
 the power of the church, which formed the bond of their 
 union, were greatly diminished by the extensive secularisa- 
 tion of the ecclesiastical property, most of which was 
 transferred to Protestants. 
 
 On the contrary, the Protestants lost little advantage by 
 the arrangement relative to the ecclesiastical reservation, 
 which they had never had power or unanimity to set aside, 
 and which had involved them in continual disputes with 
 the Catholics. They saw their own religion secured from 
 the consequences of apostacy by an insuperable barrier, 
 themselves admitted to an equal share of influence in the 
 tribunals of justice and the diet, and, by uniting in a body, 
 they possessed a legal expedient to deprive their antago- 
 nists of the advantage derived from superior numbers. The 
 inclusion of the Calvinists in the peace diminished that 
 fatal jealousy which had so long reigned between the two 
 sects, and, by their consequent union into a compact body, 
 removed that weakness and discordance which had often 
 exposed them to the aggressions of the Catholics From 
 this time the Protestants, though differing in religious prin- 
 ciples, were, as a political body actuated by the same views 
 and guided by the same interests ; and the heads of the 
 electoral house of Saxony unanimously chosen their chiefs, 
 instead of fomenting their disputes, were the champions of 
 their cause and the supporters of their interests, though 
 they afterwards became members of the Catholic body.* 
 
 * Augustus, elector of Saxony, renounced the Protestant and em- 
 braced the Catholic religion, on bis elevation to the throne of Poland, 
 in 1697.
 
 1637-1648.] EFFECTS OF THE TREATY. 341 
 
 By this treaty the king of France was enabled to secure 
 passages into Germany and Italy ; to avail himself of those 
 regulations which rendered the empire an aristocracy, by 
 detaching the minor states from their chief ; and to form, 
 on every occasion, a powerful party against the emperor or 
 the house of Austria. Under the pretext of the joint 
 guaranty, to which he was entitled by this treaty, he found 
 a never-failing excuse for interfering in the affairs of the 
 empire ; he assumed the protection of the weaker states, 
 by affecting to support their liberties ; and seized continual 
 opportunities of increasing that influence, which was 
 already too predominant, and afterwards became fatal to 
 Germany. 
 
 The advantages acquired by the Swedes were scarcely 
 less important than those of the French. Though by local 
 position apparently excluded from any share of influence 
 among the civilised states of Europe, they rose to a height 
 of fame far beyond their physical strength or extent of 
 territory, obtained a footing in Germany, which gave them 
 the command of two of its principal rivers, the Elbe and the 
 Oder, and acquired a degree of influence which enabled 
 them frequently to turn the scale in favour either of France 
 or Austria. 
 
 As emperor, Ferdinand saw himself stripped of a great 
 part of that authority which he derived from prerogative 
 or prescription, reduced to admit to a share of sovereign 
 power and dignity the states whom preceding emperors 
 had treated as vassals ; and, as head of the house of Austria, 
 he lost, with the important territory of Alsace, his footing 
 beyond the Rhine. By these restrictions and dismember- 
 ments he was deprived of that preponderance in Europe 
 which his family, by its own weight, had hitherto main- 
 tained over France. 
 
 To the empire, as a great political body, this peace can 
 scarcely be considered in any other light than as a fatal 
 blow to its strength and influence. The different states 
 were indeed gratified with an appearance of independence, 
 but purchased this shadow of sovereignty by foregoing the 
 advantages derived from concord and union. The right 
 which they acquired of concluding alliances with other 
 states often rendered them the mere instruments of intrigue 
 
 z 3
 
 342 FERDINAND III. [dl. 1,X. 
 
 in the hands of foreign powers ; and the king of France in 
 particular, by the assistance of the Germans themselves, 
 exerted and extended the ascendency which he had gained by 
 "breaking down the barriers of the empire. To a few of the 
 greater states, the peace of Westphalia became the founda- 
 tion of independence. ; but to the smaller it was the ulti- 
 mate cause of weakness and degradation, and led to the 
 subjugation of most of the imperial towns, once the chief 
 seats of German wealth, prosperity, and commerce. 
 
 CHAP. LX. 1648-1657 
 
 As the early part of Ferdinand's reign had been devoted to 
 war, the remainder was employed in carrying the peace 
 into execution, and healing the wounds of a long and de- 
 structive conflict. 
 
 A treaty, comprising such concessions, embracing such 
 great and contradictory interests, trenching on so many 
 deep-rooted prejudices and established regulations, met 
 with almost innumerable obstacles in the execution. Pope 
 Innocent X. annulled it by a formal bull : the king of 
 Spain also protested against the article which bound the 
 empire not to assist the circle of Burgundy, as well as 
 against the cession of Alsace, and the evacuation of the 
 Lower Palatinate, of which he claimed a part, and refused 
 to restore the fortress of Frankendahl. But this opposi- 
 tion produced little effect ; the protest of the pope was in- 
 validated by the stipulation which had been inserted in the 
 treaty by way of precaution, and that of Spain only induced 
 France to suspend the payment of the 3,000,000 livres in- 
 tended as an equivalent for the cessions in Alsace. The 
 emperor yielded Heilbron as a temporary compensation to 
 the elector Palatine, and afterwards purchased the restora- 
 tion of Frankendahl by the surrender of Besan$on to 
 Spain. 
 
 After the exchange of the ratifications, a congress, as- 
 sembled at Nuremberg, employed two years in settling the 
 mode of making the restitutions, granting compensations,
 
 1648-1657.] HIS POLICY TO SECURE PEACE. 343 
 
 and disbanding the troops ; and it was not till the close 
 of 1651, that these tedious arrangements were completed, 
 and the empire relieved from the presence of a foreign 
 army. 
 
 This business being terminated, the emperor, in con- 
 formity with the stipulations of the treaty, summoned, in 
 1652, a general diet at Ratisbon, for the purpose of con- 
 firming the peace, and deliberating on the propositions left 
 undecided. But the object which he had most at heart, 
 was to obtain the crown of the empire for his son Ferdi- 
 nand, at a time when intestine troubles prevented France 
 from exerting her usual interference. By the intervention 
 of the Spanish ambassador he wrought on the romantic 
 temper of Christina, queen of Sweden, who, being eager to 
 exchange the cares of royalty for philosophic retirement, 
 and purposing to abjure the Protestant religion, was desi- 
 rous to conciliate the pope, and acquire the favour of the 
 Catholic princes. Thus relieved from opposition on the 
 part of France, and secure of support from Sweden, he 
 procured a meeting of the electors* at Prague, under the 
 pretence of renewing the union of 1521, and obtained, by 
 lures and promises, their tacit or formal engagement to ap- 
 point his son. He prevented the interference of the princes 
 and states, who were eager to share in the election and the 
 arrangement of a permanent capitulation, by alarming the 
 electors for their privileges, and prevailed on them to hold 
 in the following year a separate and private meeting at 
 Augsburg, where, to the astonishment of all, Ferdinand 
 was unanimously chosen king of the Romans. Still, how- 
 ever, anxious not to offend the other members of the diet, 
 he persuaded the electors to request their advice on the 
 subject of the capitulation, and induced them to insert in 
 the preamble the unusual declaration that it was drawn up 
 with the concurrence of the princes and states. All parties 
 being conciliated, the new king of the Romans was, on the 
 18th of June, 1653, crowned at Ratisbon by the elector of 
 Mentz. 
 
 Besides the attainment of this important object, the 
 
 As Maximilian, elector of Bavaria, died in 1651, leaving Ferdi- 
 nand Maria his successor, at the age of sixteen, his representative at 
 this meeting was his mother, Mary Anne, sister of the emperor. 
 
 x 4
 
 344 FERDINAND m. [CH. LX. 
 
 same fortunate concurrence of circumstances favoured the 
 attempts of the emperor to procure the ratification of the 
 peace of Westphalia, without the discussion of the princi- 
 pal points left undecided ; and during his whole reign he 
 evaded the establishment of the proposed restrictions on his 
 prerogative, by obtaining the reference of those points to 
 the consideration of subsequent diets. He had also the 
 satisfaction to gain an additional weight in the college of 
 princes, by the admission of eight new members, whom he 
 and his father had created, and who were principally sub- 
 jects of Austria. He even promulgated, of his own autho- 
 rity, statutes or instructions for the proceedings of the 
 Aulic council and Imperial chamber; and succeeded in 
 enforcing them, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the 
 diet, and the provisions of the peace of Westphalia. 
 
 The joy of Ferdinand at securing the reversion of the 
 imperial crown for his son, was of short duration, for, on 
 the 9th of July, 1654, the young prince fell a victim to the 
 small-pox. Nothing now remained for the disconsolate 
 i'ather but to confer the same honours and dignities on his 
 second son Leopold. He accordingly procured the homage 
 of the Austrian states, and the crowns of Hungary and Bo- 
 hemia, but he failed in his attempts to gain the German 
 electors, because the restoration of internal peace enabled 
 the French court again to interfere with effect in the affairs 
 of the empire. 
 
 Ferdinand acquired the confidence of Germany by his 
 firm and moderate conduct, and frustrated all attempts to 
 renew hostilities, which were excited by the discontent and 
 ambition of the powerful princes, or by the mutual jealousy 
 and hatred of the Catholics and Protestants. 
 
 The affair of Juliers and Berg, which had been neglected 
 amidst the more weighty concerns of the thirty years' war, 
 had continued in the same state of suspense as during the 
 reign of Matthias. The peace of Westphalia, instead of 
 deciding this difficult point, referred it to a subsequent and 
 particular accommodation ; and the business seems to have 
 been tacitly arranged in 1650, when the foreign troops 
 evacuated the fortresses, and the claimants entered quietly 
 into possession of their respective portions. The prince of 
 Neuburgh occupied Juliers, Berg, and Ravenstein ; the
 
 1648-1657.] STATE OP CONTRACTING PARTIES. 345 
 
 elector of Brandenburgh, Cleves, La Mark, and Ravens- 
 burgh. Such a divided possession, however, between two 
 princes, who equally grasped at the whole, could not long 
 be maintained in tranquillity ; and disputes soon arose 
 which threatened the peace of the empire. Although it 
 was a part of the private agreements between the princes 
 in possession that the affairs of religion should remain in 
 the same state as in 1612, or before the troubles ; and 
 although such agreements were ratified by the peace of 
 Westphalia, the prince of Neuburgh, under the sanction 
 of that article, which in general fixed 1624 as the definitive 
 year, endeavoured to restore the Catholic worship in every 
 place where it had been then exercised. The elector of 
 Brandenburgh, eagerly seizing a pretext for dispute, stood 
 forth as the champion of the persecuted Protestants, and 
 claimed the execution of the private agreements. In June, 
 1651, he made an irruption into the territory of Berg, and 
 hoped to be assisted by the United Provinces, France, 
 Sweden, and the Protestants of the empire, who were inte- 
 rested to maintain the peace of Westphalia. The prince of 
 Neuburgh, on his part, prepared for resistance, and was as- 
 sisted by the duke of Loraine, who, expelled from his own 
 territories, and at the head of a mercenary army, interfered 
 in every adventure which was likely to produce either 
 employ or emolument. 
 
 A dispute, at so critical a period, called forth the ear- 
 liest attention of the emperor. Anxious to terminate the 
 contest before foreign powers could interfere, he sent his 
 monitory to the elector of Brandenburgh, commanding him 
 to desist from his aggressions, and refer the cause to the 
 proper tribunals of the empire. At the same time he 
 claimed the assistance of the other electors, and found a 
 ready acquiescence from those of Cologne and Bavaria, 
 who were swayed by the interests of their religion, and 
 even from the elector of Saxony, who joined in discoun- 
 tenancing the conduct of the elector of Brandenburgh. 
 Fortunately the foreign powers were neither able nor in- 
 clined to interfere ; France, embarrassed with civil trou- 
 bles, was not in a situation to revive a foreign contest ; 
 Sweden was alienated from the elector of Brandenburgh by 
 disputes for the possession of Lower Pomerania ; and the
 
 346 FERDINAND III. [CH. LX. 
 
 governing party in Holland withheld their assistance. 
 Frederic William, thus deprived of any countenance iu 
 the empire, and hopeless of succour from abroad, reluct- 
 antly abandoned his hasty enterprise. On the 1 1th ot 
 October, 1651, an accommodation was concluded through 
 the mediation of Holland and Cologne, by which former 
 treaties of partition were confirmed, and the Protestants 
 allowed to retain that liberty of conscience which had been 
 secured to them by the private compacts between 1612 and 
 1647. 
 
 Ferdinand had scarcely enjoyed the satisfaction of ter- 
 minating this contest, before Germany was threatened with 
 new troubles by the attempts of the Swedes to subjugate 
 the imperial city of Bremen. Although the emperor, by a 
 particular decree, confirmed the privileges and independ- 
 ence of Bremen, the Swedes, as possessors of the arch- 
 bishopric, claimed the sovereignty, and general Koningsmark 
 even obtained possession of the citadel. Ferdinand opposed 
 this violation of the rights belonging to a state of the em- 
 pire, and the firmness which he displayed finally induced 
 the Swedish government to agree to an accommodation, 
 concluded by the mediation of Holland, on the 4th of De- 
 cember, 1654. The dispute was to continue in suspense, 
 till settled by treaty ; in the mean time the city was to 
 enjoy its rights, to be protected by Sweden in its commerce 
 and manufactures, but was to do homage to the crown of 
 Sweden in the same manner as to the last archbishop, 
 and the citadel was to remain in possession of the Swedish 
 troops. 
 
 By these timely interventions Germany enjoyed a peace 
 of almost seven years, and began to recover from the de- 
 vastations of the war. But the animosity inspired by the 
 preceding contest did not readily subside, and like a half- 
 extinguished conflagration was no sooner smothered in one 
 place than it burst forth in another. 
 
 Christina, the eccentric daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, 
 had scarcely arranged the complicated business of the 
 peace of Westphalia, before she executed her romantic 
 project of abdicating the crown, and was succeeded by her 
 cousin, Charles Gustavus, prince palatine of Deux Fonts. 
 The new sovereign, brought up in arms, inspired by the
 
 1648-1657.] SUCCESS OF CHARLES ADOLPHUS. 347 
 
 heroic deeds of his uncle, and impelled by youthful ardour, 
 attacked John Casimir, king of Poland, under pretence of 
 the ancient dispute for the family succession. He found 
 little resistance from the Poles, who were divided by party 
 feuds, and enfeebled by inroads of the Muscovites, and in- 
 surrections of the Ukraine Cossacks. Before the close of 
 the year he drove John Casimir into Silesia, received the 
 submission of the principal towns, and of the waivodes or 
 governors of provinces, with the allegiance of the militia, 
 and induced the Lithuanians to accept his protection. He 
 next attacked the elector of Brandenburgh, who, during his 
 invasion, had occupied Royal Prussia, with a view to make 
 a diversion in favour of Poland, routed his troops, and 
 forced him to acknowledge Ducal Prussia as a fief of 
 Sweden, and enter into the war against the Poles. Their 
 armies, however, had scarcely united, before they were 
 called into action by the Polish monarch, who in the in- 
 terval had recovered possession of Warsaw, by the assist- 
 ance of the Turkish hordes, and drawn to his standard a 
 considerable number of his volatile subjects. After dif- 
 ferent combats, which were attended with varied success, 
 the contending parties concentrated their principal force in 
 the vicinity of Warsaw ; and a dreadful conflict, which 
 lasted three days, ended in the total rout of the Polish 
 troops. 
 
 Ferdinand, however anxious to preserve peace, could 
 not behold with indifference, the alarming progress of the 
 Swedes, which threatened to destroy the balance of power 
 in the north. He demanded succours from the diet of de- 
 putation assembled at Frankfort ; and, when disappointed 
 in this application, attempted to unite those princes and 
 states who were equally interested to oppose the progress 
 of the Swedes. He stimulated the commercial jealousy of 
 the Dutch, and induced the czar of Muscovy to make an 
 irruption into Ingria and Carelia ; he formed an alliance 
 with the Poles, and promised to support them with an 
 army, on condition that they should choose one of his sons 
 on the next vacancy of the throne ; he entered into a ne- 
 gotiation with the king of Denmark and the elector of 
 Brandenburgh, and had even arranged an offensive and 
 defensive alliance. But this was the last act of his reign ;
 
 348 FERDINAND III. [CH. LX. 
 
 for he died on the 3rd of March, 1657, at the very moment 
 when his army was preparing to march, only three days 
 after the signature of the treaty with Poland. 
 
 Without those energies of mind, without those splendid 
 talents or striking defects which marked the character of 
 his father, Ferdinand III. was mild, prudent, attentive to 
 the affairs of state, and skilful in conducting them ; and so 
 great a lover of justice, that his own declaration may be 
 with truth applied to him, "During his whole reign no 
 one could reproach him with a single act which he knew 
 to be unjust." He was conversant in various languages, 
 and a lover and patron of the arts and sciences. He was 
 not deficient in military skill, and, from his conduct in the 
 battle of Nordlingen, and his campaign in Bohemia, we 
 may conclude that lie would have distinguished himself as 
 a warrior, had he not been kept from the field by the 
 weakness of his constitution, which, at an early period, 
 suffered from the effects of the gout. Though educated by 
 Jesuits, and brought up under the auspices of his bigoted 
 father, he rose superior to that intolerant spirit which 
 gave rise to all the miseries of Germany, and even liber- 
 ated himself from the trammels which his preceptors 
 usually fixed on the minds of their pupils ; for he took 
 from their society the direction of the Caroline university, 
 and confined them to deliver lectures on philosophy and 
 theology. 
 
 Ferdinand III. was thrice married. 
 
 His first wife, Marianne, daughter of Philip III., king of 
 Spain, was the princess who makes so conspicuous a figure 
 in English history, as the object of the romantic expedition 
 of Charles I., when prince of Wales, to Madrid. She was 
 equally remarkable for beauty of person and purity of 
 morals, and with less flattery than the compliment is usu- 
 ally applied, is said to have resembled the angelic nature, 
 both in body and mind. She was born in 1606, and died 
 in childbed, in 1646. 
 
 2. His second wife, Maria Leopoldina, was still more 
 nearly related to him, being a daughter of his uncle Leo- 
 pold, of the line of Tyrol. She was married to Ferdinand 
 in 1648, and died likewise in childbed the ensuing year. 
 
 3. Maria Eleonora Gonzaga, daughter of Charles of
 
 1648-1657.] HIS FAMILY. 349 
 
 Never?, duke of Mantua and Montferrat. She was a prin- 
 cess of great talents and acute understanding ; and, after 
 the death of her husband, possessed considerable influence 
 in the administration of her son-in-law Leopold. She was 
 born in 1630, married in 1651, and died in 1686. 
 By his first wife Ferdinand had two sons. 
 
 1. Ferdinand, who was born in 1633, chosen king of 
 Hungary and Bohemia, and elected king of the Romans, 
 but died in 1654, before his father. 
 
 2. Leopold, who succeeded. 
 
 By his first wife, Ferdinand had also a daughter, named 
 Maria Josepha, who was born in 1635, and died in 1696. 
 She was first affianced to Balthazar Charles, prince of 
 Spain ; but, on his premature death, espoused his father 
 Philip IV., and brought into the world Charles II., the last 
 sovereign of the Austrian race who filled the Spanish 
 throne, and whose will occasioned the contest for the suc- 
 cession. 
 
 By his second wife, Ferdinand had a son, Charles Joseph, 
 who was a prodigy of quick comprehension and acute un- 
 derstanding. He inherited a weak constitution, which he 
 seems to have undermined by intense application, and died 
 at the early age of fifteen. He was bishop of Passau, and 
 grand master of the Teutonic order. 
 
 The third wife bore Ferdinand a son, Ferdinand Joseph, 
 and two daughters. 
 
 The son was the innocent cause of accelerating his fa- 
 ther's death. A fire breaking out in the apartment of the 
 young prince, one of the guards seized the cradle, and, in 
 conveying it into the chamber of the emperor, who was then 
 sick, struck it with such violence against the wall, that it 
 was broken in pieces, and the child thrown to the ground. 
 The danger to which the infant was exposed, produced 
 such an effect on the debilitated sovereign, that he died 
 within an hour after the accident. The child escaped un- 
 hurt, but expired the following year. 
 
 The two daughters were : 1. Eleonora Josepha, who 
 espoused Michael Viesnovitsky, king of Poland ; and, after 
 his death, Charles, duke of Loraine. She died in 1697, 
 and her grandson Francis again united the houses of 
 Loraine and Austria, by his marriage with Maria Theresa.
 
 350 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXI. 
 
 2. Maria Anna Josepha, who married William Joseph, 
 elector Palatine, of the house of Neuburgh, and died in 
 1689. 
 
 CHAP. LXI. LEOPOLD I. 1657-1660. 
 
 LEOPOLD had not attained his eighteenth year when the 
 death of his father called him to the succession of Hungary 
 and Bohemia, and to all the Austrian dominions, except the 
 exterior provinces, and the possessions in Alsace, which 
 had been ceded to France. He was placed under the 
 guardianship of his uncle Leopold ; and the first object of 
 the Austrian cabinet was to compose the dissensions of 
 Germany, and secure for their young sovereign the impe- 
 rial crown, which had been so long worn by his family, 
 that it was considered almost as a prescriptive right. 
 
 The attainment of this object was, however, no easy 
 task. France having acquired a predominant influence in 
 Germany by her recent victories, and as guarantee of the 
 peace of Westphalia, Mazarin, the all-powerful minister, 
 exerted all his intrigues to wrest the crown of the empire 
 from the house of Austria, and was joined by Charles 
 Gustavus, who was influenced by personal motives of re- 
 sentment against Leopold, for taking part in the war of 
 Poland. 
 
 Mazarin first attempted to procure for his youthful 
 and ambitious sovereign, Louis XIV., that crown which 
 Francis I. had in vain contested with Charles V., and to 
 revive the empire of Charlemagne in the person of his de- 
 scendant. He gained the electors of Cologne, Mentz, and 
 Palatine ; but he was foiled, no less by the unwillingness 
 of the others to choose a foreign and powerful prince as 
 their chief, than by the secret opposition of the king of 
 Sweden, who, while he openly aftected to concur in the 
 views of France, secretly thwarted a design, which was 
 still more fatal to his interests than the elevation of an 
 Austrian prince. 
 
 The French minister, unable to realise his own splendid 
 project, next offered the crown to Ferdinand Maria, the 
 young elector of Bavaria, with an annual subsidy of
 
 1 657-1 6GO.] OPPOSITION FROM FRANCE. 351 
 
 3,000,000 livres, to support the dignity of his court, and 
 secured the influence of his wife Maria, a princess of 
 Savoy. He found, however, a new obstacle in the refusal 
 of the elector Palatine to vote for a rival, whose father 
 had humbled his family and dismembered its territories, 
 and with whom he was now contesting the vicariate of 
 Germany. Mazarin was still more effectually foiled by the 
 mother of the elector, an Austrian princess, and the Bava- 
 rian minister, count Curtz, who prevailed on the young 
 prince himself to reject a temporary and uncertain dignity, 
 and spurn the offer of a pension, which would render him 
 a dependent on France. 
 
 After an ineffectual attempt by the king of Sweden to 
 recommend the prince Palatine of Neuburgh, who was re- 
 jected for his insignificance, the last resource of the French 
 minister was, to divide the house of Austria, by proffering 
 the crown to the archduke Leopold ; and he obtained from 
 some of the electors a more ready concurrence than he had 
 experienced in his former proposals. But the archduke 
 himself imitated the example of his patriot ancestors, by 
 warmly recommending his nephew to the choice of the 
 electors. 
 
 The electoral diet, which was opened in August, 16.57, 
 five months after the death of Ferdinand, was attended by 
 the electors of Mentz, Treves, Cologne, Palatine, and 
 Saxony, in person, by deputies from the others, and by 
 ambassadors from France and Sweden. But, as Leopold 
 had not completed his eighteenth year*, the Austrian mi 
 nisters amused the diet by promoting frivolous discussions, 
 or by caballing with the electors, till he had attained the 
 age which obviated all objections derived from his mino 
 rity, and permitted him to exercise the vote of Bohemia. 
 During this interval they also strained every nerve to con- 
 ciliate the majority of the electors. Fortunately their 
 views were promoted by the concurrence of Frederic Wil- 
 liam, elector of Brandenburgh. That enlightened prince 
 foresaw the ambitious designs of Louis XIV. ; he perceived 
 
 * Though there was no regulation in regard to the age of an em- 
 peror, yet eighteen being the period fixed by the Golden Bull for th 
 majority of an elector, objections were made against the election of an 
 emperor under that age
 
 352 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXI. 
 
 that the peace of Westphalia had changed the psoition of 
 affairs, and that the house of Austria was no longer the 
 scourge, but the supporter of German independence. 
 Though offended by the refusal of the Austrian court to 
 restore the duchy of Jaegendorf, which Ferdinand II. had 
 wrested from a collateral branch of his family, he sacri- 
 ficed his private disgust and personal feelings to the per- 
 manent interest of the Germanic body. He represented, 
 with manly eloquence, the danger of raising the head of 
 the house of Bourbon, or a petty prince dependent on 
 France, to the vacant throne ; and strenuously enforced 
 the necessity of electing a sovereign, whose hereditary do- 
 minions would afford the means of maintaining his dignity 
 and resisting the aggressions of France. His opinion 
 weighed with that part of the electoral body which had 
 been lukewarm in the cause of Austria, and the three elec- 
 tors who adhered to France, perceiving all opposition 
 ineffectual, concurred with the majority. Accordingly 
 Leopold was unanimously chosen, and crowned at Frank- 
 fort, by the elector of Cologne, on the 31st of July, 1657. 
 
 Many difficulties occurred, and much time was employed 
 before the capitulation was arranged. Although it was 
 the longest since that of Charles V., and was swelled to 
 no less than forty-five articles ; yet fn the grand and 
 principal points relating to the empire, it differed little from 
 those of his predecessors, except in confirming the internal 
 regulations settled by the peace of Westphalia, and in 
 comprising a solemn engagement to preserve the liberties 
 of the ten towns in Alsace, with the prefectural jurisdic- 
 tion. To all these Leopold submitted without much reluc- 
 tance ; and even consented to a clause which restrained 
 him from assisting Spain in the wars of Italy. But though 
 attempts were made to extend the same restriction to the 
 war of the North, he had influence sufficient to obtain the 
 rejection, and spurned, with becoming dignity, a propo- 
 sition that, on the breach of this or any of the articles, the 
 emperor should be considered as dethroned. His spirited 
 opposition being seconded by the patriotic members of the 
 empire, who were indignant at this attempt to secure a pre- 
 text for reviving the civil troubles of Germany, it was dis- 
 dainfully rejected.
 
 lGo7-16GO.] LEAGUE OP THE RHINE. 353 
 
 Though Leopold obtained this triumph over the French 
 and Swedish party, yet all his influence could not prevent 
 the conclusion of a formidable alliance, which greatly weak- 
 ened his authority in the empire. The three ecclesiastical 
 electors, the bishop of Munster, the count Palatine of Neu- 
 burgh, the landgrave of Hesse, and the king of Sweden, as 
 lord of Bremen Verden and Wismar, on the 14th of 
 August, 1658, entered into an alliance, which, from the 
 situation of the contracting parties, was called the league 
 of the Rhine. This league was an offensive and defensive 
 engagement for three years, by which the different powers 
 agreed to maintain a standing army of 10,000 men for 
 mutual protection, if attacked in contravention of the peace 
 of Westphalia, and to prevent the passage of troops through 
 their territories, or the exaction of levies and contributions. 
 The accession of France, which was deferred a single day 
 for the sake of form, extended these stipulations to the 
 circle of Burgundy. Leopold indeed soon found means, by 
 the intervention of the pope, to detach the elector of 
 Treves and the bishop of Munster ; but this league pre- 
 vented him from carrying the war into all the German 
 territories of Sweden, and precluded him, as well as the 
 Catholic states of the empire, from furnishing succours to 
 Spain in the Netherlands. It besides formed the foundation 
 of a systematic combination, which was frequently renewed, 
 and by means of which France extended her influence over 
 all the western states of Germany. 
 
 Leopold being precluded from interfering in the war 
 between France and Spain, turned his whole attention to 
 prosecute the contest against Sweden. Soon after his suc- 
 cession he renewed the alliance which his father had con- 
 cluded with Poland, induced the king of Denmark to de- 
 clare war against Sweden, and the Dutch to join in the 
 confederacy, and obtained a secret promise from the elector 
 of Brandenburgh to desert his alliance with Charles Gus- 
 tavus. He sent a corps of 16,000 men, under Hatsfeldt 
 and Montecuculi, from Silesia into Poland, who joining 
 with the Polish forces, took Cracow and Posen, and drove 
 Ragotsky, the ally of Sweden, back into Transylvania. At 
 the same time the king of Denmark occupied Bremen and 
 Verden, and an united English and Dutch squadron block- 
 
 VOL. n. A A
 
 354 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXL 
 
 aded Dantzic, to intercept the only communication which 
 Charles Gustavus maintained with his own dominions. 
 
 With their superior forces the emperor and his allies hoped 
 to crush the Swedish monarch before he could escape from 
 Poland ; but their hopes were frustrated by his surprising 
 skill and celerity. Leaving garrisons in the most impor- 
 tant posts, he reached the- Oder before the elector of Bran- 
 denburgh was apprised of his march, passed rapidly through 
 the circle of Lower Saxony, and drove the Danes from 
 Bremen and Verden. Assisted by the city of Hamburgh, 
 and secure of support from his brother-in-law, Frederic 
 duke of Holstein Gottorp*, with whom he had formed a 
 secret alliance, he burst into Holstein, and penetrated 
 without opposition into Jutland. Leaving Wrangel to 
 besiege Fredericsoddef, a strong fortress on the narrow 
 part of the Little Belt, he returned to Pomerania, to su- 
 
 * From the mischievous custom of dividing territorial possessions 
 among different branches of the same family, the throne of Denmark 
 had been weakened by the establishment of different collateral lines, 
 which formed as many subordinate sovereignties, dismembered from 
 the duchies of Sleswic and Holstein. The line of Holstein was divided 
 into two branches, royal and ducal. The royal branch was formed by 
 John, second son of Christian III., and his descendants were divided 
 into the lines of Sonderborg, Augustusborg, Beck, Weissenborg, 
 Norborg, Luxborg, and Ploen. The ducal line was formed by Adol- 
 phus son of Frederic, the first duke of Holstein and Sleswic, who 
 became king of Denmark on the deposition of his nephew, Christian II. 
 This line possessed several important posts which commanded the 
 eastern part of the duchy of Holstein, namely Kiel, Altenberg, and 
 Cismar on the Baltic, with the isle of Femeren, Neuminster on the 
 Stoer, Bortisholm on the Eyder, Tremsbuttel near the sources of the 
 Trave, and Rembeck near Altona on the Elbe. In the duchy of 
 Sleswic they possessed Sleswic, with the palace of Gottorp, from 
 which they derived their title of Holstein Gottorp, and Tonningen 
 at the mouth of the Eyder. By the position of these places, they 
 maintained a communication both with the German ocean and the 
 Baltic, and separated the Danish dominions in Sleswic and Holstein. 
 ]Mauy of their domains were so blended with those of Denmark as to 
 form a mixed jurisdiction. Hitherto the dukes had intermarried with 
 the royal family of Denmark, and preserved their fidelity to that 
 crown, till Charles XL, king of Sweden, in 1654, espoused Eleonora, 
 daughter of the reigning duke Frederic. From this alliance they may 
 be considered as having broken off tl.eir uatural connection with the 
 crown of Denmark Hansen's Schleswic, passim. 
 
 \ Now called Fredericia.
 
 1657-1660.] CHARLES GUSTAVTJS INVADES DENMARK. 355 
 
 perintend, as from a central point, his extensive system of 
 operation, and to hasten the equipment of a fleet for con- 
 veying his troops across the straits which separate Jutland 
 from the Danish isles. Fredericsodde being soon taken 
 by storm, Czarnesky, who was hastening to Jutland with a 
 corps of 10,000 auxiliary Poles, abandoned his design, and 
 the king of Denmark was exposed alone to all the forces of 
 an active, ambitious, and inveterate enemy. 
 
 To preserve their ally, Leopold, with the other members 
 of the confederacy, made astonishing exertions. The 
 states general hastened their succours ; the elector of 
 Brandenburgh joined all his forces with those of the con- 
 federacy *; the Swedish fleet was shattered, if not defeated, 
 in an engagement with that of the Danes ; the czar of 
 Muscovy burst into Livonia, and the garrisons in Poland 
 were successively reduced by the imperial and Polish 
 troops. By another desperate enterprise, however, Charles 
 Gustavus again surmounted the dangers with which 
 he was threatened, and turned the war into the heart of 
 Denmark. He hastened to Jutland, on the 9th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1658, availed himself of a severe frost to transport 
 his army over the Little Belt, between Arroe and Frederic- 
 sodde, to the isle of Funen, and defeated a corps of 
 Danes posted to oppose his descent. Having made himself 
 master of the whole island, he drew his troops to the 
 eastern shore in the vicinity of Nyborg. Encouraged by 
 his former success, he effected the still more perilous 
 passage of the Great Belt, by taking a circuitous route over 
 the icy sea, by the isles of Langeland and Falster, and on 
 the 21st of February, reached Wordenborgh in Zealand 
 without opposition. 
 
 This astonishing enterprise, which scarcely has a 
 parallel in the annals of history, or even the tales of ro- 
 mance, spread instant terror through the court and king- 
 dom. The hero who had surpassed the barriers of nature, 
 found no obstacle to arrest his progress, and advanced to 
 the very gates of Copenhagen, while a Swedish army in- 
 vaded the continental province of Scone, Bleckingen, and 
 
 * The price of his important accession was the independence of 
 Ducal Prussia, which was a fief of Poland, and which he obtained from 
 John Casimir, through the mediation of the Austriau court 
 
 A A 2
 
 3,56 LKOPOLD i. [en. LXI. 
 
 Halland. The king of Denmark was reduced to the mest 
 deplorable state ; without hope of assistance from his allies ; 
 shut up in his capital ill-provided for defence ; surrounded 
 by treacherous counsellors, and a factious nobility ; in the 
 midst of a people agitated with endless feuds, and struck 
 with terror and despondency. Thus circumstanced, he 
 submitted to the terms dictated by the conqueror, under 
 the mediation of France and England, and by a treaty, 
 concluded on the 26th of February, at Roskild, ceded 
 Halland, Scone, and Bleckingen, the isle of Bornholm, 
 the district of Bohus, and the province of Drontheim 
 in Norway. In return for some acquisitions too incon- 
 siderable to deserve mention, he relieved the duke of 
 Holstein Gottorp from his dependence on the crown of 
 Denmark ; exempted the Swedish vessels from search, and 
 from the tolls of the Sound and Belt ; agreed to shut the 
 Sound against hostile fleets, and to abandon his alliances 
 with the enemies of Sweden. Soon after the signature of 
 this treaty, the Swedes evacuated Falster and Zealand ; 
 but retained possession of the other islands, under pretence 
 of securing its fulfilment. 
 
 The ministers of Vienna, had deeply felt for the humi- 
 liation of a faithful ally, whom they had themselves plunged 
 into such fatal disasters. But doubtful of the empire, and 
 unwilling to irritate the Germanic body by attacking the 
 territories of Sweden, at a time when the elevation of their 
 young sovereign was opposed by such powerful enemies 
 they could only venture to continue the war in Poland as 
 simple auxiliaries of the Poles. They had no sooner 
 secured the imperial crown, than they endeavoured to pre- 
 vail on Frederic to risk a new war ; and they made the most 
 active preparations to assist him by a direct attack, in con- 
 junction with the elector of Brandenburgh, on those Ger- 
 man territories of Sweden which were not protected by the 
 Rhenish alliance. The elector, at the head of 7000 of his 
 own troops, 10,000 Austrians, and 6000 Polish cavalry, 
 marched towards Holstein, in September, 1658. After 
 reducing the duke of Holstein, who had joined Sweden in 
 the war, to surrender Gothorp, and withdraw all his troops 
 to Tonningen, he pushed in winter into Jutland, and drove 
 the Swedes into Fredericsodde. Assisted by a Danish
 
 1557-1660.] STATE OF DENMARK. 357 
 
 squadron, he obtained possession of the isle of Alsen, and 
 would have passed over to Funen or Zealand, had not the 
 advance of the season compelled the Danish admiral to 
 return to Copenhagen ; and the same cause preventing the 
 siege of so strong a fortress as Fredericsodde, he distributed 
 his troops into quarters. 
 
 Notwithstanding this prompt and powerful diversion, 
 the king of Denmark was still exposed to dangers, and 
 surrounded by difficulties scarcely inferior to those from 
 which he had recently escaped. Charles Gustavus re- 
 gained possession of Zealand, captured Kronborgh, and 
 besieged the capital ; while his fleet stationed at the en- 
 trance of the Sound, shut up the sea, and blockaded that of 
 the Danes. Frederic defended his capital with a spirit 
 worthy of his exalted station ; and at the moment when he 
 was reduced to the last extremity, a Dutch squadron under 
 admiral Wassenaer, forcing the passage of the Sound, 
 worsted the Swedes, and brought a reinforcement of men, 
 with a supply of provisions. The return of spring would 
 have enabled him to recover possession of his territories, 
 by the assistance of his allies, and preparations were made 
 for transporting the troops from Holstein, when the ap- 
 pearance of an English squadron, sent by Richard Cromwell 
 to the assistance of the Swedes, or rather to dictate peace 
 to both parties, awed the Dutch, and frustrated the in- 
 tended expedition. 
 
 Notwithstanding this unexpected obstacle, the allies, in 
 May, 1659, retook Fredericsodde by storm, and having 
 collected a flotilla of boats and transports, endeavoured to 
 cross the straits which separate Funen from the continent. 
 Failing in this attempt from the spirited resistance of the 
 Swedes, and the loss of their flotilla, which was destroyed 
 by an English squadron, they made a powerful diversion in 
 Pomerania. On one side general Souche, at the head of 
 10,000 men drawn from Poland, forced the lines of Greif- 
 fenhagen, took Damme and Camin, occupied the isle of 
 Wollin, and reduced the whole country east of the Oder 
 At the same time the imperial general Montecuculi, with a 
 considerable part of the allied forces from Holstein, cap- 
 tured Tribsees Demin and Griefswald, and united with the 
 troops of Souche to besiege Stettin. 
 
 A A 3
 
 358 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXI. 
 
 Meanwhile the affairs of Denmark assumed a no less 
 favourable aspect. De Ruyter, arriving with a new squa- 
 dron, and a reinforcement of 4000 troops, effected a junction 
 with Wassenaer. The two powerful fleets of England and 
 Holland, awing the Baltic, affected to act in concert to 
 support the mediation of their respective courts for the 
 conclusion of a peace. France likewise took part in the 
 negotiation, and two conventions were concluded by the 
 mediating powers, conjointly or separately, for maintaining 
 the equilibrium of the North, and accelerating the termi- 
 nation of hostilities. This interference equally displeased 
 the two rival monarchs : Charles Gustavus indignantly re- 
 pelled their attempts to set bounds to his conquest ; and 
 Frederic was no less averse to accept the dishonourable 
 treaty of Roskild, as the basis of the peace. In this sus- 
 pense, the English fleet being recalled in consequence of 
 the revolution in England, which restored the long parlia- 
 ment, the Dutch squadron remained master of the Baltic ; 
 and the combined powers were enabled to act directly 
 against the king of Sweden, who had recovered Laland and 
 Falster, and again obtained a footing in the isle of Alsen. 
 Ruyter sailed to Kiel with the 4000 men whom he had 
 brought from Holland, and transported them, with an equal 
 number of the allied and Danish forces, to Funen. They 
 defeated the Swedes posted in the vicinity of Nyborg with 
 great slaughter, and forced the remnant which had retired 
 into Nyborg to surrender at discretion. 
 
 Charles Gustavus himself saw, from the top of a tower 
 at Corsoer, in Zealand, this fatal defeat, which in a moment 
 annihilated all his high-flown hopes, and threatened to 
 involve him in a danger greater than any to which he had 
 exposed his antagonist. But the Dutch admiral, true to 
 the policy of his government, which was unwilling to retard 
 the conclusion of peace by giving the preponderance to 
 Dejimark, refused to transport the victorious troops to 
 Zealand ; and a part being sent to secure Funen, the rest 
 were re-conveyed to Holstein. In this situation of affairs, 
 Charles Gustavus condescended to accept the mediation of 
 the states general which he had before rejected ; but with 
 a secret resolution to continue the war. He secured the 
 posts which he still held in the Danish isles, and repaired
 
 1657-1 660. J DEATH OP CHARLES GUSTAVUS. 359 
 
 to Gottenborg, where he assembled the states, and pre- 
 pared, by an expedition into Norway, to compensate for the 
 failure of his enterprise against the capital of Denmark ; but 
 he was hurried to the grave in the midst of his preparations 
 by a fever, derived from fatigue and chagrin, the result of 
 his failure, leaving an infant successor, an exhausted king- 
 dom, and a host of enemies. 
 
 Encouraged by this event, Frederic made active prepa- 
 rations to prosecute the war with redoubled vigour. But 
 the emperor, eager to take advantage of the revolutions in 
 Transylvania*, was unwilling to continue the contest, and 
 the other allies were influenced by his example. The me- 
 diating powers, therefore, found no difficulty in effecting a 
 separate peace between Sweden and Poland, which was 
 concluded in May, 1 660, at Oliva, a convent in the vicinity 
 of Dantzic. The allies of Denmark being thus detached, 
 and their conquests restored, Frederic had no other resource 
 than to accept the terms dictated by the mediating powers, 
 and to accede to a treaty, which within the space of a 
 month was signed at Copenhagen. 
 
 By the treaty of Oliva, peace was established between 
 Ptenmnrlr and Poland, including the emperor and the 
 elector of Brandenburgh. The king of Poland renounced 
 all right to the crown of Sweden, engaging not to use the 
 title and arms in his intercourse with the court of Stock- 
 holm. The king and republic of Poland ceded to Sweden 
 that part of Livonia which is situated on both sides of the 
 Duna, and which they possessed in 1635, with the isle of 
 Runen, and the rights of Poland on Esthonia and Oesel. 
 
 The emperor and the elector of Brandenburgh gave up 
 to Sweden all their conquests in Pomerania, Mecklenburgh, 
 Holstein and Sleswic, and restored the possessions of the 
 duke of Holstein Gottorp. f All parties joined in mutual 
 
 * See chapter Ixii. 
 
 t Frederic had died at Tonningen in 1659, and was succeeded by 
 his son Christian Albert. By the liberation of Sleswic from its feudal 
 dependence on Denmark, the dukes were still more closely united with 
 Sweden, by whose assistance they could alone maintain that inde- 
 pendence which they had acquired by her support. Hence they were 
 always exposed to an attack in case of a war between Denmark and 
 Sweden, because they either opened their territories to Sweden, or 
 were invaded by Denmark, to anticipate their enmity. Hence, like- 
 
 A A 4
 
 360 LEOPOLD I. [CH LXT. 
 
 securities for the fulfilment of these conditions, and France 
 in particular charged herself with this guaranty, in favour 
 of the kings of Sweden and Poland, and of the elector of 
 Brandenburgh, at their own desire. By a separate article 
 the particular treaties between the elector of Brandenburgh 
 and Poland were confirmed, and the independence of 
 Western or Ducal Prussia established. 
 
 The treaty of Roskild was made the basis of that of 
 Copenhagen, the only change being the cession of the right 
 which Sweden possessed to the province of Drontheim. By 
 a separate convention, which was not concluded till 1661, 
 the isle of Bornholm was also assigned to Denmark, and 
 the rights and privileges of Swedish subjects secured to 
 the natives of Scone, Halland, and Bleckingen. 
 
 The pacification of the North was preceded by an event 
 of far more consequence to the house of Austria, the peace 
 of the Pyrenees. Since the treaty of Westphalia, hostili- 
 ties between Spain and France had continued with varied 
 success. Notwithstanding the desertion of the German 
 branch, Spain, favoured by that civil war in France which 
 is distinguished by the whimsical appellation of La Fronde, 
 reconquered Catalonia, and recovered Dunkirk, with many 
 of the French conquests in Flanders. The suppression, 
 however, of civil broils, and the re-establishment of Maza- 
 rin's authority, restored the ascendency of France ; and 
 Spain unequal to resist alone, was borne down by an attack 
 from Cromwell. The united forces of France and England 
 gave a fatal blow to her declining power. In the West 
 Indies she lost Jamaica; in the Netherlands, her army, 
 scarcely recovered from the bloody conflict of Eocroy, was 
 totally routed in the no less fatal battle of the Dunes ; 
 Dunkirk was surrendered to England ; Dixmude, Grave- 
 lines and Ypres to France ; the same misfortunes attended 
 her affairs in Italy ; and in Portugal, defeats heaped on 
 defeats completed the establishment of the rival monarchy. 
 
 The haughty spirit of the Spanish monarch bent under 
 these disasters. But his repeated proposals of accommoda- 
 tion were frustrated by the refusal of France to conclude 
 
 wise, their interests were warmly espoused in every negotiation by 
 Sweden, and their territories, if conquered, restored by every treaty.
 
 1657-1660.] PEACE BETWEEN FRANCE AND SPAIN. 361 
 
 peace, unless the eldest infanta was given in marriage to 
 Louis XIV. As long as Philip was without male issue, he 
 firmly rejected this demand ; because with a natural par- 
 tiality to his own family, he destined his daughter, the 
 apparent heiress of Spain, for his relative Leopold. But 
 increasing difficulties, the birth of a son, and another preg- 
 nancy of the queen overcoming his objection, the prelimi- 
 naries of peace were signed at Paris, on the 7th of Novem- 
 ber, 1659, and the treaty, with the contract of marriage, 
 concluded in the isle of Pheasants, situated in the river 
 Bidassoa, at the foot of the Pyrenees, by the two prime 
 ministers, cardinal Mazarin and don Louis de Haro. 
 
 By this memorable treaty, which laid the foundation of 
 so many future wars, France acquired the whole county of 
 Artois, except St. Omer, and Aire, with the important 
 chain of fortresses stretching almost from the coast of the 
 channel to Luxemburgh. At home, Spain was likewise 
 stripped of Koussillon, and Conflans, with part of the 
 county of Cerdagne, and thus lost her footing beyond the 
 Pyrenees. She also yielded Dunkirk with its dependen- 
 cies, and Jamaica, to England ; confirmed the treaty of 
 Munster, and agreed to restore Juliers, which had been 
 retained since the commencement of the dispute for the 
 succession. In return for all these important concessions, 
 the king of France relinquished his conquests, and engaged 
 to afford no assistance to Portugal. The duke of Loraine 
 was to be re-established in his territories on the condition 
 of dismantling Nancy, and maintaining no army ; the dukes 
 of Savoy and Modena were replaced in the same situation 
 as before the war. 
 
 This peace was followed by the solemnisation of the mar- 
 riage between Louis and the infanta, at St. John de Luz, 
 on the 9th of June, 1660, and the ceremony was preceded 
 by a general renunciation made by Louis and his bride to 
 every part of the Spanish succession.
 
 362 
 
 CHAP. LXIL 1660-1664. 
 
 SCARCELY was tranquillity restored in the South and the 
 North, by the peace of the Pyrenees and Oliva, before a 
 series of revolutions called the attention of Leopold to 
 Transylvania and Hungary, and revived the war with the 
 Turks. 
 
 Almost from the beginning of the century, Constanti- 
 nople had been the scene of incessant commotions ; the 
 turbulent janissaries, like the Pretorian guards of Rome, 
 had alternately raised and deposed their sovereigns, and 
 sultan after sultan had been driven from the throne. At 
 the same time the Turks had waged an unsuccessful war 
 with the Persians and the Poles, and had recently com- 
 menced hostilities against the Venetians by the celebrated 
 siege of Candia. These revolutions and contests diverted 
 their force from the Austrian territories, and reduced their 
 efforts to a covert interference in the civil troubles of 
 Hungary and Transylvania, instead of the continual and 
 alarming invasions of preceding times. 
 
 In 1648, nine years before the accession of Leopold, 
 Mahomet IV. was raised to the throne in the fifth year of 
 his age. The commencement of his reign was troubled by 
 struggles for power among the women in the harem, which 
 occasioned a civil war between the two great military bodies 
 of janissaries and spahis. After a long and bloody con- 
 test, the authority of the sultan was restored by the trans- 
 cendent talents of the two grand vizirs, Mahomet and 
 Achmet Kiupruli, who directed the reins of government. 
 Under their vigorous administration the evils of a minority 
 ceased to be felt ; internal dissensions subsided, the banners 
 of the crescent were unfurled, and the house of Austria was 
 again visited by those dreadful irruptions, which had so 
 often wasted its fairest provinces, and threatened the ex- 
 tinction of its empire. 
 
 As soon as they had recovered from the effects of internal 
 troubles, the Turks found a favourable opportunity for 
 interfering in the affairs of Transylvania. George II. 
 had succeeded his father Ragotsky in the principality,
 
 1660-1664.] AFFAIRS OP POLAND. 363 
 
 with the consent of the states, and the confirmation of the 
 Turks. His administration was splendid and successful 
 both at home and abroad ; till excited by a desire to obtain 
 the reversion of the Polish throne, he entered into an 
 alliance with the king of Sweden, and made a predatory 
 irruption into Poland at the head of 25,000 men. On the 
 departure of the king for Holstein, the Transylvanian prince 
 was overwhelmed by the united army of Austrians, Poles, 
 and Tartars, and driven back in disgrace. The Turks, 
 irritated by his irruption into Poland, expelled him as a 
 refractory vassal, and forced the states to elect in his stead 
 two successive princes, Redei and Bartzai, who are only 
 known for their temporary elevation. Ragotsky retiring 
 to his Hungarian territories, collected an army, and after 
 in vain soliciting assistance from Leopold, marched against 
 the Turks. On the 17th of May, 1660, he was killed in a 
 battle near Clausemburgh, in the moment of victory, leav- 
 ing a widow, and a son, Francis, aged fifteen, who had 
 been appointed his successor, and who was intrusted to the 
 guardianship of John Kemeny, one of his most skilful 
 generals. 
 
 By the death of Ragotsky, Bartzai regained possession 
 of his precarious dignity ; and the Turks, after placing 
 garrisons in the principal fortresses of Transylvania, laid 
 siege to Great Waradin, and prepared to wrest from the 
 family of Ragotsky those towns in Hungary which they 
 had obtained from the house of Austria. At the request 
 of his partisans, and with the consent of the Hungarian 
 states, Leopold despatched general Souche, with 10,000 
 men, for the purpose of garrisoning the Hungarian towns, 
 and throwing succours into Great Waradin. By force, or 
 persuasion, the imperial general obtained from the widow 
 possession of Tokay, Zatmar, Erschit, and Onod ; but was 
 too late to succour Great Waradin, which in September, 
 1660, fell into the hands of the Turks. 
 
 Meanwhile Transylvania was subjected to new revolu- 
 tions. Kemeny seduced the army of Bartzai, and extorted 
 his abdication ; he gained the adherents of Ragotsky, 
 obtained from the states his own election on the 24th of 
 December, and secured his elevation by the assassination 
 of the abdicated prince. Aware, however, that he could
 
 364 LEOPOLD I. iCH. LXII. 
 
 not singly maintain himself against the whole force of the 
 Ottoman empire, he solicited the assistance of Leopold, 
 and was warmly seconded by the Hungarian states, who 
 were alarmed by the capture of Great Waradin, and the 
 progress of the Turks. 
 
 Leopold did not neglect so favourable an opportunity of 
 interfering in the affairs of Transylvania. He ordered 
 his generals in Hungary to support Kemeny, and the 
 imperial commandant of Zatmar received from the Tran- 
 sylvanian prince the possession of Zekelheid, Kovar, and 
 Samosvivar. A horde of Turks and Tartars having ex- 
 pelled Kemeny, and appointed in his stead Michael Abaffy, 
 Montecuculi, with 16,000 men, advanced from the isle of 
 Schut ; and though his march was delayed by the refrac- 
 tory Hungarians, who refused him quarters and provisions, 
 he joined Kemeny in the county of Zatmar, forced the 
 passes, and drove the Turks from Transylvania. Unable, 
 however, to maintain himself in a country so long the seat 
 of war, and disappointed of the expected succours from the 
 Hungarians, he left 1000 horse with Kemeny, and a gar- 
 rison in Clausemburgh, and fell back with a reduced and 
 dispirited army towards Cassau, On his retreat, Kemeny 
 was defeated and killed in a skirmish with the Turks, on 
 the 23rd of January, 1662, and Abaffy restored to his 
 nominal sovereignty. In this crisis, a temporary and tacit 
 suspension of arms took place ; the Turks not deeming 
 themselves sufficiently prepared to pursue their success, 
 and the emperor with a diminished army, and embarrassed 
 by the opposition of his turbulent subjects, unwilling to 
 draw the enemy into his own dominions. 
 
 During this interval, Leopold summoned a diet at Pres- 
 burgh, for obtaining succours against the Turks, and allay- 
 ing the discontents in Hungary. These discontents were 
 principally derived from the wretched form of government, 
 which united the evils of an elective monarchy, with those 
 of feudal licentiousness. The king was a mere cypher ; 
 unable to make war, conclude peace, levy taxes, or exer- 
 cise any other act of authority, without the consent of the 
 diet, which was a heterogeneous body composed of the 
 prelates, magnates, and high officers of state, with repre- 
 sentatives from the counties, or equestrian order, and royal
 
 1660-1664.] STATE OF IIUNGARr. 365 
 
 cities.* The scanty prerogatives of the crown were cir- 
 cumscribed by the office of palatine, who was nominated 
 by the king from four candidates presented by the diet, 
 whose duty was, to secure the laws from infringement, to 
 act as viceroy, to command the army, and to mediate be- 
 tween the sovereign and the subject. By the extent of his 
 privileges, the Palatine was always a powerful, and often a 
 dangerous opponent ; and the office was now filled by 
 Wesselini, a zealous Protestant, of an unquiet spirit, and 
 great influence, who was irritated by recent severities 
 against the members of his persuasion. A constant and 
 legal pretext was also afforded for insurrection by the cele- 
 brated clause in the coronation oath of Andrew II., in which 
 the king himself acknowledged that the nobles possessed the 
 right of opposing his authority without incurring the guilt 
 of treason, whenever he acted contrary to their privileges. 
 Another restriction, which was equally dangerous to the 
 sovereign and subject, in a country threatened by so power- 
 ful and enterprising an enemy as the Turks, was the law 
 which prohibited the introduction of foreign troops with- 
 out the consent of the states, and compelled the king to 
 rest the defence of the country on an army of insurrection, 
 an heterogeneous and tumultuary force, raised on the prin- 
 ciples of the feudal system. 
 
 As head of such a government, the sovereign was in- 
 volved in endless disputes with the states, and harassed 
 with continual opposition to all his designs. Unfortunately 
 these contentions were aggravated by the arbitrary conduct 
 of the court of Vienna, and by recent persecutions of the 
 Protestants. A perpetual jealousy therefore existed be- 
 tween the sovereign and the nobles. The sovereign, de- 
 
 * In early times, the diets were formed by the whole body of nobles, 
 or proprietors of land in fee, who assembled in person, in the plain of 
 Rakoz near Buda, mostly on horseback, and sometimes to the number 
 of !-:0,000. But these tumultuary assemblies producing great con- 
 fusion, the mode of representation by deputies was adopted under 
 Sigismond, in 1411 ; the higher orders, consisting of the bishops and 
 magnates, only appearing in person, and the rest by deputies. The 
 principal place of meeting was Buda; but after that city was con- 
 quered by the Turks, the assemblies were transferred to 1'resburgh, 
 and occasionally held in other places. The session of the diet was 
 annual, and afterwards triennial, or oftener, according to necessity.
 
 366 LEOPOLD 1. [CH. LXII. 
 
 sirous of abridging a liberty, which always degenerated 
 into licentiousness, was unwilling to authorise the arm- 
 ing of a turbulent nobility, who maintained constant 
 connections with his enemies ; while the nobles saw with 
 alarm the introduction of foreign troops, and consi- 
 dered every measure of the court, however indifferent, 
 or however salutary, as tending to the annihilation of their 
 darling privileges. In such a temper on both sides, and 
 with a system of government, which could neither main- 
 tain internal tranquillity, nor resist foreign invasion, the 
 crisis was rapidly approaching which must turn the balance 
 in favour of the sovereign or the nobles, and deliver over 
 the country to all the evils of anarchy, and the miseries of a 
 foreign yoke, or establish the regal power on a permanent 
 basis. 
 
 On the first interference of the Turks in the affairs of 
 Transylvania, the nation clamoured for assistance ; and 
 the Palatine promised quarters and subsistence for foreign 
 troops. Yet the danger had scarcely subsided, before the 
 jealousy of the nobles revived, and at the commencement 
 of winter the troops under Souche could only obtain quar- 
 ters by forcing an entrance into Cassau. Irritated by the 
 difficulties of finding subsistence, and left to struggle with 
 the severities of the season, they gave way to every species 
 of licentiousness, while the inhabitants retaliated by insults 
 and assassination. The nobks also inveighed against the 
 emperor for placing garrisons in the towns belonging to 
 Ragotsky, and clamoured for their own army of insurrec- 
 tion. The expulsion of Kemeny, and the advance of the 
 Turkish hordes, again suspended the jealousy of the nation; 
 but Montecuculi had no sooner commenced his march, 
 than the same contests revived with redoubled acrimony ; 
 he was unable to obtain quarters or provisions, and re- 
 duced to force his way through a country which he had 
 been called to defend, as if marching through the terri- 
 tories of an enemy. New insults and new outrages awaited 
 the termination of his expedition : when he quitted Tran 
 sylvania, his troops, like those of Souche, were refused a 
 shelter, and after the fatigues of their arduous campaign, 
 exposed to perish by hardships, disease, and famine, or by 
 the insidious attacks of the natives. New clamours arose
 
 1660-1664.] THE TURKS INVADE HUNGARY. 367 
 
 against the imperial court, and the excesses of the troops; 
 exclamations resounded on all sides, that the emperor in- 
 tended to extirpate the Protestants of Hungary, as his pre- 
 decessor had extirpated those of Bohemia, and that his 
 design was rather to subjugate than to defend the country, 
 to reduce the natives rather than to resist the Turks. 
 
 All the attempts of Leopold to reconcile the minds of 
 his Hungarian subjects were fruitless. The diet, which 
 was convoked at Presburgh for the purpose of terminating 
 these disputes, assailed him with remonstrances upon re- 
 monstrances, and, as the only means of preventing a civil 
 war, or the junction of the malecontents with the Turks, 
 he entered into a compromise with the states. Nine 
 thousand of his troops were to be withdrawn to the fron- 
 tiers ; the remainder to be paid at his expense, and sub- 
 jected to the laws of Hungary, and the jurisdiction of 
 the Palatine. In regard to quarters, all privileges and 
 exemptions were to be respected, and in case of necessity, 
 the army of insurrection was to be raised, in conformity 
 with the constitution. This compromise, however, did not 
 restore tranquillity, or give unanimity to the diet ; for the 
 remonstrances of the Protestants against the recent per- 
 secutions giving rise to disputes with the Catholics, they 
 abruptly retired, and the assembly broke up without ar- 
 ranging any plan for executing the agreement with the 
 emperor. 
 
 This disappointment induced Leopold to open a negotia- 
 tion with the Turks ; and the terms of peace were speedily 
 arranged in a congress assembled at Temeswar. But, 
 encouraged by the defenceless and distracted state of 
 Hungary to prosecute the war, the grand vizir Achmet 
 Kiupruli had no sooner lulled the imperial court into se- 
 curity, than he burst into Hungary with an army of 100,000 
 men. Meeting with no opposition from the forces under 
 Montecuculi, who were exhausted by the hardships of the 
 preceding winter, he crossed the Drave at Esseck, and the 
 Danube at Buda ; cut off a corps posted at Parkan, cap- 
 tured Neuhasel, Neutra, Novigrad, Leventz, and Freystadt, 
 and detached a predatory corps of Turks and Tartars, who, 
 after threatening Vienna, spread their customary devasta- 
 tions as far as Olmutz. On the other side, the imperial
 
 368 LEOPOLD I. [CII. LXII. 
 
 garrisons of Zekelheid and Clausemburgh surrendered to 
 the prince of Transylvania, and Croatia and Styria were 
 only saved from the same inroads by the valour and skill 
 of Nicholas Zrini, ban of Croatia. 
 
 In a danger so imminent and unexpected, the embarrass- 
 ments of the imperial court were increased by the indis- 
 position of Leopold, who was seized with the small-pox, 
 that disorder which had already proved so fatal to his 
 family. By this unfortunate accident the ministers were 
 rendered still more dilatory and indecisive. Montecuculr 1 
 with difficulty maintained himself in the strong position of 
 the isle of Schut ; and a tardy attempt to raise the army 
 of insurrection was unsuccessful in the face of an enemy. 
 The emperor, left without any other resource than an 
 appeal to the powers of Christendom, after a fruitless 
 attempt to obtain succours from the individual princes and 
 states, hastened to the German diet, which was assembled 
 at Ratisbon in December, 1663. The same disputes, how- 
 ever, arose as on former occasions, whether the demand of 
 succours against the Turks should be first taken into deliber- 
 ation, or be preceded by the decision of the points left for 
 future discussion by the peace of Westphalia. After much 
 altercation, the contest was terminated in favour of the em- 
 peror, Avith the unanimous consent of the electors, and the 
 majority of the princes. A subsidy of fifty Roman months 
 was voted, and the league of the Rhine agreed to maintain 
 a body of 6500 men men for a year, on condition that the 
 diet should not be dissolved till the other articles were 
 settled. Still, however, this succour was opposed by the 
 disaffected party, under pretence that grants of taxation 
 ought to be passed only by common consent ; and this op- 
 position suspended the march of the troops and the pay- 
 ment of the contribution till the capture of Neuhasel in 
 February, 1664, awakened the states to a sense of their 
 danger. Succours were at length granted ; the former 
 contribution was tripled by unanimous consent ; Leopold 
 William, prince of Baden *, was appointed to the command 
 
 * Leopold William was brother of Ferdinand Maximilian, the 
 reigning margrave of Baden, and uncle to prince Louis, who distin- 
 guished himself in the war of Hungary, and was the colleague of Marl- 
 borough in the contest for the Spanish succession.
 
 1 660-1664.] WAR WITH THE TURKS. 369 
 
 of the German army ; and the prince of Hohenloe, to that 
 of the auxiliaries furnished by the league of the Rhine. 
 The other states of Europe also vied in furnishing assist- 
 ance against the enemy of Christendom. The pope, be- 
 sides a subsidy of 700,000 florins, allowed the emperor to 
 tax the ecclesiastical property in the Austrian dominions ; 
 the king of Spain, the republics of Venice and Genoa, the 
 dukes of Tuscany and Mantua, supplied money or maga- 
 zines, and even the king of France despatched 6000 men 
 under the comte de Coligni, and the marquis de la Feuil- 
 lade. By these contributions and succours, an auxiliary 
 army to the number of 30,000 men was collected, and 
 commenced its march to the scene of action. 
 
 At the close of the year, the grand vizier, leaving garri- 
 sons in the conquered places, drew his troops into the 
 Turkish territories ; and both parties prepared to open the 
 ensuing campaign with redoubled vigour. Souche, at the 
 head of 8000 men, routed the Turks in various encounters, 
 retook Neutra and Leventz, defeated the bashaw of Buda 
 with a body of 25,000 men at Parkan, secured the frontier 
 of Austria north of the Danube, and straitened the Turkish 
 garrison of Neuhasel. 
 
 On the other hand, the active count Zrini laid a plan for 
 surprising or reducing the fortress of Canisia on the Drave, 
 which would have covered the frontiers of Styria. But so 
 much important time was wasted in waiting the tardy de- 
 liberations of the council of war, and in disputes between ' 
 Zrini and Montecuculi, that the grand vizier was enabled 
 to assemble his troops, and advance to its relief. On the 
 approach of the Turks, Zrini united with Montecuculi ; but 
 all their operations were retarded by the jealousies between i 
 the Hungarians and Germans, and the disputes derived 
 from the discordant characters of the two chiefs ; Zrini 
 being ardent and active, accustomed to the daring enter- 
 prises of desultory warfare ; Montecuculi, cautious and de- 
 liberative, a strict adherent to the formalities of regular 
 discipline, and exasperated against the Hungarians, for 
 their treatment of his troops during the preceding cam- 
 paigns. An army so constituted could not act with effect ; 
 and, in addition to the failure of the enterprise against 
 Canisia, the commanders had the mortification to witness 
 
 VOL. II. B B
 
 370 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXII. 
 
 the reduction of Zrinevar, a fortress built by Zrini himself 
 on the Mura, to restrain the incursions of the Tartars. 
 This ill success, and the constant refusal of Montecuculi to 
 attack the enemy, irritating the haughty mind of the Croa- 
 tian chief, he quitted the army in disgust, to lay his com- 
 plaints before the emperor. 
 
 The grand vizier, unwilling to waste the campaign in 
 besieging those fortresses which covered Austria on the 
 side of the Danube, directed his march towards the fron- 
 tiers of Styria, with a view to penetrate through a defence- 
 less country ; and Montecuculi drawing together all the 
 forces, poured in from Germany and France, at the head of 
 60,000 men, took post behind the Raab, in the strong posi- 
 tion of St. Gothard, to arrest his progress. Notwithstand- 
 ing his presence, a body of janissaries crossed the river on 
 the 1st of August ; but a sudden rain prevented the passage 
 of the whole army. While the hostile troops were prepar- 
 ing for the engagement, a young Turk, mounted on an 
 Arabian courser, and covered with splendid habiliments 
 darted from the ranks, flourishing his scimitar, and in the 
 spirit of ancient chivalry defied the bravest of the Chris- 
 tians to single combat. He was opposed by the chevalier 
 de Loraine, who in a few minutes extended him lifeless on 
 the earth, and led off his horse in triumph. The event of 
 the combat proved ominous of the fate of the day. The 
 janissaries who had passed the river were attacked early 
 in the morning, and thrown into confusion ; but being sup- 
 ported by a body of spahis, began to cover themselves with 
 intrenchments. The combat was renewed by additional 
 reinforcements, which continually crossed the river ; and 
 the Christian troops were at one time so broken, that some 
 fugitives who fled to Gratz announced the total defeat of 
 their army. But the fortune of the day was restored by 
 the skill and valour of Montecuculi. While he sent his 
 cavalry to keep the spahis in check, he led the flower of his 
 infantry against the janissaries. The spahis were driven 
 back; the janissaries broken by the steady discipline of 
 the Germans and the heroic intrepidity of the French ; 
 8000 fell in the conflict, and more were lost in attempting 
 to climb the craggy and abrupt banks of the Raab. Among 
 the slain were the bashaw of Buda and a son of the chan of
 
 1660-1664.] PEACE WITH THE TURKS. 371 
 
 Crim Tartary, and the loss of the Turks did not fall on the 
 desultory hordes of irregular troops, but on the disciplined 
 bands of janissaries and spahis, who are called in the em- 
 phatic language of the East, the Sword and Shield of the 
 Empire. 
 
 The despondency and rout of the enemy, and the en- 
 thusiasm of the victors, gave hopes that this success would 
 open the way to the destruction of the infidel power in 
 Hungary. But the heterogeneous mass of the Christian 
 army was neither animated with the same spirit, nor ac- 
 tuated by the same views. The German troops were 
 anxious to retire as soon as their term of service was ex- 
 pired ; the French caballed with the discontented natives, 
 and held a secret correspondence with the Turks ; the 
 Hungarians renewed their clamours for the dismission of 
 foreigners, and were more solicitous to thwart than to 
 forward the military operations. Leopold himself was 
 desirous to prevent the renewal of the disputes, which in 
 preceding years had occasioned the loss of so many brave 
 troops, for want of quarters and subsistence. He felt the 
 impoverished state of his finances, and his attention was 
 called to the distracted situation of Germany and the in- 
 creasing influence of France. He was likewise anxious to 
 terminate the Turkish war, lest the death of Philip IV., 
 and the accession of his son, a feeble and unhealthy infant, 
 should encourage Louis XIV. to grasp the Spanish succes- 
 sion, to which, notwithstanding all renunciations, his views 
 were invariably directed. 
 
 Influenced by these motives, Leopold accepted the over- 
 tures of the grand 1'izier, and, to the astonishment of 
 Europe, within nine days after the victory, concluded a 
 truce with the Turks for twenty years. Transylvania was 
 confirmed to Abaffi, evacuated by both armies, and declared 
 independent ; the fort of Zekelheid was demolished, the 
 Turks retained Great Waradin, Neusohl, and Novigrad ; 
 the emperor, the provinces of Zatmar and Zambolicz, with 
 the towns which he had taken from the house of Ragotsky ; 
 and, as a security for his Austrian dominions, was allowed 
 to erect fortresses on both sides of the Wag. 
 
 The Hungarians were no less offended by the terms of 
 the treaty than irritated by its conclusion, contrary to the 
 a B 2
 
 372 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXIII. 
 
 laws of the kingdom, without the knowledge or consent of 
 the states. They even arrested the secretary of the impe- 
 rial resident in the Turkish camp, as he was carrying the 
 treaty to Vienna, and were with difficulty persuaded to 
 restore his despatches and papers. But after much delay, 
 and repeated instances, the emperor obtained the ratification 
 of the states, by promising to build the fortresses on the 
 "Wag at his own expense ; to replace the German troops 
 with Hungarian levies ; and to grant no office of trust or 
 profit without their consent. He likewise gratified his 
 subjects by restoring to Presburgh the crown of St. Ste- 
 phen, which during the war had been conveyed to Vienna. 
 
 CHAP. LXIIL 1664. 
 
 As the treaties of "Westphalia, Oliva, and the Pyrenees, 
 together with the truce concluded with the Turks, occasion 
 a total alteration in the balance of power ; and as subse- 
 quent events revived with new fury that jealousy, and 
 those opposite claims between Austria and France, which 
 had already deluged Europe with blood ; we pause to 
 review the situation of the contending parties, and the 
 relative connections and interests of the other kingdoms 
 and states. 
 
 Under the administration of Richelieu and Mazarin, the 
 intestine factions of France had been finally crushed, and 
 the royal authority established ; the finances were amelio- 
 rated, the army disciplined, and a succession of generals 
 formed, who rivalled the military characters of every age 
 and nation. Her political importance was augmented by 
 territorial acquisitions, which opened a passage into Spain, 
 Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands ; the conquests in 
 the Netherlands were secured by the purchase of Dunkirk, 
 Mardyke, and their dependencies, from Charles of Eng- 
 land ; and those on the side of Germany consolidated, by 
 extorting from the duke of Loraine the surrender of his 
 principal fortresses. The house of Austria was humbled
 
 1664.] FRANCE AND SPAIN. 373 
 
 in both its branches, and France acquired that paramount 
 influence in Europe which was before possessed by her 
 rival. 
 
 Hitherto, from youth, habit, and inexperience, Louis 
 had implicitly submitted himself to the conduct of Mazarin; 
 but on the death of the minister, on the 1st of March, 1661, 
 he assumed the reins of government, and adopted the 
 system of policy which had been planned by Henry IV., 
 and which by the able execution of Richelieu and Mazarin, 
 had so highly exalted the splendour of his crown. Louis, 
 in the twenty-seventh year of his age, was endowed with 
 every quality calculated to flatter the pride or conciliate 
 the affection of a vain, volatile, and high-spirited people. 
 He was distinguished for manly beauty and majestic de- 
 portment ; fond of show and magnificence ; and devoted to 
 that specious gallantry which was the characteristic of his 
 nation. Though deficient in knowledge, neither skilful in 
 military affairs, nor remarkable for personal bravery, he 
 was animated by an ardent love of fame, and possessed the 
 talent of inspiring his generals and troops with enthusiasm ; 
 and he showed his discernment in the choice of able minis- 
 ters, who, under his ostensible superintendence, directed 
 the administration with as much vigour and address as 
 their skilful predecessors. 
 
 Spain, once the preponderant monarchy of Europe, was 
 rapidly sinking into a state of weakness and degradation. 
 During the recent war, her formidable infantry, the pride 
 and terror of the world, had been almost annihilated, her 
 navy ruined by the contests with England and Holland, 
 her finances exhausted, her population diminished, and her 
 commerce destroyed. This long and ruinous conflict had 
 given birth to popular commotions and open rebellion. 
 She had seen her colonies captured, her provinces torn 
 from her empire, and Portugal again erected into a rival 
 monarchy. She had purchased a peace with France, by 
 ceding Roussillon, her barrier on the side of the Pyrenees, 
 by diminishing the remnant of her Burgundian inheritance, 
 and by concluding that sinister marriage of the infanta with 
 Louis, which, in spite of engagements and renunciations, 
 threatened ultimately to render her dependent on France. 
 
 Although Spain still possessed resources in the native 
 
 BBS
 
 374 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXIII. 
 
 energy of the people, in the extent of her territory, and in 
 the inexhaustible mines of the new world, the genius of 
 the nation was shackled by the indolent and voluptuous 
 character of Philip IV. and the feeble administration of the 
 ministers, who ill supplied the talents of Olivarez. Of all 
 her former grandeur little remained but the recollection ; 
 the haughtiness of her counsels began to subside ; the 
 nation which had so long awed and controlled Europe was 
 foiled by the petty kingdom of Portugal, and reduced to 
 solicit the assistance of those United Provinces which had 
 recently thrown off her yoke. Besides the natural connec- 
 tion of Philip and Leopold, as descended from the same 
 ancestors, they were united by the ties of frequent mar- 
 riages, and still more by the bonds of political interest, 
 derived from a common dread of France, whose encroach- 
 ments had reduced their respective dominions, and whose 
 systematic enmity and ambitious designs furnished conti- 
 nual causes of alarm. 
 
 The revolution of Portugal was less owing to the exer- 
 tions of the new monarch, who was indolent, indecisive, 
 and unwarlike, than to the zeal of the nation, and the mas- 
 culine spirit of his queen, Louisa de Gusman, a daughter of 
 the duke of Medina Sidonia. John IV. died in 1656, leav- 
 ing two minor sons, Alphonso and Peter; and this great 
 woman maintained that crown on the head of her son 
 which she had secured for her husband, by conciliating the 
 affections of her subjects, and by obtaining the assistance of 
 England and France. She was afterwards driven from the 
 government by Alphonso, whose weakness of intellect ren- 
 dered him unfit to fill the throne, and who rivalled the 
 follies and barbarities of Commodus or Caracalla. Fortu- 
 nately the count of Castel Melhor, prime minister, possessed 
 her spirit and followed her example ; while the military 
 operations were directed by the count of Schomberg, who by 
 It the victory of Villa Viciosa in 1665, secured the independ- 
 \\ ence of Portugal. Such was the situation of the kingdom 
 at the present period; but in 1667, the excesses of Al- 
 phonso occasioned his deposition, and the establishment of 
 his brother Peter on the throne. The new monarch, after 
 concluding, in 1668, a peace with Holland and Spain, 
 maintained tranquillity both at home and abroad, and for
 
 1664.] VENICE AND THE PAPAL DOMINIONS. 375 
 
 a period of thirty years took no share in the contests of 
 Europe. 
 
 Italy had lost its weight in the balance of power. The 
 Milanese and Naples were provinces of Spain, and the 
 only states still retaining a portion of their ancient im- 
 portance, were Venice, the duke of Savoy, and the pope. 
 
 Venice was no longer the same republic, which had 
 almost monopolised the commerce of the world, aspired to 
 the dominion of Italy, and excited dread or jealousy among 
 the powers of Europe. Her continental possessions, in- 
 deed, remained nearly in the same state as before the league 
 of Cambray ; but her relative importance had been greatly 
 reduced by the increase of the houses of Austria and Bour- 
 bon ; while the progress of maritime discovery had anni- 
 hilated her eastern commerce. Deprived of the great 
 source which had enabled her to employ the best generals, 
 and maintain a formidable army, she confined her warlike 
 exertions to the Turks, by whom her commerce to the 
 Levant was continually threatened, and by whom her ma- 
 ritime possessions were considerably reduced. Thus situ- 
 ated, she endeavoured, by the wisdom of her counsels and 
 the moderation of her conduct, to maintain that considera- 
 tion which her former wealth and vigour had assigned her 
 among the states of Europe. From her position between 
 the Milanese, and the dominions of Leopold, she was na- 
 turally jealous of the house of Austria, although mutual 
 apprehensions of the Turks occasionally produced a tem- 
 porary union. 
 
 Although the popes had increased their dominions by 
 the acquisition of Ancona Urbino Ferrara, and the pro- 
 vinces of Castro and Ronciglione, yet they retained little 
 or no weight among the great monarchies of Europe. 
 Neither their spiritual nor temporal arms were sufficient to 
 protect them from repeated humiliations, and instead of 
 dictating, as in former ages, to emperors and kings, rousing 
 whole nations, vacating or conferring thrones, their prin- 
 cipal influence was derived from their flexible, profound, 
 and persevering policy, and from the extensive connections 
 which they maintained by means of the religious orders, 
 interfering in every court, and scattered through every 
 Catholic country of Europe. 
 
 B B 4
 
 376 LEOPOLD i. |_Cj 
 
 The dukes of Savoy had derived their consequence from 
 the interposition of their territories between France and 
 the Milanese, and the command of the principal passes into 
 Italy. But their dominions, as well as the advantages of 
 their local position, were considerably diminished ; the 
 Pays de Vaud and the county of Romand had been con- 
 quered by the Swiss, and Bresse, Bugey, and Gex ceded 
 to France, with the important fortresses of Pignerol and 
 Coni. Charles Emanuel, the reigning sovereign, had em- 
 ployed the interval since the peace of the Pyrenees, in 
 healing the wounds occasioned by his long and stormy mi- 
 nority ; and he bore with impatience the humiliating state 
 in which he was held by France, anxiously watching for 
 an opportunity to rescue himself from a bondage so intoler- 
 able to a prince of high spirit and superior talents. 
 
 The Helvetic States still preserved the principles of 
 their union in its primitive simplicity. Since the establish- 
 ment of their independence they invariably maintained 
 peace, because they had little farther advantage to expect, 
 and much to lose from war ; but they kept up the mili- 
 tary spirit of the people by subsidiary treaties with France, 
 Spain, Venice, Savoy, and Holland, and thus retained on 
 foot a force of 40,000 men, who, in cases of necessity, 
 could be recalled to defend their native soil. From local 
 situation, and the natural strength of their Alps, their con- 
 currence, or even neutrality, was necessary in an Italian 
 war ; and, except the Grisons, who were closely connected 
 with the court of Vienna, they preferred the friendship of 
 France, as well from habit and interest, as the national 
 jealousy derived from their ancient dependence on the 
 house of Austria, and the preponderance of Spain in Italy. 
 
 Detestation of civil and ecclesiastical tyranny gave birth 
 to the revolution which established the republic of the 
 United Provinces. Their independence being acknow- 
 ledged by the peace of Westphalia, they turned their at- 
 tention to the improvement of that commerce which had 
 formed the source of their prosperity, had furnished re- 
 sources for maintaining an efficient army, and supporting a 
 navy which enabled them to expel the Spanish fleets from 
 the Channel, to dictate in the Baltic, and contest with Eng- 
 land the command of the ocean. Excluded by Philip II.
 
 1664.] THE UNITED PROVINCES. 377 
 
 from the port of Lisbon, then the great emporium of the 
 world, they conquered all the Portuguese settlements in 
 the east, except Goa, founded the central establishment of 
 Batavia in the isle of Java, secured the exclusive trade of 
 China and Japan, and settled a colony at the Cape of Good 
 Hope, as a connecting link between their European and 
 eastern possessions. The separation of Portugal from 
 Spain gave them an opportunity to consolidate these acqui- 
 sitions by a peace, which they concluded with Portugal in 
 1661. 
 
 The weakness of their complicated government, which 
 was a singular mixture of aristocracy and democracy, an- 
 cient and modern institutions, was obviated by the predo- 
 minant influence of the house of Orange, which seems to 
 have been destined by Providence for the maintenance of 
 civil and religious liberty, and furnished a succession of 
 men as great in arms and policy as any recorded in the 
 pages of history. To family connections and extensive 
 possessions the three first princes, William, Maurice, and 
 Henry Frederic*, owed the elective office of stadtholder, 
 or governor of five of the provinces ; from their superior 
 talents and eminent services, no less than from the grati- 
 tude of their countrymen, they derived a principal share in 
 the direction of affairs, under the titles of captain -general 
 and admiral, or president of the council of state. Such an 
 authority, in such " a many-headed headless government," 
 and among people so jealous of their liberties, excited vio- 
 lent opposition, and gave rise to the formation of a repub- 
 lican party. This faction, with difficulty suppressed even 
 by the superior genius of the three first princes, rose with 
 new vigour during the short administration of William II., 
 and generated a civil contest, which was only terminated 
 by his death. Being succeeded by a posthumous son, 
 William, the republican party, headed by the celebrated 
 brothers de Wit, availed themselves of his long minority, 
 procured a decision that the high offices and dignities, held 
 
 * William was assassinated in 1584. He was succeeded by his two 
 sons. The first, Maurice, died unmarried in 1625. The second, 
 Henry Frederic, dying in 1647, was followed by his son William II., 
 who signed the treaty of Minister, and was the father of our glorious 
 deliverer, William III.
 
 378 LEOPOLD I. [CH.LXm. 
 
 by the princes of Orange, should remain vacant, and after- 
 wards effected their formal abolition, by the perpetual 
 edict of 1668. 
 
 England had recently been the scene of one of the most 
 memorable revolutions recorded in history, whether we 
 consider its effects on the country, or its consequences in 
 the affairs of Europe. Charles I., gifted with talents su- 
 perior to the common order, adorned with all the domestic 
 virtues of an individual, and the graces of a sovereign, had 
 been led by his own imprudence, and still more by the 
 difficulties of his situation, and the wiles of the republican 
 party, into a contest with his parliament and people, which 
 terminated in his deposition and public execution. But 
 the nation soon groaned under a burden far more galling 
 than that for which it had sacrificed its own tranquillity 
 and the life of its monarch. The republican government, 
 established on the ruins of the throne, was overturned by 
 Cromwell, who replaced it with a military despotism, and, 
 under the title of protector, exercised greater power than 
 the most arbitrary king of England. Pie made, however, 
 some amends for the vices of an usurper, by displaying the 
 talents of a great statesman. He suppressed the numerous 
 factions which had hitherto agitated the nation, distributed 
 justice with an impartial hand, and increased the military 
 and naval resources of the country. Under his administra- 
 tion England, which, during the reigns of James and 
 Charles, had been treated with little consideration, if not 
 contempt, again gave terror to Spain, and awed even 
 France in the height of her prosperity. To gratify that 
 national antipathy, which had been fostered against Spain 
 since the time of Philip II., and to recover that footing 
 which had been lost on the opposite coast, he united with 
 France, and was highly instrumental in forcing Spain to 
 agree to the humiliating peace which she had recently 
 signed. Jamaica and Dunkirk, with its dependencies, were 
 the fruits of this contest, and had the protector lived, he 
 would probably have extended his acquisitions on the 
 Continent, for he seems to have entered into a plan for the 
 partition of the Netherlands with France.* He died be- 
 
 As a statesman, Cromwell seems to have been very unjustly 
 censured for his conduct in this instance. He duly appreciated the
 
 1664.J ENGLAND AND DENMARK. 379 
 
 fore the conclusion of the peace ; and after the feeble go- 
 vernment of his conscientious but timid son, and a vain 
 attempt of the republicans to regain their ascendency, the 
 voice of the nation, seconded by the agency of general 
 Monk, restored Charles II. to the throne of his ancestors. 
 Charles, on his accession, held in his hands the balance of 
 Europe ; but that pre-eminence which the nation had at- 
 tained under the vigorous rule of Cromwell, was soon lost 
 under his profuse, voluptuous, and dissipated reign ; and, 
 by his dishonourable dependence on Louis XIV., he con- 
 tributed more than any other prince of Europe to the 
 humiliation of Austria and the preponderance of France. 
 
 Frederic III., king of Denmark, had compensated for his 
 recent losses by effecting a singular revolution in the form 
 of government. Aided by the clergy and commons of the 
 realm, he overthrew the aristocracy, which had long kept 
 the crown and nation in the most oppressive bondage, and, 
 in place of a feudal elective and limited, established an 
 absolute and hereditary monarchy. The executive autho- 
 rity deriving new vigour from this change, he crushed the 
 factions which had hitherto agitated the kingdom, lessened 
 the public debts, improved the internal polity, ameliorated 
 the army and navy, and placed himself in a situation to 
 command the attachment of his friends, and the respect of 
 his enemies. His recent misfortunes naturally rendered 
 him desirous to maintain peace ; but he was sincerely dis- 
 posed to cultivate the friendship of the house of Austria, 
 as the surest protection and safeguard against the strength 
 which Sweden had acquired from her recent acquisitions, 
 the fruit of her alliance with France. 
 
 value of the Netherlands in a military, political, and commercial view, 
 and considered the acquisition of Dunkirk as the first step of a plan 
 to appropriate a considerable part of those countries. Had Charles II. 
 followed and extended this plan, he might have fixed an insuperable 
 barrier to the ambition of France, and placed the balance of power on 
 a more permanent foundation than it has ever been since established 
 Even at the peace of Utrecht, had England retained a portion of these 
 territories, as a compensation for her expenses, instead of engaging in 
 the impracticable stipulations, and endless discussions of the Barrier 
 treaty, she might have maintained her footing on the Continent, on less 
 onerous terms than the expenses incurred in the subsequent wars, and 
 afforded a more effectual assistance to Austria and to Europe, than by 
 subsidies and auxiliary troops.
 
 380 LEOPOLD I. [ CH. LXIII. 
 
 The military exploits and successes of the Swedes had 
 heightened the splendour, and extended the influence of 
 their country, but at the same time exhausted her physical 
 strength, and dissipated her revenues. By the possession 
 of Pomerania, Bremen, and Verden, derived from the 
 thirty years' war, and of Deux Fonts, the family inherit- 
 ance of the king, as well as by the authority annexed to 
 the guaranty of the peace of Westphalia, Sweden attained 
 considerable influence in the empire, which she had hitherto 
 preserved by her union with the house of Bourbon. By the 
 acquisition of Sconen, Haland, and Bleckingen, she not 
 only gained an important accession of territory, but secured 
 herself from the invasions of Denmark, her ancient rival, 
 and she commanded the Gulf of Finland, by appropriating 
 Livonia and Esthonia. But these very acquisitions exposed 
 her to the enmity of the neighbouring states, particularly 
 the house of Austria, Denmark, the elector of Branden- 
 burgh, the Poles, and Russia ; and from this cause, joined 
 to the distractions of a minority, Sweden, which, from the 
 accession of Gustavus Adolphus, had interfered in all the 
 wars of Europe, was reduced to a state of comparative 
 weakness and temporary tranquillity. 
 
 Poland, which once gave law to the North, and pos- 
 sessed a greater extent of dominion than any other state in 
 Europe, had gradually diminished in power, territory, and 
 influence, since the establishment of that mischievous law, 
 which prevented the reigning sovereign from procuring 
 the nomination of his successor, and thus rendered the 
 monarchy purely elective. From this period it became the 
 scene of anarchy and confusion ; the turbulent nobles seized 
 that authority which was once possessed by the crown ; its 
 fairest provinces were dismembered ; Prussia, formerly a 
 fief, was declared independent ; Livonia and Esthonia were 
 appropriated by Sweden ; and the Poles, weakened by in- 
 testine divisions, and exhausted by unsuccessful wars, were 
 still involved in that contest with Russia which finally 
 stripped them of the eastern provinces and the Ukraine. 
 
 John Casimir was now the reigning sovereign ; but, in 
 1668, he quitted his throne to become the head of an 
 abbey, for which he was better fitted than to direct and 
 curb the energies of a military and turbulent people ; by
 
 1664.] STATE OF POLAND AND RUSSIA. 381 
 
 recent treaties he was to have been succeeded by an Aus- 
 trian prince, but this design having been frustrated, by the 
 death of Charles Joseph, the only brother of Leopold, the 
 nation elected to the vacant dignity Michael Viesnovitsky, 
 a native Pole. Pressed by the Turks on one side and by 
 the Russians on the other, the king and republic placed 
 their principal reliance on the friendship of Austria, and 
 the new sovereign soon after his election cemented their 
 mutual interest by espousing the sister of Leopold, as his 
 predecessor had married the daughter of Ferdinand IL 
 
 Russia was governed by Alexey JVIichaelovitz, the se- 
 cond sovereign of the dynasty of Romanof, under whom the 
 country has risen to so great a height of power and splendour. 
 Though generally known only as the father of Peter the 
 Great, he deserves our attention equally for his beneficial 
 regulations and military exploits. He new-modelled and 
 disciplined the army, and laid the foundation of the Rus- 
 sian navy, by building vessels on the Caspian Sea. Be- 
 sides continual contests with the Tartars on the south and 
 east, he ventured to cope with the Swedish troops, at that 
 time the terror of Europe. Though often vanquished, he 
 was, like his son, still unsubdued, and secured Marienburgh 
 by a truce, in order to turn his arms against the Poles, 
 from whom he recovered the provinces of Smolensko, Se- 
 veria, and Tchernichef, which had been wrested from his 
 father, and the sovereignty over the Cossacs of the Ukraine, 
 which was the source of long and bloody wars with the 
 Turks and Poles. This contest between Russia and Poland 
 was peculiarly advantageous to the house of Austria, as it 
 induced them both to court her alliance, and the connection 
 was strengthened by mutual dread of the Turks, which 
 often compelled them to suspend their own disputes, and to 
 join Leopold in resisting the common enemy. 
 
 Such were the situation and interests of the European 
 states, when Leopold suspended his wars with the Turks, 
 and was enabled to direct his attention to the empire and 
 to Europe. 
 
 His influence and power may be considered under the 
 two-fold light of head of the house of Austria and emperor 
 of Germany. In addition to the dominions which he inhe- 
 rited from his father, Leopold had recently succeeded to
 
 382 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXin. 
 
 the Tyrol, and all the exterior provinces, which escheated 
 to him by the death of his cousin Sigismond Francis, on 
 the 15th of June, 1665, the last representative of the col- 
 lateral branch, without issue. Although these important 
 territories could before be scarcely considered as a distinct 
 sovereignty, because the princes had always been subser- 
 vient to the head of their house, yet this fortunate re-union, 
 at the same time that it brought an accession of revenue 
 and military force, prevented a renewal of those feuds 
 which had formerly weakened the Austrian family, and 
 would have revived when the ties of affinity became more 
 distant and faint. 
 
 In Austria and Bohemia, with their respective depend- 
 encies, the authority of Leopold was more firmly established 
 than that of his predecessors. The evils occasioned by the 
 long and ruinous war of thirty years, had been gradually 
 remedied by a prudent and economical administration. 
 That spirit of disobedience, against which his predecessors 
 had struggled in vain, had been suppressed by the gradual 
 restoration of the Catholic religion, which took place dur- 
 ing the war, and was established by the peace. The people 
 of Bohemia and Austria, no longer split into different per- 
 suasions, and animated against their sovereign by religious 
 antipathy ; no longer the instruments of foreign intrigue or 
 domestic feuds, became tranquil and loyal, followed his 
 standards, and granted their subsidies with cheerfulness 
 and alacrity. Instead of a tumultuary force, the army of 
 Leopold consisted of veterans inured to dangers, accustomed 
 to discipline, and commanded by officers who had been 
 formed in a conflict of thirty years, with the most skilful 
 generals and bravest troops of the age ; and the same long 
 and bloody struggle, by diffusing a warlike spirit through- 
 out his dominions, gave birth to that military system which 
 became permanent during his reign. In Hungary and its 
 annexed provinces his authority was still circumscribed, 
 no less by the vicinity of the Turks and the princes of 
 Transylvania than by the constitutions of the country, and 
 the opposition of a brave but turbulent nobility. The 
 scanty remnant of that kingdom, which he had purchased 
 with the loss of so much blood and treasure, was intrinsi- 
 cally rather a, burden than an advantage, and could only
 
 1664.] HIS WISE ADMINISTRATION. 383 
 
 be maintained against his rebellious subjects and foreign 
 enemies by exhausting the strength of his other dominions. 
 By the cession of the Brisgau and the loss of the posses- 
 sions in Alsace, he was deprived of a territory, which, 
 though distant and isolated, gave him a footing beyond the 
 Rhine, formed a barrier against the encroachments oi 
 France, and enabled his predecessors to attach to their 
 cause the neighbouring princes of Germany and the dukes 
 of Loraine. 
 
 Under Leopold the scanty influence in Germany pos- 
 sessed by former emperors was considerably reduced by the 
 recent changes, as well in its constitution, as in the situa- 
 tion and interests of the component states. 
 
 The diet, from being temporary, and convoked only at 
 the will of the emperor, was rendered permanent. Leopold 
 had assembled the German states at Ratisbon, for the pur- 
 pose of obtaining succours against the Turks, and would, 
 like his predecessors have dissolved the meeting as soon as 
 he had attained his object; but this design was prevented 
 by the princes, who were not inclined to relinquish the 
 privilege secured to them by the peace of Westphalia, of 
 sharing in the election of an emperor or king of the Romans, 
 and assisting in the arrangement of the capitulation. For 
 this purpose they formed a princely, in imitation of the 
 electoral, union, and extorted from the emperor, as the 
 price of their succours, a promise not to dissolve the diet, 
 till these and the other points left undecided in the peace of 
 Westphalia were finally settled. Accordingly, after the 
 grant of succours, the states proceeded to arrange the capi- 
 tulation ; but the electors being unwilling to admit the 
 claims of the princes, no specific plan could be adjusted, 
 and the question was perpetually adjourned. In conse- 
 quence of these and other delays, the diet was unusually 
 prolonged, and at last virtually rendered permanent by :i 
 decree, authorising the princes and states to levy taxes on 
 their subjects for defraying the expense of sending lega- 
 tions or deputies. Hence the diet, instead of an assembly 
 composed of the emperor, electors, and princes in person, 
 became a mere convocation of representatives, similar to u 
 congress of ministers, to which the emperor sent his com- 
 missary, the electors and princes their envoys, and the
 
 384 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXIII. 
 
 towns a particular or common agent. Thus the emperor 
 was unable to prevent disagreeable discussions by dissolu- 
 tion, or the representatives to decide any question, without 
 previous reference or continual appeals to their principals. 
 Thus the usual tardiness of their proceedings was aggra- 
 vated, and the influence of the chief diminished, while 
 greater opportunities were afforded for the interference of 
 foreign powers. The right also, granted to the Protestants 
 by the peace of Westphalia, of voting as a separate body, 
 and preventing the decision of a majority in all matters 
 which were considered as affairs of religion, afforded a 
 constant pretext to embarrass the measures of their chief, 
 and enabled them even to oppose the levies of troops and 
 subsidies, by pleading the privilege of religion. 
 
 Above all, the imperial prerogatives were circumscribed 
 by the privilege which each prince and state enjoyed, of 
 concluding alliances with each other, or with foreign powers, 
 without reference to the great body of the empire. This 
 mischievous privilege threatened to reduce Germany to 
 the same situation as before the suppression of private 
 warfare ; for the greater princes maintained standing 
 armies, in order to take advantage of the weakness or em- 
 barrassments of their neighbours, or to subjugate the 
 imperial or independent towns situated within their re- 
 spective territories. The warlike bishop of Munster, by 
 uniting with Austria, reduced his capital Munster, which 
 had long refused to acknowledge his sovereignty. Erfurth, 
 which had hitherto enjoyed and improved its extensive 
 trade under the protection of Saxony, was subjugated by 
 the elector of Mentz, with the assistance of a French 
 force ; Magdeburgh was deprived of its independence by 
 the house of Brandenburgh ; Brunswick by its dukes ; and 
 the cities of Bremen and Cologne were only saved from 
 the attacks of the Swedes and the elector, the first, by 
 the interference of the emperor, the last by that of the 
 United Provinces. From this mischievous privilege also 
 arose the league of the Rhine, which, more than any other 
 cause, contributed to strengthen the power of France, and 
 became the foundation of a dangerous schism in the em- 
 pire, which for a time palsied all the efforts of its chief. 
 
 From this review of the principal changes in the Ger-
 
 1664.] THE GERMAN STATES. 385 
 
 manic body in general, we proceed to examine the situation 
 and interests of the most remarkable princes and states. 
 
 The dominions and resources of the ecclesiastical elec- 
 tors had diminished "with the aggrandisement of the 
 neighbouring states ; while by the increase of the French 
 territory towards the Rhine, and the occupation of Loraine, 
 they were overawed ; and, however attached to Austria, 
 were prevented from uniting with those members of the 
 Germanic body who adhered to the cause of the emperor. 
 
 The house of Bavaria was considerably aggrandised no 
 less by the extinction of the collateral lines, the re-union 
 of its territories, and by establishing the right of primo- 
 geniture, than by the acquisition of the electoral dignity 
 with the Upper Palatinate and the county of Cham. Still 
 it could scarcely be considered as more than a secondary 
 power among the German states, from the indolent and 
 unambitious character of the reigning sovereign, Fer- 
 dinand Maria, who inherited the superstitious zeal, with- 
 out the great and splendid qualities of his father. Although 
 connected by blood and principle with the emperor, the 
 acquisitions of France on the side of the Rhine rendered 
 him anxious not to offend a monarch by whose attacks his 
 territories were endangered ; and his inclination to peace 
 was strengthened by the prospect held out to him by Louis, 
 of a match between his sister and the young dauphin, 
 which afterwards took place. 
 
 The Palatine house, which in former periods possessed 
 a predominant influence in the empire, had been gradually 
 weakened by the partition of its territories among the 
 collateral branches ; and its humiliation was completed by 
 the disasters of the thirty years' war. Charles Louis, son 
 of the unfortunate Frederic, though invested with the 
 electoral dignity, possessed only half his paternal dominions; 
 while the consequence of his family was diminished by 
 the rise of Bavaria, and by the reviving influence of the 
 elector of Saxony, who again became head of the Pro- 
 testant body. He was attached to France and to the 
 enemies of Austria, no less from gratitude for their pro- 
 tection, than from enmity to those who had occasioned, the 
 depression of his family. 
 
 VOL. II. C C
 
 386 LEOPOLD I. [CH. 
 
 Of the collateral branches of the Palatine house, it will 
 be sufficient to mention the lines of Neuburgh and Deux 
 Fonts. The head of the first was Philip William, who 
 had so long contested the succession of Juliers and Cleves 
 with the house of Brandenburgh, and nearly involved 
 Germany in a religious war. His ardent zeal for the 
 Catholic faith, and his devotion to the court of Vienna, 
 were afterwards rewarded by the marriage of his daughter 
 with the emperor ; a connection which gave splendour to 
 his family, by promoting numerous alliances with the great 
 princes of Europe*, and procured him the subsequent in- 
 vestiture of the Palatine electorate on the extinction of 
 the branch of Simmeren. The line of Deux Ponts de- 
 rived little consideration from its own scanty territories, 
 but was illustrated by the elevation of its head, Charles X., 
 to the throne of Sweden. 
 
 The Albertine or electoral branch of Saxony, which had 
 lost its preponderance among the Protestants by the mer- 
 cenary and equivocal conduct of John George I., recovered 
 its ascendency by the depression of the Palatine family, 
 and the regular formation of the Protestants into a separate 
 body in the diet, of which he again became the chief. H<; 
 died in 1G56, and at his death contributed to weaken his 
 family by dismembering his territories, to give separate 
 establishments to his younger sons, who formed the three 
 lines of Weissenfels, Merseburgh, and Zeitz. John 
 George II., the reigning elector, had no other object in 
 view than to preserve his own dominions and Germany 
 in peace ; and though from long habit, and the connections 
 of his family, attached to Austria, he was not inclined to 
 take a more active part in a war against France than was 
 required by his duty as a member of the empire. 
 
 The Ernestine or elder branch of Saxony, irremediably 
 depressed by the loss of the electorate, and the principal 
 part of its possessions, was reduced to insignificance by the 
 
 * He was father of thirteen children. His eldest daughter espoused 
 the emperor Leopold ; Maria Sophia, Peter, king of Portugal ; 
 Marianne, Charles II. of Spain; Dorothea, first, Edward Farnese, 
 duke of Parma ; and secondly, Francis, brother of her deceased husband; 
 Hedwige, James the eldest son of John Sobieski.
 
 1664.J FREDERIC WILLIAM ELECTOR. 387 
 
 separation of its scanty dominions into several portions, 
 for the maintenance of eleven separate lines. * 
 
 The whole power and influence of the house of Bran- 
 denburgh centered in the elector Frederic William, who, 
 from the extent and position of his dominions, and his 
 personal qualities, was the most considerable prince of the 
 empire, and justly surnamed the Great. On the decease 
 of his father George William, in 1640, the greater part of 
 the electorate was occupied by the Swedes ; the fortresses 
 of Custrin and Spandau, which domineered the capital, 
 were in the possession of the emperor. This unfortunate 
 tract of country exhibited ruined cities, and depopulated 
 districts, and the wretched people who had escaped from 
 the sword and famine, were alternately exposed to the 
 rapine of the imperialists and Swedes. The duchy of 
 Cleves and counties of La Mark and Ravensburgh were 
 occupied by the Dutch, and the natives exhausted by ex- 
 orbitant contributions ; while Eastern Prussia still groaned 
 under the load of oppressive imposts exacted by the 
 Swedish troops, and being feudatory to Poland, and go- 
 verned partly by its own states, formed a kind of republic, 
 which took little interest in the misfortunes of its sovereign. 
 Pomerania, which ought to have escheated to the house of 
 Brandenburgh, was appropriated by the Swedes, and the 
 elector possessed only the empty title of duke, with the 
 right of giving, in that capacity, his suffrage at a diet of 
 the empire. The annual revenue paid into the electoral 
 treasury did not exceed 100,000. 
 
 In this desperate situation, Frederic William began his 
 reign ; to use the words of the royal historian, " a sove- 
 reign without states, an elector Avithout power, a successor 
 without inheritance ;" himself only in the dawn of man- 
 hood, and unacquainted with business. But he had for- 
 tunately acquired firmness and self-confidence, on being 
 removed by the jealousy of a corrupt minister, count 
 Schwartzenberg, to a distance from his father's court, had 
 been seasoned by hardships and disappointments, and had 
 learned the military art under his illustrious uncle Fre- 
 deric Henry, prince of Orange. 
 
 * Altenburgh, Weimar, Isenach, Jena, Got ha, Coburgh, Mcm- 
 niingcn, Rombild, Eusenburgh, Hilburghausen, Saalfcld.
 
 388 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXIH. 
 
 He had no sooner succeeded to his inheritance, than he 
 developed the talents nurtured in the school of adversity. 
 He regained by force and address the fortresses of Spandau 
 and Custrin, and thus emancipated himself from that de- 
 pendence on the house of Austria, to which the treachery of 
 count Schwartzenberg had subjected his father. He had no 
 sooner attained this important object, than he negotiated 
 with Ferdinand III., on terms of independence and equality, 
 which the Austrian court did not expect from an elector of 
 Brandenburgh ; and when the emperor refused to restore 
 the principality of Jaegerndorf, of which Ferdinand II. had 
 deprived a branch of his family, for supporting the elector 
 Palatine at the commencement of the thirty years' war, he 
 applied to the Swedes, and partly by address, partly by the 
 payment of a large subsidy, prevailed on them to evacuate 
 the Mark of Brandenburgh. In 1647, by an agreement 
 with the house of Palatine Neuburgh, he secured the 
 duchy of Cleves, and the counties of La Mark and Ravens- 
 berg. At the congress of Westphalia, he made the most 
 conspicuous figure among all the German princes, assisted 
 the Calvinists, of which church he was a member, in pro- 
 curing the same rights as the Lutherans, and obtained as 
 an indemnification for that part of Pomerania which was 
 assigned to the Swedes, the bishoprics of Halberstadt, 
 Camin, and Minden, with the reversion of the archbis- 
 hopric of Magdeburgh. During the wars of the North, 
 he drew advantages from all parties, relieved Prussia from 
 its feudal dependence on Poland, calmed the commotions of 
 the natives who opposed this transfer, and received their 
 homage at Konigsberg. 
 
 With dominions scattered from the Vistula to the Rhine, 
 deprived of communication, he was under the necessity of 
 adopting a versatile system of policy, and varying his con- 
 nections as his dominions or interests were endangered. 
 We have already seen him forming alliances with the 
 Swedes and Poles, in order to preserve or augment his ter- 
 ritories on the Vistula, the Oder, and the Elbe ; and we 
 shall hereafter find him, from the same motive, alternately 
 courting the friendship of Austria and France, for the re- 
 covery or security of his territories on the Weser and the 
 Rhine. Yet with this temporising policy, he never lost
 
 1664".] THE HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK. 389 
 
 sight of the grand principle, to maintain the balance of 
 power in Europe, and the peace of Germany, and for this 
 object he generally sacrificed his partial views, personal > 
 feelings, and even his private interests. Although differing ' . 
 from Leopold in religious principles, and conscious that the 
 house of Austria was watchful to prevent his aggrandise- 
 ment, he did not hesitate to support with his influence the 
 election of Leopold to the imperial throne, in opposition to 
 France and Sweden, and he united with Austria and 
 Sweden to save Holland from the invasion of Louis. At 
 this period he yielded to the difficulties of his situation, 
 and the disposition of Europe, but he saw with anxiety the 
 aggressions of France, and was afterwards among the first 
 of the German princes to unite with the emperor in oppos- 
 ing the aggrandisement of a power whose domineering 
 spirit, and ambitious principles, threatened the tranquillity 
 and independence of Germany. At the head of a well-ap- 
 pointed army of 20,000 men, with an administration which 
 by wisdom and economy compensated for the scantiness of 
 his revenues, he obtained a degree of consideration above 
 his means, and was at once courted, respected, and feared 
 by the greater powers of Europe. 
 
 Of the other princes, besides the electoral houses, none 
 were sufficiently prominent, either for influence and cha- 
 racter, to demand our notice, except the dukes of Brunswick, 
 and the bishop of Munster. 
 
 The powerful house of Brunswick, from ancient lineage 
 and extent of territory, took precedence of all the princes 
 of the empire, except the electors and the archduke of 
 Austria. Notwithstanding its division into several lines, 
 the family maintained a constant and almost uninterrupted 
 union among themselves ; and this union joined to the 
 extent of their territories, the amount of their revenue, 
 and the respectability of their military force, as well as 
 their warlike character, had rendered the dukes of Brans- 
 wick conspicuous during the thirty years' war, and insured 
 to them the preponderant influence in the circle of Lower 
 Saxony. But from this period they ceased to follow the 
 same uniform system of policy ; the different members of 
 the family embracing at the same time the opposite in- 
 terests of Austria and France, 
 c c 3
 
 390 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXIII. 
 
 The house was divided into the two lines of Wolfem- 
 buttel, and Luneburgh or Zell. Augustus, the head of the 
 former line, to whose exertions and abilities his family 
 owed much of its preponderance, was now alive ; but in the 
 ensuing year closed his long and splendid administration, 
 and was succeeded by Rhodolph Augustus, who inherited 
 his prudence, without his military talents. 
 
 George William who had recently succeeded to the 
 duchy of Zell, and was head of the line of Luneburgh, was 
 a prince highly distinguished for personal qualities and 
 military skill, and possessed an active and enterprising 
 spirit, which led him to take a considerable share in the 
 affairs of Germany and Europe. No other eulogium of his 
 merits and character is necessary, than that he was the 
 friend of William prince of Orange, the depository of his 
 secrets, and the soul of his counsels. His second brother, 
 John Frederic, was duke of Hanover, and had embraced 
 the Catholic religion during his travels in Italy. The 
 third, Ernest Augustus, now bishop of Osnaburgh, and 
 afterwards duke of Hanover, became eminent in the annals 
 of Germany, as the prince in whose favour Leopold created 
 the ninth electorate, and who by his marriage with Sophia 
 grand-daughter of James I. secured to his descendants 
 the succession to the throne of England. 
 
 Of these four princes, Rhodolph Augustus and John 
 Frederic may be considered as attached to France, with 
 whom they entered into subsidiary treaties ; while George 
 William and Ernest, devoted to the Protestant cause, and 
 the principles of German independence, were among the 
 most zealous members of the empire in supporting the 
 house of Austria. 
 
 Matthew von Galen, bishop of Munster, was the only 
 German prelate who took a considerable share in the sub- 
 sequent transactions. He was a native of Westphalia ; and 
 his father being proscribed for murder, was placed under 
 the care of his uncle, who was dean of Munster, and by 
 whose influence he obtained a canonry in the chapter. He 
 passed his youth in arms, and till the age of fifty had ren- 
 dered himself notorious for the irregularity of his conduct ; 
 but on the death of Ferdinand of Bavaria, elector of Co- 
 logne and bishop of Munster, he surprised the votes of the
 
 1664.] FALLEN CONDITION OF THE HANSE TOWNS. 391 
 
 canons in a moment of jollity and intoxication, and the 
 ensuing morning was elected bishop by the majority of the 
 chapter. Fitter for the sword than the cross, he employed 
 his newly acquired power to indulge his lust of dominion, 
 and thirst for military renown. He collected troops, inter- 
 fered in all the petty contests of his neighbours, and hired 
 out his services to the best bidder. He was involved in 
 incessant contests with the Dutch, the dukes of Brunswick, 
 and the princes of East Friesland, and he had recently 
 succeeded in reducing the city of Munster, notwithstanding 
 all the remonstrances of the German princes, and the suc- 
 cours of the Dutch. At this period he was at the head of 
 no less than 18,000 men, for whom he was subsidised by 
 England, and was at once the terror and the scourge of the 
 neighbouring states.* 
 
 The internal resources of the empire were considerably 
 reduced by the decline of commerce, and the diminution of 
 the towns, in number, wealth, and consequence. We read 
 with surprise of the splendour and population which distin- 
 guished the German cities at the commencement of the 
 sixteenth century, when it was a proverb, that the kings of 
 Scotland would gladly be lodged like the common burghers 
 of Nuremberg, which contained 52,000 souls ; Lubec 
 armed 5000 shopkeepers and porters to suppress a com- 
 motion of the burghers, and when Strasburgh and Aix-la- 
 Chapelle each mustered 20,000 men capable of bearing 
 arms. We are no less astonished when we consider the 
 strength and resources of the Hanseatic League, which ex- 
 tended its ramifications to every country of Europe, con- 
 centrated in Germany the trade of the North and the East, 
 and contested the mastery of the Baltic with the united 
 fleets of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. But of all this 
 splendour and strength little more remained than the recol- 
 lection. The Hanseatic League, from seventy-two opulent 
 towns, was reduced to the three cities of Lubec, Hamburgh, 
 and Bremen, and these were watched and circumscribed by 
 the jealousy of the neighbouring states. The population 
 and wealth of the imperial cities had been exhausted by the 
 
 * Sir "\Villiam Temple, from personal knowledge, has drawn, in his 
 Political Memoirs, an animated portrait of this singular man. Bas- 
 nage, Hist, de la Hollands, torn. i. p. 495.; Barre, torn. ix. p. 879. 
 c c 4
 
 392 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXIIL 
 
 thirty years' war ; many never rose from their ashes, others 
 were appropriated by the neighbouring princes ; the whole 
 trading system of Germany was diverted into other chan- 
 nels, by the fall of the Venetian commerce, the establish- 
 ment of new sources of trade in England, Portugal, and 
 the Netherlands, and the shutting up of the navigation of 
 the Rhine by the Dutch. The decline of these towns was 
 hastened by the establishment of manufactures, under the 
 patronage of the neighbouring sovereigns, nobles, and 
 states, and still more by the increasing weight of perpetual 
 taxes, which augmented with the diminution of their re- 
 sources. Their depression was a fatal blow to the im- 
 perial power ; for from these towns, which found a sure 
 protection under the shelter of the throne, preceding em- 
 perors had drawn their most effectual support against the 
 greater princes, and from their resources and population 
 had derived the means of maintaining internal tranquillity, 
 or waging external war. 
 
 From this rapid sketch of the state of Germany, we may 
 calculate the trifling assistance which Leopold could draw 
 from so heterogeneous a mass, even when not influenced 
 by any common motive of opposition. Still less, therefore, 
 may the imperial dignity be considered as an essential 
 weight in the scale of Austria, when we recollect, that the 
 majority of the princes and states had not yet shaken off 
 that jealousy and dread which had been inspired by the 
 despotism and intolerance of Charles and Ferdinand II. ; 
 and still regarded France as their great support against 
 the encroachments of their chief. Hence, although the 
 states willingly furnished succours against the Turks, they 
 were not inclined to concur with the emperor in a war 
 against France, and Louis exercised an authority in the 
 empire, which was more implicitly obeyed than that of 
 Leopold himself.
 
 393 
 
 CHAP. LXIV. 1664-1679. 
 
 WE have already observed that Philip IV. destined his 
 eldest daughter for his relative Leopold, from a natural de- 
 sire of preserving the Spanish monarchy in his own family. 
 When, in compliance with the treaty of the Pyrenees, he 
 reluctantly gave her hand to Louis XIV., he adopted every 
 precaution to obviate the fatal effects of the marriage, and 
 affianced to Leopold his second daughter, who, by the re- 
 nunciation of the first, was justly considered as his eventual 
 heiress. Before the age of the princess permitted the so- 
 lemnisation of this marriage Philip died, on the 17th of 
 September, 1665, leaving a daughter by his first wife, 
 Maria Theresa, married to Louis ; by his second, Mar- 
 garet, who was betrothed to Leopold, and an infant son, 
 Charles, who succeeded to the throne, under the regency 
 of his mother, Ann, a daughter of Ferdinand III. 
 
 Under the weak government of a regency, Spain sunk 
 into a most deplorable state. The queen, inordinately fond 
 of power, without the abilities or discretion to use it, was 
 governed by her confessor, father Nitard, a German Jesuit 
 of obscure extraction. This low-born foreigner was ele- 
 vated to the office of grand inquisitor, and engrossed the 
 administration of affairs. Accustomed only to the petty 
 arts of monkish intrigue, he proved himself unequal to the 
 government of a great monarchy, with exhausted resources, 
 a dispirited army, and still involved in the unsuccessful 
 war for the recovery of Portugal ; and he alienated the 
 Castilian grandees, by assuming the austerity and haughti- 
 ness of Ximenes. The general discontent against his 
 feeble administration was fomented by Don John of Aus- 
 tria, natural son of Philip, who had signalised himself both 
 as a statesman and a soldier, who was respected by the 
 nobles, and adored by the people. Being excluded from 
 the government, he exerted his whole influence and power 
 to overthrow a proud and narrow-minded monk, and to 
 attain that share in the administration to which he was en- 
 titled by his talents, rank, and services. Such was the 
 state of Spain in September, 1666, when Leopold solemn- 
 ised his marriage with the infanta Margaret.
 
 394 LEOPOLD I. ^CH. LXIT. 
 
 Soon after this marriage Louis was encouraged, by the 
 embarrassments of the Spanish government, to grasp a 
 part of the succession, so solemnly renounced, although he 
 had acknowledged the young king as heir of the whole 
 monarchy. Scarcely a year elapsed after the death of Philip, 
 before he claimed a large portion of the Netherlands. He 
 founded his pretensions on what was called the right of 
 devolution, by which the daughter of the first marriage 
 was entitled to succeed in preference to the son of the se- 
 cond ; a right which, far from being the law of succession 
 in any country of Europe, was only an uncertain, obscure, 
 and local custom, confined to a few districts in some of the 
 provinces. He justified the breach of the solemn engage- 
 ments at his marriage, by the quibbling subterfuge, that 
 the infanta, being then a minor, had no power to make a 
 renunciation, and still less to annul the rights of her 
 children. 
 
 Louis had been long preparing for this hostile aggression. 
 By employing threats and promises, he gained the neutrality 
 or acquiescence of the German states ; he bound Sweden by 
 a subsidiary treaty ; he deemed himself secure from any op- 
 position on the part of England, which was engaged in war 
 with Holland, and on the part of Holland, with which he 
 was in alliance. He seems even to have opened some ne- 
 gotiations with the court of Vienna, and acquired consider- 
 able influence in the imperial cabinet. Having matured 
 his preparations, he, in May, 1667, poured his troops into 
 the Low Countries, leading himself the principal army of 
 30,000 men, without publishing a declaration of war ; but 
 simply notified his resolution in a letter to the queen re- 
 gent, declaring his intention to take possession of what had 
 been usurped from his wife, or to secure an equivalent. He 
 added mockery to aggression, by disavowing any design to 
 break the peace. He experienced no resistance in a coun- 
 try unprovided for defence ; and in less than three months 
 made himself master of the principal fortresses on the fron- 
 tier between the Scheldt and the Channel. He increased 
 the embarrassments of the regent, by entering into an 
 offensive alliance with Portugal ; and, in the depth of the 
 ensuing winter, added Franche Comte to his conquests. 
 
 The court of Spain appealed to the German diet against
 
 1664-1679.] INCREASING POWER OF FRANCE. 395 
 
 the invasion of territories which formed part of the circle 
 of Burgundy ; and solicited assistance from Leopold in 
 particular, both as chief of the empire, as a member of the 
 Austrian family, and as the next heir to the succession by ; 
 right of descent and marriage. But this appeal was not j 
 attended with the slightest effect. As Louis had gained 
 the states of the empire, several offered him the posses- 
 sion of their fortresses, others raised troops to prevent 
 any opposition to his designs ; and even the elector of 
 Brandenburgh, the most powerful and independent of the 
 German princes, was induced to join the league of the 
 Rhine. Thus thwarted by the empire, and embarrassed 
 by new discontents rising in Hungary, Leopold had no 
 other alternative than to maintain a state of neutrality, 
 and acquiesce in the dismemberment of territories, which 
 he had so powerful an interest to preserve.* 
 
 From the apathy of the empire, the acquiescence of 
 Leopold, and the weakness of Spain, Louis would have 
 found no obstruction to the conquest of the whole Neth- 
 erlands, had not the United Provinces taken the alarm, 
 and had not the spirit of the English nation and parlia- 
 ment forced Charles II. to join in opposing the aggrandise- 
 ment of France, which endangered the safety of England, 
 and the liberty of Europe. The war, which had divided 
 the two countries, was suddenly terminated by the peace 
 of Breda, in July, 1667, and this peace was followed by 
 the triple alliance between the two maritime powers and 
 Sweden, to whom France had also given umbrage by with- 
 holding the stipulated subsidies. The object of this league 
 was, to reduce Louis to enter into an accommodation, on 
 
 * Voltaire has assigned as a reason for the conduct of Leopold, 
 that he had concluded a secret treaty with France for the partition of \ 
 the Netherlands, should Charles die without issue ; and that the ori- 
 ginal was deposited in the hands of the duke of Florence. This 
 assertion is confirmed even by Torcy ; but the embarrassed situation of 
 Leopold, and the singularly impolitic conduct of the German states, 
 sufficiently accounts for his acquiescence in the incroachments of Louis, 
 without recurring to the improbable supposition that a sovereign of 
 so firm a temper, and so tenacious of his rights as Leopold, would 
 voluntarily relinquish those rights by a treaty ; and the still greater 
 absurdity of imagining, that he should intrust the original of such an 
 engagement to a petty prince of Italy.
 
 396 LEOPOLD i. [cn. LXIV. 
 
 the condition either of retaining his conquests in the Neth- 
 erlands, or of accepting as an equivalent Franche Comte, 
 or the duchy of Luxemburgh, with the Cambresis, Douai, 
 Aire, St. Omer, and Furness. 
 
 Louis, apprehensive of being involved in a war with 
 the two maritime powers ; aware that a peace, recently 
 concluded with Portugal, would enable Spain to bring for- 
 ward her whole force ; dreading the interference of Leo- 
 pold, and the defection of his adherents in the empire, ac- 
 cepted, though indignantly, the terms prescribed by the 
 triple alliance. By the mediation of the pope, he, on the 
 2d of May, 1668, concluded a peace with Spain, at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, on the condition of restoring Franche Comte, 
 and retaining his conquests in the Netherlands * ; but he 
 had the address or the firmness to evade even the mention 
 of his former renunciation of the Spanish succession, and by 
 thu3 virtually abrogating the essential stipulations in the 
 peace of the Pyrenees, reserved his pretensions to be again 
 brought forward on the first favourable occasion. 
 
 The only object remaining for the three contracting 
 powers was, to remedy the uncertainty of this treaty with 
 Louis, by securing the remainder of the Netherlands, with 
 Franche Comte, to Spain. But more than a year elapsed 
 before this essential object was attained by the treaty of 
 the Hague, on the 9th of May, 1669, between England, 
 Holland, and Sweden. To this treaty Spain afterwards 
 acceded ; and bound herself to discharge the arrears of 
 the subsidy due to Sweden. The contracting parties- ought 
 to have strengthened this league by the accession of other 
 powers, particularly the emperor ; but so discordant were 
 their views, and so greatly was the influence of Louis in- 
 creased over Charles H., that the British court declined, 
 under various pretences, accepting the accession of Leo- 
 pold, who had been formally invited to enter into the 
 treaty. 
 
 * It is barely sufficient to enumerate these places, and refer to their 
 situation, commanding the three principal rivers of the Low Countries, 
 and a passage into Brabant, to prove the magnitude of their loss to 
 Spain. The places now ceded were Charleroi, Binche, Aeth, Douay, 
 with Fort Scarpe, Lille, Oudenarde, Armentieres, Courtray, Bergue. 
 and Fumes, with their dependencies. Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.
 
 1664-1679.] HOSTILITIES COMMENCED BY FRANCE. 397 
 
 An alliance, founded on such discordant principles, and 
 forming so feeble a bond of union, could not long subsist, 
 or oppose a permanent barrier to the increasing power of 
 France. Although Louis had obtained a considerable ac- 
 cession of territory in the Netherlands, he was not satisfied 
 with a part, however vuluable, when he aspired to the pos- 
 session of the whole ; and as he was sensible that he could 
 not consummate his schemes of aggrandisement while Hol- 
 land formed a point of union for the European states, he 
 next directed his attack against a country so interested to 
 oppose his conquests. He gained Charles H., whose ruling 
 principle was the love of pleasure, and whose extravagance 
 reduced him to the humiliating necessity of becoming a 
 pensionary of France ; and recovered his influence with 
 the Swedish government, which was dissatisfied with the 
 delays of Spain in discharging the stipulated subsidies. 
 All the German princes, except the elector of Branden- 
 burgh, were again secured by bribes or alliances ; by a 
 promise not to attack Germany or the Spanish dominions, 
 he obtained from the states on the Rhine a passage through 
 their territories ; and he induced the elector of Cologne 
 and the bishop of Munster to concur in the intended inva- 
 sion. He contrived to embarrass Leopold, by fomenting i 
 the discontents in Hungary, gained some of his ministers, \ 
 and by representing the intended invasion as directed solely 
 against the Protestant religion, induced him to sign a 
 treaty of neutrality, by which he promised not to oppose 
 the arms of France in any war against England, Sweden, 
 or the United Provinces. 
 
 Having thus isolated the Dutch from the other powers 
 of Europe, Louis commenced his operations. He attacked 
 Charles IV., duke of Loraine, who was collecting a 
 subsidiary army for the service of the United Provinces ; 
 by the occupation of his duchy, opened a direct communi- 
 cation with the Alsatian territories, and thus delivered 
 himself from an enemy who might have made a dangerous 
 diversion. Notwithstanding the interference of the em- 
 peror and empire in behalf of a sovereign under their pro- 
 tection, he retained possession of Loraine ; and the tameness 
 with which this aggression was borne, proved the extent of 
 iris influence, and the terror inspired by his arms. The
 
 398 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LX1V. 
 
 United Provinces were thus deprived of every ally except 
 Spain, with whom mutual danger had induced them to sign 
 a defensive alliance, on the 17th of December, 1671. 
 
 The storm which had been long gathering at length burst 
 forth. England and France declared war almost at the 
 same moment : and, while their fleets united by sea, Louis 
 commenced his memorable attack by land. He collected 
 his forces at Charleroy, crossed the Meuse at Viset and 
 Maestricht, and turned into the electorate of Cologne. 
 From Bonne, Nuys, and Kayserswerth, where the elector 
 permitted him to form magazines in the preceding winter, 
 he descended the Rhine, captured, almost without oppo- 
 sition, all the fortresses belonging to the elector of Branden- 
 burgh in the duchy of Cleves, forced the passage of the 
 Rhine at Tollhuys, and poured his troops like an inunda- 
 tion over the United Provinces. With astonishing rapi- 
 dity he made himself master of Grave Doesburgh and 
 Zutphen on the Yssel ; Nimeguen and Bommel on the 
 Waal ; Grave and Crevecoeur, on the Meuse ; the fort- 
 resses on the Rhine as far as Woerden, and even captured 
 Naarden within three leagues of Amsterdam. At the same 
 time the bishop of Munster, assisted by a French corps 
 under the duke of Luxemburgh, penetrated through Over- 
 yssel into the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. 
 
 In this extremity the Dutch burst open the dikes to in- 
 undate the country, separated their army to form a line of 
 defence between Muiden and Gorcum, and removed their 
 archives and magazines to Amsterdam. But their situ- 
 ation was most perilous and alarming. Their troops undis- 
 ciplined, weak, and discouraged, were commanded by officers 
 without skill ; the people enervated by a long peace, and 
 absorbed in commercial speculations, had lost the spirit 
 which enabled them to defy the best troops of Europe, 
 though directed by an Alva, a Farnese, and a Spinola. In 
 the midst of universal dismay, the country was divided 
 between the Republican and Orange parties, who were more 
 anxious to weaken and embarrass each other than to resist 
 the common enemy. The fleet alone acting with the na- 
 tional spirit, attacked the united squadrons of France and 
 England at Solebay, and maintained the equality, if not su- 
 periority, in a series of engagements. But this advantage,
 
 1664-1679.] LEAGUE FORMED AGAINST FRANCE. 399 
 
 if it might be called an advantage, was far from being de- 
 cisive ; they might have been annihilated as a nation by 
 land, while their fleet rode triumphant by sea ; and so great 
 was the general despondency, that many, like the Athenians 
 of old, even proposed to abandon their native shores, and 
 remove their empire to the colonies in the East. 
 
 The approach of such stupendous danger, the unprovided 
 state of the garrison towns, the weakness of the army, the sus- 
 picion of treachery which naturally arose from a rapid series 
 of disasters, and the known connections of the two de Wits 
 with France, excited general indignation. The public mis- 
 fortunes being attributed to their improvident counsels, they 
 fell a sacrifice to the fury of the people ; the prince of Orange 
 was intrusted with the supreme command of the army and 
 navy, and appointed stadtholder of the five provinces which 
 his ancestors had governed under the same title. Party 
 animosities subsided, and all, from fear, prudence, or pa- 
 triotism, suppressed their own grievances to turn their 
 efforts against the common enemy. Under the guidance of 
 the young prince, who proved himself worthy of that heroic 
 family from which he was descended, the army was restored 
 to discipline, the officers who had betrayed or ill served 
 their country were dismissed or punished, and the people, 
 who were recently inclined to receive a foreign yoke, una- 
 nimously concurred to defend the last remnant of their 
 native soil, of which neither the arms of the French, nor 
 the inundation of waters had yet bereaved them. 
 
 But neither this reviving spirit, nor the heroism of the 
 young prince, would have saved the republic without the 
 assistance of the emperor and the elector of Brandenburgh. 
 As early as May, the elector concluded a subsidiary treaty 
 with the republic for a succour of 20,000 men. The almost 
 inevitable loss of the Low Countries, should France maintain 
 possession of Holland, and the occupation of Loraine, at the 
 same time induced the court of Vienna to break the recent 
 treaty of neutrality, and unite with the elector in assisting 
 the Dutch. A league was accordingly concluded in August, 
 1672, between the emperor, the elector, and the states; 
 and 16,000 imperialists uniting with the forces of Branden- 
 burgh at Halberstadt, advanced towards the bishopric of 
 Munster ; but being opposed by Turenne, they spent the
 
 400 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXIV. 
 
 whole season in fruitless efforts to pass the Rhine. This 
 inactivity created disgust, jealousies, and mutual recrimina- 
 tion. The elector, shackled in his command by the imperial 
 court, seeing on one side his fortresses on the Rhine in the 
 possession of the French, and alarmed on the other by an 
 invasion of his Westphalian territories, concluded on the 
 10th of April, 1673, the truce of Vossem, by which he pro- 
 mised to take no part in the war against France, except as 
 a member of the empire. 
 
 Yet this diversion, however fruitless in the event, by 
 giving a temporary respite to the United Provinces, enabled 
 them to make the most strenuous exertions both by sea and 
 land. They repulsed the efforts of the French against Am- 
 sterdam, and secured the province of Broningen by reducing 
 the fortress of Coevorden ; while the prince of Orange called 
 the attention of the enemy to their own frontiers, by an en- 
 terprise, in conjunction with the Spaniards, against Char- 
 leroy. The states also redoubled their exertions to augment 
 their navy, and repulsed the projected descent of their 
 united enemies on the coasts of Holland and Zealand. 
 
 Meanwhile Leopold supplied the defection of the elector 
 of Brandenburgh by new efforts. After attempting in vain 
 to rouse the empire, he placed garrisons in Coblentz and 
 Ehrenbreitstein, by which he secured a passage over the 
 Rhine, and obtained a post which gave him the command 
 of the Moselle, and the means of invading Loraine. He 
 entered into alliances with Spain, the United Provinces, 
 and with the ejected duke. -A combined army of 18,000 
 men was speedily formed on the side of the Low Countries, 
 while Montecuculi, with 30,000 Imperial troops, drew 
 towards the Maine. The effect of these movements was 
 decisive ; Turenne was driven out of Franconia, whither he 
 had advanced to oppose the imperialists; Montecuculi 
 passing the Rhine at Coblentz, joined the prince of Orange 
 with the confederates at Andernach, and their united forces 
 took Bonne. The French, apprehensive of losing their 
 communications with their own country, withdrew their 
 garrisons from most of the conquered places, except Grave 
 and Maestricht ; and this sudden reverse was followed by 
 the defection of all their adherents except Sweden. The 
 king of England was again forced by his parliament to make
 
 1664-1679.] ACTIVITY OF THE FRENCH. 401 
 
 peace with Holland, and the presence of the confederate 
 armies, induced the bishop of Munster to abandon France, 
 and join his co-estates of the empire. 
 
 A no less sudden and important change took place in 
 Germany. The aggressions of Louis, the devastations 
 recently committed in the Palatinate by the French troops 
 under Turenne, the occupation of Treves and Loraine, the 
 seizure of the ten imperial towns in Alsace, a long series of 
 arrogant declarations, and unprovoked aggressions, all gave 
 weight to the representations of the emperor, and the whole 
 diet concurred in a declaration of war against France. 
 Besides their ordinary contingents, many of the states 
 entered into separate alliances with the emperor and the 
 United Provinces, particularly the elector of Brandenburgh, 
 the dukes of Brunswick, and the elector Palatine ; and the 
 king of Denmark promised a succour of 16,000 men, if the 
 Swedes should declare in favour of France. 
 
 Before, however, the allies could assemble their forces, 
 the French conquered Franche Comte, and not only re- 
 conciled the Swiss to this aggression, but even prevailed on 
 them to shut the passage from Italy against the Spaniards. 
 During the two succeeding years, the war between France 
 and the emperor was chiefly confined to Alsace and the 
 neighbouring countries on the Rhine, where the caution of 
 Montecuculi, and the enterprising spirit of Turenne, were 
 so nicely balanced that the contest produced no permanent 
 advantage on either side. Soon after the death of Turenne 
 and the retreat of Montecuculi, the war assumed a new 
 aspect. The Swedes, again co-operating in favour of 
 France, drew off the troops of Brandenburgh, Brunswick, 
 and Munster to the north of Germany, and thus enabled 
 the French to regain the ascendency on the Rhine and in 
 the Low Countries. The imperialists under Charles, the 
 new duke of Loraine, who inherited the talents and ruined 
 fortunes of his uncle, recovered Treves, reduced Philips- 
 burgh, and even approached the frontiers of Loraine ; but 
 the French compelled a corps which had penetrated into 
 Alsace to capitulate, drove the duke from Mentz, pre- 
 vented him from crossing the Meuse to join the Dutch, and 
 closed the campaign by the capture of Friburgh. The prince 
 of Orange, assisted by the Spaniards and auxiliary troops 
 
 VOL. II. 1) D
 
 402 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXIT. 
 
 of the empire, for some time balanced the forces of the 
 enemy, though defeated at Senef and Montcassel ; till the 
 French, favoured by the diversion of the Swedes, concen- 
 trated the principal part of their strength in the Nether- 
 lands, and not only frustrated the attempt of the allies to 
 penetrate into France, but before the close of 1679, extended 
 their conquests by the capture of the fortresses which formed 
 the great barrier of the Spanish provinces.* 
 
 Meanwhile, * according to the usual custom of blending 
 negotiations and arms, a congress of ministers from the 
 belligerent powers assembled in March, 1679, at Nimeguen, 
 under the mediation of England. France exerted her 
 usual artifices to divide the allies ; but was foiled in all her 
 attempts by the spirited opposition of Leopold and the 
 prince of Orange. The first required the restitution of 
 Loraine and Franche Comte, the re-establishment of the 
 imperial rights over the ten towns in Alsace, and full 
 security on the side of the Rhine against future aggressions ; 
 the latter insisted that France should be reduced to her 
 original boundaries before her encroachments on the empire 
 and Spain. They were supported by the king of Denmark, 
 the elector of Brandenburgh, and the princes in the north 
 of Germany, who were not merely desirous to recover 
 their losses, but to retain the conquests which they had 
 now made or expected to make from Sweden. 
 
 Foiled in all attempts to weaken the confederacy, Louis 
 redoubled his efforts to gain the Dutch, and succeeded in 
 persuading the governing party in Holland to listen to 
 separate overtures, by luring them with commercial pri- 
 vileges, and the offer of a sufficient barrier in the Nether- 
 lands. His intrigues were, however, again baffled by the 
 prince of Orange, who repaired to England, negotiated a 
 marriage with the princess Mary, presumptive heiress of 
 the crown, and by the influence which he acquired in the 
 English ministry and nation, persuaded Charles to send an 
 ambassador to Paris, insisting that Louis should restore all 
 his conquests from the emperor and empire, reinstate the 
 duke of Loraine, give up Maestricht to the Dutch, and 
 
 * Bouchain, Valenciennes, Conde, Cambray, Maubenge, Bavay, 
 Aire, St. Omer, Warwick, Warnelon, Poperingen, Baillcul, and 
 CasseL
 
 1664-1679.] PROPOSALS MADE BY LOUIS. 403 
 
 cede to Spain, Ath, Charleroy, Binche, St. Guillain, Conde, 
 Valenciennes, Courtray, and Tournay, as a barrier for the 
 Low Countries. Charles even promised to declare war 
 should the French refuse to comply with this demand; 
 entered into a treaty at the Hague with the United 
 Provinces, for enforcing the acceptance of these terms, and 
 obtained, in the commencement of 1678, a supply from his 
 parliament for the maintenance of ninety sail, and an army 
 of 30,000 men. 
 
 These warlike appearances encouraged the allies, and 
 active preparations were made for carrying hostilities into 
 France. Leopold exerted himself with unusual vigour to 
 assemble an army, which was to enter Alsace under the 
 command of the duke of Loraine ; the states of Lower 
 Saxony were to furnish troops to act on the Moselle ; and 
 the prince of Orange was to attack the northern frontier 
 of France, with the Dutch and Spaniards. But while the 
 allied powers were holding councils of war, and discussing 
 plans of operation, the French drew their troops to the 
 frontiers ; after threatening the empire on the side of the 
 Upper Rhine, and alarming the whole extent of frontier as 
 far as the Meuse, they suddenly burst into Flanders, and 
 in the course of a few days captured Ghent and Ypres. In 
 the midst of the alarm occasioned by this success, Louis 
 made specific propositions to the congress of Nimeguen on 
 the 15th of April, 1678. He demanded full and entire 
 satisfaction for Sweden, for the duke of Holstein Gottorp, 
 and for the bishop of Strasburgh, whose territories had 
 been occupied by the allies. To the emperor he held forth 
 a vague promise to fulfil the peace of Westphalia, and 
 allowed him to purchase the restoration of Philipsburgh, by 
 the cession of Friburgh as an equivalent. To Spain he 
 offered Limburgh, Ath, Charleroy, Binche, Oudenard, 
 Courtray, Ghent, and St. Guillain, affecting to consider 
 this barrier as sufficient to gratify England and Holland, 
 and in return demanded Franche Comte, with all the towns 
 which he had conquered during the war. To the Dutch he 
 tendered the same commercial advantages as before, with 
 the restitution of the principality of Orange, which he had 
 seized at the commencement of the war. He proposed to 
 reinstate the duke of Loraine, either on the terms stipu-
 
 401 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXIV. 
 
 lated by the peace of the Pyrenees, or of ceding Nancy to 
 France in exchange for Toul, with passages half a league in 
 breadth through his territories to Alsace and Franche 
 Comte ; the provostship of Longwy, which belonged to the 
 duke, was likewise to be exchanged for a provostship in one 
 of the three bishoprics. Louis delivered these terms with 
 the imperious tone of a conqueror, declaring, that his 
 enemies had now the option of peace or war, and that if his 
 proposals were not accepted before the 10th of May, he 
 should deem himself at liberty to make new demands, and 
 produce new restrictions. 
 
 Such conditions, dictated in the most haughty language, 
 could not fail to be highly galling te the allies, particularly 
 to Leopold, who was aware that the empire, and his own 
 territories, were exposed to the most imminent peril, by the 
 proposed transfer of Franche Comte to France, by the ces- 
 sion of a free passage through the territories of Loraine, by 
 the loss of his sovereignty over the ten towns of Alsace, 
 and by the establishment of two passages over the Rhine. 
 However desirous of peace, he disdained to accept conditions 
 so degrading and dangerous ; and as he deemed himself 
 secure of support from England, Denmark, Brandenburgh, 
 and the allies of Lower Saxony, he resolved to continue 
 the contest. He endeavoured to rouse the spirit of the 
 Spaniards and the Dutch, and made active preparation 
 to push military operations with vigour and effect. 
 
 But Louis had already taken measures to dissolve the 
 union of the allies, by gaining the powers on whom the 
 continuance of the contest principally depended. He palsied 
 the efforts of England, by alternately bribing and threat- 
 ening the king ; by caballing with the leaders of the popu- 
 lar party ; by inflaming the jealousy of the king against the 
 parliament, and of the parliament against the king ; and 
 succeeded in inducing them, by common consent, to disband 
 that army for which the nation had clamoured*, at the very 
 moment when Charles had recalled the English troops from 
 the service of France, and sent a part of his forces into 
 Flanders. He was still more successful with the Dutch : 
 
 * This dishonourable conduct of all parties in England is ably 
 developed by Dalrymple, in his interesting Memoirs of Great Britain 
 and Ireland, ch. ii. and iii. with the two Appendices.
 
 1664-1679.] LOUIS DISUNITES TIIE ALLIES. 405 
 
 he represented to the popular party the opposition of the 
 prince of Orange as the sole obstacle to peace, excited their 
 jealousy against his connections with England, alarmed 
 them with hints of a projected cession of the Netherlands 
 for Roussillon, and again lured their commercial cupidity. 
 By this series of intrigues and artifices, he induced the 
 Dutch government to sign a temporary armistice, for the 
 purpose of effecting a general peace on the proffered con- 
 ditions, and promise to abandon the alliance if those terms 
 were rejected. This armistice was afterwards prolonged to 
 the close of the year. 
 
 The Dutch being thus detached, he found little difficulty 
 in gaining Spain, exhausted by the contest, and agitated by 
 intestine feuds. Don John had obtained the disgrace of 
 Nitard, the imprisonment of the queen mother, and the 
 banishment of Valenzuela, an intriguing poetaster, who was 
 raised by her influence to the post of prime minister. But 
 though the greatest statesman who had directed the counspls 
 of Spain since Olivarez, he was unable to infuse spirit into 
 the weak mind of the king, or to combat the factions of a 
 turbulent nobility in the midst of an unsuccessful war. 
 Being therefore desirous of peace, no less to recover his 
 exhausted country than to establish his own authority, he 
 accepted without hesitation the offers of France, and soon 
 after the accession of Holland, agreed to the proffered 
 terms.* 
 
 The other allies astounded by this defection, vented their 
 reproaches against the Dutch for setting the example in 
 deserting a contest which had been commenced for their 
 safety. The ambassador of Leopold, in particular, observed : 
 " Although some provinces may now reap a temporary ad- 
 vantage, all will eventually be swallowed up by so powerful 
 a neighbour. France proposes conditions of peace, to which 
 neither the emperor nor his allies can consent with honour 
 and safety. As a proof that her design is only to divide 
 and subjugate the allies one after the other, she does not 
 even specify the satisfaction which she requires for 
 Sweden. If there be an absolute necessity for peace, the 
 emperor offers to agree to terms which shall prove his mo- 
 deration ; but can it be believed without doubting the for- 
 
 * Memoirs of the Bourbon Kings of Spain, Introduct. sect. 2 
 D D 3
 
 406 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXIV. 
 
 titude, prudence, and justice of the states general, that they 
 will precipitately desert their faithful confederates, and thus 
 expose them to the most imminent danger The enemy re- 
 quires a speedy determination, because he wishes to hurry 
 us to the brink of the precipice ; yet, for that very reason, 
 we ought to proceed with caution and deliberation. If the 
 king of France succeeds in treating separately with Holland, 
 he will gain her wishes, and there is an end to all hope of 
 a general peace." 
 
 Similar remonstrances were made by the king of Den- 
 mark and the elector of Brandenburgh, and still more by the 
 prince of Orange, who used every representation to combat 
 the commercial prejudices and petty views of his country- 
 men. But all these representations were lost on the short- 
 sighted politicians of Holland, who sacrificed their own 
 honour and safety for the sake of illusory advantages, and 
 a temporary respite, by ordering their ambassador to con- 
 clude the peace within the space of a month. 
 
 On the 22nd of June, 1678, the very day in which it was 
 to have been signed, an incident happened which revived 
 the spirit of the allies, and seemed even to rouse the Dutch 
 themselves from their lethargy. Although no mention of 
 Sweden had been made in the treaties between France, 
 Spain, and Holland, Louis refused to surrender Maestricht 
 and the Spanish towns, before the allies had restored on 
 their side all the conquests wrested from Sweden. This 
 unexpected demand prevented the signature, and war 
 seemed on the point of being renewed. Even the king of 
 England felt the dishonour of his recent dependence on 
 France ; again concluded, on the 26th of July, a treaty with 
 the Dutch, binding himself to declare war against Louis, if 
 he did not within fourteen days restore the ceded towns ; 
 and earnestly appealed to his parliament for supplies. Un- 
 fortunately, he had acted with too much duplicity to obtain 
 the esteem or confidence of any party. His parliament 
 considering this effort as a mere pretence to extort money, 
 or raise a standing army, rejected his demand, and Charles 
 again fell into his shameful dependence on France. Al- 
 though he had not the effrontery to recall his declaration, 
 he endeavoured to obtain from the French king an increase 
 of his pension, not only by offering to preserve his accus-
 
 1664-1679.] POLITICAL TALENTS OF LOUIS. 407 
 
 tomed neutrality, but even to declare war in favour of 
 Sweden. Louis skilfully cajoled the needy monarch, while 
 his hostility would have been dangerous ; but at the same 
 time disclosed his perfidious conduct to the Dutch. By 
 these manoeuvres, he gained the signature of the states to 
 the definitive treaty, on the 10th of August, at the last 
 moment of the very day appointed by Charles for his ulti- 
 mate determination ; and their example, as before, was, on 
 the 17th of September, followed by Spain. 
 
 Even after this formal signature, Leopold and the allies 
 conceived new hopes of renewing the war ; for, on the en- 
 suing morning, the prince of Orange attacked the French 
 forces under marshal Luxemburgh, who, notwithstanding 
 the conclusion of the armistice, had blockaded Hons, and 
 drove him from his position, with the loss of 5000 men. 
 At the same moment the king of England, irritated against 
 Louis for suspending the payment of his pension, for once 
 appeared sincere, ratified the treaty with Holland, hurried 
 the embarkation of his troops for Flanders, used every ex- 
 ertion, and employed every argument to induce the states 
 to continue the war. But the Dutch had been too often 
 deceived by Charles to rely on his sincerity, and Louis 
 having submitted to the insult offered to his arms by the 
 prince of Orange, the ratifications were exchanged without 
 delay. Still, however, the instigations of the emperor, and 
 the prospect of assistance from England, induced the king 
 of Spain to withhold his acquiescence, until the French 
 troops invading the Netherlands, exacted such heavy con- 
 tributions, and committed such devastations, that he, on the 
 15th of December, 1678, acceded to the treaty, to relieve 
 his subjects from evils greater than any which they had 
 suffered during the war itself. 
 
 The French, secure on the side of the Netherlands, soon 
 recovered the trifling advantages which the imperialists 
 obtained at the commencement of the campaign, and in- 
 undated the electorate of Cologne, and the territories of 
 Juliers. The princes who were most exposed to danger 
 hastened to desert the alliance. The elector of Branden- 
 burgh, anxious to retain Pomerania, which he had wholly 
 subjugated, made indeed a chimerical proposal for raising 
 an army of the empire, amounting to 80,000 men, of which 
 
 D D 4
 
 408 LEOPOLD I. [CII. LXIV. 
 
 he promised to furnish one-fourth ; but Leopold declined 
 trusting to so uncertain a resource, and was too jealous of 
 the elector to continue the war for the sake of his aggran- 
 disement. He therefore entered into a separate negotiation 
 with France, notwithstanding all the reproaches of the 
 elector and his allies, who in their turn inveighed against 
 his desertion as he had inveighed against that of the Dutch 
 and Spaniards. The conclusion of the peace was suspended 
 by his attempts to retain Philipsburgh and Friburgh, to 
 recover the rights of the empire over the fiefs and towns 
 of Alsace, and still more to obtain the complete restoration 
 of the duke of Loraine. But Louis, who could not be in- 
 duced to yield a tittle of these important points in the midst 
 of a general war, was still less inclined to concede them to 
 the emperor, when deserted by the principal members of 
 the alliance. After long discussions, Leopold submitting to 
 necessity, relinquished his pretensions, abandoned Branden- 
 burgh and Denmark, and, on the 5th of February, 1679, 
 signed the peace with France and Sweden. He retained 
 Philipsburgh in exchange for Friburgh ; left all points in 
 dispute, in regard to himself or the empire, on the same 
 vague footing as they were left by the peace of Westphalia ; 
 and acquiesced in the conditions offered to the duke of 
 Loraine ; but to save his honour, and justify himself to the 
 empire, he published a fruitless protest, reserving his own 
 rights and those of the empire over the fiefs and towns 
 of Alsace. As he had made this peace without the formal 
 concurrence of the Germanic body, he submitted an 
 apology to the diet, and obtained the ratification of all the 
 states, except the elector of Brandenburgh, the king of 
 Denmark as count of Oldenburgh, the dukes of Brunswick, 
 and the bishop of Munster. He, however, soon after- 
 wards procured the acquiescence of the dukes of Bruns- 
 wick, and the new bishop who succeeded Bernard von 
 Galen in the see of Munster ; and a French army penetra- 
 ting into Lower Saxony, overcame the repugnance of 
 Brandenburgh. But the elector still displayed so much 
 spirit and policy, that he obtained more advantageous 
 terms than any other member of the alliance, by securing 
 a small district on the left bank of the Oder, half the 
 tolls of Colberg, and receiving from France the payment of
 
 1679-1697.] REMARKS OX THE PEACE OF NIMEGUEN. 409 
 
 300,000 crowns. The king of Denmark reduced to follow 
 the example, restored the duke of Holstein Gottorp, and re- 
 newed the treaties of Westphalia, Roskild, and Copenhagen. 
 The duke of Loraine was the only sovereign who was 
 not reinstated in his dominions. The high-spirited prince, 
 disdainfully rejected terms which reduced him to total 
 dependence on France, and retiring under the protection 
 of his brother-in-law the emperor, became the great 
 ornament of his court, the prime mover of his counsels, and 
 the director of his military operations. 
 
 CHAP. LXV. 1679-1697. 
 
 THE peace of Nimeguen could only be considered as a 
 temporary truce ; for, instead of setting bounds to the am- 
 bition and encroachments of Louis XIV., the security 
 with which it crowned his aggressions encouraged him to 
 persevere in his projects of aggrandisement. 
 
 The purpose now appeared for which he had so artfully 
 introduced the contradictory stipulations into the peace of 
 stphAlia* relative to Alsace, and the three bishoprics, and 
 of which he had refused to admit any explanatory clause. 
 For the peace was scarcely signed, before he commanded 
 the towns and nobles to renounce their connection with the 
 empire ; and established three tribunals, or chambers of re- 
 union, at Brisach for Alsace, Metz for the three bishoprics, 
 and Besancon, for Franche Comte. The object of these 
 tribunals was, to investigate musty records, and worm- 
 eaten manuscripts, to collect traditional information relative 
 to all the obsolete rights which had been enjoyed, or were 
 supposed to have been enjoyed by former sovereigns, in 
 order to appropriate the territories subject to such rights, 
 as fiefs and dependencies. These re-unions did not merely 
 comprehend towns and districts, but extended to whole 
 principalities, duchies, and counties. Such were Deux 
 Fonts, Saarburgh, Weldentz, part of the bishoprics of 
 Strasburgh and Spire, Sponheim, and Montbeillard, with 
 numerous other places, which had long ceased to have any 
 connection with the ceded territories. On the side of the
 
 410 LEOPOLD I. 
 
 Netherlands, Louis likewise claimed the county of Chinay, 
 with the town of Alost or Luxemburgh, and several districts 
 between the Sambre and the Meuse belonging to the arch- 
 bishopric of Liege. The proprietors of all these territories 
 were ordered to do homage to the crown of France, under 
 pain of confiscation. 
 
 The small towns and states, who were unable to resist, 
 complied ; but the greater carried their complaints before 
 the emperor and empire. The king of Sweden, as possessor 
 of Deux Fonts, the Palatine family as proprietors of Wel- 
 dentz and Germesheim, and the duke of Wirtemberg as 
 sovereign of Montbeillard, assailed the emperor with cla- 
 mours for redress, and with reproaches for neglecting the 
 security of their interests in the recent peace. When 
 Leopold made the warmest remonstrances against thesf, 
 usurpations, Louis coldly referred him to the tribunals 
 which he had himself instituted to judge his own cause. 
 But while he amused both the empire and Spain by 
 affecting to enter into negotiations, he continued his en- 
 croachments, extorted the county of Chinay from Spain, 
 suddenly invested and reduced Strasburgh, and at the 
 same time took possession of Casale, an imperial fief, which 
 he had obtained by purchase from the duke of Mantua. 
 
 Trusting that these aggressions would rouse the spirit of 
 the empire, Leopold prevailed on the diet to place the 
 military system on a more consistent and advantageous 
 footing. As the contingents had hitherto been united ac- 
 cording to the rank and order of the states in the matricula, 
 troops had been drawn from one extremity of Germany to 
 join with those of another, from whom they differed in 
 language, manners, and military institutions. This he- 
 terogeneous mixture was now avoided by assembling the 
 troops according to vicinity of territory, and apportioning 
 the contingents on the respective circles. By this system 
 arrangements were made in October, 1681, for forming an 
 army of 28,000 infantry, and 12,000 cavalry, which could 
 be raised to 80,000 or 120,000 men, by merely doubling 
 or tripling the contingents. For the regular payment o*f 
 this force, the particular funds of each state and circle 
 were to be united, and form a common military chest. 
 
 At the same time, Leopold encouraged the formation of
 
 1679-1697.] POLITICAL ARTIFICES OP LOUIS. 411 
 
 defensive leagues or associations, as well among the Ger- 
 man states themselves, as with foreign powers. He himself 
 acceded to the association of the four circles of the Rhine, 
 and concluded alliances with the dukes of Brunswick Lune- 
 burgh, and Maximilian Emanuel, the new elector of Bavaria. 
 He also gained the king of Sweden, who was alienated from 
 France by the seizure of Deux Fonts, and entered into a 
 defensive league for twenty years with Sweden, Spain, and 
 the United Provinces. He expected to obtain a declaration 
 of war from the empire, and hoped, by means of the prince 
 of Orange, even to draw England into the quarrel. But 
 all these expectations were frustrated by the intrigues and 
 superior influence of France. Louis detached the king of 
 Denmark by a subsidy of 800,000 crowns, and by luring 
 him with the promise of supporting his pretensions to the 
 duchy of Holstein Gottorp, as well as to the towns of Lubec 
 and Hamburgh ; and he successfully tampered with the 
 governing party in Holland. He at the same time secured 
 the neutrality of England, by remitting to Charles II. 
 sufficient sums of money to supply his profusion, without 
 being reduced to the necessity of assembling a parliament. 
 In the empire he found a partisan in the elector of 
 Brandenburgh, who equally dissatisfied with Spain for 
 withholding the arrears of his subsidy, and with the emperor 
 for forcing him to accede to the treaty of Nimeguen, and 
 for taking possession of the Silesian duchies *, employed all 
 his efforts to prevent the diet from declaring war against 
 France ; and even entered into a treaty with the king of Den- 
 mark, and the bishop of Munster, to preserve the neutrality 
 of Germany. Above all, Louis gave sufficient employment 
 to Leopold, by fomenting the rebellion in Hungary, and 
 inciting the Turks to invade the Austrian dominions. 
 
 Trusting to the effect of these intrigues and negotiations, 
 he commenced, in 168?, aggressions against Spain by in- 
 vading the Netherlands, captured Courtray and Dixmude, 
 and after dismantling Treves, made himself master of Lux- 
 emburgh. This series of aggressions divided or intimidated 
 
 * The elector claimed the principalities of Lignitz, Brieg, and 
 Wohlau, in virtue of a compact of inheritance, concluded in 1557. 
 But on the death of the last duke, Leopold took possession of these 
 principalities as fiefs reverting to the crown of Bohemia.
 
 412 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXV. 
 
 the other European powers ; for the unfortunate divisions 
 in the empire, the impolitic neutrality of England, the 
 apathy of the Dutch, and above all, the increasing dangers 
 of Leopold, enabled Louis to consolidate the greater part 
 of these acquisitions by a truce which was concluded at 
 Ratisbon, on the 26th of August, 1684, for twenty years, 
 between France on one side, and Spain and the emperor 
 on the other. During this period France was to retain 
 Luxemburgh, Bouvines, Beaumont, and Chinay, with their 
 dependencies, as well as all the places in the Netherlands 
 re-united before August 20. 1683. From the empire, Louis 
 acquired Strasburgh, Kehl, and the places re-united before 
 August 1. 1681, with the rights of supreme sovereignty in 
 Alsace, which were not in future to be contested. He 
 promised in return to confirm the territorial proprietors 
 who should do homage, or take an oath of allegiance, in all 
 their rights civil and religious, and agreed in a separate 
 article, not to disturb the Catholics, Lutherans, or Calvinists, 
 in the free exercise of their religion, or in the enjoyment of 
 their ecclesiastical property. 
 
 On the conclusion of this truce, the power of France and 
 the glory of Louis had attained their highest elevation. 
 Under the celebrated Colbert, the finances had been placed 
 in excellent order, justice ameliorated, the police improved, 
 commerce extended, colonies and manufactures established ; 
 canals and communications were opened, new ports and 
 arsenals formed or forming at Dunkirk, Toulon, Brest, 
 Rochfort, and the places on the channel; a navy of 100 
 sail, manned by 60,000 sailors, spreading terror through 
 the Mediterranean, and contesting the mastery of the ocean 
 with England and Holland. These improvements were 
 accompanied with the patronage of all the arts which im- 
 prove or adorn life, and with the protection of letters and 
 science ; nor was the munificence of the sovereign confined 
 to his own subjects, but men of genius distinguished in every 
 branch of knowledge, and in every quarter of Europe, 
 were taught to look up to the French monarch as their 
 patron and protector. 
 
 Louvois placed at the head of the war department, raised 
 
 e military system to the same degree of perfection as 
 
 Colbert had raised the civil institutions and naval force
 
 679-1697.] POWER AND PROSPERITY OF FRANCE. 413 
 
 The standing army, commanded by the most skilful generals 
 of the age, was greatly augmented and strictly disciplined ; 
 schools were instituted for the education of officers in the 
 higher branches of their art ; while the indefatigable per- 
 severance and stern severity of the minister, maintained a 
 wonderful promptitude and order throughout a military 
 establishment the most extensive in Europe. He intro- 
 duced the plan of subsisting armies by means of magazines, 
 stored the frontier places with every requisite for defence 
 or attack ; and whenever the caprice or ambition of Louis 
 induced him to meditate an irruption or siege, however 
 distant or however sudden, the regulations were arranged 
 for assembling the troops, their marches calculated, their 
 quarters fixed, and every necessary provided for the enter- 
 prise. The recent acquisitions, as well as the original 
 boundaries of the kingdom, were strengthened with new 
 fortifications, and a double or triple line of fortresses at 
 the same time rendered the frontier impenetrable, and 
 furnished on every point the means of aggression into 
 the neighbouring countries. The perfection to which this 
 branch of the military system was raised, was principally 
 owing to the skill of Vauban, who, though he has less at- 
 tracted the notice of history than Turenne, Conde, or 
 Luxemburgh, contributed as much, by his talents as an 
 engineer, to the extension and establishment of the French 
 power, as any other man in the age of Louis XIV., so fertile 
 in great men. To him France was indebted for new modes 
 of fortification, and still more for a new species of attack, 
 which, by reducing the duration of sieges almost to thy 
 certainty of calculation, introduced an essential change into 
 the art of war, and gave that vast predominance to the arms 
 of Louis, and that celerity to his conquests, which con- 
 founded his enemies, and secured him the superiority, till 
 the same inventions were adopted by his adversaries. 
 
 Puffed up with uninterrupted success ; exulting in the 
 dread or the admiration which he inspired throughout Europe ; 
 impelled by inordinate love of glory, Louis disdained the 
 artifice and colouring with which he had hitherto cloaked, 
 and the address and caution with which he had carried on 
 his first aggressions. He threw off the mask, openly 
 trampled on the most solemn engagements and established
 
 414 LEOPOLD L l_Cil. LXV. 
 
 rights, treated the other states of Europe as a master, a 
 judge, and a conqueror; and insulted his contemporary- 
 sovereigns with the arrogance of a feudal lord towards his 
 vassals. He had recently dictated a peace with all the au- 
 thority of a master ; and while most of the other states dis- 
 banded or reduced their forces, he still maintained his army 
 and navy at their full complement, and seemed watching 
 for the moment when he might proceed to new usurpations ; 
 careless of the means, and employing alike the pen and the 
 sword, violence and deceit. 
 
 Inflamed by superstitious fervour, Louis aspired no less to 
 shackle the consciences and the persons of his subjects, than 
 to awe the other states of Europe. Hitherto he had sullenly 
 confirmed the toleration granted by Henry IV. to the 
 Huguenots, from respect to the remonstrances of Col- 
 bert ; but in 1683, after the death of that great minister, he 
 revoked the edict of Nantz, and followed the revocation 
 with persecutions, which recalled the memory of the bar- 
 barities exercised against the Protestants in the early stages 
 of the Reformation. Their ministers were banished, their 
 churches destroyed, liberty of conscience abolished, children 
 torn from their parents to be brought up in the Catholic re- 
 ligion, every species of severity adopted to prevent adult 
 persons from seeking that freedom of worship in another 
 land which was denied in their own, and the plans of Jesuits 
 and monks executed with all the military despotism of the 
 relentless and unfeeling Louvois. The effects of this in- 
 tolerance were similar to those which followed the fatal 
 persecutions in Bohemia. Notwithstanding all the vigilance 
 of civil and military tyranny, above 500,000 persons found 
 means to emigrate, carrying with them their riches, their 
 industry, their manufactures ; and, what was still more fatal 
 to France, spreading throughout every country of Europe 
 where they found an asylum, that detestation with which 
 they were themselves animated by the cruelties of their 
 persecuting sovereign. 
 
 While Louis tyrannised over his subjects at home, and 
 domineered over Europe, he did not intermit his aggres- 
 sions against the empire. Notwithstanding the recent truce, 
 he continued his system of re-union, by appropriating the 
 possessions of the Teutonic order and of the chapter of
 
 1679-1 697. J LOUIS DECLINES IN POWER. 415 
 
 Strasburgh in Alsace, confiscated the territories annexed to 
 the university of Friburgh, and extorted from the elector 
 of Treves an annual tribute, under the name of a due to the 
 duchy of Luxemburgh. He made other encroachments of 
 less importance, though not less galling, in the Brisgau, 
 and, contrary to the fate of treaties, persecuted the Protest- 
 ant inhabitants of Saarwarden and Saarbruck. He conti- 
 nued to multiply the means of invading the German empire 
 by additional fortifications on the banks and islands of the 
 Rhine, the Moselle, and the Saar, most of which were 
 erected on the territories of the German princes, and at 
 the same time he evinced his hostile designs by maintain- 
 ing a formidable army on his frontier. 
 
 These aggressions, together with his unfeeling and 
 domineering character, gradually alienated many of those 
 princes who had hitherto been warmly attached to his 
 cause. Of all his allies he could only depend on the king 
 of Denmark, who was animated by dislike of Austria and 
 Sweden, and the dukes of Brunswick Wolfembuttel, whom 
 he held by a subsidiary treaty. Even though he shackled 
 James II. of England with the same golden fetters with 
 which he had entangled Charles, he was opposed by the 
 rising spirit of the British nation. The people who had borne 
 with the vices and servility of Charles from a love of his 
 easy character and popular manners, as well as from a 
 dread of returning anarchy or republican despotism, were 
 roused by the designs which James did not affect to con- 
 ceal against their religion and liberties, participated in the 
 common aversion of Europe against the despotism and per- 
 secutions of Louis, and looked up to the prince of Orange 
 for support against the arbitrary schemes of their sove- 
 reign and the ambition of his protector. 
 
 While most of the European states were awed into sub- 
 mission, or sunk into apathy, Leopold was not insensible of 
 his own humiliations nor of the danger arising from the 
 ascendency of the house of Bourbon ; but embarrassed 
 with the wars in Hungary, and curbed by the opposition 
 of the elector of Brandenburgh, and the adherents of 
 France in the empire, he submitted with silent indignation 
 to his wrongs, and watched with sedulous attention for an 
 opportunity to rouse the dormant spirit of Europe. He
 
 416 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXV 
 
 found an able coadjutor in William, prince of Orange, 
 who, besides the same political grievances, Avas animated 
 against Louis by motives of religious and personal anti- 
 pathy, and at this time was anxious to employ the arms of 
 France on the Continent, that he might comply with the 
 general voice of England, in overthrowing the civil and 
 religious tyranny of James. 
 
 These two princes united to take advantage of the gene- 
 ral antipathy against the common enemy. William, avail- 
 ing himself of the abhorrence excited even among the 
 French party in Holland, by the persecutions of the Hugue- 
 nots, effected a revolution in the sentiments of his country- 
 men, animated them with his own fervour, and with no 
 Jess effect exerted his personal and political influence over 
 the king of Sweden and the members of the empire. Leo- 
 pold himself, equally active and successful, again drew to 
 his party the elector of Brandenburgh, by sacrificing to 
 him the circle of Schweibus, as a compensation for his 
 claims on the Silesian duchies, and obtained the hearty co- 
 operation of the powerful princes of Brunswick Luneburgh, 
 by luring them with the prospect of the electoral dignity. 
 
 Fortunately at this momentous interval a dispute for the 
 succession of the Palatinate afforded the emperor and prince 
 of Orange a pretext for resistance against France, and an 
 object for uniting the empire and their adherents in a 
 general association. 
 
 On the death of Charles Louis, elector Palatine, the last 
 male of the house of Simmeren, in April, 1685, the succes- 
 sion was disputed by the lines of Neuburgh and Weldentz, 
 and the allodial property claimed by his sister, Elizabeth 
 Charlotte, who was married to the duke of Orleans, brother 
 of Louis XIV. After a short contest, the suit being de- 
 cided in favour of Philip William, duke of Neuburgh^the 
 brother-in-law of the emperor, he received the investiture 
 of the electorate, and was acknowledged by the diet. But 
 the duchess of Orleans claimed, under the title of allodials, 
 all the moveable property of her deceased brother, even his 
 artillery and ammunition ; and finally extended her pre- 
 tensions, under one title or another, to the greater part of 
 the territories which belonged to the house of Simmeren. 
 Louis, ever eager to pursue his usurpations in the empire,
 
 1679-1697.] LEAGUE AGAINST FRANCE. 417 
 
 supported these pretensions by threatening to invade the 
 Palatinate. 
 
 The emperor and the prince of Orange took advantage 
 of the alarms excited by these designs. By their media- 
 tion, alliances were formed between the United Provinces, 
 the elector of Brandenburgh, and the king of Sweden ; and 
 a subsidiary treaty concluded between Leopold and the 
 elector. Finally, Leopold, the king of Sweden, as possessor 
 of Pomerania and Bremen, and the principal members of 
 the empire, united in the celebrated League of Augsburgh, 
 which was concluded June 21. 1686, of which the object 
 was to resist the aggressions of France, under the pretext 
 of maintaining the treaties of Munster and Nimeguen and 
 the truce of Ratisbon. Arrangements were settled for as- 
 sembling an army of 60,000 men, which was to be intrusted 
 to the command of the elector of Bavaria, the prince of 
 Waldeck, and the margrave of Bareith. 
 
 Alarmed at this rising opposition, Louis suspended his 
 intended invasion of the Palatinate. He proposed to con- 
 vert the truce of Ratisbon into a peace, and permitted the 
 duchess of Orleans to accept the sum of 100,000 livres, in 
 compensation for her claims. But the empire, at the insti- 
 gation of Leopold, refusing to secure him in his recent 
 encroachments, by rendering the truce of Ratisbon perma- 
 nent ; this refusal, joined to the hostile aspect of Germany, 
 the successes of Austria against the Turks, and the expedi- 
 tion which the prince of Orange was forming against his 
 father-in-law, induced him again to become the aggressor, 
 in order to dissipate the combination before it had attained 
 consistency. He revived, and even extended, the claims 
 of the duchess of Orleans, and took advantage of a disputed 
 election in the see of Cologne. By supporting "William, 
 count of Furstemberg, who was chosen by a part of the 
 chapter, against Joseph Clement, brother of the elector of 
 Bavaria, whose cause was espoused by the pope and the 
 emperor, he obtained possession of Bonn, Kaiserswerth, 
 and the principal places of the electorate, except the capi- 
 tal, which admitted the troops of the empire. He followed 
 this aggression by sending an army of 80,000 men into the 
 Palatinate, under the command of the dauphin, despatched 
 other bodies on the side of Treves and the Low Countries, 
 
 VOL. n. E
 
 418 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXV. 
 
 and before the close of 1687 captured Philipsburgh, con- 
 quered the whole Palatinate, reduced Spire, Worms, and 
 many other fortresses on the Rhine, with Treves and Huy 
 in the bishopric of Liege. At the same time he displayed 
 his resentment against the pope, by the sequestration of 
 Avignon. To these irruptions he experienced little oppo- 
 sition. The emperor being eagerly employed in pushing 
 his success against the Turks and the rebels of Hungary, 
 no other proof of hostility was shown than the dismission 
 of the French ambassadors from Vienna and Ratisbon. 
 
 Fortunately for the house of Austria, Louis poured his 
 troops into Germany, with a view of effecting a diversion 
 in favour of the Turks, instead of invading Holland ; and 
 by this oversight, allowed the prince of Orange time and 
 opportunity to achieve the revolution in England, which 
 ultimately put a period to the continental despotism of 
 France. 
 
 The people of England had submitted to the arbitrary 
 measures of James in sullen silence, with the hope that his 
 death would deliver them from his tyranny, and that the 
 constitution would be restored under the reign of his 
 daughter Mary, and the administration of her husband, the 
 prince of Orange. But the birth of a prince of Wales 
 spread general consternation, lest a son, educated by so 
 bigoted and arbitrary a father, or succeeding a minor to 
 the crown under Catholic guardians, should entail popery 
 and absolute power on the nation. On the delivery of the 
 queen, rumours were spread and readily believed, that the 
 child was supposititious ; and these rumours, however im- 
 probable, found a ready relief both in England and Holland. 
 A general combination was formed to exclude the young 
 prince, and William was invited by the principal nobility, 
 clergy, and gentry, to assist them in the recovery of their 
 constitutional rights. 
 
 He accordingly made active preparations, both by land 
 and sea ; assembled an army, in 1688, on the side of Ger- 
 many, as if to concur with the league of Augsburgh ; and, 
 when his measures were ripe for execution, drew his forces 
 rapidly to the coast, and embarked them at Helvoetsluys. 
 With a fleet of fifty armed ships, besides numerous trans- 
 ports, and a body of 15,000 men, he landed at Torbay on
 
 1679-1697.] PRINCE OF ORANGE LANDS IN ENGLAND. 419 
 
 the 5th of November, 1688, a day already memorable in 
 the annals of England, for the discovery of the popish plot. 
 After a trifling suspense, he was joined by the principal 
 nobles and gentry, received with enthusiasm by the people, 
 and became master of England, without shedding a drop of 
 blood. He connived at the escape of James, summoned a 
 parliament, and, after some difficulties, which arose from 
 the attachment of the nation to the right of hereditary suc- 
 cession, the throne was declared vacant, the crown con- 
 ferred on William and Mary, and the sole administration 
 vested in the king. Thus terminated a revolution soi 
 happy for England and so fortunate for Europe, which 
 every circumstance however discordant, every interest how-j 
 ever adverse, almost miraculously combined to promote. 
 James himself, though frequently apprised by Louis of the 
 intentions of his son-in-law, acted with equal presumption 
 and infatuation, taking no measures to discover or defeat 
 the enterprise till the very moment of execution. Louis, 
 though acquainted with the whole progress of the design, 
 instead of attacking Holland, which would have prevented 
 the departure of the prince, pushed his troops into a distant 
 quarter of Germany. So general, indeed, was the detesta- 
 tion fostered against France, that every power concurred in 
 furthering the expulsion of James, as the means of lowering 
 the interest of the common enemy. The heterogeneous 
 mass of the Germanic body joined with the court of Spain 
 to protect the United Provinces during the absence of 
 William, while Leopold, and even the pope, preferring their 
 political interests to their zeal for the Catholic faith, coun- 
 tenanced the expulsion of a Catholic, and the accession of 
 a Protestant prince. 
 
 The revolution in England produced a great and in- 
 stantaneous change in favour of the allies. The empire 
 was encouraged, by the instances of Leopold, to issue 
 a formal declaration of war against France; the allies 
 of Augsburgh assembled their contingents, and early iu 
 the spring troops advanced from every quarter towards 
 the Rhine. Alarmed by these preparations, Louis aban- 
 doned his design of maintaining himself in Germany, and 
 withdrawing his forces, gave orders to lay waste the Pa- 
 latinate and the neighbouring provinces, as an additional 
 
 E E 2
 
 420 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXV. 
 
 means to secure his frontier. These cruel orders were too 
 rigidly obeyed, and a scene of devastation was exhibited 
 to the eyes of mankind, which is scarcely paralleled in the 
 annals of the most barbarous people. Above forty towns, 
 besides innumerable villages, were given up to the flames ; 
 the unfortunate inhabitants, driven into the open fields 
 then covered with snow, were exterminated by famine, by 
 hardships, or the sword ; and the most fertile country of 
 Germany was rendered almost a desert. These horrible 
 devastations committed on a defenceless and unresisting 
 people, roused to detestation that general horror against 
 France which pervaded all Europe ; increased and con- 
 firmed the influence of Leopold, and encouraged the allies 
 to redouble their efforts for reducing a monarch who had 
 violated the laws of nations, and trampled on the rights of 
 humanity. 
 
 Frederic, who, on the 20th of April, 1688, succeeded 
 his father as elector of Brandenburgh, espoused the cause 
 of the house of Austria with the most ardent zeal, and his 
 conduct was emulated by the princes of Brunswick Lune- 
 burgh.* Their troops, assisted by those of the neigh- 
 bouring states and the Dutch forces, drove the French 
 from a considerable part of the electorate of Cologne, and 
 recovered the territories of Treves. Another army, com- 
 posed of Austrians, Saxons, Bavarians, and Hessians, led by 
 the duke of Loraine, traversed the desolated fields of the 
 unfortunate Palatinate, reduced Mentz, and uniting with 
 the forces under the elector of Brandenburgh, by the 
 capture of Bonn, deprived the French of a post which 
 enabled them to endanger the very existence of the United 
 Provinces. 
 
 The combined princes, no less active in negotiations 
 than in arms, increased their party, and concentrated their 
 efforts by alliances. After various leagues and separate 
 combinations, Leopold was enabled to lay the foundation of 
 a grand alliance, which ultimately united all the powers of 
 Europe against France, except Portugal, Russia, and a few 
 of the Italian states. The commencement of this con- 
 iederacy, was the league between the emperor and the 
 
 George William duke of Zell, and Ernest Augustus duke of 
 Hanover. See chapter 64.
 
 1679-1697.] POWERS OF EUROPE OPPOSED TO FRANCE. 421 
 
 states general, concluded at Vienna, on the 12th of May, 
 1689. It was couched in the usual terms of an offensive 
 alliance ; the two parties agreed to exert their whole force 
 by sea and land against the common enemy, till all things 
 were restored to the same footing as was settled by the 
 peace of Westphalia and the Pyrenees, and they engaged 
 to make no truce or peace without mutual consent. They 
 bound themselves also to procure the re-establishment of 
 the duke of Loraine ; by secret articles the emperor or his 
 heirs were to be supported in their right of succeeding to 
 the Spanish monarchy should Charles II. die without issue; 
 and the contracting parties were to further the election of 
 the archduke Joseph as king of the Romans. Finally, 
 the adherents of France were to be treated as enemies ; all 
 the allies of both parties were to be admitted, and they 
 even engaged to maintain a perpetual league against France 
 after the conclusion of peace. On the invitation of the 
 United Provinces, William acceded as king of England ; 
 the king of Spain on that of Leopold, and the example 
 was followed by the empire, the duke of Savoy, and the 
 king of Sweden. The dukes of Luneburgh compelled the 
 house of Wolfembuttel to secede from its connections with 
 France, and the king of Denmark entered into a subsidiary 
 treaty with England, to furnish 8000 men against his 
 former ally. The revolution, by placing England and 
 Holland under the same chief, allayed that commercial and 
 national jealousy which had exhausted their strength in 
 efforts for mutual destruction, and enabled them to employ 
 their vast resources in the cause of public liberty and the 
 house of Austria. 
 
 From this period the disposition of Europe presented a 
 new aspect. France, instead of being assisted by a multi- 
 tude of allies, friends, or adherents, was left singly to com- 
 bat a host of foes. The same enthusiasm which had thrown 
 the empire under the tutelage of France, turned in favour 
 of the house of Austria ; the German states, who adored 
 Louis as their great supporter against the tyranny of their 
 chief, now considered him as the most dangerous enemy of 
 their liberties, and regarded his power as a destructive 
 torrent against whose ravages they could not oppose too 
 strong a barrier. 
 
 BE 3
 
 422 LEOPOLD I. [CII. LXV. 
 
 The first proof of this surprising change in the empire 
 was the unanimity with which the archduke Joseph was 
 chosen king of the Romans, on the 4th of January, 1690, 
 although he had not yet completed his eleventh year. In 
 an electoral meeting assembled at Augsburgh, Leopold 
 himself even ventured to state the pretensions of his son 
 in a style which savoured of hereditary right. All ideas 
 of a permanent capitulation were abandoned, and not a 
 single article was added to that which had been signed by 
 Leopold, except one temporary regulation arising from the 
 nonage of the young king. A momentary clamour of the 
 princes against the mode of this election, ended in the pre- 
 sentation of a strong, though fruitless protest. 
 
 The strict union of the empire, and the formation of a 
 vast combination, seemed likely to overwhelm Louis XIV. 
 But France, by her compact territory; by the strength and 
 valour of her disciplined armies, the order of her military 
 system, the skill of her generals, and above all by the 
 enthusiasm of her people, triumphed by land over all the 
 attacks of this host of foes. In the Low Countries, mar- 
 shal Luxemburgh defeated, in July, 1690, the prince of 
 Waldeck at the battle of Fleurus ; Louis himself took Mons 
 and Namur, in April, 1691 ; and the allies under the com- 
 mand of William were routed at Steinkirk and Nerwinden, 
 in 1692. On the Rhine, the German allies, who on the 
 death of the duke of Loraine, were commanded by the 
 electors of Saxony and Bavaria, were reduced to inaction, 
 and afterwards had the mortification to see the French 
 renew their devastations in the Palatinate and ruin Heidel- 
 berg, which had begun to rise from its ashes. 
 
 But these successes were counterbalanced by the failure 
 of the different expeditions fitted out by Louis to reinstate 
 James on the throne of England. "With the assistance of 
 France, James recovered possession of all Ireland ; but 
 William had no sooner suppressed the internal factions in 
 England, than he poured his forces into the sister island, 
 and by the splendid victory of the Boyne, on the 4th of 
 July, 1690, dissipated at once the hopes and resources of 
 )>id abdicated father-in-law. James was reduced again to 
 seek a refuge in France, and before the close of the ensu- 
 ing year, Limerick, the last remnant of his power, sub-
 
 1679-1697.] DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH FLEET. 423 
 
 mitted to the conqueror. Louis, not discouraged by this 
 failure, made new and greater efforts. His fleet under 
 Tourville having defeated the English and Dutch off Brest, 
 he availed himself of his naval superiority to make an 
 attempt against England itself. Two great armaments 
 were formed at Toulon and Brest ; a considerable army 
 was assembled in Normandy, and James himself repaired to 
 the coast to head the expedition. Louis, confident of suc- 
 cess, relying on the discontents in England, and on the 
 supposed partiality of the fleet to its former sovereign, did 
 not wait the arrival of the Toulon squadron, but ordered 
 Tourville again to attack the English and Dutch fleets, 
 though they were far superior in number. The conse- 
 quence of this rash attempt was, the destruction of the 
 Brest squadron off La Hogue, in May, 1692, and the loss 
 of that naval superiority which Louis had acquired with 
 such labour, expense, and perseverance. 
 
 Thus secured on his throne, William turned the whole 
 force of England and Holland against France, and arrested 
 her progress in the Low Countries. He recovered Namur 
 in the sight of an army, which vainly endeavoured to re- 
 gain its honour, or disconcert the designs of the allies, by 
 the capture of Dinant, and the bombardment of Brussels. 
 He increased the lustre of his military reputation, which 
 had shone even in the midst of failures ; and Europe saw 
 a French force far more powerful than that which had so 
 rapidly overspread Holland, and twice given law to Spain, 
 reduced almost to the defensive, and its operations con- 
 fined to marches and countermarches, or bounded by the 
 capture of a few towns from which it drew no essential 
 advantage. 
 
 In the midst of these transactions the war had languished 
 on the Rhine. Notwithstanding the zeal of Leopold, and 
 the unanimity of the diet, all the efforts of the Germans 
 terminated in a faint attempt to penetrate into Franche 
 Comte, and a temporary irruption into Alsace. On the 
 other side, the French having exhausted their principal 
 efforts in their navy, and in the Low Countries, Spain, and 
 Italy, their army effected nothing more than inroads into 
 the unfortunate Palatinate, in which the former devastations 
 were repeated. 
 
 EE 4
 
 424 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXV. 
 
 In Italy and Spain the French were completely vic- 
 torious. Victor Amadeua, duke of Savoy, being subsidised 
 by the Maritime Powers, collected a considerable body of 
 troops, and was strengthened by reinforcements from the 
 Milanese and Germany. Yet though at the head of su- 
 perior numbers, he was unable to cope with the talents of 
 Catinat ; he was routed at Staffarda, and his defeat was 
 followed by the loss of Saluzza and Susa ; Savoy was soon 
 afterwards overrun, Nice and Montalbano were taken, and 
 his whole territory to the walls of Turin laid under con- 
 tribution. 
 
 In this situation of affairs, the enthusiasm which had 
 animated the German empire gradually subsided, and at 
 the same time its exertions were enfeebled by religious 
 disputes and civil discords. 
 
 Of these the principal was derived from the creation of 
 a ninth electorate in favour of the house of Hanover, and 
 the attempts of Leopold to revive the electoral privileges 
 of Bohemia. 
 
 In reward for the services rendered to Austria during 
 the wars with France and Hungary, by George William 
 duke of Zell, and Ernest Augustus duke of Calemberg or 
 Hanover, Leopold proposed to raise a ninth electorate in 
 favour of their house. Having in 1690 gained the electoral 
 college, he profited by his own popularity, and the anti- 
 pathy which he had excited against France, to carry this 
 design into execution, and concluded, on the 22nd of 
 March, 1692, with the two princes a treaty of hereditary 
 union and defensive alliance at Vienna. He promised to 
 confer on Ernest Augustus, in whose favour George Wil- 
 liam renounced his pretensions, a ninth electorate, with 
 the office of arch-banneret, and the reversion of the arch- 
 treasurership of the empire on the extinction of the eighth 
 electorate, and engaged to assist in defending their domi- 
 nions if attacked. In return, the two princes stipulated to 
 maintain, besides their ordinary contingent, a corps of 
 6000 men in the service of the emperor, as long as the 
 war with France and in Hungary should continue ; to pay 
 during the same period a subsidy of 100,000 crowns, to 
 assist with their whole force in raising the archduke 
 Charles to the throne of Spain, should the king die without 
 issue ; to contribute a subsidy of 144,000 crowns, or sup-
 
 1679-1697.] DISSENSIONS AMONG THE ELECTORS. 425 
 
 ply 2000 men, should Hungary be invaded by the Turks ; 
 and to use their influence in recovering to the kingdom of 
 Bohemia the exercise of its electoral rights. Ernest 
 Augustus bound himself and his successors for ever to 
 vote in all elections, during the vacancy of the imperial 
 throne, in favour of the eldest member of the house of 
 Austria ; both princes agreed to act in concert with the 
 imperial court in all the general and particular assemblies 
 of the empire, and to confer on the Catholics the free ex- 
 ercise of their religion at Zell and Hanover. 
 
 In virtue of this treaty, the emperor proposed the in- 
 tended creation to the electors assembled in the diet of 
 Ratisbon. But he experienced an opposition which he had 
 little reason to expect ; for even Mentz, Saxony, Branden- 
 burgh, and Bavaria, who had before promised their concur- 
 rence, began to waver, and the three others protested against 
 it as an infringement of the Golden Bull, which had fixed 
 the number of electors, and as a measure which would give 
 too great a preponderance to the Protestant interest. Rho- 
 dolph Augustus, duke of Brunswick Wolfembuttel, as chief 
 of the elder branch, reprobated the elevation of the 
 younger to a superior dignity; while the duke of Wirtem- 
 berg objected to the post of arch-banneret, as an invasion 
 of his rights as arch-standard-bearer. The formal in- 
 vestiture of the new electorate, before the close of the 
 year, gave new fury to the dispute. Still more irritated by 
 this disregard of their remonstrances, the college of princes 
 presented to the diet a solemn protest against the investi- 
 ture, and followed this measure by concluding a league, 
 under the name of the Corresponding Princes, against the 
 ninth electorate. The construction of new fortifications 
 at Ratzeburgh furnished a pretext for hostilities between 
 the king of Denmark and the house of Luneburgh, and in 
 the commencement of 1693, the corresponding princes 
 assembled their troops to support their ally. As the affair 
 now bore the most serious aspect, and afforded an oppor- 
 tunity for the interference of France, Leopold prudently 
 waived his designs, and with the concurrence of the new 
 elector, informed the diet, that he would suspend the effect 
 of his investiture till he could obtain the consent of the 
 states. He at the same time negotiated an accommodation 
 with the king of Denmark, and induced the duke of Zcll
 
 426 LEOPOLD I. [CII. LXT. 
 
 to sacrifice the fortifications of Ratzeburg for the sake of 
 the general tranquillity. These concessions pacified the 
 diet, and prevented the extension of a dispute which might 
 have enabled France to recover her influence in the empire, 
 and given birth to a civil war. 
 
 To obviate the objections of the Catholic body against 
 the establishment of a new Protestant electorate, as well as 
 to attain an object much coveted by his predecessors, Leo- 
 pold proposed to reinstate Bohemia in all the electoral 
 rights, which from various causes had been either lost or 
 suspended, and for this purpose procured for the Bohemian 
 plenipotentiaries a share in arranging the capitulation of 
 his son Joseph. The proposal, however, was violently 
 opposed by the corresponding princes, who were joined by 
 the Protestant body, and the question became identified 
 with the dispute relative to the new electorate. The cor- 
 responding princes renewed their league ; and these rising 
 troubles contributing to divide and weaken the Germanic 
 body, Leopold could only quiet the ferment by withdraw- 
 ing his proposal, and deferring his design to a more favour- 
 able opportunity. 
 
 These concessions, and the conciliating conduct of Leo- 
 pold, restored the union of the empire. In 1695 he procured 
 the renewal of the grand alliance, and the accession of the 
 bishop of Munster, with several other princes, and after- 
 wards effected a grand association between the five circles 
 of Franconia, Suabia, Westphalia, and the Upper and 
 Lower Rhine ; but all these engagements could not over- 
 come the natural tardiness, nor remove the incurable 
 jealousy of the Germanic body, and the whole empire 
 clamoured for peace. 
 
 The other members of the Grand Alliance were equally 
 anxious to withdraw from the contest. 
 
 England, drained of men and money, had seen her trade 
 interrupted by the enterprises of the French, notwithstand- 
 ing her superiority by sea, and had been the scene of 
 incessant struggles for the restoration of the abdicated 
 monarch, which had been fomented by the intrigues of 
 France. The sentiments of William himself had under- 
 gone a material change. He was alarmed with the renewal 
 of immense preparations for the invasion of England, and 
 with the discovery of a plot to assassinate him ; and in this
 
 1679-1697.] GENERAL DESIKE FOR PEACE. 427 
 
 uncertain state he was unwilling to carry on a war merely 
 for the sake of entailing the whole succession of Spain on 
 the house of Austria, when the other objects of the Grand 
 Alliance, which peculiarly regarded England and Holland, 
 were attained. The United Provinces were still more 
 anxious for peace than England ; because they had borne 
 a more onerous part in the burdens of the war than the 
 other members of the alliance ; and because, in case of a 
 reverse, they were more immediately exposed to danger. 
 Spain had little or no hope of preserving the Netherlands, 
 without the assistance of the allies ; a French army in 
 Catalonia threatened to penetrate into the heart of the 
 kingdom ; the people were in a general ferment ; the court, 
 distracted by contending parties, the treasures of America 
 expended by anticipation, and the most dishonourable ex- 
 pedients, for raising money, still unequal to furnish means 
 for the continuance of hostilities. The duke of Savoy, 
 disappointed in his expectations, seeing his own territories 
 overrun by the French, recurred to that versatile system of 
 policy which every weaker state is obliged to adopt with 
 its more powerful neighbours, and after the fatal battle of 
 Marsaglia, in October, 1693, tampered with the court of 
 France ; though for his own safety, as well as to enhance 
 his terms, he still affected to adhere to the Grand Alliance. 
 Leopold was in no better situation than the rest of the 
 allies. Compelled to feed the war at the same time on the 
 side of the Rhine, the Netherlands, in Italy, and in Hun- 
 gary, his forces were inadequate to act with effect in so 
 vast a sphere. Hence he lost the ascendency which he had 
 gained over the Turks at the commencement of the war 
 with France ; and nothing but the skill of his generals, the 
 valour of his troops, and the distracted state of the Ottoman 
 empire, enabled him to maintain his looting in Hungary 
 and Transylvania. His finances were exhausted ; his people 
 irritated by the imposition of new taxes ; and he was con- 
 strained to employ the credit or voluntary loans of his loyal 
 subjects. To fill the vacancies in his regiments, he had 
 recourse to the doubtful and dangerous experiment of en- 
 gaging the magnates to levy troops at their own expense ; 
 and he could only raise a weak flotilla on the Danube, by 
 granting to individuals monopolies and privileges highly 
 detrimental to commerce. Yet all these expedients did not
 
 428 LEOPOLD i. [cn. i.xv. 
 
 meet the exigency of his situation ; his troops were ill paid 
 and ill provided, and seldom able to take the field till the 
 season of action was nearly past. Yet in this embarrassed 
 situation, he was of all the allies the least desirous of peace ; 
 because he trusted that on the death of the king of Spain 
 (which, from his declining health, could not be far distant), 
 the assistance of the grand alliance would enable him to 
 realise his pretensions to the Spanish succession ; and he 
 foresaw, in the conclusion of hostilities, the necessary dis- 
 solution of that confederacy on which he relied for support. 
 
 The king of France no longer maintained his former 
 superiority. In the first campaign, the promptitude, energy, 
 and order of his military system had as usual given to his 
 arms the most decisive advantages. But at length the 
 phlegm of Leopold and the perseverance of William damped 
 his spirit and activity. Although the French generals 
 gained battles and captured places in the Low Countries 
 and Germany, they no longer made the same rapid strides 
 as in preceding wars ; and were completely successful only 
 in Italy, where they were favoured by the lukewarmness or 
 jealousy of the duke of Savoy. The death of Louvois, in 
 1691, deprived Louis of the only person capable of direct- 
 ing the vast and complicated system which he had himself 
 created, and the armies had since felt the want of his vigi- 
 lant and superintending genius. France was deprived of 
 her naval superiority, and all her maritime efforts termi- 
 nated in interrupting the commerce of England and Hol- 
 land. Her vast armaments by sea, with the maintenance 
 of a force amounting to 450,000 men, exhausted her reve- 
 nues ; and the country, depopulated by the war, was at the 
 same time afflicted by famine. Besides these motives for 
 terminating the contest, Louis wished for peace, that he 
 might traverse the designs of the emperor on the Spanish 
 succession. 
 
 After separate attempts to divide the allies, and some 
 general overtures, he applied, in 1695, with effect to the 
 Victor Amadeus, induced him to intermit hostilities, suf- 
 fered him by connivance to take Casale, and finally pur- 
 chased his defection by restoring all conquests with Pignerol 
 dismantled, by arranging a marriage between a princess of 
 Savoy and the duke of Burgundy, and granting him a sub- 
 eidy of 400,000 livres, to maintain his troops until the
 
 1679-1697.] NEGOTIATIONS FOB PEACE. 429 
 
 conclusion of peace. In consequence of this engagement, 
 the duke, after formally tendering his mediation to the 
 allies, joined his forces with those of France, and extorted 
 their consent to a treaty of neutrality for Italy, on the 7th 
 of October. 
 
 In the midst of the general suspicion and distrust occa- 
 sioned by this defection, Louis proposed to the allies certain 
 preliminaries, which he affected to hold forth as founded 
 on the treaties of Westphalia and Nimeguen. He offered 
 also to restore Strasburgh dismantled, to annul all the re- 
 unions since the treaty of Nimeguen, to give up all the 
 conquests made during the war from the empire and Spain, 
 to re-establish the duke of Loraine on the terms settled by 
 the treaty of Nimeguen ; to acknowledge William as king 
 of England, restore the principality of Orange, refer the 
 claims of the other princes to the future treaty, and not to 
 support the pretensions of the duchess of Orleans. 
 
 William and the Dutch being satisfied with these condi- 
 tions, over-ruled the objections of Spain, of the emperor 
 and empire, and, on the 9th of May, 1697, a congress was 
 opened under the mediation of Sweden, at Ryswick, a vil- 
 lage near the Hague. Besides the plenipotentiaries of the 
 belligerent powers, for the first time, on a similar occasion, 
 a deputation was admitted on the part of the empire, con- 
 sisting of four members for the electoral college, twenty- 
 four for the princes, and four for the towns, equally drawn 
 from Catholics and Protestants. But this numerous depu- 
 tation, though appointed in conformity to the peace of 
 Westphalia, and the capitulation of Leopold, was wisely 
 excluded from the general discussions of the congress, and 
 only allowed to confer with the imperial plenipotentiaries 
 on the affairs of the empire. 
 
 At the commencement of the negotiation, new difficulties 
 arose on the part of the emperor and of Spain. Leopold, 
 far from admitting the preliminaries as the basis of the 
 treaty, insisted on the unconditional restoration of Stras- 
 burgh with all its dependencies, and the surrender of 
 Brisac ; the abrogation of all the re-unions effected by the 
 chambers of Metz, Brisac, and Besangon, and the re-estab- 
 lishment of the duke of Loraine. Above all, he demanded 
 that the contested sovereignty over the ten towns and other
 
 430 LEOPOLD 1. [CH. LXV 
 
 places in Alsace, should be referred to impartial arbitration 
 and in the interim placed in the same situation as in 1673, 
 or, in other words, before the sovereignty of France was 
 established ; he likewise demanded a compensation for the 
 injuries suffered by the empire since the commencement of 
 the war. Spain, at his instigation, required the restitution 
 of all the places and territories of which she had been 
 deprived since the peace of the Pyrenees. 
 
 These terms were undoubtedly consistent with the true 
 sense of the Grand Alliance, justified by every principle of 
 sound policy, necessary for effecting a salutary reduction in 
 the power of France, and lessening her means of aggression 
 against the house of Austria, the empire, and the Nether- 
 lands. Unfortunately, however, jealousy and disunion had 
 hourly spread further among the allies ; and the discussions 
 to which this heterogeneous meeting gave birth afforded 
 the French court an opportunity to employ its usual address. 
 While the emperor was maintaining his demands with firm- 
 ness and dignity, France tampered with William, on whom 
 the prosecution of the war principally depended. By means 
 of private conferences between the earl of Portland and 
 Boufflers, general of the French army in the Netherlands, 
 Louis, besides acknowledging the title of William, agreed 
 not to assist James either directly or indirectly ; and held 
 forth his former lures to the Dutch, of restoring their com- 
 mercial privileges, and permitting them to form a barrier 
 in the Spanish Netherlands. Having obtained the concur- 
 rence of William and the states, he, with their approbation, 
 presented his ultimatum at the congress, founded on the 
 basis of the former preliminaries, with the additional option 
 either of Strasburgh, or Friburgh and Brisac as an equiva- 
 lent, but still reserving, by vague modifications, the power 
 of changing the articles of the treaty of Nimeguen, which 
 he affected to consider as the basis of the peace. He allowed 
 only six weeks for the acceptance of these conditions. 
 
 Though Leopold could scarcely doubt that he should be 
 deserted by England and Holland, he firmly persisted in 
 his former demands, and endeavoured to rouse the allies 1o 
 a sense of their honour and safety. But in the midst of 
 these fruitless altercations, France broke the frail bonds 
 which united the remnant of the confederacy, by a new
 
 1679-1697.] SPAIN INVADED BY FRANCE. 431 
 
 attack against Spain. Barcelona was invested by Vendome, 
 a Spanish army which advanced under the viceroy to its 
 relief was defeated, and the place, though defended by 
 15,000 men, surrendered after an honourable resistance of 
 fifty-three days, on the 27th of August, 1697. The feeble 
 king, whose natural apathy rendered him insensible to 
 distant failures, or whose extreme ignorance exposed him 
 to constant deception, was panic struck with a loss which 
 was too near to be concealed or palliated. The same con- 
 sternation spreading through the court, over-ruled the 
 influence of the Austi'ian cabinet, which had hitherto been 
 predominant, and Spain prepared to abandon the contest. 
 During this interval also, the proffered alternative of Stras- 
 burgh, or Friburgh, and Brisac, which had been artfully 
 thrown out by France, to divide the emperor and empire, 
 produced its effect. The time allowed for decision was 
 spent in disputes ; Leopold, from self-interest rather than 
 sound policy, preferring Friburgh and Brisac as possessions 
 of his family ; the deputies of the empire, Strasburgh, as 
 an imperial city. Their discussions being prolonged till 
 the expiration of the six weeks, the king of France pro- 
 duced new propositions still more unfavourable to the em- 
 peror, refusing, in particular to cede Strasburgh, and 
 granted an additional term of twenty days for the accept- 
 ance of these conditions. 
 
 Leopold, however, still disdained to accept such onerous 
 terms so insultingly proposed, and renewed his endeavours 
 to rouse England and the states. He made every exertion 
 which the exhausted condition of his treasury and his 
 numerous embarrassments would permit, to augment the 
 army on the Rhine, and sent his troops from Italy under 
 prince Eugene, to strengthen the force acting against the 
 Turks. He entered into a new alliance with Peter, czar 
 of Muscovy ; by his co-operation he counteracted the de- 
 signs of France to place the prince of Conti on the throne 
 of Poland, vacant by the death of John Sobieski, and 
 vecured the election of his friend and ally, Augustus of 
 Saxony. By this advantage he relieved Hungary from the 
 danger to which it would have been exposed, had the French 
 been able to create a dependent king. But all exhortations 
 and exertions were lost on the members of the grand con-
 
 432 LEOPOLD i. [cn. LXV. 
 
 federacy. William and the Dutch, having secured their own 
 objects, were unwilling to risk the renewal of the war for 
 the sake of the house of Austria and the empire ; while 
 Spain, unable to defend herself, had no other alternative 
 than to follow their example. Accordingly the English, 
 Dutch, and Spanish plenipotentiaries signed separate trea- 
 ties on the very day on which the period of acceptance 
 elapsed, allowed two months to the emperor and empire 
 for their accession, and even concluded an armistice in the 
 name of the Germanic body, although the imperial minister 
 refused to witness the signature, and published a formal 
 protest against their proceedings. 
 
 Leopold, however averse to this dishonourable treaty, 
 did not venture, by rejecting the armistice, to expose the 
 empire and himself to the whole burden of the war. He 
 recalled the margrave of Baden, who had passed the Rhine, 
 took Eberenberg, and invested the fort of Kirn ; but he 
 still negotiated with a dignity and firmness which deserved 
 better success. Deserted by his allies, and feebly sup- 
 ported by the empire, he could not obtain the restitution of 
 Strasburgh, or Landau and Saar Louis, which he endea- 
 voured to procure as an equivalent, nor could he refuse to 
 acquiesce in the re-establishment of his nephew*, the duke 
 of Loraine, on conditions which rendered him a vassal of 
 France ; but he opposed with resolution and success the 
 new encroachments of Louis, particularly an attempt to 
 sequestrate the territories of Simmeren and Lautern, till 
 the claims of the duchess of Orleans were satisfied. At 
 length the interference of the Dutch brought back Louis 
 to the terms which he had himself originally proposed ; 
 and after a series of complicated negotiations, a treaty be- 
 tween the emperor and France was signed on the 30th of 
 October, 1697, only two days before the expiration of the 
 limited term. 
 
 By the peace of Ryswick, Louis acknowledged William 
 as king of England, and solemnly engaged not to assist his 
 enemies, directly or indirectly, or trouble his government ; 
 he promised also to restore the principality of Orange, and 
 repay the arrears of the revenue since its sequestration. 
 
 Leopold, son of Charles IV., and father of Francis, who espoused 
 Maria 'I'lu-n-xa.
 
 1679-1697.] TERMS OP THE PEACE OF RYSWICK. 433 
 
 The treaty with Holland contained little more than the 
 ordinary stipulations for the re-establishment of commerce. 
 By that with Spain, Louis gave back all his conquests, ex- 
 cept a few inconsiderable places in the vicinity of Tournay, 
 surrendered Luxemburgh with its duchy, and the county 
 of Chinay, and agreed to relinquish all the re-unions 
 which he had made in Namur, Luxemburgh, Flanders, 
 Brabant, and Hainault, except eighty towns, villages, or 
 hamlets, which were calculated to secure his own frontier 
 fortresses. 
 
 In regard to the empire, all places occupied, and all 
 rights assumed by France out of Alsace, were to be re- 
 stored. Leopold recovered Friburgh and Brisac, with all 
 military works in the Black Forest, and in Brisgau ; the 
 empire preserved Philipsburgh, and obtained Kehl, which 
 had been recently constructed by Vauban himself. By the 
 general outline of the treaty, all the other fortifications 
 erected by France on the right bank, and in the islands of 
 the Rhine, were to be demolished. The fortifications of 
 Mount Royal, and the works at Traerback, with the 
 fort of Kirn and Eberenberg, were to be razed before 
 they were yielded up to their legitimate possessors. In 
 return, the empire ceded Strasburgh in perpetuity to 
 France, and permitted the demolition of the bridges and 
 tete du pont at Philipsburgh. The claims of the duchess 
 of Orleans on the Palatine succession were to be settled by 
 amicable accommodation, and in the interim she was to 
 receive from the elector Palatine an annual payment of 
 200,000 livres. 
 
 The prince of Bavaria was acknowledged elector of 
 Cologne, and the cardinal of Furstemberg reinstated in 
 all his rights as bishop of Strasburgh. The duke of Lo- 
 raine was re-established in his dominions, and the roads 
 before ceded to France, re-incorporated, on the condition 
 of razing the fortifications of Nancy, ceding Longwy and 
 Saar Louis in perpetuity, and allowing the French troops 
 a free passage through his territories. 
 
 The treaty with the duke of Savoy, and another which 
 had been likewise recently signed between France and the 
 elector of Brandenburgh, were confirmed ; and the king of 
 
 VOL. II. F F
 
 434 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXV. 
 
 Sweden, in return for his office as mediator, was to parti- 
 cipate in all the advantages of the peace. 
 
 These were the general conditions arranged by the com- 
 mon consent of the plenipotentiaries from the emperor, and 
 the deputies of the states. But at the very moment of the 
 intended signature, and at the approach of midnight, the 
 French ambassadors brought forward a new clause in addi- 
 tion to the article for the re-delivery of the French con- 
 quests and re-unions, importing that in the restored places 
 the Catholic religion was to continue in the same state as 
 it was then exercised. As the French had introduced the 
 Catholic worship in many parts, where the Protestant doc- 
 trines were professed, the clause thus perfidiously intruded 
 excited general alarm among the Protestant deputies, who 
 considered it as an infringement of the religious peace and 
 constitutions of the empire; and the majority, in conjunc- 
 tion with the Swedish plenipotentiary, refused to affix 
 their signatures. But as it was brought forward with the 
 connivance of the emperor and the Catholic body, the 
 French persisted, and even threatened to continue the war 
 against those who should withhold their signature beyond 
 the six weeks allowed for their ratifications. Accordingly 
 the treaty was signed by the imperial plenipotentiaries 
 and Catholic deputies, their example was followed by those 
 of Wirtemberg, Frankfort, and Augsburgh, and of the 
 bench of Wetteravia, from a dread of being exposed to the 
 vengeance of France. 
 
 When it was presented to the diet for ratification, the 
 Protestant states renewed the remonstrances made by their 
 deputies at the congress. They appealed to the emperor 
 and empire against such a flagrant breach of the civil and 
 religious regulations of Germany, and claimed support 
 from the Protestant members of the grand alliance. But 
 the emperor and the Catholic states, who considered them- 
 selves interested to support the clause, refused to risk the 
 continuance of the war for a matter which they affected to 
 regard as of little importance, while the foreign powers, 
 careless or ignorant* of its consequences, confined them- 
 
 The extreme ignorance of the English plenipotentiaries is 
 evident from a remarkable passage of Burnet: "The king was 
 troubled at this treacherous motion ; but he saw no inclination in any
 
 1679-1697.] THE PROTESTANTS' INTERESTS IMPUGNED. 43o 
 
 selves to remonstrances. The Protestant states, thus aban- 
 doned, vainly endeavoured to prevent the encroachments 
 which might follow the introduction of this precedent, by 
 proposing, as a postscript to the ratification, an assurance 
 that the clause should be considered as a subject of dispute 
 merely between the empire and France ; and that the 
 Catholics should not take advantage of a stipulation which 
 the French themselves confined to a few churches. Even 
 this expedient was rejected ; for the emperor, in his own 
 name and in that of the empire, ratified the treaty, without 
 adverting to the claims of the Protestants ; and, after a 
 violent discussion, the dispute was only suspended. This 
 unfortunate contest produced, however, the highest detri- 
 ment to the emperor and empire in general. It weakened 
 the Germanic body, by furnishing new causes of disunion 
 between the Catholics and Protestants, and alienated from 
 the emperor many of his faithful adherents. The griev- 
 ance was aggravated by the conduct of the Catholic princes, 
 particularly the electors of Mentz and Palatine, who, in- 
 stead of adopting the literal and obvious sense of the 
 article, restored the Catholic religion wherever an itine- 
 rant preacher had once performed divine service. The 
 number of these places, instead of sixteen or twenty-nine, 
 as originally represented, amounted to no less than one 
 thousand nine hundred and twenty-two, according to the 
 list presented by the French envoy to the diet of Ratisbon. 
 If we consider the contents of the former treaties, the 
 peace of Ryswick may be deemed comparatively advanta- 
 geous to the house of Austria and the empire. Leopold 
 recovered possession of Brisac and Friburgh, and Louis was 
 arrested in his career of spoliation, which operated more 
 effectually in time of peace, than his arms in time of war. 
 But though confined to the left bank of the Rhine, he still 
 retained abundant means of aggression, to which, on the 
 principles of the confederacy, nothing but extreme weak- 
 ness and disunion could have induced the allies to submit. 
 
 of the allies to oppose it with the zeal with which it was pressed on 
 the other hand. The importance of the thing, sixteen churches being 
 only condemned by it, as the earl of Pembroke told me, was not such 
 as to deserve he should venture a rupture upon it." Vol. iv. p. 293. 
 8vo. ed. 
 
 F r 2
 
 436 LEOPOLD I. [Gil. LXV. 
 
 Louis acquired undisputed sovereignty in Alsace, which 
 had not been yielded by preceding treaties ; and he secured 
 that country on the side of Germany, by the permanent 
 acquisition of Strasburgh. By the demolition of the forti- 
 fications of Nancy, and the cession of Longwy and Saar 
 Louis, with a free passage for his troops, he obtained the 
 means of appropriating Loraine, opening a direct commu- 
 nication with his Alsatian territories, insulating Tranche 
 Comte, overrunning the rich countries to the west of the 
 Rhine, and pouring his troops into the heart of Germany. 
 Finally, he indeed gratified the honour of the empire, by 
 demolishing his fortifications on the right bank of the 
 Rhine ; yet we must deem that boundary little more than 
 ideal, when we compare a frontier covered with fortresses, 
 with one left almost to its natural defence ; the prompti- 
 tude, energy, and order of the military system in France, 
 with the slowness and discordance of that in Germany ; the 
 difference between a great nation acting uniformly, vigor- 
 ously, and systematically, under one absolute head, and a 
 mixed multitude of states, at variance with each other, 
 jealous of their chief, the instruments of foreign intrigues, 
 and without a fixed or certain principle of action. Sub- 
 sequent events proved the advantages arising from the ac- 
 quisitions which France was thus permitted to appropriate. 
 The house of Austria and Europe derived permanent 
 benefit from the expulsion of James, and the establishment 
 of William on the British throne, which deprived France 
 of a friend and ally, and united the vast resources and 
 spirit of the two maritime powers, in raising a formidable 
 barrier against the house of Bourbon. On the side of 
 Italy, the advantage which the duke of Savoy drew from 
 the cession of Pignerol, was rather nominal than real, 
 because that fortress dismantled could no longer prevent 
 the passage of a hostile force. To Spain Louis granted 
 concessions which scarcely could have been expected, even 
 if he had been unsuccessful ; but in reality he made these 
 concessions from views of consummate policy, hoping, by 
 an appearance of generosity, to eradicate from the minds 
 of the natives the antipathy derived from his past aggres- 
 sions, and thus to prepare the way for acquiring the whole 
 Spanish monarchy.
 
 1667-1699.] AFFAIRS OF HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA. 437 
 
 The question in regard to the Spanish succession, which 
 had formed a secret article of the Grand Alliance, was 
 neither alluded to in the treaty, nor even brought forward 
 in the negotiation. As Leopold was unwilling to relin- 
 quish a tittle of his claims ; as the allies were not inclined 
 to prolong the war for the sake of supporting those claims 
 in their full extent, and as Louis was equally resolved not 
 to yield his pretensions, all parties seem by mutual consent 
 to have passed it over in silence, although, from the de- 
 clining health of Charles, the throne was likely soon to 
 become vacant. By the shameful and impolitic preci- 
 pitation with which the grand confederacy was thus dis- 
 solved, it was evident that Europe was again to become 
 the theatre of a new war, derived from the very evils which 
 that alliance was intended to obviate. But we suspend our 
 account of these transactions, to resume the affairs of 
 Hungary and Transylvania, in which the house of Austria 
 was so deeply interested. 
 
 CHAP. LXVL 1667-1699. 
 
 DURING these transactions with France, Leopold was in- 
 volved in a war with the Turks and the malecontents in 
 Hungary, and finally compensated for his losses on the 
 side of the Rhine, by driving the infidels beyond the ' 
 Danube, and re-annexing all Hungary and Transylvania 
 to his dominions. 
 
 The conclusion of the truce with the Turks only aggra- 
 vated the discontents in Hungary. The continuance of 
 the German troops, the erection of Leopoldstadt on the 
 Wag, which, though necessary to secure the Austrian 
 frontier, was considered by the natives rather as a curb on 
 themselves than on the Turks, furnished new subjects of 
 dissatisfaction, and the irruptions of the Ottoman hordes 
 increased the ferment. The magnates collecting their re- 
 tainers, under pretence of resisting the Turkish aggres- 
 sions, frequently gratified their party hatred or personal 
 
 F F 3
 
 438 LEOPOLD 1. [CH. LXVI. 
 
 revenge, by attacking each other, and the whole country 
 became a scene of devastation and anarchy. 
 
 Mutual jealousies likewise reigned between the sovereign 
 and the nobles : they suspected Leopold of a design to 
 subvert their liberties, and he attributed, to a party of the 
 most violent, a plot to assassinate him. In the midst of 
 these contentions, a secret conspiracy was actually formed 
 by the intrigues of the Palatine Wesselini, under the 
 sanction of that clause in the coronation oath, which autho- 
 rised the nobles to associate in defence of their privileges. 
 The designs of the conspirators were at first obstructed by 
 disputes for ascendency, as well as by jealousies between 
 the Catholics and Protestants, and afterwards by the death 
 of Wesselini ; but count Peter Zrini*, ban of Croatia, who 
 was disgusted by the refusal of the court to confer on him 
 the government of Carlstadt, revived the confederacy. He 
 secured count Frangipani, a young magnate of great 
 talents, spirit, and influence ; gained Tattenbach, governor 
 of Styria ; Nadasty, president of the high court of justice, 
 and finally attached to his party the young count Ragotsky, 
 by giving him in marriage Helena, his beautiful and 
 accomplished daughter. 
 
 The conduct of the imperial court greatly increased the 
 strength of this faction ; for Leopold not only declined 
 assembling a diet, and filling the office of Palatine, but 
 connived at the excesses of his troops, and encouraged the 
 Catholics to persecute the Protestants. Discontents, there- 
 fore, spread rapidly through the nation. The chiefs of 
 the confederacy formed connections with Abaffy, prince of 
 Transylvania, by his intervention, secretly appealed to 
 the Porte, and, in 1670, assembled a diet at Cassau, in 
 virtue of that law which allowed the nation to elect a 
 Palatine, if the office remained vacant for three years. 
 This meeting enabling them to consolidate their union, 
 they made arrangements for raising a military force, and 
 thirteen of the counties entered into a formal association. 
 Ragotsky assembled 2000 of his retainers, and was joined 
 by considerable numbers of insurgents ; but was prevented 
 
 * His brother Nicholas was accidentally killed in hunting the boar ; 
 but, in this ferment of party, his death was attributed to the machi- 
 nations of the court of Vienna.
 
 1667-1699.] QUELLS THE REBELS IN HUNG ART. 439 
 
 from surprising Tokay by the resistance of the garrison, 
 and afterwards from occupying Mongatz, where the trea- 
 sures of his fathers were kept, by the opposition of his 
 mother, who, more prudent or more timid, turned the 
 artillery of the place against his troops. 
 
 Meanwhile Leopold was acquainted with the progress of 
 the conspiracy, by the rebel agents at the Ottoman court, 
 and by a servant of Tattenbach. The extent of the plot, 
 as well as the plans of the conspirators, were also disclosed 
 by the papers of Wesselini, which were found in the 
 fortress of Muran, by the confession of his widow, and by 
 the depositions of a secretary to the rebels. Aware of his 
 danger, Leopold acted with a vigour and promptitude 
 which confounded the insurgents. Troops were detached 
 into Upper Hungary against Ragotsky, and into Croatia 
 and Styria against the other chiefs ; Tattenbach, Zrini, 
 Frangipani, and Nadasti, being secured, either by artifice 
 or force, were conveyed as state prisoners to Vienna and 
 Neustadt; Ragotsky, defeated in various encounters, pur- 
 chased a pardon through the intervention of his mother, by 
 admitting imperial garrisons into his principal fortresses, 
 and betraying the intrigues of his father-in-law. From 
 his information, and the confessions of the conspirators, 
 Zrini, Nadasti, Frangipani, and Tattenbach were found 
 guilty of rebellion, and publicly executed ; the sons of 
 Zrini were sentenced to perpetual imprisonment, and as 
 the means of rooting out their family influence, the 
 children of the delinquents were compelled to change their 
 names. 
 
 The emperor took advantage of this success to change I f 
 the constitution of Hungary, and render the monarchy / 
 hereditary, like that of Bohemia. He published the acts of 
 the process, declared that the whole nation, by participating 
 in the conspiracy, had forfeited its freedom, and summoned 
 a diet at Presburgh. As the majority of the nobles, instead 
 of obeying the summons fled into Transylvania, he issued 
 a proclamation on the 21st of March, in which he declared, 
 " Having, by our victorious arms, suppressed a wicked 
 rebellion, in which the principal ministers of the crown 
 were implicated, and had seduced the other orders, attacked 
 and killed our soldiers, assumed a part of our prerogatives 
 
 F F 4
 
 440 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXVI. 
 
 in raising troops, levying contributions, calling assemblies, 
 and seizing our treasures, and even engaged in a conspi- 
 racy against our life, which was frustrated by the provi- 
 dence of God : And whereas it is a duty incumbent on us 
 to provide for the safety of the people who are committed 
 to our charge, and to prevent Hungary and Christendom 
 from being again exposed to similar disorders ; We, by 
 our absolute authority, have ordered regulations for the 
 quartering of our troops ; and we enjoin all persons to 
 submit, without excuse or delay, to that power which we 
 have received from above, and are determined to maintain 
 by force of arms. We require our subjects to give this 
 proof of submission, lest, contrary to our natural clemency, 
 we should be forced to execute our wrath against those 
 j who abuse our indulgence." 
 
 In conformity with this declaration, 30,000 additional 
 troops were quartered in Hungary ; and the natives, 
 besides being loaded with unusual taxes, were reduced to 
 pay contributions for the maintenance of that army which 
 awed them into subjection. Having occupied the principal 
 fortresses, banished, ruined, or executed the chiefs, humbled 
 the spirit, and exhausted the resources of the country, the 
 emperor deemed his plans sufficiently matured to make a 
 formal change in the constitution. In another procla- 
 mation, issued in 1673, he announced that, for the pur- 
 pose of remedying abuses, and preventing future rebellions, 
 he had established a new form of government, which was 
 to restore the kingdom to its ancient splendour. He vested 
 the supreme administration of affairs in a council consisting 
 of a president and counsellors, whose number and appoint- 
 ment depended on his will ; and he nominated, as presi- 
 dent and governor-general, John Gasper Ampragen, a 
 native indeed of Hungary, but devoted to his service as a 
 prince of the empire, and grand master of the Teutonic 
 Order. His next object was to extirpate the Protestant 
 religion. Under the pretence of being implicated in the 
 rebellion, and inflaming the people with their discourses, 
 the pastors were involved in a general proscription ; courts 
 were instituted for the punishment of heresy; the I'ro- 
 testants were subjected to vexatious persecutions, and 
 deprived of their churches ; their preachers sent to the
 
 1667-1699.] RENEWAL OF REBELLION. 441 
 
 galleys* ; and the whole country abandoned to all the 
 excesses of military despotism, and the horrors of inqui- 
 sitorial cruelty. 
 
 These accumulated oppressions at length drove this 
 brave though turbulent people to despair; and both Catho- 
 lics and Protestants repressed their mutual jealousies to 
 unite for common safety. The insurgents, assisted by the 
 prince of Transylvania, supplied with money and provi- 
 sions by the French, and secretly aided by the neighbouring 
 bashaws, maintained an arduous struggle against the supe- 
 rior discipline and military spirit of the German troops. 
 But, at the moment when they were likely to be over- 
 powered, they found an able chief in Emeric Tekeli, son 
 of Stephen count of Kersmark, a noble implicated in the 
 former conspiracy. Losing at once his father and his 
 property at the early age of sixteen, Tekeli had sought an 
 asylum in Poland, and in vain appealed to the court of 
 Vienna for the restoration of his patrimony. Inheriting 
 against the house of Austria an antipathy as deep-rooted 
 as that of Hannibal against Rome, he repaired to Transyl- 
 vania, gained the favour of Abaffy, at first served as a 
 volunteer in the army sent to the assistance of the male- 
 contents ; and by the powerful influence of his family, 
 joined to his own military talents, gained the command 
 before he had attained his twentieth year. At the head of 
 20,000 men, who were rapidly joined by new followers, he 
 made, in 1678, frequent irruptions into Hungaiy, secured 
 the towns and rich mines in the mountains, continued 
 to gain strength amidst alternate successes and defeats, 
 and extending his conquests towards the Danube, even 
 
 * Two hundred and fifty of these ministers were sentenced to be 
 either stoned or burnt ; but their punishment was commuted for hard 
 labour and imprisonment. Their firmness under sufferings, and their 
 exemplary piety inspiring general compassion, their cruel judges, to 
 remove them from the public eye, sold them at fifty crowns each to 
 serve in the galleys of Naples. They found, however, a deliverer in 
 the celebrated admiral de Ruyter, who after defeating the French 
 squadron, protected the bay of Naples, by whose powerful mediation 
 with the viceroy Los Velos, they were restored to liberty. He took 
 them on board his fleet, and treated them with the greatest compassion 
 and beneficence, an action which honours his name no less than his 
 most splendid exploits. Sacy, torn. ii. p. 315.
 
 442 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXVT. 
 
 pushed his predatory parties into Moravia, Austria, and 
 Styria. 
 
 The emperor, unable to recruit his troops, who were 
 thinned by desertion and the sword, and foiled in repeated 
 attempts to divide or gain the insurgents by partial con- 
 cessions, abandoned his impolitic system, and offered a 
 complete re-establishment of the constitution, with a full 
 restoration of all civil and religious privileges. At the 
 same time he adroitly sowed divisions among the chiefs : 
 he lured Tekeli with the prospect of consenting to his mar- 
 riage with Helena, the beautiful widow of Ragotsky,* and 
 by frequent negotiations rendering him suspected by his 
 colleagues, obtained the acquiescence of the other chiefs. 
 A diet being assembled at Oedenburgh, on the 4th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1681, Leopold abolished the new form of govern- 
 ment, published a general amnesty, confirmed the election 
 of Paul Esterhazy as Palatine, abrogated the illegal im- 
 posts, re-established the frontier militia, granted liberty of 
 conscience to the Protestants, and agreed to restore the 
 confiscated property, with the power of resuming the 
 family names, to the heirs of those nobles who had suffered 
 for the former conspiracy. Besides these concessions, the 
 disputed points relative to the maintenance of foreign 
 troops, and subjecting the nobles to their own tribunals, 
 were to be settled in conformity with his engagements at 
 his coronation, and the other constitutions of the kingdom. 
 
 Tekeli suspecting the sincerity of the imperial cabinet 
 or relying on the assistance of the Turks, declined com- 
 plying with the proffered conditions, though he was pre- 
 vailed upon, by the instances of the diet, to prolong the 
 armistice for six months. During this interval, the em- 
 peror despatched an envoy to Constantinople, with a pro- 
 posal for renewing the truce of 1664, which was on the 
 
 Francis Ragotsky dying in 1667, soon after his accommodation 
 with the imperial court, left by his wife Helena, daughter of count 
 Zrini, two sons, of whom tlie eldest, Francis, afterwards made so con- 
 spicuous a figure in the afiairs of Hungary. With a view to obtain 
 possession of the fortress of Mongatz, and the treasures of the family, 
 Tekeli solicited the hand of the widow ; but his suit had been hitherto 
 frustrated by the mother of Ragotsky, who still retained Mongatz 
 and being a zealous Catholic, opposed the union of her daughter-ia- 
 law with a Lutheran.
 
 1667-1699.] CONTINUED HOSTILITIES IN HUNGARY. 443 
 
 point of expiring, hoping to deprive Tekeli and his adhe- 
 rents of that assistance which encouraged them to continue 
 the contest. But France having commenced her encroach- 
 ments by the system of re-union, exerted her powerful 
 influence in the divan, and persuaded the Turks to evade 
 the proposal, by demanding conditions which would have 
 left Leopold scarcely the shadow of authority even in his 
 hereditary dominions. He was required to pay an annual 
 tribute, to demolish the fortifications of Gratz and Leo- 
 poldstadt, to yield Neutra, Eschkof, the isle of Schut, and 
 the fortress of Muran to Tekeli, to restore to the malecon- 
 tents all their property and rights, and to the nation all its 
 ancient privileges. 
 
 These conditions were equivalent to a declaration of 
 war. Tekeli, who had temporised till he could obtain ex- 
 ternal assistance, renewed hostilities on the expiration of 
 the armistice, and being joined by Abaffy with an army of 
 Transylvanians, reduced the imperial troops under Caprara 
 to the defensive, and levied contributions on every side. 
 Soon afterwards he increased his influence and power, by 
 espousing the widow of Ragotsky, who, being freed from 
 constraint by the death of her mother-in-law, conferred on 
 him, with her hand, the treasures and possessions of the 
 family, and the strong post of Mongatz. Encouraged by 
 this accession of strength, he, in 1682, made a triumphal 
 entry into Buda, and was inaugurated prince of Upper 
 Hungary by the bashaw, who, in the oriental manner, gave 
 him the investiture with a sabre, a vest, and a standard. 
 Being joined by numbers of Protestants who were irritated 
 at the attempts of the emperor to elude the fulfilment of 
 his promises in regard to their religion, and assisted also 
 by the bashaws of Buda and Waradin, he captured Zatmar, 
 Cassau, Titul, Eperies, Leventz, and Neutra. At the same 
 time the Turks made the most formidable preparations for 
 the invasion of Hungary ; and early in the ensuing year, the 
 grand vizir Cara Mustapha, with an army of 200.000 men, 
 advanced to Essec, where he was joined by Tekeli. The 
 insurgent chief published a manifesto calling on the na- 
 tives to join his standard, offered the protection of the 
 sultan, with security for their religion, property, and privi- 
 leges ; and declared that no quarter should be given to
 
 444 LEOPOLD 1. [CH. LXVI. 
 
 those who neglected his invitation. This manifesto, and a 
 dread of the Turks, occasioned the surrender of Vesprin 
 and other towns, and the emperor withdrew the rest of his 
 garrisons from the distant parts of Hungary, to save them 
 from being delivered up by the inhabitants, or from falling 
 into the hands of the enemy. 
 
 Meanwhile Leopold made preparations to oppose the ap- 
 proaching storm. He obtained a vote of succours from 
 the German diet, entered into private alliances with the 
 electors of Bavaria and Saxony, concluded, on the 3 1 st of 
 March, 1683, a subsidiary treaty with John Sobieski, king 
 of Poland, for 40,000 men, and employed the palatine Es- 
 terhazy to levy an army of insurrection. Such however 
 was the apathy of the imperial court, the tardiness of the 
 German succours, and the desertion of the troops, that on 
 the 7th of Mayj when the emperor reviewed his army in 
 person at Presburgh, scarcely 40,000 men had joined his 
 standard. The duke of Loraine, to whom the command 
 was intrusted, attempted with this inadequate force to open 
 the campaign by the siege of Neuhasel, but was speedily 
 reduced to retreat by the approach of the Turkish army. 
 He threw the principal part of his infantry into Raab and 
 Commora, and retiring with the remainder and his cavalry, 
 wasted the country in his passage till he reached Vienna^ 
 
 He found the inhabitants in a state of confusion and 
 terror. On the preceding night, the emperor, with his 
 whole court, had departed amidst the clamours of the 
 people ; nothing was heard but reproaches against his 
 ministers, and the baneful influence of the Jesuits, and ex- 
 ecrations against a sovereign who, after drawing on them 
 the enmity of the Turks, had left them without protection. 
 The city was unprepared for resistance, surrounded with 
 an extensive suburb, the fortifications dilapidated, and 
 the garrison unequal to its defence. On one side, people 
 were hurrying from the country to the capital as to an 
 asylum ; on the other, the burghers followed the example 
 of their sovereign, in flying from a place which seemed 
 devoted to destruction. The roads were crowded with 
 fugitives, and covered with carriages laden with valuable 
 effects ; the churches and public places filled with the aged 
 and the helpless, imploring Heaven for protection.
 
 1667-1699.] SIEGE OP VIENNA. 445 
 
 The presence of the duke calmed the general appre- 
 hension. In conjunction with Rudiger count Staremberg^ 
 the intrepid and skilful governor, he placed tnecity~ina 
 posture of defence. The suburb was destroyed, the forti- 
 fications hastily repaired, the citizens and students trained 
 to act with the garrison. Having left a reinforcement of 
 8000 infantry, he fell back with the cavalry beyond the 
 Danube, to harass the movements, and interrupt the com- 
 munications of the vizir, who appeared before Vienna on. 
 the 14th of July, in the space of a few days completed the 
 investment, and commenced his attacks. 
 
 During the progress of the siege, the duke of Loraine 
 acted with a degree of skill and promptitude which reflects 
 high honour on his military talents. After employing 
 every effort to interrupt the operations of the vizir, he 
 rapidly marched to Presburgh, defeated Tekeli, who had 
 been detached to secure that important passage over the 
 Danube, and repressed the incursions of the Tartars and 
 malecontents on the side of Moravia. But still the be- 
 sieged were driven to the last extremities for want of pro- 
 visions ; thinned by sickness and the sword, they saw the 
 enemy in possession of the principal outworks, and were in 
 hourly expectation of being taken by storm. Every hope 
 of relief seemed extinct, every exertion unavailing. The 
 German succours had not arrived, and the Polish army 
 had scarcely begun to assemble on the frontiers of Silesia. 
 The duke of Loraine sent messenger after messenger to 
 quicken their motions, and the emperor himself, driven to 
 despair, pressed the king of Poland to hasten his march, 
 without waiting for his army. " My troops," he said, 
 " are now assembling ; the bridge over the Danube is 
 already constructed at Tuln, to afford you a passage. Place 
 yourself at their head ; however inferior in number, your 
 name alone, so terrible to the enemy, will ensure a victory!" 
 
 These instances prevailed ; Sobieski ordered his army 
 to commence its march, and at the head of 3000 horse, 
 without baggage or incumbrance, traversed Silesia and 
 Moravia with the rapidity of a Tartar horde. On his 
 arrival at Tuln, he found the bridge unfinished, and no 
 troops except the corps under the duke of Loraine. Stung 
 with disappointment, his impatient spirit broke out with
 
 446 LEOPOLD i. [en. LXVL 
 
 the exclamation, " Does the emperor consider me as an 
 adventurer ! I quitted my army to command his. It is 
 not for myself but for him I fight." Being however paci- 
 fied by the duke of Loraine, he awaited the arrival of his 
 own army, which reached the Danube on the 5th of Sep- 
 tember, and the junction of the German succours was 
 completed on the 7th. Eight thousand men were furnished 
 by Suabia and Franconia, the elector of Saxony led 10,000, 
 and the same number was supplied by Maximilian Maria, 
 the young elector of Bavaria. With an army which thus 
 amounted to above 60,000 men, the two commanders ad- 
 vanced against the Turks; on the night of the llth, the 
 spirit of the citizens and garrison was revived by the con- 
 certed signals; and on the following morning they des- 
 cried with rapture the Christian standards floating on the 
 Calemberg. 
 
 The rapid and unexpected approach of this powerful 
 army confounded the vizir, whose troops were greatly dis- 
 couraged and reduced by the efforts of the siege. On the 
 memorable 1 2th of September, at the moment when he had 
 been repulsed in a last and desperate attempt to carry the 
 town by storm, his consternation was increased by the 
 vigorous attack of the Christian army, in which the Polish 
 monarch and the imperial general vied in skill and bravery 
 and their respective troops in coolness and intrepidity. He 
 suddenly drew off his forces in the night, and fled rather 
 than retreated with such precipitation, that his vanguard 
 reached the Raab before the ensuing evening. When the 
 Turks gave way, the Christians burst into their lines, and 
 on the dawn of morning were equally gratified and aston- 
 ished by the booty wlu'ch had been abandoned by the 
 enemy. They found a camp stored with all the luxuries 
 of the east, all the tents, baggage, ammunition, and pro- 
 visions ; an hundred and eighty pieces of artillery, the 
 ensigns of the vizir's authority, and even a standard, which 
 was supposed to be the sacred banner of Mahomet. The 
 magnitude of these spoils induced Sobieski, with his 
 characteristic pleasantry, to write to his queen, "The 
 grand vizir has left me his heir, and I inherit millions of 
 ducats. When I return, I shall not be met with the re-
 
 1667-1699.] RELIEF OF VIENNA. 447 
 
 proach of the Tartar wives, ' You are not a man because 
 you are come back without booty.' " 
 
 The king of Poland, to whom the victory was princi- 
 pally attributed, received the warmest and most unfeigned 
 congratulations on the field of battle. On the ensuing 
 morning he entered Vienna, and as he passed through the 
 camp and the ruins of the town, was surrounded by the 
 inhabitants, who hailed him with the titles of Father and 
 Deliverer, struggled to kiss his feet, to touch his garment 
 or his horse, and testified their gratitude by marks of 
 affection which rose almost to adoration. With difficulty 
 he penetrated through a grateful people, to the cathedral, 
 and threw himself on his knees to thank the God of battles 
 for the recent victory. After dining in public, he re- 
 turned amidst the same concourse to his camp, and with 
 truth exulted in declaring, that this day was the happiest 
 of his life. 
 
 The entrance of Leopold, on the 15th of September, 
 was far different from that of the Polish monarch. He 
 keenly felt the humiliations which had accompanied his 
 departure ; the clamours and execrations of the populace 
 still resounded in his ears ; no honours, no crowds, no 
 acclamations marked his passage ; at every step which 
 brought him nearer to his capital, he had the mortification 
 to hear the sound of cannon, which proclaimed the triumph 
 of Sobieski. He shrunk from honours which he knew 
 were undeserved, or which he dreaded to see withheld. 
 With mingled emotions of joy and sorrow, he beheld the 
 works of the besiegers, and the desolation of the city. To 
 return thanks to heaven for his providential deliverance, 
 he repaired to the cathedral, not as a prince in triumph, 
 but on foot, carrying a taper in his hand, and with all the 
 marks of humility. A heart far more phlegmatic than 
 that of Leopold, must have deeply felt the difference be- 
 tween the unbridled effusions of gratitude and joy which 
 had welcomed Sobieski, and the faint, reluctant, studied 
 homage which accompanied his own return. In the an- 
 guish of his soul, he vented his indignation against count 
 Sinzendorf, to whose sinister advice he attributed his cala- 
 mities and unpopularity, and reproached him with such
 
 448 LEOPOLD i. [en. LXVI. 
 
 bitterness, that the unfortunate minister within a few hours 
 fell a sacrifice to chagrin. 
 
 These feelings overcame all sentiments of admiration or 
 gratitude. Instead of hurrying to the Polish camp to 
 pour forth his acknowledgments to the conqueror, he 
 seemed anxious to evade a meeting, and made inquiries 
 whether an elective monarch had ever been admitted to an 
 interview with an emperor, and in what manner he should 
 be received. " With open arms," replied the duke of 
 Loraine, who was disgusted with his pride and apathy, and 
 alive only to sensations of reverence for the deliverer of 
 Vienna; but Leopold wanted liberality of sentiment to 
 bear an obligation, and settled the formalities of the inter- 
 view with the punctilious spirit of a herald. The two 
 monarchs met on horseback, between the Austrian and 
 Polish armies. The emperor plainly clad and meanly 
 mounted, stiif and awkward in his address and deportment; 
 Sobieski, habited as on the day of battle, rode a superb 
 courser richly caparisoned, and the natural gracefulness of 
 his mien was dignified by a consciousness of his former 
 triumphs, and recent victory. On a concerted signal, the 
 two sovereigns advanced, saluted each other at the same 
 moment, and embraced. The conversation was short and 
 formal. Sobieski, frank, cordial, and tremblingly alive to 
 fame and honour, was disgusted with his punctilious recep- 
 tion ; he impatiently listened to faint, embarrassed, and 
 reluctant expressions of gratitude which Leopold was en- 
 deavouring to articulate, and after a second embrace with- 
 drew to his tent, leaving to his chancellor Zaluski to 
 accompany the emperor in reviewing those troops who had 
 defeated the Turks, and saved the house of Austria. 
 
 The desire of the Poles to secure their booty, as well as 
 the dissatisfaction of the German princes at the ungracious 
 deportment of Leopold, prevented the victorious troops 
 from completing the destruction of the enemy by an im- 
 mediate pursuit, and it was not till five days after the 
 battle, that the army was again put in motion. Being 
 increased by reinforcements, the victors continued their 
 progress after the flying enemy, and on the 27th of Octo- 
 ber, crossed over to the northern bank of the Danube, to 
 nttac-k a corps of Turks posted at Parkan. Sobieski, yield-
 
 1667-1699.] THE TURKS DRIVEN FROM HUNGARY. 449 
 
 ing to the fire of his temper, and his ambition for glory, 
 pushed on at the head of his cavalry ; but though accus- 
 tomed to desultory warfare, he was enveloped in an ambus- 
 cade, and owed his life or safety to the bravery of his 
 guards, and to timely succours from the duke of Loraine. 
 The ardour of the Polish hero being tempered by the 
 phlegm of the German chief, they waited the arrival of 
 the infantry, and on the following day wiped off their 
 temporary disgrace by a complete defeat of the enemy ; 
 7000 men were killed, many threw themselves into the fort 
 of Parkan, and the rest were drowned in attempting to 
 cross the Danube. The allies carried the fort sword in 
 hand, and after driving the terrified remnant of the in- 
 fidels into the river, invested Gran, and compelled the 
 garrison of 4000 men to yield a place which had remained 
 seventy years in the possession of the infidels. This success 
 was followed by the surrender of the towns which had 
 submitted in the first panic of the invasion, and again 
 hastened to acknowledge their sovereign, while the Turkish 
 army, continuing their flight to Belgrade, abandoned Hun- 
 gary. 
 
 The Christians soon afterwards separating, the greater 
 part of the German auxiliaries returned to their respective 
 countries. The disgust of Sobieski seems to have been 
 increased by the jealousy of the emperor, who was offended 
 at his attempts to mediate a reconciliation with the male- 
 contents, and suspected him of intriguing with Tekeli to 
 obtain the crown of Hungary for his son. He therefore 
 drew his troops into Poland ; and declared, that although 
 he would prosecute the war against the Turks, he would 
 not turn his arms against the insurgents. 
 
 But the imperial forces still remaining in Hungary were 
 sufficient to pursue their advantages. The offers of the 
 emperor, and the terror of his arms, induced the greater 
 part of the malecoutents to implore his clemency, and 
 Tekeli was gradually insulated from those who had formed 
 the great support of his cause. Leopold fomented those 
 jealousies between Tekeli and the Turks which were de- 
 rived from their ill-success, till the failure of Tekeli in an 
 attempt to relieve Cassau induced the bashaw of Great 
 Waradin to arrest him, and send him in chains to Con- 
 
 VOL. II. G G
 
 450 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXVI. 
 
 stantinople. This impolitic act ruined the party of the 
 raalecontents ; the chief who succeeded to the command 
 joined the imperialists, and the surrender of Cassau again 
 threw the principal part of northern Hungary into the 
 power of the emperor. The release of Tekeli in the en- 
 suing year produced no effect ; and from this time the con- 
 fidence of his adherents in the Turks was irrecoverably 
 lost. New victories followed the imperial arms, under the 
 direction of the duke of Loraine, the margrave of Baden, 
 the duke of Bavaria, and prince Eugene. They captured 
 Neuhasel, Erlau, and Buda, the ancient capital of Hun- 
 gary, and the seat of the infidel power since the time of 
 John of Zapoli ; and the battle of Mohatz, gained by the 
 duke of Loraine, on the 18th of August, 1687, retrieved 
 the disgrace which the crown of Hungary had suffered on 
 the same ground under the unfortunate Louis. This splen- 
 did victory was purchased with the loss of only 600 men, 
 while, by the acknowledgment of the vizir himself, 20,000 
 Turks were either killed or captured, and the plunder 
 equalled, if it did not exceed, that taken under the walls 
 of Vienna. 
 
 In the midst of these successes, Leopold completed his 
 long-meditated design of rendering the^crown hereditary. 
 He availed himself of the disaffection still subsisting among 
 those who had submitted to his authority, and either sur- 
 mised or really discovered a correspondence which the dis- 
 contented had opened with Tekeli. This conspiracy, the 
 extent, nature, and even existence of which is doubtful, 
 furnished the court with a pretext to break the spirit of 
 the nation by the severest punishments, as a prelude to the 
 abolition of the elective monarchy. For the purpose of 
 examining and punishing the delinquents, a horrible tri- 
 bunal was instituted at Eperies, headed by Caraffa, a 
 foreign general of a sanguinary disposition, and composed 
 of officers ignorant of the laws, with a few natives attached 
 to the court. Before this tribunal every person distin- 
 guished for wealth, popularity or influence, or suspected of 
 disaffection, was arraigned, and parties of horse scouring 
 the country, brought daily new victims, of every age, sex, 
 and condition. In vain the accused persisted in their 
 innocence ; iu vain those who had taken up arms appealed
 
 1667-1699.] HORRIBLE CRUELTIES IN HUNGARY. 451 
 
 to the general amnesty ; a vague charge of having corres- 
 ponded with Tekeli or his wife, though unsubstantiated 
 by proofs, was sufficient to procure their condemnation, and 
 on the slightest suspicion numbers were sacrificed to party 
 rancour or private vengeance. 
 
 To execute the sentences of this horrible tribunal, whose 
 cruelties scarcely find a parallel in the proscriptions of 
 Marius and Sylla, or the massacres of the cold-blooded legal 
 Tiberius, thirty executioners, with their assistants, found 
 constant employment, and a scaffold erected in the midst 
 of the town, as the place of execution, is commemorated 
 in history by the expressive appellation of the Bloody Thea- 
 tre of Eperies. The accused were thrown into dungeons, 
 and tortured, for the purpose of enforcing confession, or 
 the discovery of their accomplices. If they possessed 
 strength of body and mind sufficient to support their tor- 
 ments, they were subjected to heavy penalties, or to a 
 confiscation of property ; and if the smallest confession 
 escaped in the midst of excruciating agonies, they were 
 consigned to the executioner, in contradiction to the mer- 
 ciful provision of the laws, which required a confirmation 
 of what was uttered on the rack. 
 
 The ministers and Jesuits, who, as on the former occa- 
 sion, had instigated and profited by the persecutions of 
 Leopold, again pressed him to take advantage of his suc- 
 cesses, and the terror inspired by these severities, to revoke 
 his concessions, establish an arbitrary government, and 
 abolish the Protestant worship. But Leopold had learnt 
 prudence from past experience, and appreciated the danger 
 of driving a brave people to desperation. He rejected this 1 
 infamous advice, and satisfied himself with abrogating the 
 right of electing and of resisting the sovereign, two pri- 
 vileges which, without producing a single advantage, had 
 always been injurious to the real happiness and tranquillity 
 of the kingdom, and furnished pretexts for endless insur- 
 rections. 
 
 He delivered to a deputation of the nobles the sacred 
 diadem, which had been transported to Vienna, and accom- 
 panied this favour by convoking a diet at Presburgh, to 
 crown his son Joseph, " as the only means of restoring 
 his ancient kingdom to its pristine splendour and felicity."
 
 452 LEOPOLD L [CH. LXVI. 
 
 Though his arms were all-powerful, he did not attempt to 
 found his pretensions on the odious right of a conqueror. 
 He laid before the diet a declaration, deducing the claims 
 of his house to the hereditary succession, from the ancient 
 compacts between his ancestors and the kings of Hungary, and 
 from the marriage of the princess Anne with Ferdinand I. 
 He accompanied this deduction with an offer to publish a 
 general amnesty, to suppress the tribunal of Eperies, to 
 confirm all the civil and religious privileges of the nation 
 except the obnoxious clause in the coronation oath, and to 
 incorporate with the kingdom all his conquests, present and 
 future. 
 
 Notwithstanding the wretched state of Hungary, and 
 the humiliation of every foreign power from whom the 
 natives could expect assistance, they adhered with singular 
 pertinacity to the mischievous though darling privilege of 
 electing their monarch ; they employed every subterfuge, 
 and offered every expedient, to save a right which they 
 considered as the palladium of their liberties. When all 
 the threats, bribes, or concessions of Leopold could not 
 extort their consent to render the succession hereditary in 
 the female line, he prudently yielded to their prejudices. 
 The states agreed to the coronation of Joseph as an heredi- 
 tary sovereign, and confirmed the succession in the males, 
 both of the German and Spanish branches ; but still re- 
 served to the nation the right of election on the extinction 
 of the male line. The emperor on his part nominated 
 counsellors to examine the grievances of the people, by 
 whose award the criminal tribunal of Eperies was suppressed, 
 and the great and original dispute was terminated by the 
 arrangement that the quartering and pay, both of native 
 and foreign troops, should be settled by Hungarian and 
 German commissaries, and that a chamber of finance, com- 
 posed of both nations, should be established at Buda. 
 
 These arrangements were followed, on the 9th of De- 
 cember, 1687, by the coronation of the new king, who had 
 not yet attained his tenth year, with great pomp and mag- 
 nificence, and with a minute observance of all the ancient 
 forms and ceremonies. 
 
 This advantageous change in the government, by strength- 
 ening the power of the sovereign, was the prelude to greater
 
 1667-1699.] DISASTERS OF THE TURKS. 453 
 
 successes. The progress of the imperial arms was pro- 
 moted by the number of enemies which the court of 
 Vienna succeeded in raising against the Turks. The Ve- 
 netians, who had joined the alliance between the emperor 
 and Poland, conquered the Morea, with the adjacent parts 
 of Greece, and the coast of Dalmatia. The king of Poland 
 was again induced to resume hostilities, and succoured the 
 house of Austria by a powerful diversion ; and even Russia, 
 won by the cession of the sovereignty over the Cossacs, 
 heightened the distresses of the Porte by an invasion of 
 the Crimea. The effects of these diversions, and of the 
 pacification of Hungary, were the total defeat of Tekeli, 
 and repeated discomfitures of the Turks ; the subjugation 
 of the whole country as far as the Save, the reduction of 
 Belgrade, Orsova, and Widdin, and even the conquest of 
 Servia and Bosnia. Erlau was recovered, together with 
 the neighbouring districts of Hungary ; the strong fortress 
 of Mongatz taken, and the wife of Tekeli, with her two 
 sons by Ragotsky, reduced to throw herself under the pro- 
 tection of the emperor. Michael Abaffy, prince of Tran- 
 sylvania, renounced his connection with the Turks, and 
 received imperial garrisons in his fortresses ; even the 
 natives of Wallachia offered their submission, and before 
 the close of the year 1689, Great Waradin and Temeswar 
 were all which remained of the extensive possessions so 
 long occupied by the infidels to the north of the Danube. 
 
 By these disasters, the Turkish empire was shaken to its 
 very foundations. The ill success of the first memorable 
 campaign in Hungary, and the failure of the siege of 
 Vienna, occasioned the deposition of the chan of Grim Tar- 
 tary, the execution of four distinguished bashaws, and even 
 of the grand vizir, Cara Mustapha, nephew of the celebrated 
 Kiuprugli, and son-in-law of the sultan. The defeat of 
 Mohatz led to the resignation of another vizir ; and the 
 internal discontents which arose from the subsequent mis- 
 fortunes added another to the many revolutions at Con- 
 stantinople. Mahomet IV. was deposed in 1688, and 
 Solyman his brother placed on the throne. The Ottoman 
 pride was humbled by these accumulated calamities, and 
 the new sultan proved the distresses of his situation, by 
 repeated and pressing instances for peace, 
 o G s
 
 454 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXVI. 
 
 Leopold, on ids side, elated by success, with no less im- 
 prudence than haughtiness, required such exorbitant con- 
 cessions, as indicated a resolution to drive the Turks from 
 Europe ; and thus unfortunately afforded the French 
 monarch an opportunity to revive the drooping spirits of 
 the Ottoman court, while by an irruption into the empire, 
 he drew a considerable part of the Austrian forces from 
 their conquests on the side of Hungary. 
 
 The effects of this diversion were soon manifest. As 
 Leopold could not pursue the war with the same vigour as 
 before in Hungary, the splendour of the Ottoman arms 
 was for a time restored by the new grand vizir of the illus- 
 trious house of Kiuprugli. He collected a numerous army, 
 re-established discipline, recaptured Semendria, Widdin, 
 
 \ and Belgrade, and recovered the provinces beyond the 
 Danube. At the same time Tekeli, with a Turkish force, 
 burst into Transylvania, which was under the nominal 
 government of Michael Abaffy, a youth of fourteen. Joined 
 by tumultuary hordes from the neighbouring provinces, 
 he declared himself prince by the authority of the Porte, 
 defeated the united imperialists and Transylvanians, cap- 
 tured general Heusler with other Austrian officers, con- 
 fined Abaffy almost to the walls of Clagenfurth, and ex- 
 torted the homage of the states. 
 
 A month, however, scarcely elapsed, before the margrave 
 of Baden, leaving the Danubian provinces to their fate, 
 forced the passes of Transylvania, surprised and drove 
 Tekeli into Moldavia, and, with the consent of the states, 
 reinstated Abaffy Having intrusted the defence of 
 Transylvania to general Veterani, and the government to 
 a provisional regency, he maintained this administration 
 itself until the conclusion of the war, in opposition 
 to the combined efforts of the Turks and Tekeli. Not- 
 withstanding the vast superiority of the enemy, who in the 
 ensuing year again poured into Hungary, to the number of 
 100,000 men, the imperialists recovered Sclavonia, and the 
 margrave, of Baden, on the 19th of August, 1691, once 
 more delivered Hungary by the splendid victory at Sal- 
 
 ankamen, where 20,000 Turks were left on the field, and 
 the vizir himself was among the slain. The lateness of 
 
 I the season, joined with the inability of the emperor to
 
 1667-1699.] TEMPORARY SUCCESS OP THE TURKS. 455 
 
 reinforce his army, prevented the margrave from pursuing 
 his advantages. He himself quitted Hungary to succeed 
 the duke of Loraine* in the command of the German 
 army, and the generals La Croix and Caprara employed 
 the three ensuing campaigns in reducing the Five 
 Churches, Great Waradin, and Giula. The two following 
 years, Augustus elector of Saxony, at the head of the 
 imperialists, was opposed to the new sultan Mustapha, 
 who commanded his army in person ; and though he had 
 the mortification to witness the defeat of 7000 men under 
 general Veterani, and to suffer considerable loss at the 
 doubtful battle of Olatz, on the 26th of August, 1696, he 
 awed the Turks by his firmness and decision, and the 
 success of the sultan only produced the recapture of 
 Titul and Lippa, Lagos and Caransebes. 
 
 The campaign of 1697 bore a far different aspect. As 
 the neutrality of Italy enabled Leopold to draw new forces 
 into Hungary, the most active preparations were made by 
 the Turks, as well as the imperialists, for a vigorous 
 contest. An insurrection excited in Upper Hungary by 
 the adherents of Tekeli, who took Tokay and Bazar, drew 
 the two armies into the field at an early period. The 
 Turks were again led by their sultan ; the imperialists by 
 prince Eugene of Savoy, who was now for the first time 
 placed at the head of an army. The sultan collecting his 
 forces at Belgrade, took Titul by storm, and threatened 
 Peterwaradin ; but on the approach of the imperial ge- 
 neral, who had sent detachments to reduce the rebels, and 
 strengthened himself with reinforcements from Tran sylvania, 
 he suddenly crossed the Danube, and ascended the Teiss 
 with the intention of surprising Segedin, and subjugating 
 Upper Hungary or Transylvania. Eugene, however, 
 instantly threw a garrison into Segedin, and followed the 
 movements of the enemy. Learning from his parties that 
 the Turks had abandoned their design on Segedin, and 
 were crossing the Teiss at Zenta over a temporary bridge, 
 he hastened to attack one part of their army while sepa- 
 rated from the other. When he had approached within a 
 league of the enemy, a courier arrived from Vienna, with 
 
 * Charles IV., duke of Loraine, died in 1690, and was succeeded 
 ir his nominal sovereignty by his son Leopold. 
 G Q 4
 
 456 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXVI. 
 
 peremptory orders from the emperor not to risk an engage- 
 ment ; but such an opportunity was too favourable to be 
 lost, and the youthful hero ventured to disobey the 
 mandate of his sovereign. On the llth of September, his 
 army advanced in twelve columns, and by four in the 
 afternoon was formed in sight of the enemy, the left flank 
 supported on the Teiss, the right stretching into the 
 country. As the Turkish cavalry had already passed, and 
 the day was rapidly declining, he did not hesitate to com- 
 mence the attack, although their bridge was covered by a 
 triple entrenchment, defended with seventy pieces of 
 artillery. Having reconnoitred the disposition of the 
 enemy, he bent his army into the form of a crescent to 
 embrace the works, strengthened the flanks with bodies of 
 cavalry and cannon, turned several pieces of artillery 
 against the bridge, to prevent the Turkish horse from re- 
 passing to the assistance of the infantry, and attacked the 
 entrenchments in every quarter at the same moment. The 
 assault was made with a vigour and promptitude which 
 surprised even the commander himself; the cavalry ac- 
 companied and supported the infantry to the very foot of 
 the lines, and formed a passage by filling the ditch with 
 the dead. The enemy, surprised by this sudden and 
 desperate assault, hastened their defeat by their own terror 
 and confusion. Numbers rushed tumultuously to gain the 
 opposite bank, forced their way through a body of cavalry, 
 which was drawn up to prevent them from deserting their 
 post, and in a paroxysm of terror and despair, massacred 
 the vizir with many of the principal officers. In the 
 midst of this confusion and dismay, the imperialists suc- 
 cessively carried the intrenchments. While those who had 
 first effected an opening cut off the fugitives from their 
 bridge, the others pressed on them in front, and when they 
 were driven from their last rampart, a carnage ensued 
 which bafHes description. The soldiers heated by the fury 
 of the attack, fell on the terrified and defenceles multitude, 
 and put all to the sword, not sparing even the bashaws, 
 who supplicated for mercy, and held out rich jewels and 
 purses of gold for their ransom. Above 10,000 were killed, 
 numbers were precipitated into the Teiss, and of 30,000 
 who had not crossed the river, scarcely 1000 escaped alive.
 
 <WxfY 
 
 1667-1699.] PEACE WITH THE TURKS. 457 
 
 This complete victory, which cost only 500 men, was 
 gained within the short space of two hours ; and, to 
 use the emphatic expression of the heroic commander, i 
 " The sum seemed to linger on the horizon, to gild with his , ' 
 last rays the victorious standards of Austria." 
 
 During the carnage, the sultan was seen on the opposite 
 bank, displaying every gesture of consternation and despair. 
 Flying with the first who fled, he did not rest till he had 
 secured himself within the walls of Temeswar. He placed 
 garrisons in Temeswar and Belgrade, abandoned the open 
 country and the discomfited remnant of his army to the 
 fate of war, and hurried to Constantinople to repress by 
 his presence the commotions which this defeat was likely 
 to excite among his turbulent subjects. 
 
 The season being too far advanced for the operations of 
 a siege, Eugene, instead of attacking Temeswar or Bel- 
 grade, poured his victorious troops into Bosnia, and re- 
 duced the capital Serai. After laying the country under 
 contribution, he drew his forces, laden with booty and 
 honours, into winter-quarters, and returned to Vienna, to 
 receive from a proud and punctilious court a reproof for 
 disobedience, instead of a recompence for victory. 
 
 Leopold being delivered from his embarrassments in 
 Germany by the peace of Ryswick, was at liberty to pursue 
 liis advantages against the Turks ; but the exhausted state 
 of his treasury, and, above all, the prospect that the Spanish 
 succession would soon become vacant, induced him to ter- 
 minate the Hungarian war, that he might turn all his atten- 
 tion to Europe. After an inactive campaign, he listened ^ 
 to the overtures of the Turks, and Carlovitz, a small town 
 near Peterwaradin, midway between the two armies, was 
 selected as the place of conference. Plenipotentiaries were 
 assembled on the 14th of November, 1697, from all the pow- 
 ers in alliance against the Porte ; the negotiations were 
 conducted under the mediation of England and Holland ; 
 and in little more than two months, a general accommoda- 
 tion was effected. Russia entered into a truce of two 
 years, by which Peter the Great maintained possession of 
 Asoph. By a peace signed with the Poles and Venetians, 
 the Turks ceded to the first Kaminiec, with the province 
 of Podolia, and the sovereignty over theCossacs ; to the latter
 
 468 LEOPOLD i. [cn. LXVT. 
 
 the Morea, with several places in Dalmatia. With Austria, 
 a truce was concluded for twenty-five years. The emperor 
 retained possession of Transylvania, all Hungary north of 
 the Marosch, and west of the Teiss, and all Sclavonia, -ex- 
 cept a small district between the Save and the Danube, in 
 the neighbourhood of Belgrade. The Turks were per- 
 mitted to continue the protection which they had granted 
 to Tekeli and his adherents; but were to give no future 
 refuge or assistance to the malecontents ; and both parties 
 mutually agreed to punish the rebel subjects who might 
 escape into their respective territories. An article in the 
 peace of Carlovitz secured to the house of Austria the 
 possession of Transylvania, although that principality was 
 still under the nominal sovereignty of Michael Abaffy. But 
 since the exclusion of Tekeli*, Transylvania had been 
 
 * From this period, Tekeli passed the remainder of his active and 
 enterprising life in obscurity. As the emperor refused either to re- 
 store his confiscated property, or grant him an equivalent, the sultan 
 Mustapha conferred on him Ley or Caransebes, and Widdin, as a 
 feudal sovereignty. Mahomet, the successor of Mustapha, transferred 
 him to Nicodemia, where he for a time gave him a splendid establish- 
 ment; but he was afterwards neglected by the Turkish government, 
 lodged in one of the vilest streets of Constantinople, among Jews and 
 the meaner sort of Armenians, and receiving only a paltry allowance 
 for himself and his family, was even reduced to carry on the trade of a 
 vintner. It is singular that this extraordinary man, after having 
 roused the Protestants of Hungary in defence of their doctrines, should 
 have embraced the Catholic religion towards the close of his life. He 
 lamented to prince Cantemir the caprice of his fortune, which had urged 
 him to abandon his lawful sovereign, to throw himself under the pro- 
 tection of infidel princes whose inclinations were as wavering and 
 changeful as the crescent in their arms. He fell a sacrifice to chagrin, 
 and dying at Constantinople in 1705, in about his fiftieth year, was 
 buried in the Greek cemetery, the place appropriated for the interment 
 of foreign ambassadors. Sacy, torn. ii. p. 499. ; History of Europe, 
 1 706, p. 472. 
 
 His death was preceded by that of Helena, his once beautiful wife. 
 She deserves to be commemorated for the unshaken firmness with which 
 she bore her own misfortunes and those of her family, and her invari- 
 able attachment to her husband in exile and disgrace. After defend- 
 ing the castle of Mongatz with great gallantry, she was overpowered 
 by the forces of the imperialists, and to save her own life, and the pro- 
 perty of her family, resigned herself and her children to the protection 
 of the court of Vienna. She herself was thrown into a convent, and 
 her children educated under the auspices of the emperor. She was ex-
 
 1697-1700.] DECLINE OF TURKISH POWER IN EUROPE. 459 
 
 really an Austrian province ; for the young prince had 
 chiefly resided at Vienna, and soon after the conclusion of 
 the peace, made a formal transfer of his sovereignty to 
 Leopold, which was ratified by the states. In return he 
 received an annual pension, with the dignity of a prince of 
 the empire, and lived and died a subject of the house of 
 Austria. 
 
 The peace of Carlovitz forms a memorable era in the 
 history of fe~Fouse of Austria and of Europe. Leopold 
 secured Hungary and Sclavonia, which for a period of 
 almost two hundred years had been occupied by the 
 Turks, and consolidated his empire by the important ac- 
 quisition of Transylvania. By these possessions, joined to 
 the change of government, he annihilated one great source 
 of those discontents and factions which had hitherto ren- 
 dered Hungary little more than a nominal sovereignty. 
 At the same time the sultans lost nearly half their posses- 
 sions in Europe, and from this diminution of territorial 
 sovereignty the Ottoman power, which once threatened 
 universal subjugation, ceased to be formidable to Christen- 
 dom. 
 
 CHAP. LXVEL 1697-1700. 
 
 WE now reach that important period in the Austrian His- 
 tory in which commenced the contest for the Spanish suc- 
 cession, derived from the ominous marriage of Louis 
 XIV. with the eldest infanta of Spain ; a contest of which 
 Austria and Europe still deplore the fatal effects. 
 
 From his infancy Leopold had been flattered in expecta- 
 tion of succeeding to the Spanish throne, and in different 
 periods of his reign had employed various expedients to 
 prevent the alienation of so valuable a domain. Besides 
 the constant renewal of family compacts between the two 
 
 changed for general Heuster, and permitted to join her husband, though 
 compelled to abandon her children ; and from that period, she shared 
 the fortunes and vicissitudes of his fate, and died in 1703. History of 
 Europe for 1703, p. 494.
 
 460 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXV1L 
 
 branches of the house of Austria, for the mutual succes- 
 sion to their respective territories, and frequent intermar- 
 riages, Leopold had been originally affianced to the 
 eldest daughter of Philip IV. when presumptive heiress. 
 This hope was frustrated by the birth of a son, and the 
 marriage of the princess to the king of France ; but still, 
 with a view to secure the eventual succession, a solemn re- 
 nunciation was exacted both from Louis and his queen, 
 and Leopold espoused the second infanta, Margaret Theresa. 
 The union producing only a daughter, he endeavoured to 
 prevent the transfer of her rights to another family by in- 
 ducing her to renounce her claims, on her espousal with 
 .Maximilian, elector of Bavaria. He engaged also the 
 members of the Grand Alliance to concur in support of hia 
 pretensions ; and to remove the apprehension entertained 
 by the European powers, lest the whole dominions of the 
 two Austrian branches should be united under one head, 
 he promised to relinquish his own claims to Charles, his 
 second son by his third wife. But in these expectations he 
 was also disappointed by the birth of an electoral prince of 
 Bavaria; for the allies considering his elevation to the 
 Spanish throne as far less dangerous than that of an arch- 
 duke, became lukewarm to the interests of Leopold, and 
 from this change of sentiment concluded the peace of Rys- 
 wick, without even the mention of the Spanish succession, 
 though it was considered as likely to become the cause of 
 a new war. 
 
 Charles II., the last male of the Spanish branch, 
 was weak in body and feeble in mind, a prey to hypo- 
 chondriac melancholy, and like the phantom kings of the 
 Merovingian race, secluded in his palace, a mere puppet in 
 the hands of those who held the reins of government. His 
 ruling passion was an hereditary antipathy to the house of 
 Bourbon, which was aggravated by the repeated aggres- 
 ' i sions of his brother-in-law, Louis XIV., as well as 
 inflamed by his mother, an Austrian princess. Though 
 by the instances of Don John he had been induced to 
 espouse a French princess, Maria Louisa, daughter of 
 Philip duke of Orleans, he could not conquer his inveterate 
 antipathy, but with the imbecility of a weak mind, displayed 
 his prejudices in the most trifling occurrences of domestic
 
 1697-1700.] CANDIDATES FOR THE CROWN OF SPAIN. 461 
 
 life, as well as on great occasions.* On the death of Don 
 John, he again resigned himself to the guidance of his 
 mother ; and on the decease of his queen without issue he 
 espoused the Palatine princess Marianne, sister to the em- 
 press, who was introduced to his bed by Leopold, with 
 the hope of increasing that partiality for the Austrian 
 branch, which he had fostered from his infancy. 
 
 The three principal pretenders were, 1. The dauphin of 
 France. 2. Joseph Ferdinand, the electoral prince ; and, 
 3. The emperor Leopold. 
 
 The pretensions of the dauphin were deduced fron his 
 mother, Maria Theresa, eldest daughter of Philip IV., 
 and his right would have been undoubted, had not his 
 mother on her marriage formally renounced, for herself 
 and her children, all title to the succession of the Spanish 
 throne; a renunciation confirmed by the will of Philip 
 IV., as well as by the cortes, and ratified in the most 
 solemn manner by Louis himself. 
 
 If the dauphin's pretensions were set aside, the electoral 
 prince of Bavaria was the undoubted heir, in right of his 
 mother, whose renunciation was considered invalid, because ' 
 it had never been approved by the king of Spain or rati- 
 fied by the cortes. 
 
 The emperor Leopold claimed first, as the only remain- 
 ing descendant of the male line from Philip and Joanna ; 
 and secondly, in right of his mother Mary Anne, daughter 
 of Philip III. the legitimate heiress, in virtue of the 
 aforesaid renunciations. 
 
 The cause of Leopold, besides, was not only supported 
 by the two queens, but by count Oropesa, prime-minister 
 and president of the council of Castile, by Portocarrero, 
 cardinal archbishop of Toledo, and by almost all the mem- 
 bers of the cabinet. Charles himself at first acknowledged 
 the justice of his claims, by acceding to the Grand Alliance, 
 
 * Madame de Villars says, " le Roy a une haine effroyable centre 
 les Franfois." In the Memoirs of the court of Spain, it is said the 
 queen never demanded her parrots and dogs whenever the king was in 
 her apartment, for he would not suffer those little creatures, because 
 they came from France, and he was out of humour whenever the queen 
 looked at a Frenchman passing through the court of the palace. He 
 was pleased with the duchess of Terranova, who strangled one of her 
 favourite parrots because it could speak nothing but French.
 
 462 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXVII. 
 
 and by a will in favour of the archduke, which he made 
 during a dangerous illness. But the birth of the Bavarian 
 prince produced the same change in the councils of Madrid 
 as among the powers of Europe. Even the queen-mother 
 deemed his rights better founded than those of the arch- 
 duke, and her opinion was adopted by Oropesa, and a con- 
 siderable party in the cabinet. 
 
 The death of the queen -mother, in 1696, and the retire- 
 ment of Oropesa, however, allowing the influence of the 
 queen-consort again to operate in favour of the Austrian 
 family, Leopold sent to Madrid, Ferdinand Bonaventura 
 count of Harrach., one of his principal ministers, who had 
 grown grey in diplomatic intrigues, to secure the nomina- 
 tion of the archduke before the close of the war, that he 
 might obtain the guaranty of the Maritime Powers in the 
 ensuing treaty of peace. Harrach found the court divided 
 into two parties : the queen, cardinal Portocarrero, the 
 admiral of Castile, and the majority of the cabinet sup- 
 ported the Austrian candidate ; Oropesa, who though in 
 retirement was often consulted by the king, and the mar- 
 quis of Mancera, were attached to the interests of the Bava- 
 rian house ; the count of Monterrey, a member of the 
 council of state, was the only considerable person devoted 
 to France. The king himself, if so weak and fluctuating 
 a prince could be considered as having any fixed principle, 
 preserved the impressions which he had received from the 
 queen-mother, in favour of the Bavarian claims. The 
 queen, vain and imperious, without talents for business, was 
 governed by the countess of Berlips, a German lady, who 
 accompanied her into Spain, and by her confessor, father 
 Gabriel Chiusa, a capuchin monk. Her German partiali- 
 ties, and the venality of her favourites, disgusted a people 
 remarkable for the strength of their national prejudices ; 
 and at the same time the Austrian party, thus rendered 
 unpopular, was weakened by contests between the cardinal 
 and admiral for pre-eminence, and by the antipathy of the 
 native Spaniards to the German junta. 
 
 After considerable delays and innumerable difficulties, 
 Harrach found means to infuse unanimity into so hetero- 
 geneous a body ; and obtained from the king a promise 
 to nominate the archduke his successor, provided the era-
 
 1697-1700.] CANDIDATES FOB THE CROWN OF SPAIN. 463 
 
 peror would send him to Spain with an auxiliary force of 
 10,000 men. But this opportunity was lost by the indeci- 
 sive conduct of Leopold, who, from want of troops and 
 money on one hand, and from fear of exposing the person 
 of his darling son on the other, made endless objections. 
 He also at length alienated his partisans by demanding for 
 Charles the government of Milan, which was considered 
 as a proof that his views were rather fixed on dismember- 
 ing the Spanish monarchy, than securing its indivisibility. 
 
 These divisions, demurs, and punctilios having pro- 
 tracted the negotiation till the conclusion of the war, 
 Louis turned his whole attention to secure the succession 
 of Spain. He brought forward no specific claims, for fear 
 of provoking opposition among the powers of Europe, but 
 he kept up his military establishment, increased his army 
 on the Spanish frontier, formed magazines, and filled the 
 neighbouring harbours with ships of war. He at the same 
 time despatched the marquis, afterwards duke of Harcourt, 
 one of his most able negotiators, to Madrid, to counteract 
 the intrigues of Harrach and the Austrian party ; and 
 directed him, if he could r.ot secure the nomination of a 
 French prince, to support the Bavarian claims, or even to 
 procure the elevation of a Spanish grandee, if more agree- 
 able to the nation. 
 
 While Harrach, with German stiffness and phlegm, and 
 with all the pride and punctiliousness of the imperial 
 court, expatiated on the justice of the Austrian claims, 
 Harcourt employed the silent influence of bribes, promises, 
 and personal flattery, and was ably seconded by his lady, a 
 woman of the most accomplished and winning manners. 
 His house was open to all ; and his table, at once the scene 
 of elegant conviviality and princely magnificence, attracted 
 even those who were adverse to his cause, and formed a 
 striking contrast with the formal and inhospitable estab- 
 lishment of the imperial ambassador. He likewise con- 
 ciliated the clergy, who possess such extensive influence in 
 Spain ; he availed himself of the divisions of the Austrian 
 party, and the unpopularity of the German junta; he 
 gained the majority of the cabinet, and found means to 
 secure Portocarrero, who was disgusted with the superior
 
 464 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXVII. 
 
 influence of his rival the admiral. He applied with suc- 
 cess to the rapacity of the countess of Berlips, roused her 
 resentment against Harrach, who had endeavoured to 
 procure her dismission, as the means of diminishing the 
 odium against her nation ; and tampered with the no less 
 powerful confessor, whom he lured with the prospect of a 
 cardinal's hat. By their influence and intervention he 
 opened a communication with the queen herself, inflamed 
 the dislike which she had conceived against Harrach for 
 his harsh remonstrances and incessant importunities, pre- 
 sumed to hold forth the prospect of a marriage with the 
 dauphin after the death of her husband, and succeeded in 
 rendering her lukewarm in her efforts, if he did not wholly 
 datach her from her Austrian connections. 
 
 During these intrigues at Madrid, Louis secured the 
 powerful influence of the church, by conciliating Pope 
 Innocent XII., who was irritated against Leopold, for 
 reviving some obsolete pretensions on the Romanfiefs. 
 He fomented also that jealousy between the elector of 
 Bavaria and the emperor, which arose from their con- 
 trary claims on the Spanish succession, offered to support 
 his pretensions, and attached to his cause a prince, who 
 held the government of the Netherlands, whose dominions 
 favoured an attack against the Austrian territories, and 
 who gratefully proposed to repay his support, by laying at 
 his disposal any part of the contested succession. 
 
 At length the emperor, alarmed at the growing influence 
 of France, and freed from the embarrassments of the war, 
 proposed to accept the offer of the Spanish court, by send- 
 ing the archduke into Spain with a force of 10,000 men. 
 But this expedient was adopted too late, for the French 
 party in the cabinet was now sufficiently powerful to pro- 
 cure its rejection. Harrach, also, feeling the decline of his 
 influence, obtained his recall from a court where- he could 
 expect nothing but disgrace and disappointment, and 
 aggravated the general dislike which was rising against 
 the house of Austria by impolitic reproaches and ill-timed 
 resentment. He was succeeded by his son Louis, who, 
 without his talents or sagacity, inherited his haughty and 
 unconciliating manners, and, by his imprudence, widened
 
 1697-1700.] THE FIRST PARTITION TREATY. 465 
 
 that breach which had been effected by the intrigues of 
 Harcourt. 
 
 While Louis was employing every art to establish his 
 influence at Madrid, he endeavoured to amuse the other 
 states of Europe, and prevent the renewal of the Grand 
 Alliance. Aware that the Maritime Powers were no less 
 unwilling to see Spain annexed to the possessions of the 
 house of Austria than to those of the house of Bourbon, 
 he secretly applied to William, and proposed an expedient 
 which seemed calculated to prevent either from acquiring 
 a dangerous preponderance. This specious project pro- 
 duced its effect ; and after some negotiations an arrange- 
 ment was concluded on the llth of October, 1698, which 
 bears the name of the first Partition Treaty, between 
 Louis, William, and the United Provinces. Spain itself, 
 the Netherlands, and the colonial possessions, were as- 
 signed to the prince of Bavaria ; Milan to the archduke 
 Charles ; Naples and the Two Sicilies, with the rest of the 
 Spanish dominions in Italy, and the province of Guipuscoa, 
 to the dauphin. Should the electoral prince die without 
 issue, after his accession to the Spanish throne, his share 
 was to be entailed on his father. The contracting parties 
 agreed to enforce the execution of this treaty, and to 
 maintain the strictest silence to all, except the emperor, to 
 whom it was to be communicated by William, for the 
 purpose of obtaining his assent. 
 
 It is difficult to ascertain what were the real motives or 
 hopes of William in consenting to this treaty ; whether he 
 suffered his jealousy of the house of Austria to overcome 
 the just apprehensions which he ought to have entertained 
 of Louis, or whether, embarrassed by the factious opposi- 
 tion in parliament and the reduction of his military force, 
 he adopted an expedient which seemed at least likely to 
 prevent the renewal of war. With regard to Louis, the 
 treaty was a mere subterfuge ; for with an army of 100,000 
 men on his frontiers, and with every means to appropriate 
 the Spanish succession, it is not probable that so ambitious 
 a prince should relinquish an object to which all his 
 designs had long tended, to fulfil the stipulations of a 
 compact, which, except the trifling acquisition of territory 
 on the side of Navarre, gave France only a distant and 
 
 VOL. II. H H
 
 466 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXVII. 
 
 uncertain possession in Italy. On the contrary, by this 
 refined stroke of policy he kept the Maritime Powers in 
 suspense ; alarmed the court and people of Spain, and 
 prepared them to throw themselves under the protection of 
 France, as the only means of preventing a dismemberment. 
 In fact, his motives were evident from his conduct ; for 
 while William was vainly endeavouring to obtain the 
 consent of the emperor, he betrayed the secret of the 
 intended partition to the court of Madrid, threw the whole 
 blame on the Maritime Powers, and earnestly exhorted 
 the Spaniards to maintain the integrity of their monarchy. 
 
 The disclosure of the treaty excited the strongest 
 sensations at Madrid and Vienna. Leopold resented the 
 attempts of the Maritime Powers to compensate for his 
 claims by the petty cession of the Milanese, which he con- 
 sidered as a fief of the empire, and was still more indignant 
 at the exclusion of his family from all hopes of future suc- 
 cession, by entailing the crown on the elector of Bavaria. 
 The court of Madrid displayed still greater marks of in- 
 dignation and horror. All parties united in condemning 
 the arrogance of the partitioning powers, who thus parcelled 
 out their country ; the weak and irritable mind of the king 
 was roused almost to frenzy, and with a view to prevent 
 the fulfilment of a treaty no less hostile to his honour than 
 offensive to his feelings, he resolved to nominate his suc- 
 cessor. 
 
 Louis was fully prepared for this turn of affairs. Un- 
 willing to provoke opposition, or unite those powers whom 
 he had recently contrived to divide, he kept his own claims 
 in silence, and suffered his partisans at Madrid to support, 
 or at least not to oppose, the pretensions of the Bavarian 
 house, as the means of excluding the archduke, and de- 
 stroying that influence which the Austrian party might 
 derive from the declaration of the king in its favour. His 
 purposes were forwarded no less by the agency of Porto- 
 carrero, and the influence of the pope, than by the re- 
 establishment of Oropesa in the post of prime-minister. 
 The queen, who was influenced by the countess of Berlips, 
 remained neuter ; and the adherents of Bavaria, assisted 
 by the agents of France, persuaded the king to consult the 
 council of state, the pope, and the most celebrated jurists
 
 1697-1700.] THE KING OF SPAIN APPOINTS AN HEIR. 467 
 
 in Spain and Italy. The council almost unanimously re- 
 commended the adoption of the Bavarian prince ; the same 
 sentiment re-echoed from the professors of Salamanca and 
 the jurists of Italy ; and the decision was sealed by the 
 sacred authority of the pope. This unanimity decided the 
 wavering mind of the king. A will was drawn up, signed, 
 and, on the 28th of November, 1698, delivered in the 
 usual forms, before the council of state, appointing the 
 Bavarian prince his successor. The secret was confined 
 to Oropesa, Portocarrero, and the secretary by whom it was 
 drawn ; but, the very same evening, the intelligence was 
 imparted to the French ambassador, by means of the 
 cardinal. 
 
 Louis received the account with coolness and even com- 
 placency, and made no other opposition than a mild 
 remonstrance against the exclusion of the dauphin. But 
 the effect of this testament was still more striking at 
 Vienna than even the treaty of partition; for Leopold, 
 who had hoped, by rejecting so offensive an engagement, 
 to conciliate the king and nation, and to see his family 
 called to the succession, was equally confounded and pro- 
 voked by this unexpected decision. He loudly remon- 
 strated with the court of Spain ; the empress reproached 
 her sister in the bitterest terms ; above all, Harrach 
 irretrievably offended the queen, by the most disrespectful 
 expostulations, and every court of Europe was filled with 
 the complaints of the imperial ministers. 
 
 In the midst of this general ferment, the death of the 
 electoral prince, on the 6th of February, 1699, gave new 
 hopes to the emperor. The partiality of the queen for her 
 family revived ; her venal and rapacious favourite seems 
 to have again embraced the Austrian interest; Oropesa 
 became as zealous for the Austrian, as he had been for the 
 Bavarian succession, and he was joined by the admiral of ; 
 Castile. Above all, the court of Vienna relied on the 
 disposition of the king, and trusted that he would not 
 remove the crown from his own family, to confer it on the 
 hereditary and detested rival of his house, who had recently 
 incurred his bitterest resentment, by joining in the treaty 
 to dismember his monarchy. 
 
 In proportion, however, to the difficulty of the crisis, 
 
 HH 2
 
 468 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXT1I. 
 
 Louis redoubled his activity, and he found a most subtle 
 and indefatigable agent in Portocarrero. By a series of 
 intrigues and artifices, assisted by fortunate accidents, the 
 cardinal procured the removal of the king's confessor, and 
 intimidated the queen; he availed himself of a popular 
 commotion to obtain the dismission of Oropesa and the 
 admiral, replaced them with his own creatures, and appro- 
 priated the direction of affairs. His influence being now 
 predominant, the agents of France began to act more 
 openly in favour of the dauphin, circulated papers enforc- 
 ing his claims, and used every expedient to influence the 
 public mind. 
 
 As in the former instance, Louis did not solely trust to 
 his own exertions or the activity of his partisans at Madrid ; 
 but again endeavoured to embarrass and deceive the other 
 powers of Europe. While he fomented the troubles of 
 England, and renewed his cabals with the Jacobites, he 
 opened a new negotiation with William, for another treaty 
 of partition. The archduke was to have Spain, the Nether- 
 lands, and the colonial possessions, and the dauphin, in 
 addition to the share assigned by the former treaty, the 
 Milanese, or Loraine and Bar, as an equivalent. In the 
 midst of the negotiations for settling the intended partition, 
 the project was again artfully disclosed to the king of Spain. 
 The intelligence produced a still greater sensation than on 
 the former occasion ; Charles made the most violent remon- 
 strances at Paris, London, and the Hague, and with Eng- 
 land, in particular, his representations occasioned a public 
 breach of the correspondence between the two courts. 
 
 The activity of the French agents at Madrid having 
 excited the suspicions of William, he threatened to break 
 off the negotiations. But Louis disavowed the transactions 
 of his ambassador, and solemnly declared that he would 
 abide by the treaty, even should a will be made in favour 
 of his family. These professions weighing with a prince 
 who was swayed by the strictest notions of probity, the 
 treaty was signed and ratified. In addition to the former 
 stipulations, it was declared, that the crown of Spain was 
 not to be united either with that of France or the empire, 
 and therefore should the archduke die without issue, Leo- 
 pold or his successor was allowed to nominate another
 
 1697-1700.] THE SPANISH SUCCESSION. 469 
 
 prince of his family on the same terms. Louis likewise 
 engaged that Spain should never revert to the possessor of 
 the French crown. Three months were allowed for the 
 accession of the emperor, and on his refusal, the contract- 
 ing parties were to nominate another prince to the Spanish 
 throne ; finally, a secret article contained engagements to 
 prevent by force of arms the passage of the archduke either 
 into Spain or Italy. 
 
 Nothing but the extreme embarrassment of William, the 
 discontents in England, and the impossibility of raising a 
 new combination against France, could justify a prince of 
 his sagacity for concluding a treaty, which left him no 
 resource, but reliance on the good faith of a monarch who 
 had long sported with the most solemn engagements. This 
 treaty, in fact, was a virtual exclusion of an Austrian 
 prince. It afforded Louis an opportunity to revive the 
 alarms of the Spaniards against the dreaded dismember- 
 ment ; it enabled him to increase his army on the frontiers, 
 under pretence of taking upon himself the whole burden 
 of its execution ; while by excluding the archduke from 
 Spain, it prevented the king from securing the fulfilment 
 of his dispositions by the presence of his intended heir. 
 
 On considering the situation of Leopold, our surprise 
 may perhaps be excited, that he did not embrace an offer 
 which seemed to afford him the prospect of securing for 
 his son, Spain, the Indies, and the Netherlands, with the 
 support of the Maritime Powers, and even the guaranty 
 of France. He was threatened with the renewal of civil 
 contests in Germany, as the corresponding princes against 
 the ninth electorate were assembling troops, and preparing 
 for hostilities, and were instigated by the promises of 
 France. The elector of Bavaria, from a dependent, was 
 become a rival and enemy ; the elector of Saxony found 
 sufficient employment in securing possession of the throne 
 of Poland, and the war was now beginning which soon 
 afterwards involved all the powers of the North and thy 
 contiguous states of Germany. His hereditary countries 
 were exhausted by a long and ruinous contest, and his 
 chamber of finance had barely sufficient credit to supply 
 his household with necessaries. The discontents in Hun- 
 gary were only suspended, and he had reason to apprehend 
 
 H II 3
 
 470 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXVII. 
 
 lest the Turks, who were still disputing for the arrangement 
 of the frontiers, should be encouraged, by the prospect of 
 a new convulsion in Europe, to attempt the'recovery of 
 their territories. 
 
 Notwithstanding these embarrassments, Leopold was 
 swayed by motives of superior strength and interest to 
 reject the treaty. From the recent defection of the Mari- 
 time Powers, he placed little reliance on their support ; he 
 justly doubted the sincerity of France, and he was unwilling 
 to relinquish the Milanese, which would give him a footing 
 beyond the Alps, and afford him the means of increasing 
 his territories and influence by new acquisitions in Italy. 
 These motives were strengthened by the apprehension of 
 alienating the king and Spanish nation, should he give 
 countenance to a treaty so offensive to their pride and feel- 
 ings. In this resolution, he was still further strengthened 
 by the revival of his party at Madrid. The queen, for the 
 sake of popularity, dismissed her confessor and the countess 
 of Berlips, and obtained the recall of Harcourt, by betray- 
 ing to the king his intrigues, and the offer of a future 
 marriage with the dauphin. A general sentiment also 
 prevailed throughout Spain, that the only means of secur- 
 ing the indivisibility of the monarchy was to nominate the 
 archduke, and hasten his arrival. Military preparations 
 were commenced; the duke of Medina Cell was sent to 
 Naples to receive imperial troops ; similar orders were de- 
 spatched to Milan ; and negotiations were opened with the 
 duke of Mantua, to obtain the admission of a German gar- 
 rison into his capital. The king even promised to execute 
 a testament in favour of the archduke, and sent the duke 
 of Moles, a warm partisan of the house of Austria, to 
 Vienna to convey the joyful tidings and make the neces- 
 sary arrangements; while courier after courier was de- 
 spatched to hasten the departure of Charles with 15,000 
 men. 
 
 A vigorous struggle now ensued between the contending 
 parties at Madrid. While the stipulations of the secret 
 article in the last treaty of partition deterred the emperor 
 from sending the archduke to Spain, or German troops into 
 Italy, the French agents redoubled their activity and vigil- 
 ance. Blecourt remained as French envoy to Spain, to
 
 1697-1700.] THE SPANISH SUCCESSION. 471 
 
 carry on the intrigue ; Harcourt, under the pretence of 
 commanding the army on the frontier, directed the move- 
 ments of his party, and formed a chain of communication 
 between Paris and Madrid. Portocarrero, and his subor- 
 dinate agents, roused the national resentment against the 
 Maritime Powers, and increased the general clamour for 
 appointing a successor to the crown. In the different dis- 
 cussions which took place on this subject, they artfully 
 turned the dispute on the claims and power of France. 
 They displayed the danger of civil commotions, represented 
 that internal contests would enable the various pretenders 
 to dismember the succession, and enforced the necessity of 
 appointing an heir, whose right was indubitable, and who 
 was sufficiently powerful to sustain the weight, and pre- 
 serve the integrity of so vast a monarchy. Providence, 
 they urged, had afforded such an heir in the house of 
 Bourbon, possessing such claims to the succession, and 
 capable, by its arms and situation, of rendering Spain a 
 province of France ; while the emperor was either unable 
 or unwilling to support his pretensions at such a distance 
 from the scene of action, or even to send the archduke to 
 take possession of the inheritance. To obviate, therefore, 
 a danger so imminent, to prevent a partition so dishonour- 
 able, to revive the glory, and establish the independence 
 of the nation, they proposed to confer the crown on Philip, 
 the second son of the dauphin ; and to take measures that 
 Spain and France should never be united. 
 
 These discussions increased the perplexity of the timid 
 and irresolute monarch. He considered the renifhciation 
 of Louis and his queen as valid ; he was unshaken in his 
 attachment to the German branch of his family, and his 
 antipathy to the house of Bourbon ; yet he wavered be- 
 tween the fear of involving his country in foreign and 
 domestic war, and the desire of doing justice to his own 
 blood. To remove, therefore, this reluctance, Portocarrero 
 laid before him the different opinions of the adverse parties, 
 threw him into perplexity, persuaded him as before to consult 
 the most celebrated divines and jurists, and induced him 
 to have again recourse to the pope, as the father of Chris- 
 tendom, whose profession was peace, and whose decision 
 
 H H 4
 
 472 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXVII. 
 
 must derive irrefragable strength from the sanctity of his 
 high office. 
 
 The opinion of the jurists was accordingly despatched to 
 Rome, accompanied by a letter from the king. " Having 
 no children," he observed, " and being obliged to appoint 
 an heir to the Spanish crown from a foreign family, we 
 find such great obscurity in the law of succession, and in 
 the circumstances of the case, that we are unable to form 
 a settled determination. Strict justice is our aim, and to 
 be able to decide with that justice, we have offered up 
 constant prayers to the Supreme Being. We are anxious 
 to act rightly, and we have recourse to your holiness, as 
 to an infallible guide, entreating you to consult with the 
 cardinals and divines whom you judge to be most able and 
 sincere, and after having attentively examined the testa- 
 ments of our ancestors, from Ferdinand the Catholic to 
 Philip IV., the decrees of the cortes, the renunciations 
 of the infantas Anne and Maria Theresa, the marriage 
 articles, compacts, and all the acts of the Austrian princes, 
 from Philip the Handsome to the present time, to decide 
 by the rules of right and equity." Charles concluded with 
 declaring that he was not guided either by love or hatred, 
 and only waited the decree of the holy pontiff to regulate 
 his conduct. 
 
 Innocent, already prepared for this appeal, affected to 
 refer the case to the cardinals Albani, Spinola, and Spada, 
 who, after an examination of forty days, decided in favour 
 of the dauphin. He therefore artfully replied to the king, 
 in a style calculated to influence a conscientious prince on 
 the verge of the grave. " Being himself," he said, " in a 
 situation similar to that of his Catholic majesty, on the 
 point of appearing at the judgment-seat of Christ, and 
 rendering an account to his sovereign pastor of the flock 
 which had been intrusted to his care, he was bound to give 
 such advice as would not be a reproach to his conscience at 
 the day of judgment. Your majesty," he added, " ought 
 not to put the interests of the house of Austria in com- 
 petition with those of eternity, and of that dreadful account 
 of your actions which you are soon to give before the great 
 judge of kings, who admits no excuse, and is no respecter 
 of persons. Neither should you be ignorant that the chil-
 
 1697-1700.] THE SPANISH SUCCESSION. 473 
 
 dren of the dauphin are the rightful heirs of the crown, 
 and that in opposition to them, neither the archduke, nor 
 any member of the Austrian family, has the smallest legiti- 
 mate pretension. In proportion to the importance of the 
 succession, the more crying will be the injustice of exclud- 
 ing the rightful heirs, and the more will you draw upon 
 your devoted person the vengeance of heaven. It is there- 
 fore your duty to omit no precaution which your wisdom 
 can suggest, to render justice where justice is due, and to 
 secure, by every means in your power, the undivided suc- 
 cession of the Spanish monarchy to a son of the dauphin." 
 
 Notwithstanding this decision, Charles yet hesitated 
 between his affection for his own family and his dread of 
 occasioning the dismemberment of his country, or involving 
 it in a war with the house of Bourbon. He was pressed on 
 one side by the queen, his confessor, and the inquisitor 
 general ; on the other he was assailed by the cardinal, and 
 almost all the members of the council of state; and he 
 was beset by attendants from whom he heard nothing but 
 arguments in favour of the Bourbon claims. These dis- 
 putes were agitated with the utmost virulence and fury, 
 and not only the antechamber, but even the apartment of 
 the sick monarch, resounded with indecorous debates. He 
 alternately waved between the houses of Austria and 
 Bourbon ; at one time encouraging the hopes of the em- 
 peror, and at another, doubting whether he should bequeath 
 the succession to the duke of Anjou, lest the king of France 
 should prefer to execute the treaty of partition. 
 
 Agitated by these doubts and anxieties, his health rapidly 
 declined ; and at the moment when his disorder had reached 
 a crisis, and when his frame was exhausted by the effects 
 of disease and the struggles of contending passions, the 
 cardinal persuaded him to admit some divines of exem- 
 plary learning and piety to assist him in his devotions, and 
 prepare him for the awful moment of dissolution. These 
 divines opened their office by terrifying the king with the 
 prospect of immediate death ; and in the midst of the 
 lugubrous ceremonies with which the Roman Catholic 
 church appals the mind of the dying, impressed on his 
 morbid imagination the danger to which his soul would be 
 exposed, if he entailed on his country the miseries of a
 
 474 LEOPOLD I. [CII. LXVII. 
 
 disputed succession. They insisted that it was his duty as 
 a true son of the church to conform to the opinion of the 
 pope and of his council, the disinterested advocates of jus- 
 tice, and the interpreters of the national voice. They 
 terrified him with the vengeance of an offended deity, if 
 in the disposal of his crown he suffered himself to be 
 swayed by partial love or hatred. They- argued that the 
 Austrians were not the relations, nor the Bourbons the 
 enemies of his soul ; and they exhorted him not to listen 
 to the bastard voice of natural affection, which soothes and 
 flatters in life, but is reduced to dust and ashes in the 
 grave. 
 
 Weak and exhausted, sinking under anguish and disease, 
 appalled by the terrors of eternal punishment, Charles 
 yielded to these representations. He imparted the sub- 
 stance of his testament to Ubilla, secretary of state, in the 
 presence of Portocarrero, and Arias, president of the coun- 
 cil of Castile. A will, instantly drawn up, or already 
 prepared, was presented for his signature, and attested by 
 Ubilla, who was made notary public for that purpose.* 
 On the 2nd of October, it was inclosed in a cover, which 
 was sealed and endorsed by seven witnesses, the cardinals 
 Portocarrero and Borgia, the president of Castile, the 
 dukes of Medina Sidonia, Sessa, and Infantado, and the 
 count of Benevento ; and three days after a codicil was 
 annexed, containing further arrangements in regard to the 
 queen and the regency. But to the last moment the king 
 testified his reluctance to disinherit his own family; he 
 endeavoured to reconcile himself to this disposition by the 
 reflection, " God gives kingdoms, because they are his ; " 
 and, when he affixed his signature, he burst into tears, ex- 
 claiming, " I am already nothing ! " 
 
 Within a few days after the signature, his disorder took 
 a more favourable turn. He was no sooner flattered with 
 
 * It is neither easy nor important to ascertain in whose presence this 
 will was read and signed ; but in the codicil, Ubilla, who is called 
 secretary of state, and notary public, is mentioned as a witness. The 
 will was dictated in the presence of Portocarrero and Don Miguel 
 Arias ; but probably no one except Ubilla was present when it was 
 executed, to avoid suspicion ; for we are informed by St. Philippe, that 
 Ubilla was constituted notary public, on this occasion, to fulfil the 
 formalities of the Spanish law
 
 1697-1700.] TESTAMENT OF THE KING OF SPAIN. 475 
 
 the hopes of recovery, than he relapsed into his former in- 
 clination for the Austrian family, expressed the strongest 
 resentment against those who had recently deceived his 
 conscience, and sent a courier to the emperor announcing 
 his resolution to appoint the archduke his heir. But he 
 was unable to execute his purpose. The change of health 
 which had revived his spirits was but a transitory gleam ; 
 exhausted nature sunk under accumulated infirmities, and 
 he expired on the morning of the 1st of November, in the 
 fortieth year of his age, and the thirty-sixth of his reign. 
 On the very day of his decease, the will was read in the 
 presence of the council of state, by order of Portocarrero. 
 In regard to the succession it declared, " It appears from 
 various consultations of the ministers of state and justice, 
 that the reason on which the renunciations of the infantas 
 Anna and Maria Theresa, the queens of France, our aunts, 
 were founded, was the danger of uniting the succession of 
 France and Spain in the same person. That fundamental 
 objection being removed, the right of succession subsists in 
 the nearest relation, conformably to the laws of Spain ; 
 and this relation is the second son of the dauphin of France. 
 For this reason he is declared successor to the Spanish 
 dominions ; and all subjects and vassals, of all our king- 
 doms and lordships, are required to acknowledge him." 
 Should the duke of Anjou die without issue, or become 
 heir to the French crown, the duke of Berry was to suc- 
 ceed on the same conditions ; and after him or his posterity, 
 the Spanish territories were entailed on the archduke 
 Charles, on the same terms, to prevent the union of the 
 crowns of Spain and the empire ; and finally on the duke 
 of Savoy and his issue. The remainder of the will re 
 lated to regulations for the appointment and conduct of the 
 regency. The administration of affairs till the arrival of 
 the new king, or till he had attained his majority, if a 
 minor, was committed to the queen, and to a junta of eight 
 ministers, headed by Portocarrero, in whom centered the 
 supreme authority.* 
 
 * The council of regency was composed of the queen, Portocarrero, 
 don Manuel de Arias, the duke of Montalto, head of the council of 
 Arragon, the marquis of Villafranca, of the council of Italy, the count 
 of Monterret of that of Flanders, the inquisitor general, the count of
 
 476 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXVH 
 
 The contents of this testament excited the utmost asto- 
 nishment in the queen and the Austrian party, who had 
 been so confident of success, that Harrach was waiting in 
 the antechamber to receive and impart the earliest intelli- 
 gence of the archduke's appointment. To this surprise was 
 probably owing the extreme tranquillity with which the 
 change was attended ; for the nation submitted in silence, 
 if not with pleasure, to a disposition which removed the fear 
 of a dismemberment. The government was established in 
 conformity with the provisions of the will ; the regulations 
 of the deceased monarch were notified by the regents to 
 Louis XIV. ; the most earnest representations were made 
 for his acceptance of the testament, and the departure of the 
 new monarch ; and formal orders were given to the courier, 
 in case of his refusal, to proceed without delay to Vienna, 
 and tender the succession to the archduke Charles. 
 
 Louis, who was previously apprised of the contents of 
 the will, had recourse to the most puerile subterfuges to 
 justify his breach of faith towards the Maritime Powers. 
 Affecting to waver between a resolution of maintaining the 
 treaty of partition and of accepting the will, he submitted 
 the question to different councils of state, and listened with 
 affected gravity and attention to their discussions. He 
 suffered himself also to be assailed with the warmest re- 
 proaches from the dauphin, Madame de Maintenon, and the 
 ministers, for neglecting the interests of his family. At 
 length, with prudish reluctance, he seemed to yield to their 
 remonstrances, concluded the farce by presenting the young 
 monarch to his obsequious court, and finally endeavoured 
 to justify himself to Europe, by publishing a manifesto 
 fraught with eloquence, artifice, and sophistry. 
 
 Little time intervened between the acceptance of the test- 
 ament and the departure of Philip. The acknowledgment 
 of his title at Paris was the prelude to his accession in Spain ; 
 he was proclaimed on the 24th of November at Madrid, in 
 December was joyfully received by his new subjects, who 
 were won by his personal comeliness and devout deport- 
 
 Benevento, as representative of the grandees, and the count of Frigi- 
 liano, as counsellor of state. St. Philippe, torn. i. p. 51. See a copy 
 of the will in Dumont, vol. ii. part 2. p. 485. ; Lamberti, v. i. 
 p. 191.
 
 1697-1700.] A BOURBON KING OF SPAIN. 477 
 
 ment, and took quiet possession of the throne. He found 
 the Austrian party suppressed ; the queen had been com- 
 pelled, by an order given under his name, to retire from 
 Madrid, for expressing a doubt concerning the authenticity 
 of the will ; the confessor was banished ; and the two Aus- 
 trian partisans, Frigiliano and the inquisitor general, re- 
 moved by their colleagues in the regency ; and Harrach, 
 after making an ineffectual protest, quitted the kingdom. 
 The ministers, eager to display their zeal, submitted the 
 whole administration to Louis, and acted with such servility 
 as to draw from him the remark, that they had made him 
 prime-minister to his grandson. From the unexpected 
 tenor of the will, and still more from the precautions adopted 
 by Louis, the prince of Vaudemont, though promoted to 
 the government of Milan by the influence of the queen and 
 William III., received a Spanish garrison, while the duke 
 of Medina Celi followed his example in Naples, and all the 
 foreign territories acknowledged the new sovereign with 
 the same facility as Spain itself.* 
 
 * On a subject so important as the transfer of the Spanish monarchy, 
 various and contradictory accounts have been given. Many of the 
 early authors, both native and foreign, even those who were partisans 
 of France, and attached to the court of Madrid, have asserted that the 
 whole conduct of Louis was a series of mere deception and intrigue, 
 and that his design, from the very commencement of the contest, was 
 to appropriate the succession. Torcy, however, in the strongest terms 
 combats this assertion; declaring that the transfer of the monarchy 
 " was the work of Providence, and conducted without the intrigues 
 of man ;" and the declaration of a statesman who possessed the cha- 
 racter of integrity, and was himself concerned in the negotiation, 
 has weighed with later authors. We have not however differed 
 from such authority without cogent reasons. Without adverting to 
 the strong counter testimony of other writers, we discover, in an atten- 
 tive perusal of Torcy 's own Memoirs, various proofs that Louis 
 directed the intrigues at Madrid and Rome, that he was acquainted 
 with the appeals of Charles to the pope, and that constant communi- 
 cations took place between Portocarrero and the French ministers at 
 Madrid. This being the case, it is absurd to doubt that Louis was 
 previously ignorant of the movements of his partisans, or that he did 
 not even dictate the conditions of the will. In fact, whoever com- 
 pares the work of Torcy with other authentic sources, will be convinced 
 that it is an artful narrative, drawn up to colour the perfidy and justify 
 the negotiations of Louis XIV. 
 
 On this occasion we quote the various authorities which we have 
 consulted and compared. Memoires de Torcy, torn, i., passim du
 
 478 
 
 CHAP. LXVIIL 1702, 1703. 
 
 <VmLE Philip was thus seated on the Spanish throne, with- 
 out opposition from his subjects, he was no less quietly 
 acknowledged by all the powers of Europe except the em- 
 peror. 
 
 The court of Vienna, which had confidently relied on 
 the inclinations of Charles, and the reviving strength of 
 the Austrian party, was confounded by the intelligence of 
 the testament made in favour of a French prince, and the 
 acceptance of it by Louis. A general indignation prevailed 
 among all ranks against France. The popular fury was with 
 difficulty restrained ; the ministers, headed by count Har- 
 rach, urged the emperor to the most violent measures ; the 
 king of the Romans, whose ardent temper was ungovern- 
 able, could not refrain from invectives and personal insults 
 against the marquis of Villars, the French ambassador. 
 Leopold himself was transported beyond his characteristic 
 caution and phlegm. In the height of resentment he forgot 
 his embarrassments, and, in conformity with his own feel- 
 ings, the sentiments of his family, and the general wishes 
 of his people, resolved to assert his pretensions by force of 
 arms. He made military preparations, sent commissaries 
 to obtain possession of the Italian territories as imperial fiefs, 
 and despatched envoys to rouse the empire and the other 
 states of Europe. 
 
 But his emissaries were refused admittance into the Mi- 
 lanese ; and of those whom lie sent to Naples, one, who 
 attempted to inflame the populace, was arrested and de- 
 capitated. He was equally foiled in his endeavours to 
 persuade the diet of Ratisbon to attempt the recovery of 
 the Milanese as an imperial fief; and the five circles of 
 
 Comte de Harrach ; de St. Simon, liv. 6. ; de St. Philippe, t. i. 
 p. 1-61.; De la Torre Tesse, t 1. ; Ottieri Historia della Guerra, 
 &c., per la successione alia Monarchia di Spagna ; Desormeaux, Hist, 
 de 1'Espagne, torn. v. p. 147-174.; Targe, Histoire de 1'Avenement 
 de la Maison de Bourbon au Trdne d'Espagne, lib. i. ch. 1-4. ; 
 Lainberti, torn. i. passim. ; Milbiller's Continuation of Schmidt, b. 
 ix. ch. 19-22 b. x. ch. 1. ; Heinrich, vol. vii. p. 367-422. ; Mably and 
 Koch, Art. de la Succession d'Espagne.
 
 1702, 1703.] WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION. 479 
 
 the Rhine even united in an association to prevent the 
 interference of Germany in the war for the Spanish suc- 
 cession. 
 
 His appeals to the other powers of Europe were equally 
 fruitless. The northern sovereigns were too deeply engaged 
 in their own contests to interfere in the concerns of the 
 house of Austria ; the pope, with the dukes of Savoy and 
 Mantua, were gained by France ; and from Venice he ob- 
 tained only vague and secret promises of neutrality. He 
 experienced a still greater disappointment from the Maritime 
 Powers. In England, the factions in parliament had risen to 
 an alarming height; William, after suffering a personal insult 
 in the dismission of his Dutch guards, had seen his mili- 
 tary and naval establishment reduced, had been compelled 
 to dissolve the Whig parliament, and to accept a Tory ad- 
 ministration, who joined in the national clamour against 
 foreign entanglements, and in particular reprobated a war 
 for the Spanish succession. The death of the young duke 
 of Gloucester diminished that influence which he derived 
 from the prospect of a Protestant successor ; and he was 
 reduced to the necessity of sacrificing his own feelings and 
 delicate sense of honour to conciliate the different parties, 
 for the sake of entailing the British crown on the house of 
 Hanover. He had experienced all the virulence of popular 
 fury for concluding the partition treaties ; and was scarcely 
 able to save his late ministers, who were impeached for ad- 
 vising measures considered as hostile to the trade and wel- 
 fare of England. 
 
 The Dutch, exposed to immediate danger from the in- 
 crease of the French power on the side of the Netherlands, 
 were almost unanimous in their resolution to assist the 
 emperor; and, as early as the commencement of 1701, 
 concluded a subsidiary treaty with the king of Denmark 
 for a succour of 12,000 men, and hired troops from the 
 elector Palatine and other princes of Germany. But Louis 
 disconcerted their designs with his usual address, prompti- 
 tude, and vigour. By the connivance of the elector of 
 Bavaria, he introduced a military force into the Low 
 Countries, and at the same moment became master of the 
 principal foi-tresses, and captured 15,000 troops who 
 garrisoned the chief towns on the frontier, in virtue of the
 
 480 LEOPOLD i. [cn. Lxvm. 
 
 arrangement with the king of Spain. This master-stroke 
 of policy instantly changed the conduct of the Dutch, who, 
 to obtain the release of their captive troops, and divert 
 the impending danger, acknowledged Philip as king of 
 Spain. Their example was followed by William, who 
 yielded to their earnest entreaties, and the clamours of his 
 parliament and nation, on the 17th of April, 1701. 
 
 Besides these events, a strong combination was formed 
 in favour of the new monarch ; and France secured con- 
 siderable advantages for offensive operations, should the 
 contest terminate in a war, which now seemed inevitable. 
 Victor Amadeus, duke of Savoy, was gained by a marriage 
 between his daughter Maria Theresa and Philip, and by a 
 treaty, which assigned to him the supreme command of a 
 Spanish and French army in Italy, with a monthly sub- 
 sidy. The duke of Mantua was induced to admit French 
 garrisons into his capital and other fortresses. The elector 
 of Bavaria was secretly bound to support the projects of 
 Louis in the empire ; his brother, the elector of Cologne 
 and bishop of Liege, received garrisons in all his fortresses 
 on the Rhine and the Meuse; and the dukes of Brunswick 
 Wolfembuttel and Saxe Gotha, the bishop of Munster, and 
 the landgrave of Hesse, engaged to furnish troops for the 
 service of France; even the king of Portugal, whose poli- 
 tical interests and personal sentiments attached him to the 
 house of Austria, was forced to conclude an alliance in 
 support of Philip's pretensions. Louis, as before, endea- 
 voured to employ the emperor by his intrigues at the 
 Porte, and among the malecontents in Hungary; and opened 
 a secret correspondence with the young Rogotsky, whose 
 hereditary antipathy to the house of Austria was heightened 
 by personal resentment. 
 
 Notwithstanding the unfavourable situation of Europe, 
 and the formidable posture of France, Leopold was not dis- 
 couraged. He pressed his military preparations, and 
 assembled a force of 80,000 men, part of which was des- 
 tined for the protection of the hereditary countries, and the 
 remainder to act on the Rhine, and in Italy, where he pur- 
 posed to make his principal effort. He relied on the 
 jealousy which the unprincipled ambition of Louis had 
 excited, and he was secretly encouraged by William, who
 
 1702, 1703.] WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION. 481 
 
 only temporised till he could allay the discontents of his 
 subjects, and re-unite the scattered parts of the Grand 
 Alliance. Leopold checked the rising rebellion in Hungary 
 by arresting Ragotsky, whose designs were discovered by 
 a confidential agent ; and he obtained from the Venetians 
 a promise to supply him with guides and provisions, and 
 connive at the passage of his troops through their terri- 
 tories. 
 
 Early in spring, Catinat, one of the most able of the 
 French commanders, led ah army through Piedmont, and 
 united with the prince of Vaudemont, who commanded the 
 Spaniards in the Milanese. They threw garrisons into 
 Mantua and Mirandola, concentrated their forces on the 
 right bank of the Adige, the furthest natural line of 
 defence to prevent the entrance of the Germans into Italy, 
 and strongly fortified the ordinary passes leading from the 
 Tyrol on both sides of the Adige. Relying on the strength 
 of their position, and on their own numbers, they taunt- 
 ingly defied the Germans to pass the rugged mountains 
 which divided the Vicentino from the Trentin, without the 
 wings of birds. 
 
 Eugene, the imperial generalissimo, was neither embar- 
 rassed by difficulties, nor daunted by dangers. Early in 
 April he assembled at Roveredo, in the bishopric of Trent, 
 a force of 32,000 veterans, habituated to camps, and har- 
 dened in the wars of Hungary ; and while he amused the 
 enemy with movements as if he intended to force the pas- 
 sages on the side of the Adige*, he suddenly directed his 
 march over the Alps, which separated the Trentin from 
 the Vicentino. Led by Venetian guides, the cavalry 
 wound its way along the circuitous valley of the Brenta ; 
 the infantry, shod with crampons, and handing their arms 
 to one another, passed the frightful chasms and precipices 
 towards the head of the Astico ; the baggage and artillery 
 were conveyed partly on roads constructed over the rugged 
 mountains with incredible labour, or raised from height to 
 
 * The only two practicable passages from Roveredo to the Vicentino 
 ran, the first between the Lago di Garda and the Adige, the second on 
 the other side of the river at the foot of the impending mountains, and 
 defended by the celebrated fort of Chiusa, from which the pass derivi-d 
 ts name. 
 
 VOL. II. II
 
 482 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXVIII. 
 
 height by means of machines. After penetrating through 
 a district hitherto impervious to all but hunters and moun- 
 taineers, the whole army united in the plains at the foot of 
 the Alps ; and Eugene, leaving a corps of 2,000 men on 
 the frontiers of the Vicentino, suddenly appeared in the 
 vicinity of Verona, before the enemy suspected that he had 
 commenced his march. 
 
 Even the matured skill of Catinat was embarrassed by 
 this bold and decisive movement. He made, however, 
 every preparation to defend the Adige, and by the warmest 
 remonstrances, endeavoured to dissuade or terrify the 
 Venetian senate from supplying the imperialists with 
 guides and provisions. He kept a considerable corps on 
 the side of the Lago di Garda, to watch the troops still 
 remaining in the mountains, and prevent the enemy from 
 effecting an opening in his rear into the Brescian ; he 
 placed troops in the neighbourhood of Verona and Leg- 
 nano, and ocupied Carpi and Castagnaro, which command 
 the two principal passages over the Adige, and the only 
 great roads across the marshes of the Val di Verona. But 
 Eugene did not relax in the vigour and decision with which 
 he had commenced the campaign. He still amused the 
 French with various movements along the banks of the 
 Adige and towards the Po, effected a passage near Castel 
 Baldo, occupied the island formed by the canals of Castag- 
 naro and Malopera, and constructed a bridge across the Po 
 at Palantone. By these means he induced Catinat to draw 
 the principal part of his forces to Ostiglia, as a central 
 position, to defend the country either above or below the 
 Po. He kept up the illusion of the enemy by false attacks 
 against the posts along the Adige, and by pushing a corps 
 into the Modenese ; while he suddenly crossed the Tartaro 
 at Trecento, with a detachment of 11,000 men, defeated 
 the French corps at Castagnaro, on the 7th of July, re- 
 duced Carpi after an obstinate engagement, and would 
 have captured the troops at St. Pietra di Legnano, had not 
 the march of the columns intended to cut off their retreat 
 been delayed by accident. 
 
 The French, separated by the loss of these posts, and in 
 danger of being cut off in detail, precipitately retired behind 
 the Mincio, leaving the imperialists masters of the whole
 
 1702, 1703.] WAE OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION. 483 
 
 country between that river and the Adige. Nor did the 
 junction of the duke of Savoy enable them to retard opera- 
 tions so skilfully commenced ; for Eugene, having effected 
 the passage, of the Mincio near Peschiera, drove them 
 behind the Oglio, occupied the fertile territory of the 
 Brescian, forced an entrance into Chiari, notwithstanding 
 the opposition of the Venetian governor, and by taking 
 post under the walls, secured an impregnable camp, and 
 ready communication with the Tyrol. 
 
 Louis, astounded at the retreat of his army, deprived 
 Catinat of the command, and despatched a reinforcement 
 of 20,000 men under Villeroy, with orders to risk a battle. 
 But if Catinat, with all his military talents, had been foiled, 
 still less was the vain and presumptuous Villeroy able to 
 withstand the rapid and complicated movements of Eugene. 
 The new general prepared to restore the honour of the 
 French arms by a battle, and confiding in superior num- 
 bers, boasted that he would drive the German rabble from 
 Italy. Deceived by the report of spies, that the imperial- 
 ists were retiring, he crossed the Oglio, and pushed on to 
 Chiari, hoping to fall in with their rear guard. But his 
 troops, having to encounter with the whole army, secured 
 with every advantage of art and nature, were repulsed in 
 all their attempts to force the imperial intrenchments, 
 after a battle, as long contested and destructive as any con- 
 flict during the whole war in Italy. 
 
 The French being too much discouraged by their defeat 
 to resume their attack, and Eugene too prudent to risk, in 
 the open field, the advantages which he had obtained by 
 his position, the two armies remained in sight of each other, 
 vying which could longest keep the field, till the approach 
 of winter compelled the French to retire into quarters 
 behind the Oglio. On their retreat, Eugene reduced the 
 whole duchy of Mantua, except the capital and Goito, 
 which he closely blockaded, and soon afterwards extended 
 his quarters beyond the Po, by occupying Mirandola and 
 Guastalla. 
 
 The glory and advantage which Leopold gained in this 
 campaign, by singly defeating the united forces of France, 
 Spain, and Savoy, fixed the smaller states of Italy in his 
 i i 2
 
 484 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXVIII. 
 
 interest, revived the spirit of the Maritime Powers, and 
 effected a total change in the disposition of Germany. 
 
 William gradually quieted the discontents in England, 
 and after a feigned negotiation with Louis, in which both 
 engaged for the sake of colouring a rupture, alarmed the 
 nation with apprehensions of a French invasion, which was 
 to be assisted by an insurrection of the Jacobites. By a 
 firm, dignified, yet temperate policy, he conciliated the 
 house of lords and the people ; and, being assisted by the 
 public voice, overruled the opposition in the house of 
 commons. He induced the States, who were endangered 
 by the hostile preparations of France on their frontier, to 
 require from England the succours stipulated by former 
 treaties ; he also obtained from parliament a vote for the 
 promised assistance, and an engagement to support him in 
 such measures as should be necessary for the common 
 safety, according to the tenor of the Grand Alliance. He 
 hastened the embarkation of the troops, repaired to Hol- 
 land, and before the commencement of September, renewed 
 the Grand Alliance between England, the States, and the 
 emperor. The object of this engagement was to secure 
 satisfaction for the claims of the house of Austria on the 
 Spanish succession, to recover the Italian territories, to 
 wrest the Netherlands from France, and to prevent the 
 union of France and Spain in the same family. The Mari- 
 time Powers, as a compensation for their exertions, were 
 to retain all their conquests in the two Indies ; and the 
 contracting parties mutually agreed to conclude neither 
 truce nor peace till this security and compensation were 
 obtained, and allowed two months for procuring the satis- 
 faction demanded, by amicable negotiation. 
 
 Fortunately, the views of William were furthered 
 by the conduct of Louis himself. For James H. dying 
 soon after the signature of the treaty, Louis, on the 16th 
 of September, acknowledged his son king of Great Britain 
 and Ireland, contrary to the stipulations of the peace of 
 Ryswick and was followed by the pope, the king of Spain, 
 and the duke of Savoy. William, returning to England, 
 availed himself of the indignation excited by this pre- 
 meditated affront among all ranks and parties, and by dis- 
 solving the parliament, enabled the Whigs to recover theii
 
 1702, 1703.] DEATH OF WILLIAM m. 485 
 
 ascendency. An animated and dignified address from the 
 throne increased the general enthusiasm : the new parlia- 
 ment attainted the pretended prince of Wales, and passed 
 the celebrated act of abjuration; both houses presented 
 warm and affectionate addresses, declaring their resolution 
 to support the king in resenting the insult offered to the 
 nation. The lords, in a subsequent address, expatiated on 
 the danger which threatened Europe from the accession of 
 the duke of Anjou to the crown of Spain, stigmatising the 
 French king as a violator of treaties, and declaring, that 
 " his majesty, his subjects, and allies, could never be secure 
 till the house of Austria should be restored to its rights, 
 and the invader of the Spanish monarchy brought to rea- 
 son." The commons, though less ardent in their expres- 
 sions, were not less zealons in their grants. Without one 
 dissenting voice, they voted 40,000 sailors, and the same 
 number of troops, and passed the subsidiary treaties with 
 Denmark, Brandenburgh, and the other powers of Ger- 
 many. All the animosity of contending parties was turned 
 against the common enemy ; and the king saw a gleam of 
 popularity close the evening of his tempestuous reign. 
 
 The death of the illustrious monarch, which happened 
 on the 8th of March, was received with a momentary 
 exultation in France and Spain, but was attended with no 
 material change in the counsels of the Maritime Powers. 
 Anne, his successor, though attached to the claims of her 
 family, and timid beyond her sex, fortunately intrusted the 
 whole administration to Maryborough and Godolphin, one 
 the greatest general, the other the greatest financier of the 
 age. Connected by family interests and political views, 
 these two great men conducted with equal harmony, pru- 
 dence, and vigour the affairs of England: they acquired 
 an influence at home and abroad not inferior to that which 
 had been exercised by William, maintained compact and 
 entire all the parts of the Grand Alliance, and communi- 
 cated a rapid and vigorous motion to the whole machine. 
 Marlborough, despatched to Holland with the title of 
 ambassador extraordinary, revived the drooping spirit of 
 the States, and counteracted the deadly feuds which, in 
 such a government, followed the death of their beloved 
 chief, and again led to the abolition of the offices held by 
 
 I I 3
 
 486 LEOPOLD I. [OH. 
 
 the house of Orange. Connected no less by friendship 
 than congenial views with pensionary Heinsius, he con- 
 ciliated while he awed the republican party, and turned 
 against Louis that faction which had hitherto been his 
 great support. The States cordially united with England, 
 and prevented the disunion which arises from a competi- 
 tion for military power, by intrusting to Marlborough, as 
 generalissimo, the same authority over their forces which 
 he possessed over those of England. 
 
 Meanwhile Leopold had acted with equal vigour and 
 address. He had acquired a cordial supporter in Frederic 
 elector of Brandenburgh, by acknowledging him as king of 
 Prussia : he found steady adherents in the dukes of Bruns- 
 wick Luneburgh, and he appeased the discontents in 
 Germany by renewing his former concessions to the cor- 
 responding princes against the ninth electorate, and luring 
 the Protestants with the hope of repealing the obnoxious 
 clause in the treaty of Ryswick. He gradually led the 
 majority of the empire into his views. By the appre- 
 hension of common danger, he first induced the four circles 
 of Franconia, Suabia, and the Upper and Lower Rhine, 
 to unite with that of Austria, and accede to the Grand 
 Alliance. By means of the dukes of Brunswick and Lune- 
 burgh he again forced the houses of Wolfembuttel and 
 Saxe Gotha to relinquish their connections with France ; 
 he finally procured from the diet of Ratisbon a declaration 
 of war against Louis XIV., and the usurper of the Spanish 
 throne; and on the 15th of May, 1702, hostilities were 
 denounced against France at London, the Hague, and 
 Vienna. 
 
 In the midst of these negotiations, the allies opened the 
 campaign in the Netherlands, Italy, and Germany. In the 
 Netherlands, the combined army of the Maritime Powers 
 assembled in the neighbourhood of Nimeguen, and was 
 opposed by the French under the duke of Burgundy and 
 marshal Boufflers. They commenced their operations 
 with the siege of.Kaiserswerth, an important fortress on 
 the Rhine, which was occupied by a French garrison, and 
 might have again afforded a place of arms for an attack 
 against the United Provinces. It was besieged by the 
 prince of Nassau Saarbruck with a strong detachment,
 
 1702, 1703.] MARLBOROUGH'S PLAN OF ATTACK. 487 
 
 and, after a defence of six weeks, was reduced in spite of 
 the succours which were poured in from the French army, 
 and all attempts to make a diversion. At the same time a 
 corps, under the celebrated engineer Cohorn, demolished 
 the French lines constructed between the forts of St. 
 Donat and Isabella, and laid the district of Bruges under 
 contribution. 
 
 Such was the state of the war when Maryborough as- 
 sumed the command. The plan of the campaign was to 
 conquer the places on the Meuse, while the imperial army 
 on the Rhine penetrated through the heart of Alsace. 
 Loraine, of which the sovereign was only waiting the 
 approach of the imperialists to declare in their favour, was 
 to be the point of union for the two attacks, and from that 
 centre the allies would have cut off the communications of 
 the enemy between Flanders and the Upper Rhine, while 
 they opened a way into the defenceless provinces of 
 France. Marlborough collected the troops in the vicinity 
 of Nimeguen, recalled those who had been employed in the 
 siege of Kaiserswerth, with the forces of Luneburgh and 
 Hesse, and formed an army of 60,000 men. He crossed 
 the Meuse at Grave, and by continually advancing on the 
 flank of the enemy, forced them to retreat to the frontiers 
 of Brabant, where the duke of Burgundy quitted the 
 army, to avoid the disgrace of witnessing the disasters of 
 the French arms. This retreat enabled Marlborough to 
 invest successively the places on the Meuse. Assisted by 
 the skill of Cohorn, he captured in less than two months, 
 Venloo, Ruremond, Stevensward, and Maseich, and closed 
 the campaign with the reduction of Liege.* While the 
 Maritime Powers were pushing their victorious career on 
 the Meuse, Louis margrave of Badenf assembled the Ger- 
 man army on the Rhine to the number of 40.000 men, and 
 having secured the lines on the Lauter, on the 16th of 
 June, invested Landau, where he was joined by the king 
 of the Romans. The presence and exertions of the young 
 prince gave spirit to the troops ; the attacks were pushed 
 
 * For a more detailed account of this campaign, see Memoirs of the 
 duke of Marlborough, vol. i. cap. 12. 
 
 f The same commander who had so highly distinguished himself in 
 the preceding war, both in Germany and Hungary. 
 I I 4
 
 488 IEOPOLD L [OH. LXV1II. 
 
 with the utmost vigour ; Catinat, who commanded in 
 Alsace, was repulsed in his attempts to succour the place ; 
 and Melac, the governor, surrendered on the 10th of 
 September. 
 
 The two armies were on the point of uniting, and 
 France was threatened with an attack on the most vulner- 
 able part of her territory ; but at this crisis the plan of 
 the campaign was suspended, by the appearance of a new 
 ' enemy in the heart of Germany. The elector of Bavaria 
 i suddenly broke his feigned neutrality, and while he amused 
 i count Schlick, who was sent by the imperial court to de- 
 tach him from France, surprised Ulm, occupied Memmin- 
 gen with the territory of the Nordgau, and sent his general 
 D'Arco with 10,000 men to open a communication with a 
 French army, which, under the command of Villars, was 
 drawn towards the Rhine, to penetrate through the Black 
 Forest. This danger was, however, diverted by the inter- 
 ference of the Helvetic States, and the skill of the German 
 commander. The corps under D'Arco, stopped near 
 Schaffhausen by a body of Swiss, returned to Bavaria ; 
 and the margrave, by vigilance and firmness, arrested the 
 progress of the French, even after they had passed the 
 Rhine, and worsted him in the engagement of Friedlingen. 
 After various movements, Villars re-crossed the Rhine, 
 took Treves and Traerbach, secured Loraine by the cap- 
 ture of Nancy, and distributed his troops in Alsace, while 
 the imperialists took up their quarters on the Kintzig. 
 
 In Italy, Eugene passed the commencement of the year 
 in blockading Mantua, and on the 1st of February, 1702, 
 made a bold but fruitless attempt to surprise Cremona, in 
 which he was repulsed, after capturing the French com- 
 mander Villeroy. But as the reinforcements which he 
 received from Germany did not exceed 15,000 men, it 
 required all his ability and resources to withstand the vast 
 superiority of force which the French court poured into 
 Italy, commanded by the enterprising Vendome in place of 
 the vain and presumptuous Villeroy, and animated by the 
 presence of Philip himself. 
 
 While the prince of Vaudemont, with 20,000 men, on 
 the Fossa Maggiore observed the imperialists, who were 
 still employed in the blockade of Mantua, Vendome and
 
 1702, 1703.] ATTACK UPON SPAIN. 489 
 
 the young monarch, with 30,000, crossed the Po, to cut off 
 their communications with the territories of Moneda and 
 Mirandola ; defeated three regiments of cavalry posted as 
 a corps of observation at Santa Vittoria, and speedily re- 
 duced all the fortresses of the Modenese except Bercello. 
 To obviate this danger Eugene hastily quitted the block- 
 ade of Mantua, crossed the Po on the 15th of August, and 
 advanced with the hope of surprising the enemy near 
 Luzara. He, indeed, attacked them unawares ; but was 
 unable to prevail over superior numbers, directed by a 
 resolute and active general, and inspired by the presence 
 of a young monarch. Yet, though foiled in this attempt, 
 he awed his antagonists by perseverance and firmness, and 
 maintained himself on the south bank of the Po till the 
 close of the campaign, though he could not prevent the 
 reduction of Guastalla, Luzara, and Borgoforto. When 
 the French separated their troops, Eugene established his 
 quarters in Mirandola and the Lower Modenese, between 
 the Sechia and the Po ; and, by the occupation of Ostiglia 
 secured his communications with the Adige and the Aus- 
 trian territories. 
 
 At sea, the result of the war was no less unfavourable 
 to the house of Bourbon. The first object of the British 
 court was to execute a plan formed by the late monarch, 
 on the information of the admiral of Castile, for a descent 
 on Spain. An expedition of fifty sail of the line, besides 
 numerous frigates, fireships, and smaller vessels, was fitted 
 out by England and Holland, under Sir George Rooke, 
 with 14,000 troops under the duke of Ormond. They 
 effected a landing in the neighbourhood of Cadiz ; but the 
 licentiousness of the troops, the vigilance of the enemy, 
 and the loyalty of the people, frustrated the enterprise. 
 They compensated, however, for this failure, by an attack 
 on the rich fleet from the new world, which had taken 
 refuge atVigo, carried the forts, and forced an entrance 
 into the harbour; twelve ships of war with eleven galleons 
 were captured, and the whole fleet, with a considerable 
 part of the treasure, either taken or destroyed.
 
 490 
 
 CHAP. LXIX. 1703, 1704. 
 
 IN the Netherlands, the campaign of 1703 was not fertile 
 in events. The allied armies were increased by consider- 
 able reinforcements, and Marlborough was again intrusted 
 with the command; but the divisions in their councils, 
 the mutual jealousies of the generals, and the feuds in 
 Holland, prevented them from deriving any essential 
 advantage from superior numbers. The result of the 
 campaign was, however, not unfavourable to the allies ; 
 for although a corps of Dutch under Opdam received a 
 check at the battle of Echeren, and Marlborough, by the 
 opposition of the Dutch deputies, was compelled to 
 abandon his plan of forcing the lines with which the 
 French had covered the whole frontier of the Netherlands, 
 from Antwerp to the Meuse ; yet the capture of Huy and 
 Limburgh secured the electorate of Cologne and the 
 bishopric of Liege, and the surrender of Guelders com- 
 pleted the reduction of Spanish Guelderland. 
 
 During these transactions, Germany became the prin- 
 cipal theatre of the war. Leopold turned his whole efforts 
 to achieve the conquest of Bavaria, no less to chastise the 
 elector for his defection, than to secure the hereditary 
 countries from invasion. The contingents of Franconia 
 were preparing to assemble under general Stirum near 
 Neumarkt, to act against the Upper Palatinate ; while a 
 corps of Austrians and Saxons was collecting under ge- 
 neral Schlick, to make an attack on the side of the Inn. 
 At the same time every precaution was taken to secure 
 the Rhine and the avenues of the Black Forest, and the 
 margrave of Baden took up his head quarters at Kehl as a 
 central point, to superintend the operations on either side 
 of the Rhine as soon as the campaign should open. But 
 the orders of Louis were issued to make every effort for a 
 junction with the elector; and as the means of effecting 
 this junction, to capture Kehl. Villars, the French com- 
 mander, carried this order into execution with equal 
 vigour, promptitude, and ability. Having induced the 
 margrave, by various movements, to separate his troops
 
 1703, 1704.] THE FRENCH INVADE BAVARIA. 491 
 
 over the space between the Rhine and the Black Forest, 
 for the purpose of defending the numerous defiles between 
 Brisach and Kehl, he suddenly crossed the Rhine between 
 Hunningen and Brisac, dispersed the troops posted on the 
 Eltz, passed under the cannon of Friburgh. in a fog, broke 
 up the quarters of the margrave, which were formed along 
 the Kintzig, and drove him back to Stolhoffen. He made 
 himself master of no less than fifty forts and posts occupied 
 by the imperialists between the Rhine and the mountains, 
 captured the towns which command the entrance of the 
 valley watered by the Kintzig, and obtained abundant 
 supplies of stores and ammunition. Before the Germans 
 had recovered from their confusion, Kehl was invested ; 
 the trenches were opened under the direction of Terrade, 
 by whom its construction had been superintended, and the 
 attacks pushed with such rapidity and success that in 
 March the place capitulated, after a siege of only thirteen 
 days. Villars having reduced Kintzingen, secured addi- 
 tional supplies of provisions and ammunition, shut up the 
 valley to the right and left of the Eltz, and after alarming 
 the posts in the vicinity of Friburgh, returned across the 
 Rhine to recruit his exhausted army, and wait till the 
 advance of spring should open the passages of the moun- 
 tains. 
 
 As the intention of the French to penetrate into Bavaria 
 was no longer doubted, the Germans employed the interval, 
 after the retreat of Villars, to strengthen their position. 
 The margrave took post behind the rivulet which falls into 
 the Rhine near Stolhoffen, formed lines and inundations, and 
 obtained reinforcements from Holland. He sent also a 
 considerable force under general Furstemberg, assisted by 
 the militia of Wirtemberg, to occupy the passes of the 
 Black Forest, and multiplied the obstacles in the valley of 
 the Kintzig, the way by which the French were expected 
 to force their passage. 
 
 To penetrate through a mountainous and woody district 
 not less than sixty miles in extent, affording no subsistence, 
 traversed by only three practicable roads*, and these narrow 
 
 * These roads were, first through the valley of the Kintzig, which 
 was the most practicable of the three ; the second skirted the walls of 
 Friburgh, and traversed the valley of St. Pierre ; the third branched
 
 492 LEOPOLD I. [C!I. LXIX. 
 
 and rugged, with an enemy ready to hang on his rear, and 
 a corps in front occupying the numerous defiles with 
 fortifications, was an enterprise which called forth all the 
 resources and activity of Villars. He continued his pre- 
 parations with unremitting diligence ; distributed his 
 troops at proper distances along the Rhine to assemble on 
 the first signal ; and by the construction of three new 
 bridges, obtained five passages, at Strasburgh, Altenheim, 
 Cappel, Neuburgh, and Hunningen. On the advance of 
 spring the troops destined for the expedition, as well as a 
 corps under Tallard to cover their march, were put in 
 motion. While Tallard kept the margrave in check, 
 Villars crossed the Rhine at Strasburgh, and made a real 
 or feint attack on the lines at Stolhoffen. He then pushed 
 forward a strong corps up the valley of the Kintzig, to 
 prevent the margrave from throwing new obstacles in his 
 way, and while he waited the arrival of his baggage and 
 artillery, distributed twelve days' provision among his 
 troops. His preparations being speedily completed, he 
 forced the intrenchments which covered the heights, or 
 were drawn across the valley, carried Haslach and Horn- 
 beck by storm, by his vigorous attacks terrified the 
 Germans, who were scarcely recovered from their former 
 panic, and drove them from the passes between Hornbeck 
 and the summit of the mountains, where, to use his own 
 expression, " fifty trees would have arrested the progress 
 of an army, or the removal of a little earth rendered it 
 impossible to pass except by constructing scaffolds." After 
 the most arduous exertions, and a march of eleven days, 
 he reached Villingen, at the point where the mountains 
 terminate ; but the want of provisions not allowing him to 
 attempt its reduction, though necessary to secure his com- 
 munication with France, he left it behind, and joined the 
 elector of Bavaria near Dutlingen on the 12th of May. 
 
 During the interval in which the French army was 
 preparing to advance to his assistance, the elector himself 
 surprised Neuburgh on the Danube. He likewise diverted 
 
 out near Friburgh, and passed the Val d'Enfer, so called from its 
 ruggedness and horror. These three passages opened almost at the 
 same point, near the head of the Danube. From thence the principal 
 road proceeds through the celebrated pass of Stockach into Bavaria.
 
 1703, 1704.] DAGGER OF VIENNA. 
 
 the danger with which his country was threatened by the 
 attacks of Schlick and Stirum, the former of whom entered 
 Bavaria on the side of the Inn, the latter forced the lines 
 at Dietfurth, captured Neumarkt, and laid siege to Amberg. 
 Having sent reinforcements to keep Stirum in check, the 
 elector marched towards the Inn, drew off a part of the 
 Austrian forces by threatening Passau, and then crossing 
 the river, defeated the remainder near Scharding, and 
 made himself master of all the artillery, tents, and bag- 
 gage. Next directing his attack against Stirum, he raised 
 the siege of Amberg, defeated the margrave of Anspach, 
 who had been detached to secure the passes on the Wiltz, 
 worsted the main body at the village of Einhorf, and after 
 reducing Ratisbon, returned towards the sources of the 
 Danube to unite with the French. 
 
 Bavaria and the greater part of the Upper Palatinate, 
 being thus delivered, and the junction of the French and 
 Bavarians effected, the Austrian territories, which were 
 totally unprepared for resistance, were laid open to in- 
 vasion. But in this critical juncture the emperor was 
 saved by the divisions of his enemies. The proposal of 
 Villars to march directly to Vienna was overruled by the 
 elector, and, after great difficulties, it was settled that the 
 French commander should remain in Bavaria to watch the 
 motions of the margrave, while the elector penetrated 
 through the Tyrol, and opened a communication with 
 Vendome in Italy ; their united forces were then to termi- 
 nate the war by pouring into the heart of Germany or the 
 Austrian territories. In pursuance of this plan, the 
 elector, with 15,000 men, took Kuffstein, the key of the 
 Tyrol, in less than ten days made himself master of Eo- 
 temberg and Hall, entered Innspruck in triumph, spread 
 his troops through the surrounding valleys, and rapidly 
 marched towards the Trentin, to open the intended com- 
 munication with the Italian army. But fortunately the 
 peasants of the Tyrol rose in arms ; and being supported 
 by a corps of regulars and by reinforcements from the 
 Grisons harassed the march of the elector, and assailed 
 him in the defiles of the mountains. The burghers of 
 Innspruck and of the other towns followed the example ; 
 and the elector was reduced to force back his way by
 
 494 LEOPOLD I. ] CH. LXIX. 
 
 continual combats, owing his personal safety to the bravery 
 of his troops. After losing half his army, and evacuating 
 all his conquests in the Tyrol except Kuffstein, he rejoined 
 Villars to defend in his turn his own country from the 
 danger with which it was now threatened. 
 
 During the expedition into the Tyrol, the margrave of 
 Baden hastened from Stolhoffen, united with the troops in 
 the Upper Palatinate, left Stirum with a corps to observe 
 Villars, who was posted between Lawingen and Dillingen, 
 crossed the Danube, and ascending the Iller, occupied 
 Augsburgh at the moment when the French and Bavarians 
 were in full march to secure so important a post. At the 
 same time Stirum descended the Danube, with an intention 
 to cross and place himself between the Gallo-Bavarian 
 army and a corps of 12,000 men left by Villars to main- 
 tain the camp at Dillingen. The French and Bavarians 
 were rescued from their critical situation by an accident 
 which delayed the march of Stirum, and still more by the 
 promptitude and skill of Villars. Shut up between the 
 two German armies, he directed his whole force against 
 that of Stirum, which was the weakest, overpowered him 
 by superior numbers, and drove him, with the loss of 
 6000 men, and great part of his artillery, to take refuge 
 under the walls of Nuremberg. But the indecision of the 
 elector prevented him from completing his success by 
 attacking the margrave. After endless contentions and 
 delays, the Gallo-Bavarians captured Memmingen and 
 Kempten, which opened a communication with France; 
 Villars abruptly quitted the army in disgust ; and Marsin, 
 who succeeded in the command, closed the campaign with 
 the recovery of Augsburgh and the reduction of Passau. 
 
 After the departure of the margrave of Baden for Bava- 
 ria, the duke of Burgundy had assumed the command of 
 the French army on the Rhine, which amounted to 30,000 
 men. But instead of opening a way into Bavaria, and sup- 
 porting the operations of Villars and the elector, he in- 
 vested Brisac, captured the place after a siege of only 
 fourteen days, and hastened to Paris to receive the congra- 
 tulations of the court. On his departure, Tallard led the 
 army towards the Moso.lle, invested Landau, defeated on 
 the Spirebach a corps of 10,000 men, which had been de-
 
 1703, 1704-.] VICTOR AMADEUS JOINS THE ALLIES. 495 
 
 tached from the Low Countries for its relief, and after a 
 long and arduous siege did not complete its reduction till 
 the 6th of November, 1703, when the advance of the season 
 precluded all further operations. 
 
 In Italy, notwithstanding the loss of Bercello, which sur- 
 rendered after a blockade of eleven months, Staremberg 
 retarded the operations of Vendome by a spirited defence 
 of Ostiglia, and prevented him from concurring in the 
 attack on the side of Bavaria with that concert and prompti- 
 tude which was necessary to ensure success. Thus foiled 
 in his attempts to exclude the imperialists from the country 
 north of the Po, Vendome at length led a considerable part 
 of his forces toward the Trentin. He directed his march 
 along the shores of the Lago di Garda, made himself master 
 of the forts commanding the passes on both sides of the 
 lake, and towards the beginning of August appeared before 
 Trent. The place, though garrisoned by 4000 men, being 
 defended only by antique fortifications, could not long have 
 arrested his progress ; but as the insurrection of the Tyrol- 
 ese compelled the elector to retrace his footsteps, a change 
 of another kind recalled Vendome into Italy. 
 
 Victor Amadeus had been long disgusted with his French 
 and Spanish allies. He had already gained the principal 
 object of his alliance with France, the establishment of his 
 two daughters, and was aware that the consolidation of the 
 Bourbon power beyond the Alps would lead to the loss of 
 his own independence. He therefore listened to the over- 
 tures of the allies, who offered him a monthly subsidy of 
 80,000 crowns, the supreme command in Italy, with a rein- 
 forcement of 20,000 men ; and in addition to that part of 
 the Montferrat which belonged to the house of Mantua, the 
 cession of Allessandro, Valenxa, Lumellina, and the Val di 
 Sesia. Having accepted these terms, he prepared to seize 
 the favourable opportunity afforded by the absence of Ven- 
 dome in the Trentin to declare in favour of the emperor. 
 
 The French court, which had long watched his intrigues, 
 could only anticipate his design at the moment of execution. 
 Vendome having suddenly returned to his head-quarters at 
 Mantua, on the 29th of September, surrounded the troops 
 of Savoy, arrested the officers, and incorporated the soldiers 
 with those of France. While an army under Tesse ad-
 
 496 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LX1X 
 
 vanced on the side of the Savoy, Vendome pushed forward 
 to the frontiers of Piedmont, and a menacing but laconic 
 letter, sent by a trumpet from Louis, required the duke, 
 within twenty-four hours, to renounce his connections with 
 the allies, or to expect the vengeance of an offended 
 sovereign. 
 
 The duke was not daunted by these menaces, nor alarmed 
 at the dangers to which he was exposed. On the 25th of 
 October he publicly acceded to the Grand Alliance, arrested 
 all the French within his territories, seized their magazines, 
 armed his people, made every preparation for defence, and 
 called for the assistance of his new allies. The principal 
 places of Piedmont were, however, speedily reduced by 
 Vendome, and all Savoy conquered by Tesse, except the 
 strong fortress of Montmelian. Bnt fortunately the attach- 
 ment of his subjects and the approach of winter enabled 
 the duke to make head till he could receive assistance from 
 the emperor. On the first advance of the French troops 
 towards Piedmont, a corps of 1700 horse was despatched 
 by Staremberg to his support ; but these were intercepted 
 at St. Sebastian, and only a small number reached the place 
 of destination. The failure of this attempt only rendered 
 the imperial general more vigilant in succouring so import- 
 ant an ally. As the enemy were far superior in numbers, 
 and masters of all the communications, he waited till they 
 had separated their army. Having formed secret arrange- 
 ments for provisions, and relays of carriages, he suddenly 
 broke from his quarters on the Secchia in the depth of 
 winter, took his route along the south of the Po, defeated 
 all the attempts of Vendome to check his progress, joined 
 Victor Amadeus at Canelli, in January, 1704, and inspired 
 him with fresh resolution to maintain the contest. 
 
 As the defection of the duke of Savoy saved the heredi- 
 tary countries and secured the passages of Italy, the em- 
 peror obtained equal advantages from the increase of his 
 party in Spain and the accession of the king of Portugal, 
 which placed in his power the means of contesting the pos- 
 session of the Spanish territories on Spanish ground. 
 
 After the first burst of enthusiasm derived from the 
 presence of the young monarch had subsided, Spain was 
 torn by the struggles of contending parties, and agi-
 
 1703, 1704.] PRINCESS ORSINI SENT TO SPAIN. 497 
 
 tated by discontents arising from the influence of strangers 
 and the innovations of a foreign government. Louis XIV. 
 in accepting the will of Charles II. was less swayed by the 
 desire of fixing his grandson on a powerful throne, than 
 the hope of exerting the force of Spain for the aggrandise- 
 ment of France. From motives of prudence he at first 
 avoided every measure which might excite the slightest 
 suspicion of foreign interference, carrying his delicacy even 
 to affectation ; but he took care to throw the government 
 into the hands of his creature, Portocarrero. Not content, 
 however, with the implicit obedience derived from the gra- 
 titude and deference of his grandson, and the servility of 
 Portocarrero, the object of Louis was to provide against 
 every event which might tend to diminish his influence. 
 Sensible that Philip was incapable of continued applica- 
 tion, and averse to business, and that from constitution and 
 principle he was likely to be swayed by his queen, who 
 was a woman of great spirit and talents, it was thought 
 necessary to attach to her person an adherent of France, 
 who, by her means, might govern the king. For this pur- 
 pose the important post of camerara mayor, or superintend- 
 ent of the queen's household, which gave constant and in- 
 timate access to the presence of the sovereigns,was conferred 
 on the princess of Orsini, a native of France, who was the 
 widow of the duke of Bracciano, a Spanish grandee, and 
 head of the Roman family of Orsini.* This extraordinary 
 woman was calculated by the blandishments of her manners 
 and the brilliancy and intelligence of her conversation, to 
 relieve the tedium of a monotonous court, and conciliate 
 the affections of a young and lively princess, surrounded 
 with the formality of Spanish etiquette. She had acquired 
 at Paris all the polish of French courtesy ; by a long resi- 
 dence at Home, of which she was the principal ornament, 
 she was equally mistress of Italian finesse ; and she was 
 intimately acquainted with the language, manners, and 
 customs of Spain. She accompanied the young queen to 
 
 This extraordinary woman was of the illustrious family of Tre- 
 mouille, and daughter of Louis duke of Noirmoutiers. She was very 
 young when she espoused Adrian prince of Chalais (1659) ; after his 
 death she married Flavio duke of Bracciano, in 1675 ; and again be- 
 came a widow in 1698. She is generally known in the French and 
 foreign and contemporary Memoirs, by the name of the princess 
 des Ursins. See Memoirs of the Kings of Spain, chap. iv. 
 
 VOL. II. h. K
 
 498 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LX1X. 
 
 Madrid, and by the dismission of her Piedmontese adhe- 
 rents, became her sole companion and confidant. During 
 the absence of Philip in Italy, she increased her ascendency, 
 and governed her young mistress with absolute sway. To 
 strengthen still further the influence of France, the em- 
 bassy to Spain was conferred on the cardinal d'Etrees, who 
 had recently filled the same office at Rome, and, by his 
 recommendation, had contributed to the rise of the princess 
 Orsini. At the same time the revenues were placed under 
 the superintendence of Orri, another native of France, who 
 had risen from obscurity by his talents for finance. 
 
 These three persons monopolised the whole power of 
 government, alienated the grandees who would not submit 
 to their nod ; and even Portocarrero had the mortification 
 to see himself excluded from all influence and authority by 
 the very persons whom he had introduced into the govern- 
 ment. The unpopularity of the French was increased by 
 various innovations which militated against the prejudices 
 of the natives. The Castilian pride was mortified by a 
 decree of Philip, which gave to the peers of France the 
 same distinctions at Madrid as the grandees of Spain. The 
 national feelings, wounded by the loss of the Vigo fleet, 
 were still more irritated by the seizure of the treasure 
 saved from the wreck, of which a considerable part was 
 sent to France. The introduction of unusual taxes, inno- 
 vations in the modes of collection, and numerous abolitions 
 of offices in the civil and military departments, at once 
 alienated a great body of those who were attached to the 
 court, and disgusted a nation so tenacious of ancient cus- 
 toms. The clamour was heightened by the attempts of 
 Louis to appropriate the Netherlands, for which he extorted 
 the consent of Philip, notwithstanding his frequent and 
 solemn declarations that he would not dismember the 
 Spanish monarchy. 
 
 In the midst of these discontents the authority of Philip 
 was shaken by the escape of the count of Melhor, admiral 
 of Castile. This grandee, descended from the royal line, 
 connected with the principal houses of Spain, and equally 
 distinguished by his talents and extensive property, was 
 disgusted by the appointment of Portocarrero to the direc- 
 tion of affairs, and the increasing influence of the French. 
 He had long maintained a secret correspondence with the
 
 1703, 1704.] CHARLES PROCLAIMED KING OF SPAIN. 499 
 
 court of Vienna ; and, after affecting to accept the embassy 
 to France, made his escape into Portugal with a consider- 
 able treasure and a numerous train of adherents, and found 
 an honourable asylum at Lisbon. Encouraged by the 
 example of so powerful and popular a noble, people of all 
 ranks poured into Portugal, carrying with them jewels and 
 money to a vast amount, and increasing by their emigra- 
 tion the odium against the French government. At the 
 same time the duke of Moles, Spanish ambassador at the 
 court of Vienna, joined with the admiral in representing 
 Spain as an easy conquest, and urging Leopold to secure 
 possession of a kingdom which had been unjustly arrested 
 from his family, and of which the natives were eager to 
 receive an Austrian prince. 
 
 Leopold embraced this favourable opportunity, and 
 found a cordial support from the Maritime Powers. By 
 their assistance, by offers of territorial acquisition, and by 
 the exaggerated representations of the admiral of Castile, 
 he gained Peter, king of Portugal, who had seen with 
 aversion and alarm the Spanish throne filled by a Bourbon 
 prince. Peter privately acceded to the Grand Alliance, on 
 the 16th of May, 1703, agreed to acknowledge Charles, to 
 give him an entrance into Portugal, and, for the purpose 
 of assisting in the conquest of Spain, to maintain an army 
 of 28,000 men. In return for these services he was to re- 
 ceive from the new king of Spain the frontier towns of 
 Badajoz, Albuquerque, Valencia, and Alcantara, in Estre- 
 madura, the important posts of Bayonne and Vigo, with 
 Guardia and Tuy in Gallicia, and a considerable district 
 in South America, to the north of the Rio de la Plata. 
 The new king was to espouse his daughter, and the Mari- 
 time Powers were to subsidise 13,000 men of the army 
 which he had agreed to maintain. 
 
 Having by this alliance secured the means of attacking 
 Spain, Leopold and his son Joseph renounced their claims 
 on the Spanish succession, and Charles was solemnly pro- 
 claimed king at Vienna, in September, 1703. Leopold, 
 however, still hesitated to expose his darling son to the 
 dangers of such an enterprise, till the near prospect of a 
 splendid establishment, the representations of the Maritime 
 Powers, the accession of the king of Portugal, and the 
 urgent solicitations of his party in Spain, overcame his 
 
 K K 2
 
 500 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXX. 
 
 paternal apprehensions. The young king, after being for- 
 mally acknowledged by all the members of the Grand Alli- 
 ance, passed through Holland to England, embarked on 
 board a fleet commanded by Sir George Rooke, and landed 
 at Lisbon, in March, 1704. The recent death of the in- 
 fanta, whom he was to have espoused, made no change in 
 the sentiments of the king of Portugal ; he was received 
 with every testimony of respect and affection, and the 
 court of Lisbon concurred with the allies in active exer- 
 tions to wrest the Spanish crown from the house of 
 Bourbon.* 
 
 CHAP. LXX. 1704. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the accession of the duke of Savoy and 
 the king of Portugal to the Grand Alliance, and the pro- 
 gress of the confederates on the side of the Netherlands, 
 the affairs of Leopold were in an alarming situation. His 
 forces could scarcely make head against the French in 
 Italy ; Passau, which covered Austria and commanded the 
 Danube, was in the hands of the enemy ; an hostile army 
 in Bavaria was ready to penetrate into the heart of the 
 hereditary countries, and co-operate with the malecontents 
 in Hungary, who had broken out into a new and dan- 
 gerous rebellion. 
 
 The majority of the Hungarian nobles, irritated by the 
 establishment of an hereditary monarchy, and the rigorous 
 measures with which it had been preceded and accom- 
 panied, waited in sullen silence for an opportunity to throw 
 off the yoke which their habits, manners, and prejudices 
 rendered peculiarly irksome. Their discontents, increased 
 by new persecutions of the Protestants, by forced levies of 
 men, and by the extortion of illegal contributions, were 
 continually fomented by the agency of France. Disaffec- 
 tion spread rapidly among a turbulent and high-spirited 
 people ; and at the very moment when the arms of the 
 emperor were unsuccessful in Germany, and Austria was 
 
 * See Memoirs of the Bourbon kings of Spain, anno 1703, 1704; 
 Memoirs of the Duke of Marlborough.
 
 1704.] FRAXCIS RAGOTSKT. 501 
 
 threatened with invasion by the united forces of France 
 and Bavaria, the flame, which had been smothered by the 
 dread of punishment, broke forth with redoubled violence. 
 The malecontents found a chieftain whose influence com- 
 manded a number of adherents, and whose talents were 
 fitted to excite and direct a rebellion, in Francis Ra^otsky. 
 Left an orphan by the death of his fathe'r, he had been se- 
 parated from his mother on the surrender of Montgatz, 
 and brought up under the auspices of the court of Vienna. 
 He was removed to Bohemia during the rebellion of Tekeli, 
 and placed under the care of the Jesuits, who in vain used 
 all their influence and persuasions to induce the represent- 
 ative of so powerful and dangerous a family to embrace 
 the ecclesiastical profession. Having completed his studies, 
 lie was permitted to travel through various parts of Europe, 
 and after suffering a temporary disgrace on account of his 
 marriage with Eleonora, princess of Hesse Rheinfeld, re- 
 turned to Hungary, and fixed his residence in his patri- 
 monial domains. 
 
 An irreconcilable jealousy and irritation naturally sub- 
 sisted between the court of Vienna and the young mag' 
 nate. The mind of Ragotsky perpetually brooded over 
 the faded splendour of his family, and the calamities which 
 it had suffered from the court of Vienna ; his grandfather 
 and great uncle decapitated, his cousin condemned to per- 
 petual imprisonment, his father reduced to the state of a 
 private individual, his father-in-law proscribed, and his 
 mother driven into exile ; the sceptre of Transylvania 
 wrested from his grasp, his minutest movements watched 
 by the court, his pride and interest wounded by the re- 
 fusal of the emperor to transfer the confiscated property of 
 his father-in-law, Tekeli, to his second son. These griev- 
 ances exasperated his sensitive and aspiring mind; and the 
 angry words which broke forth in the hours of convivia- 
 lity and confidence were conveyed in aggravated terms to 
 a suspicious court. On the other hand, the emperor dis- 
 trusted the descendant of the Transylvanian waivodes, 
 from habit and principle inimical to his government, whose 
 spirit and talents contributed to render still more danger- 
 ous his family influence over the minds of his countrymen. 
 He regarded with jealousy and alarm the correspondence 
 which Ragotsky maintained with his mother, who had 
 
 K K 3
 
 502 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXX. 
 
 taken refuge at Constantinople, and considered all his 
 actions as proofs of a design to recover the lost honours of 
 his ancestors. 
 
 The French court did not omit so favourable an oppor- 
 tunity of working upon the feelings and ambition of Ra- 
 gotsky. On the prospect of a war for the Spanioh succes- 
 sion they opened a secret correspondence with a prince 
 who was so capable of making a powerful diversion, lured 
 him with the prospect of recovering Transylvania, and re- 
 storing the splendour of his family ; promised large sup- 
 plies of men and money, and encouraged him with the 
 hope of assistance from the Turks. At an early period 
 Ragotsky seems to have formed designs to excite a com- 
 motion in Hungary, which was to be supported by France 
 and the Porte.* But at the moment when he was making 
 the necessary arrangements with Bertzeny and Syrmai, 
 two Hungarian nobles, his plot was discovered by the 
 treachery of Longueval, his confidential agent. Ragotsky 
 and Syrmai were arrested, and Bertzeny fled. Ragotsky 
 was conveyed to Neustadt, and confined in the same apart- 
 ment from which his maternal grandfather, count Zrini, 
 was led to the scaffold ; but during his examination he 
 gained his liberty by bribing the officer to whose care he 
 was intrusted. After a series of hair-breadth escapes and 
 romantic adventures, he joined his friend Bertzeny at 
 Warsaw, lay concealed a year and a half in Poland, and in 
 that interval completed his arrangements with the disaf- 
 fected nobles of Hungary. At length, when the emperor 
 had drawn the principal part of his troops from Hun- 
 gary, to defend his hereditary territories against the 
 attack from Bavaria, Ragotsky, in 1703, suddenly de- 
 scended from the Carpathian mountains into the plain 
 of Mongatz, at the head of a predatory and half-armed 
 multitude, published a bitter manifesto, calling on his 
 countrymen to shake off the detested yoke of Austria, 
 
 * This conspiracy, like all other plots, was exaggerated by one 
 party, and extenuated by the other. The court of Vienna described it 
 as a regular design to seize or assassinate the emperor and his family ; 
 Ragotsky and his adherents, as an association merely to remedy the 
 grievances of their country. Without entering into the arguments or 
 allegations of either party, there is no doubt, that a design was formed 
 to raise an insurrection.
 
 1704.] RAGOTSKY HEADS THE REBELLION IN HUNGARY. 503 
 
 and pushed into the town with the hope of surprising the 
 castle, which was defended by only 500 men, some of 
 whom were his secret adherents. But this first attempt 
 was premature ; for, on the approach of the imperial ge- 
 neral Montecuculi with a detachment of cavalry, he was 
 surrounded, and by singular good fortune and presence of 
 mind escaped to the frontier of Poland. Having received 
 fresh supplies of money and officers from France, and being 
 joined by count Bertzeny with two corps of regular ca- 
 valry, he again descended into Hungary, and was more 
 successful than on the former occasion. The country being 
 left to the protection of the garrisons, who could not be 
 drawn together in a body, he found no troops to impede 
 his progress. He strengthened his party by the reduction 
 of Kalo and Somlio, and being joined by continual swarms 
 of adherents, gradually increased his army to the number 
 of 20,000 men ; he became master of the principal com- 
 munications, by capturing the smaller forts in the east of 
 Hungary as far as the Teiss, blockaded the imperial gar- 
 risons in the greater fortresses, and before the commence- 
 ment of the ensuing year reduced Zolnoc and Tokay, on the 
 Teiss, with the central fortress of Erlau. While he was 
 thus employed, his adherents were no less successful ; the 
 flame of rebellion spread into Transylvania. Count Bert- 
 zeny overran the mountainous district of Upper Hungary, 
 took Scepus and Leuitsch, obtained possession of Neusohl, 
 Chemnitz, with the other towns in the neighbourhood of 
 the mines, blockaded Neuhasel, and pushed his predatory 
 corps into Moravia arid Austria. Count Caroli, a powerful 
 magnate of Lower Hungary, who was alienated by the ne- 
 glect of the court, joined the rebels, roused the people of 
 Lower Hungary, occupied the open country below the 
 Danube, and established a communication with Bertzeny. 
 At the same time Simon Forgatz, count of Borsod, a major- 
 general in the imperial service, quitted a cause which he 
 had zealously supported, and drew to his party even the 
 nephews of the palatine Esterhazy. 
 
 This rebellion, as general as it was unexpected, caused 
 the utmost consternation at the court of Vienna. General 
 Heuster was despatched with a considerable corps to the 
 south of the Danube, and even the garrison of Passau was 
 drawn out under Schlick to oppose the rebels in the north. 
 
 K K 4
 
 504 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXX. 
 
 But though these generals dispersed some of the predatory 
 corps which swarmed on every side, they were unable to 
 make any impression on an armed nation, and fell back, 
 the one to Presburgh, and the other to cover Vienna. 
 Negotiations were opened with the rebels, first by Eugene, 
 afterwards through the intervention of the archbishop of 
 Colotza, and finally by the mediation of the Maritime 
 Powers. These repeated offers, however, only encouraged 
 the insurgents to rise in their demands, and they delivered 
 preliminaries, which show the confidence inspired by their 
 success, and the increasing embarrassments of the emperor. 
 They required Leopold to acknowledge Ragotsky as inde- 
 pendent prince of Transylvania, to consent to the abolition 
 of the hereditary monarchy, and the revival of the article 
 in the oath of king Andrew, which sanctioned the resist- 
 ance of the subjects to the regal power; to expel the 
 Jesuits and other members of religious orders, who were 
 considered as dangerous ; to remove the foreign officers 
 and foreign garrisons ; to appoint Bertzeny palatine, re- 
 store the confiscated estates, grant the Protestants the free 
 exercise of their religion, and reinstate them in four hun- 
 dred churches, of which they had been deprived. These 
 negotiations accordingly produced only temporary suspen- 
 sions of arms, which enabled the rebels to continue, without 
 interruption, the blockade of the imperial garrisons. They 
 secured passages over the Danube, the March, and the 
 Wag, concerted with the French a joint attack against 
 Vienna, and at the moment when the Gallo-Bavarian army 
 threatened the frontier on the side of the Inn, Caroli, with a 
 considerable body of insurgents, spread such terror to the 
 capital, that the citizens prepared to retire, and the king 
 of the Romans threw up works to defend the suburbs. 
 
 In this emergency, Leopold was induced, by the advice 
 of Eugene, to neglect the distant affairs of Italy, concentrate 
 his principal force to drive the enemy from Germany, and 
 prevent their co-operation with the Hungarian malecontents. 
 By the intervention of Marlborough, he obtained the effec- 
 tual support of Great Britain. But as the whole success 
 of the plan depended on secrecy, and as the same dangers 
 were to be apprehended from the indiscretion of the Dutch, 
 as from the vigilance of the enemy, Marlborough was forced 
 to undertake this momentous enterprise with only the troops
 
 1704.] MARLROROUGH OPPOSES THE FRENCH. 505 
 
 in British pay. He purposed to lead the English forces 
 from the Low Countries, prepared to draw 10,000 British 
 auxiliaries who were employed on the Rhine, and relied on 
 his address, and the progress of events, to obtain the co- 
 operation of the Dutch. At once to deceive the enemy, 
 and quiet the alarms which the States might have con- 
 ceived in consequence of the removal of so considerable a 
 force from their frontier, he made preparations as if he 
 intended to open a campaign on the Moselle, a project 
 which was equally calculated to forward and conceal hia 
 real design. But in the midst of these preparations, new 
 dangers gathered round the house of Austria, and hastened 
 the crisis which rendered his assistance necessary. The 
 elector of Bavaria was joined by 15,000 French troops, 
 who had broken through the denies of the Black Forest, 
 and at the head of 40,000 men, took post behind the rivulet 
 which falls into the Danube, near Ulm, while Tallard, with 
 45,000, remained on the banks of the Rhine, ready to 
 advance towards the Moselle, to penetrate through Wirtem- 
 berg, or to support the invasion on the side of Bavaria. 
 The margrave of Baden, after exerting in vain all his skill 
 and vigilance to secure the passes of the Black Forest, was 
 watching the elector with 25,000 men at Blauberen ; and 
 an inconsiderable corps was left rather to observe the move- 
 ments of Tallard, than to defend the lines of Stolhoffen, or 
 cover Suabia. 
 
 Such was the critical situation of affairs when Eugene 
 arrived to command the troops on the Rhine, and Marlbo- 
 rough commenced his memorable expedition. At the begin- 
 ning of May he assembled the British forces, amounting to 
 15,000 men, in the vicinity of Maestricht, crossed the 
 Meuse between Venloo and Ruremond, and bending his 
 course towards the Rhine, reached Coblentz on the 25th. 
 The direction of his march, the formation of magazines at 
 Coblentz, joined with the reports which were industriously 
 circulated, alarmed the French court with apprehensions of 
 an attack along the Moselle. Villeroy was detached with 
 troops from the Upper Rhine to secure the frontier of 
 Loraine, and to divert or delay the progress of Marl- 
 borough, preparations were made on the side of the 
 Netherlands for the siege of Huy. Of these movements 
 the British commander adroitly availing himself, obtained
 
 506 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXX. 
 
 the consent of the States that the Danish and other auxili- 
 aries in their pay should be detached to his support from 
 the army on the Meuse. From Coblentz he sent his bag- 
 gage and artillery up the Rhine to Mentz, recommenced 
 his march, himself preceding with the cavalry, while hia 
 brother led the infantry, crossed the Main, and directed his 
 course to Ladenburgh, where he passed the Neckar. This 
 progress held all Europe in awful suspense. As his arrival 
 at Coblentz had spread apprehensions of invasion by the 
 Moselle, his advance to Mentz equally threatened Alsace ; 
 his subsequent movements afforded no indication of his 
 ultimate design ; and the construction of a bridge over the 
 Rhine, by the governor of Philipsburgh, seemed prepara- 
 tory to the siege of Landau. Villeroy accordingly drew 
 back towards the Upper Rhine, and Tallard re-crossed at 
 Altenheim, with a view to unite, at the first signal, for the 
 protection of Alsace or Loraine. 
 
 Having thus induced the French to concentrate their 
 force for the defence of their own frontiers, and reached 
 the point where the object of his march could be no longer 
 concealed, Marlborough ordered the auxiliaries in British 
 pay on the Rhine to move towards the neighbourhood of 
 Ulm, which was fixed as the point of junction, and ex- 
 torted from the States permission to employ in the empire 
 those auxiliaries which were already on their march from 
 the army on the Meuse. He immediately continued his 
 route, himself as before pushing on with the cavalry, and 
 the infantry following with the artillery and baggage. 
 After again crossing the Neckar at Lauffen, he left his 
 troops to pursue their march, and held an interview at 
 Mondelsheim with Eugene, where these great generals, 
 who now met for the first time, contracted for each other 
 that mutual friendship, cordiality, and confidence, which 
 animate congenial souls, and which contributed to the suc- 
 cess of the allied arms. After concerting the plan of the 
 campaign, they were joined at Hippach by the margrave of 
 Baden, who, though distinguished for military talents, was 
 proud and punctilious, and arrogated the supreme com- 
 mand as general of the empire. Marlborough employed 
 all his address, and Eugene all his influence, to soothe his 
 feelings and conciliate his pride, and obtained his ac- 
 quiescence in their arrangements. The forces under the
 
 1704.] CAMPAIGN OF THE ALLIES. 507 
 
 margrave were to join with those under Marlborough, in the 
 vicinity of Ulm, and to avoid the mischiefs of a competi- 
 tion for superiority, they were to command each day alter- 
 nately. Eugene, with the troops on the Rhine, amounting 
 to 23,000 men, was to defend the lines of Stolhoffen, and 
 observe the motions of Tallard, and the place of the auxili- 
 aries in British pay was to be supplied by 9000 Prussians, 
 and 3000 imperial horse from the German army. After 
 these arrangements, Eugene repaired to the Rhine, the 
 margrave returned to his camp, and the duke rejoining his 
 cavalry, continued his march. He united with the aux- 
 iliaries at Lauenstein, with the margrave at Westerstetten, 
 and was joined by the infantry, artillery, and baggage at 
 Giengen. Having thus happily effected the junction of 
 troops drawn from such distant points, he pushed forwards 
 at the head of 40,000 men, with a resolution to penetrate 
 into the heart of Bavaria. 
 
 As the elector, to protect his territories, took post in the 
 intrenched camp at Dillingen, and detached d'Arco with 
 12,000 men to defend the heights of Schellenberg, which 
 covered the passage into Bavaria, by Donawerth, Marlbo- 
 rough overruled the captious or timid opposition of the 
 margrave, passed in front of the electoral army, forced the 
 lines of Schellenberg after a short but desperate conflict, 
 and drove the corps of d'Arco across the Danube, with the 
 loss of 5000 men, and all their baggage and artillery. Being 
 reinforced by the Danish horse, who arrived the following 
 day, he crossed the Danube, advanced up the Leek, com- 
 pelled the elector to take refuge under the walls of Augs- 
 burgh, and secured his communications by the capture of 
 Neuburgh on the Danube, Rain on the Leek, Aicha and 
 Friedberg in the vicinity of Augsburgh, and thus cut off 
 the communication of the elector with the Bavarian terri- 
 tory. Hoping, in this critical situation, to detach the 
 elector from France, he opened a negotiation, in conjunc- 
 tion with count Wratislaw, the imperial minister, and 
 proffered the most favourable terms of peace. Besides the 
 restoration of the Palatinate and all other conquests, they 
 promised, in the name of the emperor, to cede to him the 
 duchy of Neuburgh ; to confer on him the perpetual govern- 
 ment of the Netherlands ; to pay 500,000 crowns for the 
 redemption of his jewels, which had been pledged in
 
 508 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXX. 
 
 Holland ; and to subsidise all the troops which he should 
 furnish for the service of the allies. To these terms the 
 elector affected to accede, but only temporised till he could 
 be joined by Tallard, who, at the head of 30,000 men, was 
 advancing from the Rhine, and on the approach of this suc- 
 cour, he threw off the mask. Irritated by this act of dupli- 
 city, the confederates gave up his country to military 
 execution, and on the 5th of August, drew back towards 
 the Danube ; Marlborough took post at Rain, to watch the 
 Gallo-Bavarians, and the margrave repaired with 20,000 
 men to besiege Ingoldstadt, which contained the principal 
 magazines of the enemy, and would have formed a point of 
 support for a new invasion of Bavaria. 
 
 The Gallo-Bavarians, in their turn acting on the offen- 
 sive, crossed the Danube at Dillingen. They hoped either 
 to overpower the inferior force of Eugene, who, with 1 8,000 
 men, had followed Tallard from the Rhine, and reached 
 Munster, a small town near the Danube, the same day in 
 which he joined the elector ; or at least they purposed to 
 separate the two armies, and force them to quit Bavaria, 
 by cutting off their communications with the countries from 
 whence they drew their supplies. This design was, how- 
 ever, frustrated by the promptitude and skill of the allied 
 generals. While Eugene maintained his position on the 
 Kessel with his cavalry, and detached his infantry to se- 
 cure the passage at Schellenberg, Marlborough rapidly 
 pushed his army across the Leek and the Danube, and on 
 the ensuing morning their whole force united at Munster. 
 They hastened towards the strong position of Hochstedt ; 
 but in this they were less fortunate than in their junction, 
 for they found the enemy already occupying the very spot 
 on which they intended to fix their camp. 
 
 As they were greatly distressed for forage, and as Vil- 
 leroy had pushed a considerable corps from the Rhine into 
 Wirtemberg, to intercept their communications, they re- 
 solved to risk an engagement before the enemy had secured 
 themselves in their new position. At break of day their 
 armies moved in eight columns, and appeared in sight of 
 the Gallo-Bavarians, who, far from suspecting an attack, 
 were scarcely apprised of their junction. The enemy, how- 
 ever, recalled their foragers, drew in their outposts, and in 
 the utmost haste formed in order of battle. Their situation
 
 1704.] BATTLE OF BLENHEESI, 509 
 
 was admirably calculated for defence, and their arrange- 
 ments judiciously adapted to the advantages of the ground. 
 Before their front were swamps and marshes formed by the 
 Nebel *, a rivulet which rises in the vicinity of Lutzingen, 
 and falls into the Danube near Blenheim. Their armies 
 were drawn up in two continued lines, though under sepa- 
 rate commanders ; the right consisting of the troops led 
 from the JRhine by Tallard ; the left, of the united French 
 and Bavarians, headed by Marsin and the elector. They 
 stretched from the Danube to Lutzingen ; their right flank 
 was covered by Blenheim, and their centre by Oberclaw, 
 both hastily fortified ; their left was supported on Lutz- 
 ingen, and enveloped by an extensive wood. Of their first 
 line, the infantry was posted to defend or sustain Oberclaw 
 and Blenheim ; the cavalry, drawn up on a gentle ascent 
 behind the two villages, and beyond Oberclaw towards 
 Lutzingen, where the open ground allowed it to act with 
 effect ; their second line was disposed in the usual manner, 
 the infantry in the centre and the cavalry on the wings , 
 and their whole front was defended with ninety pieces of 
 artillery. 
 
 The confederates on reaching the verge of the swamp, 
 drew up in order of battle. On the left Marlborough. 
 headed the British troops and auxiliaries, to attack the 
 right and centre of the enemy ; and Eugene on the right 
 led the German force against the electoral troops on the 
 left. The battle began with the attack of the two villages. 
 A part of the British infantry passing the marshes, ad- 
 vanced against Blenheim ; but were repulsed after repeated 
 encounters, attended by a dreadful carnage ; the same ill 
 success attended the attempt against Oberclaw. Foiled in 
 these attacks, the skilful eye of Marlborough discerned fluc- 
 tuation in the hostile ranks ; and he formed the perilous 
 design of directing his whole force against their centre. 
 He paused, checked the ardour of his troops, masked the 
 villages with a part of his infantry, and prepared to lead 
 his cavalry across the Nebel and adjacent marshes. At 
 this critical moment a cannon ball grazing his horse, threw 
 him to the ground ; the troops trembled for their leader, 
 the fate of Austria hung suspended on the life of the gene- 
 ral. But Providence had destined this great man for higher 
 * This rivulet is sometimes called the HaseL
 
 510 LEOPOLD i. IGU. LXX. 
 
 fortunes and more splendid successes. He rose unhurt, 
 though covered with mire and dust ; he led forward the 
 troops animated with new spirit by his marvellous escape, 
 and the cavalry pushed across the swamps on bridges of 
 fascines and planks, collected in haste, or torn from the 
 neighbouring buildings. The French making no move- 
 ment to interrupt their passage, either from presumption or 
 inadvertence, Marlborough formed his cavalry in a double 
 line at the foot of the ascent, led them against that of the 
 enemy, and after four charges drove them on their second 
 line. The infantry having now passed to sustain the 
 cavalry, the compact body overbore all the efforts of the 
 enemy, which at every shock became more feeble ; the foot, 
 intermixed with the exhausted squadrons, were cut to 
 pieces, and the centre irrecoverably broken. The remnant 
 of the cavalry which escaped captivity or the sword was 
 driven into the Danube, and Tallard himself, swept away 
 in his vain attempts to rally the fugitives, was made pri- 
 soner. Marlborough instantly put a stop to the pursuit, 
 enclosed the infantry in Blenheim, and turned with his 
 victorious troops on the side of Oberclaw to attack the 
 flank of the electoral army. But the defeat of the right 
 had already decided the fortune of the day. Eugene, after 
 numerous difficulties in crossing the marsh, emulated the 
 example of Marlborough, by a spirited attack on that part 
 of the line which was formed between Oberclaw and Lut- 
 zingen, while by extending his line round the sources of 
 the rivulet, he endeavoured to turn the flank supported on 
 Lutzingen. Though his efforts were unsuccessful, he was 
 undaunted by repeated repulses, and in the third charge so 
 eagerly exposed his person, that he was with difficulty res- 
 cued, at the moment when he was on the point of being cut 
 down by a French or Bavarian dragoon. With all the dis- 
 advantages of ground and inferiority of force, he kept the 
 enemy in check, prevented them from sending succours to 
 the army of Tallard, and vigorously pressed on their rear, 
 when the rout of the right decided the contest, and the 
 electoral troops were withdrawn from Oberclaw and Lut- 
 zingen. He then co-operated with Marlborough in reduc- 
 ing the forces inclosed in the village of Blenheim. This 
 gallant remnant of an unfortunate army, amounting to 
 13,000 of the choicest soldiers of France, would have dearly
 
 1704.] RESULTS OF THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM. 511 
 
 sold their honour and liberty, had they not been bereaved 
 of every resource by the retreat of the elector, and aban- 
 doned by many of their officers, who shrunk from a hopeless 
 conflict. Their commander rushed into the Danube, and 
 was drowned ; many of the officers followed his example, 
 and shared his fate ; and the troops, after tearing their 
 colours and indignantly burying their arms, were soothed 
 by the exhortations of Marlborough and Eugene, and 
 surrendered prisoners of war. 
 
 On the side of the allies, 4000 were killed and 7000 
 wounded ; the loss of the enemy exceeded 40,000 men, in- 
 cluding prisoners and deserters, besides 120 pieces of artil- 
 lery, 300 colours and standards, and the principal part of 
 the military chest.* 
 
 The elector and nJarsin covered the retreat with the 
 cavalry of their left, passed the morass of Hockstedt, 
 crossed the Danube at Dillingen, and continued their flight 
 with precipitation towards the Rhine. Broken, dispersed, 
 and ruined, the enemy left a free and uninterrupted march 
 for the confederates from the Danube to the Rhine ; and 
 the wretched remains of that army, which had threatened 
 Germany with bondage, and spread terror to the gates of 
 Vienna, was driven back in dismay to the foot of the 
 Vosges. The victors pressed on their retreat, crossed the 
 Rhine at Philipsburgh, entered Alsace, and, before the 
 close of this eventful campaign, the fortresses of Landau, 
 Treve?, and Traerback surrendered to their victorious arms. 
 The success of the allies was at the same time followed by 
 the reduction of all Bavaria. Augsburgh and Ulm were 
 the first fruits of their victory ; and the electress, to whom 
 her husband had consigned the administration of affairs, on 
 his retreat from the unfortunate plains of Blenheim, was 
 reduced to accept the terms of accommodation dictated by 
 the conquerors. By a treaty concluded at Munich, she 
 restored Passau and the other places taken from the Aus- 
 trians, surrendered the fortresses of Bavaria with the nrtil- 
 lery and ammunition, disbanded the troops, resigned the 
 revenues, and reserved only the capital dismantled, as a 
 residence for herself and her children. 
 
 * It appears that the French and Bavarian force amounted to 
 56,000, that of the allies to 52,000 men. Memoirs of the Duke of 
 Marlborough, chap. xxvi.
 
 512 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXX. 
 
 At the same time the affairs of Hungary assumed a more 
 favourable aspect. Ragotsky had continued his successful 
 career by the capture of Cassau and Eperies : amused the 
 emperor with feigned negotiations while he reduced Neu- 
 hasel, and collected an army of 30,000 men to blockade 
 Leopoldstadt, the only fortress remaining to cover the Aus- 
 trian frontier. But the success at Blenheim enabling the 
 emperor to draw reinforcements into Hungary, Heuster 
 obtained a splendid victory over the insurgents, in which 
 he killed or made prisoners the greater part of their in- 
 fantry, secured the Austrian frontier, and confined their 
 subsequent operations to the precincts of their own 
 country.* 
 
 The splendid victory which opened this career of success 
 warmed even the phlegmatic heart of Leopold ; and in 
 his letters to the queen and the States he expressed the 
 strongest sense of his obligations for their assistance. On 
 the general who was the great agent of his preservation he 
 offered to confer the dignity of prince of the empire, and 
 announced the promotion in a letter written with his own 
 hand, with an unusual warmth of gratitude. We preserve 
 this epistle as a monument equally honourable to the feel- 
 ings of the monarch, the spirit and generosity of our nation, 
 and the merits of our great countryman. 
 
 "Most illustrious cousin, and most dear prince, I do 
 gladly call by these names your dilectionf, whom I have 
 freely and of my own accord admitted among the princes of 
 the holy Roman empire, not so much in consideration of 
 your ancient family as on account of your personal merit 
 and great deserts towards my august house and the holy 
 Roman empire. I have been willing that this supreme 
 honour in Germany which I have so deservedly conferred 
 on you, should remain, that it may more and more appear 
 to all the world how much, as I freely own, I and the em- 
 pire owe to the most serene queen of Great Britain, for 
 sending her powerful assistance as far as Augsburgh and 
 Bavaria under your conduct, when my own affairs and 
 those of the empire were so much shaken and disordered 
 by the perfidious defection of the Bavarian to the French ; 
 and also to your dilection, by whom all things have been so 
 
 * Wimiisch, p. 472. 
 
 t The title used by the emperor to the princes of the empire.
 
 1705.] JOY AT THE VICTORY OF BLENHEIM. 513 
 
 prudently, so vigorously, and so successfully transacted. 
 For not only fame, but likewise the generals of my forces, 
 the companions and sharers of your labours and victories, 
 attribute the same chiefly to your counsels, and the valour 
 of the English and other troops who fought under your 
 command. These actions are so great, and particularly 
 that of Hockstedt (past ages having never witnessed the like 
 victory over the French), that we may rejoice to see not 
 only the pernicious efforts of the common enemy repulsed, 
 and Europe rescued from its uncertain situation, but we. 
 may reasonably hope that the liberty of the Christian world 
 will be rescued from the impending power of France. 
 Being entirely persuaded that your dilection ,will, without 
 intermission, apply all your care and industry towards that 
 end, there remains nothing for me but to wish you a pros- 
 perous success, and to assure you that I shall seize every 
 occasion to give you still greater proofs of my esteem and 
 gratitude." * 
 
 CHAP. LXXL 1705. 
 
 THE general exultation with which the wonderful victory 
 of Blenheim, and the subsequent success was received, 
 evinced the prevalence of that dread which had been in- 
 spired by the power of Louis ; and the reports of prodigies 
 proved that it was generally considered as superior to 
 human agency. 
 
 Leopold is said to have had a mysterious presenti- 
 ment of the awful event which decided the fate of the 
 house of Austria. In Italy, the centre of superstition, 
 the figure of an angel in the chapel of Loretto was 
 reported to have moved its wings ; a rich candlestick, the 
 gift of Louis, suspended before the shrine, sunk down, 
 while another, presented by the emperor, rose above its 
 usual place. Even in England, where the public mind is 
 less susceptible of superstitious impressions, reports of 
 similar prodigies gained credit. The clashing of arms, and 
 
 * For a more particular account of this transaction, the reader is 
 referred to the Memoirs of the Duke of Marlborough. 
 VOL. n. L L
 
 514 LEOPOLI I. L CH - LXXL 
 
 shouts of contending hosts were heard in the air ; and an 
 apparition mounted on a white steed, rode through the 
 lens of Lincolnshire, announcing, on the very day of the 
 battle, the triumph of the British army at Blenheim, as the 
 apparition of Castor and Pollux had proclaimed in the 
 forum the victory of Regillus over the Tarquins, which es- 
 tablished the liberties of infant Rome. 
 
 The nation, mindful of the glories won in the fields of 
 Cressy and Agincourt, hailed so splendid a proof of British 
 valour and skill, and exulted in the prospect of again 
 seeing the star of England predominant over that of France. 
 The factious clamours against Marlborough were hushed ; 
 the Tories were driven from power ; the pacific queen was 
 borne away by the general ardour ; Marlborough and 
 Godolphin were supported with the Whigs, who were 
 animated with fresh spirit ; the new parliament was filled 
 with members of the prevailing sentiment ; and from this 
 period may be dated the commencement of that glorious 
 administration, which carried the power and fame of En- 
 gland to so great a height. In the speech from the throne 
 the queen spoke the sentiments of the nation, when she 
 encouraged the parliament " to continue the war until the 
 monarchy of Spain was restored to the house of Austria, 
 and the faithless king of France reduced.'' The arrival of 
 Tallard and the captured generals in England revived the 
 memory of those days when a king of France was brought 
 prisoner by a prince of Wales, and the nation gave the 
 most striking proofs of its gratitude to the general who had 
 so ably exerted its force and vindicated its fame. Marl- 
 borough received the thanks of parliament ; was rewarded 
 with a perpetual pension, and with the manor of Wood- 
 stock, the residence of several sovereigns ; and honoured 
 with the construction of a splendid palace, which still com- 
 memorates in its name the victory of Blenheim. 
 
 During winter the most active preparations were made, 
 by all the ellies, to prosecute their advantages. Leopold 
 obtained large supplies of money and provisions from his 
 hereditary countries, and the Maritime Powers used similar 
 exertions to reinforce their armies. But he lived only to 
 witness the dawn of success : a lingering disorder, which 
 had induced him to consign the administration of govern- 
 ment to his son Joseph, on the 5th of May, carried him to
 
 1705.] HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER. 515 
 
 the grave in the sixty-fifth year of his age and the forty- 
 sixth of his reign ; the longest in the Austrian annals except 
 that of Frederic III. 
 
 Leopold was surnamed the Great, an appellation flat- 
 tering to his own character or talents, but true if applied to 
 the great events of his reign. He was of a weak and 
 sickly constitution, low in stature, of a saturnine complex- 
 ion, ordinary in countenance, and distinguished with an 
 unusual portion of the Austrian lip. His gait was stately, 
 slow, and deliberate ; his air pensive, his address awkward, 
 his manner uncouth, his disposition cold and phlegmatic. 
 He was attached to the Spanish dress, customs, and eti- 
 quette, and usually appeared in a coat of black cloth, orna- 
 mented with a large order of the golden fleece, scarlet 
 stockings, and a Spanish hat, decorated with a scarlet 
 feather. So reserved was his disposition, and so recluse 
 his way of life, that he was scarcely known even in his own 
 court, except by those who constantly attended his person. 
 On this subject, an anecdote is related by a contemporary 
 author. One of his chamberlains, who was not in constant 
 attendance, being suddenly called on some extraordinary 
 occasion, met a little dark ordinary figure in the ante- 
 chamber, and familiarly inquired Where is the emperor ? 
 A solemn voice replying in hollow accents " It is I," so 
 confounded the astonished chamberlain, that he hastened 
 out of the palace, and never again ventured to return to 
 court. 
 
 Leopold possessed all the private and domestic virtues ; 
 he was pure in his morals, faithful to the marriage-bed, a 
 good father and a kind master. Though reserved in 
 public and with strangers, he was open and facetious with 
 those who formed his private society ; and he delighted in 
 the tricks of buffoons and dwarfs, who, according to the 
 custom of the times, formed a part of his establishment. 
 
 Being originally educated for the church, the Jesuits his 
 preceptors acquired such an influence over his mind that 
 he professed a resolution to enter into their order, and 
 even passed through the probationary exercises. To them 
 he owed the acquisition of multifarious knowledge, and such 
 an intimate acquaintance with theology, jurisprudence, 
 metaphysics, and the speculative sciences, that he was 
 called the most learned prince of his age. When the
 
 516 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXXt. 
 
 death of his brother Ferdinand opened a more flattering 
 prospect, he could not throw off liis early habits and prin- 
 ciples, but still displayed rather the virtues of the recluse 
 and the acquirements of a professor, than the qualifications 
 of a prince. He was minute in acts of devotion, much 
 addicted to judicial astrology and alchemy, and proud of 
 displaying his knowledge of Latin style. He wrote epi- 
 grams, anagrams, inscriptions, and fables ; he possessed 
 great judgment in painting, was distinguished both as a 
 performer and composer of music, and considering the 
 scantiness of his revenues, may be ranked among the most 
 liberal patrons of the arts and sciences. He improved the 
 university at Olmutz, founded two universities at Inn- 
 spruck and Breslau, patronised several colleges and literary 
 establishments at Vienna, and greatly augmented the 
 imperial library. To his preceptors also, like Ferdinand 
 II., he owed the principal defects of his character, and 
 the great embarrassments of his administration : at their 
 instigation he was induced to persecute the Protestants, 
 and to commit those frequent breaches of faith, which 
 diminished the confidence of his subjects, and tarnished 
 the lustre of his reign. 
 
 He was unbounded in his charities to the poor and 
 needy, but this virtue partook of that excessive and 
 affected humility which characterised Ferdinand II. He 
 gave audience to persons of the lowest description, even to 
 beggars, and distributed among them considerable largesses 
 with his own hand. When told that such benefactions, as 
 well as his munificence to the Jesuits and other religious 
 orders, drained his finances, he was accustomed to reply, 
 with an allusion to Louis XIV. that if he lavished the 
 same sums on mistresses and useless luxuries, he should be 
 commended instead of being blamed. For these virtues 
 and charities he was deemed worthy of canonisation by 
 Pope Innocent XI. ; and a Spanish priest at Home actually 
 dedicated a chapel to his honour. 
 
 Notwithstanding, however, his own predilection to the 
 Jesuits, and his attachment to the minute forms of his reli- 
 gion, he gave an unusual proof of liberality for a mind so 
 tenacious of its prejudices. Feeling from experience that 
 his own education was ill suited to the duties of a sovereign, 
 and sensible that the Jesuits sacrificed every consideration
 
 1705.] REMARKS ON HIS ADMINISTRATION. 517 
 
 for the advancement of their own order, he departed from 
 the custom of his family, and did not intrust to them the 
 education of his children. With the same degree of mag- 
 nanimity he commanded the governor of the archduke 
 Joseph not to conceal from his pupil the defects of his own 
 administration, but to hold them up as a warning against 
 similar errors. 
 
 The despotism and intolerance of Ferdinand II. had 
 rendered him the object of jealousy and terror, and led to 
 those restrictions of the imperial authority which were 
 established under his successor by the peace of Westphalia. 
 All the moderation and prudence of Ferdinand III. could 
 rot remove the prejudices derived from his father's arbi- 
 trary measures ; and the imperial authority would have 
 suffered new diminution, if in such a difficult situation an 
 active and aspiring prince had ascended the throne. For- 
 tunately the phlegmatic character of Leopold was suited to 
 the times. The mild and moderate system introduced by 
 the father was matured by the son ; and the most inactive 
 prince who since Frederic III. had held the reins of em- 
 pire, aided by a concurrence of fortunate events, and 
 assisted by great generals and able ministers, restored the 
 imperial authority, and revived the declining grandeur of 
 the house of Austria. 
 
 The reign of Leopold forms a new era in the military 
 and civil institutions of his country. Since the invention 
 of gunpowder the incessant wars in Europe had occasioned 
 progressive changes in the military art. The artillery had 
 been gradually lightened, and received most of the improve- 
 ments which at present subsist. The same innovations 
 had taken place in the form and use of the musket ; the 
 pike had been superseded by fire-arms, and its place sup- 
 plied by the introduction of the bayonet. The regiments 
 had been lessened and equalised, formed into regular divi- 
 sions and subdivisions, supplied with additional officers, 
 and the files gradually reduced to three. The armies, 
 instead of small bodies, seldom exceeding 30,000 or 40,000 
 men, encumbered with little baggage, drawing their provi- 
 sions from the country which was the theatre of their ope- 
 rations, and accustomed to quarter in towns and villages, 
 now took the field to the number of 100,000, directed their 
 movements by plans previously calculated, encamped with
 
 518 LEOPOLD I. [OH. LXXI. 
 
 the same regularity as they marched and fought, and in all 
 seasons drew their principal subsistence from magazines. 
 Thus their movements became slow, confined, systematic, 
 and complicated, instead of the bold and rapid inroads and 
 singular surprises so frequent in the thirty years' war, and 
 preceding periods. 
 
 These progressive improvements in the art of war induced 
 Leopold, with the advice of Eugene, to meliorate the mili- 
 tary system of his own dominions, as he had already done 
 that of Germany. The regiments of infantry, hitherto of 
 unequal force, were all established on the same footing, in 
 number, divisions, and discipline ; and similar changes 
 were extended to the hussars and other irregulars. Bene- 
 ficial regulations were likewise introduced into the internal 
 economy of the army ; many grievances with respect to 
 quarters, which bore heavy on the public and on indivi- 
 duals, were removed ; and the fortifications of the principal 
 places strengthened and augmented. By these measures 
 Leopold left a permanent force amounting to 74,000 men, 
 consisting of twenty-nine regiments of infantry, eight of 
 cuirassiers, six of dragoons, two of light horse, and three 
 of hussars.* 
 
 Leopold also deserves peculiar praise for an unwearied 
 attention to jurisprudence, and beneficial regulations in the 
 civil and criminal courts, in imitation of similar changes to 
 which the progress of knowledge had given birth in other 
 countries. Without descending into a minute detail of a 
 subject so dry and complicated, it will be sufficient to ob- 
 serve, that he laid aside the Caroline code, so severe in its 
 punishments, for a more mild and lenient form. He also 
 forbade the customary appeals to foreign tribunals, intro- 
 duced the use of the German tongue instead of the Latin, 
 which had hitherto been the language of the courts, formed 
 a digest of the common law of Austria, as a systematic 
 regulation for all judicial proceedings, encouraged the 
 study of the laws, and made various modifications in the 
 subordinate tribunals of his other territories. 
 
 * Each regiment of infantry consisted of a company of grenadiers of 
 100 men ; and twelve others of 150 each, forming three battalions. 
 The horse regiments consisted of ten companies of 100 men each, 
 forming five squadrons. Le Luca Lesebueh des Oesterreichischen 
 Staaten, v. i. p. 392.
 
 170.5.] ms FAMILY. 519 
 
 To him also the capital was indebted for a more regular 
 and better police, and the establishment for lighting the 
 streets, the expense of which was defrayed by a tax on 
 foreign wine ; a benefit which, though it may seem too 
 inconsiderable for the notice of history, is highly advanta- 
 geous to domestic intercourse. 
 
 Leopold was thrice married. 
 
 His first wife, Margaret Theresa, daughter of Philip IV., 
 king of Spain, became, by the renunciation of her elder 
 sister, presumptive heiress of the Spanish dominions. She 
 was of a meek and humble disposition, and chiefly distin- 
 guished for attention to her husband, and for skill and 
 industry in working and embroidering coverings of altar- 
 pieces, and paraphernalia for the church. She gained the 
 affection of her husband by her domestic virtues and 
 endearing attentions. She had a weak and sickly constitu- 
 tion ; and, after bearing four children, died in childbed in 
 1673. 
 
 Maria Antonia, her only surviving daughter, was in 
 her right undoubted heiress of the Spanish dominions, 
 but was compelled by Leopold to renounce her claims on 
 espousing Maximilian Emanuel, elector of Bavaria. She 
 died in 1692, leaving her pretensions to her only son Fer- 
 dinand Joseph, who, by the first partition treaty was ap- 
 pointed king of Spain and the Indies, and afterwards 
 nominated, by the will of his uncle Charles, heir of all the 
 Spanish dominions. His death in 1701 happened so op- 
 portunely, that both the French and Austrian parties 
 mutually charged each other with recurring to poison, but 
 both without foundation. 
 
 Claudia Felicitas, the cousin and second wife of Leopold, 
 was the daughter of Ferdinand Charles, head of the Tyrol 
 line. Her hand was first demanded by James Stuart, 
 pretender to the crown of England ; but his suit was re- 
 jected in favour of the emperor. The nuptials took place 
 at Innspruck in 1663, and almost the first use which she 
 made of her influence was, to exclude the queen-mother 
 from the share which she had hitherto borne in the go- 
 vernment, and to obtain the disgrace of the prime-minister, 
 prince Lobcowitz, who had opposed her marriage, and re- 
 commended the princess of Neuburgh. Claudia was a 
 woman of great beauty, discretion, and vivacity, and par-
 
 520 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXXI. 
 
 ticularly attentive to the taste and inclination of her con- 
 sort. She sung and performed delightfully, and introduced 
 order and economy into the household. She was so fond 
 of the chace that her incessant fatigues brought on a de- 
 cline, which carried her to the grave in 1676. 
 
 His third wife, Magdalen Theresa, was daughter of 
 Philip William, first elector Palatine of the branch of 
 Neuburgh. She was born in 1655, and brought up, under 
 the auspices of her zealous father, in the constant practice 
 of every species of mortification and gloomy superstition. 
 With such an education the young princess contracted the 
 austerity of an anchorite. She rejected the harmless plea- 
 sures of society, panted for religious retirement, and even 
 exposed herself to the sun and wind, that her complexion 
 might disgust Leopold, who, after the death of his first wife, 
 offered her his hand. On the decease of his second wife 
 her repugnance was overcome by the persuasions of her 
 family, who represented that Providence had destined her 
 to fill the first throne of the universe for the advantage of 
 the Catholic faith. But amidst all the pomp and splendour 
 of a court, she still preserved the same gloomy notions, 
 the same disdain for the vanities of the world, the same 
 inclination for mortifications and self-abasement. She 
 visited the sick and prisoners, wrought ornaments for the 
 church and garments for the poor, kept a severe register of 
 her thoughts and actions, condemned herself to stigmas for 
 real or imaginary faults ; she wore bracelets not as usual 
 decorated with precious stones, but armed with iron spikes, 
 which lacerated her flesh, walked barefoot in processions, 
 and frequent pilgrimages, and inflicted on herself the 
 severest discipline, till her blood flowed on the ground. 
 While she prepared with her own hand the most exquisite 
 delicacies for her husband, she kept frequent and rigid 
 fasts, and condemned herself to the most ordinary fare. 
 These austerities, however, she practised in the utmost 
 secrecy, and several were never known till after her death, 
 when the instruments of her penance were found in a box 
 tinged with blood. With a commendable degree of self- 
 denial, she burnt also, with her own hands, a detailed 
 history of her life and actions, which had been written by 
 her confessor, who considered her as a saint. 
 
 These religious practices did not divert her from the
 
 1705.] CHARACTEH OF HIS THIRD WIFE. 521 
 
 duties of the wife and the empress. She complied in ap- 
 pearance with the taste and inclinations of her hus- 
 band, frequented the opera with the psalms bound like 
 the books of the performance, and exerted her skill in 
 music for his solace and amusement. Knowing the aver- 
 sion of Leopold to the French language, she made, for his 
 use, extracts in German from the best French publications 
 on political economy ; and, though not anxious to interfere 
 in political affairs, assisted him with her counsels. On the 
 death of her eldest son Joseph, she was intrusted with the 
 regency ; and after conducting the reins of state with 
 vigour and prudence, in the short but critical period which 
 elapsed before the arrival of Charles, she resigned her 
 power without regret, to resume her darling course of life. 
 She possessed an active and versatile genius ; and, besides 
 her native tongue, was well acquainted with the Latin, 
 French, and Italian languages, and mistress of music both 
 as a performer and composer. She turned the psalms into 
 German verse, and set them to music ; and besides numer- 
 ous versions of devout and edifying works, translated from 
 the French "Pious Reflections for every Day of the 
 Month," which was printed at Cologne. 
 
 In the last illness of her husband she was indefatigable 
 in her attendance, scarcely allowing herself rest, or quitting 
 the sick-bed till she was exhausted with fatigue. Except 
 the short interval in which she was intrusted with the 
 reins of government, she renounced all wordly occupations, 
 and resumed that course of austerity and abstraction which 
 had been the delight of her youth. She died in 1720 ; 
 was buried, at her own desire, without pomp or parade, 
 and her coffin was distinguished with no other inscription 
 than 
 
 ELEONORE, 
 
 " Pauvre Pecheresse, 
 
 " Morte le 19 Janvier, 
 
 " 17'20:" 
 
 leaving behind her a singular example of a princess, who 
 with talents, qualities, and accomplishments to adorn the 
 highest station, suffered them to be perverted and obscured 
 by superstitious practices and gloomy austerities, both 
 equally contrary to the real spirit and temper of the 
 Christian religion.
 
 522 LEOPOLD I. [CH. LXXI. 
 
 Of ten children by Leopold, five survived ; two sons, 
 Joseph and Charles, who succeeded, and three daughters. 
 
 Mary Elizabeth, born 1680, compensated for an ordinary 
 person by an excellent understanding, an extensive know- 
 ledge in various branches of science and literature, an in- 
 timate acquaintance with the Latin, French, and Italian 
 languages, and a proficiency in the lighter accomplish- 
 ments of her sex. After ruling the exterior provinces, 
 she was appointed governess of the Netherlands, fixed 
 her residence at Brussels, and conducted the helm of state 
 with a prudent and steady hand till her death in 1741. 
 
 2. Mary Anne, born in 1683, espoused in 1708 John 
 the sixth king of Portugal, a marriage which cemented 
 the attachment of her husband to the principles of the 
 Grand Alliance. She combated by mildness and discretion 
 his ardent passions, and bore with exemplary patience his 
 licentious amours and numerous infidelities. During the 
 long illness of her husband, who, in the latter part of 
 his life, was afflicted with a paralytic disorder, she obtained 
 the chief share in the administration of affairs, which, in 
 conformity with the principles of her family, she placed in 
 the hands of the clergy ; but she is little remarkable in the 
 History of Portugal, except as the foundress of an edifice 
 for the convent of barefooted Carmelites at Belem, where 
 she was buried in 1654. 
 
 3. Of Mary Magdalen, the third daughter, little is known, 
 except that she was born at Vienna in 1689, and died in 
 1743. 
 
 END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. 
 
 LOICDO7 
 
 BY STOTIISWOODF. 
 
 KKVt-STKEZT S<jriBE
 
 
 ^ ( in TO In 
 
 aSlTY 
 
 CALIF*
 
 LIST OF 
 
 BOHN'S VARIOUS LIBRARIES. 
 
 A Complete Set, in 637 Volumes, Price 132 8s.- 
 
 SEPARATE LIBRARIES. 
 
 STANDARD LIBRABY (including the Atlas to Coxe's roiumx. **"' 
 
 Marlborough) . . . . . . 165 29 15 
 
 HISTORICAL LIBRARY ...... 21 550 
 
 LIBRARY OF FRENCH MEMOIRS .... 6 110 
 
 UNIFORM WITH THE STANDARD LIBRARY . . . 46 8 14 
 
 PHILOLOGICAL LIBRARY ...... 22 4 15 
 
 BRITISH CLASSICS ....... 29 516 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL LIBRARY ..... 8200 
 
 ANTIQUABIAN LIBRARY ...... 40 10 
 
 ILLUSTRATED LXSRARY ...... 79 20 8 
 
 CLASSICAL LIBRARY (including the Atlas) . . . 91 22 7 
 
 SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY ...... 68 17 17 
 
 REFERENCE LIBRARY ...... 1060 
 
 CHEAP SERIES ....... 01 4 18 6
 
 A CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Roscoe's Life and Pontificate of 
 
 Leo X., with the Copyrght Notes, and an 
 
 Index. Portrait*. In 2 vols. 
 
 Rosooe's Life of Lorenzo de Medici, 
 
 with the Copyright Notes, &c. Portrait. 
 
 Russia, History of, by WALTEB K. 
 
 KELLT. Portrtitt. In 2 vote. 
 Schiller's Works. Translated into 
 English. In 5 vote. 
 
 VoL 1. Thirty Years' War, and Revolt 
 
 of the Netherlands. 
 
 Vol. 2. Continuation of the Revolt 
 
 of the Netherlands; Wallensteln's 
 
 Camp ; the Picoolomini ; the Death 
 
 of Wallenstein; and William Tell. 
 
 Vol. 3. Don Carlos, Mary Stuart, Moid 
 
 of Orleans, and Bride of Messina. 
 VoL 4. The Robbers, Flesco, Love and 
 
 Intrigue, and the Ghost-Seer. 
 
 Vol. 5. Poems. Translated by EDGAR 
 
 BOWBJNG, C.B. [Just published. 
 
 Vol. 6. Philosophical Letters and JE&- 
 
 thetical Essays. [Just published. 
 
 Schlegel's Philosophy of Life and 
 of Language, translated by A. J. W. MOR- 
 RISON. 
 
 I. History of Literature, An- 
 
 cient and Modern. Now first completely 
 translated, with General Index. 
 
 . Philosophy of History, 
 
 Translated by J. B. ROBERTSON. Por- 
 trait. 
 
 Schlegel's Dramatic Literature. 
 
 Translated. Portrait. 
 
 Modern History. 
 
 .Esthetic and miscellaneous 
 
 Works. 
 Sheridan's Dramatic Works and 
 
 Life. Portrait. 
 
 Sismondi's Literature of the South 
 of Europe. Translated by Roscoe. Por- 
 traits. In 2 vols. 
 
 Smith's (Adam) Theory of the Moral 
 
 Sentiments ; with his Essay on the First 
 Formation of Languages. 
 
 Smyth's (Professor) Lectures on 
 
 Modern History. In 2 vols. 
 Lectures on the French Re- 
 
 volution. In 2 vols. 
 Sturm's Morning Communings with 
 
 God, or Devotional Meditations for Every 
 
 Day in the Year. 
 Taylor's (Bishop Jeremy) Holy Living 
 
 and Dying. Portrait. 
 
 Thierry's Conquest of England by 
 
 the Normans. Translated by WILLIAM 
 HAZLITT. Portrait. In 2 vols. 
 Vasari's Lives of the Painters, 
 Sculptors, and Architects. Translated by 
 Mrs. FOSTKR. 5 vols. 
 
 Wesley's (John) Life. By ROBERT 
 SODTHET. New and Complete Edition. 
 Double volume. 6s. 
 
 Wheatley on the Book of Common 
 Prayer, frontispiece. 
 
 II. 
 
 Uniform with Bohn's Standard Library. 
 
 Guizot's Monk and his Contempo- 
 raries. Translated by A. K. SCOBLE. 3s. 6 J. 
 
 Hawthorne's Tales. la 2 vols., 
 
 3*. 6i. each. 
 Vol. 1. Twice Told Tales, and the 
 
 Snow Image. 
 VoL 2. Scarlet Letter, and the House 
 
 with the seven Gables. 
 Henry's (Matthew) Commentary on 
 the Psalms. Numerous Illuttratioiu. 
 4t. 64 
 
 Hofland's British Angler's Manual. 
 
 Improved and enlarged, by EDWARD JESSE, 
 Esq. Illustrated with 60 Engraving. 
 
 tt.ed. 
 
 Horace's Odes and Epodes. Trans- 
 lated by the Rev. W. SKWELL. 3*. W. 
 
 Irving' s (Washington) Life and Let- 
 ters. By his Nephew, PISBRE E. IRVIKC . 
 In 2 vols. 3t. 6d. each. 
 
 Bailey's (P. J.) Festus. A Poem. 
 Seventh Edition, evised and enlarged. 
 is. ; with i'ortrait, 6s. 
 
 British Poets, from Milton to Kirke 
 WHITE. Cabinet Edition. In 4 vols. 
 lit. 
 
 Gary's Translation of Dante's Hea- 
 ven, Hell, and Purgatory. 7*. 6d. 
 
 Cervantes' Galatea. Translated by 
 Gu UPON GTLL. 
 
 Chillingworth's Religion of Pro- 
 testants. 3*. 6d. 
 
 Classic Tales. Comprising in One 
 volume the most esteemed works of the 
 imagination. 3t. 6d. 
 
 Demosthenes and JEschines, the 
 
 Orations of. Translated by LKLAND. 34. 
 
 Dickson and Mowbray on Poultry. 
 Edited by Mr LIUDON. lUuttratiant In 
 Harvey. 5$. 
 20 
 
 (Washington) Life of Wash- 
 ington. Portrait. In 4 vols. 3s. 6d. each.
 
 BONN'S VABIOU8 LIBE ARIES. 
 
 Irving'* (Washington) Complete 
 Works. In 11 vols. 3*. 6d. each. 
 Vol. 1. Salmagundi and Knickerbocker. 
 
 Portrait of the Author. 
 Vol. 2. Sketch Book and Life of Gold- 
 smith, 
 
 Vol. 3. Bracebridge Hall and Abbots- 
 ford and Newstead. 
 Vol. 4. Tales of a Traveller and tie 
 
 Alhambra. 
 Vol. 6. Conquest of Granada and Con- 
 
 qnest of Spain. 
 
 Vols. 6 and 7. Life of Columbus and 
 Companions of Columbus, with a new 
 Index. Pint Pea-trait. 
 Vol. 8. Astoria and Tour in the Prairies. 
 Vol. 9. Mahomet and his Successors. 
 Vol. 10. Conquest of Florida and Ad- 
 ventures of Captain Bonneville. 
 VoL 11. Biographies and Miscellanies. 
 For separate Work*, tee Cheap Seriet, p.31. 
 Joyce's Introduction to the Arts and 
 Sciences. With Examination Questions. 
 
 Lawrence's Lectures on Compara- 
 tive Anatomy, Physiology, Zoology, and the 
 Natural History of Hun. Illustrated. St. 
 
 Lilly's Introduction to Astrology. 
 
 With numerous Emendations, by &ADKIKL. 
 6*. 
 
 Miller's (Professor) History Philoso- 
 phically considered. In 4 vols. 3t. Qd. 
 each. 
 
 Political Cyclopaedia. la 4 vols. 
 3*. 6d. each. 
 
 Also bound in 2 vols. with 
 
 leather backs. 16*. 
 
 Uncle Tom's Cabin. With Introduc- 
 tory Remarks by the Rev. J. SHEBKAK. 
 Printed in a large clear type. lUuitra- 
 
 tions. 3s. 6d. 
 
 Wide, Wide World. By ELIZABETH 
 
 WETHEKALL. Illustrated with 10 highl-f 
 fmiihed Steel Engravingt. 3*. 6d. 
 
 m. 
 Bohn's Historical Library. 
 
 UNIFORM WITH THE STANDARD LIBRARY, AT 6s. PEB VOLUME. 
 
 Evelyn's Diary and Correspondence. ; Jesse's Memoirs of the Pretenders 
 
 and then* Adherents. 
 Nugent's (Lord) 
 Hampden, his 
 Portrait*. 
 
 Strickland's (Agnes) 
 
 Illustrated with numerous Portrait*, <fe.. 
 In 4 vols. 
 
 Penys' Diary and Correspondence. 
 
 Edited by Lord Biaybrooke. With im- 
 portant Additions, including numerous 
 Letters. Ittuttrated rvith many Portrait*. 
 In 4 vols. 
 
 Jesse's Memoirs of the Reign of the 
 
 Stuarta, Including the Protectorate. With 
 General Index. Upward* of 40 Portrait*. 
 In 3 vols. 
 
 6 Portrait*. 
 
 Memorials of 
 Party, and Times. 12 
 
 Lives of the 
 
 Queens of England, from the Norman 
 Conquest. From official records and 
 authentic documents, private and public. 
 Revised Edition. Tn 6 vols. 
 
 Life of Mary Queen of Scots. 
 
 2 vola. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Bohn's Library of French Memoirs. 
 
 UNIFORM WITH THE STANDARD LIBBABY AT 3s. 6d. PEB VOLUME. 
 
 Portrait*. In 
 
 Memoirs of Philip do Commines, 
 
 containing the Histories cf Louis XI. ard 
 Charles V11L, find of Charles the Bold, 
 l>nke of Burgundy. To which is added, 
 The Scandalous Chronicle, or Secret 
 
 History of Lonis XI. 
 2 vols. 
 
 Memoirs of the Duke of Sully, Prime 
 
 Minister to Henry the Great. Portrai's. 
 In 4 vols. 
 
 V. 
 
 Bonn's School and College Series. 
 
 UNIFORM WITH THE STANDARD LIBBABY. 
 
 ings of Mill and Scholz at foot of page, and 
 Parallel References in the margin ; also a 
 Critical Introduction and Chronological 
 Tables. Two fac-timilet of Greek Manu- 
 tcriptt. (660 pages.) 3*. 6d. ; or with the 
 Lexicon, 61 
 
 M 
 
 Bass's Complete Greek and English 
 
 Lexicon to the New Testament. 2*. 
 Donaldson's Theatre of the Greeks. 
 
 Illustrated with Lithographs and nu- 
 merous Woodcuts. 5*. 
 New Testament (The) in Greek. 
 Griesbich's Text, with the various read-
 
 A 'CATALOGUE OF 
 
 VI. 
 
 Bohn's Philological and Philosophical Library. 
 
 UNIFORM WITH THE STANDARD LTBR/BV, AT 5s. PEB VOLUME 
 
 (EXCEPTING THOSE MARKED OTHEBWISB"). 
 Drapsr (J. W.) A History of the Logic ; or, the Science of Inference. 
 
 intellectual Development of Europe. By 
 JOHN WILLIAM DRAPER, M.I)., LL.D. A 
 New Edition, thoroughly Revised by the 
 Author. In 2 vols. [In the press. 
 
 Socinl Advancement is as completely 
 under the dominion of Natural Law as is 
 bodi'y growth. The life of an individual is 
 a miniature of the life of a nation. These 
 proportions it is the special object of this 
 hook to demonstrate. 
 
 Hegel's Lectures on the Philosophy 
 
 Of History. Translated by J. SIBBEB, M.A. 
 
 Herodotus, Turner's (Dawson W.} 
 
 Notes to. With Map, fee. 
 Wheeler's Analysis and 
 
 Summary of. 
 Kant's Critique of Pure Season. 
 
 Translated by J. M. D. MEIKLEJOHN. 
 
 A Popular Manual. By J. DTSVFY. 
 
 Lewndes' Bibliographer's Manual of 
 
 English Literature. New Edition, en- 
 larged, by H. G. BOHH. Parts I. to X. (' 
 to '). 3*. 6d. each. Part XL (the Ap- 
 pendix Volume). 6*. Or the 11 parts in 
 4 vols., half morocco, 2J. 2*. 
 
 Smith's ( Archdeacon) Complete Col- 
 lection of Synonyms and Antonyms. 
 
 Tennemann's Manual of the History 
 of Philosophy. Continued by J. B. MORELI. 
 
 Thucydides, Wheeler's Analysis of, 
 
 Wheeler's (W. A., M.A.) Dictionary 
 
 of Names of Fictitious Persons and Placet 
 
 Wright's (T.) Dictionary of Obsolete 
 
 and Provincial English. In 2 vols. 5*. 
 ach ; or half-bound In 1 voL, lOt 6<Z. 
 
 vn. 
 Bohn's British Classics. 
 
 UNIFORM WITH TKT! BTAKDARD LIBRARY, AT 3. 6<2. PBB VOLUME. 
 
 Burke's Speeches on Warren Hast- 
 ings; and Letters. With Index. Jn 
 2 vols. (funning vole. 7 and 8 of the 
 works). 
 
 Addison's Works. With the Notes 
 of Bishop HURD, much additional matter, 
 and upwards of 100 Unpublished Letters. 
 Edited by H. Q. Borne. Portrait and 8 
 Engravings on Steel. In 6 vols. 
 Barke's Works. In 6 Volumes. 
 
 Vol. 1. Vir.diCition of Natrral Society, 
 On the Sublime and Beautiful, and 
 Political Miscellanies. 
 Vol. 2. French Revolution, fcc, 
 VoL 3. Appeal from the New to the 
 Old Whigs ; the Catholic Claims, &c. 
 Vol. 4. On the Affairs of India, and 
 
 Charge against Warren Hastings. 
 VoL 6. Conclusion of Charge against 
 
 Hastings ; on a Regtcide Peace, &c. 
 Vol. 6. Miscellaneous Speeches, &c 
 With a General Index. 
 
 Life. By PRIOR. New arri 
 
 revised Edition. Portrait. 
 
 Defoe's Works. Edited by Sir WAL- 
 TER SCOTT. In t vols. 
 
 Gibbon's Roman Empire. Complete 
 and Unabridged, with Notes ; Including, 
 in addition to the Author's own, those of 
 Guizot, Wenok, Niebuhr, Hugo, Neander, 
 and other foreign scholars; and an ela- 
 borate Index. Edited by an English 
 Churchman. In 1 vole. 
 
 vm. 
 
 Bohn's Ecclesiastical Library. 
 
 UNIFOBM WITH THK STANTABT, LIBRARY, AT 5l. PEB VOLOTOt 
 
 Bleak (J.) An Introduction to the 
 
 Old Tcfamcnf, by FRiiumtcH BLEKK. 
 Kxlited by JOHANN BLEKK and ADOLK 
 KAMI'HAUSEX. Translated from the Ger 
 man by G. H. VENABLES, under the super- 
 vijston of the Rev. E. VENABLES, Minor 
 Canon of Lincoln. New Kdition. In 2 
 v ol*. [In tlitprefs. 
 
 Eoaebius' Ecclesiastical History. 
 With Notes. 
 
 Philo Judaeus, Works of; the con- 
 
 22 
 
 temporary of Josephus. Translated by 
 C. D. Yonge. In 4 vols. 
 Sicrates' Ecclesiastical History, in 
 
 s-'nttnuation of Eosebius. With the Notes 
 of Valpglus. 
 
 Sosomen's Ecclesiastical History, 
 
 from A.D. 324-440 : and the Ecclesiastiral 
 rf story of Philostorgins. 
 Theodoret and Evagrius. Ecclesin?-- 
 ttcaJ Histories, from A.D. 333 to A.9. 427 . 
 and from A.t>. 431 to t^o. B44.
 
 Bomrs VARIOUS LIBRARIES. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Bohn's Antiquarian Library. 
 
 UX1S-ORM WITH THE STANDARD LIBRA tT, AT 5. PES VOLUME. 
 
 BedeHi Ecclesiastic*! History, and 
 
 the Anglo-Saxou Chita del*. 
 
 Bo=thiu?'8 Consolation of Pluloso- 
 pny. In Anglo-Saxon, with the A. S. 
 Metres, and an English Translation, by 
 the Rev. S. Fox. 
 
 Brand's Popular Antiquities of Eng- 
 land, Scotland, and Ireland. By Sir HENKT 
 ELLIS. In 3 vote. 
 
 Browne's (Sir Thomas) Works. 
 iidited by SIMON WII.KIN. In 3 vola. 
 VoL 1. The Vnlgar Errors. 
 Vol. 2. Religio Medid, and Garden oi 
 
 CyruB. 
 
 VoL 3. Urn-Burial, Tracts, and Corre- 
 spondence. 
 
 Chronicles of the Crusaders. Richard 
 of Devizes, Geoffrey de Vinsaul, Lord de 
 Jolnville. 
 
 Chronicles of the Tombs. A Colloe 
 tion of Remarkable Epitaph*. By T. J. 
 PBTTIGBKW, FJLS., F.8.A. 
 
 Early Travels in Palestine. Willi- 
 bild, Saewnlf, Benjamin cf Tudela, Mpn- 
 deville, I a Brocqn'ere, and Maundrell ; 
 all unabridged. Edited by TIIOSIAS 
 
 Wi:!GHT. 
 
 Ellis' s Early English Metrical Ro- 
 mances. Revised by J. 0. HALLTWELL. 
 
 Florence of Worcester's Chronicle, 
 
 with the Two Continuations : comprising 
 Annals of English History to the Reign of 
 Etlward 1, 
 
 Giraldus Camhrensis' Historical 
 Works : Topography of Ireland; History 
 of the Conquest of Ireland; Itinerary 
 .arongh Wales; and Description of Wales. 
 With Index. Kdited by THOS. WBIGHT. 
 
 Handbook of Proverbs. Comprising 
 nil Ray's English Proverbs, with additions ; 
 bis Foreign Proverbs ; and an Alphabetical 
 Index. 
 
 Henry of Huntingdon's History of 
 the English, l.'oai Hie Roman Invasion to 
 Henry U. ; wlfi the Acts of King Stephen, 
 te. 
 
 I ignlph's Chronicle of the Abbey of 
 
 Croyland, with t'.'e Con'innations by Peter 
 of Blois and other Writers. By II. T. 
 RILBT. 
 
 Eeightley's Fairy Mythology. 
 
 tispiece by <-'ruiktha,nk. 
 
 Lamb's Dramatic Poets of the Time 
 
 of Elizabeth ; including hia Selections from 
 the Qarrick Plays. 
 
 Lepsius's Letters from Egypt, Ethio* 
 pia, and the Peninsnla of Sinai. 
 
 Mallet's Northern Antiquities. By 
 
 Bishop PF.BCT. With an Attract of the 
 Eyrbiggia Saga, by Sir WAI.TEB Soor^. 
 Edited by J. A. BLACKWRLL. 
 
 Karco Polo's Travels. The Trans- 
 lation of Marsden. Edited by THOMAS 
 WHIQHT. 
 
 Matthew Paris's Chronicle. In 5 
 vols. 
 
 FTKST SKCTIOH : Roger of Wendover's 
 Flowers of English History, from the 
 Descent of the Saxons to A.D. 1735. 
 Translated by Dr. GILES. In 2 vols. 
 SBOOND SECTION : From 1256 to 137?. 
 With Index to the entire Work. In 
 3 vols. 
 
 Matthew of Westminster's Flowers 
 
 of History, especially snch as relate to the 
 affairs of Britain ; to A.D. 139). Translate J 
 by C. D. Yos&. In a vote. 
 Ordericus Vitalis' Ecclesiastical His- 
 tory of England and Normandy. Trans- 
 lated with Notes, by T. FOUKSTKB, 1LA, 
 In 4 vols. 
 
 Panli's (Dr. E.) Life of Alfred the 
 
 Great Translated from the German. 
 Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs. With 
 
 Knglish Translations, and a General Index, 
 
 bringing the whole into parallels, by H. 0. 
 
 Bon. 
 Roger De Hoveden's Annals of Eng- 
 
 >.ish History ; from A.D. 733 to AJ>. 1301 
 Edited by H, T. RILET. In 2 vols. 
 Six Old English Chronicles, vis. : 
 
 Asser's Life of Alfred, and the Chronicles 
 of Ethelwerd, GUJas, Nennins, Geoffrey 
 of Monmonth, and Richard of Ciren- 
 cestvr. 
 
 William of Malmesbory's Chronicle 
 of the Kings of England. Translated by 
 SHARPK. 
 
 Yule-Tide Stories. A Collection of 
 Scandinavian Tales and Tradition*. Kdited 
 by B. THORPE. 
 
 23
 
 A CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Bolin's Illustrated Library. 
 
 UNIFORM WITH THE STANDARD LIBRARY, AT 5s. PER VOLUME 
 (EXCEPTING THOSE MARKED OTHERWISE). 
 
 Allen's Battles of the British Navy. 
 
 Revised and enlarged. Huinerou* fine 
 Portrait!. In 2 vols. 
 
 Andersen's Danish Legends and 
 
 Fairy Tales. With many Tales not In any 
 other edition. Translated by CAROLINE 
 PEAOHKT. 120 Wood Rngravingt. 
 
 Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. In Eng- 
 lish Verse. ByW. S. Ross. Twelve fine 
 Engraving*. In 2 vols. 
 
 Beehstein's Cage and Chamber Birds. 
 Including Sweet's Warblers. Enlarged 
 edition. Numerous plate*. 
 
 ** All other editions are abridged. 
 With the plates coloured. 7s. 6d. 
 
 Bonomi's Nineveh and its Palaces. 
 New Edition, revised and considerably 
 enlarged, both in matter and Plates, in- 
 cluding a Foil Account of the Assyrian 
 Sculptures recently added to the National 
 Collection. Upwards of 300 Engravings 
 
 Butler's Hudibras. With Variorum 
 Notes, a Biography, and a General Index. 
 .ridited by HENKY Q. Bonn. Thirty beau- 
 tiful Jlluttrations. 
 
 ; or, further illustrated with 
 62 Outline Portrait*. In 2 vols. 10*. 
 
 Cattermole's Evenings at Haddon 
 HalL 24 exquirite Engraving* on Steel, 
 from detignt by kimself, the letterpress 
 by the BARONESS DE CARARELLA. 
 
 China, Pictorial, Descriptive, and 
 
 Historical, with some Account ct Ava and 
 the Burmese, Siam, and Anam. Nearly 
 100 Jlluttrations. 
 
 Craik's (0. L.) Pursuit of Knowledge 
 under Difficulties, illustrated by Anec- 
 dotes and Memoirs. Revised Edition. 
 With, numerous Port-rails. 
 
 Cruikshank'B Three Courses and a 
 Dessert. A Series of Tales, with BO hu- 
 mor-out niuttration* by Cruikshank. 
 
 Dante. Translated by I. 0. WEIGHT, 
 M.A. New Edition, carefully revised. 
 Portrait and 34 JUuttrationt on Steel, 
 after flatanan. 
 
 Didron's Christian Iconography. 
 
 Characteristics of Christian Art in the 
 Middle Ages. From the French. Upivards 
 of 150 outline Engravings. 
 
 Dyer (T. H.) The History of Pompeii ; 
 
 its Buildings and Antiquities An account 
 of the City, with a lull description of the 
 Kemaius and the Recent Excavation.-,, and 
 also an^ltlnerary for Visitors, Edited by 
 
 T. H. ETER, LL,D. Illustrated witlt 
 nearly GOO Wood Engravings a large 
 Map, and a Plan of the Forum. A New 
 Edition, revised anil brought down to 
 1874. 7S. 6d. 
 
 Flazman's Lectures on Sculpture. 
 
 ffumeroujIUustrationi. 6*. 
 
 Gil Bias, The Adventures of. '-M 
 
 Engraving* on Steel, after Smirke, and 
 10 Etchings by (feorge ffruiJeshank. 6s. 
 Grimm's Gammer Ctrethel; or, Ger- 
 man Fairy Tales and Popular Stories. 
 Translated by EDGAB TAYLOB. Numerous 
 Woodcut* by Cruikshank, St. 6d. 
 
 Holbein's Dance of Death, and Bible 
 
 Cuts. Upward* 0/150 subject*, beauti- 
 fully engraved in fac-simile, with Intro- 
 duction and Descriptions by the late 
 FHANCIS DODOB and Dr. T. F. DIBDIN. 
 2 vols. In 1. 7s. ed. 
 
 Howitt's (Mary) Pictorial Calendar 
 of the Seasons. Embodying the whole of 
 Aiken's Calendar of .Nature. Upwards of 
 
 *, 100 Engravings. 
 
 (Mary and William) Stories 
 
 of English and Foreign Life. Twenty lea u- 
 tiful Engravings. 
 
 India, Pictorial, Descriptive, and 
 
 Historical, from the Earliest Times to the 
 Present Upward* of 100 fine Engravings 
 on Wood, and a Map. 
 
 Jesse's Anecdotes of Dogs. New Edi- 
 tion, with large additions. Numerous fine 
 Woodcut* after Hamy, Bewick, and others. 
 
 j or, with the addition of 34 
 
 highly-finished Steel Engravings Is. 6d. 
 
 Bang's Natural History of Precious 
 Stones, and of the Precious Metals. With 
 numerous Illustrations, Prlw 6a. 
 
 Natural History of Gems 
 
 or Decorative Stones, finely Jllus'rated. 
 6s. 
 
 Handbook of Engraved Gems. 
 
 Finely Illustrated. 6s. 
 
 Kitto's Scripture Lands and Biblical 
 Atlas. 24 Map*, beautifully engraved on 
 Steel, with a Consulting Index. 
 
 ; with the maps colntred, 7. &d. 
 
 Krummacher's Parables. Translated 
 in- m the German. Forty fllustrations by 
 Clayton, engraved by Dalziel, 
 
 Lindsay's Lord i Letters on Egypt, 
 Edom, and the Holy Land. New Edition , 
 enlarged. Thirty-six beautiful Engrav- 
 ing*, and 2 Maps.
 
 BOHN'S VAEIOm LIBRARIES. 
 
 Lodge's Portraito of Illustrious Per- 
 sonages of Great Britain, with Memoirs. 
 Two Hundred and Forty Portraits, beau- 
 tifully engraved on Steel. 8 vols. 
 
 Longfellow's Poetical Works. 
 
 Twenty-four page Engravings, 'by Birket 
 fetter and others, and a new Portrait. 
 
 ; or, without illustrations, 3s.6d. 
 ' Prose Works, complete. 1 6 
 
 page Engravings by Birket Foster, &c. 
 
 London's (Mrs.) Entertaining Natur- 
 alist. Revised by W. S. DALLAS, F.L.S. 
 With nearly 500 Woodcuts. 
 
 Sfarryat's Masterman Ready; or, 
 The Wreck of the Pacific. 93 Woodcuts. 
 3s. Gd. 
 
 " Mission ; or, Scenes in Af- 
 
 rica. (Written for Young People.) Illus- 
 trated by Gilbert and Dalziel. 3s. 6d!. 
 
 Pirate ; and Three Cutters. 
 
 New Edition, with a Memoir of tho 
 Author. With 20 Steel Engravings, from 
 Drawings by O. Stanfidd, R.A. 3s. 6<t 
 
 Privateer's-Man One Hun- 
 dred Years Ago. Eight Engravings on 
 Steel, after Stothard. 3s. 6d. 
 
 Settlers in Canada. New 
 
 Edition. Ten fine Engravings by Gilbert 
 and Dalziel. 3s. 6d. 
 
 Maxwell's Victories of Wellington 
 
 and the British Armies. Steel Engravings. 
 
 Michael Angelo and Raphael, their 
 
 Lives and Works. By DDPPA and QUA- 
 TKBMKBE DB QurNcr. With 13 highly- 
 finished Engravings on Steel. 
 
 Miller's History of the Anglo-Sax- 
 ons. Written In a popular style, on the 
 basla of Sharon Turner. Portrait of 
 Alfred, Map of Saxon Britain, and 12 
 elaborate Engravings on Steel. 
 
 Milton's Poetical Works. With a 
 Memoir by JAMBS MONTGOMEBY, TODD'S 
 Verbal Index to all the Poems, and Ex- 
 planatory Notes. With 120 Engravings 
 by Thompson and others, from Vravnngs 
 by W. Harvey. 2 vols. 
 Vol. 1. Paradise Lost, complete, with 
 
 Memoir, Notes, and Index. 
 Vol. 2. Paradise Regained, and other 
 Poems, with Verbal Index to all the 
 Poems. 
 
 Mudie's British Birds. Revised by 
 W. C. L. MABTIN. fifty-two Figures ana 
 1 Plates of Eggs. In 2 vols. 
 
 ; or, with th plates coloured, 
 
 7i. 9d. per vol. 
 
 Naval and Military Heroes of Great 
 
 Britain ; or, Calendar of Victory. Being a 
 Record of British Valour and Conquest 
 by Sea and Land, on every day In the 
 year, from the time of William the 
 Conqueror to the Battle of Inkermann. 
 By Major JOHNS, R.M., and Lieutenant 
 P. H. NICOLAS, RJtf . Tvxnty-fow Pir- 
 1 traits. 6s. 
 
 Nicolini's History of the Jesuits : 
 
 their Origin, Progress, Doctrines, and De- 
 signs. Fine Portraits of Loyola, Lainei 
 Xavier, Borgia, Acquaviva, Pire faChaist, 
 and Pope QanganeUi, 
 
 Petrarch's Sonnets, and other Poems. 
 
 Translated into English Verse. By various 
 hands. With a Life of the Poet, by 
 THOMAS CAMPBELL. With 16 Engravings. 
 
 Pickering's History of the Races of 
 
 Man, with an Analytical Synopsis of the 
 Natural History of Man. By Dr. HALL. 
 Illustrated by numerous Portraits. 
 
 . or, with the plates coloured, 
 
 %* An excellent Edition ok a work ori- 
 ginally published at 31. 3s. by the 
 American Government. 
 
 Pictorial Handbook of Modern Geo- 
 graphy, on a Popular Plan. 3*. 6d. Illus- 
 trated by 159 Engravings and 61 Maps. 6*. 
 
 ; or, with the maps cohured t 
 
 1s.6d. 
 
 Planche's History of British Cos- 
 tume. Third Edition. With, numerous 
 Woodcuts. 
 
 Pope's Poetical Works. Edited by 
 ROBEBT CABRUTHERS. Numerous En- 
 gravings. 2 vols. 
 
 Homer's Iliad. With Intro- 
 duction and Notes by J. S. WATSON, M.A. 
 fttustrated by the entire Series of Flaa- 
 maAi's Designs, beautifully engraved by 
 Moses (in tie full Svo. tire). 
 
 Homer's Odyssey, Hymns, 
 
 &c., by other translators. Including Chap- 
 man, and Introduction and Notes by J. S. 
 WATSON. M.A. flaxman's Designt* beau~ 
 tifuHy engraved, by Most*. 
 
 Pope's life. Including many of his 
 Letters. By ROBERT CABBCTRKBS. New 
 Edition, revised and enlarged. Mustra 
 tions. 
 
 The preceding 6 vols. make a complete 
 / and elegant edition of Pope's Poetical 
 Works and Translations for 25*. 
 
 25
 
 A CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Pottery and Porcelain, and other Ob- 
 
 jeela of Vertn (a Guide to the Knowledge 
 if). To which la added an Engraved List 
 of all the known Marks atd Monograms. 
 'v HKNBY O. Bonn. Numeraut ngrar- 
 ingt. 
 
 ; or, coloured. Ws. Bd. 
 
 Promt's (Father) Beliques. New 
 Eiition, revised anrf largely augmented 
 Twenty-one spirited Stoking* by Jtaclisc. 
 Two volumes in one. 7*. 6d. 
 
 Recreations in Shooting. By 
 " CRAVEN." New Edition, revised and 
 enlarged. 62 Engravings on Wood, after 
 Haroey, and 9 Engraving* on Steel, chiefly 
 after A. Cooper, AJ. * 
 
 Seddiug'g History and Descriptions 
 
 of Wines, Ancient arid Modem. Twenty 
 btautiful Woodcute. 
 
 Beanie's Insect Architecture. New 
 Edition. Revised by the Ev. J. G. 
 WOOD, M.A. 
 
 Sobinson Crusoe. With Illustrations 
 bv STOTHARD and HABVTSY. Twelve beau 
 tiful Engraving* on Steel, and T4 on 
 Wood. 
 
 . ; or, without Hie Steel iilustra- 
 
 tiont, 3t. 6d. 
 
 Borne in the Nineteenth Century. 
 
 New Edition. Revised by the Author. 
 Illustrated by 34 frs. ,VfeeI Engraving*. 
 3 vols. 
 
 Southey's Life of Nelson. With 
 
 Additional Notes. Illustrated with 64 
 Kngraving*. 
 
 Starling's 'Miss) Noble Deeds of 
 Vcmen ; or. Examples of Female Conraee, 
 
 i r ort itnd, and Virtue, fourteen beautiful 
 lUustrationt. 
 
 Stuart and Eevett's Antiquities of 
 Athens, and other Monuments of Greece 
 rUuttrated in 71 Steel JPlatet, and nit- 
 merout Woodcutt. 
 
 Tales of the Oenii; or, the Delightful 
 
 Lessons of Horam. A'lrniercta Woodcut*, 
 and 8 Sted Engraving*, ajter Stothard. 
 
 Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered, Trans- 
 lated into English Spenserian Verse, wltb 
 Life of ihe Author. By J. H. WESTEH. 
 Eight Enyravings OK Steel, and 34 en 
 Wood, by Thurtton. 
 
 Walker's Manly Exereijes Con- 
 taining Skating, Riding, Driver, Hmttag, 
 Shooting, Sailing, Bowing, Swimming, 4c. 
 New Edition, revise by " CBAVEH." 
 Forty-four Stxsl. Plate*, and ntvwrowi 
 Woodcut*. 
 
 Walton's Complete Angler. Edited 
 
 by KDWARD JKSSB, Esq. To which IB 
 
 added an Accouut of Fishing Stallone, Ac., 
 
 by H. G. BOHS. Upwards of 203 Sn- 
 
 jfram>igt. 
 ; or, with 26 additional page 
 
 Illustration* on Steel, 1*. erf- 
 Wellington, Life of. By An OLD 
 
 SOLDIEB, from the materials of Maxwell. 
 
 Eighteen Engraving*. 
 
 White's Natural History of Bel- 
 borne. With Notes by Sir WILLIAM JAB- 
 DIKE and EDWARD JESSK, Esq. riltulrateii 
 by 40 highly-Jlnuhed Engraving*. 
 
 ; or, with the plates coloured, 
 
 it.ed. 
 
 Young, The, Lady's Book, A Ma- 
 nual of Elegant Recreations, Arts, Sciences, 
 and Accomplishments ; including Geology, 
 Mineralogy, Conchology, Botany, Ento- 
 mology, Ornithology, Costume, Embroi- 
 dery, the Escritoire, Archery, Riding, 
 Mnslc (instrumental and vocal), Dancing, 
 Exercises, Painting, Photography, &c., ic. 
 Edited by distinguished Professors, ftoelve 
 Hundred Woodcut lUiutrations, and *evt- 
 ralfine Engraving* on Steel. It. 6eL 
 ' ; or, cloth gilt, gilt edges. 9<. 
 
 XI. 
 
 Bohn's Classical Library. 
 
 5. per Volume, excepting thtte markei otkencine. 
 
 iechylus. LiteraHy Translated into 
 English Pros* by an Oxonian. 3. ML 
 
 , Appendix to. Containing 
 
 the New Readings given ta Hermann's 
 poslhunioas Kdition of jEschylug. By 
 ':EOBox BUBOES, M.A. 3*. 6<i 
 
 Ammianus Marcellinua. History of 
 
 Kom* from Cooetantiua to Valens. Trans- 
 lated by C.D.Yot,B.A. Dble.voL,7*.ed 
 26 
 
 Antoninus. The Thoughts of the 
 Emperor Marcus Anrelina. Translated by 
 GEO. IX>NG, M.A. 3. 6d. 
 
 Apuleios, the Golden Ass ; Death of 
 
 Socrates ; Florida ; and Discourse rn Magic 
 To which is added a Metrical Version of 
 Cupid and Psyche; and Mrs. Tlgbe'f 
 Psyche. Frmtitpiece.
 
 BOHb'S VARIOUS LIBRARIES. 
 
 Aristophanes' Comedies. I.i-erally 
 
 Translated, with Motes aud Extracts from 
 Frere's and other Metrical Versions, by 
 W. J. HICKQJ. 2 vola. 
 Vol. 1. Acharnians, Knighta, Clond?, 
 
 Wasps, Peace, and Birds. 
 Vol. 2. Lyeistrata, Thesmophoriazits*, 
 Frogs, Ecclesiazusse, and Plntul. 
 
 Aristotle's Ethics. Literally Trans- 
 lated by Archdeacon BBOWNR, late Giaeeica! 
 Professor oJ King's College, 
 
 Politic* and Economics. 
 
 Translated by E. WALFOBD, M.A. 
 
 Metaphysics. Literally Trans- 
 lated, with Notes, Analysis, Examination 
 Questions, and Index, by the Rev. JOHN 
 H. M'MAHON, M.A-. and Gold Medallist in 
 Metaphysics, T.OD. 
 
 History of Animals. In Ten 
 
 Books. Translated, with Notes and Index, 
 by KICHARD CsEsswEuLL, MJL. 
 
 Organon ; or, Logical Trea- 
 tises. With Notes, Ac. ByO.F.OwKH,M.A 
 2 Tols^ 3. 6d. each. 
 
 Rhetoric and Poetics. Lite- 
 rally Translated, with ExaminaUta Qnes- 
 tions and Notes, by an Oxonian. 
 
 Athenseus. The Deipnosophiste; or, 
 the Banquet of the Learned. Translated 
 by C. D. YONGE, B.A. 3 vols. 
 
 Caesar. Complete, with the Alexan- 
 drian, African, and Spanish Wars. Late- 
 rally Translated, with Notes. 
 
 Catullus, Tibullus, and the Vigil of 
 Venns. A Literal Pruse Translation. To 
 which are added BJeirical Versions by 
 LAMB, SKAJNGEK. and others. Frontit- 
 piece. 
 
 Cicero's Orations. Literally Trans- 
 lated by C. D. YONGB, B.A. In 4 vols. 
 
 Vol. 1. Contains the Orv.tions against 
 Verres, Stc. Portrait. 
 
 Vol. 2. Catiline, Archiaa. Agrarian 
 Law, Rabirius, Murena, Sylla, &c. 
 
 Vol. 3, Orations for his House, Plancins, 
 Sextius, Cosllns, MUo, Dgarins, &c 
 
 Vol. 4. Miscellaneous Orations, and 
 Rhetorical Works; with General In- 
 dex to the four volumes. 
 
 on the Nature of the Gods, 
 
 Divination, Fate, Laws, a Republic, &<-. 
 Translated by C. D. YOHGE, B.A., and 
 F. BARHAM. 
 
 Academics, De Fisibus, and 
 
 Tnscnlan Questions. By C. D. YONOK, 
 B_\. With Sketch of the Greek Philo- 
 sophy. 
 
 Offices, Old Age, Friendship, 
 
 Sciplo's Dream, Paradoxes, to. Literally 
 Tranalatod, by R. EDKOOTS. 31. 6<L 
 
 Cicero on Oratory and Oraiors. By 
 
 J. S WATSON, M.A. 
 
 Demosthenes' Orations. Translated, 
 with Notes, by C RAKR KXNXVDT. IE 5 
 volumes. 
 VoL I. The Olynthlac, Philippic, and 
 
 other Public Orations. 3*. 6d. 
 Vol. 1 On the Crown and on the Em- 
 bassy. 
 Vol. 3. Against Leptlnes, Mldtea, An- 
 
 drotrlon, and Arisrocrates. 
 VoL 4. Private and other Orations. 
 Vol. 5. Miscellaneous Orations. 
 Dictionary of Latin Quotations. In- 
 rinding Proverbs, Maxims, Mottoes, Law 
 Terms, and Phrases ; and. a Collection o! 
 above 500 Greek Quotations. With all the 
 quantities marked, & English Translatior s. 
 
 , with Index Verborum. 6. 
 
 Index Verborum only. If. 
 Diogenes Laertius. Lives and Opin- 
 ions of the Ancient Philosophers. Trans- 
 lated, with Notfls, hy C. D. YoS7. 
 
 Epictetus. Translated by GEORGE 
 
 LONG, M.A. [Preparing. 
 
 Euripides. Literally Translated. 2 vols. 
 
 Vot 1. Hecuba, Oreste*, Medea, Hippo- 
 
 lytas, Alcestis, Bacchae, HeraclidK, 
 
 Iphtgenia in Aullde, and Iphigenia In 
 
 Taurto. 
 
 Vol. 2. Hercules Furens, Troades, Ion 
 Andromache, Suppliants, Helec. 
 Electra, Cyclops, Rhesus. 
 Greek Anthology. Literally Trans- 
 lated. With Metrical Versions by variou* 
 Authors. 
 Greek Romances of Heliodorus. 
 
 Longus, and Achillea Tatlns. 
 Herodotus. A New and Literal 
 
 Translation, by HEHRT CAST, M-A., of 
 
 Worct^ter College, Oxford. 
 Hesiod, Callimachus, and Theoguis 
 
 Literally Translated, with Notes, by J. 
 BANKS. M.A. 
 
 Homer'i Iliad, Literally Translated, 
 by an OXONIAN. 
 
 Odyssey, Hymns, &c. Lite- 
 rati v T'nns'ated. by an OZONIAJI. 
 
 Horace. Literally Translated, by 
 SMABT. Carefally revised by an OaoKiAK. 
 3s . 6d. 
 
 Justin, Cornelius Kepos, and Eutro- 
 
 plus. Literally Translated, with Note* 
 and Index, by J. a WATSON, MJL 
 Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and LT- 
 
 cilius. By L. EVANS, M.A. With ue 
 Metrioal Version by '.ttfibrd. frontitpuct. 
 Livy. A new aud Literal Translation. 
 By Dr. SPILLAR and others. In 4 volg. 
 VoL L Contains Books 18. 
 VoL 2 Books 2. 
 VoL 3. Books 27 3. 
 VoL 4. Books 37 to t)e end ; and Index. 
 27
 
 A CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Lucan's Pharsalia. Translated, with 
 Notes, by H, T. RILET. 
 
 Lucretius. Literally Translated, with 
 Notes, by the Rev. J. S. WATSON, M.A. 
 And the Metrical Version by J. M. GOOD. 
 
 Martial's Epigrams, complete. Lite- 
 rally Translated. Each accompanied by 
 one or more Verse Translations selected 
 from fie Works of English Poeta, and 
 other sources. With a copious Index- 
 Double volume (660 pages). Is. 6d. 
 
 Ovid's Works, complete. Literally 
 Translated. 3 vols. 
 VoL 1. Fasti, Tristla, Epistles, &o. 
 Vol. 2. Metamorphoses. 
 Vol. a Heroides, Art of Love, 4c. 
 
 Pindar. Literally Translated, by DAW- 
 SON W. TUBSER, and the Metrical Version 
 by ABHAHAM MOOBE. 
 
 Plato's Works. Translated by the 
 Rev. H. CART and others. In 6 vols. 
 
 VoL 1. The Apology of Socrates, Crlto, 
 Phaedo, Gorging, Protagoras, Phaedrus, 
 Theatetns, Euthypbron, Lysis. 
 
 VoL 2. The Republic, TimRus, ACritias. 
 
 VoL 3. Meno, Enthydemns, The So- 
 phist, Statesman, Cratylns, Panne 
 nides, and the Banquet. 
 
 VoL 4. Philebns, Charmides, Laches, 
 The Two Alcibiadee, and Ten other 
 Dialogues. 
 
 VoL 6. The Laws. 
 
 Vol. 6. The Doubtful Work* With 
 General Index. 
 
 ' Dialogues, an Analysis and 
 
 Index to. With References to the Trans- 
 lation in Bonn's Classical Library. By Dr. 
 DAT. 
 
 Plautns's Comedies. Literally Trans- 
 plated, with Notes, by H. T. RILET, B. J . 
 In 1 vols. 
 
 Pliny's Natural History. Translated, 
 with Copious Notes, by the late JOHM 
 BOSTOCK, M.D., F.R.S., and H. T. RILBT, 
 B.A. In 6 vols. 
 
 Fropertius, Fetronius, and Johannes 
 
 Secnndns. Literally Translated, and ac- 
 companied by Poetical Versions, from 
 various source*. 
 
 Quintilian's Institutes of Oratory, 
 
 Literally Translated, with Notes, &c., by 
 J. S. WATSON, M.A. In 2 vote. 
 
 Sallust, Floras, and Velleius Pater- 
 
 culus. With Copions Notes, Biographiral 
 Notices, and Index, by J. S. WATSOH. 
 
 Sophocles. The Oiford Translatioa 
 
 revised. 
 Standard Library Atlas of Classical 
 
 Geography. Twenty-two large coloured 
 Map* according to the latest auttxntfie*. 
 With a complete Index (accentuated), 
 giving the latitude and longitude of every 
 place named in the Maps. Imp. 8vo. It. 60. 
 
 Strabo's Geography. Translated, 
 with Copious Notes, by W. FALCONER, 
 M.A., and H. C. HAMILTON, Esq. With 
 Index, giving the Ancient and Modern 
 Names. In 3 vols. 
 
 Suetonius' Lives of the Twelve 
 
 Cassars, and other Works. Thomson's 
 Translation, revised, with Notes, by T. 
 FORESTEB. 
 
 Tacitus. Literally Translated, with 
 Notes. In 2 vols. 
 VoL.l. The Annals. 
 
 Vol. 2. The History, Germanla, Agri- 
 cola, &c. With Index. 
 
 Terence and Phsedrus. By H. T, 
 RILET, B.A. 
 
 Theocritus, Bion, Moschus, and 
 Tyrtfens. By J. BANKS, M.A. With the 
 Metrical Versions of Chapman. 
 
 Thucydides. Literally Translated by 
 Rev. H. DALE. In 2 vols. 3t. d. each. 
 
 Virgil. Literally Translated by DA- 
 VIDSON. New Edition, carefully revised. 
 3*. 6d. 
 Xenophon's W.orks. In 3 Vols. 
 
 Vol. 1. The Anabasis and Memorabilia. 
 Translated, with Notes, by J. S. WAT- 
 SON, M.A. And a Geographical Com- 
 mentary, by W. F. AINSWOBTH. F.&A., 
 F.R.G.S., 8:c. 
 
 VoL 2. Cyropiedla and Hellenics. By 
 J. S. WATSON, M.A., and the Rev. H. 
 DALK. 
 
 VoL 3. The Minor Works. By J. S. 
 WATSON. 1I.A. 
 
 zn. 
 Bohn's Scientific Library. 
 
 Bt. per Volume, excepting those marktd othvnoite. 
 
 Agassiz and Gould's Comparative 
 Physiology. Enlarged by Dr. WEIGHT. 
 Upward! of 400 fngrarinyt. 
 
 Bacon's Novnm Organum and Ad-; 
 vancement of Learning. Complete, with 
 Note*, by J. DXVKT, M.A. 
 23 
 
 Blair's Chronological Tables, Bevised 
 and Enlarged. Comprehending the Chro- 
 nology and History of the World, from 
 the earliest times. By J. WILLOUOHBT 
 ROSSK. Double Volume. 10.; or, half- 
 bound, 10*. <&
 
 BOHN'S VARIOUS LIBRARIES. 
 
 Index of Dates. Comprehending the 
 principal Facts in the Chronology and 
 History cf the World, from the earliest to 
 the present time, alphabetically arrarged. 
 By J. W. ROSSE. Double volume, lot ; 
 or. half-bound, 10*. &L 
 
 Bailey's Manual of Technical Analy- 
 sis. A Guide for the Testing of Natural 
 and Artificial Substances. By B. H. PAUL. 
 100 Wood Engravings. 
 
 BRIDGEWATEB TREATISES. 
 Bell on the Hand. Its Mecha- 
 nism and Vital Endowments as evincing 
 Design. Seventh Edition Revised. 
 
 Kirby on the History, Habits, 
 
 and Instincts of Animals. Edited, with 
 Notes, by T. RTMEB JONES. Numerous 
 Engravings, many of which are additional. 
 In 2 vols. 
 
 Kidd on the Adaptation of 
 
 External Nature to the Physical Condition 
 of Man. 3s. 6d. 
 
 Whewell's Astronomy and 
 
 General Physics, considered with refer- 
 ence to Natural Theology. 3*. 6d. 
 
 Chalmers on the Adaptation 
 
 of External Nature to the Moral and In- 
 tellectual Constitution of Man. 5s. 
 
 Front's Treatise on Chemis- 
 
 try, Meteorology, und Digestion. Edited 
 by Dr. J. W. GRIFFITH. 
 
 Bnckland's Geology and 
 
 Mineralogy. 2 volg. 16*. 
 
 Eoget's Animal and Vege- 
 table Physiology. Illustrated. In 2 vole. 
 bs. each. 
 
 Carpenter's (Dr. W. B.) Zoology. A 
 
 Systematic View of the Structure, Habits, 
 Instincts, and Uses, of the principal Fami- 
 lies of the Animal Kingdom, and of the 
 chief forms of Fossil Remains. New edition, 
 revised to the present time, under arrange- 
 ment with the Author, by W. S. DALLAS, 
 F.LJS. Illustrated with many hundred 
 fine Wood Engravingt. In 2 vols. 6s. each. 
 
 Mechanical Philosophy, As- 
 
 tronomy, and Horology. A Popular Ex- 
 position. 183 Illustrations. 
 
 Vegetable Physiology and 
 Systematic Botany. A complete Intro- 
 duction to the Knowledge of Plants. New 
 Edition, revised, under arrangement with 
 the Author, by E. LANKEOTER, M.D., &c. 
 Several hundred Illustrations on Wood. 6*. 
 
 . Animal Physiology. New 
 
 Kdition, thoroughly revised, and In part 
 re-written by the Author. Upwards of 
 300 capital Illustrations. 61. 
 
 Chevreul on Colour. Containing the 
 Principles of Harmony and Cont.ie: ol 
 
 Colours, and their application to the Arts. 
 Translated from the French by CHAKLES 
 MAKTEL. Only complete Edition. Severe ' 
 Plates. Or, with an additional series of 
 16 Plates in Colours. It. 6d. 
 
 Clark's (Hugh) Introduction to 
 Heraldry. With nearly 1 000 Illustrations . 
 18th Edition. Revised and enlarged by J. R. 
 PLANCH t, Rouge Croix. Or, with all the 
 Illustrations coloured, 15s. 
 
 Comte's Philosophy of the Sciences. 
 By G. H. LEWES. 
 
 Ennemoser's History of Magic. 
 Translated by WILLIAM Hownr. With . 
 an Appendix of the moat remarkable and 
 best authenticated Stories of Apparitions. 
 Dreams, Table- Turning, and Spirit-Rap- 
 ping, &c. In 2 vols. 
 
 Handbook of Domestic Medicine. Po- 
 pularly arranged. By Dr. HENKY DAVJES. 
 700 pages. With complete Index. 
 
 Handbook of Games. By various 
 Amateurs and Professors. Comprisli g 
 treatises on all the principal Games o. 
 chance, skill, and manual dexterity. In 
 all, above 40 games (the Whist, Draughts, 
 and Billiards being especially comprehen- 
 sive). Edited by H. G. BOHN. Itttu- 
 trated by numerous Diagram*. 
 
 Hogg's (Jabez Elements of Experi- 
 mental and Natural Philosophy. Con- 
 taining Mechanics, Pneumatics, Hydro- 
 statics, Hydraulics, Acoustics, Octles, 
 Caloric, Electricity, Voltaism, and Mag- 
 netism. New Edition, enlarged. Up- 
 wards of 400 Woodcuts. 
 
 Hind's Introduction to Astronomy. 
 
 With a Vocabulary, containing an Expla- 
 nation of all the Terms in present use. 
 New Edition, enlarged. Ifumervut En- 
 gravings. 3s. 6d. 
 Humboldt's Cosmos ; or Sketch of a 
 
 Physical Description of the Universe. 
 Translated by EV C. Orri and W. S. 
 DALLAS, F.LuS. Fine Portrait. In five 
 vols. 3i. 6d. each ; excepting VoL V., 6. 
 %* In this edition the notes are placed 
 beneath the text, Humboldt's analytical 
 Summaries and (be passages hitherto sup- 
 pressed are included, and new and com- 
 prehensive Indices are added. 
 
 . Travels in America. In 3 vols. 
 
 Views of Nature ; or, Con- 
 templations of the Sublime Phenomena of 
 Creation. Translated by E. a OlTfi and 
 H. G. BOHN. A fac-simile letter from tL 
 Author to the Publisher ; translations of 
 
 . the quotations, and a complete Index. 
 
 Humphrey's Coin Collector's Ma- 
 nual. A popular Introduction to the 
 Study of Coins. Eighty finished Enyr<tr> 
 ings. In 2 voli. 
 
 29
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 ,, AI - - r \ 
 
 WAIN LOAN [ 
 
 A.M. 
 
 ESK 
 
 LOi MB _ 
 24l 
 
 REC'O LD-URB 
 JAM 31 18 
 
 SEP 2 2 1969 
 
 Form L9-75m-7,'61(Cl43784)444 
 
 -URL 
 
 SEP 2 5 1977 
 
 2 
 
 XIII. 
 
 ^in'ri Refe:enoe Library. 
 
 The Epigrammatists. Selections from DODD, M.A., of Pembroke College, Oxford 
 ' trumBMtic^L ter.Ktir- of Ancient, Secmid Kdltion, revised ami con-iderably 
 
 enlarged containing many new Kpigr-.m--, 
 inincii'ally of an amusing character. 6s. 
 
 ,,, e:.it,r-o ncient, 
 
 l"diaev a l, and Modern T.m>-f. With 
 
 , Notet, Observati M.S. IJla^tratioiif, and an 
 
 latroducilon : ..- . > 
 30
 
 nous's VARIOUS 
 
 ' 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Boswel 
 
 Ionian 
 Tour 
 ddlti 
 Jons 
 most 
 arran| 
 
 JOHN 
 by Mi 
 
 gra it 
 
 Carper 
 of T< 
 
 >q 
 
 Dibdin 
 
 Hun)/ 
 2S. 6(1 
 
 *. 
 
 id~ 
 
 IS. 
 
 n- 
 
 plete. : , 
 Frankli;. 
 
 tobiognr 
 
 ocript. 
 
 Hawthor 
 Tales. 1 
 one. 2f. 
 
 8 
 g 
 
 Fi. 
 
 AE i 
 
 i Na 
 md 
 
 oiiH*jjt L.. ;' rin * l',l. 
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 001314160 1 
 
 Hazlitt's . Ik. F 
 
 and 3. -Is. 
 
 Plain Spc, iier. P 
 
 and 3. Is. 6d. each. 
 
 Lectures ^n the 
 
 Comic Writers. 1. ed. 
 
 Lectures on the English 
 
 Poets. 1. 6d. 
 
 Lectures 'n the ature 
 
 of the Age of Elizaoeth. 1 
 
 Lectures en th: Characters 
 
 of Shakespeare's Plays, it. 6J. 
 
 
 erts Boost, and 
 . fine pap? 
 
 other 
 
 
 ifWa 
 
 i (unifor 
 i at, Ac. 
 IC.L Jc. 'id. ea(.h. 
 
 
 
 
 - Life and 1 
 nuew, PIEHBB E. 
 1 pai -3. 2s. each. 
 
 trott. 
 
 
 , F^r W^shingto 
 A >rks, sc 
 
 :ccted 
 
 La: 
 
 a: -s) Es 
 
 Is. 
 
 
 
 ^jsayi 
 
 Is. 
 
 
 
 wi 
 
 Meal 
 
 .-